This morning we are wrapping up our "Life's a Trip" sermon series. I want to thankall the familieswho took the time to create a poster of their summer vacation. At the end of the service please remember to take your poster home with you. Otherwise we’ll scan them, photoshop them, and turn them into a sermon illustration! But seriously, thanks for taking time to share your family trips in that way.
In a few weeks, new Life Groups are going to begin forming. Life Groups meet for eight to ten weeks. Each group discusses the study guide found in the bulletin. The goal is to live out the words of Christ and to become doers of the word and not just hearers. There is absolutely no question that people who become involved in our Life Groups and Life Tracks find themselves more deeply challenged and experience deeper growth in their Christian walks. It’s the reinforcement, shared life, and accountability with other Christians that fosters growth.
One of our greatest mistakes is to attempt to live the Christian life alone, without the support of others. On our own it’s so easy to get discouraged or run into a spiritual dead end. With others, the discouragement and dead ends are minimized and worked out in the company of others. There are many opportunities to become involved beginning soon. Check your bulletin and newsletter.
God likens our lives to a trip, or journey.
We began this series through the minor prophets talking about how life’s a trip. In the Bible God likens our lives to a journey. Our lives can also be compared to a person walking down a path. In life, everyone chooseshis own path and each path leads to its own destination.
When I was a youngster our school library had these books called Choose Your Own Adventure. A story would begin, but then you would be presented with a choice. "If you go with your friends, turn to page fifty-nine.But if you stay behind, turn to page twenty-three. If I made a bad a decision, I would just turn back the pages of the book and make a different decision. But in life, we cannot turn back the pages. We have to live out the decisions we make and pay the consequences of poor choices.
A trip through life without God will be full of frustration.
Some people make wise choices along the way and some make foolish choices. Some take appropriate precautions and remain safe, but others get lost or fall prey to the elements. Some embrace God’s will, but some foolishly reject God’s path. What we have seen in this series is how life without God will be full of blunders, wrong turns, miscalculations, errors, dead-ends, frustrations, and incredible pain.
In Psalm 16:11 (NIV) the psalmist praises God. "You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand." But in Proverbs 14:12 (NIV) we find a sober warning about veering from God's path. "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death."
The minor prophets were travel guides who warned people about the dangers on their paths.
The minor prophets were sent from God to steer his people, the Israelites, back on course. The prophets were travel guides who warned people of what lay ahead on the path they were choosing. In some cases the people would repent and turn around from their wrong destinations. But in other cases they would stay on their course and reap a world of hurt for rejecting God’s way.
The minor prophets were men of truth who pulled no punches. They didn’t soft-peddle the truth. They spoke boldly and were often put to death for speaking the truth. But they would dutifully die if it meant steering God’s people back to the path of life. I hope that this series has been equally life-changing and informative for you. I hope that you have a more balanced perspective of God. God is mindful of our ways, unapologetically angry at our sin, jealous for our affection, merciful, and mighty to save!
The four hundred years of prophetic silence.
Well, the last prophet through whom God spoke in the Old Testament was Malachi. After Malachi spoke, there were four hundred years of prophetic silence. During this period of silence God didn’t raise up a single prophet among his people. The four hundred years between the Old and New Testaments was a time of tremendous upheaval; politically, socially, and religiously. Consider the political environment.
The Babylonian empire was defeated by the Persians. The Persians were defeated by Alexander the Great. The Greek empire was conquered by the Roman empire. Throughout all the attacks the Jewish people found their religion and values under constant attack. And without getting sidetracked with all the events that transpired, let me just say that the four hundred years of prophetic silence were a time of testing for God’s people.
Four hundred years of prophetic silence was a time of testing for the Israelites.
Would God keep his word? Would God be faithful to his promises? Would God deliver his people from political and social oppression? Would the people be saved from their sins?Would God’s name ever become great among the nations again? Would the Christ, the messiah, appear in Jerusalem? Would God’s Holy Spirit dwell within his people? Would God’s righteousness be established in the lives of his people?
The prophetic silence was unnerving! But let’s consider the final words God spoke to his people through his prophet Malachi. In Malachi 4:5-6 (NIV) God says, "See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse." In Malachi 3:1 (NIV) God said, "See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come." God’s final word to his people was that the Christ is coming. He will send a messenger, a prophet like Elijah, ahead of him. And then suddenly the Lord will appear. And so what do we find at the beginning of the gospel Matthew before Christ appears?
