Bread of His Presence

Lechem Panim #51 "The Surrendered Ones" (Psalm 16) Pastor Cameron Ury

We will be continuing today our study of Psalm 16. In it the Psalmist calls to the Lord…

Psalm 16 (ESV) A Miktam of David— 1 Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. 2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.” 3 As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight. 4 The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips. 5 The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. 6 The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. 7 I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. 8 I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. 9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. 10 For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption. 11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

You know, I have been to many bookstores in my lifetime. My section is usually the smallest that they have: Christianity and Theology. Those sections are often dwarfed by another section: the self-help section. And every one of the books in that section is meant to help you achieve excellence in some area of your life. Now I am sure that there are a lot of good books there; some of which are needed. But here in Psalm 16 the excellent ones are those who have done two things. First, they have dis-attached themselves from all other gods and sources of fulfillment and have attached themselves to worship of Yahweh. And that is something we are called to do as well, as we empty our hands of other things in order to embrace Jesus, Yeshua. Jesus’ name (Yeshua) literally means “Yahweh Saves”. And so Jesus is the embodiment of God’s salvation for us. And it is only when we attach ourselves to Him that we have life. But in order to do that we must forsake all other so-called gods, which can be anything that separates us from Him. Paul writes in…

1 Corinthians 10:14-16 (ESV)-- 14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. 15 I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. 16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?

Those Who Handle The Sacred-- I love what Terry Laughlin says on this passage. He says that [In 1 Corinthians 10:16 the apostle Paul reminds the Corinthian believers about the truths of being under the blood of Christ. He wanted to relay an authoritative message that said if man has eaten the bread in remembrance of the Body of Christ and drunk the wine in remembrance of His Blood, he cannot then fill his heart and life of wickedness.

There was a splendid statue that was done of Jesus Christ by Thorwaldsen. After he had carved it, he was offered a great deal of money to fashion a statue of Venus. His answer was this, "The hand that carved the form of Christ can never carve the form of a heathen goddess."

{And Terry Laughlin points out that} What was true in Corinth at the time of the Apostle Paul's ministry is also true for today. The Christian who has handled the sacred things of Christ cannot soil his soul with things that God calls wickedness. He cannot use the talents, spiritual gifts or possessions that the Lord has given him for personal gain, nor for this world's system of operating, nor surrender them to Satan's control and expect blessings. The child of God who knows that He is in Christ walks a life exemplifying that the work of redemption in his life was for the glory of God. God's plan and the Lord's willingness to redeem fallen mankind now enables the sinner who was once bound by sin the freedom to choose a new life that is God- and Christ-centered. Christians have "Jesus Christ, who gave Himself... to redeem [them] from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good." (Titus 2:14) The King James Bible says Jesus is "purifying unto Himself a peculiar people..." of whom He has a special interest, literally "His treasured people.”]

A Fading Away-- If you truly experience the Lordship of Christ in your life, there will be a fading away of the earthly pattern of doing life. “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace.” In your embracing Christ, have you let go of the old idols you used to place your hope in and forsook them, letting them fade away from your life? If you haven’t done that, you need to if you ever truly want to experience God’s life and His salvation.

Evil: The Wrong Place or The Wrong Time-- And guess what; we are not just to let go of evil things, but even some good things. The Psalmist has just said to God, “Besides You, no good.” And in saying that, he is revealing to us that (as one scholar I read put it): [it is possible there are some good things in this world that Yahweh created that are not good. That is, they are not good for me. Why is this so? Because it is possible to use something out of God’s will. {And} What the text is implying is that evil is simply good misused. So the psalmist says, “I have come to the place where I will let You decide what is good for me.” Evil is simply good in the wrong place or at the wrong time. It is not an eternal entity independent of the good gods as it is in most of the religions of the Ancient New East. {He says} even the snake of Genesis 3, which many interpreters equate with Satan, the accuser, in Job is nothing more than a creature of God. Yahweh created everything that exists, so if you find something or someone acting contrary to God’s will, it is not because there is an independent evil force over against the creator God and in eternal conflict with Him. {Rather, he says} In the Old Testament, if something exists, no matter whether it is good or evil, God made it. But the reality is that evil is something that was originally good. {And this scholar says} You can apply this truth in many ways. It is an old adage in the study of anthropology that two people doing the same thing may not be doing the same thing. One may be carrying out the most sacred expression of love, while the other may be performing a brutal rape. So the psalmist is here saying, “I have learned that even if it is good in itself, if it is not part of Your will for me, then it isn’t good for me. It was good when it came from Your hand, but if it is not a part of Your will for me, then it is not good for me. And I will let You make a decision on that.”]

Will He Decide?-- You know, ever single one of us has had to make tough decisions, sometimes choosing between two or more things that may have all been good; what career path to pursue, what job to take, which person to marry, what church to become a part of. And sometimes God allows us some leeway in those choices. But the heart of what it means to live a Christian life and to abide in this thing we call sanctification is this: Will I allow Yahweh to be Lord, and will I allow Him to decide what is good for me? Verse 3 describes the people who submit to the Lordship of Yahweh. It says…

Psalm 16:3-4 (ESV)-- 3 As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight. {But then there is a second group of people. Verse 4 says…} 4 The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips.

The qedoshim-- Now here the Psalmist differentiates between two groups. And the first group is the qedoshim, the holy ones. And we will talk more about them next week. But they are the ones who are set apart to God. Now the second group are those who “hasten after another,” ’aher. Now one scholar I read pointed out something very interesting here. He said: [All of our translations say, “The sorrows will increase of those who run after other gods,” but the term “gods” is not found in the Hebrew. The Hebrew simply says, “run after another.” To be sure, the next part of the verse makes it very clear that the writer is ultimately addressing the question of idolatry. But {he says} I am grateful the text here does not specify other “gods.” Your sorrows will increase if you run after anything that is out of the will of God.…Sorrows will increase for those who run after anything other than the will of Yahweh and His sovereign purposes and His sovereign control. He {(the Psalmist)} says, “I will not be a part of those that make their sacrifices to anything other than to Yahweh, that pour out their lives [their blood] for anything other than Yahweh, or that take up their names.” {And then this scholar said something very interesting. He said:} As you know, a person’s language reveals a great deal about that person. If you let me listen to you long enough, I can tell what is in your heart. So, the psalmist says, the very nouns I use, or don’t use, will tell you what my commitments are. My language will reflect the fact that I have set Yahweh always before my face. He is the one whom I seek, and He is the one whom I want to serve.]

[COMMITMENT VS. SURRENDER-- …there is an account of a conversation between the late Adrian Rogers and Rev Josef Tson, the Romanian pastor, author, and president of the Romanian Missionary Society who survived years of persecution and exile under cruel Communist rule. Rogers asked Dr Tson for his perception of American Christianity. Josef said the key word in American Christianity is commitment. This is not good. "As a matter of fact, the word commitment did not come into great usage in the English language until about the 1960s. In Romania we do not even have a word to translate the English word commitment. If you were to use commitment in your message tonight, I would not have a proper word to translate it with. When a new word comes into usage, it generally pushes an old word out. I began to study and found the old word that commitment replaced - the word surrender.” What is the difference between commitment and surrender? “When you make a commitment, you are still in control, no matter how noble the thing you commit to. One can commit to pray, to study the Bible, to give his money, or to commit to automobile payments, or to lose weight. Whatever he chooses to do, he commits to. But surrender is different. If someone holds a gun and asks you to lift your hands in the air as a token of surrender, you don’t tell that person what you are committed to. You simply surrender and do as you are told… Americans love commitment because they are still in control. But the key word is surrender. We are to be slaves to the Lord Jesus Christ.”]

“To Will One Thing”-- And you know, that is often where we as Christians falls short. We want God’s will, but we also want our own. But this pattern of living is in keeping with the second group of people; [the second group of people in the world {(the Psalmist describes)} are those whose motivation is divided, whose motivation is not single. Soren Kierkegaard, the Danish philosopher-theologian, said that purity of heart is to will one thing. That describes the psalmist’s heart when he says at the opening of this psalm, “I said to the Lord [Yahweh], ‘You are my Lord.’”] Have you surrendered to Christ as your Lord and Savior; truly surrendered with ALL of your heart?

Today, give Him your whole heart. Let the Lord have His way in you. And you will have life, and have it to full; and you will dwell in peace and security in He who is the source of all goodness. Give your all to Him today. Amen.

Lechem Panim #50 "No Good Apart From You" (Psalm 16) Pastor Cameron Ury

Our Passage today is Psalm 16. In it the Psalmist cries out…

Psalm 16 (ESV) A Miktam of David— 1 Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. 2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.” 3 As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight. 4 The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips. 5 The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. 6 The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. 7 I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. 8 I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. 9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. 10 For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption. 11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

FFL— In our FOUNDATIONS FOR LIFE SERIES, we are have taken a look at a number of Psalms, which have revealed to us some amazing things about the nature of God. Psalm 146 revealed to us that behind all these titles that we have for God, there is a personal God who longs to be in an intimate relationship with you and with me. And when we attach ourselves to Him, our lives will be forever changed. We also looked at Psalm 121, which revealed to us the difference between the Biblical way of viewing the world as opposed to the way that Israel’s neighbors (and many throughout history; even today) saw (and see) the world. There are similarities among these religious views simply because they are religions, to be sure. But not all religions the same. One worldview will tell you to love your neighbor; another will tell you to eat your neighbor. They cannot both be equally true or equally moral. And few places can you see a stronger contrast between some of the horrors of pagan religion and the Biblical worldview than right here in the Old Testament. And the  Psalms in particular give us a picture of a God who is radically different than any other deity in the ancient world. And it begins with His being the Creator and Lord of all things. He is not a created being, nor is He part of creation and therefore subject to the same things we are. He truly is Lord of all. And that gives Him a unique say over the world (an ultimate authority) and it also means that there is nothing outside His control, which is the foundation of the Christian concept of peace. Other religions may talk about the words peace and assurance, but it is the Biblical worldview alone that can provide an anchoring for that kind of peace in a God who is in control of every circumstance that you and I face. And we find that kind of language recurrent in the Psalms. Psalm 16 in particular gives us a powerful and clear picture of what a relationship with God ought to look like.

