A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” (Isaiah 40:3)
Today is the second installment of our Advent messages. Advent means “coming” – that time of expectant waiting and preparation for the first coming of our Lord Jesus Christ as a baby in a manger and the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ as the Conquering King. Most churches use the four weeks leading up to Christmas Day to focus on the real meaning of the season.
On Monday we looked at waiting; today we will focus on preparing. It makes sense, does it not? While we are waiting, we are preparing for what we are waiting for. No one just plants seeds in the garden and waits for the harvest to come in. They plant, water, nurture, and prepare in order to maximize the harvest that will come in the fall.
So how are we to prepare for all we are waiting on from our Lord? There are two ways.
SIMPLIFY
Life if full of distractions, with countless voices vying for our attention. And those voices amp up during the Christmas season, with one advertisement after another hawking the latest products purporting to enhance our lives. It is easy to forget the reason for the season when we are so busy being busy. So how do we simplify as we are preparing in our waiting for Christmas? We learn the way of our Lord in two vital areas of our lives.
Prayer
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. (Mark 1:35)
No one lived a busier life than our Lord Jesus Christ, yet His days were saturated in communion with His Father in heaven. Jesus continually retreated to pray, and we read that there were times when He would spend an entire night on His knees. Notice too that Jesus would go to prayer early in the morning, before the demands of the day engulfed Him, and He would find a solitary place to pray, so as to minimize distractions. Is this the confession of your life?
Word
“It is written . . .” “It is also written . . .” “For it is written . . .” (Matthew 4:4, 7, 10)
When Jesus was engaged in His battle with the devil during His wilderness experience, He fought back and conquered Satan with the Old Testament Scriptures (which was all that was available at that time). In order for Jesus to continually quote the Scriptures, He had to know the Scriptures; and to know the Scriptures, He had to be meditating on and marinating in them. Is this the confession of your life?
One of the best ways to prepare for Christmas is to simplify our lives, and the best way to simplify is to be on our knees with the Bible in hand. May that be the confession of all our lives!
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. (Psalm 27:14)
During the next four articles, leading up to Christmas Day, I would like to direct our focus to Advent, which means “coming” – that time of expectant waiting and preparation for the first coming of our Lord Jesus Christ as a baby in a manger and the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ as the Conquering King. Most churches use the four weeks leading up to Christmas Day to focus on the real meaning of the season.
Today we will sharpen our focus on waiting. As a child, the hardest thing for me was waiting for Christmas Eve, when we would be allowed to open one of our Christmas presents. After we had finished that annual family tradition, I had to endure the long night of counting sheep — on those nights I was probably counting reindeer — and waiting for what seemed like interminable hours until the sun came up and I could finally enjoy the one day that I waited every day of the year to arrive.
I’m much older now, but waiting is just as difficult for me today as it was a child, for a variety of reasons. And so I have to keep reminding myself that waiting is part of God’s perfect plan to mature each one of us and grow us up in our faith.
What have you been waiting for this year? Have you been waiting for God to do something in your life? The prophet Isaiah says, “They who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31 ESV). Isaiah gave us a beautiful picture of the source of our power. When you picture the eagle in flight, you see that this magnificent creature is completely dependent on the Lord, who gave the eagle its wings and provides the unseen currents of air on which it soars.
To wait upon the Lord is to live a life of dependence and trust in a power infinitely greater than our own. It is to trust God even when we cannot trace Him. It is to know that God’s will often requires waiting, because it is one of God’s great graces in our lives. And how are we to wait? We are to wait expectantly . . . hopefully . . . confidently . . . knowing that whatever we receive from the hand of our God is always what is best for us, and God’s best always does its best work in our lives when it comes to us in His perfect timing.
So as you are waiting for Christmas this year and waiting for God to answer your prayers, let the unseen currents of life’s pressures and pleasures, its challenges and charms, and its difficulties and delights lift you up higher and higher, trusting that your strength will be renewed by your Redeemer, moment by moment and day by day.
