Doing All Tthings for the Glory of God

Sunday, September 12, 2004

PASTOR PHILLIPS' SERMON

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Please pray with me. Heavenly Father, today you have promised to be with us. Wherever two or more are gathered, there you are in the midst of them. You are here now, and we await your Word. We await your Holy Spirit to speak to our hearts. Bless us in our faith. Strengthen and equip us to serve you. Bless us now in Jesus' name. Amen.

Today we're talking about Part 2 of the series on the glory of God. Last week, we talked about His glorious birth, the birth of Christ as the child God sent to save the world and we remember that, in that event, the circumstances were not glorious. They were very humble and poor. And the form in which God appeared to man, a frail child, was not glorious in itself but the glory of God was in the Old Testament God, the God of the pillar of fire that dwelt on the mountain, Mount Sinai , and appeared to the Israelites and guarded and protected them as they traveled throughout the wilderness. That very same God became man and now lives in our hearts.

Today we're going to Part 2 of this series, and it's called a glorious return. Now many of you have heard this, that Jesus does plan to come back. That's a good thing, right? We're very much looking forward to that time. But how do we know for sure that he's actually going to come? The Word of God tells us that in Acts 1:6-11, “So when they met together, they asked him, ‘Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom of Israel ?' He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by His own authority but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, and in Samaria and to the ends of the earth.' After He said this, He was taken up before their very eyes and a cloud hid Him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as He was going when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. ‘Men of Galilee ,' they said, ‘Why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.'” Think of that. The disciples who were just filled with joy at the resurrection of their Lord and Savior now watched Him gently ascend into heaven with the clouds.

Separation anxiety, I'm sure, was part of their emotions at that time but the angels were there to comfort them, weren't they? The word angel means messenger. They were there to communicate that message of God that Jesus will return. Recently, there was a movie that most of us probably saw called The Return of the King , part of that three-part series and the whole point of the king coming back in that context was the king was going to come back and lead the people and they were going to have victory over their enemies. Well, the return of the king of kings is not about that because He already has victory and we already have victory over our enemy, the devil. In His death and resurrection, Jesus won victory over sin, death, and the devil and it is ours by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

So when He comes back, what's going to happen? What's it going to be like? We find some indications of what it's going to be like as we read through the ministry of Jesus starting with Matthew 8:23-27, “Then he got up into the boat and His disciples followed Him. Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake so that the waves swept over the boat, but Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke Him saying, ‘Lord, save us. We are going to drown.' He replied, ‘You of little faith. Why are you so afraid?' Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it became completely calm. The men were amazed and asked, ‘What kind of man is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him.'” The authority of Jesus. That's one of the signs of His coming. It is going to be so awesome to see Jesus, not as this frail little baby dependent on its parents for every need but as God Almighty in all glory, in all authority. That's how He's coming back. He's not coming back to be handed over to the judges, put on trial to be mocked and beaten. He's coming back to rule and reign forever and ever. Jesus. He has authority over the wind and the waves. In fact, if He were to be confronted with Hurricane Ivan, a Category 5 hurricane now in the gulf, He could rebuke it and disperse it. This is who Jesus is in all His glory.

Another hint comes to us in Matthew 17:1-9. This is the account of the transfiguration. “After six days, Jesus took with Him Peter, James, and John, the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There He was transfigured before them. His face shown like the sun and His clothes became white as the lightening. Just then, there appeared before them Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus. Peter said, ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.' While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them and a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is my Son whom I love. With Him I am well pleased. Listen to Him.' When the disciples heard this, they fell face down to the ground terrified but Jesus came and touched them. ‘Get up,' He said. ‘Don't be afraid.' When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus. As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus instructed them, ‘Don't tell anyone what you have seen until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.'” What was all that about? Jesus, with the inner core of His disciples, Peter, James, and John, goes up on a mountain and something miraculous happens. They received a glimpse of His glory. No longer veiled, His face became as bright as the sun and His clothing as white as lightening. What was the point? Think of it. The point in history was this was Jesus winding down His three-year teaching ministry and just about to enter into that very, very difficult week of His passion. And as the disciples saw this wonderful teacher, miracle worker whom they had followed for three years go through those difficult days, this experience gave them hope. Even when He was nailed to the cross and buried in the tomb, they had hope because they remembered the time up on the mountain when they saw Him in His majestic glory. Jesus, the Son of God, the Savior of the world.

The next indication of what it's going to be like when the Lord returns comes to us from Matthew 25:31-46. This was our gospel reading a little bit earlier. Think about it in the context of the Lord returning, the second coming of Jesus Christ. “When the Son of Man comes in His glory and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on His left, and the king will say to those on His right, ‘Come you who are blessed by my Father. Take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world for I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you invited me in. I needed clothes and you clothed me. I was sick, and you looked after me. I was in prison and you came to visit me.' Then the righteous will answer him. ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' The king will reply, ‘I tell you the truth. Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from me you who are cursed into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink. I was a stranger and you did not invite me in. I needed clothes and you did not clothe me. I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison and did not help you?' He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth. Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.' Then they will go away to eternal punishment but the righteous to eternal life.”

