Death Rehearsal

You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning: in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers. . . . So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:5–6, 12)

For me, the end of a year is like the end of my life. And 11:59 pm on December 31 is like the moment of my death.

The 365 days of the year are like a miniature lifetime. And these final hours are like the last days in the hospital after the doctor has told me that the end is very near. And in these last hours, the lifetime of this year passes before my eyes, and I face the inevitable question: Did I live it well? Will Jesus Christ, the righteous Judge, say “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21)?

I feel very fortunate that this is the way my year ends. And I pray that the year’s end might have the same significance for you.

The reason I feel fortunate is that it is a great advantage to have a trial run at my own dying. It is a great benefit to rehearse once a year in preparation for the last scene of your life. It is a great benefit because the morning of January 1 will find most of us still alive, at the brink of a whole new lifetime, able to start fresh all over again.

The great thing about rehearsals is that they show you where your weaknesses are, where your preparation was faulty; and they leave you time to change before the real play in front of a real audience.

I suppose for some of you the thought of dying is so morbid, so gloomy, so fraught with grief and pain that you do your best to keep it out of your minds, especially during holidays. I think that is unwise and that you do yourself a great disservice. I have found that there are few things more revolutionizing for my life than a periodic pondering of my own death.

How do you get a heart of wisdom so as to know how best to live? The psalmist answers:

You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning: in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers. . . . So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:5–6, 12)

Numbering your days simply means remembering that your life is short and your dying will be soon. Great wisdom — great, life-revolutionizing wisdom — comes from periodically pondering these things.

The criterion of success, that Paul used to measure his life, was whether he had kept the faith. “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing” (2 Timothy 4:7–8). Let this be our test at year’s end.

And if we discover that we did not keep the faith this past year, then we can be glad, as I am, that this year-end death is (probably) only a rehearsal, and a whole life of potential faith-keeping lies before us in the next year.

John Piper 

Impassioned Life

God . . . has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, . . . through whom also He made the worlds; who being 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 purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

HEBREWS 1:1–4

The life that Jesus gives is not dull or common. It is vibrant and impassioned. That life should be lived with a passionate, emotional, blazing love for the Lord Jesus Christ. His name towers above all others. H. G. Wells once listed the ten greatest men of history; Jesus Christ was number one on the list. Yet He has no business in a list like that. He is more than a man. We may speak of Charlemagne the Great, Peter the Great, or Alexander the Great. But Jesus is the One and Only. There is no one like Jesus Christ. 

It is the uniqueness of Jesus that sets the Christ of Christmas apart from all others. Buddha, Confucius, and Mohammed were all leaders, but one can follow their religion without knowing them personally. This is not so with Christ. To take Christ from Christianity would be like taking water from a well, notes from music, and numbers from mathematics. 

The key phrase in the book of Hebrews uses the word better. It is used thirteen times. God is saying that we can come to know Jesus better, but we can never find anything better than knowing Jesus. He is indeed the superlative Savior. Let’s think about His name. 

There is wisdom in that name. This is the earthshaking declaration: that God Who has spoken through nature, conscience, history, law, and the prophets said His last word to humanity through His Son, Jesus Christ. God is love, and love cannot be silent. Jesus stood in the wings of history waiting for His time. He cast a long shadow throughout the Old Testament. All of the books of the Old Testament, like tributaries in a mighty river, merge into the last word of God to man—Jesus. 

There is wonder in that name. Jesus is the wonderful reason of creation. “He made the worlds.” The Baby in Matthew 1 was the Creator of Genesis 1. It is all by Him, for Him, and it is coming to Him. Jesus is the wonderful regent of creation, “upholding all things by the word of His power.” To uphold means to bear a load. Jesus is the glue of the galaxies. Without Him, the cosmos would become a chaos. Jesus is the wonderful redeemer of creation. “He had by Himself purged our sins.” We will be saved by Him alone, or we will not be saved at all. There is no other Savior. 

There is worship in that name. Jesus deserves our impassioned worship because of His superior name. “He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name” than even the angels. We know the names of some of the angels. Michael means “who is like God.” Gabriel means “man of God.” These angels were, and are, mighty and glorious, but Jesus has a more excellent name than they. He is not a messenger of God like Gabriel, but the Word of God Himself. 

We worship Him because He is God. He is God upon the throne. Some tell us that we need to “make Him Lord.” We are too late for that. He already is Lord. A billion years from now He will still be God upon the throne. All hail the pow’r of Jesus’ name!

