ResponsiveReiding

The 5 Solas – Sola Fide

October 15th, 2017
Sola Fide

1 Cor. 15:1-11; Eph. 2:1-10; Heb. 11:1-7

AUDIO FOR THIS SERMON CAN BE FOUND HERE

Once again, we are working through the 5 “Solas” of the Protestant Reformation on the occasion of this month being the 500^th anniversary of it’s spark. The tipping point was Martin Luther posting his 95 Theses on the Wittenberg church door to protest many of the corruptions that had crept into the Catholic Church, and calling for Reform.

Luther himself was a powerful, complex, controversial, brilliant and polarizing man.

He didn’t come from noble stock. His parents had both been domestic servants. With some help from relatives, Martin’s parents moved to a mining town where the elder Luther got work in a copper mine. He worked his way up and eventually became part owner and a citizen of some standing. But Luther notes both of his parents were severely physically abusive.

Luther’s Dad wanted him to go into law, and in fact he completed 2 law degrees in record time. But being frightened of death in a lightening storm at the age of 21, he promised St. Anne that if he survived he’d become a monk. Which promise he kept much to his father’s everlasting consternation. Monks don’t earn much money nor have standing in the community.

Luther again excelled in his education, took a doctorate and eventually became head over 10 monasteries at the same time. All without yet being a true Believer in Christ – a serious, but albeit lost religionist.

Luther was plagued by the Church’s insistence that one had to be completely righteous before God. As one writer put it “As a beginning theology student, Luther was taught the prevailing orthodoxy, and parts of his early lectures as a professor show he believed it. His teachers, following the Bible, taught that God demanded absolute righteousness, as in the passage “Be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.” People needed to love God absolutely and their neighbors as themselves. They should have the unshakable faith of Abraham, who was willing to sacrifice his son.”

I.e. The individual had to bring their own righteousness to God BEFORE they could receive grace for salvation.

Last time, when we looked at Sola Gratia (grace alone), we dealt with that very question – how can I BE good enough, worthy enough to have eternal life?

But it was in returning to God’s Word as the final authority over these matters – Sola Scriptura – above the then teaching of the church, that Luther’s dilemma was solved at last. Yet not without years of agonizing struggle, and keen guilt for his sins. The more he came to know himself, as an honest man, the more he knew he wasn’t righteous, and certainly not as holy as God! So if that was required, he was doomed.

In fact, this is what secured the power base of the Church. Since one could not be as holy as they needed to be, the Church alone could dispense the rites, rituals and other means to help make up the gap. So it was indulgences became a major part of the landscape. For giving sums of money to the church, one could purchase for themselves and others, years taken off their time spent in purgatory after death. They could purchase grace to some extent, a part of their own salvation.

Not only could money purchase grace to help in salvation, so could good works. Especially certain works the Church dreamt up for themselves.

One of these which Luther himself experienced is still active today. It is called “The Pontifical Shrine of the Scala Santa” or the Holy Stairs.”

These stairs found in the Vatican are 28 marble steps which they claim were the steps Jesus walked up to stand before Pilate. The Church claims that Constantine’s Mother Saint Helena brought the stairs from Jerusalem in the 300’s.

It is taught that when one climbs them, and stops at each step “meditating on the Passion of Jesus and recite the Creed, one Our Father, one Hail Mary, one Glory be and a prayer for the intention of the Pope, and also go to Confession and received Holy Communion.” This slide is from their current official site.

In 1510, Luther performed this work being promised that for each step, 9 years would be taken off of his time in Purgatory – or of someone else he specified.

Such good works were part and parcel of one’s ultimate salvation.

And whether or not one buys into the Romanist teaching on this subject, the truth is many people have a superstitious view of good works they’ve invented for themselves to soothe their consciences into believing that being a church goer, a tither, a Bible reader, serving as a deacon or doing other good things somehow make them fit for Heaven as well.

Be it institutional or personal, the notion of good works contributing to one’s justification – one’s standing before God – is a lie.

It is both a direct contradiction of the Bible’s teaching about how one becomes right with God, and, it implies that Jesus’ sacrificial death was not sufficient to save us, and that we can supply what is missing in His salvific work. It is both the demeaning of the Cross, and the elevation of human ability – it is arrogance.

But it was in Romans 1:17 where Luther encountered Paul’s words as quoted from the Old Testament book of Habakkuk 2:4 – “the just (or righteous) shall live by faith.” That offered the key to unlock the dungeon of his tortured conscience, and the recovery of the Gospel to the Church.

You see part of the problem was the church then using the Latin Vulgate – an ancient Latin translation of the Bible – as the only official translation of the Bible. And in it, the word “righteous” in Romans 1:17 was translated “justificari” meaning it is the person who is themselves righteous or just who can therefore live by faith. One who was intrinsically righteous – having a righteous nature.

But as Luther was now reading the original Greek for the first time, he realized the meaning of δίκαιος (righteous or just) was that it is those who live by faith God pronounces just or righteous. They do not bring their righteousness to the table, but are declared righteous by God as they believe in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus – and His dying as their substitute! It is an imputed righteousness. God counts the Believer as righteous and treats him or her as righteous as they have faith in Jesus. Even while they themselves still have indwelling sin! It is a FORENSIC or legal righteousness – a pronouncement, not a state of being.

Romans 4:4-8 “Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”

Philippians 3:8-9 “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith”

Whereas the issue in Sola Gratia is how can I be good enough in myself to merit eternal life, in Sola Fide the question is how can I do enough righteous things to earn eternal life?

And the answer to both is – you can do neither!

Rom. 4:5 – God justifies the ungodly and undeserving, and grants salvation as a gift and not a wage for doing good things or having lived a righteous life – through FAITH alone.

As Eph. 2:8-10 unpacks it: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

Yes, it is true, good works will FOLLOW salvation, but they are not the cause of salvation.

All of this begs 3 more all important questions which we must investigate in order to put this all together – If the Scripture is true and a person is justified by grace through faith as a gift – what then is this faith that is being talked about?

How does it work?

And how do I get it?

What is the faith which the Bible is referring to here?

To answer that we need to see how the Bible itself uses the word, and not come to it with our own definition.

As the Church in Luther’s day had redefined grace to be something you earn, and had mis-defined justification as something you were – righteous yourself – so today, faith has taken on all kinds of uses and meanings which are foreign to the Bible. And if we pour those meanings into the text, we mutilate the text and make it say what it not only doesn’t, but can’t!

Perhaps it is best to start with what faith isn’t? For the Bile uses the word quite specifically.

1. No such thing as generic faith.

The idea that someone is a person of faith without respect to the revelation of God in His Word or His stated promises, is not present in the Bible.

The idea that someone is just a person of “faith” – meaning they simply trust that somehow everything will turn out all right or for the good or that they are simply optimistic is totally absent from Scripture.

No one is said to have faith in the Bible, but those who have believed God – believed the message of the Gospel – believed what God has revealed.

2. Nor are there other “faiths” in the Bible.

Those who hold to religious beliefs which are not given by God or originate in the Bible are never referred to as “faiths” but as idolatry, false religion or superstition. The modern notion of people of other faiths again, is simply foreign to Scripture.

Defining faith: Faith is believing what God has revealed as true, and ordering one’s life accordingly.

This is the unbroken pattern of Scripture. And we can see it demonstrated for us in that amazing chapter on faith – Heb. 11.

Let’s look at one example and then you can see that this pattern is noted in every single case.

Hebrews 11:7 “By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.”
1. God revealed to Noah the flood was coming.
2. Noah believed what was revealed.
3. Noah acted in accordance with that revelation.
It is this simple 3-fold pattern that Bible repeats over and over that shows us what Biblical saving faith looks like.

So how does it work?

In Luther’s day, Phillip Melancthon, Luther’s younger associate layed it out this way to help us understand the necessary elements of saving faith. He noted 3 components to saving faith: Noticia, Assensus, Fiducia

Noticia – A message. There is information given – revelation by God. Information which must be understood. In the case of salvation, the message is the Gospel. What Paul says in 1 Cor. 15. 1–4 “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.”

Assensus – Agreement. There is a reception of the message as true. One says “yes! I believe this! Christ died for my sins according to the plan of God revealed in the Scriptures. And He was buried, and He rose again the 3^rd day – again, all in accordance with what was revealed in the Scriptures. I believe this is true.”

Fiducia – Acting in trust. Having believed it is true, I now must commit myself to trusting in the truth of it for my salvation – abandoning hope in anything else. I will trust Christ and His substitutionary atoning death on my behalf – as all that is needed to be reconciled to God the Father. I must trust that He bore my guilt, took the penalty for my sin, and set me free.

We must hear and understand the Gospel.

We must believe the Gospel.

We must lay the whole of our weight upon the truth of it for the forgiveness of sins – and reconciliation to God the Father.

How do obtain this faith? Romans 10:17 “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”

By hearing God’s Word, the message of the Gospel itself generates faith in the heart. This is why it is so important to attend to the hearing of God’s Word. This is God’s method and means.

Salvation, being made just in God’s eyes comes –
1. By understanding God’s message of Christ dying for our sins, being buried, and resurrected the 3^rd day according to the Scriptures as God’s perfect sacrifice offered up in our place –
2. By consenting to the truth of both our need of salvation due to our sin and Christ’s atoning sacrifice as the only means of dealing with our sin –
3. By actually trusting ourselves to Christ as our substitute – abandoning all other means of trying to be made right with and reconciled to – God. His sacrifice is propitiation, a satisfaction for our sins, held out to us the be received by faith alone – apart from any worthiness or good works of our own.
And we must always fight the tendency to draw back from faith to trust in rites, ceremonies and law keeping. Sola fide!

One last observation. Why does faith play this absolutely central role?

Because it is an absolute repudiation of what caused the Fall.

In the Garden, our first parents failed to believe God, and believed a lie instead.

In salvation, each of us is placed right at the same place once more. Will we believe, the lies of the World, the lies of the Devil, or the lies we create ourselves? Or will we believe the Word of God – what He has spoken, and cast ourselves completely on the finished work of Christ?

And so I ask you today – are you trusting Christ alone for your salvation? Are you putting all your eggs into the one basket of believing the Gospel, and looking nowhere else?

