Tag Archives: Wisdom

From, Through, & To – Sermon on Romans 11:33-36 for Holy Trinity Sunday

Romans 11:33–36

33 Oh, the depth of the riches
and wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable are his judgments
and how inscrutable his ways! 
34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord, 
or who has been his counselor?” 
35 “Or who has given a gift to him 
that he might be repaid?” 
36 For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be glory forever. Amen.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Who has seen the ocean? Probably everyone has seen the ocean. If you haven’t, I can show you a picture or video after the service and, technically, you will have seen the ocean. But a picture or video doesn’t do the ocean justice. It isn’t the same as seeing it in person with your own eyes. So, how many of you have been to the ocean and have seen it, smelled it, and felt it?

Now, which ocean(s) – the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic, Antarctic? Maybe you have seen each of them, but how much of them have you seen? Did you see a bit of it from a beach? Have you been on a boat where no land is in sight? “Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink.” Even then, you only saw just shy of three miles of ocean before the curve of the earth pulled the rest of it away from your sight. And your field of vision only allowed you to see so much without turning your head or spinning around in circles, which, if you are prone to seasickness, is not something I would recommend. And even if you’ve been so far out to sea that no land was in sight, you can only say that you’ve skimmed the surface of the ocean – literally.

Have you seen what’s in the ocean and on its floor? Have you been able to snorkel or scuba dive to see what’s down there? How deep have you gone? Twenty, fifty, one-hundred feet? I have one friend who has dived to somewhere near that depth. As far as I know, I don’t know anyone who has been 1,000 feet below the surface of the ocean. The average depth of the ocean is about 2.3 miles deep. Some people have gone that deep. But think about the deepest part of the ocean, Challenger Deep, which is nearly 7 miles below sea level. Twelve people have walked on the moon, but only three have ever been down there.

Many people have gone up into space, orbited the planet hundreds of times, and have seen the majority of the oceans’ surface. But they haven’t been through all the oceans at all the depths to see what lies underneath the surface. So, I ask again, have you seen the ocean? Ultimately, no one can claim to have seen the oceans in their entirety. The best anyone can accurately say is, “I’ve seen a tiny fraction of the ocean.” The oceans are too big, too wide, too deep for anyone to see very much of it. But still, we wouldn’t call someone a liar if they said that they have seen the ocean. To see part of it is to truthfully say that you’ve seen it.

All of that is to set this up: These verses come at the tail end of Paul’s main theological treatise in Romans. In the first eight chapters, Romans is a thorough skimming of the surface of theology. It has dealt with the fact that no one is righteous in the way that God demands. Because of that everyone deserves death and condemnation. But God, in His mercy, has delivered the very righteousness He demands to those who have faith in Christ. By believing that God has come in the flesh of Jesus; believing that Christ suffered, bled, and died; and believing that He rose again for you, you are righteous – as righteous as Jesus is righteous. 

Then, Paul dives deeper into the depths of the theological ocean. He writes about how God delivers that faith through His gracious choosing of you. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, Paul talks about the doctrines of election and predestination. Believer, you are saved exclusively because of what God has done. Jesus has done the work to deliver, rescue, and save you from your sin. The Holy Spirit has called you through God’s Word, given you faith to believe, and will sustain your faith as He works through the Scriptures (Ro. 10:17). Your salvation is entirely based on God’s mercy (Ro. 8:29-33) and the fact that He chose you to be in Christ from before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4-5). The culmination of Paul’s short dive into the doctrine of predestination comes in the verse just before this text where his conclusion is, “God has consigned all to disobedience, that He may have mercy on all” (Ro. 11:32).

Now, the doctrine of predestination is a huge topic, and I’m not going to go into it today. I have preached on it the past. And if you ever have questions about it, please feel free to talk with me. (I enjoy having any theological conversations.) The only reason I mention predestination here is to set up the context of the praise that we heard in this reading. God’s mercy in delivering salvation to us unworthy sinners leads to this doxology, this song of praise that is our reading: “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways!”

Whenever we study theology, no matter what branch of theology is being studied, we come to a point where we realize the simple truth that God is bigger than us. God has revealed much to us in His Word, but He hasn’t revealed everything. His riches, wisdom, and knowledge go to a depth that we cannot reach. His ways are inscrutable and inconceivable. It isn’t just that they are hard to understand they are far, far beyond our comprehension. Just like how you’ve only seen a small sliver of the ocean, but you haven’t seen the whole thing. The more I study theology and the Bible, the more I realize there is to learn. It’s a regular occurrence for me to be reading a passage and suddenly realize, “I’ve never noticed that before.” Christian, there’s always more to be learned and meditated on when it comes to theology and the Bible. More and more and more and more. And it is always a joy and delight to discover more.

