Isaiah 65:17-25 "The LORD's Coming Attraction"

 Isaiah 65:17-25 - "For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind. 18 But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; For behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing, And her people a joy. 19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem, And joy in My people; The voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her, Nor the voice of crying. 20 " No more shall an infant from there live but a few days, Nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days; For the child shall die one hundred years old, But the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed. 21 They shall build houses and inhabit them; They shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 22 They shall not build and another inhabit; They shall not plant and another eat; For as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of My people, And My elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. 23 They shall not labor in vain, Nor bring forth children for trouble; For they shall be the descendants of the blessed of the LORD, And their offspring with them. 24 " It shall come to pass That before they call, I will answer; And while they are still speaking, I will hear. 25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, The lion shall eat straw like the ox, And dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain," Says the LORD. Theme: The LORD's Coming Attraction - Forgetting - Rejoicing - Living Dear fellow redeemed in Jesus Christ, COMING SOON TO A THEATER NEAR YOU! Do you remember what the last movie you went to was? While the theater may have said the movie was scheduled to start at 7, we have come to realize that the actual feature doesn't start then. Because from 7 to 7:20 there are previews of movies that will be released in the future. With these previews you never get to see the whole movie. You don't get to see how the movie ends. In fact, there are some movies where the previews are better than the movie itself! But Hollywood’s purpose in all this is to give you a taste of coming attractions. They hope you'll get so excited about an upcoming movie that you'll want to come back and see it. Throughout Scripture God gives His saints a preview of what is to come. Especially what is in store for us in heaven. Similar to a movie trailer, God does not tell us everything that is coming, but He tells us just enough. He gives us a preview of His coming attraction. In our text for this today we have a most blessed coming attraction to consider. The LORD God Himself tells us of what things are going to be like after Judgment Day. The LORD says this coming attraction will feature forgetting, rejoicing, and living. Now, as we consider this coming attraction we may wonder - who is this for? Who is God talking to? Why is He going to do this? How can I be part of this? That is the absolute best part of this coming attraction! We know well that gospel filled passage of John 3:16. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." God sent His Son into the world to save us. Jesus came to rescue us from the everlasting death in hell that we earned by our sins. He came to pay for our sins and cleanse us by His blood. He came to earn our righteousness. And God promises that whoever believes in Jesus will have everlasting life. Therefore in our text, the LORD is telling us what He will do for His people, His elect. The LORD is telling us what He will do for all believers in Christ. So as we go through and consider this blessed coming attraction, consider this, that it is the LORD who is directing all this and we who are starring in it. What the LORD is doing, He is doing for you through Jesus. Let us consider the LORD's coming attraction! FORGETTING It's called having a senior moment. As we grow older, our memories tend to fail us more and more. It can get very frustrating when you lose your train of thought or can't remember something simple. There are cherished memories we'd love to hold onto, such as births, weddings, and loved ones. On the other hand, throughout our lives there are things we would much rather never remember, such as pain, suffering, and sadness. As the LORD gives us a preview of this coming attraction, He says there will be forgetting, but in this case we'll be glad we forgot. Our text begins with the LORD telling us of something that is going to take place in the future. He says, "For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth." Behold, God says, look at what I am going to do. The Apostle Peter by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit wrote that this new heavens and new earth will be created after the "day of the Lord." (3:10) This will happen after Jesus returns from heaven. After the dead will be raised and all will be judged. After those who rejected Jesus as their Savior have been sent to hell to suffer for eternity. Then Jesus will invite those who believed in Him as their Savior, “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” (Mt 25:34) Come inherit the new heavens and the new earth! Of this new creation the LORD says, “And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.” This new creation will be so incredible that the LORD says the former, our sin-filled and sorrow-filled lives in this dying world, will not be remembered. The LORD says it won't even come to mind because what God is going to create will be so wonderful that we will forget about our lives in this old world. This is a preview of the LORD's coming attraction - in His new creation we will forget about the old. REJOICING While we enjoy many things in our lives here, there is a lot of sorrow that we experience. Sin scars every aspect of our lives. Sin brings the sorrow of death. But the LORD says we are going to forget about all that. In the LORD's coming attraction there will be no sorrow, only rejoicing. We will rejoice for what God has done FOR us and God Himself will rejoice OVER us. As the LORD gives us a preview of what He is going to do, He wants us to ponder it and forever rejoice over it. "But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create." We know the sorrow and disappointment we regularly feel in this life. But the LORD would instead have us consider what He is doing. This new heaven and new earth that the LORD will create will be like it was before the fall into sin - no sin, no death, no curse. In fact, the LORD says in His new creation, "The voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her, Nor the voice of crying." This reminds us of what was revealed to John in the Revelation of Jesus Christ, "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." (Rev. 21:4) This is God's new creation. It is one of rejoicing. As we rejoice in the great things God has in store for us! But then the LORD says something truly amazing. He says He will rejoice over US! “For behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing, And her people a joy. I will rejoice in Jerusalem, And joy in My people.” When the LORD speaks of Jerusalem here, we may think He is talking about Jerusalem the city over in Israel, some 7000 miles from here. But is there anything worth rejoicing over in that city? There seems to be nothing but war and strife in the current Jerusalem. Instead the LORD here speaks of a new Jerusalem, a place where God dwells with His people. This is the Holy Christian Church, all believers in Jesus Christ. Through His Holy Spirit God dwells in us now in time, and in this new creation God Himself will dwell with us. The LORD says He will rejoice in Jerusalem and joy in His people. This is you! God will rejoice in you! But what is there in us that the LORD would want to rejoice over? In and of ourselves there is nothing. On our own, God looks on us and says, “They have all turned aside, They have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No, not one.” (Ps 14:3) But this is precisely the reason Jesus came. Jesus came so that the LORD would rejoice over us. He paid for our sins and through faith in Him His righteousness becomes our own. It is only in Jesus that the LORD rejoices over us. Now, in Christ, the Father looks on you, sees His Son, and can say of you, “This is My beloved child in whom I am well pleased!” Imagine that, the LORD rejoicing in us! Amazing! All this because of what Jesus, the Son of God, did for us! Let us rejoice in what the LORD has done for us, as the LORD rejoices in us through Jesus! LIVING It seems that death surrounds us. We see death in nature. We hear of it in the news. We receive word of loved ones who died. Young and old alike, death affects us all. This brings the greatest sorrow to our lives in this world. We know how even Jesus Himself wept at the death of His friend Lazarus. Cancer, heart problems, bad hips, diabetes, stubbed toes, and the list goes on and on of the effect sin has taken on this world. But the LORD says that His new heavens and new earth are going to be very different. At the LORD's coming attraction there will only be LIFE. In verses 20 through 25 the LORD tries to help us understand the abundant life that will be ours in the new heavens and the new earth. Because this is prophetic language we do not take it literally, but more as God painting a picture for us to help us understand something that is far beyond our comprehension. Listen to the abundant life that is to come: "No more shall an infant from there live but a few days, Nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days; For the child shall die one hundred years old, But the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed." NO MORE, says the LORD, NO MORE! No more will there be such a thing as an infant mortality rate. At one hundred years, someone will still be considered a child. In the new creation there will be abundant life - eternal life! The LORD emphasizes this further in verse 22, “For as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of My people, And My elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.” Like those mighty sequoias and redwood trees of California that can live for thousands of years, the LORD says that is what our lives are going to be like. Life, unlike anything we know and experience in this world, will be ours forever in God’s coming attraction. But until that time, until the trumpet sounds, and we shall reign with Christ eternally, God has some promises He wants to strengthen us with. He promises that He will hear us and He will protect us. "It shall come to pass That before they call, I will answer; And while they are still speaking, I will hear. 25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, The lion shall eat straw like the ox, And dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain," Says the LORD. As we run the race of our faith now in time and eagerly await the new heavens and new earth, the LORD says that He will hear our prayers. Through Jesus Christ, God hears our prayers and answers us as He knows best. He will hear us and protect us. Even the most ferocious of enemies shall not hurt nor destroy God's people, in all His holy mountain. This is what Jesus promised us when He said that the gates of hades cannot prevail against us and when He said that no one is able to snatch us from His hand. The LORD wants us to know of what awaits all believers in Christ. He will create new heavens and a new earth. This creation will be so splendid that we will forget all the former things of this old world of sin and death. This creation will be so amazing that we will rejoice that God has done all this for us as a gift of His grace. And because of Jesus He will rejoice over us, His people. This new creation will be filled with abundant life and no sorrow or suffering. All this is your, freely, by grace, through faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus has earned it for you! Therefore let us rejoice even now because the LORD has said it and it shall be so! Coming soon for eternity for you! AMEN

