C276 9/10/61
© Project Winsome International, 2000
THE BENEDICTION
Dr. John Allan Lavender
2 Cor. 13:14
In the last verse of the last chapter of Paul's last letter to the Corinthians -- a little flock of
Christians for whom he felt such a special love, and to whom he had given so much of himself
over the years -- in the last lines of this last letter, Paul reaches down into that vast reservoir of
spiritual knowledge and insight which were his, in an endeavor to place a special seal of blessing
upon these people he so dearly loved in the Lord. The result is the apostolic benediction, one of
the grandest and noblest prayers ever raised on behalf of the children of men.
As I thought of what I might say to you this morning -- what final blessing I might bestow upon
you, what legacy of love I might leave with you -- I concluded there isn't anything I want more
for you than that for which Paul asked as he prayed for his beloved church in Corinth. Finally--
"May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship
of the Holy Spirit, be with you all."
The Grace Of The Lord Jesus Christ
It's not insignificant that this apostolic blessing begins on such a triumphant fashion with, "the
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ." For, it is only through the grace of our Savior that we can even
begin to understand the love of God, or comprehend the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.
A little boy who was a bit fearful of the dark, asked his mother to stay with him in the room. She
held him tightly for a time and then said,
"Now, darling, mother has some things to do. But don't be afraid, sonny, God will be with you
in the dark." To which the child replied, "Yes, but I want somebody with a face."
He voiced the feeling of us all, didn't he? All of us have been troubled at times by the vagueness,
the intangibility, the impersonal nature of such intellectually stimulating, but often emotionally
stultifying phrases, as, "God is spirit." We want and we need something more than a cosmic
"it." A god who is a vague, distant blur. We want and we need something or someone to make
the vague personal, and the distant approachable. That's what Jesus does. He gives God a face.
And each time we look upon the countenance of Christ, the unknown becomes knowable, the
vague becomes real, the distant becomes near.
Not all of the great God omnipotent was in Jesus. His omnipresence, for instance. When "the
word became flesh," Jesus was forced to accept certain limitations. He could not be everywhere
at once, as witnessed in the death of Lazarus. Jesus was in Jericho when word came that his good
friend Lazarus was sick in Bethany. "If you had been here, my brother would not have died,"
wailed Mary. But "flesh" is incapable of omnipresence. Jesus couldn't be in Bethany because he
was somewhere else at the time. So all of the great God omnipotent was not in Christ.
But, and this is the important part, all of him we need was there! And, he was there in a way
which we can perceive and to which we can respond. Jesus gives God a face! And oh, what a
face it is! It's a face full of poise and power. A face full of such grace and glory so the dear Lord
Jesus could say without the slightest trace of arrogance, "Look at me! He who has seen me, has
seen the Father."
When, as part of my legacy of love, I leave with you "the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ," I am
not leaving you an empty phrase. I am offering you the same power and glory and goodness of
God which was in Jesus himself, so you will have --
a physician to heal you,
a counselor to advise you,
a captain to defend you,
a prophet to teach you,
a priest to make atonement of you,
a brother to be with you,
a leader to guide you,
a friend to enrich you, and best of all,
a Savior to cleanse you and salvage you, strengthen and empower you.
Through the ever present and always sufficient "grace of the Lord Jesus Christ" there will be no
temptation so tough, no problem so perilous, no sickness so serious, no sin so sinister, which you
cannot meet victoriously
Henry Morehouse, one of our great Baptist pioneers, returned home from a trip one evening,
carrying a present for his wife. He was greeted by his little daughter who was lame. When she
saw the package she asked if she could carry it in and give it to her mother.
With the tenderness and gentleness of a father's love, Dr. Morehouse said, "But, darling, you
know you can't carry it." He was thinking of her lameness. "Give it to me and see," she
challenged him. So he handed the package to her. "Now," she said, "I'll carry it, and you carry
me."
That's it isn't it? That's how to deal with your burdens. If a weight is placed upon you, don't
shun it. Pick it up just long enough to carry it to Jesus, knowing he will carry you and it. That
underneath are the everlasting arms of an all-sufficient grace which make you more than
conqueror. It' true, as Jesus said, "Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." But it's also true
that, "Sufficient unto the evil is the 'grace of Christ of the Lord Jesus' which I leave with you."
"His grace is great enough to meet the big things,
The crashing waves which overwhelm your soul,
The roaring waves which leave you stunned and breathless,
The sudden storm beyond your life's control.
And,
"His grace is great enough to meet the small things,
The little pin-prick troubles that annoy,
The insect worries buzzing and persistent,
The squeaking wheels which grate upon your joy."
It is this grace -- "the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ" -- grace sufficient for every need and every
situation which is part of the legacy I leave with you. Receive it fully, and use it well.
The Love of God
There's a second blessing included in my bequest to you, my dear ones whom I cherish in the
Lord, and it's "the love of God."
The other day I heard someone say, somewhat capriciously, but also quite seriously, "I love
Jesus, but I don't like God!" She was reflecting an emotional response which many folk feel as
they think of such things as his judgment of sin seen so clearly in the death of Jesus on the cross.
I remember hearing her say, "A good God wouldn't make that happen!" What she was forgetting
is that God didn't make that happen.
Jesus was under no compulsion. He didn't have to die. Jesus was a willing sufferer. Had he so
desired, Jesus could have summoned ten-thousand angels with a word, and scattered Herod and
Pilate and their puny armies like chaff before the wind. But no! Jesus was a willing sufferer.
His heart was set on the salvation of sinners. He was bound and determined to open a fountain of
cleansing from all sin by the shedding of his own precious blood.
