SERMON OUTLINE

The Good Shepherd     Luke 15.1-7

Introduction

Jesus seeks to correct the understanding of the Scribes and Pharisees regarding God’s heart toward sinners and about his own ministry to the lost.

 

We are All Lost Sheep

-Isaiah 53.6; Romans 3.10-12

 

God Seeks Lost Sheep

-God sent Jesus Christ to save sinners. 1 Peter 2.24-25

God Leads Sinners to Repentance

-God and the angels rejoice over one repentant sinner

 

The Good and Condemned Shepherds Ezekiel 34

-Prophecy of the leaders of Israel. Ezekiel 34.1-10

-God will seek His sheep, rescue them, and keep them.

Ezekiel 34.10-12; 15-16; Matthew 11.28-30

There is None Righteous

-All must repent. Luke 13.3; Matthew 3.2, 4.17; Acts 17.30-31; 2 Timothy 2.24-26.

-Assumed righteousness in not righteousness before God. Luke 5.30-31; John 9.39-41

 

Conclusion

Because God seeks to save sinners we should share the Gospel message with confidence.

SERMON NOTES

The Good Shepherd                      Luke 15.1-7

-A crowd is gathering around Jesus to hear him speak. In the crowd are tax collectors and known sinners. Standing off to one side are the Scribes and Pharisees. They will not mingle with this unclean and unworthy group who deserve nothing more than God’s destruction. These Scribes and Pharisees are grumbling at the actions of Jesus. Jesus is defiling himself by interacting with such an unclean and impure group of people. Not only is he mingling with them but he is even eating with them. This is not how a righteous man should behave.

 

Jesus knows what the Scribes and Pharisees are thinking and saying. Jesus knows that the Scribes and Pharisees do not know the true heart of God’s love for sinners. Jesus wants the Scribes and Pharisees to understand that God does not want to destroy these tax collectors and sinners but to bring them to repentance and to a relationship with Him. Jesus wants the Scribes and Pharisees to know that God accepts the sinner as soon as the sinner repents and that salvation is a gift from God. And Jesus wants the Scribes and Pharisees to know that God seeks lost sinners and brings them back to Himself. Jesus also wants the crowds to have a true understanding of God and not the wrong and distorted teaching of the Pharisees. So Jesus tells the Scribes and Pharisees three parables while the crowds listen in. In the last verse of chapter 14, Jesus said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear”.

 

-The first parable is about a lost sheep and is addressed to the Scribes and Pharisees. “What man who owned 100 sheep and found out that one was lost would not go out and find the lost sheep?” The obvious answer is that they would certainly go and find their lost sheep. They would search for that sheep and not come back home until they found it. When they did find it they would carry it home and rejoice all that way home because the lost sheep was found alive. When the owner returned home he would call his friends and more rejoicing would take place. There is much fuss and much rejoicing over one lost sheep.

 

In verse 7 Jesus applies this parable to the understanding of the Scribes and Pharisees with regard to the heart of God toward sinners. “Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance”. The tax collectors and sinners are the lost sheep who have strayed away from their master. In Isaiah 53.6 we read, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned – every one – to his own way.” All of us naturally and ignorantly follow our own way and turn from God’s way, and walk away from God. Romans 3.10-12 confirms the same truth. “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” Welland is filled with lost sheep which need to be found by God.

 

The owner of the sheep is God. God seeks for the lost sheep. It is God who sent His Son Jesus Christ to earth to live in human flesh, to teach us about the loving and seeking heart of God, and to die on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin so we could be found by God. As 1 Peter 2.24-25 tell us, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” As the second half of Isaiah 53.6 reads, “and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all”.

 

The owner bringing the lost sheep home is repentance, the realization that we are sinners who have turned away from God, who are now willing to turn to God and ask for forgiveness. So God came seeking us in Christ and found us and led us to repentance so he could forgive us and give us new life by filling us with the Holy Spirit. Jesus tells the Scribes and Pharisees that God and the angels in heaven rejoice over repentant sinners.

 

In telling the Scribes and Pharisees that God was like this owner of the 100 sheep that went out and found his lost sheep, he is also defending to them his behavior of hanging around with tax collectors and sinners, and teaching them, and eating with them. Jesus is fulfilling the purpose of God in seeking and saving what was lost. The Pharisees are not. Jesus is God’s good shepherd while the Pharisees are ignorant of God’s heart and purpose for their life. They are not shepherding God’s people as they should be as leaders in Israel.

 

-In Ezekiel 34, there is a prophecy against the shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves and not the people of Israel. In other words those appointed to lead and care for the people of Israel are instead abusing the people and using the people to feed and fatten themselves. Although there is no direct reference to this well known OT prophecy in this parable the connection would be obvious to the Scribes and Pharisees. Let me read to you some verses from Ezekiel 34.1-10 [Read].

 

In this parable Jesus is patiently seeking to correct the false understanding of the Scribes and Pharisees. Later in his ministry Jesus severely rebukes these false teachers for their hypocrisy and failure to feed the people of Israel on the truth of God. [Temple as a den of thieves]

 

In this prophesy God says to the false shepherds of Israel “I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for them. For thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. …I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice’”. (Ezekiel 34.10-12, 15-16)

 

In this parable Jesus is implying to the Scribes and Pharisees that as a good shepherd he is seeking out the lost sheep of Israel and they are the shepherds under God’s condemnation for not feeding the flock and making themselves fat by taking advantage of the flock.

 

When Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” he is calling the people to leave the heavy weight of the Law imposed upon them by the Scribes and Pharisees, and to embrace the love and grace of God given in Jesus Christ (Matthew 11.28-30). They are to come to the Good Shepherd and turn from the false shepherds that wrongly burden their lives.

 

-To finish our study of this parable we need to consider the statement of Jesus in verse 7 where he says, “there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance”. The Bible clearly states that all persons are in need of repentance. In Luke 13.3 Jesus says, “unless you repent, you will all likewise perish”. Both John the Baptist and Jesus came preaching, “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand” (Matthew 3.2; 4.17). When Peter preached on the day of Pentecost his call was for the people to “Repent and be baptized, every one of you”. Paul preached, “God commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17.30-31). And finally this exhortation to all of us, “The Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance, leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the Devil, after being captured by him to do his will” (2 Timothy 2.24-26).

 

So in Luke 15, Jesus is not saying that there are ninety-nine who do not need repentance for that is not possible according to the teaching of the Bible. What is Jesus saying then? I believe the ninety-nine in the parable refer to the Scribes and Pharisees who believed that they did not need to repent and who believed they were righteous before God. Jesus was saying that God rejoiced more over these tax collectors and sinners who repented than over the self-righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees. Jesus used this same approach at other occasions. In Luke 5.30-31 we read, “The Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, ‘Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?’ And Jesus answered them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance’”. Jesus did not mean here that they were righteous but only that they thought they were righteous and did not need to repent. In John 9.39-41 we read, “Jesus said, ‘For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.’ Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things and said to him, ‘Are we also blind?’ Jesus said to them, ‘If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see’ your guilt remains.” Do you despise hearing that you are a sinner before God because you are a good person? You are a Pharisee at heart and in need of God’s salvation. God seeks sinners and leads them to repentance and gives them righteousness in Jesus Christ. There is no righteousness apart from repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.

 

I want to conclude this morning with an encouragement and an appeal. First the encouragement. I want to encourage you from this parable and other teaching in the Bible that God seeks to save sinners. Even before mankind fell into sin through the sin of Adam, God had a plan in place to seek and to save mankind in Jesus Christ. We have many stories in Scripture of God seeking sinners and bringing them to Himself. God loves sinners and actively seeks to bring them to repentance.

 

Second the appeal. If God is seeking to bring sinners to repentance than we must make the effort to share the message of God’s salvation in Jesus Christ with those around us who are not yet believers in Jesus Christ. When we speak to someone who is not yet a born-again Christian we have to assume that God is seeking to bring them to repentance and work from that truth. We must share the message of God’s love and salvation with them and look to God to convict them of sin and lead them to repentance and faith. So I appeal to you this morning to work with God this year by sharing the message of the Gospel whenever you can.

SERMON OUTLINE

The Heart of God Towards Sinners     Luke 15.1-7

Introduction

Three parables about God’s seeking love for sinners and their reconciliation with God.

 

Why Jesus Told These Three Parables    v1-2

-To correct the wrong understanding of God, repentance, and wrong attitude to sinners of the Scribes and Pharisees.

-To show the Scribes and Pharisees the purpose of his ministry and how they failed in theirs.

 

The Parable and the Summary  v3-7  

-How would the Scribes and Pharisees treat their animals?

-Finding the lost sheep and bringing it home with joy.

-The joy over a lost sinner should surpass the joy of a lost sheep.

-God values sinners more than sheep and rejoices over repentant sinners.

Conclusion

We fall short by isolating ourselves from sinners and by our lack of seeking the salvation of sinners.

SERMON NOTES

The Heart of God Toward Sinners                 Luke 15.1-7

 

The three parables of Luke 15 are well known and especially the parable of the prodigal son. Jesus told these three parables to teach the Scribes and Pharisees about God’s seeking love for sinners and the reconciliation of sinners to God. He also told these three parables to the Scribes and Pharisees to explain to them why he ate with tax collectors and sinners.

