Jesus Has Ascended, It' Time For Growing Up - May 4, 2008

The portion of God’s Word which we consider today is take from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.

Ephesians 4:11-16 (NIV)

¹¹It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, ¹²to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up ¹³until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

¹⁴Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. ¹⁵Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. ¹⁶From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

▬

Christ Jesus, our risen Savior, reigns over all things for the benefit of God’s children. In His name, dear fellow-redeemed:

King Solomon, inspired by the Holy Spirit, wrote: “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven...A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to [harvest]…a time to weep, and a time to laugh…a time to keep silence, and a time to speak…” (Ecclesiastes 3:1ff).

Sometimes there are clear indicators that it’s time to do something or move from one season to the next. For example: When a lawn gets to a certain height it’s time to mow. Of greater significance—when graduation requirements are fulfilled it’s time to move on. Of even greater significance, but less known to us—when the days which God has appointed for us on the earth are completed it’s time to die and enter eternal life.

This last Thursday we celebrated Jesus’ ascension. Whenever we consider Christ’s ascension there are a couple of things that are good to keep in mind. First, Jesus’ ascension was part of God’s overall “salvation plan” for the souls of sinners. Secondly, Jesus’ ascension does not signal the end of His work for souls, it only signifies the end of his visible presence on earth.

The next season for Jesus’ disciples began after Jesus was no longer visibly with them. Ten days after Jesus ascended the disciples would be equipped for their new season through the gift of the Holy Spirit. That season continues with the disciples of today—you and me—and we continue to be equipped by the Holy Spirit through the Gospel. JESUS HAS ASCENDED—IT'S TIME FOR GROWING UP I. Jesus gives gifts to promote growth, II. Continuing growth characterizes spiritual maturity, and III. The whole body matures as each part matures

I.

The apostle Paul tells us that Jesus Himself “gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers…” [v.11] Jesus gave by the authority He has as our exalted and ascended Lord. Earlier in Ephesians, Paul writes: “[God] put all things under [Jesus’] feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (Ephesians 1:22-23 NKJV).

Before He ascended Jesus told the disciples, “All power—all authority—is given to me in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18 NKJV). Our victorious, exalted, and ascended Lord is ruling in heaven with all authority. He wields that power for the benefit of His Church—all believers. He wields that power to preserve the faith of believers already in the Church, and He uses that authority to guide all things with the goal of bringing even more sinners into the family of God. This is the work which Jesus is doing right now. To accomplish that work on earth, He—the ascended Savior—gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers.

Jesus gives gifts to individuals on earth to enable them to serve in these offices and capacities within His church. He gave gifts to the apostles many years ago, then He gave the apostles as gifts to the Church. He led them to opportunities, gave them the knowledge to use their gifts, and with that they evangelized the world of their day spreading the Gospel wherever they could. Through the action of the Holy Spirit, the apostles were inspired to write the very words of God in order to provide a written Scripture for generations and centuries upon centuries of God’s people. The ascended Lord gave the gifts that were needed for these men to be the apostles we know them to be and as such they were gifts to the church.

Jesus continues to give gifts to individuals and in turn gives them to the Church right down to the pastors, teachers, and other leaders in the Church of today. Jesus’ gifts to the Church are “for the equipping of the saints (believers).” [v.12] Paul wrote to Timothy, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness that a man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:15-16 NKJV). Jesus gives individuals as gifts to the Church so that they will use the Scriptures for their intended purposes and thereby equip others to also use the Scriptures.

The equipping of the believers is “for the work of the ministry and for the edifying of the body of Christ.” [v.12] The reason Jesus gives gifts to His Church on earth is not so that select individuals can go about the Gospel ministry and be the only ones doing so. Rather, they are the spark plugs, they are the instructors. As more and more are equipped and begin to share the Gospel, then by sheer numbers the Gospel spreads because the saints are equipping the saints to equip more saints so that they all share in the ministry of the Gospel!

So the work of the Gospel ministry within a congregation or a church body is never just for the called servants. It is never just for those in a leadership role. It is for every saint—every believer. Those who are called and given particular gifts are to equip the rest, and the whole body of Christ is to edify one another and strengthen one another’s faith by sharing the Gospel with each other.

