Be Faithful Unto Death

Introduction

“We are not going to torture you anymore,” said the Soviet officer.

Paulus wondered what he meant. He had been beaten and abused now for several hours, and all for the crime of following Jesus Christ. Challenging the pain that bent him over, Paulus sat up to hear the soldier continue.

“No, we aren’t going to torture you anymore. We are sending you to Siberia where the snow never melts. It is a place of great suffering.” And with mocking laughter the officer added, “You and your family will fit in very well.”

Paulus’ response surprised the officer. He smiled and told his captor, “The whole earth belongs to my father, Captain. Wherever you send me I will be on my Father’s earth.”

The captain mocked Paulus’ optimism. “We will take away all you own. We will put a bullet between your eyes.”

Paulus, with a broad grin, responded, “You will need a high ladder, Captain. My treasures are stored up in heaven. If you take away my life in this world, my real life of joy and beauty will begin. I’m not afraid of being killed.”

His confidence angered the captain. He grabbed Paulus by his tattered and worn prison shirt and screamed in his face, “Then we will not kill you. We will keep you locked alone in a cell and allow no one to come and see you!”

Paulus continued to smile as he humbly challenged the officer’s intention, “You cannot do that, sir. You see, I have a Friend who can pass through locked doors and iron bars. No one, not even you, can separate me from the love of Christ.”

As promised by the Soviet captain, Paulus and his family were resettled in Siberia. In the 1980’s, behind the Iron Curtain, this meant more than severe weather and poverty – it was a synonym for very cruel punishment or death. ¹

Neither Paulus nor his wife was tempted to back away from their trust in the Lord. Their confidence was in Jesus. Their confidence was in the crown of life that awaited them. Their ultimate future had already been decided and no one could take it from them. Not the Soviet captain. Not the hours of torture. Not the taking away of their possessions. Not even Siberia. Not even death.

This story, shared by Voice of the Martyrs – an organization that is committed to serving and loving the persecuted church around the world – is one of thousands –millions, really -- that Christians have faced since the New Testament church started. It is even more rampant today than it was then. In fact, the Center for the Study of Global Christianity, which is right down the road from us at Gordon-Conwell, estimates that one million Christians were martyred in the first ten years of the 21^st century. ² The average, yearly, is about 150,000.

From the year 33 AD, that is from when Christ died until the year 2000, researchers estimate that there were 70 million Christian martyrs. In the 20^th century alone, estimates show 45 million Christians were killed because of their faith. ²

Two-thirds of the world’s 2.3 billion Christians live in dangerous and poor neighborhoods and are at a very high risk of facing persecution, or death for simply believing in Jesus.

So, what is it that would drive a husband and wife to forsake all – comfort, possessions, even life – for the sake of being faithful to Jesus? What is it that would lead a man to be content in being stoned to death because of his faith in Jesus? Why would an 86-year-old Bishop in Smyrna named Polycarp willingly be burned at the stake for his faith?

I believe our text will help to answer those questions. Our text is Revelation 2:8-11.

“And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: ‘The words of the first and the last, who died and came to life.

“‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.’” (Revelation 2:8-11 ESV)

I want to break our text today down into four points so you know where I am going with this, because I want you to know that there is hope in suffering because Jesus is supreme over life and death and He cares deeply about us in our suffering.

1.              Jesus is the first and the last that conquered death and brings life. (vs. 8)

2.              He knows your suffering. (vs. 9)

3.              Despite tribulation, hardship, and poverty, you are very rich. (vs. 9)

4.              You do not have to fear suffering because great reward is promised to those who are faithful unto death. (vs. 10-11)

First, let me briefly paint a picture of what is happening in Smyrna so you have the background of what is happening here. Smyrna was a beautiful city about 35 miles north of Ephesus and was at the center of emperor worship in Asia, so much so that they were awarded by Rome the honor of building a temple to the Emperor Tiberius. It was the center for patriotism and loyalty to the empire. There was a large Jewish community in Smyrna that was bitterly opposed to the Christians in the city, probably because they worshiped Jesus as God, which was blasphemous to the Jews.

We see something similar in Acts 17:6-7 after Paul planted a church in Thessalonica. The Jewish community there got very angry with Paul and Silas told the Roman authorities that “These men who have turned the world upside down come here also… and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying there is another king, Jesus.” Something similar is happening here towards the Christians in Smyrna and they are facing heavy persecution and poverty because of their allegiance to Jesus. The Jews would go to the Roman authorities and slander the Christians. And the Romans hit hard against the Christians by imprisoning them and/or executing them. Jesus calls the Jewish population there a “synagogue of Satan” because of their slander of the Christian community. History tells us that these Christians were accused of anything and everything, from cannibalism to incest, from breaking up homes to atheism. Some historians believe that there were mass executions of Christians in the city because they would not worship Caesar as God.

That is the backdrop of this letter. Smyrna is a city made of up two major aspects; the first, this is a very loyal and patriotic city to Rome and demands worship of the emperor and, second, there is an extremely large Jewish population that hates the fact that Christians worship a Jewish carpenter from Nazareth who claimed to be God. In other words, this is a very difficult place to be a Christian. Jesus is addressing a suffering church that is suffering because of their allegiance to Him.

1.            1. Jesus is the first and the last that conquered death and brings life.

(vs. 8) ‘The words of the first and the last, who died and came to life.”

Jesus starts out every letter with a distinct characteristic about Himself that communicates something to each of the churches He is addressing. He communicates something specific and it relates to the circumstances happening with the church.

Here we have a church that is suffering persecution and death because of their faith in Christ and He starts His letter out with “I am the first and the last, who died and came to life”.

There is a depth to this statement that is very hard to clearly communicate and wrap our heads around. Jesus was there before time began. He was there before you were born;

before First Baptist Church of Haverhill was founded;

before the Reformation;

before Mount Everest in the Himalayas was shaped and formed;

before the Atlantic and Pacific and Indian oceans were filled with water;

before the Roman empire;

before the exodus out of Egypt;

before Noah and the flood;

before the very first star in the sky was born;

before the very first particle of space dust was ever created.

