Mark 13:32-37: Hope for a Happy New Year!

Presented to each the Nipawin and Tisdale Corps 30 November 2008
Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 27 Nov 2011
To view the 2011 version click HERE.
by Captain Michael Ramsay

Happy New Year! Does anyone know why I would wish you a happy New Year today? Today is the beginning of Advent. In traditional liturgical churches, advent is the beginning of the church year where we celebrate the first coming of Christ and celebrate the hope that is in his anticipated return. Now often at New Year there are all kinds of year-end quizzes; so I thought that I would put a little tongue-in-cheek quiz together for us based on our text today.

What do these dates have in common: 8:00 AM October 19, 1533; April 5, 1534; March 21 and October 22, 1844; Sept. 10, 1979; Dec. 31, 1981; Sept 11 -13, 1988; March 31, 1991; October 20, 1997; December 12, 2012?

A: They are various people’s predictions for the end of world date.

What do these people have in common: Nero, the Pope, Mikhail Gorbachev, Prince Charles, the US President (elect), David Hasselhoff?[1]

A. They were/ are various people’s predictions for the arch-anti-Christ.

Now this next question is a good one. It is a riddle –you’ll have to pay attention. Someone has figured out a way to ‘out’ the beast of Revelation and solve the riddle of ‘666’ – let’s see together of we can solve the riddle and figure out who is the beast of John’s Apocalypse?

Given that 666 is the number of the Beast, First we must break that number down into its component parts in such away that when we add them back together, they will total 666.

I’ll give you this part: 100. 5. 5. 50. 500 .1 .5
Let’s do the math to prove we are right: so we have 100 + 5 =105 + 5 = 110 + 50 = 160+500=660+5+1= 666

So then mathematically proving as we did that these are the component parts of the number of the beast, we will need to translate them into Roman numerals as that was what they wrote with back then: So, does anyone know the symbol for:


100 = C
5 = V
5 = V
50 = L
500 = D
1 = I
5 = V

CV VL DIV

Now if we expand this using new web-based lettering for reassembling fragmented texts, we get the following:

CVT PVRPL DINSVR

Accounting for the fact that Roman lettering had no U and used a V instead and adding the missing vowels, we find out from this the one that the number points to as the beast…it is…

A CUTE PURPLE DINOSAUR; and we all know who the cute purple dinosaur who is leading children astray… Barney the dinosaur! “I love you; you love me!’


This tongue-in-cheek mathematical proof was published in Science Askew in 2001. (see appendix 1)

This is silly right…we all know that an imaginary purple dinosaur is not the Anti-Christ…anymore than David Hasselhoff or the mayor of Tisdale, or whomever.

About the end of times too, our text today (Mark 13:24-37) says clearly in verses 32 and 33: “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come….”

The question is then instead of just hoping and getting ready for Christ’s return, why do so many people waste our time with this end-of-time stuff? I don’t think that I have ever gone an entire year without hearing someone thinking that they are smarter than God incarnate, Jesus, and telling the whole part of the world that they are able to reach that they have solved the puzzle about the end of time.

Not too long ago, I heard an American preacher being played on the local Christian station (Lighthouse FM) going on and on about how the current leader of Syria is the anti-Christ who will usher in the end of times at such and such a date. Before the US invasion of Iraq, I heard of a number of these so-called ‘Christian preachers’ tell people that they know the unknowable day and hour and that Saddam, as their country’s contemporary adversary must be the antichrist. Dante, himself, located many prominent churchmen of his day in Hell, as did some Reformers and Counter-Reformers in the Reformation and Catholics and Orthodox at the time of the East-West Schism…

Why do people profess to know what they do not know? Why do they pretend to know what the Bible records that we cannot know?[2]

I don’t know. After all, of course, we all know from 1 John 2:18ff that we should not be led astray by this kind of talk and John says that there are many antichrists and that anyone who denies Jesus as Lord is an antichrist who must and will be overcome (1 John 2:18, 22; 4:3) and 2 John 2:1-7 says this:

[There are] Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.
If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him. Anyone who welcomes him shares in his wicked work.
Anyone, anyone who does not continue in the faith but rather teaches against it is an antichrist, John says. And Jesus says about this end of times: “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come….”

This is important: I think we often get distracted by adiaphorons,[3] which are matters of indifference really.[4] We get distracted by what Timothy refers to as a ‘vain jangling’ (KJV) or ‘meaningless talk’ (1 Timothy 1:3-8, NIV, NRSV). We really shouldn’t worry about who is an arch-end-of-times-antichrist (should there even be one) or on what date and at what time the world may end (Matt 6:25ff; Luke 12:22ff; cf. Matt 10:19, 13:11; Luke 12:11, 21:14; cf. also, in contrast, Philippians 4:4; cf. Matt 5:12; Luke 6:23; John 16:22; Ro 5; Philippians 2:17-18, 3:1; 1 Pet 4:13) we really must remember that ‘no one knows the time or the hour’ and we must instead just put our hope in the return of Christ and make sure that we are ready for it (Mark 13:22).

