Sermon Three in Advent 2023 about Family Preparation for Christmas. Special emphasis on God's blessing on families.

Sermon Two in Advent 2023 about Family Preparation and Christmas.

Advent 2023, Sermon One on Family Preparation for Christmas.

1.  Understanding the Times   

Rev. 1:3 – Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near. 

Rev. 22:6, 10 – God…has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place… And he said to me, ‘Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.’

Daniel 8:17, 26; 12:4, 9 – I was frightened and fell on my face. But he said to me, ‘Understand, O son of man, that the vision is for the time of the end.’ … seal up the vision, for it refers to many days from now… Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end… Go your way, Daniel, for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end. 

Rev. 10:4 – 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. … (cf. Deut. 29:29) 

Rev. 10:5b-7 –…there would be no more delay, but that in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled...

2. Days of Visitation  

Rev. 1:7; 2:5; 16:15; 22:7 – Behold, he is coming [erchomai] with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth will wail on account of him… Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. … Behold, I am coming [erchomai] like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked or seen exposed!

Rev. 3:3 – Remember then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come [heko; be present] like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you. 

1 Pet. 2:12 – Keep your conduct…honorable, so that when they speak against you…they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation [episkope; Luke 19:44].

3. The Second Advent of Christ  

2 Thessalonians 2:1, 8 – Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him… 

Matt. 24:32 – From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. …

Acts 1:3 – He presented himself alive to them after his suffering [for] forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. …Matt. 13:11, 38 – To you is has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven… The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom… the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels…

4. The Near and the Far 

Isa. 7:14 – Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel… For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose kings you dread will be deserted. (cf. Matt. 1:23)

Amos 9:11 – 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 ... the remnant of Edom. (cf. Acts 15:16)

Rev. 19:17 – 20:7 - …beast captured…the dragon…bound for a thousand years… Satan will be released … deceive the nations… devil thrown into the lake of fire.. 

5. The Goal of the Present 

 Acts 1:8 – But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses...

Rev. 22:2b – the tree of life with twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations…They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads…Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life

Rev. 21:7 – The one who conquers…I will be his God and he will be my son. 

The Lion's Roar   

1.  Jesus’ Authority is Total   

Rev. 10:3 – He cried out with a loud voice, as when a Lion roars...

Rev. 10:1, 5 – And I saw another strong Angel coming down out of heaven, and clothed with a cloud; and the rainbow was on His head, and His face was like the sun, and His legs like pillars of fire; and He had in His hand a little book that was open. And He placed His right foot on the sea and his left on the land…

2. The Dragon Wars Against the Church  

Rev. 12:4 – And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth…he might devour [her child].

Rev. 12:12 – But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath… he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child…the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus [cf. 1:2-3] And he stood on the sand of the sea.

3. The Bottomless Pit Empties 

Rev. 13:1 – And I saw a beast rising out of the sea…And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority… And they worshiped the dragon… ‘

Rev. 13:11 – Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon… It performs great signs…

Rev. 9:1-11 – The fifth angel blew his trumpet…he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit… rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace…locusts…

Rev. 11:7b – the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them… 

4. The Victorious Martyrs

Rev. 9:4 – [Locusts] were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any green tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.

Rev. 11:11-12 – a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them… ‘Come up here!’ And they went up to heaven in a cloud… 

Rev. 12:11 – And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. 

The Month of Tishri: Jesus’ Birth & His Reign

Tishri occurs between September and October on our calendar. It is called the “seventh month” and was used by the kingdom of Judah to mark the new year. It was also connected with the Feast of Trumpets. From Jewish tradition (Talmud, etc), 

†      Adam and Eve were created on 1 Tishri, based on Jewish tradition; cf. Gen. 1:1-5. ‘The birthday of the world.’

†      This was the traditional day when everyone added a year to their age (not their individual birthday). 

†      Noah became 601 on 1 Tishri when he also opened the ark, to see dry ground (Gen. 8:3).

†      The last trumpet of trumpets was sounded on 1 Tishri, Lev. 23:24; Num. 29:1. 

†      Israelite kings also marked this day as the next year of their reign; 1 Kings 1:34; 2 Kings 9:13; 2 Kings 11:4. 

†      Tishri is comparable to the Christian season of Advent; joy & penitence in preparation for Immanuel. 

†      The 7th Trumpet heralds the enthronement of Christ (11:12-19). 

o   The 24 elders in heaven worship with eucharistic worship and praise.

o   You have taken your great power and begun to reign (Eph. 1:20ff)

o   The nations were enraged and your wrath came (Ps. 2:5; 110:5)

o   Time for the dead to be judged (2 Cor. 5:10; Matt. 27:51-53)

†      7th Trumpet heralds the New Covenant, new creation, new king, new Adam/Eve, and reign of Christ. 

Sunset, 11 September 3 BC, based on star charts, was 1 Tishri (Day of Trumpets, New Year) the virgin appears in the night sky with the messiah in her womb; the planet Jupiter appears within the constellation of Virgo ­- directly over Bethlehem. Rev. 12, the woman is crowned with 12 stars. The moon is under the virgin’s feet – from about 6:15 PM until 7:45 PM. 

