Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented. As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:13-17
How’s Your Approval Rating?
Whether it’s at work, school, or home, we are constantly graded, compared to others, and rated. The boss gives us our annual review. The teacher hands out report cards. The son informs mom that her Mac & Cheese isn’t as good as what Dylan’s mom makes.
It is strange how these “ratings” can affect our day. If they’re good, we feel good. If they’re lousy, we feel lousy. If they’re nothing special, then we are tempted to feel that we’re nothing special.
How’s your approval rating with God? How have you been keeping up with those Ten Commandments? Remember, they’re not God’s suggestions; they are his commands. How’s it going between you and your neighbor, all your neighbors? Jesus said, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
If we’re going to talk comparisons, why not go all the way and, as God says, compare ourselves to him. “Be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.” Yikes! Will I ever meet with God’s approval? Will God ever say of me, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased”?
This is what makes the Baptism of Jesus, as well as our own baptisms so special. God, in his grace, has connected me to Jesus. God has given me faith in Jesus as my Savior. Jesus has taken away all my sins. Jesus gives me his perfection and holiness. When God looks at me, he sees Jesus and he says, “This is my son, my daughter, whom I love! With him, with her, I am well pleased.” Approval ratings don’t get any higher than this. God be praised!
Prayer:
Dear Jesus, when doubts of my worth come, drown them in the waters of Baptism and remind me of your love for me in Jesus. Amen.
[God] chose us in [Jesus] before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. Ephesians 1:4-6
Chosen by God
Do you remember the feeling? You are preparing to play kickball during recess at school. Two captains are choosing players for their teams. They start with the best athletes. Was that you? Or were you picked later? Maybe even last?
If God were picking teams, would you be chosen?
There are days when you think, “Of course I would! I try my hardest. I’m honest, kind, and caring, just the kind of person God would want on his team.” And maybe you go to church, sing in the choir, and volunteer to serve in many ways. God should not only pick you but should name you MVP—Most Valuable Person.
But there are other days—or parts of every day—when you realize that you don’t even deserve to be picked last. You shouldn’t even get a spot on the bench. So often, you hurt those around you with what you say or don’t say, with what you do or don’t do. With your life, you say to God, “I want to play by my own rules.”
If God were picking teams, why would he choose you?
But God did choose you! God’s choice was not based on your ability or performance. His choice, which he made before the creation of the world, came from pure love. He gives you that love freely, generously, and without condition. How comforting that is! It is all in God’s hands. It is all because of God’s love.
In love, God chose to send his Son, Jesus, to take away your sins and failures, so that you are holy and blameless in his sight. In love, God chose to adopt you as his own child through faith in your Savior, Jesus. In love, God chose to give you an eternal inheritance and a home with him in heaven.
Praise God for his loving choice!
Prayer:
Father, I thank you that, in awesome and undeserved love, you chose me to be your child. Amen.
When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory. Ephesians 1:13-14
God Made the Down Payment
How do you go about paying for a new house? You deposit a portion of the cost for the house up front, right? You make a down payment. However, even though you still haven’t paid in full, you already get to move into the house. You get to live in it and enjoy it. You get to make it your own. You don’t have to wait to pay the full amount to make the house your home. Of course, many years later, when you one day make the final payment on your home, there’s a special joy and satisfaction in knowing the home is completely owned by you. There’s no one else with a claim on it at all anymore.
Maybe buying a house can help you understand what God is telling you here in Ephesians chapter 1. When you believe in Jesus, you’re marked with God’s seal—the Holy Spirit himself. The Holy Spirit enters your heart as God’s down payment and guarantees your full future redemption to come.
Before reaching your ultimate salvation on the Last Day when you sit at your Lord’s feet in heaven, already now, by faith, the Holy Spirit dwells in your heart. That means you now get to enjoy the blessings of God: to taste his forgiveness, to have a hope that presses you forward, to know a love that has no limit. This is just the down payment that guarantees so much more. Your eternal salvation is sealed already by the Spirit dwelling in you. God guarantees a future for you. The Holy Spirit has made your heart his home, and that means you are God’s special possession today and in eternity.
Prayer:
Dear Holy Spirit, I thank you for making my heart your home and for guaranteeing me a future with you and the Father and the Son. That you would do this, even for a sinner like me, shouts your praise and glory to the ends of the earth. Amen.
