Priorities - Luke 10:38-42 - July 9, 2023

 Luke 10:38-42 Priorities

Good morning! Turn with me in your Bibles to Luke chapter 10 and verse 38, that’s on page 869 in the pew Bibles. We are going to take a look at the account of Jesus in the home of Martha and Mary.

This was the same Martha and Mary that had a brother named Lazarus that lived in Bethany just outside of Jerusalem. Lazarus wasn’t mentioned here in our text, just Martha and Mary and the contrast between these two ladies has been the subject of every sermon ever preached on this text, ever. 

Be like Mary, not like Martha, let’s close in prayer.

Well, let’s look at the text and see if there isn’t a bit more to it than that.

38 Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

Let’s pray.

There have been a lot of unfair and inaccurate contrasts between these two ladies.

Some say that Martha was worldly-minded, all about the things of the world with her hustling and bustling in the kitchen distracted by the worries of the world where Mary was heavenly minded, all about the Lord Jesus and His teaching, sitting at His feet.

Some say that Martha represents works-based religion where Mary represents living by faith alone.

Some say that Martha represents the “Type A” personality which is forceful and direct and is busy putting everything in straight lines and Mary is a “Type B” personality just kind of going with the flow and laid back in the living room chilling with Jesus and that’s way better.

Some say that Martha is representative of an active life where Mary represents a contemplative life, and Jesus affirms that it is far better to sit alone and consider life, the universe, and everything, not just work, work, work all the time, you don’t have to do anything, you just have to be and that’s far better.

Let’s not forget, first of all that both of these ladies were friends and disciples of Jesus, and both were trying to serve the Lord Jesus whole heartedly, they just each had their own idea as to how to do that best. For Martha it was giving and for Mary it was receiving.

It’s clear that Jesus affirms Mary’s actions over Martha’s but let’s take a look at Martha and her actions and see where she may have gone off course.

First of all, it was Martha that welcomed Jesus into her home. Martha may have been a widow or just the eldest of these three siblings, we don’t really know. Either way, this was her house.

Martha clearly wanted to present the best her household could afford to Jesus and the disciples and she was working hard to accomplish that.

I have to ask you, do you blame her? Can you blame her for being upset with Mary for just sitting around and not helping her get things done?

I can’t help but think of Martha Stewart when I read this account, and not just because of the name. I can picture her with all four burners of the stove with pots bubbling and a roast in the oven and the rolls, and doing the dishes, and who is going to fold the napkins into swans? Where is Mary? These napkins are not going to fold themselves! Somebody needs to set out the nice dishes!

And this is where Martha erred. Her first problem was not that she was working too hard, it’s that she had a bad attitude about it and tried to get Jesus to side with her.

40 But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.”

Martha was clearly given to hospitality, her doors were wide open with welcome. But she is a great example of good things becoming bad things when they are not put in their proper place. She had become distracted and disgruntled and made more of her tasks and of herself than she ought to.

She was well-meaning in her service but her priorities were out of line and she was incorrect in her assumption about what Jesus wanted.

She assumed that Jesus would want the best that her household had to offer, and that best meant a well plated meal and an immaculate table and all the things that put your house in magazines and on HGTV.

Is that what Jesus wanted, did he want her best? Yes. Was her best her abilities? No.

Jesus Christ, Messiah, the Son of God was in her living room and she buried His instruction and teaching and presence with excessive and unnecessary preparations instead of accepting the benefit of being in His presence and hearing His Word.

But Martha is not the bad guy in this story and Mary the good guy. There is harmony to be found between the two, as Charles Wesley wrote, “Martha’s careful hands and Mary’s loving heart.”

41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

Jesus answered her with love and compassion, Martha, Martha… You’ve chosen hard work, and Mary has chosen rest, you are anxious and troubled about many things but there is only one thing that is necessary to rightly receive me.

So there was Martha working away in the kitchen trying her best to serve the Lord while Mary sat at His feet and listened to His teaching and Jesus said that she had chosen the good portion and He wouldn’t take it from her.

Martha was out there giving it her all, all worked up and worried about the things that didn’t really matter and certainly wouldn’t last. She was trying to give Jesus her best and thought that Mary should too, but her best wasn’t her work, or talents, or abilities, the best she had to give was her heart.

That’s what Mary chose.

The truth is that the servant of God is hungry for the Word of God where we experience the presence of God, the servant of Christ longs to hear the voice of Christ.

To put this in practical terms, the church lawn needs mowing and Martha chose to mow the lawn during the church service, she’s downstairs making lunch during the sermon! This is useless activity because it is based on improper priorities.

