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Series B – Third Sunday of Advent – Sunday, December 14, 2014 | Pr. Chris Rosebrough

Welcome to the Teaching Ministry of Kongsvinger Lutheran Church. Kongsvinger is a beacon for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of Northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone, and now, here’s a message from Pastor Chris Rosebrough:

Time Stamp	Transcript
0:27	The holy Gospel According to Saint John chapter 1 verses 6 through 8 and 19-28
0:35	there came a man who was sent from God his name was John he came as a witness to testify
0:41	concerning that light so that through him all men might believe he himself was
0:47	not the light he came only as a witness to the light now this was John’s testimony when the
0:53	Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was he did not
0:58	fail to confess but he confessed freely I am not the Christ so they asked him well then who are you
1:05	are you Elijah he said I am not are you the prophet he answered no
1:12	finally they said who are you give us an answer to take back to those who sent us what do you say about yourself John
1:20	replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet I am the voice of one calling in the
1:25	desert makes straight the way of the Lord now some Pharisees who have been sent question him why then do you baptize if
1:33	you are not the Christ nor Elijah nor the prophet I baptize with water John replied
1:39	but among you stands one you do not know he is the one who comes after me the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy
1:45	to untie this all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan where John was baptizing in the name of Jesus
1:54	amen there came a man who was sent from God that is a huge sentence
2:01	God sends men God sends people and the answer is to quote the old show from the
2:09	60s you bet your bippy he does God sends people there was a man who was
2:14	sent from God his name was John he came as a witness to testify
2:20	concerning that light so that through him all men might believe he himself was
2:25	not the light and he came only as a witness to the light now before we get
2:30	into the meat of Our Gospel text I want to kind of make something clear here you’ll notice God sent John God gave
2:37	John a message and God gave somebody to point to
2:43	not himself not himself John did not point to
2:48	himself he had no Heirs of importance he did not hang out in palaces he did
2:55	not wear flowing robes now we talked about his uniform last
3:00	week and like I said I don’t see anybody trying to mimic that uniform in
3:05	Preachers today but there’s something about John that is very similar to pastors and
3:12	preachers today especially if they are ones who are sent from God I want to
3:17	give you a cross reference today’s text to kind of frame this Acts chapter 20 verses 17-35 this prior to his rest
3:25	before he goes to Jerusalem and is arrested but he knows that he’s about to be arrested the Holy Spirit has let him
3:31	know what’s up and he’s decided to meet with the Elders of Ephesus to kind of give his last parting shots you
3:38	kind of like less will and testament if you would he does no clue as to whether or not he’s going to see these men again for the rest of his life and so he’s
3:45	going to wake one impassioned plea and what’s fascinating is that Paul’s impassion plea is very similar to
3:51	Jesus’s impassion to plea that we find in the all of that discourse when Jesus is about to go to the Cross he says
3:58	listen you got to know this in the last days there’s going to be deceivers out
4:03	there you have to be aware of those deceivers so this in the Olivet discourse I mean one of the last things that Jesus publicly teaches he warns us
4:11	about deceivers well Paul takes that same tact in this chapter Acts chapter 20. here’s what he says now from militis
4:17	he said to sell to Ephesus called the Elders of the church to come to him here’s what he said and when they came to him he said to them you yourselves
4:23	know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia serving the Lord with all
4:29	humility and with tears and with trials that happen to me through the plots of the Jews how I did not shrink from
4:35	declaring to any anything that was profitable in teaching you in public and from house to house testifying both to
4:41	Jews and to Greeks of repentance towards God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ
4:47	now interesting Paul sounds a lot like John the Baptist in that sense you’ll
4:52	notice the apostolic message is one of repentance and the Forgiveness of sins and John who’s kind of who’s got his
4:59	foot kind of straddled in one foot in the Old Testament one foot in the new think of it this way I was reading a
5:06	Johan Gerhard and kind of looking at how he handled this text in one of his sermons and he made an interesting point
5:12	Jesus was born of a fair young virgin John well an old decrepit lady who was Pastor
5:19	time to give birth and it was a miraculous birth on the part of John and he says well think of it this way Elizabeth who is John the Baptist mother
5:26	in some sense this kind of typifies the Old Testament old worn out kind of done with