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Outfitted and Empowered

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20–21)

Christ shed the blood of the eternal covenant. By this successful redemption, he obtained the blessing of his own resurrection from the dead. That is even clearer in Greek than it is in English, and here it’s clear enough: “God . . . brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus . . . by the blood of the eternal covenant.” This Jesus — raised by the blood of the covenant — is now our living Lord and Shepherd.

And because of all that, God does two things:

he equips us with everything good that we may do his will, and

he works in us that which is pleasing in his sight.

The “eternal covenant,” secured by the blood of Christ, is the new covenant. And the new covenant promise is this: “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts” (Jeremiah 31:33). Therefore, the blood of this covenant not only secures God’s equipping us to do his will, but also secures God working in us to make that equipping successful.

The will of God is not just written on stone or paper as a means of grace. It is worked in us. And the effect is: We feel and think and act in ways more pleasing to God.

We are still commanded to use the equipment he gives: “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” But more importantly we are told why: “For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12–13).

If we are able to please God — if we do his good pleasure — it is because the blood-bought grace of God has moved from mere equipping to omnipotent transforming.

John Piper 

Expectant Life

And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus . . . he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said: “Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, According to Your word; For my eyes have seen Your salvation.”

LUKE 2:25–30

Birthdays are a time of celebration. Yet if it were not for the birthday of our King, what would every other birthday mean? It could only mean that we are one year nearer death and judgment. Because of Christmas, we can live the abundant life of anticipation and expectation. 

Today’s Scripture tells of Simeon, a name that means “listening one.” Simeon was anticipating the first coming of Jesus. The Christ of Christmas is coming again. As Simeon prepared for His first coming, we should prepare for His glorious Second Coming. Many devout men of God believe that Christ again is at the door. Joseph and Mary brought the baby Jesus to the temple. Simeon took that little baby in his arms, held Him close to his heart, and I imagine him declaring, “Now I am ready to die. I am completely satisfied. My heart is at rest.” Simeon proclaimed some things about Jesus that need to be proclaimed clearly today. 

He is the Christ of deliverance. “My eyes have seen Your salvation” (Luke 2:30). No one really is ready for Christmas, much less His Second Coming, unless they have received this glorious salvation. 

He is the Christ of delight. He is “a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles” (Luke 2:32). There is now no need to stumble in darkness when we can walk in the glorious light of Christmas. 

He is the Christ of derision. Christ is “a sign which will be spoken against” (Luke 2:34). Not all will love Jesus. He is called mad, devil possessed, a winebibber and glutton, a blasphemer. If the gospel is not spoken against, it is not the Bible gospel that is being presented. 

He is the Christ of division. “A sword will pierce through your own soul also” (Luke 2:35). Jesus sends a sword that divides. “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword” (Matthew 10:34). He brings a new nature that conflicts with our old nature. 

He is the Christ of destiny. “This child is destined for the fall and rising of many” (Luke 2:34). Jesus is a stone of stumbling or a sure foundation upon which we build. In the Christ Who came, we are ready for the Christ Who is coming again. We have expectant life.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

A Horrible Destiny

. . . Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. (1 Thessalonians 1:10)

Do you remember the time you were lost as a child, or slipping over a precipice, or about to drown? Then suddenly you were rescued. You held on for “dear life.” You trembled for what you almost lost. You were happy. Oh, so happy, and thankful. And you trembled with joy.

That’s the way I feel at the end of the year about my rescue from God’s wrath. All day Christmas we had a fire in the fireplace. Sometimes the coals were so hot that when I stoked it my hand hurt. I pulled back and shuddered at the horrendous thought of the wrath of God against sin in hell. Oh, how unspeakably horrible that will be!

Christmas afternoon I visited a woman who had been burned over 87 percent of her body. She has been in the hospital since August. My heart broke for her. How wonderful it was to hold out hope to her from God’s word for a new body in the age to come! But I came away not only thinking about her pain in this life, but also about the everlasting pain I have been saved from through Jesus.

Test my experience with me. Is this trembling joy a fitting way to end the year? Paul was glad that “Jesus . . . delivers us from the wrath to come” (1 Thessalonians 1:10). He warned that “for those who . . . do not obey the truth . . . there will be wrath and fury” (Romans 2:8). And “because of [sexual immorality, impurity, and covetousness] the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience” (Ephesians 5:6).

