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Ephesians 5:25-30 Back in the 1960's and 70's during what was later termed as the “sexual revolution” a phrase was coined - “free love.” The idea was that love - by which sex was implied - should be without any attachments. There would be no personal commitments, no restrictions regarding partners and certainly no marriages. This idea continues with us today as people continue to disregard God’s design for “love” and indulge themselves in all types of sexual activity outside of a marriage covenant. If we examine this concept of “free love,” we notice two important things. First, the word “love” has been hijacked to mean something other than what it truly is. Second, it is a contradiction. Love is not a synonym for sex. Neither is love only about having “feelings” for someone. Love is devotion. In his instructions about marriage, Paul tells husbands to love their wives “just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her.” In using Christ’s example of love for the church, Paul very clearly spells out the nature of love. It is fully devoted to another for their good, even to the point of giving one’s life for their benefit. This is love at its finest. But love also expresses itself in small acts of kindness and deference such as making your spouse’s cup of tea; putting the dishes away; encouraging your spouse to choose the restaurant; overlooking little irritations; seeing to your spouses' needs when she is ill, etc. In looking at Christ’s love for the church which is enjoined upon husbands for their wives, one sees the contradiction in the term “free love.” Love isn’t free, and true lovers don’t want to be free. In fact, they bind themselves together in a marriage covenant in which they pledge their full devotion to one another through “richer or poorer, in sickness and in health.” They pledge their faithfulness to one another just as Christ demonstrated His love for the church and gave His life for her. Lovers wouldn’t have it any other way. “Free love?” No such thing. The word of God says so.

Luke 18:9-14 Many of us have been blessed to have been born into Christian homes. Our parents loved us and cared for us from birth. They weren’t perfect, but did their best to teach us right from wrong and to discipline us when necessary. (Some of us received that discipline a lot more frequently than others!) They told us about God, took us to church and modeled the ways of Christ for us in our home. This was truly a great blessing, and more than likely it kept us from a life which sank into the “deep things of Satan” (Revelation 2:24). Many (though not all) who did not have the benefit of this Christian upbringing were drawn into the depths of evil. Among such things are sexual immorality of all types, drunkenness, drug addictions, greed (manifested in theft, gambling, shady business practices, etc.), Satan worship, human trafficking (for sex and money), slavery, pornography, abuse of power, etc. We are aware of such things, but let’s observe this. If a person has never been caught up in any of these things, especially for a significant period of time, they really have no idea what it’s like to be enslaved by Satan in any of these traps. To feel the helplessness, the hopelessness, the guilt, the shame - to be convinced that there is no way out nor even a reason to want out - most of us will never know these feelings or be so totally deluded by such lies. It is imperative, then, that those who have had the benefit of being reared in a Christian home, be extremely careful about how they view those who have been or even still are caught up in the evil ways of the world. Jesus told a parable about this. The Pharisee prayed, pointed out his own righteous deeds, and thanked God he was not like other people who had been involved in sins and crimes of all sorts. The Publican could only look away from heaven and pray: “God, be merciful to me, the sinner!” I wonder if God saw the self-righteousness of the Pharisee to be a worse sin than anything which the Publican might have done?

Romans 5:8-10 According to Webster, a conundrum is any puzzling question or problem. The Bible is filled with conundrums: things which appear to be contradictory, things which are difficult to understand, things which we cannot fully understand. Our God is a conundrum. He has chosen to reveal Himself to us in several ways: creation, angelic messengers, His interaction with various individuals in history, the holy scriptures and, of course, Jesus His Son. Despite all of this, God remains a great mystery. Without doubt, we know less about Him than there is to be known (Romans 11:33-35; Ephesians 3:16-19). One such significant conundrum about God is found in Romans 5:9. (Please take a moment to read.) Now think about what you read. Do you see it? We teach this and preach this all the time, but often fail to see the tension, the head-scratching conflict here. The more obvious truth is that it is by the blood of the Christ that a person is justified or declared righteous. In Christ (through faith, repentance, baptism), a person is forgiven sins and brought into a harmonious relationship with God. Salvation is made possible by the sacrificial death of the Son of God. Now the tension. Salvation from what? Salvation from the wrath of God! So, we have the wrath of a holy God which is coming to bring destruction on mankind being turned away by the bloody death of the Son of this same God! And it is the same God who sent His Son to effect this salvation, this turning away of His wrath! Is God confused? Is God unsure of what He wants to do with the human race? Is it “wrath,” or is it “salvation”? This tension arises from the person of God Himself. God is holy (1 Peter 1:16), but He is love as well (1 John 4:8). His holiness calls for justice to be served on the evil doer. His love for the human race calls for mercy to be extended. Our God is amazing, marvelous, wonderful and indescribable - He alone is God, and there is no other (Isaiah 44:6-8).