The CLC Convention is coming up in less than two months. At Convention there will be called servants and lay delegates—it is a group endeavor. As we consider the work of our church body, it is not for the sake of those called servants, it’s not for the sake of a synodical hierarchy and organization. It is for the sake of the Gospel ministry. There are individuals who are called to serve in specific capacities in our fellowship, these are given by the ascended Lord as gifts to the church to promote growth; but the work that lies before us is work for all of us.

II.

As this work continues there will be spiritual growth—growth in knowledge of God, in faith, and in the confidence of faith. This growth continues “till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—“ [vv.13-15]

Making use of God’s Word will create growth leading to spiritual maturity. Peter wrote in his first epistle, “Desire the pure milk of the word that you may grow thereby” (1 Peter 2:2).

Consider today’s Gospel reading. Jesus did not grant the woman’s request immediately. He tested her faith. He challenged her faith. That process of circumstances strengthened her faith, but it wasn’t apart from the Gospel. As Jesus tested her faith, she relied upon the truth of what she already knew about Jesus, namely, that He was willing and able to help.

In a similar way, God will test our faith with what He gives or takes away or allows to come into our lives. At those times our faith will be strengthened when we make use of God’s Word and rely upon the truth we find there.

Consider this example from a Christian author: If you came to doubt that Old Faithful, the geyser in Yellowstone Park, would really erupt on time and with regularity, how could you become convinced that it really was faithful? Would your faith in Old Faithful improve by staying home and telling yourself over and over, “I need more faith in Old Faithful. I just need to believe it.”? This wouldn’t help at all! The best way to become convinced of the geyser’s reliability is to go and see for yourself, or at least research it’s past faithfulness.

Similarly, the way for us to be strengthened, to be built up, “to come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God,” is not to expect a stronger faith simply by going through life and thinking, “I need a stronger faith.” Rather, our faith is strengthened when we go to see God in action through His Word and when we research His past faithfulness there.

In God’s Word we find a witness to how faithful He was in providing salvation for us, and how faithful He was in guarding and keeping the believers of Biblical times. When we learn God’s faithfulness, hear His promises, and apply that to ourselves then we will continue to grow and develop a deepening spiritual maturity.

We understand the need for maturity and growth. We desire that our children mature physically, emotionally, and intellectually into adulthood. The desire that God has for our hearts and our faith is no less. Growth in spiritual maturity is certainly something we wish to pursue.

Spiritual immaturity is characterized by being pulled this way and that way by every new spiritual fad and doctrine; or by being easily blown into doubt concerning God with every new human challenge to His truth. A young child quickly changes his preferences and viewpoints depending on who has said what most recently. As a child matures, he develops a consistency that comes with maturity. Spiritually, we want to grow into maturity that isn’t easily pulled from one thing to the next so that instead of being tossed about by every new fad and doctrine we will stand fast and not be pulled from the cornerstone of our Savior.

Spiritual maturity is very important in this world because there are, as Paul told the Colossians, many who will seek to “cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the traditions of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ” (Colossians 2:8-9).

Another part of Christian maturity is to speak the truth in love (cf. v.15). It does not take any particular spiritual maturity to simply take God’s Law and “hammer” anybody and everybody with it and condemning everyone. That is just taking one aspect of God’s Word and “letting them have it.” It doesn’t take much spiritual maturity to speak as if sin doesn’t matter—ignoring sin and talking about God’s love.

It doesn’t take much spiritual maturity to talk about God’s love without explaining how He demonstrates that love and what that love means in the context of our sins.

It doesn’t take much spiritual maturity to use God’s Word however and whenever it is convenient and for selfish purposes.

It does take a growing spiritual maturity to know when to apply Law to a heart and when to apply Gospel. It takes a spiritual maturity to speak the truth without compromise, but to do so in connection with Christ-like love with the well-being of a sinner’s soul in mind. This is why Martin Luther said that a true theologian is one who can rightly divide between Law and Gospel and apply them correctly—something he never claimed to have mastered despite his God-given insight and years of study.

Continuing growth will characterize spiritual maturity that stands fast in the truth of God’s Word, relies on His promises, continues to delve into His Word for even greater knowledge and faith, and then also shares it with others by speaking the truth in love.

III.

In Paul’s writings, the Holy Spirit uses the illustration of a human body to visualize the body of Christ—all believers. Jesus is the head—the operating center of the body. All believers are the individual parts that make up the rest of the body.

In Romans 12, Paul speaks of the many gifts God gives and says if you have a particular gift, use it! “Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness” (Romans 12:6-8 NKJV).