Today is Holy Trinity Sunday which ends the festival half of the Church year which began in Advent. The Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, and Pentecost seasons focus on God’s work for us by coming, declaring, suffering, dying, rising, ascending, and sending the Holy Spirit. Now, on Trinity Sunday, we recognize that the work of our salvation is exclusively brought about by the plan and efforts of the one God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. So, Trinity Sunday is a fitting time to pause, step back, and simply praise God for all He has done, accomplished, and delivered to us. Even though we’ve spent the past six months considering what God has done to save us, we’ve just barely scratched the surface. Even when we do it again and again, there is still more.

We can’t know God’s mind. We can’t advise Him. We can’t give or offer anything to Him. That’s why Paul closes in v. 36 with this doxology, “From Him and through Him and to Him are all things.”

Consider each of those in order. “From Him,” God the Father is the source and Creator of all things. “Through Him,” God the Son has set all things in order and gives them to us. “And to Him,” the God the Holy Spirit directs all things so they find their end and meaning in this one God.

Rejoice because this One unfathomable, inscrutable, inconceivable God took it upon Himself to create, redeem, and sanctify you. So, “to Him be glory forever.” In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Roadblock – Sermon on Proverbs 4:10-23 for the Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity

Proverbs 4:10–23

10 Hear, my son, and accept my words, 
that the years of your life may be many. 
11 I have taught you the way of wisdom; 
I have led you in the paths of uprightness. 
12 When you walk, your step will not be hampered,
and if you run, you will not stumble. 
13 Keep hold of instruction; do not let go; 
guard her, for she is your life. 
14 Do not enter the path of the wicked, 
and do not walk in the way of the evil. 
15 Avoid it; do not go on it; 
turn away from it and pass on. 
16 For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong; 
they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble. 
17 For they eat the bread of wickedness 
and drink the wine of violence. 
18 But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, 
which shines brighter and brighter until full day. 
19 The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; 
they do not know over what they stumble. 

20 My son, be attentive to my words; 
incline your ear to my sayings. 
21 Let them not escape from your sight; 
keep them within your heart. 
22 For they are life to those who find them, 
and healing to all their flesh. 
23 Keep your heart with all vigilance, 
for from it flow the springs of life.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

In 2019, the AFLC’s Annual Conference was held near Scranton, PA. To save our congregations a bit of money, four other pastors and I decided to travel together. We rented a vehicle in Minneapolis which ended up being a brand new, black GMC Yukon with tinted windows and all the bells and whistles. Our first day of travel together was from Minneapolis to a hotel in Toledo, OH which is just under 700 miles and would take about 10 hours. We had Google Maps plot our course to avoid toll roads, made our way through Wisconsin, and started to enter the Chicago metro. As we got deeper into Chicago, Google kindly told us that our current course had congested traffic and that there was an alternate route which would save us 45 minutes. That’s what you call a no brainer. Reroute.

We got off the freeway and quickly found ourselves driving through the neighborhoods of Chicago. Sure, there were stoplights and stop signs, but we kept moving. Now, one of the other pastors had grown up near Chicago, but he had been asleep in the third-row seat when we decided to reroute. I’m not exactly sure what woke him up, but he looked out the window and asked, “Where are we?” We told him that we were still in Chicago and that we had left the freeway to avoid traffic. He looked at a couple of street signs and said in the most serious voice I had ever heard him use. “We need to get out of here. Now!”

We had been redirected to the south side of Chicago, not only that, but a neighborhood notorious for stray bullets and carjackings. Apparently, Google Maps can help you avoid tolls and traffic jams, but it isn’t able to assist five, slightly overweight, mostly Scandinavian pastors avoid being robbed at gunpoint. We did make it out safely with the rented Yukon.

The point is this: it is easy to quickly and unintentionally end up on the wrong path. For us five pastors, the address of our destination didn’t even change, but we were deeply down the wrong path.

Now, there is a temptation for us to hear about the two paths described in these verses and lull ourselves into a false sense of security. We can wrongly think, “I’ve been taught the Bible which is the Word of Life. I’m not overly influenced by all that bad stuff ‘out there.’ I’ll just set the cruise control on my mostly moral life, make sure the lane departure warning system is enabled so I keep being virtuous, and everything will be just fine and dandy.”

Dear saints, beware of that attitude sneaking up on you because when it does, you are already several steps down the dark path of wickedness. The fork in the road between the path of life and the path of the wicked isn’t just ‘out there’ and clearly marked with signs. No. The exit down road of evil is always in the heart of each of us sinners and you can start down it without realizing that your destination has changed. Repent.