25 December 2 BC, Jupiter “stops” due to retrograde motion. It is “touches” with Venus, making a very bright star, not seen since. 

as the saints reign   
Apocalypase: unveiled glory - V

The Promises to the Conquers 

Rev. 2:7 – To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

Rev. 2:11 – The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death . 

Rev. 2:17 – To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.

Rev. 2:26 – To the one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations.

Rev. 3:5 – The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. 

Rev. 3:12 – The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name. 

Rev. 3:21 – The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. 

Who Are Those Who Conquer?  

1 Jhn 2:13ff – I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one… I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one… 4:4  Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world… 5:4  For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes Jesus is the Son of God?

The Flow of Events

Rev. 18:24 – in her was found the blood of the prophets and of saints, and of all who have been slain on earth (cf. Matt. 23:35-36)…

Rev. 19:2 – [God] has judged…has avenged on her the blood of his servants.
Rev. 19:7 – the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted to her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure – for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. … Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.

Rev. 19:11 – Then I saw heaven opening, and behold, a white horse! … the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet… into the lake that burns with sulfur… Satan…bound him for a thousand years… must be released for a little while. 

Rev. 20:4 – I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God...they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 

Rev. 21:7ff – the one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son… its light is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk…the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

The Presence of the Kingdom

The Kingdom is ‘Already, but Not Yet.’ The Kingdom is Realized hic et nunc in the real spiritual presence of God through the Sacraments. The Kingdom will be fully manifest when Jesus personally returns to judge all the world. 

                                        From the Catechism
179. What is God’s kingdom?

The kingdom of God is the just and peaceful reign of Jesus Christ over all the world, especially in the lives of his faithful people, through the powerful work of the Holy Spirit. (Psalms 103:19; 145:11–13; Isaiah 11:1–9; Daniel 4:28–37; Mark 1:14–15; Luke 17:20–21; Eph 1:3–14; Colossians 1:9–14)

181. How does God’s kingdom come? 

God’s kingdom is announced to the people of Israel, arrives in Jesus Christ, and advances through the Church’s mission. It will appear in its fullness once Christ returns in glory. (Psalm 102:12–22; Dan 2:31– 45; Matt 10:5–8; Mark 4:26–32; Acts 1:1–11; 1 Cor 15:19–28) 

Revelation Unveils Jesus as the Teacher of the Old Covenant.  

Rev. 5:1 – Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back…

“…worship, not specifically Protestant nor indeed confined to Christians of any kind. It is the working theory upon which all [Islamic] worship is based. It was put … by the Roman poet Persius or … Seneca in the first century, and they are only elaborating a thesis from Greek [philosophers] …that worship is a purely mental activity… a subjective emotional or spiritual experience . . . Over against this … the ‘ceremonious’ conception of worship, … worship as such is [for] the whole man – body as well as soul, his aesthetic and volitional as well as his intellectual powers… It regards worship as an ‘act’ just as much as an ‘experience.’ – Dom. Greg Dix

Various Liturgical References

†      Worship is on Sunday, the Lord’s Day, Rev. 1:10

†      Scripture /Word Preached, Rev. 1:3, 2:16; 5:6-8; 19:21

†      The worship includes call and response (antiphonal), ‘hosanna,’ Rev. 7:9-12  

†      There is the Eucharistic promise, bread and wine, Rev. 2:17, 3:21; 7:14; Rev. 14:14-20; 19:9-10; inverse, 19:17-19

†      Apostolic Succession & Thrones, Rev. 1:20; 2:1, 8, 12, 18, 3:1, 7, 14; 4:4; 11:16; Rev. 21:14; Luke 22:30

o   Bishops, Priests, Deacons, Laity

†      Ministry of the Holy Spirit, Rev. 1:10; 4:2, 5; 5:6; 14:13; 17:3; 22:17

o   Preaching, ‘spiritual songs,’ speech, charisms

†      The Sanctus, Rev. 4:8; Isa. 6

†      Adoration of the Slain Lamb, Rev. 5:9-14

o   Unveiled Bread/Wine after Consecration; thereafter the “Body” and the “Blood” in liturgy.

†      Blessed Virgin Mary / Communion of the Saints, Rev. 8:3; 4:9-10

†      White robes, candlesticks, palm branches, ‘Hosanna,’ Rev. 3:4; 4:4, 7:9

†      The heavenly city, our mother, Rev. 21:2; Gal. 2:26; Heb. 11:16; 12:22

                The Communion of the Saints

James Hannington (1847 – 1885) Oct. 29.  James was the first Anglican Bishop of East Equatorial Africa. He was 38 years old when he was martyred by the men of King Mwanga, who speared him in both of his sides. Mwanga is also responsible for the “Ugandan martyrs” of the Anglican and Roman Communions. James’ last words were, “Go and tell Mwanga that I have purchased this road with my blood.” Later missionaries used that road to reach the people. James and his team are among the first of the Martyrs of Uganda, and their blood is the seed of the Great East African Revival.