Jeremiah 26:1-6 "Preparing for Judgment Day"

Jeremiah 26:1-6 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from the LORD, saying, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Stand in the court of the LORD’s house, and speak to all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD’s house, all the words that I command you to speak to them. Do not diminish a word. Perhaps everyone will listen and turn from his evil way, that I may relent concerning the calamity which I purpose to bring on them because of the evil of their doings.’ And you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD: “If you will not listen to Me, to walk in My law which I have set before you, to heed the words of My servants the prophets whom I sent to you, both rising up early and sending them (but you have not heeded), then I will make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.”’”

Theme: PREPARING FOR JUDGMENT DAY
- Prepared by faithful preaching
- Prepared by listening
- Prepared by the grace of God

Dear fellow redeemed in Christ Jesus,
How many of you have been involved with planning a wedding? I imagine most of you over the age of 20 have in one way or another been involved. Maybe it was your wedding, maybe it was your child’s wedding, or maybe you were involved with the wedding of one of your friends. If you’ve ever been involved with planning a modern wedding, you know that it takes a great deal of preparation. The wedding dress, the bridesmaid dresses, the tuxes, the church, the preacher, the day, the time, the hymns, and of course, don’t forget the guest list. Weddings are an important day and a lot of preparing goes into that day - especially for the bride. This is a day she has been dreaming of her whole life and she wants to be ready for it.
Scripture sometimes refers to the Church as the bride and Jesus is her Bridegroom. Jesus has chosen the believers to be His lifelong companion. He loves her and cares for her. He died for His bride to save her and to cleanse her from all her sin. There is a Day that is coming when we will get to meet our Bridegroom face to face. Like the modern bride who wants to be ready for her groom on their wedding day, so too we want to prepared to meet our Savior Jesus on Judgment Day.
Could there be any more important day than this in our lives? The Day that our lives in this earth come to an end and eternity begins. On that Day Jesus will return surrounded by His holy angels to judge the living and the dead. The trumpet will sound, the dead will rise, Jesus will separate His believers from the unbelievers, and the believers will be taken to be with their Lord forever in heaven and the unbelievers will be banished from the presence of God forever to the eternal fires of hell. As important as that Day is, how much time do we spend preparing for it? Jesus exhorts us again and again in the Scriptures to be watchful and alert for that day, because it will come when we least expect it!
Today’s text from Jeremiah helps identify things that are very important in preparing for Judgment Day. We hear how faithful preaching of God’s Word is important to being prepared. We hear how actually listening to God’s Word is so very important. But above all else, the grace of God is paramount to being prepared for Judgment Day. May God help us to listen to His Word and so may He prepare us for the Last Day when the trumpet shall sound and we will be with the Lord forever!