An Opening Conclusion-- Now in our writings and speeches we often end with our conclusion, but often times in the Psalms the writers will begin with their conclusion and then spend the rest of the Psalm explaining how they arrived at their conclusion. And so it is when we come to Psalm 16, which ends with what really is the final word that the Psalmist has to say. He says…

Psalm 16:1 (ESV)— 1 Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.

Where’s Your Refuge?-- Let me ask you, in your house, where do you go when a really bad storm hits? When I was growing up in South Bend, Indiana storms (even tornadoes) were pretty common. And during a storm, it was always downstairs to the basement family room. And we’d watch the storm through the ground-level windows. And then of course sometimes the power would go out. And that just made things more scary (but for us as kids, even more exciting). But where you go for security is important; because without a refuge, we can get blown away at any moment. And the Psalmist recognizes that God is our ultimate refuge.

My Shield and Portion-- It’s like we sing in Amazing Grace: “The Lord has promised good to me. His word my hope secures. He will my shield and portion be, As long as life endures.” We have solid ground that we can anchor into. Jesus and His Word is that foundation. And in that foundation we find both preservation and transformation of our lives and our purpose. One scholar I read on this said that in this Psalm the Psalmist […is speaking to God, and he says, “I need you to keep me, for if you do not, I will not be what I am supposed to be. I will not be what you want me to be. I will not be what I know deep within my own spirit I ought to be, so keep me. My relationship to you is one of refuge; I hide in You.”] Now at this point the Psalmist makes a very powerful statement. He says in…

Psalm 16:2a (ESV)-- 2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; 

And what the Psalmist is saying is [“I am making a separation. I have decided that You (and not someone else) are to be my Lord.”] And similarly there has to come a point when we choose to trust the Lord over and against everything else. Now we are pretty good at trust.

Trust is No Problem-- A couple weeks ago one of my former seminary professors overheard someone in one of his church’s discipleship groups say, "I trust. I am really good at trust. I have trusted in alcohol, in porn, in myself. Trust is no problem. It is where I am placing my trust - that's my problem.” You see, it is where you place you trust that makes all the difference.

Receiving as Lord-- And what the Psalmist is saying is that he has come to a point of faith and trust in Yahweh and has rejected any other so-called “lords” that people choose, but that have no power to preserve, sustain, or fulfill. And the same is true for us. We use the term “Lord” all too casually when talking about God; we don’t always really mean it. But what the Gospel teaches us is that our salvation and hope is anchored first upon our actually receiving Christ as the Lord of our lives. This is why we are told in…

Romans 10:9 (NIV)-- 9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Salvation Through Submission-- Salvation (apparently) is found not just in believing in Jesus as the Son of God, but also in receiving Him as the Lord of your life. You cannot know true salvation and true freedom until you submit to the Lordship of Christ.

My Dissatisfaction-- And I can bear testimony to this from my own personal experience. Anytime I have sought fulfillment of any type outside of the will and plan and purpose of God for my life, I have always ended up more empty than when I began. Every single time. And Satan often comes at me in a predictable way. First, he comes at me through dissatisfaction; dissatisfaction with who I am or about some particular thing about my life. I was struck this week by a line from a Veggie Tales movie my children were watching. They were talking about Psalm 23 and particularly the opening line: “The Lord is my Shepherd. I shall not want.” And they explained something I knew well, but for some reason am so prone to forgetting; and that is that when we have Jesus, we lack nothing; and therefore ought to crave nothing. And that is exactly one of my problems; when we have Jesus, we shouldn’t want or crave or desire with dissatisfaction because (in Jesus) we have everything. Amen? Satan tempted Adam and Eve by first making them distrust God and then by making them dissatisfied with their lives; and think about it, THEIR LIVES WERE PERFECT!!!! Yet even in perfection Satan can make us dissatisfied with who we are and tempt us into a life of unhealthy craving. And if we allow those cravings to lead us outside of a full submission to the Lordship of Jesus, then we will be broken and empty. Only by abiding in Christ and in His pattern for you will your life make any sense and will you have lasting fulfillment. Now the Psalmist then proceeds in the second half of verse 2 to say…

Psalm 16:2b (ESV)-- I have no good apart from you.”

“Besides You, no good.”— And one scholar I read said that what the Psalmist literally  [is saying is “Besides You, no good.” {And this scholar writes, saying that} That is a very significant theological statement in the Old Testament. He is saying, “Apart from You, O Yahweh, nothing is good.” Fundamental to this statement is the understanding that Yahweh made everything that is made, and if it is there, he made it. Furthermore, everything he made is good. This point is emphasized in Genesis 1; when Yahweh had finished the creation of all things, He looked at all that He had made and said, “It is good, very good,” (tob me’od). So if there should be anything apart from Yahweh and His purposes, it is not good.] 

The Jesus Storybook Bible: God’s Declaration of Goodness-- Recently I was reading to my kids from The Jesus Storybook Bible, which I have found to be the most profound children’s Bible I have ever come across. There are many children’s bibles our there that tell the basic Bible stories in easy language; but this Bible communicates some amazingly deep theological concepts in language very reachable for children. And when I was reading the story of creation to my kids this week, I found the phrasing a little odd in the creation account. When God declares what He has created as good, the way The Jesus Storybook Bible conveys it is that the creation was not good until God declared it to be so. And what it was trying to convey was that goodness itself is intimately wrapped up with the personhood of our Creator.

Receive Christ as Lord-- And that is why if you want to experience goodness; if you want fulfillment; if you want joy; if you want to know the meaning and purpose for your life; for your relationships; for your future, then you must give yourself to Christ as the LORD of your life; forsaking all others. Only then can you have what is truly good. Give your all to Him today. Amen.

Lechem Panim #49 "Beyond The Hills" (Psalm 121) Pastor Cameron Ury

Our Passage today is Psalm 121. In it the Psalmist writes…

Psalm 121 (ESV)-- 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.

Context— One of the things that I have learned during my years of training in Biblical studies is that before you can understand (at least fully) what a passage of scripture means, you have to understand the context. And context is absolutely critical to our passage today (Psalm 121); especially when it comes to this word “hills”, which we will talk about today. Now some of your Bibles (particularly those of you who are using the King James), may have as your verse 1: “I will lift up mine eyes unto there hills, from whence comes my help.” And that does seem like a beautiful picture. I've remarked numerous times how much I have enjoyed looking up at the hills and the mountains of this area and just being in awe over them. There is something in your heart that moves every time you see them. But that is not what this psalm is about. In fact, it is just the opposite of what the Psalmist is trying to say here. The correct phrasing is: 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?

No Help On The Hills-- This verse is not a declaration of praise for how great the hills are or how help can be found on them, but is rather [a recognition that the hills do not really provide any help and a question as to where real help can be found.] That question is really the key to the entire psalm. From where does my help come?

Our innate desire for a helper – Have any of you ever been in a position where are you have cried out to God for help? A couple weeks ago at my house, I suddenly heard my son cry out for me. And when I got to the bedroom, I found that he had gotten his leg stuck in between the wall and the bed and couldn’t get out. And so he asked if I could help get him out. And so I took hold of him and lifted him up. I think everyone of us has been (perhaps in a larger more significant way) stuck in problem. There are many difficulties that you and I face every day. And no matter what your belief system is, there is an innate desire in each and every one of us to try to reach beyond ourselves during times of trouble to seek the strength of one who might have some ability to change our circumstances. That is why there are so many various religions in the world, each of which represent man's desire to find an answer to that question “From where does my help come?” Now while the question is not unusual, the answer that the Psalmist gives us is highly unusual when you consider the world in which he lived and worshipped in: 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

Beyond the hills-- He’s essentially saying, "My inspiration and hope does not come from the hills or the mountains, but from the one who created the hills and the mountains.” And the reason this passage is so remarkable is that against the backdrop of the ancient world this concept of an all-powerful God who created all the world and Who had absolute authority over it was altogether new. Nobody in the ancient world believed in a god who wasn’t a part of (and subject to) nature. That is why you cannot say that there are supernatural beings in any mythological religion; because that is a contradiction in terms. All of the pagan mythological gods were bound by nature. And they reflected whatever regional particularities of nature existed in the land in which they were imagined. And the ancients had gods for many forces of nature. [You have Uranus, the heavens. You have Kronos, time. You have Gaia, the earth, Arabis, evening, Humeri, day, Eros, passion. Then you have Zeus, who is the sky, the atmosphere, the wind, the cloud, the rain, the thunder, the lightning, the Greek Baal.] But none of them were supernatural because none of them were thought to be transcendent over nature. They merely were the sources of the various natural forces. And people would worship (on the hilltops) all these various supposed gods of these natural forces.

The Hills-- Now when God was about to lead to His people into the promised land, He warned them not to worship like their neighbors did. They were to worship differently than their surrounding neighbors. However, we know that when king David was succeeded by his son Solomon, Solomon ended up bringing pagan hilltop worship of foreign gods into Israel. And that began with his breaking God's command not to intermarry with the women of the surrounding nations (1 Kings 11:1-8). And so Solomon led Israel astray in a huge way. And the kings who followed him also engaged in pagan worship, until eventually a man came to the throne by the name of king Ahab. He engaged in and led Israel in worship of Baal. But then you have this guy come along by the name of Elijah, who pretty much just shows up out of nowhere. We don't know much of his background or anything, save that he was from Tishbe and that he came with a word from Yahweh Himself. Because of a Ahab’s wickedness in leading Israel astray, Elijah pronounces that there will be a drought for a few years. And there was. And when Ahab eventually finds Elijah, Elijah tells him to summon people from all over Israel to gather on Mount caramel. And he tells him to bring the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah. And so Ahab does so; and they all gather at the top of Mount Carmel. And Elijah goes before the people and says, "How long will you waiver between two opinions? If the Lord [Yahweh] is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” (1 Kings 18:16-21). Now notice that Elijah, in the way he forms the question, forces them to make a choice. They can either continue to worship Baal or they can return in worship to Yahweh. However, they cannot do both. The prophets of Baal had no problem with the Israelites having a little bit of worship of Yahweh. What they did have a problem with was the idea that Yahweh and Yahweh alone is God.

