Sermon in Minneapolis 31.01.2016

Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Let us begin our service this morning with opening prayer and thanksgiving.

Holy and righteous God, our dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for this moment and opportunity this morning to be able to gather around your Holy Word. And we wish to thank you for your many blessings, the bountiful temporal blessings that you have given unto us. But above all this, that we can be by faith, through the grace of your Savior, Jesus Christ, in his merits, a child of God and a member of your kingdom.

So we ask for your presence this morning through your Spirit. Uplift us and guide us and comfort us with your Word and nourish us with your everlasting gospel message. All of this we ask in the name of your dear Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Today is a special Sunday in the church year calendar. We are now living during the time of pre-Lent. Lent will begin in about a week from now, but it is now 40 days approximately after Christmas. So the baby Jesus was now 40 days of age. And according to the law of Moses, the child that was the first to open the womb of the mother, the firstborn child, was to be brought into Jerusalem and a sacrifice offered on behalf of that child.

Old man Simeon was there waiting and God had promised that he wouldn't pass from his life until he was able to see and hold the Christ child. And he was waiting and waiting and family after family was coming into the temple area. And through the power of the Holy Spirit, he was able to then recognize and see that there is the Christ child in the arms of Mother Mary or Father Joseph. He took the child into his arms and he said, Now let your servant go and rest in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation. And he said, This child shall be a light for the Gentiles and a lamp for the people of Israel.

So this is the biblical historical background for this Sunday called Candlemas Sunday. But I thought I would read another gospel text, an alternate gospel text for this Sunday from John chapter 1 verses 16 through 18. And we'll quiet to hear these words in Jesus' name.

And of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God at any time. Amen.

When we think of the living word of God and the entire message which is contained therein, it can be summarized into two offices. And using a metaphor, the author of the letter to the Hebrews says that the word of God is like a two-edged sword. So he compares the word of God to a sword having two edges.

And those of you who have been to Finland or have lived in Finland or are from Finland, if you have been observant, maybe you have noticed that a logo that every policeman wears on their uniform, there's a lion there, but also below the lion is a logo of a sword, which is exactly this type of sword with a blade pointing downward and the handle above. And it's a sword having two edges, both sharpened on either side.

So even the police force of this country is using this analogy for the logo of the police. And so the writer of the letter to the Hebrews says that the word of God is sharp. It is powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. And this two-edged sword pierces asunder and it divides the bone from the marrow. And it is even a discerner of the thoughts and even intentions of the heart.

So the sword is symbolic of the word of God. And we know that the word of God is contained here within the covers of this Bible. But it is one day all of the Bibles will burn and be destroyed. Nevertheless, the word of God, the living word of God will still remain. As Jesus even said himself, that the heavens and the earth shall one day pass away, but the word of God will never pass away.

And when the Old Testament or the Bible was speaking about Christ, where Christ was speaking about himself and referring to the Old Testament prophecies of himself, he said, of me has been written in the law, in the prophets, and in the Psalms. Thus referring to the known existing Bible, which now we know is the Old Testament, which was the Bible that was existing at that time.

That the Bible, the law, the prophets, and the Psalms, they prophesied and it spoke about me. And this word of God is above all. And one preacher, brother, when he was preaching on this topic, he actually physically took a Bible and he said, he took the Bible and he put it above his head. He said, it is above me and it is above everyone.

And he said that preachers are sometimes weak and failing and may sometimes say errant things which may not be quite exactly correct. And then he referred to a statement by Luther. And he said that all teachings and all teachers alike are to be evaluated and judged by the Word of God.

So, literally, he wanted to emphasize this, that the Bible is above everyone else. It is the highest authority in life and in doctrine. And so, Jesus said that the Holy Scriptures, the Old Testament which we know of it as today, and the Holy Bible which was existing at that time during the time of Jesus is the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms, they spoke about him.

But then the sword, it had two edges and one of the edges is the Law. Well, first of all, when we talk about the Law, it has various meanings. There's the first meaning of the Law we could say, there's the second meaning of the Law, and then there's also the third use of the Law, which hopefully we will touch on as well.