Actually as I say this I am reminded of a person I know on the west coast, Michael Collins; he is quite an evangelist. He is a Salvationist and he has a love for the Lord and a passion for souls. He actually does have a rather long spiel where he states the he does know when Jesus is coming back. As part of his spiel he tells us how much he has studied eschatology, the end of times, and that he is convinced that he knows when Jesus is coming back based right in the scriptures (Mt 24:32-35,36-51; 25:1-13, 14-30; Mark 13:28-37,…) He says without a doubt Jesus is coming back and he knows when - He says Jesus is coming back ….. soon. And this is true.

We know this to be true. Jesus will come back like a thief in the night (Matt 24:33; 1 Thess 5:2); he will come back when no one expects him, and he is coming back soon (Mark 13:22;Matt 24:43,44; 25:1-13). And this is the truth of our text today – Jesus says he is coming back and he is coming back soon. Our hope comes from Jesus and our hope will be realised as it is in him; as this is the case, are we ready?

I had mentioned that today is indeed the Christian New Year and New Years is often a time to look forward in hopes of a better world and to reflect upon what has transpired in the year before; As our hope is in Jesus, are we ready for his return?

Do we believe that tomorrow really Jesus might just come back, that the world and/or my life here might end tomorrow? If we did know this for sure would we, would I do anything different?

As our hope is in Christ, we know that if we deny Jesus, he will deny us (Matt 10:33); so looking back today, as we embark on this Christian New Year, how have we done in this past year at being bold for the gospel (Philippians 1)?[5] Have we shown that we have hope in Jesus? And in this New Year ahead how can we show that we have this hope in Jesus? If Jesus comes back this afternoon, are we ready? Will we go with him off to eternal life?

In John, Chapter 3, as we read last week, the Pharisee, Nicodemus, comes to Jesus. Jesus tells him that if he hopes to see the Kingdom of God then he must be born again (of the Spirit) and truly believe in God’s son. (Cf. also John 5, 6, 12, 17:1b-4; Acts 13; Gal 6:8; 1 Tim 1,6; Titus; 1 John.) This past year have we given any reasons for someone to believe that we may have indeed been born again? Are we any different than anyone else? Do we rely on God’s Spirit? And in this year ahead how can we show this hope we have in Jesus?

In Luke 10, someone also asks Jesus what he must do to fulfil the hope of eternal life. Jesus affirms that we must “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’” (Cf. 1 John 3:15). As an example of loving ones neighbour, Jesus tells the parable of the ‘Good Samaritan’ where one puts his life and finances on the line for a stranger when no one else will help him (Luke 10:25-37). This past year how have we done at loving God and loving our neighbours in this way? Have we, in Jesus’ name, put ourselves on the line for others? Do we have this hope in Jesus? In this upcoming Christian year how do we resolve to show this hope we have in Jesus?

Matthew records the parable of the sheep and the goats (Matt 25:31ff.). In this parable two groups of people bow before the Lord as King. One goes off to eternal salvation and the other to eternal damnation; the difference…The one group, whose hopes were realised, served the Lord by, when someone was hungry giving them me something to eat, when one was thirsty giving them something to drink, when someone was a stranger inviting them in, when someone needed clothes clothing them, when someone was sick looking after them, when one was in prison coming to visit him. For we serve the Lord by serving each other in this way. Have we shown that we have this hope in Christ? Let us resolve to serve the Lord this year and that indeed we do have our hope in Christ.

Matthew, Mark, and Luke each record that a rich man asks Jesus this same question about what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus answers here as well, that among other things, we must love our neighbour. The man replies that he has kept all the commandments and loved his neighbour –what else is there he asks, what else? Jesus replies, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” Those who have sacrificed, those who have left their families, possessions, and very lives because of Jesus are indeed the ones whose hope is in the Lord;[6] they are the ones who believe in the Lord; they are the ones who will inherit eternal life (Matthew 19:13-30; Mark 10:17-31; Luke 18).

Have we been willing to, as it says in Matthew 19:29, leave our houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for Jesus’ sake so that we will inherit eternal life. Are we willing to?
How do we show the love for and the hope we have in Jesus?

This is the beginning of the New Year so let’s make a resolution, we know that Jesus is coming back soon; so let us resolve to be ready to meet him by indeed loving him more than ourselves, our earthly families, or our possessions. Let us indeed place our hope in Christ Alone.

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APENDIX 1

Is Barney the Anti-Christ?


Given: Barney is a CUTE PURPLE DINOSAUR
Prove: Barney is satanic


The Romans had no letter 'U', and used 'V' instead for
printing, meaning the Roman representation would for
Barney would be: CVTE PVRPLE DINOSAVR
CVTE PVRPLE DINOSAVR


Extracting the Roman numerals, we have:
C. V. V. L. D. I. V.


And their decimal equivalents are:
100. 5. 5. 50. 500 .1 .5


Adding those numbers produces: 666.
666 is the number of the Beast.


