John was the son of Zebedee and the younger brother of James. They were a fishing family from Capernaum, a small village on the north end of the Sea of Galilee. He spent his youth learning all of the tasks associated with the fishing business: preparing nets, navigating vessels, and finding the hot spots around the lake. As with most men at the time, he and his brother were probably being groomed to take over the family business.

Also being from a devout Galilean family, where messianic expectations ran high, it is not surprising that these two men became intrigued by the news of a dynamic young preacher named John the Baptist, who was attracting a great deal of fanfare in the desert region by the Jordan River. Wondering if he might be the promised Messiah, it appears that these two sons of Zebedee, along with their friends Andrew and Simon, went to hear this powerful preacher who dressed in camel’s hair and ate locusts and wild honey. When they first heard his message of repentance and preparation for the kingdom of God, they probably thought that he was the Messiah, until the Baptist openly denied being the Christ and simply proclaimed that he was simply a voice crying in the wilderness to prepare the way for the promised One. They were probably baptized by John the Baptist and became his disciples.

It is also probable that they met Jesus for the first time when he approached the river to be baptized and heard John the Baptist declare, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. If this is the case, they also would have witnessed the Spirit of God descending on him like a dove and heard the voice from heaven say, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” (John 1:15-42)

The Fisherman becomes a Follower (Mark 1:14-20)

After the baptism in the Jordan River, the fishermen eventually returned to their nets in Capernaum. Sometime after John the Baptist was imprisoned, Jesus went to Capernaum to select disciples and launch his public ministry. As he walked along the shore, he invited Simon and Andrew and then James and John, to leave their nets behind and become fishers of men. Here is where the fishermen officially became followers of Jesus Christ.

There are a couple of details that I would like you to see in this passage. First, notice how Mark says “James son of Zebedee and his brother John.” He refers to John with a lower status because he was probably younger. Ancient tradition tells us that John was the youngest of all of the apostles. He may have even been a teenager at the time.

Second, notice how these brothers left their father—“they left their father in a boat with the hired men and followed him.” It is a big deal today when a child decides not to carry on the family business, but this would have been like a slap in the face during ancient times. Leaving the family business was equal to leaving the family. We don’t know how Zebedee reacted to this, but it must have been very difficult for these two brothers to leave their father in the boat with the hired men. Likewise, the fact that Zebedee had hired men shows that he was a man of some means. These two brothers left it all behind to follow Jesus. Fishing for fish was safe and secure; fishing for men imposed huge risks!

And so it is today! Following Jesus is a huge risk and requires a lot of faith. Like he did with John and his brother, Jesus calls us to constantly live by faith. Sometimes he calls us to give up things to be his follower. Sometimes he calls us to forsake our families, our jobs, our possessions, our comforts, and our securities. Sometimes he calls us to leave the familiar and enter the world of the unknown.

I am not saying that Jesus wants us all to quit our jobs and move away, but I am saying that discipleship is about priorities and loyalties. If we are to be true disciples, Jesus must be the top priority in our lives! We must be willing to give up whatever he asks of us? We must be willing to go where he wants us to go and do what he wants us to do!

At the close of life, the question will not be,

“How much have you gotten?” but “How much have you given?”

Not “How much have you won?” but “How much have you done?”

Not “How much have you saved?” but “How much have you sacrificed?”

It will be “How much have you loved and served,” not “How much were you honored?”

Are you a true follower of Christ? Are you willing to sacrifice whatever Christ would ask of you? Are you willing to leave your comforts and securities behind and become a fisher of men?

The Disciple Whom Jesus Loved (John 19:26-27)

Well, John became one of Jesus’ first disciples and he remained with him until the end. Peter may have been the leader of the disciples, but even though John was the youngest, he was the most faithful. John was at Jesus’ side throughout his whole ministry. He was a part of Jesus’ privileged inner circle that got to see Jesus transfigured, the raising of Jarius’ daughter, and was with him as he prayed in the garden of Gethemene on the night that he was betrayed. He was the only one of the twelve disciples that was with him as he hung on the cross. Perhaps, this is why John bore the title: “the disciple whom Jesus loved” or “the beloved disciple.”

One of the most revealing statements of the closeness of the relationship between Jesus and John was in the last moments of Jesus’ life when Jesus asked John to care for his mother after his death. John 19:26-27 says, “When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, ‘Dear woman, here is your son,’ and to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.”

Love was a recurring theme in much of John’s writings, this from a man who had learned about love from the master teacher of love. In John’s letters (1, 2, and 3 John), he made more than twenty-five references to love. John knew that Jesus knew him and yet loved him fully.

As we see the closeness of John’s relationship with Jesus, it should cause us to think about our own relationship with Jesus. How much do we really love Jesus? How faithful are we? Do you have the kind of relationship with Jesus where he would trust you to take care of his mother?

Ministry in Ephesus (John 20:30-31)

After Jesus’ ascension and the descent of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, John, together with Peter, took a prominent role in the founding and guiding the church in Jerusalem. He was with Peter at the healing of the lame man in the Temple, and they were both imprisoned together. When they were released, he later went with Peter to visit the newly converted Christians in Samaria.

There is no positive information in the Bible (or elsewhere) concerning the duration of this activity in Judea. Apparently, John, along with the other Apostles, remained in this first field of labor, until the persecution of Herod Agrippa I led to the scattering of the Apostles through the various provinces of the Roman Empire. It appears that John went to Asia Minor where he began a ministry in the city of Ephesus. A Christian community was already in existence at Ephesus before Paul’s first labors there in addition to Priscilla and Aquila. John became the pastor of the church in Ephesus and had a special relationship with other churches in the area (as we know from the letters to the Seven Churches in Asia, in the book of Revelation.)

For the next few decades it appears that John primarily stayed in Ephesus, with occasional trips to Jerusalem and other places. He continued to preach the gospel, train up ministry leaders, and wrote the Gospel of John and his three epistles, all from Ephesus.

In John 20:30-31, he reveals the purpose of his book: “But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” John was a true evangelist at heart. He preached and wrote so that people would put their faith in Jesus Christ and experience the same transformation that he did.

I don’t think that God has called any of us to make a new contribution to the Bible, but he has called all of us to join the Apostle John in his mission of sharing the gospel with the world. We can join in John’s ministry and legacy by sharing the message of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ with those around us. We can tell our friends and family and our classmates and coworkers that we have forgiveness for our sins and the hope of eternal life through Jesus Christ. Are you willing to share the message?

As the years went by and John continued his ministry in Ephesus, a new Roman Emperor came to the throne. Domitian ruthlessly persecuted Christians throughout the empire. He demanded that all Christian preaching should stop or the violator would face the fate of execution. John refused to stop preaching, and was therefore apprehended by the proconsul of Asia and was sent to Rome to be tried by the emperor. Domitian sentenced him to death by being boiled in a large cauldron of oil. He continued to preach as his body was baptized in the boiler, but, miraculously, he was unharmed. It is said that everyone in the Colosseum audience was converted to Christianity upon witnessing this miracle.

Domitian was both enraged and terrified. Instead risking another backfired execution, he exiled John to Patmos, a little rocky island in the Aegean archipelago. The Alcatraz of its day, it was a famous Roman prison colony, where no one could hear his preaching. But in what is known as the cave of the Apocalypse (located on this island), the Lord appeared to him and had him write the Book of Revelation. In trying to prevent him from speaking, the Romans helped John send the church one of its most important messages.

When Domitian died, John was released from exile and returned to Ephesus and lived there until he died in his late nineties. John was the only one of the twelve disciples who was not martyred but died of natural causes.

The great evangelist George Whitefield was relating the difficulties of the gospel ministry to some friends. He said that he was weary of the burdens and was glad that his work would soon be over and that he would depart this earthly scene to be with Christ. The others admitted having similar feelings — all except one, a Mr. Tennant. Noting this, Whitefield tapped him on the knee and said, “Well, Brother Tennant, you are the oldest among us; do you not rejoice to think that your time is so near at hand when you will be called Home?”

The old man answered bluntly that he had no wish about it. When pressed for something more definite, he added, “I have nothing to do with death. My business is to live as long as I can, and as well as I can, and serve my Savior as faithfully as I can, until He thinks it’s time to call me Home.” Whitefield accepted that word as a gentle rebuke from the Lord, and it helped him go on with his work calmly and patiently.

I hope that John will serve as an inspiration to anyone who might be a little older. All of these events took place when the beloved disciple was in his nineties. When you grow old and your body begins to break down and you can’t do all of the things that you used to do, you may be tempted to think that you aren’t worth much, but don’t believe it!

Think about John! He was old and in exile, but God still used him to influence and bless the church through his prayers and his writing. Like John, may we all continue to serve Christ until the end!

It is said that John, “Founded and built churches throughout all Asia, and worn out by old age, died in the sixty-eight year after our Lord’s passion and was buried near the same city (Ephesus).” There is a church tradition, which says, that when John was evidently an old man in Ephesus, he had to be carried to the church in the arms of his disciples. At these meetings, he was accustomed to say no more than, “Little children, love one another!” After a time, the disciples wearied at always hearing the same words, asked, “Master, why do you always say this?” “It is the Lord’s command,” was his reply. “And if this alone be done, it is enough!”

And so I leave you with these challenging words from the Beloved Disciple—Dear children, love one another!

When I was a child and people used to ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I always said that I wanted to be a doctor. Even when I was very young, I was fascinated by the parts and processes of the human body, and I loved to play doctor. I would make up rare diseases with unpronounceable names and force my family members to pretend like they suffered from them. Then I would make a diagnosis and perform surgery on them.

It is interesting to think about it now, but even back then I had no fear of blood and I had a natural proclivity toward helping people. As soon as I was old enough to read with any kind of proficiency, I began working my way through the “Hippocratic Corpus”—that is, the writings of Hippocrates, the ancient Greek doctor who is known as the father of medicine. Being of Greek lineage myself, I was especially interested in these writings.

My parents recognized my aptitude for medicine, but they were so poor that there was no way that they could afford to send me to medical school, but thankfully, the wealthy family whom they worked for, also saw my potential. That family agreed to pay for me to go to medical school as long I would return and practice in my hometown. Today most people know me as a preacher and evangelist, but before all of this, I used to be a practicing physician.

After receiving medical training in the nearby city of Tarsus, I returned to my hometown of Antioch and served as a private doctor to the family that paid for my education. They also allowed me to serve as a general practitioner in the community. Antioch was a diverse city—with the regions of Cilicia to the north and Phoenicia and Judea to the south—it was inhabited by Greeks, Roman, Jews, and since it wasn’t very far from the Mediterranean coast, people from all over the world passed through. Being a Greek, I had always worshipped the gods of the pantheon: Zeus, Athena, Ares, Artemis, and Aphrodite, but I had the luxury of learning about Judaism and other religions. It was exciting to treat patients from so many different backgrounds.

Luke’s Conversion

I really enjoyed being a physician in Antioch, and I thought I would continue my practice there for the rest of my life, but I was in for a big surprise. One day a group of men came to Antioch from Jerusalem; they were fleeing persecution for spreading different religious beliefs. A few of these men became my patients, and over time, they started preaching in our religious centers and even to people on the streets. Their message focused on a Jewish rabbi named Jesus, who claimed to be the Son of God. They invited me to come and hear more about this Jesus. Being a man who was interested in new things, I decided to attend their meetings.

At first, I thought that this new teaching was just another form of Judaism, but the more I listened to them, I saw that it was different. They believed that this Jesus was the promised Messiah who had come to save the world. They shared many of his teachings and told stories about the miracles he performed. As a doctor, I was especially intrigued by the miracles of curing diseases and raising dead bodies to new life. They even said that he was crucified but was resurrected three days later. It was all very interesting, and many people in Antioch became believers, but at first, I was skeptical. You know how doctors are!

How about you? How would you respond if someone told you that a man was resurrected three days after he died? Would you believe it?

