LutheranLectionary.org

Series A – Eighth Sunday after Pentecost – Sunday, July 26, 2020 | Pr. Chris Rosebrough

Welcome to the Teaching Ministry of Kongsvinger Lutheran Church. Kongsvinger is a beacon for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of Northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone, and now, here’s a message from Pastor Chris Rosebrough:

Time Stamp	Transcript
0:28	the holy gospel according to saint
0:30	matthew the 13th
0:31	chapter jesus said the kingdom of heaven
0:34	is like
0:34	treasure hidden a field which a man
0:36	found and covered up then in his joy he
0:38	goes and sells all that he has and buys
0:40	that field
0:41	again the kingdom of heaven is like a
0:42	merchant in search of fine pearls who
0:45	on finding one pearl of great value went
0:47	and sold all that he had and bought it
0:48	again the kingdom of heaven is like a
0:50	net that was thrown into the sea and
0:52	gathered fish of every kind
0:53	when it was full men drew it ashore and
0:55	sat down and sorted the good
0:57	into containers but threw away the bad
0:59	so it will be at the close of the age
1:01	the angels will come out and separate
1:02	the evil from the righteous and throw
1:04	them into the fiery furnace
1:05	in that place there will be weeping and
1:07	gnashing of teeth have you understood
1:09	all these things they said to him yes
1:12	and he said to them therefore every
1:13	scribe who has been trained for the
1:15	kingdom of heaven
1:16	is like a master of a house who brings
1:18	out of his treasure
1:19	what is new and what is old this is the
1:22	gospel of the lord
1:24	in the name of jesus amen all right have
1:27	you ever noticed
1:28	maybe some of you don’t know either
1:29	you’re too young some of you uh
1:31	newlyweds have a weird way of fighting
1:32	sometimes
1:33	newlyweds do and what i mean by this is
1:35	is that if you’ve ever heard newlyweds
1:37	fight
1:38	sometimes the fight goes something like
1:40	this
1:41	you never blank fill in the blank
1:45	or you always blank
1:49	fill in the blank and it’s weird because
1:52	what ends up happening is is that you
1:54	get these outrageous statements of like
1:58	your spouse never takes out the trash
2:01	well maybe he missed it today or last
2:03	week
2:03	but he does take out the trash or your
2:06	wife
2:06	never blank and see the never and the
2:10	always
2:10	you learn as you get older in life and
2:13	your marriage matures
2:14	this is kind of a dumb way to argue
2:16	because that’s just not true
2:18	but you’re going to note that in our
2:20	epistle text today
2:23	we get one of these statements that is
2:25	all-inclusive
2:27	all-inclusive listen to what these words
2:29	say we know that for those who love god
2:32	all things work together
2:36	for good
2:39	all things all things suffering
2:42	persecution
2:42	famine slander all these things
2:46	all these things work together for good
2:49	all of them
2:50	it’s a big statement if you think about
2:52	it but the thing is is that
2:54	scripture tells us the truth and so
2:56	building off of last week’s text
2:58	last week we looked forward to the hope
3:01	that we have in christ to get us
3:03	through our suffering and here’s a
3:05	little bit more of the aspect of the
3:06	hope that we have in christ
3:08	and that is that we know that what we
3:10	are currently going through
3:12	in our present situation whether it’s
3:15	the turmoil of the world
3:17	the craziness that’s going on in our own
3:20	country
3:21	just seems like the whole world has lost
3:23	its mind
3:24	i was in chicago yesterday and seeing
3:27	all of the restaurants closed seeing the
3:30	flights
3:32	you know being on a flight where it was
3:34	half full
3:35	everybody having to spread out everybody
3:37	having to wear a mask everybody afraid
3:39	and then watching the news on television
3:41	seeing what’s happening
3:43	around the world and of course don’t
3:45	forget in the mix of all of this
3:47	that rioters are lobbing off the heads
3:51	of statues of jesus saying that jesus
3:55	himself has got to go
3:56	jesus is the problem and so you’ll note
3:59	that in the midst of all this what do we
4:00	do
4:01	people are slandering us people are
4:03	attacking us people are persecuting us
4:05	and well we’ve got to come back to this
4:07	statement this all-inclusive statement
4:09	from the apostle paul all things
4:13	they work together for good for those
4:15	who are called according to god’s
4:16	purposes
4:17	and brothers and sisters you are
4:20	you have been brought from death to life
4:23	you have been forgiven of all of your
4:25	sins
4:25	christ has bled and died for each and
4:28	every one of them
4:29	and you are part of the group here
4:32	mentioned
4:32	in verse 29 those whom he foreknew he
4:35	also predestined and that’s you
4:38	you have been predestined to be in
4:40	christ you’ve been predestined to be
4:42	conformed to the image of his son so
4:44	that he might be the firstborn
