1 00:00:05,566 --> 00:00:08,933 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. 2 00:00:11,333 --> 00:00:16,366 In this sermon I'm going to talk about three things from the reading that stuck out to me. 3 00:00:17,466 --> 00:00:25,166 The elder. Why does John introduce his letter in this way? Introduce himself as the elder. 4 00:00:26,466 --> 00:00:33,466 The elect lady. Why does John refer to the people he's writing to in this way? 5 00:00:35,633 --> 00:00:43,366 And finally, the central confession contained in this letter. Jesus Christ comes in the flesh. 6 00:00:45,633 --> 00:00:49,966 And it sounds like I've just laid out the outline of my sermon and I apologize, I haven't. 7 00:00:50,266 --> 00:00:53,133 I'm going to talk about all these things at the same time. 8 00:00:54,333 --> 00:00:59,633 So if there's any confusion, just see me at coffee and we can talk about it. 9 00:01:01,900 --> 00:01:08,033 For now, the elder to the elect lady. Jesus Christ comes in the flesh. 10 00:01:09,900 --> 00:01:11,000 Please pray with me. 11 00:01:11,433 --> 00:01:20,100 Lord God, send us your Spirit to open our hearts, to hear your words, so that our faith would be strengthened, 12 00:01:20,100 --> 00:01:29,866 hope would be awakened, and love for you and for one another would be rekindled through Jesus Christ our Lord. 13 00:01:31,366 --> 00:01:31,533 Amen. 14 00:01:34,533 --> 00:01:40,166 So Jesus Christ came in the flesh and that's what made John the elder. 15 00:01:41,266 --> 00:01:46,900 And it's what made the recipients of John's letter the elect lady. 16 00:01:47,900 --> 00:01:56,466 John calls himself the elder and by this time in Christian history, Christians have been using this term already, which came out of Judaism. 17 00:01:57,933 --> 00:02:01,333 But I think it means something special with John. 18 00:02:03,033 --> 00:02:07,833 John is the elder of elders, you might say. 19 00:02:09,266 --> 00:02:13,866 I'm reminded of what John writes in his first letter. 20 00:02:14,300 --> 00:02:25,866 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon, and have touched with our hands concerning the word of life. 21 00:02:27,333 --> 00:02:32,466 John is a witness to Jesus Christ coming in the flesh. 22 00:02:35,133 --> 00:02:41,733 But more than that, Jesus comes in the flesh of every believer. 23 00:02:43,666 --> 00:02:48,933 John calls the churches that he is writing to the elect lady. 24 00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:52,200 He uses the word kuria. 25 00:02:53,600 --> 00:02:58,266 This is the feminine counterpart of kurias. 26 00:02:58,266 --> 00:03:01,833 The lady belongs to her Lord. 27 00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:08,266 Jesus Christ came in the flesh to unite himself to humanity. 28 00:03:09,633 --> 00:03:18,200 The one flesh union of a husband and his wife is a picture of Christ's union withHis church. 29 00:03:19,500 --> 00:03:28,466 Jesus comes in the flesh then and he leaves eyewitnesses to give their testimony. 30 00:03:30,466 --> 00:03:36,066 Jesus Christ comes in the flesh and unites Himself to mankind. 31 00:03:36,466 --> 00:03:44,466 So that whoever believes in Him and receives His word into them and allows it to take root and bear fruit, 32 00:03:46,166 --> 00:03:52,466 they also are part of His body and He lives in their flesh. 33 00:03:54,966 --> 00:04:10,833 It's as members of Christ, as the elect lady, and it's as witnesses of Christ coming in the flesh that I want to exhort you all today to boldness. 34 00:04:12,833 --> 00:04:19,500 Not just boldness in your witness to others, although that is important and that comes. 35 00:04:20,766 --> 00:04:26,233 But this morning I want us to think about our boldness in the things that we say to God. 36 00:04:29,866 --> 00:04:37,566 Jesus Christ coming into the flesh, into your flesh, changes you. 37 00:04:37,566 --> 00:04:46,733 It changes death into life. It changes blindness into sight. It changes leprosy into cleanness. 38 00:04:49,200 --> 00:04:55,566 Read the gospel stories. What happens when Jesus Christ comes to a place in the flesh? 39 00:04:56,300 --> 00:05:05,966 The dead are raised. Demons are cast out. The lame walk. The blind see. The deaf hear. The mute speak. 40 00:05:07,566 --> 00:05:17,600 You have this promise in your own flesh. So be bold to your Heavenly Father. He wants you to pray to Him. 41 00:05:19,133 --> 00:05:27,233 You could pray like this. Lord Jesus, you came in the flesh to this earth and cast out evil spirits. 42 00:05:27,533 --> 00:05:34,700 Since you live in my flesh, cast out every evil thought from my heart. Deliver me from my mental anguish. 43 00:05:36,900 --> 00:05:42,433 Lord Jesus, you came in the flesh to this earth and gave hearing to the deaf, speech to the mute. 44 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:50,966 Since you live in my flesh, open my ears to hear your words afresh and to understand your will. 45 00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:56,266 And through that hearing, give me good, rich, and edifying things to say. 46 00:05:59,233 --> 00:06:11,333 Lord Jesus, you came in the flesh to this earth and cleansed lepers. Since you live in my flesh, purge me of everything that is unworthy of your spotless sacrifice. 