Go back for just a minute to that picture of the wicked being unable to rest or sleep unless they have done wrong or made someone stumble. If it weren’t so haunting, it would almost be comical. Imagine the wicked getting ready for bed. They put on their pajamas, brush their teeth, go to the bathroom, fluff their pillow, snuggle up under the covers, but toss and turn because they realize they haven’t gotten someone else to sin. It sounds so ridiculous, but, if you’re honest, you’ve probably experienced that restlessness and sleeplessness when you realize you haven’t caused someone else to stumble.

Stick with me on this. The most natural reaction we sinners have to our sin is, sadly, not to repent, not to get off the dark, evil path of the wicked. Instead, our natural reaction is to recruit other sinners by trying one of two things:

First, we try to recruit other sinners when we play the comparison game. We compare our sin to the sin of others. We search high and low for people who have fallen into sin and think that God will look more kindly on us because there are others who fell harder or further than we did. In our opinion – which, frankly, doesn’t matter – our sin isn’t as grievous as those other people’s. That comparing our sin to the sin of others brings us to a place where we celebrate the sin and downfall of others. We hope to find others stumbling.

But the second way we recruit others to sin is more dangerous and, I think, more common. We recruit other sinners when we try to defend ourselves and make excuses for our sin. When we make excuses for our sin, we are foolishly trying to rig a jury that has no jurisdiction over our case. We figure if we can get enough people to understand why we did that sinful thing, whatever it was, then they will be ‘on our side.’ We lose sleep thinking of ways to convince others that our sin was justified. We want them to make us comfortable with our unrepented sin.

Adam tried to pull this asinine trick when he ate the forbidden fruit. He tried to excuse his sin by convincing God that the reason he ate the fruit was the fault of God Himself. Adam basically says, “Listen God, the only reason I ate the fruit was that this woman, whom You gave to be with me, gave me that fruit. You’re responsible and culpable for my sin” (Gen. 3:12).

When we make excuses for our sin, what we are actually doing is we are trying to get others to fall into their own sin. We want them to lie by calling the evil, sinful thing we did ‘good’ or ‘ok’ or, at least, ‘neutral.’ But Isaiah 5:20 says, “Woe,” in other words, ‘damned,’ “are those who call evil good and good evil.” When we try to excuse our sin before others, we are trying to get them to call something evil we have done ‘good.’ Again, repent.

Dear saints, constantly be on the alert for the path of the wicked knowing that you are always inclined to reroute yourself to it. See the roadblock that this passage puts in front of that wicked path. “Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of the evil. Avoid it; do not go on it; turn away from it and pass on” (v. 14-15). Don’t be like a foolish child and blow through that roadblock.

Dear saints, stay on the righteous path. Hold fast to the Words of Scripture. Notice how the opening verses also call this righteous path the way of wisdom. This wise, righteous path is clear of obstacles. When you walk on this path, you will not be hampered, and if you run (I’m so glad that the text leaves that as optional by saying, ‘if’) if you run on this path, you will not stumble. This path is life – it is full of life, and it grants life.

To follow this path means that when Scripture points out your sin, be wise. Confess that sin. Receive God’s mercy and forgiveness freely given to you because it has been bought and paid for by Jesus’ holy and precious blood. Confess that sin and be filled with Christ’s righteousness.

And know that this path is like the light of dawn. You who are righteous through faith in Christ, you don’t walk in the light of the full day – not yet. But you do walk in the light of the dawn which is always growing brighter and brighter so you see the righteous way more clearly as the day of your Savior’s return draws ever nearer. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Invited – Sermon on Proverbs 9:1-10 for the Second Sunday after Trinity

Proverbs 9:1-10

1   Wisdom has built her house;
she has hewn her seven pillars.

2   She has slaughtered her beasts; she has mixed her wine;
she has also set her table.

3   She has sent out her young women to call
from the highest places in the town,

4   “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!”
To him who lacks sense she says,

5   “Come, eat of my bread
and drink of the wine I have mixed.

6   Leave your simple ways, and live,
and walk in the way of insight.”

7   Whoever corrects a scoffer gets himself abuse,
and he who reproves a wicked man incurs injury.

8   Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you;
reprove a wise man, and he will love you.

9   Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser;
teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning.

10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Today, we’re diving right in. Jesus is Wisdom who speaks in this text. Jesus is the one who has prepared this banquet and invites the simple (probably best understood as ‘gullible’) and those who lack sense to a feast He has prepared. Don’t be offended by that interpretation just because Wisdom here is given feminine pronouns. “Wisdom has built her house, hewn her pillars, slaughtered her beasts, mixed her wine…” etc. The word “wisdom” in both Hebrew and Greek is a feminine noun, so don’t let that confuse you. This text is not teaching that God is a woman. Wisdom is the everlasting, eternal, infinite, almighty Son of God.

