Friday, February 12, 2016

Singing With the Exiles: We Are Worms! - February 14th

Message notes on a sermon by Pastor Ewings based on Isaiah 41:14-16
Who would ever be want to be known as a worm?  They are slimy, yucky, creepy, crawly little creatures.  They’re certainly not highly regarded in the animal kingdom.  Worms are agents of The Lord’s judgment (Deuteronomy 28:39; Jonah 4:7) and vicious consumers of human remains (Isaiah 66:24). They are considered “detestable” in the Book of Leviticus (11:41–42) and the fallen king in Isaiah 14 is given maggots for a bed and worms for his covers (v. 11). David confesses to being under God’s judgment when he says, “But I am a worm and not a man” (Psalm 22:6). Our Lord quotes from Psalm 22:1 (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34) because He, too, was under the Father’s judgment, even though He had no sin (2 Corinthians 5:21). In Isaiah 41:14, God unmistakably gives that title...to us.  We are worms!
God uses small people and small things to accomplish a great salvation. All Moses had was a wooden stick and this defeated his enemies. Gideon gained a great victory over 120,000 of his enemies with just 300 soldiers. Samson took the jawbone of a donkey and defeated over 1,000 Philistines. And a sling and a stone were all David needed to kill Goliath.
Jesus also uses small things and people to accomplish a great salvation. He used five loaves of barley bread and two small fish to feed five thousand men. The Savior once said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed . . . the smallest of all seeds” (Matthew 13:31–32). Passing through Jericho on the way to Jerusalem, Jesus picked out little Zacchaeus and said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, [because this man] is a son of Abraham” (Luke 19:9). And then these words, “Let the little children come to Me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:14).
All of this points to the day when Christ’s enemies used thirty pieces of silver, a whip, a blindfold, a spear, their fists, and three nails. But these small and insignificant things were used by God to accomplish for us a great salvation! Through them we see God’s great love for us when Jesus died for us on the cross. And because of this, little and insignificant people like us—call us worms—will move mountains!

Lesson 1:  Isaiah 41:14-16
Lesson 2:  John 11:32-40
Gospel:  Hebrews 9:27,28


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