Proved: BARNEY IS SATAN! – (2001 book Science Askew)


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[1] Cf: End of time predictions: http://www.bible.ca/pre-date-setters.htm David Hasselhoff: http://www.esquilax.com/baywatch/ Barney the dinosaur: http://www.comedycorner.org/20.html Gorbachev: Robert Faid 1988 http://www.scatteredsheep.com/perilous_times/antichrist/antichrist.htm Prince Charles, Pope JP II
[2] Whenever I hear someone say that the world will end on this day or that day or so-and –so is the anti-Christ, I wonder if they themselves by intentionally saying what the Bible expresses is not true - sometimes I wonder if indeed these people may indeed be antichrists themselves…at the very least they are very confused.
[3] Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay. 1 Corinthians 7 21-24:Don’t Worry, Be Happy; It’s Just Adiaphoron. Sermon presented to Nipawin and Tisdale Corps on August 31, 2008. Available on-line at: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2008/08/1-corinthians-7-21-24dont-worry-be.html
[4] For example the seemingly endless discussions on ‘pre-trib’, ‘post-trib’, and ‘amillennialism.’
[5] We know that as Jesus says, if we love him we will obey his commands (John 15; cf. Rom 2:7; Jude 1:21)? This includes loving God, loving our neighbour, and laying down our lives for Jesus? How have we done this past year laying down our lives for others and for Jesus? How well have we done at listening to and obeying God’s commands rather then just man’s or our own whims and personal values?
[6]Of all that we have, we are merely managers / stewards anyway; everything of ours ultimately belongs to God.

John 3:16-21: For God so loved the world...

Presented to each the Nipawin and Tisdale Corps 23 November 2008, Swift Current Corps on 12 March 2011, Warehouse Mission on Toronto 07 May 2017 and Alberni Valley Ministries on 18 Aug 2018 by Captain Michael Ramsay

John 3:16 is among the verses in the Bible that almost everyone knows. If people memorize no other verse in the Bible they usually memorize this one. Let’s all say John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son that whosever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life, John 3:16.”

The fact that we pretty much all know it is neat because in this Salvation Army hall today, we have people of many different ages from different parts of the country who were brought up in many different traditions: The Salvation Army –of course- Baptist, Roman Catholic, Apostolic – there are even people here who were raised in the Atheist religion and yet we all know John 3:16 by heart. I think that is neat and it points to its importance. Martin Luther said of John 3:16 that the verse flows like milk and honey and its words are “able to make the sad happy, [and] the dead alive if only the heart believes them firmly”[1] whoever believes in Jesus will not perish but have everlasting life. This is important (cf. TSA d. 6).

Because it is so important, we all know it and indeed we all have seen it many places... There was a time too when it seems that you couldn’t turn on a sporting event even without seeing someone hold up a sign that said ‘John 3:16’ on it. Do you remember that? Has anyone seen that? Do you know the story about how that got started? I ran across a version of this event by Dr. David Wendel when I was doing my research. He says:

A man tried to make his mark on society by attending sporting events, getting on camera, and holding up a sign that said, "John 3:16". The fellow's name is Rollen Stewart, whose story is told in a documentary titled, "The Rainbow Man/John 3:16", made by San Francisco filmmaker, Sam Green.

Steward had problems and it seems Stewart's problems started during his childhood. His parents were alcoholics, his father died when he was seven, his mother was killed in a house fire when he was 15 and that same year his sister was strangled by her boyfriend. Rollen got into drag racing in high school, married his girlfriend, and opened a racing shop. Then his wife left him, he sold the shop, moved to the mountains, became a marijuana farmer, tried to grow the world's longest moustache, and watched a lot of TV.

In 1976, hoping to gain some attention, he had the idea to become famous by constantly popping up in the background of TV sporting events. So, putting on a rainbow-coloured wig and carrying a battery powered TV to keep track of the cameras, he would wait for his moment, then jump in to the camera frame-smiling and giving a big ‘thumbs-up’. It didn’t work.

But in his depression after the 1980 Super Bowl, he had a conversion experience while watching a TV preacher in his hotel room. At which point, he began showing up at sporting events wearing T-shirts emblazoned with "Jesus Saves", and holding that now famous sign which reads, "John 3:16". Later accompanied by his second wife, he spent his time traveling to sporting events around the country, living in his car, existing on just savings and donations. All in all, he figures he was seen at more than a thousand sporting events – Until his wife left him because he supposedly choked her for holding up a sign in the wrong location; his car was totalled by a drunk driver, his money ran out, and he wound up homeless in L.A.

Feeling harassed and convinced that the end was near, he then set off a string of bombs in a church, a Christian bookstore, a newspaper office, and other locations. He sent out apocalyptic letters warning of the end time and compiled a hit list of preachers. On September 22, 1992, Rollen, the man who brought the gospel in John 3:16 to the American sports fan, believing in the Rapture, that it was only six days away, and wanting to make a big media splash, he took a maid and two labourers hostage in an LA airport hotel, and demanded a three-hour press conference. Instead, the police threw in a grenade, kicked down the door, and Rollen is now serving three life-sentences for kidnapping. [2]

As Paul Harvey would say…now you know the REST of the story.

It is interesting that God can use any of us to do His will and any of us, even those of us who have been used by God, can fall to temptation. None of us is immune to temptation. In our world we have seen many people who served the Lord fall. I can remember the 1980s when it seemed for a while that every Christian that ever appeared on TV was winding up in the courts, in jail, in scandals, or just plain in need of special jackets and padded cells.