And the same is true in our day and age. People don't have a problem with Christianity being one of many viable options on the buffet table of world-views. But begin saying that Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone is the way of salvation, and people began to get upset. And they will hate you and may even try to kill you because of it. But Yahweh makes it clear that he wants to be worshiped exclusively. And that is clear in the way that Elijah frames the choice.

Elijah’s Instructions-- Now Elijah gives some very specific instructions. He tells them to bring two bulls. He allows the prophets of Baal to choose the bull they want and tells them to cut it up into pieces and put it on their altar, but not to set fire to it. And he says he will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. And he tells them to call on the name of Baal and he will call on the name of Yahweh. And the God who answers with fire—he is God. Now everyone thought that this was a good idea because [Baal was supposed to be the god of the thunderstorm. So he was the lightning god, the one who controlled the lightning. So Elijah was saying, "Let's play it on your court. We will do it according to your god's strength. The one that answers by fire–let him be God.”] And so they set up the altars and (as you know) Elijah even has the one to Yahweh soaked with water (3 times). And the fire doesn’t fall on the altar to Baal, but comes down upon the altar of Yahweh and consumes the sacrifice and the altar itself. And when all the people see it, they fall on their faces and say, “The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God.”

What our Psalmist had in mind-- One author I read this week suggested that the author of this psalm may have been a witness to what God did on Mount Carmel that day. But regardless of whether he was or not, he obviously had the story of Elijah in mind, as he makes a distinction between Yahweh and all of the other gods of the ancient world. The pagan gods were mirror projections of you and me. They sleep because we sleep. They are limited because we are limited. Without the revelation that God gives us of himself, there is nowhere to turn for a picture of the divine but to nature. We end up being compelled to make the divine world look like our world. And so all of paganism was the worship of the forces of nature. Apart from the revelation of God, it could be nothing else. But here the Psalmist is saying "My neighbor goes to the top of the hill for his answer, but I am going to go elsewhere. I am going to the very Maker of heaven and earth.” And because Yahweh is transcendent over creation because it is just that (HIS CREATION), we don’t have to worry. The Psalmist writes:

Psalm 121:3-8 (ESV)-- 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber {(unlike Baal, who you will remember does sleep, as Elijah mockingly pointed out)}. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand {(the word here is actually shelter. You have at your side at all times the One who is your Shelter.)}. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. {(Why? Because Yahweh made them as he made you; and so you don’t have to be afraid of them)} 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.

Our only hope-- Regarding this passage, one author I read recently said this: [Modern people have tried every earthly source to solve their problems: government, education, economics, social sciences, psychology, and psychoanalysis. We have expected somewhere within us or within our world to find the key, the solution that we seek. Thousands of years ago there was a man, wiser than we, who saw the sterility of our vain efforts. He decided that help for humans comes only from Yahweh, who created and rules over all the factors and all the processes in which we place our hopes. Our only true hope and our only sure help is in the God who made heaven and earth.]

​Today I want to encourage you with the fact that (because Yahweh is the Maker of heaven and earth) there is nothing that you are going through right now that is outside of the realm of His control. You and I do not worship a God who is weak like we are, but a God who is the very source and the definition of all strength and who wants to give you His strength today in and through his abiding presence. And you can have that strength today, if you merely call out to Him as Elijah did. And the fire of His presence will come down and anoint your life. And it will be a source of nourishment and strength no matter where you go or what you do. Ask Him for that strength today. Amen.

Lechem Panim #48 "The Maker of Heaven and Earth" (Psalm 146) Pastor Cameron Ury

In our FOUNDATIONS FOR LIFE series, we have come to the book of Psalms, which connects for us in a remarkable way what we know about God with actually personally encountering Him in first-person worship. And last week we began taking a look at Psalm 146, which we will continue today. In it the Psalmist writes…

Psalm 146:3-6a (NIV)-- 3 Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save. 4 When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing. 5 Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God. 6 He is the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them--

Biblical Trust-- Now we see that the reason that we can give praise to God is because, unlike those the world puts their faith in (rulers and other fallible human beings), our God is not like them. They pass away and their plans (if they aren’t rooted in God and His plan) end in the grave. That is why they are not worthy of our praise. And if you base your life on them, you are going to be beyond disappointed. The psalmist points us to the reality that the true cause that we have for praise is the trustworthiness of God. In fact, aside from the personal name of God, the most important word next to this is probably the word "trust". In Hebrew there are five different words in the Old Testament that can be translated "trust." We will only talk about two of them. The first is frequently translated "believe". When it says in Genesis 15:6 that Abram "believed the Lord [Yahweh], and he credited it to him as righteousness" the verb is from the Hebrew word ’-m-n, which means "to be sure, to be certain." In fact, it is the source of the Hebrew word Amen, meaning "certainly, surely,”. And it means to accept the word of someone. Abraham was choosing to live in the certainty that what God was saying to him was true. And for this reason, that belief was credited to him as righteousness. And someone said in regards to this, "the only right thing a human can do is to put absolute confidence in the trustworthiness of God. Without that, everything else we do is filthy rags.”

batah-- Now [there is a second word in Hebrew: batah, which means “to trust.” {And one scholar I read said that} Of the two words, this is the more common one in the Psalms. ’amen is found in the psalms, but not a great many times. It is a bit like an obligato line in music, while batah is the main motif that the psalmist never gets through playing. It just keeps coming back, and coming back, and coming back. Of the two, batah is more graphic. It is “to lean upon.”]

The Mega-Swing-- Recently I saw video footage of a young woman sitting in a chair on the edge of a cliff that was attached to long ropes. And after much fear on her part, her friends pushed that chair off the edge and she fell straight down; and after free falling that line suddenly went taught and her chair immediately became a swing; and she is swung this huge distance between these two cliffs. Now I am telling you. There is nobody in this world who could convince me to take that leap of faith. I’m sorry. I don’t care how strong you tell me that rope is, I am never going to put my life on THAT LINE, if you know what I mean. But this word for trust carries with it this idea of putting your weight down; accepting and trusting in God so implicitly, that you are willing to put your life in His hands. [You are leaning against something or someone, and if he or it falls down, you’re in trouble. So the psalmist is saying, “In whom shall I trust?”] And you know that is one of the central questions that every human being must face at some point in their life. What am I going to trust in? What do I put my hope in? What is my anchor?

Atheists & Trust-- Some time ago I got to have a number of dialogs with members of an atheistic group. But they were not very much interested in having friendly dialogue as much as they were interested in mocking Christianity (and Christians) for their faith. In this group I have tried to engage their questions with solid evidence for the truth of Christianity, but I got the impression that it didn’t really matter how much evidence I could give; they were not going to change because lack of evidence wasn’t their central problem; their central problem was that if a God really existed to whom they are morally accountable, they couldn’t be the masters of their own lives. They didn’t want to be accountable to anyone. Now past all their mockery and delusions of being “free from God” lies a horrible truth. If atheism is true, then there is no hope for any kind of future that matters. It has nothing to offer you for eternity. There's nothing that you can cast your roots into in this world that will give you a sure foundation. In a Biblical (theistic) worldview there is hope; but not in man. That is why the Psalmist tells us not to trust in the world’s heroes; not to trust in creation; and certainly not to trust in ourselves. Because the temporal will pass away. However, God will never pass away; and those who place their faith in Him in and through Jesus Christ will have eternal life. As he writes in…

Psalm 146:6 (NIV)-- 6 He is the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them—he remains faithful forever.

A Future Different From The Past--Now this view of the world stands in contrast to every other religious view during that time. No other culture believed in one universal creator. The Hebrew religion stands alone in this. And it made the Hebrews’ view of the universe remarkably simple: if you see it, God made it. Period. And with that understanding (that God created the world and the world had a beginning) came also the idea that history might have an end. You see pagan religions during that time believed in a cyclical view of time. Everything just repeats itself over and over again and tomorrow cannot be any different than today anymore than today can be any different from yesterday. And the pagans were bound by this cyclical view of time. And yet what the Hebrew religion introduced was this idea that because God is the Creator and there was a beginning, then there also could be an end; a climax toward which everything else was building. It was a linear view of time. And what this meant was that for the first time, mankind was able to conceive of a future that was better than the present. And what this did was it laid the groundwork for invention and innovation because there was hope for a better future. This was a one of the most important discoveries of all time. And it is a truth that was made manifest not in some grand theological tome, but right here in this psalm; this hymnbook of Israel. Yahweh is the Lord of Creation; and He’s the Lord of time; and because of that we can have hope for a better future. I don’t know how many of you feel stuck in an endless cycle. Maybe you do. But I want to tell you that with God comes the hope that your future can be better than the present; and will be if you place your faith and trust in Jesus Christ. Now from here the Psalmist moves on and begins talking about those that are uncared for and oppressed. He says…

Psalm 146:7-10 (NIV)— 7 He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets prisoners free, 8 the Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down, the Lord loves the righteous. 9 The Lord watches over the foreigner and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked. 10 The Lord reigns forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the Lord.

No Legal Rights-- Now the reason the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow are all linked together is because none of them have any legal rights. None of them had anybody to stand up for them in court. There was no father; no husband; and if you are a foreigner, you had absolutely no rights. But what is amazing is that God steps in and chooses to be that father; to be that husband; to be that one who puts His arm around the foreigner; and gives them rights and defends their cause. And when you and I come to faith in that same God, we also will have concern for those people as well. Because one of the things that God does in the human heart when we place our faith in Jesus Christ is He turns us out of ourselves. Suddenly life is not just about me, it is about a world that is broken and my coming alongside God to help bring about healing to those who are in need of His saving touch. And all social concern has to begin here; with our allowing God to so fill us with His presence and with His love, that His very nature reflected through us will be the Light that extinguishes the darkness in our world.

