He Comes

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, the 3rd of December and the 1st Sunday in Advent, 2023, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  A recording of our service should be available on our YouTube streaming channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams.]

Family, the season of Advent allows us time to prepare for the coming of our Lord Jesus.  He came to us as one of us, as a mortal man, yet still God.  He came as a tiny, vulnerable baby, born in the most humble of settings.

We celebrate that birth on December 25th each year, although it more likely occurred in mid-September.  There are a couple of theories as to why the December date was chosen, with one being that it coincided with a Pagan celebration of that time.  The early church was heavily persecuted, so tried to hide their celebration of the birth of Christ by holding it during the Pagan event.

That seems to be the more popular theory, but the one I think may be more likely involves Jesus’ birth being aligned with His death.  An early church scholar determined that Jesus died – He was crucified - on March 25th.  And according to early Christian tradition, the Annunciation of the birth of Lord – when the angel Gabriel announced it to Mary – was the same as the date of His death, March 25th.  A normal pregnancy is nine months.  So nine months from March 25th is December 25th.

But no matter the reason, in four weeks we will celebrate our Lord coming into this world.  And Advent gives us the opportunity to prepare ourselves for His coming.

There is another time when we were told to get everything ready for Jesus to come.  And this one occurred when He was already an adult, just as He was about to begin His ministry.

Please listen and follow along to the first 6 verses of the 3rd chapter of the Gospel account of the Apostle Luke, as read from the New Living Translation of our Holy Bible…

1 It was now the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius, the Roman emperor. Pontius Pilate was governor over Judea; Herod Antipas was ruler over Galilee; his brother Philip was ruler over Iturea and Traconitis; Lysanias was ruler over Abilene. 2 Annas and Caiaphas were the high priests. At this time a message from God came to John son of Zechariah, who was living in the wilderness. 3 Then John went from place to place on both sides of the Jordan River, preaching that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven. 4 Isaiah had spoken of John when he said,

“He is a voice shouting in the wilderness,

‘Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming!

Clear the road for Him!

5 The valleys will be filled,

and the mountains and hills made level.

The curves will be straightened,

and the rough places made smooth.

6 And then all people will see

the salvation sent from God.’”

--Luke 3:1-6 (NLT)

Let us pray…  Heavenly Father, You sent Your Son Jesus into the world to offer us all the wonderful gift of salvation.  He came to us, not as a conquering hero but as a tiny baby, born of a mortal woman.  He came like us, as one of us, so that we could easily relate to Him.  Thank You, Father, for loving us so much that You would not spare even Your own Son to save us.  We believe in Jesus as Your Christ and we do try to follow Him and do as He commands.  But sometimes, Father, we just get too caught up in the struggles of life, too beaten down by an uncaring world, that we just don’t do what we know we should do, and we do what we know we shouldn’t.  Please forgive us these times, Father.  We do appreciate all the blessings You pour out over us, and we pray that You will continue to bless us.  Please help us get ourselves ready for Your Son’s coming, as we look to celebrate His birth, remember the start of His ministry, and anxiously await His return.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us and better understand what You tell us this day.  Please protect us from those who serve Satan and carry out his evil deeds.  And Father, please keep us strong in our faith, of one mind and one purpose in our love, worship, and service, and healthy and safe in the days ahead.  This we pray in the precious name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

Martin Luther once preached on the great missionary works of Paul and Barnabas, and of the terrible argument between them that caused them to part ways.  Of this Luther wrote the following:

“Here it appears either Paul or Barnabas went too far.  It must have been a violent disagreement to separate two associates who were so closely united.  Indeed, the text indicates as much.  Such examples are written for our consolation: for it is a great comfort to us to hear that great saints, who have the Spirit of God, also struggle.  Those who say that saints do not sin would deprive us of this comfort.  Samson, David, and many other celebrated men full of the Holy Spirit fell into grievous sins.  Job and Jeremiah cursed the day of their birth; Elijah and Jonah were weary of life and desired death.  No one has ever fallen so grievously that he may not rise again.  Conversely, no one stands so firmly that he may not fall.  If Peter (and Paul and Barnabas) fell, I too may fall.  If they rose again, I too may rise again.”

