December 13

John 18:1-18

Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus

[1] When Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered. [2] Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with his disciples. [3] So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons. [4] Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?” [5] They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am he.” Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. [6] When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground. [7] So he asked them again, “Whom do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” [8] Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. So, if you seek me, let these men go.” [9] This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken: “Of those whom you gave me I have lost not one.” [10] Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant and cut off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.) [11] So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?”

Jesus Faces Annas and Caiaphas

[12] So the band of soldiers and their captain and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound him. [13] First they led him to Annas, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. [14] It was Caiaphas who had advised the Jews that it would be expedient that one man should die for the people.

Peter Denies Jesus

[15] Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he entered with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest, [16] but Peter stood outside at the door. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the servant girl who kept watch at the door, and brought Peter in. [17] The servant girl at the door said to Peter, “You also are not one of this man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” [18] Now the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold, and they were standing and warming themselves. Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself.

Revelation 10

The Angel and the Little Scroll

[1] Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire. [2] He had a little scroll open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land, [3] and called out with a loud voice, like a lion roaring. When he called out, the seven thunders sounded. [4] And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.” [5] And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven [6] and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, that there would be no more delay, [7] but that in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.

[8] Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” [9] So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me, “Take and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” [10] And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter. [11] And I was told, “You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.”

Job 34:1-20

Elihu Asserts God’s Justice

[1] Then Elihu answered and said:

    [2] “Hear my words, you wise men,

        and give ear to me, you who know; 

    [3] for the ear tests words

        as the palate tastes food. 

    [4] Let us choose what is right;

        let us know among ourselves what is good. 

    [5] For Job has said, ‘I am in the right,

        and God has taken away my right; 

    [6] in spite of my right I am counted a liar;

        my wound is incurable, though I am without transgression.’ 

    [7] What man is like Job,

        who drinks up scoffing like water, 

    [8] who travels in company with evildoers

        and walks with wicked men? 

    [9] For he has said, ‘It profits a man nothing

        that he should take delight in God.’

    [10] “Therefore, hear me, you men of understanding:

        far be it from God that he should do wickedness,

        and from the Almighty that he should do wrong. 

    [11] For according to the work of a man he will repay him,

        and according to his ways he will make it befall him. 

    [12] Of a truth, God will not do wickedly,

        and the Almighty will not pervert justice. 

    [13] Who gave him charge over the earth,

        and who laid on him the whole world? 

    [14] If he should set his heart to it

        and gather to himself his spirit and his breath, 

    [15] all flesh would perish together,

        and man would return to dust.

    [16] “If you have understanding, hear this;

        listen to what I say. 

    [17] Shall one who hates justice govern?

        Will you condemn him who is righteous and mighty, 

    [18] who says to a king, ‘Worthless one,’

        and to nobles, ‘Wicked man,’ 

    [19] who shows no partiality to princes,

        nor regards the rich more than the poor,

        for they are all the work of his hands? 

    [20] In a moment they die;

        at midnight the people are shaken and pass away,

        and the mighty are taken away by no human hand.

Jonah 1

Jonah Flees the Presence of the LORD

[1] Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, [2] “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” [3] But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.

[4] But the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. [5] Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. [6] So the captain came and said to him, “What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.”

Jonah Is Thrown into the Sea

[7] And they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. [8] Then they said to him, “Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?” [9] And he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” [10] Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, “What is this that you have done!” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them.

[11] Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?” For the sea grew more and more tempestuous. [12] He said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.” [13] Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. [14] Therefore they called out to the LORD, “O LORD, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O LORD, have done as it pleased you.” [15] So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. [16] Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows.

A Great Fish Swallows Jonah

[17]  And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Jonah 2

Jonah’s Prayer

[1] Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the belly of the fish, [2] saying, 

    “I called out to the LORD, out of my distress,

        and he answered me;

    out of the belly of Sheol I cried,

        and you heard my voice. 

    [3] For you cast me into the deep,

        into the heart of the seas,

        and the flood surrounded me;

    all your waves and your billows

        passed over me. 

    [4] Then I said, ‘I am driven away

        from your sight;

    yet I shall again look

        upon your holy temple.’ 

    [5] The waters closed in over me to take my life;

        the deep surrounded me;

    weeds were wrapped about my head 

    [6]     at the roots of the mountains.

    I went down to the land

        whose bars closed upon me forever;

    yet you brought up my life from the pit,

        O LORD my God. 