William Wilberforce’s Conversion-- Some time ago I became acquainted with the story of [William Wilberforce. When he was twenty-one he was elected to Parliament. He came from a well-to-do family in England and so, at twenty-one he had a seat in Parliament. He was sort of an odd young man, and so his family felt that Parliament would be a place where he could make his mark and become something. He was a member of the Anglican Church but was far from a Christian—he did not even believe in God. He was not even sure if he believed in much of anything When he was twenty-five years old his mother said, “I want to take a vacation. I want to go to the Riviera.” In Those days there were no airplanes, so she had to go by coach. How would you like to ride in a stagecoach from here to New Orleans…with your mother. And you are a member of the House of Commons. But he was a dutiful son so he said, “let’s take two carriages”—and he looked for a friend to go with him. Finding such a friend, he said, “We ought to take something to read; it’s going to be a long ride.” So they checked the best-seller list At that time, a book by Philip Doddridge, titled The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul, was popular. Now, being a good politician, he was interested in what folks were reading, so when that was suggested he agreed. So, to the Mediterranean and back, they read Philip Doddridge’s The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul. By the time they got back to England, Wilberforce believed there must be a God. The next year his mother wanted to go back. So, William Wilberforce went to find his friend. This time they decided to read the Greek New Testament. There are very few seminary graduates today who can read a Greek New Testament. But one hundred fifty years ago a twenty-six-year-old member of Parliament in Britain could. So, they read the Greek New Testament all the way to the mediterranean and back. When William Wilberforce got back to London, he believed in Christ. In the next session of Parliament he introduced the bill to free the slaves in the British Empire. For thirty-seven years he reintroduced the bill every year. And thirty-seven years later, on a Friday, they passed the bill to free the slaves. On the following Monday night, about 2 o’clock in the morning, William Wilberforce died….You see, William Wilberforce met the same person the psalmist met.] And his heart was turned out onto the world.

A Praise Eruption— The fact is, that when you and I approach the living God personally and truly encounter Him, our lives will erupt with praise, with joy, with a renewed sense of purpose, an entire change in our worldview, and a burning compassion for those who are in desperate need of the healing touch of Jesus Christ. And we will be willing to go anywhere and die anywhere if it means that we can bring at least part of the world a little closer to Him. Make it your goal to (every day) encounter God in a real and personal way. In that encounter will be life not just for you; but for the whole world. Seek that encounter this week. Amen.

Lechem Panim #47 "Praising the LORD" (Psalm 146) Pastor Cameron Ury

In our FOUNDATIONS FOR LIFE series, we come to the book of Psalms. And the reason that we begin here is because (Although there are different ways to approach any given study about God) there is a tendency to separate that study of God from worship. And that is OK, if we are content merely to know ABOUT God. But if we want to know God Himself, we need to connect our study of God with worship. Our study of God must be punctuated with adoration and praise and prayer. An author I have been reading on this subject said something about this that has stuck with me. He said: [I suspect I can find out more of what you really believe if I can listen to you pray awhile than in any other way. When I hear you witness, I hear you saying something you think the people around you expect you to say, but when you are alone with God and express yourself freely, then you begin to reveal what you really believe and who you really are....The Psalms portray Israel at prayer. And it is when we pray that we find out what we really believe, what our theology actually is. Furthermore, true theology ought to end in prayer. If theology is the study of God, the knowledge of God, and if God is God, then the end of the study ought to be worship. If it is not, if it has been only a study about a subject and our thoughts on that subject, that is idolatry; I have made God a thing. It does not matter how accurate my thought is; if it does not bring me to Him as a living Person, I have only found a substitute for Him, a knowledge of something other than God. When one comes to know the true God, the only response is, in the language of the Old Testament, fearful worship.”]

Now the reason that I want to highlight this for you is because (as the title of our message today indicates) we want to encounter God. And that happens through worship. It is within the context of worship that we come to a true "knowing" relationship with the Lord of heaven and earth. Go ahead and look with me at the Psalm 146.

Psalm 146 (NIV)
1 Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord, my soul.
2 I will praise the Lord all my life;
    I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
3 Do not put your trust in princes,
    in human beings, who cannot save.
4 When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;
    on that very day their plans come to nothing.
5 Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
    whose hope is in the Lord their God.
6 He is the Maker of heaven and earth,
    the sea, and everything in them--
    he remains faithful forever.
7 He upholds the cause of the oppressed
    and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets prisoners free,
8     the Lord gives sight to the blind,
the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down,
    the Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord watches over the foreigner
    and sustains the fatherless and the widow,
    but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.
10 The Lord reigns forever,
    your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Praise the Lord.

No Praise Allowed!-- [A woman who “enjoyed her religion” visited a very staid and formal church. “Amen” she said, as the preacher brought out a point with which she agreed. “Madam,” said the usher standing nearby, “Please try and restrain yourself. We don’t allow that in this church.” In a few moments she was so carried away by the sermon that she shouted, “Amen, praise the Lord, hallelujah!” The usher rushed to her side: “Madam! You must quiet down immediately or leave!” “I didn’t mean to disturb ... but I am just so happy since I found the Lord,” she explained. “You may have found the Lord,” retorted the usher severely, “but I am quite sure you didn’t find him here!”]

Having Praise In Your Heart— I read a story the other day of a man who [attended the services of one of the great churches of the past and had never witnessed a place that was so dead. Do you know what the problem was? People were not coming to church with praise in their hearts. They did not come to the service with thankfulness in their hearts to God. They did not enter His gates with thanksgiving.] When we find the Lord, it’s hard to keep quiet. Anybody who has truly been touched by God; who has truly encountered Him, their life will ALWAYS erupt in praise. Well, this is what happened to the Psalmist in our passage today, which is why he writes in…

Psalm 146:1-2 (NIV)— 1 Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, my soul. 2 I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.

“The Great Hallel”-- Now (just to give you a little context for our passage this morning) this psalm is [the first of the last five in the book of Psalms. In Jewish tradition these five psalms are grouped together. They are called “The Great Hallel.”] And what does that word “hallel” mean? (WAIT) Yes, [the Hebrew word hallel means praise.] And [So we find it in English in “hallelujah,” meaning “Praise the Lord.” These five psalms all begin with that injunction, “Praise the Lord.” Furthermore, all five end with it as well. The hallelu is a plural imperative, commanding a group of people, “Give praise!” … {And so} This group of psalms is called a “hallel” because they begin and end with that call to praise.]

Leaving God With Gratitude— Now one scholar points our that  [“…the reason we have the Great Hallel at the end of the Psalms is because it was a Hebrew conviction that when you come to God, no matter why you come, you ought to leave Him with gratitude, with thanksgiving, with praise, with adoration in your heart. No matter what it is you bring when you come, when you are in His presence, His greatness ought to be such that when you finish your time with Him your problems have been reduced in size in relation to Him and you can walk out, no matter what you face, with praise.”] And so, as one commentator observes: [It is not that the psalmist said to himself, “I ought to sit down and write a prayer,” but that he met God and could not do anything else. So the poetic expression that you find here is not something that was written in praise of God in order to get to God. Rather, it is something that was written because the writer had met God. And when we really meet Him, unless it is an encounter of complete judgment, if we meet Him in grace, always the end of that meeting with the gracious God will be an experience of joy and of praise.]

WHEN HELLEN KELLER DISCOVERED WORDS— Some of you know (at least a little bit) about the story of Helen Keller. It is a truly remarkable story of transformation and grace, simply because a woman named Anne Sullivan poured into Helen Keller’s life and helped her (though blind and deaf) to learn to communicate and read; and thereby lifting her out of her silent darkness. [The 21-year-old Anne Sullivan came to Tuscumbia, Alabama on March 3, 1887. From the moment she arrived she began to sign words into Helen's hand, trying to help her understand the idea that everything has a name.] And this was extraordinary difficult at first. But Anne writes of a breakthrough moment she had with Helen. She writes: [We went out to the pump-house, and I made Helen hold her mug under the spout while I pumped. As the cold water gushed forth, filling the mug, I spelled "w-a-t-e-r" in Helen's free hand. The word coming so close upon the sensation of cold water rushing over her hand seemed to startle her. She dropped the mug and stood as one transfixed. A new light came into her face. She spelled "water" several times. Then she dropped on the ground and asked for its name and pointed to the pump and the trellis, and suddenly turning round she asked for my name. I spelled "Teacher." Just then the nurse brought Helen's little sister into the pump-house, and Helen spelled "baby" and pointed to the nurse. All the way back to the house she was highly excited, and learned the name of every object she touched, so that in a few hours she had added thirty new words to her vocabulary. Here are some of them: Door, open, shut, give, go, come, and a great many more.

P.S.--I didn't finish my letter in time to get it posted last night; so I shall add a line. Helen got up this morning like a radiant fairy. She has flitted from object to object, asking the name of everything and kissing me for very gladness. Last night when I got in bed, she stole into my arms of her own accord and kissed me for the first time, and I thought my heart would burst, so full was it of joy.] Now […after Helen Keller’s teacher, Anne Sullivan, had given her the names of physical objects in sign language, Miss Sullivan attempted to explain God and tapped out the symbols for the name “God.” Much to Miss Sullivan’s surprise, Helen spelled back, “Thank you for telling me God’s name, Teacher, for He has touched me many times before.” {She said that she knew of him already, groping in the dark after him.} Helen Keller knew something of God’s signature from nature, but it was wordless.]