We might read of the great works of the holy men and women in our bible, of the marvelous acts they performed, and wonder, "What hope is there for me?  I can't do what they did.  I can't fight major battles or perform miracles.  I just go out and work a normal job every day, live a normal life."

But family, these people are our hope.  All these holy people were flawed, every one of them.  All have sinned, Paul tells us; all have fallen short.  Yet all rose again to great things.  And all to show that we too may rise again.

As I mentioned last week, we’re going to take a break from the Apostolic letters until after the first of the year.  For today we enter into Advent and its four Sundays leading up to our celebration of the birth of our Lord and Christ Jesus.  The very word “advent” means a coming into place or being; arrival.  And our Advent (capital “A”) season looks ahead to the coming, the arrival, of Jesus as a mortal man.

But according to many, His birth did not mark the first time Jesus came to earth.  If we pay attention when reading our Old Testament, we will see where the “Angel of the Lord” came often to help or advise certain people, like Abraham and Lott, for instance.  It is a very popular belief that the pre-incarnate Jesus was the Angel of the Lord.  In other words, Jesus came and walked among us on numerous occasions before He took on human flesh.

And we also celebrate another coming of Jesus from right before His crucifixion, when He rode triumphantly into Jerusalem on what we call Palm Sunday.

Today’s scripture passage looks at the time immediately before Jesus began His ministry, as He approached John the Baptist at the River Jordan.  People came from Jerusalem and all the surrounding region to be baptized by John there at the Jordan, where he preached a message of repentance.  “Repent and be baptized!”, John would shout.  “Turn from your sins and turn to God to be forgiven.”

As Isaiah had predicted, John was preparing the people for the Lord’s coming.  And yes, Jesus was indeed coming to the river to be baptized, but this isn’t the coming John was warning the people to be prepared for.  It’s the repentance, the turning from our sins, that John was concerned with.  We need to clear the road for our Lord, the road that leads to our hearts.  Level the mountains and fill in the valleys in our up-and-down relationship with God.  Straighten the curves and smooth out the rough places in our lives.  We need to get right with our Lord, for in Him is our only hope.

Let’s back up to the event behind the Advent season – the birth of Jesus.  God made us a promise before sending His Son to us, telling us what His Christ would, and would not, do.  Isaiah recorded this promise for us in the 42nd chapter of his book of prophesy, verses 1 through 4, and he included the instructions that the Father gave His Son in verses 5 through 9.  God spoke through Isaiah, saying…

1 “Behold! My Servant whom I uphold,

My Chosen One in whom My soul delights!

I have put My Spirit upon Him;

He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.

2 He will not cry out, nor raise His voice,

Nor cause His voice to be heard in the street.

3 A bruised reed He will not break,

And a dimply burning candle He will not extinguish;

He will bring forth justice for truth.

4 He will not fail nor be discouraged,

Till He has established justice in the earth;

And the coastlands shall wait for His law.”

5 Thus says God the Lord,

Who created the heavens and stretched them out,

Who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it,

Who gives breath to the people on it,

And spirit to those who walk on it:

6 “I, the Lord, have called You in righteousness,

And will hold Your hand;

I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people,

As a light to the Gentiles,

7 To open blind eyes,

To bring out prisoners from the prison,

Those who sit in darkness from the prison house.

8 I am the Lord, that is My name;

And My glory I will not give to another,

Nor My praise to carved images.

9 Behold, the former things have come to pass,

And new things I declare;

Before they spring forth I tell you of them.”

--Isaiah 42:1-9 (NKJV)

Can you hear our hope in this passage?  This is Jesus, God’s Chosen One, His Servant, who has God’s own Spirit within Him.  When God says He will bring justice to the Gentiles, He means that Jesus will open God’s kingdom to all peoples, to all who will believe, and not just to the house of Israel.  He will not break us when we weaken, nor extinguish our inner fire when our spirit is running low.  And He will not fail in the mission God has given Him.  He will not fail us.