 

I would like to go through Luke 15 with you over the next few weeks so we too can rejoice in our God for His seeking love for sinners. If you are here as a sinner this morning I pray that you will see God’s seeking heart for you. And if you are here this morning as a saint, which is a sinner saved by God’s grace, I pray that you will come to love your God in greater measure as you see His character in these parables.

 

The first two verses of Luke 15 help us to understand why Jesus told these three parables so let’s start with these two verses. [Read v1-2]

 

The crowds were drawing near Jesus to hear him speak. The common people were pressing in to hear what Jesus had to say because he was approachable and had a genuine love for the common people. Luke specifically mentions that this crowd was made up of tax collectors and sinners.

 

Tax-collectors were hated by the Jewish people for betraying them by supporting the Romans and getting rich on the backs of their own people. Tax collectors were despised by the Scribes and Pharisees. Sinners were the common people whom the Scribes and Pharisees did not consider pure before God.

 

There were also Scribes and Pharisees in the crowd. Scribes were men who diligently studied the Law of God and interpreted the Law for the people. They were also called lawyers because the settled disputes for people according to the Law. Ezra was a Scribe. After the Babylonian captivity important Rabbis became more focused on interpreting the Law and defining how the commandments were to be kept. In this way they added many commands to the Law which went beyond God’s intention for Law. This was done in order to prevent the people from disobeying the Law of God. Scribes were experts in these interpretations. Pharisees were a group of men who gained prominence and political power during the Maccabean period. They were determined to keep the Law of God and its many detailed commandments and to remain ritually pure before God at any cost. So you had a Law that became more and more detailed in its requirements and a group of men who were willing to submit to it and believed they were more righteous than others, and acceptable to God for their strict behavior.

 

These Scribes and Pharisees were grumbling about Jesus because he allowed sinners to listen to his teaching and he also ate with them. To be near sinners and especially to eat with them were activities, according to the Scribes and Pharisees, that would make Jesus unclean and unworthy before God. The behavior of Jesus also showed acceptance and recognition of sinners. Jesus knew that the attitude of the Pharisees to sinners was not God’s attitude to sinners and wanted the Scribes and Pharisees to understand that, so he told them these three parables.

 

Now for you to understand a little better how the Pharisees understood God’s view of sinners and God’s heart toward sinners I would like to read to you from Barclay’s commentary on Luke 15.1-2. “It was an offence to the Scribes and Pharisees that Jesus companied and associated with men and women who, by the orthodox, were labeled as sinners. The Pharisees gave to people who did not keep the law a general classification. They were called The People of the Land. There was a complete barrier between the Pharisees and The People of the Land. To marry a daughter to one of them was like exposing her, bound and helpless, to a lion. The Pharisaic regulation laid it down, ‘When a man is one of the People of the Land, entrust no money to him, take no testimony from him, trust him with no secret, do not appoint him guardian of an orphan, do not make him the custodian of charitable funds, do not accompany him on a journey’. A Pharisee was forbidden to be the guest of any such man, or to have him as his guest. He was even forbidden, so far as it was possible, to have any business dealings with him, or to buy anything from him or sell anything to him. It was the deliberate Pharisaic aim to avoid every contact with The People of the Land, the people who did not observe the petty details of the law. Obviously, they would be shocked to the core at the way in which Jesus companied with people who were not only rank outsiders, but sinners, contact with whom would necessarily defile. We will understand these parables more fully if we remember that the strict Jew said, not ‘There is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents,’ but ‘There is joy in heaven over one sinner who is obliterated before God’. They looked sadistically forward not to the saving but to the destruction of the sinner.”

 

It is also important to know how the Scribes and Pharisees understood acceptance by God. The Scribes and Pharisees did call sinners to repent and to turn from their sin. Their call to repentance meant that the sinner should begin and continue to keep all the details of the Law. Only then God would accept them. To the Scribes and Pharisees God’s acceptance was the reward of repentance and obedience to the Law as they defined keeping the Law. Jesus came to teach something different. Jesus taught that God’s acceptance came at the moment of repentance as a free gift of God’s love and grace. God’s acceptance was not something earned but something given by God to the person willing to turn toward Him. Jesus knew that only God could give the power to live a new life acceptable to Him. Jesus taught that God receives repentant sinners and then changes them into saints. The Pharisees taught that a repentant sinner must change first and keep the Law in order to be accepted by God.

 

Finally, the Rabbis agreed that God accepted repentant sinners but the idea of God seeking out sinners would severally shock them. Jesus is trying to teach these Scribes and Pharisees that God loves sinners, seeks sinners, and leads sinners to repentance and gives them new life, rejoicing over them. To the Pharisees Jesus was a heretic who was stirring up the crowds and was teaching a false view of God. Jesus was also wrongly accepting sinners before they ever changed. In teaching these parables, Jesus wanted to give the Scribes and Pharisees a right understanding about God and repentance and the heart of God. So he told them the parable of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son.

 

Jesus must have been both angry and hurt at the cold loveless religion of the Scribes and Pharisees who did not know or care to know the heart of God for lost sinners. The Scribes and Pharisees were so caught up in their self-righteousness that they lost contact with God. Instead they religiously and legalistically served the Law of God. Without fellowship with the heart of God, their own hearts grew cold to the lost.

 

Each of these three parables has a particular emphasis on God’s saving process. The parable of the lost sheep emphasizes the lost condition of the sinner. The parable of the lost coin emphasizes God’s diligent search of the sinner. And the parable of the lost son emphasizes the restoration to fellowship with God of the sinner. In the first two parables the Pharisees are addressed directly in the summary of the parable. In the last parable the Pharisees are part of the story as the older brother.

 

Now lets spend a few minutes looking at the parable of the lost sheep and we will continue with this parable next time. Jesus begins the parable with a question to the Scribes and Pharisees. “Would they not, if they had a flock of 100 sheep and discovered that one of them was missing, go out and seek that lost sheep?” Jesus appeals to their sense of value and responsibility of ownership. In that agrarian culture it would be unheard of for the shepherd not to go out and look for his lost sheep. That would be hard hearted and cruel. Even if the shepherd was only able to bring back proof of the sheep’s death, he would have fulfilled his duty and shown that he valued the sheep by going out to look for it.

 

In the OT and also in John 10, we find a contrast between the good shepherd who lays his life down for the sheep and the hired hand who does not care for the sheep and runs away from danger and hardship. In this parable Jesus is emphasizing the value, love and responsible care of the shepherd for his sheep. Would not the Pharisees respond in this way for one of their animals? How much more is a man valued in the sight of God.

 

The shepherd would certainly leave the care of the 99 in responsible hands so there is no abandonment of the sheep that are left behind. He goes out (present tense) and continues to look for the lost sheep until he finds it. I read that a lost sheep eventually lies down and gives up and will not try to find its way back so unless the shepherd goes out to find the lost sheep, that sheep will not return to the flock.

 

When the shepherd finds the lost sheep, he ties up its front and back legs and carries it home on his shoulders. The long search and all the effort of the search is swallowed up in the joy of having found the lost sheep. The shepherd carries the lost sheep home rejoicing.

 

The celebration of joy in finding the lost sheep continues when he arrives home. The shepherd calls together his friends and neighbors saying to them “rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost”. These friends and neighbors would be fully sympathetic with the joy of this shepherd and gladly celebrate with him because what was lost has been found. If there is so much rejoicing over a lost sheep that was found, how much more rejoicing should take place over a sinner that repents.

 

In verse 7, when Jesus says “Just so” he is saying to the Scribes and Pharisees that God is like the owner of 100 sheep who has lost one and goes out and looks for the lost sheep until he finds it, and then rejoices in the find and calls others to rejoice with him. Jesus is telling the Pharisees that God is not like the Pharisees make God out to be, a God who wants nothing to do with sinners, who rejects sinners, and who rejoices in the destruction of sinners. The God of heaven actively seeks lost sinners in order to bring them back to Himself, and God and all of heaven rejoice over a lost sinner who repents and returns to God.

 

Jesus also is explaining to them the purpose of his own ministry in teaching and eating with tax collectors and sinners. As God’s shepherd, Jesus is seeking and saving that which is lost (Luke 19.10). The self-righteous isolation of the Pharisees is not a reflection of the heart of God.

 

Let me close this morning with a look at our own lives in the light of this parable. We can easily thank God that we are not like the Pharisees in our understanding of God and our attitude to sinners. We believe that God loves and seeks sinners and does not delight in their destruction. We are not like the Pharisees in our understanding of God but we do fall short in seeking the lost with the seeking love of God for sinners. We do not isolate ourselves from sinners because of self-righteousness but we do isolate ourselves from sinners out of fear, an unwillingness to inconvenience ourselves, and a lack of desire to see sinners come to Christ. There are many in Welland who are lost and someone needs to go out and find them and bring them back home.

 

There are a number of other things to say about this parable and we will begin next time with this parable and then move on to the parable of the lost coin.

SERMON OUTLINE

Proclaiming the Lord’s Death  1 Corinthians 11.26

Introduction

Whenever we eat the bread and drink the cup at the Lord’s Table we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

 

Proclaim

-Used 18x in the New Testament with four main subjects.