5:32	whereas it’s appropriate that Jesus was born of a fair young teenage virgin yeah
5:38	think of that with the New Testament coming in Christ so John is preaching repentance in anticipation of the Gospel
5:46	the one who’s to come Jesus Paul now after Christ’s death and Resurrection he’s preaching repentance just like John
5:53	because you’re not prepared for the gospel until you are brought to repentance and then he also preaches the
5:59	Forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ and he says I did not shrink back from teaching you these things and now behold
6:04	I’m going to Jerusalem constrained by the spirit not knowing what will happen to me there except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that
6:11	imprisonment and affliction awaits me yeah yeah literally I don’t think God
6:17	understands that OSHA would not approve of these you know these tactics for his employees you know it just doesn’t seem
6:23	to work out that way God doesn’t seem to care when you’re employed by God it could cause all kinds of hardship
6:30	so he says but I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself
6:35	if only I may finish my course in the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus Christ notice true Christian
6:42	Ministry is received it’s not concocted it’s not innovated it’s not invented
6:48	it’s received so he received his ministry from the Lord Jesus Christ to testify to the gospel of the grace of
6:56	God and now behold I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face
7:02	again therefore I testify to you this day that I’m innocent of the blood of all for I did not shrink back from
7:08	declaring to you the whole counsel of God so pay careful attention to yourselves
7:13	and all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers
7:21	overseers is kind of the old old old school term for pastors and Elders who
7:26	is it that has made pastors pastors and elders elders in the church Paul says it
7:33	it’s God the Holy Spirit God sends Elders God sends pastors God sends these
7:39	men and they receive from him a message that they are to Proclaim and like John
7:45	they are not to point people to themselves like John the Baptist there to point
7:52	people to Christ so behold I know that among you none of you I’ve gone about proclaiming the
7:57	kingdom will see my face again I’m innocent of your blood pay careful attention to yourselves and all the
8:02	flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to care for the Church of God which he obtained by his own blood I
8:10	know that after my departure Fierce wolves will come among you not sparing the flock and from among your own selves
8:16	will arise men speaking Twisted things to draw away the disciples after them
8:22	selves you want to know how you can tell somebody’s a false teacher or a false
8:28	prophet the person they’re pointing to always is themselves
8:33	always false teachers are all about self-glory and so what they’ll do is they’ll tell
8:40	you their life stories from the pulpit or the stage nowadays as if somehow the
8:46	how God supposedly is working in their lives and the exploits that they’ve done somehow measures up and is on par with
8:53	with the stories that we find in scripture and they’re not and the reason why they’re not is because all of
8:59	scripture is about Jesus it’s not about me it’s not about you it’s about Jesus and what he’s done for us so the mark of
9:07	a false teacher is someone who draws away the Disciples of Jesus and draws
9:13	them away after themselves so therefore be a be alert remembering that for three
9:19	days I did not cease day or night to admonish every one of you with tears and now I commend you to God and the word of
9:26	his grace which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are Sanctified I coveted
9:33	no one’s silver or gold or apparel you ourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to
9:39	those who were with me and all these things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak
9:45	remember the words of the Lord Jesus Christ how he himself said it is more blessed to give than to receive
9:52	so note well what Acts chapter 20 verse 30 says about the fierce wolves they
9:57	draw away disciples after themselves the 5th Century Church Father
10:04	ammonius of Alexandria preaching on this text here’s what he said in order to
10:09	draw away the disciples after themselves Heretics strive to make the people their
10:15	own instead of the Lords so that they might boast in themselves Paul himself
10:20	checked this beforehand when he silenced and censored those who are saying I’m Paul’s or I’m a policies or I’m cephasis
10:28	you know Paul says who is Paul who’s Apollos who’s cephas right since he did not want their faith to be
10:35	explained by the name of a person but by Christ’s name he wanted them to all be called Christians even though they had
10:41	been taught by different teachers accordingly when all the teachers strive for the same goal of proclaiming the
10:48	true faith of profiting the students while suppressing their own names they are then called by the same name
10:55	Christians so the fruit of false teachers false prophets and ravenous wolves as eases
11:00	spot if they preach themselves not Christ then their wolves not true
