Advent 2
December 6, 2015
Luke 3:4-6
The Prophet John - a good dose of reality
The Prophet John - a good dose of reality
"The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be brought low and the crocked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; and the rough ways shall be made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God."
As we prepare for Christmas. We need to be ready. How
do we make ourselves read? To receive Jesus as our Savior and
Lord? We do that by receiving the message of John. For without John
there can be no Jesus.
The Father sent John to prepare people for the acceptance of Jesus
Christ. If there is no sense of sin. Can there be a need for a
Savior? If there is no repentance. There can be no forgiveness. If
there is no death to self. There can be no new life. Because John is the prophet
who prepares for the Savior's coming. Jesus calls him the greatest of all of
the prophets. John gives us a good dose of reality.
To make us aware of sin. Who are you? Are you
born into this world good? Is there some quality of worth in each of
us? Just quick glances of the Scriptures will tell us that we are
far from perfect. The Scriptures remind us, "the soul that sins, it shall die" "There is not a man upon this earth that does good and does not sin." "In sin my mother conceived me; in sin my
mother bore me." Again and again, the Scriptures remind us, we
are blind, dead, and an enemy of God"
But even more damning and even more discouraging is the sin that
we commit by our thoughts, words and actions. It is one thing to say
that we are born in sin. It is quite another to say that we have committed
sin. The Scriptures are quite clear in
spelling out to us that we are all guilty of sin. "If we say that we are without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth
is not in us". Our lives spell it out.
Read the words of individual confession.[1]
We live as if God does not matter but that we matter most. The Lord's name, we
have not honored, as we should. Our worship and prayers have faltered. We have
not let His love has its way with us. Our love for others has failed. There are
those whom we have hurt. And those whom we have failed to help. Even our
thoughts and desires have been soiled with sin. Concisely we are all sinners.
Transition:
Conviction of sin leads to repentance. But how do we do that? We cry out to God
asking for His mercy and compassion.
John was sent to lead us
to repentance. With the psalmist, we pray: "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from Your presence, and take not Your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me with Your free spirit"
(Psalm 51:10-12)
Confession does not mean we wallow in self-pity. As in Whinnie the
Phooh's friend Eeyore. That pessimistic, gloomy, depressed, old grey stuffed
donkey, whose “woe is me!” attitude sums his life. "Good morning, Pooh Bear,"
say Eeyore. "If it is a good morning," "Which I doubt."
Confession does not make an excused for sin. Or call for merely an
admission of guilt. Confession is more than a” mea culpa” excuse to justify
ourselves. We confess to Christ, and to each other, “I want to do better.”
John came prior to Jesus. He came to turn our hearts away from
self to turn to Christ to receive His mercy and grace. We come repenting of our
sin, and turning to Christ who is able to restore and redeem us. We see and
feel our sin. Our conscience convicts us of our wrong. The Word shows us where
we have gone wrong. This leads us to repent and to turn to Christ
our Savior who came to save us.
John stands as a true prophet to guide us to Jesus for
forgiveness. John simply said, "Behold
the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world." Who is this
lamb?
"This lamb is Christ, the soul's great Friend, The Lamb of
God, our Savior; Him God the Father chose to send To gain for us His favor. “Go
forth, My Son," the Father said, "And free men from the fear of
death, From guilt and condemnation. The wrath and stripes are hard to bear, But
by Thy Passion men shall share The fruit of Thy salvation." [2]"
That's what Christmas is all about. Jesus came to earth to take
unto Himself our flesh. He came to be your substitute. He came to suffer and
die for the sins of the world. He came offer you forgiveness and life. That is
why we can say that in Jesus Christ, all sin is forgiven - period!
Are you ready for Christmas? If you see your sin,
repent, and turn to Christ for life you are ready.
Lord, by your Advent may we
be, fit and ready to worship Thee.
Words-940
Passive Sentences –3%
Readability – 91%
Reading Level – 3.1%
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