HANCOCK CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH The Real Full Gospel Rev. Harrison Newhouse 4/18/2010 This is a sermon which speaks of the fullness of the gospel as articulated in the Apostles Creed.
Ephesians 1:3-14 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. 11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. 2
Heidelberg Catechism, Lord s Day 7, Question and Answer 22 and 23: 22 Q. What then must a Christian believe? A. Everything God promises us in the gospel.^1 That gospel is summarized for us in the articles of our Christian faith a creed beyond doubt, and confessed throughout the world. ^1 Matt. 28:18-20; John 20:30-31 23 Q. What are these articles? A. I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty. From there he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
THE REAL FULL GOSPEL Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ: This morning we talked about the division that exists between Christians in the world that has led to different denominations and even deep divisions within denominations and local churches. One of the dividing characteristics between Christians is convictions regarding miracles and extra-ordinary spiritual gifts like speaking in tongues and the faith to perform miracles. Some churches that emphasize the extraordinary gifts call themselves full gospel churches. They call themselves full gospel churches because they believe not only that Christ saves us from our sins by faith but also that he will heal our every disease and perform spiritual signs and wonders among us if we have enough faith. By calling themselves full-gospel they imply that Christian churches, such as ours, have only part of the gospel in view when we preach Christ and faith in him but do not promise extra-ordinary spiritual gifts, healings, signs, and wonders as a normal part of the Christian life. This afternoon we are going to reclaim the expression full-gospel to its true biblical meaning and that is found in the words of our confession everything God promises us in the gospel, - words that come from the catechism in Q&A 22. I do this because the so-called full gospel as defined by many of our charismatic brothers and sisters is actually twisting the gospel from the promises of eternal life to a present-day paradise not promised in his word. Yes, God will heal every disease ultimately, but that will occur when we are resurrected from the dead and live with Christ in a new heaven and a new earth for eternity. Now I say this not to deny the power of God to do miracles or great things in his church but to emphasize that the gospel is about the living God,
everything about him, how he created all things, how he saves sinners through his Son the Lord Jesus Christ. In short, the full gospel is summarized in our confession the Apostles Creed. The theme of this message is that the Church confesses a full gospel in the words everything that God promises in his word. The full gospel includes every person of the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and every promise in the summary of the Apostles Creed. Every Person of the Trinity: The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit The word gospel is derived from the words God spell which were an old way of saying good tidings or good news. The Greek term for gospel in the New Testament simply means good tidings or good news. The issue regarding gospel is that it is the content of what is believed. This issue comes out of the definition of true faith. True faith is defined both as the knowledge and conviction that everything God reveals in his word is true and as the deep rooted assurance created in the hearts of believers by the Holy Spirit through the good tidings or good news of the Bible that Christ indeed has granted the believer salvation from their sins. Now it may seem disappointing that we refer to the Apostles Creed as that which summarizes everything that God reveals in the gospel. Many believers do not even bother with the Apostles Creed. Some have never heard of it. But when one considers what it says about our God, we realize that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all involved in our salvation from creation onto the end of the world. The creed summarizes a more fully revealed gospel that takes into account that the Son of God is not acting alone in our salvation. Yes, he is front and center in the work of deliverance, and the 5
Bible pays more attention to what he has done, but so does the Apostles Creed; but the author of our salvation is the Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In Ephesians 1:3-14 we read all three members of the Holy Trinity described in what Paul calls every spiritual blessing in Christ with which we are blessed, the good news. Paul writes about the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ choosing us to be adopted as his dear children in his Son even before he created the world. We read about the Son s work as the author and finisher of our faith as the one who actually earned our salvation for us by his work. Paul emphasizes all of this as the work of the Father through the Son. Finally, we read that the Holy Spirit makes the application of what the Father chose to do through his Son. Paul refers to the gift of the Holy Spirit through the acceptance of the preaching of the gospel as a deposit guaranteeing our salvation. Now Paul does not fully describe in the scripture passage everything that the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit has done; but we realize that the fullness of the gospel can only be comprehended when we see all three members of the Trinity involved in our salvation as written in Ephesians 1 and elsewhere. We will not describe every aspect in how the three persons of the Trinity are involved in our salvation. This we will do as we study each of the articles of the creed individually in later messages. For now it is important that we understand not only that Jesus loves us but so does the Father and the Holy Spirit. What does Paul say about the Father in Ephesians 1:3-15? The Father blesses us with every spiritual blessing; he chose us in Christ before the creation of the world; he adopted us as his children; he made known the mysteries of his plan through his Word 6
