Worship Helps for Advent 2
Artwork: St. John the Baptist Preaching
Artist: Anastagio Fontebuoni
Date: 1571-1626
Worship Theme: Repent, for the
kingdom of heaven is near! The Forerunner prepares for the coming Christ by
preaching repentance that brings renewal of life. The Root of Jesse will come
in swift judgment on the unrepentant but in mercy and grace for God’s people.
His coming will end the wickedness of the world and usher in a new age restored
to the perfection with which God made it.
John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ, fixes our
attention on the need for true preparation for the Lord’s coming. Such
preparation means repenting—recognizing how our sins have offended God and
trusting him for the forgiveness he gives us in Christ. Jesus, the only Savior
brings peace to a troubled heart.
Old Testament: Daniel
4:19 Then Daniel (also
called Belteshazzar) was greatly perplexed for a time, and his thoughts
terrified him. So the king said, "Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or
its meaning alarm you." Belteshazzar answered, "My lord, if only the
dream applied to your enemies and its meaning to your adversaries! 20
The tree you saw, which grew large and strong, with its top touching the sky,
visible to the whole earth, 21 with beautiful leaves and abundant
fruit, providing food for all, giving shelter to the beasts of the field, and
having nesting places in its branches for the birds of the air-- 22
you, O king, are that tree! You have become great and strong; your greatness
has grown until it reaches the sky, and your dominion extends to distant parts
of the earth. 23 "You, O king, saw a messenger, a holy one,
coming down from heaven and saying, 'Cut down the tree and destroy it, but
leave the stump, bound with iron and bronze, in the grass of the field, while
its roots remain in the ground. Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven; let
him live like the wild animals, until seven times pass by for him.' 24
"This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree the Most High
has issued against my lord the king: 25 You will be driven away from
people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like cattle and
be drenched with the dew of heaven. Seven times will pass by for you until you
acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives
them to anyone he wishes. 26 The command to leave the stump of the
tree with its roots means that your kingdom will be restored to you when you
acknowledge that Heaven rules. 27 Therefore, O king, be pleased to
accept my advice: Renounce your sins by doing what is right, and your
wickedness by being kind to the oppressed. It may be that then your prosperity
will continue." 28 All this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar.
29 Twelve months later, as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace
of Babylon , 30 he said,
"Is not this the great Babylon
I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my
majesty?" 31 The words were still on his lips when a voice came
from heaven, "This is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar: Your
royal authority has been taken from you. 32 You will be driven away
from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like
cattle. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most
High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he
wishes." 33 Immediately what had been said about Nebuchadnezzar
was fulfilled. He was driven away from people and ate grass like cattle. His
body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair grew like the feathers
of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird. 34 At the end of
that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was
restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives
forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from
generation to generation. 35 All the peoples of the earth are
regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the
peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: "What
have you done?" 36 At the same time that my sanity was
restored, my honor and splendor were returned to me for the glory of my
kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored to my throne
and became even greater than before. 37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar,
praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is
right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to
humble.
1. What was the point of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream?
2. What lesson does it teach us about repentance?
Epistle: Acts 3:19
Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times
of refreshing may come from the Lord, 20 and that he may send the
Christ, who has been appointed for you-- even Jesus. 21 He must
remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he
promised long ago through his holy prophets. 22 For Moses said, 'The
Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own
people; you must listen to everything he tells you. 23 Anyone who
does not listen to him will be completely cut off from among his people.'
24 "Indeed, all the prophets from Samuel on, as many as have spoken,
have foretold these days. 25 And you are heirs of the prophets and
of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, 'Through your
offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.' 26 When God raised
up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you
from your wicked ways."
3. When God calls on all people to repent, what does he
mean?
4. How do you see that in these verses?
Gospel: Matthew 3:1 In
those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert
of Judea 2 and saying,
"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." 3 This is he
who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: "A voice of one calling in
the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.'"
4 John's clothes were made of camel's hair, and he had a leather belt
around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. 5 People went
out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea
and the whole region of the Jordan .
6 Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan
River . 7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and
Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: "You brood of
vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce
fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not think you can say to
yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that out of these
stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 10 The ax is already
at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will
be cut down and thrown into the fire. 11 "I baptize you with
water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I,
whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit
and with fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will
clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the
chaff with unquenchable fire."
5. How do you know John the Baptist’s message is aimed at
our heart?
6. What is John describing with the “ax… at the root of the
trees; and burning up of the chaff?”
Answers:
1. God had used Nebuchadnezzar as his ax to chop down the
unrepentant tree of David. But the king of Babylon
failed to heed Daniel’s warning that the ax now sat at the root of his own
tree. The prophet told him to repent, for God’s coming judgment was near.
Nebuchadnezzar failed to acknowledge God’s sovereign power; he failed to repent
and live in newness of life. So God fulfilled the dream: the tree of
Nebuchadnezzar’s reign was chopped down. God struck his glory and power and
left him with neither civility nor sanity.
2. How true it is: God is able to humble those who walk in
pride. The world’s greatest sovereign became like an animal. Yet look at the
mercy of God! When Nebuchadnezzar repented and acknowledged and glorified God,
the Lord forgave him, renewed him, and restored him.
3. Repentance is God’s work that results in a change of
heart, a change of direction, a change of attitude. First, the Law makes us
feel contrition over our sin and guilt. Second, the Gospel’s message of
forgiveness in Jesus leads us to trust in God’s grace.
4. God used the miracle of the beggar’s healing to capture
the attention of the crowd so that Peter and John could preach a message of
repentance to the people. They preached the harsh accusations of the law: “You
killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead,” to prepare the
hearts of the people to repent. Then they offered the sweetest gospel message
that repentance brings renewal by wiping away sins and bringing God’s
refreshment through Christ.
5. Just as in John’s day, we too need to “repent” (verse
2), “confess” our sins (verse 6), and “produce fruit in keeping with
repentance” (verse 8). Our heart’s attitude, not our family tree, is what
matters before God.
6. Jesus calls everyone to repent of his or her sins and
promises forgiveness and peace to those who trust in him. However, to those who
reject Christ, he threatens eternal punishment, and he means it. These words
serve as a loving warning even to the believer. We are truly prepared for
Christ’s coming at Christmas when we repent of our sins and look to him for
forgiveness.
We will show that the
adversaries truly make the saints not just intercessors, but atonement makers,
that is, mediators of redemption. In a
person who makes atonement, two things are required. First, there should be a Word of God from
which we certainly know that God wants to listen to, those calling upon Him
through this atonement maker. There is
such a promise about Christ, “Whatever you ask of the Father in My name, He
will give it to you” (John 16:23 ). There is no such promise about the
saints. Therefore, consciences cannot be
completely confident that we are heard by the invocation of saints. This invocation, therefore, does not spring
from faith. We also have the command to
call upon Christ: “Come to Me, all who labor” (Matthew 11:28 ). “In that
day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples – of Him shall
the nations inquire” (Isaiah 11:10 )…
What commandment, what example, can the adversaries
produce from the Scriptures about the invocation of saints? The second requirement for an atonement maker
is that his merits are shown to make satisfaction for other people so that
through them, just as by their own merits, other people may be regarded
righteous… Christ’s merits are given to us so we are regarded righteous by our
confidence in Christ’s merits as though we had merits of our own. – Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Article XXI: Saints
(paragraph 16-19)
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