SERMON INTRODUCTION – “A GREAT CLOUD OF WITNESSES”

So I was fertilizing my lawn a couple of weeks ago, using a rotary spreader, and when I reached the other side of the lawn, I turned around only to realize I could not see where I had been.  You are instructed to slightly overlap swaths to assure uniform coverage; otherwise you will end up with a striped lawn like I had the last time I fertilized my lawn.  Learning from my past mistake, this time I placed a marker where I ended on one side and proceeded to cross back to the other side, where I placed another marker.  I am hoping by navigating by these markers I will have a nice even green lawn.  Is this not a fact of life?  Navigating into the future is much more difficult and stressful when you can’t see or forget where you have been.  You might feel disoriented and at some point you may stop and ask yourself, how did I get here?  What direction am I heading?  Am I heading in the right direction?  In Scripture we read how God time and time again exhorted His people to look back, to remember how they got where they were, to remember how He kept His promises and to remember those who went before them who remained faithful to His call.  I believe recently you celebrated communion.  This is an act of remembrance our Lord Jesus commanded us to partake in as a reminder of His sacrifice for the atoning of our sins.  So it is not only good and helpful that we remember, it is commanded throughout all of Scripture.

ALDERSGATE DAY

Methodists take this Sunday in May to remember the founder of Methodism, John Wesley.  It was on May 24, 1738,  that he experienced assurance of his salvation.  Wesley had reluctantly attended a group meeting that evening on Aldersgate Street in London.  As he heard a reading from Martin Luther's Preface to the Epistle to the Romans, he felt his "heart strangely warmed."   Listen to what Wesley wrote in his journal

"while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death."

Long before this life changing experience, Wesley had been known for his methodical spiritual discipline.  He prayed, he fasted, he gave food to the poor, cared for the sick and even started a school in which he, with the help of a few other seminary classmates, paid the teacher’s salary out of his own pocket.  He was an ordained Anglican priest as was his father.  He sailed across the ocean to the new world on a mission trip.  But despite all his work, the peace and love of God eluded him.  It was upon his return to England that he received consolation from a friend

named Peter Bohler.  It was this friend that invited him to attend that infamous group meeting on Aldersgate Street.  

THE ROMAN ROAD TO GOOD NEWS

What was it about the message he heard that night that was so liberating you might ask?  John, along with his brother Charles Wesley were raised in a family of 19 children.  Their mother and father were responsible for their early instruction and it was here where he developed his methodical approach to discipleship.  Obedience to God’s law was essential to his salvation.  This was the message he learned and reinforced at church and later in his seminary training, but yet he could not feel God’s love.  He was tormented with the question, how good is good enough.  If he were to die in the tempests of a raging storm, such as he experienced in his crossing of the Atlantic, would he be saved from eternal separation from God?  No peace, no security…..but then he heard these words from Epistle of Romans:

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” –Rms 3:23

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” –Rms 6:23

“if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”  Rms 10:9,10

“13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”  Rms. 10:13

His understanding of these passages revolutionized his preaching.  The Good News that salvation comes by faith in Christ alone, became the focal point of his preaching.  He preached with so much enthusiasm he was removed from the pulpits of the Anglican Church where services were to be conducted with order and with reverence.  So he preached the word outdoors in the open for which many, who could not afford the pew rental fees or for clothes of the correct attire for church attendance, enthusiastically received.  Thousands upon thousands were being converted.  John Wesley used his methodical approach to spiritual discipline to shepherd the new converts.  He trained lay preachers to go out and spread the word on horseback and to organize flocks over which they were to disciple.   Wesley would later send trained men to the new world to do the same.  Methodism played a great part in the development of our nation.  Other nations had tried forms of democracy, but nowhere did it flourish and have the success as it did in America.  A political thinker and historian, Alexis Tocqueville, from France was sent to America to discover the secret formula.  This was his conclusion.  He wrote:

“America is great because America is good.”  

“Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power.  America is good and if it ever ceases to be good she will cease to be great.”

APPLICATION

So what are the markers we see as we look back to our founder this day?  Do you see the church heading in the right direction?  Are we on the right course?  Are you heading in the right direction? I see three markers:

1. If we want to experience the peace and love of God, we must confess with our mouths and believe in our hearts Jesus paid the debt of our sins and it is a gift of God.  Have you asked for and received this gift?  
2. Our acceptance of God is not based on our service.  We were created to serve others but His love is unconditional.  We show our love toward him and demonstrate our faith by serving others.
3. We should be deliberate in our spiritual growth and help disciple others.

