“And the angel said to her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give to him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary to the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said to her, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing who shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” Luke 1:30-35 (Read Luke 1:26-56)

Who is Jesus? The announcement of the Angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary leaves no doubt. Jesus is Jehovah God in the flesh! He is the “Son of the Highest” and also the promised Son of David who would rule over God’s people forever and ever.

“How shall this be?” The Holy Spirit caused Mary, a virgin, to conceive; the power of the Highest overshadowed her. It is in this way and for this reason that the Holy Child born to her would be called the Son of God. Jesus is Immanuel [meaning God with us]. He is the LORD [Jehovah or Yahweh] God our Savior, as His name itself tells us.

It is as Isaiah prophesied some seven hundred years before Christ: “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isa. 7:14); and, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.” (Isa. 9:6-7).

In the Person of Jesus, and by means of the virgin birth, the LORD God Himself took on human flesh and blood and became true man and lived among us that He might fulfill the righteous demands of God’s law in our stead and then bear the full punishment for our sins by going to the cross and suffering and dying as the atoning sacrifice for our sins (cf. John 1:14,29). This Jesus did, and because He is the very Son of God, His innocent sufferings and death were accepted by God the Father as a propitiating sacrifice, making full atonement for the sins of the whole world. Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is proof of that fact (cf. Rom. 1:3-4; 4:25).

What a miracle for a virgin to conceive and bear a Son! And what a miracle of grace for God Himself to become a true man and go to the cross to redeem you and me that we might turn from our sinful ways to Jesus and His cross in faith and be pardoned, forgiven, and granted eternal life! “With the LORD there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption” (Psalm 130:7).

O gracious Father, we thank You for so loving the world that You sent Your only begotten Son to be born a true man of the Virgin Mary, that He might redeem us from sin and death and grant to us life everlasting through faith in His name. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.

[Scripture is quoted from the Revised Webster Version of the Bible.]

13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John. 14 He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He shall never take wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb. 16 Many of the sons of Israel he will turn back to the Lord their God. 17 And he will go on before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” Luke 1:13-17

The words of Gabriel to Zachariah echo the Word of the Lord recorded by Malachi the prophet: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse” (Mal. 4:5-6).

And, as we prepare for the second advent of the LORD, our Lord Jesus Christ, we continue in the ministry of John the Baptist by calling sinners to repentance and pointing them to Christ Jesus and His atoning sacrifice on the cross for the sins of the world.

As God’s Word teaches us, we are to preach that “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, [and] that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3-4). We are to preach “in His name repentance and forgiveness of sins … to all nations” (Luke 24:47). We are to point people to Jesus and proclaim the truth that Jesus is “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29), that He is our “advocate before the Father … the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:1,2).

While many think lightly of Christ’s return and the final judgment and see no need for repentance, it is indeed a serious matter. If the LORD judges us according to His law, as we read in Psalm 130:3, who can stand? The answer, of course, is none of us, for we have all sinned and come short of what God, in His law, demands (cf. Rom. 3:19-20,23).

Malachi wrote concerning the coming of Christ in Malachi 3:1-2: “‘Behold, I will send My messenger, who will prepare the way before Me. Then the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple—the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight—see, He is coming,’ says the LORD of Hosts. ‘But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire, like a launderer’s soap.’”

In Malachi 4:1,5-6, we read: “‘For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble; the day is coming when I will set them ablaze,’ says the LORD of Hosts. ‘Not a root or branch will be left to them. … Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse.’”

It is for this very reason that John the Baptist came: to call upon sinners to repent and look to Christ Jesus, the Lamb of God, for pardon and forgiveness (cf. Luke 3:2ff.; Ps. 130:4ff.). And the Church, through its ministers, still preaches the same message today (cf. Luke 24:46-47; John 20:20-23; Acts 3:19ff.).

Both John and the Church seek “to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

Through the preaching of God’s Word, the fathers and their children are united again in the true fear of the LORD. Those who were disobedient to the true faith are awakened to their sinfulness by God’s Spirit and turned to the wisdom of the righteous — to the wisdom of those who acknowledge and repent of their sinful ways and look in faith to the LORD God for mercy and forgiveness for the sake of the promised Messiah and His redeeming work (cf. 1 John 1:5 — 2:2; Psalm 32; Psalm 130).

The only way for you and me — for anyone — to be ready for the Lord’s return and to escape the curse and condemnation of God’s holy law is to repent and trust in the holy life and innocent sufferings and death of Christ Jesus for the sins of the world (cf. Rom. 3:21-26; Gal. 3:10,13; Acts. 3:17ff.; 4:12).