Here at the end of the year, I am finishing my trek through the Bible and reading the last book, Revelation. It is a glorious prophecy of the triumph of God, and the everlasting joy of all who “take the water of life without price” (Revelation 22:17). No more tears, no more pain, no more depression, no more sorrow, no more death, no more sin (Revelation 21:4).

But oh, the horror of not repenting and not holding fast to the testimony of Jesus! The description of the wrath of God by the “apostle of love” (John) is terrifying. Those who spurn God’s love will “drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night” (Revelation 14:10–11).

“And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:15). Jesus will “tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty” (Revelation 19:15). And blood will flow “from the winepress, as high as a horse’s bridle, for 184 miles” (Revelation 14:20). Whatever that vision signifies, it is meant to communicate something unspeakably terrible.

I tremble with joy that I am saved! But oh, the holy wrath of God is a horrible destiny. Flee this, brothers and sisters. Flee this with all your might. And let us save as many as we can! No wonder there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous (Luke 15:7)!

John Piper 

Empowered Life

I . . . do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, . . . that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, . . .

EPHESIANS 1:15–19

The power locked up in an atomic particle waiting to be released through nuclear fission is incredible. When the atom is split, it releases power in a ratio of one to six million. This power is insignificant, however, when compared to the power wrapped up in a seemingly helpless baby lying on the straw in a cattle barn. Jesus came to earth that first Christmas to cause a release of spiritual energy that would shake universes. 

Paul wanted the saints at Ephesus to open their spiritual eyes to this power that was inherently theirs through the birth, death, resurrection, and ascension of the Savior. The abundant life that Jesus offers brings with it abundant power. God made the first Adam and gave to him incredible power and authority (Genesis 1:26). Adam was to have dominion over all the earth. He was to be king of the earth. 

The tragedy is that the first Adam “blew it.” He gave his power and authority over to Satan. No doubt about it—Satan was a con artist who deceived Adam. Nonetheless, faithless and disobedient Adam yielded his authority to Satan and became Satan’s slave. The authority that God had graciously given to the human race was now legally lost. Here is the reason God was born a man at Christmas. Dominion was graciously given, and then legally lost. Now it must be righteously regained. The authority was given at first to a man. It was lost by a man. It had to be regained by a Man. 

Jesus became a man and took flesh and blood so “that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death” (Hebrews 2:14). Satan is now a defeated foe. God did not defeat him as God but rather defeated him as Holy Man. That Man is the Christ of Christmas. Dominion was legally lost by a man; it has been righteously regained by the God Man. Now through the miracle of abundant life that same incredible power that Jesus displayed when He arose triumphant from the grave has been graciously given to a new race of creatures—the twice born.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Glory Is the Goal

Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. (Romans 5:2)

Seeing the glory of God is our ultimate hope. “We rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5:2). God will “present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy” (Jude 24).

He will “make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory” (Romans 9:23). He “calls you into his own kingdom and glory” (1 Thessalonians 2:12). “Our blessed hope [is] the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13).

Jesus, in all his person and work, is the incarnation and ultimate revelation of the glory of God. “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature” (Hebrews 1:3). “Father, I desire that they . . . may be with me where I am, to see my glory” Jesus prays in John 17:24.

“So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed” (1 Peter 5:1). “The creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Romans 8:21).

“We impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory” (1 Corinthians 2:7). “This light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17). “Those whom he justified he also glorified” (Romans 8:30).

Seeing and sharing in God’s glory is our ultimate hope through the gospel of Christ.

Such a hope, that is really known and treasured, has a huge and decisive effect on our present values and choices and actions.

Get to know the glory of God. Study the glory of God and the glory of Christ. Study the glory of the world that reveals the glory of God, and the glory of the gospel that reveals the glory of Christ.

Treasure the glory of God in all things and above all things.

Study your soul. Know the glory you are seduced by, and know why you treasure glories that are not God’s glory.

Study your own soul to know how to make the glories of the world collapse like the pagan idol Dagon in 1 Samuel 5:4. Let all glories that distract you from the glory of God shatter in pitiful pieces on the floor of the world’s temples. Treasure the glory of God above all this world.

John Piper 

Enriched Life

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

JOHN 10:10

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich. 2 CORINTHIANS 8:9

Jesus came that we might have abundant life. There is a vast difference between mere existence and abundant life. Every soul made in the image of God will exist forever. The human personality could no more cease to exist than God Himself could cease to exist. There was a time when you did not exist. There never will be a time, however, when you will cease to be. The human personality will go on—endless, timeless, dateless through all eternity.