-To proclaim: 1) death, resurrection and Christ Messiah. 2) Word of God and the Gospel 3) Truths of forgiveness, salvation and Christian living. 4) Testimony of others acknowledging Christians.

 

To Whom are we to Proclaim the Lord’s Death?  

1) To ourself. 2) To each other. 3) To those in attendance. 4) To the spirit world. 5) To the community.

What is the importance of the Lord’s Death do we Proclaim?

1) Judicial payment for sin. We are lost sinners because of Adam, our sinful nature, the sins we commit. We are forgiven because of the payment of our sins by Jesus.

2) Our union with the death of Christ. Death to our life in Adam, the slavery of sin, the Law, the power of the flesh.

 

How do we Proclaim the Lord’s Death?

1) By the activity of eating and drinking at the Table.

2) By taking Christ as our life and nourishment.

 

Conclusion

1) Does the daily activity of my life proclaim the importance of the death of Christ, God’s forgiveness, my separation from Adam, sin, the law, the flesh?

2) Am I feeding on Christ each day so that my actions and attitudes show forth the death and life of Christ?

SERMON NOTES

Proclaiming the Lord’s Death              1 Corinthians 11.23-26

 

This morning as we gather together around the Lord’s Table and remember our Lord Jesus, I want us to think about verse 26, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes”. I want to focus particularly on proclaiming the Lord’s death.

 

The Greek word translated in most versions as “proclaim” means to proclaim publicly, to declare, to announce, to make known. It means to make others aware of something, in this case the death of the Lord Jesus. As we celebrate together around the Lord’s table we are making others aware of the Lord’s death.

 

This verb “proclaim” is used 18 times in the NT and the subject of what is proclaimed falls into four categories. Primarily “proclaim” is used in connection with proclaiming the death, resurrection, and Messiahship of Jesus Christ. That is how it is used in the verse we are studying today. Then in the book of Acts “proclaim” is used in connection with the preaching of the Word of God and the Gospel. Thirdly we find “proclaim” used in connection with specific truths from God’s Word such as the proclamation of the forgiveness of sins, the way of salvation and the lifestyle of believers. Finally “proclaim” is used to describe what others are saying about believers, “your faith is being proclaimed in all the world” (Romans 1.8). So we find this word used by believers to proclaim Jesus Christ, the Word of God, the Gospel, and the truth of God, and we find this word used by others to acknowledge that they see a true faith in the believers that they know.

 

This verse teaches us that every time we gather together around the Lord’s Table and eat the bread, and drink the cup, we are proclaiming the Lord’s death. As we meditate on this verse we can ask ourselves some questions? One question is “to whom are we proclaiming the Lord’s death” as we gather around the Lord’s Table? I have five answers for that question: 1) We are proclaiming the Lord’s death to ourself. As I participate in eating the bread and drinking the cup I am remembering the death of Jesus Christ for my sin. I am also remembering all the benefits of my union with the death of Christ

 

 

2) Then we are proclaiming the Lord’s death to one another as we partake together around the Lord’s Table. It is beneficial to remind one another of the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, and it pleases God when we speak to one another about Him. Listen to what Malachi writes, “Then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another. The Lord paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name. ‘They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him.” (Malachi 3.16-17) Our Father loves it when we proclaim Him to one another.

 

3) Then we are proclaiming the Lord’s death to those who are in attendance in the service of the Lord’s Table. The Lord’s Table is a witness of the Lord’s death for sin and of the only way to escape the wrath of God, to those who are watching.

 

4) At the Lord’s Table we also proclaim to the spirit world all around us the death of the Lord Jesus and reaffirm the victory of Jesus over sin and the Devil and all his evil schemes against God and God’s people. We are proclaiming to the angels in heaven and the demons on earth and in hell that Jesus is Lord through his death on the cross.

 

5) Finally, as the community hears of our practice of the Lord’s Supper they are reminded of the death of the Lord Jesus and hopefully begin to ask why that is so important.

 

The Lord’s Supper is not only a command of Jesus that we are to obey but it is a proclamation of the Lord’s death which we are to continually practice until Jesus returns in Glory. As we observe the Lord’s Supper we are declaring to ourself, to each other, to unbelievers, to the spirit and to our world that Jesus Christ died on a cross, and we are drawing attention to that death.

 

Another question we can ask ourselves is “what is the importance of the Lord’s death that we proclaim?” The basic importance of the Lord’s death is that the death of Jesus is a judicial payment to God for sin. Each one of us is a sinner before a Holy God. We are sinners before a Holy God in three ways. 1) We are condemned as sinners by God because we are descendants of Adam, and Adam’s sin is accounted to us. “One trespass (Adam’s sin) led to condemnation for all men, …by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners,” (Romans 5.18-19). 2) We inherit a sinful nature and are slaves to sin by birth. 3) We sin by choice.

 

Every sin committed must be punished by a Holy God or God cannot be a Holy God. If God is not Holy we have no basis in this world for good and evil, and moral behavior. God must punish all sin. To pay for our own sin would require that we spend eternity in hell. No amount of good behavior, sacrificial living, prayers, sacraments, church attendance, giving, is sufficient to pay for sins committed. At the cross in the death of Jesus Christ, God provided a sacrifice to pay the just penalty required for every sin ever committed. In his death Jesus took upon himself our sin and suffered the punishment for those sins and satisfied the justice of God. Jesus made payment for sin to God for everyone. Those who recognize their sin, the impossibility of paying for their sin, the sacrifice provided by God in Jesus Christ for sin, and take that sacrifice for themselves, are forgiven for their sins by God. So the death of Jesus on the cross is a Judicial payment to God for sin for anyone who would take that payment for their sin. What we proclaim at the Lord’s Table is the death of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins.

 

But the death of Christ goes beyond the forgiveness of sins. It also breaks our natural connection with Adam, and renders inoperative the sinful nature. In union with the death of Christ we die to all that we inherited in Adam, we are released from the slavery of sin, we are no longer under the bondage of the Law, and the power of the sinful nature is disabled. Our union with the death of Christ leads to our union with the resurrection of Christ so that God sees us in Christ. In Christ we receive his righteousness, the Holy Spirit, and live under Grace.

 

What we are proclaiming at the Lord’s Table is the greatest event this universe has ever witnessed, the death of Jesus Christ. For those of us who have received God’s forgiveness and who are now in Christ, we are proclaiming at the Lord’s Table the greatest event that has ever taken place in our own lives. We have been transferred from death and the kingdom of darkness to God’s kingdom of life and light. Our roots are no longer in Adam but in Christ. Our destiny is heaven and not hell. The Lord’s Table is a celebration of the death of Christ and our forgiveness and new life in Christ.

 

Let’s ask one last question, “how do we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes?” The verse says that we proclaim the Lord’s death by eating the bread and drinking the cup. In other words we proclaim the Lord’s death by an activity done without words. We do speak, explain and apply as we come to the Lord’s Table but the verse says that the ceremony at the Table proclaims the Lord’s death until he comes.

 

Another thing to notice here is that at the Lord’s Table these elements are taken into the individual by eating and drinking. They become one with the participant.

 

So the Lord’s death is expressed both in the activity of eating and drinking the elements, which represent the body of Christ and the blood of Christ, and also by taking Christ as our life and nourishment. We proclaim the Lord’s death by showing that His death brings renewal to our own life.

 

Let me apply the activity of eating and drinking Christ for new life as a proclamation of the Lord’s death, to my personal daily life. Does the activity of my life proclaim the importance of the death of Christ? Does my new life proclaim that God has forgiven me, that God has brought me into a new kingdom and a new way of living, that the fruit of the Spirit is at work in me, that I am no longer in Adam, that I am living a righteous and godly life? Do my attitudes, actions, responses to circumstances and people, proclaim that Jesus is living inside of me, that the Lord’s death has had an impact on my life, a lasting power? Do I show by my life the importance of the Lord’s death to God and to mankind?

 

For this daily proclamation of the Lord’s death to take place in my daily life through my actions and attitudes, I need to daily eat Jesus and drink Jesus. This daily renewal from Christ comes by spending time in his presence, in prayer and in his Word. It comes through regular confession of sin, repentance, and obedience to God. It comes through perseverance in trial and suffering and painful circumstances. The Lord’s death is proclaimed in my life when the cross of Christ is working in me and I become like Christ to others.

 

As we partake of the bread and the cup this morning at the Lord’s Table and proclaim the Lord’s death, let us remember that we are to proclaim the Lord’s death each day by showing that His life is in us because of the death He died for us and our death to Adam, to sin, to the law, and to the flesh in Christ.

Salvation: From Adam to Christ

Romans 5:12-21

-          In this passage, Paul is drawing a comparison between Christ and Adam. He is showing how they are similar.

-          They are similar in that one act of theirs (Adam’s sin and Christ’s death) determine the eternal destinies of the people who belong to them. These are the two most important actions in human history.

-          Paul is telling the history of our salvation in terms of two kingdoms: the kingdom of Adam, in which sin and death rule, and the kingdom of Jesus Christ, in which grace and righteousness rule.

 

The Kingdom of Adam

 

1. We are brought into this kingdom by sinning in and with Adam’s sin (v. 12-14)

-          Adam’s sin – Genesis 3

-          Original sin: Humanity is born into a state of sin because they are descendants of Adam. Adam brought sin into the world, and we participate in that sin.