There have been many people in history who like Mr. Stewart who even after they ‘find God’ – after they realise that God so loved that world that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, that stumble. They turn away from the light into the darkness; they succumb to the world.

John 3:17 records for us that Jesus did not come to condemn the world but rather He came so that the world may be saved through Him. Verse 18 tells us that any of us who actually believe in Jesus are not condemned but saved. Any of us who actually put our faith in Jesus are not condemned. And as we read last week (November 2008), any of us who love Jesus, any of us who are his friends, will naturally do his will which is indeed the will of the Father (John 15:9-17,23; John 14:7-12).

It is interesting that John 3:16 says that Jesus died for the whole world. The Greek word for world here is ‘Kosmos’.[3] It refers to all civilization or all humankind. He died for us all so that we can now all live life abundantly and freely follow God’s will (cf. TSA d. 6). There is no need for any to perish but yet some people do.

Now I must confess to you that this is something that I really do not understand. Unlike Susan and others in this room who have had wonderful turn-arounds in their lives as they moved from Hell to Heaven; damnation to salvation; as they moved from serving themselves to serving God; unlike those that have had these glorious later in life conversion experiences – the Lord permitted me the privilege of never really knowing life without Him. I remember experiencing the warming of my heart, that John Wesley speaks of, as a child of six years old or so. Both before and much since I confess (as there have been many years now) I have sinned. Sure I have made some dramatic mistakes in my life and sure I am only saved, as are we all, by the grace of God. I thank the Lord for His grace in my life and since I was a small child, I have claimed His promise many times that whosever believes in Jesus will not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16) and whoever loves the Lord will obey His commandments (John 14:15). To me this seems so simple. The Gospel (Good News) is so simple. Jesus loves us; whoever loves and obey Jesus will have eternal life.

The question that seems much more difficult for many people though is, ‘Why do people then go to Hell?’ If Jesus loves the whole world and He didn’t come to condemn it but to save us why are some people not saved? Why? If Jesus died for everyone and salvation is so simple – all we have to do is believe in Him – why do some people fall and why do some people, as it says in verse 18, stand condemned?

I imagine that everyone has heard even people who profess to believe in God, claim that they don’t believe in the devil. I imagine everyone here has heard a person claim that they don’t believe in sin. I imagine that everyone here has heard someone declare that they don’t believe in Hell or even in Jesus because, “How can a supposedly loving God condemn people to Hell?”

Well, He doesn’t. You heard me right but listen carefully to what I am saying here… Jesus doesn’t condemn people to Hell. Hell is real but Jesus does not send people there. Those who are going there make that decision all on their own. Those who stand condemned condemn themselves by denying (like the Apostle Paul makes clear in Romans Chapters 1 and 2) what is plainly obvious to everyone.[4] I truly believe that God gives us all we need to know in this life from our experiences and even creation itself (cf. Romans 1:18-24) and indeed there will still be a time when every knee will bow and tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Romans 14:11, Philipians 2:10) and then some, some who believe in the Lord and obey His commandments will go off to spend eternity with Him[5] and some, some who deny Christ (Matthew 10:33) and do not obey His commandments (John 14:15), some who simply refuse His love will go off to the hear the weeping and gnashing of teeth (Mathew 25:31ff). This is sad.

This is particularly sad because we know that God loves us. Verse 3:16 says that He loves the entire ‘Kosmos’.[6] He loves us so much that He laid down His life for us (John 15). God loves us so much that He sent His only begotten, his only natural, his only sired Son to die so that we may live.

I can’t imagine how much this must hurt God that some of us do actually perish. I am a parent. Many of us are parents here. Think about this scenario for a moment. The house across the street is on fire; there are children asleep in that house. Your child is able to save them. Your son or daughter – your ONLY son or daughter can reach them so you encourage her “…Go, go, go! Save those people.”

Your daughter goes. She goes. She suffers every peril in that burning house that everyone else in there is suffering (Cf. 1 Corinthians 10:14; Luke 4). There is the smoke – the deadly smoke, there is the fire, and there are the falling beams. She is successful. She gets to where the children are. She can see them. She is able to make an opening in the wall. She points them to the way out. She yells for them to walk through the opening in the wall. She has made a clear path so that all of the kids can be saved - and then she dies. Your daughter dies so that all these kids can be saved. Your child dies so that none of these kids need to die but – here’s the kicker: the children did not want to be saved. They died. She died so that they could be saved but – on purpose – they died. They did not need to die but they chose not to walk through the opening. They chose to die. Your daughter dies for them and they all die anyway; they refused to be saved.

This is what it is like for God when our loved one’s reject Him. He sent His son to this earth that is perishing. He sent His Son to this house that is on fire – and His Son died so that we may live but yet some still refuse His love for us and some still reject His Salvation. He sent Jesus not to condemn us to burn in the eternal house fire but to save us but like those children some of us refuse to obey Him and walk to safety. Some of us simply refuse to walk through that opening that Jesus died to make. John 3:18: “Those who believe in Him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already…” of their own accord because, 3:19, “people loved darkness rather than light.”