​YHWH: A Hallelujah Psalm Built on God’s Name-- A name can change a lot in a relationship. And the psalms are important in that they highlight for us the personal nature of our encounter with God. And that is why the most important word in this Psalm (though it is covered up in our English translations by the word LORD in all caps) is “YHWH”. This psalm is built around that personal name for God. Hallelujah (what this Psalm opens and closes with) doesn’t exactly mean “praise the Lord”. Because [yah is the short form for the name “Yahweh” in the Old Testament. This is the name that God gave to Moses at the burning bush when Moses wanted to know with whom he was talking. God gave Moses His personal name, and that name was probably pronounced, as best we know, Yahweh.] This is a personal name, not a title. And so when we realize this, this word “hallelujah” becomes a very close and personal form of praise. Now we usually use the word “God” in our prayers (which is a general title; what He is rather than who He is to you and to me. But did you know that God’s name [“Yahweh occurs in the Old Testament about 6,800 times, while Elohim, “God” only appears about 2,600 times. So, the preponderance of references to the Deity in the Old Testament use the personal name.] And what this should tell you and me is that yes, God knows you by name. But apparently God wants you to know Him by His name too. Because our relationship with God (unlike any other religion) is characterized by a personal encounter. That is why by next week, I would like each of you to purchase a Hebrew Bible and learn Hebrew. Or, if that’s too hard (as I suspect it is) begin marking in your Bible all these places where the name of God is mentioned. Maybe just put a little “N” next to His name and remember (every time you see it) how close of a relationship God wants to have with you. This is why [The Hebrews were the the people of the name. And the Bible, the Old Testament, is the book about the One whose name we know.] They knew God in a way that no other nation did because He was a God who abided with them in intimate relationship. And the same is true for us. In Jesus Christ, you and I know God; His Holy Spirit abides in us. And we can relate with God (in a way) face to face (presence to presence) without a priest; without an additional sacrifice. His presence is open to us. That enough is reason for us to erupt in praise. So today, take advantage of the face that God’s presence is open to you. And give Him thanks for that incredible gift He has given to you and to me. Amen.

Lechem Panim #46 "Knowing God's Name" (Exodus 3:13-20) Pastor Cameron Ury

Today, as we continue our series FOUNDATIONS FOR LIFE”, I’d like to continue our discussion on what it means to know God; particularly His name. What does it mean for us to know the God of the universe; our Creator and our Redeemer not just by majestic titles, but by His very name? And I’d like to start by reading of the first time God’s name is given, which we find in Exodus chapter 3. Moses has been settling down in his old age when God appears to Him in a burning bush and tells him that he is going to be the instrument through which He (God) will deliver His people. And one comic I read recently showed Moses (exasperated) saying, “So much for the golden years.” God still had great things He wanted to do through Moses. And that just goes to show that you are never too old for God to do something fresh in and through you; and use you to do great things. Now Moses doesn’t like the idea. He starts to beat around the burning bush, so to speak. It says in…

Exodus 3:13-20 (ESV)-- 13 Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.”[a] And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” 15 God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The Lord,[b] the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.

The Scientific Name-- [A patient told his doctor, “If there’s anything wrong with me, Doctor, just tell me in plain English.” “Well,” replied the doctor hesitatingly, “to be perfectly frank, you’re just plain lazy.” “Thanks, Doctor,” muttered the patient, “Now I would appreciate it if you would give me the scientific name so I can tell my family.”]

A First-Name Basis-- It’s funny what truth can be hidden behind a name. And this is never more true when we talk about the name of God. Have you ever thought about how significant it is that God revealed to Moses (and us) His personal name? Why does that matter? Well, to know someone’s name makes the relationship with that person more intimate and personal; there is a closeness that is brought into the relationship. Furthermore, when you give your name to someone, you are actually giving to that other person a certain degree of control over you in that now they have the power to get your attention. Well, God apparently saw fit to give us His name for that very reason; so that we might have that closeness with Him and so that we might (at any time we choose) call on His name and receive His full attention. This was something revolutionary in the world of ancient religions. God wanted to be on a first-name basis with mankind. And God wants to be on a first-name basis with you as well. The Bible says He knows you by name. And He wants you to know Him by name as well.

The Loss of The Name-- But in our English Bibles, we don’t find the name of God. Instead we come across the word “Lord”. And sometimes just the first letter is capitalized and other times all the letters are capitalized. Why the variation? Well (as Dr. Dennis Kinlaw explains best) it is because [the first one is an honorific title whereas the second one is standing for God’s personal name. As you read through the Psalms, notice how many times that capitalized Lord appears. Every time it is standing for the personal name of God. Why does the Hebrew bible do this? Why not just spell out his personal name?
        {Well,} The answer to these questions is found in a Jewish idea called “fencing the Law.” That is, after the Babylonian exile the returned Judeans were very concerned that they never break God’s law again and suffer such a terrible fate. In order not to break the laws they put more laws around them. It is a though, if the speed limit were sixty-five miles per hour, you would put a governor on your car so you could not go over forty-five miles per hour {I remember when we were moving here, driving in that moving truck all the way from Ohio, there was such a governor on that truck. Not a fan of that governor, as it made for very slow going. But…}. That would guarantee you would not break the speed law. So, how can you be sure that you never break the Old Testament law that forbids boiling a kid in its mother’s milk? Well, if you never eat a hamburger and drink milk at the same time, you will not break that law. So to this day an orthodox Jew will not eat meat and milk together. Now, the Jews spread that concept rather extensively so that when they came to the commandment, “Though shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain,” they said, “You know, if we never pronounce His name, we won’t break that commandment.” Whenever they came to the name of God, they said the word that means “lord” instead. They did this so thoroughly that eventually they, the people of God, lost the pronunciation of the name that was given to Moses at the burning bush. They lost their greatest treasure.

        {Then Kinlaw says this:} Sometimes I think the the real effect of the work of those of us who are professional religious people has been to put distance between people and God. So the book of Psalms and indeed, the entire Old Testament in our English translations, can only speak of God in one of his roles, “the Lord,” and never in the richness of His person, as conveyed in His name. My wife’s name is Elsie Blake Kinlaw. I knew a preacher once who always referred to his wife in public as, “the wife.” I hear him do it in the pulpit. If I had ever done that to my wife, when I got home my bags would be packed sitting on the front porch. Elsie is not a role, she is a person. When I was president of Asbury College many people would call me “Mr. President.” It was not about me but about my business role. What you do with names determines relationship, doesn’t it? I want you to notice how prominent the personal name of God is in Psalms. In fact, the book of Psalms is about Yahweh*, yet He never appears by name in our translation. {*We know that the consonants of God’s personal name were y-h-w-h, but we do not know what the vowels were. This is so because when the Jewish scholars were adding vowel markings to the text, which had originally contained only consonants, the vowels they inserted in the divine name were the vowels of the word for “lord” -a-o-a. Using evidence from personal names that include parts of the divine name (like “Abijah,” “my father is Yah”) scholars have conjectured that the name was pronounced “Yahweh,” which would mean “He Causes to Be.” Because this is not certain, most English translations continue to use “Lord.”—JNO} {But in Psalms like Psalm 121 and 146}…Notice how many times God’s personal name occurs, how common it is. I think that is one of the reasons for the Incarnation. God was wanting to overcome the distance that had crept in between Him and His people in the loss of His name. There is something about the name “Jesus” that has a closeness that the term “God” does not have.] Look at what Jesus says in…

John 17:6 (ESV)-- 6 “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.

I want to ask you today: When you think about God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit (and pray to them), what title(s) do you most often gravitate towards? And how does that title shape the way that you think about God? Or even more importantly, does that title diminish the level of intimacy that scripture reveals is God’s central desire for each of us. And in light of our discussion today, what ought the name of Jesus to mean to you and to me as the One in whom God restores to us His personal name?

You know, it can be funny how we often times approach scripture. It is something we can read to feel spiritual; to increase our Biblical learning; or even to prepare sermons or nice Facebook posts, Tweets and Instagram posts (which are all great things). But when we separate the Word of God from God Himself; from using scripture as an actual means of coming into the presence of God, we miss the central reason for scripture, which is to encounter God. But if we do keep encountering God through His Word our central aim, there is no telling what God can do in and through your life. And His Word will become not just a textbook, but one of the chief means God uses to speak to you. And when He truly speaks to you through His Word and reveals Himself to you in greater and greater measure, God will use His Word to transform not just your life, but the lives of those around you.

Otto Piper and The Reformation— Once, in an Old Testament class taught by the highly esteemed Dr. Otto Piper, [a student asked him a question: “Dr. Piper, many of us are going to be graduating in a few weeks. We will be going out into the ministry. Is there a list of ‘must’ books for every pastor? Is there a list of books that every pastor should have read?”…And he…said, “I know of only one ‘must’ book.” And then he waited a moment and said, “You know, we make a mistake. Somehow in our Reformed tradition we think that Luther and Calvin produced the Reformation. It wasn’t Luther or Calvin who produced the Reformation. What produced the Reformation was that Luther studied the Word of God. And as he studied, it began to explode inside him. And when it began to explode inside him, he didn’t know any better than to turn it loose on Germany. And it was the Word of God that transformed Germany. Now,” he said, “the same thing was true of Calvin. You knew what Calvin was going to preach on next Sunday. He would start with the verse after the one where he had stopped on the last Sunday, and he preached his way right through the Bible. Now, the tragedy of the Reformation was that when Luther and Calvin died, Melancthon and Beza edited their work. And so all the Lutherans began to read the Bible to find Luther and all the Calvinists began to read the Bible to find Calvin. And,” he said, “the great corruption was on its way.” He said, “Do you know there is enough undiscovered truth in the Scripture to produce a Reformation and an evangelical awakening in every generation if we would simply expose ourselves to it until it explodes within us and then we turn it loose?”]

This morning, settle for nothing less than knowing God in a personal relationship. If you’re like me, you can easily fall into the trap of learning about God and not ever truly knowing God. But if you and I will have a relational communion with God AS we study His Word, He can cause that Word to explode inside of US and transform OUR lives and the lives of those around us. But we have to lay hold of Him. And so right here right now, do it. Pray to Him and say, “Lord, I don’t want to just know about You. Lord, I want to know You.” If you open yourself to Him like that, I promise you He will respond. James says in…

James 4:8a (NKJV)-- 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

​Draw near to Him today. Amen.

Lechem Panim #45 "Knowing God" (John 17:1-6) Pastor Cameron Ury

Traction-- This winter we here in the Seattle area had some of the worst snowfall we have had in about 70 years. And therefore I gained a new appreciation for two very important words. The first of these is “traction”. Yes, as I dug the snow out from under the wheels of my car numerous times so that we could get out of our driveway, I gained a new appreciation for this word “traction”; and a stronger dislike of this word “stuck”. And I remember one day in particular that was perhaps the worst; and that was when all the snow and ice on the roads became slush. And you’d think slush would be better because the snow is breaking down. But it is actually the worst because as you car is trying to drive on it, is is moving underneath of it. The car can’t get a footing. And for those of you digging the snow out from under your car; or who had to try to push their car, you know how frustrating getting “stuck” can be.

