Sermon in Minneapolis 07.08.2016

May the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the love of God our Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with each and every one of us, now and always. Let us quiet in opening these services, praying as our Lord has so taught us.

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

As we heard already this morning through our dear brother, this Sunday theme and text deal with the thought of self-examination. What does it mean to be a child of God and live here in this world? And how does it then that we endeavor in faith, being blessed by God?

The epistle text for this Sunday is found in the third chapter of the letter of the Apostle Paul to the Romans. And I shall read verses 21 through 28 with that hope and prayer of faith that God would divide on to us as he sees fit. So we hear these words read in Jesus' name.

But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ, unto all and upon all them that believe. For there is no difference. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God. To declare, I say at this time, his righteousness, that he might be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

Where is boasting? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? Nay, by the law of faith. Therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. Amen.

We heard through our dear brother this morning the words that God spoke to the nation of Israel where he exhorted the children of Israel to remember that as he helped them, as God helped them conquer the promised land, that they were given that promised land not because they were holy or righteous of themselves, but because the people of that land were wicked. But God had selected the Israeli nation, the seed of Abraham, as his chosen people.

So that in spite of their being often rebellious, and as that scripture portion calls them stiff-necked—in other words, they often found it so difficult to humble themselves under the mighty hand of God—but yet God blessed them. God blessed them.

And so, God blesses. And we have to admit that we are not able to claim it because of anything of our own, anything that we would have done by which we could say to God that, Yes, I am deserving of this gift of faith and of righteousness. But we are, as all people are, and as Paul notes here, sinners. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

So the children of Israel, the Hebrew nation, had no claim to any special position before God. Even though, as the children of Israel, they were like the apple in the eye of God. God kept a very special care for them. And throughout the many generations, he sent prophets on to them to awaken them again to the knowledge of their sin as they would return to follow God.

And when the whole nation fell so far from that faith, God sent a foreign power in the form of King Nebuchadnezzar and his armies from Babylon to destroy the nation of Israel and Judah and to take the people captive. And so they were in that captivity for 75 years before they were given the opportunity to return and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and the temple.

When they struggled with that rebuilding, they had both outward local enemies who attempted to destroy the work and who also used political power to attempt to destroy the work. God, nevertheless, helped them. And even though the people experienced that they had to be on the wall with, in one hand, the tools of construction to build, in the other hand, the weaponry of warfare, so that it was such an exhausting battle, an exhausting time.

But then they rejoiced when God blessed their labors and blessed the people. But it was but a few generations later, maybe a little over a hundred years, when they began to complain. The new generation began to complain against the prophet Malachi. And so Malachi had to rebuke them over there. Essentially, they desired to live a worldly life and not trouble themselves, as they said, with the worship service in the temple.

So, from generation to generation, throughout time, Satan has attempted to do his work, to destroy the work of God. And God has sent his servants to call, to awaken, to instruct, to teach, that none would be lost.

And so was Saul of Tarsus, who became the Apostle Paul. A man who was steeped in the Pharisaic tradition, taught at the feet of one of the great teachers of that time, Gamaliel. And so he was so full of that self-righteousness that he persecuted the congregation, the children of God.

And of course, that's what he was on the way to Damascus to do when Jesus appeared unto him. And because after his resurrection from the dead, Jesus appeared unto no one who did not believe. Only those who believed saw him.

So even as we often call him, doubting Thomas, even though he had such great doubts that he said, unless I can put my fingers in the wounds on his hands and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. But when the disciples were gathered together, eight days later, Thomas was there.

And so, even as great as his doubts were, his desire to believe was still, even the little flickering candle, it was there in his heart. And so he was able to see. And Jesus was able to show him his hands, and his feet, and his side. And Thomas was able to declare, My Lord and my God.

And Jesus said those wonderful words that touch us even today. He said, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, and so you have believed. Blessed are they who do not see me and still believe.

And so it is our condition, isn't it, dear brothers and sisters? We have not, because he has risen into heaven, we have not been able to physically see with our eyes the Lord Jesus Christ. But he is here in our midst through his spirit as he has promised to me.

Our service this evening would still be empty and void if he was not here, making the word alive, bringing out that message that he desires for us to hear, for our strengthening of our life, our faith.