A bit of context helps cement this interpretation. Back in Pro. 8:22-23, 27-31, Wisdom says of Himself,

“The Lord possessed me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old.
Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth….
When he established the heavens, I was there; when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,
when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep,
when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command,
when he marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside him, like a master workman.”

In other words, God created with and through Wisdom, and all of that echoes the opening of the Gospel of John. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made…. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (Jn. 1:1-3, 14). And if that isn’t enough to prove that Jesus is Wisdom who is speaking here, in Lk. 11:31 Jesus calls Himself the Wisdom greater than Solomon. And in 1 Cor. 1:30, Paul says that Jesus is the wisdom from God.

Jesus, the eternal Son of God and wisdom of God, is the Father’s voice to the world. Jesus reveals God’s heart. And Christ gives us true wisdom that remains when everything else is gone. And look at this beautiful invitation:

He prepares the food, sets the table, and calls all people – even the gullible and senseless – to come to the banquet. This feast is free by grace. God charges no admission fee, and the guests have no bill at the end of the meal. They don’t even have to cover the tip. Those who have no money are invited to come and have their fill. This beautiful picture is also what we saw in our Gospel lesson (Lk. 14:15-23). There, the king doesn’t care if the guests are poor, crippled, blind, or lame. He doesn’t even care if they are citizens of his kingdom. He tells his servants, “Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in that My house may be filled.” God has a banquet. He wants His tables to be filled with guests. He desires that all be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.

The past three times these readings have come up, I’ve preached on that Gospel text and highlighted the importance of coming to church because the riches of the feast that God gives us right here, in this sanctuary, are so grand, elaborate, and infinitely valuable. But I’m not preaching on the Gospel lesson today. The main overlap of the Gospel lesson and this lesson from Proverbs is the invitation and how we are commissioned by God to spread that invitation to the divine feast far and wide. So, for the rest of this sermon, let’s consider evangelism and witnessing.

Honestly, there is a lot of bad theology when it comes to evangelism and sharing the Gospel. I want to consider three truths about evangelism today. There are more, but these three are central. And I want to be very clear at the outset here. I’m going to criticize some of the common trends and ideas about evangelism. Just because I criticize them doesn’t mean that those things have never worked to share the Gospel.  Instead, I hope that as we consider what the Scriptures have to say about salvation and how we see that Christianity spread in the book of Acts, you are encouraged and emboldened to simply be who you are in Christ. Be a sinner who has been washed in Christ’s forgiveness. That is all the equipping you need to be a faithful inviter to God’s eternal feast.

The first truth about sharing the Gospel is that evangelism is nothing more than simply announcing that there is a feast that is ready and free to any who will come. As v. 4 of our text said, Wisdom sends us to proclaim, “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here.” And as they arrive at the banquet, Wisdom – in other words Jesus – says to them, “Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. Leave your simple ways, and live, and walk in the way of insight” (v. 5-6).

God gives us opportunities to invite to a banquet; He doesn’t call us to scare people into heaven. Plays like “Heaven’s Gates, Hell’s Flames” and fire-and-brimstone-street-corner preaching aren’t what Christians are about. Christians are about the free Gospel, the abundant mercy of Christ, and the joy of the eternal banquet. Yes, the horrors of hell are real. But if people are scared into believing in God, they are more slaves than children. And God wants children to love and cherish. Christian, you have the Gospel – the greatest news ever. Jesus has died and shed His blood for the forgiveness of your sins. That message is for all people. Out of His pure mercy, Jesus says, “Fear not, little flock for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Lk. 12:32). God’s greatest delight is to give sinners His kingdom and have them as His guests at His banquet.

The second truth about evangelism is that you don’t have to go out and find people to evangelize. I’ve been through (and even taught) evangelism models that encourage you to seek people out, strike up a conversation, and then turn that conversation to spiritual matters so you can share about Jesus. First off, not a lot of people are comfortable doing that. And very few people who are comfortable doing that can do it naturally – especially when the person they are trying to evangelize tries to change the subject away from spiritual matters. I’ve been a victim (and I’m using that word a little sarcastically) of people who are part of pyramid schemes. Of course, they don’t call it a pyramid scheme – it’s ‘multi-level-marketing.’ At first, they are very friendly and outgoing, but then comes the moment when they try to feel me out about their great, wonderful product. When they realize I’m not interested in purchasing or selling their product, they aren’t interested in me anymore. And you know what that does to my opinion of them? Yeah.

Dear saints, you don’t have to seek out potential converts to Christianity. Repeatedly in the book of Acts, the apostles would proclaim the Gospel in the synagogues – to the people who were already familiar with God’s Word. In those synagogues, some would believe in Christ, but many would reject. The interesting thing is that the apostles never sought out people who were unfamiliar with God’s Word. They never made cold calls. God would simply bring people to the apostles, they would preach, point to Jesus, and people would believe.