11:05	Shepherds flee from them and if I ever do such a thing get rid of me
11:10	it’s that simple wolves preach about their lives their victories their dreams their Visions
11:16	their ideas the tips and tricks they’ve discovered to achieve success Jesus if he’s mentioned it all by them
11:23	is merely held up as some kind of moral example to be followed and the goal of their preaching is to convince you to
11:29	apply the pastor’s insights and life tips so that you too can be successful just like the pastor is successful
11:38	faithful teachers of the one true faith on the other hand are not like wolves but like the Apostle Paul who said this
11:44	second Corinthians chapter 4 verse 2. but we have renounced disgraceful and
11:50	underhanded ways we refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word but
11:55	by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God for what
12:01	we preach is not ourselves but Jesus Christ is Lord
12:07	with ourselves as your servants for Jesus sake those are the words the Apostle Paul we
12:12	preach not ourselves we preach Christ as Lord so coming back to this I think it’s
12:18	important that we note here that John the Baptist he was sent from God
12:25	and he did not preach himself in fact in another gospel he said Jesus
12:31	must increase I must decrease another sign that we’re dealing with a
12:36	true man of God somebody truly sent so now back to our gospel text this is an interesting text
12:43	in this sense there’s something going on here that’s a little bit tough to see you kind of have to slow down and think
12:50	about the setup here because in this text if you were paying attention when I read it John the Baptist is asked are
12:56	you Elijah and his answer is no now atheists like to point this out and
13:03	say see the Bible contradicts itself because Jesus said that he is Elijah
13:09	John the Baptist says he isn’t so the Bible’s not true this is this is only a contradiction if
13:16	you really are not paying attention to the text if you’re really straining at Nats but it’s important for you to kind
13:21	of get what’s going on here so we’ll walk back through this so it says this now this was John’s testimony
13:27	when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was he did not fail to confess but he confessed
13:34	freely I am not the Christ why would John the Baptist say that why
13:41	would he need to say that well this tells us a little bit about what’s going on the ESV by the way it says as he
13:47	confessed and he did not deny but he confessed he confessed and did not deny that he’s not the Christ
13:53	okay well that’s not that big of a deal considering he isn’t the Christ but see
14:00	the thing is that’s the issue the Jews and the Levites were the top religious
14:05	leaders from Jerusalem all right these are the guys from headquarters think of it this way it’s as if the pope sent
14:12	several Cardinals and a few archbishops to come and check out Kong’s fingers see
14:17	if that rosebro guy’s on the level if they showed up here would be all like whoa you know you know look at what
14:23	we’ve got going on here that’s what’s going on here right so there’s a little bit of intimidation going on and there’s a little bit of prestige of their office
14:29	going on here and Luther in preaching on this text he Nails it he points out that
14:35	this is actually a true trial and a Temptation for John the Baptist here
14:40	because these men are willing to say you’re the Messiah just tell us you are we’re willing to say you are and
14:47	we can we can link up and we can do ministry together and just think of the difference that we can make in the
14:53	synagogues in the world right that’s the Temptation there’s kind of a temptation to power so Luther in
14:59	preaching on this text he says this first there are sent to him not servants or ordinary citizens but priests and
15:07	Levites from the highest and noblest class who are Pharisees that is to say the leaders of the people surely a
15:13	distinguished Embassy for a common man who might justly have felt proud of such an honor or for the favor of Lords and
15:20	princes is highly esteemed in this world see there’s a little bit of a Temptation going on secondly
15:27	uh they send to him not common people but citizens of Jerusalem to wit the capital of the Sanhedrin the leaders of
15:33	the Jewish Nation so it was as if the entire people came and did honor to him what a wind that was and how he might
15:39	have been inflated had he possessed a Vain and worldly heart thirdly they did
15:44	not offer him a present nor ordinary Glory that instead they offer him the highest Glory of all the kingdom and all
15:51	authority being ready to accept him as the Messiah surely a mighty and sweet Temptation for
15:58	had he not perceived that they wish to regard him as the Christ he would not have said I am not the Christ
16:04	and Luke 8 15-16 Luke writes that when everybody thought that he was the Christ
16:10	John spoke and said I am not who you think I am but I am being sent before him
16:16	fourthly when he would not accept this honor well they tried him with another and were ready to take him for Elijah
16:23	for they had a prophecy in the last chapter of the prophet of Malachi where God says behold I will send you Elijah