And you know, you can be “stuck” just about anytime and anywhere. Because there are different ways you can be stuck. You can be stuck in a difficult job where things don’t seem like they’re going to get better; you can feel stuck in your relationships with your spouse or your kids or your extended family; you can be spiritually stuck in your relationship with God. And it just feels like you are snowed in. And you may wonder, “How do I get out of this?” “How can I start getting some traction again?” Well, just as a car needs something more than slush under its tires, so also you need something solid as your foundation as well. By the way, this is why the world has nothing to offer you in this area. If you look at the world right now, it is so mixed up, it hardly knows its left hand from it’s right. And the purely naturalistic view that it seeks to indoctrinate us with (whether its on television, social media, you name it); all of it just leaves us spinning our tires. Some say depend on science. Only problem is that science is always changing its theories; what is fact one century is often discarded the next. They always say, “This time we got it right!” But then new evidence is uncovered and the theories change. One decade they tell you your baby will die if it sleeps on its back. The next they’re telling you the baby will die if it doesn’t sleep on its stomach. One decade they’re telling you you need to brush with you toothbrush up and down; then it’s side to side; now you’re supposed TO DO IT IN CIRCLES!!!!! And really all of the wisdom of the world seems to be doing just that; we’re just running in circles; WE’RE….JUST….SPINNING….OUR TIRES. There is nothing solid you can depend on in this world; no unshakeable truth upon which you can lay a sturdy foundation for your life, knowing that that thing is not going to change;……that is, until we come to the Truth of Christ and His Word. For those who place their faith in Jesus Christ and follow Him, they discover something solid. Maybe this is why Jesus talks about us who spread the truth about Him as being the salt of the earth. Because when we give a world Christ, we are helping to break down the snowy slush and uncover for people something solid that can hold them steady. A wise Christian once wrote: [Our hope is not hung upon such untwisted thread as "I imagine so", or, "it is likely"; but the cable, the strong rope of our fastened anchor is the oath and promise of him who is eternal verity; our salvation is fastened with God's own hand, and Christ's own strength, to the strong stake of God's unchanging nature.]

Our Anchor-- It may surprise you to hear this, but: "The {primary} first century symbol {for the early church} wasn’t the cross; it was the anchor. [Epitaphs on believers' tombs dating as far back as the end of the first century frequently displayed anchors alongside messages of hope. Such expressions…speak to the hope Christians felt in their anticipation of heaven. Archaeologists found about 70 examples of these kinds of messages in one cemetery alone.] And person I read helps to make sense of this. He said:} If I'm a first century Christian and I'm hiding in the catacombs and three of my best friends have just been thrown to the lions or burned at the stake, or crucified and set ablaze as torches at one of [Emperor] Nero's garden parties, the symbol that most encourages me in my faith is the anchor. When I see it, I'm reminded that Jesus is my anchor.”

Hebrews 6:19 (NIV) says this, "We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure."

Jesus wants to be our real and present Anchor. And knowledge of Him and His ways can be a solid foundation for your life. And that is what our new sermon series (FOUNDATIONS FOR LIFE) is going to center on. How can you and I know God? What is important for us to know about God? And how can our relationship with Him give us the anchoring we need in today’s world. John chapter 17:1-6 says…

John 17:1-6 (ESV)-- 1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.
6 “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.

“The Word We Do Not Speak Of”-- Now I have been told by one of my mentors (as I discussed this series with him) not to use a particular word. I will have to use quotes at times in which this word will show up. But I have been warned not to use this word myself (particularly in the title of this series (FOUNDATIONS FOR LIFE) simply because of how boring this word is. In fact, it is so boring that pastors have been unintentionally putting their congregations to sleep for years simply by using it. Pharmaceutical companies don’t want you to know this word because their profits on sleep aids would immediately plummet. No magician could pronounce any incantation more powerful than this word if they wanted to put you to sleep. I will use it in a moment, but before I do, I’d like to kindly ask that you please angle your heads away from any hard objects. The word….are you ready….is “THEOLOGY” (YAWN). From now on the word just spoken will be referenced to as “the word we do not speak of.” Now I jest. But for many there is no word more boring. And that is because when we hear it, we immediately think of it as books and study about a subject that is too deep for anybody to understand. Now I disagree, but that is what we think; that it is too lofty, too deep, and too impersonal and therefore, boring. And sometimes theology (which is often defined as “the study of God”) can be impersonal and boring. But real theology never is. In fact, the first theology book that ever existed wasn’t like that at all. In fact, quite the opposite. The first theology textbook goes back even before the Bible was written. It was a theology textbook given to the first man ever created. God gave this theology textbook to Adam soon after Adam was created. And though God wrote this textbook, He allowed Adam to to give this theology textbook a name. And the title Adam chose for his first theology textbook was “woman”. And that woman’s name was Eve. And Eve was anything but boring. She was amazing. No Hallmark Valentine card sentiment could have captured what happened in Adam’s soul when God first presented her to him. And it was to be in a relationship with her that Adam would discover (in a small part) what God wanted in His relationship with Adam. Eve was God’s living and breathing theology book for Adam. And she was as about as far from impersonal as you could get. She came from his own body (God made her from one of his ribs). Adam describes her as “bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh”. And it says in Genesis 4:1 that Adam “knew” his wife. And the two became one flesh.

Dissecting God-- There were classes I loved in high school; biology wasn’t one of them; they were unpleasant days, as during them my biology teacher (Mrs. Durand) had us dissect a fetal pig. But did she stop there? No. You would think one animal was enough but no. After fetal pig, we did cow heart, then rat, then maybe crawfish, and then (worst of all) we even did shark. Now I’m telling you, the stench from that thing was unbelievable (even worse than fetal pig, which I didn’t think was possible). I kid you not, you could smell those dead sharks from the opposite side of the school. I was so glad to be done with her class. And then of course when I got to Asbury University (as if I needed more practice) my teacher there had us dissect frog (which after shark, wasn’t that bad). But nonetheless disgusting. But in each of these instances I’m sitting there (putrid stench), and I’m trying to peel back the layers so I can see how this dead thing worked when it was alive. Now why do I tell you this. Well, I tell you this because so often times when we define the word “theology” we define it as “the study of God”; it’s a study of God just like a dead animal. He’s laying there on the operating table and we’re trying to figure out how He works. It’s all mental; it’s all cognitive; it’s all systematic. But that is not a Jewish way of understanding theology. Theology; true Christian theology (I don’t care what anybody says; it is NOT) merely “the study of God”. Because studying something is always impersonal. No, theology is not simply “the study of God”; it is “the knowledge of God”. And this is key.

WHAT IS THE BIBLICAL CONCEPT OF KNOWLEDGE?— One scholar makes the observation that [“Knowledge, as a general conception in the Old Testament, is quite unlike that in our…world.… For us, knowledge implies grasping things by reason, seeing things and their connection of cause and effect and the understanding of the component factors of something. The Westerner says that he knows a thing when he has analyzed a thing fully and when he can explain all the factors from which it…arose. That is, when he can give it a place in the whole of his range of ideas. In the Old Testament, knowledge is living in a close relationship with something or somebody, such a relationship as to cause what may be called communion.”] That is what Adam shared with Eve; and that is the kind of knowledge we are to have of God (not just cognitive, but relational; and it is both). To know (in the Jewish mind) is to totally experience the other person. And if you want salvation, you cannot just believe cognitively in God. No early Christian would ever have said that. And neither would Jesus. What does Jesus say?

John 17:3 (ESV)-- 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

​Do you Know?-- And my question to you today is, “Do you know Jesus?” Not about Him; or even that you believe in Him. Do you know Him. Do you relate with Him. I want to tell you today that that level of relationship is open to you. But you have to open yourself to it. You must move from God as idea/concept to God the person. You must know Jesus as your “personal” Savior. And that can happen right here; right now in this moment by simply opening your mouth and inviting Him into you life like that. If you want that, all you have to do is ask. Ask Him today, and He will meet you; and that personal relationship will begin and will give you hope for the present and an eternal hope for the future. Let’s seize that hope today. Amen.

Lechem Panim #44 "The Empty Tomb" (John 20:1-18) Pastor Cameron Ury

Christ is risen! And for that we give glory to God in a special way today. And I would like to read to you the account of Jesus’ resurrection given to us in…

John 20:1-10 (NIV) The Empty Tomb— 1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
​3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 10 Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.

Night & Spiritual Darkness— Now our passage this morning begins in darkness.  And often when the Bible talks about something happening at night, it does so for a specific purpose. Because often times what accompanies that physical darkness is some sort of spiritual darkness. After Judas dipped his bread in the cup and Jesus said to him, “What you must do, do quickly”, it says that Judas went out and it was night. And that outer darkness reflected an inner darkness, as Judas left to betray Jesus to the Jewish leaders. Now darkness (especially during that time) was a terrifying thing. People did not have outdoor streetlights to illumine their paths. Even in their homes the lights people had were small. In our modern day we can control our environment; we can make our rooms as bright as we want them to be. But not so in the ancient world. In the ancient world, night was a time of darkness; it was a time when wild animals came out to hunt. It was a time of fear. There is a famous song from the musical Annie which says “The sun will come out tomorrow.” Right? But what if it never did? What if there was night that never ended? In a spiritual sense, that is what the world experienced after mankind fell into sin. Like with Judas, there was a spiritual darkness that descended on us as man left the presence of God after sinning in Eden; a darkness that flowed from our betrayal of God. It was a time of night that the world has been in bondage to ever since. And the darkness reached a climax as Jesus hung on the cross. It says in…

Matthew 27:45 (ESV)-- 45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour.

The Hour of Darkness-- Now this was not typical darkness. The sixth hour was noon and the ninth hour was 3pm. So it is the middle of the day. And yet it says there was darkness over all the land. It was a supernatural darkness that reflected the spiritual darkness that 1 Peter 2:24 tells us was descending upon Jesus Christ as the sins of the whole world were placed upon Him.

