“God, who at many times and in diverse manners spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by his Son, whom he has appointed heir of all things, by whom he also made the universe.” Hebrews 1:1-2 (Read all of Hebrews 1)

According to both Stephen and the Apostle Paul, God spoke to Moses on Mt. Sinai and gave His law through “the disposition of angels.”

In Acts 7:38, we read: “This is he who was in the church in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him on the mount Sinai and with our fathers, who received the living oracles to give to us …” And, in verse 53, Stephen said the Jewish people “received the law by the disposition of angels and have not kept it.” St. Paul, in Galatians 3:19, says of the law that “it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.”

But God has spoken to us, not by the disposition of angels but by His Son – the eternal Son of God, the Creator of all things.

We read in Hebrews 1:1-4: “God, who at many times and in diverse manners spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by his Son, whom he has appointed heir of all things, by whom he also made the universe. He is the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself made purification of our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high, being made so much better than the angels, as he has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they have.”

Not only do we have the Word of God revealed to us by God’s angels and by the prophets of God; we have the very Word of God the Son, who came into this world a true man that He might redeem us and bring us back into fellowship with God.

St. Paul wrote to the Galatians in Galatians 4:4-5: “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law so that we might receive the adoption of sons.”

We have the very words of Jesus, the Word made flesh, who dwelt among us (cf. John 1:1-5, 14, 17-18).

Jesus told Nicodemus: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up, so that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For this is how God loved the world: he gave his only-begotten Son, so that whoever believes in him, should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him may be saved. He who believes in him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God” (John 3:14-18).

Jesus also said, “For if you do not believe that I am he [the Son of God, the Messiah and Savior promised of old], you will die in your sins” (John 8:24).

He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).

The question for us to consider is this: If as it says, “He who despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses,” “How much more severe a punishment do you suppose he shall be thought worthy of who has trodden under foot the Son of God, has counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified an unholy thing, and has done an indignity to the Spirit of grace?” (Heb. 10:28,29).

How important is it to hear and learn the words – the teaching – of the Lord Jesus? If neglecting or despising the Word of God revealed by the disposition of angels or through the preaching and writing of the ancient prophets brings death and judgment, what will happen to us if we neglect to hear and heed the very words of God’s own dear Son, our Maker and Redeemer? We remember that there is salvation in no other (cf. Acts 4:12) and that those who do not believe are condemned already for not believing “in the name of the only-begotten Son of God” (John 3:18).

This, of course, reveals the seriousness and importance of hearing and heeding God’s Word. Jesus suffered and died on the cross for the sins of the world and is risen again and ascended to the right hand of God the Father, where He intercedes for us. As we read in the opening verses of Hebrews, chapter one, Jesus “made purification of our sins” and “sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.”

Jesus called His apostles, and He still calls pastors and teachers today, to proclaim His Word, to preach that “it behooved [it was necessary for] Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (Luke 24:46-47).

Jesus, by means of the Holy Spirit’s working through the Word, still calls each of us to repent of our sinful ways and to look to Him and His cross for pardon, forgiveness and life everlasting. And He promises that all who believe will “not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

Do you hear and heed the words of the Son of God?

O gracious and merciful God, grant us Your Holy Spirit that we would hear and believe the Word of Your Son, repent of our sins and look to Him and His cross for mercy and forgiveness that we may be pardoned and receive the everlasting joys of heaven. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.

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

“Who will lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, or rather who is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.” Romans 8:33-34 (Read verses 18-39)

Have you ever been afraid that you would come short on Judgment Day – that instead of being welcomed into heaven, you would be condemned to eternal suffering in hell because of your sins and shortcomings?

Those who continue on in their sinful ways and do not repent and look to Christ Jesus for pardon and forgiveness should be afraid because, apart from repentance and faith in Christ, they stand condemned to the eternal torments of hell. The Bible plainly says that “he who does not believe shall be condemned” (Mark 16:16; cf. John 3:18, 36).