Jesus was there. Before anything and everything ever was. Nothing is before Him. He is the source of all things.

But, He is also “the last”. Which means that nothing will outlast Jesus.

Not the USA. Not Islam, or Hinduism, or Buddhism. Not Communism. Not those same oceans or mountains or stars or planets or galaxies or black holes or meteors or asteroids.

Not your cancer or your taxes or your debt. Not your joblessness or poverty. He will outlast all of them.

Jesus will always endure and Jesus will always have the last word.

Not even death can stop Him. Why? He tells us. In chapter 1:17, Jesus says:

“Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.” (Revelation 1:17 ESV)

The thought of the “first and the last” dying is a mind-blowing thought. He is who precedes all things and endures all things, enters time, dies, and then even conquers death by rising from the dead. And now, He is alive forevermore and even holds the keys to death.

What is this introduction telling us about Jesus? He is telling the church in Smyrna “I am the sovereign one. I am the one who created all things. I am the one who conquered death. I live forevermore. I am in control of all things, from the beginning to the end.”

The death and resurrection of Jesus means that death has no power over Him. He is bigger than death itself. Death was our biggest concern before. It is no longer. Jesus has defeated it.

Jim Hamilton, in his commentary on Revelation, says the following:

“When you think about the end of your life, do you apply to your contemplation the fact that Jesus has conquered death? When you think about dangerous situations you might face – the noise in the night that means an intruder might be in your home, the thought that someone you love could fall into a rushing river or be in some other situation that, if you try to help, might end your own life – when you think of life-threatening danger, do you apply to your thinking the triumph of Jesus over death? My friends, this is what it means to make connections between the good news of Jesus Christ, crucified and risen, and all of life. Applying to our fears the knowledge that Jesus is bigger than death will make us courageous.” ³

What Jesus is telling the Smyrnean church in his introduction is this: “Know this, oh church of Smyrna! Know this as your foundation: I am the first and the last, the One who is sovereign over life and death. I am bigger than death because I conquered it. Nothing came before me. Nothing will come after me. And everything in between is mine.

2.             2. He knows your suffering. (vs. 9)

(vs. 9) “‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) …”

Could there be anything more comforting than hearing Jesus – the One who we just described as the sovereign one who rules over life and death – saying to you “I know your suffering and your poverty”?

First Baptist Church Haverhill has certainly seen its share of suffering and trials. I have seen members here suffering sickness, and joblessness, and unbelieving children, miscarriages, the tragic loss of loved ones, and many other tribulations. Those trials are significant and they affect us deeply and stay with us our entire lives. However, we can most likely say that we have never experienced a significant amount of persecution simply because we believe in Jesus. Jesus is telling the church in Smyrna that nothing goes without His watchful eye. He is telling you this. Whether it is persecution because of their faith or poverty or poverty because of their faith, Jesus is aware of every bit of suffering that His church goes through. But here, Jesus’ acknowledges this suffering.

Suffering, in its various forms, wears on you. It can beat you down. Day after day. No one can understand this more than a church that is under constant threat of persecution or death.

The church in North Korea, for example, lives under unbelievable fear and threat of death at every moment. As of right now, it is the #1 most persecuted church in the world and has been for 12 years straight. It is where the persecution of the church is most extreme. It is estimated that 50,000 – 70,000 Christians are imprisoned in labor camps. They can only meet in secret and they only share their faith, even with their families, knowing that imprisonment in a labor camp or execution is imminent. Anyone discovered engaging in secret religious activity may be subject to arrest, disappearance, torture, and in many cases, public execution. In many cases, owning a Bible will result in public execution.

This is a church that is under unimaginable pressure and constant, daily, suffering. And what is even more shocking is a report that came out just two days ago in Christianity Today says that it is believed that persecution of Christians is expected to rise in the year to come, if you can even imagine. ⁴

And yet, the church in North Korea is rapidly growing, which means that people are still sharing their faith, regardless of the cost.

Jesus is telling His church here: I am not distant. I am close. I am sovereign. All things come from me. All things return to me. And I know your suffering. I am a close King who cares about His people intimately.

For those of you going through trials and suffering today, even though it may not be explicitly because of your faith in Jesus, know that Jesus is close. He knows your suffering.

Hebrews 4:15 tells us this of Jesus, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

He was rejected. He was hated. He was betrayed. He did not have a house of His own. He didn’t have money to pay His taxes. He did not have a bed. He was beaten. He was killed. He had no tomb of His own.

He understands poverty and he understands suffering. This is your God.

3.             3. Despite tribulation, hardship, and poverty, you are very rich. (vs. 9)

(vs. 9) “‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich)

Paul tells us this in 2 Corinthians 6:2-10,

“Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. We put no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.” (2 Corinthians 6:2-10 ESV)

We do not have what the world considers “wealth”. The world wholeheartedly longs for material wealth. Any of you who have been awake in the middle of the night undoubtedly have seen endless infomercials telling you how to get rich quick, targeting those who are awake all night worrying about their lack of wealth. Money, power, fame, riches; the world loves these things.  We are told that our worth is displayed in the things that we have. Our status in society is displayed by how much power we have.

On Friday night, our community group watched a missions video about India and how the Holy Spirit is moving throughout that country. Amazingly enough, the Gospel is spreading most among the poorest of the country – the Dalits – who are known as the “untouchables”. The Hindu caste system as placed them at the absolute bottom of society. Yet, 80% of the Christian population in India is among these “untouchables” – those who have absolutely nothing from the world’s standards, but are the richest of all of India because, as Paul says, they “have nothing, yet possess everything”.

In fact, in this video, we learn of the story of a family of believers. The mother and daughters in this family cannot read, and since they cannot read, they have spent their time and resources to memorize the scriptures. This year, they will spend the year memorizing Ephesians 2. This family acts as trailblazers – they go into unreached villages that have never heard the Gospel and bring the Gospel to them. To date, they have reached 175 villages.