After a few months, a member of the church in Jerusalem, a man by the name of Barnabas, came to Antioch because he heard that many people were responding to the message. Barnabas was a good man and he had a deep faith and was an excellent teacher. As Barnabas and the others kept preaching throughout the city, even more people were embracing the message, both Jews and Greeks alike. The church was becoming so large that Barnabas needed some help. He told me about a man named Paul who was a powerful teacher. He had heard that Paul was living in Tarsus, the same place I went to medical school; so he left us and went to look for him. Indeed, Barnabas found Paul and brought him back to Antioch to help with the church.

I was surprised when I found out that Paul had been a Pharisee and had studied under the renowned Rabbi Gamaliel. One day when we were gathered for worship, he told us the story of his conversion. He was walking on the road to Damascus to kill Jesus’ followers, all of the sudden he was blinded by a great light, and heard Jesus speaking to him. That day, Paul put his faith in Jesus, and the bully became a believer.

Paul was a powerful teacher! He taught us that everyone is separated from God because of their sin and that Jesus’ death on the cross paid the penalty for the sins of the world. He explained that Jesus was the only one who ever lived a sinless life because he was actually God in human flesh. Therefore, his sacrifice provided atonement and forgiveness for our sins and his resurrection offered the hope of eternal life.

Even though his teaching conflicted with the beliefs I grew up with, my soul resonated with it so much that I became convinced of its truth. I left the world of the Greek gods behind, and believed that there was only one God of the universe and that he revealed himself in the person of Jesus the Christ. I put my faith in him, and he became my Lord and Savior!

Ministry in Antioch

For the next year, Paul and Barnabas stayed at the church in Antioch and continued to evangelize, teach, and train up leaders. They discipled me and I got so involved in the ministry of the church that I almost forgot about my medical practice. As the church was getting more established in the city, people began calling us Christians, which means followers of Christ.

As our church continued to grow and mature, we all sensed that the Holy Spirit was calling Paul and Barnabas to a different work. After much prayer and fasting, we all felt the Spirit was leading them to sail to the island of Cypress to proclaim the Word of God and battle against the spiritual darkness there. So, during a special worship service, we laid hands on Paul, Barnabas, and Barnabas’ cousin Mark, who was going along as their helper, and prayed for them and commissioned them as the church’s first missionaries.

It was two years later by the time they returned and reported to us everything that God had done through them and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles, and they stayed with us for a long time, strengthening our church. (Acts 14:26-28) I was glad that they returned when they did; our church had been experiencing some conflict. Some Christians from Judea showed up and started preaching that it was impossible for a person to be saved unless they are circumcised according to the Law of Moses. Since our congregation was made up of both circumcised Jews and uncircumcised Gentiles, this stirred up a lot of controversy.

As a Gentile, I certainly didn’t think that circumcision was necessary for salvation. The thought of circumcision at my age wasn’t very pleasant, but I was willing to do whatever the church thought required. When Paul and Barnabas showed up, they didn’t think circumcision was necessary either, especially since they just returned from a mission trip where they saw many Gentiles embrace the gospel, apart from the custom of circumcision. But Paul thought that the church should send some representatives to Jerusalem and ask their opinion.

So, they went to Jerusalem and held a council with the apostles and the church there. After much prayer and discussion, they all agreed that circumcision was not necessary for salvation. When they returned to Antioch with the decision, we were overjoyed. Unity was restored, peace prevailed, ministry continued, and the whole church was doing well.

That is when I learned that when a church faces a dispute or controversy, it is important to spend time praying, fasting, and talking together. Has your church ever experienced a controversy?

Luke’s Mission Trips

After a while, Paul and Barnabas felt led by the Holy Spirit to go back and visit the churches that they had planted on their journey. As they made plans, they entered a most unfortunate dispute. They argued about whether Mark should accompany them since he had abandoned them during their first trip. Neither of them were willing to budge on their position, so they decided to part ways. Barnabas and Mark set off west for Cyprus, but Paul selected Silas and went north to Syria.

It was difficult seeing the two men who were responsible for me becoming a Christian debate so fiercely. It broke my heart when they decided to part ways, but I even saw God’s sovereignty in this. Instead of one missionary team, now we had two! He brought good out of a bad situation, as he always does! Has that ever happened to you?

After they left, I continued my medical practice and ministry in Antioch, but eventually I sensed God calling me to become a missionary and join up with Paul and Silas. The church gave me their blessing and I set off to find them. I eventually caught up with them in the city of Troas. We were so happy to see each other and we looked forward to working together again.

From there, we sailed west to Neapolis and eventually wound up in the city of Philippi, which was one of the leading cities in the district of Macedonia. We had only planned to stay there a few days, but God had other plans for us. One Sabbath, we went to the river outside the city to find a good place to pray, when we saw a group of women assembled. We sat down with them and began to share the gospel message with them. A wealthy business woman by the name of Lydia was particularly interested in the message. God opened her heart and she put her faith in Jesus Christ. In the days that followed, she went on to share the gospel with her whole family. They all became Christians and we baptized them in the river. After this, she shared her gift of hospitality by inviting us to stay with her family.

As we continued to minister in Philippi, we came across a slave girl who was possessed by a demonic spirit whereby she predicted the future. Her owners made a lot of money off of her fortune-telling. Day after day, she followed us and kept shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” Finally Paul was so troubled by this that he spoke to the spirit and said, “In the name of Jesus Christ, I command you to come out of her.” At that moment, the spirit left her, and so did her ability to predict the future.

When her owners found out that their hopes of making money were gone, they were so infuriated that they falsely accused Paul and Silas of throwing the city into an uproar and had him arrested by the authorities. I was scared when I found out that they had been imprisoned, and Lydia and I spent the rest of the day doing everything we could to get them released, but it was to no avail. They were sentenced to spend the night in jail.

That evening we gathered at Lydia’s house and were praying for them, and about midnight, as Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundation of the prison was shaken, and all of the prison doors flew open and everyone’s chains fell off. The jailer was so amazed by these events that he cried out, “What must I do to be saved?” Needless to say, he and many others became Christians.

After the magistrates found out that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens they were scared, so they ordered them to leave the city. Paul knew that it was about time to leave anyway and continue the mission west. There were enough Christians in Philippi to form a viable church, and Paul asked me if I would stay behind and disciple the people. Imagine that, I went from doctor to missionary to pastor. So, for the next few years, I shepherded the flock in Philippi.

Paul’s Companion

When Paul finally made it back to Philippi, he was taking up a collection to help the church in Jerusalem, which was suffering desperately. After motivating them to support the cause and turning over leadership, I said farewell to the Philippians and headed back to Jerusalem with Paul. My years in Philippi were fruitful and a piece of my heart will always be with those people.

So, I went with Paul and remained at his side throughout the rest of his life. When we got back to Jerusalem, the Jews falsely accused him committing crimes against the Roman Empire and he was imprisoned. I was with him when he was transferred to Caesarea and stood trial before Felix, Festus, and King Agrippa. I was with him when he made his appeal as a Roman citizen to appear before Caesar in Rome. I was with him when we made the perilous voyage across the Mediterranean and were shipwrecked on the island of Malta. I constantly helped him during the two years he was on house arrest in Rome awaiting trial. And I was with him on that dreaded day, when he was unjustly beheaded for crimes he did not commit. He fought the good fight; he finished the race; he kept the faith; and he has received the crown of righteousness.

Luke’s Writings

After Paul’s death, I knew I couldn’t stay in Rome any longer. I have been moving around ever since and my ministry has transitioned again. Although I still preach occasionally, like I am today, I have been focusing most of my time and energy on writing. I have been working on a history of the Christian church. I have already completed the first volume, which is mostly a biography about Jesus. I traced his genealogy back to Adam, I interviewed his mother Mary about his miraculous birth, I investigated the events of his life, and have written an accurate and orderly account. People call it the Gospel of Luke!

Recently, I have been working on volume two, which tells the story of the expansion of the church since Jesus’ ascension. I hope you will read it when I am finished; it fills in all of the details of the stories that I have shared with you this morning. I think I will call it “The Acts of the Apostles.” Both of these volumes have been written from a physician’s perspective!

As I put the finishing touches on my work, I have been reflecting on God’s providence in my life. It is amazing to think about how God led me through all of these ironic twists and turns. Imagine that, a Greek slave boy becomes a doctor, a missionary, a pastor, and a writer. As you reflect over your life, do you see how God’s providence has guided you?

Although we are fairly certain that Mark was the author of the second gospel, we know very little about his life. The Bible doesn’t give us any information about his early life, but there are ancient traditions that suggest that Mark was born in the North African city of Cyrene (modern day Libya) and migrated to the Galilean village of Cana with his family, where they came into contact with Jesus when young Mark was one of the servants at the wedding who poured out the water that Jesus turned into wine. After this, Mark and his mother Mary became his disciples and eventually followed them to Jerusalem.

Another tradition that suggests that Mark was one of the 72 disciples that Jesus sent out two by two to preach about the kingdom of God and that he was the young man at Jesus’ arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane who, when the soldiers grabbed him, slipped out of his robe and ran away naked. If this is true, Mark was one of the first streakers in the history of the world.

Mark and Peter (Acts 12:12; I Pet. 5:13)

Whether or not these early traditions about Mark are true, we cannot know for sure. If they are, Mark would have spent considerable time with Jesus and his disciples, and this is where he would have forged a close spiritual relationship with Peter. If these early traditions are not true, then Mark would have met Peter for the first time Acts 12, where after an angel miraculously freed Peter from prison, Peter went to Mary, Mark’s mother’s house in Jerusalem and met with a group of Christians that had been praying for him. Many biblical scholars believe that it was Mark’s mother Mary who provided the upper room in which the Last Supper was held and where the apostles gathered after Jesus was crucified.

Mark eventually left Peter to go with Paul and his cousin Barnabas on their first missionary journey. Then, after returning to his homeland of North Africa and serving as Bishop of Alexandria in Egypt for 11 years, as providence would have it, he met up with Peter again in Rome toward the end of Peter’s life. Peter was writing from prison in Rome when he says in I Peter 5:3—“She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you her greetings, and does my son Mark.” Babylon was a code word for Rome. Mark was with him and ministered to him as a son in the faith during the last days of his life. It was at this time and place where Mark wrote down Peter’s memoirs and sermons and used them to compose his gospel. Peter was then martyred in Rome by being crucified upside down.

Mark and Peter’s relationship shows the familial nature of discipleship. Peter became Mark’s spiritual father and mentor when Mark was a young man. He played a prominent role in forming Mark’s faith and molding his ministry, and Mark played a prominent role in ministering to Peter at the end of his life. This spiritual father and son relationship produced the first of the four gospels, which has blessed God’s church over the past 2000 years and continues to testify about the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ today.

This spiritual relationship between Mark and Peter should cause us to think about our spiritual relationships with people in our lives. Just as in biological families, where parents provide, protect, and nurture their children when they are young, and children provide, protect, and care for their parents when they are old, so should it be in the family of faith. Not only should fathers and mothers invest in the spiritual lives of their own children, but we should all be looking for opportunities to be spiritual fathers and mothers to others in our church. Likewise, those of us who are younger should be looking for opportunities care for and minister to the older people in our church.

It is providential that on the same day I happen to be preaching on the topic of spiritual parenthood and childhood, I am also appointed to bury Russell Dodd, one of my fathers in the faith. Over the past 8 years, I have spent many hours sitting and talking with Russ. During this time, his body was waning, but his mind was as sharp as ever. Not only did he teach me most of what I know about farming, but he also taught me how to suffer with grace and die with dignity. One time I asked him what God had taught him through his battle with Parkinson’s disease. He said, “Over these past few years, I have really learned about the power and importance of prayer. When I was younger and healthy and working all the time, I didn’t think much about prayer, but now that I am old and my body failing, I find myself praying all the time.”

That was a powerful lesson for me to learn! I have been blessed to have Russell Dodd as a spiritual father. If you are an older member of our congregation, who is your spiritual child? How are you investing in the spiritual lives of the younger people around you? Are you passing along the things that God has taught you over the years?

If you are a younger member of our church, who is your spiritual parent? How are you caring for the needs of the older people in our faith community? Do you have any relationships like that of Mark and Peter? If not, I hope you get one!