But, to be honest, I think all Christians are troubled by such fears. After all, we know that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23); and, “If you, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?” (Psalm 130:3). The obvious answer is no one, not a single one of us!

But need we as believers in Christ be afraid of God’s judgment? Need we fear that we will be found wanting and condemned to the torments of hell? What does God’s Word say?

“Who will lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, or rather who is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us” (Rom. 8:33-34).

Who is going to charge us with sin and condemn us? God chose us and all true believers to be His own from before the foundation of the world and, after bringing us to faith through the hearing of His life-giving Word, declared us just and righteous through faith in the sinless life and innocent sufferings and death of His only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, in our stead.

Who will be our judge on the Last Day? It is Christ Jesus, who died for our sins and rose again and is even now interceding for us with His blood at the right hand of God the Father in heaven. Will He condemn those who look to Him in faith for mercy and forgiveness? Certainly not! He died to redeem us and save us from eternal death and damnation. He now pleads for us with His blood, which was shed to atone for the sins of the world.

Need we then be afraid of God’s judgment? Not at all! Through faith in Christ we have been “justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation, through faith in his blood” (Rom. 3:24-25). Or, as Psalm 130:4 says of God: “There is forgiveness with you so that you may be feared.”

Jesus, Himself, said: “For this is how God loved the world: he gave his only-begotten Son, so that whoever believes in him, should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16); and, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes in him who sent me has everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation, but has passed from death to life” (John 5:24).

When we look to Jesus and His cross in faith, we need not be afraid!

O gracious and merciful Savior, thank You for dying in my stead and rising again, for choosing me to be Your own and bringing me to trust in the Gospel promises, for granting me pardon and forgiveness through faith in Your shed blood, and for interceding for Me before the Father’s throne. Grant that I hold fast to You in faith for life everlasting. Amen.

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

We read in Isaiah 6:1-7: In the year that king Uzziah died I also saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and elevated, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim. Each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory.” And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him who cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then I said, “Woe is me! For I am undone because I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar. And he laid it upon my mouth and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips, and your iniquity is taken away and your sin purged.”

Wouldn’t we also, if we found ourselves standing in the presence of the Lord God, like Isaiah, say, “Woe is me! For I am undone because I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts”?

The truth is, though we may not see Him with our earthly eyes, we do stand in the presence of the LORD of hosts – He is everywhere and the whole earth is filled with His glory! His angels are around us, not only watching over us and all believers but also uttering the praises of the Almighty.

And in our humble church building, the crucified, risen and exalted Christ comes to us offering us His Word of forgiveness, as well as giving us to eat and to drink of His body and blood shed for the remission of all our sins. And, of course, lest we forget, our bodies are His temple. He dwells in us by His Holy Spirit (cf. 1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19).

The words translated from the ancient Greek text by Gerard Moultrie say it so well:

Let all mortal flesh keep silence, and with fear and trembling stand;
Ponder nothing earthly-minded, for with blessing in His hand,
Christ our God to earth descending, comes with homage to demand.

King of kings, yet born of Mary, as of old on earth He stood,
Lord of lords, in human vesture, in the body and the blood,
He will give to all the faithful His own self for heavenly food.

Rank on rank the host of heaven spreads its vanguard on the way
As the Light of light descending from the realms of endless day,
Comes the powers of hell to vanquish as the darkness clears away.

At His feet the six-winged seraph, cherubim with sleepless eye,
Veil their faces to the presence, as with ceaseless voice they cry:
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Lord Most High!

The theme of this ancient hymn is based on the words of Habakkuk 2:20: “But the LORD is in his holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before him.” It is echoed in Zechariah 2:13: “Be silent, all flesh, before the LORD, for he is raised up out of his holy habitation.”

As we ponder God’s majesty and holiness, the words of Isaiah come to our lips as well: “Woe is me! For I am undone because I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts”

How unworthy we are – and deserving of God’s wrath and judgment – to stand in His very presence! In fact, the more we see His glory, majesty and holiness from His revelation of Himself in the pages of our Bibles, the more we are struck with our unworthiness to stand in His presence. Even our best worship of Him is from unclean lips and comes so far short – it is filthiness in His eyes (cf. Isaiah 64:6). And the people around us – even in our congregation – have unclean lips too!