    [7] When my life was fainting away,

        I remembered the LORD,

    and my prayer came to you,

        into your holy temple. 

    [8] Those who pay regard to vain idols

        forsake their hope of steadfast love. 

    [9] But I with the voice of thanksgiving

        will sacrifice to you;

    what I have vowed I will pay.

        Salvation belongs to the LORD!”

    [10] And the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.

Jonah 3

Jonah Goes to Nineveh

[1] Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, [2] “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” [3] So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days’ journey in breadth. [4] Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” [5] And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.

The People of Nineveh Repent

[6] The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. [7] And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, [8] but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. [9] Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.”

[10] When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.

Jonah 4

Jonah’s Anger and the LORD’s Compassion

[1] But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. [2] And he prayed to the LORD and said, “O LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. [3] Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” [4] And the LORD said, “Do you do well to be angry?”

[5] Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city. [6] Now the LORD God appointed a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. [7] But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered. [8] When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.” [9] But God said to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry for the plant?” And he said, “Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.” [10] And the LORD said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. [11] And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”

The Faith Walk vs. The Fake Walk

“‘You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.’ Then Simon answered and said, ‘Pray to the Lord for me, that none of the things which you have spoken may come upon me.’” ACTS 8:21-24

 

PONDER THIS

There are so many who say, “I’m a believer,” but they are not saved. You know the plan, but you don’t know the Man. You’ve seen what God has done, but there has never been a change of heart. You say, “Well, doesn’t the Bible say, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved (Acts 16:31)?” Yes, it does. The Bible also says, “Even the demons believe—and tremble!” (James 2:19). There’s a superficial faith of false religion; the kind of faith that never really comes and bows the knee to Jesus Christ, never makes Jesus Christ Lord.

John 2:23-24 says “Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men.” Now you don’t see it in the English, but in the Greek the word for “believe” and “commit” is the same word, just translated differently. So, you could say, “Many committed themselves to Him, but He did not commit Himself to them.” Or “Many believed in Him, but He did not believe in them.” They believed in Him like Simon the sorcerer, but He did not believe in them.

The Lord knows your heart. You may have walked the aisle and prayed the prayer, but He knows what is superficial. Has your faith shaped how you have lived since your moment of confession, or have you been faking it with all the right language and answers?

What is the difference between knowing the plan of salvation and knowing the Man of salvation, Jesus?

How has your faith shaped how you have lived? What has stayed the same?

PRACTICE THIS

Talk to a pastor about what it means to live out a sincere and true faith.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Replacing the Shadows

Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man. (Hebrews 8:1–2)

The point of the book of Hebrews is that Jesus Christ, God’s Son, has not just come to fit into the earthly system of priestly ministry as the best and final human priest, but he has come to fulfill and put an end to that system, and to orient all our attention on himself, ministering for us first on Calvary as our final Sacrifice and then in heaven as our final Priest.

The Old Testament tabernacle and priests and sacrifices were shadows. Now the reality has come, and the shadows pass away.

Here’s an Advent illustration for kids — and those of us who used to be kids and remember what it was like. Suppose you and your mom get separated in the grocery store, and you start to get scared and panic and don’t know which way to go, and you run to the end of an aisle, and just before you start to cry, you see a shadow on the floor at the end of the aisle that looks just like your mom. It makes you really hopeful. But which is better? The hopefulness of seeing the shadow, or having your mom step around the corner and it’s really her?

That’s the way it is when Jesus comes to be our High Priest. That’s what Christmas is. Christmas is the replacement of shadows with the real thing: Mom stepping around the corner of the aisle, and all the relief and joy that gives to a little child.

John Piper 

December 12

John 17:20-26

[20] “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, [21] that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. [22] The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, [23] I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. [24] Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. [25] O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. [26] I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

Revelation 9

[1] And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. [2] He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft. [3] Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. [4] They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. [5] They were allowed to torment them for five months, but not to kill them, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone. [6] And in those days people will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them.

[7] In appearance the locusts were like horses prepared for battle: on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces, [8] their hair like women’s hair, and their teeth like lions’ teeth; [9] they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots with horses rushing into battle. [10] They have tails and stings like scorpions, and their power to hurt people for five months is in their tails. [11] They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon.

[12] The first woe has passed; behold, two woes are still to come.