Ephesians 2:8–10 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

Sola Fide
Finding Christ in Las Vegas

October 9th, 2017

Finding Christ in Las Vegas

2 Timothy 3

AUDIO FOR THIS SERMON CAN BE FOUND HERE

As the news first broke and the horrors unfolded, the whole nation was transfixed by the mass shooting by gunman Stephen Paddock and his attack on the Rt. 91 Harvest Festival last Sunday night in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Nearly 60 dead and 500 wounded as Paddock set up his shooting blind on the 32^nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel, and took indiscriminate aim on the crowd gathered to hear a series of country music bands.

And as late as last night, one of the headlines I read led with these words: “Still no clear motive for the Las Vegas attacks.”

Motive. It’s one thing when a natural disaster takes place – we don’t always immediately look for a specific cause. But even then speculation can run wild – because we need to make sense of things. Striving to know WHY anything happens in our lives or that impacts us greatly – helps make it less scary.

If, as in this case we think we can attach a specific motive to Paddock’s actions, then we regain some sort of power over what seems so random and utterly unpreventable. We want to know why, so that we can take steps to prevent possible recurrences.

The impulse isn’t wrong. It’s right to look for causes when and where we can. Part of our created constitution is the capacity to learn and do better when things have gone awry due to something we might have or have not done in the first place.

But what are we to do, how are we to think, when all the scrutiny and investigation leads us to a blank page? When no clear cause, or in this case, no clear motive emerges to help assuage our fears. When we cannot explain it, and therefore are utterly powerless to prevent its like from happening again – what do we do then?

For some, there is simply a mad rush to do “something” – ANYTHING – whether it could have any possible real impact on the future or not. Doing SOMETHING is better than doing NOTHING, even if the something in fact does nothing relevant to the situation. At least we feel better.

Others will simply bury their heads in the sand and think no more about it. It’s done. Nothing else is to be said, and they think no more deeply than that. This is its own kind of tragedy.

Some will be overcome with fear. They find the randomness so overwhelming that they cannot feel safe from any possible disaster and they will seek either to medicate their fear or retreat to their homes, or simply live in unrelenting fearful torment.

But the Christian is privileged to take a different course altogether. For while we might flirt with all of the above, we are never without counsel and divine insight that both informs our hearts and minds where no other answers appear – and gives us solid direction in keeping our hearts and minds, even in the face of such seemingly random and inexplicable evil.

And so we run back to our God – the God David prays to in Psalm 61:1–3 by pleading: “Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; 2 from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I, 3 for you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy.” Which figure Solomon picks up on and reminds us in: Proverbs 18:10 “The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.”

So this morning I would like to take us to one passage that for me has served to meet these kinds of circumstances over the years, in both some of my personal personal trials, and those on a larger scale. It is the 3^rd chapter of Paul’s short letter to young Timothy as he is struggling to keep a lid on the Church in the city of Ephesus in the 1^st century. Counsel breathed out by the Holy Spirit for just such times as these.

In the passage I want to note just 4 things:

I. A Divine EXPLANATION.

II. A Governed EXTENT to evil.

III. A Living EXAMPLE & EYEWITNESS to facing evil.

IV. An EXHORTATION for keeping the heart.

I. (1-4) A Divine EXPLANATION: But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.

The Apostle Paul is warning his young charge that human nature is not to be underestimated in terms of how deeply sin has affected it.

It’s obvious that he doesn’t intend either Timothy nor other eventual readers to think that each person would be wholly characterized by the entire list here – rather that these characteristics will emerge more and more as controlling characteristics, and some manifesting certain ones more than others.

We all have our individual bents, our own particular sinful inclinations which plague us more than others. But they all have the same root – the fallen human nature.

What I find interesting here is how many of these tend toward violence and victimizing others. Abusive, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, brutal, treacherous, reckless, and the like.

Others seem to be the fountain from which these kinds of behaviors flow: Lovers of self, Lovers of money, proud, arrogant, ungrateful, unholy, without self-control, not loving good, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.

And these fountains as we might call them, can be found in those who claim some sort or religion or spirituality, as much as in those who in apparent godlessness take on aggressive, abusive and violent actions against others.

I find it also very telling that Paul says these will increase in the last days, in other words, these days which directly precede Christ’s return and His final judgment on this world – bear this telling mark of violence even as it characterized the human race just prior to the Flood in Noah’s day.

Note God’s reference to this in Genesis 6:11–13 as the leading cause before the Flood: “Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.”

So Jesus Himself will tell us: Matthew 24:37 “For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.”

Contrary to those who pride themselves in the innate goodness of man and how we have evolved – the 20^th century was the bloodiest in human history. Even as we make incredible advancements in science, technology and industry – we have also advanced in our tendency toward, and thirst for – violence!

Quora website: “Matthew White’s estimate – Worldwide Statistics of Casualties, Massacres, Disasters and Atrocities., a total of about 123 million people died in the wars of the 20th Century: 37 million military deaths, 27 million collateral civilian deaths, 41 million victims of genocide and other mass murder and 18 million victims of famine.”

All the above being the case, we need to also point out some very important aspects of the Holy Spirit’s revelation here through Paul.

1 – This is not a surprise to our God, and should not be to us. I didn’t say these things aren’t shocking. They ought always to be shocking and appalling to people saved by God’s good grace especially. But they ought not to be surprising. We are to expect this to be the case, because God has revealed that it will be the case in passages like this one.

Since we are forewarned, we ought not be to shaken as though something here is foreign to the way God said it would be.

2 – This is a stunning but realistic example of what the fallen heart of mankind does when unrestrained. When we think of sin in light terms, we discount just how evil sin really is, and imagine sinful man is just a little “off.”

3 – How gracious God is to keep this from being the norm.

4 – We must be prepared for more to come.

5 – This same condition will even spill over into the Church.

II. A Governed EXTENT to evil: 9 But they will not get very far,

God still reigns. He will only let these go so far. The miracle is that He restrains SO MUCH!

This is what theologians call the doctrine of COMMON GRACE. It is not the grace that saves the lost, but it is still God’s goodness toward fallen mankind that He prevents the worst from breaking out at all times.

Just imagine what this world would be like if the characteristics listed above, were permitted to be exercised by all the lost all the time to their fullest extent.

We would have long since destroyed the entire race, even as some have tried to exterminate individual races:

Think of the attempted genocide of the Jews under Hitler – murdering 6 million (and some think many more). And don’t forget that the 6 million or so Jews make up but 45% of all those Hitler tried to eradicate. He also sought to expunge the world of the Slavic races, the Gypsies and more.

In the 1930’s the Soviets starved somewhere between 2-7 million Ukranians.

The Khmer Rouge exterminated 21%-33% of total population of Cambodia, 100% of Cambodian Viets; 50% of Cambodian Chinese; 40% of Cambodian Lao and Thai and more. Millions!

And then you look at individuals who have become mass murderers like Stephen Paddock in Las Vegas and you realize – if God was not restraining such evil from being the norm – all would be lost.

He allows enough to remind us constantly that contrary to humanistic reasoning – the Bible is true: Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” He allows enough evil to be exposed, that it ought tom make us run to Him to find the answer in the redeeming grace of Jesus. For who can change the human heart? None but God alone.

III. A Living EXAMPLE & an EYEWITNESS to Facing evil: 10 You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

Paul can say to Timothy here, look, you have seen me endure senseless suffering at almost every turn – so think about how I faced them and what impact they had on me.

2 Corinthians 11:24–28 24 Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.

And in all of this Timothy – how did I respond? Did I panic, or become overtaken by fear or cynicism? NO!

You know I never strayed from what I believed and taught (doctrine) – that I stayed my own soul on what God’s word taught about the nature of fallen mankind and living in this fallen world; how God remains actively sovereign over all even in the midst of massive trials; how His unchanging plan remains on course and how He makes provision for our every need in the midst of it all.

You saw how my doctrine formed the basis for how I lived (conduct)

And how it informed my goal(s) (aim) and kept them the same irrespective of the assaults and trials

How these things fueled my (faith) rather than dampening it

And how this solid understanding of God’s word gave me (patience) to endure until He fulfills all

Gave me (love), even for these so far gone in their wickedness

Giving me (steadfastness) so that I did not shift course in the face of it all even in the face of every persecution, tragedy and suffering.

You saw this Timothy – now let that inform how YOU face these all.

IV. An EXHORTATION for keeping the heart.

14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it

So you too – don’t waver. Continue steadfast in the purpose and plan of God as revealed in His Word – remembering that you didn’t receive it from theoretical eggheads, but from those who have lived it and proven it true at every turn.

And so – GO BACK TO THE WORD for insight, strength, courage and understanding in the midst of all you face.

“how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is 1breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” And, we might add – in every circumstance.

The Word alone can so brace the heart and mind so that you do not despair, panic, hide, become discouraged, become paralyzed by fear or lost in an endless quest to answer every “WHY?”.

We may never find out the precise motive or motives of Stephen Paddock. Nor do we need to.

It is enough to know that this is what the human heart does when it acts on the sinful impulses listed at the beginning of this chapter.

And the answer rests in one place alone: Hearts and minds transformed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the indwelling Spirit of Christ so as to give them love for God and for their fellow man, making such actions unthinkable.

SUMMARY:

Man left to himself is incurably wicked.

God in His grace restrains man from acting as fully on his wickedness as he otherwise would.

No expression of human wickedness ought to surprise or deter the Christian who understands God’s Word.

Christ WILL return, all justice WILL be meted out, and all Christians can live in the security of their loving and faithful Savior.

So where does the put you today listener?

Are you in Christ so as to live in these realities?

Or are you bound in fear and unknowing and bound and lost in your OWN sins?

Then this Gospel today is for you.

Christ has died.

He died at the hands of wicked men – fulfilling the perfect will of the Father to make a penal, substitutionary atonement for sin – so that all who put their faith in Him might be born again, forgiven of all their sin, have eternal life, and live consciously in His love and care and purposes until He comes to take us home to be with Him forever.

And He calls you today through the preaching of this Gospel to come to Him. To repent of your sin and self-rule, and to be set free to live for Him in the power of His Spirit.

And Believer – Our God has told us this is the way it will be.

He is not surprised by it, and neither ought we to be.

He has made provision for us in His Word.

As we keep our eyes fixed upon Him.

As we run to Him who is our strong tower in the times of trouble.

As we continue the course of serving Him and His Kingdom, anticipating His return.

