Two things to be watching for; two things to be prepared for. The arrival of the thief, that is the devil, trying to rob us of our inheritance, and the arrival of the Master, our Lord Jesus, when he comes at an unknown hour. Thus a double vigilance is required of his people. This is a worthy text to meditate upon in the waning hours of 2005.
A year is almost done. It contained numerous sorrows and countless joys. It brought us opportunities both seized and missed. But the Lord is not tonight inviting us to ponder with either sorrow or pride the time that is past. Rather, he is reminding of the time which He always wishes for us to be concerned with: the present and our final future.
The present, where God has placed you now, in the situations God has given you now, these are where he calls for vigilance: against the thief and with eager waiting for the Master.
The promise of vigilance for the Master’s coming is great: He himself will come to SERVE His servants. Incredible as that may sound, they will find themselves not serving, but being served by the Master a banquet beyond all imagining – a gift of love utterly transfiguring – something that has never entered into the hearts of fallen men, how greatly God loves them.
But there is one who would rob you of the Master’s hospitality; there is one who would persuade you to live your lives in the present merely for the here and now and NOT for the future that is surely coming. That one, our Lord tells us, is the thief. And there’s no better name for the devil than that. He’s the one who comes to us to take from us everything that God in His mercy and love toward us would give us: health of body and soul, joy in the kingdom of God, love toward all, and peace that passes understanding. He would snatch all of that away. He doesn’t want us to have ANY of those things.
Watch against him constantly, the Lord Jesus exhorts us, so that in the end we are not deprived of what the Lord’s good things – the bounty He died to win for us.
But how does one watch against the thief, the devil? In the self-same way that one watches for the Lord! With constant and vigilant prayer.
A few years ago a rather obvious thought dawned on me: when the Lord said, stay awake and watch, he meant it! You see, people loved by God, nighttime is not just for sleeping. You know that. Because there are those nights when you put your head on the pillow, but the sleep doesn’t come. There are those nights you end up pacing the floor, and how long and dark are those hours then! So it was for me too until I realized what was happening.
Do remember when God called to Samuel as he lay sleeping? “Here am I,” he ran to Eli to say. But Eli had not called him. Again and again this was repeated until old Eli realized that God was calling the lad. So Eli said: When he calls, say: “Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth.” So let it be with us, my friends. When in the middle of the night the Lord calls, let us get up and answer and say: “Speak, O Lord!” Let us waken to prayer and vigilance, and watch through the dark hours with prayers of expectation, with thanksgiving, and with eager longing for the moment when our Lord and Master will appear. And especially in those hours let us guard against the wretched thief who would come to take away from us our joy in the Lord. Let us call out to the Lord: “Come, Lord Jesus!” and “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner!” Let us seek His mercy and pray for ourselves, our loved ones, our enemies, and all people.
Are you the type given to resolutions on New Years? If so, might I be bold to suggest that the one resolution you make this year will be that when sleep is taken from your eyes at night, you will spend some time in vigilance and prayer? Reading the Word of God, reflecting on God’s promises and waiting with eager longing for the promised coming of the Master? Look up the stars in the skies and remember His promise to return.
It was at midnight that the Christ was born into this world, according to the Wisdom of Solomon: “When the night was half spent Your Almighty Word, O Lord, descended from the royal throne.” It was during the hours of night that Angels announced the Savior’s birth to Shepherds on Bethlehem’s hills. It was at night that the Magi followed a star from Jerusalem to David’s City and found the great Desire of Nations, and bowed before Him in worship, with gold, frankincense, and myrrh. It was during the hours of night that that holy Child, grown to manhood, spent time in prayer to the Father. It was during the night that He was transfigured and began to shine as bright as the sun before His astonished chosen three. It was during the darkness of night that He broke bread and fed His own with His body and blood; at night that He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. It was during the darkness of night that He was betrayed and handed over in order to give life to the world. Nighttime and prayer and Jesus – they just go hand in hand together.
And so we are gathered here in prayer tonight, ready to bid farewell to 2005 and welcome in a new year, 2006, the year of our Congregation’s 150th birthday. And again we shall pray and He shall come in answer to our prayers in a way beyond all our understanding, to serve us with His body and blood, taking away our sins and giving us His life – the Lord of Calvary and Easter, the Lord of that glorious Last Day – just as He has always done for His people since that first Lord’s Supper and will do to the end of the world.
We feast with Him and He serves us and bids us eat and drink, and watch and wait. Wait for that glorious day when it will not be by faith, but with our very eyes we shall see Him and join the saints who have preceded us with all the holy angels in falling down before Him, giving endless praise and honor to Him, and to His Father, and to His Spirit, the Blessed and Most Glorious Trinity, to whom shall be praise and honor unto the ages of ages! Grant us this, O Lord! Amen.
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