Mark and Paul (Acts 12:25; 13:13; 15:36-41)

Well, as I mentioned before, Mark eventually left Peter in Jerusalem and went with Paul and Barnabas to Antioch, where they started their first missionary journey. (Acts 12:25) They sailed to the Cypress and preached the gospel all the way across the island. From there, they sailed to the city of Perga in the province of Pamphylia, where Mark, abruptly and unexpectedly abandoned them and returned to Jerusalem. (Acts 13:13) There is no explicit reason given for this, but scholars have proposed some possible theories. Some suggest that Mark simply got homesick. Others suggest that the ministry was too hard for him and he simply didn’t want to continue. A more plausible theory is that Mark became frustrated with Paul for assuming the leadership of the mission when his cousin Barnabas had clearly been the leader of the journey as it was organized. You know what they always say, “Blood is thicker than water!”

Regardless of the reason, Mark’s leaving angered Paul, who refused to take him on any more missions. This conflict led to a rift in Paul and Barnabas’ relationship when they were planning their second missionary journey. (Acts 15:36-41) Barnabas wanted to take Mark along, but Paul didn’t trust him from his previous desertion and thought it not wise allow him to go. This caused such a sharp disagreement among the two leaders that they parted ways. Barnabas and Mark sailed for Cypress again, but Paul chose Silas and headed for Syria and Cilicia. Mark and Paul did not speak for many years. It is amazing that Mark had such a good relationship with Peter, but had such a poor relationship with Paul.

For some of us, it is surprising to think about how these heroes of the faith and leaders of the early church got into such a sharp conflict that it actually caused them to part ways in ministry, but we must remember that the writers of the New Testament were sinners just like us. Since all Christians are sinners, we should not be surprised that we sometimes butt heads with each other. This is not a modern phenomenon; it has been an issue in the church since its beginning.

From an outside perspective, we can empathize with both leaders. On the one hand, we can understand Paul’s point that Mark messed up, couldn’t be trusted, was too big of a liability, and therefore should be disqualified from this mission trip. On the other hand, we can understand Barnabas’ argument. Mark seemed repentant from his earlier mistake, he had a lot of ministry experience, and he could prove to be a valuable asset to their ministry. Like Paul and Barnabas, in any given argument, we think that we are the one who is right.

One time a pastor got on the phone said: “Bad news, Bishop. Our church-planting team is divided on whether to call the new congregation ‘First United Church’ or ‘United First Church.'” At the board meeting one deacon said: “So the vote is as follows: Larry, Ruth, Dan, Sid, and Marcia are for the proposal. God and I are against.”

It is always sad when disagreements turn into divisions: whether it’s a marriage that breaks up, a church split, a partisan government, or when two ministry leaders decide that they can’t work together anymore. Have you ever had such a sharp disagreement with someone that your relationship suffered? Are you in the midst of an unresolved conflict with someone right now? Many Christians become frustrated with someone in the church and instead of working through the problem, they just go to another church or stop going altogether. Most of the time, it is easier to run from the problem instead of resolving it, but in the long run, it only leads to prolonged bitterness and lingering disunity.

Mark and Paul Reconcile (Col. 4:10; 2 Tim. 4:11)

Even though Mark and Paul had this conflict and didn’t speak to one another for many years, there is some biblical evidence that they reconciled sometime before Paul’s death. Paul was beheaded in Rome about the same time that Peter was crucified upside down. In Colossians 4:10 and Philemon 24, Paul wrote that Mark was with him in Rome and he instructed the Colossians to welcome him if he comes to their church. Then in II Timothy 4:11, Paul asks Timothy to brink Mark with him from Ephesus to Rome because Mark was “helpful to him in his ministry.” Although we do not know the exact nature or circumstances, Mark and Paul reconciled their differences and worked together for the gospel until Paul was martyred.

The story of Paul and Mark is a dramatic picture of forgiveness, redemption and second chances. An ugly conflict was resolved. A bitter dispute was reconciled. And a young man’s ministry was restored after he made an embarrassing mistake. This is the way New Testament Christianity is supposed to work. Jesus constantly taught on the primacy of forgiveness, and the early apostles urged their disciples to keep short accounts.

So, allow me to ask you again: Are you living in the midst of an unresolved conflict right now. Is there someone in your family, workplace, or church with whom you are holding a grudge? Are there certain people who you just try to avoid? Let us practice Christian forgiveness and reconciliation! I’m not saying that we have to be best friends with everybody, but I am saying that we should be willing to work with anybody for the purpose of Christ. Let the grudge go! Let us restore any broken relationships in our lives.

Isn’t this why Jesus died on the cross? Our relationship with God was broken because of our sin. Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin and to reconcile us to the Father. We can have a new relationship with God today because of what Jesus has done for us. We can have a new relationship with others because of what Jesus has done for us! May we practice forgiveness and reconciliation just as we have received forgiveness and reconciliation! And like Mark and Paul, may we do it before it is too late!

Well, Mark didn’t really rob Paul to pay Peter, but he maintained a father-son relationship with Peter throughout his life, while breaking off his relationship with Paul, but at least they reconciled before it was too late.

After Peter and Paul were both martyred, ancient tradition says that Mark returned to Alexandria in Egypt and live out his days until he was martyred. The pagans of Alexandria tied one end of a rope around his neck and other end to a horse’s tail and dragged him around the city streets for two days until his body was torn to pieces.

Even though Mark dropped out of ministry earlier in his life, he learned from his mistake and persevered to the end. He exhibited tremendous courage in the face of suffering and faithfulness to Jesus in the face of death. If it ever came to it, I wonder if we would do the same?

Money, money, mon–ey” was my motto! As they say, “I used to roll down the street with my mind on my money and my money on my mind.” Ever since I was a kid, I dreamed about becoming rich and living in the lap of luxury. Back then, I even opened up a little street-stand and sold fresh figs and homemade kosher wine. As I grew up, my solitary focus in life became making money. Cash was my crush! Coins were my companions! And income was my idol!

In a small town like the one in which I grew up, there weren’t many ways to get rich. Everybody knew that there wasn’t any money in farming anymore. The fishing industry was going bust. And construction was all dried up. There was only one way to make money in my town, but it came at a high cost. And I was willing to pay the price, so I sold out to the Romans and became a tax collector.

Matthew the Tax Collector

In my town, tax collectors were despised, and for good reason. Even though we were Jewish, our people hated us because we worked for our enemies, the Roman government. We had the responsibility of setting and collecting taxes on everything leaving or coming into town. Roman taxes were already unfair, and most of us found ways to abuse the system further. We purposefully overcharged the Jews and took advantage of Rome by not reporting everything we collected. The Jews knew that it was a racket, but there wasn’t anything they could do about it. The Romans knew it too, but they let us get away with it as long as it didn’t get out of hand. You know what they say about government jobs: “Once you’re in, you’re set for life!”

Over the years, I made a lot of money as a tax collector, but my family disowned me and my friends disassociated with me. Most people called me names like, “Crook! Cheat! Scab! Sellout! Backstabber! Dirt Bag!—and a few other things that I shouldn’t repeat in the presence of children!” Sometimes the people would form protests outside my tax booth in and walk around with signs that said “IRS- Inventions of Rotten Scoundrels.”

Tax collecting was a dirty job, but somebody had to do it! Or at least that’s what I used to tell myself. I used to justify cheating by saying, “Everyone else is doing it!” But even though I had a lot of money to do things, I didn’t have anyone to them with. I was rich, but I was also lonely, guilty, and empty. Little did I know, but all of that was about to change!

Matthew Meets Jesus (Matthew 4-9)

Early one morning, just as the sun was peaking up over the horizon, I went to my booth to get ready for the day’s work, when a man suddenly appeared out of nowhere. I was a little startled because no one typically showed up to pay taxes on goods coming into Capernaum that early in the morning. I asked him what he had with him, but he said, “Nothing!” It was still pretty dark, but upon further examination, I discovered that he was telling me the truth. He had no donkey, no bags, and no possessions of any kind. Frustrated by his lack of goods to tax, I asked him who he was and what was his business was in Capernaum? He told me that his name was Jesus and that he was a carpenter from the village of Nazareth. I told him that there wasn’t much carpentry work in Capernaum, but he just smiled and said, “I’ll get along alright.”

I didn’t think much more about the carpenter until a few weeks later, when I started hearing rumors about him all over town. It turned out that he was some type of Rabbi who was going around telling people to repent because the kingdom of God was near. Apparently, he had been preaching in our synagogue and even took a group of people up on a mountainside and preached to them there. There were reports that he was a miracle worker too. Somebody told me that he healed a woman of fever, healed two different men who were paralyzed, and was casting out demons from people’s bodies. For a minute, I thought, “It’s too bad we don’t have a miracle tax, or I could make a bundle off this guy.” But I have to admit, I didn’t believe any of these tales. I had seen many religious frauds and fanatics before; they were a dime a dozen around these parts. Being a tax collector, I was a skeptic by nature.

Matthew Follows Jesus (Matthew 9:9)

But as time went on, I kept hearing more and more about this Nazarene carpenter. People started showing up from everywhere to see him. Large crowds from all over Galilee and the Decapolis, and even as far away as Judea, Jerusalem, and the regions across the Jordan River gathered to meet him (Matt. 4:25). Most surprising of all, I heard that four fishermen from our town had left their nets and had become his disciples. Fishermen were known for being a little rough around the edges and they weren’t easily duped. Besides, I knew these guys my whole life. They were two sets of brothers, Simon and Andrew and Zebedee’s sons James and John. I thought to myself, “If these guys are following him, maybe there is something to him.”

Then, the very next day, I was sitting in my booth counting receipts from all the business that this Jesus attracted to town, when he and the fishermen approached me. I thought that he was going to start harping on me about honesty and fair business practices like all of the other religious teachers, but before I had a chance to tell him to save his sermon for someone else, he looked deep into my eyes and said, “Levi, you’ve made a lot of money, but you are not really fulfilled.” At first, I wanted to tell him to mind his own business, but as he kept looking at me, it seemed like he could see into my soul. Somehow he knew that behind the façade of my wealth, I was really lonely, guilty, and empty. Then he said, “Let the money go! Repent from you’re your sin! Come, follow me! Let me be your friend, forgive your sins, and fulfill your life.”

I was amazed by his words. He didn’t condemn me! He didn’t ridicule me! He didn’t despise me! He looked at me with love and challenged me with his compassion. He offered me things that money can’t buy; the very things my heart most desired. In that moment, my whole life flashed before me, and I knew that all of these years accumulating wealth hadn’t amounted to anything. Jesus was giving me a chance for all of this to change.

As they awaited my decision, tears started streaming down my face. I didn’t understand everything, but in my heart, I knew that what I had heard about Jesus was true. He was sent by God and he had the power to forgive sins, and he wanted me to be his disciple.

I looked at my tax booth, my counting table, my ledger and receipts, and then I made my decision! I stood up and said, “I’m in; I will follow you!” As an act of repentance, I walked away from the symbols of my sinful life. I left it all behind, even the cash that was in the box.

The fishermen immediately embraced me and welcomed me to their group. Then Jesus put his hands on my shoulders and said, “From this day forward, your past is behind you. Now you have a new identity, and therefore, you shall have a new name. You will no longer be called Levi; you will be called Matthew! He went on to tell me that the name Matthew means “gift of God” saying “You are one of God’s precious treasures!” Of all the names I have been called, I never thought anyone would call me a gift of God!

Matthew and the Sinners (Matthew 10-13)

In the days that followed, I was so excited about the friendship, forgiveness, and fulfillment that I found in my relationship with Jesus that I wanted to share it with everyone. The problem was that the only people I knew were tax collectors and sinners. As I was discussing this with Jesus, he had an idea. He said, “Let’s throw a party for all of your associates. Invite every tax collector and sinner you know!” After I got over the initial shock, I was even more amazed at his love for people like me.