As we keep coming back to His Word and anchor our souls in Biblical truth –

We can live, joyful, hopeful, trusting lives, held fast in the nail-scarred hands of our Savior – until He comes to make an end of all sin, and to take us home to be with Him in eternity.

Today may be deeply overshadowed and dark – but the darkness itself is the only a herald of His soon coming dawn. Rest in Him.
The 5 Solas – Sola Gratia

September 24th, 2017
The Reformation – Part 2

Sola Gratia

Ephesians 2 (entire)

Romans 4:3-8

Romans 5:15-21

Romans 11:1-6

Nearing the 500^th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, we’re taking a few weeks to consider the 5 key slogans framing that amazing move of God reviving His church – the five “solas”.

Last we looked at the slogan – Sola Scriptura. By it, the Reformers were calling the Church back to Scripture Alone as its final authority in faith and practice.

It was not a call to abandon common sense, logic, history, science or the Church fathers, instead to say: where the Bible speaks, it speaks with absolute and final authority for the Church. No council, no organization, no individual has the right to override, ignore, twist, add to or take away from – Scripture. As God-breathed it stands in a place of singular supreme authority, especially over the conscience.

When this fundamental concept the FORMAL concept is surrendered, then fallen men will inevitably seize that authority for themselves – and someone or something else takes the rightful place of God Himself.

So it is, the second watchword of the Reformation grows directly out of this first one.

Hence we encounter the very next phrase: Sola Gratia – by Grace Alone.

Here, the Reformers were addressing the fact that over time, the Church had begun to redefine Scripture words and terms without reference to how the Bible uses them. And in so doing created a doctrine of salvation that directly contradicts the Bible’s own teaching.

If the Church, or an individual, takes the right to themselves to re-define the words the Bible uses, the Bible can be made to say anything you want to make it say. And nowhere was this more true than when it came to the concept of grace.

Sometimes, when Evangelicals critique the Romanist teaching on salvation, we oversimplify it and just say Rome teaches salvation by works apart from grace. This both inaccurate and unfair. By the time Luther and the others were calling for reform, the Church’s teaching on salvation HAD become pretty distorted, but it was so because of this issue of definitions. This will play a major role in the 3^rd Sola when we look at Sola Fide as well.

So that we do not misrepresent the Roman view – let me quote 2 portions from the Council of Trent which was Rome’s official response to the Reformer’s complaints, and remains their official stance to this day:

CANON 9: “If any one saith, that by faith alone the impious is justified; in such wise as to mean, that nothing else is required to co-operate in order to the obtaining the grace of Justification, and that it is not in any way necessary, that he be prepared and disposed by the movement of his own will; let him be anathema.”

Canon 30: “If any one saith, that, after the grace of Justification has been received, to every penitent sinner the guilt is remitted, and the debt of eternal punishment is blotted out in such wise, that there remains not any debt of temporal punishment to be discharged either in this world, or in the next in Purgatory, before the entrance to the kingdom of heaven can be opened (to him); let him be anathema.”

Note 3 key things here:

1. One must co-operate in order to OBTAIN the grace of justification.

2. Christ’s satisfaction is not sufficient for our sin but guilt must still be met by temporal punishment either in this world or in Purgatory before the kingdom of Heaven can be opened to him.

3. And in both cases, the Roman Church said if one does not agree with them on this, they are not just wrong – but are “anathema” – under the judgment of God – cursed by Him and thus ex-communicated from the Church.

Now some might say, yeah, that was then – the 1500’s, surely since Vatican I & II things are far different: Today’s Roman Catholic Catechism lays it out: Paragraph 2027: “No man can merit the initial grace, which is at the origin of conversion. Moved by the Holy Spirit, we can merit for ourselves and for others all the graces needed to attain eternal life, as well as necessary temporal goods.”

I took that directly from the Vatican Website, neither an ancient nor outside source.

In Luther’s day, what grace was and how it worked had been so redefined, that it bore very little resemblance to grace the way the Bible speaks of it.

The bottom line issue is one of worthiness when it comes to salvation.

The Reformers insisted that the Bible teaches that an individual’s worthiness could play no role in salvation, or salvation ceases to be a free gift. But the Roman view instead, if only in part, said and STILL says a person can MERIT for themselves and others – all the graces needed to attain eternal life. The worthiness of the individual to obtain eternal life is brought about by cooperating with the grace given at conversion.

Sola Gratia: [The] Latin phrase meaning “grace alone” that expresses the Reformation* doctrine that salvation* is all of divine grace at every stage, from election* to glorification.* Inherent in this phrase is the truth that no merit* of man either before, at, or after his regeneration* by the Holy Spirit* contributes to his salvation. The only merit by which a sinner is saved is Christ’s merit. Thus, sola gratia is usually employed in conjunction with solo Christo, “in or by Christ alone,” to denote that it is solely in Christ and by virtue of His atoning work that men receive the saving grace of God.^[1]

So as I said above, at the heart of the issue is a salvation which someone can make themselves worthy of, versus a salvation which is freely given by God – to the undeserving. Or as God’s breathed out Word in Romans 4:3–6 states it: “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:”

In other words, this comes down to the very Gospel we preach. A Gospel which announces the free gift of saving grace to all who will believe – versus a NON-Gospel, of entering into a man-made system of rites, rituals and regulations which help you become worthy. And just how worthy you have to be no one can tell you, because Purgatory is yet before you.

So why does this cooperative view of making ourselves worthy fail so miserably? I want to advance 7 Biblical arguments.
1. Because of how the Bible speaks of our lost condition. Our condition before we are saved is so dire, that God actually has to overcome our resistance to Him in order to save us – Not only are we not worthy, we are actually in opposition to His grace, until by grace, He overcomes it in us. Ephesians 2:1–22 “And you were dead in the trespasses and sin in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 11 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
1. Because of how the Bible describes the inability of man to achieve any righteousness which can be counted as merit. After all, when someone obeys the Word of God, we’re not doing something special, we are only doing what should be expected of us as those made in the image of God. So Jesus tells His own apostles – when you’ve done everything… Luke 17:7–10 “Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’ ”
2. Because it makes God a debtor, and salvation a wage instead of a free gift. Romans 4:3–6 states it: “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:
3. Because it slanders Christ and says His blood is not sufficient to cleanse all our sins. Hebrews 10:1–14 For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’ ” When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
4. Because it slanders Christ and says His imputed righteousness is not sufficient to merit all the gifts God desires to give us. Philippians 3:4–9 “though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—”
5. Because it is simply contrary to the way Scripture presents saving grace. Romans 3:21–25 “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 2for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 2and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.”
6. Because the New Covenant Christ has inaugurated is specifically built upon this principle of free grace: Hebrews 10:15–18 “And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,” then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.”
Because no one CAN make themselves worthy, therefore, no one is REQUIRED to make themselves worthy. We must receive salvation as it is, a free gift, with no attention to our own worthiness whatsoever. Christ does not save worthy people, He saves sinners, condemned and unclean and in no wise capable of making themselves worthy of His gift.

So the problem at the time of the Reformation was that people were brought into a slavish system of humanly invented rites, ceremonies, rules, regulations and requirements in order to finally help make themselves worthy of eternal justification. Which would still be followed by indeterminate periods of time in the afterlife in Purgatory, still paying for their own sins until the debt was fully discharged.

Today, the landscape is far different, but the need to be called back to Sola Gratia all the more necessary.

Not because people are so worried about making themselves fully worthy of final salvation – but because in our culture at least – people already judge themselves worthy – and so do not NEED to depend upon God’s grace in Christ alone.

After all – we’re all pretty good! We DESERVE nothing but the best.

God actually owes it to us in some respect. We DO merit it.

In this generation of self-esteem and the celebration of human accomplishment, the idea that we are very worthy beings is drilled into us from almost every corner and that from birth.

Just look at this small smattering of advertisements. See the theme? (Last image = Sony)

Sola Gratia is needed today more than ever because people no longer see themselves as UNworthy. And so the preaching of Christ has to be accompanied by a clear declaration of the true lostness and ruin of human kind. That as God breathed out through Paul in Romans 3:10–18 “as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

2 Applications:

Believer – Once in Christ, and we fail and commit sin, our tendency still is to try in some way to redeem ourselves in God’s eyes afterword.

It is a fool’s errand. We cannot do it. If we’ve sinned against other people, we need to make it right with them as best we can. But in terms of having sinned against God – we must cast ourselves back on grace and grace alone, and rest there.

Of course we repent and turn away from our sin anew – but we cannot somehow make up for sin in God’s eyes. Here, by faith, we look once again to the cross, and trust in His unmerited and free grace. We cannot merit forgiveness after we’ve come to Christ, any more than we could before we first came. We stand in this grace as Rom. 5 puts it – always.

Unbeliever – Beloved, there is only one way you can be saved from your sin – and that is to come to Christ guilty, condemned, unclean and in need of the free gift of His grace in Jesus Christ.

If you will not condemn yourself so as to receive His forgiveness and imputed righteousness today, then He will condemn you on the last day, and to an eternal condemnation from which there is no escape or hope of deliverance.

Come today to the Christ who justifies the wicked. He alone is sufficient for your sin.

If the Spirit is convicting you of your sin today, so that you long to be forgiven and reconciled to God – come and by His grace be justified by placing your entire trust in the finished work of Christ at Calvary – and not in any intrinsic merit you think you have, nor any you can somehow earn.

If this is you, any one of the elders here would be more than happy to spend some time with you right now to talk with you pray with you that you might be born again.

^[1] Alan Cairns, Dictionary of Theological Terms (Belfast; Greenville, SC: Ambassador Emerald International, 2002), 422.
The 5 Solas – Sola Scriptura

September 18th, 2017
The Reformation – Part 1

Sola Scriptura

2 Timothy 3:16-4:4

Isa. 8:19-20

Psalm 119:9-16

Psalm 19

AUDIO FOR THIS SERMON CAN BE FOUND HERE

Having finished the first part of our study in the book of Revelation –it seemed good to me take a short detour for 2 reasons.

First, we’ve been very concentrated in our study and a little shift can bring some refreshment.

2^nd, this year marks the 500^th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. The Reformation achieved its momentum on the occasion of then Catholic Monk Martin Luther – nailing his famous 95 theses on the door of All Saints Church in Wittenberg Germany on Oct. 31 1517.