So Paul says of himself, because he was, of course, on the way to Damascus, in his Pharisaic righteousness—in other words, in unrighteousness. Self-righteousness is but a defiled garment before God, another form of unbelief, of sin—when Jesus appeared unto him.

And Paul says of himself then that, I was as one born out of due time, as it says in the King James. In other words, he saw Jesus in his glory before he was actually converted and had his sins forgiven. He was struck blind, spiritually and physically blind. He could no longer see the way to heaven. That which he once thought was life for his soul was actually death.

And so he was led by the hand into the city. There he was three days fasting, didn't eat, drink, praying, and he saw in a vision that a man named Ananias would come unto him, lay his hands upon him.

And so Ananias, even though he was so afraid, afraid of this man who was coming to Damascus to take captive the followers of Jesus, but Christ said unto him, Go, for he is a chosen vessel for me.

And so Ananias went, and he laid his hands on that Saul of Tarsus, a blind man praying. And he said, Dear brother Saul. Saul, he called Saul his brother before he preached the gospel. And so the work of the gospel can go forward. God is so able to effect in the heart of man.

But if he does not effect. Our dear brother this morning recalled those two examples of the example of that rich young man that came running to Jesus. He said, Good master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?

Jesus knew his heart. He knew that in spite of that question, this young man had another Lord over his heart that he was not ready to give up. And so his questions and responses revealed that.

But in the case when that person was dropped down before Jesus through the roof by ropes by his four escorts, the first thing Jesus said unto that person was, Your sins are forgiven. No questions needed. He knew what the heart was.

So the gospel work is all in God's hands. If God does not awaken, we as people can do nothing. God does not soften a heart to receive the gospel. We cannot give such a one faith even though we would desire to.

But the gospel is freely offered. It is offered listening to the sermon of Mauna Coivuneva when he preached on that prophetical text from Isaiah. When Isaiah preached that come by without money, without price. He said the kingdom of God always says come. Come by.

He said in the world they will tell you to go to God do. But in the kingdom of God we say come. Come in here. And here you can buy this righteousness which God offers. You don't have to do anything. Nothing is required but believing.

So that if God calls and awakens a person to the knowledge of sin it is a wonderful day. It is a day of visitation. It is a time of grace.

And then the righteousness of God without the law is offered. It is manifested as Paul writes of it. Witnessed by the law and the prophets. Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe. For there is no difference.

Paul had to battle greatly against that concept of the Israelis, that the Hebrews, that they had a special position in the righteousness before God. And to the Galatians when he wrote he said who has bewitched you that you should follow another gospel than that which you have received.

If even though an angel from heaven would preach another gospel let it be accursed. There is only one way, one faith, one salvation, one kingdom of God where God offers his righteousness.

So there had come into their midst those who claimed, tried to get the Galatian believers to accept that they had to be circumcised in order to be heaven acceptable. And so Paul taught that you cannot in the slightest measure go down that path thinking that well if I add just a little bit of the law then I'll be better off.

The law is a schoolmaster for Christ to drive a sinner to seek for the merciful God to find where is that mercy seat that I would find a place that I become righteous to have my sins forgiven.

So all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. There is no difference. Every single person on this earth is born having both portions, temporal and spiritual life, but without nourishment the spiritual life ends.

So the children, dear boys and girls, your children who are children of parents who believe, who are able to nurture you with the gospel, bring you up as the apostle instructs in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, you have a wonderful special gift that you are able to hear and believe that your sins are forgiven.

But your fellow classmates in school, other little friends in the world whose parents are not believing, they don't have that. But their mothers and their fathers are not able to preach the gospel unto them because they don't have it. They are in unbelief and therefore they don't nourish the life of faith and it dies.

So then under such a condition that person needs to come into the kingdom of God to be judged of the light and the judgment that comes under the light or the enlightenment of the spirit of God is to the sinner is preached the gospel all sins are forgiven in Jesus name and blood and that frees the person from sin and from condemnation.

So being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus whom God has set forth to be a propitiation to faith in his blood to declare his righteousness for the omission of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God.