So, what is the first use of the Law? And in this way, in this sense, the Law belongs to and pertains to everyone as a temporal law. And the foundation of our country and many of the countries in the Western society and civilization are based upon the Law of Moses.

And we, even as believers, as Christians, we want to observe and follow and obey the laws of our land, obedient to the authorities, obedient to the government, want to pay our taxes, and so on and so forth. And in the literal sense, if these temporal laws would be observed, thou shalt not kill, take the life of another person, thou shalt not steal, stealing from another person, thou shalt not commit adultery.

If these, in a general sense, in a temporal sense, would be observed by more people than all people, wouldn't it be a much better society? So we, even as believers, are obedient and wish to adhere and follow these laws, temporal laws of our land.

So this is the first use or intention of the law, the temporal laws of our land. But then there is much more to this. Then there's the second use of the law. And as the apostle Paul says, the law is spiritual.

So what does this mean? In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus was asked by some, maybe, Pharisees, who thought they had lived a very good and upright and pious life, and had assumed in their own minds that they had been perfect and blameless in respect to the law of Moses.

And so Jesus had to say to them, have you not heard what the law says, thou shalt not kill? One brother asked at a confirmation class, he says, raise your hands, when they read that commandment, that who of you has never broken this statement, taken the life of another person? Of course, that's what they thought, literally. I've never taken the life of another person, and their hands shot up one after another.

Far from me. That hasn't even been my intention. So Jesus says that, you have heard said, thou shalt not kill. And they thought, literally, take the life of another person. But Jesus says that the spiritual commandment and law of Moses is much more and much deeper and much more precise than just the literal meaning of it.

You have heard said, thou shalt not kill. But who has ever had an angry thought, not only an angry word, there's many times we become angry with another person and words come out of our mouth that we later regret, that we have said in anger.

So, angry words often come out of our mouth. But Jesus says, even an angry thought, if even once in your life you have had an angry thought toward another person, even without verbalizing it, you have broken that commandment and in your heart killed that person.

Now, raise your hands, how many have never transgressed this commandment? No hands went up. Then Jesus continues, you have heard said, thou shalt not commit adultery. Of course, literally thinking that who has been unfaithful to their spouse or had premarital sex.

But Jesus says it's much more than this act. Who has ever even looked at a man toward a woman or a woman toward a man and had a lustful thought in their mind toward that person, they have already in their heart committed adultery with that person?

Now how many people can raise their hands and say that I have never transgressed that commandment? Or if we can even think of even some of the later commandments that thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's ox or whatever the illustrations are said in explanation to that commandment, well, I don't think many of us are coveting our neighbor's ox.

Not many people have ox or cattle anymore, but how about our neighbor's car? How about their house that they live in? Or maybe the car that they drive? I wish I could have this or I wish I could have that. Already in your heart, Jesus says, you have transgressed this commandment.

So, the Bible in theory promises that there are in theory two ways to heaven. And I'm purposely saying that as an illustration. One way is if you are perfect in regards to the law of Moses, the law of Moses gives a promise. If you can do everything that the law demands and requires, if you are blameless in regards to the law of Moses, you get a pass to heaven.

Man, in theory, that's one possibility. But what about in practice, in real life? The Bible says that if you are perfect, just think in regards to that commandment, thou shalt not kill, that you've never said an angry word all of your life, and your thoughts have been pure, blameless, and chaste, then one day, just one errant moment, an angry thought suddenly passes into your mind toward a neighbor or a friend.

That's all that's needed. The entire law of Moses, that all the Ten Commandments and its demands and its curses come tumbling down upon yourself. It shuts and closes and locks the gates to heaven, and all that is open anymore are the doors toward condemnation in hell.

The Bible says, cursed is that person who does not fulfill everything that is stated in the law. So, as I said already, the law demands perfection in actions, words, and also thoughts.

So, the summary of the entire law is actually a two-fold commandment of love. Love God with all your heart, your mind and soul, and love your neighbor as yourself. So, it's called the two-fold commandment of love.