The act itself was unremarkable. In Luther’s day, this was a standard way of sparking academic debate.

Someone would publicly post their ideas, and this would open the door for others to respond. No big deal.

But in this case, Luther’s stated concerns struck at the heart of the corruption that had crept into the then Church.

I want to be clear that there were many in what we would call the Catholic Church at that time, who were severely grieved by the state of the church morally and corruption. They were seeking to see the Church repent and reform – the way Jesus was calling upon 5 of the 7 churches we’ve just studied in the book of Revelation.

But instead of repenting and seeking reform, the Church hierarchy doubled down.

Church historian Phillip Schaff makes an important and helpful distinction in his writing on the Reformation when he separates Catholicism from Romanism. Without getting too complex,

Catholicism was at that point the most visible form of Christianity globally – however defective.

But Romanism is the result of the resistance of Catholicism to reform, and codified itself in the Council of Trent in 1545-1563.

Phillip Schaff writes about the situation when Luther posted his theses: “Theology was a maze of scholastic subtleties, Aristotelian dialectics and idle speculations, but ignored the great doctrines of the gospel. Carlstadt, the older colleague of Luther, confessed that he had been doctor of divinity before he had seen a complete copy of the Bible. Education was confined to priests and nobles. The mass of the laity could neither read nor write, and had no access to the word of God except the Scripture lessons from the pulpit.

The priest’s chief duty was to perform, by his magic words, the miracle of transubstantiation, and to offer the sacrifice of the mass for the living and the dead in a foreign tongue. Many did it mechanically, or with a skeptical reservation, especially in Italy. Preaching was neglected, and had reference, mostly, to indulgences, alms, pilgrimages and processions. The churches were overloaded with good and bad pictures, with real and fictitious relics. Saint-worship and image-worship, superstitious rites and ceremonies obstructed the direct worship of God in spirit and in truth.

Piety which should proceed from a living union of the soul with Christ and a consecration of character, was turned outward and reduced to a round of mechanical performances such as the recital of Paternosters and Ave marias, fasting, alms-giving, confession to the priest, and pilgrimage to a holy shrine. Good works were measured by the quantity rather than the quality, and vitiated by the principle of meritoriousness which appealed to the selfish motive of reward. Remission of sin could be bought with money; a shameful traffic in indulgences was carried on under the Pope’s sanction for filthy lucre as well as for the building of St. Peter’s Dome, and caused that outburst of moral indignation which was the beginning of the Reformation and of the fearful judgment on the Church of Rome.”

While for many the Reformation is at best a dim concept today, the reality is the reason why you and I sit here today praying directly to God the Father in Jesus’ name instead of Mary or the Saints; the reason why we enjoy the assurance of our salvation based upon the finished work of Christ on the cross rather than our own merit or good works; the reason why our consciences are not bound by anything other than Scripture itself; and the reason why we do not go through an endless set of rites and rituals to somehow be right with God – is because Evangelicals – theologically, not politically – are heirs of the Protestant Reformation.

At the very bottom of the need for and the meaning of the Reformation was the Gospel itself. And I hope to be unpacking that more in the next few weeks to come.

Amazingly the Reformation broke out virtually simultaneously in Germany and Switzerland – then quickly blazing through France, Scandinavia, Holland, Hungary, Bohemia and eventually Scotland and England.

As the Reformation progressed, those identifying themselves with this movement took up 5 watchwords or slogans that framed their ground and purpose.

Due to the day in which this took place, the slogans were all in Latin – and I’d like to take a week to look at each one separately.

The slogans are: Sola Scriptura; Sola Fide; Sola Gratia; Solus Christus; Soli Deo Gloria

And the first of these – Sola Scriptura, is what came to be known as the “formal” cause of the Reformation.

What is meant by using the term “formal” here is that this 1^st idea is the one from which the rest are formed. Once this concept is in place, the “material” cause of the Reformation – justification by faith alone – the material which is woven from the “form” – then helps define the rest. We’ll unpack that more as we go.

The bottom consideration for us at this point is this: All that comes out of the Reformation has as its starting point – this idea: That the ultimate and final authority in all of life and practice for both the Church and the individual Believer, is the Scripture.

Contrary to the Romanist view, and that of every other religion and cult as well, is this – the Bible: No man, no organization, no council – even in Church history, no other writing or institution, influence or source has the right to bind the conscience of any human being in how one understands and serves God – above the Bible. NONE!

The Bible as our ultimate authority for faith and practice.

Put another way: The Bible alone can determine what can or cannot be required of people in order for them to be Christians, to be right with God.

Nothing less than the Bible.

Nothing more than the Bible.

Nothing other than the Bible.

Now this does NOT mean we reject all other things as utterly useless or that we read nothing else.

Church history has a great role for us in seeing how generations of Christians past understood the Scriptures. The Reformers were keen observers of Church history and the great preachers and commentators who came before them.

Those who have studied and been taught in the original languages, ancient cultures and sound principles of interpretation can also be of use. In fact, the Bible itself tells us that God has by His Spirit given the gifts of teachers and preachers to us, to help us in this regard. And to ignore His gifts is to reject Him and His wisdom and His provision for us.

So we read in Ephesians 4:11–14 “And he [JESUS] gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.”

But we are all then responsible to study the Word for ourselves, and to test what is taught to us. To hold fast to that which is good, and to reject what is not.

The Apostle Paul noted this reality when he commended the people in the city of Berea for how they responded to his bringing the Gospel to them. Acts 17:10–11 “The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.”

Hence we have our key text before us this morning.

2 Timothy 3:16–17
1. “All Scripture is breathed out by God”: It is from this word that we get our idea of the Bible being INSPIRED. In fact, the word here more literally means EX-PIRED. You IN-spire when you in-hale. You EX-pire when you breathe out. God BREATHED OUT His Word to us. We didn’t conjure it up in brilliance or cleverness, we had it given to us by Him Himself.
We do not hold that the Bible is inspired in the sense that it is brilliant or admirable or exceptional – but in that it is God’s own mind breathed out for us to take in. It is Divinely given.

But given for what? Why did God speak to us at all?
1. “and profitable for teaching”: To instruct us in what He appointed as most necessary for us to know.
To know about Him.

About Humanity.

About why the world is the way it is.

How it came to be.

The purpose of all things – of life itself.

How to live with God in proper relationship in His universe.

It is not given to tell us how to fix our motorcycles, marriages, psyches, finances or society.

All that He reveals can and will impact all of those, but first and foremost, it is meant to teach us those things are most essential to know as being made His image-bearers and to carry out His plans and purposes in the world.
1. “for reproof,”: In the OT, this word had the idea of testing things. But in the NT it is narrowed and boils down to showing us what is WRONG. For if we accept humanity, this life and this world as normative, and not as fundamentally flawed, we’ll approach life in a totally different way than what reality from God’s point of view looks like.
If humanity is just fine and natural the way we are, then there is no need of a Savior. No need of salvation. But the Word of God comes crashing into our world announcing to us that we are hopelessly and fatally in a fallen, sinful and rebellious condition against our God. It opens our eyes first to our need – so that we will seek the remedy.

So Romans 5:20a starts: “Now the law came in to increase the trespass”

Because it is our natural tendency to think well of ourselves, and because one of the by-products of The Fall is to make us insensible of our sinfulness, God’s Word brings that knowledge of that sinfulness into the full bright light so that we see it and ourselves as God sees us.

But then, as the Law can only expose sin, can only reveal to us what is wrong – can only reprove, God continues to breathe out to us His Gospel and so the Scripture is also given –
1. “for correction”: How to fix our sin problem. How to be reconciled to the God of all the earth who is absolutely holy and must judge sin. In other words, the Word of God is the sole place where can know with absolute divine authority how to be reconciled to God.
The one offended must be the One who appoints the means of satisfaction and reconciliation.

And so it is we hear that Jesus, the eternal Son of God, became incarnate, lived under the Law of God perfectly fulfilling it in every way – and then died a substitutionary death in our place, taking the wrath due us upon Himself, so that all who Believe God’s Word and trust in the life, death, burial, resurrection and return of Jesus might have all of their sins forgiven, granted eternal life and be indwelt by God’s own Spirit.

We could not know one iota of this Gospel apart from the Bible.

We must be saved by HIS Gospel, according to His appointed means – and not by means and methods invented by us!

Every bit of man-made religion appeals to some other source.

We could never know – as we will see in the weeks to come – that this salvation is all of grace as opposed to human merit, and completely by faith as opposed to ma’s works.

If God had not breathed it out for us, we would be forever blind to it. And lost forever in our trespasses and sins.

And once again, our good and gracious God does not stop there – for God breathed out His word that we might also know how to LIVE for Him once we have been born again.
1. “and for training in righteousness.”: It is on the Bible alone that we learn what things God hates, and what he loves. What He dislikes and what He approves. And above all, how He has provided for us in both His recorded wisdom and the bestowal of His Spirit – how to live our lives as unto Him in an acceptable way.
Or, as the text says: “that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

No, the Scripture does not speak to every situation we may encounter individually or specifically.

And once again, it is not given to make us better employees, or better husbands, wives, children or parents. It is given to make us GODLY employees, GODLY husbands and wives and children and parents. And in pursuing GODLINESS, to bless others and serve God acceptably.

And in its genius, it does this in 3 primary ways:
1. In Prescriptions – Specific commands and prohibitions.
2. In Precedents – As we examine the narrative and see how it is God worked in our forbearers’ lives and circumstances. Example: Ananias and Saphira.
3. In Principles – As larger wisdom and guiding principles the spell out God’s likes, dislikes, etc. Example: If drunkenness from wine is condemned, it is not a stretch at all to apply that to other intoxicants – smoked, snorted, shot, inhaled or ingested.
So when we take the passage we read earlier in Isa. 8:19–20 “And when they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living? To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.”

And couple it with Jesus’ own words in John 5:39 “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me,” the utter importance of the Scripture becomes crystal clear – along with the revelation of the good of the God who stooped to our level to have them delivered to us.

But we need to consider one last thing before we close today.

It should abundantly clear given what we’ve looked thus far, how this unfolded in the time of the Reformation and the struggle for Protestantism to rise out of Catholicism and then in direct opposition to Romanism on this critical point.

But it is certainly no less important in our day.