By Indian standards and the rest of the world’s standards, these people are as poor as can be imagined. Their house being made of bamboo sticks held together by mud and manure, they have faced oppression and poverty that we can only read about here in the US.

But are they poor? Jesus says: “No! You are very rich!”

They know the treasure that they have in Christ and long to share those riches with those who have never heard.

Ephesians 2:4-7 tells us:

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:4-7 ESV)

My friends, are you rich? Are you very rich? If we have Jesus Christ, Paul says you were loved with a great love and have had grace poured on you. Why? So that He might show us the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness.

I

mmeasurable riches. You may be poor. You may be suffering. But friends, you are immeasurably rich in Christ.

4.             4. You do not have to fear suffering because great reward is promised to those who are faithful unto death. (vs. 10-11)

(vs. 10-11) “Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.’”

Why does God appoint suffering for His church? I did not say allow. I mean appoint. Why does God appoint suffering? Just as we see in Job, where Satan asks for permission to test Job, and where we see Satan demanding to have access to Peter and the rest of the disciples, Satan plays a role in the suffering of God’s children. But we also know that he can do nothing without God’s permission. We see this same thing unfolding here.

“The devil is about to throw some of you into prison…”

Satan is continuing his age-old quest to destroy God’s people and to thwart God’s plans. But, even here, we see that God is using Satan to bring about His purposes.

The text continues in saying that they are being thrown into prison in order to be tested. This is not Satan testing these people. This is God. God is using this persecution to test them. We remember in Genesis 50, where Joseph tells his brothers,

“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good…” (Genesis 50:20 ESV)

So, why does God appoint the suffering of His people? Why mustn’t we fear suffering now or in the future?

First, Paul answers this question for us in 2 Corinthians 4:17-18:

“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction… (this light momentary affliction in prison, Smyrna – your persecution, tribulation, and poverty. Your death.) … is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18 ESV; parenthesis added)

Affliction and suffering prepare us for an eternal weight of glory far beyond comparison. Far beyond.

One of most widely-read parts of scripture, as it relates to suffering is Romans 8. Oh, how I love Romans 8. In the chapter we read this:

“The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” (Romans 8:16-19 ESV)

And then further on in the end of the chapter, Paul concludes with the following:

“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,

            “For your sake we are being killed all the day long;

                        we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:31-39)

Jesus told us in His Sermon on the Mount that:

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:11-12)

How do you respond to your suffering? Do you rejoice and be glad? What reward is there for remaining faithful until the end?

When I started this sermon, I asked what would drive a husband and wife to forsake all – comfort, possessions, even life – for the sake of being faithful to Jesus? What is it that would lead a man to be content in being stoned to death because of his faith in Jesus? Why would an 86-year-old Bishop in Smyrna named Polycarp willingly be burned at the stake for his faith?

Polycarp was the last living link to the apostles. He had studied under the Apostle John, who remember, is the author of the book of Revelation and the recorder of this letter that Jesus wrote to the church in Smyrna, where Polycarp is the bishop.

Polycarp was brought before the Roman proconsul in Smyrna. He had been arrested under the persecution of the Christians in Smyrna that we have talked about today.

Polycarp was urged:

“Swear by the fortune of Caesar. Take the oath and I will release you. Curse Christ!”

He stood firm, “Eighty six years have I served the Lord Jesus Christ and He never once wronged me; how then shall I blaspheme my king, who has saved me?”

Continuing the exchange, the proconsul said “I have wild beasts and I will throw you to them, unless you repent!”

“Call for them,” replied Polycarp; “for repentance with us is a wicked thing, if it is to be a change from the better to the worse, but a good thing if it is to be a change from evil to good.”

“If the wild beasts don’t scare you then I will burn you with fire,” the proconsul angrily responded.

Polycarp replied, “You threaten me with fire, which burns for an hour, and is soon extinguished; but the fire of future judgment, and of eternal punishment reserved for the ungodly, you are ignorant of.  But why do you delay? Bring on the beasts or the fire. Do whatever you please. You shall not move me to deny Christ.”

As the fire was lit, Polycarp stood among the flames. In his final prayer, he uttered these words: “O Father, I thank You, that You have called me to this day and hour and have counted me worthy to receive my place among the number of holy martyrs. Amen.” ⁴

Polycarp was a disciple of John. He was martyred 68 years after John died and about 75 years after Jesus communicated His letter to the church at Smyrna.

What truths led Polycarp to have such a bold stand for Christ? Facing wild beasts or fire, what do you think he turned to carry him? What was on the other side of physical death that made him deny his life for the sake of something better?

Wasn’t it John, Polycarp’s mentor who shared Jesus’ words in his gospel?

Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. (John 12:25 ESV)

Do not fear what you are about to suffer, Polycarp. Be faithful unto death and I will give you the crown of life. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.

The word Smyrna in Greek is translated “myrrh” in Hebrew. We see myrrh throughout the scriptures, probably most notably as one of the gifts given to Jesus by the wise men. Myrrh was used in perfume and was made fragrant by crushing a plant.

When you are crushed, what aroma do you give forth? Is it the aroma of faithfulness to God?

My friends, do you believe that Jesus’ steadfast love is better than life, as Psalm 63 tells us? Has your soul been so satisfied by Jesus that you cannot, will not, deny Him? Do you believe that it is better to die than to live without Him?

This is not just about dying as martyrs; this is about living our lives day in and day out with an all-satisfying Jesus who loves us and with whom spending an eternity with is vastly better than this life could ever be. Do you live in the hope that his love is better than life? Are you willing to give your life to show the absolute, unending, worth of Jesus?

Jesus does not call for faithfulness unto death without reminding us that there is a future that awaits us that is so far better, so deeply perfect, so far satisfying, and so full of joy, so full of His glory, and full of “pleasures evermore” that are only found in His right hand. He does not call us to faithfulness without the promise that whatever sacrifice we make, it will be far outweighed by a never-ending life full of the greatest reward.