But, is it possible, humanly possible, for us as weak and fallen and sinful human beings to fulfill this simple two-fold commandment of love? So, what then is the purpose of this law of Moses? It has a, actually, a two-fold purpose.

And, first of all, it is to prick the hearts and consciences of one who is in the darkness of unbelief and awaken them to the realization that in this condition, in this state, I am not acceptable before God, my Heavenly Father.

As the Apostle Paul, he said of himself that when he looked back on his life, he said that I was born of the tribe of Benjamin and I was a true Pharisee of the strictest sect and I was able to study at the feet of the high priest Gamaliel and he considered himself, he thought that he was perfect in regards to the law of Moses.

But then he said when the law was able to approach him, to prick him, and awaken his heart and conscience, he says, it revived sin in him and it slew me. He realized I am not heaven acceptable. I am not blameless in front and before the face of the law, in the mirror of the law. That I'm faulty. I'm a sinner. And I need a source of help for my salvation.

And we remember when Jesus was there at the well of Sicar, visiting with that Samaritan woman. And he asked that woman to offer him some water and then he began to offer her living water, spiritual water.

And then he began to preach the law to her or the words that he preached were law to her. And he asked this woman that where is your husband? And she says I have no husband. And he says yes you answered correctly.

He says to her that you have had five husbands and the one you are with right now is not even your husband. I'm sure these were sharp words, cutting words, which pierced her heart and conscience. They were like the law, the words of the law to her. They have woken her to the realization of what is her spiritual condition.

And this woman was then later able to receive the grace of repentance. So the purpose of the law of Moses is to awaken one who is in the darkness of unbelief. Awaken them to their conditions and state before the face of their creator.

And then to be a schoolmaster or a tutor or a guide to lead them to a place where they can find health and salvation.

Then Havas illustrates that he was here in this country in the 1920s, but he was here as an unbelieving minister. He was then a member of a heresy called the New Awakened Heresy.

And when he was on that mission trip here in this country in the 1920s, he was gathering information and wanting to write a book about the history of Lestadianism. And that he did as soon as he returned home.

But then it was while he was in the process of writing this book that he received an awakened conscience. And he later illustrates that when the law of Moses slew me, it actually did such damage, we could say, that he felt that he was like a dead carcass, not even able to move one finger.

And he was there lying at the threshold of the kingdom of God, helpless and hopeless. But his story does not end there, as it hasn't ended with many other people.

Fortunately, there is not only the law, but there's also the gospel. And the gospel is the glad tidings of Jesus Christ. The message of the forgiveness of sins for meritless sinners.

And it contains God's grace, what he has prepared through his son for Jesus Christ for us. So Luther says in this way, when the law is preached, it is preached in such a way as if the gospel didn't even exist.

But then on the contrary, when the gospel is preached, it is preached in such a way as if the law did not even exist. So the kingdom of God is a kingdom of grace, and it is the kingdom of forgiveness of sins.

We can remember the story of the prodigal son who received his inheritance from the father and went into a far distant foreign land and then spent, wasted his inheritance with as the King James Bible says, riotous living.

And pretty soon his inheritance was gone. He was penniless and hopeless. And then he went to a farmer, a farmer that was raising swine or pigs, and he was asking them that, can I do something that I could find some food to eat?

And he didn't even find even the husk that the swine wouldn't eat for himself. Just think, he stooped so low in the Jewish culture to be in the vicinity and to handle swine is great abomination.

He went to a swine farmer to try to find work and food for himself. And he even there found no help. So he was as low in life as a person could be.

But then he remembered, there was my father's house. And he turned his footsteps back toward the direction of his father's house.

And as he's approaching, his father came out to meet him, a picture of the heavenly father. And when the father approaches the son, who had taken it as an inheritance and wasted it in what a lifestyle he had been living, the father does not begin to harshly rebuke him.

Where have you been all these years? What have you been doing? Now begin to confess all those things that you have committed. But no. The father gives him a kiss. And he tells his servants, prepare that fatted calf.

