"Comfort" Isaiah 61:1-4; 8-12

Grace, Mercy, and Peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ 

Amen

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;

In the Name of Jesus

If you had to describe the world today in just one word, what would that word be?  Broken, lost, evil, sad...  

What if you were able to give the world today a bit of comfort…who would you start with, even better, where would you start?  If you had only a single word, a sentence, even able to give a 5 minute speech to the entire world, what would you say? 

John had the attention of a lot of people.  He dressed shockingly, he lived shockingly, he acted shockingly.  But John was given a great opportunity.  He was able to influence a large amount of people with his words of repentance and a baptism for the forgiveness of sins.    

I am not telling you anything new when I say that the world is in shambles.  When family turns against family, nation against itself, and nation against nation, we have reached a tragic troubled time. 

But are we, in 2014, anything special?  By no means are we the first generation to have issues.  By no means are we the only ones who have had to deal with war, fighting, and general unrest. 

Life in our time, life in John the Baptist’s time, life in Isaiah’s time is all the same.  It is all tainted by the same stain, all led by the same prince of darkness, all headed down the same path which only leads to destruction. 

But why is the world, then and now, such an almost undesirable mess?  I think you can all predict the word which is about to exit my mouth, sin!  Because of the fall into sin in the Garden of Eden, the world has suffered a collapse of epic proportions.

What once was vibrant is now dead.  What once lived in harmony with each other now is at odds with one another.  What once was created in the perfect image of the Creator, the Triune God, resembles only evil. 

And in the midst of calamity brought on by sin, in the midst of cruel bondage which the devil has placed us in, in the midst of distress and despair, what do people look for?  What do they want more than anything else?  Just like a person in the struggling with a wicked illness, a broken relationship, they want relief!  They want to know that they will get past the struggles and come out on the other side better off.  They, and we, want to know that there will be an eventual end to the suffering.    

But it is difficult.  It is hard when sin is weighing down upon you to see anything outside of your struggling.  When you know where your relief stands, when you know where to find it, and yet fear seizes you and holds you in its deep dark lair. 

We discussed this on Wednesday in school chapel, albeit not so intensely or deeply.  Never the less, because of sin, we are left on the outside looking in.  Imagine there being the biggest party of the year happening right here.  But you could not participate.  You had to see everyone’s excitement while wallowing in self-pity because you were not only not invited, but specifically barred from joining. 

Because of the sin which consumes us, we eternally barred from the feast of heaven.  But this is the joyous news of Christmas.  The great message from the Savior of the World is that he did not come into this world to cater to the elite.  He didn’t come for the 1% so frequently talked about in the financial world.  He didn’t come to for those who didn’t need saving. 

He came for those talked about by Isaiah.  The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.  They shall build up the ancient ruins; they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.     

The Savior of the World came for sinners.  He came for you and for me.  He came for us so that he could, on the cross, bind our wounds, mend our broken hearts, and unloose our chains.  He came to open the doors of the prison we find ourselves in each and every day.    

Because our Father wanted so much to have us join him in the feast of heaven for an eternity, he sent his only son, the Babe of Bethlehem.  While it seems a bit absurd that a Father would willing send his Son to a place that wold break his son, a place that would bind him in chains, a place which ultimately would bring this son to his death.  And he did so, so that his Son, the Babe of Bethlehem, would overcome the one who bound us in chains, who broke us, who caused unspeakable devastation to a prefect creation.

The Babe of Bethlehem, on the cross, overcame Satan.  And by doing so has freed us from his frightful grasp.  He has, one and for all, fulfilled what Mary sang of her song of praise, the Magnificat.  My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.  For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.  And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.  He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.  He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.   

He has come the aid of the helpless and give us the greatest gift, eternal life.  He comes not to aid the wealthy, to those who don’t think they need to be saved, those who feel they are prefect already.  He comes for us.  He continually comes to us who are weighed down by sin.  He continually comes to bind our wounds, loose our chains, to give us his forgiveness.  No more can fear of eternal death seize us for we are claimed by Christ, the Babe of Bethlehem.  The child who lay in the manger did so for you.  He came to earth specifically with you in mind.     

