A quick word of encouragement

March 15th 2023

Without unity between other believers, in spite of our Doctrinal distinctives that don't fall into heresy, we will never be able to stand firm. They are our fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life.

Your names, brothers and sisters, have been penned into the ledgers of heaven. The God of all creation, with his golden quill held firmly within his bejeweled and ring-laden hand, the light refracting off of them doing nothing to hide the scars of roman nails, has written your names upon the indestructible pages of eternity. Intentionally, and with perfect forethought, He placed pen to paper, and with handwriting whose beauty would blind Earth’s finest scribe, etched the names of His children into the Lamb’s Book of Life. 

And when He did, he did so not with the blackened inks of earth, whose vibrance fades more and more with each passing day. Because of His great love with which he loved us, He refused to use the temporary and fleeting ink of good works or sacrifice. He did not dip His royal pen into the inkwells of human achievements or human intellect. No. His love for us and His love for His own glory, prevented Him from using anything apart from that which will outlast all human success and human failure.

When our King picked up His divine stylus, to pen the names of His children, He firmly placed the tip deep within the veins of His only begotten Son.

Your names, brothers and sisters of the most high God, those of you who have repented of their sins by the power of the Holy Spirit, and whose hearts of stone have been replaced by beating hearts of flesh…your names are written down with the blood of God, forever etched into the golden pages of eternity.

Each lash of the pagan’s whip that tore skin from bone…each fall of the Roman hammer, piercing the same hands that wrote our names down before the foundation of the Earth…each thorn, that pulled the blood from his holy face…The death & resurrection of Jesus Christ….finalized the brush strokes of His Father and ensured that your name, oh sinner, would never fade from the pages of the Book of Life.

Forever it has its place, there in line with the Saints who have come before you, and before the Saints who will come after. Your name, my beloved, is written within the same ledger as that of Noah, of Moses, of the man after God’s own heart - King David. Your name shares the blood-ink of God with Jeremiah, Daniel, Shadrack, Meschach, and Abednego. With Peter, with Paul, with the woman at the well, the woman with the issue of blood, and with the numerous Saints whose end came for them by the teeth of lions, to the sounds of cheering romans.

With Athanasius, and Polycarp, with Tertullian and Origen. Those Saints who stood against pagan kings by nothing of their own strength, are written down on the same pages…of the same book…with your name.

Your name, oh saint, is written down with Martin Luther, John Calvin, Charles Wesley and Charles Spurgeon, George Whitfield, Abraham Lincoln, RC Sproul, John Macarthur, Mozart, Davinci, Shakespeare and Tolkien. Your Grandmother, your Grandfather, your believing ancestors, who prayed for you when yet your parent’s parents had even been born, are listed within the ledger of Heaven, alongside names of fame and renown, and with names of anyone but.

You, Saints of God, have your names listed beside the orphans, miscarriages, and abortions, whose names are known only to God. With names of beggars, thieves, prostitutes, tax collectors, and drug dealers. Those whom society has cast aside and trampled upon, are those to whom our King stepped into our World to save. The dim, the lost, the broken, the abused, those with nothing and no one to stand beside them, have an eternal place alongside the King of the Universe.

The list of names in the Book of life includes Scholars, Doctors, Presidents and Parents. Princes and Paupers. Kings and peasants. Genius mountains of intellect, and humble, lowly, best friends.

This list of names, whose number is known to none but God, are all our fellow workers.

When you do the work of God that He has for you, you will be contributing to a work that the Apostle Paul contributed to, that Davinci contributed to, that your grandmother who loved Jesus with all of her heart…contributed to. Other believers are our fellow workers, the Apostle tells us in our verse this morning. Each of them, fulfilling the role that God created them for. Each of them, doing the works that were written down, Eph. 2:10 tells us, before they themselves existed. Each of our fellow workers, with a goal in common with us, which is nothing short of the glory of God and the good of man, went through the trials, temptations, storms and swords that our King had set aside for them, and them specifically. Surviving through to their completion by nothing apart from the strength that He gave them to do so. And each storm and sword, shaped and molded them into a worker ready to take up their Bible, fill their chest, and get to work.

Each of them, using their time and talents to create works of art, raise children, raise companies, and raise armies. Lead Nations, lead Churches, and lead Families. Placing band-aids upon the skinned knees of their children, or forging inventions that would revolutionize the world. Our fellow workers have written books that have bent hearts, we have created pieces of music whose notes and chords the angels are jealous of. We have conquered untamed jungles, mined diamonds and iron. Adopted children whose own parents didn't love them, built hospitals to care for the sick when society pushed them away, fed the hungry and clothed the naked. We have built cathedrals that will outlast all who oppose us, and loved our families with a burning passion that can drown out the Sun itself.

We are all fellow workers of the Cross. Living our lives as Scripture instructs us, as best as we can…all the while doing so much more…than conforming and revolutionizing society. We have been fulfilling the words of Jesus Christ in Matt. 18:28 when He told us to go and teach all the Nations.