O LORD God, we have sinned and come short of the righteousness your law demands. We are guilty and justly stand condemned. Have mercy on us and forgive us for all our sins for the sake of the holy life and innocent sufferings and death of Christ Jesus, Your Son, and our crucified and risen Savior, that we might be found in Him, just and holy and acceptable in Your sight on that day when Christ returns to judge the living and the dead. Amen.

[Scripture quoted from the Majority Standard Bible]

“From that time on many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him. So Jesus asked the Twelve, ‘Do you want to leave too?’ Simon Peter replied, ‘Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’” John 6:66-69

As it was during Jesus’ earthly ministry, so it is today. Many are glad to follow Jesus in the hope of receiving some earthly benefit — to be healed of a disease, to be helped with a need, or to be blessed with earthly riches. But, when they hear that they must repent of their sinful ways and place their faith in Jesus as the Messiah and atoning sacrifice for the sins of all — that they must partake by faith of His body given for them and His blood shed for the sins of the world — they turn away from Him and go their own way.

And, at least at times, Jesus’ own disciples may be filled with doubts and fears. Their faith in Jesus and His words is challenged; it becomes weak. They, too, may be tempted to turn away from Jesus and go back to their worldly ways and lives, perhaps to seek another way, an easier way with less resistance from the world.

Jesus’ question could be asked of us as well: ‘Do you want to leave too?’

Simon Peter’s answer is so fitting and instructive for us: “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

To whom would we turn? What other religion or teacher offers the truth and life Jesus offers? They all direct us back to our own lives and works, to our own attempts to please God, whether it be by our deeds, our lives, or our forms of worship, and they all fail and come up short. We stand condemned by God’s holy law (cf. Rom. 3:9-20; Eccl. 7:20; Isa. 64:6).

It is as Peter confessed to Jesus: “You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (John 6:68-69; cf. Matt. 16:16-17). Jesus is “the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through” Him (John 14:6).

Jesus is the Son of the living God. He is God in the flesh, and He came into this world to fulfill the righteous demands of God’s law in our stead and to bear on the cross the full and just punishment for all our sins that we might look to Him and partake of Him in faith and be pardoned, forgiven and given eternal life in communion with God our Creator! There is no other way for sinners like you and me to be saved than turning to Jesus and His cross in faith.

As Peter professed of Jesus in Acts 4:12: “Salvation exists in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

Don’t turn away from Him! Look to Him and partake of His atoning sacrifice in faith that you may have eternal life!

O merciful Father, grant to me faith in Your Son and my only Savior, Jesus Christ, that I might not be lost and condemned for my sinfulness but be pardoned, forgiven, and granted eternal life for Jesus’ sake. In His name, I pray. Amen.

[Scripture is quoted from the Majority Standard Bible, freely available at www.biblehub.com.]

“Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, ‘This is a hard saying; who can understand it?’ When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, ‘Does this offend you? What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you who do not believe.’ For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe and who would betray Him. And He said, ‘Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.’” John 6:60-65

Many stumble over the person and work of Jesus. They cannot understand and believe that Jesus is the eternal Son of God, who came into this world a true man to give life to lost sinners by fulfilling all righteousness in their stead and paying the just penalty for their sins by going to the cross and suffering and dying for the sins of the world. They cannot bring themselves to believe that, through means of partaking of Jesus and His sacrifice for sin in faith, they can have pardon, forgiveness, and life eternal. Thus, they turn away from Jesus in unbelief.

As Jesus said when many of His followers stumbled over the truth that He is God the Son and gives life to those who trust in Him and His atoning sacrifice, what would they think if they saw Him ascend to God the Father in glory? Jesus added, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.”

Unless the Spirit of God opens our minds to understand and believe the Scriptures, we are unable to grasp the truth Jesus expressed in His words. We are unable to accept and believe the fact that Jesus is the only-begotten Son of God who came into this world to redeem us from sin and death and give us eternal life in communion with God the Father. Apart from the gracious work of the Holy Spirit through God’s Word, Jesus’ words remain veiled and unbelievable to us, and we turn away from Him in unbelief.

Jesus said His words are spirit and life. Only those to whom it is given by the Father to believe can grasp the truth of Jesus’ words and come to know and trust in Him for life and salvation.

Many who followed Jesus because of His mighty works could not accept His words and turned away from Him in unbelief. So also today, many who claim to follow Jesus stumble over the truth of His words and fail to trust in Him for pardon and forgiveness. They do not partake of Jesus and His atoning sacrifice in faith and forfeit the life and eternal salvation He offers and gives to those who trust in Him.

May God grant You His Spirit and open your eyes and ears to see Jesus for who He is and to trust in Him and His cross for life and salvation.

