Second Presbyterian Church Sermons

God provides courage for the followers of Jesus in the midst of their fear.

Knowing: When Mary Magdalene and the other women and arrive at the tomb, nothing is as they expected it to be: the stone is rolled away, Jesus’ body is gone, and they encounter angels. Luke says they were frightened” (v. 5). Of course they were. Could any combination of circumstances be more frightening at that time?

Being: There are also many reasons for us to be frightened. We face an unknown and unseen virus which exposes weaknesses in our bodies we didn’t even know we had. We are frightened for the health of our loved ones. We are frightened about our economy and our jobs. We are frightened of how unprincipled people will take advantage of us in a time of critical shortages. What is causing you fear right now?

Doing: Jesus’ resurrection infallibly proved him to be the Lord, the victor over death and thus the King over all the earth. Courage comes from trusting in Christ in the midst of fear. We must put our trust in Christ when we are afraid, because he has overcome death and this world which is broken by sin.

Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is proof that God keeps his promises.

Knowing: To remove all doubt, the angels declare, “He is not here, but has risen.” These words would only make sense to the women because they knew Jesus raised people from the dead while he was alive. What the angels said next included a promise even more mind-blowing than the fact that their beloved Jesus was no longer dead: “Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and the third day rise.” It is in this sentence we find a relevant promise—hope for the lost.

Being: Everything in his life, death, and resurrection occurred because God determined it would. This provides us hope, because Jesus is proof that even when seemingly bad things happen to God’s people, God is still at work to accomplish his good plan.

Doing: Are there any circumstances in your life right now tempting you to think God is not in control, or at least uninterested or uncaring? What promises from God’s Word can you cling to in this time?

Jesus’ death and resurrection bring dignity to those who feel irrelevant or have been told they are irrelevant.

Knowing: The fact that the first testimony to Jesus’ resurrection was born by women is a revolutionary event in this first century context. The testimony of a woman was generally disregarded in the first century, especially in a court of law. Jesus’ female disciples figure prominently in the final days of his life and the earliest moments of his resurrected life. They remained with him at the crucifixion long after his other disciples fled in fear (Mk. 15:40). They followed his body to its place of burial (Mk. 15:47). And women were first to see the empty tomb and hear the declaration by the angels, “He is risen” (Mk. 16:5-6).

Being: How is Jesus’ resurrection of real relevance to your life today? If someone has told you for whatever reason you are irrelevant, Jesus has a different assessment of you and his is the only one that matters. No one but the Lord Jesus, King of the universe and Judge of all the earth, has the right to declare whether someone is relevant or irrelevant. If you are his disciple, he not only says you are relevant, he declares you to be a son, an heir, who someday will reign with him.

Doing: Have you had or do you currently have feelings of irrelevance? How do Jesus’ death and resurrection and the dignity he gives to these women give you dignity?

We must thank God for his attributes, because they relieve us from intimidation.

Knowing: Moses indicates the end of each stanza with the repetition of God’s most holy name, YHWH, translated “O Lord” and repeated twice in each final couplet (6, 11, 17). That name was special to Moses because it is the name by which God introduced himself to Moses in the burning bush when he called him to be Israel’s liberator. That name also conveys one of God’s noncommunicable attributes (that is, an attribute humans can never imitate)—his eternality.

Being: This refrain tells us when you remember God’s attributes, it produces gratitude. When you fix your eyes on who God is first, it always puts life in proper perspective. The reason the people were afraid on the other side of the Red Sea is they were only looking at the Egyptian charioteers behind them and that deep, vast sea ahead of them. When they looked down, their problems looked big and God looked small. But when they looked up, God looked big and their opponents were defeated.

Doing: Have your eyes been set on your circumstances more than on God lately? In what practical way(s) can you set your eyes back on God, specifically his attributes?

We must thank God for his vengeance, because it assures us he will fight for us.

Knowing: To be falsely accused is to stand in need of a champion. To be wounded by someone with malice aforethought is to stand in need of a judge. To be robbed of a loved one by a disease ultimately introduced into this world through the devil’s deceit of our first parents is to long for the day when Jesus will bring a sword of judgment, when the Lamb will turn wrathful, when Christ will cast death, the devil and hell itself into the lake of fire (Dt. 1:30; Jg. 4:14; 2 Sa. 5:24; 2 Ch. 20:17-18).