What’s more, God promises to be with Jesus as He goes about His work, for He has called His Son into a service of righteousness.  And He promises us that Jesus will be His new covenant with us, to all people.  He will open our eyes to the truth.  He will free us from the prison of sin.

The Apostle Paul elaborates on this a bit and gives us more reason to hope.  Hear what Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans, in chapter 15 verse 4 and chapter 5 verse 5…

15:4 Whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.

5:5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

--Romans 15:4, 5:5 (NKJV)

The scriptures were saved for us to give us hope, and hope does not disappoint.  This is not the hope that the world knows, which more often than not does indeed leave us disappointed.  “Gee, I hope the Panthers win another game this year.”  That’s the world’s idea of hope.  But with God, our hope is an assurance, not a wish.  We can be assured of what God has promised because His love has been poured out in our hearts by His own Holy Spirit who was given to us when we accepted Jesus as our Lord.

So as we enter the season of Advent, we wait anxiously, expectantly, for our Lord to come, for He is our hope, our only hope.  Isaiah predicted the coming of Jesus, God's Messiah.  John announced it in the wilderness.  Jesus came and brought salvation.  He will come again, to bring judgment.  And all the world will see Him.

Let us prepare ourselves for His coming.  Whether we are looking back to His birth, in the present as we go about the mission He assigned us, or toward some tomorrow when He comes again, let us get right with God and be doing our Lord’s work.  For this is our only hope.  Jesus is our only hope.  And He comes.

In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, the Son of God, who came to us before and will come for us again.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, thank You for giving us hope.  This life can be tough, Father.  The uncaring world would just as soon see us crushed as to allow us to live.  Satan constantly tries to pull us away from You.  Too often we are beaten down, then lifted up only to be knocked down again.  But because of Your love for us and mercy over us, You give us hope.  You give us hope through Your Son Jesus who allowed Himself to be sacrificed that we might be saved.  Thank You, Father, for so wonderful a gift.  Thank You for our hope, for our faith, for salvation through Jesus.  We admit that too often we fail to differentiate ourselves from the rest of the world.  Too many times we don’t carry out our mission on earth when we have the opportunity to do so.  Forgive us those times, please Father.  Please show us all the many ways we can still serve no matter what condition we ourselves are in.  And please help us to not be afraid to share our Lord Jesus with others so that they too may be saved by Your mercy and 

His sacrifice.  And Father, please shield us from Satan as he attacks our faith, trying to make us his own.  Help us be better servants, glorifying You in all we do so that the world can see You in us, through our deeds, in how we live.  And help us remain strong, faithful, and true to You in all things, no matter what the world throws at us or holds out before us.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your commands, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, You came to us as one of us – born of a woman in the most humble of settings.  Then throughout Your mortal life and Your ministry on earth, You served us just as God through Isaiah promised You would.  And You still serve as our only hope of freedom from the chains of our sin, our only hope of eternal life in heaven.  You came once and delivered on God’s promise, offering salvation to the world, a world that shunned You, that crucified You.  You will come again some day, this time to judge the world.  This, too, is God’s promise.  Thank You, Jesus, for providing us the very foundation of our hope.  By our faith, we accept You as our Lord and are redeemed.   Please help us, dear Lord - help us be more like You in our daily interactions with others.  Help us share our reason for hope with them so that they too might be saved.  Give us the words to say.  Show us the deeds to do.  Help us lead the lost to You.  Help us reach out to the non-believing world, sharing the Gospel message, showing Your love through our love.

And Jesus, please shield our minds and our hearts from Satan’s lies and the world’s empty promises.  Guide us around all the devil’s traps and snares.  Help us see though his temptations.  Please help us be faithful and true to You, putting all our trust in You, all our hope in You.  Heal the hurts that separate and divide us one from another.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this life might offer.  This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.