Be faithful unto death and He will give you the crown of life.

^{1.        Voice of the Martyrs, Heroic Faith, (Nashville, W Publishing Group) p. 3-4}

^{2.        David B. Barrett and Todd M. Johnson, World Christian Trends AD 30 – AD 2200 (Pasadena: William Carey Library, 2001) http://www.gordonconwell.edu/resources/documents/wct_martyrs_extract.pdf; accessed January 24, 2014}

^{3.        James H. Hamilton, Jr., Revelation: The Spirit Speaks to the Churches, Preaching the Word Commentary Series (Wheaton: Crossway, 2012), p. 76}

^{4.        “Persecution Expected to Rise in North Korea,” Christianity Today website, http://www.christiantoday.com/article/persecution.predicted.to.rise.in.north.korea/35521.htm; accessed January 25, 2014}

^{5.        Voice of the Martyrs and dc Talk, Jesus Freaks: Martyrs (Minneapolis: Baker House Publishers, 1999), p. 136-138}

Like Father, Like Child

I.          Intro

As a father, one of the most humbling and rewarding experiences you can have is to see yourself in your child. You look down at this little being and you start to see your eyes, your skin color, your smile, your hair -- or in my case -- unbelievable curls and waves. Yeah, in case you were wondering, those are from me. There is a reason why I keep my hair short! You long for them to love the things you love; hate the things you hate. Love the Red Sox. Love the same music. You long for them to believe as you believe and to have a heart for those things that you treasure. It doesn't take long to look at my daughter, Alessandra, to know that she is mine – even at just nine months old. In fact, I was looking through my old pictures from my childhood and found pictures of me when I was her age. It was amazing to look and see the female version of myself thirty-one years ago.

For years, I was passionate about genealogy. I absolutely loved digging into my family history. Mainly, because I wanted to know my roots and to see how physical resemblance, passions, and personalities had passed down through my family over generations. Several years ago, I found a picture of my great-great grandfather from the mid-nineteenth century when he was in his late twenties. If you held a picture of my father up at the same age, the resemblance was remarkable. On my fridge growing up, my mother had placed a magnet with two pictures side-by-side. One was of my father when he was about twelve; the other was me at twelve. If it hadn't been for the aged photo and the black and white in my dad's photo, you would have had a hard time determining who was who. In both cases, it was absolutely clear: we were both the children of our fathers.

But resemblance doesn't simply come through DNA. Being a child doesn't mean just physical resemblance. There may be several of you who have never known your biological fathers or were adopted, but had a person in your life who took that place as a fatherly influence in your life. Many of you may not know that Jackson is not my biological son -- we do not share the same DNA, and there is nothing I can do about that. However, he is my son and I love him regardless of DNA. And I also know that he is watching and remembering everything that I do. Fatherly influence goes far beyond DNA. On one occasion, soon after Amy and I were married, we were getting ready for church one Sunday. I was wearing a blue button down plaid shirt. Jackson came out of his room in his usual t-shirt and jeans. Shortly after he came out however, he went back into his room. About 5 minutes later, he walked out again with a whole new outfit on. There was my mini-me, who stood about 3 feet tall, wearing a very similar blue button-down plaid shirt. Walking into church that morning, I felt a sense of pride and humility that I had never experienced before. Someone wanted to be just like me. And as a father, I longed to have someone be like me.

On another occasion, I had a little book by Charles Spurgeon that had a leather cover with gold pages, much like our Bibles. Jackson, having watched me preach several times took my Spurgeon book – his Bible, he called it -- and started walking around with it, talking and preaching what he called “his sermon”. He still keeps that book next to his bed, much like I do with my Bible.

At almost five-years-old, he is watching everything that I do; the way that I treat my wife and his mother; the way that I pray; the way that I love hot dog; the way I wear my hat backwards; or the way that I love the nations and love God and display the fruit of Christ's work in my life – all of those things may very well be replicated in his life if he remains close and diligent to stay by my side.

As a parent, you see that a child will reflect the image of their father.

II.         The Image of God

It is here that I would like to turn to our text:

1 John 2:28 - 3:3 reads:

"And now, little children, abide in Him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at His coming. If you know that He is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of Him.

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we will know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who thus hopes in Him purifies Himself as He is pure."

John is a very peculiar and particular writer. He really is unlike any other NT author in how he writes. In the Gospel of John and in his letter here in 1 John, he loves to compare and contrast. We see the comparison between love of God and love of the world; between light and darkness. In chapter two, we learn of various antichrists and how they act. This is part of what Rick taught us last week. And now here in this passage, we have the contrast to those that are antichrists -- those who are called “children of God”. And it is here that I would like to dig in a bit to understand what this means and what this tells us of who we are before a relationship with Jesus and the identity we have when we put our faith in Jesus.

Now, I am going to get to our text in 1 John, but to do so I want us to take a trip back a bit to understand who you and I were and to be clear about who we are now. So bear with me because we are going to take a little bit of a detour from our text and then we will land back here in 1 John.

To start, I am going to take us right back to the beginning of the Bible to Genesis. In Genesis 1:26, right before God makes man, He makes this declaration:

"Let us make man in our image, after our likeness."

In vs. 27, the text reads:

“So God created man in His own image;

In the image of God He created him;

Male and female, he created them.”

God declares at the very beginning of His word his intention to bring a being into existence that would be like Him; a being made after His likeness. But yet, just three chapters later, man is not content with the likeness that God gave him. In fact, he fell to the temptation to take on another likeness. God had said: "You will be like me!" and man bought Satan’s lie that He needed a different image.

And yet, what man got was everything unlike God: hatred, darkness, distance from God, and death which took the place of love, light, fellowship with God, and life. And we have a very long history in the Bible of the trajectory that this new likeness has taken us.