Just think this prodigal son was imagining hoping that perhaps I'll be able to go and live in the house where the servants live, back in the backyard. Or maybe I'll be able to step a foot, step into the entryway.

But the father took him back, prepared that feast, put a ring on his finger, shoes on his feet, and he said, my son who was lost is now found again. My son who was dead, spiritually dead, is now alive again.

This was the grace and the forgiveness of God, our heavenly father.

Or how about the thief on the cross? There were three crosses erected on the hill of Golgotha. And Jesus was in the middle cross, the cross reserved for the greatest of all criminals.

And the thief on the one side turned to Jesus and even then began to continue to mock him and ridicule him. He had a hard and cold heart. Even death was looking him in the eyes but didn't move his cold heart.

But then the thief on the other side turned to Jesus at the eleventh hour of his life and he said, remember me. He who had committed such serious acts against the laws of the land that he was now dying because of his transgressions.

He turns to Jesus. Remember me when you come into your kingdom. Jesus, we can imagine, with his last strength turns his head with a crown on his head and perhaps with a weak voice says, today, at this moment, you will be with me in paradise.

At that moment, the thief on the cross was translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear son. And moments later, he was able to close his eyes to this life and this world and be translated from the kingdom of grace into the kingdom of glory.

Christ is the end of the law unto salvation for all who believe. So the law does not belong to a believer. As Paul writes to Timothy, it belongs to an unbeliever, the thief, the robber, and he goes on to enumerate all of those types of actions and sins that such a person may have lived in.

So we live in a kingdom of grace, and the children of God are governed by grace. And Ratama said during his time that the kingdom is governed by the gospel.

But we've been talking about the first use of the law, which is the temporal use of the law, and even we as believers observe and follow and obey these laws, the laws of our land.

But then there's the second use of the law, which we have been just talking about, the spiritual use of the law, which is the law of Moses. And this law does not belong to a believer, but it belongs to an unbeliever.

When Moses was traveling those 40 years in the wilderness, and then he led the people right up to the boundaries of the promised land, and then Moses was not allowed to enter into the promised land, because he as a human being, as a person, was illustrating, it was a picture of it, the law of Moses, and it was not allowed to enter into God's kingdom.

And so he died outside the boundaries of the promised land, and he was buried, and his grave hasn't been found to this day.

So, the purpose of the law of Moses is to lead one to the boundaries of God's kingdom, and then Joshua, the name Joshua is the same as the word Jesus in the Hebrew language, was the new leader which then led the people of Israel over the river Jordan into the promised land.

And Christ is our savior, and he's our redeemer, and he is our king.

It's kind of interesting, I happened to find, I've been going through old Finnish newspapers of Christianity, and I've been scanning them and putting them into my archives in digital format, and I happened to find this old article, and it was written right at in the year 1935, and I didn't know who the author was, all it says is H.L., and so I wrote to the SRK historian, who has written several books about the history of the state of Christianity in Finland, and I said, who is this H.L.?

He just signed with those letters, scholars, and then he came up with this possibility, we don't know for sure, but he said it could be Hei Kielambala from Berho, but he wrote an article which I had before me on this text that we have before us, and verse 16 is kind of the central text, the verse of our text, and it says, or verse 17, for the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ, grace and truth, we are in a kingdom which is a kingdom of grace, but he says grace and truth, so grace and truth go together like fire and heat, if you have a fire, you got heat, and if you got heat, you have a source of that heat, which is in the olden days, which is fire, could be a stove or an oven or whatever, so anyways, heat and the source of heat go hand in hand, they can't be separated one from another, so grace and truth go together, but it's always been stated in this way, that grace goes before truth.

So if one begins to emphasize and preach truth, truth, truth, truth, and no grace, the old preacher brother Matthew Swore says, that becomes a harsher whip than even the law of Moses has ever been.

