Christ Memorial Church

Like A Tree

Week 64

How’s your thought life?  What’s been on your mind lately?  Are you worried, fearful or confused?  Are you wrestling with greed, evil desires or lust? 

We are what we think, so let’s think about how we can improve our thought life.

Last week the Bible told us that Christmas gives us the best love in the world, and today we learn that Christmas gives us the best name in the world.

Listen to this word from God:  “Then those who revered the LORD spoke with one another.  The Lord took note and listened, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who revered the LORD and thought on his name” (Malachi 3:16).

These Old Testament saints didn’t merely believe in God, they “thought on His name,” and this name can improve your thought life if you esteem, treasure, and consider it.

Do you know what God’s favorite name is?  Jesus Christ.  “And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.  He will be great, and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David” (Luke 1:31).

Let me share with you what happens to someone who thinks a lot about Jesus.

Think often on the name of Jesus Christ and you will discover that you are being claimed by God.

Malachi presents a court room scene where God, the judge, is looking for evidence that people truly belong to Him.  In 3:13-15 we read of Israelites who did not think on His name and turned their backs on God, but in verses 16-18 we meet a faithful remnant of believers who thought often on His name.  Then, in verse 17, God says that those who think on His name “shall be…my special possession on the day when I act…”

The more you think on the name of Jesus Christ, the more you discover that God has claimed you.  Jesus is the way to God, and the more you think on the person of Jesus, the more confident you become that you belong to God.  Little thoughts of Jesus mean little confidence that you belong to God.  Big thoughts of Jesus mean big confidence that you belong to God.

The Bible teaches that God’s grace has claimed His children from sin, Satan and death.  They do not own us anymore; God does. 

“What is your only comfort in life and in death?’ asks the first question of the Heidelberg Catechism.  The answer is absolutely beautiful:  “That I am not my own, but belong, in body and soul, in life and in death, to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.”

Your car isn’t your only comfort in life and in death.  Your home isn’t.  Your good grades aren’t.  Your handsome or beautiful looks will never be your only comfort in life and in death.  Neither will your bank account or popularity.

Only Jesus Christ can fulfill the role of eternal comforter in your life.  So think often about the name of Jesus Christ and you will sing, “Blessed assurance Jesus is mine.  Oh what a foretaste of glory divine.  Heir of salvation, purchased of God, born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.”   Do you want greater assurance of your salvation?  Then think often on the strong name of Jesus Christ.

Think often on the name of Jesus Christ and you will discover that you are being made holy by God.

As these Old Testament believers thought on God’s name, God did something in their lives.  We read in verse 17 that they were God’s “special possession” and in verse 18 that one day “you shall see the difference between the righteous and the wicked.”

Malachi is teaching us that over the years God made them holy and righteous.  God sanctified their thought life and behavior.  In other words, they were transformed in Christ’s likeness from “one degree of glory to another” (See 2 Corinthians 3:18).

The name of Jesus Christ is so holy that He makes everything He touches beautiful.  That’s why the prophet Zechariah tell us that one day pots and pans will have written on them “holy to the Lord” (Zechariah 14:20-21).

Never forget this:  Those God claims, God consecrates.  God makes all things about your life and mine holy and beautiful in His time.

Jesus’ name is strong enough to purify your thought life.  Sometimes such evil and ugly thoughts come into my mind that I cry out, “Lord, where did this terrible thought come from? I didn’t ask for it and I don’t want it.” 

Such wicked thoughts come from Satan and our sinful nature, along with the ungodly influences of this world.  Sometimes it feels like thoughts straight from the pit of hell bellow out of our hearts.  Sometimes it feels like we are a sinful cauldron of evil boiling over from the very bowels of the abyss itself.

This morning I went for a walk before the sun rose.  The evening snow blanketed the earth, and there was not yet a footprint on the sidewalks or a tire track on the road.  But even though the snow was beautiful, I slipped several times on my walk.  Why?  Because just beneath the surface of the virgin snow was dangerous ice.  I couldn’t see it, but it was there.  And when I least expected it, the ice took my feet out from underneath me. 

Similarly, just beneath our beautiful clothes or friendly smiles or chiseled frames or gorgeous features there lurks the danger of our fallen, sinful hearts ready to spew forth who knows what kind of terrible thoughts or words.

What are we to do?  Think on the name of Jesus Christ.  Nothing else will answer the Devil’s assaults on your purity.  Why?  First, the name of Jesus Christ is like a filter through which you can sift whether a thought is from God or not.  Second, the name of Jesus Christ is like a lens through which you view all of life, from computer and television to music and movies, through the character and strong name of Jesus. 

Christ, and Christ alone, can arrest your impure thoughts, put them in jail, and free your mind to enjoy purity once again.  Christ alone can give you eyes to love the unlovable and to see even those who hurt you as broken and wounded.

“Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things” (Philippians 4:8).

Jesus is all of the above, and when you think often on his name your mind is made holy and pure over time.

Think often on the name of Jesus Christ and you will discover that you are being upheld by God.

Malachi 3:16-18 reminds us that God upholds and carries His children.  “I will spare them,” says God.  In other words, I will uphold them on judgment day.  “Then once more you shall see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.”

What Malachi is saying is this:  What God starts, God finishes!

God upholds and carries His children through trials and through this godless world.  The good news of the gospel is that God will carry us “even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death.”

What comfort it is to know that God will hold onto us and never let us go.  “I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).  “He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 1:8).

Brenna Manning tells the story of a family whose house caught on fire.  As everyone was leaving the house, the youngest son slipped away, ran upstairs to his bedroom and shut the door.  Just as the parents noticed that all their children were out of the house but one, they heard their son’s voice from the upstairs window call out, “Dad, dad, I’m up here.”  The Father said to his boy, “Jump, son, and I’ll catch you.”  But with all the smoke and heat from the fire the young boy cried, “I can’t see you.”  Then the father shouted back, “But I can see you! Jump.”  And with that the boy jumped safely into the strong arms of his father and was carried to safety.

No matter what you are going through this Christmas, God is with you in Jesus Christ.  You may not know why something is going on in your life.  You may not be able to see why God has allowed something to happen to you.  Perhaps you pray and pray and nothing seems to change.

Please never forget that God sees you and is waiting for you to jump into His arms so He can carry you to safety. 

Think often on the strong name of Jesus Christ, my friend, and you will discover that you are being claimed, made holy, and upheld by God.

Until next week,

Pastor Mike