[13] Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God, [14] saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” [15] So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, were released to kill a third of mankind. [16] The number of mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand; I heard their number. [17] And this is how I saw the horses in my vision and those who rode them: they wore breastplates the color of fire and of sapphire and of sulfur, and the heads of the horses were like lions’ heads, and fire and smoke and sulfur came out of their mouths. [18] By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed, by the fire and smoke and sulfur coming out of their mouths. [19] For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, for their tails are like serpents with heads, and by means of them they wound.

[20] The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, [21] nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.

Job 33:12-33

    [12] “Behold, in this you are not right. I will answer you,

        for God is greater than man. 

    [13] Why do you contend against him,

        saying, ‘He will answer none of man’s words’? 

    [14] For God speaks in one way,

        and in two, though man does not perceive it. 

    [15] In a dream, in a vision of the night,

        when deep sleep falls on men,

        while they slumber on their beds, 

    [16] then he opens the ears of men

        and terrifies them with warnings, 

    [17] that he may turn man aside from his deed

        and conceal pride from a man; 

    [18] he keeps back his soul from the pit,

        his life from perishing by the sword.

    [19] “Man is also rebuked with pain on his bed

        and with continual strife in his bones, 

    [20] so that his life loathes bread,

        and his appetite the choicest food. 

    [21] His flesh is so wasted away that it cannot be seen,

        and his bones that were not seen stick out. 

    [22] His soul draws near the pit,

        and his life to those who bring death. 

    [23] If there be for him an angel,

        a mediator, one of the thousand,

        to declare to man what is right for him, 

    [24] and he is merciful to him, and says,

        ‘Deliver him from going down into the pit;

        I have found a ransom; 

    [25] let his flesh become fresh with youth;

        let him return to the days of his youthful vigor’; 

    [26] then man prays to God, and he accepts him;

        he sees his face with a shout of joy,

    and he restores to man his righteousness. 

    [27]     He sings before men and says:

    ‘I sinned and perverted what was right,

        and it was not repaid to me. 

    [28] He has redeemed my soul from going down into the pit,

        and my life shall look upon the light.’

    [29] “Behold, God does all these things,

        twice, three times, with a man, 

    [30] to bring back his soul from the pit,

        that he may be lighted with the light of life. 

    [31] Pay attention, O Job, listen to me;

        be silent, and I will speak. 

    [32] If you have any words, answer me;

        speak, for I desire to justify you. 

    [33] If not, listen to me;

        be silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”

Obadiah 1

[1] The vision of Obadiah. 

Edom Will Be Humbled

    Thus says the Lord GOD concerning Edom:

    We have heard a report from the LORD,

        and a messenger has been sent among the nations:

    “Rise up! Let us rise against her for battle!” 

    [2] Behold, I will make you small among the nations;

        you shall be utterly despised. 

    [3] The pride of your heart has deceived you,

        you who live in the clefts of the rock,

        in your lofty dwelling,

    who say in your heart,

        “Who will bring me down to the ground?” 

    [4] Though you soar aloft like the eagle,

        though your nest is set among the stars,

        from there I will bring you down,

    declares the LORD.

    [5] If thieves came to you,

        if plunderers came by night—

        how you have been destroyed!—

        would they not steal only enough for themselves?

    If grape gatherers came to you,

        would they not leave gleanings? 

    [6] How Esau has been pillaged,

        his treasures sought out! 

    [7] All your allies have driven you to your border;

        those at peace with you have deceived you;

    they have prevailed against you;

        those who eat your bread have set a trap beneath you—

        you have no understanding.

    [8] Will I not on that day, declares the LORD,

        destroy the wise men out of Edom,

        and understanding out of Mount Esau? 

    [9] And your mighty men shall be dismayed, O Teman,

        so that every man from Mount Esau will be cut off by slaughter.

    Edom’s Violence Against Jacob

    [10] Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob,

        shame shall cover you,

        and you shall be cut off forever. 

    [11] On the day that you stood aloof,

        on the day that strangers carried off his wealth

    and foreigners entered his gates

        and cast lots for Jerusalem,

        you were like one of them. 

    [12] But do not gloat over the day of your brother

        in the day of his misfortune;

    do not rejoice over the people of Judah

        in the day of their ruin;

    do not boast

        in the day of distress. 

    [13] Do not enter the gate of my people

        in the day of their calamity;

    do not gloat over his disaster

        in the day of his calamity;

    do not loot his wealth

        in the day of his calamity. 