Being: It may seem offensive at first to think of God as a God of vengeance, but when you have been wronged by someone, you do not want a nice champion, you want a champion who can get vengeance. God is described as that champion in this passage - a “man of war” (v. 3).

Doing: Are there any enemies or wrongs in your life right now? How can you entrust these to God rather than dwelling on them and becoming anxious or depressed?

We must thank God, because he is our redeemer, which proves his steadfast love for us.

Knowing: Finally, we see two of the most beautiful words in the Bible translated “steadfast love” and “redemption.” The first word (hesed) is one we have discussed often and will be especially highlighted when we get to Exodus 33 and 34. There God revealed to Moses, even after the golden calf incident, that his essential nature is hesed. The whole story of redemption, everything concerning the gospel, is implicit in that one word hesed.

Being: You can describe the gospel this way, “God loves sinners.” This is implied when Moses sings, “You have led in your steadfast love the people you have redeemed.” God could not have led and endured with the people of Israel had his Son not been slain in his eternal decrees from the foundation of the world. Because Jesus has been slain from the foundation of the world (Rev. 13:8), his redemption applies equally to the Israelites before the cross and to us after the cross.

Doing: Have your current circumstances caused you to question God’s love for you? How does this passage prove his love remains even when circumstances speak to the contrary?

We must expect great things from God because he is sovereign over human hearts (vv. 17-18), false gods (v. 24), and all of creation (vv. 16, 19-28).

Knowing: The folly of the Egyptians’ hard hearts is demonstrated by the fact that they pursued the Israelites even after God had worked such mighty acts to deliver them. God also shows himself to be sovereign over false gods, as the parting of the Red Sea puts an ironic twist on an Egyptian legend that said an Egyptian priest had once parted the Red Sea to find a piece of jewelry. Finally, God shows his sovereignty over creation by parting the waters to allow the Israelites to go through safely and closing the waters on top of the Egyptians to defeat them.

Being: The sovereign works God accomplished were to deliver the Israelites, but they were also for us. In preserving the Israelites, God was preserving the line of Jesus, our redeemer. God has been moving Heaven and earth to save you since the time of the Exodus!

Doing: This passage reveals the fear of evil people, evil forces that can draw us away from God, and the danger of living in a fallen world. Which of these fears resonates with you most right now? How does God’s sovereignty and goodness demonstrated in this passage deliver you from that fear?

Because we can expect great things from God, we must attempt great things for God. Specifically, we must go and believe.

Knowing: Moses is crying out to God in panic, even while he is assuring the people, “The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent” (v. 14). God does what someone experienced in lifesaving sometimes has to do: He yells at him to wake him out of his panic, “Go forward.” God provides. God fights for us. God protects but oftentimes as we are going.

Being: The Israelites were saved in the same way we are and we are saved in the same way they were—by grace through faith in Christ. God told the Israelites to join Moses and he promised to the do the rest. This is the way Paul explains it. He says they were “baptized into Moses in the cloud and the sea.” “Baptized” means they were united to Moses, so they lived. Paul goes on to say they “ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ” (1 Cor. 10:2-4). It is the same thing we have observed throughout our study of Exodus: “Jesus…saved a people out of the land of Egypt [and] afterward destroyed those who did not believe” (Jude 5).

Doing: In what way(s) can you attempt great things for God, especially in the midst of this pandemic?

The apostle of Peter is writing to the church at Rome where Christians are experiencing great trials. They are being persecuted in various ways. I’m sure some of them are beginning to doubt their faith, so Peter is writing to encourage them and explain to them that their suffering serves a purpose in God’s plan. God is going to use this suffering to strengthen their faith, to prove to them and through them the reality of the gospel. Here is what he says toward the beginning of the letter.

In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls (1 Peter 1:6–9).

When I read this passage, I remembered a phrase that I have seen in the writings of D. Martin Lloyd Jones, who was a famous preacher of the Westminster Chapel in London for many years. He was a medical doctor turned preacher. Many of us have found great encouragement from his preaching, either as we’ve read it or listened to recordings. I remembered a phrase he used often to describe the way our faith is proved to be true. He talks about the acid test of the Christian life.