So, over the next few days, the fishermen helped me organized a party for sinners. The word traveled fast; by the night of the party, my house was packed with some of the most unruly rogues from the region: everybody from tax collectors and con-artists to prostitutes and pedophiles. Everyone was welcomed, regardless of their background or reputation.

As we sat around the table eating, Jesus stood up and thanked everyone for coming. And then he said something that terrified me, “Ladies and gentlemen (he used those terms pretty loosely), our host Matthew, has something that he would like to share with us tonight.” Then I realized why Jesus wanted to throw the party in the first place: he wanted me to share my testimony with everyone there. I was scared to speak, but Jesus’ confidence in me gave me the courage that I needed. So, I proceeded to tell my story about how I found friendship, forgiveness, and fulfillment in following Jesus.

As I was coming to the end of my story, I was interrupted by an unexpected knock on the door. I wondered who it could be. Was it another sinner straggling in late? I wasn’t sure. But my heart sank when the door swung open. It was the Pharisees, a strict religious order and spiritual watchdogs of our land. They were dressed in their pious robes and wore pompous smiles on their faces. They just walked in like they owned the place and their leader said, “Well, well, well, what do we have here? I have never seen so much trash gathered in one place in my life!” These guys had been watching Jesus ever since he came to town, and they were becoming alarmed because he was gaining such a following. Then they looked at me and asked, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?” Their question caught me off guard, and my mind was paralyzed. In my heart, I knew the answer, but I was too afraid to say anything.

Just then, Jesus came to my rescue. He never even got up from his seat, but he preached the most simple but powerful sermon I have ever heard. He said, “Dear friends, it is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.” That one sentence stopped everyone in their tracks. We knew exactly what he meant. Just as those who are physically sick need a doctor, so those who have sin sick souls are the ones in need of forgiveness and hope. Then he challenged them to go home and read the prophet Hosea, whom God commanded to love his prostitute wife. He answered their question by telling them to ponder the meaning of the verse where God says, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” God is more impressed when people show mercy to other people than he is with outward acts of worship. Jesus didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners.

The Pharisees were completely dumbfounded! Their smug grins turned into puzzled looks and they didn’t know what to say. They started walking out one-by-one. As soon as I closed the door, the whole place erupted with cheers and laughter. Needless to say, many of those tax collectors and “sinners” became disciples that night!

Matthew’s Ministry

Well, many things happened after that. Jesus went on call twelve disciples and we traveled with him for the next three years. We heard his teachings and watched him perform miracles and became convinced that he was the promised Messiah, God in human flesh. He was crucified, buried, and resurrected on the third day. When he ascended into heaven, he told us to carry on his work on earth. You never fully appreciate the time that you have spent with someone until they are gone.

Eventually, the twelve of us went our separate ways. We have been traveling to different parts of the world to continue to proclaim his message of forgiveness and salvation. That is why I am here with you this morning. A number of years ago, I even felt compelled to write a biography of Jesus so that the message could spread even further. Most people call it “The Gospel of Matthew” but I prefer to call it “The Testimony of a Tax Collector!” I am glad to see that you have copies of it in your church!

Before I go, I wonder if there is anyone like me here today. Maybe you have built your life around accumulating wealth or some other frivolous pursuit. Perhaps there is someone here who has a checkered past or a bad reputation. Maybe you have done some things that you regret. Are there are any tax collectors or sinners among us this morning?

If so, I want you to know that you can experience the same transformation that I have. If you repent from your sin and become a follower of Jesus Christ, you too can have friendship with God, forgiveness for your sins, and fulfillment in this life and the next! The party for sinners that we had at my house was just a small taste of the party for sinners that will take place in heaven! Won’t you follow him today?

Israel had come through some dark days, but finally, there was a glimmer of hope. After 70 years in Babylonian exile, the Persian Empire had conquered the Babylonians and passed an edict that allowed the Israelites to return to their homeland, the Promised Land that God had given to their forefathers. Some of the people had returned and were trying to get Israel back on its feet, but progress was slow. Even though the temple had been rebuilt, the walls around Jerusalem were still heaps of rubble and the gates were still a charred crisp; they had been this way for 140 years, and no one had done a thing about it.

Nehemiah was an Israelite still living in Susa, one of the capitals of the Persian Empire. He had risen to the prestigious position of cupbearer to King Artaxerxes. One day, Nehemiah’s brother, Hanani, returned to Susa from Jerusalem with a report on the condition of the city. When Nehemiah heard the report, he was inspired to go to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls and improve the condition of the people. King Artaxerxes appointed him governor over the land of Judah and he ruled for twelve years. The Lord was with him and he was able to accomplish many things that others could not. He was a good governor!

There are many things that we can learn from the Book of Nehemiah, but today I would like to focus on Nehemiah’s leadership. Throughout the book, we see the various character qualities that made Nehemiah such a good governor. As we look at these seven qualities today, I would like for you to think about this: If God has called you to a leadership role, these are qualities that you should be emulate. If God has called you to a supporting role, these are qualities that you should look for in a leader, whether you are choosing a political leader, community leader, business leader, religious leader!

Since its debut in 1989, Steven Covey has sold over 15 million copies of his influential book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. I wonder how many copies my sermon Nehemiah: Seven Qualities of a Good Governor I will sell? Whether I sell any or not, let’s take a look at these seven qualities of a good governor!

7 Qualities of a Good Governor

1.) Trustworthiness (1:11)

A trustworthy person is someone who is reliable, responsible, and can be trusted completely. Trustworthiness is the bedrock of credibility and it is built through honesty and dependability over a long period of time. It is an essential quality for good leadership!

How do we know that Nehemiah was trustworthy? Look at 1:11 where Nehemiah tells us that he was cupbearer to the king. The cupbearer was responsible for tasting the king’s wine before every meal to make sure that it didn’t contain any poison. It was a high ranking and prestigious position because the king had to literally trust the cupbearer with his life. The fact that a Persian king would appoint an Israelite to the position of cupbearer shows that Nehemiah was completely trustworthy.

How trustworthy are you? How honest are you? How reliable are you? When choosing a leader, make sure he or she is someone who keeps their word!

2.) Compassion (1:1-4)

Compassion is a deep awareness of the suffering of another and a genuine desire to relieve it. You can be a leader without compassion, but not a very good one. A good leader seeks to improve the condition of the people he or she is leading.

We see Nehemiah’s compassion in 1:1-4. When he heard the report that the walls of Jerusalem were still broken, his own heart broke and he sat down and wept. He mourned and fasted and prayed for some days because his people were in a state of disgrace and they didn’t have any protection from their enemies. His compassion for his people compelled him to leave the comforts of Persia to improve the condition of Jerusalem.

How compassionate are you? Does your heart break over the suffering of the people under you and around you? When was the last time you were brought to tears by the condition of another person? Wouldn’t you want to follow someone who actually cares about your wellbeing?

3.) Prayer (1:5-11; 2:4-5)

As with compassion, a person can be a leader without prayer, but he or she can’t be a good one. When leaders disconnect the physical world from the spiritual world, they miss so much of life. Prayer displays personal humility and dependence on the divine. When one doesn’t know the answer to a problem, they at least need to know where to go to get the answer.

Nehemiah was a man of prayer. Throughout the book of Nehemiah, we see him praying all the time. Most of chapter 1 is his prayer for the people of Israel. In 2:4-5, we see him praying before he asked King Atraxerxes to allow him to go and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. In 4:9, he prayed for protection from their enemies. In 6:9, he prayed for strength to complete his work. He constantly relied upon God and he was a good governor.

During the Civil War a friend of Abraham Lincoln was a visitor at the White House. “One night I was restless and could not sleep. . . From the private room where the President slept, I heard low tones. Instinctively I wandered in, and there I saw a sight which I have never forgotten. It was the President kneeling before an open Bible. His back was toward me. I shall never forget his prayer: “Oh, Thou God that heard Solomon in the night when he prayed and cried for wisdom, hear me. . . . I cannot guide the affairs of this nation without Thy help. Hear me and save this nation.'”

Isn’t it interesting to think about how our county’s perspective on prayer has changed? One hundred and fifty years ago Abraham Lincoln was revered for his praying; two months ago Texas Governor Rick Perry was ridiculed for hosting a prayer rally. Are you a person of prayer?

4.) Action (2:4-20; 4:9)

The flipside to a good leader being a person of prayer is being a person of action, and Nehemiah had the perfect balance. He prayed about everything before he did anything, but then he moved toward action. He wasn’t a person that was so heavenly minded that he was of no earthly good.

After Nehemiah prayed, he asked King Artaxerxes for permission to leave his service to go and rebuild the walls around Jerusalem. Then, he went to Jerusalem, inspected the walls, formed a plan, communicated it to the people, challenged the people to rebuild the walls, and assured them that God would give them success.

Later, when the workers were faced with threats of an invasion from their neighboring enemies, Nehemiah coupled prayer with action again by posting guards day and night to meet the threat. Nehemiah was a good leader because he was a person of action.

There is an old story preachers tell about a man trapped on the top of his house during a flood or hurricane or tsunami (insert your own natural disaster). The water is swiftly rising. As this man sits on his roof, fearful of being swept away by the current, he cries out to God, “God please deliver me.”

A few moments later, a farmer friend arrives with his boat. “Hey, friend, want a ride to safety?” he asks. “No,” replies the man on top of his house. “God is going to deliver me.”

An hour later, the water is up to the gutters. A voluntary rescue person comes by on his yellow raft. “Hey, let’s get you off of there—and on to safety,” he yells. But the man on top of his house refuses to go. “God is going to deliver me.”

Another hour passes and now the water is halfway up the roof. Roof Man is now on top of his chimney, nervously looking down at certain death and destruction. Fortunately, another volunteer swings by in a canoe and offers to ride Roof Man to safety. But Roof Man refuses. “No, God is going to deliver me.”

A couple of hours pass by and the water sweeps over the top of Roof Man’s house. He is carried away by the current and drowns. When he gets to Heaven, he meets Jesus and says, “I though you were going to deliver me.” Jesus looks down at Roof Man and says, “I sent a boat, an inflatable raft, and a canoe—but you refused each one.”

Like faith and deeds, prayer must accompany action! We don’t pray for rescue and then refuse help! We don’t pray for healing and then refuse medicine. We don’t pray for someone’s soul and then refuse to tell them about Jesus. A good leader balances prayer and action! How well do you balance the two?

5.) Fearlessness (2:3; 6:1-14)

Fearlessness doesn’t necessarily mean absence of fear, but not being hindered by fear. Some people live their lives paralyzed by fear. They are so afraid that they don’t do anything. Fear often holds people back from doing all that God wants them to do. Do you know that the Bible contains the phrase “Don’t be afraid” over 100 times?

We see Nehemiah’s fearlessness in two places. First, in chapter 2, he asked King Artaxerxes for permission to return Jerusalem to rebuild its walls. When one is cupbearer to the king, you don’t just ask for permission to take on another project. But Nehemiah did, and his request was granted. If he hadn’t faced his fear and taken a risk, he never would have left Persia.

Second, in chapter 6, Nehemiah was fearless in the face of his enemies who were trying to intimidate him into stopping the work on the walls. He refused to cave in to their threats and kept the work going. If Nehemiah would have been given in to fear, the work would have stopped and nothing would have been accomplished.

How about you? Do you live your life in constant fear? Are you willing to take some calculated risks or has fear paralyzed you from doing all that God has called you to do? Are you easily intimated by others? A good governor is fearless!

6.) Organization (3)

In chapter 3, we see how the walls were rebuilt. The people were organized into groups and were assigned to specific districts and tasks. Some laid beams and drilled bolts while others rebuilt gates, hung doors, and set stones. Everyone had a responsibility and they worked together. Nehemiah wisely assigned people to the section of the wall that was closest to their own home to motivate the quality of their work.

If Nehemiah hadn’t been organized, there is no way they would have been able to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem in 52 days. How about you? How well are you organized? My old pastor used to say, “How are you going to clean up the world if you can’t clean up your own bedroom?

