Sermon Tone Analysis

The Gospel of the Lord

!! The freedom of the Gospel

!!! Lord’s Day 19th October, Morning Worship, 9.30am

© Rev D Rudi Schwartz[1]

!!! Bible Readings

Old Testament:                     /Psalm 119:105-112/

New Testament:                   /Colossians 2:16-23/

!!! Hymns~/Songs

                1.

Praise:                              /“Praise to the Lord, the Almighty”/

                2.

Forgiveness of sins:        /“God, be merciful  to me”/

                3.

Thanksgiving:                   /“Teach me O Lord the perfect way”/

                4.

Response:                        /“Almighty God, your Word is cast”/

!!! Main Points

!!!!!! 1. Introduction

!!!!!! 2. Jesus Christ – the only way to God

!!!!!! 3.

No one and nothing other than Jesus Christ

!!!!!! 4. Stuck in the shadows of incompleteness

!!!!!! 5. Worship in the Name of Christ only

!!!!!! 6. Basic principles deprives one of freedom in Christ

!!!!!! 7. Conclusion

!!!  

!!! 1.     Introduction

My dear friends in the Lord Jesus Christ,

I was once requested to be present at a court hearing of one of our members.

It was a new experience.

There are certain things one does in a court of law, and of course there are certain things one should refrain from.

What astounded me as one case after the other was presented, was that there were people who seem to visit these hearings on a regular basis, not because they are accompanying friends; they are there because of their clash with the law.

To people who disregard the law, the law becomes an enemy.

These people know the law of the land very well, but they chose to disobey and as a result the long arm of the law gets to them, they are charged and the same law becomes to them a source of limitation of their freedom.

As I sat in that court that day, I realised that I do not know much of the law of the land.

I know one has to travel on the left side of the road, and to stop at the red light, and give way to the ambulance, etc.

I also know that it is good to pay one’s taxes.

But I don’t know of how much alcohol one can drink before you could expect trouble with the law.

I also don’t know about the use of drugs, or what is not expected at night clubs, or how do behave when one is arrested by the police.

But what I did realise when I sat there that morning, is that the same law which gives me freedom is the same law that causes others to be locked away, their freedom taken away from them.

One example:  I find the law not to steal a wonderful freedom, because it protects me from others who would want to steal my property.

Others disobey this law, they steal, get caught and get locked up.

Let’s just use another way to understand what the law is and how we may enjoy having laws, because it gives us room to live.

Just for one moment imagine a footy match without rules, or a tennis match without rules.

The players play on a field, clearly marked with lines.

The game must be played within those lines – and it is a good thing.

Just imagine someone taking the ball and run to play somewhere else!

The rules ensure joy and pleasure to play the game so everyone participating can understand what to expect.

!!! 2.  Jesus Christ – the only way to God

Christians live as Christians obeying the law of God.

This obedience will never be complete, but Christ to Christians is their freedom because He made right their disobedience against the law and stood in their place before the Lawgiver, to through his death and resurrection, He become their righteousness.

The law in Christ, under Him and because of Him is their freedom.

He came to take away their punishment.

In this sense the Law of God to the Christian is the freedom from condemnation, giving him the freedom of being forgiven and the joy to live in a relationship with God.

But the relationship between God and the Christian is based on what Christ did, and only on what He did on our behalf.

This is what we referred to last week.

We then said that we refute the blasphemy of the Roman Church and those who adhere to the philosophies of Arminians who state that we need to bring to our salvation good works, or even a sort of saving faith as part of good works in order to be saved.

We agree with our fathers who framed the Belgic Confession (Article 22):

For it must necessarily follow that either all that is required for our salvation is not in Christ or, if all is in Him, then he who has Christ by faith has his salvation entirely.

Therefore, to say that Christ is not enough but that something else is needed as well is a most enormous blasphemy against God— for it then would follow that Jesus Christ is only half a Saviour.

And therefore we justly say with Paul that we are justified "by faith alone" or by faith "apart from works."

!!! 3.  No one and nothing other than Jesus Christ

The Heidelberg Catechism, one of the key documents of the Reformed faith, asks this question:  “But why are you called a “Christian”?

The answer comes clearly:

Because I am a member of Christ by faith, and as such am partaker of his anointing,  that so I may confess his name, and present myself a living sacrifice of thankfulness to him, and also that with a free and good conscience I may fight against sin and Satan in this life and afterwards I reign with Him eternally, over all creatures.

But according to the Encarta Dictionary a Christian is someone who is showing qualities such as kindness, helpfulness, and concern for others.

We should in some way be flattered that the dictionary refers to Christians in this way, even if we not always live this way.

But there is a big problem with this definition.

Even the Buddhist, the Muslim or the atheist can show kindness, helpfulness and concern for others.

The other problem we have with this definition of what a Christian is:  it describes things we must do /because/ we are Christians.

But to most it also describes things people might do to /become/ Christians.

This is a new condition, and if you do these things then God will make you his child.

And this way of thinking cuts at the heart of the Gospel:  the Encarta definition says nothing about Christ, about faith in Him as the only way to God and Him begin the only righteousness.

The Reformers were very clear as stood against the Roman faith:  the Scriptures /alone, /by faith /alone/, by grace /alone, by /Christ /alone/, to the glory of God /alone/.

The Colossians were bombarded by the philosophies of their time, but their was one in particular which was aimed at the heart of the Gospel too:  Christ is not enough, you must add to what He has done.

Not Christ /alone/, it was Christ /plus/.

This philosophy would rob them of their freedom, and enslave them once again to human additions to the Gospel of Christ.

These people did not look at the law as freedom, they proclaimed a Gospel which would distract and deprive from the goal, and as such once again enslave the Christian to rules which might have the appearance of something valuable good, but it will have one end up in the pit of hopelessness without Christ.

Remember, either all that is required for our salvation is not in Christ or, if all is in Him, then he who has Christ by faith has his salvation entirely.

!!! 4.  Stuck in the shadows of incompleteness

The Jews who became Christians in Colossae, had a look at the Gospel of the Lord, and decided that it cannot offer complete salvation.

What about the works of the law?

What about the ceremonial law which required that one should eat and drink certain things on certain days and occasions?

What about those Sabbaths, e.g. of having the land rest after seven years of ploughing and sowing?

And what about travelling on these days, and doing work as described by the Scribes as they kept adding to the Ten Commandments until they ended up with 613 laws which our Lord condemned as man-made traditions?

They then reasoned this way:  what defines you as Christian is not your salvation in Christ alone, but what you add as if Him death and resurrection were not enough.

Good Presbyterians could easily argue the same.

The phrase I hear when I ask people about their relationship in the Lord is almost without fail, /“I try my hardest to be good.”/

No, a thousand time No!  This is not what Christ came to do.

Argue this way and we say that His death was not enough.

I have to add, and keep trying to be good.

Fact is, try for a thousand years, and you will still be trying.

We will never be good enough to be saved.

It is by faith in /Christ/ that we are saved.

It is by /Him/ that we are justified.

It is by /Him/ and /Him alone/ that we are declared righteous.

It is by /Him/ that we are adopted, and it will be by /Him/ that God will hold us in his hand till the day He will return or we will go to Him.

To act otherwise is to try to add to the righteousness of Christ, and to declare before God that Christ was not good enough for you to be saved.

This is a serious sin.

In Galatians Paul writes:

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— which is really no gospel at all.

Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.

But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!

As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!

(Galatians 1:6-9)

All the laws of the Old Testament were fulfilled in Christ.