-          Naturally we belong to a state of sin and death.

-          Sin and death was a part of our nature even before the law came in. People prior to the time of Moses sinned, but in a different way than those who sinned knowing what God commanded.

1. The Curse: Everyone who belongs to Adam’s kingdom of sin will die (v. 15)

-          “many died through one man’s trespass”

-          Romans 6:23 – “the wages of sin is death”

1. Belonging to Adam’s kingdom results in judgment and condemnation (v. 16)

-          “the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation”

-          The world and everyone under the dominion of sin are under the judgment of God.

1. Death and sin reigns in Adam’s kingdom

-          Everyone in Adam’s kingdom will die, physically and spiritually.

 

The Kingdom of Jesus Christ

1. We are brought into Christ’s kingdom by an act of God’s grace, a free gift of salvation (v. 15)

-          “the free gift” is justification and salvation (see Romans 3:21-26)

-          We are a part of Adam’s kingdom naturally, but we are made a part of Christ’s kingdom by an intentional act of God.

1. Reversing the Curse: Christ’s kingdom, being superior to Adam’s kingdom, overcomes sin and death (v. 15)

-          “For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.”

-          “abounded” – Means to exceed, be more than enough. The kingdom of Jesus Christ has more than enough power to overcome the effects of Adam’s sin and rescue us from death and destruction.

-          What about the law? Verse 20 says the law would not reverse the curse, but only increased sin, by making it more serious as a conscious decision to act against God. Only Jesus can overcome sin and death.

1. Belonging to Christ’s kingdom results in justification and forgiveness (v. 16)

-          “the free gift following many trespasses brought justification.”

-          Those who are brought into Christ’s kingdom are put back into a right relationship with God, and they are forgiven of their sins, since they are justified by God’s grace.

1. Life and grace reign in Christ’s kingdom (v. 17, 20-21)

-          All of those who are in Christ’s kingdom have eternal life because of His one act of righteousness.

 

Application

-          Self-Examination: Which kingdom are you in? If you claim to be a part of Christ’s kingdom, is there still sin in your life? If you are in Christ’s kingdom, sin must go.

-          Reflection and Thanksgiving: Do you remember the time when Christ brought you out of the kingdom of sin and death and into his kingdom of grace and righteousness? Reflect back on the things that God has done for you in Christ.

-          Christian hope rests in the fact that while the rest of the world belongs to the kingdom of sin and death, we belong to a kingdom that cannot be overthrown. Take encouragement in the fact that you belong to the kingdom of God.

SERMON OUTLINE

Faithful Joseph           Matthew 1.18-25

Introduction

What is most familiar must be read more carefully.

 

Betrothed and Pregnant  Matthew 1.18-19

-God has other plans for Joseph and Mary

-Engagement, betrothal (legally binding), marriage. v19 “husband”. Legal divorce required to break betrothal.

-A just man but also a merciful and kind man, not willing to make Mary a public example and shame her.

 

Son of David   Matthew 1.20-23

-Joseph an important part of God’s plan to fulfill prophecy

-Jesus “for he will save his people from their sins”

-Immanuel “God with us”

Faithful Joseph   Matthew 1.24-25

-Immediately obeyed the angel

-Willing to suffer the consequences of marriage to Mary – shame, misunderstanding, alienation John 8.41

Conclusion

1) What we say and how we act reveals our heart. Change occurs when we admit sin and submit to God’s way. How blessed are those who see themselves as God sees them.

2) Jesus: son of Abraham, son of David, son of God, Savior. Make sure that you belong to God for real and not just in your own mind.

3) Two impressions: Jesus is the one and only Savior for mankind. God uses godly, faithful and abandoned people to fulfill His purposes. Be faithful, grow in relationship with God and be fruitful.

 

SERMON NOTES

Faithful Joseph                    Matthew 1.18-25

 

This morning let us read and reflect on the story of Joseph in connection with the birth of Jesus Christ.

 

v18-19, [Read] Mary was legally pledged to be married to Joseph. Like most young women in Nazareth, Mary was looking forward to marriage and to setting up her own home, and starting her own family. Joseph was a fine believing man who was skilled in carpentry and Mary’s coming marriage to Joseph certainly filled her mind and her heart with dreams of deepening love and great hope for the future. What Mary did not anticipate was God’s intervention in her life. Mary did not resent God’s plan for her life but God’s intervention set Mary and Joseph’s life in a direction they could never have imagined.

 

Before the date for their wedding arrived Mary was found to be pregnant with Jesus. Verse 18 makes it quite clear that Mary is the mother of Jesus by the Holy Spirit. Mary’s pregnancy was a problem because Mary was legally pledged to be married to Joseph and this was not Joseph’s baby.

 

In a Jewish marriage there were three steps to be taken. 1) First there was an engagement between the parents, often made when the couple were still children. As Barclay writes, “Marriage was held to be far too serious a step to be left to the dictates of human passion and the human heart”. 2) Later came a betrothal which lasted for one year. This was a confirmation of the engagement which could be broken by the individuals involved but once entered into was legally binding and could only be dissolved by a legal divorce. The couple was known as man and wife but did not live together and did not have sexual relations. In verse 19 Matthew calls Joseph, “her husband” even though they were not yet officially married. If one of the partners died the other was known as a widow. 3) After one year of betrothal the marriage took place and the couple lived together.

 

Mary and Joseph were in the betrothal stage. Mary’s pregnancy was just cause for Joseph to apply for a legal divorce. Mary had been unfaithful. We are told that Joseph was a just man but he must have also been a merciful and kind man for he was unwilling to put Mary to public shame and resolved to divorce her quietly. The word used here means “to make a public example of”. Joseph could have even pressed for some criminal punishment against Mary but determined not to hurt or shame Mary. I believe that Joseph truly loved Mary and must have been deeply hurt when he heard of Mary’s pregnancy, and this resolve to treat Mary kindly in spite of his great heartbreak testifies that Joseph was a godly man with a tender heart.

 

*What can we learn from these two verses? 1) First of all God can intervene in our lives at any time and can change our hopes and dreams to conform to His purposes. (Sickness, death of spouse, call to new work, job loss). We will become bitter at God unless our hearts are truly given to Him. 2) Second we can learn from Joseph’s behavior. Joseph’s behavior toward Mary is a lesson to all of us. Our attitudes and how we treat others, our words and actions, show what our hearts are truly like, especially when we are responding while under pressure, under attack, or hurt. If you want to know what you are really like on the inside then stand back and take a good look at how you act toward others especially when you are in difficult circumstances. In your next encounter with someone try to look at the situation as an objective observer. You may not like what you see but if you will be brutally honest with yourself and with God, changing what you see is possible. Change begins when we see our sin, call it sin, stop blaming others or our circumstances for our behavior, and ask God for help us to be what He has created us to be. Ultimately God would have us demonstrate love from a heart of love. Sin has filled our lives with selfishness, greed, bitterness, accusations, hatred, and strife, but God wants to redeem us back to a life of love by the Holy Spirit. Joseph’s love and compassion for Mary is an example to all of us of the changed heart of a godly man.

 

v20-23, [Read] As Joseph considered how best to divorce Mary for her infidelity, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. The angel addressed him as “Joseph, son of David”. The title “son of David” is an important addition to this story. It helps us to understand why Matthew has this birth story in his Gospel. First of all it reminds Joseph that he is in the line of David and that this fact is important with regard to his marriage to Mary. Second it gives us a hint to the importance of Joseph in the working out of God’s purposes.

 

Have you ever asked yourself about the importance of Joseph to the birth story of Jesus? Did God choose Joseph only to provide protection to Mary and to support Mary as she gave birth and raised Jesus? Was Joseph simply a strong helper that God provided in order to fulfill His plan through Mary? I would venture this morning that Joseph has much more than a support role in the birth of Jesus.

 

Where Luke focuses on Mary as the physical mother of Jesus, Matthew focuses on Joseph as the legal father of Jesus. By marriage Joseph became the legal father of Jesus. It is Joseph who directly connects Jesus with the line of David and makes Jesus the legal heir to the throne of David as the son of David. The purpose of Matthew’s Gospel, as he states in 1.1, is to show that Jesus is the son of David and the son of Abraham and thus the promised seed and the promised King, and the fulfillment of many OT prophesies.

 

Jesus is the physical son of Mary and the legal son of Joseph by marriage. Both Mary and Joseph bring Jesus into the line of David, but it is Joseph as a son of David and as the legal father of Jesus that establishes Jesus as the rightful heir to the throne of David.

 

The angel tells Joseph not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife and that the son in Mary’s womb has not been conceived by another man but by the Holy Spirit. Joseph realizes that Mary’s incredible story of an angel coming to her and telling her that she has found favor with God, and that she is going to become pregnant by the Holy Spirit, and give birth to the Messiah, is all true. This assurance from the angel would have mended the broken heart of Joseph and encouraged him to join Mary in this God directed purpose.

 

The angel goes on to tell Joseph to call the son Jesus. Gabriel told Mary to call her son Jesus but here the angel in Joseph’s dream tells him why he is to call the son to be born Jesus, “for he will save his people from their sins”. It is clear to us in the Gospel of Luke as well that this Jesus is God’s Savior from sin. After the birth of John the Baptist, Zechariah prophesied about his son John saying that he would go before the Lord to prepare his way to “give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins”. And the angel said to the shepherds, “for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord”.