As we live out our days here on this sin filled earth, we are daily brought to the realization that, while our God is all powerful and the ruler of all, the devil travels around at will pulling people away from belief into despair.  But dear friends in Christ, we have the words those in despair need to hear.  We have the words of comfort, of consolation, of eternal victory. 

For this is what Christmas is all about.  God sending his son to become one of his creation.  To take on the form of a humble servant and serve those who sinned against him.  He to become lower than the broken, the prisoner, he came to die under the weight of the sin of the entire world.  So that on the last day, we would not be left looking in on the glories of heaven, but would be ushered in to celebrate for an eternity around the throne of our heavenly father. 

That is the great news of Christmas.  Forgiveness in the midst of dire sin.                 This is the great news delivered already in Isaiah’s time, which John the Baptist continued in the wilderness of Judea.  This is the great news which sounds forth still today. 

Victory in the midst of despair.  While this may not be the first item on your Christmas list this year, it indeed is the first gift and greatest you ever received.  Praise God for his most gracious gift which comes not just once, but daily to world so desperately in need. 

AMEN

"Repent!" Mark 1:1-8

Grace, Mercy, and Peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

Amen

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

In the name of Jesus

John was an eccentric man, in just about every aspect of his life.  He was the ultimate wilderness man.  He wandered in the desert.  His attire was enough to make anyone take a second look before quickly turning away.  He wore camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist.  Being a wilderness man meant that he probably had a pretty tangled, out of control beard.  What he ate was even more unusual.  Locusts and wild honey?  How many of you can we sign up for that diet?  As we hear this description again, many of you might be wondering to yourself, why?  If John the Baptist walked in here right now, we would most likely turn the other way and hope he didn’t see us.  He was not a pretty sight. 

Even the people in that time were skeptical of John.  You can just imagine their conversations when they came across John.  Maybe the most eccentric thing they found about John was his message and his actions.  Here is this crazy lunatic, who lives in the desert, preaching repentance and baptism, a baptism just like we witnessed this morning.  First of all, the people in the region of Judea and the city of Jerusalem would have no idea what baptism is.  They are under the Covenant which God had already made.  One that required circumcision, not this baptism John was talking about. 

The Pharisees and Sadducees come to confront him at the Jordan River, where he was doing his preaching and baptizing.  They came out to argue with him.  If for no other reason, he was going against the teachings of the church at the time.  Which meant that he would be worthy of death.   Also, he was having success.  People were coming from all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were bring baptized by him in the river Jordan, and were confessing their sins. 

What kind of a reaction do you think someone would get today?  If I were to go down the Dodge Center Creek, or even the Mississippi, dressed in deer skin, a leather belt, eating bugs and whatever else I could find.  And was walking around the banks of the river preaching the repentance and forgiveness.  Do you think the people from Dodge Center, Rochester, and all of Southern Minnesota would be coming out to me?  What if I just walked the streets of town here, do you think I would get serious followers?  I think the only people I would attract are those with badges on their shirts and handcuffs on their belts.

John’s message and my message are very direct and pointed.  Repent!  Make public confession of your sins and receive public absolution, forgiveness, in the name of the Lord.  For the time is coming, behold is now when the axe is laid to the root of the trees.  Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  Yet, it is ignored.  It would not matter the clothing or setting, people would listen for about one minute and turn the other way saying things like, how dare he tell me I am a sinner.  How dare he tell me the way I am living is wrong.  How dare he tell me I am going to hell. 

The Law is not a comfortable thing.  Confronting our own sin is not to make us feel good.  In fact it is just the opposite.  Confronting the sin in our life, pulls us down to a point where we are extremely vulnerable.  It is like looking in a mirror and seeing each and every flaw we have. 