Just a few examples: At Pentecost, God brought people together by the sound of the rushing wind (Act. 2:5-6) and the apostles pointed them to Jesus. In Acts 3, Peter and John go to the Temple for prayer one afternoon and encounter a paralyzed man who was begging. Peter tells the guy, “I don’t have any silver or gold for you, but in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” The guy does, and whole crowds get drawn to Peter and John to hear more about Jesus (Act. 3:1-4:37). God dropped the Ethiopian eunuch into Phillip’s life (Act. 8:26-38). And when Phillip was done baptizing the eunuch, God teleported him somewhere else to share the Gospel (Act. 8:39-40). God told Cornelius to send for Peter (Act. 10:1-8). We could go on and on. But I’d encourage you, read the book of Acts this week, and notice how God just drops people into the lives of the apostles. Then they simply share the Gospel and point the people whom God put in their lives to Jesus.

Dear saints, you don’t have to seek people out. Be faithful in the vocations and callings that God has given you. Be a good spouse, parent, child, worker, student, neighbor, whatever. Have the best, most genuine relationship possible with the people God brings into your life. Be an authentic person and be ready to give an answer for the reason for the hope that is in you (1 Pet. 3:15-16). As you have opportunity, point them to Jesus, and invite them here where Jesus has prepared His banquet. The most recent survey I saw showed that 86% of people who attend a church go to that congregation because a friend invited them. Be friendly to people not in an effort to convert them – that isn’t true friendship. Just be a friend, and be ready for God to open doors to sharing the Gospel. Like Phillip did for Nathaniel, invite people to come and see Jesus (Jn. 1:46).

Finally, the third truth about evangelism is this: Rest in the fact that you can’t mess it up. Dear saints, Scripture is clear on this. No one will go to hell because you failed in sharing the Gospel with them. It isn’t possible. Jesus promises in Jn. 10:27-29, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”

There is a fascinating verse in Acts 13 about this. Just to give a bit of the context here: Paul and his companions arrive in the city of Antioch (Act 13:13ff). As was their custom, they go to the synagogue and are asked by the rulers if they have a word of encouragement. Paul preaches a little sermon about Jesus (Act. 13:16-41). Some believe, and Paul and Barnabas are invited to come again the next Sabbath. When they do, the whole city of Antioch gathered together to hear the Word of the Lord (Act. 13:44). Paul and Barnabas again share about Jesus. Some were filled with jealousy and were contradicting what Paul was preaching and reviling him (Act. 13:45). But then (and this might be the most important verse you can memorize to encourage you as you think about evangelism), Acts 13:48b, “As many as were appointed to eternal life believed.”

Dear saints, salvation belongs to God (Jon. 2:9; Ps. 3:8; Rev. 7:10). You and all Christians are saved by grace (Eph. 2:8-9). Since you aren’t the source of either salvation or grace, the work of saving people belongs exclusively to God. God can and does use you to be His salt and light (Mt. 5:13-16), and when He does, God be praised! But know that no one, not a single soul, will end up in hell because you have failed. You aren’t that powerful. You cannot erase someone’s name from the book of life (Rev. 3:5). Romans 8:38-39 says, “Neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Dear saints, evangelism, inviting anyone to Jesus’ banquet is zero risk, infinite reward.

Dear saints, there is a banquet. It is free to you and to all. You are invited, and you have the privilege and joy of inviting others. So, invite them. Invite them because of the joy of being part of that feast yourself.

The banquet is prepared. The gifts are ready. Jesus calls you, “Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. Leave your simple ways, and live, and walk in the way of insight.” Because the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

The Anatomy of Sin – Sermon on Genesis 3:1-21 & Matthew 4:1-11 for the First Sunday of Lent

Listen here.

Matthew 4:1-11

1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,

“‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and

“‘On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”

7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”

11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

In any sport, a good coach will watch tape of the opponent or will notice how the other team is playing. The coach will use his skill and knowledge to figure out how to minimize the opponent’s strengths and take advantage of and exploit their weaknesses. That is what we are going to do today.

The devil is our enemy who will tempt us to sin. But just getting us to sin is not his ultimate goal. Satan’s ultimate goal is to get us to hate the God who loves us, who created us, who shed His blood and died to forgive us, and who desires to sanctify us and make us sacred.

Look at the back of your Scripture insert because I printed James 1:13–15 for you there: “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil, and He Himself tempts no one.” Now, pay very close attention, “But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” This is how sin goes – this is the anatomy of sin. Temptation Lured and Enticed by Desires James 1_14-17Your heart has a wrong desire, and that false desire is conceived and eventually gives birth to sin. Then, when sin grows up, it brings forth death. Knowing this, we know Satan’s game plan. But it is helpful for us to see how the devil’s game plan plays out in real time, and we saw it in our Old Testament text (Gen. 3:1-21).