PREPARED BY FAITHFUL PREACHING
The Old Testament scriptures are full of events that were a foreshadowing of things to come in the New Testament era. For instance all of the prescribed sacrifices in the Old Testament were a picture of the one great sacrifice Jesus would make on the cross for the sins of the world. The fact that King David was a shepherd king, was a picture of Jesus, the King of kings, who is our Good Shepherd. So too with the judgment prophesied of in our text. Here, God is threatening to destroy Judah, Jerusalem, and Solomon’s temple because of the evil which the people were doing. While they did come to the Temple to worship, their hearts were far from Him - they were also worshiping other false gods.
Much like the people of Samuel’s day thought of the Ark of the Covenant as a good luck charm, the people of Jeremiah’s day thought of the Temple as their ultimate defense. Certainly, they thought, God would not allow anything to harm His Temple. They were wrong. God is threatening to do to Jerusalem and the Temple what He allowed to happen to Shiloh, where the tabernacle had been in the days of Eli and his wicked sons, but by Jeremiah’s day was just a pile of rubble. This was the calamity that awaited the people of Judah because of the evil of their doings.
And yet, what do we find the merciful, gracious, and longsuffering God doing? While they may have deserved to be destroyed right then and there, we see that the LORD does not desire the death of the wicked, but that he should turn from his way and live! (Ez. 33:11) And because the LORD desires this He sends his servants the prophets. He says in verse 5 that they rose up early and were sent. This rising up early is something we do when we have something very important we want to accomplish on a given day. So too with the prophets of the LORD. They were sent with a great deal of urgency.
But if these servants of the LORD were to do any good they had to be faithful. The LORD said to Jeremiah, “Stand in the court of the LORD’s house, and speak to all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD’s house, all the words that I command you to speak to them. Do not diminish a word.” The LORD knew exactly what the people needed to hear. They needed a heavy dose of the Law. But in order for this message to get to the people, the LORD needed His servants the prophets to speak His word faithfully. Their audience could not afford for them to be politically correct and only tell them what they wanted to hear. For the sake of their audience they dare not diminish or hold back a single word from the LORD.
As the Apostle Paul was saying his tearful goodbyes to the elders from the church in Ephesus, he said, “I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God.” (Acts 20:26-27) Paul did not diminish a word of the Lord, but taught the Ephesians everything Christ had commanded him. This is the will of the LORD when it comes to the preaching of His Word. He requires that His Word be proclaimed faithfully. In Deuteronomy 12 the LORD says, “Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it.” (Deut 12:32)
As we prepare for Judgment Day, we too need faithful preachers who will proclaim to us the entire counsel of God. We need faithful preachers who will not simply tell us what we want to hear, but what we need to hear. When we sin and begin to wander from God, we need faithful preachers who will not diminish a word but tell us exactly what God has to say about our lives and conduct. We need them to rise early and urgently, while it is still day, before the trumpet sounds and it is too late to repent. Only the Word of God, faithfully taught in its truth and purity, can begin to prepare us for the return of Jesus.

PREPARED BY LISTENING
Children, have your parents ever talked to you about the difference between hearing and listening? Husbands, how many times have you confessed to your wife that you heard what they said but you weren’t really listening to what they had to say? There is a big difference between hearing and listening. Hearing is something you can do passively. You can hear someone talking without paying attention to anything they have to say. Listening, though, is active. Listening involves paying attention to the words being spoken and taking them to heart.
When the LORD sent Jeremiah to the Temple with His message and told Him not to diminish a word, what was the LORD’s goal? What did the LORD hope to accomplish through Jeremiah? Verse 3, “Perhaps everyone will listen and turn from his evil way, that I may relent concerning the calamity which I purpose to bring on them because of the evil of their doings.” Now, how many people do you suppose HEARD the message from the LORD that Jeremiah proclaimed and how many LISTENED? We know many HEARD Jeremiah, because after he spoke these words of Judgment in the Temple, the crowd seized him and wanted to kill him. But few, if any LISTENED. They did not listen to these words of warning from the LORD. The LORD was hoping they would listen and their lives would show that they listened as they turned from their evil way.
As we prepare for Judgment Day are we merely hearing or are we listening? Faithful preaching of God’s Word means little if there is no one to preach to or if, like Jeremiah, no one is listening to what God has to say. Listening means we are actively paying attention to God’s Word. When God confronts us about our sin in His Word, listening means repenting and turning from our evil way. This is God’s purpose when He brings us His Law. It is to lead us to repent of our sins and to believe on Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins.
We begin to see, then, how faithful use of the Means of Grace is so important to preparing ourselves for Judgment Day. Right now, we are preparing for Judgment Day by listening to God’s Word and applying it to our lives. Our communicant members were preparing for Judgment Day by examining themselves before they come to the Lord’s Table later in the service. We prepare for Judgment Day by listening to God’s Word, repenting of our evil ways, and look to Jesus for forgiveness.

PREPARED BY THE GRACE OF GOD
Yet will any of this be able to truly prepare us to stand before the judgment seat of Christ on the Last Day? Do any of us really think that when Jesus appears we can tell Him that we deserve to go to heaven because we had a faithful preacher and we listened to His Word every Sunday? None of our works, no matter how great we may think it is, no matter how much praise we receive from men, are able to make us stand in the day of Judgment. Our sins are too great. Even if we had only stumbled in one point of the Law, we are guilty of all. (James 2:10)
There is only one thing that can truly prepare us for Judgment Day - the grace of God. The grace of God is His undeserved love toward us sinners. It was the grace of God that led the Son of God to become Man and be our Substitute under the Law. It was the grace of God that punished His innocent Son on the cross to free us from our guilt. It is the grace of God that forgives all our sins for Jesus’ sake. It is the grace of God that called us to faith in Jesus and adopted us as His children. By His grace we can stand before the judgment seat of Christ forgiven and cleansed. By His grace through faith in Christ we are declared righteous in God’s sight. And it is this undeserved love of God toward us sinners that truly prepares us for Judgment Day.