 This was what John was working to do and was successfully doing.  In fact it was John’s mission from before his birth.  When the angel of the Lord came to John’s father, Zechariah, he told him what John’s mission and purpose was to be.  He said to Zechariah, Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.  And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.  And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared. 

He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from the womb, he will be great, he will turn the children of Israel to the Lord their God.  These words were too good to be true for Zechariah.  Yet, this all came to pass just as it was told.  Zechariah praised God for his faithfulness and sang of his son John, you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.  Following this outburst of praise Scripture records that the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

 

 The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  The beginning of the euangelion, the good news, the fulfillment of God’s promises, life death and resurrection of our Lord.  And it all beings in Mark’s Gospel with the radical man in the wilderness.  The man who made all realize and repent of their sins and turn to the Lord their God.  The man whose message you hear today from this pulpit, repent!  Repent for the forgiveness of sins.  God remained faithful to his promise made many years before the announcement of the birth of John the Baptist, which we heard in our Gospel and in our Old Testament reading, because John is the voice of one calling in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord. 

He was entrusted with the proclamation of the Gospel.  Of the forgiveness of sins.  The forgiveness through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.  And it was not HIS baptism.  It was Jesus’.  He was only the forerunner for the Christ.  After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.  I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.  John is the humble servant who is not even worthy to do the lowliest of tasks, untie the Lord’s sandals.  But the baptisms are the same.  Through John’s baptism with water, through our baptism with water, we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit.  We are shown the everlasting light in while we were in darkness.  The Christ who was to come, and did come, won salvation for us. 

Forgiveness is ours.  As we prepare for Christ’s birth and ultimately his second coming, we are made clean in the blood of the lamb.  Amazing isn’t it?  Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.  We have such a great visual of this as we look around us today.  For what is covering the seemingly dead ground, dead grass, bare and lifeless fields, fresh clean snow.  Snow that will rejuvenate the ground so that it will spring to life again. 

That is what repentance and forgiveness does for us.  It cleanses us and brings new life to us.  By daily contrition and repentance the Old Adam in us should be drowned and die, Luther says in his explanation of baptism, with all sin and evil desires, and that a new man should daily emerge and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.

God grant this to us for the sake of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, so that we may be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.

Amen.

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Matthew 25:31-46 "Judgement Day"

Grace Mercy and Peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ 

Amen

When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.   All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.

In the name of Jesus

We love drama.  Maybe we love to hate it.  What we have been witnessing in Ferguson Missouri over the last few months seems to have become the new norm in the world.  As a country, we attach ourselves to an injustice, or maybe the better term to use is a “perceived injustice”, as we don’t rest until it has been rectified in our eyes, justly or not.  Whether it has been a teenage boy, a politician, or even a popular sports star, we want justice, and we want it now.   

In our court system we have this thing called the presumption of innocence.  That is all are innocent until proven guilty.  Until we have a case made against us, all evidence has been shown, and a jury of our peers finds us guilty.  But that does not keep people from forming opinions of the person on trial. 

We are constantly preparing for our day in court, our final judgment on the last day, what we talked a bit about last week.  Innocent until proven guilty.  Wouldn’t that be nice?  Turn that phrase around and that is what we deal with in our spiritual lives.  We are not innocent until God finds us guilty.  We are already guilty.  There is no case to present and defend.  We are flat out, without a doubt, finger print on the weapon guilty.  Already back in the book of Genesis, at the fall of man, the punishment is handed down and the life of innocence is gone.

 The serpent came to Eve in her weakest time and convinced her to eat of the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil.  She then shared with Adam and their eyes were opened and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.  And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.  But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?"  And he said, "I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself."  He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?"  The man said, "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate."  Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." 

The sin which we inherited from Adam, have convicted us.  The sins which we have committed since our conception convict us.  Knowing or not knowing God’s laws does not change anything.  The law of God is written on our hearts.  We have a moral compass, or at least it seems as though we do.  We know right from wrong, and yet we daily go against it.  We daily sin.  You are guilty, I am guilty. 