centered in his Son Jesus Christ; he chose us to make us holy; he is glorified through us; and he with the Son gives us the Holy Spirit. What does Paul say about the Son in these verses? Jesus carried out the will of the Father by coming into the world to accomplish everything God purposed and by having his blood shed for us for our redemption and the forgiveness of our sins. By his work Jesus unites us to himself and makes all these things ours. And the Holy Spirit given to us is our guarantee of our inheriting eternal life. When we talk about everything in the gospel, we must learn the gospel well! We must be able to identify God as Trinity, not just in terms of who he is but what he does. Lord s Day 8 Question and Answer 24 is instructive on what each person of the Trinity does in terms of who we are. The question asks, How the articles of the Apostles Creed are divided? The answer is very short: The Father and our creation: The Son and our deliverance: and the Holy Spirit and our sanctification. It may not seem like good news to simply describe the Father s work of creation as a description of him when we say, I believe in God the Father, maker (or creator) of the heaven and earth; but the title Father implies that our status as creatures dictates that our existence is for his glory unto eternal life. That is what Paul is saying when he talks about our election and redemption so closely tied to creation itself that we were chosen even before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. Creation itself becomes a matter of good news, particularly in light of its fall and God s recreation of us in Christ. Understanding the good news of the Son in our deliverance or redemption is easier to understand. Finally the Holy Spirit s work is good news when he opens our hearts to believe the gospel. And we recognize the good news that the 7
Holy Spirit s work in us is a deposit or guarantee that we have inherited eternal life. The word sanctification is usually more narrowly applied to the process of becoming more holy or Christ-like, but sanctification includes everything that the Holy Spirit does for us, in terms of creation, using the word of God to open our hearts to believe, giving us faith, comforting us, teaching us, and transforming us into Christ-like people. This is a lot of information. It is difficult to remember every detail regarding God s work of salvation in us; but let us try to remember that the fullness of the gospel is everything that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have done, are doing, and will do, to secure our salvation. Let us learn everything we can about how all three persons of the Trinity are involved in our salvation so that we can better praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Take some time to simply dwell on these words of Ephesians 1 as they positively and triumphantly declare what that we are in a wonderful state as believers because of what God is doing! Learn it well, and give praise to God for what you know. Every Promise in Summary: The Apostles Creed The Apostles Creed may not make a good slogan like John 3:16, For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life; but the creed is good news nonetheless. The creed states that our salvation is the work of each member of the Trinity. Paul talks about the spiritual blessings with which we are blessed in Ephesians 1. They include creation, Christ s entering the world, his sufferings, his death, his resurrection, his ascension to heaven, the promise that he will come again, the Holy Spirit, the existence of a holy catholic (universal) church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, and eternal 8
life. All of these are mentioned in the creed. For this reason the catechism will not end by simply quoting the Apostles Creed in answer 23, but will then proceed to describe each part in subsequent Lord s Days. The high school catechism class is now studying the details of this creed. In fact, most of the first year of the two year Heidelberg Catechism course deals specifically with the meaning of each article of the Apostles Creed. Why is the creed discussed for so much of the catechism? It is most important that our children learn not the catechism per se, but the gospel and all of its fullness. The full gospel goes beyond a few words and propositions presented in the Bible. The full gospel is the fullness of what the Bible teaches about our salvation. Many Christians have mistakenly short-circuited the gospel by thinking that the gospel should simply be narrowed down to a few scripture texts. Once the people know the way of salvation and accept it, they can focus all of their attention on Christian living in the world. I remember a well-meaning gentleman in who questioned why my sermons seemed to be about our sin and how Christ saves us from our sins. He felt that I should emphasize other matters like Christian action in promoting justice and confronting culture. He did not realize that God wants his children to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, God not only wants us to be involved in the world as Christians, but he also wants our understanding of the gospel to grow! Spiritual growth is a balance of growing in understanding the gospel and of living in light of the gospel. One must never think that increasing our knowledge of how God saves us in Jesus Christ is somehow unimportant or irrelevant to the needs of the world. The gospel is the need of the world today, and it will be tomorrow! Just think of Paul s 9
words when he says, We preach Christ crucified! This is the essence of what the world needs to hear and what we need to continually hear. In fact, Paul says in I Corinthians 2:1-3 the following words, When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. Everything about the Christian life from obeying the commandments, to Christian action, to prayer flows out of the gospel, both in the proclamation of it as well in understanding it. While compassion can lead us to give food to the hungry, to promoting political and economic justice, to address injustice and promote peace in the nations, it is only true compassion when the Prince of Peace and the message about him is at the top of the agenda. Christian activity is centered in the revelation of the knowledge of God, who created all things; his Son, given to the world to live, suffer, and die for sinners, who rose again from the dead, is seated at the right hand of God, and will come again to judge the living and the dead. Christian activity is centered in the power of the Holy Spirit drawing people into the church where they receive forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Christian action is declaring to the world that everyone must give an account to their creator as a day of judgment is coming. Thus the gospel and belief in it, well-summarized in that familiar Creed, cannot be underemphasized. The need to grow in understanding these truths must form the basis of everything that we do. The application of this message is to learn everything that you can about what God promises us in the gospel. Learn to see the Apostles Creed not only as facts about God and what he has done but also as good tidings, as good news. The hope of humanity is contained within those words. 10
Yes, there is a full gospel, and it is revealed to us in the word of God. No, we are not promised an easy life in this world by employing supernatural power to give us heaven here and now; but we are given a vast treasure of information of how God saves us in Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit in his word. Let us devote ourselves to everything that God promises us in the gospel through his Word. Let us truly be a full gospel church in the true sense of the word. Amen 11