While we may not be facing such systematized religion in addition to or contrary to the Scripture – we face a more subtle and perhaps more pernicious challenge to Sola Scriptura in our day:

For up against the absolute authority of Scripture for what we are to believe and how we are to live have risen two twin threats: Personal Opinion, and Feelings.

The Gospel remains the Gospel, only as God has communicated it to us – and it is not subject to amendment by our likes, dislikes, desires or feelings.

And a righteous life is defined by God’s revelation, not the ever changing morals of a fallen society.

Now, more than ever we need to lift the banner of Sola Scriptura on high in opposition to way our generation has lauded in its place – personal choice and opinion.

Repentance from sin – from what GOD calls sin.

Trust in the substitutionary atoning sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross.

Belief in His bodily incarnation, penal death, resurrection and return.

And as Scripture itself declares about salvation in Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians: 1 Thessalonians 1:9–10 “For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.”

Nothing less and noting other than turning from all the idols of self, self-righteousness, greed, personal advancement and pleasure,

To serve instead the Living and True God according to His own revelation

And to wait for His Son from Heaven, whom He raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come

Is the Gospel.

And glory to God for His love, mercy, faithfulness and grace in seeing to it we have it preserved for us even to this very day.
Revelation Part 12 / Lessons from the 7 Churches

September 13th, 2017
Revelation Part 12

Lessons from the 7 Churches

AUDIO FOR THIS SERMON CAN BE FOUND HERE

Having spent these past several months carefully working through Jesus’ messages to the 7 Churches in Asia – it seems only fitting to go back and put all we’ve learned into a somewhat more compact package. That is my aim today at any rate.

And I’ve chosen to do that in 3 parts.
1. A Quick General SURVEY of the 7 Churches.
2. A series of general OBSERVATIONS when surveying all 7 churches.
3. The Balance of REPRIMANDS vs REWARDS.
I. General Survey

If were to take Jesus’ repeated admonition at the end of each letter, and boil it all down, what would that look like? – 7 cross-cultural and trans-generational warnings.
1. EPHESUS: Lack of love FOR Christ, is due to a lack of taking in the love OF Christ for lost sinners – seen best at the Cross.
2. SMYRNA: Christians WILL endure trials, temptations and persecutions, and Satan may be squarely behind them at times.
3. PERGAMUM: Sexual immorality is a perennial temptation and problem.
4. THYATIRA: Systematized false doctrine leading to compromise with the World and sin will emerge IN the Church from among its own.
5. SARDIS: Nothing is more deadly to the Gospel, than THE PRIDE OF SELF-RELIANCE
6. PHILADELPHIA: The size of a Church either large or small is neither a guarantee that it is healthy nor a guarantee that it is effective. Believers have an OPEN DOOR to the throne of grace.
7. LAODICEA: The Church’s ineffectiveness is always linked to a shallow relationship with Christ. Personal communion with God.
Ephesus: Loss of their First LOVE, no apprehension of the wonder of Christ’s love anymore.

Smyrna: FAITHFUL unto death – in spite of severe testing.

Pergamum: IMMORALITY tied to idolatry.

Thyatira: PROPHETESS of compromise

Sardis: Deadliness of SELF-RELIANCE

Philadelphia: OPEN DOOR – poor and weak, but an entrance to the Throne

Laodicea: LUKEWARM – lack of fellowship with Christ producing uselessness.

Now we’ll boil that down even more before we’re done – but let’s just look at a number of overall observations that came to my mind as I was reviewing these 7 letters.

II. A Series of 5 Observations

OBS. 1 – Jesus writes to the Angel of each Church

Addressing the whole Church and its issues while calling upon each individual to take responsibility for all that is said.

Not only are they responsible for what is said to their particular church, but to ALL the Churches.

OBS. 2 – If there is anything we have seen so far in this collection of Jesus’ letters to the Churches in Asia minor, it is that there is no such thing as a “normal” Church.

Each of these is unique in its makeup, circumstances, challenges, advantages and culture.

American culture is obsessed with standardizing virtually everything. But real life has a way of bending and warping every constant we try to impose. We love the idea of “one size fits all.”

We want to be able to say: This is what a local church SHOULD look like. We want a template and a pattern in terms of activity, make up, type of outreach, involvements, etc.

And while in God’s economy there are certain norms and constants, nature itself testifies to the amazing variety God’s genius delights in. For all of the basic simplicity of water, still, no two snowflakes are precisely the same. For all the common traits of humanity, each one’s fingerprints are unique. And though all Believers are joined together in Christ’s church by the same Spirit, each one is still wholly an individual, and so are the churches comprised of these individuals in their particular circumstances and environments.

OBS. 3 – What is interesting to note are the things which DO NOT seem to concern Jesus given the other issues. Things which are nevertheless often what motivate people in assessing a Church they may or may not wish to attend or be members of.

We may give much more weight to things Jesus ultimately finds of little concern, while ignoring areas of grave concern.

Note how Jesus makes no positive or negative statements regarding the size of any of these assemblies.

No church is better or worse because it is large, no better or worse because it is small. This is a human consideration, not a Divine one.

He says absolutely nothing about the giftedness (or lack thereof) of its leadership in terms of preaching.

He doesn’t speak about worship styles.

Not a word about programs. Nothing about the order of their worship services, how many songs they might sing and of what kind – standing, sitting, kneeling or recitations.

How often they take the Lord’s supper, or whether or not people raise their hands in worship.

They had no Hillsong, no Sovereign Grace Ministries, no Keith Getty or Stuart Townend, no Trinity hymnal, Isaac Watts, John Newton or Augustus Toplady music. No smoke machines, lasers and no coffee bars. No organ. No worship team. No PowerPoint.

Jesus says nothing about church polity, how many elders or deacons or how they divide up their respective duties.

Whether or not they have pews, theater or stacked seating or no seating at all.

As you might imagine, He said nothing about air conditioning.

It’s a wonder Jesus would call them churches at all!

What we learn instead is that personal fidelity to Christ, the Gospel and living as unto Him are paramount to Jesus both among the people and the leadership.

And beyond that, the Church may look and sound and behave in very different ways in different places.

In fact, this may serve all of us well as we consider our own assembly, and should any one of us for some reason need to move beyond here and look for another Church sometime.

The things Jesus looks for in a Church are the things we ought to look for. It is not a matter of taste or style, as much as it is of substance.

Is the Word of God faithfully taught?

Is the truth of God’s Word upheld contrary to the errors of the age and false doctrine?

Are people directed to the God of the Bible?

Is holiness of life pursued?

Is love and fidelity toward Christ with the whole man emphasized?

Is the Gospel of salvation by grace alone through faith alone because of the substitutionary death of Christ alone preached, protected and passed on to the following generations?

Are all these rooted in the magnificent love and grace of Christ as the starting point?

OBS. 4 – Note what else is absent in each of the letters. Jesus never tells anyone to leave their defective church and run to another. Even in Laodicea, which was only 10 miles away from Hierapolis and pastored by the venerable Papias, and a mere 6 miles from Colossae.

Even these had some viable options within their general region.

I do not want to stress this too far, and to be fair, as best as we know, there was but one “church” in each of these towns. In that sense, there were no other, viable options. Maybe one couldn’t move from Laodicea to Hierapolis or Colossae.

But at the very least, they were to remain in fellowship with THE Church in the larger sense, and not to split off into merely private devotion or forsake the greater Body of Christ – even when it was in pretty tough shape.

I take it from Christ’s showing Himself as walking in the midst of the Churches that at a bare minimum the Gospel was still being preached despite the other problems that He cited. But where there is no Gospel, we must conclude that whatever it might be, what is left is not a true Church in the Biblical sense.

So Paul can write to the really messed up Corinthian Church AS a church when he notes: “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that 1Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that 2he was buried, that 3he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that 4he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.” They still identified with that, and thus were still a church.

In our generation we’ve seen an increasing tendency among some to say they cannot find a local assembly that comes up to their standards, and so they will just go off and be a sort of little church unto themselves.

But this text seems to omit that as a response to the even very severe problems noted.

In any event, just picking up and moving from church to church is not to be done lightly. 5 of these churches had very serious problems. And yet Jesus never counsels anyone to pack their bags and run. He calls each instead, to focus on their OWN hearing of what the Spirit says to the Churches.

OBS. 5 – All the above said, Jesus DID labor to point out 4 key considerations which apply to ALL His Church(s):
1. The need for keeping ourselves in the love of God (Jude 21).
2. To expect trial and persecution and to endure it by contemplating our eternal rewards.
3. To shun sexual immorality and connections with idol worship and the values of the fallen world around us.
4. To deal with false teaching and false teachers.
III. A SUMMARY OF THE REWARDS

We tend to look at these 2 chapters as mainly negative. But that is to misread it in my estimation. While there are in fact 5 exceedingly serious Reprimands, there are also 17 Rewards! More than 3x’s the number of reprimands!

In each letter, there were also great and glorious promises to those who “overcome” those pitfalls.

Ephesus: Those who seek to feed their souls on Christ’s love now, will enjoy an endless, eternal supply, feasting from the Tree of Life in the very midst of the Paradise of God.

Eden, but better.

Symrna:

Crown of Life. Spared the 2^nd death.

Pergamum:

Hidden manna.

White stone.

New name written on the stone that no one knows.

Thyatira:

Authority over the nations.

The Morning Star.

Sardis:

White garment.

Assurance.

Divine recognition before the angelic host.

Philadelphia:

Public vindication from the persecutors.

Made a pillar in the Temple of God.

The name of God.

The name of the New Jerusalem.

Jesus’ own name.

Laodicea:

Fellowship and intimacy.

Sit with Jesus in His throne.

In all this we see the very essence of the Gospel don’t we?

Sin has taken a heavy toll in these churches and Believers, but Jesus is prepared not only to forgive the sin – but to richly, extravagantly reward the faithful repentant – for doing what it is only RIGHT they do!

Romans 5:18–21 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 19 For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. 20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

This is the Gospel in all its power unpacked even more.

Sin was abounding in 5 of these Churches, but Jesus’ grace toward them all far outstrips all of their failures.

Heaps upon heaps of blessings and benefits are extended to each one who will hear His word, repent and trust Him fully.

An endless, uninterruptable and undefilable Eden in His presence.

The Crown of Life. Spared the 2^nd death.

Hidden manna. Secret and absolute satisfaction none but His own can know.