Listening to the Word of God must have the utmost priority, and I’m not just talking about listening to me. In fact, if you are only listening to me or Sundays you are going to starve and your walk with the Lord is going to suffer.

We have to saturate ourselves in the Word of God. Listen to sermons, listen to the Alistair Begg’s, the John Piper’s, the RC Sproul’s, the Ray Steadman’s. If you want some recommendations for good preachers to listen to or authors to read come talk to me after, I’d love to give you some.

The simple truth is that our commitment to Christ must be a priority over our achievement for Christ. As Alistair Begg put it, “Beware the trap of performance based Christianity.”

We are often tempted to get so busy doing for Christ that we neglect being with Christ.

Jesus said in John 15:4-5, a chapter all about this subject,

4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

There is certainly nothing wrong with “doing for Christ,” we are all called to serve Him and there is certainly a lot of work to do, but our service to Christ must come after our devotion to Christ, our time in His Word and in prayer, our time hearing good preaching and reading good books.

We have to fill the buckets of our hearts with the Word of God so when we are asked we have something good to pour out.

38 Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

Mary is not the hero of this story, Jesus is.

Choose the good portion and fill your heart with the Word of the Lord.

Amen.

The Better Samaritan - Luke 10:25-37 - July 2, 2023

 Luke 10:25-37 The Better Samaritan

Good morning! Turn with me to Luke chapter 10. We are going to look at verses 25-37, on page 869 in the pew Bibles, a passage well known as the parable of the Good Samaritan.

Often times when we look at parables and accounts in Scripture we tend to identify with one or more of the characters in the story. It’s popular in the church today to paint ourselves into the picture, and if we’re honest, we try to identify with the hero.

When we read about David and Goliath we turn the story into one about us and how we should face our giants with faith like David had.

This makes for engaging sermons to be sure, but I’m not sure how true and helpful they actually are.

This morning we are going to look at another one of those accounts and examine the layers of it, the parable of the Good Samaritan, one of the most well known parables of Jesus.

Let’s read it together.

25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” 

29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

Let’s pray.

So here we have a lawyer questioning Jesus. Now first of all we have to remember that this is not a lawyer like we have today, this was not an attorney, or a trial lawyer, or prosecutor. This was an expert in the Law of Moses, a religious leader and scholar of the Jews.

But, like any good lawyer would, when he questions Jesus to put Him to the test, he asks a question that he already knows the answer to.

“Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

Now we can’t go another inch further without recognizing that this is one of the most fundamentally important questions anybody could ever ask, what do I have to do to get eternal life?

Maybe some here, if you thought about it for a moment, might struggle with the answer to this question. How do we get eternal life? I hope by the end of our time here this morning that there will be no doubt as to the answer to that fundamental question.

So what does Jesus say in response to this man’s question? As He often does, He answers his question with another question, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?”

And the man answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

He is quoting directly from Deuteronomy 6:5, also known as the “Shema,” as well as Leviticus 19:18.

This is known as the Great Commandment and Jesus affirms it as such when he tells this guy, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.”

Now this points directly to a question that perhaps you may have never considered, how were people in the Old Testament saved, how did they inherit eternal life? Here is the answer: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

Loving the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength meant trusting Him and trusting His promise to send a Redeemer. Even in the Old Testament people were justified by faith in the Messiah, Messiah that was coming just as we are justified by faith in the Messiah that has come, Jesus Christ.

In Great Commandment we have the summary of the two tables of the Law, the two halves of the Ten Commandments. The first four Commandments have to do with loving the Lord our God, and the second six have to do with loving our neighbor.

So this lawyer knew the answer to the question already, he knew the Law, but what he didn’t know was himself.

The lawyer asks, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 [Jesus] said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” 

How should the lawyer have responded? He should have admitted that it was impossible for him to do this, that he had never been able to do this, and never would be able to do this. He should have asked Jesus how it was possible and I’m sure that Jesus would have instructed him on the grace of God that was at work even at that moment… But that’s not what the lawyer said.

29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

It’s important for us to be aware that the Jews in the First Century had very defined rules regarding who their neighbor was because of what the Law said about loving their neighbor. The trouble is that they got it wrong. Their definition of who their neighbor was was anyone who they thought was worthy of being their neighbor. This excluded Gentiles and Samaritans who they considered their enemies.

Jesus said in Matthew 5:43-45, 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.

Loving your enemies was totally contrary to what they had been taught, loving those who you considered your neighbor was fine though. 29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.