 

Matthew goes on to tell us that the birth of Christ to a virgin named Mary fulfilled the OT prophecy of a virgin conceiving and bearing a son and that this son would be called Immanuel which means “God with us”.

 

*Jesus, the son of Abraham, the promised seed that brings blessing to all the nations of the world. Jesus, the son of David, the promised king that will rule for ever. Jesus, the son of God, who came from heaven to earth to save mankind and now mediates for those who believe before the throne of God. Jesus, the Savior from sin who restores men and women and young people and children into fellowship with God and becomes their Father and who gives the gift of eternal life to those who truly believe and put their trust in him to save them.

 

I visit terminal patients in hospital and stand before coffins and urns, and at those times I know that only one thing really matters – Do they belong to Jesus? Did they know Jesus as their Savior? Have they repented and trusted in Christ to save them from sin? If you have said the sinner’s prayer or went forward at an evangelistic crusade you may still be in your sins. Belonging to God is more than saying a prayer. If trusting in Christ has not given you a desire for God’s Word and to be with God’s people, and a hatred for sin, and changed your attitudes and thoughts and actions, I seriously doubt if you belong to Jesus Christ. The new birth is more than learning a new vocabulary and losing a few bad habits. It is God’s nature coming into your life by the Holy Spirit and the Spirit bringing new life, and this new life should be evident to everyone around you. Even though you have been hanging around Christians for a long time make sure that you truly belong to Jesus and have been saved from your sin. Joseph was to “Call his name Jesus for he will save his people from their sins”. There must be evidence that Jesus has saved you from your sins. Jesus was God with us and now through salvation God is in those who believe.

 

v24-25, [Read] When Joseph woke from sleep he did what the angel told him to do, he took Mary as his wife. We are told that Joseph did not have sexual relations with Mary until after the birth of Jesus. Joseph also made sure that he called the son born to Mary, Jesus.

 

*What impresses me the most about Joseph is his quiet faithfulness to God and to Mary, even when it seemed he had been betrayed by Mary and let down by God. I do not recall a single word spoken by Joseph in the Gospels but his faithfulness to God and Mary and Jesus is written in bold letters. When Joseph learned the truth about Mary he immediately obeyed the angels command to take Mary as his wife. This obedience was costly to Joseph but his love for God and for Mary overcame the cost. People would consider Joseph an ungodly man or a fool. An ungodly man for getting Mary pregnant before they were legally married, or a fool for taking Mary as his wife when she was pregnant by another man. Explanations of what really took place would only bring more suspicion to the whole situation.

 

In John 8 Jesus is confronting some Pharisees about their sin and their unbelief. They are accusing each other back and forth. In response to Jesus saying to them that Abraham is not their father, the Pharisees antagonistically say to Jesus in verse 41, “We were not born of sexual immorality”. The fact that Jesus was conceived before marriage may have been more than a family secret. Joseph had to bear the shame and the gossip associated with his sudden marriage to Mary. Here is another thought. One commentator writes, “Joseph was willing to give up what was often perceived to be a Jewish father’s greatest privilege – siring his first-born son – in order to obey God’s will.” (B. Witherington III)

 

**As I read the stories of the birth of Jesus this year I came away with two impressions. I was impressed once again with the Love and Grace of God in sending Jesus the Son of God to take a human body and live like us yet without sin so that he might give his life as a sacrifice for sin. There is no greater sacrifice in the world than what Jesus did for sinners like us. The importance and worth of the truth of salvation in Jesus Christ grows larger to me with each passing day.

 

The other thing I was impressed with this year was the godly character and complete abandonment to the will of God of Zechariah and Elizabeth, of Joseph and Mary, and of Simeon and Anna. God was able to use these servants in fulfilling this part of His salvation plan because they knew God and had allowed God to work in their lives. They were ready to let God use them in His way and in His time. That is all that God wants from us – that we love Him and let Him love us, and that we grow in our relationship with Him, and walk in humble obedience to Him. May your coming year be marked with a growing relationship with God and greater usefulness in His purposes.

SERMON OUTLINE

Mary a Bondslave of God  Luke 1.26-38

Introduction

What is most familiar must be read more carefully.

 

Top Priority Mission  Luke 1.26-27

-Timely, willful, specific, fulfillment of God’s eternal plan

-The angel Gabriel was sent from God

-The details are specific. Virgin is mentioned twice as a fulfillment of Isaiah 7.14

 

God’s Favor Luke 1.28-33

-Mary was troubled at Gabriel’s words not his appearance

-Mary HAS found favor with God. Charis = Grace

-A son Jesus, Son of the Most High, throne of David and will reign forever

A Bondslave of God Luke 1.34-38

-How will this be since a man I know not?

-Will not be impossible with God every word

-Let it be to me according to your word

Conclusion

1) The fulfillment of God’s Sovereign purposes assures us of God’s rule over our daily lives.

2) We also have found favor with God and need to believe it. Romans 5.1-2. Will we believe in daily life?

3) A willing and submission abandonment to the Will of God. Obedience and availability.

SERMON NOTES

Mary the Bondslave of the Lord          Luke 1.26-38 [Bibles open]

This morning I would like to carefully read with you the story of Mary, the mother of Jesus, so that we might find out more about her and about our own relationship with Jesus. I find that what is most familiar must be read more carefully.

 

v26-27, [Read] What we have in this verse is a timely, specific, wilful, fulfilment of God’s eternal plan to bring Jesus into the world with a human body.

 

The sixth month refers back to the supernatural pregnancy of Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist. The angel Gabriel had visited Zechariah while he offered incense in the Temple and told him that he would have a son that would prepare the people for the coming of the Lord. This was now the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy and Gabriel was once again dispatched from the throne of God to make another momentous announcement.

 

One of my favourite verses in the birth narratives is Luke 1.19. Zechariah says to the angel “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” Zechariah wants a sign from God to convince him that God will indeed give him a son of such distinction as promised by the angel. The angel answers Zechariah with these amazing words, “I am Gabriel the one standing before God, and I was sent to speak to you and to announce to you these things.” “Zechariah you do not need a sign. I am Gabriel the messenger of God. I stand before God waiting for assignments like this and God sent me to deliver this message to you. What other proof do you need?” We find the same authority given to us in verse 26, “The angel Gabriel was sent from God.”

 

When I read verses 26 and 27, what flashes into my mind is “Top priority”. This announcement is not left to the communications department in heaven but comes directly from the throne of God, from God Himself. This is a top priority announcement.

 

The other thing that catches my eye as I read these verses is how specific the details are. In the sixth month, to a city in Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin who is engaged to a man named Joseph who is from the house of David, and the virgin’s name is Mary. This announcement has been planned

 

Notice also that the Holy Spirit has Luke record two times here that Mary is a virgin in order to fulfil the OT prophecy in Isaiah 7.14, “The virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel”.

 

Once again we see the Sovereign purposes of God being worked out in time and history. And once again we are assured from Scripture that God is in charge and knows all things and is involved in the details of our daily lives. What a joy it is to walk with God and to see Him working out His purposes and to be part of that work.

 

v28-33, [Read] Contrary to the pictures we find in Sunday School curriculum and Christmas cards I do not get the impression from these verses that Gabriel appeared to Mary in dazzling glory with wings and a halo. I think Gabriel came to Mary as an ordinary man, unknown to her but not recognisable as an angel. I think Gabriel entered into Mary’s presence in an ordinary way so as not to alarm her. Notice that it was not Gabriel’s appearance that troubled Mary but his words. Gabriel greeted Mary saying, “Hello, you have been favoured, the Lord is with you”. This was not a usual greeting but one that lifted Mary up as special in the eyes of God. Mary did not consider herself as favoured by the Lord so “Mary was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.” “What does all this mean? Who is this man?”

 

This strange greeting from an unknown man troubled Mary and filled her with fear. Gabriel first comforts Mary and then brings her the message that she will be the mother of the son of David who will also be the Son of God. He says to her, “Do not be afraid” and then he calls her by name, Mary. This man knows Mary’s name even though she has not told him her name. Then he emphasizes once again to her “you HAVE found favour with God”. The word translated as “favour” in English is charis, from which comes the word grace. “It is true Mary. God has placed His grace upon your life.” Gabriel will now explain how this grace of God is going to be realized in Mary’s life.

 

Mary is going to conceive and bear a son and she is to call his name Jesus. This son is to be great and will be called the Son of the Most high. God will give this son of Mary the throne of his father David and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and his kingdom will never come to an end. This is quite a promise. Mary has truly found much favour with God.

 

As it was hard for Mary, so it is hard for us to accept that we stand in God’s favour and perhaps even harder for us to believe in the promises God gives to us as His children. Romans 5.1-2 gives us, as God’s children, such promises. If you are justified by faith in Jesus Christ I want you to believe what I am about to read. Justified means that you know that God has forgiven your sins and that God completely accepts you as righteous because you are in Christ. “Since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

 

If you have put your faith in Jesus Christ to save you from sin and know that you are born-again, you are no longer under God’s condemnation but are under God’s peace. Your peace with God will never change. Forever you are at peace with God in Jesus Christ.