Satan asked Eve, “Did God really say, ‘You shouldn’t eat from any of the trees of the garden’?” Notice what Satan is doing. He is trying to put Eve above God’s Word so that she thinks she can be the judge of what God said. Satan, that liar and deceiver, is trying to get Eve and Adam to think that God doesn’t want them to have something that is good and is holding out on them.

When Eve responds to the devil’s question, she adds to God’s Word. She repeats the command to not eat of the tree but she also wrongly puts an additional command in God’s mouth to not touch the tree.

There’s a whole sermon right there, but let me say this just briefly. It is true that if Adam and Eve never touched the tree they wouldn’t eat the fruit of the tree. You would have to touch the fruit that is on the tree and pluck it in order to eat it. But adding to God’s command didn’t keep Adam and Eve from sinning. It didn’t work for them in the perfection and bliss of Eden, and it won’t work for us in this fallen, broken world. We could consider all sorts of examples, but try this one: The 8th Commandment tells us to not lie, but it does notcommand us to never speak. If we add to God’s command against lying an additional prohibition against speaking, what happens then? I know this example is absurd, but play it out. If you never speak, you might not lie with your tongue, but you also can’t confess Jesus’ name, can’t declare God’s praise, can’t love your neighbor by saying, “I love you.” And if you never speak, you would likely think, “I’m keeping the 8thCommandment,” and that thought would be lying to yourself by saying you have no 8th Commandment sin (1 Jn. 1:8). See? You still sin!

Anyway, back to observing the devil’s tactics. Eve adds to God’s command, and the devil knows she’s added to God’s Word. Satan sees that his attack is working, and he presses on by telling her a bold-faced lie, “You will not surely die!” Catch that – the devil, while lying, calls God a liar. Then, that snake accuses God of false motives, “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened.” He says the reason God is lying is to keep them blind to something. Finally, he entices Eve by saying, “You will be like God, knowing good and evil.” And that, right there, is the essence, the anatomy, of temptation and sin. Satan sees where your desires are different than God’s desires for you. And the devil arouses those desires and tries to get you to bridge the gap between what you want and what God wants. Satan tempts you to be the judge of God.

Temptation in the Garden of EdenWhen Eve looked at that fruit, she should have recognized, “That fruit is death.” Instead, she wrongly sees that it is to be desired to make one wise. This is the danger for us. There are things that are put in front of us and God says, “That’s bad, and it leads to death.” But instead of regarding those things according to God’s Word, we regard them according to how we see and think. We put ourselves over and above God and judge Him to be wrong. The devil entices us to think that God is the bad guy who is holding out on us, keeping us from having our heart’s desires. Then, we think we know better than God, and we fall for the temptation and into sin.

Now, not all of these steps play out every time you sin. The more you fall into a particular sin, the more you silence your conscience. Think again of the 8th Commandment about lying. Whenever you lie, gossip, spread rumors, or stretch the truth, you are putting yourself in the place of God. You want reality to match up with what makes you look good or better than others. When you go behind someone’s back to complain about a situation instead of addressing the problem directly with the person, you are putting yourself in the place of God. If you have a problem with an individual, do not talk about those problems with anyone else. The more you do that, the more you open yourself to sin. Repent.

My fellow sons of Adam and daughters of Eve, be wise. The devil attacks you. He comes to whisper lies in your head that God is not good and that you know better than God does. The devil’s game plan worked in the bliss of the Garden of Eden when he tempted our first parents. How much easier is it for him to attack you now when your desires are already stained with original sin? But, now, let us watch the devil use the same tactics but fail when he tempted our Savior and our Brother, Jesus, the Son of God.

The context of Jesus’ temptation is immediately after He is Baptized by John in the Jordan (Mk. 1:9-13). There is no forbidden tree anymore, so the devil is going to attack a different Word from God. With the first two temptations, the devil begins by saying to Jesus, “If you are the Son of God…” (Mt. 4:3, 6). Remember what God said about Jesus just as He was Baptized, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Mt. 3:17). It’s in the verse immediately before this Gospel text.

Christ in the Wilderness (Temptation) Ivan Kramskoi 1872Jesus has been fasting forty days and nights. I remember as a kid being hungry forty minutes after dinner. Jesus is famished. He is weakened by this fast. So, this temptation to turn stones into bread is a real temptation. The tempter again tries to exploit the gap between Jesus’ desires and what God has given. Jesus wanted food. Because He is man just like you and me, His stomach and His brain would have been screaming at Him, “Feed us!” But God has not yet given Jesus food. So Satan tries to get Jesus to take for Himself what God has not given.