But today for those of us here I want to share the good news of John 3:16-17. Sure the house is on fire, sure Jesus died, but we, as long as we are still breathing have the opportunity to walk through the hole in the wall that He created through His death and resurrection. We can walk through the wall from certain death to certain life. All we need to do is believe in Him, obey Him, and walk through that wall to eternal life with the Father because “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him” (John 3:17). “For God so loved the world that He gave His only [begotten] Son, so that everyone who believe in Him may not perish but may have eternal life” (John 3:16).

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[1] Martin Luther. Quoted in Lenki. P. 258.
[2] The Rev. Dr. David M. Wendel. "John 3:16" Saint Luke's Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado.February 17, 2008: http://www.saintlukes-cs.org/sermons/sermons-2008/Lent_II_08.shtm. Note I have only edited it very slightly here for stylistic purposes.
[3] Gail O’Day. NIB IX: The Gospel of Luke, The Gospel of John. ‘John’, p.552.
[4] Cf. Michael Ramsay. “Paul and the Human Condition as Reflected in Romans 1:18-32 and 2:1-16”. Available on-line at: http://www.sheepspeak.com/NT_Michael_Ramsay.htm#Paul%20and%20the%20Human%20Condition
[5] Cf. N.T. Wright, “Romans and the Theology of Paul,” Pauline Theology, Volume III, ed. David M. Hay & E. Elizabeth Johnson, (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1995): 37.
[6] Gail O’Day. NIB IX: The Gospel of Luke, The Gospel of John. ‘John’, p.552.

John 15:9-17: Greater love has no man...

Presented to each the Nipawin and Tisdale Corps, 15 November 2008
Presented to Swift Current Corps, 08 November 2009
Presented to Warehouse 614, 05 November 2017

Presented to Alberni Valley Ministries, 05 November 2023
by Captain (then Major) Michael Ramsay

Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends, John 15:13.

This is a season of remembrance in the Church. In Canada and other nations that fought in World War One it has been a time to reflect on the sacrifice of our soldiers, and our citizens who lived during that era and the times of conflict since. This is a time to reflect upon sacrifice as in a few very short weeks we are going enter into the advent season where we will remember the coming of Jesus as a small child and look forward – very soon - to His return in power. He lived, sacrificed and died for us, his friends.

Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends, John 15:13.

On November 11, 1918, the armistice was signed to end the Great War, the war to end all wars – the First World War. Canadians, our friends and our family, in service to God, King, and country, marched overseas to lay down their lives for our friends

Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends.

On November 11, 1813, almost 200 years ago now, Canadians repulsed an horrific enemy invasion in the Battle of Crysler Farm – this was the last serious attempt to conquer Canada militarily. We did this with the help of our friends, the British and the First Nations. We laid down our life for our family. They laid down their life for us, their friends. This is outside the timeframe of the State mandate for Canadian Remembrance Day ceremonies as is the Boer War, a few years later (1899-1902), but…

Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends.

On our November 11th ceremonies we remember our friends and families who headed overseas in the World War I and again in what is remembered now as World War II, in service to God, to King, and to country to lay down their lives for their friends. Many of us have friends and family who marched out of Saskatchewan here to offer their lives up for their friends. My grandmother’s brother who left from Silver Stream near here never spoke of the day they were surrounded by the Germans right up until he died a few years ago.

My own grandfather returned home to Saskatchewan from California, where he was working when war broke out, so that he could serve God, King and country in the Second World War. He eagerly grabbed some friends of his from Cut Knife and they drove over the Rockies to enlist. Of all of them that enlisted that day with my grandfather, I believe, only he lived to see the end of the war.

Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends.

The Salvation Army and other volunteers were present in both these wars – in the trenches -offering both support and the love of God to the soldiers.

In World War One The Canadian Salvation Army was part of a ministry that included over 200 recreational huts, 40 rest homes, 96 hostels, and more than 1200 volunteers. The Canadian Salvation Army sent military chaplains to the frontlines and helped operate these huts, canteens, rest facilities, and more.

Of our service in the Second World War, General Harry Crerar - Former Commander of the First Canadian Army, - said, “It would be easier to forget one's name than fail to remember the times without number when the Salvation Army was, in truth, our comforter and friend.”[1]

Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends.

At the conclusion of the Second World War some allies turned foes and some foes turned friends in the Cold War that ensued and again Canadians headed overseas – this time to Korea – to offer our lives on behalf of our allies and to lay down our lives for our friends. We remembered these people this past week, on Remembrance Day.

Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends.

As this Cold War progressed, Canadians continued to stand beside our allies but we also donned blue barrettes for the first time, intentionally standing between warring factions, some with legitimate grievances, protecting and reconciling populations, and still offering our lives for our friends. We remembered them this week as well.

Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends.

2000 years ago, Jesus died on the cross so that we all may live.

Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends.

Now, through the real horrors of the wars of the twentieth century and earlier a great thing happened: Canada’s primary foes during 1814, 1914, and 1944 are now some of our closest friends and allies. Our soldiers laid down their lives for us, their friends. And they laid down their lives so that we could be reconciled to our brothers and sisters. Canada is reconciled to her old foes and united with them more than ever because of the sacrifice of our friends, siblings, parents, grandparents, and our veterans. Thanks be to God for this reconciliation.

Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends.