The road from Jerusalem to Jericho was around 17 miles of steep rocky terrain, a true wilderness, a home to robbers and thieves looking to prey on unsuspecting travelers. The victim in Jesus’ parable was a Jewish man traveling alone through this treacherous wilderness and fell victim to robbers who robbed him, stripped him, beat him and left him for dead. In those conditions he certainly would have died unless someone came along and helped him.

The Priest and the Levite, traveling separately, most likely on their way home after their service in the Temple, came upon the man on the road. They knew this road, and they both knew that if they stopped to help they would most likely be next. What if it were a trap and this guy was the bait?

JJ van Oosterzee wrote, “Neither the voice of humanity, nor that of nationality, nor that of religion, speaks so loudly to their heart as the desire for self-preservation.”

They didn’t care who that guy was or what happened to him. Their hearts were hard and completely devoid of compassion so they left the man there to die.

 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’

 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

The lawyer whom Martin Luther calls, “a haughty hypocrite,” won’t even say the word Samaritan in his response, only, “the one who showed him mercy.”

So let’s consider the layers of the parable.

On the surface the lesson is very clear: all mankind is our neighbor regardless of race or creed or anything else, and we are commanded to love them as we love ourselves.

We turn the priest and the Levites into the bad guys and the Samaritan is clearly the good guy. And of course with every good story we want to identify with the good guy so we imagine ourselves as the Samaritan and remind ourselves to do good for people regardless of where they are from or what they are like because that is what Jesus said to do.

The end, right?

But maybe there’s more to it. And at the risk of turning this parable into an allegory, which not a lot of Biblical scholars are fans of, maybe there is more to learn from this than to just be nice to everybody.

Maybe we aren’t the hero of the story even though we might like to be.

Maybe we are the victim. Maybe we are the guy on the side of the road that has been beaten and stripped and left for dead. But instead of the robbers being random strangers, the robbers are our own sin, our own inability to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, to say nothing of loving our neighbors as ourselves.

Maybe the Priest and the Levite are religion and good works, unable and unwilling to do anything to help our dire condition, passing by on the other side of the road to get away from us and our wretchedness.

Maybe Jesus is the Good Samaritan, the Better Samaritan, that forfeits His own life and safety and comfort to tend to our wounds, but instead of wine and oil He pours out His own blood that by it our wounds would be healed.

Jesus is always the hero of the story and we are the ones in need of rescuing, and so was that lawyer.

He asked the fundamental question, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 

In the parable, along with you and me, the lawyer is the one in the ditch dying, and the answer to the question for him and for us is the same, trust the Rescuer, the Better Samaritan, Jesus Christ, to bind your wounds and pay for you to have a place in His eternal kingdom with His own blood on the cross.

To love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is only possible through faith in Jesus Christ and the help of the Holy Spirit, that’s the only way it’s ever been possible.

Go and do likewise!

Amen.

Easter 2021 - Romans 5:6-11 - April 4, 2021

These are the Sermon Notes for our Easter Service on April 4, 2021. We are meeting at the church with specific procedures and protocols that need to be followed. Read our Covid-19 plan here. You can still watch our livestream service every Sunday at 9:37 am on our facebook page or watch the livestream recordings any time.

 Easter 2021 Romans 5:6-11 

Good morning, He is risen!

Every year on Easter we participate in several traditions, we get up early for the sunrise-ish service, we usually have Easter breakfast, our regular service, and then a big lunch with family, maybe you do some egg hunts or Easter baskets in there somewhere too.

One of the traditions within all that is to focus on the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Nate read that at sunrise and I’d like to read another version of it for you now.

Matthew 28:1-10

Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 2 And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4 And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. 5 But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.” 8 So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”

Let’s pray

Today Christians all over the world are celebrating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead and I think the celebration in its various forms is for at least two reasons.

Reason #1 that we are celebrating is that Jesus is no longer dead! We serve a Risen Savior, He is alive forevermore! Amen?!

Reason #2 that we are celebrating is that Jesus’ death and resurrection actually accomplished something wonderful for us, for the whole world! And that’s the reason for celebrating that I would like to focus on this morning.

We are going to pause our study on 1 Peter for today and look at Romans chapter 5, verses 6-11, that’s on page 942in the pew Bibles.

6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

There are a few words used in Scripture that can’t stand alone, they are words that signal that a thought is part of a larger context. I’ve said it before that the word “therefore” is one of those words, you can’t simply begin your study at a place that begins with a “therefore.” It’s a signal that you have to go back and read the text before that word to get a handle on the original author’s intent, what the original author was trying to say.

Another one of those words is the word: “for.” It’s a connecting word, a word that signals the connection between thoughts. So we cannot simply start our study this morning with verse 6 because it needs to stay connected to the whole argument that Paul is making.