White stone. God’s own vote of His eternal favor before His judgment bar.

New name written on the stone that no one knows – unspeakable intimacy with the Living God.

Authority over the nations. To rule and reign WITH HIM!

The Morning Star. The brightness and fullness of Christ Himself.

White garment. The righteousness of Christ to clothe us and cover all the sin defiled.

Assurance. A steadfast heart in the midst of every storm of life even now.

Divine recognition before the angelic host.

Public vindication from the persecutors faced in this life.

Made pillars in the Temple of God. Absolute security.

The name of God. Marked out as His in some way to define us from all other beings in the universe.

The name of the New Jerusalem. Identified as the place where God chooses to dwell and call home.

Jesus’ own name. Not just Christian’s – but Christ’s own ones – taking His name as our own – as in marriage.

Fellowship and intimacy.

Sit with Jesus in His throne.

All this for failing, sinful but repentant Believers.

All this too for you today if you are still outside of Christ. If you are still trusting in yourself that somehow you’re just good enough to gain Heaven. Not so bad as others, and so you might squeak in.

Or trusting in some rite or religious act like baptism or Bible reading or belonging to some Church – or even trying to make amends for your past sins.

No! The Gospel is a gospel of grace alone or it is no gospel at all.

Philippians 3:4–9 though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: ⁵ circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; ⁶ as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. ⁷ But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸ Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ ⁹ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—

Believer and even unbeliever here today – above all things is this: To belong to Jesus and to have His salvation and the rewards it brings – we must abandon all self-reliance, and look to Him as our all in all. From justification, to sanctification and on to the resurrection and final glorification.

1 Corinthians 1:26–31 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
A Communion Poem

September 4th, 2017

Last night, as we gathered around the Lord’s Table, we especially visited not rightly discerning the Lord’s Body. In Corinth, the failure to treat all of the Believers with honor in the way the love feast was consumed display a dreadful and dangerous pattern. For we cannot disrespect His Church, without doing despite to Him. But oh the privilege in gathering together around the table, and once again affirming to the observing angelic hosts just what a miraculous thing this blood bought Church is, in displaying the wonder of our marvelous Savior.

Eph. 3:7 Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by the working of his power. 8 To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, 10 so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. 11 This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.

Creation in its wonders

In all it’s grand design

Expanse and complication

Reveals God’s art and mind

Each part in self and union

Invisible and seen

Each form and sev’ral function

The grandest and the mean

Beseech from all the sentient

But just and fitting praise

Gifts of the Great Creator

To bless, awe and amaze

That we might live in glory

Beholding mysteries

Of love unknown, unfolding

Conspiring good in these

Yet when this age is ended

Today gives birth to then

The day of endless vision

New made to take it in

Of all His grandest glories

Ordained for all to see

Of all His hidden riches

By all to be perceived

He comes before Creation

And says: “Behold my best

The sum of all my genius

My love and blessedness”

“Behold the Lamb’s Companion

Behold ’tis Christ’s own Bride

For Whom He paid the ransom

For Whom He bled and died”

“Perfected in His image

In His own righteousness

Adorned in sinless beauty

Dressed in His holiness”

“My grandest show of pow’r

Each risen from the dead

The crown of My own glory

Look! rests upon Her Head”

“Plucked out from sin’s corruptions

The signet of My grace

To be with Me in glory

To see My unveiled face”

“None other so expounds Me

As Jesus Christ My Son

None other so reveals Him

The Bride His work has won”

“If you would know My glory

And plumb My depths of pow’r

My grace, My love, My mercy

My all in fullest flow’r”

“Then gaze upon the wonder

My craft of saving grace

My blood bought Church in glory

Redeemed from Adam’s race.”
Another of the Olney Hymns

August 30th, 2017

This past Lord’s Day, we sang the old hymn “Nearer My God To Thee”. I mentioned then that the band leader aboard the Titanic had asked that hymn be sung at his funeral someday. He made that request before the voyage. Tho some dispute it, one of those rescued from the sinking ship said until her dying day that that hymn was being played by the ship’s orchestra as she was being rescued and the ship sank – with all of the musicians.

But there is no doubting the sentiment of needing to draw nearer and nearer to God is one that finds purchase in the heart of every true Believer in Christ Jesus. Indeed, how we lament the reality that our hearts often stray so far from the safe harbor of His dear presence. We can be so distracted by the most mundane and even profane of things.

Such was the burden upon the writing team of Newton and Cowper when they penned these words inspired by Genesis 5:24 “Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.” In it, I find the 5th stanza particularly poignant for my own soul today. Enjoy!

1 OH! for a closer walk with God,
A calm and heav’nly frame;
A light, to shine upon the road
That leads me to the Lamb!

2 Where is the blessedness I knew
When first I saw the Lord?
Where is the soul-refreshing view
Of Jesus, and his word?

3 What peaceful hours I once enjoy’d!
How sweet their mem’ry still!
But they have left an aching void,
The world can never fill.

4 Return, O holy Dove, return!
Sweet messenger of rest;
I hate the sins that made thee mourn,
And drove thee from my breast.

5 The dearest idol I have known,
Whate’er that idol be,
Help me to tear it from thy throne,
And worship only thee.

6 So shall my walk be close with God,
Calm and serene my frame;
So purer light shall mark the road
That leads me to the Lamb.

John Newton and Richard Cecil, The Works of John Newton, vol. 3 (London: Hamilton, Adams & Co., 1824), 309–310.
Revelation part 11 – Laodicea

August 28th, 2017
Revelation Part 11

Laodicea

Rev. 3:14-22

Matthew 14:14-21

Finding out there’s something worse than garden variety sin

AUDIO FOR THIS SERMON CAN BE FOUND HERE

One of the most fascinating features of this letter of Jesus to the Church at Laodicea is finding out there is something worse for the Christian, worse for the Church, than what we might call garden variety sin – the things we most often focus upon.

There is something so problematic, so dire, that Jesus uses truly shocking language to in order to grab their attention and ours – to what isn’t most obvious.

We read nothing of their having lost the sense of God’s great love for them as the Ephesians did.

There wasn’t the sexual immorality and compromise with idolatry of Pergamum or the systematized false teaching of Thyatira.

They weren’t professing to be alive when dead like Sardis.

Outwardly they looked and sounded great!

But these alone were in such a state that they nauseated Him.

Jesus calls it being lukewarm. What that really means, and how to deal with it, is the subject of Jesus’ last letter to the churches.

And it’s a doozy.

I. (14) Reference to the Ch. 1 Vision / “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation.”

There are 2 parts to Jesus’ introduction here.

1. Jesus announces Himself here as The AMEN, The FAITHFUL and TRUE WITNESS:

In doing so, He is drawing from 2 sources. First, as with all the letters, from Rev. 1 (5) “and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness”. But the idea of being “the amen” is drawn from an old testament concept. It comes from Isa. 65 where God identifies Himself as the God of truth – the word “truth” there being the word AMEN.

The idea is that what God says or promises, He guarantees. He is the divine “So be it!” If He has said it, it is so.

2. The BEGINNING of God’s Creation – arche – First cause, and/or Ruler

This doesn’t imply Jesus was the first thing God created – but is most likely a reference to something the Laodicean Church was already quite familiar with as a title for Jesus in Paul’s letter to the Colossians. Colossae was only 10 miles away. The Church at Colossae was begun by Paul’s companion Epaphras, and he is most likely responsible for 1^st carrying the Gospel to Laodicea as well.

In fact, the 2 churches were so closely tied together that Paul can write in the early 60’s – 30 years or so before this letter of Jesus, in: Colossians 4:16 “And when this letter has been read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea.”

There we read of Jesus that: “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” Col. 1:15–17

In other words, He is pointing to His own pre-eminence. Something which is key as to how we understand the rest of this letter.

So, Jesus wants them to hear Him as a faithful witness to what He sees, as one whose vision is clear and admits of no error or correction, and who is also the ultimate authority with whom they have to do.

It is from that platform He then gives His…

II. (15-17) Declaration of Insight. / “I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. 17 For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.

As you can imagine, this must have been quite a startling statement to them. It is certainly shocking to our ears all these years later.

Here is the faithful and true witness, the unerring final Word of God in all of His majestic pre-eminence telling one of His churches that they make Him sick!

And what is it that He cites as being so sickening to Him? They are neither cold nor hot, but lukewarm. And just what that means will take a bit of unpacking.

Many take this statement as though Jesus is referring to their spiritual temperature so to speak, and that He would rather they be either outright cold toward Him or hot toward Him instead of lukewarm.

But why would Jesus say He would rather they be either cold or hot, if the reference here is to spiritual life or vitality toward Him?

He can’t be saying I’d rather you have no affection for me or spiritual fervor at all – than to have at least some.

That doesn’t really make much sense.

In fact, that is not what He is referring to.

What happens here is that Jesus draws from their topography to make His point.

Due to its Location in the Lycus valley, Laodicea had no useful water source of its own.

They had gone to great lengths to pipe water in from a long distance, but the water was so full of calcium carbonate, and being piped in through stone pipes in the hot sun the water would be nauseating to drink. It was both lukewarm and too mineral laden.

Ancient sources from the day tell us that to drink it would make one throw up.

It worked fine for watering crops, but was utterly useless for drinking. Laodicea was famous in the ancient world for this sad condition.

But as you can see on the map, Laodicea was just 10 miles away from Colossae. And in contrast to Laodicea, Colossae was known for having the some of the best drinking water in the entire region.

At the same time they were only 6 miles away from Hierapolis – a city known for its hot springs – natural hot mineral springs where people suffering from all kinds of ailments would go to what people used to call “Take the cure”. i.e. go soak in the hot springs for their health.

The idea then is that Colossae had cold water which could refresh and nourish, and Hierapolis had hot springs which people could soak in for their health – but Laodicea had nothing to offer by way of blessing to others! They were spiritually useless to others.

Oh, they could brag about their wealth – and indeed, they were the wealthiest city in the entire region – even richer than Sardis. They were so rich, that when the city was leveled in the earthquake of 60-61 C.E., they boasted about not needing any imperial money to rebuild. They put plaques up saying this building was built and donated by so-and-so, and this one by another – etc. They were excessively self-reliant. And it appears they took their outward well-being as a sign that all was well with themselves spiritually too.