Now, at the point that we land in the NT, it is obvious that the true likeness of God had been far removed from the earth. At one point, God even wipes the earth of mankind with a flood because they had strayed from and perverted His image so badly. Sin had destroyed the image of God in mankind.

Mankind no longer displayed the likeness of God. In fact, Jesus tell us at one point that we "...are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires." and that "The reason you do not hear the Words of God is because you are not of God."

The way mankind has acted displayed who their father was. They were reflecting their father’s image. They had taken on the likeness of another. And it was not God!

That is a scary indictment and a picture of what sin and the replacement of the likeness of God has done. And every one of us was born into that likeness.

But, if we left the story there, there would be no hope for us. With an indictment like that, we can feel the weight that is on us. And so it is. The wrath of God sits on those whose father is not God.

But the story doesn't end there, does it?

After thousands of years and a trajectory that only lead to destruction, a man was sent to earth that bore the full likeness of God. Paul tells us in Colossians that this Man "is the image of the invisible God." The author of Hebrews tells us that "He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature." In fact, when He faced the temptation to take on a different likeness in the wilderness, He succeeded where we failed. He was not defiled by disobedience or discontent in His image. He, fully human and fully God, bore the likeness of God for His entire life, never tainting it with sin or discontent, even when death was certain.

This man was Jesus Christ and in Jesus, the hatred, darkness, disconnect, and death that was manifested in man, was replaced with love, light, fellowship with God, and life.

This is what righteousness is: The embodiment of love, light, fellowship, and life; the embodiment of all that God is. The pure image of God.

The perfect image bearer of God came and lived a perfect life embodying those very things. Again, Colossians tells us that He was the firstborn of God. He was the only human in all of history to faithfully say that He maintained the image of God, never corrupting it. Therefore, He was the first one to legitimately call God “Father"! Hebrews tells us that "I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to me a son."

Jesus was the Son of God -- the perfect image of the Father; the righteous One; and the fulfillment of Genesis 1:26, where mankind drastically fell short; where you and I, fell short. He bore the likeness of God that you and I never could.

So, how does this relate to us and to this text in 1 John? We have two pictures here -- the unrighteous and the righteous; the child of the devil and the child of God; imperfection and perfection; one bearing the image of all that isn't God and one bearing the exact image of God. We do not have to read far into the scriptures to see which of those two images best describe us. We don't have to live long on this earth to understand the difference between the two. We are surrounded by it. Romans 3:23, probably one of the most well-known evangelistic verses, tell us which category we all fall into: "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God..."

Just before that, Paul reads this from Psalm 14: "None is righteous; no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one."

This is the identity that all of mankind is born into.

III.        From One Father to Another

So how do we go from this: "not of God" and what Paul tells us of "falling short of the glory of God" and "ungodly" and "unrighteous" and “child of the devil” and one who cannot do good to what John is alluding to in our passage today in 1 John? John is calling us "children" here; an intimate term that indicates a close relationship. How do we make the transition from that likeness that we bear without God to that of a "child of God"?

God's plan from beginning of time -- even before the foundations of the earth -- was to substitute this perfect image-bearer for those who have forsaken it for a different image. You would expect that the cross would be the end of God's purposes -- God Himself, killed; the perfect image-bearer of God destroyed by hatred, darkness, and death. Instead, the very instrument that seemed to shatter this perfect, righteous, person of Jesus became the very instrument that fulfilled His promise in Genesis 1 to bring about a being that displayed the righteousness of God.

Romans 8:29 tells us that "for those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers."

This has been God's plan before the foundations of the earth. He has chosen a people to be conformed into the image of His Son! On the cross, He died so that you and I, through faith in Christ, could be conformed into His image.

With Jesus' death and resurrection, He conquered death. Through faith in Him, we are born again, not as children of the devil as we were before, but now as children of God. This is why Jesus tells us that we must be "born again". We had a different father before and now, through Christ, we have been adopted into the family of God. God is now our Father. Something we could never have said before!

In other words, through Jesus' death, those who profess their faith in Christ are now considered Children of God. What an amazing truth!

Why? Why would God do this? The answer is simple and it is found in 1 John 3:1: John bursts forth in praise saying "See! See what kind of love the Father has given to us? That we should be called children of God: and so we are!"

John loves to try and wrap his head around the love of God. Here, we get a glimpse into John being amazed at this love. It implies "great astonishment". And this love not only determines what we are now, but what we will be.

We see something similar in John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."

God has displayed His love to us in an amazing way, my friends. Dwell on this. Ponder it. Chew on it. Think about it. Savor this. We were once children of darkness, loving everything that didn't bear the image of God. But yet, through the cross of Christ, those who believe in this Jesus not only obtain eternal life, but also become "children of God", a term that brings such intimacy that you are not only simply called that, but as Paul told us in Romans and John tells us here that you are being conformed into the very likeness of God. Our very DNA is being changed into that of Jesus'. We ran after all that was not like God. And God, through the death of His Son, has pulled us back, called us His children, has transformed us back into children that display His likeness, made us righteous, given us eternal life -- and has done it because He loves us.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones writes the following:

“Words, of course, become meaningless at this point; there is nothing to do but to gaze upon it and to wonder at it all, to stand in amazement and in astonishment. Oh, the quality of this love! Just realize what it means, the freeness of it all, that you and I should be called and become children of God! The freeness of this love that has looked upon us in spite of our sin, in spite of our recalcitrance (or stubbornness), in spite of our unworthiness, in spite of our foulness as a result of the fall, and our own actions. Oh, the love that has not merely forgiven us but has given itself to us, that has entered into us and shared its own nature with us; stand in awe at the greatness of it all! Think of what it cost Him, our Lord Jesus Christ, to come into the world, to live in the world, suffering its treatment, staggering up Golgotha with that cross upon His shoulders and being nailed to the tree. Think of Him dying, suffering the agony and the shame of it all in order that you and I might become children of God.”

Savor this love, my friends. Cherish it.

V.         Conclusion

John begins this text with these words in vs. 28: “And now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.”