While we have existence with our first (physical) birth, we have abundant life through our second (spiritual) birth.

 It is this abundant life that we all desperately need. There are some who think they want to live forever who do not even know what to do on a rainy afternoon. Jesus came not necessarily to add years to our lives, but to add life to our years. Some college students were asked to define life for the school paper. Here are some definitions that won honorable mention: 

“Life is a jail sentence that we get for the crime of being born.”

“Life is a disease for which the only cure is death.”

“Life is a joke that isn’t even funny.”

These young people were privileged enough to be in college, and supposedly they have fine minds. Nonetheless, they have gotten it backward. The Scripture teaches that Jesus Christ became poor that we might become rich. Our dear Savior left the splendors of heaven and was born into deep poverty. Heaven’s King was born in a barn—a Monarch in a manger. When He came into Jerusalem in what is known as His triumphant entry, He came riding on a borrowed donkey; and when He was buried, He was laid away in a borrowed tomb. Yet it is through His poverty that we have this abundant life. 

Christmas means a life abundantly rich. We are not talking about the gospel of cash and Cadillacs with the key to Fort Knox. We are talking about true riches. We are sons and daughters of God. We are kings and priests unto God. We possess all things that pertain to life and godliness. To understand how rich Christmas has made you, add up everything you have in Christ that money cannot buy and death cannot take away.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

What Is Your Aim?

Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. . . . And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (1 Corinthians 10:31; Colossians 3:17)

When you get up in the morning and you face the day, what do you say to yourself about your hopes for the day? When you look from the beginning of the day to the end of the day, what do you want to happen because you have lived?

If you say, “I don’t even think like that. I just get up and do what I’ve got to do,” then you are cutting yourself off from a basic means of grace and a source of guidance and strength and fruitfulness and joy. It is crystal clear in the Bible, including these texts, that God means for us to aim consciously at something significant in our days.

God’s revealed will for you is that when you get up in the morning, you don’t drift aimlessly through the day letting mere circumstances alone dictate what you do, but that you aim at something — that you focus on a certain kind of purpose. I’m talking about children here, and teenagers, and adults — single, married, widowed, moms, and every trade and every profession.

Aimlessness is akin to lifelessness. Dead leaves in the back yard may move around more than anything else — more than the dog, more than the children. The wind blows this way, they go this way. The wind blows that way, they go that way. They tumble, they bounce, they skip, they press against a fence, but they have no aim whatsoever. They are full of motion and empty of life.

God did not create humans in his image to be aimless, like lifeless leaves blown around in the backyard of life. He created us to be purposeful — to have a focus and an aim for all our days. What is yours today? What is yours for the new year? A good place to start is 1 Corinthians 10:31, “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

John Piper 

Eternal Life

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.

ISAIAH 7:14

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. JOHN 3:16

Jesus did not come into this world at Christmastime to make us nice people. He came to make us new creatures. He was born of a virgin so that we might be born again. He became the Son of Man so that we might become the sons and daughters of God. Our Lord came to earth in order for us to go to heaven. The Savior laid down His life to give us eternal life. 

The birth of Jesus is a foundation stone of this world’s redemption. It is not incidental but fundamental to our faith. Without the virgin birth, our faith would collapse like the proverbial house built on the sand. We must remember that God cannot merely overlook our sin and call it mercy. If He did so, He would cease to be a holy God. God’s holiness demands that all sin must be punished. If a judge knowingly acquits a guilty man, the judge himself is condemned. God’s holiness demands that there must be a full payment for sin. 

This full payment was made by the substitutionary death of the virgin-born Son of God. He had to be a man in order to die for our sins, but He had to be sinless in order to pay the sin debt. By means of both the cradle and the cross, God is now just and the justifier of those who believe in Jesus.

Remember:

He came as He did—virgin born—

To be what He was—the God man.

He was what He was, to do what He did—die as a substitute.

He did what He did, to change what we were—lost sinners.

He changed what we were, to make us what we are—new

creatures.

LWF Dr Adrian Rogers 

How to Contemplate Calamity

“The waves of death encompassed me, the torrents of destruction assailed me. . . . This God — his way is perfect.” (2 Samuel 22:5, 31)

After the loss of his ten children owing to a natural disaster (Job 1:19), Job said, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21). At the end of the book, the inspired writer confirms Job’s understanding of what happened. He says Job’s brothers and sisters “comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him” (Job 42:11).

