Offering Ps.33:6 Thanksgiving and intercessory prayer Hy.77 Divine blessing

Transcription

1 Liturgy for Sunday PM Confession of Dependence and Divine Greeting Ps.130:3,4 Profession of faith Hy.2 Prayer for illumination and blessing Ministry of the Word Reading: Isaiah 1:1-20; Titus 2:11-15 Ps.77:3,5 Text: LD 12 As the Messiah, Jesus came to redeem us from our sins. He redeems us from: 1. The lie of sin. 2. The guilt of sin. 3. The rule of sin. Hy.50 Offering Ps.33:6 Thanksgiving and intercessory prayer Hy.77 Divine blessing Songs for worship taken from the 2014 version of the Book of Praise In worship we use the English Standard Version (ESV) Rev. Joe Poppe 1

2 Singing: Ps.130:3,4; Hy.2; Ps.77:3,5; Hy.50; Ps.33:6; Hy.77 Reading: Isaiah 1:1-20; Titus 2:11-15 Text: LD12 Beloved congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ, This afternoon we consider why Jesus was called the Christ, and what it means that we are called Christians. The Greek name Christ means the anointed one. It points to the fact that Christ was anointed to a special office. To understand this we need to know what anointing is. Anointing is the pouring of fragranced oil on someone s head. In the ancient Middle East, anointing was common. They didn t have much water readily available, and were not always able to wash up. Anointing was the next best thing. Aromatic oils were used to refresh you and made you feel like a new person. It was the next best thing to taking a shower or a bath. At times people were anointed as part of a special ritual, calling them to office. Special anointing oil was used for this purpose. In this way prophets, priests, and kings were given special tasks of service in Israel. A person s anointing served as a call to office. Yet the pouring of fragrant oil on their heads also served as a sign, pointing to the fact that God would help them by his Spirit, enabling them to fulfil their given office. Thus anointing served both as a call to office and a qualification for office. Isaiah 61 prophesies about the anointing of Israel s Messiah. Isaiah speaks words that the Lord Jesus would later take on his own lips. He said, The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor. (Isa.61:1-2). Jesus read these words in the synagogue of Nazareth and told the people, Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. (Luk.4:21). Jesus was called to a special office. Lord s Day 12 speaks of how he took on a three-fold office as our prophet, priest, and king. Yet Christ had a specific purpose in doing so. He came to serve as our Redeemer. That is the real focus of Lord s Day 12. His task as prophet was to reveal to us the secret counsel and will of God concerning our redemption. His task as priest was by the one sacrifice of his body to redeem us. His task as king is to defend and preserve us in the redemption obtained for us. Jesus Christ came to redeem his people from their sins. This afternoon we will focus on how Christ has redeemed us, and what implications this has for us in our lives as Christians. I preach to you the Word of God under the following theme: As the Messiah, Jesus came to redeem us from our sins. He redeems us from: 1. The lie of sin. 2. The guilt of sin. 3. The rule of sin. When God first created mankind, he made us to live in communion with him. God created man good, and in his image. Our first parents were able to rightly know God, heartily love him, and to live in close fellowship with him. But this all changed with the fall into sin. Our hearts became perverse and wicked. We turned aside from God to do as we pleased. We caused there to be distance in our relationship with God. Because of our sins we deserved to come under God s judgment and wrath. We were alienated from God. Part of our problem is that we don t understand who God is. Satan was instrumental in tempting our first parents to fall into sin. He was successful, because he convinced them of his lies. First he made God out to be a cheap and stingy God, by suggesting that God didn t allow man to eat from any of the trees of the garden. Then he lied by saying that if man ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil he would become more like God. It is through his lies and deceit that Satan persuaded man to eat of the forbidden tree. Thus sin and death entered into the world. Rev. Joe Poppe 2

