LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2007, Page 102

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102

CONVENTION BIBLE STUDIES

of saints in which the Gospel is taught purely and the
sacraments are administered rightly.” It’s the place where
God’s love is here dispensed on earth in the waters flowing
from Holy Baptism and in the bread of life broken at His
feast of love. It’s all there in verse 3:
Here see the Bread of Life; see waters flowing
Forth from the throne of God, pure from above,
Come to the feast of love; come, ever knowing
Earth has no sorrow but Heav’n can remove.

There is not much time allotted to our Bible study, but
there is enough for you to respond for a moment to a simple
topic of conversation. Talk for a moment in table groups
about how important it is to be a church for those who
know their desperate condition, for the broken, the contrite,
the sorrowful faithful, the searching lost, the prodigal coming home, the wandering seeking the way. Talk about this
question:
In 2007, what are the great hurts we see within the
church? In your congregation, how must the love of Christ
be most generously shared?
[Short time of discussion]
We have talked thus far about the broken desperate.
Now let’s turn our attention to the ignorant desperate.
By that I mean they are living in ignorant bliss. They believe that they are in total and complete control of their
lives, when, in fact, their lives are built on not one single
thing that will last, that will endure. Their lives are built
on the shifting sands of unbelief. We are here this morning
to celebrate that on this side of eternity, God’s love is here
for them too.

II. His Love Is Here for Those Who Don’t
Know How Desperate They Are.
Acts chapter 4 begins with these words: “The Priests and
the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon
Peter and John, annoyed because they were teaching the
people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the
dead. And they arrested them.”
Far more numerous than the broken desperate within
the church or looking to the church are the desperate ignorant, who are trying in this present time to destroy the
church. They have chosen another road, a road that leads
the soul away from God. And in such a road, there is no
happiness; no hope; only desperation. So begins my second
old favorite hymn. It’s a little more familiar than the first
one, and I believe it’s another great hymn to be sung at a
Christian’s funeral. At least at mine.
Let thoughtless thousands choose the road
That leads the soul away from God;
This happiness, dear Lord, be mine,
To live and die entirely Thine.

The closer I get to my funeral, that is to say the older I
get, these desperate ignorant are the people I am more and
more concerned about. In a Bible Study years ago, led by
President Emeritus Ralph Bohlmann, I recall him taking
us on a journey through Acts, chapter 4, and zeroing in on
all the verses that spoke about the boldness and the power
with which Peter and John spoke to the desperately ignorant. Come on that journey with me:
2007 Convention Proceedings

V. 12: No one else can save us. We can be saved only by
the power of the one named Jesus.
V. 20: We cannot but speak of what we have seen and
heard.
V. 29: Lord, pay attention to their threats and allow us to
speak Your word boldly.
V. 31: All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and
continued to speak the Word of God boldly.
V. 33: With great power they continued to testify that the
Lord Jesus had come back to life.
And I love verse 13: “Now when they saw the boldness of
Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated,
common men, they wondered; and they recognized that they
had been with Jesus.”
Speaking of funerals, that would be great on a tombstone, wouldn’t it? He was an uneducated common
preacher, but you could tell he had been with Jesus. Not
bad, huh? Verse 2:
On Christ, by faith, I fain would live,
From Him my life, my all, receive,
To Him devote my fleeting hours,
Serve Him alone with all my pow’rs.

And what must be our message to the desperate ignorant? They have to hear about Jesus. Take them to the
cross and the open tomb. That’s where Peter took them:
“You want to know how this crippled was made well? This
man stands in your presence healed by the power of Jesus
Christ from Nazareth. You crucified Jesus Christ, but God
has brought him back to life. He is the stone the builders rejected, the stone that has become the cornerstone. And there
is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under
heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Verse 3:
Christ is my everlasting All;
To Him I look, on Him I call;
He will my ev’ry want supply
In time and thro’ eternity.

And what, pray tell me, are we waiting for? The late Ed
Wescott would spur this church on in mission by reminding us that Revelation chapter 12 tells us the devil is all
over this planet working like crazy because he knows that
his time is short. Would that the church be as zealous as we
set our priorities. Would that I at the beginning of my pastoral ministry had been as concerned about the desperately
ignorant as I am today. Would that our budgets would reflect a more passionate zeal for reaching the lost while it is
yet day, before the night comes—and that night is coming.
I don’t know if this church has until 2017 to reach 100 million people. For my sake, I wish Christ would come today.
For the redeemed, dying is gain. But for the sake of the desperately ignorant, I pray that the Lord be long-suffering
with them for their unbelief and with us for our apathy.
And until the Lord’s patience with them and us runs out,
we still need to live and love and work and serve and care
and share—for to live is Christ! Verse 4:
Soon will the Lord, my Life, appear;
Soon shall I end my trials here,
Leave sin and sorrow, death and pain.
To live is Christ, to die is gain.