And, of course, it was through Jesus’ death and resurrection that we all may experience this same reconciliation with God. John 15:13 records a part of Jesus’ farewell discourse to his disciples. He is giving them instructions before he voluntarily marches off to His death for them and for us.

Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends.

Jesus says, verses 12-15:
My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

Jesus laid down his life for us and he now asks the same of us. Do we love our God and do we love our neighbour? Are we experiencing that reconciliation for which He died? Are we a friend of Jesus? We know that if we deny Jesus before the world that He will deny us before the Father (Matthew 10:33). Are we a friend of Jesus? And, if we claim we are, are we willing to lay down our life for our neighbour, for our God, and for our friends like Jesus commands? Jesus after commanding this reminds us that indeed, “You are my friends if you do what I command.”

Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends.

Remember that Jesus died so that we may live. Remember that Jesus died so that we may live lives reconciled with God and with our real family, our brothers and sisters in Christ, the family of God. Remember to that though this Salvation War is won, the battles still rage daily and these seemingly never-ending battles are not merely with flesh and blood but are in reality truly waged against other powers and principalities (Ephesians 16:11-13).

And as in the last couple of weeks we have spoken about tests (2 Corinthians 13) and results of tests (Amos 3:2), John reminds us of the test that Jesus offers to us, He says, “… If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me ” (John 14:23-24). And Jesus said, “Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command.”

Even more than the sacrifice of many of our servicemen and women whom we remembered this past week with real respect and with deep gratitude, Jesus, the Son of God, died so that we can live (and live abundantly) reconciled lives. Jesus laid down his life for us, his friends, and not unlike the sacrifices of many people whom we remembered this past week who died that we may be reconciled with our old foes, Jesus died so that we can be reconciled with God.

Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends.

So today I urge us all not to let Jesus’ death to have been in vain in our own lives. If there is anything between our neighbour and us, if there is anything standing in the way of our reconciliation, today let us lay it aside. If there is any aspect of our lives that we have not offered up fully to God so that we are not fully living out that reconciliation with God, today let us cast it aside. If there is any sin in our life that we have not confessed to God, let us today take this time, confess it to Him, and experience the abundant joy that comes with reconciliation.

If there are any here today who have in our lives not been living to keep His commandments, if there are any here today who have not been willing to lay down their lives for each other and for God, I invite anyone here today to come forward and pray at the cross of Jesus. May we never forget His sacrifice.

Greater love has no one than to lay down his life for his friends.
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[1] http://www.civilization.ca/splash.html

Amos 3:2: ...Therefore I Will Punish You

Presented to each the Nipawin and Tisdale Corps 09 November 2008
by Captain Michael Ramsay

2 Corinthians 13:5-7: “Examine yourselves to see whether you are living by faith. Test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ is in you? – unless, indeed, you fail to meet the test. I hope that you will find that you will not fail.”

Reading this made me realize that we have not had a test in a while – so in the spirit of Disneyworld from where we have just returned I have a little riddle for you.

Show pictures of Captain Hook and other Pirates.

If you saw a ship like this with a crew of men with hooks for hands, pegs for legs, and patches over their eyes ....

What do you think would be on their flag?

Artificial legs, hands, and missing eyes…













Today I was specifically going to speak about the test we read about in 2 Corinthians but I thought that this related to an area that I have studied quite a bit over the years that might provide a good bit of background for us first with another test of sorts – or at least the results of one: Amos three verse two. I think we might find that it actually does relate to our test of 2 Corinthians, which we should get an opportunity to look at in a couple of weeks.

Amos 3:2 states that: You only have I known (chosen, NIV) of all the families of the earth, therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.

Amos was a prophet sometime around 750-760 BCE – Israel was spilt into 2 countries at this time: Israel and Judah [Uzziah was the King of Judah and Jereboam was the King of Israel.][1] After the death of Solomon, you will remember, Israel had a civil war and broke into North and South sort of like the American civil war with the Confederacy vs. the Union, or North and South Vietnam before they were unified under Ho Chi Min, or North and South Korea, China and Taiwan of today, or East and West Germany of the Cold War. Like the Germans, they really are one people, Israel and Judah, they are just politically divided right now[2] when Amos gives his message and he really does address them here as one people, a people chosen by God.[3]

That being said it is interesting because Israel is divided in the time of Amos like Germany was during the Cold War. Amos was from the South and he came with his message that God was going to punish the people but he told that message to the king of the North. That would be like someone from East Germany going to the West Germans to tell them that God was going to punish them – or like someone from New York bringing this message to Texas, or even someone from Quebec bringing that message to the prairies. It just wouldn’t be appreciated and it wasn’t.[4]

Nonetheless this message of Amos is for all of God’s people here (and I submit now, as well) and He says, “You only have I known (chosen, NIV) of all the families of the earth, therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.”

The word for known/chosen here is ‘yada’ and it refers to an intimate kind of relationship. It is like when elsewhere in the Old Testament people ‘know’ their wives or husbands. It is the same way God said that he knew/chose Jeremiah even before he was born. It refers to the very intimate purpose for which Israel was chosen that, as inheritors of Abraham’s promise (Gen 12:3), all the nations of the earth would be blessed through them. This was what they were elected for; this is what made them special, the fact that God knew them and that He specifically chose to bless the world through Abraham, Isaac and Israel - which He did. He fulfilled His promise for the world (John 3:16) to Abraham through Israel by Jesus Christ.

