Preparing for Sunday...

I was looking back over the last sermon Don DeVries delivered to us in July of 2007. Our series was from 2 Timothy 4:1-8 and was called Final Words... partly because it reflected Paul's last charge to Timothy and partly because it reflected Don's last series of sermons to Sovereign Grace Church.

As he was closing out this message he gave us five ways of preparing for the Sunday meeting... particularly in preparing ourselves to hear God's Word preached. Rereading them, I thought these were so good that I wanted to share them with you here as we prepare for tomorrow:

1^st Recognize the unique place of the preached word in your life. Last week I shared that the four legs of Christian growth included: Scripture, prayer, biblical fellowship and preaching. Something unique happens when we sit under God’s word in the context of the local church. The Holy Spirit anoints His word and He anoints those who are listening.

2^nd Go to bed early on Saturday night so you are ready to listen and engage with God’s word. I must draw on John Piper here, “Without sufficient sleep our minds are dull, our emotions are flat, our proneness to depression is higher and our fuses are short” He goes on to write, “I especially exhort parents to teach teenagers that Saturday night is not the night to stay out late with friends…It is a terrible thing to teach children that worship is so optional that it doesn’t matter if you are exhausted when you come.”

3^rd Avoid worldly entertainment on Saturday night to prepare your heart for the message on Sunday. Again, John Piper brings a very sobering exhortation when he writes, “It astonishes me how many Christians watch the same… empty... trivial… suggestive…immodest TV shows that most unbelievers watch. This makes us small and weak and worldly and inauthentic in worship. Instead turn off the television on Saturday night and read something true and great and beautiful and pure and honorable and excellent and worthy of praise. Your heart will unshrivel and you will be able to feel greatness again.”

4^th Put aside preferences. We all have the temptation to prefer a particular style of preaching or a particular theme. We might prefer to have the OT preached to the NT or a gospel preached to one of Paul’s letters. None of these desires are inherently wrong unless they hinder you from hearing and applying God’s word or they tempt you to become sinfully critical.

5^th Be humble and teachable. Each week, listen to what the Spirit might be speaking to you from His word. Look for one thing each week that you can apply. As you do, the roots of your spiritual life will grow deeper and your communion and walk with the Lord will only grow sweeter.

Soak your soul in this...

I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory." "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Cor 15:50-57

What a complete privilege awaits us! We cannot inherit the greatness of God's kingdom in its fullness as we are... but we will ALL be changed! In a way we won't even fully comprehend as it happens before we can blink, we will be clothed with the immortal capacity to celebrate Christ's victory over death. We're going to sing a song this Sunday that captures this reality so well; here are the words from There is a Day by Nathan Fellingham. Can't wait to sing this with you tomorrow!

There is a day that all creation’s waiting for
A day of freedom and liberation for the earth
And on that day the Lord will come to meet His bride
And when we see Him in an instant we’ll be changed

The trumpet sounds and the dead will then be raised
By His power, never to perish again
Once only flesh, now clothed with immortality
Death has now been swallowed up in victory

We will meet Him in the air
And then we will be like Him
For we will see Him as He is, O yeah
Then all hurt and pain will cease
And we’ll be with Him forever
And in His glory we will live, O yeah, O yeah

So lift Your eyes to the things as yet unseen
That will remain now for all eternity
Though trouble’s hard, it’s only momentary
And it’s achieving our future glory