16:29	the prophet before the coming of the great and Dreadful day of the Lord and he shall turn the heart of the fathers
16:34	to the children in the heart of the children to their fathers lest I come and smite the Earth with a curse so and
16:40	then fifthly seeing that he would not be Elijah they go on tempting him and offer him
16:47	the homage due to an ordinary Prophet for since Malachi they had not had a prophet and John however remains firm
16:54	and unshaken although Tried by the offer of so much honor that’s what’s really going on here he’s truly being tempted
17:01	with with like the highest honor of all it’s to say you’re the Messiah and we’re ready to follow you we’re ready to give
17:07	you that honor and so the answers to the questions that he gives are this rebuff
17:13	of the Temptation that is really kind of come up to him at this point so the Jews
17:20	asked John whether he’s Elijah who’s to come before the Christ but the thing is is that the Jews they actually aired in
17:26	their thinking regarding Elijah at this point they thought that Elijah was going to bodily come back that’s what they
17:32	were thinking so they read the prophet Malachi and they think well that means Elijah in the flesh well that’s not
17:38	exactly what’s what happened and we know this from Luke chapter one where we have The Narrative of the
17:44	conception and birth of John the Baptist Luke chapter 1 starting at verse 8 says this once when zechariah’s division was
17:50	on duty this is his father and he was serving as priest before God he was chosen by lot according to the custom of
17:56	the priesthood to go into the Temple of the Lord and to burn incense and when the time for the burning of the incense came all the assembled worshipers were
18:03	praying outside then an angel of the Lord appeared to him standing at the right side of the altar of incense when
18:10	Zechariah saw him he was startled and gripped with fear normal thing to have
18:15	happened to you if an angel appears those who say they you know oh yeah I see angels all the time you know I go
18:22	and have coffee with them at Starbucks probably not telling the truth but the angel said to him do not be afraid
18:27	Zechariah your prayer has been heard your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son and you are to give him the name John
18:33	which kind of tells us something a little bit about how long it takes God to answer prayer sometime do you really
18:39	think that was like last week that Zechariah was praying that his wife would get pregnant she’d pass through
18:45	menopause decades ago so this was a prayer that he sent up to God back when he and his wife were young and here we
18:53	have this great news in the sense that God hears these prayers ah God heard
18:59	your prayer all the way back then he’s going to answer it he continues he says
19:05	you are to give him the name John he will be a joy and a delight to you and many Will Rejoice because of his birth
19:11	for he will be great in the sight of the Lord he is never to take wine or any other fermented drink which means he’s
19:17	to be a Nazarite and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth many of the people of Israel he will
19:22	bring back to the Lord their God and listen to this and he will go before the Lord in the spirit and the power of
19:30	Elijah there’s the key Malachi is rightly understood not that
19:36	Elijah is coming back in the flesh which is what the Jews at this time thought but that the Forerunner of the Messiah
19:42	would come in the spirit and the power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children the
19:47	disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous and to make ready a people prepared for the Lord
19:53	now that kind of gives you the idea so when John says I’m not Elijah what he’s
19:59	he’s speaking the truth he’s not Elijah because the prophecy actually wasn’t that Elijah would come back in the flesh
20:06	which is what the Jews were asking him and that’s what they thought instead the prophecy really truly is rightly
20:13	understood that the Forerunner of Christ would come the power and the spirit of Elijah you remember Elijah’s prophetic
20:20	mantle was passed to Eli Shah which shows that he has this transferable
20:26	power so to speak remember Elisha said I want to have a double portion of your anointing kind of thing and so it was
20:32	but so that’s the idea the one who would come before Christ would come in the power and the spirit of Elijah that
20:38	mental went from Elijah to Elisha and remained dormant for hundreds of years and then God gave it to John the Baptist
20:46	not that he was Elijah but that he came in the power and the and the spirit of Elijah and this is kind of what Jesus
20:53	says and I Think Jesus in Matthew 11 really helps us clarify and understand
20:58	what’s going on here now note John the Baptist did not preach about himself he
21:03	always pointed people to Jesus that was his job and all good pastors and
21:08	ministers do that bad ones don’t and here’s what Jesus says now notice this praise from John the Baptist
21:14	doesn’t come from John the Baptist he comes from God himself here’s what he says Matthew 11 what did
21:19	you go out into the desert to see a reed swayed by the wind well if not