3 Throughout history Satan has continued to use his lies and deceit to keep people in bondage to sin. He continually misrepresents who God is, in an attempt to get people to rebel against the Lord. In the old covenant he did that with God s people Israel. He persuaded the people that the gods of the surrounding nations were able to give them prosperity. If they only worshipped the fertility gods Baal and Asherah, they would become rich. We see this clearly in our reading from Isaiah 1. There the LORD speaks about how his people have broken communion with him. The LORD says, Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me. The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand. (Isa.1:2-3). God s people are more stupid than oxen and donkeys. For they bit the hand that fed them! They forsook the LORD their covenant God, and were estranged from him. The problem was that God s people didn t even realize how far they had fallen away. If you asked them, they would have professed that they were faithful in their service of God. They brought all the required sacrifices, and observed all the appointed feast days. Yet the LORD was not satisfied with their half-hearted worship of him. The LORD asks, What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? (Isa.1:11). He said, Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. (Isa.1:13). The LORD warned his people saying, Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates. (Isa.1:14). Do you know what Israel s basic problem was, beloved? They thought that they could serve God on their own terms. They figured that as long as they brought the required sacrifices and offerings, it didn t matter how else they lived their lives. It is like us today coming to church, sending our kids to a Christian school, and thinking that because of this we are right in our relationship with God. Why were God s people tempted by the ways of sin? For the same reasons that sin tempts us. When Satan tempts us to walk in sinful ways, he offers much. He can make money and possessions, success or popularity look so attractive. If only you get this or achieve that you will be happy. People are tempted to partake in illicit sex, because it offers pleasure. They are tempted to abuse alcohol or drugs because these things will help us forget for at least a few hours how miserable our lives really are. The basic lie Satan sells is that a little bit of sin will give a lot of satisfaction. Do you believe that, beloved? Do you think that giving in to Satan s temptations will provide you with happiness in life? It might, in the short term. The various temptations Satan presents us with would not be attractive, if they didn t promise us something good. But the satisfaction sin provides is usually short lived. Afterwards we have to deal with the guilt of doing wrong, and the shame of having other people discover what that was. We have to deal with a strained or broken relationship with the Lord, and with damaged relationships with those we have offended against. So what can you do when you get caught up in your sins, and start to experience the brokenness that sin brings? In Isaiah 1 the LORD said to his people, Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause. (Isa.1:16-17). The Lord promised, though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. (Isa.1:18). Here we see how the LORD promises redemption for his people. Do you know what redemption is? To redeem someone is to set them free. In Israel, and elsewhere in the ancient world it was possible for someone to fall into debt that he or she could not repay. In such circumstances such a person could be sold into slavery to pay their debt. If a family member wanted to free them from slavery, they would have to pay the redemption price. In parts of the world today, people are kidnapped for ransom. The kidnappers threaten to harm or kill a loved Rev. Joe Poppe 3