We have been planting seeds of faith.

Deep within the heart-soil of our friends and families, we plant the seeds of the truth and grace; the justice and mercy; and the forgiveness and wrath of God. We have planted these seeds in the heart-soil of kingdoms, cultures, nations, churches, parents, children, and families. We have done so by teaching our Children, teaching our Parents, leading our families in Worship and Prayer, and wrestling over Scripture with them; standing on street corners, pleading with the lost to open their eyes, and telling strangers to turn from their sins; by sharing a meal with a lost friend; by standing behind a pulpit; by inviting a friend to Church; or by sharing the truth of the Gospel with a coworker.

Each of us Saints, are blood-bought Disciples of Jesus Christ, filled with the Holy Spirit, and using the gifts, talents, and resources that God ordained for us to use, to accomplish the plans He set aside for us to accomplish. 

You, brothers and sisters, are in a long line of Saints, stretching backwards to the very Garden itself, and extending onward into the lives of your great grandchildren’s, great grandchildren. Do you use the gifts He has given you? Do you know what they are? Do you want to know what they are? Do you think of yourself as a “fellow worker” with the Apostle Paul? Do you do the work of God? Do you repent of your sins, whenever and wherever they reel their ugly fangs? Do you take actual, literal, physical with your body, steps, to keep your favorite sin away from you? Be it laziness or lust? Anger or apathy? Do you study your Bible? Read it daily? Do you tell people about who Jesus Christ is and what He has done?

We are the sons and daughters of the King of the Universe. The holy Monarch of all reality, whose throne sits atop the heavenlies and who uses Earth as His footstool. We are princes and princesses, tasked from on high with wielding the silver sword of truth in the darkest dungeons and forests of this world, to bring its light and hope to the lost and hurting masses. We, fellow workers with all the saints before and after us, saved by the blood of the lamb, whose crimson flow satisfied the wrath of His Father on our behalf, have our names permanently inscripturated onto the golden pages of eternity within the Book of Life.

For the blood of Jesus Christ, every drop, did exactly as it was planned to do, and saved all of His children. There was no wasted drop. No extra, none unused, and none that returned void of accomplishing what He set out to do. 

So stand firm, brothers and sisters. Stand strong. Whatever dark, twisted, evil or inconvenient plans the demons of this world may drag to your shore, know this, that you were made, on purpose, to stand against them…because the God who made you, already knew what trials you were to go through and made you on purpose to fight them.

Because you did not earn your name, nor write it yourself upon those heavenly lines within the Book of Life, you are free to fight the fight of this life with every ounce of strength that flows from the side of our crucified and risen Savior. He not only shed His blood to atone and pay for the wrath from Heaven that you deserve, but to sanctify and empower you as you move forward. He did not leave us here on this Earth, surrounded by demons and dogs, to fend them off by ourselves, but He sent His Holy Spirit. The third person of The Godhead, is here, with you now, commingled within your very soul, urging you into the tumult of spiritual warfare.

Where swords and shields clash, where blood and steel meet, where the dark spirits of this world rage against the children of God, is your place on the battlefield. Be it behind a pulpit, on a street corner, in your home with your children at your side, behind a desk, behind a machine, or caring for those unable to care for themselves. The battlefields are numerous…and we are called to enter the fray!

But fear not! Oh son. Fear not! Oh daughter. For the war has already been won! So fight with all of your strength. Fight with honor and duty. Fight with nobility and prose. Fight with song and script. With good works and good deeds. With prayer, fasting, and worship. With time in Scripture and with time teaching your family what Scripture says.

Let the demons who torment you with towering temptations beyond your ability to fend off…feel the white hot steel of the Sword of the Spirit which is the word of God, as you thrust its heavenly verses into the heart of your sin and leave it for dead. This is a noble fight, an honorable fight, a fight in which all of the angels and demons are fighting as well. The eyes of eternity are upon you child of God, how will you stand?

Do not worry if no one sees your fight; if the world, if your family, if your Church, if your spouse, parent, child, or friends see you battling. Do not fight for the accolades and wreaths and celebrations of a God-hating Nation. Do not fight to be seen and known by men as a great man or woman of God. Do not care if you think yourself to be standing alone on a battlefield, and there is an army of darkness mustered before you whose ranks and files fill the horizon of your future. Smile into the face of the enemy. Smile as you open your Bible. Look to the sky oh sinner. Look to Christ oh Saint. For He is who sees every fight you have ever been in. He is who created you, on purpose, to fight the fights He was going to send you! You were built for this. You were made for this!

Stand firm, you child of the living King! Plant your feet firmly into the Word of God, crease, and mark, its pages with your pen….knowing full well that the pen of your Father has written your name in the Book of Life. Study His voice in the pages of Holy Scripture, and hear Him say that there is now no longer any condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Read the words long written down, that tell you that all of your sin, all of your shame, and everything that could ever separate you from the love of God has been nailed to the broken and bleeding body of Jesus Christ and died with Him!