7.) Justice (5)

If someone does not act with honesty, fairness, and equitability, they cannot be respected, and therefore, cannot effectively lead. We see Nehemiah’s commitment to justice in chapter 5. During the post-exilic years when Israel was trying to get back on its feet, wealthy Israelites were taking advantage of their poor neighbors. They were being forced to mortgage their homes and land to pay their taxes and keep food on their tables. So, Nehemiah passed an edict which canceled all the debts in the land and instituted fair economic policies.

Are you a person of justice? Don’t you want to be governed and led by someone who is committed to justice? Justice is a quality found in a good governor!

Well, there is no doubt that Nehemiah was a good governor. The quality of his character allowed him to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem in 52 days and help Israel regain its dignity during his 12 years in office. For those of us who are called to leadership, let us model our own character after that of Nehemiah. For those who are called to support, look for these qualities when electing a leader.

Like Nehemiah, our Lord Jesus Christ left the comforts of his home to help a people in need. He, too, was trustworthy, compassionate, a man of both prayer and action, fearless in the face of opposition, organized in his work, and executed he justice in everything he ever did. But instead of coming to build a wall, he came to tear a wall down. He came to destroy the wall between us and God because of our sin. His compassion compelled him to die on the cross to satisfy his Father’s justice and bless us with the hope of a better life now and a perfect life in heaven for eternity! Nehemiah was a good governor of Israel, but Jesus is the great governor of the universe!

Dwight Lyman Moody was born on February 5, 1837 in the rural village of Northfield, Massachusetts. His father, a farmer and stonemason, died at the age of 41 while praying on his knees. When Dwight was only four years old, he had five older brothers and a younger sister, with an additional twin brother and sister born one month after his father’s death. His mother struggled to support the family, but even with her best effort, some of her children had to be sent off to work for their room and board.

Dwight too was sent off, where he went he received cornmeal, porridge, and milk, three times a day. He complained to his mother, but when she found out that he had all that he wanted to eat, she sent him back. His oldest brother ran away and was not heard from by the family until many years later.

When Moody turned 17, he moved to Boston to work in his uncle’s shoe store. One of his uncle’s requirements was that Moody attend the Congregational church. In April 1855, Moody was then converted to Christianity when his Sunday school teacher, Edward Kimball talked to him about how much God loved him. His conversion sparked the start of his career as an evangelist. However, his first application for church membership was rejected. As his teacher, Mr. Kimball, stated:

I can truly say, and in saying it, I magnify the infinite grace of God as bestowed upon him, that I have seen few persons whose minds were spiritually darker than was his when he came into my Sunday School class; and I think that the committee of the Mount Vernon Church seldom met an applicant for membership more unlikely ever to become a Christian of clear and decided views of Gospel truth, still less to fill any extended sphere of public usefulness.

Moody’s primary education was limited and he never received any formal theological training. His style was always rough and unpolished, but God called this unlikely candidate to preach, and he became one of the greatest preachers of the 19th century.

Amos: From the Pasture to the Pulpit (Amos 1:1; 7:14)

Like Moody, Amos wasn’t a likely character to become a preacher. He wasn’t born into a prophetic family, he wasn’t raised to be a preacher, nor did he attend any of the prophetic schools in Jerusalem. Instead, he was an agriculture man from the little mountain village of Tekoa, ten miles south of Jerusalem. He was engaged in the rural occupation of shepherding and he was also employed as a dresser of sycamore-fig trees and was possibly a sheep-breeder.

God called Amos to leave the hills of Judah and preach against the moral decay and social injustices of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Under the long reign of King Jeroboam II, Israel reached the pinnacle of its power and prosperity. Israel’s cities were filled with splendor, but there was no justice in the land (Am. 3:10). The poor were afflicted, the weak were exploited and sold into slavery (Am. 2:6-8; 5:11), and the leaders and officials were corrupt (Am. 5:12).

Against this backdrop of national arrogance and debauchery, Amos was an unlikely candidate to prophesy against the powers of Israel. He was a simple shepherd from rural Judah, but in God’s ironic providence, he called this layman to the office of prophet to preach against the many moral failures of the Northern Kingdom. Thomas E. McComiskey comments on God’s unexpected choice of Amos, “The dark days in which he lived called for a man of sturdy moral fiber and fearlessness. Such was Amos. His character, molded in the harsh terrain of the wilderness of Tekoa, enabled him to stand before the priests and the people, proclaiming the word God had given him.”

Much like Moses and David before him, Amos was prepared for public proclamation in rural pasturelands. His experience guiding sheep would be valuable in his ministry of guiding a nation. God moved him from the pasture to the pulpit, and he became one of the greatest preachers of his generation.

Isn’t that just like God? He doesn’t always use the people that we would expect him to use. Sometimes he calls the least likely people to do the most amazing things. When Moody was working in his uncle’s shoe store, no one would have expected him to become the most influential evangelist of the 19th century. When Amos was tending his flocks and trimming his trees in Judah, no one would have expected him to become a one of God’s most powerful preachers in redemptive history!

How about you? What might God be calling you to do? When God calls us to do something for him, we could make up hundreds of excuses! We could say, “Well, I don’t come from the right family!”, “I come from a small town”, “I don’t have the right education or training!”, or “I’m too scared!” Or we could just follow where he leads us and do what he has asked us to do. You may think that you are an unlikely candidate to be used in God’s service, but as we see with Amos, God is likely to call and use the unlikely!

Transition

Well, all nine chapters of the Book of Amos are filled with the visions he received from the Lord and the sermons he preached to the people. Instead of giving you an overview of the whole book, I thought I would just share chapter 7 with you today. It contains some of his visions and a confrontation with a priest named Amaziah.

Amos: Locust, Fire, and a Plumb Line (Amos 7:1-9)

Chapter 7 begins with a series of three visions of judgment that the Lord gave to Amos. The first vision was of God preparing a swarm of locusts to consume the harvest from Israel’s second seasonal crop. The great hoard stripped the land clean and left no food for the people to eat. This was God’s way of pouring out judgment upon his people for their wickedness.

When Amos saw what God was going to do, he pleaded with him to forgive. He appealed to the Lord on the basis of his sovereignty and Israel’s vulnerability. He basically said, “Lord, you have power to do anything! Israel is so small; it cannot survive without the crops. Please change your mind.” And because the Lord is both sovereign and compassionate, he relented, and the vision of the locusts never came to pass.

After this, the Lord gave Amos another vision: this time it was a vision of judgment by fire. This ferocious fire dried up the sea and devoured the land. It appeared like an atomic bomb was dropped on Israel and annihilated all of its inhabitants.

At this, Amos cried out to the Lord again and interceded on Israel’s behalf. He begged the Lord to not carry out this plan. And again, God heard Amos’ prayer, changed his mind, and promised not to do this either.

Then the Lord gave Amos a third vision. This time Amos saw the Lord standing on a plumb wall with a plumb line in his hand. A plumb line is a simple tool used to measure whether something is perfectly vertical or upright. It is a long string with a metal weight on the end. God said that he was setting a plumb line among his people Israel. This was a visual metaphor for how crooked God’s people had become. Spiritual unfaithfulness, social injustice, and economic inequality were rampant, and God had had enough. God himself would raise his sword against King Jeroboam and he would destroy the pagan shrines and idolatrous temples that had been built all over the land. This time, he would not relent or change his mind!

It would be very interesting if God used his plumb line to measure America today. Would he find our nation plumb or crooked? Would he see us as straight or warped? What would he think about our social policies and economic procedures, our spiritual practices and ethical positions, our legislative leanings and judicial decisions?

I suspect that we would measure up about the same as Israel did in the eighth century B.C. Like them, so many people in our country today don’t care about God or his ways. Like Israel then, today we live in a culture that is dominated by greed, selfishness, and entitlement.

Listen to what Jean Twenge says in her book Generation Me: Why Today’s Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled–and More Miserable Than Ever Before:

Years ago, duty and responsibility were held more important than individual needs and wants…Today, few of these rules apply. We are driven instead by our individual needs and desires. We are told to follow our dreams, pursue happiness above all else. It’s OK to be different, and you should do what’s right for you. Compared to Boomers in 1973, GenMe is twice as likely to agree with this statement “There is no single right way to live.” Young people say that the most important quality a child can learn is to “think for himself or herself,” and only half as many young people as old say that obedience is a good lesson for children.

The choices of the individual are held so paramount that the most common advice given to teenagers is “Just be yourself.” (Not that long ago, it was more likely to be “Be polite!” Filmmaker Kevin Smith says, “My generation believes that we can do almost anything. My characters are free: no social mores keep them in check.” Or take Melissa, 20, who says, “I couldn’t care less how I am viewed by society. I live my life according to the morals, views, and standards I create.”

This is the social trend—so strong it is really a revolution—that ties all of the generational changes together in a neat, tight bundle: do what makes you happy, and don’t worry about what other people think. It is enormously different from the cultural ethos of previous decades, and it is a philosophy that GenMe entirely takes for granted. “As long as I believe in myself, I don’t really care what others think,” says Rachael, 21.

This is an apt indictment of our culture, but I would like to take it one step further. When people today say, “There’s no one single right way to live,” they are implying that God’s way is not the right way. When people say, “Obedience isn’t important,” they are essentially saying that obedience to God isn’t important. When people say, “I can do anything,” they are saying that they don’t really need God for anything. When people say, “I couldn’t care less about how I am viewed by society. I live my life according to my morals, my views, and my standards,” what they really mean is that they couldn’t care less about how God views them or about what God has to say about anything!

Unfortunately, this is exactly where our society is today. This is where Israel was when Amos saw the plumb line and preached about God’s impending judgment. Amos’ prayers and pleas held off God’s judgment for a while, but when people persist in their pride and arrogance toward God, judgment is inevitable. I wonder how long our prayers and pleas will hold off God’s judgment upon our nation?

Amos and Amaziah (Amos 7:10-17)

Well, how did Israel respond to Amos’ message of God’s impending judgment? About the same way you are responding to my sermon right now! The people of Israel did not want to hear this message of doom and gloom. They didn’t want anyone holding them accountable for their sins or way of life. They wanted to hear a message of encouragement: something that would make them feel safe and secure and warm and fuzzy.

Amaziah, the priest at Bethel, wrote a letter to King Jeroboam, whereby he accused Amos of conspiring against the king and the people of Israel. He told Amos to stop his preaching and go back to the south where he came from, and earn his bread there. Neither he nor his message of judgment was welcomed there any longer.

Amos responded to this accusation by appealing to his background. He said that he didn’t come from a preaching family nor did he choose to become a preacher. As a matter of fact, he said that he was a simple shepherd and tree-trimmer, minding his own business and happily doing his work, when God traded his pasture for a pulpit. Basically, Amos said that he was just doing what God told him to do. He was just the messenger, but the message was from God! He said, “You can tell me to stop preaching about your sins! You can command me to stop prophesying about God’s judgment! But Israel will certainly go into exile!”

Over the years, how many politicians have been voted out of office for having the courage to do the right thing? How many preachers have been kicked out of their churches for preaching unpopular messages? So, in good prophetic fashion, I say to you today: “Don’t shoot me; I’m just the messenger; the message belongs to God!”

Hosea was his name and preaching was his game! God called Hosea to be a herald—that is, a prophet who proclaims God’s Word. He did this in the northern kingdom of Israel from the years 750-725 B.C. Just as the young preacher was beginning his prophetic ministry, God came to him and said, “Hosea, behind every great preacher stands a great preacher’s wife! Therefore, go down to the local Bible College and find yourself a preacher’s wife.”

Young preachers typically don’t need any extra encouragement to find a wife, so Hosea rushed to the commons and gazed out over a sea of suitable young shepherdesses. They all had long hair tied up in buns; their modest ankle length denim skirts complemented the purity of the glow of golden halos hovering above their heads. They were all triple majors: piano playing, choir singing, and Sunday school teaching.