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The anniversary ends, but the history continues During 2025, WELS has commemorated the 175th anniversary of its founding, 175 years of God’s work among us and through us. Resources have been produced and presentations given. This year […]
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Striving to provide called workers “Calling” is one of the four priorities outlined in the synod’s “Christ through us” long-range strategic plan (along with “Culture,” “Congregations,” and “Commission”). For our synod to carry out its […]
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WELS Synodical Council meets The Synodical Council met Nov. 7–8 for its fall meeting at the Center for Mission and Ministry, Waukesha, Wis. The Synodical Council (SC) is the group of lay leaders and […]
1 Then a measuring rod like a staff was given to me. He said, [1] “Stand up and measure the incense altar and the temple of God and those who worship in it. 2 Exclude the outer court of the temple and do not measure it, because it has been given to the heathen. They will trample the holy city for forty-two months. 3 I will commission my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”
4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that are standing before the Lord of the earth. 5 If anyone wants to harm them, fire is going to come out of their mouths and consume their enemies. If anyone should want to harm them, it is necessary that he be killed in this way.
6 These two have the authority to shut the sky so that no rain falls during the days when they are prophesying. They also have authority over the waters, to turn them into blood, and the authority to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.
The Beast That Kills the Two Witnesses
7 When they finish their testimony, the beast that comes up from the abyss will fight against them, conquer them, and kill them. 8 Their dead bodies will lie on the street of the great city, which spiritually [2] is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.
9 Some from the peoples, tribes, languages, and nations will look at their dead bodies for three and a half days and will not permit them to be placed in a tomb. 10 Those who dwell on the earth will also rejoice over them and celebrate by sending gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.
11 After three and a half days the breath of life from God came into them. They stood on their feet, and a great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 And I [3] heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” They went up into heaven in a cloud, as their enemies watched them. 13 At that moment there was also a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed by the earthquake, and the survivors were terrified and gave praise to the God of heaven.
14 The second woe is past. See, the third woe is coming soon.
Footnotes
Revelation 11:1 Some witnesses to the text read The angel stood there and said.
Revelation 11:8 Or because of its spiritual condition
Revelation 11:12 Some witnesses to the text read they.
1 Then I saw another powerful angel coming down out of heaven. He was clothed with a cloud, a rainbow was over his head, his face was like the sun, his feet were like pillars of fire, 2 and he had in his hand a little scroll, which had been opened. He put his right foot on the sea and his left on the land, 3 and he cried out with a loud voice, just as a lion roars. And when he cried out, the seven thunders spoke using their own voices.
4 When the seven thunders had spoken, I was about to write. But I heard a voice from heaven, saying, “Seal up the things that the seven thunders said, and do not write them down.”
5 The angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven, 6 and he swore by the one who lives forever and ever, who created the sky and the things in it, the earth and the things in it, and the sea and the things in it. He said, “There will be no more delay. 7 Instead, in the days of the sound made by the seventh angel, that is, when he is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will also be completed, exactly as he made this good news known to his servants the prophets.”
John’s Commission to Prophesy
8 The voice that I heard from heaven also spoke to me again, saying, “Go, take the scroll that has been opened in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” 9 I went to the angel and said to him, “Give me the little scroll.”
He said to me, “Take it and eat it. It will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.” 10 I took the little scroll out of the angel’s hand and ate it. It was as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter. 11 And they said to me, “It is necessary that you prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages, and kings.”
1 Then the fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen out of heaven to the earth, and the key to the pit of the abyss was given to him. 2 He opened the pit of the abyss, and smoke came up out of the pit like the smoke from a huge furnace. The sun and the air were darkened by the smoke from the pit. 3 And out of the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given the kind of power that scorpions of the earth have. 4 They were told not to harm the earth’s grass, any green plant, or any tree, but only those people who do not have God’s seal on their foreheads.
5 Indeed, they were not given permission to kill these people but only to torture them for five months. And the pain they cause is like the pain caused by a scorpion when it stings a person. 6 In those days people will seek death but will certainly not find it. They will long to die, but death will escape them.
7 The locusts looked like horses ready for battle. On their heads were what appeared to be crowns that were like gold. Their faces looked like human faces. 8 They had hair that looked like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. 9 They had breastplates that appeared to be made of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of many chariots and horses charging into battle. 10 They had tails with stingers like those of scorpions, and in their tails they had power to hurt people for five months.
11 They have the angel of the abyss over them as their king. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he has the name Apollyon. [1]
12 One woe is past. Look! After these things two more woes are coming.
The Sixth Trumpet
13 Then the sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice speak from the four [2] horns of the gold incense altar that is before God. 14 It said to the sixth angel, the one with the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” 15 And the four angels who had been prepared for this hour, day, month, and year were let loose so that they could kill a third of the people.