John Wesley’s message and his work can be summed up in these verses from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians:

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. –Ephesians 2:8-10

A GREAT CLOUD OF WITNESSES (Conclusion)

Now, having shared the realism of God’s grace, I must also share with you God’s truth.  Having the peace of God does not guarantee you a life without conflict or turmoil.  In fact, the apostle Peter warns us that we can expect trials and persecution.  However, we can endure or overcome them with confidence when we look back on the faith of those who went before us.  In Hebrews chapter 11 we are given quite of list of heroes of faith.  And in chapter 12 we are encouraged to run the race that is set before us because we are told we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses.  That word “cloud” is the Greek word, nephos, which carries the meaning of the highest bleacher seats in a stadium; the cloud seats.  Imagine yourself on the field in Ohio Stadium.  You are surrounded by a 100,000 cheering fans.  All eyes are on you. The fight of faith is on! But if you’ll look up into the bleachers of Heaven for just a moment, you’ll see that they are stacked all the way to the “clouds” with people just like you!

Sermon Title:Today, If You Hear
His Voice

Sermon Text: Psalm 95,
Hebrews 3:12-15

INTRODUCTION TO MESSAGE

I don't know about you, but I enjoy the summertime. The warmer weather brings with it a flurry of outdoor activities; picnics, fireworks, county fairs and speaking of which, how about the food? It is also the time of year we enjoy fresh strawberries, watermelon, black berries, sweet corn and of course, ice cream, lots and lots of ice cream. 

Summer often affords time to get away from our mundane daily routines and go on vacation to explore new territory or to revisit some of our favorite destinations for a time of recreation or leisure. For me, I like to go to the Lake. Where I came from, the Lake meant Lake Erie. As a kid, my family and I would spend a week or two each summer camping at East Harbor State Park. As an adult, I would take my own family camping there and spend a day at Cedar Point. As much as an attraction as Cedar Point may be to many, for me, the main attraction was the Lake itself.....so grand, so majestic, so immense. It has always been a spiritual pilgrimage for me. Theologians describes this as “natural revelation.” God reveals Himself through His creation. Like we just heard in the Psalms, 95:3-5

3 For the Lord is a great God

And a great King above all gods

4 In whose hand are the depths of the earth

The peaks of the mountains are His also.

5 The sea is His, for it was He who made it.

And His hands formed the dry land. 6 come let us worship and bow down Let us kneel before the Lord or Maker 7 For He is our God And we are the people of is pasture and the sheep of His hand. Today, if you would hear His voice

You know, some say they can actually hear the Lake speaking to them. What does it say you might ask? Nothing, it only waves. (Yuk, yuk) Sorry there...just a little bit of my dry sense of humor there.

Another destination on my bucket list would be to visit the Holy Land. To walk where Jesus walked, to stand where He taught and healed the sick and made the blind to see. But do you know what place most people who have visited Israel tell me was their favorite? The Sea of Galilee. Jesus spent much of the time of His ministry in this region called Galilee. Located in the northern part is a beautiful lake called the Sea of Galilee also known as LakeTiberius, the Roman name, or the Lake of Gennesaret, named for the lush garden tropical area located on the west side of the lake. It has some similarities to Lake Erie. How about size? Would you guess the Sea of Galilee to be larger or smaller than Lake Erie? Actually, Lake Erie is 100 times larger in surface area than the Sea of Galilee. How about depth? This is where they are similar. Each is about 200 feet deep, that would be about 2 Marathon buildings deep. In fact, Lake Erie is the shallowest of all the Great Lakes and because it is so shallow, the volume of water is most susceptible to outside air pressure causing large waves to suddenly and oftentimes unexpectedly form causing distressing situations for smaller sized water vessels. When I last visited, it was a beautiful sunny day, a little windy, but many were enjoying a day at the beach. I heard on the radio the following day, 19 people had been rescued from the Lake that very day as a result of 4 separate incidents where vessels took on water and sank to the bottom of the lake.