Open our eyes, O God, that we may see Jesus for who He is and place our trust in Him as Your Son and our Savior from sin and death. We pray in His name. Amen.

[Scripture is taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

Thanksgiving Message

I read to you the Word of God recorded for our instruction in Hebrews 13:15-16:

“Through Him, then, let us continually offer to God the sacrifice of praise, which is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. But do not forget to do good and to share. For with such sacrifices God is well pleased.”

St. Paul, in his epistle to the Romans, after he had presented the truth of the Gospel, urges us, as a response to the salvation Christ has won for us, to offer our bodies back to God as a living sacrifice, devoted to the service of the Lord.

After teaching us that we are not and cannot be counted just and righteous in God’s sight by our keeping of the law since none of us can or do keep it perfectly as God requires, but that we can be counted just and righteous in God’s eyes through faith in Christ Jesus and His atoning sacrifice on the cross for the sins of the world for He perfectly kept God’s law in our stead and then bore the full punishment for our sins when He suffered and died on the cross, Paul urges us to now live and devote our lives to Christ, who died for our sins and rose again (cf. 2 Cor. 5:15).

We read in Romans 12:1-2: “I urge you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service of worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

The epistle to the Hebrews, whether written by the apostle Paul or by another disciple of our Lord, makes clear to us that we have not been redeemed by the blood of goats and calves but by “the blood of Christ.”

We read in Hebrews 9:11-14: “But Christ, when He came as a High Priest of the good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation, neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood, He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies so that the flesh is purified, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”

And so, we are justified, saved, and made acceptable in God’s eyes, not by our own sin-tainted works, but through faith in the blood of Jesus Christ shed on the cross for our sins and the sins of the world. But we are saved for a purpose. Our consciences were cleansed “from dead works to serve the living God” (Heb. 9:14).

Or, as Paul writes to the Ephesians in Ephesians 2:8-10: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, so that no one should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, so that we should walk in them.”

Therefore, through faith in Christ, entering the very presence of God the Father by means of the shed blood of Christ and His atonement for our sins, “let us continually offer to God the sacrifice of praise, which is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name” (Heb. 13:15).

Do you get it? Since we are saved by God’s grace alone and through faith alone in Jesus Christ and His sacrifice to atone for our sins, we are called upon to offer our bodies to God as a living sacrifice, and we are to offer up to God “the sacrifice of praise, which is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.”

We, of course, have so much for which to be thankful. We have families, homes, food, clothes, jobs, and lots of things to occupy our time and give us pleasure. And, at this time of year, many talk of being thankful for all they have. But, what is so often forgotten on this day is to whom we should be thankful! It is one thing to be thankful that we have been able to work and have our home and family and all these wonderful things. It is quite another to know and thank the one who has given them to us to enjoy!

That is why the psalmist, in Psalm 96:7-9, writes: “Give unto the LORD, O families of the people, give unto the LORD glory and strength. Give unto the LORD the glory due His name; bring an offering, and come into His courts. Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness; tremble before Him, all the earth.”

You see, it’s not enough just to be thankful. We are to be thankful to the LORD (Jehovah or Yahweh, the Triune God) who created the heavens and the earth and has given us our lives and all things. He alone is worthy of our worship and praise!

And what can we give to the God who created and upholds all things? We have nothing that He needs. Indeed, all things are already His!

In Psalm 50:10-15, God tells us: “Every wild animal of the forest is Mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird of the mountains, and the creatures that move in the field are Mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you; for the world is Mine, and all its fullness. Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? Sacrifice a thank offering to God, and pay your vows to the Most High, and call on Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will glorify Me.”

What does God desire of us? Our worship and praise, “the fruit of our lips.” He desires that we give to Him “the glory due His name” (Psalm 96:8). And our offerings to Him are not providing anything He needs but are an expression of trust in His name — trust that He can and will provide all our needs even when we first honor Him and present a portion of what he has given us back to Him and to the work of building His kingdom.

Solomon writes in Proverbs 3:9-10: “Honor the LORD with your substance, and with the first fruits of all your increase; so your barns will be filled with plenty, and your presses will burst out with new wine.” The question is: Do we trust in the LORD enough to do this?

And so, first of all, since God has created us and sustains us, since He gives us our life, our families and all things, since He also has redeemed us, sending His Son to pay the price and atone for our sins, and sending us his Word and the Holy Spirit to bring us to faith in Christ and give to us pardon, forgiveness and life eternal, we are called upon to “continually offer to God the sacrifice of praise, which is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name” (Heb. 13:15).

And, secondly, the Word of God urges us to “not forget to do good and to share. For with such sacrifices God is well pleased” (Heb. 13:16). It is true that we have nothing that God needs. However, there are many around us who are in need, and God would have us share the blessings he has showered upon us with those who are truly in need.