But, as one of the seraphim took a live coal from the altar – where sacrifices were offered up that sinners trusting in God’s promise of a better Sacrifice for all sin might be forgiven and walk in God’s presence – so Christ Himself, the almighty and everlasting God in human flesh, our redeeming Sacrifice, comes to us with His word of forgiveness and His body and blood given and shed for us on the cross for the remission of all sins. He touches our lips and our hearts, cleanses away all our sins, and opens our mouths to worship Him and sing His praises.

“If you, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with you so that you may be feared” (Psalm 130:3-4). In Christ Jesus and His cross, God has redeemed us from all our “iniquities” and provided for us “plenteous redemption” (Psalm 130:7,8). Look to Him in faith!

Alleluia, Alleluia
Alleluia, Lord Most High!

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

Remember, O LORD, your tender mercies and your loving kindnesses, for they have always been from of old. Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions. According to your mercy remember me for your goodness’ sake, O LORD. Psalm 25:6-7

Ad Te Levavi is the traditional name for the first Sunday in Advent. It is the Latin title for the introit of the day, from Psalm 25:1: “To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.”

Advent is still months away, but our preparations for Christ’s second coming – His second advent – are ongoing year-round.

As we prepare for Christ’s second advent — His triumphal entry into this world as eternal King and Judge — we lift up our souls to the LORD and pray that He would remember and look upon us in His mercy and not according to our sinfulness under His law.

We pray that the LORD God (Yahweh or Jehovah God) would remember His tender mercies and His lovingkindness which He promised from of old — to Adam and Eve in the Garden, to Abraham, to David, and to all the Old Testament saints (cf. Gen. 3:15; 22:18; Ps. 51; Isa. 53; 55:1ff.).

If the LORD were to deal with us according to our sins, none of us could stand in His judgment. We would all be condemned to the everlasting torments of hell because of our sinful hearts and our sinful thoughts, desires, words and actions (cf. Psalm 130:3ff.; Matt. 15:19; Rom. 3:9ff.; Gal. 3:10).

As sinners, condemned by God’s holy law, we flee in faith to the grace and mercy of God for the sake of His Son, the Lamb of God who made atonement for the sins of the world (John. 1:29; 1 John 1:8 – 2:2; Rom. 3:19-26). We pray: “Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions. According to your mercy remember me for your goodness’ sake, O LORD.”

And, because Jesus Christ died for all our sins and rose again on the third day, those who look in faith to Christ and His cross for mercy are pardoned, forgiven, justified, and accepted by God (cf. Rom. 3:21-26; Eph. 1:6-7; Gal. 3:13, 26-27); they have a place in His everlasting kingdom (John 3:14-16; Mark 16:16; Rom. 5:1-10,17).

Jesus Christ is coming again! Though He entered into Jerusalem, the center of the Old Testament church, humbly and riding on a donkey nearly 2,000 years ago with some hailing Him as the promised Messiah and King and others rejecting Him, He now is coming as King of kings and Lord of lords and every knee shall bow (cf. Phil 2:9-11; Rev. 19:11-16). He will judge the living and the dead.

How do you wish to be remembered on that Day? According to your sins and many transgressions, or according to His mercy for the sake of Christ’s blood, shed on the cross for the sins of all?

“To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.”

O LORD God, our gracious Savior, do not deal with us according to our sins as we justly deserve under Your holy law but deal with us in Your mercy and lovingkindness for the sake of the holy life and innocent sufferings and death of Christ Jesus, Your dear Son and our Savior. In His name, we pray. Amen.

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

“But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” John 4:23-24 (Read v. 19-24)

Psalm 95 directs us to worship the LORD: “O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms” (Psalm 95:1-2).

But how are we to worship? What kind of worship does God desire? Should it be with liturgy and organ or with contemporary song and guitar? Should it be in a beautiful church or cathedral or in a steel building or barn?