4 one, unless a ransom price is paid. Sin has made us into slaves or captives. We need to be redeemed from the lie of sin. How can those living in sin be persuaded that they need to repent and seek forgiveness and life outside of themselves? They need to learn to see sin for what it is. They need to recognize that sin has detrimental consequences in their lives. That sin breaks down communion with God, and that it harms relationships with those around us. That sin is the ultimate source of sickness and sadness, of misery and despair. The only way to be delivered from our sins and misery is through the redemption offered in Jesus Christ. Christ came into this purpose with one purpose: to redeem us from our sins and set us free from the mastery of the devil. As the anointed one of God, Christ serves in a threefold role: as our prophet, priest, and king. Our catechism elaborates on his role as our chief Prophet and Teacher. As prophet Christ has fully revealed to us the secret counsel and will of God concerning our redemption. What does this mean? It means that Christ has made known the way of salvation. He has redeemed us from the lie of sin. From thinking that we could live satisfied lives independently of God. From the idea that we could somehow make it to God on our own. From the thought that we could merit salvation by our own good deeds. For millennia the way of salvation was hidden from man. God had promised to send the Messiah to redeem his people. But who the Messiah was, and how he would deliver his people from their sins and misery were hidden from mankind. Peter writes about this in 1 Peter 1. He says, Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. (1Pet.1:10-11). The prophets wanted to know more about the way of salvation, but the gospel of God s grace in Christ was not revealed to them. Yet in the last days Jesus came to earth, and made known the way of salvation. He told his disciples that he was the long-awaited Christ. He told them that he would have to suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised (Mat.16:21). On the occasions when Jesus revealed these things, his disciples did not understand. But after his death and resurrection the way of salvation was made clear to them. In 1 Corinthians 2 Paul writes, But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. (1Cor.2:7-8). Paul makes it clear that it is by the Spirit of God that the word of Christ is worked in us. It is the Spirit who helps us to understand and believe the gospel. It is through his powerful work that we come to understand God s wondrous plan of salvation for us. Now beloved, having come from darkness to the light of Christ, we have a responsibility to also pass on the good news of Christ. Christ is not the only one who was anointed to a threefold office. So are we! Part of our calling as Christians, as those who share in Christ s anointing, is to serve as prophets. Our prophetic task is to share the good news of Jesus Christ with sinners. It is to witness of God s grace in Christ, so that our unbelieving neighbours may come to know Christ and share in his blessings. Beloved, do you have a heart for those who are lost in their sins, who are living in darkness, who are under God s judgment? Do you recognize that if your classmate or workmate or neighbour or friend continues to live in rebellion against the Lord s commands he or she will come under God s condemnation? We need to combat the lies that Satan uses to hold unbelievers in bondage. We need to show them how all the sorrow and misery experienced in this life is rooted in sin. We need to share with them the solution to all our sins and misery. Rev. Joe Poppe 4

5 So what are you doing to share the gospel with those around you who do not know Christ? Do you confess who Jesus Christ is to you? Do you share how he has saved you from your sins and misery? Are you willing to speak up about your faith to those around you? Christ called us the light of the world. (Mat.5:14). He said that people do not light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Mat.5:15-16). We have all been anointed as prophets so that we might confess Christ s name. This is each Christian s task. In Matthew 10:32-33 Jesus told us the outcome of our willingness or unwillingness to confess him before men. Jesus said, So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven. (Mat.10:32-33). If you are a true Christian, you will confess Christ as Saviour and Lord. This brings us to our second point. In it we ll see that Christ redeems us from the guilt of sin. Most often when we do something wrong, we feel guilty about it. Our conscience accuses us that we have done wrong, and that we need to make it right. Even in situations where we don t feel guilty for doing wrong, we still incur guilt before God. God is holy, and he hates all sin. Sin is wrongdoing; it is rebellion against him. Our sins make us guilty before God, and liable to judgment. We deserve to come under his condemnation for the wrongs we do. The fact that God will judge all people for the things they have done while living here on earth fills the hearts of many with great fear. Some may try to deny that God exists, but when the time of their death approaches, many will still face fears and doubts about whether or not they will come under God s judgment. We know from the Bible that every person who has ever lived will have to give account of him or herself before Jesus Christ when he comes to judge the living and the dead (2Tim.4:1; 1Pet.4:5). If we had to appear before God s judgment throne on the basis of our own merits, we would be lost. Not only would we feel guilty when the magnitude of our sins was revealed. We would also be guilty! The result is that we would have to bear God s just punishment for our wrongdoing. We would be condemned to everlasting separation from the Lord. Yet Jesus Christ came to save us from this. As the Christ, God s anointed one, he came to serve as our only High Priest, who by the one sacrifice of his body has redeemed us. A priest s main task in the old covenant was to reconcile sinners with the LORD. He did this by confessing the people s sins, and offering the prescribed sacrifices. In this way the people s sins were paid for, and they were made right in their relationship with the Lord. The manner in which Christ served as our High Priest is unique. For he did not offer up an animal as a sacrifice for our sins. He served as both High Priest and as sacrifice. He offered up his own body as the sacrifice for our sins. The writer of Hebrews speaks about this in chapter 10. He notes that Christ offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins (Heb.10:12). Jesus did this by offering his body and blood for us on the cross. By that one offering he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. (Heb.10:14). As a result God now says, Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more. (Heb.10:17). Thus Christ has removed the guilt of our sins. By the blood of Jesus we may have confidence to approach the throne of grace. Through his great sacrifice Christ has restored us to peace with God. As Christians, members of Christ by faith, we are called to now serve as priests. Not in any way to make payment for our sins. Christ has done that perfectly and completely. But rather, to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice of thankfulness to God. In Romans 12 Paul says, I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, Rev. Joe Poppe 5