This has several crucial implications for us — lessons for us here at the dawn of a new year — as we think about calamities in the world and in our lives — like the massive disaster that occurred December 26, 2004, in the Indian Ocean — one of the deadliest natural disasters on record with 1.7 million people made homeless, half a million injured, and over 230,000 killed.

Lesson #1. Satan is not ultimate; God is.

Satan had a hand in Job’s misery, but not the decisive hand. God gave Satan permission to afflict Job (Job 1:12; 2:6). But Job and the writer of this book treat God as the decisive cause. When Satan afflicts Job with sores, Job says to his wife, “Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 2:10), and the writer calls these satanic sores “the evil that the Lord had brought upon him” (Job 42:11). So, Satan is real. Satan brings misery. But Satan is not ultimate or decisive. He is on a leash. He goes no farther than God decisively permits.

Lesson #2. Even if Satan caused that tsunami in the Indian Ocean the day after Christmas, 2004, he is not the decisive cause of over 200,000 deaths; God is.

God claims power over tsunamis in Job 38:8 and 11 when he asks Job rhetorically, “Who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb . . . and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed’?” Psalm 89:8–9 says, “O Lord . . . you rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, you still them.” And Jesus himself has the same control today as he once did over the deadly threats of waves: “He . . . rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm” (Luke 8:24). In other words, even if Satan caused the earthquake, God could have stopped the waves. But he didn’t.

Lesson #3. Destructive calamities in this world mingle judgment and mercy.

God’s purposes are not simple. Job was a godly man and his miseries were not God’s punishment (Job 1:1, 8). Their design was purifying, not punishment (Job 42:6). James 5:11 says, “You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.”

But we do not know the spiritual condition of Job’s children who died. Job was certainly concerned about them (Job 1:5). God may have taken their life in judgment. We don’t know.

If that is true, then the same calamity proved in the end to be mercy for Job and judgment on his children. This double purpose is true of all calamities. They mingle judgment and mercy. They are both punishment and purification. Suffering, and even death, can be both judgment and mercy at the same time.

The clearest illustration of this is the death of Jesus. It was both judgment and mercy. It was judgment on Jesus because he bore our sins (not his own), and it was mercy toward us who trust him to bear our punishment (Galatians 3:13; 1 Peter 2:24) and be our righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Another example is the curse and miseries that have come on this earth because of the fall of Adam and Eve. Those who never believe in Christ experience it as judgment, but believers experience it as merciful, though painful — a preparation for glory. “The creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope” (Romans 8:20). This is God’s subjection. This is why there are tsunamis. But this subjection to futility is “in hope.”

Lesson #4. The heart that Christ gives to his people feels compassion for those who suffer, no matter what their faith is.

When the Bible says, “Weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15), it does not add, “unless God caused the weeping.” Job’s comforters would have done better to weep with Job than talk so much. That does not change when we discover that Job’s suffering was ultimately from God. No, it is right to weep with those who suffer. Pain is pain, no matter who causes it. We are all sinners. Empathy flows not from the causes of pain, but from the company of pain. And we are all in it together.

Lesson #5. Finally, Christ calls us to show mercy to those who suffer, even if they do not deserve it.

That is the meaning of mercy — undeserved help. “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you” (Luke 6:27). This is how Christ treated us (Romans 5:10), dying for us when we were his enemies. By that power, and with that example, we do the same.

John Piper 

Simplifying Service

Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

PHILIPPIANS 2:9–11

Confessing the Lordship of Christ also simplifies our service. We hear a lot these days about cutting back, trimming our schedules, and simplifying our lives. If you want to simplify your life, just ask the two questions Paul asked on the road to Damascus when he met Jesus: “Who are You, Lord?” (Acts 9:5) and “Lord, what do You want me to do?” (v. 6). 

Consider also the advice that Mary herself gave to the servants at the wedding in Cana of Galilee. When the wine gave out, Mary said to the servants concerning her son Jesus, “Whatever He says to you, do it” (John 2:5). Can you see how following Jesus simplifies your service? You simply say, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” Then do whatever He tells you. 

A young preacher was called to a church known for its divisions. One of the women in the church came to him and said, “You’re going to have a very difficult job here, trying to please several hundred of us.” The preacher said, “I shall not be trying to please several hundred of you. I shall be trying to please one Person only. If I please my Lord, that ought to be good enough for you.” 