This, too, is an act and expression of faith, trusting that when we share with others, our God will still supply all our needs. Our Lord Jesus, who gave His life for us, told us: “Give, and it will be given to you: Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will men give unto you. For with the measure you use, it will be measured unto you” (Luke 6:38). And the Scriptures repeatedly urge us to “remember the poor” (Gal. 2:10).

God told His people in Deuteronomy 15:7-11: “If there be among you a poor man, one of your brothers within any of your gates in your land which the LORD your God has given you, you must not harden your heart or shut your hand from your poor brother. But you shall open your hand wide to him and must surely lend him what is sufficient for his need, in that which he lacks. Beware lest there be a wicked thought in your heart, saying, ‘The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand,’ and your eye be evil against your poor brother and you give him nothing, and he cry out to the LORD against you, and it become sin in you. You must surely give to him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him, because in this thing the LORD your God will bless you in all your works, and in all that you put your hand to do. For the poor will never cease from being in the land. Therefore, I command you, saying, ‘You shall open your hand wide to your brother, to your poor and needy in your land.’”

In Isaiah 58:6-9, God says: “Is not this the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and break every yoke? Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry and bring the poor who are outcasts into your house? When you see the naked, to cover him and not hide yourself from your own flesh? Then your light shall break forth as the morning, and your healing shall spring forth quickly, and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your reward. Then you shall call, and the LORD shall answer; you shall cry, and He shall say, Here I am.”

Psalm 41:1 says, “Blessed are those who consider the poor; the LORD will deliver them in the day of trouble.”

We also read in Proverbs 19:17: “He who has pity on the poor lends to the LORD, and He will repay what he has given.” And, in 22:9: “He who has a bountiful eye will be blessed, for he gives of his bread to the poor.”

In Luke 12:33-34, Jesus tells us: “Sell your possessions and give alms. Provide yourselves purses that do not grow old, an unfailing treasure in the heavens, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

And, certainly, there are many more verses we could consider. But the point is this: God desires that we trust Him enough to be willing to share the blessings He has showered upon us.

This, of course, takes wisdom because we are not to encourage slothfulness, and St. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians that “if any will not work, neither shall he eat” (2 Thess. 3:10). Therefore, we also need to be careful that we support those who are truly in need and not those who are too lazy to work. That may mean working through a trusted organization or taking the time to know those we help to be sure they are truly in need and not seeking to exploit the generosity of others. Of course, in the end, God will judge those who deceive us and abuse our generosity — meaning the burden of being good stewards lies not only on the giver but also on the recipients of our kindness.

We also seek to meet people’s greatest need, to share with them the precious teaching of God’s Word. Since God so graciously has given to us His Word and called us to faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, we share that Word with others, calling upon all to repent of their sinful ways and look to Jesus Christ and His cross for mercy and forgiveness (cf. Luke 24:46-47). We sacrifice that others, too, might hear the Gospel promises of forgiveness and life through faith in our Savior!

Therefore, through Christ, and as a result of His love and mercy upon us, we are exhorted to “continually offer to God the sacrifice of praise, which is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. But do not forget to do good and to share. For with such sacrifices God is well pleased.”

We do so, not because God needs anything of us but because He has shown us mercy, forgiveness and abundant blessings for the sake of Christ Jesus, our Savior! We offer this sacrifice to God, not to merit God’s grace and favor but because God has shown us His abundant grace and favor for the sake of Jesus and His perfect sacrifice for us on the cross!

“Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the Great Shepherd of the sheep, make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.” — Hebrews 13:20-21

A blessed Thanksgiving season to you!

[Scripture is quoted from the Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.]

O That Men Would Give Thanks!

from Psalm 107 Music courtesy of Robert Evans and scripturesongs.net.

O that men would give thanks
To the Lord for His goodness
And for His wonderful works
To the children of men
For He satisfies the longing soul
And fill the hungry soul with goodness
Let them understand
Let them understand and give…

Refrain:
(Oh, give) thanks, Oh give thanks
To the Lord for He is good
Oh, give thanks, oh give thanks
For His mercy endures forever

O that men would give thanks
To the Lord for His goodness
And for His wonderful works
To the children of men
For He has broken the gates of bronze
And cut the bars of iron in two
Let them understand
Let them understand and give…

O that men would give thanks
To the Lord for His goodness
And for His wonderful works
To the children of men
Let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving
And declare His works with rejoicing
Let them understand
Let them understand and give…

O that men would give thanks
To the Lord for His goodness
And for His wonderful works
To the children of men
Let them exalt Him in the congregation of the people
And praise Him in the assembly of the mature
Let them understand
Let them understand and give…