Until that Day comes, when we shall meet our Bridegroom Jesus, there is much preparation we must do. We need preachers who will not diminish the Word of God but prepare us to meet Jesus by preaching it faithfully. We need to make use of the Gospel in Word and Sacrament regularly. We need to listen to His Word and keep it by repenting of our sins and believing on Jesus for the forgiveness of sin. But above all else, we need the grace of God. It is Jesus in His undeserved love who gets His bride, the Church, ready for that Last, great Day. “Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.” (Eph 5:25-27) Jesus is coming quickly, may God help each one of us to stay alert and watchful for that day! Amen.

1 Samuel 7:1-6,9-12 "Ichabod to Ebenezer: The Glorious Road from Ichabod to Ebenezer"

1 Samuel 7:1-6, 9-12 Then the men of Kirjath Jearim came and took the ark of the LORD, and brought it into the house of Abinadab on the hill, and consecrated Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the LORD. So it was that the ark remained in Kirjath Jearim a long time; it was there twenty years. And all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD. Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “If you return to the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the foreign gods and Ashtoreths from among you, and prepare your hearts for the LORD, and serve Him only; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.” So the children of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtoreths, and served the LORD only. And Samuel said, “Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to the LORD for you.” So they gathered at Mizpah, drew water, and poured it out before the LORD. And they fasted that day, and said there, “We have sinned against the LORD.” And Samuel judged the children of Israel at Mizpah.
And Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the LORD. Then Samuel cried out to the LORD for Israel, and the LORD answered him. Now as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. But the LORD thundered with a loud thunder upon the Philistines that day, and so confused them that they were overcome before Israel. And the men of Israel went out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, and drove them back as afar as below Beth Car. Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and called its name Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the LORD has helped us.”


Theme: “FROM ICHABOD TO EBENEZER”
Sermon VIII - “The Glorious Road from Ichabod to Ebenezer”


Dear fellow redeemed in Christ Jesus,
This morning we conclude a sermon series which we began way back on August 29. Over these past two months we’ve watched the sad, spiritual decline of Israel, who were supposed to be God’s people. The road thus far for Israel, has been anything but glorious. It began as we looked at the home of a believing couple in Israel and we realized the true glory of Israel was seen in the intimate relationship of the home with its God. But we watched as Israel’s spiritual condition declined. We saw the terrible spiritual conditions in the home of Israel’s high priest, Eli. We watched as a father did nothing to curb the shameful act of his sons within the walls of the church itself. Then we saw how little respect the people had for the things of God as they took the Ark of the Covenant into battle with them, believing the ark itself would be able to save them from their enemies. At that, the ark was captured and Eli’s two sons died in battle. ICHABOD! The glory departed from Israel.
This road from Ichabod to Ebenezer then took a rather surprising turn as the Ark of the LORD ended up in the temple of a false god. It was there we saw the one true God reaching out to the heathen to show them that He alone is God. But these heathen wanted nothing to do with the ark or the LORD. They wanted to rid themselves of it and all the trouble it brought, and return to blindly following their false god Dagon. So they sent put the ark on a cart and sent it back to Israel. The ark first stopped in Beth Shemesh where the people acted like selfish children on Christmas and looked into the ark. God demonstrated His holiness by slaughtering a great number of people for despising His sacred ark. The people of Beth Shemesh sent off the ark to the neighboring town of Kirjath Jearim saying, “Who is able to stand before this holy LORD GOD?”
That brings us to our last text in this sermon series. The Ark of the LORD has returned to its home, but has the glory returned? Or does Ichabod remain? We read that the ark spent twenty years at the house of Abinadab in Kirjath Jearim, with his son Eleazar consecrated to keep the ark. And it would appear that for twenty years the Ichabod remained in Israel, even though the ark had returned. During this time the house of Israel lamented after the LORD. That is, they knew life wasn’t what it should be. They knew something was wrong. They continued to be servants of the Philistines.
So it was that they had contrition, but not repentance. They were sorrowful and lamented after the LORD, but they did not bear fruits of repentance and believe on the LORD for forgiveness. During these twenty years of sorrow and oppression they continued to worship false gods - the Baals and Ashtoreths - gods of lust. There was sorrow, but no repentance.
It was not until Samuel, the prophet of the LORD, spoke the law to Israel that repentance was worked in their hearts. “If you return to the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths from among you, and prepare your hearts for the LORD, and serve Him only.” The LORD is not interested in splitting time with Baal or any other false god. He alone is God and there is no other. He is a jealous God who will not share His glory with another. Therefore they needed to prepare themselves inwardly and outwardly. Outwardly by removing all the false gods from among them. Inwardly by repentance.
And return they did. They put away all their false gods and served the LORD only. At Samuel’s word they gathered at the city of Mizpah. There we read that they drew water and poured it out before the LORD. This was a symbol of them pouring out their hearts to the LORD in sorrow over their sins. Furthermore they confessed, “We have sinned against the LORD.” Then Samuel prayed for Israel and the LORD answered. The LORD answered by fighting their battle for them and driving off the Philistines.
The glory of Israel has returned! No longer was Ichabod present in Israel but Ebenezer. The name Ebenezer should sound as glorious to the Christian’s ear as Ichabod is hideous. Ichabod means that the glory has departed. Ebenezer means stone of help. The LORD was Israel’s Ebenezer - their stone of help. His help did not just come in defeating the Philistines. His help came in defeating their greatest enemies. He helped them by defeating their sin problem by sending His Son to be their Savior. He defeated death when He raised Jesus to life on the third day. And He defeated the old evil foe, Satan, when Jesus crushed Him underfoot. Ebenezer! Thus far the LORD has helped us.
What a glorious road to Ebenezer that is! Though it was a dark road for many years, Ebenezer was not far. It was but a quick U-turn that God worked in their hearts by causing them to repent and believe on Him. And so it always has been with the LORD God. It is just like the Prodigal Son who went from the pig troughs to his father’s open arms. “The LORD is longsuffering and abundant in mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression.” (Num 14:18) “With Him is abundant redemption.” (Ps 130:7b) What a glorious road this is from Ichabod to Ebenezer, as the LORD reforms His people!

