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Text: Matthew 20:1-16
Theme: The scandal of God’s grace.
Date: 11/03/2019 File name: SolaGratia-2.wpd
ID Number:
Some of the greatest hymns of the Church are hymns about grace.
“Amazing grace!
How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me!” (John Newton).
“Marvelous grace of our loving Lord, grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt.”
(Julia Johnston).
“God of grace and God of glory, On Thy people pour Thy power.”
(Harry Fosdick).
Christians love to sing of the saving grace of God—and rightly so.
John the Apostle tells us that out of Jesus’ “fullness we have all received, grace upon grace” (John 1:16).
The very last words of the Bible read: “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all.
Amen” (Rev.
22:21).
This morning’s message is our second of five messages looking at the Five Solas of the Protestant Reformation.
The Reformation's teaching swirled around a fivefold repetition of the word Sola — Latin for Alone.
Those five Solas were
Sola Sciptura - SCRIPTURE Alone ...
Sola Gratia - GRACE Alone ...
Sola Fide - FAITH Alone ...
Sola Christus - CHRIST Alone ...
Sola Deo Gloria - for the Glory of GOD Alone.
Put together they remind us of the core of the Gospel message—we are saved by Grace alone, through Faith alone, in Christ alone, according to the Scriptures alone, for the Glory of God alone.
Salvation, from beginning to end, is the sovereign gift of God to the unworthy and undeserving sinner.
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”
(Galatians 2:8-9, NIV).
So, this morning I want to preach on the Scandal of God’s Grace — that God saves sinners out of His goodness, and mercy, and love that come together under the banner of grace.
In the words of hymn writer Augustus Toplady, “Not the labors of my hands Can fulfill Thy law’s demands; These for sin could not atone; Thou must save, and Thou alone; In my hand no price I bring, Simply to Thy cross I cling.
One of the best places to turn to understand the scandalous nature of God’s grace is the Parable of the Vineyard Workers.
In this sermon, I want you to notice two truths: 1.
The Unacceptable Answer, and 2. The Unemployed Workers.
Then we will look at 3.The Application.
I. THE UNACCEPTABLE ANSWER
1. the parable of the vineyard workers really begins back in Matthew 19
a. the encounter at the end of chapter 19 is the back-story for the parable of the vineyard workers at the beginning of chapter 20
2. this portion of the gospel narrative finds Jesus and his disciples on their way to Jerusalem
a. as they make their way south toward the city, Jesus is doing what he always does
b. he is healing those who are brought to him and teaching the crowds about the Kingdom of God
3. at one stop, Jesus sits down by the side of the road for a rest
a. as he sits, a young man who has been part of the throng following Jesus, bursts through the crowd, kneels at the Lord’s feet and asks, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
A. THE UPRIGHT YOUNG MAN
1. this guy has so many things going for him that we count important in our own culture 2,000 years later
a. from this text and the parallel passage is Mark’s gospel we learn that ...
1) he is young
2) he is a leader in his community
3) he is morally upright—a paragon of virtue
4) he is rich
5) he is religious
a) I mean, doesn’t this guy sound like good Baptist deacon material to you?
b. here is a guy who seems to have it all together
ILLUS.
In the culture of that day, religion, morality and success all went together.
It was believed that if you lived a good life, a religious life, and a moral life, those things would lead to financial success and social prominence.
If you had social prominence and financial success it must mean you had lived a good life, a religious life, and a moral life.
Do you see the circular reasoning there?
This philosophy of success is not so different in our day.
The thought is, if you’re a decent person, you play by the rules, you don’t intentionally try to hurt people then you’re bound to be successful in life.
Remember the song Maria sings in the Broadway Musical, The Sound of Music?
Sister Maria is a young postulant who has been serving as a governess for the Von Trapp children.
She and Captain Von Trapp eventually fall in love, and on the eve of her wedding, Maria (played by Julie Andrews), sings to the Captain, “Nothing comes from nothing; Nothing ever could; So somewhere in my youth or childhood, I must have done something good.”
2. the man who comes to Jesus is a success story ... somewhere in his youth or childhood he must have done something good
a. but he is also struggling with spiritual discontent
b. his question, “what must I do to inherit eternal life” is an honest and earnest question that reveals that his spiritual life is unsatisfying — something is lacking in his life
3. but as we read the story we see that in the end the young man leaves Jesus unfulfilled
a. how can that be?
B. THE UNFULFILLED YOUNG MAN
1. in answer to his original question “what must I do to inherit eternal life” Jesus tells him to keep the commandments
a. to which he answers “which ones” to which Jesus responds in vs. 19 “‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, 19 honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’””
to which the young man responds, Been there, done that
1) these are, of course, the last six of the Ten Commandments
b. this man measured his spiritual life by external obedience to religious rules and regulations, and moral excellence
2. Jesus tells the young man “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me,” (vs.
21)
a. how does the young man respond?
“When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.”
(Matthew 19:22, NIV84)
b. the word sad in this verse literally means to grieve ... what Jesus told him grieved him
1) grief is an emotion that goes to the very heart of our human experience
2) in grief every part of our life aches ... our emotions, our intellect, and even our body
3) it’s an all-encompassing emotion—this young man grieved at what Jesus told him
3. what’s going on here?
two things very quickly
a. 1st, He Went Away Grieving Because Jesus Smashed His Assumption about How Religion Works
1) he thought that eternal life came by merely adding something to his life
a) when asked, he ticked-off all the things he had been doing to win eternal life
b) but he felt like something was missing; that he needed to add something to his life to make it spiritually complete and assure his eternal life in heaven
c) for him eternal life was like adding another App to his iPhone to give it more functionality
2) that young man is like so many of us
ILLUS.
When I was eighteen years old, a Church Youth Minister asked me why I thought I had eternal life.
Like the young man of our story, I ticked-off for him all the reasons why I thought I had eternal life — I was a good person.
I didn’t smoke.
I didn’t drink ... much.
I wasn’t smoking weed with the potheads.
I didn’t sass my parents.
I was an Eagle Scout.
I took seriously the Scout Oath, and the Scout Motto, and the Scout Law ... a Scout is Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, etc., etc.
I believed in God, and I went to Church.
I mean, what else does God expect?
3) Jesus smashed this young man’s assumption about religion by telling him it’s not about adding a new behavior or a new ritual to a life already well lived, but coming into a relationship with a person — Christ, the Son of the Living God
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