Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour "No Religion Here" for Saturday, September 16, 2017
Revelation 2:10-11 - Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.Britain has another religious survey out. This one was conducted by the National Centre for Social Research. It's a simple enough survey. Its primary goal was to answer the question, "Do you have a religion or do you not?"
• In the year 1983, 31 percent of the people said they were without any religion.
• Thirty-four years later, in 2017, 53 percent of the respondents said they have no faith. Period.
• When the question was asked of the 18-to-24-year-old crowd, the percentage went screaming up to 71 percent.
One individual, Dr. Richard Land of Southern Evangelical Seminary, has tried to decipher the downward trend. His interpretation is not too hard to understand. He holds that the problem all stems from the leadership of the church constantly questioning Scripture, denying fundamental doctrines, and denying God's truth.
I guess Dr. Land is just sharing some common sense.
It stands to reason: if you've been led to believe that God has lied to you in one area, there's no reason to think He won't do the same somewhere else. And if the Lord cannot be trusted or held to a higher level of accountability than the average conman, well, who needs Him?
Although we can be sure there are other factors which have played a part in this mass desertion, the theory goes far in explaining what has happened in England.
And it can go just as far in warning us what could happen to the church in the U.S. of A.
Right now, there are three things standing between America and Britain's mass exodus. The first is the Holy Spirit. It is He who is the founder, protector, and the strengthener of the church. Without Him, all would be lost.
The second bastion against the church's erosion is a clergy that speaks the Lord's Word in love. These men of the cloth speak when the Lord speaks and are silent when God is silent. They are shepherds when it is time to lead, and they are servants when the flock needs assistance.
The third force for faithfulness is a laity that remains committed to Word and Sacrament. They are gentle to the weak and lovingly call back the wandering. They sing like they mean it at worship, and their witness is powerful, positive, and joyful.
Now I know you can look at my definitions above and come up with something better. You may readily think I have missed the boat altogether. I won't argue; it is possible. If that is how you feel, then, please write down your list of what the church needs to succeed as it proclaims the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, grant that Your church may know how to live and work so that we bring a great and powerful witness to our Savior who has died and risen to redeem us. Keep us from sour faces and sad proclamation. This I ask in Jesus' Name. Amen.
The above devotion was inspired by a number of sources, including one written by Steve Jordahl for One News Now on September 6, 2017. Those who wish to reference that article may do so at the following link, which was fully functional at the time this devotion was written: click here.
In Christ I remain His servant and yours,
Pastor Ken Klaus
Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour
Lutheran Hour Ministries
Today's Bible in a Year Reading: Isaiah 14-16; Ephesians 3
Isaiah 14:1 For Adonai will have compassion on Ya‘akov — he will once again choose Isra’el and resettle them in their own land, where foreigners will join them, attaching themselves to the house of Ya‘akov. 2 Peoples will take and escort them to their homeland, and the house of Isra’el will possess them in the land of Adonai as male and female slaves. They will take their captors captive and rule over their oppressors. 3 Then, when Adonai gives you rest from your suffering and trouble and from the hard service imposed on you, 4 you will take up this taunt-song against the king of Bavel:
“At last the oppressor is stilled,
his arrogance is ended!
5 Adonai has broken the staff of the wicked,
the scepter of the rulers,
6 which furiously struck down peoples
with unceasing blows,
angrily beating down nations
with relentless persecution.
7 The whole earth is at rest and quiet.
They break into song.
8 The cypresses rejoice over you,
with the cedars of the L’vanon —
‘Now that you are laid low,
no one comes to cut us down.’
9 “Sh’ol below is stirred up
to meet you when you come.
It awakens for you the ghosts of the dead
who were leaders on earth;
it makes all the kings of the nations
arise from their thrones.
10 They all greet you with these words:
‘Now you are as weak as we are,
you have become like us!
11 Your pride has been brought down to Sh’ol
with the music of your lyres,
under you a mattress of maggots,
over you a blanket of worms.’
12 “How did you come to fall from the heavens,
morning star, son of the dawn?