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. (1 Thessalonians 5:11)
The verse before us today is a powerful word from God about the importance of being a builder. As you can see, builder is another word for being an encourager. There are only two things we can do in the lives of others: We can either build them up or break them down. Which of these activities best describes you?
Let’s be clear on what biblical encouragement is not. You don’t build others up with trite statements like, “Well, it could be worse!” or “Hang in there!” or “This too shall pass!” The list of these banalities is almost endless; such phrases do little to bring any measure of encouragement to the listener, and frequently they produce discouragement and disgust.
Now let’s see what true encouragement actually is, as given us in the pages of Scripture. Here is perhaps the most encouraging statement from our Savior that was ever recorded by the gospel writers. It has been a source of eternal encouragement to all those whom I have shared it with over the years. Before Jesus ascended to be reunited with His Father in heaven, He gave this glorious promise to His disciples . . . and to you and me:
“Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”(Matthew 28:20)
Pause for just a moment and let that truth sink in. Jesus is with you when things are going well and when things are going badly. Jesus is with you with the sky is blue and the clouds are fleecy and when dark clouds roll in and storm winds begin to howl. No matter what you are going through, you are not going through it alone. Jesus has promised to be with you every step of the way — always, to the very end of the age. If you remember the poem “Footprints,” know that whenever you look back and see only one set of footprints on the path you have been traveling, that was the time when Jesus was carrying you.
No matter where this message finds you, it finds you with Jesus by your side. There is no place you can go and there is nothing you can do to cause Jesus to walk away from you. Romans 8:38-39 emphatically states that nothing–no power of hell, no scheme of man–can ever separate us from the love God has for us in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Are you encouraged to know that you are always in the presence of your Savior? I mean, really encouraged? Think about it this way; when you love someone, you want to be in their presence, and you will do whatever it takes to be with that person. Well, the very same thing is true for Jesus. He loves you so much that He did whatever it took to be with you: He died on a cross so you could be with Him forever simply by trusting in Him alone for salvation.
Let these words from Jesus close out our time together today and remind you that to be a builder in the lives of others, you need only bring them into the presence of Jesus:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:28-29)
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which when translated, is Peter). (John 1:42)
What a word of encouragement we have before us today! Jesus is so utterly unlike us. Here we see him giving Simon, the son of John, His Almighty affirmation – affirming not what Simon was that day, but what He would one day become: Peter (the Rock).
The name Simon meant “reed,” something that would be easily tossed about by whatever wind was blowing at the time. By changing Simon’s name to Peter, Jesus was affirming him ahead of time. Jesus was telling Simon that He was going to make him, by grace through faith, a Rock, which is a symbol of stability.
I want you to see something very important. Jesus did not withhold this name from Simon until he had proved himself. Jesus was not waiting for Simon to do more and try harder. No, Jesus simply declared that Simon would be Peter, and in time he would grow into his new name. Jesus not only sees people as they are; He sees what we will become by trusting in Him and looking to Him for the strength we need to live out a life of faith and commitment.
How is it with you? How do you see others? Do you see their potential and their possibilities? Do you affirm them as the Almighty affirmed Peter . . . and as He affirms you?
Remember, your name was changed to Christian (which means Christ-follower) when you trusted in Christ alone for your salvation and Jesus raised you from death to life. Now, none of us will follow Christ perfectly on this side of the grave. In receiving the name Christian, we have received the promise that on the day when we cross the Jordan, we will actually be perfect followers of Christ.
Let that Almighty affirmation comfort you today and challenge you to live this day sold out for Him.
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
The psalmist gave us words of inspired instruction to teach us how we can rise above our natural tendency to fret.
There are many ways to define the word fret: to become vexed or worried; to affect something as if by gnawing or biting; to chafe or corrode. Fretting plagues every one of us from time to time, and the results can be devastating to the life of the believer — emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually. Fretting starts as an infection and will wind up a disease if we do not heed the psalmist’s exhortation set before us today.
The first word of instruction is to trust. To trust is simply to place your problems in the hands of your Savior. Give them all over to your Lord. Start with prayer, casting all your anxieties on the Lord, because He cares for you (1 Peter 5:7). And then trust that God will answer you, for He has promised, “Call to me, and I will answer you” (Jeremiah 33:3).
