Sermon – Everlasting
William M. Howard
For presentation, Sunday, March 20, 2010
First Baptist Church, Jefferson, Maine
Genesis 12:1-4a
12:1 Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.
12:2 I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
12:3 I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
12:4a So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him.
This scene takes place in between times of the Tower of Babel and when Abram resides in Egypt. The Lord speaks to Abram. (His name hasn’t changed yet. That comes later.) He tells Abram to leaves his father’s house and go away. God says “I will make of you a great nation.” What nation? The nation that exists today, started then, and will continue for us, and continue forever or Everlasting nation of people. We are that people as descendants of Abraham thousands of years later.
Psalm 121
121:1 I lift up my eyes to the hills-- from where will my help come?
121:2 My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
121:3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.
121:4 He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
121:5 The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade at your right hand.
121:6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.
121:7 The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.
121:8 The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and forevermore.
From the book of Roman, an epistle by Paul.
Romans 4:1-5, 13-17
4:1 What then are we to say was gained by Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh?
4:2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.
4:3 For what does the scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness."
4:4 Now to one who works, wages are not reckoned as a gift but as something due.
4:5 But to one who without works trusts him who justifies the ungodly, such faith is reckoned as righteousness.
4:13 For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith.
4:14 If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void.
4:15 For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation.
4:16 For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us,
4:17 as it is written, "I have made you the father of many nations") -- in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.
From the Gospels, the fourth Gospel, the of John.
John 3:1-17
3:1 Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews.
3:2 He came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God."
3:3 Jesus answered him, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above."
3:4 Nicodemus said to him, "How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother's womb and be born?"
3:5 Jesus answered, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.
3:6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.
3:7 Do not be astonished that I said to you, 'You must be born from above.'
3:8 The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."
3:9 Nicodemus said to him, "How can these things be?"
3:10 Jesus answered him, "Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?
3:11 "Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony.
3:12 If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?
3:13 No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.
3:14 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
3:15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
3:17 "Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Matthew 17:1-9
17:1 Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves.
17:2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white.
17:3 Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him.
17:4 Then Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."
17:5 While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, "This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!"
17:6 When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear.
17:7 But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Get up and do not be afraid."
17:8 And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.
17:9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, "Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead."
Prayer: Lord, we come before you to glorify you in the righteousness you have provided us. Thank you God. Thank you Jesus. Amen.
Sermon
When preparing a sermon, I read the passages and ask God for a blessing. I seek the idea of that would speak today. The title is “Everlasting” which came to mind. There is a thread going through the words here.
The word everlasting came to mind but that is not the word in the text. The word in the text is eternal for eternal life.
Let us see how the differences mean to us.
This sermon is evangelical. This sermon is about Jesus saying to a seeker “so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life”.
For the younger folks here, they may not be thinking about eternal life. But for many of us, we are wondering what happens when we cease to walk the earth. Jesus talks about eternal life or everlasting. And how do we get it?
We start today in the Book of Genesis, where God created everything, including humans. It is good to know and become acquainted with how God developed mankind and what happened to where we are today. Abram is a man that God spoke to and Abram accepted the Lord’s word. Paul writes in the Roman epistle about that relationship Abram developed with God. And, "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness."
The translation here uses the word “reckoned”. Reckoned is not a common word for us in everyday language. Let’s look at some other translations.
Let’s try this from NIV (2010) “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
And from KJV “Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.”
Lastly, from The Message: “that trusting-him-to-do-it is what gets you set right with God, by God.”
You are seeing an example of the process I take to seek the meaning of the Word.
Then there are the words “faith” and “believes”.
I am trying to get the connection here of how we perceive and accept God and the resultant blessing upon us.
It is simple, accept God for the almighty creator He is and we will be bestowed righteousness. That’s good.
And that is what Abram did and what happened to him. Then God gave Abram a directive. He told Abram what to do. Abram being a believer and faithful following, He listened to God and followed the commands much of which was by simple faith.
Paul (in the book of Romans) expands on the point of faith and righteousness. He firmly states that following church laws and doing works will not make a person righteous in the eyes of the Lord. Faith and faith alone, the belief in God is the key.
Do you have the faith?
Great if you do.
My guess is that some of us may not have the same kind of faith that God intended for us to have. Oh, you may have some intellectual understanding and you respect that. Well, so didn’t Paul prior to his eyes opening. Here is the story, Saul (Paul) was on the road to Damascus to persecute Christians. He had the intellectual understanding and thought the laws as he understood them needed to be followed and Christians, followers of this dead Jesus guy was all wrong. He did not have the faith. On his travel he was blinded by a bright light and had to be guided into the city. Days passed. Then Ananias came to Paul and after having a spirited conversation, his eyes opened and righteousness shined in. This comes from Book of Acts, chapter 9.
Some of us have taken that road to Damascus in our own lives we thought we were doing all good then were stricken, stopped in our tracks, halted in our lives and could go no further on our own. We have to be lead by hand and guided. Then it happens. A spirit comes upon someone to tell us. The spirit by someone comes to us to tell us.
Acts 9:17-18 NRSV
(17) So Ananias went and entered the house. He laid his hands on Saul and said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit."
(18) And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized,
Pretty dramatic stuff. Who will be your Ananias?
In our Gospel reading today, we hear about a Pharisee named Nicodemus. He and Jesus are having a conversation about what? Nicodemus is asking about having faith. And Jesus comes back with the rebirth notion which Nicodemus did not understand. So Jesus goes on to explain.
3:5 Jesus answered, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.
3:6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.
3:7 Do not be astonished that I said to you, 'You must be born from above.'
3:8 The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."
3:9 Nicodemus said to him, "How can these things be?"
3:10 Jesus answered him, "Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?
3:11 "Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony.
3:12 If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?
3:13 No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.
3:14 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
3:15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
So here it goes now folks. If you have been sleeping up to this point, it is time to wake up and open your eyes. You want to get into the Kingdom of God and have everlasting life, then listen.
3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
For some of us we are close to the time where our physical presence is going to end and we don’t want to die. We will die and our hearts will stop, but we can have an eternity within Heaven.
Are you worried that maybe you don’t feel worthy and should just die dead, the end? Hang on to these following words! These everlasting words….
3:17 "Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
We heard about Paul, who was the nastiest of people persecuting believers. And Jesus did not condemn him but called upon him and saved him. He became righteous. He lives in eternally, forever, everlastingly. How? By believing with all his heart, mind, and with all his strength, that Jesus Christ is God and Lord in Heaven.
Accept Jesus Christ, have faith in Jesus Christ, believe in Jesus. Why?
3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
Amen.
An Everlasting Amen.
Benediction*
May the Lord go before you to guide you,
Beside you to guard you,
Above you to bless you,
Beneath you to uphold you,
And behind you to forgive you,
Now and always.