So we are justified freely. It is freely offered. God freely gives that righteousness which makes a person holy and acceptable before him so that he would look upon you dear brothers, dear sisters, through the merit works of his son and see no sin.

So it is the gift of grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. So God has set him to be propitiation. This word comes from the Greek language and it's translated here in English as propitiation and finished they just put in its place the mercy seat and it points out to basically that work that God does to make a person righteous before him.

In the Old Testament covenant in the tabernacle worship service the holiest of holies is the place where the mercy seat was located. It was an ark that is sort of like a basically a wooden box that was covered with gold and they put cherubim on, or in other words figures of angels on both sides of it.

But that was behind the veil and so the only time that the high priest went into the holiest of holies was once a year when he went to offer sacrifice for his sins and the sins of all people.

So nobody else went into or saw that holiest of holies. It was so holy that if that high priest didn't go into the holiest of holies of blood he would die.

So in order to just solve the problem of what to do if that high priest died he had a rope tied to his ankle so another priest was standing behind the veil and listening for the rattling of the pomegranates that were on the hem of the high priest, in other words, sort of like rattles on his robe.

As long as he was making noise this other priest knew that he was alive in performing the worship service and had not been slain. But if that person who was in the office of the high priest who died the other priest couldn't go in to get him because he would die too but he would pull him out by the rope.

Scripture history doesn't relate to us if it ever happened. We don't know that such ever occurred because some of the high priests throughout history of the Old Testament time were believing and some were not. So some were just performing the outward office of the Levitical priesthood as if you will their job as part of that worship service whereas others in that job were also believing. They had true faith of the heart.

But when Jesus died on the middle cross what happened? The veil between the holiest of holies and the holy was rent from top to bottom. It was a heavy curtain so it was made such that it would never tear accidentally but it tore into two pieces to reveal that the way now into the mercy seat was open.

No longer did a person have to wait for the great day of atonement to approach the mercy seat to have sins forgiven but there was free access, free access to be at the place where God would forgive sins, have mercy upon a sinner.

So this is the wonderful portion that we enjoy dear brothers and sisters that we have the mercy seat in our homes with us around us, have access every day as often as we have need. We can approach another child of God, brother or sister, and ask to have our sins forgiven.

So great is that mercy of God that he has set up now in the New Testament time the mercy seat to be wherever two or three are gathered together in my name said Jesus there am I in their midst.

So there it is that God gives to his own the gospel which is the power of God for all who believe unto salvation. This is the power that you have your brothers and sisters access to at the mercy seat that you are able then to have the righteousness of God as your own, that you are part of that righteousness, that throng which is on the way to glory.

When Jesus described how these two conditions separated themselves he described the difference between the prayers of a Pharisee and the prayers of a publican and he used that example to point out how hypocritical it was for the Pharisee to boast over his righteousness.

And Paul later on in this section that we read speaks of that. So God has set him forth as a propitiation through faith, in other words, the mercy seat through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past through the forbearance of God.

To declare, I say at this time, his righteousness that he might be just and the justifier of him which believes in Jesus.

So God is righteous but he justifies man by faith in Jesus.

John wrote of it in his gospel that to them who accepted Jesus he said he gave them power to become the children of God, those who believed upon his name.

So then Paul writes where is boasting? So the boasting of that example from the gospel where the Pharisee and the publican were praying Jesus used it as an example of what happens under such conditions and he described the Pharisee this way:

The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God I thank thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even this publican. I fast twice in a week. I give tithes of all that I possess.

So the Pharisee had a lot of deeds of which to boast but that didn't make him righteous before God.

And Jesus described the publican in his prayers. He said the publican standing afar off would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven but smote upon his breast saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

So the scripture says that this publican went home not righteous. God doesn't justify or sanctify a person by prayer but Jesus says he went home more righteous.

In other words, the Pharisee is far from God in his self-righteousness. Publican is seeking for a merciful God. He asks for the mercy of God. He recognizes that he is a sinner.

That is the work of God in the heart of such a person that he can cause someone to recognize their sinful condition and seek for a merciful God.

So Paul writes where is boasting? Then it is excluded by what law? Of works? Nay, but by the law of faith.