 

Not only are you at peace with God in Christ but you also permanently stand in God’s Grace. You live in the spotlight of God’s favour. Will you believe it? Take a hold of that promise and live in that wonderful truth no matter what circumstances cross your life.

 

And finally you live in hope of the Glory of God. This hope is an anchor of your soul (Hebrews 6.19).

 

So you have found favour with God and have the promise of peace with God, you stand in the Grace of God, and have the joy of the hope of participating in the Glory of God. Will you believe this message from God to you, O favoured ones? No matter what your circumstances are, will you believe that in Christ you are favoured of God? It is not always easy to believe these promises from God but in trusting God there is great blessing.

 

v34-38, [Read] Mary does not seem to express any reaction to the royal and divine status of this son promised to her. Perhaps she did not really grasp the fullness of Gabriel’s message because it was so amazing. Perhaps the thought of her virgin status prevented her from fully hearing Gabriel’s message to her. That is certainly the question she posses to Gabriel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin”. In the original Greek Mary does not use the word virgin but says, “How will this be, since a man I know not?”

 

Now remember that Mary is engaged to be married to Joseph. Did Mary assume that after marrying Joseph it would be natural for a son to be born to them which would fulfil this message from Gabriel? Mary is asking for direction on the fulfilment of this promise of a son.

 

Gabriel has an answer for Mary. The son will not be conceived by Joseph but “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” Mary will conceive this son by God and therefore the son will be holy and will be called the Son of God.

 

Gabriel further encourages Mary’s faith by revealing to her that her cousin Elizabeth, who could not conceive, has been pregnant for six months “because nothing is impossible with God”. I am very much encouraged by the literal translation of this verse. It says, “because will not be impossible with God every word”. Gabriel is saying to Mary, “every word that God speaks is fulfilled. There are no empty words in God’s promises. Elizabeth’s pregnancy is an example of the sure word of God.”

 

This literal translation “because will not be impossible with God every word” is echoed in Mary’s response to God about God’s word to her through Gabriel. Mary says, “Behold, I am the bondservant of the Lord”. Mary calls herself a slave, a doulos of the Lord. She humbles herself completely before God’s will. Then Mary says, “let it be to me according to your word”. “Since God fulfills His every word then let Him fulfill His word to me as He chooses, for I am his slave to do with as He pleases.” That is Mary’s beautiful response to God’s favour and God’s message to her through the angel Gabriel.

 

Then the angel left her. Mary went to visit Elizabeth for three months and returned to Nazareth a pregnant woman.

 

Mary did not understand all that God was doing in her life and through her life but she knew that what God said He would do, He would do. Mary was willing to let God have His way completely with her and in her humble obedience became an important part of the fulfillment of God’s purpose to save humanity through the cross of Christ.

 

That same attitude of complete submission and obedience and availability to God will bring the same results in us – God will fulfill His purpose and work His salvation in the lives of those around you. Like God’s son Jesus who humbly obeyed His Father like a slave would obey his master, and like Mary who humbly gave her life up for God to use like a slave to her master, so God calls us to lay down our lives at His feet for His use as He pleases. We do not know what that will mean in our life but we do know God’s love, His Goodness and His Sovereign rule over all people and all things, and that is enough. God will fulfill His purpose in the world and in the church and invites us to join Him in fulfilling that purpose. You can be part of God’s great purpose by humbly submitting to the will of God as Jesus did, and as Mary and many other saints who have gone before us.

Incarnation and Crucifixion Visualized in the Lord’s Supper

 

Let’s begin this morning by reading once again from Galatians 4.4 [Read]

 

God has commanded us to often gather around the Lord’s Table in order to remember Jesus our Lord and to proclaim His death until He comes. This morning as we gather around the Lord’s Table I want us to first remember that “God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law”. The bread, which represents the body of Christ, reminds us of the birth and sinless life Jesus lived on earth. Had Jesus not come to earth and lived as a son of Adam he could not have been a sacrifice who died for our sins. Had Jesus not lived a sinless life before God while on earth he would not have been an eligible sacrifice for sin. So God sent His Son into time and history to be born of a woman and to live a sinless life, that Jesus might be an acceptable sacrifice before God for the sin of mankind.

 

In Hebrews 10.5 we read, “When Christ came into the world he said, …a body have you prepared for me”. This body was conceived by the Holy Spirit overshadowing Mary and developed in Mary’s womb (Luke 1.31, 35). Jesus was not a heavenly being that appeared to be a man. Jesus was born fully human and to this very day retains a physical body and will keep that body for all eternity.

 

One thing Jesus did not receive at his birth was the sinful nature of Adam. Romans 8.3 says that God sent His Son, “in the likeness of sinful flesh”. Luke writes that as a result of being conceived by the power of the Most High “the child to be born will be called holy”. Hebrews states that Jesus was tempted in every respect as we are, “yet without sin” (Hebrews 4.15). So Jesus lived a real human live but never sinned.

 

We read in the NT that Jesus was born the son of Abraham and the son of David and we have two genealogies of Jesus that trace back his human ancestry to David, Abraham and Adam (Matthew 1; Luke 3). Yet we are told very clearly in Philippians 2.6-7 that Jesus was in the form of God and equal to God before he came to earth but was willing to humble himself and obey God as a servant and was born in the likeness of men. Matthew 1.23 states that Jesus is Immanuel, God with us. The incarnation was God coming to earth, conceived from one of Mary’s eggs, born a real human baby with a family tree, who became a growing, learning boy with brothers and sisters, who grew into a young man, who eventually became a carpenter and then a preacher and teacher. Jesus lived a real human life and yet without sin.

 

Somehow, in our familiarity with these truths we are not gripped with the awe of the incarnation as we should be. Paul writes, “Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh” (1 Timothy 3.16).

 

John the apostle, who wrote his Gospel and letters later than the other Gospels, seems to have taken 50 years to just shake his head in unbelief that God would come to earth and take a human body and live among us. John writes, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. …And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1.1-2, 14). “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life – the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us.” (1 John 1.1-2).

 

Would that we might have the same sense of awe and worship as John and Paul, and be humbled all the more by the truth that God sent His Son to be born of a woman and that God lived on earth as one of us yet without sin.

 

Let us partake of the Lord’s Supper as we remember the life of Jesus through the symbol of the bread.

 

*Remember Jesus who was sent from the Father, willingly obeyed, was conceived by God, was born of a virgin, lived without sin, and who was God with us.

———————————————————————————————

Let’s continue this morning, reading once again from Galatians 4.5 [Read]

 

I began this morning by reading to you Hebrews 10.5 where Christ says, “a body you have prepared for me”. Now let me read Hebrews 10.5-10 which gives us the purpose for the human body that God prepared for Christ [Read]

 

God’s purpose was to have His Son, Jesus Christ, take a human body and live as a man, and then to offer that sinless body as an offering for sin to make many people holy. We are told the same truth in Hebrews 2.14-17. [Read]

 

Philippians 2.8 says, “And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

 

Not only was the child born to Mary to be called Immanuel which means God with us, but the son was to be called Jesus, “for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1.21)

 

God the Father and all of heaven acknowledge that Jesus Christ is the only acceptable sacrifice for sins and the only way for a person to come to God. “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests for to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” (Revelation 5.9-10)

 

We are made righteous through the offering of the body of Christ. “For as by the one man’s disobedience the many will be made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.” (Romans 5.19)

 

Now each one of us who are trusting in Jesus Christ for our salvation “have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for our only but also for the sins of the whole world”. (1 John 2.1-2)

 

Finally, Christ is able to completely save those who draw near to Him because He always lives to make intercession for them. (Hebrews 7.25)

 

With these thoughts in our minds I would like to invite you to partake of the Lord’s Supper as we remember the crucifixion of Jesus through the symbol of the cup.

 

*Remember Jesus who gave his life as a ransom so that many sinners could become righteous before God and receive eternal life.

 

The Eternal Plan for Incarnation and the Cross   Galatians 4.4-5

In these two verses we find a concise summary of the plan of God to bring salvation to mankind. A plan to take those who were created as sons, lost to sin, and to make these sinners once again into sons.

These verses teach us that the plan of God for the salvation of mankind was initiated by God.

We learn that to fulfill His plan God sent His Son Jesus to be born of a woman. In theological language we call this the incarnation – God the Son taking a human body and human nature. This is the birth of the Messiah that we celebrate at this time of year.

John the apostle tells us that God’s motive in sending His Son to us was love for His creation. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3.16).

We are told in this verse that Jesus lived under the Law of God. Jesus was not exempt from God’s commands and rules but completely fulfilled them. Because Jesus was not born with a sinful nature, and was continually filled with the Holy Spirit, and completely committed to God’s will, He never sinned, even while living under the Law.

Because Jesus lived a sinless life before God, He was eligible to redeem those who sinned under the law. Those who have sinned under the law of God include every person who was ever born. Jesus who knew no sin was made sin for us, so that in Jesus we might receive God’s forgiveness and as this verse tells us, adoption as sons of God.

The incarnation of the Son of God and the death of Jesus on the cross to redeem mankind is the wonderful Good News we are given to proclaim to the entire world.