That young preacher gave a wise answer. It doesn’t matter whom we displease so long as we please the Lord. And if we displease the Lord, it doesn’t matter how many others we please. Philippians 2:9–11 reminds us that someday every knee shall bow before Jesus Christ and confess Him as Lord. For many, however, it will be too late. This Christmas, we need to go boldly to those who have not yet bowed their knee to Jesus and tell them the greatest news anyone could ever hear: “For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11).

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Three Christmas Presents

Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. . . . My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 3:7–8; 2:1–2)

Ponder this remarkable situation with me. If the Son of God came to help you stop sinning — to destroy the works of the devil — and if he also came to die so that, when you do sin, there is a propitiation, a removal of God’s wrath, then what does this imply for living your life?

Three things. And they are wonderful to have. I give them to you briefly as Christmas presents.

Gift #1. A Clear Purpose for Living

It implies that you have a clear purpose for living. Negatively, it is simply this: don’t sin — don’t do what dishonors God. “I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin” (1 John 2:1). “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8).

If you ask, “Can you give us that positively, instead of negatively?” the answer is: Yes, it’s all summed up in 1 John 3:23. It’s a great summary of what John’s whole letter requires. Notice the singular “commandment” — “And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.” These two things are so closely connected for John he calls them one commandment: believe Jesus and love others. That is your purpose. That is the sum of the Christian life. Trusting Jesus, loving people the way Jesus and his apostles taught us to love. Trust Jesus, love people. There’s the first gift: a purpose to live.

Gift #2. Hope That Our Failures Will Be Forgiven

The second implication of the twofold truth that Christ came to destroy our sinning and to forgive our sins is this: We make progress in overcoming our sin when we have hope that our failures will be forgiven. If you don’t have hope that God will forgive your failures, when you start fighting sin, you give up.

Many of you are pondering some changes in the new year, because you have fallen into sinful patterns and want out. You want some new patterns of eating. New patterns for entertainment. New patterns of giving. New patterns of relating to your spouse. New patterns of family devotions. New patterns of sleep and exercise. New patterns of courage in witness. But you are struggling, wondering whether it’s any use. Well, here’s your second Christmas present: Christ not only came to destroy the works of the devil — our sinning — he also came to be an advocate for us because of experiences of failure in our fight.

So, I plead with you, let the fact that failure will not have the last word give you the hope to fight. But beware! If you turn the grace of God into license, and say, “Well, if I can fail, and it doesn’t matter, then why bother fighting sin?” — if you say that, and mean it, and go on acting on it, you are probably not born again and should tremble.

But that is not where most of you are. Most of you want to fight sinful patterns in your life. And what God is saying to you is this: Let Christ’s covering of your failure give hope to fight. “I write this to you that you might not sin, but if you sin you have an advocate, Jesus Christ.”

Gift #3. Christ Will Help Us

Finally, the third implication of the double truth that Christ came to destroy our sinning and to forgive our sins is this: Christ will really help us in our fight. He really will help you. He is on your side. He didn’t come to destroy sin because sin is fun. He came to destroy sin because sin is fatal. It is a deceptive work of the devil, and it will destroy us if we don’t fight it. He came to help us, not hurt us.

So here’s your third Christmas present: Christ will help overcome sin in you. First John 4:4 says, “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” Jesus is alive, Jesus is almighty, Jesus lives in us by faith. And Jesus is for us, not against us. He will help you in your fight with sin in the new year. Trust him.

John Piper 

O Come, Let Us Adore Him, Christ, the Lord

Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.

PSALM 95:6

. . . where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him. MATTHEW 2:2

The long-awaited day is here. For weeks we have all been preparing for this great day of celebration. The Christmas programs are over. The cookies are baked. The tree is trimmed. The shopping is done. And the gifts are ready, just waiting to be given—and gotten. I am sure that in the last few days you checked your Christmas list many times so that you didn’t miss anyone. Double checked it to make sure you had bought each and every present for those on your list. And now it is over. If you missed someone or were not able to get that one special gift, now it’s too late. So tell me, did you get anything for Jesus this year? Was He on your Christmas list? You know it is His birthday we are celebrating. What could we give Him? We all seem to struggle with this at Christmas and end up overlooking Jesus on the very day we celebrate His coming. We get busy at church or in the kitchen or under the tree, and we fail to consider our Lord and Savior. We don’t mean to or choose to or want to. But we get so busy with the celebration itself that we sometimes forget whom we are celebrating. This year, what can we give Jesus? What would He want? 