So God gives faith and he by that faith then testifies to us. He gives us his spirit and when God gives the Holy Spirit that spirit testifies in our hearts that we are children of God, brothers and sisters of Jesus, and it testifies that as such we are on the way to heaven traveling on a way that will bring us to glory.

Unfortunately then we find that we still carry the old portion. So the boasting is excluded also because the old Adam, the sinful corrupt portion that we carry is never going to be made holy. It is never going to be made sinless.

The new man, the new portion that God gives to those who believe is sinless and holy and righteous by faith and that is what Paul is writing here.

But the law of faith tells us that we are just as the apostle Paul was carrying this weak old portion.

Paul desired to get rid of that prick that was in his flesh and he prayed that it would be taken away from him and Jesus answered and told him be satisfied in my grace for my grace is made perfect in weakness.

So how is it that we have to be satisfied? We have to drag this old portion with us every day.

We need to come to the hearing of the word of God. We need to be reminded again and again that just as we are sinful, failing, doubting travelers, nevertheless God looks upon us, looks upon you dear brothers and sisters through the merit works of his son and sees no sin.

So how do you grow? The growth of a child of God is not something that happens that we become as if to develop in spiritual wisdom and in knowledge and in righteousness. It isn't that at all.

But rather it is that we grow every day in understanding how much more we need of the grace of God, how good and gracious our father has been unto us that he has given us this faith and that we can remain on this way which leads to the glory of heaven.

When Jesus was asked are there many that are saved he said strive to enter in at the straight gate. Strive to enter in through that gate that is so narrow and tight that one cannot go through it with anything of their own. They have to be undressed of all that they have to become a child of God to be clothed with the righteousness of Christ.

He said for broad is the gate and wide is the way that leads to perdition and many there be that go there in but straight is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to eternal life and few there are that find it.

So the law of faith excludes boasting as we therefore conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.

The law cannot ever be considered to be part of the teacher for a child of God.

There have been those heresies some 15 years after the death of our father in doctrine Martin Luther. There was in Germany that heresy where many of the close followers of Martin Luther decided that they needed the law as a teacher of good works for the believer.

In other words, they called it the third use of the law entirely unscriptural, entirely contrary to all the teachings of the word of God.

But such is the rationale of man when he loses the wisdom of the spirit he begins to invent doctrines which are pleasing to man but contrary to scripture.

And so they fell from that simplicity of faith that the law does not belong to a Christian.

The law has its own use as a schoolmaster drives the sinner to seek for a merciful God and seek for the mercy seat where a person can receive the forgiveness of sins and it is a wonderful foundation upon which a society is built and the laws are set up as even our nation has been so that a nation and its people could be righteous even though that is being rejected during our day by so many to the greater part.

But the law does not belong to a believer for the Holy Spirit of God becomes that teacher and it leads one to fulfill that righteousness by the fruits of faith which are done through the inspiration of the Spirit.

Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.

Dear brothers and sisters you own by faith that righteousness which Christ prepared for you. He fulfilled all on our behalf and so you can come even this evening to partake of the Lord's Holy Supper for the refreshing and strengthening of your faith and be encouraged to continue to take one more step.

Lift up your hearts and believe that your sins are forgiven in Jesus name and blood.

And for any who may be listening via the internet dear friend if you do not have such a righteousness which would convince you that you are acceptable to God today is a day of salvation today God is calling.

The scripture promises that today if you desire to believe you can be moved by the power of God from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear son.

The enemy, the mind of man would always say that tomorrow, tomorrow is another day and tomorrow I'll have time to think about those things.

Scripture doesn't promise us there will be a tomorrow but it says today, today if you hear his voice don't harden your heart.

Today it means that if you feel the effect of the inspiration of God in your heart it means that God is calling he desires to have you as his child and you can believe from this sermon that your sin of unbelief is forgiven in Jesus name and blood and come to join the rest of the saints of God rejoicing over your personal and our mutual salvation.

The gospel dear brothers and sisters is your power on the salvation God has begun this good work in you and he will finish it on the day that he calls you home.

Sins are forgiven in Jesus name and blood. I ask for my own soul and heart and I believe my many sins and doubts forgiven. I desire to believe together with you in Jesus name. Amen.