The second instruction is to delight. To delight is to enjoy the Lord — not for what He has done for you, but rather, simply because He is God. True delight is to focus on the Giver of all good gifts, not the gifts themselves. God sits enthroned on the praises of His people (Psalm 22:3); as you delight in the Sovereign Lord and lift up your praises to Him, you will find that your fretting fades away.
The third inspired instruction is to commit. To commit to the Lord is to be “all in” with every aspect of your life. Do not withhold anything from Him; surrender every area of your life to His wisdom, His will, and His way. “Commit to the Lord whatever you do,” the Wise Preacher tells us, “and your plans will succeed” (Proverbs 16:3).
The fourth and final instruction is to be still. To be still is to center your heart on home and remember Who is in charge of everything. God is on the throne of your life every moment of every day. He is in complete control of the entire universe, and that includes whatever it is you are fretting about. “Be still, and know that I am God,” He tells us; “I will be exalted in the earth” (Psalm 46:5). “Wait patiently for [the Lord],” the Psalm 37:7-8 instructs us. “Do not fret — it leads only to evil.”
Many, many people have been blessed over the years by following these inspired instructions. What about you? Are you ready to forsake fretting? Regardless of what it is you are facing, trust in the Lord, delight in Him, commit your all to Him, and be still before Him. Know that He is not just God, as awesome as that is, but He is your God, and He has promised to bring you safely through any storm you are facing now or will face in the future. You have His Word on that.
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word. (Psalm 119:67)
When the sky is blue, the clouds are fleecy, and the sun is brightly shining, we have a tendency to live unreflectively. By nature, we have a tendency to settle into unreflective ruts of routine when things are going well. We bask in the sunshne and don’t give our lives a great deal of thought. But God wants us to live reflectively, and often He will send a seasonal storm to get our attention back on what matters most in life. Read on and be greatly encouraged today . . . especially if you’re in the middle of one of those storms as you’re reading this!
We know that storms come in all sizes. Some are quick and mild; others rage on interminably. From losing a sale to losing a job to losing a loved one, storms are promised to come our way. Some storms are so great, like those that Paul and Timothy endured, that our despair may be palpable. Paul wrote to the Christians at Corinth —
We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. (2 Corinthians 1:8-9)
We are not given any inspired insight into what the hardships Paul and Timothy suffered actually were, but they were so severe that the apostle despaired even of life. But Paul did not stop there; he went on to provide us with the necessary instruction to help us get through any storm we are facing:
But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. (2 Corinthians 1:9)
The storms Paul and Timothy faced were ultimately for God’s glory and their good. It caused them to rely more and more on God, driving them to live reflectively. It never ceases to amaze me just how much more reflectively I live my life when the storm winds begin to blow. Storms have a tendency to set my priorities straight. Storms show us what matters most, and they are designed to lead us back into the shadow of the cross, causing us to reflect on all that God in Christ has done for us.
To be sure, storms are the antidote for living unreflectively. But we don’t need to wait for the storms winds to blow; we can decide in advance that we will set our hope not on what is seen but what is unseen (2 Corinthians 4:18). We can and should reflect on God’s promise that, regardless of the storms we are facing here and now, we will one day live in a city that is to come, “whose designer and builder is God” (Hebrews 11:10), where all storm winds will be stilled.
So . . . what are you going to reflect on today?
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. (Acts 9:18)
I am using the conversion experience of Saul, who was transformed into the great apostle Paul, as our focal point for a great word of encouragement today. Saul the Pharisee was bent on persecuting the church, “breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples” (Acts 9:1), but while he was on the road to Damascus to ramp up his persecution even more, Jesus appeared in the road in a flash of light, driving Saul to his knees and blinding him. Three days later, God sent a disciple named Ananias to Saul to commission the former Pharisee to spread the Gospel; at that time, as we see in today’s verse, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes and he could see clearly. This brings me to our promised encouragement of “clear seeing,” not “clear sailing.”
