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MALACHI 3:1-4

PHILIPPIANS 1:3-11

LUKE 3:1-6

Rejoice in your salvation is the theme for our reflection. To rejoice is to feel or show great joy or delight. Salvation means the gathering of all faithful believers into the Kingdom of God by Jesus Christ at His second coming. In the season of Advent, we look forward in hope and rejoice in our salvation even as we anticipate the second and final coming of Jesus to grant us eternal life. Beloved in the Lord our theme presents to us three important points:

1. Rejoice in your salvation because the Lord has a plan to refine and purify you to become righteous in Jesus.
2. Rejoice in your salvation because the Lord has given us an opportunity to listen to His Word and repent even as we prepare for the coming of Christ.
3. Believers who have abound in the love of Christ and lived a pure and blameless life will be the ones to truly rejoice in their salvation on the day of Christ.

First, beloved in the Lord, you must rejoice in your salvation because the Lord does not forsake His children, it is His desire to refine and purify them like silver and gold ,and make them righteous for their salvation. For this reason Malachi prophesied to the hopefuls of Israel that the Lord “ … will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offering in righteousness to the Lord. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in the former year” (Malachi 3:3-4) Beloved in the Lord, without righteousness we cannot please God therefore we must desire to prepare ourselves and welcome Jesus into our lives to refine and purify us through the power of the Holy Spirit so that we may continually rejoice in our salvation even before the second coming of the Lord. The Lord is Holy therefore without a life of righteousness our entire body as a living sacrifice will be rejected as offering to Him. It is for this reason Paul admonishes us in Romans 12:1 that “I appeal to you therefore brothers (and sisters), by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Secondly, we those who have been refined and purified by the first coming of our Lord Jesus Christ must have the passion and calling of John the Baptist to “proclaim a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sin” (Luke 3:3) for “ … all flesh shall see the salvation of God” (Luke 3:6). We are in the era of abundant grace and must rejoice in our Salvation because  the Lord has given us the opportunity to repent, be refined and sanctified for eternal life. We those who are rejoicing in our Salvation must engage in active evangelism and outreach programmes during the Advent season to talk about the Salvation of Christ and invite people to give their lives to Christ so that all of us on the day of Christ will truly rejoice in our salvation and redemption. It is not enough to gather in our chapels to rejoice in our salvation but as we prepare for the coming of Christ we must like John the Baptist, win souls and baptize them in the Lord. It is for this reason Jesus commissions us in Matthew 28:18-20 that “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age”

Thirdly, after we have been refined, purified and have proclaimed the good news to the world, we must continue to abound in love and be found blameless when our Lord and Savior Jesus returns the second time. Paul’s fervent prayer for the Philippians which we must also desire and pray for is that “… love may abound more and more, with the knowledge and all discernment so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with fruit of righteousness that come through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God”(Philippians 1:9-11)  Beloved in the Lord in whatever you do and wherever you find yourself abound in love and remain blameless and righteous before God so that you will continually rejoice in your salvation on the day of Christ.

In conclusion my dear friend in Christ, we must rejoice in our salvation because it is God’s will and plan to save us by refining and purifying us to be righteous unto salvation, as we rejoice in our salvation we must preach the Good News of Christ without ceasing so that those who are lost may also rejoice in their salvation last but not the least, having been saved and rejoicing in our salvation we must continue to abound in love and remain blameless and righteous until the second and final advent of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. May His grace continue to rest and abide with us Amen.

Jean-Paul Agidi (Rev)