For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. (1 Thessalonians 5:9-10)
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Some preachers out there love to go on and on about the End Times. Judgment Day. The Last Day. The Wrath of God. They like to preach about the Coming of Christ as a scary thing. They want you to fear God and get with their preacher program. It's almost as if God made us just so He can destroy us for fun, like a little kid burning ants with a magnifying glass for kicks!
St. Paul demolishes all that sort of fear-mongering false preaching by telling us that we are not appointed to wrath. Your sins should earn you God's wrath. And they do earn God's wrath. His anger. His judgment and punishment and terror. But not for you. For Jesus. On the cross, Jesus has your sins. He bears them. He carries them. He suffers and dies for them.
So, what’s in it for you if not God's wrath? Well, there’s eternal life. Joy. Peace. Paradise. The eternal presence and glory of God. The wonder and splendor of new heavens and a new earth. The joy of the body of Christ, all the saints from all the ages gathered together. You'll meet Adam and Noah and Moses and your family members who have gone ahead of you in the faith into glory. But most of all, you'll see Christ in such awe and beauty and glory that words cannot begin to describe it.
There will be a Last Day. There will be a Day when Christ comes in glory and judgment. But for you, who are baptized, absolved and filled with Jesus' body and blood, it won't be a day of wrath, terror and fright! It will be a day of joy and peace and rejoicing such as you have never known. Because after all, the guy coming on the clouds in splendor and glory is the same Jesus who hung on a cross to take away your sins and make this eternal life yours, too. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
From earth's wide bounds, from ocean's farthest coast, Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host, singing to Father, Son and Holy Ghost: Alleluia! Alleluia! (LSB 677:8)
For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind. (Isaiah 65:17)
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. The day is coming. This world will end. This earth and these heavens above will pass away. The Lord is going to make new heavens and a new earth. There won't be any sin. The things which make us sad and hurt us now will not even be remembered. So here's the question: Do the new heavens and a new earth include you?
The answer to that question doesn't come when it happens. We don't have to wait until Judgment Day to figure out whether we're in or out. The question has already been answered on Calvary on the day that the Son of God died for sinners on the cross. On that day, the sin which ties you to this heaven and earth was destroyed. On that day, the new heavens and earth became yours.
The answer was also given the day you were baptized. By water and the word, united with Jesus, you were rescued from the old world, the Devil's kingdom, which is passing away and you were made a citizen of the new heavens and earth.
If you ever doubt whether this beautiful future is yours, then listen to your Pastor absolve you of your sins and preach the Gospel to you. That absolution and that preaching are yet, again, God's promise that for Jesus’ sake, He won't let you pass away with this heaven and earth, but has prepared a place for you in the world to come.
Finally, consider that you have Jesus living in you by His own body and blood. This new heaven and new earth is what He Himself has earned and makes. And if He's there, you will be, too, since He lives in you and you live in Him.
Don't doubt it. This heaven and earth will pass away. They will perish. But there is a new heaven and earth waiting for you, because Christ makes all things new. He began that the very day He came into this world and did the work of being our Savior. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
O Jesus Christ, do not delay, But hasten our salvation; We often tremble on the way In fear and tribulation. O hear and grant our fervent plea: Come, mighty judge, and set us free From death and ev'ry evil. (LSB 508:7)
But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.(Matthew 25:4).
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Wise virgins, the bridesmaids, took oil in their lamps. That way if the groom came during the night, they could light their lamps and be ready to go. The foolish virgins took no oil and expected to get it from the others. Christ as the Bridegroom is a common theme in the Scriptures. He will return to claim His bride and His Bride, the holy, Christian church, will rejoice to be with Him forever.
Christ gave His life on the cross for the sin of the world. When he died, blood and water flowed from His side, the very blood and water of Holy Baptism and the Holy Supper which create and sustain His Bride, the church. Just as the Lord used Adam's rib to make his bride, Eve, from his side, so Jesus' bride is made from His side, by blood and water.
So what about the oil? How do you know you have oil in your lamp? That you won't run out. That you'll have oil even if you fall asleep (die) before Jesus comes again? Just what exactly is the oil? What does the oil do? It gives light. Who is the Light of the world? That's Jesus. So having oil means having Jesus. Christ comes to us and is given to us by the Spirit
To have oil is to have faith which the Holy Spirit gives us by water, word, body and blood. It is to have the Spirit and the forgiveness of sins and the light of Christ. Some people neglect these gifts. They think they're not important. On the Last Day, they'll be very surprised! They'll be wondering what's going on, trying to get some faith and be ready for Jesus. But by then it is too late. You, however, have been given this faith, and you are kept full of this faith and in this faith by Christ's holy gifts which give you the holy oil of the Spirit, even if you die before Jesus comes back.