There was more than this too. God not only promised his people chosen for this object that all the nations of the earth would be blessed through them (Gen 12:3), which was completed as Jesus declared ‘it is finished’ on the cross (John 19:30) and later rose from the dead. This covenant purpose is fulfilled (cf. Matt 5:18) but that happens long after Amos and there was another part their election that Amos was looking at too. Israel held very tightly to the promise that they would possess their promised land (Gen 15; Exod 19:5).[5] They held so tightly to this that, it seems, that at times they forgot that the acquisition of their promised land was fulfilled already and, if anything, the retention of it was conditional (cf. Amos 3:15).[6]

It is like a parent promising her child dessert if she cleans her room. She only actually gets the dessert if the room is actually clean!

Like this, with Amos’ Israel, if they remain faithful they will reap the benefits of their covenant but if they don’t, precisely because “You only have I known (chosen, NIV) of all the families of the earth, therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.” Now remember that the word for ‘known’ is ‘yada’; this word also means ‘chosen’ and this special ‘yada’ relationship goes both ways. If Israel is faithful they receive the due rewards but if not – precisely because He ‘yada’ knows them in this way –God will punish Israel for failing to do what they are ‘yada’ chosen to do.

It is like a parent speaking to her child again…I have spent a lot of time with my children these past two weeks… the child who has friends over complains that she is the only one to ever get in trouble. She says everyone else was yelling – or using paints in their good clothes or hitting their sister or whatever –no one else helped clean her room so why is she the only one who doesn’t get dessert when her room isn’t clean …Because you are my child and the others aren’t and I asked you specifically to clean your room, that’s why. It is because our children are ‘yada’ known by us, their parents, and ‘yada’ chosen by us for obedience that they get in trouble for their iniquities.

It is the same with the Roughriders fans, they aren’t going to punish the BC Lions quarterback for a terrible pass because they haven’t ‘yada’ chosen or even cheered for him to make that pass but when the Roughriders make a serious mistake…it is a different story. The Calgary Flames too provide an example of this in that often boo their own team when they have a bad game in a way that they don’t boo visitors.

Likewise in the churches today: we know that going to church and doing the right things won’t save anyone from hell. It is being part of God’s family that saves us. It is who we know and what He did for us that gets us into heaven but once He has let us in, we should follow His house rules. If we refuse to follow our Heavenly Father than it is like we are rejecting Him and there are consequences for that: Amos 3:2: “You only have I known (chosen, NIV) of all the families of the earth, therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.”

It is the same with Israel in Amos’ time (cf. Lamentations 4:22; Ezekiel 34; Joel 2:18ff; Matt 25:31ff.). When they are chosen, when we are elected for a task there are certain house rules, certain responsibilities that come with it. Amos mentions in 2:6ff some of these responsibilities.[7]

6 This is what the LORD says:


"For three sins of Israel,
even for four, I will not turn back {my wrath}.
They sell the righteous for silver,
and the needy for a pair of sandals.
7 They trample on the heads of the poor
as upon the dust of the ground
and deny justice to the oppressed.
Father and son use the same girl
and so profane my holy name.
8 They lie down beside every altar
on garments taken in pledge.
In the house of their god
they drink wine taken as fines.
9 "I destroyed the Amorite before them,
though he was tall as the cedars
and strong as the oaks.
I destroyed his fruit above
and his roots below.
10 "I brought you up out of Egypt,
and I led you forty years in the desert
to give you the land of the Amorites.
11 I also raised up prophets from among your sons
and Nazirites from among your young men.
Is this not true, people of Israel?"
declares the LORD.
12 "But you made the Nazirites drink wine
and commanded the prophets not to prophesy.

What are the sins of God’s chosen people for which he will not turn back his wrath (Amos 2:6) for which He will punish them?

They value capital more than social; they value money and possessions more than people. The way the nation of Israel was set up at that time some could amass wealth (silver) well others were left to become poor (Amos 2:6) – maybe like some countries or churches in this day and age that claim or once claimed to be Christian. Israel’s (maybe not unlike some countries/churches of today) economic and political system had come to be in such a state that only the wealthy could afford justice (verse 7) and that rather than using the wealth that God has given them to help the poor they use it to indulge themselves (cf. Amos 4:3) and in the process profane the name of God.

It is interesting: 2:7, Amos speaks of father and son using the same girl and Verse 8 talks about them lying down beside the altar itself on clothes taken in pledge [and then it says that they also take what is offered to God in the way of a ‘fine wine’]. In Mosaic Law (Dt 24:12 ;Exod 22:25-27, 23:11),God makes it clear that He has a special affinity for the poor (cf. Exod 23:11; Prov 29:14; Isa 10:2, 11:4. 41:17; 58:7,…) who will always be with us (Matt 26:11, Mark 14:7); [it is probably to ensure that as his children we reflect His special love for them].

In Exodus 22:25-27 (cf. Dt 24:12), It states point-blank that one is not supposed to charge interest on loans to the poor and that if their coats are taken as collateral they must be returned by sundown.