In fact, there were 3 streams accounting for their fabulous wealth:1. As a famous banking center. The famous Roman politician/Orator Cicero noted that when traveling he did his money exchanges here. 2. They had the corner on the market for a particularly desirable black wool. It was exceedingly durable, soft and glossy and it was sought for all over. And 3., as if these weren’t enough, some ingenious past denizen had invented a formula for an eye salve that was remarkable for relieving all kinds of eye infections.

These 3 things together made them the wealthiest city in the greater area – and made them very arrogant – but above all, and this is key – a self-sufficient group.

So, it appears from Jesus’ words that the Church had taken on this very same attitude. The Church was filled with rich or at least comfortable people, steeped in the trades that made them wealthy and they thought themselves quite complete!

But that was just the problem you see. Self-sufficient and self-satisfied, they in fact had nothing of any real spiritual significance to offer to anyone else. Outward blessings are no sure indication of one’s spiritual condition.

They couldn’t cool the thirst of the one seeking after eternal life, nor minister to the soul ailments of those suffering the ill effects of sin.

They were useless in ministering to others, even though they were so “blessed” in their own eyes.

So, Jesus says –You consider yourselves Rich, Prosperous, and in need nothing – when in fact – answering to their 3 streams of wealth: you are Wretched and Pitiable – which He defines as: Poor, Naked and Blind.

Jesus wasn’t saying I wish you were either spiritually cold toward me or spiritually hot toward me – rather, I wish you had something to offer those who are in spiritual need – of either something cool and refreshing or hot and healing!

But for all you have – you have nothing to add to anyone else of true spiritual value. You are lukewarm and quite frankly useless to anyone else in the things that really matter – nauseating. And I am going to spit you out of my mouth.

So, what does this look like? Something like this…

They were professing Christians, they weren’t godless. As we said above, they do not appear to have been bound up in all the other sins noted in the other letters.

They would say “Oh, I need Jesus to save me from my sins.”

“I need Jesus to avoid the judgment of God and Hell.”

“I need Jesus when I’m REALLY in trouble – but I don’t really need HIM day to day for anything.”

I need some of what He can do for me, but I don’t really need – HIM, for Himself.

He is merely the cosmic panic button.

But beyond that, we’ve got financial wealth and stability, we’re clothed in the black woolen fashion of the day, and we’ve got the eye-salve the world clamors after. So Jesus, thank you for being our Savior, but beyond that, we simply don’t need you. Things are good. If there’s an emergency, we’ll let you know. But until then, we’re quite content to just be nice, basic Christians.

And as a result – they were in fact bankrupt from God’s point of view, naked in their self-reliance and worst of all – blind to their own condition.

Why is this state of affairs so bad? Because it hearkens back to the Garden of Eden.

There, Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit and were banished from the Garden and most importantly, the Tree of Life.

Now in Salvation, we’ve been brought back into the Garden, the flaming sword of judgment has been removed and we’re invited to feast on the Tree of Life again, and instead of eating that precious, life-giving fruit – which is Christ Himself – for day-to-day sustenance, we’re content with everything else He has provided — but the most needful and precious of all!

We see that more clearly in the Call Jesus issues.

III. (18-21) The Call. / I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. 19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. 21 The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.

We can verify our assessment based upon the call to repentance Jesus gives them.

Just like in Jeopardy on TV, sometimes you arrive at the real question, once you hear the answer. So in this text. Jesus’ answer to their problem is what brings out the real nature of the problem itself in greater clarity.

So, He says first of their wealth – I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire.

Having material wealth in this world means nothing to me. And the gold you really need, the true wealth, must be had from me and me alone. There is a wealth that functions on an entirely different standard. Wealth as God counts wealth, not as the world does. And you’ve not been seeking it.

And the black wool you are all so proud of – it covers nothing. It looks good to the human eye, but what does it cover in terms of how the soul is dressed – if we can use that term.

We don’t need outward appearance, we need to be clothed in the righteousness of Christ. Which Jesus appeals to here again as something which must be obtained from Him. How does He see us? How do we look in His eyes?

And then too – the need to see their real condition and need as from Him, and not through their own eyes. Oh, how good we can look to ourselves, especially when we compare ourselves to others. But as James notes: James 1:23-24 “For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.”

POOR, NAKED and BLIND! In His faithful and true assessment – that is what they were. Self-reliant and self-sufficient, they had nothing, and hence did nothing of any significance for anyone else.

What a stinging rebuke.

But then – Oh how sweet and good and wonderful He is here. How His grace comes pouring through on the heels of this blistering review.

For in His very next breath He tells them 3 additional things.
1. 19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.
I’m not just venting my spleen and leaving you in the dust. I come to you and I open these things up to you BECAUSE I STILL LOVE YOU!

Yes, you make me sick, but no, I have not cast you off! Come and be restored. Repent, turn from this broken way. If I didn’t love you and cherish you, I would let you go. But I DO love you and I DO cherish you and so I am unwilling to leave you in this miserable condition.

What does that look like? What is the very core of everything He has been driving at and where this all needs to go? It is summed up in the remedy He specifies, which also answers the question of how they got here in the first place:
1. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
You have left off needing Me – for Me. You do not come to me to be with me and to fellowship with me and to know me and delight in me. You just see me as the salvation machine – and I want to come in and fellowship with you.

This is key to their being so useless and so to their restoration.

At the beginning of the service today, we had the portion read from Matthew where Jesus feeds the 5K with the few loaves and fishes.

And in it, He sets forth a most important principle for us – it is in the latter part of Matt. 14:19 “Then [Jesus)] broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.”

Why were the Laodiceans so lukewarm and unable to bless anyone else? Because in leaving off fellowship with Christ, they had stopped receiving anything at His hand, and thus had nothing to give to anyone else.

And beloved this is where all of this comes home for you and me as well.

If we too have become self-sufficient, so that we need Jesus as our salvation agent but have precious little time to spend having Him break the bread of His word to us in time alone with Him, reading His Word – hearing Him speak to us in it, and in prayer – responding back and in meditation on it – then it is no wonder if we have nothing of any spiritual good to contribute to anyone else.

This is lukewarmness. And there is no other cure than to be in regular communion with Christ through His Word and Prayer. No other remedy.

The call isn’t to become sage theologians or Bible scholars. It isn’t to give up everything and go on the mission field. It isn’t to make great sacrifices and do BIG works in Christ’s name – it is a call to have regular fellowship alone with Him. So simple! So doable! And so neglected.

This is the Believer’s lifeblood. And lack of it is why our conversations with people never go beyond mere life-stuff, and get down to feeding each other the good things we’ve received from Him.

But look at what else He says: – I AM knocking. I AM at the door. And I WILL come in to all who open to me.

This is not a verse about people coming to saving faith in Christ, it is about Christians being brought out of spiritually ineffective lukewarmness, into spiritual vitality that ministers to others.

And if you are blind to the need to be of use in the spiritual life of others, of having something of Christ’s to give to someone else – then listen to Him – He is knocking at your door today – calling to you, and promising that if you will open to Him, He will come in, and the two of you will dine together. What a precious and intimate picture that is! And oh, how He calls to you right now to open and meet with Him.

Believers we still need the Gospel! And here it is on display, isn’t it? When we are at our worst, the mercy and grace of God in Jesus Christ shows itself in its most profound wonder.

It was at the Cross that mankind and even religion was at its very worst: Crucifying the very Son of God rather than giving Him His due and coming to Him for reconciliation to God.

So here: Here is the Church and Christians at their worst. But here is Christ Jesus in the wonder of His love and mercy and grace saying Here I am – I haven’t forsaken you – open the door to Me again.

And for those who do he then says thirdly –
1. 21 The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.
The one who hears, and opens, and restores fellowship and intimacy with me, will not only NOT be spit out, but they will enjoy the highest privileges which can be afforded any creature in all of creation – to rule and reign WITH HIM IN HIS OWN THRONE!

An unimaginable position and privilege.

All tied to a life of fellowship with Him here, that spills over into our ability to bless others, with the blessings He joyfully and willingly pours out upon us when we take the time to be with Him, hear His voice in His word, and respond to that voice in prayer. THAT is where we get broken bread – from His hand – and then we have something to give to others.

Seek communion, fellowship, personally drawing to Him; that we might have something for our own souls, and something to give someone else.

Establish it as a habit to never read your Bible without asking yourself, have I come away with something for myself, which is then something I can pass on to another?

IV. (22) The Reminder. / Oh beloved – He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Revelation Part 10 – Philadelphia pt. 2

August 21st, 2017
Revelation Pt. 10 – Philadelphia- b

Rev. 3:7-13

Isaiah 9:1-7

Audio for this sermon can be found HERE

Everyone who has come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ wants to serve Him.

We are born again it seems, with an innate desire to glorify the One who saved us, and to be of use to Him in His plans and purposes in the world. To have some sort of ministry.

But what if circumstances find us in a place where we can do precious little? Poor health. Few contacts. No transportation.

What if we have little or no money to give?

No identifiable work to join ourselves to – no clear task to be a part of?

What if we are not gifted like others and don’t seem to have anything really concrete to offer? Can’t teach or preach. Physically disabled. Weak, sickly or whatever.

Can we still serve God acceptably? Can we still advance His kingdom and glorify Him?

Jesus’ letter tells the Philadelphians that indeed they can – and just how.

And it is simpler than they thought – and perhaps than you or I think.

Here, we find out just what Jesus meant in Matthew 11:28–30 when He said: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Last week we looked a bit at Philadelphia’s history, and the glorious encouragement of Jesus to them in the opening sentence of His letter.

I. Appeal to the revelation of Ch. 1: 7 “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.

To a Church living in a place of poverty, continual upheavals due to earthquakes, victims of governmental flip-flops and mismanagement and, persecution by the local Jewish community.

Jesus reminds them – He is: The HOLY one; The TRUE one; Who has “the key of David”; And who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one will open.

That because of Who He is, they stand in a much different place than their external circumstances might make it seem.

Though they have no access to the throne of political power in Rome; are suffering due to their location, and labor under the whims of foolish and sinful leadership – their situation must be understood in far different terms than just the surface facts. No matter what things might look like on the surface, the reality is far different once the place of Christ in the whole matter is considered.

They must know that Jesus the Christ, their Lord and King – King over the Caesar, King over creation and earthquakes, sovereign over circumstances and certainly over His own people – this Jesus has the full authority of Heaven.

