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Institutional First Baptist Church Weekly Sermon Delivered By
Dr. E. G. Sherman, Jr
Dr. E. G. Sherman, Jr
Delivered On
December 7, 2014 at 10:45 AM
December 7, 2014 at 10:45 AM
Central Passage
"Behold the days come saith the Lord..." Jer. 31:31
"Behold the days come saith the Lord..." Jer. 31:31
Subject
Yearning for a Redeemer
Yearning for a Redeemer
Description
| Dr. E. G. Sherman, Jr. | Sunday December 7, 2014 |
| Yearning for a Redeemer | |
| “Behold the days come saith the Lord...” Jer. 31:31 | |
| Last Sunday marked the end of Thanksgiving 2014 but it, also, signaled the beginning of Advent. This season encompasses four Sunday before Christmas. The sermon today is first in the 2014 Advent. It has been entitled, Yearning for a Redeemer and will encompass the following three dimensions, namely: Malachi’s warning the Jewish people of the forthcoming Silent Years; the Christians’ establishing an event in the Church calendar known as The Advent, and a signal to the Christians to anticipate The Second Advent at which time Christ shall return to the earth, in theological terms, the rapture. ( 1st Thess. 4:15-18 ). As background on the subject, attention will be placed on the word redeemer. It has an array of meanings that include the secular world, but others within the Christian context. Some of the worldly definitions include: to free from captivity; to buy back an outstanding debt owed by another; to extricate from a distressful situation; and to perform an act for another who was totally unable to so implement. While these definitions of redeemer are admirable and beneficial, not one of them can impact a person’s prospect for salvation. Hence, another type of redeemer is needed. That redeemer is found in Christian theology where “...Jesus is sometimes referred to as a Redeemer. This refers to the salvation he is believed to have accomplished, and is based on Biblical teachings, one of which is “ ...God sent forth his Son...to redeem them that were under the law...”( Gal. 4:4-5 ) It is this Biblical fact that anchors the word redeemer as used in the subject, Yearning for a Redeemer. Having given a synopsis on the key concept, redeemer, the focus will now be directed on the earlier specified parameters of the sermon, the first one being - The Silent Years. The Bible has two divisions: The Old Testament and the New Testament. These divisions are also known as the Old Covenant - Law - and the New Covenant - Grace. There is a lapse of 400 years between the two Testaments. No attempt is herein made to explain why God imposed such a lengthy period of silence for the Jewish people. It must be noted, however, that God did use the prophet, Malachi, to warn the Jewish people, first, of the forthcoming silence and, secondly, to informed them that it would end with the coming of John the Baptist. God had earlier promised to establish a New Covenant unlike the one the Jewish predecessors had broken. That New Covenant, according to Jeremiah 31:31, would be written in their inward part and be in their hearts: and will be their God, and they shall be my people. ( Jer. 31:33 ). In was in the recall of this promise that, during The Silent Years, the Jewish people commenced A Yearning for the Redeemer. Approximately, three Centuries after the birth of the Redeemer, some of the Church Fathers conceived the idea that a time should be set aside to commemorate the fulfillment of Malachi’s and Jeremiah’s prophecies had been actualized. Thus, the idea of Advent emerged and has been institutionalized as a part of the Christian Church calendar. This fact leads to the second focus on the sermon which is - What is the Advent? This word, Advent, ‘... means "coming" or "arrival." The focus of the entire season is the celebration of the birth of Jesus the Christ in his First Advent, and the anticipation of the return of Christ the King in his Second Advent.’ This observation of Advent, like Thanksgiving and Christmas, has its special colors for display during the season. The Advent colors “...feature purple (or dark blue) and pink. The purple/blue color signifies seriousness, repentance, and royalty. Pink points to the minor theme of Advent, which is joy”. Advent is marked by a spirit of expectation, of anticipation, of preparation, of longing. There is a yearning for deliverance from the evils of the world of today, first expressed by Israelite slaves in Egypt as they cried out from their bitter oppression. It is the cry of those who have experienced the tyranny of injustice in a world under the curse of sin, and yet who have hope of deliverance by a God who has heard the cries of oppressed slaves and brought deliverance! Oh yes, God used Moses to provide leadership during the Exodus from Egypt, but it was the power of God manifested through the actions of Moses that the Israelites completed the journey. There have been and continue to be individuals whom God has is using to deliver His people from the evils of this world. Years ago, God used George Washington to lead the Colonists from the terror of the British Crown; in the early 1860's, God used President Abraham Lincoln to lead the enslaved Africans from the shackles of bondage in America. Almost 100 years later, God would intervene for a quasi free Negro, as known then, from the legalities of second class membership. Around fifty years later, God took an unprecedented leap and chose Obama to become President of America with the intent of helping America to live up to its creed of equality for all Americans. Beloved, these individual achieved a measure of success but not one was capable of reuniting the broken cord of eternal existence with the Father. Yet, the Bible asserts that in the fulness of time, God brought forth his Son - the Redeemer - to be offered as the unblemished lamb required for the sin price of fallen humanity. That spiritual conduit was made possible by the First Advent. The somber question now becomes - What is your stance on the Second Advent? This question constitutes the final concern of the sermon and, therefore, must be addressed by each reader and/or hearer of message. As pastor and writer, I can only proclaim the glorious message that Jesus has fulfilled the First Advent; I can further assert - according to the Bible - that He shall return as the Second Advent. But I, along with all other proclaimers of the Gospel, am unable to stand in for you. This requirement can only be fulfilled by your decision to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. As a spiritual act of obedience to His request, we shall symbolize our faith in Him in preparation for the Second Advent as we partake of The Lord’s Supper at the end of this sermon on Yearning for the Redeemer. An invitation for discipleship will now be given and the communion service will follow. Amen! |
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