A Day of Burial-- And that day and the following night were perhaps the darkest the disciples of Jesus had ever experienced; and for the women who followed Jesus and who invested in His ministry and who looked forward in hope to seeing the glorification of their Messiah, I cannot imagine a greater pain; a darker night. It was the day the Son/Sun died. And the darkness of the night was matched only by the darkness that their loss of hope brought to their souls. And it is in that darkness that Mary Magdalene has come to the tomb. And Mary is perhaps one of the most profound followers of Jesus in the Gospel story. We learn from Luke 8:1-3 that she had been possessed by seven demons before Jesus drove them out; imagine that! And she was a part of a group of women who supported Jesus in His ministry. And when her brother Lazarus died, Jesus had raised him from the dead. Jesus had touched her on a very personal level; when her brother died, she thought she would have to enter a new season of life without him. But Jesus had raised her brother Lazarus from the dead, and she had washed Jesus’ feet as an expression of gratitude. She poured that pure nard on his head and feet. And that nard was very likely the expensive perfume Jewish girls saved for their wedding night. But she chose to give Him that gift. Why? Because Jesus had freed her from the demonic. And on top of that, He gave her dead brother back to her alive. And so I believe this gift she had given Jesus comes into play in our passage today.

A Roller Coaster-- Now the day she came to the tomb was Sunday and the past two weeks or more had been an unbelievable roller coaster of emotions as her brother Lazarus became sick. And she, along with Martha, took on the burden of caring for him, waiting for Jesus, until Lazarus finally died. And they mourned for him; they buried him. But then Jesus calls Lazarus out of the grave, giving him new life. Mary’s grief was turned to joy once again, as Jesus had given her brother back to her.

Her Heart is Broken— But then her Lord; her Messiah; goes to Jerusalem, is betrayed, and handed over to be beaten, flogged, and crucified. And she had watched Him carry the cross up to Golgotha. She had watched as they nailed Him to the beams, lifted Him up, and jarred Him into place. She watched Him die and then (after death) be ruthlessly stabbed with a spear. I cannot imagine the sickening grief and horror of watching our Lord; her Lord; die on the cross like that. And then she begins to go through the same process she had gone through before with her brother of perfuming the body; embalming it; and preparing it for burial. And Jesus was placed in the tomb.

And now this-- And now this incident has happened. And she, those who were with her, and the disciples don’t know what to make of it. To their knowledge, Jesus’ body may have been stolen. And so the disciples run to the tomb. John stops at the entrance and Peter runs right in. And Jesus’ body had been laid on a bench opposite the entrance. And Peter, after stooping down and entering the tomb, sees the bench on which Jesus’ body had lain and finds nothing but grave clothes. And this is incredibly strange. And Peter comes out and he and John both, bewildered, leave perplexed. But Mary stays. Verse 11 and following says…

John 20:11-13 (NIV)— Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. 15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”

The Ultimate Gardener-- Now considering how much Jesus had talked to them about bearing fruit; about His being the vine and them being the branches; about seeds (through death) being allowed to take root and grow to create abundant life; I find it so appropriate that she thought He was the gardener. He was the ultimate Gardener. But He is also the Good Shepherd. And what does the Good Shepherd do? As John 10 tells us, He calls His sheep by name and His sheep know His voice.

John 20:16-18 (NIV)— 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). 17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.

First To Her-- Now I find it interesting that Jesus doesn’t appear to John first (the one Jesus loved); He doesn’t appear to Peter first (who was the leading disciple). Jesus chooses who He appears to first. He appears to her first; to her; the one who had anointed His head and feet, which He told her was for the day of His burial. She had given Jesus the best thing she had; that perfume she had been saving. And Jesus in the same way reserves this place of honor; being the first to see Him alive; He reserves that for her. Another reason I think she could not leave the tomb was because Jesus had made her life new; and now that it was new, she didn’t want to enter any season of life without Jesus. And Jesus appears to her first and I wonder if He isn’t in essence saying to her, “I don’t want you to enter any season of life without me either.” I will never leave you nor forsake you. During any season of life, the thing you can count on (the only thing you can count on) is that I will be with you; encouraging you, comforting you, strengthening you. It doesn’t matter what’s in your past. I will be there for you. Jesus wants to be with us in every season of life. He doesn’t change like shifting shadows and wants to be that anchoring point for us amidst a sea of change.

Morrison’s Hell Elevator-- Dennis Kinlaw wrote how he […once heard a sermon by Henry Clay Morrison in which he took his audience on an elevator ride down to hell and then up to heaven. {He says} When we reached heaven, we saw a creature more beautiful than anything we had ever seen. Because of its grandeur, we assumed it was the archangel Michael or one of the great saints such as Moses or Paul. When we asked, the creature laughed almost gleefully and said, “No, I am Mary Magdalene. I am the woman of sin made clean by the blood of the Cross.”] Then Kinlaw said [The most beautiful people in heaven may be the ones in whom the Holy Spirit has wrought the greatest transformation.]

Malachi 4:2 (ESV)— 2 But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings.

​Praise be to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ that each and every one of us has found healing in the wings of our risen Lord. Today, as you reflect back on that blessed day when Christ first called you by name; on that day when you first found healing in the shadow of His wings, give thanks to Him. And if you have never received Christ, all you have to do is confess your need of Him and invite Him in. And He will do a work every bit as remarkable as the one He did for Mary. He will completely change your life and will lift you from darkness into His light. If you want that today, all you have to do is ask Him. And Easter will no longer be only about what happened in a grave over two thousand years ago, but will be about the day that Jesus was raised in you. Place your faith in Him. Today. Amen.

Lechem Panim #43 "The Triumphal Entry" (John 12:12-19) Pastor Cameron Ury

Today, as you know, is Palm Sunday. And in light of that, I would like for us to take a look at the account of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem given to us in…

John 12:12-19 (ESV) The Triumphal Entry-- 12 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” 14 And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,
15 “Fear not, daughter of Zion;
behold, your king is coming,
    sitting on a donkey's colt!”
16 His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. 17 The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. 18 The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.”
Who do we expect Jesus to be?-- As we move towards Easter, I’d like to share a few brief thoughts with you on this Palm Sunday about Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem and why this celebratory event in the life of Christ is still so very important to us. It says in verse 12…

John 12:12 (ESV)-- 12 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem.

The Crowds-- It is hard to overstate the excitement that Jesus was stirring amongst the people as He was moving from place to place. People are coming to celebrate the Passover Feast; and it is an extraordinary amount of people (all the locals who lived in that area plus all the people from far and wide who have come to Jerusalem for Passover). It is estimated that [the regular population of Jerusalem in this period was about 50,000 and that during Passover it grew to perhaps 100,000 to 120,000.] And of course there is not room for that many people in the city. So you had thousands of people staying on the hillsides surrounding the city.

Hearing of The Messiah-- But as people are coming, and are merging with the people who are already there, they are hearing news about the latest exploits of this revolutionary new teacher who has arisen out of Galilee and was then staying just outside of Jerusalem. Not only were His teachings unlike anything they had ever heard, but the signs that accompanied His words were unlike anything they had ever heard tell of. And one in particular has caught the attention of the crowds. A man who had contracted an illness and died had been buried for four days. And everybody had through that all hope had been lost; because (after all) who could come back from the dead? But Jesus commanded that his tomb be unsealed and opened. And when they did it, he called to the dead man to come out; AND HE DID!!!! So the stories are circulating. This teacher (Jesus) seems to have no limits. What people perceive to be the ultimate power in the world (the power of death) apparently is not the ultimate power. Apparently all this Jesus has to do is speak a word and death itself works backwards and then retreats. And so the many who hear of this and all that Jesus had done in and throughout the course of His ministry conclude that He is the Messiah; the Christ; the one who would come to bring them liberation. And so they seek to honor him as such. We read in…

John 12:13 (ESV)-- 13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”

Triumphal Entries-- Now [“Triumphal entries” were common in the ancient world. A conquering hero or king would return to his city, bringing the spoils of his battles and stories of conquest. 13 This imagery would not be missed on any Greek-speaking audience on the eastern edge of the Roman empire. When John says that the crowd “went out to meet him,” this is a common expression used for cities meeting their triumphant, returning king. {And}14 In a Jewish context, “Hosanna” was used to greet such incoming kings (2 Sam. 14:4; 2 Kings 6:26). In fact, Jewish culture understood these “royal welcomes” so well that it adopted such forms commonly.]

The “Triumphal Entry”— But it is ironic that we call this the triumphal entry because the triumph Jesus was going to bring was very different from the kind of triumph the people expected. They expected Him to bring triumph over Rome, when in fact, Jesus had His eyes set on something bigger; something deeper. Israel had fallen into captivity numerous times before, which was God’s judgment on them for sin. But then they would cry out to God for deliverance and would repent, and God would deliver them. Yet it would be not long after that that they would fall into sin once again. And we see this cycle in our lives as well. We undergo some hardship and find ourselves crying out to God for deliverance. And we promise to live lives more fully devoted to Him; to stop doing the things we know we shouldn’t be doing. And yet afterwards (after He has answered us) we fall back into our old pattern of life.
We see this pattern every time natural disaster strikes; I have seen it in the lives of the men I have ministered to in prison, many of whom promise repentance and yet many (soon after their release) are soon back in prison. We see it in the lives of those who battle addiction. In the human condition, there is something deeper than physical bondage. Israel’s bondage to Rome was a symptom of their disease; the result. They wanted Jesus to deliver them as their Messiah as God had done so often in the past. And Jesus does want to do that; and will do that in the end. But first God has to do something in our hearts in order to ensure that we can live a life of victory rather than a life of defeat; a life that is no longer in bondage to the cycle of repeating the same sins and mistakes over and over again. Christ wants to set us free.

But the people who here cried hosanna were not looking for that kind of Savior. They wanted a Messiah who would pronounce judgment on others for their sin; not deal with their sin. And that is why, when Jesus humbled Himself before His enemies; when Jesus didn’t fight back; when Jesus allowed Himself to be taken captive, all forsook Him and fled. And many of the same people who had cried Hosanna became the very people who cried out at His trial, “Crucify Him!”