Hosea’s heart began to pound as he pondered the possibilities, but each time he pointed, God said, “No, not that one.” He went through every girl in the commons, but God did not give his approval. Then God drew his attention to the other side of the street. There stood a woman who obviously wasn’t a Bible college student. She had short black hair with purple highlights; her short leather skirt complemented the promiscuous pumps on her feet and the immoral mascara around her eyes. She wasn’t a piano player, choir singer, nor a Sunday school teacher; let’s just say, “She had some other talents.” And she was just looking to use them. And God said, “That’s the one I want you to marry!

As if her profession wasn’t bad enough, her name was “Gomer.” How was Hosea going to preach God’s Holy Word with a harlot named Gomer? I’m sure Hosea had some questions too—“Why would a Holy God ordain an unholy union between a preacher and a prostitute? What does piety have in common with promiscuity? Why a herald and a hooker? What sense does it make for a holy man to hook up with a hootchie mama?” And God said, “You’ll see!”

1.) Gomer’s Unfaithfulness (1)

Well, Hosea obeyed God by marrying Gomer and adopting the children she bore to the men of her past. He loved Gomer with all of his heart and it wasn’t long before they started having children of their own. God named their first son Jezreel (which was synonymous with bloodshed) as a foreshadowing of the bloodshed coming to the kingdom of Israel. God named their daughter Lo-Ruhamma (which meant “not loved”) as a foreshadowing of God removing his love for Israel. God named their second son Lo-Ammi (which means “not my people”) as a foreshadowing of God rejecting Israel as his people.

There they were: one big unhappy family. Why were they so unhappy? Even though Gomer married Hosea and bore him children, it wasn’t long before she went back to her old ways. Their relationship went was something like this:

So she tells him she must go out for the evening,
To comfort an old friend who’s feelin’ down
But he knows where she’s goin’ as she’s leavin’
She is headed for the cheatin’ side of town

On the other side of town a boy is waiting,
with fiery eyes and dreams no one could steal
She drives on through the night anticipating,
‘Cause he makes her feel the way she used to feel

You can’t hide your lyin’ eyes,
And your smile is a thin disguise
I thought by now you’d realize,
There ain’t no way to hide your lyin eyes

Why did this happen to Hosea? Why did God want the preacher to marry the prostitute, especially when he knew that she wouldn’t be faithful? Why did God give Hosea’s children such horrendous names? Because God wanted to use Hosea’s dysfunctional family as an illustration of Israel’s dysfunctional nation! God was going to use Hosea’s personal position to empower his preaching about a national condition!

2.) Israel’s Unfaithfulness (2)

You see, Israel had been doing the same thing to God as Gomer was doing to Hosea for hundreds of years. Israel had forgotten how God delivered her from slavery in Egypt. She forgot how God gave her the Promised Land, the land flowing with milk and honey. She refused to acknowledge that it was God who provided her with grain, wine, and oil and who lavished her with gold and silver. (2:8) The people of Israel had been unfaithful to God. There was no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgement of God in the land. There was only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery, and bloodshed everywhere (4:1-2). Their political leaders were crooked and their religious leaders were corrupt. Their hearts were given to a spirit of prostitution where they ran around behind God’s back by worshipping idols and false gods (5:4).

God used Hosea’s personal position of pain to help him confront a whole nation about its sin. Gomer’s unfaithfulness to Hosea was a mirror image of Israel’s unfaithfulness to God!

3.) Our Unfaithfulness

Now here is where the story gets personal! Here is where the mirror of God’s Word begins to reflect the condition of our own souls. Gomer’s story isn’t just Israel’s story; it’s our story too. The Bible tells us that we are all born with a sinful nature, a propensity toward evil. Rev. E.K. Bailey says it like this: “There is a little bit of hootchie in all of us!

I’m not saying that we have all sold our bodies, but I am saying that we have all been unfaithful to God in some way. Some of us prostitute ourselves with pornography and profanity, greed and gossip, lying and licentiousness, etc. How quickly we forget everything that God has done for us! How convenient it is to go through life and not acknowledge the Lord! How easy it is to run after every false god that catches our eye! Gomer’s story is really our story, but I am glad that this is not the end of the story!

Reconciliation (3:1-5)

As time went on, Gomer eventually left Hosea and didn’t come home anymore. Most people in this situation would insist upon a divorce, and I suspect that the thought went through Hosea’s mind. But then God came to him and proposed something even more outrageous than a preacher marrying a prostitute. God said, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulterous. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.” (3:1)

So, Hosea put some money in his bag and went downtown to the prostitute auction block. When Gomer came up for bid, she looked rough. Her face was dirty, her clothes were torn, and her body was bruised. She had been used and abused by many men. The auctioneer said, “Who will give three shekels?” One man sneered and said, “I wouldn’t give one shekel for her?” Silence! “Two shekels,” asked the auctioneer? Silence again! “Who will give one shekel?” Then Hosea walked to the front of the crowd and said, “I’ll give fifteen shekels and a barrel of barley!” Everyone laughed as the auctioneer said, “Sold!” Hosea took his wife home, washed her face, bandaged her bruises, and dressed her in new clothes. Then he looked deep into her eyes and said, “From now on you are to live with me; no more running around with other men. I forgive you! I love you! I will take care of you!” (3:3)

And as it was for Gomer, so it would be with Israel. Hosea preached that even though God’s people had run after idols and would be used and abused by foreign nations in exile, God would eventually come after them. He would search for them and find them. He would purchase them and bring them back to their homeland. He would repair their relationship and restore the throne of David their king. And he would pour out his blessings upon them again.

And as it was for Gomer and the nation of Israel, so it is for us! Even though we have prostituted ourselves with all sorts of idols and sins, God came looking for us. He found us when we were broken up and beaten down by a series of bad decisions. Even though we weren’t worth it, he purchased us from the auction block for an high price: the price of the blood of his own son. He repairs our relationship with himself and brings us back to the place we belong. And he continues to pour out his blessings upon us!

Allow me to conclude with a story: A wealthy man and his son were collectors of rare works of art. They had a little of everything in their collection, from Raphael to Picasso. They would often sit together and admire the various pieces.

When the Vietnam War broke out, the son went off to combat. He was killed in battle while rescuing another soldier. The father was notified and he grieved deeply for his son. About a month later, just before Christmas, there was a knock at the door. A young man stood at the door with a large package in his hands. He said, “Sir, you don’t know me but I’m the soldier for whom your son gave his life. He was carrying me to safety when a bullet struck him in the heart and he died instantly. He often talked about you and your love for art.” The young man held out the package and said, “I know it isn’t much and I’m not a very good artist, but I thought your son would want you to have this.”

The father opened the package. It was a portrait of his son, painted by the young soldier. He starred in awe at the way the soldier had captured his son’s personality in the painting. The father was so drawn to the eyes that his own eyes began to well up with tears. He thanked the young man and offered to pay for the painting. “Oh no sir, I could never repay what your son did for me. It’s a gift!”

The father hung the painting over the mantle where it stayed for many years. Every time visitors came to see his collection, he showed them the portrait of his son and told them they story of his bravery. Sometime later, the father died and his whole collection was to be auctioned. Art collectors and influential people from all over the world attended the auction with hopes of taking home a masterpiece. The painting of the son sat on the platform and was to be auctioned first.

The auctioneer pounded his gavel and said, “Who will start the bidding?” Silence came over the anxious crowd. A voice from the back of the room, “We want to see the Van Gogh’s and Rembrandt’s, skip this one,” but the auctioneer persisted. “Who will start the bidding? Will someone give $100 for the son? The son! The son! Who will take the son?” Finally another voice called from the back, “I’ll give $10 for the painting.” The bid came from the longtime gardener of the man and his son. Being a poor man, this was all he could afford. The auctioneer said, “We have a bid of $10, do I hear $20?” Silence again! Someone yelled, “Give it to him for $10 so we can move along!” The auctioneer pounded his gavel and said, “Sold for $10!”

A man in the second shouted, “Now let’s get on with the collection!” But the auctioneer laid down his gavel and announced that the auction was over. “What about the paintings,” someone asked. The auctioneer said, “I’m sorry, when I was called to conduct this auction, I was told about a secret stipulation in the will. I was not allowed to reveal it until this time. Only the painting of the son was to be auctioned. Whoever bought the painting would inherit the entire estate including the art collection. The one who took the son gets everything!

This is what the story of the preacher and the prostitute is really about. It is about God’s unrelenting love for us in spite of our unfaithfulness. Some of us have prostituted ourselves with idols, but God paid the price of his son to buy us back. Whoever takes the son gets everything!

Cahhh! Cahhh! Excuse me, I have a nasty cough. I haven’t been feeling very well these days!

Anyway, today I would like to share some of my life experiences that have taught me about God’s sovereignty. I wasn’t always a servant of the sovereign God, but throughout my life, God has used a number of tragic and triumphant events to show me that he is in complete control. As a matter of fact, these occurrences have convinced me that God isn’t just in control of my life, but he is in control of everything. So, I would like to tell you about a few of them!

Daniel the Exile (1:1-2)

As I mention, I wasn’t always a servant of the sovereign God like I am today. Even though I grew up with a fairly solid faith, something happened to me when I was just a boy that made me seriously question God’s control: When I was about 14 years old, my home was set on fire and I was taken away from my family.

Even though it has been many years ago now, I still remember it like it was yesterday. It happened during the third year of King Jehoiakim’s reign. Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, came to Jerusalem and besieged it. A band of Babylonian insurgents stormed the royal palace, captured many of the noble families in Jerusalem, burned our homes, and looted our temple.

During the raid, soldiers charged into my bedroom, tied my hands, and forced me and about 8,000 other captives to march all the way to Babylon. As I watched them set my house on fire, terror ran through my veins. I had no idea what happened to my family and I had no idea what was going to happen to me in Babylon! Being so young, I didn’t understand everything that was happening. I couldn’t understand why God would allow this to happen to his chosen people. It didn’t make any sense to me. I thought to myself, “If God was really sovereign—that is, if he was really in control, why would he allow his people to suffer like this?

Have you ever wondered about that? Have you ever wondered how an omnipotent and compassionate God could allow such violence and suffering in the world? Have you ever questioned how a sovereign God could allow you to face such adversity? I had always been taught that God was more powerful than anything, but I have to admit, it sure didn’t seem like it. But over the years, a number of other events took place in my life that answered some of my questions and eventually showed me that God really is in control!

Daniel the Vegetarian (1:3-21)

Not long after we arrived in Babylon, King Nebuchadnezzar commissioned his chief official to enroll the best and the brightest among the young Israelite exiles at the royal academy where they would learn the language and literature of the Babylonians. It was their custom of conquest to take the young foreign exiles, to indoctrinate them in the ways of Babylon, and then use their talents to advance their own empire.

So, the official scoured through the young men among Israel’s nobility and he picked the cream of the crop; the crème de la crème, as they say; the smartest, strongest, and best looking. Out of hundreds, I Daniel and my three friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were selected. This got me to wondering about God’s sovereignty again. Maybe he did have reason for all of this? From this point, I began to take God more seriously again!

One of the privileges of being trained for the king’s court was being able to eat from the king’s table. Every day there was a smorgasbord of culinary delights; vast tables of meats, cheeses, breads, fruits, vegetables, and wine. The exiles from the other nations loved this, but it presented a huge problem for me and my friends. God had given our people some strict dietary regulations in our constitution. We were not allowed to eat anything that was not kosher—that is, anything unclean like pig meat, shellfish, or anything that had been sacrificed to foreign idols.

Almost everything on the lunch buffet was out of bounds, and we found ourselves in a real pickle; unkosher, of course. We had to decide whether to keep God’s law or defile ourselves by eating the king’s food. We had to make a decision: would we be obedient to God’s Word or would we compromise our convictions?

Does that ever happen to you? Do you ever find yourself in a moral dilemma where you have to choose between pleasing God and pleasing someone else? Have you ever been in a predicament where you were forced to decide between doing what is right or doing what is easy or convenient? Have you ever been in a situation where you had to pick between compromising your convictions or paying the price of holiness?