But even more than the fact that Jesus was a willing sufferer, and under no coercion to bear the
cross, those who look upon that cross and say, "I love Jesus, but I don't like God," are forgetting
it was that his own Son who died there
Not the cattle on a thousand hills which are his, for such a gift would cost God nothing. Not the
silver and the gold of the earth which are his, for such a gift would cost God less. But God so
loved the world that he gave his son. His own son. His only son. And that cost everything.
Over in the fifth chapter of Romans, Paul says some might be willing to die for a really righteous
man, and a few might be willing to die for a good man, but that, "God commended his love
toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us" (Rom. 5:7-8).
I don't think I ever really understood the impact of that verse, or the meaning of God's loving gift
of his Son, until I had a son of my own. Then I realized there are very few people for whom I
would be willing to let Jeff die. And most assurredly, there are a multitude of people for whom I
would be unwilling to give him up. Like those drug dealers we've been hearing about on TV.
Would I be willing to give my son for the sake of those greedy exploiters of human weakness?
Absolutely not!
Oh, I suppose, if I could be sure each and every one of them would respond to my love and allow
their lives to be changed, maybe, just maybe, I'd give him up. But I seriously doubt it. But, if I
knew many, if not most of them would reject my love, would spurn my only son, would make a
mockery of my sacrifice, would turn his name into an ugly curse, then, you can bet your bottom
dollar I would not give my only son to die under those conditions. But that's exactly what God
did! And it wasn't a guess on his part, that many, if not most, of mankind would reject his son.
With divine foreknowledge he knew with absolute certainty they would.
Nor was it a case of God giving this crown jewel of glory for the good and righteousness of the
earth. No, No, No! It was "while we were yet sinners" that Christ died. And yet --
knowing people would spurn his son,
knowing they would trample his love under their feet,
knowing they would take the precious name of Jesus Christ and turn it into a cruse,
knowing all of that, "God so loved the world he gave his only son" to die for us. I ask you, "Is
there any greater love than this?" No! There isn't! Well, that's the love I leave with you. "The
love of God."
In the Old Testament story, when Abraham was about to offer up his son Isaac, as a human
sacrifice, God stopped Abraham's hand and gave him a lamb to be sacrificed instead. But when
it came to God's turn to sacrifice his son, he didn't stay his own hand. He didn't stop! He didn't
offer a substitute sacrifice. He gave -- for your sake and mine -- the dearest, sweetest, finest,
grandest treasure of his heart.
And it's that God of love, and that love of God, that I leave with you. It's that boundless,
quenchless, ageless, endless, measureless love, of a God of love for sinners like you and me, that
I give to you. A love which found it's final and true fulfillment in the giving of God's best for
our worst. Excuse me, but hallelujah!
"The love of God is greater far, than tongue or pen can ever tell.
It goes beyond the highest star, and reaches to the lowest hell.
Could we with ink the oceans fill, and were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill, and every man a scribe by trade,
To write the love of God above, would drain the oceans dry,
Nor could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky.
Oh love of God, how rich and pure, how measureless and strong,
It shall forevermore endure, the saints and angels song"
The Fellowship of The Holy Spirit
Last, but certainly not least, I leave with you, "The fellowship of the Holy Spirit." That word
"fellowship" is terribly important. I love the story of the married couple who, on a trip, stopped
at a cottage which bore a sign reading, "ANTIQUES." Two old ladies ushered them into the
living room and offered them tea. When the wife asked to see the antiques, one of them said
shyly, "You're looking at them!"
The two women had been lonely, and longed for fellowship, so they devised this lovely way of
getting it. "We've made so many friends," the other old lady said, "We just know God isn't
angry with our little trick." Of course he isn't! God knows our need of fellowship. He made us
for fellowship with others, as well as himself.
God knew there'd be times when we'd be lonely and fearful. When we'd be "homesick for
heaven." When we'd be disturbed by a feeling of his far-off-ness. When -- even though Jesus
gave him a face -- the 2,000 years separating us from him would loom large. God made us for
fellowship, and he knew there'd be times when we hunger for him. So he gave himself to us in a
way which transcends time and space. Through the Holy Spirit, who is not hampered by a
human frame as Jesus was, God is able to be with each of us -- equally, everywhere! -- all the
time .
He is with us here this morning in our little corner of the world., and at the same time he is with
every other believer in their part of the world. And oh, I could not hope nor wish more, than that
each and every one of you will have that deeper experience of the Christian life which only
comes through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit in fullness.
It's through him you have intimate and immediate fellowship with God. It's through him you
discover God is never far away. That his center is everywhere and his boundaries are nowhere.
It's through him you learn that with God there is no elsewhere, there is only an eternal here. That
with God there is no past or future, there is only an eternal now!
While God becomes clearest in the person of son, he becomes nearest to the person of his Holy
Spirit. If you will draw near to him, not spatially, but spiritually and emotionally, he will draw
near to you. And you will know, once again, the sweet fellowship and companionship of him
who said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."
Will you not learn to pray daily in the words of another, "Come Holy Spirit --
Replace the tension within me with a holy serenity.
Replace the turbulence within me with a sacred calm;
Replace the anxiety within me with a quiet confidence.
Replace the fear within me with an abiding faith.
Straighten my crookedness.
Fill my emptiness.
Dull the edge of my pride.
Sharpen the edge of my humility.
Light the fires of my love.
Quench the flames of my lust.
Let me see myself as you see me,
That I may see you, as you have promised."
This then is the legacy I leave with you. The blessing I bestow upon each of you individually,
and all of you collectively. Finally, and oh that word stick in my throat, finally --
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be
with you all, now and always!
Amen.