As you may be familiar with at least two similar incidents that happened on the Sea of Galilee as told in the Gospels. One incident appears in the Gospel of Mark, where he tells the story of Jesus traveling from village to village, teaching and healing many people. He then sends the disciples out two by two to minister. They come back to Jesus emotionally charged by their experience but physically exhausted. Now, Jesus, being fully God was at the same time fully human. He was must have been exhausted as well and sensing the weariness of the disciples, He said “Boys, its time for a vacation,” for the Scriptures tell us He sent the disciples off to a secluded place while he went off to pray. Now we know God doesn't take vacations or grow weary, but Jesus allowed himself to experience the weariness we feel as humans when we work tirelessly without adequate rest. But when they get to the other side, a mass of 5,000 people or more descend upon them and because it is late in the day and Jesus being filled with compassion, instructs the disciples to feed them. Does that ever happen to you.....you are trying to get ready to go on vacation at work and something unexpected pops up that needs to be dealt with before you leave? So they find a little boy with 2 fishes and 5 barley loaves and Jesus feeds everyone until they are all satisfied. By this time it is about 3 am and again they are instructed to get in there boat and cross over to the land of Gennersaret. Now here is where the similarity of the shallow depths, comes into play. The sea of Galilee sets about 700 feet below sea level and is surrounded by mountain ranges. The depressed area is usually very warm and humid, tropical, you might say. As the cool air rushing in from the Mediterranean Sea comes over the mountain tops and meets up with the warm tropical air of the Sea of Galilee, sudden pressure is created as the warm air cools and drops. This action, as I just described at Lake Erie, creates sudden and violent storms to erupt. This is just what happened as the disciples were making their way across the lake. They rowed with all their might but they were getting nowhere. Jesus saw them struggling from the land and began crossing over the lake on foot. I find it interesting that the Scriptures tell us He meant to pass them by but when Jesus saw how terrified they were, as if they had seen a ghost, He called out to them and told them to “Take courage, for it is I. Do not be afraid.” So He gets in the boat with them and the wind stops and and the sea suddenly becomes calm. Scripture tells us they were “utterly astonished.”

The other incident described in the Gospel of Luke tells us of a time Jesus was so exhausted or so at peace with himself He was actually sleeping in the boat when again, a violent storm came upon them as they were crossing over the lake to the other side. The waves were coming over the sides and begin to fill the boat. As the boat begins to sink the disciples decide to wake Jesus up. The ask Him if He even cares that they are about to die. Jesus gets up and rebukes the wind and the waves and immediately everything becomes calm. He asks the disciples, “Where is you faith?”

FIRST MESSAGE POINT: DRIFTING

Now I suppose you have heard many messages or contemporary Christian songs relating the storms of life to the scripture passages just mentioned, but what I would like to spend my time on is focusing on the danger of the calm rather than the storms. Yes, the calm....when you find yourself in your sweet spot. Everything is going your way. You have got the right spouse, a great family, you find yourself successful at work or in retirement and things could not be better. It is better at this point in time if you just “go with the flow.” Drifting.....going where the current takes you. The problem is, the current rarely takes you in the right or good direction. You might find yourself drifting....drifting from your faith, from your principles, maybe from your relationship or connection with God. This could be the calm BEFORE the storm. 

I used to go fishing on the lake with my Father-in-law and I remember he had two anchors on board. He would tie on the lighter anchor with small claws when we were fishing for perch. The lighter anchor would just drag along the sand at the bottom of the lake allowing us to slowly drift, or troll as we had our lines he water. This gave us a greater opportunity to come upon a school of fish. While focusing on my line rather than the shoreline, I was oblivious to the fact that we were drifting. I remember on one occasion, my father-in-law said we had drifted over 5 miles. He had another heavier anchor with large claws. He would tie this anchor on to the line if the waves got too high and the current too strong. This anchor with its large claws was designed to hold fast to the rocks or dig into the sand and bury itself to keep us from drifting.

Hebrews 3:12

"Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil,  unbelieving heart that FALLS AWAY from the living God."

Drifting is akin to falling away, which leads to, or exposes, an unbelieving heart. The word evil can be interpreted as corrupt....a corrupted heart is one that is no longer aligned with God's purposes and may lead to a hardened heart.

I tell you this because drifting can be dangerous. Have you ever witness a person who fell asleep on a raft? The gentle lapping of the waves against the raft is like a lullaby putting the person to sleep and in harms way. Before he become aware, the currents have taken him out to sea and suddenly he finds himself surrounded by sharks and the waves are increasing in size making it ever so more difficult to stay afloat.

SECOND MESSAGE POINT: DANGER

Hebrews 3:13

But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called "Today," so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

The author of Hebrews implores the Hebrew Christians living in and around Jerusalem to encourage one another.... watch out for each other....to yell out, “Hey you on the raft! Wake up!” Let your brother and sister in Christ know when you see them drifting. Let them know they are in danger while there is still time for the to turn back. “While it is still called today,” means while we are still in this age or “dispensation of grace.” God today deals with what separates us from Him, that is sin, by His good grace, favor we do not earn, through faith. Faith in Christ, that He shed His blood for you for the remission of your sins. When Jesus returns, it will be too late.