Well, we made the right choice! We decided that we would not disobey God by eating the king’s food. So, I went to the official and explained the situation. For some unexplainable reason, he liked me, but he said, “Daniel, I am afraid the king, who has assigned your food and drink. If you should look worse than the other boys, he will have my head.” Then I said to him, “Give us nothing but vegetables and water for ten days; then compare our appearance with that of the others who eat the royal food, and then do what you wish.” He agreed and at the end of the ten days, we looked healthier and better nourished than any of the others.

We honored God by refusing to compromise our convictions, and he honored us by making us exceed beyond the other students. He blessed us with exceptional knowledge, understanding, and learning—so much so, that in every matter of wisdom, the king found my friends and I ten times better than all the wise men in his kingdom. That is how I became a vegetarian and it is where I began to see God’s sovereignty unfold in my life!

Daniel and the Dream of the Statue (2)

After we finished our training and were serving in king’s court, Nebuchadnezzar started having strange dreams that would keep him awake at night. He called for all of the astrologers and wise men of Babylon to interpret one particularly puzzling dream for him. He raised the stakes by announcing: “If you cannot interpret the dream for me, I will cut you into pieces and turn your houses into piles of rubble. If you can interpret the dream for me, I will bestow upon you gifts, rewards, and great honor.”

They tried to interpret the dream, but they couldn’t do it. They concluded that what the king was asking was impossible. When the commander of the king’s guard came to get me, I asked him why the king issued such a harsh decree. After he explained, I went to the king myself and begged him for time so that I could explain the dream to him. I met with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and urged them to pray that the Sovereign God the Creator of Heaven and Earth would reveal this mystery to me. That very night, God proved his sovereignty by answering our prayers.

The next day I came before King Nebuchadnezzar and he asked me, “Are you able to tell me what I saw in my dream and interpret it?” And I said to him, “No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown you what will happen in the days to come.”

Then I explained the dream to him: “You looked, O king, and before you stood a large stature—an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. It had a head of gold, a chest and arms of silver, a belly and thighs of bronze, legs of iron, and feet of iron mixed with clay. You are the gold head. The other metals represent great kingdoms that will rule the world after you. But a time will come when the God of heaven will shatter all of these earthly kingdoms and bring them to an end. He will establish a spiritual kingdom that will endure forever.”

King Nebuchadnezzar recognized that the interpretation was accurate and he fell prostrate on the ground before me and said, “Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and the revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery to me.” Then he gave me a high ranking position and lavished me with gifts. He made me ruler over a whole province in Babylon and promoted my friends to high administrative positions.

After all of this happened, I completely trusted in God’s sovereignty. He showed me that he was in control of my life by answering my prayers and revealing the meaning of this dream to me. He showed me his sovereignty over my life when he answered my prayer, when he showed me the meaning of the dream, when he made Nebuchadnezzar the mighty King of Babylon bow down before me, and when he made me the ruler over the whole province of Babylon and its wise men. Imagine that, a Jewish exile becomes a Babylonian ruler. If God can do that in my life, he must be sovereign!

When God revealed that dream to me, I realized something else about his sovereignty. He isn’t just sovereign over my life or my nation or my time, he is sovereign over everyone’s life, every nation, and every period of time. When I saw the different metals on that statue, I knew that God was sovereign over all of history. He had already planned and orchestrated events that wouldn’t come to pass for hundreds and even thousands of years.

Daniel and the Lion’s Den (6)

A number of years after Nebuchadnezzar died, King Darius the Mede took over the kingdom. The Lord had helped me do such a great job ruling over my province that Darius was going to appoint me ruler over the entire kingdom. I didn’t know it at the time, but some of the administrators became jealous of my success and they conspired against me. The administrators talked the king into issuing a decree that anyone who prays to any god or man other than the king should be thrown into a lion’s den.

Before the king thought through the all of its ramifications, he signed the decree into law. Now the administrators knew that I prayed to the living God three times a day and that I was a man who didn’t compromise my convictions. When I heard about the decree, I just kept on praying as I had always done before. But one day, the administrators caught me praying and charged me with treason. When they brought me before the king, Darius knew that he had been tricked, but there wasn’t anything he could do to save me.

So, they threw me into the lion’s den and sealed it with a giant stone. King Darius said to me, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you.” And sure enough, he did. God sent his angel to stand guard over me and that night the lions were as gentle as lambs!

By saving me from the mouths of the lions, God not only proved his sovereignty to me, but it was also displayed for everyone else. King Darius expressed faith in the living God. He issued a new decree that everyone in the kingdom must reverence Daniel’s God.

Daniel and the End Times (12)

After many days had gone by, God gave me another experience that affirmed his sovereignty. God gave me a vision of what will happen in the end times. There will be a time of distress such has never happened on the earth before, but will God will raise up the angel Michael to protect his people. After this, God will open the Book of Life and see the names of those who have responded to him in faith, and they will be delivered. Those who have died and sleep in the dust of the earth will awake; some to everlasting life, some to everlasting contempt. God told me to go my own way until the end. Then I will rest until the final days and then receive my allotted inheritance.

As I stood there contemplating the vision, I wondered when these things would come to pass. I am almost 100 years old now and my “Cahhh! Cahh!” health is beginning to fail. Even though my body is ready for the grave, my soul is ready for heaven. How about yours?

Well, now you know why I am a servant of the sovereign God. I didn’t even have time today to tell you about how God delivered my three friends from the fiery furnace or how I saw the writing on the wall or some of the other visions God gave me. I still don’t always understand God’s ways, but I do believe in his sovereignty. He really does have everything under control!

“Where were you when the world stopped turning on that September day?” What were you doing on this day 10 years ago when you first heard about the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington D.C.? Like the invasion of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 and the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 2, 1963, most of us remember exactly where we were and what we were doing on September 11, 2001 when we first heard the news about the worst attack on American soil in our nation’s history. That day will always be etched in our personal and national memories! It is hard to believe that it has been 10 years already!

Like us, there were a few national crises that were stamped into Ezekiel’s memory. In June of 597 BC, Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, carried out his first attack on Jerusalem. King Jehoiachin of Judah, his family, his officials, and 8,000 leading men of Israel, including Ezekiel, a 25 year old priest, were captured and taken into exile in Babylonia. Ezekiel never forgot the day that he was forced to leave the temple in Jerusalem, where he worshipped God every day.

Then, in September of 586 BC, after Ezekiel had been in Babylonian captivity for 11 years, Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Jerusalem again, destroyed its walls, burned its buildings including the beloved Temple that Solomon had built, murdered many of its inhabitants, and deported the rest of the people back to Babylon, where they would remain in captivity for the next 70 years. The fall of Jerusalem in September 586 BC was etched in Ezekiel memory just like the tragedy of September 11, 2001 is engraved in ours.

The Calling of Ezekiel (1-3)

But even in the midst of these major national crises, God poured out his blessing on Ezekiel. In June of 593 BC, after six years in Babylon, Ezekiel experienced another life-changing event that he never forgot. At age 30, God changed his occupation. He had been a priest, but now God make him a prophet.

Ezekiel 1-3 tells us that God came to him in a vision and called him to be a prophet and preach to his fellow Israelites who were living in exile. God appeared to him in a brilliant, fiery chariot that was surrounded by four strange creatures and supported on wheels that were supported by other wheels. This vision was a declaration of God’s glory and sovereignty. The wheels within the wheels were a graphic representation of God’s ability to move anywhere at any time he pleased. The nature of the creatures surrounding him also showed that he was the God of everything in creation, not just human beings.

As God commissioned Ezekiel to preach to the rebellious nation of Israel, God told him to open his mouth. Then he saw a hand stretched out before him holding a scroll. On both sides of the scroll were written words of lament and mourning and woe. God told him to eat the scroll and then go and preach to the house of Israel. The scroll represents God’s Word. Now that God’s Word entered him, Ezekiel was called to preach that Word to the exiles, even though their hearts were hard and stubborn.

Ezekiel’s calling reminds us that God calls different types of people into his service. Jeremiah was only 14 years old when God called him to preach; Ezekiel was 30. Age has no bearing on God’s call. Likewise, background doesn’t have any bearing either. Ezekiel served as a priest, but as we will see in a few weeks, the prophet Amos was a farmer.

Regardless of your age or your background, God just might call you to some type of preaching ministry. If he does, he will show you his sovereignty and put his Word in your mouth. If God called you to preach, would you be willing?

The Book of Ezekiel

Well, now that I have introduced you to the person Ezekiel, I would like to tell you something about the Book of Ezekiel. The Book of Ezekiel records all of Ezekiel’s visions and all of the sermons that he preached. In the days leading up to the fall of Jerusalem, he primarily preached messages of judgment. In the days after the fall of Jerusalem, he primarily preached messages of hope. Chapters 3-24 record his sermons of judgment on Israel for its sin. Chapters 25-35 record his sermons of judgment upon the nations for participating in Israel’s fall. And chapter’s 36-48 record his sermons of hope and restoration for God’s people after the exile.

Since the Book of Ezekiel is too large to cover in one Sunday, I am going to share Ezekiel’s most famous sermon and his most famous vision with you today: his sermon about a heart transplant and his vision of some dry bones!

A Heart Transplant (36:16-38)

In chapter 36, Ezekiel preaches a sermon about a heart transplant. Now we know he means a spiritual heart transplant, not a physical one. The first successful physical heart transplant was performed by Christiaan Barnard in 1967, but God has been doing spiritual heart transplants for millennia.

God sent Israel into exile because they defiled their land by their detestable conduct. They were consumed with violence and bloodshed and wickedness and idolatry pervaded their lives at every turn. Their lifestyle was abominable to the Lord. God had set forth in Israel’s constitution, the Mosaic covenant, that if she persisted in her disobeying the commandments God gave to her in that covenant, he would scatter her people among the nations in discipline. (Deut. 29:1-30:10) The Lord kept his promise.

God was so concerned that Israel be restored to a proper relationship with him that he sent his people out of the Promised Land and that they might learn the importance of following his ways. But God would not allow his people to profane his holy name forever. After 70 years in exile, God would bring his people back to the Promised Land and restore their relationship with him. He would cleanse their souls from impurity and perform a divine heart transplant on them.

God said through Ezekiel, “”‘For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” (Ez. 36:24-26) The heart of stone (which represents their wickedness, idolatry, and stubbornness) would be removed and it would be replaced with a heart of flesh (which represents the presence of God’s spirit, repentance, and obedience). This new heart would reap a harvest of prosperity.

Ezekiel’s sermon on a spiritual heart transplant for Israel foreshadows the hope of the new covenant with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Like ancient Israel, we too live in a time where wickedness, idolatry, and stubbornness are the norm. In many ways, personally and nationally, we are living in spiritual exile. So few take God seriously or pay attention to his Word.

But just as God offered the hope of restoration in Ezekiel’s day, he offers the hope of restoration today. When we put our faith in Jesus Christ, we undergo a spiritual heart transplant. He cleanses us from our sinful and stubborn pasts. He takes away our hearts of stone and gives us a heart of flesh: a heart that is characterized by repentance, obedience, and faithfulness! A heart that is filled with God’s spirit! A heart that has the hope of eternal life in heaven, where there will be ultimate prosperity.

Have you experienced a spiritual heart transplant? Have you trusted in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? Have you been cleansed from your sins? Does God’s spirit dwell in your heart? Do you have the hope of ultimate restoration and prosperity?

Some Dry Bones (37:1-14)

Now that we have heard Ezekiel’s most famous sermon, let me tell you about his most famous vision. In Ezekiel 37 we learn that the hand of the Lord led him to a valley filled with bones. It was probably a vision of an ancient battlefield where a vast array of skeletons had laid for many years. The bones were very dry.

As Ezekiel gazed at this deathly sight, God asked him if these bones could live. Acknowledging his lack of omniscience, he declared that only Lord knew. Then the Lord commanded him to preach to the bones. This seems preposterous, but I know some preachers today who feel like they are…well, I better not say it! But he prophesied as the Lord had commanded and he heard the sound of rattling and the bones began to form together one by one. Then, tendons and flesh were attached to the bones and skin covered them. And as he continued to prophesy about the restoration of Israel, breath entered the bones and they stood before him as a vast army.