My friends, God is coming back! And there will only be two responses to Him: You will either respond to Him in confidence or you will respond in shame.

For those who have put their faith in Jesus, John is calling you to abide in God; to remain in Him; to draw close to your Father. If a child reflects the image of His father, John is calling you to show forth your lineage buy reflecting God’s image. For that is how the world will know who your real Father is. And they will hate you for it because they reflect the image of one that is not God. Are you willing to be shamed now by man, than by God when He returns?

And when He returns, John tells us that we shall be like Him – instantly conformed into His image – when we see Him face-to-face. You are God’s child now; and then, not only will you be His child, but you will perfectly reflect His image, just like mankind was meant to do, but never could. You shall be like Him. We are being transformed now. We will BE transformed at that time.

“Is this your hope?” John asks in verse 3. Then show it! Hoping that one day you will be transformed into the image of God at His return should lead us to imitating Him now.

If we are to be like Christ at His return, then we must act like Christ now, imitating Him now.

The uniqueness of this relationship with God is that, like my relationship with Jackson, God has adopted us as His own children when we have placed our faith in Christ. But unlike my relationship with Jackson, God is changing our very DNA to be like His own. I will never be able to do this with Jackson. As his father, I long to seem him reflect some of me, but he will never look like me. Yet, God through His Son, has not only made it possible for us to have our hearts that reflect the character of His Son, but our very DNA is being conformed into the image of Jesus.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones again writes the following:

“What are we? The answer is that we are ‘called children of God’, and there is a sense in which this is so staggering and so overwhelming that we find it almost impossible to accept it, and to retain the idea in our minds. Yet that is what is said about Christians everywhere in the New Testament. Let us never again think of the Christian as just someone who is trying to live a good life, trying to be a little bit better than someone else, a person with a belief in doing certain things, going through certain forms and ceremonials and keeping certain regulations dictated by the church. Christians do all that, but before all that is the vital fact that they are children of God. They have been born again, born from above, born of the Spirit; they have received something of the very nature and life of God Himself. They are a transformed people, they are a new creation, and they are absolutely, essentially different from those who have not experienced that.”

What really makes us children of God is that God has put His own life into us.

As a child, you reflect the image of your father. So who is your father? Whose image do you reflect? Whose likeness do people see when they see you? For the Christian, do you show love for God and love for your neighbor?

For those who do not know Christ, you reflect a different father. You may have gone your entire life thinking you had one father, only to realize the image that you have been bearing is that of another. The invitation to be born into the family of God is real and open. It can only come through faith in Christ. And when we are born into the family of God, your DNA will change to reflect the one who is your real Father. One day you will stand before God when He returns: will you shrink back in shame because you have a different father or will you stand in confidence because you are part of the family when the Father comes for His children? 

Luke 1: Preparing the Way for Tender Mercy

Click Here For the Audio Preached at Haverhill Community Church on December 16, 2012

Back-Story: Luke 1:5-20

Most of our time here will be spent dwelling on Luke 1:57-80. This particular passage details the birth of John the Baptist, but also includes a prophesy by Zechariah, who is John's father. This prophecy, which is almost a hymn of praise, is where we will spend most of our time.

Bur first, some background. For that background we look back to vs. 5-20,to provide detail of John's birth and the hymn of praise that Zechariah eventually delivers:

"In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years. Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense."

Now, let me stop here for a minute to paint this picture. Zechariah is a priest, remember. He is given the chance of a lifetime to enter the temple, something every priest longs for and few get to do. He enters in and begins to burn the incense. He is inside the holy place, serving God before the table of incense, while the people are outside praying. His once-in-a-lifetime opportunity has arrived. And he realizes that he is not alone. The text continues:

"And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, 'Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.'"

Zechariah can't wrap his head around this. His once-in-a-lifetime opportunity has turned into an encounter with the angel Gabriel who is delivering a promise from God to Zechariah. And Zechariah says the following:

"How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years."

In other words: It is the greatest day of his life, the best news and surely the best means for which to hear it. His prayers for a child are not only going to be answered but are the fulfillment of the prophecy we read in Malachi 3 and 4. His son will be "great before the Lord" and will be "filled with the Holy Spirit" and will prepare the way for the Lord! Your son, Zechariah! This is all spoken by the lips of an angel in the holy place of God in the temple. How do you respond? Given your knowledge of the scriptures, and the promise
of a child to Abraham in Genesis and knowing that God promised the exact same thing to Abraham and Sarah and kept his promise 4,000 years earlier. And remember: he is a priest! How do you respond?

Zechariah basically says: "You do know we are old right?"

Oh how quick we are to doubt the promises and goodness of God! Even when an angel delivers them! Even when God Himself promises them Himself in His word!

"And the angel answered him, 'I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.'"

Gabriel responds with a rebuke and immediately, Zechariah's mouth is shut. Later on in the chapter, it suggests that his ears are closed too. He is deaf and dumb. You can almost hear the tone of Gabriel's voice in his rebuke: "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God. I was sent to bring you this good news! And now you wont say a word until it all comes true."

The Birth of John and the Prophesy of Zechariah: Luke 1:57-80

That is the background leading us to the main text we are going to look at. In verses 57-80, we read the second part of Zechariah's story, and the birth of John the Baptist. Nine months have passed. Elizabeth is about to give birth to their son. The story reads:

"Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father, but his mother answered, 'No; he shall be called John.' And they said to her, 'None of your relatives is called by this name.' And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called. And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, 'His name is John.' And they all wondered. And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God. And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea, and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, 'What then will this child be?' For the hand of the Lord was with him. And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,

'Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us; to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.'

And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the
day of his public appearance to Israel."