On the last day, which is our focus on this the last Sunday of the church year, you and I deserve to be brought to the throne of God, and we deserve to be ushered to the left with the goats, with the evil ones to whom he says I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,  I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.'  Then they also will answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?'  Then he will answer them, saying, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.  And these will go away into eternal punishment.

And the eternal punishment is so great.  For not doing this to the least of these, our Father tells us Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.  We should be expecting nothing less on our judgment day.  We know the facts, we can hold up our lives to the 10 Commandments and see how we have failed miserably.  We know there is no way for us to be presented innocent, we are just plain guilty. 

We can read for ourselves the list of things which are Adam and Eve’s, and therefore our, punishment because of the fall into sin.  Labor pains, working the ground for food, and death.  Even before the punishment of man, God punishes Satan.  Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 

But right after this, in between Satan’s punishment and man’s punishment, the first promise of the Gospel is given.  I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring.  Through sin we are joined together with the evil forces.  God promises the devil that he will put enmity between Eve’s offspring and Satan’s offspring.  He will cause there to be hatred, bad blood, bitterness, hostility and separation the human race and Satan.  But what pulls us away and fills that gap to keep us apart?  What is the driving force behind this?   

Jesus.  The one little word that felled the devil.  Jesus is the one who broke the chains of sin, the bondage of sin for us.  Yes we are sinful, yes we oppose the will of God daily.  Yes we deserve to have our Father looks at us in our sinfulness and say Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

It is no longer innocent until proven guilty, we are guilty.  Instead it is guilty until made innocent.  Guilty until we are claimed by the Father and made innocent in the blood of the lamb, in the waters of Holy Baptism, and through the forgiveness of sins.  Jesus did what we could not.  He was obedient.  He took the punishment for our sins and made us perfect.  He has taken the goats and made them his lambs.     

Because of this our judgment day is not something which should scare us or frighten us.  It should be a time of celebration knowing that Christ has made us to be the sheep seated at the right hand of the Father who will be ushered into the kingdom of heaven with the words 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,  I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.'  Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?  And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?  And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?'  And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.

We have read of the last day in Amos, Zephaniah, and now we read of the last day in Ezekiel, and hear of the gathering of the sheep by the One true Shepherd.  Thus says the Lord GOD: 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.  And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. And I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country.  I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel.  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. 

We are graciously spared of eternal damnation, of the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his armies.  We are spared of the eternal agony and brought into the presence of the Almighty God.  We did not do it, we couldn’t do it.  It is purely God’s divine mercy.  And now we live in the light of his most precious grace. 

Praise God he has taken such guilt-filled sinners like us and made us his precious possession.  May all that we say and do, until the second coming of Jesus Christ, bear witness to the great work he has done for us. 

Amen

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"The Day of The Lord" Zephaniah 1:7-16

Grace, Mercy, and Peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ 
Amen

The great day of the Lord is near,
    near and hastening fast

In the Name of Jesus

Our sermon text today comes from a book of the Old Testament seldom heard from, the book of the prophet Zephaniah.  Not well known, but he does give us a great family background so that we can trace him.  We find on his opening verses that he comes from a distinguished family line, tracing himself back to King Hezekiah who brought about religious reform in his time, some four generations before his time.     

When placing him within the timeline of other Old Testament prophets he falls at the same time as Jeremiah, both mentioning the same reigning king in their opening verses, King Josiah, some 600 years before the birth of Christ. 

Perhaps the reason for the lack of readings from the book of Zephaniah is that his book, his prophecy, isn’t the most upbeat.  Spanning all of 3 chapters, a total of just 53 verses, it is filled with eternal warnings, just as with most of Jeremiah’s prophecy. 

Skim through it when you have the chance and you will read more of what we heard this morning.  Three chapters full of fear, destruction, judgment, with a little comfort added for kicks. 

I always thought that judgment day was supposed to be a joyous time!  We even hear from John at the end of Revelation to pray for the coming of the Lord when he writes He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! 

