[51] Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh. “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s house.”
If we could keep in mind that on that Day, God will make us forget all our hardships then we might live differently in this foreign land. We are just sojourning here.
Let us be fruitful now in the land of affliction: Genesis 41:52
[52] The name of the second he called Ephraim, “For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”
Here is the introduction to the next sermon from John 20:24-31.
(Jn. 20:24-21:1) 24 Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” 26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” 30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
There are different levels of what we might call doubt. Thomas has been given the nickname, Doubting Thomas. But he doesn’t just have doubts, he does not believe.
I have personally gone through seasons of doubt on the level of unbelief. Particularly while in seminary, the undoing of life as I knew it was very hard. I believed things based on what someone else told me (which is how things ought to work). When you don’t know what the Bible says yourself then you lean on the traditions handed to you from your church family. The problem was, some of those things did not line up with Scripture while some did. But even more important, there were a lot of things missing too.
Breaking loose from held tradition is painful. Sometimes I was angry with those who didn’t teach me all that the Bible said. At other times, I wasn’t sure I could trust the Bible or more accurately, trust God. I had trusted what others had passed on to me about God and the Bible MORE than I trusted God himself in his word.
The Lord placed some people in my life that were nothing short of merciful gifts. They prayed. They corrected. They encouraged. They stayed. They continued to point me to the Bible as the place to find the truth. And their faith in God and his word spoke volumes to me.
This text invites us in on the process this disciple went through. It was painful for Thomas, and I would imagine many would read this and never think of the hurt he went through. I, for one, am glad he went through this because I see how it ended. Mine ended the same way. That season of doubt caused me to find the source of truth and there I found Jesus. The real Jesus. The whole Jesus. The risen Jesus. My King.
Unless we see the context of Isaiah, it will be hard to make much of the promises of Advent. The unfaithfulness of humanity is in clear contrast with the faithfulness of God. The light of these promises show up in the darkest of times. That’s why it’s necessary to notice the darkness our eyes have often gotten used to.
Here is the link to download the manuscript if you are interested:
This is the second sermon of Advent. Have you considered that rejection was a sign of validation? We normally think in terms of wide-spread acceptance as affirmation which is often true. But the promise for the person (Messiah) and means of salvation would be marked by rejection.
Here is the link to the manuscript if you are interested:
This sermon is a walk down the Emmaus Road. It was difficult but I hope it was fruitful. I don’t think I did a very good job this week but it was a hard week. These four Advent sermons are harder than continuing to preach through John. But we will be back to the Gospel According to John in a few weeks, Lord willing.
Here is the link to download the manuscript if you are interested:
Old Testament: Genesis 43–44 Genesis 43–44 (Listen) Joseph’s Brothers Return to Egypt 43 Now the famine was severe in the land. 2 And when they had eaten the grain that they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go again, buy us a little food.” 3 But Judah said to him, “The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face unless your […]
The Word Is Not Imprisoned 