It all starts coming true now. John is born to Zechariah and Elizabeth. I can't help but take a moment to ponder this silence that Zechariah has experienced until this point. He had nine months to speak nothing and hear nothing. How much had he pondered this promise that was delivered to him? He knew the scriptures, and under the rebuke for his disbelief, he must have been forced to contemplate all that was at stake with the arrival of this son who will be filled with the Holy Spirit, will be great before God, and will prepare the way for the Lord. I am reminded of Hebrews 12:6 when the writer says that the Lord "disciplines those whom he loves". God always turns the rebukes and discipline into great fruit for those who have faith in His goodness. For those of us who are familiar with "How People Change" curriculum by Paul David Tripp and Timothy Lane, you can see that Zechariah produces great fruit instead of thorns. He is under discipline for his sin and this time brings great sanctification and refining for Zechariah. For those of you who are struggling with the sins of your past, perhaps still dealing with the consequences of those sins, they will be turned into triumphs of grace if your faith in God remains. We sing of this on Sundays in the hymn "O Church Arise". "As saints of
old still line the way, retelling triumphs of his grace." These triumphs of grace are displayed in the place of our sin. This is what we see in Zechariah once his mouth is opened. His first words are "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel..." This is fruit!

Evidences of Mercy

Going back to vs. 58, Luke is careful to point out to us that the birth of John is a sign of the mercy of God, a theme that is rampant in this first chapter. Really, throughout the entire book of Luke. The word “mercy” is used ten times in the book of Luke – five of those ten times are in this chapter. Gabriel had told Zechariah to name this boy "John". This name means "God is merciful". Not only did the neighbors acknowledge the "great mercy" that God had shown to Elizabeth, but in their newborn son's very name, mercy is
communicated. Mercy is at the heart of what is going on here and it is displayed in Elizabeth, a woman advanced in years, giving birth to a son as well as the very name given to John. We must take note of this theme that is growing here. The neighbors say this because God was merciful to give Elizabeth a child, but oh how short-sighted they were! This great mercy will extend much further then the arrival of this child to a barren woman.

The text reads that "fear came upon all their neighbors". Another translation of this would be "awe came upon all their neighbors". They are amazed at what is transpiring! Elizabeth, a barren woman, gives birth to a son. They name him John because that is what God told them to name him. Zechariah, who's tongue has been tied for nine months, speaks the minute he believes the promise of God. Awe comes over the neighbors
and it spreads through all the hill country of Judea. And all are amazed and wonder "What then will this child be?" This was not simply gossip. They "laid it up in their hearts" or "treasured it in their hearts". It had been 400 years since God last spoke through the prophet Malachi. 400 years. Imagine knowing that the last time God spoke was in 1612. Imagine the various governments, cultures, waves of knowledge and experiences this people had experienced in 400 years. This was a major departure from the cultural norms of their day.
The events that were unfolding were clearly implying a mighty act of God was about to happen. They saw this. They were in awe. And they "treasured it in their hearts".

A Hymn and Prophesy of Salvation

Vs. 68 begins Zechariah's hymn of praise and prophecy. It comes in two parts: a blessing for God in vs. 68-75, and a blessing for his son in vs. 76-79.

This blessing tells us about salvation and it would seem that Zechariah understood the implications of his son's birth and what the angel had promised to him. John, his son, the one for whom Zechariah had prayed for all his life, had been born and would be the forerunner to prepare the way for the messiah, the savior. And if John was the forerunner, then salvation was near! The salvation of the world was upon them.

Zechariah praises God for visiting and redeeming his people, for raising up a "horn of salvation", which is the coming messiah. He will deliver his people from the hand of all who hate them, he will show mercy (there is that theme again, so take note) that was promised to their fathers. God will remember the holy covenant that he made with Abraham and He will deliver them from the hand of their enemies.

God has visited and redeemed.
God raised up the horn of salvation.
God is faithful to show his promised mercy.
God remembers his holy covenant.
God will deliver us from our enemies.

Why? So we might serve Him without fear in holiness and righteousness for all our days.

This first half of this praise details that this is God's doing. It is His alone! No one initiated
this sequence of events. Philip Ryken says the following:

"By sending the angel, by giving Elizabeth a baby, and especially by putting His Son in
the virgin's womb, God was visiting His people. He was entering our situation from the
outside, because without His intervention, we could never be saved. Salvation is not a
human invention, but a divine visitation. It is not something we achieve by going to God,
but something God has done by coming to us in Christ. No one could ever be saved except
by the grace of God."

Zechariah's praise shows that this is the doing of God alone. He has visited us and is remembering his covenant. He is showing His faithfulness in his promise of mercy.

Forgiveness of Sins Because of Tender Mercy

Halfway through this praise, Zechariah changes gears. He shifts his focus from blessing God to blessing His son. Fathers, I want you to consider Zechariah's thoughts and feelings at this point. Years of prayer with hope of having a child. It is hard for us in this day to understand the implications that a childless family in ancient Israel meant. We read in I Samuel 1 that barrenness is met with bitter sorrow when Hannah waited years for a child before Samuel is finally born. This is something that has weighed enormously on
Zechariah and Elizabeth for their entire lives. Back in Luke 1:25, you can see the pain in Elizabeth when she says the "Lord has taken away her reproach" by giving her a child. And here Zechariah is in his later years, most likely very old, staring down at this child -- his son. We can imagine the emotion as Zechariah speaks the following over John in vs. 76:

"And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare His ways, to give knowledge of salvation to His people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death to guide our feet into the way of peace."

Now I find this passage to be wonderful, but a bit peculiar. Zechariah had spent the previous eight verses detailing the salvation of God, his mercy, and that they will be delivered from their enemies. Now, all of a sudden, in his blessing to John, Zechariah is saying that John will prepare the way of the Lord, and will give knowledge of salvation to His people in what? The forgiveness of their sins.

Zechariah has changed from deliverance from their enemies to forgiveness of sins. At first glance, this might not make much sense. God has visited us, raised up a horn of salvation, he will be faithful to show us His promised mercy, He will remember His covenant, that we will be delivered from our enemies. But John, you will prepare the way of the Lord, giving knowledge of salvation to His people in the forgiveness of their sins.
This is a bit strange, but there is a right answer that we must look back to the book of Judges to find.