You may remember from chemistry that an acid test was used in the old days to see if a piece of medal was gold or some other kind of base medal. So, the chemist, or the one doing the testing, would drop some nitric acid on the piece of medal, and if it dissolved quickly, then they knew it was not gold, because gold dissolves much less readily. That acid applied to that piece of medal either proved that the medal was gold or some lesser medal, something that wasn’t worth anything.

So, Martin Lloyd Jones was asking, “what is the acid test of the Christian faith? What is that certain test when applied to us, reveals that we really are Christians?” So, I found a sermon that he had preached called “The Acid Test of the Christian Profession,” and it was really special to me, because he preached it in 1969 at McIlwain Presbyterian Church in Pensacola, FL at the Pensacola Theological Institute. It’s at that Pensacola Theological Institute that I really came to understand the reformed faith. That was a special conference to me (although I was there later than 1969 when Martin Lloyd Jones preached).

Apparently on that particular occasion, a hurricane was headed toward Pensacola. In response, they moved the meeting from the evening up to two o’clock so that Lloyd Jones could preach, and people could hunker down in their houses later on. That’s amazing in itself that they still met to hear the word preached even though a hurricane was headed their way. Lloyd Jones changed his sermon and he preached on this idea of the acid test of the Christian life from 2 Corinthians 4. In his sermon, he asked some questions about this acid test.

First, he asked, “is it orthodoxy?” Is the real test of the Christian that he or she believes the right things? Well that can’t be, because we know that even the devil believes, and the demons believe and shudder (James 2:19).

Second, he asked, “is it morality? Is it doing good things?” Of course, we all know people who do good things who don’t believe in Jesus. Jesus himself said that the day is coming when many would come to him proclaiming many good things they had done, but “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 7:21). Although both orthodoxy and morality are important, it can’t be just those things.

Third, he asked, “is it experience? Is it the person who says, ‘I’ve been born again? I know I’m a Christian because experienced a born-again experience.” It can’t be that either, because every religion claims experience. If experience was the only test of faith, then every faith would be true.

Lloyd Jones concluded that the acid test of the Christian faith is given away in the time of testing and trial. That’s the point Peter is making here. He says this suffering is “necessary” (v. 6). That was a great encouragement to Charles Spurgeon. In the old King James, instead of “if necessary,” it said “if needs be.” Spurgeon, who battled depression and anxiety his whole life, read that on one occasion when he was battling anxiety and depression and he was comforted by the fact that God saw this suffering as something that was necessary in his life. It was necessary to do something. And that something was to reveal the deeper reality of the presence of Christ.

Might I suggest that this suffering we are currently going through – this panic, this pandemic, this time when we’re facing shortages, financial trials, sickness, quarantines, even death – is not something that catches God off guard. It’s something that he, from all eternity, foreordained as necessary for the revelation of the glory of his gospel to us and through us. It’s an acid test. This suffering is an acid test to reveal whether we possess the gold faith of Jesus Christ or some imitation.

I also understand that some of you are thinking, “I’m really trying to believe but I’m really struggling. Maybe I’m not a Christian.” Maybe you’re beginning to doubt your salvation, because you are anxious and worried and depressed. I battle anxiety myself, so I know what you mean. But I find encouragement in this passage for anxious souls, for weak faith. These sufferings are not testing how strong your faith is, the faith that you create (or muster up within yourself). This suffering reveals the faith that Christ has created in you, or not.

Here is how you can tell if Christ has created faith in you. Peter says, “Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory” (v. 8). In other words, when you can believe, when you can rejoice, and when you can love him. in the midst of trial, you may know that in you has been worked an inexpressible faith, a joy that is indescribable and is filled with glory. That is, it is a visitation of the Heaven that awaits you. Let me suggest that if these kinds of things are occurring in you, as anxious as you are, as worried as you and I are about the future, we may know that Christ lives in us.