James 4:15 You may have seen one of those recent commercials which put forward the message in regard to this corona virus pandemic that “science” will be what will get us through it - or words to that effect. What do you think about that? I’m sure the ads are pointing to such things as testing, data collection, treatment and a vaccine. Truly, I am thankful for all that medical science can do, but is medical science the only answer to this virus? In fact, is it the best answer? Asa is considered one of the “good” kings of Judah, but in his later days he made a treaty with the king of Aram without consulting the Lord God. When Hanani the seer was sent by God to confront him about this, Asa became angry and imprisoned the prophet. This incident seems to have affected Asa for the rest of his days. We are told: “In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa became diseased in his feet. His disease was severe, yet even in his disease he did not seek the Lord, but the physicians.” (2 Chronicles 16:12) So, what do we do with this? Two things come to mind. First: Let us ever be mindful that it is God who enables the medical community. By His providence in creation, through His blessing of human endeavors and His own will, God brings about the medical advances from which we all benefit. If He didn’t enable them, they would not exist. Second: There is this matter of trust. With all the medications, procedures, surgeries, etc. now available, we tend to forget about God and just run to the doctor. Whom do we trust? I certainly trust my doctor, but she is not infallible, nor all-knowing, nor even able to do much in certain cases. But we do know who is infallible, all-wise and all-powerful. The Lord God. When James was rebuking Christians for living their lives without God, he wrote: “...you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.’” Of significance, the first thing James notes about God’s will is that “we will live.” This has never changed. Ultimately, we are in God’s hands. Trust Him.

Job 1:7-8 The book of Job presents us with many different lessons and truths. We tend to focus on the topic of suffering, but there is more here than just that. We recall that the Lord allows Satan to test His servant Job with great loss and suffering. Job’s three friends come to offer consolation but provide little and, in fact, speak wrongly of God in the process. Job laments his situation, disagrees with his friends’ assessment of things, and questions God about His purposes in it all. Finally, God Himself shows up with questions for Job for which he has no answers. He can only humble himself and acknowledge God as Sovereign. In the end, Job is vindicated. God asks questions of two persons in the story: of Satan and of Job.When Job needs to see the reality of God in his world, the Lord questions him about dozens of things in creation (Job 38-41): •What do you know about the foundations of the earth? •What do you know of the sea and its boundaries? •Have you “commanded the morning”? •What of the “springs of the sea”? •Where is the place of darkness? •What about the “storehouses of the snow”? •Do you know the way of the thunderbolt? •“Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades?” •“Can you hunt prey for the lion?” •What do you know of Behemoth? “Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook?” These are all questions about the physical world. However, when God speaks with Satan and asks a question of him, He speaks of a different realm - a different reality if you will. “Have you considered My servant Job?” It is most telling that when God and Satan “have a conversation” it is not about the wonders and glories of creation, but about the “blameless and upright” conduct of a man who fears God. What truth is this telling us?

Revelation 3:20 A story is told of a man who took his little girl to an art gallery. She showed no interest at all until they came to a picture of a tired looking man, knocking and knocking on a door. The picture showed people on the other side of the door - it looked as if they had no plans to open it. She was hooked. “Who is that?” she asked her dad. How could she know the question would trouble his heart - a heart that was wrestling with deep questions. “It’s Jesus, “ he heard himself say with a slight edge to his voice. A pause, and then: “Won’t they let him in?” Unease began to grow in the man, but he could hardly brush her off, so he quietly said: “No they won’t let him in.” Quick as light, she asked: “Is he bad?” And he shot back just as fast: “No! He isn’t bad.” Faster still, she demanded: “Well, then, why won’t they let him in?” Now he was really uneasy. He’d had enough, and as he gently but firmly walked her away from the picture, he heard himself say in a tone too terse: “How do I know?” She sensed the tension and said no more, but every now and then, big, dark, round eyes glanced at him and then in the direction of the portrait. She knew he knew something he wasn’t telling her. At supper no word was said about it, but the eyes kept talking. After supper she got ready for bed, and with pajamas on...she climbed up on his lap and hugged his neck longer than usual. Then she kissed him, headed for the bedroom, stopped, turned, and said: “We’d let him in, wouldn’t we?” – from Jesus, Hero of Thy Soul by Jim McGuiggan Well, would you let Him in? Have you?