This morning I want to focus on the first part of verse 4, “When the fullness of time had come”. The point I want to make this morning is that the incarnation, the coming of the Son of God to earth as a human being, and the crucifixion of Jesus to redeem sinners, along with the resurrection of Jesus, were planned by God at the very least from the foundation of the world and more likely in eternity before the foundation of the world. Before the earth or man or time ever came into existence, God had planned for the birth of Christ into humanity, the death of Christ on the cross, the resurrection, and His ascension into Glory. The teaching of the NT leads us to believe that before the earth was created, God had planned and prepared for the salvation of mankind through the birth of Christ as a human being, his perfect life lived on earth, his death on a cross for the sins of mankind, resurrection, and his ascension into heaven back to his original Glory with God the Father.

The birth of Christ in a manger in Bethlehem was a plan conceived in the mind of God, likely before God ever created the earth or mankind, and then was manifested when the fullness of time had come.

Please turn with me to Ephesians 3.7-11. [Read]

Paul says that he is a minister of God to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. Paul is a minister of the message of the birth, life, death and resurrection of Christ for the salvation of mankind.

Not only is Paul a minister of the Gospel, he is also bringing to light for everyone the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things. This hidden mystery Paul is now revealing to everyone, in the Gospel, was according to the eternal purpose of God which has now been realized in Christ Jesus our Lord. What God had planned in eternity, God worked out in time, until the time when He brought His very Son into the world as a baby in Bethlehem, through a perfect life, and unto death on a cross, to resurrection and ascension to Glory.

We have the same idea revealed to us 1 Peter 1.18-21. [Read]

Christ, the Lamb of God who saves us with his precious blood, was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for our sake. Through Christ we now believe in God who raised Christ from the dead and our faith and hope are in God. The historical event of the birth of Christ and of the crucifixion of Christ and the resurrection and his ascension into Glory and the coming of the Holy Sprit and the formation of the Church, originated in the eternal purpose of God and was worked out in time according to God’s plan and power.

In Genesis 3.15 God speaks of the seed of the woman that would crush the head of the serpent. We know that God’s plan was already purposed from the time that mankind fell into sin. We see God’s plan pictured in the sacrificial system of the OT. And then finally we see Christ born and brought to the cross as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

As I was reading about the birth of John the Baptist and Jesus from Luke 1 and 2, I was impressed with the repetition of the word “will”. Elizabeth will bear you a son, he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, he will turn many to their Lord, you will be silent and unable to speak, you will conceive, he will be great, he will be called the son of God, God will give to him the throne of David, the Spirit will come upon you, this will be a sign for you. The birth of Christ was not being worked out on the fly. This was not a seat of your pants operation. What we are reading about in Luke is an eternal purpose that was now being manifested in the fullness of time, exactly as God has planned. And how God had planned it was the way it was going to happen. This is what will happen.

Just a couple more verses and then we can think about some of the implications of this teaching. In Acts 2.23, in speaking about the crucifixion of Christ, Peter says, “this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.” And then in Acts 4.27-28, “For truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.” Like the birth of Christ, the crucifixion was arranged and ordered according to God’s eternal purpose and predestined plan. Each participant played their part according to God’s script.

Now what does this truth of the birth and crucifixion of Christ as the eternal purpose of God to save mankind, worked out in time in every detail according to God’s plan, have to teach us this morning? Let me just mention four things.

1) You can be assured that your God has a purpose in all that He does and that He has the power to carry out that purpose. When Christ was born in a stable and a manger it may have seemed to Mary and Joseph that God had not prepared for the birth of His Son as He should have. When Christ was crucified it may have appeared that God had lost control of the crowds and religious leaders and that God’s plan was unraveling, but in the chaos God’s plan was being working out to the last detail, in His time and in His way.

When we look at the world today we see disorder and confusion and economies falling apart. Be assured that God is not surprised and making emergency plans. God’s eternal purpose is being worked out to the letter. What God has described in the book of Revelation is certain to happen.

When you look at what God allows to enter your own life be assured that God’s Sovereign rule is at work and His plans are being worked out.

2) If you belong to God this morning, you can be certain that your salvation will be worked out to its final completion. God always completes His plans and if your salvation is part of God’s plan, then you will be saved and nothing will prevent your presentation before the presence of God’s Glory blameless and with great joy. The amazing precision and power shown in the working out of the eternal plan of the incarnation and crucifixion of Christ is applied to your own salvation in Christ. “I will never leave you nor forsake you; I am with you always, to the end of the age”. These are not sentimental statements, but statements of truth based on the purpose and character of God.

3) Coupled with the Goodness of God and the Love and Mercy of God, we have the confidence through this truth of God’s power to work out His purposes in this world, the confidence to obey what God asks us to do. “If God be for us then who can be against us”? When God asks you to surrender something to Him, know with confidence that He can keep you in that surrender and provide all you need because you obeyed in your surrender to God. God’s eternal purpose is to conform us to His Son Jesus Christ and for that to happen we have to give up our own ways and our own strengths and depend on God and let God do what He wants to do in us. God wants to break our self-sufficiency and our self-will and our pride, and as we see God’s eternal plans worked out with such fruitful results in the incarnation and crucifixion, we can with confidence lay down our lives at His feet.

4) Finally since God has made His purposes known to us in His Word we should make God purpose, our purpose. God’s purpose is His Glory and the establishment on His kingdom. “Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as in heaven”. “Glory to God in the highest”. Our purpose is to seek the kingdom of God and to be holy to the Glory of God. Looking at how God has worked out history so far and reading what God has told us with regard to the future, I am lining up all my energies and efforts with the purposes of God. I do not want to be found working against God but with God.

I pray that during this Advent season as we think of the birth of Christ we will remember that this historic event began in the mind of God in eternity. I pray that we will remember that throughout the many centuries of time, over thousands of years, God worked out every detail, moved every person in place, arranged thoughts and actions, to fulfill His eternal plan. This can give to each one of us who know God the assurance, the certainty, and the confidence to put our own lives completely into God’s hands and to work with God to fulfill His purposes.

And if you do not know God as your Father this morning, if you have not been born again, may the realization of the power of God to save you from sin by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, and His power to keep you as His own until you come into His presence, motivate you to ask God to save you from sin in Jesus Christ and to make you one of His children.

Rosedale Baptist Church’s 73rd Anniversary Service

Guest Speaker:  Jeremy W. Johnston

 

1 Corinthians 13 “An Excellent Church is a Loving Church”

 

What is a healthy Christian church look like?

An excellent, healthy church is characterized by:

- Christ centred

- Bible believing

- LOVING

 

1 Corinthians 13

- Not often preached on (except at weddings!)

 

- Yet LOVE is the heart of Christianity

- John 3:16 “for God so loved the world”

 

- Ironically, Christians are most often accused of being “unloving”

 

- Hippie: make love not war

- Hollywood: mushy, gushy stuff

- Beatles to Beiber “Love is all you need”

 

* the church needs to take back LOVE: show the world what love really is, that God is all you need

 

1. Why does love matter so much?

 

1 Co 12:31b – 13:3—why is love the “most excellent way”?

v. 13— why is love “the greatest”

 

1. Love is the LAW of Christ

John 15:9-17

• vv. 12, 17: “Love is the LAW of Christ”
• vv. 13, 14: Heart of the gospel is LOVE
• You would not be a Christian if it wasn’t for Christ’s love

 

2. Love completes your joy

John 15:9-17

• v. 11-12
• cf. 1 Co 13: no joy in impatience, no joy in anger, etc

 

3. Love is the ultimate Testimony of Christ at work in His world

 

John 13:34-35

• Love one another: by this all men might know that you are my disciples, if you love one another (NB: Christians loving Christians)—that Christ is truly at work in a believer’s life

John 17

• v. 20 —priestly prayer for believers
• v. 21 — oneness in Christ and with each other: “the world may believe” in Christ

- “the final apologetic” Francis Schaeffer—ultimate defence, ultimate testimony of the reality of Christ and His gospel

 

2. How should we love in the church?

 

Three things to note about LOVE:

1.  LOVE is an action: it requires effort/will/perseverance
2.  LOVE involves other people—cannot be a loving hermit
3.  LOVE often involves unlovable people: e.g., cannot exercise “patience” without something to “try your patience”—e.g., “I would be patient if it wasn’t for X, Y, & Z!”

 

NB: The Marks of Love are interconnected: envy/self-seeking—e.g., “I deserve such-and-such more than so-and-so…”

 

1. v. 4a—Be patient, be kind

- not every Christian is at the same level of maturity or sanctification: Trust in God’s timing; Teach God’s ways—cannot learn from impatient teachers

1. v. 4b—do not envy: Trust in God’s provisions for you

- do not envy other churches: “your” church is really His church

- do not provoke others to envy (by boasting): our attention must be on Christ

1. v.5—not rude: put others first, be considerate, be deliberate

- not self-seeking: people aren’t thinking of us as often as we think of ourselves!

- not easily angered / offended “stewing”

-  keeps no records of wrongs: FAITH in God’s judgement

1.  it is not up to you to “make him pay”
2.  it is not up to you to right the wrong done to you

-   compare Christ on the Cross

 

1. v.6—does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth (i.e., “being loving” does not mean Christians tolerate sin!)

- some “churches” only read 1 Co 13

- we need to rejoice and live by the truth, the whole truth

- we should not delight even when someone gets his “comeuppance” / “just desserts” (instead, love always protects…)

 

1. v. 7—always protects: avoid tempting your brothers and sisters to sin!