Jesus is coming again, soon. Are you ready? Do you have oil? You do! Your lamp was filled at the font and it's topped off by the Absolution, preaching and the Sacrament. The Spirit has made you ready, a wise virgin waiting for the coming of the bridegroom. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
Absolve, we implore You, O Lord, Your people from their offenses, that from the bonds of our sins which by reason of our frailty we have brought upon us we may be delivered by Your bountiful goodness; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. (Collect for the Sunday of the Fulfillment).
The ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. (Isaiah 35:10)
In the name of Jesus. Amen. More than one of our readings this week has been set in the historical context of the Babylonian exile. Isaiah prophecies about the return of the exiles a century or so before the exile even happens. An historical context for this passage is good, but the prophet has more for us today than historical predictions. There is an eternal context to be realized.
God’s people of old returning to the land of Israel is great, but even greater is the joy that comes from God ransoming all people from their sins and the culmination of that redemption in our Savior’s final resurrection. The joy that Isaiah sings of is an everlasting joy. As God’s redeemed, we long for that eternal joy. Come quickly, Lord!
In this life, our joy is hampered by our sins, by our sufferings, by the realities of being sinners living in a fallen world. Despite receiving God’s forgiveness through concrete means of grace, joy isn’t always there. No wonder King David prayed in Psalm 51, “Restore to me the joy of your salvation.” The church sings and speaks that prayer still today.
Thankfully, the certainty of your forgiveness doesn’t rest on feelings. When the joy of God’s grace fades, or when that joy isn’t even there, it doesn’t change the fact that you are the ransomed of the Lord, purchased by the perfect blood of Christ which He shed for you on the cross. God’s Word declares it, and it is so, no matter how you feel.
When the resurrected and exalted Christ brings you to Zion, to new heavens and a new earth, you will sing the joyful song of the redeemed, the song of Zion forever. Everlasting joy is truly a gift. It’s wrapped up with God’s gift of everlasting life. It’s a privilege even now to sing the song of Zion with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven as Jesus comes to meet you with His forgiveness. Rejoice, for today Isaiah gives you yet another glimpse into eternity. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
We, where no trouble distraction can bring, Safely the anthems of Zion shall sing; While for Your grace, Lord, their voices of praise Your blessed people shall evermore raise. (LSB 675:3)
As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. (Daniel 1:17)
In the name of Jesus. Amen. Earlier this week we witnessed one of the visions of Daniel. Today we rewind to the beginning of his book where he recounts for us his early days in Babylon, along with Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah (AKA Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego).
As they were young, attractive and full of potential, King Nebuchadnezzar planned to “educate” them in the way of the Chaldeans to make them productive members of society. Sounds like a deal—three years of tuition-free education! They were even offered the deluxe meal plan—food from the king’s table.
Their education wasn’t the problem. The meal plan was at issue since it included certain foods which were unclean and other meat which would not have been prepared according to their dietary restrictions in the Law of Moses. What were they to do? They could forsake God’s Law and blend in or they could be a light to the Gentiles.
The Israelites suffered the judgment of exile because of their idolatry and their desire to blend in with the nations. Countless times the prophets warned them to remain faithful to the God who was their very salvation. Daniel and the three other men knew this well. You and I know how easy it is to blend in with the culture, rather than confess Christ. It’s not easy, but your Savior promises to be with you.
In today’s Gospel from St. Matthew, even the disciples who were with the risen Jesus for days, still doubted. They, too, were tempted to turn away. Yet the Lord Jesus forgave them and sent them forth to make disciples of all nations by baptizing and teaching. You have been baptized and gifted in the Lord’s teaching. You have food from the King’s Table, the deluxe meal plan of His body and blood. He is with you as you go forth confessing Him in the world. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Lo, the hosts of evil round us Scorn the Christ, assail His ways! From the fears that long have bound us Free our hearts to faith and praise. Grant us wisdom, grant us courage For the living of these days, For the living of these days. (LSB 850:2)
So they took Jeremiah and cast him into the cistern of Malchiah, the king’s son, which was in the court of the guard, letting Jeremiah down by ropes. And there was no water in the cistern, but only mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud. (Jeremiah 38:6)
In the name of Jesus. Amen. Was Jeremiah a stick-in-the-mud? King Zedekiah gave the authority to men within the court to do as they wished with Jeremiah. They had had enough of his ramblings, so they threw him into a well, into the mud. Jeremiah faithfully delivered the Word of God, but people didn’t like it. So, they booted him.