But Jesus responds beautifully. He responds with God’s Word, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Now, this does not mean that we don’t have to eat. It does not mean that every time you get hungry you just take out your Bible and read. Instead, it is a reminder that there is more to our life than bread. Listen to the whole verse from Dt. 8:3 – Moses is preaching his farewell sermon to God’s people who had been led through the wilderness for forty years saying – “[The Lord] humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” In short, God might withhold something from you so that He can provide for you in a way that increases your faith in Him. While you wait for God to provide, don’t fall for the temptation to reach out and take what God hasn’t given. Jesus resists the temptation to take for Himself what God had not yet provided.

So, the devil comes with a second temptation. The tempter puts Jesus on the pinnacle of the Temple and tries to use Scripture against Jesus. Basically, Satan says, “Throw Yourself down. God has promised to protect You.” From Ps. 91:11, the devil quotes, “He will command His angels concerning you,” but Satan leaves out a phrase. The rest of the verse reads, Temptation of Jesus“to guard you in all your ways.” God the Father will protect Jesus in all His ways. But God didn’t send Jesus to earth to be some X-Games-temple-pinnacle jumper.

And there is great comfort for you in this as well. God will protect you in all the ways and paths and vocations to which He has called you. No harm will come to you until God is ready to receive you into His heavenly kingdom. Everything you do, you can do without fear because God will protect you.

Jesus knows this and responds again from the book of Deuteronomy (6:16), “You shall not put the Lord your God to the text.” The devil’s temptation fails again.

So, the devil tries one more. The tempter shows Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and all their glory in one moment (Lk. 4:5) and says, “All these I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.”

This offer of Satan is absurd. The earth already belongs to Jesus. Psalm 24:1 says, “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein.” But the devil isn’t offering Jesus creation and the universe because he can’t – it doesn’t belong to him. Instead, the devil is offering Jesus the dominion of fallen mankind. Remember, that God told Adam and Eve, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over… every living thing that moves on the earth” (Gen. 1:28). But when Adam and Eve fell, their dominion also fell. And that is what Jesus has come to restore and recover. He came to be the New Adam who has perfect dominion over creation.

Again, Jesus resists the temptation saying, “Be gone Satan,” and quotes from Deuteronomy. Maybe we should be reading Deuteronomy more. If you’re reading through Scripture, don’t stop if Deuteronomy seems sluggish. But, most importantly, know and love God’s Word. The promises of Scripture are your best weapon against temptation and sin. God’s Word is the Sword of the Spirit (Eph. 6:17). Anyway Jesus quotes Dt. 6:13, “You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.” And the devil is beaten back and defeated.

1 John 2_16 - Temptation Desire WeaponsSo, dear saints, be wise. Know the devil’s attacks and tactics. The devil is going to use those tactics against you, but God has given you weapons against the devil, your flesh, and the world (1 Jn. 2:15-16). When the devil comes to tempt you, take up the weapon of prayer. Pray God’s Word and watch the devils flee. When your flesh tempts you, take up the weapon of fasting. If you are tempted to certain desires of your flesh, fast from those things. Tell your body, “Body, you aren’t in control.” And when the world tempts you with its vain riches, give. Be generous to the point that it makes you unable to afford falling into the temptations of this world.

And when you are tempted, find comfort in this and in nothing else: Our Epistle lesson (Heb. 4:14-16) invites us who fall into temptation and sin to come confidently as we approach the throne of grace. Come to Jesus because He is our great High Priest who knows our weakness and gives us His mercy and grace to help in time of need.

Now, what does Jesus, the Son of God, say to you? He says, “Come back to the Garden. Be guiltless again. Here, eat this. To undo the curse of sin and the curse of the Fall, take, eat. This is My Body given unto death for you. Take, drink. This is My Blood shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins.” Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Thankful & Waiting – Sermon on Matthew 25:1-13 for the Last Sunday of the Church Year

Listen here.

Matthew 25:1-13

1 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5 As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. The Ten Virgins Riojas6 But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ 7Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ 10 And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. 11 Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ 12 But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ 13 Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

I promise we’ll get to the parable; it’ll be in a roundabout way. But first…

Four days from now, our nation will pause and dedicate a day to giving thanks. Friends and families will gather. Tables will be set. Turkeys will be cooked. (By the way, if you’re in charge of the turkey, make sure you brine it first – use kosher salt, 24 hours. Talk to me after the service.) Potatoes will be mashed. Stuffing will be fluffed. Pies will be baked. Cream will be whipped. Football will be watched. And couches and recliners will be tested for structural integrity.

Having a day for Thanksgiving is good, right, and important – probably more important than we could ever realize. Even though it is in the name – “Thanksgiving” – most people probably miss the whole meaning of the day. Thanksgiving is a day to give thanks, and that means there must be a recipient of our thanks – someone to whom we give thanks. And, dear Christian, I hope Thanksgiving Day is different for you than it is for many in our country because you know to Whom you give thanks. Let me parse that out.