How did you come to be cut to the ground,
conqueror of nations?
13 You thought to yourself, ‘I will scale the heavens,
I will raise my throne above God’s stars.
I will sit on the Mount of Assembly
far away in the north.
14 I will rise past the tops of the clouds,
I will make myself like the Most High.’
15 “Instead you are brought down to Sh’ol,
to the uttermost depths of the pit.
16 Those who see you will stare at you,
reflecting on what has become of you:
‘Is this the man who shook the earth,
who made kingdoms tremble,
17 who made the world a desert,
who destroyed its cities,
who would not set his prisoners free?’
18 “All other kings of the nations, all of them,
lie in glory, each in his tomb.
19 But you are discarded, unburied,
like a loathed branch,
clothed like the slain who were pierced by the sword,
then fall to the stones inside a pit,
like a corpse to be trampled underfoot.
20 You will not be joined with those kings in the grave,
because you destroyed your own land,
you have brought death to your own people.
The descendants of evildoers will be utterly forgotten.
21 Get ready to slaughter his sons
for the iniquity of their fathers;
so they won’t arise, take over the earth
and cover the world with their cities.”
22 “I will arise against them,”
says Adonai-Tzva’ot.
“I will cut off from Bavel name and remnant,
offshoot and offspring,” says Adonai.
23 “I will make it a haunt for hedgehogs,
it will become a swampy waste,
I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,”
says Adonai-Tzva’ot.
24 Adonai-Tzva’ot has sworn,
“Just as I thought it, it will occur;
just as I planned it, so it will be.
25 I will break Ashur in my land,
I will trample him down on my mountains.
Then his yoke will fall off them,
his burden be removed from their shoulders.”
26 This is the program planned for all the earth,
this is the hand stretched out over all the nations.
27 Adonai-Tzva’ot has made his decision.
Who is there that can stop him?
He has stretched out his hand.
Who can turn it back?
28 In the year that King Achaz died, this prophecy came:
29 Do not rejoice, P’leshet, any of you,
that the rod which struck you is broken;
for out of the snake’s root will come a viper,
and his offspring will be a flying fiery serpent.
30 While the firstborn of the poor graze
and the needy lie down in safety,
I will kill off your root with famine
and slaughter the rest of you.
31 Howl, gate! Cry, city!
Melt away, P’leshet, all of you!
For a smoke is coming from the north,
with not a straggler in its ranks.
32 And what is one to answer
the messengers of the nation?
That Adonai founded Tziyon,
and there the poor of his people will find refuge.
15:1 This is a prophecy about Mo’av:
The night ‘Ar is sacked, Mo’av is ruined.
The night Kir is sacked, Mo’av is ruined.
2 He went up to the temple,
to Dibon and to the high places, to weep.
On N’vo and Meidva Mo’av is howling,
every head shaved bald, every beard cut off.
3 In the streets they wear sackcloth;
on their roofs and in their squares,
everyone howls and weeps profusely.
4 Heshbon and El‘aleh cry out,
they are heard as far as Yachatz.
Mo’av’s best troops cry aloud,
as their courage faints away.
5 My heart cries out for Mo’av!
Its fugitives flee to Tzo‘ar,
a calf three years old.
They ascend the slope of Luchit,
weeping as they go;
on their way to Horonayim,
they utter heartrending cries.
6 The waters of Nimrim are desolate,
the grass is dried up, the new growth fails,
nothing green is left.
7 Therefore they carry away their wealth,
everything they have put aside,
across the Vadi of the Willows.
8 For the cry has circulated
throughout Mo’av’s territory —
its howling has reached Eglayim,
its howling has reached Be’er-Elim.
9 For the waters of Dimon are full of blood,
yet I have worse in store for Dimon —
a lion for those who escape from Mo’av
and for those who remain in its land.
16:1 Send lambs for the ruler of the land
from the crags toward the desert
to the mountain of the daughter of Tziyon.
2 The daughters of Mo’av at the fords of the Arnon
are like fluttering birds pushed from the nest.
3 “Give [us] counsel! Decide [to help]!