Paul wrote similarly in 1 Corinthians but then he goes on to say that the body is incomplete without the other individual parts. If the body were all one big eye, how would we hear? If it were all one big ear, how would we smell? In other words, it takes every single believer to make the whole (cf. 1 Corinthians 12)

Paul writes in our text, “…the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.” [v.16] There are no spare or useless parts in the body of Christ.

Years ago doctors would extract tonsils without much hesitancy. Tonsils were considered largely useless so it was no big loss if they were gone—just leftovers from some evolutionary process some supposed. Doctors still remove tonsils if it becomes necessary, but if at all possible they leave them because it turns out that when God created us He did have a purpose for the tonsils after all. Yes, we can survive without tonsils or an appendix or with only one kidney or only part of other organs, but in those cases our body is incomplete. We can survive, but our body will not function as fully or perfectly as when every organ and every part is working properly and doing its share.

The same is true about the body of Christ. The work of the Gospel ministry will continue without you. God’s Word will prevail. But because you are a child of God who has been called to faith you have a role to play. You are part of God’s chosen generation to proclaim the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light (cf. 1 Peter 2:9). You can ignore it, you can avoid it, and the spread of the Gospel will continue but not as completely as it would if you were to serve using your gifts in the way that God has called you.

The whole body benefits when the individual part uses his gifts for the work of the Gospel and to edify one another in love. This means that the parts of the body who are stronger can edify and build up those who are weaker. Those who are strong shouldn’t leave the others behind. No one should strike out on his own way. Being joined together and knit together with Christ means that when each individual grows in spiritual maturity, the whole body grows. When the whole body grows it thrives and when the body of Christ thrives the Gospel goes forth for the salvation of more souls.

Jesus has ascended. He is living and reigning in heaven for us—His Church on earth. Now it’s time for growing up. Amen.

-- Pastor Wayne C. Eichstadt

The peace which comes from God, which far exceeds all our understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

See the Cross of Christ and Rejoice - Feb 17, 2008

The purpose of Jesus’ birth, life and death is summed up in the words of 1 John 3:8: “…The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.” (1 John 3:8 NIV)

In our sermon meditation for today, we consider the words of:

Romans 5:1-11 (NKJV)

¹Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ²through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. ³And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; ⁴and perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

⁶For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. ⁸But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. ¹⁰For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. ¹¹And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

Grace and Peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

The cross is probably the most common and most recognizable of all Christian symbols. It is visible in churches, on greeting cards, in artwork, and jewelry. The cross has become so common and so popular that one has to wonder whether all those who see it, wear it, draw it, or use it really know and appreciate what it means, or if it has just become part of fashion.

The form of a cross has no special power to defend against danger or perform miracles. To believe that it does is superstition and no different than trusting in a rabbit's foot. Nor should the cross itself ever become an object of worship. Any such worship would be idolatry.

The cross is a symbol. It has no value or significance of itself. The value and significance come from what took place on a cross, outside of Jerusalem, nearly 2,000 years ago. When the symbol brings to minds and hearts all the things that Jesus accomplished by dying on a cross, it is then that the cross becomes the most beautiful thing in the world. SEE THE CROSS OF CHRIST AND REJOICE! We are I. Reconciled by it. We will consider our II. Response to it, and we are III. Confident in it.

I.

Two words, justification and reconciliation, are both used by Paul to describe what Jesus did for us on the cross. Justification is a courtroom term and means “to be declared righteous.”

God is the judge of all. The guideline for His judgment is His Law. The judging is really quite simple. If God’s Law is kept perfectly, the judge declares the person innocent. If the Law has been broken in any way, the judge declares him guilty. God’s verdict on us is Guilty! We are justified—declared free from guilt—because of what Christ did in His life and what He completed on the cross.

The second word, reconciliation, is a personal term. A broken friendship is restored when the friends are reconciled and brought back together. The reconciliation removes whatever had divided them and they are once again friends.

God takes no pleasure in sin. He hates it and demands punishment for it. Those who are sinning take no pleasure in God and hate Him. A little later in Romans, Paul writes, “The carnal (natural / fleshly) mind is enmity (hatred) against God” (Romans 8:7). Sin separates man from God. It drives them apart. Where sin exists there is no reconciliation. When the sin is removed, sinners are no longer God’s enemies but are reconciled with Him and restored as God’s own children.

