Eric Ludy Sermon Podcast: Church At Ellerslie

The Old Ground is the place where lame walk and blind see. It's the place where the poor and the least are seen as royalty. It's the place where a handful of fish and bread feed a multitude of hungry. It's the place where helpless little lambs gain the faces of lions and march victoriously on the gates of hell. It's the place of God's presence in a flame of fire. It's holy ground. The Old Ground is the ancient message of the Gospel, and oh, how dearly it is needed in our day.

The Irish Elk once roamed the forests of Eurasia, boasting a head over ten feet in height and a rack of antlers that sprawled twelve feet in width. Even the thought of such a creature elicits awe and admiration. But the Irish Elk is no more. It is extinct. And its grandeur is merely a thing of legend and its rack of glory is now only an entry in the fossil record. And like the Irish Elk, a brawny, lionhearted, outrageously triumphant form of Christianity once roamed planet earth. But as of today, it's become only a thing of legend and its rack of glory has been isolated to merely the pages of Scriptural text. It’s time this rack of glory returns!

Just as there are gradients to the color blue, there are gradients to the grandeur and substance of a Godly man. On a scale of 1 to 10, Jesus ranks a ten—the deepest and richest royal shade of blue, so to speak. He was the perfect man, demonstrating the heavenly hues of majesty and holiness. Jesus has set forth a pattern of manhood, and it is a standard so far beyond the average pew-sitting man of our day. So, the question is, “Are we to ignore Christ's righteous pattern or are we to expect God to work the almighty manly pattern into our manhood?” History will show the significance of the men of God of our day answering that question rightly.

The ancient war-cry of the Hebrew nation was, "Rak Khazak." And today, those fiery words still turn Israeli soldiers into steely fighting machines. It was first introduced by Moses in his Deuteronomic commission and then carried on by Joshua as he stepped into the Promised Land with the face of a lion. Translated into English, the words mean "be strong and of good courage!" Those ancient words have prefaced supernatural victory time and again throughout history. And they are the very words needed for this hour.

If the power of the Gospel is to be fully realized in the life of a believer, that believer must first be emptied. The principle of the Gospel is always "first death, then life." Mary of Bethany took her most precious possession (the alabaster jar of spikenard) and poured it out upon Jesus's feet. Those near the scene grumbled that the cost of such a precious treasure was wasted in that fashion, but Jesus responded by declaring that such an act was a clear enunciation of the Gospel life. Taking on the life of Jesus Christ comes with a stiff cost: it means giving up everything. But let's not forget the fact that in giving up everything, we are getting the fullness of life in Jesus Christ.

The Gospel is more than forgiveness; it is a blood-speckled avenue into the fullness of the person of God. This is a message about living where God lives and comprehending the amazing truth that God Almighty wishes to enter in and take control of our very lives. This is the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to the saints.

The Emergent Church has proposed the outrageous notion that God's Word is evolving and each subsequent generation is responsible for interpreting God's Truth for their time. But the Word of God itself is in complete opposition to such a notion of a "changing" God and a "relative"Truth. Our God is the same yesterday, today, and forever—in Him is no variation nor shadow of turning. Our God is revealed as a rock, and He is immovable. His nature is perfectly consistent from generation to generation. His Truth is unalterable. His Gospel doesn't adapt. His promises don't go away. We can be assured that the same God that divinely crafted the Bible is the same God in our midst today and revealing to us the Scripture’s immutable meaning. Praise God for this fact!

The Apostle Paul mentions a certain sword, shield, helmet, breastplate, belt, and shoes in Ephesians, chapter six. He refers to them as the believer's "armor." Paul clearly commands us to dress ourselves in this "armor" in order that we may effectively fight this spiritual battle in which we find ourselves currently employed. However, even with the presence of a clear command, many Christians today are under the impression that this "armor" is merely for little kids in Sunday school class, and not something that mature Christian adults are supposed to actually "put on."In many ways, we have lost the grandeur and majesty of God's purchased weaponry, and many Christians think of God's "armor" as plastic, dime- store religiosity. The saints of God have not been left here on earth alone to fend for themselves. They have been given every last thing they could possibly ever need in order to thrive in life and godliness.

We experienced something very sacred in our midst this past week at Ellerslie. It was a powerful move of God upon our students and staff. It was a campus-wide revival that led to entire days of confession of sins, entire days of worship, and entire days of prayer. Here is the testimony as shared this past Sunday at the Church at Ellerslie (including student testimony). This service, as recorded here, was followed up with three hours of worship, confession of sins, and confession of faith. NOTE: a new microphone was implemented this past Sunday, and whereas the intention was to increase recording quality, it actually did the opposite. Please forgive the raspy mic clipping throughout the audio when Eric is speaking.