- always trusts: we do not know the hearts or motives of other people (you are not a mind reader…) God’s Will will be done!

- Always hopes: in God’s Spirit working in people’s lives

- always perseveres: it ain’t over ‘til it’s over

- we are never done loving, never done waiting on the Lord

- cp. “running the race to win”

 

3. vv. 8-13
1. Faith: belief in the Lord
2. Hope: wait on the Lord

- BOTH WILL CEASE

3. Love: delight in the Lord and delight is His church (body)

- WILL NEVER CEASE

 

 

Heaven is a love feast.

Love Christ? You will love His body: the church

You will be with these Christians for eternity.

Loving God, loving Christ and his body is a taste of glory: a loving church is a bit of heaven on earth

SERMON OUTLINE

Final Glory   Revelation 17 to 22

 

Introduction

The Glory of God is the highest purpose of God, man and creation. God’s wrath is also a manifestation of His Glory.

 

The Final Glory of God

Revelation 19.11-16   

-The warrior-king on a white horse

-Zeal and determination for God’s Glory

-Majesty. King of kings and Lord of lords

-A robe dipped in blood

-Captain of the angelic army

-Power and authority

 

Revelation 20.11-15

-Judge of all men.

 

Revelation 21.22-27

-Temple and Light of the New Jerusalem

 

Final Glory of the Church

Revelation 19.6-9

-The Bride is perfected and married to Jesus

 

Revelation 21.1-8

-New earth, new heaven, new bodies, dwelling with God

-No tears, death, mourning, crying, pain

-All things new

-Write this: It is done!

 

Revelation 21.9-11

-Having the Glory of God. Radiant like a most rare jewel

 

Because we belong to God through the cross of Christ

SERMON NOTES

Final Glory

-For our Communion Sundays this year we have been focusing on the Glory of God. I began by teaching that the Glory of God is God’s highest purpose and so it should be our highest purpose as well, and the purpose of all of God’s creation. “The heavens declare the Glory of God” and we who are made in God’s image are to declare the Glory of God.

-The Glory of God is Who God is in His Being and character, and the manifestation of His Being and character in history.

-When Jesus came He expressed and exalted the Glory of God.

-Creation and mankind are to exalt the Glory of God.

-Through sin mankind falls short of the Glory of God and through salvation in Christ mankind once again brings Glory to God.

-Through obedience the Christian brings Glory to God.

-As believers we partake in the Glory of God both here on earth and in eternity. We should expect a future glory in Christ.

-The Glory of God is the highest motivator given to us as we go through service, sufferings and trials. Through suffering we increase our future inheritance of glory.

-God is glorified through His Church and we should rejoice that we are part of God’s Church. As the Church we are the Son of the Father, the Bride of Christ, and the future dwelling place of God by His Spirit.

-Today I want to conclude our consideration of the Glory of God by thinking with you about the Final Glory described for us in the book of Revelation. I would like to read you selected verses from Revelation 17 to 22. I read these verses to give us a glimpse of the final Glory of God and the glory that lies ahead for all those who belong to God through Jesus Christ. We also see here what God has planned for the unbeliever. Let me encourage you this week to take some time to slowly and meditatively read through Revelation 17 to 22. Take your Bibles and turn to Revelation 17.

-Revelation 17.1; 18.1-2; 19.1-2, 11, 16; 19-21; 20.4-6; 21.1-4; 22.3-5 [Read]

-Proceeding these final 6 chapters of Revelation is an unprecedented outpouring of God’s wrath upon a sinful world. Even as the power of creation and miracles, and the resurrection and the transformation of sinners into saints manifests the Glory of God, so the fury of God’s wrath is the manifestation of the Glory of God. God’s holiness and His Judgment carried out against sin is a manifestation of the Glory of God. The Glory of God is as evident in His wrath as it is in His great power and abundant mercies.

-In these 6 final chapters of the Bible we see the final collapse of both the economic and religious systems of the world. The economic and religious systems of the world are called Babylon the great and the great prostitute. This collapse is followed by the second coming of Christ with all authority and power as King of kings and Lord of lords to establish His earthly 1,000 year kingdom and to destroy all opposition. After this millennial reign and the final destruction of the Devil we read about the new heaven and the new earth where the perfected church forever dwells with God.

-I cannot tell you when these things will happen or explain all the details mentioned in these chapters but I know that God wins and that His people receive all that God has promised them and dwell with God in Glory for all eternity. Each day we are watching the world move toward this final end. God’s victory, God’s final glory, our final glory with God, is as certain as the resurrection of Christ, for the same God who raised up Jesus from the dead has proclaimed how history will end and the final destiny of mankind.

-For the last part of this message I want us to take a closer look at the final Glory of God in Jesus Christ. I also want to spend a few minutes looking at the final glory of the believer and unbeliever as God fulfills His promises to them.

-Let’s begin with Revelation 19.11-16. [Read]

-Here we see heaven opened. Jesus is coming to earth from heaven for a second time, this time not as a weak baby born in poverty but as the King of kings on a white horse. Jesus once rode into Jerusalem humbly and passively on a donkey, but here Jesus is the warrior-king riding a white horse to bring judgment and to make war with all that is evil. He is called Faithful and True and he judges and makes war in righteousness.

-His eyes are burning with zeal and determination to bring Glory to God in the final conquest of all the enemies of God. His majesty is evident to all as he wears the royal crowns of all the kingdoms of the earth. He is the one and only Sovereign Lord.

-Jesus is clothed in a robe dipped in blood. This is not his own blood but the blood of the enemies of God as he pours out the wrath of God. This is a picture of God taken from Isaiah 63.1-3 as God returns from destroying Edom, “I trod them in my anger and trampled them in my wrath; their lifeblood spattered on my garments, and stained all my apparel”. Here is God’s complete and final destruction of all His enemies through Christ the conquering-king. In verse 15 he is “treading the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty”. In this he is covered with the blood of his enemies.

-Jesus is Captain of the hosts of heaven and is accompanied by the mighty angels of heaven all dressed in white linen and riding white horses. At his arrest Jesus said he could have appealed to the Father and the Father would have sent twelve legions of angels to set him free. God’s purpose at that time was to provide salvation to a lost world, not pour out His wrath. Now the time has come for righteousness to rule and for all evil to be judged and destroyed.

-Out of the mouth of Jesus is no longer an appeal to “follow me” but the word of destruction and the rule of God’s power. God will be glorified and all those who have opposed God’s Glory will experience the wrath and fury of God and be eternally separated from him in the lake of fire.

-Not only do we see the final outpouring of God’s full wrath upon evil, the judgment of all evil, and the establishment of God’s righteous kingdom but we also see the central focus on the Glory and Majesty of God. In chapter 20.11-15, we see God judging all men according to His Holy character. Then in chapter 21 God forever dwells with His redeemed people, sitting on His throne, the light and temple of the New Jerusalem, “I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light and its lamp is the Lamb.” The brilliance of the Glory of God is the very light of the New Jerusalem. God’s final Glory is manifested in the final judgment and destruction of evil and in the final worship of His people who love Him and want to be with Him forever.

-The final glory of God’s people joined together in the Church is also described in Revelation. The Church as the perfected Bride of Christ is to be married to him, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure – for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.” (19.6-9).

-Let me read to you Revelation 21.1-8. [Read] Listen this is your future I am describing if you are a true believer in Jesus Christ.

-We will dwell in the new heaven and a new earth with new resurrected bodies and God will dwell with us as our God. God will wipe away all tears from our eyes and death will be no more. There shall be no more mourning, no more crying, no more pain, and all that is from this sinful world, our life in Adam, our sinful past, all our miseries and pains will be no more. God who has made us new creatures now in Christ, will make all things new.

-I am so glad as I read that God said to John, “write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true”. We see the same emphatic command to write in Revelation 19.9 to assure us of our marriage to Christ, “And the angel said to me, ‘Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb’. And he said to me, ‘These are the true words of God.” So God said to John in 21.6. “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.”

-In verse 8 God also tells us the final end of all unbelievers, “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” In chapter 20.15 we read, “If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” Final hell for the unbeliever is as certain as the final glory of the saints.

-In Revelation 21.9-11 we read, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb. And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like jasper, clear as crystal.” Fellow Christians we are destined to be righteous and beautiful like a most rare jewel, filled with the Glory of God, dwelling with the God of Glory, forever. It really is too much to grasp and to even believe, but it is what God promises to us in Christ.

-There is so much more encouragement in these verses both in the final justice of God and in the fulfillment of His gracious promises to us. For this week’s weekly meditations I have taken some readings from these last 6 chapters of Revelation so that throughout the week we can meditate on the Glory of God and the glory that God will bestow on us as His children.

-We love God and long for God’s Final Glory because God has called us to be His through the cross of Jesus Christ pictured before us this morning in the Communion Table.

Communion

This morning we celebrate the Lord’s death until He comes. In celebrating His death we also celebrate His resurrection for we await the coming of a living Lord. We also await the second coming of the Lord, the establishment of His kingdom, and the new heaven and earth where we will dwell with God forever, with certainty and full assurance because God has spoken it and we know it will come to pass.

Rev 22.12, 20