Our justification and reconciliation depend on the removal of sin’s guilt. Sin and its condemnation is the problem which once solved will solve everything else. “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom also we have access into this grace in which we stand…” [v.1-2]. We are justified by faith...through Jesus Christ.

There can be no justification or reconciliation by ourselves or through ourselves. We are justified and reconciled—the action is done to us. The only way to be declared righteous is to have righteousness and “all of our righteousnesses are as filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6). In order for us to be reconciled with God, His Law had to be kept and our sin against it had to be punished. Jesus did both. He led a perfect life in our place and on the cross died for the sins of all the world. Through Jesus’ life and death there is forgiveness, justification, reconciliation for every sinner. “[God] has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is , that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing (charging) their trespasses to them…” (2 Corinthians 5:18-19).

Jesus accomplished everything and finished it all on the cross. There is nothing left for us to do, which is good, because there is nothing we can do for our salvation. “…knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ…for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified” (Galatians 2:16).

God tells us that the work has all been done by Christ. It was accomplished on the cross. There is forgiveness and reconciliation for you through Jesus and what He has done. Believe it!

Two beautiful results of being justified and reconciled with God is that we “have peace with God” and we “have access by faith into this grace in which we stand.” Having been justified through Jesus Christ we are in harmony and at peace with God. His righteous anger toward our sin was put upon Christ on the cross. Now, God looks on us with pleasure because we have Christ’s holiness. There is peace for our conscience because we know that Jesus was punished for us. No longer do we have to fear God. He is our loving Father and we have free and complete access to Him just as children have to their loving earthly fathers. We enjoy all of these blessings because of God's grace—His undeserved love. We have been brought into that grace and continue on living in it because of Jesus and the work He accomplished on the cross.

See the cross of Christ and rejoice because what He did on the cross was for you. He died for your forgiveness and through Him you are reconciled to God and have the blessings of God’s children.

II.

The natural response to good news is happiness and excitement about whatever that news may be. Paul says, “through whom (Jesus)…we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” [v.2] The work of Jesus on the cross and our reconciliation means that we have something wonderful to which we can look forward. It is natural to rejoice in the coming glory of God which we will experience for all of eternity.

Paul goes on with something that, at first, seems to be an unnatural response. “…through whom we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations.” [v.2-3] Having been justified through Christ, we can rejoice and glory even in troubles and not only when tribulations come but because they come. This contradicts every bit of human reason and worldly wisdom. Having no problems sounds so good and so easy that it seems foolish to speak about rejoicing in troubles.

God does tremendous things for us. We know that He is the one who gives us every blessing, takes care of us, answers our prayers, that He is the one on whom we can truly rely and trust that He will always help us. We know all of this and yet how often don’t we forget? Are you more likely to remember God when the things are going well or when you have some trouble? God allows troubles to come to help you and to strengthen your faith, therefore you can rejoice even in tribulations. Paul describes a chain of events. “Tribulation produces perseverance, and perseverance, character, and character hope.” [v.3-4]

Tribulations remind sinners that they are weak and helpless. We have need for daily support and blessings from God just to survive. We should be more afraid of good days and prosperity than of the troubles because the good things in this life are going to tempt us into forgetting the One who gives us everything. The ease of this life may tempt us into forgetting our heavenly goal. Proverbs explains the dangers, “Give me neither poverty nor riches—feed me with the food allotted to me; lest I be full and deny You, and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God” (Proverbs 30:8-9).

In trouble, we are reminded to look to the One who helps us. When you are in trouble of any kind, look to the Lord and ask Him for the help you need. Are you sick? Remember from where healing comes and ask the Lord for that healing. Emotional strain or difficulties, an empty checkbook, disagreements with friends, the world caving in, troubles and sorrows on every side—all of these find remedy with the God who loves you, who has redeemed you, who controls all things, and who gives you everything you have.

When troubles arise, and you cast your cares on God perseverance will be the result. A patient endurance will build up when you know that God is going to see you through difficulties and that He will solve every problem according to His wisdom. Each tribulation when it is face together with your Lord, will be overcome and will find a good ending. The patient endurance and blessed end of that trouble will give further endurance to patiently trust the Lord in the next time of need. James wrote, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience” (James 1:2-3).

What is described as “character,” is literally, “the proof of standing the test.” With each tribulation that is overcome by perseverance in the Lord there comes the proof that the trouble was survived and endured. Having seen how the Lord has brought us through a certain trouble, our confidence is increased and this leaves its mark on us. The more and more we see of what God has done, can do, and does, the greater confidence and trust we will have. That trust and confidence will show itself in us. We will be more patient, more ready to look to the Lord, and less eager to find help in ourselves. That character will build and be more and more focused on Jesus, our Lord and Savior.