For the very first time, the apostle Paul could see the truth clearly. He had a saving encounter with the resurrected Jesus, and in that moment, Paul was raised from death to life. Now Paul could clearly see who Jesus was, what Jesus had come to do, and what the cost was for being His disciple. It was not long after His conversion that Paul saw that his Christian brothers and sisters feared him because of who he had been, and the Jews who were once his friends wanted to kill him because of who he had become. Paul understood the truth that being a follower of Christ brings the promise of “clear seeing, not clear sailing,” and he explained it this way. First, the clear seeing:
The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. . . . For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:4, 6)
When God, in His infinite grace and mercy, shines his light into our hearts, the scales of unbelief fall from our eyes, and we are able to behold and comprehend the salvation that is ours, by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. That is clear seeing. But that does not in any way bring with it a promise of clear sailing! Consider Paul’s own testimony:
I have been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea. I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles. (2 Corinthians 11:23-26)
The Lord Jesus never shrank from telling His disciples about the cost of following Him. The more clearly we see this truth, speak this truth, and show this truth in love, the more we will be buffeted by the storm winds that blow. We must always remember that the promise is clear seeing, not clear sailing. In fact, when our Lord was instructing to Ananias to go to Paul, Jesus said, “[Paul] is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name” (Acts 9:15-16).
What storms winds have you been facing lately? Remember these words from Paul, who lived a life marked by suffering and storms for the sake of the Gospel: “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18). Like the apostle Paul, the way through your trial is to keep focused on Christ — seeing Him clearly — and not focusing on the rough sailing of our circumstances. Trust our Lord’s promise to get us safely to our final port of call, and you will experience the love and joy and peace that are the Spirit-filled qualities of the committed Christian life.
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
You’ve probably heard of an “exchange rate,” which sets the value of a certain country’s currency compared to the currency of another country. The exchange rate for one U. S. dollar to the euro, for example, is .91. Today I’d like to give you a word of great encouragement as we plumb the depths of the eternal exchange rate: The value of our eternal country’s currency compared to that of our earthly country today.
The deepest, most comprehensive view of our righteous, eternal exchange rate comes into view when we behold the cross of Calvary, where Jesus laid down His life for the lost. That exchange, which is often referred to as The Great Exchange, is set forth in our verse for today, 2 Corinthians 5:21.
Jesus exchanged His righteousness for our sin
Jesus stood in the place of the guilty and paid the penalty for our sins, redeeming us by His perfect righteousness. Jesus was tempted in every way, just as we are, yet He remained sinless (Hebrews 4:15). To be sure, it would take a lifetime to fully grasp this unimaginable eternal exchange rate, which was freely given to us by Jesus and is freely offered to all sinners, for God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 33:11), but desires for all sinners to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). The key to living the life God has called us to live is to consistently keep this incredible truth before us.
But that’s not all! Here are three more incredible eternal exchange rates that should rock your world.
Jesus exchanged His blessings for our curses
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. (Galatians 3:14-15)
Jesus exchanged His perfect health for our diseases
Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53:4-5)
Jesus exchanged His glorious riches for our poverty
You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9)
To think that the sinless Son of God would provide this kind of righteous, eternal exchange rate for fallen and broken sinners boggles the mind. Yet this is exactly what the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit planned from before the foundation of the world (Hebrews 13:20). When we keep what Jesus did for us on that cross in view, I am convinced that we will begin to understand what it means to live the abundant life Jesus promised to those who believe. Think about this for just a minute: Before God formed Adam from the dust of the ground . . . He loved you! Jesus Christ had agreed to die for you! You are of tremendous, eternal value to God!
Have you received this eternal exchange rate from your Redeemer? He offers it to you without money and without price (Isaiah 55:1). Simply believe in the Lord Jesus and in what He did on your behalf . . . and you are redeemed. Your sins–all your sins–exchanged for His perfect righteousness.
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. (1 John 4:12)
You may have heard it said that the only Bible some people will ever read is you. That’s very true! So the question is, What kind of God do they see in you? I hope that today’s message will both comfort and challenge you.