But when we hear from Zephaniah the warning The great day of the Lord is near, near and hastening fast; the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter; the mighty man cries aloud there.  A day of wrath is that day, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpet blast and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the lofty battlements. It strikes fear into our souls. 

It strikes even more fear when we recall the words we heard last week from the other seldom hear from prophet Amos.  Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord!  Why would you have the day of the Lord?  It is darkness, and not light, as if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him, or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall, and a serpent bit him.  Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light, and gloom with no brightness in it?   “I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.  Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them.  Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen.

The judgment handed down in Zephaniah and Amos is judgment for sinners.  It is for those who have turned against the Lord.  It is for those who praise God with their lips but whose hearts are far from him. 

And it is going to be downright ugly.  The great day of the Lord is near, near and hastening fast; the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter; the mighty man cries aloud there.  A day of wrath is that day, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpet blast and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the lofty battlements.

The references made to fish gate, the west wall, the hills, the inhabitants of the Mortar, all a signal to a complete, total, epic destruction.  The searching which the Lord would do, would be thorough as He seeks out those who have sinned against him, who are indifferent to him who say The Lord will not do good, nor will he do ill, and enact punishment on them all.      

This fearful punishment, which will be executed at the second coming of the Son of God, is clearly meant for you, for me, for all who sin, not just in the days of Zephaniah and the prophets.  We are all justly deserving of complete destruction and a one way ticket to the place our Lord speaks of in our Gospel where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Be silent before the Lord God!  For the day of the Lord is near.  In a portion of text that is very condemning, we find Gospel.  Be silent before the Lord.  It doesn’t seem right.  In a world that has developed a very public view towards its legal proceedings, this is exactly the opposite of what we could expect.  The biggest day of our lives is coming.  The day in which our judgment is handed down and that is the time, of all places, where we feel we must make a case for ourselves.  If you are called to a job interview and sit silent what will happen? 

But at the day of the Lord, we CAN stand silent.  We CAN do NOTHING!  For the Lord has prepared a sacrifice and consecrated his guests.  You dear friends in Christ as the ones for whom the sacrifice was made.  You are the ones for whom our Lord has already endured destruction.  The war against sin, death, and the evil has been won for you.  The eternal judgment was placed upon the Son so you would have life.  And that gnashing of teeth?  Our Lord endured that in your place so that you would be eternal spared. 

The most beautiful truth is that the horridness of the cross, the horridness of the death which our Lord endured upon the tree, has wiped away, for believers, the horridness which the last day would bring.  Our Lord created and made the sacrifice for us so that through his death and resurrection, and through our baptism which ties us intimately to those events, we have been consecrated his holy guests at the marriage feast. 

The case for our salvation is complete.  We must say nothing that last day for our crucified, risen, and ascended Lord will stand in our place, show his wounds on our behalf, and we will be ushered into eternal life for His sake.        

Paul’s words this morning from his first letter to the church in Thessalonica, are such a comfort for us in the last days.  For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.  While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.  But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief.  For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness.  So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.  For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night.  But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.  For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.

Because we have been consecrated as guests, our story has been rewritten.  No longer destined for destruction, but life.  Not the servants who are thrown out, but now sons who abide forever.    

The final day when our Lord comes again will be a fear-filled, awe-filled, day.  A day of reckoning for all living and departed.  What a sight it will be to see the Son of Man descending in the same way he ascended.  What glorious sounds we will hear as the trumpet of God sounds and the call of the coming bridegroom rings forth. 

Yes there will be complete destruction that day.  The earth will be destroyed.  Yes there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth as the Son of Man shuts the door on those who have not confessed him.  But that destruction MUST happen.  On order for creation to be restored, the former MUST pass away.

Praise God that by his divine guiding, all those who have confessed him as Savior, who have been brought into his precious fold, will pass through that destruction to eternal life which knows no end. 

God grant us the aid and support of his Holy Spirit to keep us steadfast until the coming of the Savior of the World.      

Amen

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