    [14] Do not stand at the crossroads

        to cut off his fugitives;

    do not hand over his survivors

        in the day of distress.

    The Day of the LORD Is Near

    [15] For the day of the LORD is near upon all the nations.

    As you have done, it shall be done to you;

        your deeds shall return on your own head. 

    [16] For as you have drunk on my holy mountain,

        so all the nations shall drink continually;

    they shall drink and swallow,

        and shall be as though they had never been. 

    [17] But in Mount Zion there shall be those who escape,

        and it shall be holy,

    and the house of Jacob shall possess their own possessions. 

    [18] The house of Jacob shall be a fire,

        and the house of Joseph a flame,

        and the house of Esau stubble;

    they shall burn them and consume them,

        and there shall be no survivor for the house of Esau,

    for the LORD has spoken.

    The Kingdom of the LORD

    [19] Those of the Negeb shall possess Mount Esau,

        and those of the Shephelah shall possess the land of the Philistines;

    they shall possess the land of Ephraim and the land of Samaria,

        and Benjamin shall possess Gilead. 

    [20] The exiles of this host of the people of Israel

        shall possess the land of the Canaanites as far as Zarephath,

    and the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad

        shall possess the cities of the Negeb. 

    [21] Saviors shall go up to Mount Zion

        to rule Mount Esau,

        and the kingdom shall be the LORD’s.

Believe in Miracles, Trust in Jesus

“And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, saying, ‘Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.’ But Peter said to him, ‘Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money!’” ACTS 8:18-20

 

PONDER THIS

We all need to know about the dangers of counterfeit Christianity because not all false religion is in the occult. Sometimes it moves right into the Church. Now remember Simon has been a sorcerer; he’s been practicing witchcraft. Philip had been preaching Jesus. Here is this sorcerer, this man full of demons who has been practicing witchcraft, and the Bible says, “Simon himself also believed” (Acts 8:13). He was beholding the miracles and the signs, and he saw how the people in Samaria were receiving the Holy Spirit as they did at Jerusalem, so he offered them money, saying, “Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit” (Acts 8:19).

It sounds good on the outside right? He wanted to see God’s power. But his faith was superficial, not real faith. He was not believing in the Master; he was believing in the miracles. He saw the power manifested there by the New Testament Church, and so he wanted to be a part of it. But he never had met the Lord Jesus Christ.

Believe in miracles but trust in Jesus. Never put your faith in miracles; put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

What is the difference between trusting miracles and trusting Jesus?

Where is your heart? Do you seek God for who He is or for what He can do for you? Explain.

PRACTICE THIS

Spend some time reading this passage and asking God to give you discernment for when these moments of deceit sneak into the Church.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Why Jesus Came

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. (Hebrews 2:14–15)

This, I think, is my favorite Advent text because I don’t know any other that expresses so clearly the connection between the beginning and the end of Jesus’s earthly life — between the incarnation and crucifixion. These two verses make clear why Jesus came; namely, to die. They would be great to use with an unbelieving friend or family member to walk them step-by-step through your Christian view of Christmas. It might go something like this, a phrase at a time:

“Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood . . . ”

The term “children” is taken from the previous verse and refers to the spiritual offspring of Christ, the Messiah (see Isaiah 8:18; 53:10). These are also the “children of God” (John 1:12). In other words, in sending Christ, God has the salvation of his “children” especially in view.

It is true that “God so loved the world, that he gave [Jesus]” (John 3:16). But it is also true that God was especially gathering “the children of God who are scattered abroad” (John 11:52). God’s design was to offer Christ to the world, and to effect the salvation of his “children” (see 1 Timothy 4:10). You may experience adoption by receiving Christ (John 1:12).

“ . . . he himself likewise partook of the same things [flesh and blood] . . . ”

This means that Christ existed before the incarnation. He was spirit. He was the eternal Word. He was with God and was God (John 1:1; Colossians 2:9). But he took on flesh and blood, and clothed his deity with humanity. He became fully man and remained fully God. It is a great mystery in many ways. But it is at the heart of our faith — and what the Bible teaches.

“ . . . that through death . . . ”

The reason he became man was to die. As God pure and simple, he could not die for sinners. But as man he could. His aim was to die. Therefore he had to be born human. He was born to die. Good Friday is the purpose of Christmas. This is what most people today need to hear about the meaning of Christmas.

