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Hope for Tomorrow
9/12/2004
"At these words the Jews
were again divided. Many of them said, "He is demon-possessed and raving
mad. Why listen to him?" But others said, "These are not the sayings
of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"
John 10:19-21
Every faithful preacher of the
gospel can relate to the above responses to Jesus and His preaching. Some
thought Jesus was "raving mad" - modern vernacular
-"He's way out there!" Others spiritually sensed He was preaching the
truth, which was verified by the impact of His ministry. On Sunday, we began our
autumn Sunday sermon series on 1 Samuel. The first lesson covering chapters one
through four was entitled "Hope for Tomorrow." The first point was:
"Sorrow upon Sorrow" which detailed Hannah's "bitterness of
soul" over "the Lord closing her womb," her
rival always belittling her lack of children, and her husband not understanding
her depth of pain and distress about this shattered dream.
Through all of this, seemingly she was righteous before God because "she
kept on praying." Her distress was not because of God punishing her
sin, but God refining her to a point where she would give-up her firstborn son
to God and to Eli to train for the priesthood. God's destiny for Samuel was to
become the next Judge of Israel; it was Samuel who would anoint Israel's first
two kings. During our times of distress, we must learn to trust our sovereign
Father who has Kingdom plans for our individual lives, our local congregation
and His church universal.
The sermon's second point was
"Worldly Sorrow." Here we addressed the sin of Eli and his sons who
collectively led Israel as priests. Eli was well aware of the situation, but "failed
to restrain his sons" from eating the fat of the sacrifices and "sleeping
with the women who served at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting."
Sin was minimized, rationalized and tolerated. After examining these Scriptures,
I shared about the College and Teen Devotional last Friday where we did address
from Ephesians 5:3-14 that disciples are commanded not to have even "a
hint of ...immorality, impurity or...coarse joking." This was
because in the past month internet pornography, impurity in dating
relationships, the mocking of homosexuality and immodest clothing started to
leaven the Campus and Teen Ministry. We called every student not only to confess
sin, but expose it. Therefore after the lesson on Ephesians 5 we broke up in men
and women's discipleship groups to confess sin and then pray together.
Afterwards, there was such a joy in the fellowship because we had come into the
light. According to Ephesians 5, when disciples expose sin, they wake up the "sleeping"
disciples, so "Christ will shine on them."
Our last point covered 1 Samuel
3-4, "Sorrow But Hope for Tomorrow." In that day it was said of God's
people "the Word of the Lord was rare, there were not many
visions," and since the ark was captured "the glory
departed from Israel." Yet in Eli's death and his sons passing, "the
lamp of God had not gone out" but still flickered in the life of
Samuel. There was "hope for tomorrow" even for an Israel that God was
now opposing. I gently reminded the church, though these are dark times in our
worldwide fellowship, God is still working!
Since it was Labor Day Weekend
Sunday, we had many out of town visiting disciples. Almost all said they had
missed this kind of forthright, "old school" preaching which calls all
to be "sold-out disciples." However, one visiting Christian couple
expressed their concern that we should only confess sin to God and not be
judgmental about sin! As with Jesus, there were opposing reactions to the same
message of truth. To remain in the light, disciples need deep convictions that
the confession of sin both to God and man is throughout the Scriptures. Numbers
5:5-7 says, "The Lord said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites:
'When a man or woman wrongs another in any way and so is unfaithful to the Lord,
that person is guilty and must confess the sin he has committed.'"
Ezra and the people confessed their sins in Ezra 10. Nehemiah confessed the sin
of all Israel in prayer in Nehemiah 1:6 as well as all the people doing the same
in Nehemiah 9:2. Much later when John the Baptist was "preparing the
way for the Lord," out of sincerity of heart people spontaneously
confessed their sins before their baptism. (Matthew 3:6) In addition to
confession, John the Baptist also called people to "produce fruit in
keeping with repentance." (Luke 3:8) Finally, in James 5:16, the
half-brother of Jesus commands all disciples to "confess [their] sins
to one another and pray for each other so that you may be healed."
Confessing sin is part of the process of healing us from the damage of sin.
A disciple who does not confess
his sin will eventually become spiritually "weak, sick...and
asleep" (1 Corinthians 11:30) because they have forgotten to
appreciate the body and blood of Jesus. Churches who tolerate sin will fade into
lukewarmness, and eventually will lose their distinctiveness from the world.
Therefore, the world is not drawn to their message and few are converted. These
churches have "a reputation of being alive, but...are dead."
(Revelation 3:1)
Portland, let us determine to be
a church that preaches "truth and grace" irregardless of
criticism. Be assured, some will oppose the truth. However, those who love the
preaching of the Word will be moved by witnessing "the evidence of
the grace of God" on many lives. (Acts 11:19-26) They will be
further inspired by baptized disciples confessing where we individually have
fallen short and continue to need the grace of God. This true humility before
God and man guarantees our "Hope for Tomorrow." And to God be the
glory.
Kip McKean
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