“You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’ The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete.“
John 3:28-29, ESV
At Advent, we look back at why Jesus had to come, that He came, and then that He will come again.
Jesus came to live amongst us, and His true followers look to Him.
True followers of Jesus rejoice to hear Him and to point others toward Him.
People may scoff, and they may even claim we think of ourselves as high and mighty and christs ourselves.
Yet, God came to us, showing us He is the source of all goodness and power, saving His Bride – the Church – from her sin.
Jesus has saved His people, and we will want to show the world who He is.
The world may think we want to be their saviors, but we know He is the rightful King and Savior.
Our refutation is not done the same way as the world.
Yes, we deny ourselves and point to Christ, but we do it by pointing to the Scriptures that reveal His deity and works.
We remember and proclaim the prophecies of Jesus’ first coming, His death and resurrection, and that He is coming again for His Bride.
May we seek the Lord who saves us and is coming again to claim His Bride.
I did NOT preach again, but my friend and fellow elder Bill did preach.
It was pretty cool.
You should be able to watch below.
Mark 15:16-32, ESV
And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters), and they called together the whole battalion. And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him.
And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull). And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. And it was the third hour when they crucified him. And the inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left. And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!” So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also reviled him.
I actually started reading from John 15:26 to help with context, in case you want to have your Bible ready. Other references are Genesis 2, 2 Corinthians 7:6-11, Revelation 20, Ephesians 6:12, and Matthew 28:18-20.
John 16:5-15 (15:26-16:15): The Great War and the Counselor, Comforter, and Helper
World War 2: Propaganda: “All Germans are evil!” Truth: “Many Germans helped in secret to undermine the Nazis.” Reality: Many Germans were shunned, despised, mistreated, and distrusted after the war for “wanting to kill all non-Germans, especially Jews!”
Read 15:26-16:6
John 13:36-14:7 – Peter & Thomas
asked
For Peter: Going to cross, “You
will follow me”
For Thomas: “We don’t know where
you are going. How can we know the way?” They did not understand He was leaving
this world behind. They essentially were asking “What place on Earth are you
going to prepare to kick out Rome?” Not “You are leaving? What do you mean?
What place is it that we are unable to follow you to?”
The disciples were confused, scared, and worried. “He seems to be speaking
nonsense. Is He leaving us? He keeps talking about dying and leaving us!”
After Thomas’ question, Jesus promises the Holy Spirit will come, which leads
to …
Read 16:7
The Holy Spirit –the Counselor, the Comforter, the Helper – would not be sent permanently until the Son and Father sent Him from Heaven.
Now think back to the first time a helper was given to Man: Genesis 2:20-25. No good helper was found, so God put the man into a deep sleep and created a woman from his rib. Then we have verses 24 and 25. [Read] We have the establishment of marriage (v. 24), and it says they were without shame (v. 25). What does this have to do with our new Helper?
Read 16:8-14
The Holy Spirit has three major jobs:
Convict the world of sin
Point to Jesus
Reveal the true World War raging since Creation
(Genesis 3)
Let us look at these:
Convict the world of sin:
Romans 3:23 reminds us that we are all guilty of sin.
The Counselor tells us we are messed up beyond hope: We all have essentially punched God in the face and claimed innocence.
10 Commandments: How we have all have fallen short
2 Corinthians 7:6-11: Godly grief (of sin) leads to repentance
Point to Jesus:
How then can we be saved? The work of Jesus!
The Comforter shows that we are made righteous through the only True Way to Life (14:6): Believing in the vicarious work of Christ’s death on the cross for the forgiveness of all of our sins!
If teachings about the Holy Spirit do not glorify Jesus Christ, is it really from Him?
Reveal the true War:
This war started in the Garden, with “that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan” (Revelation 20:2), and that will only end upon Christ’s return, thus fulfilling v. 13.
This war is spiritual in nature: Ephesians 6:12.
Do not retaliate against fellow image-bearers!
So how do we fight this war?
Read 16:14-15
The Spirit of Truth, the Helper, reminds
us of Matthew 28:18-20 (Great Commission)
We fight this war (that was won at the cross!) through the power of the Helper, in a world that says Christians and God are bad and evil.
Do we truly love the Lord our God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strengths? Maybe I can help with the mind part, at least! This is Daniel M. Klem, apparent poet, reluctant yet passionate Disciple (Peter?), and foolish man attempting to understand theology!
a simple man of God 