The first question is, “do you believe?” This is the reason we “exercise our faith muscles so strenuously in corporate worship. It is to prepare for times like this. The reason we repeat the Apostles’ Creed so much is so that in times like this, we can say it. Can you say, “I believe in God the Father almighty, maker of Heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ his only son our Lord. Perhaps you can but only faintly, with trembling lips and shaking hands. If you can say, “I believe” instead of saying, “I don’t believe anymore because of this suffering,” then your faith is true. And you only do believe, because Christ has enabled you to.

Secondly, can you rejoice? Perhaps you’re thinking, “I’m not really happy about anything right now.” Well can you sing a hymn, or even just hum it. Can you sing, “when peace like a river attendeth my soul, when sorrows like sea billows roll, whatever my lot, thou has taught me to say, ‘it is well with my soul.’“ Can you sing, “great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father.” You may be singing it with tears but you’re singing it! You’re rejoicing with a joy that is inexpressible, indescribable, one that must have come from Heaven to you.

Finally, do you love him? Perhaps you respond, “yes, but I’m still worried.” But can you say with the psalmist in Psalm 18, “I love you, O Lord, my strength” (v. 1). If you’re not saying, “I hate you. I don’t want anything to do with you. I reject you,” if you can say, even with faltering lips, “I love you, O Lord, my strength,” then this suffering has caused your faith to shine forth as gold, because this suffering is an acid test. Only those who are in Christ pass it.

Perhaps you have taken those tests and concluded that you aren’t a Christian. There is an easy solution to that. God in his mercy, but this pandemic has pushed you to the end of your resources. You thought that you were taking care of yourself. You thought that you could save yourself. But now you realize that you are no match for the things in this universe that are out to kill you. Jesus stretches out his arms to you and says, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28-29).

Brothers and sisters, I hope this is an encouragement to you. You see, when that faith that is tested by suffering and can endure is experiential. That faith that is proven to be gold in suffering is moral. That hope purifies us (1 John 3:3). And that faith is true; it’s orthodox. It’s the only faith. It’s the only truth. And we would never be as convinced of it had we not gone through this suffering. And those observing us would not be nearly as convinced that the gospel is true if they did not see us continuing to praise God even from the dust.

May God protect us, strengthen us, and use us to give an answer, an explanation for the hope that is within us to a very hopeless world. I love you Second Presbyterian Church. And I thank you for loving me and my family. I consider it the greatest privilege to be your pastor at this time in history. God help us, and may the Lord get a name for himself.

Lord Jesus, please draw near to us, as the great shepherd of our souls. bear us up in your arms and on your shoulders. Cause us to know in a fresh way that God our heavenly father loves us. Would the Holy Spirit pour out his love in our hearts that we might be assured of hope and convinced that nothing, nothing in this world or in the world to come is able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. in his name we pray, Amen.

Discussion Questions:

I. With us in Trauma (13:17-18)
We must live courageously, because Christ is with us in trauma.

Knowing: The Israelites could have made it to the Promised Land in less than two weeks, but God shepherded them patiently, gently, and mercifully by taking them on a different route, because they were a people who had been abused for generations.

Being: This is the same Father you have too if Jesus is your Savior. He holds you accountable for the sinful choices you make, but he also has compassion on you as his image bearer who has been traumatized by the devil, a sinful world system in general, and perhaps evil people in particular.

Doing: No one understands and cares for your trauma as God does, and he will lead you tenderly to the place of your healing if you let him. In what way(s) can you allow God to lead you through very difficult things you have experienced in your past?

II. With us in Death (13:19)
We must live courageously because Jesus is with us in death.

Knowing: Joseph believed God’s promise that he would bring his people to the Promised Land, so he extracted a promise from his family on his deathbed to carry his remains with them so he could be buried with his people in Shechem (Josh. 24:32).

Being: A Christian’s death is not the end of his evangelism and discipleship ministry. Don’t speak negatively of the body God has crafted for you in his image. It is that body God united to Christ and will raise at the last day and place back on this remade Promised Land.

Doing: In what way(s) can you intentionally make preparations for your own death so that your funeral bears witness to the gospel?

III. With us in Front (13:20-22)
We must live courageously, because Christ leads us.

Knowing: The Lord knew that such a traumatized people who had been forbidden to make their own decisions for four centuries needed more intimate assurance and more direct leading. Therefore, God led them personally in the form of a cloud they could see by day which transformed into a pillar of fire they could see and feel by night.