Powerful words. Sobering words. Helping us to focus on what is going to happen when the Lord does return. It's not a second opportunity. It's not a time of just being with Jesus or anything like that. It's the moment of the judgment. When the Lord returns and all His angels with Him, He will sit on His throne in all His glory and He will judge all nations, every person. Now we know the bible says we are not saved by good works, right? We know that. We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior. And yet, if you were to ask many Christians, “If you were to die tonight, do you know for certain you would go to heaven?” Most of them would say, “Yes.” Some might even say, “No, I'm not sure.” If you ask those who had said yes, “Why do you think you would go to heaven?” The first thing many people would do is start to list, “Well, I go to church every week. I don't do anything real bad, never killed anybody.” On and on, they'd list all these things they either did or didn't do and kind of justify themselves for why they would go to heaven. That's works righteousness, and that's contrary to scripture. God's Word says, “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, not of works lest any man should boast.” We are not saved by what we do. We're saved by what He did on the cross, right? He sacrificed Himself for our sins on the cross. He shed His blood to pay for my sin. That's how I'm saved. That's the correct answer. I will go to heaven when I die because I know Jesus as my Savior. I believe in Him. I trust in Him, and I know that He died for me on the cross and He paid for all my sins. And when I confess my sins, He forgives them. So I know that if I were to die, I would go to heaven.

Why then does it appear in this passage that Jesus is talking about good works? What you did for the least of them, what you did not do for the least of them. Why is He talking about good works? It's like a tree and its fruit. A Christian, a person who has a relationship with our loving, heavenly Father, has that love in himself or herself. They have the love of God in their own heart for the people around them, and they will do good things for people simply as a fruit of their faith. Like a tree bears fruit, a Christian with a relationship with Jesus does good things. And so you will know them, the Word says, you will know them by their deeds. You will know them by their actions. There will be evidence for our faith.

Another indication of what it's going to be like when the Lord returns comes to us from Philippians 2:5-11. Now I read some of this last week, but I didn't read the whole thing. I wanted to save a little bit for today because part of it talked about Jesus coming the first time and part of it talks about His coming the second time. Philippians 2:5 and following, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore, God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” That's amazing, isn't it? Because it says every tongue and every knee. It's not just talking about believers here. When the Lord returns, His majesty, His glory, His power, His authority will be undeniable and even those who've rejected Him all their lives and refused to believe in Him will be forced by His presence to confess Him as Lord of all. Lord of all. Jesus, the Lord and Savior of us all.

Well, He's coming back. Does anybody know when? No. Matthew 24:36 says, “No one knows the day or the hour.” Many people have tried to calculate it based on the Book of Revelation and all the mysterious imagery and numerology in that book. They've tried to calculate when the Lord would return, but Jesus says no one knows the day or the hour. No one.

About 100 years ago, 150 years ago, there was a group of people, Adventist groups, that kept looking forward to the time when Christ would return. And as they read the bible, their hearts just burned with desire for Him to come back, to see the Lord face to face. And there was a powerful teacher who taught them that he knew the day and so he told them when it would be and he told them, “Sell all your possessions. Give everything away but make white robes for yourselves.” And they all went up to the top of a mountain and waited. He didn't come. He didn't come. Did He break His promise? No, but He said no one knows the day or the hour. So when we hear people predicting when it's going to be, we know they're off track. Jesus said no one knows the day or the hour. The tragedy of that event was that many people actually took their own lives out of shame and embarrassment for what they had done following this false teacher.

We know He's coming back. We don't know the day. What should we do in the meantime? He's given us some work to do. 1 Peter 2:11-12 gives us an indication of that work, “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us.” Hum. You see what's happening in that sentence? “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us.” We live in a world which is not dominated by Christianity. Christianity is not the majority of the people. Chances are where you work is not the majority of Christians. Where you live, where your kids go to school, the majority is probably not Christians. But God has work for us to do in these places. Live such good lives. They may mock you. They may make fun of you. They may say your views are old- fashioned or unscientific or something like that. When they see your good works, the love of God in your hearts, the compassion you have for the poor, the forgiveness you have for your coworkers, they see that and the Holy Spirit works in their hearts and you have an opportunity to say that beautiful message, that Jesus loves them too, that He died on the cross for them too, that they can go to heaven too. And by a miracle, they are converted. And when Jesus comes back, they are your brother and sister in Christ and we all glorify Him together. You see that? “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us.” We have a lot of work to do, don't we? Let's pray about that. Heavenly Father, we pray for your Holy Spirit. It is only by your Spirit that lives are changed, hearts are changed, hearts are opened to trusting in you. We pray that you equip us and fill us up with your Word and your wisdom that we might be wonderful blessings to the people we live with and work with and that they will see Jesus in us and that they will know Jesus as their Savior and then, when He comes back, they will praise Him with us. Bless us in this great work. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Copyright 2004 Gloria Dei Lutheran Church