Verses 6-11 have been used many times for evangelistic sermons and challenges to show people that God loves them and has made it possible for them to be saved from their sins by the death of Christ on the cross, that forgiveness and reconciliation are available by God’s grace.

All of that is true. It’s all true even though that was not the point that Paul was trying to make.

Verse 6 starts with the word “for,” a connecting word. So let’s go back and see what it’s connected to…

I would like to tell you that it’s quite simple, we just have to read two or three verses prior to these and we will get the larger context and be able to make sense of the whole thing. But that’s not how this letter works at all.

In fact, almost every paragraph in Paul’s letter to the Romans either begins with a “for,” or a “therefore” or a question. This may be a little tricky!

Up until now, in this letter to the Roman Christians, Paul has represented God as holy, righteous, and just. He has represented Him as a keeper of His promises and the justifier of the faithful. And all that is well and good and true but here in this section Paul reintroduces an old attribute of God, the idea that God is loving. Here in verse 5 is the first time in this letter that Paul mentions God’s love and I think that’s significant.

The idea that God is loving was not new. God’s “steadfast love” was mentioned almost 200 times in the Old Testament. But here in this context we can see that salvation AND suffering, like we talked about last week from 1 Peter, salvation and trials are both evidence of God’s love.

So let’s skip back to  verse one of Romans 5.

 5:1Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. 

6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Last week we talked about about the purpose of our trials because when God is involved pain is productive, we are refined by our trials. Trials and pain produce patient endurance, and proven character, and confident hope and it is evidence that God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. God proves His love for us in our pain.

Through our pain God is making us into something more, making us more like Jesus, more loving, more patient, more dependent on Him.

Paul is saying that God uses pain to accomplish His purposes and His greatest proof of that is at the cross of Jesus Christ.

6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

When the timing was just right, when it had been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that mankind was powerless to save ourselves from the wrath of God, God stepped in Himself and died on the cross for the ungodly.

Jesus Christ died for those who were powerless to save themselves.

Jesus Christ died for those who had no regard for God, who had given God no place in their lives.

7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

It’s rare that a person would die for his friend. Though exceptions can be found it is still rare. And rare as it is, it is a demonstration of a person’s character and love to lay down one’s life for a friend. 

Jesus said in John 15:13, “Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”

But God does one better. We were not His friends. We were not the chosen few who were good enough to earn His favor. 

We were His enemies.

While we were powerless to save ourselves, while we had given no place for God in our lives, while we stood opposed to Him and His principles… Jesus Christ died for us.

9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 

Through the blood of Christ we are no longer what we once were, we are no longer weak, ungodly sinners who are enemies of God who are under His looming wrath! Our identity has completely changed!

Do you know what you’ve got? Do you know who you are? Don’t you know that through your pain God is working to make you more like Him?

God had a purpose in Christ’s pain, to reconcile you to Himself, and Christ’s pain ended in death!

Even if your pain ends in death, like Christ, you will be resurrected to live eternally!

We are saved from the wrath of God through the blood of Christ, so whatever you’re going through it has nothing to do with His wrath, and everything to do with His love! Through faith in Jesus Christ, God is no longer angry with you.

10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

We were once weak, ungodly, sinners, and enemies of God but through faith in Jesus we aren’t anymore!

Because of Christ’s death on the cross in our place we are now no longer weak but powerful, not because of any power that comes from us but from the Holy Spirit living and working in us.

Because of Christ’s death on the cross in our place we are no longer ungodly, but we give God the place He deserves in our hearts, the throne, He is our King!

Because of Christ’s death on the cross in our place we are no longer sinners but saints! Our lives are marked by the fruit of the Spirit, by love and joy and peace not by sin and shameful behavior. Our lives are lived for His glory not ours!

Because of Christ’s death on the cross in our place we are no longer enemies of God but we are His adopted children. We are reconciled and made His own! We are His and He is ours!

John Calvin wrote: “[Paul] now ascends into the highest strains of glorying; for when we glory that God is ours, whatever blessings can be imagined or wished, ensue and flow from this fountain; for God is not only the chief of all good things, but also possesses in Himself the sum and substance of all blessings; and He becomes ours in Christ.”

That’s what the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead accomplished for us, we are Christ’s and He is ours, We are the Father’s and He is ours.

Our pain, Christ’s pain, is all evidence of God’s love. By faith in Him we are adopted as His own, no longer enemies but His beloved children.

As Peter wrote in 1 Peter 1:8-9, “Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

Amen. May grace and peace be multiplied to you.