Verses 7 and 8 of our text say: “…Father and son use the same girl and so profane my holy name. They lie down beside every altar on [these] garments taken in pledge.” Amos is accusing God’s chosen people here of defiling His temple and forsaking the poor: failing to love their neighbour, and failing to love God.[8]

Now because God ‘yada’ knows Israel and as a result of its unfaithfulness and this neglect for their poorer neighbour, the Israelites are removed from the land promised to them. They didn’t clean their room before dinner and so they did not get the dessert that was prepared for them. Their continued blessing in this way here is conditional: their being chosen in and of itself certainly does not save them from God’s wrath anymore than someone else’s not being chosen. God, after all, desires that not one should be lost.

But because, Amos 3:2, “You only have I known (chosen, NIV) of all the families of the earth, therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities,” it means that Israel’s and our election - because we are grafted into the promise (Romans 11) – our ‘election’ does not mean protection from God’s wrath if we continue to disobey Him and/or our election is truly conditional upon upholding our part of the agreement (James 2). Being the chosen people, or simply calling ourselves Christian, is really no protection from the wrath of God (cf. Romans 2).[9]

And even more that that: As you and I have been chosen for a relationship and a task, if we wilfully neglect that (Matt 25:31ff.), like the goats in the parable of the sheep and the goats, we will be cast away to where there is a weeping and a gnashing of teeth because ‘you only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.’

But too we remember that as we are His children, God doesn’t want to cast us away. He loves us and as it says in proverbs, “spare the rod and spoil the child” (cf. Prov. 22:15, 23:13, 29:15). His discipline in our lives is because He loves us and so that we will not neglect our neighbour, our God, and our own salvation. It is because He loves us, because He knows us of all the families on the earth that indeed He disciplines us.

We know that are saved because of what Jesus did for us on the cross; and we know that because He knows and loves us, if we sin, there are consequences because God is faithful (cf. Rom 3:3,4) and He doesn’t want us to be cast aside. He disciplines us when we do wrong, always giving us opportunity to repent, always hoping that we will return again to loving and serving Him.

The book of Amos itself even ends on a note of reconciliation. Israel was faithless but God is faithful and this is an important. Even though Israel sinned and forfeited their promised land, Amos does point to the hope of a future restoration[10] and that future restoration is in Christ. So as sure as when we are unfaithful we are deserving of punishment, as we return to God, and as we love our neighbour as ourselves, God is faithful and He will forgive us our sins and we will experience the full benefits of our covenant with God.

Even though Israel sinned and was removed from their promised land, even though humankind sinned and Jesus died for those sins.[11] Even though we are sometimes faithless and our works do not always reflect our status, God is faithful. He will never leave us nor forsake us. As long as we have a breath in our body we have to opportunity to return to God and be saved!

Let us pray.


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[1] Karl Moller. “‘Hear This Word Against You’: a Fresh Look at the Arrangement and the Rhetorical Strategy of the Book of Amos,” Vetus Testamentum 50, no. 4 (2000):343
[2] And his prophecy, when he says ‘you only have I known among the nations’ – his message is meant for both Israel and Judah. It is addressed to greater Israel as it were.
[3] Douglas Stuart, Amos. (Word Biblical Commentary 31. Waco, Texas: Word Books, 1987), 321.
[4] cf. Donald E. Gowan, Amos. (NIB 7. Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon Press, 1996),340 and Roland Kenneth Harrison. Introduction to the Old Testament. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1977),884.
[5] Cf. Thomas E. McComiskey, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Amos/Introduction to Amos/Theological Values of Amos/The doctrine of election in Amos, Book Version: 4.0.2
[6] cf. Donald E. Gowan, Amos. (TNIB 7. Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon Press, 1996), 383, 347; Douglas Stuart. Amos. (WBC 31: Waco, Texas: Word Books, 1987), 333, 338, 368;
[7] This is important but not only for Israel but also for us as well because some of these things that Amos tells Israel that they are responsible for as the people chosen to fulfil God’s blessing to the world, Matthew tells us that we are responsible for too as inheritors of that great commission (cf. Matt 25:31ff; 28:16ff).
[8] And if we flip to the first paragraph of Chapter Four, it is stated explicitly why Israel is to be punished and what shall be its punishment. It is because even though God has offered them a special covenant, they oppress the poor, crush the needy, indulge themselves at the expense of the poor and as a result, it is written that “the Lord God has sworn by his holiness: The time is surely coming upon you, when they shall take you away with hooks, even the last of you with fishhooks.” Israel was chosen for a purpose and with that comes responsibility. We are chosen and with that comes a responsibility as well: because ‘you only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.’
[9] http://www.sheepspeak.com/OT_Michael_Ramsay.htm
[10]http://www.sheepspeak.com/OT_Michael_Ramsay.htm#therefore%20I%20will%20punish%20you
[11] Michael Ramsay. Covenant: When God is Bound...a look at Genesis 15:7-21. Journal of Aggressive Christianity, Issue 52, December 2007 – January 2008, pp 5-10. Available on-line at http://www.armybarmy.com/pdf/JAC_Issue_052.pdf