On this Reformation Sunday we are reminded once again how glorious a road it is from Ichabod to Ebenezer. At one time the church of Rome was a faithful Christian church. But like Israel, over time the glory departed. Rather than preaching the pure Word of God and proclaiming the glories of the Gospel, Rome wandered further and further from the Truth. Over time the Antichrist arose telling the people that he was God’s representative on earth and alone had the authority on earth to forgive sins. He condoned the worship of false gods by telling the people to pray to saints and the Virgin Mary.
But Ichabod can be most clearly seen in the Roman Catholic Church when we consider that chief doctrine in all of Scripture - the doctrine of justification. The doctrine of justification declares on what account are we declared “not guilty” in God’s sight. We call this the chief teaching in all of Scripture because our eternal salvation is dependent on it. The Apostle Paul clearly teaches that man is justified by grace through faith in Jesus alone, apart from any works of man. We heard this in our New Testament lesson from Romans 3, that we are “justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” (Rom 3:24) And in verse 28, “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.”
But as Martin Luther came on the scene in the early 1500's, this chief doctrine was no longer being championed by the church of Rome. When this young monk was troubled by his sins, his priest told him to do more good works and pray to Mary. There we see Ichabod. The glory has departed when a troubled sinner is no longer pointed to Christ to comfort His troubled conscience. In fact the church of Rome would go on to proclaim in the Council of Trent, “If anyone says, that justifying faith is nothing else but confidence in the divine mercy which remits sins for Christ's sake; or, that this confidence alone is that whereby we are justified; let him be anathema (or eternally condemned to hell).” (Canon XII) The council of Trent was in fact condemning to hell not just the Lutherans, but also the Apostle Paul for teaching justification by grace through faith in Christ Jesus.
While Luther only found Ichabod in the church of Rome, he did find Ebenezer in the Scriptures. There Luther found his Stone of Help in His Savior Jesus Christ whose death on the cross paid for every one of his sins. He found Ebenezer in the Gospel as he read how God declared him “not guilty” not because of anything he did or did not do, but solely because of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. And so the Reformation began. Another U-turn to God’s Word. God worked through Luther to bring to light this glorious doctrine of justification once again. Sinners were called to repentance and comforted with the good news about Jesus Christ. People were not directed to saints or to their works, but to Jesus as Ebenezer - their Stone of Help. In the Reformation we see once again the glorious road from Ichabod to Ebenezer.

Over these past 6 months or so, we have been taking note of the 50th Anniversary of this Church of the Lutheran Confession. In the 1950's there were many troubled Christians who wondered if Ichabod had returned to Lutheranism in America. The once confessional Synodical Conference was on the verge of falling apart because of false teaching. The once stalwart Lutheran church body in America, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, had begun to practice unionism, that is, they were fellowshiping with those with whom they were not agreed in doctrine. And this caused the smaller, once orthodox synods of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod and the little Norwegian Synod (today’s Evangelical Lutheran Synod) to fail in putting Scripture into practice by breaking fellowship with the Missouri Synod.
The Word of God was being ignored. Some were adding to Scripture others were taking away from Scripture by not teaching and practicing what God’s Word says. Many conscientious Lutherans had to leave the church bodies they had grown up in. Many had to break fellowship even with their family members. Where would they go? Would they have a church to worship at? Would they have a Christian school to send their children to? The future seemed so uncertain. Ichabod seemed to be enclosing in on them.
Yet Ebenezer was not far from any of them. They had the Lord Jesus Christ as their Stone of Help. He was not going anywhere. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. His promises were not going to change. He would be with His children even unto the end of the age. And so He continued to be Ebenezer to His faithful children. He brought together like-minded Christians and formed this Church of the Lutheran Confession. He also opened up doors and guided the way for us to establish Immanuel Lutheran High School, College, and Seminary. God worked another reformation through His Word. While those early days were uncertain, today we look on our history as Christians, as Lutherans, and as members of the CLC and by the grace of God are able to say with Samuel, “Thus far the LORD has helped us.”
What a glorious road it is from Ichabod to Ebenezer. May the LORD continue to be our Ebenezer - our Stone of Help - now and into eternity. All praise be to the Triune God! Amen.