These questions are really not much different than the question posed by the woman at Jacob’s well in Samaria when she perceived Jesus was a prophet because of His knowledge of her life and relationships. “Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship,” she said (John 4:20).

And she raised a valid question because the Samaritans, who accepted only the first five books of Moses and had altered parts of them, claimed they were to worship on Mt. Gerizim and had worshiped there for centuries and continued to worship there even after the Jewish ruler Hyrcanus destroyed their temple a little more than 100 years before Christ’s birth. The Jews, on the other hand, said that Jerusalem was the only place where people should worship (Deut. 12:5ff.; 16:5-6; 1 Kings 8:12ff.; 12:25ff.).

Jesus pointed out to this woman the time was coming when God’s people would neither worship in Mt. Gerizim nor at Jerusalem. As He said elsewhere, the temple would soon be destroyed (cf. Matt. 24:1-2, Luke 19:41-44; 21:5-6), and God’s people would be scattered all over the world preaching the Gospel and would, in many places, join together with fellow believers in worship (cf. Mark 16:15-16).

Sadly, though the Samaritans sought to worship, they did not know the true God because of their admixture of error and false teaching (2 Kings 17:24ff., especially v. 32-35). They rejected most of the Old Testament Scriptures, including many promises of a Messiah and Savior who would bear the sins of the people and redeem them from sin and eternal death (cf. Isaiah 53; Psalm 130). The Jews, on the other hand, had the Scriptures and the promises of the Messiah and Savior.

Jesus went on to say (John 4:23-24): “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”

He pointed out to this woman and to us today that true worshipers would worship “in spirit and in truth,” meaning that true worship is not constituted by certain places or outward forms and observances, Rather, it comes from the regenerated (or born again) spirit of man and truly glorifies and praises God.

And so, what constitutes worshiping in spirit and in truth? First and foremost, true worship flows from faith in Jesus Christ as God the Son and the Messiah and Savior of the world. Jesus, Himself, said that He is “the way, the truth, and the life,” and that no one can come to Father apart from Him (John 14:6). He also said we can do nothing pleasing to God in regard to good works and service toward God apart from faith in Him (John 15:4-5).

Jesus said, “All men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him” (John 5:23; cf. 1 John 2:23). And, indeed, it is only through the atoning sacrifice of the Son that we can approach the throne of God with our prayers, praises and petitions (cf. Heb. 10:19-25; 1 John 5:11-15).

True worship, then, can only come from a heart that has been regenerated by the gracious working of the Holy Spirit. It is as Jesus said, “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing” (John 6:63; cf. John 15:1ff.; 3:3,5-6).

True worship must not be idolatry like that of the Samaritans (cf. Ex. 20:1ff.; Deut. 6:13-15). It brings no glory to God if we do not worship the Triune God who has revealed Himself in the Bible. (Cf. Deut. 6:4ff.; Matt. 28:19; 1 Pet. 1:1-5.) Jesus said, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve” (Matt. 4:10).

True worship holds fast to the Bible’s teaching (1 Tim. 6:3-5; 2 Tim. 3:12-17; John 8:31-32; Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 2:42). God abhors false doctrine and adulterating His Word. Therefore, worship which contradicts the teaching of Scripture is not true and pleasing worship (cf. Isaiah 8:20; Deut. 4:2; 13:1ff.; Matt. 7:21ff.; Jer. 23:28).

And, finally, true worship is exactly that: true worship. It is not merely going through the outward motions or using certain forms. It is not vain repetitions of which Jesus speaks in His Sermon on the Mount (cf. Matt. 6:7). It is worship that comes from the heart and is genuine and sincere. It gives glory to God and thanks and praises Him for His goodness and mercy toward us in Christ Jesus.

It is as David writes in Psalm 103:1: “Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.”

O Lord, grant that we worship You in spirit and in truth — that we, from our hearts, glorify Your holy name for the gift of the Son and His atoning sacrifice for our sins and the sins of the world. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.

[Scripture is quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.]