And above all – He opens for them a door of access to the very throne of the Living God that no one can shut for them.

II. Declaration of insight – 2 Parts: To the Church, and to their persecutors. 8 “I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.

9 Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you.

PART A: a. I know your works.
1. I’ve set before you an open door
2. I know you have little power
The implications are plain:

What little “work” you CAN do, I notice. Little strength is no bar to service. They are still a “working” people!

Little strength is no bar to full entrance into the Kingdom of Jesus. He has set before them an open door no one can shut.

Little strength is no hindrance to real effectiveness.

Why? How is it that being poor, having no power is no detriment to serving God well?

“I know you have kept my Word and not denied my name.”

What does it take to be a faithful servant of Christ? 2 Things He mentions here – coupled with the open door He has already referred to –
1. Keeping His Word – Knowing, Cherishing, Obeying, Preserving & Proclaiming His Word.
SUM: Believing and Trusting His Word, so as to live your life by it.
1. Not denying His name – Refusing to compromise on Who Jesus Christ is: His deity, humanity, substitutionary death on the Cross, ascension to power, coming Kingdom and exclusivity.
Living the Christian life AS A Christian. As publicly His. Not backing down from bearing His name.

PART B: 9 – “Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you.”

To unpack this well, we need to be reminded that Scripture delineates 2 very different kinds of “Jew”: The “inward”, and the “outward” Jew.

Paul explains these in Romans 2:28-29 / “For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.”

What the New Covenant reveals to us is that there is “A” People of God – Ethnic Israel (Jews) whom God chose out of all the peoples on the earth, to be His, and the means through which He both kept ongoing communication to the World, and through whom the Messiah would come.

And while they were (or are) truly God’s people, they were also a TYPE or a picture of the FINAL and SPIRITUAL People of God. They were not all that is wrapped up in being God’s People.

So we are taught in Ephesians 2:11-22 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time 5separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”

Now there is an amazing scriptural irony here. And once again, Jesus assumes the Philadelphians will make a critical Old Testament connection and do that in light of the radical transition that has taken place since Jesus’ birth, life, death and resurrection.”

The Church doesn’t replace Israel as so many have errantly suggested, but rather the Church is the FULFILLMENT of Israel – it is the fulness of what Israel began and typified. Israel was the root, but the Church is the full flower. THE People of God – both Jews and Gentiles, who are born again by the Spirit of Christ and are reconciled as Christ’s people to the Father by His blood.

There is a perennial problem with us taking things God has done as temporary or has put in place as types or shadows, and trying to make the final substance out of them.

A good example would be what happened in case of 2 Kings 18 and Nehushtan: He (Hezekiah) “removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan)”

The same thing happened with the ephod that Gideon made after vanquishing the Midianites. What was a memorial to God’s victory on their behalf, became an object of worship. Judges 8:27 – “And Gideon made an ephod of it and put it in his city, in Ophrah. And all Israel whored after it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his family.”

So in Jesus’ words here, the very promise originally given to Israel about her persecutors, will be fulfilled in an ironic twist by the Jews themselves, having rejected Jesus as Messiah and Lord – and finally bowing down to acknowledge the true Israel of God.

There are 3 references to this this idea in Isaiah: Isaiah 45:14; 49:23 and 60:14. The 60:14 portion is of particular interest here: “The sons of those who afflicted you shall come bending low to you, and all who despised you shall bow down at your feet; they shall call you the City of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel.”

What a fulfillment of this prophecy! And how it is transformed in the age of the New Covenant.

These Jews who were persecuting the Church – precisely how we do not know, but perhaps by saying that the Christians have no part in the promises and Kingdom of God because these belong only to the ethnic “Jews” – these are now styled “the synagogue of Satan.” And by their attempt to close the door of salvation to any but themselves – find themselves fulfilling this prophecy, but on the wrong end! They are the ones who in time will have to come and bow down before these Christians and acknowledge that THEY are the “City of the Lord.” So in vs. 12 – Jesus actually says He will write on them “the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem.” Believers – Jews and Gentiles are the citizenry of that new city. NOT mere ethnic Jews.

III. The Call: 10 Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth. 11 I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. 12 The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.

Promise of”keeping”. “I will keep you from the hour.”

Some have interpreted this as implying that those who hold fast to Jesus’ name and Word will be raptured and kept from the Great Tribulation. I cannot go into that topic now, will tackle it later – but what it DOES state is that regardless of what faithful Christians might have to endure, they will be KEPT by God.

Perhaps this is more in keeping with the type of Noah. How he and his family were kept THROUGH the flood, not FROM the flood. So when God causes His judgment to come on the earth in a final tribulation, He will keep His own safe and secure. The only other place in the NT where this same construction is used is in John 17:15 “I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.”

Promise of His soon coming. So keep looking forward to the promise, rather than seeing the here and now as the final word. The idea of soon here is not so much in terms of how His return is related to their particular point in time – but that there is no delay going on. All is going according to schedule and nothing will delay it.

Hold fast to retain your crown. Stephanon not diadema. The crown awarded those who finish a race.

In a marathon, there is only one winner, but all that finish are recognized. It isn’t about those who started, but those who FINISH! And this is the way it is in the Christian life. Christ has WON the race, but all who go on to finish, receive recognition as having finished the course.

So Jesus mentions the faithfulness of “keeping His Word” and of “patient endurance.”

Since Philadelphia was also the site of many early contests and Olympic like games – this would have really resonated with them.

What does it take to hold fast? To “conquer” in their situation?

Holding on to what they had: His Word, and Upholding His Name. And entering in through the open door He has provided.

This is Jesus’ easy yoke and light burden. And for those who do finish by keeping His Word and Upholding His name – He gives a 3-Fold Promise:

In direct contrast to the literally shaky ground on which they live in this earthquake ravaged region: they will be Made a “pillar” – Not going “out” any more – No more earthquakes.

What did one do when an earthquake struck in their day? Run outside so as not to be buried in the rubble. And what will they receive in Christ? Absolute – never ending SECURITY! Freedom from all upheaval. Eternal, absolute stability.

Bearing the name of God – Christ’s name. Once again, it would appear that Jesus is making allusions to a repeated Old Testament motif and how God often promises to put His name on His people.

But there is one place in my estimation which outstrips them all – Isaiah 9:6–7 “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.”

His “name” shall be called – not His nameS – plural. One, glorious, hyphenated NAME: Pele-joez-el gibbor-abiad-sar-shalom. Wonderful, counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. A name above all other names. Ultimate supreme authority and power in ruling and reigning over all.

We will be known as those bearing His name – Not Rochesterians, or Philadelphians, or even Americans but Pelejoeselgibborabiadsarshalomians!

Bearing the name of the City of God – The NEW Jerusalem, not the old one.

IV. The Reminder: 13 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

Once again Beloved – maybe you have agonized over whether or not you can really serve God effectively or with lasting impact given your situation and or lack of resources, opportunity or ability.

YES! A thousand times yes!

Hold fast His Word.

Uphold His name in a world that rejects His person, work and exclusivity.

And take advantage of the open door that no one can shut. Become a man or woman of prayer. Seek His face on behalf of others – His Church, this nation, the needs of the saints around you – and plead for the return of Christ to consummate His Kingdom in its fulness.

The weakest, most poorly equipped, poorest, and least able Christian can enter into the Throne Room of the Living God and have His ear. And NO ONE NO ONE can keep you out, or render your prayers ineffective.

John Flavel: Prayers; the best office one Christian can do to another.

Spurgeon: Prayer is the never-failing resort of the Christian in any case, in every plight. When you cannot use your sword you may take to the weapon of all-prayer. Your powder may be damp, your bow-string may be relaxed, but the weapon of all-prayer need never be out of order. Leviathan laughs at the javelin, but he trembles at prayer. Sword and spear need furbishing, but prayer never rusts, and when we think it most blunt it cuts the best. Prayer is an open door which none can shut. Devils may surround you on all sides, but the way upward is always open, and as long as that road is unobstructed, you will not fall into the enemy’s hand…Prayer is never out of season: in summer and in winter its merchandise is precious. Prayer gains audience with heaven in the dead of night, in the midst of business, in the heat of noonday, in the shades of evening. In every condition, whether of poverty, or sickness, or obscurity, or slander, or doubt, your covenant God will welcome your prayer and answer it from his holy place. Nor is prayer ever futile…You may not always get what you ask, but you shall always have your real wants supplied. When God does not answer his children according to the letter, he does so according to the spirit.
1. H. Spurgeon, Morning and Evening: Daily Readings (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1896).
There is a Fountain – and then some.

August 19th, 2017

The Olney Hymns as they were called, were a joint effort by John Newton and William Cowper. They were first published in 1779. In part, they were to be used as a means of making Biblical truths memorable for those who were less educated and able in Newton’s parish. Set to music, they made sound theology accessible and memorable.

Among those hymns is one ascribed to Cowper, inspired by Zechariah 13:1 “On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness.” We know the poem and thus the hymn as “There is a Fountain Filled With Blood.”

While most of us are familiar with the standard five verses, there were in fact 2 additional stanzas that never made into the sung version we have today.

Here is the poem in full, with its last 2 stanzas included. They are sweet.

1 THERE is a fountain fill’d with blood
Drawn from Immanuel’s veins;
And sinners plung’d beneath that flood,
Lose all their guilty stains.

2 The dying thief rejoic’d to see
That fountain in his day;
And there have I, as vile as he,
Wash’d all my sins away.

3 Dear dying Lamb, thy precious blood
Shall never lose its pow’r,
Till all the ransom’d church of God
Be sav’d to sin no more.

4 E’er since, by faith, I saw the stream
Thy flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme,
And shall be till I die.

5 Then in a nobler, sweeter song
I’ll sing thy pow’r to save;
When this poor lisping, stamm’ring tongue
Lies silent in the grave.

6 Lord, I believe thou hast prepar’d
(Unworthy though I be)
For me a blood-bought free reward,
A golden harp for me!

7 ’Tis strung and tun’d, for endless years,
And form’d by pow’r divine;
To sound in God the Father’s ears
No other name but thine.

John Newton and Richard Cecil, The Works of John Newton, vol. 3 (London: Hamilton, Adams & Co., 1824), 392–393.