Eric Ludy Sermon Podcast: Church at Ellerslie

This message is doubling as both a Sunday morning sermon for the Church at Ellerslie and the fifth episode in Eric Ludy’s epic fall Daily Thunder series, entitled Daring to Do as Stanley Dale, drawing on the boldness and bravery of the fearless missionary ventures to Irian Jaya (Papua New Guinea) during the twenty-five years from WW2 up until the massive harvest of souls in the 1960’s. In this episode he unpacks the extraordinary providence of God as shown both throughout Biblical history and in Christian missionary history throughout the past 2,000 years. Using the story of famed missionaries Don and Carol Richardson and their work in the 1960’s with the head-hunting Sawi people as his muse for this message, he showcases the awe-striking way God works to provide light for a people that are seemingly lost in total darkness. It is deeply moving and truly astounding.

This message is a celebratory mixture of the 700th Daily Thunder episode, The Ellerslie Sunday sermon, and the kick-off day for our Fall 2021 5-week training. This is also the very first episode in Eric Ludy’s epic fall Daily Thunder series, entitled “Daring to Do as Stanley Dale”. This series draws on the boldness and bravery of the fearless missionary ventures to Irian Jaya (Papua New Guinea) during the thirty-five years from WW2 up until the massive harvest of souls in the late 1960’s and 70’s. In this episode he explores the way God intentionally builds His men and women for the key swings in history — the key moments in the grand story.  But, God doesn’t just build His heroes to share the Gospel Truth, but He also prepares the lost to respond to the Gospel Truth.

Dogs have a special way of revealing to us dimensions of the Kingdom of Heaven that are hard to comprehend otherwise. One of those heavenly qualities that dogs uniquely demonstrate to us is that of doggedness. The word “dogged” is very apropos for what dogs demonstrate. They don’t give up easily. They stand loyal in the darkest hour. They don’t measure their companionship based on the ease of the journey. And even when standing faithful would mean suffering, they stand steadfast by their master. It’s truly remarkable. But, the reason they demonstrate these astounding qualities is in order that we might be stirred by the Spirit of God to say, “Lord, make me dogged, just like that!” 

The message of freedom in Christ Jesus has fallen out of favor in the modern Church system. The argument is that "freedom in Christ" is a promise bigger than God can deliver. Such a conclusion is the death knell of Christian vitality. When the Church of Jesus Christ begins putting greater faith in the power of the Devil to hold us in bondage to sin than in the power of Jesus Christ to set us free from it’s hold — darkness will reign, not only in our individual lives, but, in the world about us. There is a simple message delivered to us in and through the Scriptures: Jesus has come to set us at liberty from the power of Hell. We are no longer slaves to sin, but, rather, we our Christ’s freemen privileged to now serve Him as love-motivated bondservants.   

The American Church seems prone to melting in the day of battle instead of rising up strong and courageous. The work of the Cross supplies us an incredible resolution, a stability of the inner man to take bold steps forward into the fog and difficulty of the spiritual war. Every Christian should crave the substance of this message in their soul and should go after it as a miner would pursue gold. 

In a generation actively engaged in reappraising the value of everything based on cultural correctness and personal whim, is it possible to know the actual value of anything? For instance, is a puddle of water as precious as a human being? Whose to say? Especially if the one answering the question happened to be really REALLY thirsty. When we move away from the standard of Truth (the Bible) and allow for the cloudy perspective and ever-changing emotions of man to determine right from wrong, we lose sight of some very important things. The value of Life being at the very top of the list. 

As Christians, is it possible to know for certain that we are “in the faith”, or not? Paul exhorts us to “examine ourselves” to this very end — but what does such an examination look like? The book of 1st John supplies an amazing test for the Christian to help solve this riddle. However, the words of 1st John are so simple and clear that they can prove a strange obstacle to the maturing Christian. In this message, Eric Ludy takes a deep dive into John's words from 1st John with the singular agenda of making very simple what, to many of us, has become a very complex question — Am I a  genuine Christian or not? 

The entire Bible is a battleground. But there are certain spots within the text that find themselves in a constant state of war and confusion. The city of Liege, Belgium is like this in and throughout war history — it seems to have a particular knack for finding its ways into the annals of war. And the passage in Hebrews 6:4-6 is like Liège. This passage of Scripture has led to many skirmishes and many stumblings of the saints of God throughout the ages. Satan hates Scripture, but he will often quote this passage, in hopes that it will cause the children of God to lose sight of the grand mercy of Heaven. But, we as the Church mustn’t be played by our adversary. We must remember His mercy! And we must allow this very Scripture to help us see His amazing mercy even more clearly! 

According to Scripture our bodies have been bought with a price and they are no longer ours. Technically speaking, they belong to Jesus Christ. But many of us still attempt to live as if this is our life, our talents, our time, and our prerogative. The story of Jonathan in the Old Testament demonstrates this same tension of ownership and right. For Jonathan is the heir apparent to the throne of Saul. But God has rejected Saul and given his throne to a “Better Man”.  Will Jonathan try and hold on to his father’s throne or will he yield it to the one who rightfully deserves it? This is the question being asked of each of us. 

We are in the midst of a spiritual battle. Even the theologically dubious seem to have been won over to this reality in this past year. There is an enemy and he desires the destruction of the Church. But, praise God, the enemy doesn’t just get everything he desires. God has supplied weaponry to His saints and equipped them for every good work. In fact, IF the Church of Jesus Christ heeds the war strategy laid out for us in the Scriptures, then there is no weapon fashioned against us that will prosper, for greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world. 2,000 years ago something amazing transpired at the Cross, and IF we would freshly remember this grand work of grace and learn to wield it as, if it were in fact, weaponry, then the enemy of our souls will be exposed as the defeated foe that he actually is.