So this article was written in 1935, at a historical moment in the history of Christianity, here in this country there's a heresy that departed in 1928, which we call the in Finnish language, or the Federation, or the small firstborn heresy, and one of their points of doctrine, errors in doctrine, was that there's something called the third use of the law, what we talked about, the first use of the law, which is the law in the temporal sense, that even we as believers adhere to that, and observe it, but then there's the second use of the law, which is the spiritual use of the law, which is for unbelievers to awaken to the knowledge of their condition, and lead them to the borders of God's kingdom, and then when they repent, then the law gets left there, then Christ is our new leader.

But then they begin to emphasize a point called the third use of the law, and they said that the grace in the gospel isn't sufficient to lead us and guide us on this way of life as a believer on our journey of faith, but in addition, we need the law to crucify our flesh and to be our guide and to keep us on the straight and the narrow way.

Well, there was one book written by one man, a pastor, who lived in Ishpeming back at that time, and he titled his book that In the Footsteps of Jesus. In the 1920s, a preacher brother by the name of Hecciusula, I'm sure a familiar name to some of you, many of you, came here and he read that book and he even wrote an article to the Stephenie Lazarus left in, and he said, well, this is the wrong title for this book.

He says, it shouldn't be in the footsteps of Jesus, but rather it should be titled, Into the Footsteps of Moses. So it's leading one out of the footsteps of Jesus and into the footsteps of Moses by adhering and advocating and professing that the law also belongs to a believer.

So going back to this article I found in Sino Lager which was written in 1935, right after the small firstborn heresy departed in Finland in 1934. So here he departed in 1928, in Finland it was several years later, 1934.

And so he writes, from their mouth, those that had gone into that heresy that had just departed, from their mouth has begun to be heard a strange voice that in Christianity they had been preaching too much grace.

And we must emphasize more the truth. He says, this strange voice has come from this, that some people have begun to belittle the grace of God, and been demanding more of the demanding truth of the word.

And this has been separated one away from the grace of God. And then they said they have begun to separate, divide the content of the word of God into three. In the letter to the Hebrews it says it's a two-edged sword, the law and the gospel.

And here it says they begin to divide it into three parts, into the law, and into the gospel, and into instructions. And he says, nevertheless, the word of God is divided into two, into the law, and into the gospel.

But that isn't to say that the entire complete gospel also contains words of instruction, and words of rebuke, and even words of guidance. But he is saying this, that it is incorrect that this third use of the law also belongs to a believer.

But we are grace children in the kingdom of grace, and as I said already that Rathama says that the kingdom of God is governed by the gospel.

Paul writes to the letter of Titus that the grace of God has appeared, and it has taught us how to live, to deny ungodly lusts in worldly ways, and how to live righteously, soberly, and piously in this world.

So, brothers and sisters, fortunately, we don't have to live under the heavy burden of the law, which is impossible to even dream of fulfilling. But thankfully, there has been one who has fulfilled it, Christ Jesus.

He was perfect in deed, in thought, and in everything he did. He was that perfect, blameless lamb. As John the Baptist said, behold, the Lamb of God who has taken away the sins of this world.

He paid the price of sin. He offered his life on our behalf. And through his merits, as Paul writes to the Corinthians, he is our righteousness. He is our redemption. He is our perfection. He is our holiness.

And through his merits, and through his blood, and through the power of the gospel, we can be his own now, today, and forever. The power of the gospel will lift us, it will carry us, and bring us step by step, moment by moment, along this narrow way, which is narrow.

Easily one can begin to stray to the left. Easily one can begin to stray to the right. But through the power of the gospel, it will keep us on this way.

And one day, we will be able to close our eyes to this world and be translated from this land of trial and tribulation, build the lay down the cross, and then receive that crown, that incorruptible, imperishable, eternal crown, which will never pass away.

The reward is great for, prepared for us there in heaven, and one day we can leave this land of sorrow and go to that land of eternal happiness and joy.

Be uplifted even now and believe. Sins forgiven in his name and precious blood, leave unto peace, freedom, and joy. Can I also hear that gospel for myself?

Lord, bless us and keep us, the Lord make his face to shine upon us and be gracious unto us, the Lord lift up his countenance upon us and give us peace, in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, Amen.