                                     From the Catechism

244. What is liturgy? Liturgy is an established pattern or form for the worship of God by God’s people. The liturgy leads us in the remembrance of God’s mighty acts and unites us in grateful response. (Exodus 15:1–21; Psalm 118; Luke 22:14–20; 1 Corinthians 11:23–26)

245. Why do Anglicans worship with a structured liturgy? Anglicans worship with a structured liturgy because it embodies biblical patterns of worship, fosters reverence and love for God, deepens faith in Jesus Christ, and is in continuity with the practices of Israel and the Early Church. (Numbers 6:22–27; Deuteronomy 12:8–14; Psalm 96; Acts 2:42–47; Revelation 15; Di­dache 8–10)

246. Does structured liturgy inhibit sincere and vibrant worship? No. A structured liturgy provides sincere worshipers biblical language and forms that train our hearts for worship. Liturgy enables us to worship God joyfully and with one voice. (2 Samuel 6:1–4; 2 Chronicles 29; Psalm 68:24–33; 1 Cor 14:26–33, 39–40; Rev­ 7:9–8:5) 

253. Why do you need a rule of life? I need a rule of life because my fallen nature is disordered, distracted, and self-centered. A rule of life helps me to resist sin and establish godly habits, through which the Holy Spirit will increasingly conform me to the image of Christ. (Ps 73; 86:11–13; Proverbs 3; 1 Corinthians 9:23–27; Colossians 3:1–4; 1 Peter 1:13–19) 

Revelation is Discloses the Role of the Church Triumphant  

Rev. 14:4; 19:14 – It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes… And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses…

Some About the Angels

†      Angels guard the holiness of God and holy things, Gen. 3:24; Ex. 25:18-20; Ezk. 10:15-19

†      Angels have been given charge over us, Matt. 18:20; Heb. 1:14; Ex. 23:20; Rev. 7:3; Acts 12:6-11

†      Angels have authority over the elements, Rev. 14:18

†      Angels offer up our prayers and bring responses to them, Rev. 8:4; Luke 1:11; Dan. 9:3-23

†      Angels pray for us, Zech. 1:12

†      Honor and Respect is Accorded to them, Josh. 5:14-15; Gen. 48:15-16; Hosea 12:4; Rev. 1:4

†      Angels enforce God’s judgments on the nations, the world, and individuals, Rev. 7:1-3; 8:6-12; Acts 12:23; Dan. 4:13ff

Some About the Saints Above

†      They are slandered by the beast, Rev. 13:6b

†      They are God’s dwelling in heaven, Rev. 13:6

†      The saints pray with us and for us, Lk. 16:19ff; 1 Cor. 12:8; Rev. 5:8; 6:10; 8:3

†      We have communion with the saints, Heb. 12:1, 22-23; 

†      They have authority over the nations and demons ruling them with a rod of iron by their intercession, Rev. 2:26-27; 8:4-5; 20:4; cf. Ex. 32:11-14; 1 Kings 7:8-10; Job 42:7-8; Rom. 15:30; Eph. 6:18-19; Jas 5:16; Lk 10:17-20; Acts 19:15; Rev. 8:5; 20:4

†      They know what happens on the earth, 1 Sam. 12:15-28; Lk 9:31; 15:10; 1 Cor. 13:12; 1 John 3:2

†      They are with Christ in Heaven before the resurrection, 2 Cor. 5:1, 6-8; Phil. 1:23-24; Rev. 4:4; chps. 6-9; 14:1ff.

†      They are at rest in Christ, Rev. 14:13

†      The seven trumpets blown by the angels are in response to the prayers of the saints, Rev. 7:1-3; 8:3ff

From the Catechism

216. What are angels? 
Angels are rational, spiritual beings created by God. God’s holy angels joyfully serve him in heavenly worship, and God appoints them to act as messengers, bringing words of guidance and assurance to the faithful, and assisting and protecting them. (Num 22:21–31; Ps. 148:1–6; Isa 6:2–3; Lk 1:19, 26–33; Acts 12:7–11; Heb 1:7–14; 13:2)

100. Who are the saints? 
The saints are all those in heaven and on earth who place their faith in Jesus Christ, who are set apart, holy to God in Christ, and transformed by his grace. (Lev 19:1–2; Deut 7:6; Ps 16:1–3; 1 Pet 2:4–10; Rev 7:9–17)

102. What is the “communion of the saints”? 
The communion of the saints is the fellowship of all those, in heaven and on earth, who are united in Christ as one Body, through one Spirit, in Holy Baptism. (Psalm 149; Ephesians 2:13–22; Heb 12:1–3)

104. How are the Church on earth and the Church in heaven joined in worship? 
Through union with Christ, as celebrated in the sacrament of Holy Communion, the Church on earth participates with the Church in heaven in the eternal worship of God. (Exodus 24:9–11; Psalm 148; 1 Corinthians 10:16–17; Hebrews 12:18–29; Revelation 19:1–9)

Revelation is Written to the Church Catholic

Sermon One of Eight in the Apocalypse: Unveiled Glory Series.