16 The number of soldiers on horseback was two hundred million. I heard their number. 17 And this is what I saw in the vision of the horses and their riders: They had breastplates that were fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow. The heads of the horses were like the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire and smoke and sulfur. 18 As a result of these three plagues, the fire and the smoke and the sulfur that came out of their mouths, a third of mankind was killed. 19 For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, for their tails are like snakes that have heads, which they use to cause injuries.
20 The rest of the people, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands by giving up their worship of demons and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, or wood, which cannot see, hear, or walk. 21 And they did not repent of their murders, their sorceries, their sexual immoralities, or their thefts.
Footnotes
Revelation 9:11 Both Abaddon and Apollyon mean Destroyer.
Revelation 9:13 Some witnesses to the text omit four.
The Seventh Seal: Seven Angels With Seven Trumpets
1 When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.
3 Another angel, holding a gold censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given a large amount of incense to offer together with the prayers of all the saints on the gold altar that was in front of the throne. 4 And the smoke of the incense went up from the hand of the angel before God, together with the prayers of the saints.
5 The angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it on the earth. Then there came crashes of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.
The First Four Trumpets
6 The seven angels, who had the seven trumpets, prepared to sound them. 7 The first sounded his trumpet, and hail and fire mixed with blood were thrown on the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, and [1] a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.
8 Then the second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea became blood, 9 a third of the creatures that live in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
10 Then the third angel sounded his trumpet, and a huge star, blazing like a lamp, fell from the sky. It fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. 11 The name of the star was Wormwood, and a third of the waters became wormwood. [2] Many of the people died from these waters because they had been made bitter.
12 Then the fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, as well as a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them became dark. And there was no light for a third of the day and likewise for the night.
13 Then I looked and I heard a single eagle [3] flying in the middle of the sky, saying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe to those whose home is on the earth because of the remaining trumpet blasts of the three angels who are about to sound their trumpets.”
Footnotes
Revelation 8:7 A few witnesses to the text omit A third of the earth was burned up, and.
Revelation 8:11 Wormwood refers to a bitter herb that was used as medicine to kill intestinal worms.
Revelation 8:13 A few witnesses to the text read angel.
1 After this I saw four angels, who stood at the four corners of the earth. They were holding back the four winds of the earth so that the wind could not blow on the earth, the sea, or any tree.
2 And I saw another angel coming up from the east, who had the seal of the living God. He called out with a loud voice to the four angels who were given power to harm the earth and the sea. He said, 3 “Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees until we have placed a seal on the foreheads of God’s servants.”
4 And I heard the number of those sealed:
144,000 sealed from all the tribes of the people of Israel:
5 from the tribe of Judah,
12,000, who were sealed,
from the tribe of Reuben,
12,000,
from the tribe of Gad,
12,000,
6 from the tribe of Asher,
12,000,
from the tribe of Naphtali,
12,000,
from the tribe of Manasseh,
12,000,
7 from the tribe of Simeon,
12,000,
from the tribe of Levi,
12,000,
from the tribe of Issachar,
12,000,
8 from the tribe of Zebulun,
12,000,
from the tribe of Joseph,
12,000,
from the tribe of Benjamin,
12,000, who were sealed.
The Church in Heaven
9 After these things I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing in front of the throne and of the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and with palm branches in their hands. 10 They called out with a loud voice and said:
Salvation comes from our God, who sits on the throne, and from the Lamb.
11 All the angels stood around the throne, the elders, and the four living creatures. They fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God, 12 saying:
Amen. Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and might belong to our God forever and ever. Amen.
13 One of the elders spoke to me and said, “These people dressed in white robes, who are they and where did they come from?”
And I answered him, “Sir, you know.”
14 And he said to me:
These are the ones who are coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Because of this they are in front of the throne of God, and they serve him day and night in his temple. He who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. 16 They will never be hungry or thirsty ever again. The sun will never beat upon them, nor will any scorching heat, 17 for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd. He will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
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The synod’s new long-range plan, entitled “Christ through us,” has four main priorities. One of those four involves bringing Christ to the nations through our world mission efforts. Rev. Larry […]
Leaders from The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS), the Evangelical Lutheran Synod (ELS), and the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) gathered last week near Jacksonville, Fla., for two days of theological […]
During 2025, WELS has commemorated the 175th anniversary of its founding, 175 years of God’s work among us and through us. Resources have been produced and presentations given. This year […]
The Synodical Council met Nov. 7–8 for its fall meeting at the Center for Mission and Ministry, Waukesha, Wis. The Synodical Council (SC) is the group of lay leaders and […]