6 holy and acceptable to God. God calls us to offer up our hearts and lives to the Lord. He calls us to live holy lives in his service. Paul makes this clear in our reading from Titus 2. He writes about how the grace of God has appeared, bring salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age. Paul speaks about how Christ gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people who are zealous for good deeds. Beloved, when we see what Christ has done for us, it should make us ponder on what we as Christians are willing to do for him. Christ denied his own will, to do his Father s will, even though that meant dying that horrible and shameful death on the cross. Whose will do we follow, when faced with temptations or with the desires of our sinful flesh? Do we conform ourselves to society around us, taking part in worldly pleasures? Or are we willing to give up what we know is wrong? Priestly service involves self-denial. Christ calls us to live obedient lives according to the law of God; to love God with all our heart, and our neighbour as ourselves. This brings us to our final point. In it we ll see how Christ has redeemed us from the rule of sin. One of the consequences of the fall into sin is that our hearts became corrupt, and inclined to all evil. By nature we are inclined to hate God and our neighbour. Our sinful hearts continually lead us into wrongdoing. The Scriptures compare our hearts to a polluted well, which produces a stream of sinful works. Without the intervention of Christ, we are under the dominion of sin and Satan. Yet Christ came to redeem us from the rule of sin. Christ not only served as our prophet and priest, but also as our king. Our catechism says that he was anointed to be our eternal King, who governs us by his Word and Spirit, and who defends and preserves us in the redemption obtained for us. Christ has not only paid the price for our sins, to free us from them. He also set us free from the mastery of sin and Satan. Christ won the victory over Satan when he died for us on the cross. His resurrection showed forth his power over sin, Satan, and death. As our Lord and King he now rules in our hearts. By the power of his Spirit he guides us in the ways of truth, and helps us to devote our hearts and lives to him. Today, we who have been anointed with Christ s Spirit are called to serve as kings. We are to fight against sin and the devil in this life. This is an ongoing battle for each one of us. There are times when we can take a strong stand against the assaults of the devil, this world, and our sinful flesh. By the power of the Spirit we are enabled to withstand the temptations that come our way. There are also times when due to the weakness of the flesh we give in to the temptations that come our way, and fall into sin. Yet even when that happens, we may not be content to live in sin. We are to fight with a free and good conscience against sin and the devil in this life. To do that we need to put on spiritual armour. To defend ourselves with a knowledge of the truth, as revealed in God s Word. To remember the grace of our Lord, and his mercy toward those who fall into sin. To pray for the Spirit to help us in our spiritual warfare. We are kings! Christ calls us fight the good fight of the faith, and so lay hold of eternal life where we will reign with Christ eternally over all creatures. Beloved, the Lord Jesus came as the promised Messiah, to redeem us from our sins. As prophet Christ came to redeem us from the lie of sin; as priest to redeem us from the guilt of sin; and as king to redeem us from the rule of sin. We today may share in Christs anointing. We also have a threefold office. As prophets we are called to confess Christ s name, so that those in darkness may share in his grace. As priests we are called to offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God, living holy lives to the glory of his name. As kings we are called to fight against sin and the devil, and to live fruitful lives under the reign of Christ s Word and Spirit. It is by the Spirit that we are enabled to fulfil Christ s calling. You bear Christ s name, so go forth and live your lives as Christians. Amen. Rev. Joe Poppe 6