4:46	among many brothers and so those whom he
4:49	predestined
4:50	that’s you he also called and you are
4:52	called here
4:53	those whom he called he also justified
4:56	and there’s that word
4:58	dicayahu to be forensically declared
5:01	not guilty by god the verdict has come
5:04	down
5:04	you are completely innocent the devil
5:07	may slander you
5:08	he may be the accuser of the saints he
5:10	may say yeah but that
5:12	person he jesus yeah and just go on and
5:14	on and on
5:15	but the thing is the gavel’s already
5:17	fallen you’ve been declared innocent
5:19	nothing can take that away from you and
5:22	those whom god justified he is also
5:24	glorified
5:25	we are already seated with christ in
5:27	heavenly places the apostle paul says
5:30	this is most certainly true and although
5:33	we cannot see it with our physical
5:36	eyes we have heard it with the eyes of
5:39	faith found inside of our ears
5:42	and so we believe these things to be
5:43	true so paul then asks us what then
5:46	shall we say to these things
5:48	if god is for us who can be against us
5:52	i was listening to molly zigler
5:55	hemingway yesterday she gave a great
5:57	speech
5:57	at the issues etc conference and she was
6:00	talking about
6:01	in answering a question kind of the fear
6:03	and the anxiety that everybody’s facing
6:05	nowadays
6:06	knowing that if they speak out against
6:08	the evil that is in the world
6:10	and say that that’s not correct as a
6:12	christian
6:13	i cannot affirm these things that well
6:16	the world’s going to rail
6:17	against us they may dox us you know they
6:20	may
6:21	do everything they can to hurt us and
6:23	she noted that uh
6:24	recently you know she had written
6:25	articles against a lot of the evil
6:27	that’s going on in the world
6:28	and what was the liberal news media’s
6:31	retaliation against her
6:33	you’re a bigot they said of her
6:36	and her response was that’s the best you
6:39	got
6:41	just to call me a bigot that’s all you
6:44	got
6:44	you got nothing else that didn’t hurt
6:49	really okay and so the idea here is is
6:52	that
6:53	you’ll note that as christians we
6:55	oftentimes fear going through suffering
6:57	persecution
6:58	we fear being slandered why because it
7:01	does have a tendency to hurt but at the
7:02	end of the day the devil all he has are
7:04	lies
7:05	that’s all he has he’s got nothing so
7:07	what shall we say then if god’s for us
7:09	who can be against us
7:10	and then note here referring back to the
7:13	cross he who did not spare his own son
7:16	but gave himself up for us and note the
7:18	comparison here
7:19	that god the father has given his son
7:23	to bleed and to die for your sins and
7:25	for mine
7:26	to bear our guilt and our shame our
7:29	iniquity
7:30	and to suffer the consequences of our
7:32	sin on the cross
7:34	and god did not spare his own precious
7:37	son
7:37	so in the midst of all that how will he
7:40	not also with him
7:41	graciously give us all things he’s
7:44	already given us
7:45	the most precious thing ever the son of
7:48	god
7:49	so how will he not then give us all
7:51	things and this
7:53	then frames our mentality so who shall
7:56	bring
7:57	any charge against god’s elect it’s god
8:00	who justifies
8:02	they’re going to slander you before the
8:04	world you’re a bigot
8:06	you’re a close-minded fill in the blank
8:09	right you’re just a hater you’re just
8:12	out of them
8:14	don’t worry god is the one who justifies
8:19	and he has declared you forgiven
8:23	pardoned and says that he loves you
8:27	so then who’s to condemn us who’s going
8:30	to condemn us
8:30	christ is the one who died more than
8:32	that he was the one who was raised he’s
8:34	at the right hand of god
8:35	who is indeed interceding for us that’s
8:38	where he is presently
8:40	so you sit there and stop looking at
8:42	everything around you
8:43	and say anxiety anxiety
8:49	instead say wait a second
8:52	jesus christ the son of god who sits at
8:55	the right hand of the father he’s there
8:57	interceding
8:58	right now for me this is the reality
9:02	that we hang on to
9:04	not the fear of being slandered or
9:05	losing our jobs or being doxed or
9:08	being persecuted forget it forget it
9:11	christ is interceding for you so who
9:14	shall separate us from the love of
9:15	christ
9:16	do you think the devil slanders can
9:19	separate you from the love of christ
9:21	do you think that the liberal media
9:24	telling you that you’re a bigot and
9:25	you’re close-minded and you’re
9:27	you’re a bunch of racists because you
9:29	were born white
9:30	well do you think that can separate you
9:32	from the love of christ
9:36	of course not who can separate us from
9:38	the love of christ
9:39	nobody can all right
9:42	shall tribulation no distress
9:46	no persecution famine nakedness
9:51	nope danger sword no
9:55	not at all and then we come back to this
9:58	reality the one
9:59	we talked about last week note then as
10:02	christians
10:03	you see for your sake we are being