This was a horrible time in the history of God’s people. Jerusalem was about to be sacked by the Babylonians. Through Jeremiah, God gave His instructions: abandon the city and give yourself to the heathen invaders and you will live. Okay, it doesn’t sound pleasant, but it’s God’s plan. Unfortunately, it wasn’t good enough for Zedekiah and his officials.
Sometimes even in this day and age pastors are given the boot for no good reason. Often it’s because some have a different plan of action, one that will surely be more successful than preaching the Word of God. Jeremiah 38 cautions us. God’s way doesn’t always look like the successful path to glory. In fact, it looks more like the road to defeat.
Surrender looked like certain death for Israel, but God promised life. Zedekiah ended up following his own path to life. He and his officials stayed in the city. Then, when it was breached, they fled. Zedekiah was captured and brought to Nebuchadnezzar. The last thing he saw before his eyes were gouged out was the slaughter of his sons.
God would have you examine your pastor according to the Word of God. Sometimes you simply may not like what he says or the way he does something, but he’s not being a stick-in-the-mud. He’s being God’s mouthpiece. Remember Jeremiah! He points you to Jesus. So does your pastor. God promises you life in Jesus through certain death—His death for you. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Send, O Lord, Your Holy Spirit On Your servant now, we pray; Let him prove a faithful shepherd That no lamb be led astray. Your pure teaching to proclaim, To extol Your holy name, And to feed Your lambs, dear Savior, make his aim and sole endeavor. (LSB 681:1)
Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. (Ephesians 6:4)
In the name of Jesus. Amen. Parents have a heavy responsibility given them by God. Fathers are the chief spiritual providers for their children. That’s not to say that mothers are to be absent in this endeavor. On the contrary, St. Paul commended Timothy’s mother and grandmother for their role in handing over the faith.
As parents bring up and nourish their children in the discipline of the Lord, they actually lay the foundation by which their children in turn keep the Fourth Commandment. Neglecting to lay that critical foundation of the faith can actually provoke a child to anger. Parents who neglect this responsibility should actually expect rebellious children. Eli was held accountable for failing to restrain his sons (1 Samuel 3:13).
That’s why the Lord sees to the needs of His people by placing responsibility on His people. Parents are His instruments for the care and nurture of children. What do we sinners most often do with duty and responsibility? We tend to chuck it onto others. It’s tempting just to pass the buck. Either way in this case, the consequences for both parent and child can be painful and filled with conflict. Ultimately, spiritual neglect can have eternal consequences.
Thankfully, there is One who never shirked the responsibility given Him by God to redeem sinful mankind from their sins. Christ is your hope. In Him, lives are changed, both parent and child. In Him, sin is put to death and new life arises. In Christ, God works to undo the mess that you and I have created by our failures to live up to our responsibilities.
Your Father in heaven loves you in His Son. He will never fail you, despite your rebelliousness against Him. You may see His discipline in your life, but only to drive you to the cross, that you might see His love most clearly. In Christ you’ve received the Spirit of sonship by which you are privileged to cry, “Abba, Father.” In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Our Father, by whose name All fatherhood is known, Who dost in love proclaim Each family Thine own, Bless Thou all parents, guarding well, With constant love as sentinel, The homes in which Thy people dwell. (LSB 863:1)
But according to His promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. (2 Peter 3:13)
In the name of Jesus. Amen. More stirring up today, this time from St. Peter. Today he stirs us up to watch out for scoffers in the last days. Many will disregard our Lord’s promise to return on the Last Day. They’ll persist in their unrepentant sins. They’ll revel in their unrighteousness. By their actions they will loudly proclaim just as St. Peter predicted, “Where is the promise of His coming?”
From the beginning, mankind has ignored his Creator. St. Peter notes that they “deliberately” ignore His creative power and work. Even after a thorough drowning in water, the righteous returned to their unrighteousness. The day of final judgment will come with fire and the ultimate destruction of the ungodly along with it.