21:25	what did you go out to see a man dressed in fine clothes oh those were some fine clothes that Elijah wore right I mean
21:31	John the Baptist no those who wear fine clothes they’re in King’s palaces so
21:37	then what did you go out to see a prophet well yeah but I tell you
21:42	more than a prophet John the Baptist was more than a Prophet this is the one
21:47	about Whom It is written I will send my messenger ahead of you who will prepare your way before you I tell you the truth
21:53	among those born of women there has not Arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist
21:58	High words from Jesus yet he who is least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he for from the
22:04	days of John the Baptist until now the Kingdom of Heaven has been forcefully advancing and forceful men may lay hold
22:11	of it for all the prophets and the law prophesied until John notice what Jesus
22:18	says the law on the prophets prophesied until John
22:24	the office of the prophets is closed Jesus has arrived we have no need of
22:29	prophets to tell us about the one who is to come because he has already come so if you’re willing to accept it Jesus
22:35	says he is the Elijah who was to come and he who has ears let him hear
22:41	so you now see Jesus is not contradicting John and John is not contradicting Jesus John here is saying
22:47	no I’m not Elijah in the flesh that’s what he was saying so you see now the
22:53	Temptation that John was put under by this delegation of priests and religious leaders and how they were willing to
23:00	bestow on him the honor of the Messiah himself but he confessed and did not deny I am
23:07	not the Christ that’s why he said it now the text also has this little bit of a
23:13	kicker in here and you have to know a little bit of History here to know this here’s what it says now some Pharisees who had been sent questioned John the
23:20	Baptist so why then do you baptize if you’re not the Christ nor Elijah nor the prophet now real quick question this is
23:27	kind of a a rhetorical trick question if you would where in the Old Testament do we find the office of the Pharisees
23:33	established foreign
23:38	[Music]
23:46	all right Chris I’ll take Pharisees for 500. what is
23:53	nothing in the Bible nowhere in the Bible That’s the answer nowhere in the Bible is the office of the Pharisees established the Pharisees were usurpers
24:01	their office is nowhere in scripture they came on the scene by their own authority
24:07	this is an important thing so they are now an established weed if you would in
24:13	Israel in the religious community self-appointed with the and dictating
24:18	how people are to understand scripture so these people who do not have a
24:24	Biblical office are questioning John the Baptist why then do you baptize if
24:29	you’re not the Christ nor Elijah nor the Prophet this is a dangerous question and there’s a lot in it going on and Luther
24:35	says this about this he says behold these Pharisees who profess their willingness just a few
24:42	minutes ago to accept John as the Christ when then he they Veer around when things turn out as they desired and they
24:49	censure John’s baptism they say as it were well since you’re not the Christ nor Elijah nor the prophet you are to
24:55	know that we are your superiors according to the law of Moses and you are therefore to conduct yourselves as
25:00	our subordinate you are not to act independently without our Command or knowledge and without our permission who
25:07	has given you power to introduce something new among our people with your baptizing you are bringing yourself into
25:13	trouble with your criminal Disobedience John however as he had despised their
25:19	hypocrisy likewise scorns their threats remains firm and confesses Christ as before moreover he boldly attacks them
25:25	and charges them with ignorance saying as it were I have no Authority from you to baptize with water but what of it
25:32	there is another from whom I have power him you do not know but he is amply
25:38	sufficient for me if you knew him or wish to know him you would not ask from
25:43	where I have the power to baptize but you would come to be baptized yourselves for he is much greater than I and I am
25:50	not worthy to unloose his shoes or latch it so that’s what’s going on with that
25:55	question it’s the Pharisees basically saying stand down you’re you’re our subordinate we’re Superior to you you
26:02	don’t have the authority to do these things and so we read the understanding
26:08	this in an office greater than the prophets because he was more than a prophet John the Baptist did not point
26:14	to himself instead he point to Christ and he prepared the way for the gospel the good news and this Advent season as
26:22	we prepare for the good news that unto us a savior is born
26:27	let us heed Anew the message of Jesus’s Forerunner consider our sinfulness and
26:33	repent of our sins and iniquities and to kind of help us do that in the spirit of Advent I’d like to read to you
26:40	a prayer that Johann Gerhard wrote a long time ago but he was a great Lutheran Theologian kind of a confession
26:47	if you would and here’s what he says O Holy God and just judge
26:54	you gave to us your law a Mount Sinai and you desired that it be the norm for