10:05	killed all the day long
10:07	the scripture says and we are regarded
10:08	as sheep to be slaughtered
10:11	christ doesn’t save us from the curse he
10:12	saves us through it and so we recognize
10:15	then
10:16	yeah you know things are pretty dicey
10:18	for us
10:19	in this life and right now
10:22	it’s getting diceier so nothing can
10:25	separate us from the love of christ
10:27	tribulation distress persecution famine
10:29	nakedness dangerous sword not even death
10:30	itself
10:31	can separate us from the love of christ
10:34	and so
10:35	you’ll note then paul then says we in
10:37	these things
10:39	in these things we are more than
10:41	conquerors through him who loved us
10:44	in the midst of persecution and
10:46	tribulation and slander and nakedness
10:48	dangerous sword
10:49	and all of these things were more than
10:51	conquerors how do we conquer
10:54	christ has already done the conquering
10:56	for us and you’ll note that the apostle
10:58	paul
10:58	knows a thing or two about all of this
11:01	this is not some kind of an
11:03	abstract concept for him let me explain
11:06	let me read to you
11:07	just one of the travails that the
11:09	apostle paul went through
11:10	as a proclaimer of the forgiveness of
11:12	sins a proclaimer that jesus christ is
11:14	the promised messiah of the old
11:16	testament
11:16	that he is the one who bled and died for
11:18	our sins and that salvation is by grace
11:20	through faith alone
11:21	consider what happens the apostle paul
11:23	in acts chapter
11:25	14 it says this starting at verse one at
11:27	iconium
11:28	they entered together into the jewish
11:30	synagogue this is paul and barnabas they
11:32	spoke in such a way
11:33	that a great number of both jews and
11:35	greeks believed
11:37	amen the word of god the gospel has gone
11:40	forth in iconium and
11:42	jews and greeks are believing and
11:44	trusting in jesus christ being baptized
11:47	in the name of the father the son the
11:48	holy spirit but what happens listen to
11:51	what verse 2 says
11:52	but the unbelieving jews they stirred up
11:54	the gentiles and poisoned their minds
11:56	against the brothers
12:00	what salvation has come to iconium and
12:04	there’s people poisoning other people’s
12:05	minds
12:06	and that’s how it works apostle paul
12:09	knew firsthand
12:10	what this meant so it’s what it says
12:12	they re
12:13	they remained for a long time so in the
12:16	midst of the persecution they didn’t sit
12:17	there and go
12:18	oh what are we gonna do what am i gonna
12:21	they’re they’re slandering us they’re
12:22	poisoning mines again no they
12:24	stood their ground and they remained for
12:26	a long
12:27	time and they continued to speak boldly
12:30	for the lord
12:31	who bore witness to the word of his
12:33	grace granting signs and wonders to be
12:35	done by their hands you know god is the
12:36	one who did it
12:38	so in the midst of persecution they
12:39	stood their ground stayed for a long
12:41	time
12:42	boldly by the power of god and the holy
12:45	spirit
12:45	boldly proclaimed christ and god even
12:48	granted signs and wonders to be
12:50	performed by their hands
12:51	but the people of the city were divided
12:55	this became the dividing line
12:58	are you do you believe in jesus yeah i
13:00	believe in jesus
13:01	i and i believe that he’s died for my
13:03	sins well we don’t believe that
13:06	apostle paul he’s a terrible person
13:09	don’t you know that
13:10	he’s the man of lawlessness he he
13:13	attacks
13:13	the bible in the old testament he denies
13:16	that the law can save you
13:17	and so there’s division going on right
13:20	so some sided with the jews
13:22	some with the apostles division
13:25	and then it says this when an attempt
13:27	was made by both gentiles and jews
13:29	with their rulers to mistreat them and
13:32	to stone them
13:33	now it’s going to get personal to the
13:34	point where it’s time to kill them by
13:37	the way
13:37	stoning is not the same thing that
13:39	happens in colorado today like if you
13:41	get stoned in colorado
13:42	it’s a different thing okay stoning
13:45	usually results in you
13:46	ending your life and you’re not
13:47	breathing anymore so they actually
13:49	wanted to murder the apostle paul
13:51	and to stone him to death and so they
13:53	came up with a way to mistreat them to
13:55	the point of
13:55	killing them and what did they do well
13:57	they learned of it
13:58	and so they fled they fled to lystra
14:01	into derby
14:02	cities of laconia and to the surrounding
14:04	country and there they continued to
14:06	preach
14:07	the gospel and there they continued to
14:10	preach the gospel and you know
14:11	having stayed for a long time they had
14:14	time to catechize the new believers
14:16	to instruct them in the word of god to
14:19	set
14:20	up the church and they didn’t need to be
14:22	there anymore
14:24	so it was fine for them to go ahead and
14:26	leave and so they did
14:27	and so the apostle paul knows