1 Samuel 5:1-8 "Ichabod to Ebenezer: Part 6 - The Ark of God Goes Visiting"

 1 Samuel 5:1-8 Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon and set it by Dagon. And when the people of Ashdod arose early in the morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the earth before the ark of the LORD. So they took Dagon and set it in its place again. And when they arose early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the ground before the ark of the LORD. The head of Dagon and both the palms of its hands were broken off on the threshold; only the torso of Dagon was left of it. Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor any who come into Dagon’s house tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day. But the hand of the LORD was heavy upon the people of Ashdod, and He ravaged them and struck them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territory. And when the men of Ashdod saw how it was, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for His hand is harsh toward us and Dagon our god.” Therefore they sent and gathered to themselves all the lords of the Philistines, and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” And they answered, “Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried away to Gath.” So they carried the ark of the God of Israel away. Theme: FROM ICHABOD TO EBENZER: #VI: “The Ark of God Goes Visiting” (Adapted from a sermon series by Pastor E. Schaller - 1964-65 Journal of Theology) Dear fellow redeemed in Christ Jesus, Is there any place God would not be willing to go to share His glory? This question came to mind this last week when we heard a talk show host trying to excuse his behavior. His conservative audience had scolded him for being interviewed in a magazine that publishes images of nude women. The host defended his action saying that if Jesus were alive today, He would have been interviewed by the same magazine because Jesus went were the sinners were. How would you react to such a statement? Well, there are really two parts to the statement. The first is that Jesus would have been interviewed in a magazine that existed to break the 6th Commandment. And such a statement is ridiculous and borders even on blasphemy. The other point he made, that Jesus went to where the sinners were, should be clear to all. We heard in our Gospel lesson that the Pharisees were shocked and appalled that Jesus spent time with well-known “sinners” and even ate with them! Jesus had a valuable lesson to teach. He did go to sinners, because He came to save sinners! If Jesus avoided all sinners He would have stayed in heaven! But His purpose in going where the sinners were, was not, as I suspect was the case with this talk-show host, to gain publicity for Himself. He went to where the sinners were to call them to repentance and to save them from their sins. With that, we return to our question. Is there any place God would not be willing to go to share His glory? Our text for today gives us another Scriptural example of God reaching out to the idolatrous heathens to lead them to repentance and saving faith in His name. As we continue in our sermon series, “From Ichabod to Ebenezer” let us consider how the ark of God goes visiting. May the Holy Spirit work through His Word to enlighten our hearts and minds that we may be zealous in reaching out to the heathen and show to them that there is no other God, but the Triune God! WHY IT WENT VISITING When God gave the command to Moses to build the Ark of the Covenant, He did it with a specific purpose in mind. In the directions God gave, He said to Moses, “You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the Testimony that I will give you. And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, about everything which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel.” (Ex 25:21-22) IN the Ark would be the Law which God had given and which the Children of Israel had vowed to obey. The terms of the covenant they had agreed on. IN the ark were the 10 Commandments. ON the Ark would be the mercy seat, where God would meet with His people. ON the Ark was the Gospel as God announced mercy to His repentant people. But last Sunday, we heard how the people came to despise the true purpose of the Ark of the Covenant and began to look on it as a good luck charm. As they headed into battle with the Philistines, the priests carried this ark into battle believing that the Ark itself would give them the victory. Thus they showed their disdain for the living God and contempt for His covenant with them. God granted the victory to the heathen Philistines and the Ark was captured. Ichabod, the glory had departed from Israel. WHERE AND WHERE IT WENT VISITING It is quite interesting to see where the ark of God goes, when it goes visiting. We read in our text that the Philistines took the ark of God into the temple of their god Dagon. Dagon was their god which symbolized the fruitfulness of the sea. The statue had the head and hands of a human, but the torso and tail of a fish. They brought the ark of God to this location because they viewed their victory over Israel as a victory over Israel’s God too. They put this trophy of this defeated God next to their god, Dagon. This showed how these idolatrous people viewed the God of Israel - as if He were no different than the god they had formed with their hands. In fact, since they defeated Israel, the Philistines probably viewed the God of the ark as being inferior to Dagon. It is amazing that God would allow this, isn’t it? After all, we read about the same ark in 2 Samuel that when it was being transported at one point that the oxen stumbled and Uzzah reached out and took a hold of the ark, that God struck Him dead. Yet, here the Philistines put the ark of the covenant into the temple of a false god and there was no bolt of lightning from heaven to stop them! This does not seem like a fitting place for the ark of the covenant at all! A symbol of the living God placed on the same level as an idol fashioned from man’s imagination and by his hands? But God uses this as an opportunity to reach out to this people and show them that there is no other God, but One. After the ark’s first night in the temple of Dagon, the inhabitants of Ashdod entered the temple to find the statue of their false god flat on its face before the Ark of the Covenant. It was as though Dagon was worshiping the God of the ark. The people thought it might just be a coincidence and set their statue upright once again. After the ark’s second night in the temple of Dagon, there was no denying what was going on. The people of Ashdod entered the temple in the morning and once again found the statue of Dagon lying on the earth before the ark. Only this time the head and the hands of the statue had broken off. The message God was sending this people was clear. It is the very thing that Paul told the Corinthians, “We know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one.” (1 Cor 8:4b) Dagon was nothing but something they had thought up with their minds and fashioned with their hands. Dagon could do no thinking with its head and no working with its hands. Dagon could not remove one sin. Dagon could not rescue them from death and hell. Nor did Dagon even promise to do any of those thing. These are things that only God could do. Only Jesus’ death on the cross could atone for sin. Only Jesus resurrection from the dead could promise deliverance from death. And only faith in Jesus Christ could assure of deliverance from hell and the gift of eternal life. Dagon was nothing before the ark of the living God. This may seem like a strange place for the ark of God to go visiting - a temple? But God wanted to get the attention of the people and show them that Dagon was nothing, and only He had any power to save. The Philistines had before them everything they needed to know about the living God. IN the ark was the Law, the Law by which is the knowledge of sin. ON the ark was the mercy seat of God - the good news of forgiveness and mercy in the promised Messiah. If only the Philistines knew to look there! Next weekend we will be holding our Mission Festival service. And the question may arise as to where we should go with the Word of God? Sometimes we feel that having a church and holding regular worship services should be enough to attract the heathen. Here in church, like the ark, the Law and the Gospel are preached. Sin is condemned and for the repentant, forgiveness is promised for Jesus’ sake. But like the Philistines, what unbeliever knows to look into the ark to find out more? In a way, we also are like the ark. We too know the Law and the mercy of our pardoning God. From childhood we have known the Holy Scriptures which are able to make wise unto salvation through faith that is in Christ Jesus. And we need to go visiting as well. Rather than waiting for unbelievers to come to us, we need to go to them and sow the seed of God’s Word. With God’s Law the idols that man has set up in his heart will crumble to the earth. The false gods of money, sex, power, pride, alcohol, and self. These are nothing and cannot save from eternal death in hell. None can overcome sin. None can overcome death. This is only something Jesus can do. Unfortunately, when we go visiting with God’s Word many will react as the Philistines did. They recognized that the LORD God was behind the humiliation of their god and the cause of a plague among them. God intended to cause them to look to Him as the only true God. After all, this is the same God who said, “‘As I live,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways!’” (Ez 33:11) God was actively at work among the heathen Philistines that they might turn to Him in faith and live! Though the people recognized that the LORD God was doing all this, they wanted nothing to do with Him. Verse 7, “The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for His hand is harsh toward us and Dagon our god.” Get the ark out of here! We want nothing more to do with this God. Many react the same way when God visits them with His Word. Jesus told us as much in the parable of the sower and the seed. Some view God and His word as being too harsh and want nothing more to do with Him. They would much rather keep their false gods and carry on their merry way to hell. Though this be the case, we must not become discouraged. The ark of God must continue to go visiting to the heathen as the seed of His Word is sown. Is there any place God would not go to share His glory? While Jesus would never have been interviewed in a dirty magazine just for sake of publicity, He would visit with a harlot and a tax collector to call them to repentance and share with them the hope of eternal life which He alone could give. God would even allow His most holy symbol on earth to be brought into a idol’s temple that He might witness His power and deity to them. May God help us to always cherish His Word and take the Gospel visiting with us wherever we go! Amen.