47 00:06:12,866 --> 00:06:28,300 Lord Jesus, you came in the flesh to this earth and healed the lame. Since you live in my flesh, remove from me the crippling bitterness. 48 00:06:31,533 --> 00:06:38,333 You know that God wants your anger curbed. You know God wants you to make the best use of your time. 49 00:06:39,633 --> 00:06:45,000 You know that God wants you to love the scriptures and to abide in them. 50 00:06:46,333 --> 00:06:53,066 You know that God hates lustful thoughts and he wants your minds to be focused on good things and not on evil things. 51 00:06:54,233 --> 00:07:05,266 You know God's will. Pray that it be done in you. Have confidence and go before your Heavenly Father. 52 00:07:07,366 --> 00:07:20,633 God is ready and able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think because His power is at work in us. 53 00:07:22,066 --> 00:07:30,133 Pray and you will see the power of Christ in the flesh and you will be a witness like John. 54 00:07:34,866 --> 00:07:45,566 Since call day is around the corner, I wanted to talk about the elder and the elect lady from another angle. 55 00:07:48,200 --> 00:07:55,833 Listen to what John writes in chapter 3 of his gospel. John the Baptist is speaking and he says this, 56 00:07:57,033 --> 00:08:05,800 The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom who stands and hears him rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. 57 00:08:06,833 --> 00:08:15,066 Therefore, this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase but I must decrease. 58 00:08:16,866 --> 00:08:25,333 I want all of you who are studying to be pastors and those of you who already are to remember this one thing. 59 00:08:25,333 --> 00:08:36,500 Always remember that the greatest joy you can possibly know in all of your ministry is the joy of being united with Christ. 60 00:08:37,733 --> 00:08:44,400 The joy of being a child of God because Christ has made His home in you. 61 00:08:45,400 --> 00:08:53,300 So imitate John the Baptist by rejoicing to hear the voice of the bridegroom. 62 00:08:54,600 --> 00:09:04,766 Let that loving, grace-filled voice satisfy you completely, fill you up. 63 00:09:07,533 --> 00:09:15,633 Don't look for joy in the approval that you hope to receive from anyone else. 64 00:09:16,866 --> 00:09:25,533 Not your congregation members, not your vicarage supervisor, not your senior pastor, your students. 65 00:09:30,766 --> 00:09:42,433 Gregory the Great has something to say about this. I'm writing my dissertation on Gregory the Great and if you haven't read his book of pastoral rule, I highly recommend it. 66 00:09:43,500 --> 00:09:44,933 Gregory says this, 67 00:09:45,866 --> 00:09:53,866 It is important that the spiritual director be vigilant that he is not assailed by a desire to please others. 68 00:09:55,133 --> 00:10:08,266 Or else even though he might carefully penetrate spiritual matters and might expertly attend to the temporal needs of others, still he seeks the love of the laity more than he seeks the truth. 69 00:10:09,100 --> 00:10:17,666 Or supported by his good works and seeming by all accounts otherworldly, his love of self separates him from his creator. 70 00:10:19,433 --> 00:10:31,266 For he is the enemy of the Redeemer who through the good works that he performs desires to be loved by members of the church rather than by the Redeemer. 71 00:10:33,133 --> 00:10:42,466 For indeed a servant is guilty of adulterous thoughts if he desires to please the eyes of the bride when he is sent by the groom to offer gifts. 72 00:10:44,833 --> 00:10:52,533 Brothers, the lady belongs to her Lord and not to you. Our task is to promote the Lord. 73 00:10:54,033 --> 00:11:02,600 You are the Lord's wingman. You teach the lady how much the Lord loves her. 74 00:11:03,900 --> 00:11:09,966 You teach her how much he has done for her. You teach her that he gave up his life for her on the cross. 75 00:11:09,966 --> 00:11:22,733 You teach her to love Him in return. You teach her to pray to Him. You teach her to trust in Him. You teach her to love Him and to seek His face. 76 00:11:23,833 --> 00:11:39,866 You show her how the Lord is preparing her for the last day and the final judgment so that he might present the church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 77 00:11:45,333 --> 00:11:55,666 Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, Jesus, the Son of God, through whom all things were made, came to us in the flesh. 78 00:11:56,866 --> 00:12:15,300 He was born of Mary. He preached the gospel in the flesh throughout Judea and Galilee. He suffered in the flesh and died. He was raised bodily. He ascended in the flesh. He sits at the right hand of the Father. 79 00:12:16,766 --> 00:12:27,133 He still comes to us in the flesh in His supper. And He is coming in the flesh on the last day to judge the living and the dead. 80 00:12:28,266 --> 00:12:51,766 God grant each of us, like John the Baptist, the fullest measure of joy because Jesus has come to us, because He has united himself to us, because we are witnesses of His saving power. In Jesus' name, Amen. 81 00:12:52,666 --> 00:12:54,266 Alleluia! Christ is risen!