“ . . . he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil . . . ”

In dying, Christ de-fanged the devil. How? By covering all our sin. This means that Satan has no legitimate grounds to accuse us before God. “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies” (Romans 8:33) — on what grounds does he justify? Through the blood of Jesus (Romans 5:9).

Satan’s ultimate weapon against us is our own sin. If the death of Jesus takes it away, the chief weapon of the devil — the one mortal weapon that he has — is taken out of his hand. He cannot make a case for our death penalty, because the Judge has acquitted us by the death of his Son!

“ . . . and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.”

So, we are free from the fear of death. God has justified us. Satan cannot overturn that decree. And God means for our ultimate safety to have an immediate effect on our lives. He means for the happy ending to take away the slavery and fear of the Now.

If we do not need to fear our last and greatest enemy, death, then we do not need to fear anything. We can be free. Free for joy. Free for others.

What a great Christmas present from God to us! And from us to the world!

John Piper 

December 11

John 17:6-19

[6] “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. [7] Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. [8] For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. [9] I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. [10] All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. [11] And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. [12] While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. [13] But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. [14] I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. [15] I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. [16] They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. [17] Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. [18] As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. [19] And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.

Revelation 8

The Seventh Seal and the Golden Censer

[1] When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. [2] Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. [3] And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, [4] and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. [5] Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.

The Seven Trumpets

[6] Now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.

[7] The first angel blew his trumpet, and there followed hail and fire, mixed with blood, and these were thrown upon the earth. And a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.

[8] The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. [9] A third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

[10] The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. [11] The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the water, because it had been made bitter.

[12] The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light might be darkened, and a third of the day might be kept from shining, and likewise a third of the night.

[13] Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead, “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!”

Job 33:1-11

Elihu Rebukes Job

    [1] “But now, hear my speech, O Job,

        and listen to all my words. 

    [2] Behold, I open my mouth;

        the tongue in my mouth speaks. 

    [3] My words declare the uprightness of my heart,

        and what my lips know they speak sincerely. 

    [4] The Spirit of God has made me,

        and the breath of the Almighty gives me life. 

    [5] Answer me, if you can;

        set your words in order before me; take your stand. 

    [6] Behold, I am toward God as you are;

        I too was pinched off from a piece of clay. 

    [7] Behold, no fear of me need terrify you;

        my pressure will not be heavy upon you.

    [8] “Surely you have spoken in my ears,

        and I have heard the sound of your words. 

    [9] You say, ‘I am pure, without transgression;

        I am clean, and there is no iniquity in me. 

    [10] Behold, he finds occasions against me,

        he counts me as his enemy, 

    [11] he puts my feet in the stocks

        and watches all my paths.’

Amos 7

Warning Visions

[1] This is what the Lord GOD showed me: behold, he was forming locusts when the latter growth was just beginning to sprout, and behold, it was the latter growth after the king’s mowings. [2] When they had finished eating the grass of the land, I said, 

    “O Lord GOD, please forgive!

        How can Jacob stand?

        He is so small!” 

    [3] The LORD relented concerning this:

        “It shall not be,” said the LORD.

    [4] This is what the Lord GOD showed me: behold, the Lord GOD was calling for a judgment by fire, and it devoured the great deep and was eating up the land. [5] Then I said, 

    “O Lord GOD, please cease!

        How can Jacob stand?

        He is so small!” 

    [6] The LORD relented concerning this:

        “This also shall not be,” said the Lord GOD.

    [7] This is what he showed me: behold, the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. [8] And the LORD said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said, 

    “Behold, I am setting a plumb line

        in the midst of my people Israel;

        I will never again pass by them; 

    [9] the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate,

        and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste,

        and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”

    Amos Accused

[10] Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words. [11] For thus Amos has said, 

    “‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword,

        and Israel must go into exile

        away from his land.’”

    [12] And Amaziah said to Amos, “O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, and eat bread there, and prophesy there, [13] but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom.”

[14] Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah, “I was no prophet, nor a prophet’s son, but I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs. [15] But the LORD took me from following the flock, and the LORD said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ [16] Now therefore hear the word of the LORD. 

    “You say, ‘Do not prophesy against Israel,

        and do not preach against the house of Isaac.’

    [17] Therefore thus says the LORD: 

    “‘Your wife shall be a prostitute in the city,

        and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword,

        and your land shall be divided up with a measuring line;

    you yourself shall die in an unclean land,

        and Israel shall surely go into exile away from its land.’”

