The Promise of Peace

An elderly Christian was in much distress as he lay dying. “Oh, Pastor,” he said, “for years I have relied upon the promises of God, but now in the hour of death I can’t remember a single one to comfort me.” Knowing that Satan was disturbing him, the preacher said, “My brother, do you think that GOD will forget any of His promises?” A smile came over the face of the dying believer as he exclaimed joyfully. “No, no! He won’t! Praise the Lord, now I can fall asleep in Jesus and trust Him to remember them all and bring me safely to Heaven.” Peace flooded his soul, and a short time later he was ushered by the angels into the light of God’s eternal day.

—Our Daily Bread

Blessed Lord, You have caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning. Grant that we may so hear them, read, mark, learn, and take them to heart that, by the patience and comfort of Your holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life. … through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

The Times, They Have Certainly Changed

Paul Lee Tan, Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc., 1996), 508.

We now live in a cultural climate where Christianity is often viewed with the same indifference that we have held for the Worship of Zeus or belief in Santa Claus. It’s looked at, perhaps used as a plot device in movies or TV shows, but no longer take seriously by those who view faith in Christ as a crutch. They respond to the Gospel message with questions like:

Why should we care about a message that is intended to address problems that we no longer view as relevant? Who still believes in a universe where God and heaven are physically located above us, Hell is somewhere beneath us, and Jesus flew out into space to meet with His Father in the air?

I know, we are sitting in St. John’s sanctuary, and so no one is going to destroy the mood - that would be rude, right? But as Church Growth marketer Richard Chancy wrote in a recent email, “According to a recent article from Patheos, 2006 represents what might be the high point of Christian dominance in America.

Since then, the rate of church closures has exceeded the number of new church plants. Which means that the church as we know it, is no longer capable of keeping pace with the population increase …”

Since then, the rate of church closures has exceeded the number of new church plants. Which means that the church as we know it, is no longer capable of keeping pace with the population increase …

St. John’s is preparing to celebrate 150 years of active ministry in the Calumet Region as the Oldest congregation north of the Calumet River.

Those of you who entered via the ramp saw the sign that states: St. John’s Church, the oldest surviving institution in Gary and north of the Little Calumet River, began with the work of the Rev. Henry Wunder in the 1860s… Baptism records date from 1863; the first church was built on this site in 1868 or 1869. 1870 is celebrated as the date of Organization.

In 1991, Larry Traylor entered the church rolls as an adult Confirmand. He, his wife Mary, and their family worshipped the Lord, supported this ministry, and walked in fellowship with other believers. Mary’s life was celebrated June 4th of 2018, and today, April 12, 2019, we acknowledge the grace of God in the life of her husband, Larry. At his confirmation, Larry chose as his verse. For a few minutes, I’d like to share with you the significance of this passage of Scripture that the Holy Spirit used to bring peace to His child Larry.

In the 2nd chapter of his letter to the church at Ephesus, Paul describes our spiritual status as the children of Adam who by his transgression in the Garden of Eden brought death to himself and to the human family, indeed, to the entire creation, as Paul wrote to the church in Rome:

Romans 5:12 ESV

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—

Rather than leaving us to our condemnation, God provided the way of escape from the righteous judgment of His Holy Law through the Gospel of Jesus Christ:

Ephesians 2:4–10 ESV

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

It is not because of your good works, your wealth, or your lineage, but because of His great love, that God looked upon you in mercy. Verses 1-3 describe our position apart from God:

Ephesians 2:1–3 ESV

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

Everyone sitting here is equally under that sentence, and everyone sitting here is equally eligible for the free offer of forgiveness that came as a result of Christ’s “holy, innocent, bitter sufferings and death.” People ask why Lutheran Christians focus so much on Christ on the cross, while others go so far as to remove all images of either cross or crucifix from their sanctuaries, marquees, and even identities. The answer is simple: The Historic Christian Church has always understood that her life is intimately bound up in Christ’s death, even as we celebrate the Lord’s Supper: “for as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”

But how? Granted the universal acknowledgment of the goodness of Jesus, how does that help you or me? If our sins condemn us all equally, and there is no one who doesn’t sin, isn’t the only escape simply to deny the reality of sin, condemnation and eternal damnation?

How is this possible? Granted teh universal acknowlewdgement of teh goodness of Jesus

No - there is a better way!

Romans 6:3–4 ESV

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

The same Jesus who declared, over the broken bread, “This is My Body, given for you,” and over the cup, “This cup is the New Covenant in My Blood, poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins,” declared “I am the Resurrection and the Life, the one who believes in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.”

Because of the Word of Christ, we do not sorrow in the face of the death of loved ones as do those who have no hope, although we confess that we mourn our loss. Those who die in the Lord, according to the Scriptures, shall have a share in the Resurrection of which Christ is the First-fruits. This confidence in the faithfulness of our Lord Jesus Christ has sustained this congregation for going on 150 years, through 12 pastors, through changes of language, population, and ethnicity, through times of great activity and times of seeming stagnation. Today, we acknowledge Larry Traylor as another who has joined that “great cloud of witnesses” who are with Christ, awaiting His return when He shall fulfill another promise:

1 Thessalonians 4:14–18 ESV

For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.

But for those who reject the gracious gift of salvation in Christ, He comes as a thief in the night:

Jude 14–15 ESV

It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”

There is a joy, a freedom, and a peace that belongs to those who trust in Christ, that nothing the world offers can duplicate. It is a gift of grace, which means that it cannot be earned in any way. It can be resisted, and many do, thinking that they are wise for doing so, because they could not see, “But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God” ().

9 But, as it is written,

“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,

nor the heart of man imagined,

what God has prepared for those who love him”— 10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .( (ESV)),

You might not see it today, whether through your tears of grief, or through the deceitfulness of sin, but God has promised a glorious future without sin, without sorrow, without suffering, for those who believe the Gospel. The God who cannot lie has declared, through the mouth of His Only-Begotten Son, Jesus Christ our Lord,

Mark 16:16 ESV

Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

Acts 22:16 ESV

And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.’

We believe, teach and confess that “there is one faith, one Lord, one baptism” - if you have been united with Christ through Holy Baptism, remember your baptism today, and repent, for He is gracious and abundant in mercy. If you woke up today alienated from the life of God and seeing Him as your enemy instead of knowing Him as Our Father in Heaven, repent and believe that Christ died for you and rose again from the dead. Believe the Gospel and be saved. Let today be the start of a beautiful relationship, or the renewal of one that you thought you could never get back. Then, today won’t be the day that you said “good-bye” to Larry Traylor, but “God be with you until we meet again!”