A Gift for Him: Read Matthew 2:1–12 

This wonderful account recorded by Matthew helps us understand exactly what Jesus wants for Christmas. What is it that the wise men gave Him? Many would say frankincense, myrrh, and gold. But look carefully. Why is it they came? That’s right. It was to worship the King of the Jews. That’s what our Lord wants from us this Christmas—our worship. The Magi traveled all those miles to see, not a child, but a King. And their response was to worship Him. They understood the truth of the Christmas hymn, “Though an infant now we view him, / he will share his Father’s throne, / gather all the nations to him; / every knee shall then bow down. / Come and worship, come and worship, / worship Christ, the newborn King.” This Christmas, our great Lord and Savior wants our worship— that’s all. Just like the wise men knelt before Him so long ago, we need to come today and bow before Him. The three gifts the Magi brought help us understand exactly Who it is we worship this Christmas.

We Worship the Son of God: Read John 1:1–3

The little child the Magi worshiped, and the Jesus we worship today, is not just another man who walked on this earth two thousand years ago. He is the incarnate Son of God, the One Who created us and everything we see and smell and touch. He is very God of very God. The Magi’s gift of frankincense to the young child Jesus pointed to Him as the Son of God. This costly, fragrant perfume was used only on the most special of occasions and for worship. Throughout Scripture, the burning of incense represents the offering up of prayers and praise to Almighty God. So the Magi’s gift demonstrated that Jesus was worthy of worship because of Who He was—the Son of God. Today we must stop and reflect on all that means to us. Because of the marvelous truth that “. . . in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9), those who know Him as Lord and Savior have a sure salvation, power over sin, a glorious message, and much, much more. I believe Michael Card said it well when he wrote these lyrics, “Immanuel, our God is with us. And if God is with us who can stand against us? Our God is with us, Immanuel.” This is the One we worship today—Jesus, Immanuel, the Son of God. 

We Worship the Son of Man: Read Isaiah 53:4–5 

It is true that when the Magi came to Bethlehem, they bowed before the very Son of God. But just as true is that they came and bowed before a child who would one day become a man. And this Jesus, the Son of Man, was beaten and punished, suffered, and eventually died on the cross for our sins. The gift of myrrh brought by the Magi to the young Jesus demonstrated His humanity. Myrrh is a bitter spice used in Jesus’ day to prepare a body for burial. Their gift of myrrh looked forward to the day the Son of Man would suffer and die as a man for your sins and mine. On this Christmas Day, as we celebrate the birth of Jesus as a baby, we must never forget what He suffered as the Son of Man on our behalf, the pain and sorrow He went through to provide for us so great a salvation. If it were not for the Son of Man, we would never know salvation, because “. . . without shedding of blood is no remission” (Hebrews 9:22). So today let us worship Him as the Son of Man Who purchased our redemption through His suffering and death.

We Worship the King of Kings: Read Philippians 2:5–11 

There is no doubt that the baby whose birth we celebrate was no ordinary child. He came as the Son of God and Son of Man, but there is more. The words from “What Child Is This?” say it so well. So bring him incense, gold, and myrrh; / come peasant, king to own him. / The King of kings salvation brings; / let loving hearts enthrone him.” He is the King of kings. It is clear that when the Magi came to Jerusalem, they were seeking a king. Their gift of gold, the most precious of metals, indicated that they understood the one they would find was royalty. But what they may not have realized is that the child king they bowed before was none other than the King of all kings. This Christmas as we celebrate Jesus’ virgin birth, His sinless life, His sacrificial death, and His triumphant resurrection, may we keep in mind that one day He will return as King of kings. On that day “. . . every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and those in earth, and of those under the earth” (Philippians 2:10). And we will reign with Him forevermore. This year, let us remember to give Jesus a very special gift. Let us worship before Him today as the Son of God, the Son of Man, and the King of kings. It is the only thing He wants. And it is a gift He richly deserves!

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Saving Sinners

So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

ACTS 16:31

Confessing the Christ of Christmas as Lord also saves sinners. Acts 16:31 is one of the most powerful and crystal-clear verses in all the New Testament. The jailer at Philippi didn’t want a theological treatise. He was trembling. It was the middle of the night. His life was on the line. All he wanted to know was how to be saved. Paul cut through all the jargon to give him the essence of the gospel. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.”