In the Lord’s delay, you are no doubt tempted to join with the scoffers. Oh, you don’t join them with open voice. You join them when you live according to your sinful desires. You forget the promise of His coming. Will you continue in your unrighteousness just as so many have done from the beginning? Remember what God has done through water!
Yes, through water God once judged the earth, but through that same water God saved eight people, a new creation. The flood of water that saved Noah and His family foreshadows a greater water, the water of your Baptism. Through the water of your Baptism God has drowned your sin. You are a new creation. Baptism has saved you from the fire of God’s judgment by bringing you all that Christ won for you at Calvary.
The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise. He doesn’t wish that you perish. He’s patient with you. And today He stirs you up to revel in His righteousness while you wait for His return. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Almighty and eternal God, according to Your strict judgment You condemned the unbelieving world through the flood, yet according to Your great mercy You preserved believing Noah and his family, eight souls in all…Through the Baptism in the Jordan of Your beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, You sanctified and instituted all waters to be a blessed flood and a lavish washing away of sin. (A portion of Luther’s Flood Prayer, LSB 268-269)
And to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations and languages should serve Him; His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom is one that shall not be destroyed. (Daniel 7:14)
In the name of Jesus. Amen. What a glorious vision the prophet Daniel sees! He sees the second coming of Jesus, the Son of Man. God the Father, the Ancient of Days, gives Jesus all things. Jesus becomes the eternal King to reign in God’s kingdom forever.
However, before he sees all of this, God shows Daniel terrifying visions of horrible beasts. The beasts are powerful and dreadful. They resemble ferocious animals, but have other strange characteristics that make them even more frightening. No wonder Daniel is greatly alarmed.
Daniel sees the mighty power of the great kingdoms that have dominion on the earth. Evil and wickedness seem to reign with great power on this earth. Daniel lived in the midst of mighty Babylon, a real place, but also the great representation of evil within Scripture. You and I live in a world filled with evil, hostile to our Christian faith. Even the evil within our own hearts can scare us to death at times.
Fear not, dear Christian! The Son of Man reigns as King! His is a kingship and a reign like no other. It began not with a visible display of might, but in a manger with smelly animals. He wore a crown of thorns. His throne was a cross, but there He destroyed the dominion of evil forever by taking all evil upon Himself and dying. Because of this, God has given Him everlasting dominion. The books are open, but by grace you are judged according to His righteousness and you live under Him in His kingdom to serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence and blessedness. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
You are the king of glory, O Christ; You are the everlasting Son of the Father. When you took upon Yourself to deliver man, You humbled Yourself to be born of a virgin. When you had overcome the sharpness of death, You opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers. You sit at the right hand of God in the glory of the Father. We believe that You will come to be our judge. We therefore pray You to help Your servants, whom You have redeemed with Your precious blood. Make them to be numbered with Your saints in glory everlasting. (Te Deum, LSB 223:4-7)
Then the King will say to those on His right, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” (St. Matthew 25:34)
In the name of Jesus. Amen. As we ponder the end of all things on this second-last Sunday of the church year, St. Matthew presents our Lord Jesus coming again, this time in all of His glory, with all the angels, to sit on His glorious throne. In His first advent, Jesus came in a still, small way, missed by many. No one will miss His second advent.
King Jesus is coming in judgment. He’s coming to separate the sheep from the goats. Currently, in the visible church there are both. There are the righteous and the wicked, mixed together. Hypocrites can hide within the church. They can stand right next to you and confess the Creed and to you, they would appear as the most pious of Christians.
When Jesus comes, this wickedness will be exposed for all to see. What lies in the hearts of every human being will be made visible. There will be no more hypocrisy. This text should terrorize the unbeliever for sure, but what about you, child of God? Can you escape the words of Jesus in this text without feeling the shame of neglecting your brothers and sisters in Christ who are in need? Not even the most faithful Christian can!
Should you go out and do more good works? Yes! Is that enough to escape the shame of your sin and neglect of your fellow Christian? No! Jesus knows that! That’s why he invites you when He says, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inheritthe kingdom.” Baptized into Christ, you are an heir of salvation. St. Peter says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:3-4). Come, dear child of God, inherit the kingdom. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
O Lord, so rule and govern our hearts and minds by Your Holy Spirit that, being ever mindful of the end of all things and the day of Your just judgment, we may be stirred up to holiness of living here and dwell with You forever hereafter; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (Collect for the 2ndLast Sunday of the Church Year)
