Sermon Tone Analysis

/“I believe ... “/ In the Latin, it’s one simple word – Credo.

It begins each of the three sentences of the oldest Trinitarian confession of faith in Christendom.

We call it The Apostle’s Creed.

* Credo – I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.

* Credo – I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, Our Lord.

* Credo – I believe in the Holy Spirit.

This simple, succinct, and clear affirmation of faith will be the focus of our attention through the rest of the summer.

It’s a confession free from elaborate phraseology, yet powerfully outlines the basic doctrines of the Christian faith.

For almost fifteen hundred years The Apostle’s Creed has been used for teaching Christians the basics of the Christians faith, as a baptismal confession, and as a confessional reading in worship.

On most Sundays this church celebrates the Lord’s Supper, it is congregationally read as an affirmation of our faith in Christ.

In preaching through the doctrinal statements of The Apostle’s Creed, I have several goals in mind.

* First of all, it is my desire to anchor the specific statements of the Apostles' Creed in the text of Scripture.

We don't use creeds or confessional statements simply because they are the tradition of the church.

We use it because we believe it is faithful to Scripture.

I want you to see clearly that the Bible teaches these truths.

* Secondly, I also want to address contemporary deterrents to belief.

Many professing believers simply do not know the Scriptures.

The apostle Paul says that such people are “tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine that comes along.”

On top of that, we live in an unusual age.

The Christian faith has always had its challenges, and challengers.

There has never been a time when believers were not challenged in some way in their faith, but we live in a strange time when the very concept of belief is under fire.

If you believe something to be absolutely true, you are considered intolerant, and the root problem of all the problems in the modern world.

And so, we as Christians need to respond to the cultural forces currently arrayed against historic Christian teaching.

And I hope to do some of that as we work through this creed together.

* Thirdly, I want to affirm your confidence in historic Christian understanding of biblical truth.

I want to encourage Christians to whole heartedly embrace the teaching of Scripture in these areas despite the fact that we are being very counter cultural when we do it.

* Fourthly, it is my hope to arrest Christian defection from biblical truth.

In every age of church history, there have been those within the body of Christ who have denied the Scriptures.

Sadly, we have many professing Christians today who are working harder than some non-Christians to make Christians doubt these truths.

We need to respond to that and I hope to do something along the way of doing that as we work through some of the clauses of the Apostles' Creed.

* Finally, I want to apply these biblical truths to the specific situations of our daily lives.

I want you to see how good theology serves the good life.

I want you to see how the faith informs the Christian life, how doctrine informs practice, how those things are tied together.

That will be among some of our goals as we pursue this study.

To that end, I want us to navigate our way through one of the oldest confessions of faith that has guided the church is called “The Apostle’s Creed.”

It is a simple confession:

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I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord.

He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, inborn of the Virgin Mary.

He suffered under Pontius Pilate, Was crucified, died, and was buried.

He descended to the dead.

On the third day he arose again.

He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the father.

He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of the Saints, the forgiveness of sin, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting

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I. GREAT CONFESSIONS ARE ROOTED IN CONCRETE HISTORICAL TRUTH

#. this morning, we begin with the simple beginning affirmation, “I believe ... “

#. the Apostle Paul wrote in his Letter to the Christians at Rome: /"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, ... "/ (Romans 1:16, NASB95)

#. but belief by itself is not the most important factor

#. what we believe in is

#. in the very next verse the Apostle declares: /"For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”/

(Romans 1:17, NASB95)

#. what is the in it that the righteousness of God is revealed in?

#. “It”/ in vs. 17 does not refer to faith or belief

#. /“It”/ refers to the Gospel of Jesus, who is the Christ

#. have you ever noticed that the most popular New Testament title for people of the Christian faith is believer?

#. faith does not exist in a vacuum

#. faith in faith will not save you

#. the Christian confessing the Apostles' Creed begins with the statement /"I believe .. ”/

#. it implies that there is a body of belief – some kind of propositional truth – that we believe in

#. it means that faith is connected to concrete historical truth

#. the Holy Spirit does not call us to faith in general, but to faith in particular – to faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ

!! A. OUR FAITH IS BUILT ON NOTHING LESS THAN JESUS’ BLOOD AND RIGHTEOUSNESS

#. writing to his friend, Theophilus, the Evangelist Luke affirms that the facts of the Gospel

#.

Luke had personally set himself to the task of a careful and accurate tracing down of the life of Jesus

* /"Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things accomplished among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, it seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in consecutive order, most excellent Theophilus; so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught."/

(Luke 1:1-4, NASB95)

#. the Apostle Peter asserts that they had not followed cunningly devised fables

#. what he preached was the sure word of prophecy revealed in the person of Jesus

* /"For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.

For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory, “This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased”— and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.

So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts."/

(2 Peter 1:16-19, NASB95)

#.

John, the beloved Apostle, is no less emphatic

#. he tells us what he had seen with his eyes, and handled with his hands, concerning the Word of Life

#. his First Epistle rings with the words we know

#. /"We know that the Son of God is come."/

#. /"We know Him that is true."/

#. /"We know that we have passed from death unto life."/

#. /"We know that we shall be like Him."/

#. the Apostle’s Creed declares the absolute minimum historical truth that must be believed in if we are going to be confessional Christians

* ILLUS.

I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord.

He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary.

He suffered under Pontius Pilate, Was crucified, died, and was buried.

He descended to the dead.

On the third day he arose again.

He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

#.

Great Confessions Are Rooted in Concrete Historical Truth

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II.

GREAT CONFESSIONS HELP US TO UNDERSTAND THE NATURE OF FAITH

#. the Christian faith is rooted in the historical reality of the life of Christ

#. but it also profoundly touches the human will

#.

a believer must not only be aware of the content of confessional Christianity, but must also give intellectual assent

#. to be a Christian, I must know that Jesus died on the cross and then believe that his act is sufficient to pay the penalty for my sins and bridge the chasm between me and the Father

!! A. SALVATION DOES NOT CONSIST MERELY OF OUR BELIEF ABOUT CHRIST, BUT OF OUR TRUST IN HIM

#. faith in the New Testament sense begins as a thinking response to God’s divine activity in the person of Jesus

#. suppose that I clearly knew and understand the Gospel accounts of the life of Christ and was willing to acknowledge that all of it was indeed true?