Isaiah 66:7-14 God presents Himself to us as masculine. He is our heavenly Father. When the Word became flesh, He came as a male - Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God and the Son of Man. But let’s not make the mistake of thinking that the female side of the human race just dropped out of the sky or evolved on its own. On the sixth day, God made Eve from Adam’s rib and gave her the qualities of female humanity. He made her to be a woman and a mother. And note this well: All of these female qualities and characteristics came from the person of God. He did not invent them for Eve, but imbued her with them from His own self. Consider these scriptures which depict God doing things for Israel which we normally associate with mothers. In Isaiah 66:7-14, the Lord speaks of Himself in two ways regarding the giving of birth. First, He is the one who gives birth to a land or a nation, and second, He is the one who also brings about the birth of children in the womb. This is very much female activity. The Lord is seen to be the one to nurse Israel in a time when she is in need of sustenance. Certainly fathers can’t do this, but a broader picture is presented in scripture of God providing food for His people. Usually this is a task which a mother takes upon herself. Here we also see that the Lord comforts His people in this time of turmoil. “As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you...” It’s usually mom to whom we run when we are hurting and in tears. But there is also cheerful care and constant assurance. “...you will be carried on the hip and fondled on the knees.” Other translations have dandled or bounced. Isn’t this what mothers do? Then from Jeremiah 30:16-17, it is the Lord who heals wounds and restores Jacob to health. This has mothers written all over it! They are the ones who examine the wounds and apply the ointment and the bandages. Mothers are indeed from God!

Matthew 20:24-28 “...It seems like this morning has just dragged by. It sure would be nice to hear from somebody. I can’t remember the last time somebody called me. I wonder how Mrs Sezalot is doing? I remember that Mr Grouchester was going to have that operation. I wonder if he did? How are Sam and Nellie doing? Is he still working? I wonder how their kids are doing? It sure is quiet around here. Nobody has texted me since I don’t know when. There’s the phone! Oh, “out of area.” Just another robocall. What will I fix for lunch? That reminds me - I wonder if anybody knows if the bakery is still open? I wonder how Mollie is getting along? She was having a lot of trouble with her arthritis. ...It sure would be nice to hear from somebody.” It’s easy to fall into this trap. We have the tendency to be self-centered rather than “other-centered.” It’s a product of sin. We like for people to cater to us. We like to focus upon ourselves. Jesus came to correct our sinful ways of living and selfish ways of looking at life and other people. He said, “...the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Understanding that Jesus is God being a man, we can get great insight into what love is, for God is love. Jesus sets the bar high for loving and serving others. He left the glorious fellowship of the godhead to come and minister to all humanity. He saw our peril and came to rescue us. He walked among us throughout Galilee and Judea healing, comforting, teaching, guiding, correcting - blessing people as they had need. As Jesus’ disciples, we Christians are to follow in His steps. Love doesn’t wait for something to happen. Love makes it happen!

2 Timothy 2:8-13 In the early days of this corona virus pandemic, we all saw meeting after meeting, event after event cancelled. Schools closed. Businesses closed. We even decided to suspend our own meeting together until the worst had passed. But in all of these shutterings, we need to keep perspective that God is still OPEN! Paul was imprisoned when he wrote his second letter to Timothy, but he reminded him that “the word of God is not imprisoned.” (Some versions have chained or bound.) God Himself and the many needful elements of our spiritual lives are never bound, cancelled or closed. God has made sure of that! •God is still Sovereign over the affairs of mankind •Jesus is still Lord, our Intercessor and Advocate •The Holy Spirit still leads and strengthens us •Prayer is not cancelled •The Bible is not closed (unless you keep it closed) •Faith is not cancelled •Hope is not cancelled •Love is not cancelled •Praise is not cancelled •Rejoicing is not cancelled •The Gospel still has the power to save •Eternal life is still being offered •Baptism is still available •The promises of God are not cancelled •Jesus’ return has not been cancelled In situations like this, it is easy to take our eyes off the Lord and start dwelling on the threat and the disruptions of our normal life. We need to lift up our eyes and stay focused upon our God who is with us in this trial, and who will be the One to bring us through it. “Had it not been the Lord who was on our side...” - Psalm 124.