And what I want you to think about today is this, “What kind of Messiah do you really want in your life?” A Messiah who will serve you and make your name great or a Messiah who says, “Follow me. Oh and by the way, I am going to the cross.” That is what nobody understood; and even what many people do not understand today. If we we want to understand the real meaning of Easter; what it means to have Christ raised in our hearts, then we have to first understand the cross and what it means for our individual lives.

Giving Your Life to Christ-- I read a preacher and author some time ago who shared a story from his own life that encapsulates it so well. He says: [I remember one night during World War II when I spoke to a group of G.I.’s at an evangelistic service. One of the soldiers lingered afterward to talk. Once we were alone, he said, “I would like to become a Christian.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Well, I don’t want to go to hell,” he replied.
“I suppose that is a good reason.” I responded. “I don’t know if it is the noblest reason, but it is a perfectly legitimate one. All right, then, will you give your life to Christ?”
The soldier stiffened, “Oh, I could never do that,” he said. “Are you sure a man has to do that to be a Christian?”
I turned in my New Testament to read Jesus’ words, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.”
After a pause, he asked again, “Do I have to give my life to Christ to become a Christian?”
“Yes, you do. Why aren’t you willing to do that?”
“Why, I have plans for my life!” he exclaimed. “How can I give my life to Christ if I already have my own plans for it?”
I wanted to shake that soldier’s hand for his crystal-clear honesty. I had spent most of my life as a pastor dealing with people who felt that there was no contradiction between saying, “I will give my life to Christ,” and saying, “I know what I am going to do with my life.” That man sensed the contradiction.
The priests in Jerusalem felt that there was no contradiction between saying, “This is the Lord’s house,” and then running it in such a way that it was unfit for the Lord. Jesus had to walk in and declare, “You have made a terrible mistake. This is my Father’s house. It must be managed his way.” The priests reacted with panic.
Most of us panic when Christ comes into our lives like this. The foremost reason is our inordinate fear of what he will do with our lives when we allow him to take control. But is there any good reason to suppose that Jesus would make a mistake with our lives?]

​Today, as we think about our Messiah, let us give ourselves to Him wholly completely as the true Lord of our lives. Christ was not on His way to a throne; He was on His way to a cross. And therefore every person He calls to come and follow Him is also called to come to that same cross; to die to their own plans for their own lives and to give themselves completely to Him and to His mission. Jesus gave His life so that we might have life. And so we also are to give our lives to Him and pour our lives out so that others might come to know Jesus.

Lechem Panim #42 "Giving Love Away" (1 Jn. 3:16-18, Eph. 4:1-3, Phil. 2:1-4) Pastor Cameron Ury

One of the things I find most challenging about preaching is the amount of time I’m given. I remember one Sunday I was set to preach on the love of God, but my time was cut to 15 minutes because of some special programs we had going on, and I remember thinking “How am I going to speak on a topic as deep as the Love of God in only 15 minutes.” The irony is that now I I try to do this every week on air with you. There is always more that can be said.

The Monk, The Candle, & the Crucifix-- But some time ago I read a story of [A certain medieval monk {who} announced he would be preaching {the} next Sunday evening on "The Love of God." As the shadows fell and the light ceased to come in through the cathedral windows, the congregation gathered. In the darkness of the altar, the monk lighted a candle and carried it to the crucifix. First of all, he illumined the crown of thorns, next, the two wounded hands, then the marks of the spear wound. In the hush that fell, he blew out the candle and left the chancel. There was nothing else to say.]

Today, as we move towards our remembrance of the death of Christ during Passion Week, I would like to talk briefly about the subject of love, which is so central to the Passion narrative leading up to Easter. And I would like to talk about three different aspects of love that (if we understand them) can forever change all our relationship with God and with each other, making them full and rich.

POINT 1: LOVE PROTECTED/WITHHELD IS LOVE LOST— And the first of these is revealed in: 1 John 3:16-18 (ESV)— 16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17 But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

Michael W. Smith: “Love isn’t love until you give it away”— One of my favorite artists (has been for many years) is Michael W. Smith. And one of his oldest yet most powerful songs is a song called “Give It Away”; because it talks about one of the most fundamental aspects of love that can so often be overlooked. Love is not truly love until you give it away. He sings:

She asked him for forever
And a promise that would last
He said, "Babe, you know I love you
But I can't commit to that"
She said, "Love isn't love
Till You give it away"

A father lived in silence
Saw his son become a man
There was a distance felt between them
'Cause he could not understand
That love isn't love
Till You give it away
You gotta give it away

We can entertain compassion
For a world in need of care
But the road of good intentions
Doesn't lead to anywhere
'Cause love isn't love
Till you give it away
You gotta give it away

There was a man who walked on water
He came to set the people free
He was the ultimate example
Of what love can truly be
'Cause His love was His life
And He gave it away
You gotta give it away

Proverbs 27:5 (ESV)— 5 Better is open rebuke than hidden love.

C.S. Lewis: Love Protected is Love Destroyed-- C.S. Lewis says in his book The Four Loves: [To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin or your selfishness. But in that casket--safe, dark, motionless, airless--it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable...The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers...of love is Hell.]
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The primary characteristic about God that we need to understand is that He is the God who gives Himself away; with nothing held back. In Eden He gave us His breath and He gave us His world. In Adam and Eve’s marriage He gives us the foundation for understanding His Holy, hesed love. In Abraham, He promises us His salvation. In Jesus, He gives us His very Son. Through Jesus, He gives us entrance into His family. Through Jesus He gives us His eternal life and His very Kingdom. God is a God who gives Himself away; who in every way imaginable tries to bring us back into relationship with Him so that He can bless us with Himself. That is what the incarnation and Easter is all about.

The Twisted Lip of The Master-- Medical doctor Richard Selzer once shared an amazing story. He said: [I stand by the bed where a young woman lies, her face postoperative, her mouth twisted in palsy, clownish. A tiny twig of the facial nerve, the one to the muscles of her mouth, has been severed. She will be thus from now on. The surgeon had followed with religious fervor the curve of her flesh; I promise you that. Nevertheless, to remove the tumor in her cheek, I had to cut the little nerve. Her young husband is in the room. He stands on the opposite side of the bed and together they seem to dwell in the evening lamplight, isolated from me, private. Who are they, I ask myself, he and this wry mouth I have made, who gaze at and touch each other so generously, greedily? The young woman speaks. "Will my mouth always be like this?" she asks. "Yes," I say, "it will. It is because the nerve was cut." She nods and is silent. But the young man smiles. "I like it," he says, "It is kind of cute." All at once I know who he is. I understand and I lower my gaze. One is not bold in an encounter with a god. Unmindful, he bends to kiss her crooked mouth and I am so close I can see how he twists his own lips to accommodate to hers, to show her that their kiss still works.]
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The miracle of Christ's coming is that He did not conceal or reserve his love, but that He bent Himself to kiss us with His life. And so also we, if we want to truly have the love of Christ, we must be faithful to give our love away just as Christ did. Only then can it be made truly alive.

POINT 2: BEARING WITH ONE ANOTHER— A second element of love that is important for us to remember is revealed in: Ephesians 4:1-3 (ESV)--1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Works in Progress-- One of the key things to remember about love is that we have to be patient with the person we are loving. Every single one of us is a work in progress; we all have flaws; and we all fall short in many ways. But God is working in each of our lives to form us more and more into His image. But that takes time. And we need to recognize that each of us is a work in process. The Bible teaches us that we must be patient with one another and bear with one another; encouraging on another to become that person God wants them to be. And we have to be patient; though that is not always easy to do. But a vital part of our own transformation is having patience cultivated in our lives. And it is something we have to learn now; because you cannot learn patience in heaven.

A.B Simpson: If you are to practice patience, it must be now-- A.B. Simpson, a 19th-century preacher once said: [“Beloved, have you ever thought that someday you will not have anything to try you, or anyone to vex you again? There will be no opportunity in heaven to learn or to show the spirit of patience, forbearance, and longsuffering. If you are to practice these things, it must be now."]

We Must Cultivate Patience Now-- You can’t learn patience in heaven because there will no sin-filled people to try your patience. Our life here is the place we cultivate it; among our brothers and sisters in Christ; among our spouses; with our kids. We must, in every way, show our love by bearing with one another.

POINT 3: MAINTAINING UNITY WITH ONE ANOTHER— The third important element of love is revealed in: Philippians 2:1-4 (ESV) Christ's Example of Humility— 1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Satan Works By Dividing And Conquering-- Unity is an important thing. Where one is weak, many are strong. Unity in the body of Christ is the key to the power of any Church. Satan usually gains victories by first causing a break in unity. And he does this by getting individuals side-tracked on things that don’t matter; on getting them to value a thing or an idea or an opinion more than the other person.

Emptying ourselves-- This is why this passage in Philippians is so important, because it points us to the very root of our disunity; and that is selfishness. People who are all tuned in only on themselves will suffer a greater amount of disunity. Yet Paul points here to the fact that we must empty ourselves just as Christ emptied Himself. We must consider the other person’s needs more than our own. In doing that, we are tuning ourselves in to way of Christ.

A.W. Tozer: The Pianos and the Tuning Fork-- A.W. Tower once asked: [Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow. So one hundred worshipers [meeting] together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be, were they to become 'unity' conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship.]

The Key to Unity-- The key to unity in our church; in our marriages; in our relationships with our kids is to all have our eyes fixed on Jesus and on modeling that sacrificial love that He himself lived. If we tune ourselves to Him, we will automatically be tuned to each other. We will truly love each other and draw closer to each other. But it is like a triangle, Christ being at the top and each of us being the lines that flow down. The closer we draw to Jesus and to living like Him, the closer we draw (automatically) with one another.

​In order to have the love of Christ in our families and in our church is we must give it away; it cannot be withheld. In love we must bear with one another in patience as Christ also bears with us, encouraging and strengthening one another. And we must all seek a unity that can be found only in patterning our individual lives after Jesus. In doing so we become like-minded and unified in His nature. Let’s commit ourselves to apply these elements of love to our lives.