We can’t all be preachers like Paul, but we can all be reachers. We can all be testifiers. As we are rubbing elbows with so many people this Christmas season, wouldn’t it be wonderful if every believer would share the “good tidings of great joy” with at least one other person? When believers are bold in their witness for Christ, history can be changed. The apostle Paul is the best example of that. He not only shook things up in Philippi, but he and his fellow servants also turned the whole Roman world on its head.

 Do you remember the revolution in the country of Romania when the Iron Curtain of communism fell? As the truth came out, we learned that what happened in Romania was not really a political revolution. It was a spiritual revival. It started with a pastor who had been told he couldn’t freely preach the message of Jesus. One day this pastor got on his knees, and God told him to be bold. He called a few other believers around him, and they agreed that whether they lived or died, they were going to stand for God. The Communist soldiers came to this pastor’s house to arrest him. But he stood there, unflinching, and his church members came and stood between the soldiers and their pastor. Then more and more people came, until there were thousands shouting, “There is a God! There is a God!” And a brutal Communist regime eventually fell. 

Let’s not be intimidated into silence! Let’s be bold in making the glad Christmas confession, “Jesus Christ is Lord.”

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Two Purposes for Christmas

Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3:7–8)

When 1 John 3:8 says, “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil,” what are “the works of the devil” that he has in mind? The answer is clear from the context.

First, 1 John 3:5 is a clear parallel: “You know that he appeared in order to take away sins.” The phrase he appeared to occurs in verse 5 and verse 8. So most likely the “works of the devil” that Jesus came to destroy are sins. The first part of verse 8 makes this virtually certain: “Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning.”

The issue in this context is sinning, not sickness or broken cars or messed up schedules. Jesus came into the world to enable us to stop sinning.

We see this even more clearly if we put this truth alongside the truth of 1 John 2:1: “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.” This is one of the great purposes of Christmas — one of the great purposes of the incarnation (1 John 3:8).

But there is another purpose which John adds in 1 John 2:1–2, “But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.”

But now look what this means: It means that Jesus appeared in the world for two reasons. He came that we might not go on sinning — that is, he came to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8); and he came so that there would be a propitiation for our sins, if we do sin. He came to be a substitutionary sacrifice that takes away the wrath of God for our sins.

The upshot of this second purpose is not to defeat the first purpose. Forgiveness is not for the purpose of permitting sin. The aim of the death of Christ for our sins is not that we relax our battle against sin. The upshot of these two purposes of Christmas, rather, is that the payment once made for all our sins is the freedom and power that enables us to fight sin not as legalists, earning our salvation, and not as fearful of losing our salvation, but as victors who throw ourselves into the battle against sin with confidence and joy, even if it costs us our lives.

John Piper 

God’s Indescribable Gift

If while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Romans 5:10–11)

How do we practically receive reconciliation and exult in God? We do it through Jesus Christ. Which means, at least, that we make the portrait of Jesus in the Bible — that is, the work and the words of Jesus portrayed in the New Testament — we make that portrait the essential content of our exultation over God. Exulting in God without the content of Christ does not honor Christ. And where Christ is not honored, God is not honored.

In 2 Corinthians 4:4–6, Paul describes conversion in two ways. In verse 4, he says it is seeing “the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” And in verse 6, he says it is seeing “the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” In either case you see the point. We have Christ, the image of God, and we have God in the face of Christ.

To exult in God, we exult in what we see and know of God in the portrait of Jesus Christ. And this comes to its fullest experience when the love of God is poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, as Romans 5:5 says. And that sweet, Spirit-given experience of the love of God is mediated to us as we ponder the historical reality of verse 6, “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.”

So here’s the Christmas point. Not only did God purchase our reconciliation through the death of the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:10), and not only did God enable us to receive that reconciliation through the Lord Jesus Christ, but even now we exult in God himself, by the Spirit, through our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:11).

Jesus purchased our reconciliation. Jesus enabled us to receive reconciliation and open the gift. And Jesus himself shines forth as himself the indescribable gift — God in the flesh — and stirs up all our exultation in God.

Look to Jesus this Christmas. Receive the reconciliation that he purchased. Don’t put the gift on the shelf unopened. And when you open it, remember God himself is the gift of reconciliation with God.

Exult in him. Experience him as your pleasure. Know him as your treasure.

John Piper