27:00	all of our actions our words and our thoughts thus whatever does not agree with this
27:06	Norm is considered sin in your judgment whenever I look into the brilliant mirror I see my foulness
27:13	and I tremble violently I ought to love you God above all things but often
27:20	love I often love the world and become oblivious to loving you I ought to fear
27:26	you God above all things but I often sin willingly and forget to fear you you require that I trust in you my God
27:33	above all things but in difficult situation my heart often wavers and I nervously and
27:38	anxiously doubt your fatherly care I ought to obey you my God with my whole heart but my stubborn flesh opposes my
27:45	intention to obey and takes me prisoner and a captive to sin my thoughts ought to be holy my desires
27:52	holy and pure but often the glory of a quiet mind is disturbed by conceited and
27:57	impious thoughts I had to call on you my God with my whole heart but my mind often wanders while praying
28:04	in his anxiously troubled wondering if my prayers are heard how negligent I am in prayer and how feeble and Trust how
28:12	often indeed my tongue prays but I do not worship I do not worship you in spirit or in
28:18	truth how often I completely forget the kindness that you have shown me every
28:23	day you lavishly pour out your gifts on me but I do not pour forth thanks to you how cold are my thoughts concerning the
28:30	vast and countless gifts that you have given to me how incredibly feeble the devotion of my
28:36	heart I use your gifts but do not Praise You their Giver
28:41	I’m stuck in the streams I do not hasten to the source your word is the spirit’s
28:48	Word of Life but I often hinder it from bringing forth fruit I ruined the work of the holy spirit in
28:55	me more often than not I snuff out the spark of good intention I do not
29:00	anxiously ask for the increase of your gifts
29:06	how many of you in hearing those words says that’s me
29:12	describes me to the core it’s as if he was looking right into my heart and looking right at my life
29:18	an advent is all about preparing for the arrival of Jesus and that preparation
29:23	comes in Repentance which causes us to have to take a hard look at ourselves
29:31	and to be honest but his prayer and his meditation doesn’t end there and here’s how he ends
29:38	for this and for all of my sins and failures I offer to you my God the faultless and
29:46	perfect Obedience of your son who in the days of his flesh he loved you perfectly
29:52	with his whole heart and depended completely on you no taint of sin was found in his deeds words and thoughts
29:59	not even the slightest stain of guilt that which I lack I confidently draw from his Rich Supply because of your
30:06	beloved Son Lord have mercy on me your servant
30:11	oh God you are truly prepared for Christ’s
30:16	rival when you take a hard look at your life and understand your foulness your sinfulness and your unworthiness and
30:24	don’t try to bargain with God and say well I’ll do harder I’ll try I’ll try
30:30	better next time instead only offer to God what Christ has done for you because
30:36	as Isaiah the prophet said he Jesus was pierced for your transgressions you
30:41	can’t offer to God anything other than what Christ has done for you and when you do that you understand law
30:48	gospel sin Grace repentance and the Forgiveness of sins and you are truly
30:54	prepared for the arrival of Jesus and you’re prepared for the words that we heard this morning in our Old Testament
30:59	texts where this is about Jesus the spirit of The Sovereign Lord is upon me
31:05	this is about Jesus because the Lord has anointed Jesus to preach good news to
31:10	the poor and that’s you and that’s me Jesus has come to Proclaim good news to
31:17	the poor do you think you’re rich in Good Works do you think you’re rich in piety do you think you’re rich in things
31:25	that will make yourself pleasing to God you’re deceived if you think that but if
31:32	you see yourself for what you are a beggar poor miserable sinner Christ is
31:37	come to Proclaim good news to you he has sent Jesus to bind up the Brokenhearted
31:42	to Proclaim freedom for the captives and release from Darkness for the prisoners
31:48	and that’s what all of us were we were all born dead enslaved to sin death in the devil and
31:55	Christ has come to set us free to we were captives and he’s released us from
32:01	the Dominion of darkness and he has proclaimed to us the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of Vengeance of our
32:07	God to comfort all who mourn and that means to comfort all who mourn over their sin
32:14	so on Jordan’s Bank the Baptists cry announces that the Lord is nigh awake
32:21	and hearken for he brings Glad Tidings of the king of kings then cleanse the every life from sin
32:28	make straight the way for God within and let us all our hearts prepare for Christ
32:33	to come and enter there we hail thee as our savior Lord our refuge and our great reward without thy
32:40	Grace we waste away like flowers that wither and decay
32:46	all praise Eternal Sun to thee whose Advent sets your people free whom with the father we
32:53	adore and the Holy Spirit Evermore in the name of Jesus
32:59	amen [Music]

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