It is always the ones on the shore, the Christian friends closest to us that notice first when we are drifting. These Hebrews were once Jews that had converted to Christianity. While they were Jews, the occupying Roman government allowed them pretty much to govern themselves, as long as they paid their taxes and maintained the peace, but when Christianity turned the world upside down, they suddenly found themselves being persecuted. As a result, many were beginning to abandon their faith in Christ and turn back to their Judaism where ritualism and tradition helped made them feel safe and secure and free from persecution.

Notice in this verse a hardened heart is the result of the deceitfulness of sin.  We oftentimes try to justify our sin, or actions or lack of actions.  We call it cultural change or we use an 84 cent phrase like paradigm shift.  Sin is a slow fade, as we drift from our principles and Judeo-Christian values.  We see this not only in individuals but in our institutions, our government, and even our churches.  "Sin will take you father than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay and cost your more than you want to pay."  (Romans 2: 3-4)

THIRD MESSAGE POINT: DECISION

So I implore you, as well, encourage one another before it is too late. Will you hear the warning of your spouse, your children, your parents or your friends?

Hebrews 3:14-15

14 For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end, 15 while it is said, 

"Today if you hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts, as when they provoked Me."

Today, if you hear his voice....that phrase is repeated 3 times in this context, first in verse 7, here in verse 15 and in the next chapter, verse 7. Each of these verses are the same quote from Psalm chapter 95 and is in reference to the Hebrew children wandering in the wilderness. The Palestinian Hebrews would be very familiar with this story. They have passed down through the generations how God had declared them His people and promised them a land of rest, a land of Milk and Honey. He invited them to enter into His rest if they would only trust Him. But as the story goes, not longer after God rescued them from the Egyptian solders at the Red Sea, they soon began murmuring and complaining against Moses for they had no water or no food and they began looking back to Egypt where they may have been enslaved by cruel taskmasters but at least they had food to eat and water to drink. At one point a rebellion was forming and some were in favor of choosing new leadership that would lead them back to Egypt and captivity. God instructed Moses to strike a rock twice with his rod and in doing so, water gushed out of the rock to quench the thirst of the rebellious, unbelieving, stiff necked people. God then feeds them with bread from heaven, mana, but not long after that they were again murmuring against Moses and his brother Aaron, the designated priest, that they were tired of this mana. The wanted meat and more water to drink. Moses was told to speak to the rock but in his haste and anger with the people, he struck it twice as before. Water once again came forth but God had now pronounced judgment upon, not only the people, but Moses himself for having an unbelieving heart. The Promise Land was no longer available to them and the entire generation died in the wilderness. As a consequent of their unbelief, they never got to enter into God's rest. This is what the author of the letter to the Hebrews is reminding them. “Today, if you hear His voice” …..you must act. Recognizing danger requires a decision. What will you do? We all, and I mean all have seasons in our lives where we begin to drift. Will you recognize it? Will you decide to act? If you choose to do nothing and continue to drift, eventually a storm in life will come upon you. Now what will you do? Will you try to row your way out of it like the disciples tried on the Sea of Galilee only to waste time and much energy? Or maybe you will just throw the light anchor overboard....do just enough work to slow down your drift... give more money to church, start making church attendance more frequent, performs acts of kindness once a week or do a better job of controlling your temper. Maybe you should try tying on the heavy anchor for starters. This is my anchor (hold up my Bible)! It is fastened to the Rock! The Rock of My Salvation. From this Book I get my worldview and things become more clear. The wind ceases and the waves begin to calm. Even and strong anchor will not guarantee the wind and the waves will not return. That is when I look to my Savior, who is in the boat with me. I don't have to wake Him up though. Psalm 121 says, “From where shall my help come? My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.”....I have to wake my self up to realize the wind and waves still know His name. Be assured of this one thing, the anchor will hold. We need to hold fast. Again, times in this passage the Hebrews are exhorted to hold fast to their faith, verse 6, verse 14 and chapter 4, verse 14. They, we are encouraged to hold fast to our faith so that we may enter into God's rest.

APPLICATION

Perhaps you have never known that kind of faith and consequently not experienced God's rest or His peace. Maybe that is because He has never been in your boat. Maybe, “TODAY, IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE,” you will look out over the tempestuous sea and not only see, but hear His voice as He calls out to you as he did the disciples, “Take courage. It is I. Do not be afraid.” So the question you are left with today is the same question Jesus asked, “Where is your faith.” TODAY, IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE.... choose to be a disciple of Christ. It is easy as ABC. A...Admit you fall short of God's glory (perfectionism)...that you are a sinner and need of a Savior. B...Believe Jesus was God who came to earth to rescue you...that He died on the cross shedding His blood for the remission of your sins and that He rose again to conquer death and finally, C... Connect with Christ, start a personal relationship with Him and grow in your faith to love and disciple others.