Matthew's gospel tells of the fulfilling of Malachi's prophesy.
Matthew 3:1-6 (NIV) says, "In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea and saying, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.' This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: 'A voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.' ' John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River."
In Matthew 3:11-12 (NIV) John the Baptist says, "I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire." The people of Israel waited four hundred years for the Christ to come and now they were preparing for God to fulfill his promise. Now that a prophet like Elijah had come, the Christ could come suddenly, at any moment.
God's silence is a time of faith and trust and preparation for us.
We spend a lot of our lives going the way that seems right, living life as we please. But here is John the Baptist, the prophet who is like Elijah, saying, "Prepare the way for the Lord. Make straight your paths for the Christ. The Lord is coming." God's silence is always a time of faith and trust and preparation. Are we ready for God to come visit us? Are we ready for God to fulfill his promise? Are we on the right path?
My mom has always been an avid reader of end times material. She would watch news from the middle east, subscribe to the Jerusalem Times, and quote scriptures. She would convince me that Jesus was truly coming at any second.She was really into the writings of Hal Lindsey, who has largely discredited himself due to his speculative writings.
But my mom would put the fear of the Lord in me. She would read passages out of Revelation and the book of Daniel vividly describing how Christ would save his people and judge the nations. I would run back to my room terrified and pray over the calendar on my wall. "God, I am not ready for you to come. Please wait." God’s silence is always the occasion for us to trust and ready ourselves for Christ. God gave the Israelites four hundred years to prepare for the Christ. How long will he give us?
The reality behind God's promises is Jesus Christ.
The New Testament describes how Jesus is the reality behind all of God’s promises. In Matthew 5:17 (NIV) Jesus said, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." In 2 Corinthians 1:20 (NIV) the apostle Paul would say, "For no matter how many promises God has made, they are 'Yes' in Christ..."
Jesus Christ is the demonstration of God’s faithfulness to his people. The law. The prophets. The circumcisions. The festivals. The sacrifices. The priesthood. The temple. The righteousness. The sabbath. All of these things foreshadowed the coming of the Christ. All of these things were intended to prepare God’s people for the ultimate reality.
New Testament passages speak to the reality of Jesus Christ.
Allow me to read a few passages out of the New Testament that speak to the fact that Jesus Christ is the reality. He is the fulfillment of every ancient promise God ever made. Colossians 2:9-17 (NIV) says, "For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ."
The author of Hebrews has much to say about Christ fulfilling the law and prophets. In Hebrews 1:1-4 (NIV) he says, "In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs."
In Hebrews 10:1-18 (NIV) the Hebrews writer says, "The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming— not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: 'Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me;with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, 'Here I am— it is written about me in the scroll— I have come to do your will, O God.' ' First he said, 'Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them' (although the law required them to be made). Then he said, 'Here I am, I have come to do your will.' He sets aside the first to establish the second."
"And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: 'This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.' Then he adds: 'Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.' And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin."
There have been two thousand years of prophetic silence since Christ came.
Four hundred years of silence, and then the Christ came. God kept his promise. It’s interesting to me that since Christ ascended into heaven, there have been almost two thousands years of prophetic silence. I know that there are Christians who claim to be prophets and claim to speak on behalf of God, but I am referring to the Bible. Revelation ends by saying in Revelation 22:18-21 (NIV), "I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. He who testifies to these things says, 'Yes, I am coming soon.' Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen."
God fulfills his promises.
If we learn anything from the minor prophets it is that God fulfills his promises. The Old Testament ends with Malachi warning that a prophet like Elijah would come and then suddenly the Lord will appear. The New Testament ends with John reiterating Jesus’ promise in Revelation 22:20 (NIV), "Yes, I am coming soon." How soon is soon? And are we ready for Christ’s return? Are we making our paths straight? Are we believing and trusting and repenting and confessing and being baptized and obeying and waiting for God to fulfill his word?
The prophets teach us that God is slow to anger, abounding in love, and relents from sending calamity. But the New Testament teaches us in 2 Peter 3:9-15 (NIV) that, "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him."
In Matthew 7:13-14 (NIV) Jesus says, "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." In John 14:6 (NIV) Jesus says, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
Prayer: "God, you are about to break the silence, any moment. Will you find faith in us?"