The book of Romans, chapter ten, makes a statement that is a bit unusual. "How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace." At the pedestrian level of thought, "feet" are not typically considered beautiful. And the reason we don't understand this concept is because we don't understand the Biblical significance of feet. To the Hebrew mind, feet are more than just a body part; they are a symbol of something extremely powerful. So, as the idea of feet is Scripturally unlocked, likewise is the worshiping soul of the believer who desires nothing else but to shout heavenward, "How beautiful are your feet, Lord Jesus!" There is no better place to be than at the precious, lovely, life-giving feet of Jesus Christ.

We as humans can forgive those that wrong us, but we lack the ability, the power, and the love to forgive the way God forgives. Human forgiveness relinquishes resentment and anger, but it can't remove the magnetic pull of remembrance. Human forgiveness leaves us free from the rot of bitterness, but it does nothing to bring heavenly love into the soul towards the one who wronged us. God forgives unlike any man ever could. And His forgiveness must be a hallmark of grace within our souls as Christian men and women. While we can't as humans forgive as God forgives, we can allow God to forgive in and through us and thusly change us and change this world with the amazing love of Christ.

We as humans have problems. We have issues, and this world has a name for every single one of them—and not only a name for them, but also a man-crafted “solution” for each one. Yet every solution offered by man is nothing more than a counterfeit to the real solution that God has made available through the person of Jesus Christ. As Christians, we must learn to always turn to Jesus Christ and His Word first for our solutions rather than to earthly substitutes. He is our all in all. And He is more than prepared to handle our every need, our every crisis, and our every dire circumstance.

The Old Testament is burgeoning with amazing pictures of Jesus Christ. Our Lord lives within the pages of ancient Scripture, He's hidden within every story, His nature captured within every proverb, and his person is interwoven in all of Jewish history. And one of the most precious is the picture of the "Rebuilder." Zerubbabel championed the cause of the return to Jerusalem from the 70-year exile and he led the very first band of Jews back. But he did more than that. He also led the rebuilding process of the Temple. Zerubbabel will freshly remind you of the glory of our precious King Jesus.

The manly stuff is missing from Christianity these days. It's missing from our disposition towards compromise, it's missing in our defense of purity, and it's missing in our proclamation of the Gospel. We no longer have a growl for God's glory—the growl that has always marked the Church triumphant. This message, building upon Paul's forceful command in 1st Corinthians 16:13, is a call for the Bride of Christ to "be a man" and stand up to fight for the sacred Truths that are under attack in our day. It’s a call for us to strengthen the sacred things in our souls that are withering under the post-modern relativism of our times.

When prayers are general in their make-up and theme (ie. God bless this world), there is no possible way to trace God's response. But specific praying is traceable and thusly more audacious in its trust. Specific praying, when done in accordance with God's Biblical pattern, is the way in which faith grows. For our God is a prayer-answering God, and He delights to prove to His children that they are right in trusting Him. So, if you are needing that nudge forward in the realm of specifics and you are wanting to know the Biblical pattern for praying specifics, then this sermon is just for you.

God is in the business of building spiritual athletes—men and women who are ready for spiritual battle and honored to fight therein—men and women who refuse to grow weary even though there are justifiable reasons for fainting and giving way to exhaustion. This is the message for those moments when the enemy is whispering, "Just give up... just give in... just go to sleep... just lay down your sword." For the Christian's answer must be a resolute "NO!"

The Christian man or woman represents the greatest threat to Satan's agenda and thusly they are the brunt of his most cruel energies and most cunning stratagems. But we are not left without a defense. The book of Nehemiah showcases how this battle works. Those opposed to Nehemiah were determined to stop the building of the walls of Jerusalem, and in their opposition, they attempted to cajole Nehemiah with nine distinct lies. These lies are the very same ones used against you and me today. First, we must recognize them as lies, and then we must learn how to respond to each of them with the Word of God as our primary weapon.

To pray “in the name of Jesus” is not merely spiritually sounding verbiage implemented by dutiful Christians to properly conclude their prayers at the dinner table. Rather, it’s life, it’s power, and it’s spiritual authority granted the believing man to move forward God’s agenda on this earth. When a Christian man or woman properly leverages the name of Jesus, the world changes, mountains are moved, demons are stripped of their power, and darkness is overcome by light.

The Apostle Paul startles the modern-day believer with his enunciations in Romans, chapter six. He declares that our “old man” was crucified with Christ two thousand years ago at Calvary. If that were true, then why do so many of us feel that our “old man” is still very much alive within us? Paul declares that we are now dead to sin, so why is it that many of us are still so alive to it? These are critical questions in need of a strong answer today. And the answer is life-altering. NOTE: please forgive us for the audio quality of this sermon. We had a microphone failure and were only able to pick Eric’s voice up through a room mic. So, though his voice is discernible and understandable, the quality is definitely less than desirable.

The blood of Christ is efficacious, which means it is able to perform on our behalf—it is downright, supernaturally effective. It can and will accomplish everything God promises that it will. And God’s promises regarding the blood of Jesus Christ are rather amazing!