Revelation 2:8-11 "Anniversary Letters from Jesus: You Are Rich!"

Text: Revelation 2:8-11 “And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write, ‘These things says the First and the Last, who was dead, and came to life; “ I know your works, tribulation, and poverty (but you are rich); and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.”’” Theme: Anniversary Letters from Jesus - “You Are Rich!” Dear fellow redeemed in Christ Jesus who was dead, and came to life, grace and peace be multiplied unto you. How do you know if someone is rich? Are you rich? Is your family rich? If you have ever talked to someone who lived through the Great Depression, you will often hear stories of families just barely making it. There was not much excess. When socks got a hole in them, Mom would darn them. When Dad’s overalls got a tear, Mom would patch it up. When the machinery broke down, Dad would to go to great lengths to repair it using only the material he had. Toys often consisted of only those things that the kids or the parents could make. Girls would take corn cobs and make them into dolls. Boys would use branches and a piece of string to make bows and arrows. So, where these people rich? Now, fast forward 80 years from the “dirty 30's” to today. If you saw someone with patches on their jeans, little girls dressing up corn cobs, or little boys playing with sticks we would assume that they were extremely poverty stricken. In fact, today when we see someone driving a car or combine more than 10 years old, we look down on them, don’t we, and wonder what they are doing wrong that they can’t afford nicer things. If a child does not have a cell phone by junior high, they are in the minority. Rather than repairing socks or jeans, we buy new ones and throw the old away. So are we rich if we have multiple cars, multiple TV’s, and multiple computers in our house? Are we rich today? What about our congregation and our church body? Are we rich? We are in the midst of the 50th Anniversary celebration of the Church of the Lutheran Confession. 50 years ago the CLC wondered how it was going to scrape together $85,000 to buy 75 acre Ingram Estate in Eau Claire, WI. Two years ago, on that same piece of property our church body authorized the construction of a building that cost over $2,000,000. As a congregation the Lord gave us the piece of property our church sits on for $1 and back taxes. Last week the Voter’s authorized the purchase of our neighbor’s property for $2,500. Do these things make us a rich congregation and a rich church body? As we thank and praise our God for the 50 years of blessing He has given us as the CLC we will be looking at the seven letters from Jesus to the seven churches in Asia-Minor, as recorded in Revelation chapters 2 and 3. Three Sundays ago, we took a look at the first letter of Jesus to the Church in Ephesus. In it Jesus commended them for their zeal for the truth. However, He scolded them for their lovelessness. In that Jesus reminds us to do the right thing, but to do it for the right reason - love. This morning we turn to the second letter of Jesus, to be delivered to the Christian church in Smyrna. But this letter was not just for those Christian in Smyrna, but for all Christians to hear and apply to themselves, for, Jesus says in verse 11, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” As Jesus has given us an ear to hear His Word, let us listen to the Holy Spirit in His Word and consider this anniversary letter from Jesus, as we what truly makes a congregation rich. May the Holy Spirit guide us, bless us, and strengthen us by His Word that we may remain faithful to Him unto death. We don’t have a great deal of information about the Christian church in Smyrna, we do learn quite a bit about them from the words of Jesus. Of the seven churches Jesus writes to, there are only two that He does not chastise - and Smyrna was one of them. It seems this congregation had been through a lot. As is the case with every Christian, Jesus, the Lord of the Church, is keenly aware of everything they are going through. It seems Jesus is writing to them to encourage them and bolster them in their faith. But listen to what we hear from Jesus about this congregation. When describing them Jesus uses words like, “works, tribulations, poverty, suffering, prison, testing,” and once again, “tribulations.” Do these sound like words we would use to describe a “rich” church? To us a rich church seems like one that should have a full bank account, a large building for worship, and a huge membership roster. NOT the description Jesus gives of the church in Smyrna. And yet what do we hear from Jesus about this poverty stricken and suffering church? He says of them, “But you are rich!” Let’s examine this Anniversary Letter from Jesus a little closer and learn what makes a congregation rich in Jesus’ sight! Jesus begins in verse 9 by saying, “I know your works.” Their labor for the Lord did not go unnoticed by the Lord of the Church. While men may have not given them recognition for their works as a congregation, Jesus knew. And as is so often the case, with diligent labor for the Lord also comes hardship. He tells the church in Smyrna, “I know your...tribulation.” The word tribulation carries with it the word picture of being pressed in on or something weighing heavily on the soul. That is what tribulation feels like for the Christian. It feels like the devil and the world around you is pressing in on you, trying to get you to fall away from the faith. Those who work hard for the Lord should expect such pressure or tribulation to press down on them. Jesus has told us as much when He said, “Remember the word that I said to you, 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.” (John 15:20) Those who