"You Will Swallow Up Death Forever" - 16 April 2017


O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you; I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure…And you will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. You will swallow up death forever; and you, O Lord GOD, will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of your people you will take away from all the earth, for you, O LORD, have spoken” (Isaiah 25.1, 7-8); “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15.57).

On this great day as your Church all around this globe, in the Presbyterian Church in America, and in the greater Oklahoma City area, rejoices in the victory you have brought through the resurrection of Christ, we pray for those who have and are suffering horribly on behalf of our Lord that you would wipe away their tears and remove their reproach. Bring us all together in Christ Jesus, and bring us all to stand in one Spirit, with one mind, striving side by side for the faith of the Gospel; to stand and strive and live and love unflinchingly because Christ is risen, he is risen indeed! “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Look mercifully and compassionately on those who are worn and weary…, sick and sore…, despondent and dispirited…, pitiable and penniless…; bring them to know that Christ is risen, he is risen indeed! “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Look mercifully and compassionately on those who need to repent of their sins and embrace your Son in genuine faith…. Bring them to declare in faith that Christ is risen, he is risen indeed! “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Look mercifully and compassionately on these United States of America, upon all citizens and inhabitants whether free born, foreign born or unborn, and upon all of our leaders, to include our State Representatives such as Matt Meredith; John Montgomery; Lewis Moore; Glen Mulready; Cyndi Munson; Casey Murdock; and Jason Murphy. Secure our safety and wellbeing from all enemies foreign and domestic; rouse a sense of wholesome industriousness in business and education; continue to smile on our medical establishments and advancements; restore the important value of marriage – one man and one woman married for life; remove all selfishness and greed. And bring all in this country to proclaim with lip and life that Christ is risen, he is risen indeed! “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Look mercifully and compassionately on the nations and leaders of the earth, such as Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said of Oman; Mamnoon Hussain of Pakistan; and Tommy Remengesau of Palau; may borders be safe, wealth bountiful, health abundant, peace plentiful, good health care ample, quality education extensive, and livelihoods reliable; and bring all to rejoice that Christ is risen, he is risen indeed! “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 

All of this we ask with assurance that you hear us, and confident that you will answer us because Christ is risen, he is risen indeed! “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"Was America Founded as a Christian Nation?" (Rev. Ed.) by John Fea. A Review

Image
  John Fea is a professor of history at Messiah University in Mechanicsburg, PA. A university founded in 1909 by the Brethren in Christ Church. He originally published "Was America Founded as a Christian Nation? A Historical Introduction" in 2011, and it was revised in 2016. This 328-page paperback is packed full with Colonial and American history, drawing from original sources to answer that question. It is a book written "for the historically minded and thoughtful reader who is looking for help in sorting" out this question, avoiding polemics (xix). Since we live in a sound-bite culture, Fea recognizes that it is difficult to have a sustained dialogue on this topic, but he makes a valiant effort toward having that sustained dialogue. The book reads fairly straightforward, and doesn't seem to get bogged down in the contentious mudpuddles or bogs. In the end, Fea seems to get his point across. To answer the reigning question if America was founded as a Christian...
Read more

Union with Christ - An Application

Image
  (This was my weekly letter to my congregation on Wednesday, 21 February 2024) This morning in my devotional reading, I was working through 1 Corinthians 8. Though I’ve read these words a huge number of times over the years, today one verse caused me to stop and take stock.  Paul wrote, “ Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ ” (1 Corinthians 8:12). What struck me is a couple of things. First, in God’s saving work, we are – by grace alone – united (hitched, bonded, ingrafted) to Christ so much so, that what happens to us happens to him, and what is his becomes ours (think of Galatians 2:20, for example). As Sinclair Ferguson put it, “through union with Christ all that is his by incarnation becomes ours through faith” (“The Christian Life,” 110). Let that percolate in your heart for a while. Your fear, anxiety, tears, and so forth, he feels. And his “ Peace, be still ” is yours. Second, the way we treat one an...
Read more

"Ah, Lord! We are Animated by Anger and Anxiety, Fear and Fury..."

Image
I hesitate to put this out there because of the combative environment we are in at present. But I think some souls will take courage from this, and some will also join with me as we get to the end of this little composition. I am struck by the words of God in Zechariah 8. As he rehearses the waywardness and faithlessness of his people in the past, he clearly declares that he " set every man against his neighbor " (8:10). That got me thinking long ago. I started putting the pieces together and realized that one of God's acts of judgment is division, setting a man against his neighbor. That's what happened when he divided his people into the northern tribes and southern tribes (see 1 Kings 11:26-40). Because of Solomon's turning aside, allowing his wives to turn his heart away from the God of his father, David, the Lord brings about a rift in God's people. And this pattern of divisive judgment runs throughout Scripture. On the other hand, truthful unity is the g...
Read more