The greatest need in the world today is to see God. Now, we know that God’s nature is visible, for the heavens declare the glory of God (Psalm 19:1). Yet because God is love, the most profound demonstration of God will come through His love in us that we share with others. People will tell me that they just can’t seem to love others as God has commanded them to, so I go right to our verse for today and continue on to the verse that follows it: “We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit” (1 John 4:13).
None of us by nature are truly loving people. Any love we demonstrate toward others is self-love; our ultimate goal is satisfying our own needs. And thus we are hiding — or camouflaging — the image of God in us, because God is love (1 John 4:16), but apart from a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, our love is directed at ourselves, not at others. But when God in Christ raises us from death to life, we are given the Holy Spirit, who begins the process of making us loving – a godly, sacrificial love that flows from a heart that is beating for the glory of God and the good of others . . . all others.
You see, when the Christian is indwelt by the Holy Spirit, our camouflage is automatically cast off, because “God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit” (Romans 5:5). Now we are ready, willing, and most importantly, able to put God on display to the watching world. Our verse for today makes it clear that the way for others to see God is to see God’s love for hurting human beings flowing through our lives. This supernatural, Spirit-generated love loves at all times, with no thought of getting anything in return. We love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19); by loving others, we let the world see our loving God.
So . . . have you been camouflaging God’s love? Or are you putting it on display by loving others? This is a choice we make moment by moment, so we must pray continually that God will fill us with His love so that we can pour it out on others.
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. (2 Corinthians 10:3)
Whether you are a seasoned veteran or raw recruit, we are all on the front lines of a spiritual battle, not just daily but moment by moment. But the glorious good news is that God has given us His armor so that we can fight against our enemy — not in our strength, but in the strength of Almighty God — and be victorious. Scripture instructs us, “Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power” (Ephesians 6:10 emphasis mine). If we attempt to fight a spiritual battle in our own strength, we are doomed to inevitable, abject failure.
Let’s take a quick look at the individual pieces of the full armor of God to make sure we are putting them on each day. By the way, if you are not a regular attender at Cross Community Church, I recently preached on each of these pieces of spiritual armor. You can access those messages here. Scripture instructs us:
Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Ephesians 6:14-17)
The Belt of Truth – Jesus said, “Your word is truth” (John 17:17). To put on the belt of truth is to put on the Word of God. We must spend time meditating on and marinating in the Bible.
The Breastplate of Righteousness – The Bible tells us that Jesus is our righteousness (1 Corinthians 1:30). We do not have any inherent righteousness in ourselves. We need this “alien” righteousness that comes from our Lord. When we are in Christ, we have been clothed in His righteousness to protect the most vital organ in the body: our heart!
The Shoes of the Gospel of Peace – Good footwear is absolutely essential for long marches toward the battle and for staying upright during close combat with the enemy. God sends us into this world with His shoes on, spreading the Good News about the Prince of Peace, who graciously gives us the peace that passes all human understanding.
The Shield of Faith – Roman soldiers covered their shields with heavy animal hides and would then dip them in water so that when flaming arrows fired by the enemy hit the shield, the wet hides would extinguish the fire. Our shield of faith must be dipped in the water of God’s Word each and every day to extinguish the fiery darts of Satan, because “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17).
The Helmet of Salvation – The battlefield of our mind is the primary place where our spiritual battle is fought each day. We must renew our minds by “setting our minds on things above, not on earthly things below” (Colossians 3:2).
The Sword of the Spirit – This is the only piece of God’s armor that is both defensive and offensive. The best example of wielding the sword of the Spirit, of course, was provided by Jesus during His wilderness confrontation with Satan. When the devil tempted Jesus, our Lord used the Word of God to chop down every temptation; you and I must do the same thing.
Christian, God has placed His armor within our reach, but we must put it on. God will not dress us for battle each day, but when we clothes ourselves in His full battle dress, God will give us victory against every attack of the devil. And on those days when we fail, we do not despair, because we know that we are fully loved and completely forgiven. We have His Word on that!
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Grace for the Race 