are not of Jesus’ word will persecute the followers of Jesus. Yet what comforting words from Jesus, who is the First and the Last, the One whose persecution led to Him being crucified and dying, but who rose to life again, to hear Him say, “I know. I know the tribulations you are facing.” Jesus tells them in verse 10 that the tribulations were about to get worse. “Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison that you may be tested, and you have tribulation ten days.” The devil, working in the son of disobedience, would press down even harder on these Christians. Some would be thrown into prison for their faith. History tells us of some of the tribulation that these Christians faced. Roughly 60 years after Revelation was written, Polycarp, who was a student of the Apostle John and the Bishop of the Church in Smyrna, was burned at the stake because he was a Christian. Jesus speaks of this as a “testing.” That is the same word that is used of checking the purity of precious metals. Gold is tested in an intense flame of fire to remove any impurities and to purify it. What was about to happen to the Christians in Smyrna would test their faith. The devil applies an intense pressure in hopes of making us whither and fall from the faith. But God intends it to strengthen and purify our faith - to remove weakness and impurity. God would allow this tribulation to come upon these Christians, but God would limit it. Jesus speaks of the tribulation lasting ten days. This is symbolic for a set period of time. God would allow the tribulation to go on for only so long. What a comfort in the face of tribulation to know that Jesus knows what you are going through, that Jesus knew about it before it would happen, that Jesus intends it for the good of our faith, and that Jesus is in control and has set boundaries. For that reason Jesus tells them, “Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer.” Jesus is the First and the Last. He is the Author and Perfecter of our faith. He can and will see us through. He was dead, and came to life to rule over and protect His church. Therefore do not be afraid of those things which we may be about to suffer. His words to us in the face of tribulation are “Do not fear, but be faithful.” “Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.” Remain faithful, He says. In the Gospels He says, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (Jn 8:31-32) Likewise Jesus says, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” (Jn 15:5) The only way we can remain faithful until death is by abiding in Jesus and His Word. And through His Word He works in us and keeps us faithful to Him and promises the crown of life as a reward of grace. Like a victorious athlete who won his race, Jesus will crown all victorious Christians with Eternal Life. Jesus encourages us to remain faithful and keeps us faithful through His Word and Sacrament. Another part of the hardships that the Christians in Smyrna were facing was poverty. Whether it was general poverty or their persecution led their property to being seized, poverty was their current condition. Today we are told that if God loves you He will make you prosperous. “Good things happen to good people.” In fact, whole churches and preachers found their ministry on this “Prosperity Gospel.” They teach that God wants to bless you materially and if you are poor it is because you haven’t asked for it or your faith is weak. This message is very appealing to the flesh, but not at all Scriptural. We know God loved Jesus very much, yet Jesus was poor and did not even have a place to call home. Was this church in Smyrna rich? Not according to the World. They didn’t have much money and they were suffering a great deal. But listen to what Jesus says to them, “I know your works, tribulations, and poverty (but you are rich).” The richness of a Christian or of a Christian congregation is not based at all in dollar amounts or in possessions. The Christians in Smyrna was rich because it had the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Those Christians had as their Lord and Savior the One who is the First and the Last. They had been redeemed by the one who was dead because of their sins and came to life for their justification. They had Jesus and that made them more rich than the world would ever know. They had the richness of God’s forgiveness, the richness of God’s grace, and the riches of eternal life in heaven promised to them because of Jesus. Is the CLC rich? Is Prince of Peace rich? Not in the world’s eyes. Our Synod is small and our congregation is small. Our churches are far from being a mega-church. Most of our congregations are rural with a membership under one hundred. For the first time in a long time, the CLC is budgeting a $40,000 deficit for our next fiscal year. The CLC would like to call a 13th Professor to teach at ILC but we can’t afford it right now. The CLC would like to send a third missionary to help out in India or Africa, but we can’t afford it right now. When the world looks at us, it does not see a rich church. But you know what? If we have the Gospel we are rich beyond anything this world can imagine. Not rich in earthly possessions or dollar amounts. We are rich because we have Jesus. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.” (2 Cor 8:9) We have the richness of Jesus righteousness. We have the richness of God’s grace as He forgives all our sins for Jesus’ sake. “But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.” (Rom 5:20) We have the richness of Jesus body and blood in the Sacrament. And through the Word and Sacrament Jesus keeps us faithful until the end and promises us of His rich grace the crown of eternal life in heaven. Indeed, dear Christians, you are rich in Christ Jesus! Amen.