Many people today will talk about gratitude. Some people finish each day by crawling into bed and thinking of five things for which they can be grateful. That is a good exercise, but it only goes so far. While there are similarities between the two, gratitude is not always the same as thanksgiving.

Let me try this on you, and you can tell me what you think. Gratitude tends to look at the goodness of the thing received. 1 Thessalonians 5 18But thanksgiving, yes it recognizes the goodness of the thing, but it looks past that and sees the goodness of the giver of the thing. This is why Christians can give thanks in all circumstances (1 Th. 5:18). Even in the tough stuff, even in difficult times, in sorrow, and in afflictions that come to us in this broken world, you can know that everything comes to you from the very same hands that were nailed to the cross for you.

Christians give thanks. Scripture even goes so far as to say that not giving thanks is one of the marks of the unbeliever. Romans 1:21-23 says of idolators, “Although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools,” (see there a connection to the parable), “and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and creeping things.” In other words, people fall into idolatry because they foolishly do not give thanks to God.

Think back to Eden and the Fall when sin was being born: Eve rightly told the serpent that they could eat of any tree in the garden except the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Nothing was forbidden to Adam and Eve except learning what evil is. But the devil awakened the desire to become more. Remember, the devil lied, “You will not surely die. God knows when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Instead of being content and thankful for everything God had given, the desire for something more was awakened. Then, those fateful words, “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate” (Gen. 3:6).

In the account of the Fall, we can see how thanklessness is the root of every sin. When we aren’t giving thanks, we are lured and enticed by misguided and false desires. The Epistle of James warns us about this (1:14-15), “Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.”

All of this is to say that one of the most important things for us to do to fight against sin is to give thanks. When we are giving thanks, we are looking at the goodness of our God and fighting against the false desires that lead to sin which grows and matures into death. So, again, as Scripture says, “Give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Th. 5:18). For many in our community – you farmers especially – this is important. Many of you have to leave your crops in the ground, and not only that you have to pay to do so. Lord, have mercy. It is awful and horrible.

Yet, in the midst of this suffering, God is giving you a chance to grow in your faith. Remember when Job had his oxen, donkeys, sheep, camels, children, and his health taken away? His wife tells him to curse God and die. But Job responds, “You speak as one of the foolish women. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 2:9-10).

You farmers who are suffering now, everyone else who is suffering in other ways, and those of you who will suffer in the future, remember that God is your Heavenly Father. He will never withhold anything good from you. Psalm 84:11, “The Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.” Psalm 34:9–10, “Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack! Those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.” Any suffering you experience is an opportunity for your faith in God’s goodness to grow and mature (1 Pet. 1:7, 4:12-16). He will not fail you.

Parable of the Ten VirginsNow, to the parable. Honestly, it is very difficult, and the difficulty mainly lies in the fact that we don’t know enough about Jewish wedding customs in Jesus’ day to know why it was so important that these virgins have lit lamps when the groom arrived.

I would love to be able to tell you exactly what the oil represents, but Jesus doesn’t tell us. Is it the fear of the Lord which is the beginning of wisdom (Ps. 111:10; Prov. 1:7)? Since the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom do we need to also add God’s Word, faith, grace, the Holy Spirit, the Sacraments, or thanksgiving? The safest answer is that it is probably all of them, because they are all tied together to make a sinner ready for the Day of the Lord. There are two things we can say for sure – the first is about the oil and the second about the lamps.

First, the oil is not something that can be shared. When the foolish ask the wise to share their oil, they say, “No,” because, even though the groom is around the corner, they will not have enough for both themselves and the foolish. The second thing we can say is about the lamps that no one can walk by the light of another’s lamp, each must have their own.

Also, we know for sure that all of these girls are failures. They all sleep. They all need to be awakened. They all need to quickly trim their lamps to be ready to meet the groom, but not all are able. Five are wise and get into the feast. And five are foolish and are left outside like strangers. We also know the purpose of the parable. Jesus wants us to be wise as we watch for His return. We need to have faith that God’s promises are sure and certain. He will return. He will come back. And He wants you at the feast.

Dear saints, the One who was born for you; the One who lived a life of perfect obedience for you; the One who suffered, bled, and died for you is the same One who is coming for you. Jesus will return and take you to be with Himself.

So, be wise. Continue even now to be where your Lord has promised to be. Be in His Word. Be here where He gives you His mercy and grace in the Supper. Be in the fellowship of your fellow believers. Be fed by His promises because those promises will never fail you. And be fighting against the foolishness of sin. Your Lord and Savior is coming. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.