Ephesians 4:29 More often than not, when we talk about the use of our tongue and the words we speak, we focus on not speaking those things which are harmful, such as lies, slander, gossip, cursing, etc. Well and good, but scripture also teaches us that we need to use our tongues in a helpful and uplifting way to “give grace to those who hear.” It seems to me that, in general, we don’t do this very well. We aren’t very generous in expressing words which edify and encourage others. What are we talking about? The first thing which comes to mind is that we don’t express our “thanks” very much or very well. We just have an expectation that people will do certain things and never consider how much thought, time, effort and spiritual energy were given to what was done. Do you thank the brother who led that prayer? What about the song leader for leading that uplifting song? Somebody prepared the Lord’s table. Did you appreciate the bulletin this week? The website and Face book are kept updated with blogs, podcasts, notices, etc. Someone decorated the building. Somebody paid the bills.... Closely associated with our “thank yous” are words of praise. “Nice job!” “Your words touched my heart.” “Keep up the good work.” “Your smile always warms my heart.” “Your faithfulness is an inspiration to me.” Similarly, words of encouragement are so needful. “I know you’ve been going through a rough patch right now, and we’re keeping you in our prayers.” “Everybody fumbles with their words now and then. It’s what’s in the heart that matters.” “We heard about your trouble. How can we help?” “Remember, Jesus loves you.” And what better words of grace than if we have opportunity to share the gospel with somebody? “Jesus is still the answer.” Like the rest of our lives lived for Christ, our words are not simply to be void of evil and harm, but to be filled with grace and love.Speak words which “give grace to those who hear.”

1 Corinthians 15:45-58 We hear sermons and read articles that the cross was not the end of Jesus. Jesus’ adversaries among the Jewish religious rulers thought they had dealt decisively with this trouble maker. Pilate was just thankful to be rid of a potential disruptor of the peace. The devil danced with pompous glee. But the first day of the week dawned with the tomb empty - Jesus was alive again! Victory was His! Yet, the cross was the end of many things. Lest we forget, the victory was won at the cross. The empty tomb was the proof. At the cross, Jesus brought an end to sin. Yes, I know that we all still sin, but Jesus had broken the power of sin. As the “last Adam,” Jesus lived a life without sin, rendering to God what no human being had ever done before - perfect obedience. Thus, He could become the propitiation, the sacrifice, the Lamb of God on the cross to take away the sin of the world. Now, in and through the blood of Christ, people can be forgiven of all their sins and be brought into a right relationship with God. Through faith, repentance and baptism into Christ, this is now possible (Romans 6:1-11). The cross was the end of law as the standard for determining our eternal destiny. Jesus had kept God’s law perfectly and so overcame sin. Now in Him, we have His righteousness (perfection) and stand justified before God. Our task is to listen to His word and follow Him with complete devotion. The cross was also the end of death. Yes, I know that everybody still dies, but Jesus had broken the power of death and had returned from Hades (Revelation 1:17-18). His promise to all mankind is that in Him you can live again, and in fact have life eternal! It is His gift to us. The cross was the end of the devil’s reign on earth. Yes, he’s still our there setting traps and sniping at us, but he’s been whipped. Jesus now has all authority over all things. He is Lord and King. Through the cross, Jesus gained victory over all things which were in opposition to humanity. Thank you, Jesus, for your cross!

Exodus 3:1 - 4:17 “Excuses are a dime a dozen.” We’ve all heard that one. How about this one? - “Excuses are little lies we tell when we don’t want to tell the truth.” Hmmm? When Moses was called by the Lord on Mount Sinai to lead His people out of Egypt, Moses was reluctant to go and offered his excuses. “I’m just an ordinary guy and not qualified to do this.” (Ex 3:11). “If I show up in Egypt in front of all those people, who will I say sent me to do this great thing?” (Ex 3:13). “What if they won’t believe me?” (Ex 4:1). “I’m not an eloquent speaker. You need a good talker for this task.” (Ex 4:10). Then Moses finally told the truth. “Please, Lord, send somebody else to do this. Anybody.” (Ex 4:13). In other words, Moses finally admitted that he just didn’t want the job! Period. People are no different today. We all offer our excuses when we don’t want to do something. Our “little lies” are a smokescreen for the truth, which is usually: “I don’t want to do it.” We’ve all offered them. Do any of these sound familiar?