Being: In what ways do you wish God would lead you as clearly as he did the Israelites? Remember Jesus’ promise of the Holy Spirit. He told his disciples it was to their advantage for him to go away, so the Holy Spirit could come and live inside them (Jn. 14:17). The Holy Spirit is with us constantly.

Doing: This is how we find guidance—by living consciously in his presence at all times. By reading God’s word and praying daily, by staying in community with other believers also seeking the Lord, and by being faithful in corporate worship you will do the Lord’s will in the everyday affairs of life and also be ready to make big moves when he does.

IV. With us in Between (14:1-14)
We must live courageously because Jesus is in between us and our enemies.

Knowing: Chapter 14 appears to undercut everything we have observed thus far. God’s next set of instructions seem to indicate he has either lost his mind or has capriciously turned cruel like one of Egypt’s gods. The Israelites find themselves backed up against the sea with Egypt’s army pursuing them.

Being: God explains his strategy—to prove conclusively to the Egyptians he was the one true God. Not only was this essential to prove God’s glory to the Egyptians, it was necessary for the Israelites. They were so panic stricken by the approach of the Egyptians “they rebelled” against Moses (Ps.106:7b) and wanted to return to the familiarity of their captivity in Egypt (14:12). Moses commands the weak-kneed Israelites, “Do not be afraid! Stand firm. . .be still.” God is constructing confidence in a traumatized people by giving them a front row seat to watch him defeat the Egyptians once and for all—they will not lay eyes on Egyptians again.

Doing: What challenges or situations are you facing in your life that you feel inadequate to face? How can you “be silent” and allow the Lord to fight for you in this situation?

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For Further Study:

I. By Words
We must lead our followers by retelling the same message that has saved us.

Knowing: As the Lord had instructed in reference to the Passover, this ceremony for redeeming the firstborn was to be used as a catechizing aid for children. A firstborn child would inevitably ask what was going on, and when he did the parent was to explain (presumably in the hearing of the whole family) that this had been done for him.

Being: When we tells others about Jesus, we are not telling them how they can clean up their lives or trying to persuade them that we have exemplary lives to follow. We are simply repeating the same good news that we were saved by ourselves.

Doing: Perhaps the most important job of each member of our church is to pass the gospel on to the next generation. In what ways (whether you have children or not) can you retell the good news to the next generation of worshippers at 2PC?

II. By Relationship
We must believe we are loved because God has redeemed us.

Knowing: The firstborn son of a family represented the whole family’s identity, security and future. He was the father’s future hope of carrying on the family name. He was the mother’s future security if her husband predeceased her. He was the protective guardian of his sister’s and the executor of their future inheritance. God’s ultimate purpose in crafting traditions around a father passing blessings on to many through a redeemed firstborn son was to demonstrate objectively the best news of all. As both Lamb and Son, the Second Person of the Godhead provides eternal blessings of salvation to all the elect. This is the representative principle God wove into his creation.

Being: The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, out of their love for each other, decided before history to share their loving relationship with us. The Father so loved us, he sent his Son. The Son so loved us he laid his life down for us. And the Spirit so loves us he leads us out of bondage to sin, death and the devil.

Doing: Showing our children, friends and loved ones the way out will mean staying in the boat with them during their periods of rebellion and incarnating the pursuing love of our Shepherd. Can you think of particular circumstances where you can remain with someone to demonstrate Christ’s love to them, even when they may not show you love or respect in return? How does the gospel enable you to do this?

I. Who’s in and who’s out?
The Syrophoenician woman in this passage is a cultural outsider but we see that God reaches out to the outsider to bring them into his kingdom. How can you practically be the kind of person who reaches out to those who likely feel like an outsider?

II. What does it take to be an insider?
The Syrophoenician woman becomes an insider, not by proving she belongs but by giving up her rights and placing her faith on Jesus. How might we be unwilling to give up our rights and how might that keep others from feeling welcomed into our community?

III. How does God respond to the posture of an insider?
Every single one of us is called to participate in the Great Commission. What was most impactful for you from the World Missions Conference? Are there any new ways God called you to participate in the Great Commission this past week?