Make your shadow [over us]
like night in the middle of noonday.
Hide [our] outcasts! Don’t betray [our] fugitives!
4 Let our outcasts live with you!
Protect Mo’av from the attacks of robbers!”
For when the extorting ends, the spoiling ceases,
and those trampling on the land are destroyed,
5 a throne will be set up by grace,
and on it, in the tent of David,
will sit an honest judge,
seeking justice and pursuing righteousness.
6 We have heard about Mo’av’s pride,
how very proud they are;
about their haughty arrogance,
their insolence and bravado.
7 Therefore Mo’av will wail for Mo’av —
they will all wail!
You will sigh, stricken by grief,
for the raisin-cakes of Kir-Hareset.
8 For the grainfields of Heshbon are withering,
also the vineyards of Sibmah,
whose red grapes overpowered rulers of nations —
once they reached as far as Ya‘zer
and trailed out into the desert;
their spreading branches even crossed the sea.
9 Therefore I will weep for Sibmah’s vine
as I weep for Ya‘zer;
I will water you with my tears,
Heshbon and El‘aleh;
because the shouts of battle are falling
on your summer fruits and harvest;
10 gladness and joy are removed
from the fruitful fields.
No revelry in the vineyards,
no happy shouting,
no one treading grapes in the wine presses —
I have silenced the vintage-cheers.
11 This is why my heart throbs
like a lyre for Mo’av,
and everything in me
for Kir-Heres.
12 Even when Mo’av is seen growing weary
of worshipping on the high places
and entering their sanctuaries to pray,
they will have accomplished nothing.
13 This is the word Adonai spoke against Mo’av in the past. 14 But now Adonai has said, “Within three years [and not a day more], as if a hired worker were keeping track of the time, the glory of Mo’av will be brought into contempt, despite its large population; and the surviving remnant will be few and feeble.”
Ephesians 3:1 It is a consequence of this that I, Sha’ul, am a prisoner of the Messiah Yeshua on behalf of you Gentiles. 2 I assume that you have heard of the work God in his grace has given me to do for your benefit, 3 and that it was by a revelation that this secret plan was made known to me. I have already written about it briefly, 4 and if you read what I have written, you will grasp how I understand this secret plan concerning the Messiah. 5 In past generations it was not made known to mankind, as the Spirit is now revealing it to his emissaries and prophets, 6 that in union with the Messiah and through the Good News the Gentiles were to be joint heirs, a joint body and joint sharers with the Jews in what God has promised. 7 I became a servant of this Good News by God’s gracious gift, which he gave me through the operation of his power. 8 To me, the least important of all God’s holy people, was given this privilege of announcing to the Gentiles the Good News of the Messiah’s unfathomable riches, 9 and of letting everyone see how this secret plan is going to work out. This plan, kept hidden for ages by God, the Creator of everything, 10 is for the rulers and authorities in heaven to learn, through the existence of the Messianic Community, how many-sided God’s wisdom is. 11 This accords with God’s age-old purpose, accomplished in the Messiah Yeshua, our Lord. 12 In union with him, through his faithfulness, we have boldness and confidence when we approach God. 13 So I ask you not to be discouraged by the troubles I endure on your behalf — it is all for your glory.
14 For this reason, I fall on my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth receives its character. 16 I pray that from the treasures of his glory he will empower you with inner strength by his Spirit, 17 so that the Messiah may live in your hearts through your trusting. Also I pray that you will be rooted and founded in love, 18 so that you, with all God’s people, will be given strength to grasp the breadth, length, height and depth of the Messiah’s love, 19 yes, to know it, even though it is beyond all knowing, so that you will be filled with all the fullness of God.
20 Now to him who by his power working in us is able to do far beyond anything we can ask or imagine, 21 to him be glory in the Messianic Community and in the Messiah Yeshua from generation to generation forever. Amen.
-------Use these devotions in your newsletter and bulletin! Used by permission; all rights reserved by the Int'l LLL (LHM).
CHANGE THEIR WORLD. CHANGE YOURS.
THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING.
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