The final step in the chain is that character produces hope. As our patience and trust build and as we grow stronger and more confident in our Lord, we will hold on all the more dearly to the hope that we have in God. God uses tribulations to produce perseverance and character so that our faith will withstand the temptations of this life. Then we will one day see in person the glory of God which is now our hope.

All of the trouble in this world is a lasting result and effect of sin. God allows certain troubles to come to us in order to strengthen our faith and trust in Him. It is like an athlete who lifts weights to build strength. When more weight is added it is hard to lift the bar, but in the end that is what increases his strength. Each difficulty that we experience may seem heavy and hard to bear but we can rejoice and glory in it because we know that God is using that to strengthen us.

We need continual strengthening from God so that we are able to withstand the attacks of the Devil and reach our goal. “For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise: For yet a little while, and He who is coming will come and will not tarry. Now the just shall life by faith; but if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him” (Hebrews 10:36-38).“For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory…” (2 Corinthians 4:17).

Our tribulations give us no comfort in themselves. It is the hope of the glory of God through Christ that comforts us in troubled times. We are able to respond to the cross of Christ with rejoicing even in tribulations because of the chain of events which Paul describes. We know that the God who sent His Son to justify us is also using the troubles of this life for our greater good.

III.

Sometimes hope ends in disappointment—something didn’t work out right and everything we expected failed. The hope we have as a result of Christ’s death on the cross does not fail nor disappoint. It does not leave us empty-handed as if we were tricked into putting our trust in something uncertain. Our hope is sure. “Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” [v.5]

The hope we have comes to us from the Holy Spirit. The Holy Ghost testifies to us through the Word of God and convinces us that God loves us and that His love is our possession. The knowledge of that love is the reason for our joy, confidence, and hope. Hope that is built on God and created by God cannot end in failure. Our hope is built on the reality of God’s love for us. What is that love? How deep does it go? How far does it spread? Paul gives us the answer. “For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” [v.6-8].

Imagine that a man was proven guilty of horrible crimes, was sentenced to his just reward, and was to be executed...but you could be executed in his place. It would be hard to see any good reason to sacrifice your life for someone who deserved to die. You might jump into a lake to save someone who was drowning, but to die in place of someone who deserved to be executed would be another matter entirely. You are the person on death row. Your crimes against God deserve execution, eternally.

God demonstrates the quality and quantity of His love for you in that Christ did offer Himself in your place. We can see and appreciate love among ourselves, but that is nothing compared to the love of God toward us. When we love someone else it is a result of their love for us or is at least prompted by something in them. There is absolutely nothing in us to prompt God to love us.

By ourselves we are as Paul describes us, “without strength, ungodly, and sinners.” Weak, helpless, condemned sinners and under God’s wrath is what we are without Christ. What Christ did on the cross He did for us as enemies of God. His sacrifice displays true love and is the love we see in the cross and the love on which we build our confidence.

“Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.” [v.9-11]

Sinful mankind was at war with God yet He loved such sinners with so great a love that Jesus died to reconcile them and make them God’s children. Now, through Christ, we are God’s beloved children. If God did all of these things when we were His enemies, can you imagine what He will do now that we are His children? We have no need to fear anything in this life, and more importantly no need to fear God’s anger in eternal judgment.

Love is shown by deeds and deeds establish confidence. The indescribable love of God is shown in what He did. That gives complete confidence for the present and for the future that lies ahead. The certain hope that comes from this confidence will not leave us ashamed or disappointed. We have life in Jesus’ life. He promised, “Because I live you shall live also” (John 14:19).

Everything that we have in Christ and everything to which we confidently look forward, makes it possible to rejoice and boast in the things which God has done. “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches; but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord, exercising loving-kindness, judgment and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight says the Lord” (Jeremiah 9:23-24).

The cross of Christ is cause for rejoicing because of all that it has brought to us. Keep the cross fixed before your eyes and in your heart and you will always see it and rejoice.

Hold Thou thy cross before my closing eyes,
shine through the gloom and point me to the skies,
heaven’s morning breaks and earth's vain shadows flee.
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me. (TLH 552:8)

Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

—Pastor Wayne C. Eichstadt