As Ezekiel beheld this sight, I picture him humming along saying:

The foot bone connected to the leg-bone,
The leg bone connected to the knee bone,
The knee bone connected to the thigh bone,
The thigh bone connected to the back bone,
The back bone connected to the neck bone
The neck bone connected to the head bone
Oh hear the word of the Lord!

Dem bones, dem bones, and bones and bones
Dem bones, dem bones, and dry bones
Dem bones, dem bones gonna walk aroun’
Oh hear the word of the Lord

After God gave Ezekiel the vision of the dry bones coming to life, he interpreted the vision for him. God told him that the bones represent the whole house of Israel. The nation of Israel was spiritually dead and dried up, but God was going to bring restoration. He was going to bring them back to life, restore them to their land, give them his Spirit, and fill them with hope. And when their relationship with God was restored, then their nation would prosper again.

This vision of the dry bones highlights God’s power to bring people back to life: nationally and personally. Just as God restored Israel after 70 years of exile, he has the power to revive our nation today. When America’s relationship with God is restored, the weather will be favorable, agriculture will flourish, the economy will rebound, and our land will be healed.

Just think about our nation in the past 10 years since September 11, 2001. Two wars, Hurricane Katrina, a housing bubble burst, a stock market crash, a gulf oil spill, wild fires, tornados, earthquakes, floods, etc. Like the dry bones in the valley, our country is in desperate need of a spiritual revival. We need God to bring us back to life, give us his Spirit, and dwell in our land! May God give us a vision of hope as he did for Ezekiel!

Likewise, God has the power to restore the individual. I suspect there are some hear today who have always been spiritually dead; some who have never had a real personal relationship with the Lord. Your whole life has been a walk through the valley of dry bones. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, he offers us forgiveness for our sins, peace in our souls, and the hope of everlasting life. If you want a new spiritual life and a real relationship with God, respond in faith and commit your life to him today!

Also, I suspect that there are some here today who have already experienced transformation through Jesus Christ, but your spiritual life feels like dry bones and you are in need of a personal revival. Maybe your spiritual passion is gone of selfish choices or sinful actions. Maybe your spiritual zeal has been sapped because of some pressing life circumstance. Maybe you are going through a spiritual funk and you have no idea why. Well, if this is you, I have good news from you: if God can breathe new life into a cemetery of dry bones and he can restore his people from 70 years of exile, he can revive your spiritual life!

Hallelujah, thine the glory! Hallelujah, amen! Hallelujah, thine the glory! May the Lord revive us again!

There have been many corrupt couples throughout history: Julius Caesar & Cleopatra, Louis the 16th & Marie Antoinette, Bonnie & Clyde, and Brad & Angelina, but there has never been any worse than Ahab and Jezebel. They were a match made in hell!

Ahab

Let me begin by introducing to you to the first half of this match made in hell! Ahab was the son of Omri, the wicked king of the northern Kingdom of Israel. When Omri died, Ahab followed in his father’s footsteps by succeeding him on the throne and leading the nation of Israel even further into sin and idolatry. As a matter of fact, I Kings 16:30, 33 says that Ahab “did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of those before him” and “did more to provoke the Lord than did all the kings of Israel before him.”

Ahab was a spoiled, spineless, yellow-bellied monarch who surrounded himself with “Yes Men”—that is people who always agreed with him. He pouted when anyone opposed him. He whined when he didn’t get his own way. And he sulked when he didn’t get everything he wanted. He trivialized sin and disobeyed God’s prohibition against marrying outside the faith.

He was a deeply religious person; the problem was that he worshipped the wrong god. He was the King of Israel, but he turned his back on the one true God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, the God of his ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God who delivered his people from slavery in Egypt. He allowed his wife to lead him and the people to worship the pagan fertility gods Baal and Asherah. In Samaria, he built an altar and a temple for Baal worship and even erected an Asherah pole, a phallic symbol made out of wood and protruded from the ground. (I Kings 16:32-33) Their worship practices were lewd and lascivious and usually included sacred prostitution in the temples and shrines.

For the King of Israel to allow such an abomination in his realm and to permit his queen to practice her lewd worship is shocking enough, but for him to participate in it himself and lead God’s people into such idolatry is simply unimaginable. Most of the people wanted to remain true to God, but they did not have enough courage to disobey Ahab or his queen.

Ahab’s character should serve as a warning for us today. First, be careful that you don’t succumb to generational sin. Ahab committed the same sins as his father Omri, but he took them even further. It never ceases to amaze me how sinful habits and patterns are passed down from generation to generation. Children are susceptible to their parent’s sin. I see this all the time with drug and alcohol abuse, domestic violence, promiscuity, anger, etc. Ahab had the opportunity to break the cycle, but instead, he perpetuated it. Don’t commit the same sins as your parents! Let the pattern stop with you!

Second, we should be careful not to surround ourselves with “Yes” people who agree with everything that we think, say, and do. It is important to have people in our lives that encourage and help us, but we also need other people to help us see things from different perspectives and to even periodically oppose us. Don’t seek advice from people who are just going to make you feel good about yourself. Surround yourself with people who will be brutally honest with you and hold you accountable!

Third, be careful not to trivialize sin! Ahab considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam (I Kings 16:31) and it led to even more sin. We live in a time and culture where sin is trivialized and rationalized all the time. How often do we hear the excuses for sin “Well, I know it’s wrong, but it’s really not that bad!” or “Well, everyone else is doing it!” or “It’s not hurting anybody!” or “I didn’t have any other choice!” If we are going to take God seriously, we have to take sin seriously. Every one of our sins is responsible for nailing Jesus Christ to the cross!

Fourth, be careful you don’t fall into the trap of being a “religious” person! Ahab was as religious and spiritual as one could be, but he worshipped the wrong god. Likewise, we live in a culture where it is popular to be “spiritual”, but not have an allegiance to any particular god. Many people today say, “All religions are basically the same! All gods are equal!” Don’t be deceived by this idolatrous jargon. There is only one God! His name is not Allah, Mohammed, Buddha, Confucius, Barak Obama, or Glen Beck. His name is simply God and he is eternally existent in three persons: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. There is only one God who humbled himself to be born in human flesh and die for our sins on the cross!

Even if they won’t admit it, everybody worships something! Make sure you worship the one and only God! He alone is worthy of our worship!

Jezebel

And now for the other half of this match made in hell! Jezebel was a Phoenician princess, the daughter of King Ethbaal of Sidon. Her father wasn’t only a king but he was also a priest of Baal and Asherah. Jezebel grew up worshipping these pagan deities and participating in all of their repugnant practices. Her character was evil to the core: she was cunning, controlling, manipulative, power-hungry, and bloodthirsty! As a devout adherent to paganism, she hated the God of Israel and murdered many of his prophets. She hated Elijah most of all, and did everything in her power to slaughter him. Elijah had to go into hiding to stay alive.

Jezebel’s character is portrayed well in Frankie Laine’s 1956 hit “Jezebel”:

If ever the devil was born,
Without a pair of horns
It was you,
Jezebel, it was you.

If ever an angel fell,
Jezebel,
It was you.
Jezebel, it was you.

If ever a pair of eyes,
Promised paradise.
Deceiving me, grieving me,
Leavin’ me blue.
Jezebel, it was you.

If ever the devil’s plan,
Was made to torment man,
It was you,
Jezebel, it was you.

‘Twould be better I had I never known,
A lover such as you.
Forsaking dreams and all,
For the siren call of your arms.

Like a demon, love possessed me,
You obsessed me constantly.
What evil star is mine,
That my fate’s design,
Should be Jezebel?

Ahab married Jezebel for political purposes. He wanted to solidify the alliance between Israel and Phoenicia because Phoenicia controlled the shipping routes on the Mediterranean Sea and was the gateway to international trade. Basically, he married her for her money and power. But she didn’t mind; she wanted to seduce the Israelites away from the one true God and convert them to paganism. As soon as they were married, she went about setting up shrines to her gods in all the holy places and built an altar to Baal in the capital city of Samaria. She immediately recognized that Ahab was weak and eventually dangled him around like a puppet on a string. Ahab was the king, but Jezebel was the one who really wore the pants in the family. Indeed, this was a match made in hell!

Here we see how an obsession with money and power can get us into trouble. Ahab’s desire to strengthen his kingdom caused him to break God’s law of marrying someone outside the faith, not to mention someone of despicable character. If Ahab’s heart had been focused on God, he never would have trivialized sin, disobeyed God by marrying Jezebel, or been overcome by idolatry. We must be careful not to allow our passions, whether it be money, power, sex, or something else, lead us to make poor decisions.

Choosing a spouse is one of the biggest decisions you will ever make. For better or for worse, your spouse will be the greatest influence on your life. This is why God doesn’t want us to marry outside the faith. This is why the Apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 6:14, “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?”

One of my good friends made this mistake. He was a solid Christian and even has a seminary degree. Because of his commitment to God, he kept himself sexually pure throughout his teenage years and though his mid-twenties. As he watched most of his friends get married and start families, he kept waiting for the right woman to come along. But as the years went by, his desires for marriage, sex, and a family grew stronger, and his patience began to wear thin.

Eventually he met a young woman who showed interest in him. She was a quasi-Christian at best and her character exhibited numerous red flags. Despite the advice of all of his family and good friends, he married her. Since their wedding, I have watched his values change. His wife is what we might call “high-maintenance”; she always has to have the most expensive everything. My friend, who used to be driven by his relationship with God, is now driven by making money to keep his wife happy. His wife has already led him to spiritual bankruptcy, and I guarantee that it is just a matter of time until she leads him to financial bankruptcy!

Whatever you do, don’t make the same mistake that King Ahab and my friend made! Don’t marry a non-believer! Don’t marry someone with questionable character! They will turn your heart away from God!

Naboth’s Vineyard (1 Kings 21)

We see the depth of this match made in hell in the story of Naboth’s vineyard in I Kings 21. Ahab had built an ivory palace in the town of Jezreel, and when looked at his beautiful palace, he noticed that there was a vineyard belonging to a man named Naboth beside it. Ahab thought, “That vineyard would be a great place for my vegetable garden.”, so he approached Naboth to purchase the land from him. But Naboth said, “I can’t do that. The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.” Naboth took God’s law seriously.

So, like a child who didn’t get what he wanted, Ahab went home, laid down on his bed, sulked, and refused to eat anything. When he didn’t show up for supper, Jezebel entered and asked him, “What is wrong with you? Why won’t you eat?” In a whining voice, he explained that Naboth wouldn’t give up his vineyard. At this, she shook her head, threw up her arms, and said, “You weak little man! Do I have to do everything around here? I’ll get the vineyard for you!” So, she implemented a practice called “eminent domain-mafia style” where you knock someone off to get what you want. She then sent that infamous letter to the elders to stage a set-up to accuse Naboth of blasphemy, which was punishable by stoning to death. Jezebel executed her plan perfectly: Naboth got stoned and Ahab got his vegetable garden!

When Ahab went down to take possession of the vineyard, God’s prophet Elijah was waiting for him. Elijah confronted him on his sin and prophesied, “In the place where dogs licked up Naboth’s blood, dogs will lick up your blood—yes, yours.” (I Kings 21:19) He also prophesied concerning Jezebel, “Dogs will devour Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.” In time, both of these prophesies came to pass just like Elijah said.

In his famous sermon “Payday Someday”, Robert G. Lee, the long time pastor at Belleview Baptist Church in Memphis, TN said, “Did pay-day come? “Pay-day—Someday” is written in the constitution of God’s universe… And to Ahab and Jezebel, pay-day came as certainly as night follows day, because sin carries in itself the seed of its own fatal penalty.

This story reminds us that sin always has consequences. Payday may not come today, but it will come someday. The only way to avoid the ultimate payday for our sin is to put our faith in Jesus Christ. Forgiveness and atonement only come through his sacrifice on the cross and resurrection from the dead! Repent and follow him today!

As I said at the beginning, Ahab and Jezebel was a match made in hell! I hope that this story of a match made in hell will help you on your march toward heaven!