Israel had thrown themselves into a vicious cycle of doubt, disobedience, defeat, desperation, and deliverance. Over and over again. No where in the scriptures paints this picture as clearly as we saw in Judges. Israel doubts the goodness of God, disobeys and worships idols, is defeated and handed over to their enemies and are brought to their knees in desperation, and are delivered. Over and over we see that cycle.

400 years had passed since they last heard from a prophet and the cycle had continued over and over since they days of Judges. And here they were, found under the rule of the Roman Empire because of their disobedience and sinfulness. At this time, the people of John's day looked for the wrong type of salvation. They thought of salvation in political or military terms, not for forgiveness of sins. In the days of the Judges, they looked for deliverance from their enemies but never went so far as to see their need for a heart change. They simply wanted a change of circumstances. Not much had changed since those days and the people in Israel were no different now then they were then. They expected deliverance from enemies, a better economy, more freedom.

As we saw in Judges, this is not what the people of Israel needed. And it is not what we need. A change in circumstances, more freedom, better laws, a new president will not change the real problem. In Judges, deliverance from the enemies did nothing to change their hearts. In fact, at the end of the book, after God had delivered them many times, we see the situation far worse then it had been. They were in civil war and the very last thing we read is "everyone did what was right in their own eyes". Deliverance did not change the problem. The problem was themselves! And John is sent to prepare Israel for the solution that was about to solve the problem that Israel never realized. That the problem is themselves. Before the Savior could even come, someone had to get the people ready. One commentator says the following:

"It was necessary that John, the forerunner of Christ, should summon the people into a
realization of guilt and to a confession of sins, and should make as many of them as
possible see that the real redemption needed by them was deliverance from the power
of their spiritual enemies -- sin and the forces of darkness, so that they might escape
the wrath of God."

How many people here can relate to the fact that Israel got their real needs wrong? We want God to change our circumstances by solving our financial problems, our job problems, our home problems, marriage problems. We pray for deliverance from our circumstances all the time, and that is not a bad thing. We should cry out to God regarding those things! However, our deepest need is for our hearts to be changed and Israel had falsely identified the real root of the problem. John is sent to prepare the hearts of the people of Israel to be ready for the solution to the problem that has sent them into the vicious cycle that they had put themselves in for thousands of years. John is sent to "give knowledge of salvation to His people in the forgiveness of their sins." We do not appreciate gifts that appear to meet no needs. John is sent to prepare the hearts of Israel to realize that the gift they are about to receive in Christ is ALL that they need.

Why does God do this? Why does God give Zechariah a child, send John to prepare the way of the Lord, and send His very son into a broken and sinful world.

Answer: vs. 78 "Because of the tender mercy of our God."

We have a real problem. "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23 We have a real enemy as well. 1 Peter 5:8 tells us that "Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." Zechariah's prophecy tells us that God, will deliver us not only from our enemies, but from ourselves: our sinfulness. If we never see the need for deliverance from our enemy or from our sinfulness, we will never taste the tender mercy of God. John was sent to open our eyes to the need that
we face, and it is not a change in our circumstances. It is a change of heart and deliverance from the works of the devil.

1 John 3:8 tells us that "The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil."

Hebrews 9:26 tells us that "Christ has appeared once and for all at the end of to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself."

The Proud Humbled In Order to Taste Mercy

Zechariah, the priest, who should have known more than anyone that the promise of God would be true, had to be humbled before he could rise up, filled with the Holy Spirit, in worship and blessing of God. He knew the scriptures and he knew that whatever God said would come to pass. But in his sin, he doubted the power and promise of God, and was brought to humility.

Israel, the very people of God, with whom God had dwelt amidst their presence, had to be brought to their knees in humility because they doubted the very goodness of God and had forgotten all that He had done for them. Their sin had placed them in a vicious cycle and God had humbled them. My friends, if God has humbled you and brought you to your knees, then taste the tender mercy of God! Psalm 25:9 tells us that "He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way." Psalm 149:4 says "For the Lord takes pleasure in His people; He adorns the humble with salvation."

God humbles us in order to rescue us. He brings us to the point where we can be ravished by his tender mercy. And as John was sent before the Lord to prepare their hearts, they were told of their guilt and were told to repent. If the confession of sin and the humility of a contrite heart leads us to experience the tender mercy of God, then let us turn from our ways to taste His mercy.

So what of this mercy that Zechariah proclaims in his prophesy? What are we to do with it? How does it change us? Why does God go to such effort here to describe His mercy?

Aside from much of the foolishness that we read about Israel in the book of Judges, one thing we saw consistently was the mercy of God. Time and time again, Israel failed to do what they were commanded, and yet God remained, amazingly, unceasingly, merciful towards them.

What we learn here in this story is that this did not change. Thousands of years later and God is here, introducing a forerunner to prepare the way for His mercy to be poured out on the entire earth through the introduction of His Son into the world. The problem that we see in Israel in the book of Judges is the same problem that Israel had in time of John the Baptist. And yet the mercy that we see extended to Israel in Judges is about to be amplified in a way never before seen, for this mercy will fix the problem long plaguing
all of humanity. And Zechariah, being filled with the Holy Spirit, tells us that not only will will be delivered from their enemies but will be forgiven of our sins.

For those of us who know Christ and are saved, this is the sweetest news that we could ever imagine. We, who once sat in darkness and were in the shadow of death have now been given light and the sun has risen upon our darkness. This was Israel's situation before Christ was born and it is the situation we are all in until we are saved. Nothing is more wonderful for sinners than to receive mercy! And God has gone to the greatest length to extend that mercy to sinners by sending His own Son to deliver it.

God's mercy is eternal. Never-ending. Psalm 103:8 tell us that He is "merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love" and Psalm 23:6 tells us that "surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

For those who do not know Christ, put your faith in Him and Him alone! The dark night in which sinners sit will end and the sun will rise in your hearts.

For this is what Christmas brings to us: the forgiveness of sins because of the tender mercy of God.