Saturday after the Second Sunday of Advent, 12/16/00

Psalm 143 11, 12 For Your name's sake, O Lord, preserve my life; in your righteousness, bring me out of trouble. In Your unfailing love, silence my enemies; destroy my foes, for I am Your servant. --NIV

In the name of the One Who preserve's our lives in eternity, amen.

In the beginning of this beautiful little psalm King David asks God not to bring Him into judgment, because no one living is righteous before God. There is nothing in ourselves that we can point to as a reason that God should spare us on judgment day. No decision that we have made is going to make any difference. If we view Baptism as something we do to show God and man that we believe in God, it has little value for us. If we celebrate the Lord's Supper because Christ said, "Do this in remembrance of me," and that puts it on par with the ten commandments, it is simply works righteousness. If we are fooled by the idea that we aren't really believers until we have prayed that Jesus would come into our hearts and take over our lives, we have lost our salvation.

But if we kneel before God in fear of His anger over our sins, and beg His mercy because of Jesus' sacrifice, we have salvation. If we see that Baptism is our connection to Jesus' perfect life, His innocent death, and His glorious resurrection, then we have certainty in the Judgment. When we partake of Christ's Holy Supper, recognizing that the bread and wine are His body and blood just like He said they are, then we receive the divine into ourselves so that we will live with God in eternity, and not to our judgment. It is for His name's sake that He has given us salvation. It is His work, His glory, and not ours. Praise be to His holy name forever! Amen.

Prayer: Glory, praise, and thanks be to You forever, heavenly Father. For You gave salvation to us as a free gift. Ours is not to decide, but to respond in thankfulness and praise. And we do thank and praise You for Your grace. Bless us, O Lord, for Your name's sake. Make us stand in the judgment by the power of Your Holy Spirit, who gives, strengthens, and preserves true faith, amen.

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