14:28	persecution all too well
14:31	all too well but the story continues now
14:34	at leister there was a man sitting who
14:35	could not use his feet
14:37	he was crippled from birth and had never
14:39	walked he listened to paul speaking and
14:42	paul looking intently at him
14:43	seeing that he had faith to be made well
14:46	he said in a loud voice stand upright
14:48	on your feet and he sprang up and began
14:50	walking and you’ll note a miracle has
14:52	taken place
14:53	when the crowd saw what paul had done
14:55	they lifted up their voice in the
14:56	lakonian language and they said the gods
14:58	plural
14:59	have come down to us in the likeness of
15:01	men barnabas they called zeus
15:03	and paul hermes because he was the chief
15:05	speaker
15:07	and the priest of zeus whose temple was
15:08	at the entrance of the city brought oxen
15:10	and garlands
15:11	to the gates and they wanted to offer
15:13	sacrifices with the crowds
15:15	but when the apostles barnabas and saul
15:17	heard of it they tore their garments and
15:19	rushed out into the crowd crying men
15:20	why are you doing these things we also
15:23	are men of like nature with you when we
15:25	bring you good news that you should turn
15:27	from these vain things
15:28	turn to the living god who made the
15:30	heavens and the earth the sea and all
15:32	that is in them
15:33	in the past generations he allowed all
15:35	the nations to walk in their own ways
15:38	yet he did not leave himself without
15:39	witness for he did good by giving you
15:41	reigns from heaven and fruit
15:43	in season satisfying your hearts with
15:45	food and gladness and even with these
15:47	words they scarcely restrained the
15:49	people from offering sacrifice to them
15:51	but you’ll note what started off with
15:52	such a joyous occasion a man who’s been
15:54	crippled
15:55	from birth is now walking he’s been
15:57	healed by god’s grace
15:58	and mercy now the situation turns dicey
16:02	paul but jews came from antioch and
16:05	iconium
16:07	oh great these are quite the people
16:09	they’re like termites man they just
16:11	never give up when they found out that
16:14	paul was in lystra
16:15	they decided to strike out and go visit
16:18	themselves and what did they do they
16:19	persuade the crowds
16:21	these guys are evil
16:25	they’re deceiving you forget the fact
16:27	that that guy can walk you might want to
16:29	kill him too so we don’t want any
16:30	witnesses dead men tell motels
16:32	you know but what do they do they stone
16:34	paul
16:36	now he got the stoning that he was set
16:39	up for in iconium
16:40	they stoned paul and they dragged him
16:42	out of the city supposing that he was
16:43	dead
16:46	what kind of condition do you think his
16:48	body was in that they thought he was
16:50	dead
16:52	so there’s paul’s corpse
16:56	lying outside the city and the disciples
16:59	gathered around him
17:01	but he rose up entered the city on the
17:03	next day he went on with barnabas to
17:05	derby
17:07	moving right along footloose and fancy
17:09	free
17:10	right sorry muppet movie anyway
17:15	so you’ll note here the apostle paul is
17:17	no
17:18	stranger to persecution to slander
17:22	to trouble to distress and
17:26	considering what happened to him at
17:28	iconium
17:30	what happened in lystra you’ll note that
17:32	in leicester he was stoned to the point
17:34	where they thought he was dead
17:35	how many times did this guy lay down his
17:37	life
17:39	this was this was like martyrdom that
17:42	didn’t succeed
17:44	but later it would succeed and he never
17:47	shirked away from this because
17:49	he understood what our texts tell
17:52	us today that nothing can separate us
17:56	from the love of god nothing
18:00	if god’s for us who can be against us
18:03	nothing can separate us from the love of
18:04	Christ tribulation
18:06	distress persecution famine
18:09	slander nakedness danger sword
18:13	you see in all these things we are more
18:15	than conquerors
18:17	through him who loved us why because
18:18	he’s already conquered
18:20	the grave he’s already bled and died for
18:23	our sins
18:24	so note then brothers what paul says he
18:26	says i am
18:27	certain that neither death nor life nor
18:29	angels nor rulers nor things present nor
18:31	things to come nor powers
18:32	nor heights nor depth including death
18:35	itself
18:36	or anything else in all of creation will
18:38	be able to separate us
18:39	from the love of god in Christ Jesus
18:44	so what are you worried about
18:47	all the devil has is slander persecution
18:49	threats and murder
18:52	but nothing’s going to separate you from
18:53	the love of Christ
18:55	so rejoice that you are bled for died
18:58	for predestined
19:00	and glorified and justified in him all
19:03	as a gift
19:04	because of the great love and mercy of
19:07	our great god and savior Jesus Christ
19:09	in Jesus name amen
19:12	[Music]

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