Amos 8

The Coming Day of Bitter Mourning

[1] This is what the Lord GOD showed me: behold, a basket of summer fruit. [2] And he said, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the LORD said to me, 

    “The end has come upon my people Israel;

        I will never again pass by them. 

    [3] The songs of the temple shall become wailings in that day,”

    declares the Lord GOD.

    “So many dead bodies!”

    “They are thrown everywhere!”

    “Silence!”

    [4] Hear this, you who trample on the needy

        and bring the poor of the land to an end, 

    [5] saying, “When will the new moon be over,

        that we may sell grain?

    And the Sabbath,

        that we may offer wheat for sale,

    that we may make the ephah small and the shekel great

        and deal deceitfully with false balances, 

    [6] that we may buy the poor for silver

        and the needy for a pair of sandals

        and sell the chaff of the wheat?”

    [7] The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob:

    “Surely I will never forget any of their deeds. 

    [8] Shall not the land tremble on this account,

        and everyone mourn who dwells in it,

    and all of it rise like the Nile,

        and be tossed about and sink again, like the Nile of Egypt?”

    [9] “And on that day,” declares the Lord GOD,

        “I will make the sun go down at noon

        and darken the earth in broad daylight. 

    [10] I will turn your feasts into mourning

        and all your songs into lamentation;

    I will bring sackcloth on every waist

        and baldness on every head;

    I will make it like the mourning for an only son

        and the end of it like a bitter day.

    [11] “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord GOD,

        “when I will send a famine on the land—

    not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water,

        but of hearing the words of the LORD. 

    [12] They shall wander from sea to sea,

        and from north to east;

    they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the LORD,

        but they shall not find it.

    [13] “In that day the lovely virgins and the young men

        shall faint for thirst. 

    [14] Those who swear by the Guilt of Samaria,

        and say, ‘As your god lives, O Dan,’

    and, ‘As the Way of Beersheba lives,’

        they shall fall, and never rise again.”

Amos 9

The Destruction of Israel

[1] I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said: 

    “Strike the capitals until the thresholds shake,

        and shatter them on the heads of all the people;

    and those who are left of them I will kill with the sword;

        not one of them shall flee away;

        not one of them shall escape.

    [2] “If they dig into Sheol,

        from there shall my hand take them;

    if they climb up to heaven,

        from there I will bring them down. 

    [3] If they hide themselves on the top of Carmel,

        from there I will search them out and take them;

    and if they hide from my sight at the bottom of the sea,

        there I will command the serpent, and it shall bite them. 

    [4] And if they go into captivity before their enemies,

        there I will command the sword, and it shall kill them;

    and I will fix my eyes upon them

        for evil and not for good.”

    [5] The Lord GOD of hosts,

    he who touches the earth and it melts,

        and all who dwell in it mourn,

    and all of it rises like the Nile,

        and sinks again, like the Nile of Egypt; 

    [6] who builds his upper chambers in the heavens

        and founds his vault upon the earth;

    who calls for the waters of the sea

        and pours them out upon the surface of the earth—

    the LORD is his name.

    [7] “Are you not like the Cushites to me,

        O people of Israel?” declares the LORD.

    “Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt,

        and the Philistines from Caphtor and the Syrians from Kir? 

    [8] Behold, the eyes of the Lord GOD are upon the sinful kingdom,

        and I will destroy it from the surface of the ground,

        except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,”

    declares the LORD.

    [9] “For behold, I will command,

        and shake the house of Israel among all the nations

    as one shakes with a sieve,

        but no pebble shall fall to the earth. 

    [10] All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword,

        who say, ‘Disaster shall not overtake or meet us.’

    The Restoration of Israel

    [11] “In that day I will raise up

        the booth of David that is fallen

    and repair its breaches,

        and raise up its ruins

        and rebuild it as in the days of old, 

    [12] that they may possess the remnant of Edom

        and all the nations who are called by my name,”

        declares the LORD who does this.

    [13] “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD,

        “when the plowman shall overtake the reaper

        and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed;

    the mountains shall drip sweet wine,

        and all the hills shall flow with it. 

    [14] I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel,

        and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them;

    they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine,

        and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit. 

    [15] I will plant them on their land,

        and they shall never again be uprooted

        out of the land that I have given them,”

    says the LORD your God.