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The Yeshua Worldwide Network
of Churches
Pastor Paul Naumann
The Third Sunday Before Advent
"GET
A GOOD GRIP ON THE TRUTH!"
Hebrews 10 vv 23-25
"Let us hold fast the confession of our
hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one
another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of
ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so
much the more as you see the Day approaching."
In Christ Jesus, Who said, "If you continue in My Word, then you are My
disciples indeed," Dear Fellow Redeemed. In the year 1507, a Roman
Catholic monk named Martin Luther was...well, I guess you'd have to say he was
losing his grip! He was convinced that God hated him. He imagined Jesus Christ
was a fierce Judge, just waiting for a chance to condemn him to hell for his
sins. So Brother Martin tried to make up for those sins. He prayed for hours. He
fasted, going for days on end without so much as a morsel of food. He slept on
the cold stone floor of his monastery cell without a blanket. He whipped himself
until the blood ran, hoping that, somehow, he could pay for his sins and please
God. But nothing worked - he found no assurance of eternal life in these things.
He just felt more and more desperate, more and more guilty.
Then one day he was reading the
Bible, and his eye happened to fall on the seventeenth verse of the first
chapter of Romans. There he read the simple words, "The just shall live by
faith." Luther said, "It was if the gates of heaven swung open to receive
me!" Suddenly he realized that no one can earn God's favour by doing good
works; eternal life can only come through faith in Jesus Christ.
The Lutheran Reformation happened
because one godly man got a grip on God's truth. He held on tight, and wouldn't
let go for anything. Today, on Reformation Day, we remember the man and the
movement. And today, the writer to the Hebrews urges us to do the same thing
Martin Luther did. In the words of our theme, the Holy Spirit is issuing us...
"A Reformation Challenge:
GET A GOOD GRIP ON THE TRUTH!"
I.
Don't loosen up
II.
Get strength from God's promise
III.
Give strength to each other
If you ask me, there's a lot to be
said for a good, firm handshake. When someone grips you firmly by the hand, it
gives a good feeling of strength and confidence. Well, that's the kind of grip
God wants us to have on the truth He gives us in the Bible. He wants each of us
Christians - from the pastor, to the church council, to the housewives, to the
smallest child in Sunday School - to hold on tightly to what the Bible teaches.
Does anybody disagree with that? Of
course not - it's as clear as day! We confess our faith in what God's Word
teaches, and we hold on tight to that confession, come what may. But it's not as
easy as it sounds. Notice that Paul's admonition contains a note of warning:
"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering..." He's
saying, "Once you've got a firm grip on the truth, DON'T LOOSEN UP"!
That's the difficult part. If you
hold on tight to your religious confession, and refuse to loosen up even a
little, you're not going to be a very popular person. Martin Luther found that
out. After he broke with the Roman Catholic Church, various people tried to get
him to compromise his stand on a few of the so-called "minor articles" of
doctrine, for the sake of joining forces with other Christians. But when it came
to God's truth, Luther flatly refused to loosen up. "One article of faith is
all articles and all articles are one," he said, "and if one article is lost,
gradually all will be lost."
...And if you don't believe that,
look at some of the larger church bodies that go by the name "Lutheran" in our
country. The huge ELCA, for example: in their seminaries, the professors aren't
even allowed to teach that the Bible is without error. Some of their pastors
deny that Jesus ever performed a miracle; a few even say that Jesus never rose
from the dead! How did things get so bad in the ELCA? Satan didn't take all
their doctrines away at once. He took them gradually. He loosened their grip on
God's Word slowly, one doctrine at a time, starting with the seemingly
"minor" doctrines; and eventually, the most precious gems of the Gospel had
slipped through their fingers. Remember the nature of false teaching - the
Apostle Paul says it's like yeast: a little is enough. "A little yeast works
through the whole batch of dough." --
Galatians 5 v 9 NIV.
Could that ever happen to our church
body? Well, that's really up to you - you're the members, after all! It's for
you to say whether this church body holds on tight to the teachings of the
Bible, or slowly loosens its grip by allowing the yeast of false doctrine to get
in.
How can we meet the challenge? How
can we strengthen our grip on the truth? Our text tells us. "Let us hold fast
the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful."
Remember the central promise of Scripture, and remember the faithfulness of the
One who makes it. Get strength from God's promise!
A Lutheran pastor named Roger
Kovacini once wrote a good essay entitled, "The Ten Commandments of Bible
Interpretation." One of his commandments was, "Thou Shalt Not Major In
Minors." We shouldn't forsake any of the teachings of Scripture, he said.
However, all those teachings should be placed in their proper perspective, so
that we don't lose sight of the major truth of the Bible. Nearly all the
"mainstream" denominations break this commandment. Roman Catholics emphasize
the sacraments and good works. The Methodists preach sanctification (the
Christian life) week after week. The Pentecostal churches concentrate on the
gifts of the Holy Spirit. Some churches, like the Presbyterian and Episcopal,
emphasize one or another form of church government. They're all "majoring in
minors," because those issues aren't the central message of the Bible.
What is? Which is the single most
important subject that every book of the Bible deals with? Where alone can we
get the strength to "hold fast to our confession?" The promise of
salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. That's the precious treasure of this
Lutheran church. In the words of one of our old Lutheran hymns, "Christ is our
Cornerstone; on Him alone we build!" When we come before the Lord here in
church, or in our prayers at home, we come knowing full well that we are sinful
human beings. We acknowledge that we've fallen far short of what God's Law
demands. But we also come knowing that God will forgive us, for Christ's sake.
His blood and righteousness covers us. We love to hear the story of the cross
over and over again, because we know that's where the promise of our eternal
salvation lies.
That's the promise that strengthens
us: the promise of the cross. It's an ironclad contract we have with God that He
will never hold our sins against us. He can't, because those sins were nailed to
the cross with Jesus on Good Friday. When He gasped, "It is finished!" -
at that moment His work of paying for our sins was completed.
Do you ever find your faith
weakening? Does your conscience ever bother you and make you wonder whether or
not you'll really be saved? At times like that I wish you'd ask yourself one
question: "Are my sins so great that not even the death of God's Son can
atone for them?" Ridiculous! Your sins are paid for and gone! Your place in
heaven is guaranteed! It's as delightfully simple as the words of John in his
first epistle: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us
our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
That's the heart of the Gospel -
salvation by faith in Christ alone. That was the basis of the Reformation five
hundred years ago, an that's what still makes our pure, Lutheran confession
worth holding on to. We have been brought to know the love of Jesus...can we
then turn around and take His Word lightly? Can we pick and choose which of His
teachings we will hold on to and which will go by the wayside? No. Jesus Himself
tells us, "If you continue in My Word, then you are My disciples indeed."
-- John 8 v 31. "Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching
them to observe ALL THINGS THAT I HAVE COMMANDED YOU." --
Matthew 28 vv 19-20.
We will not loosen our grip. We will continue to find strength in the Word and
promises of God!
But our text tells us of another way
that our congregation can strengthen its grip on the truth. Our text says,
"Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not
forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but
exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching."
Not only does God impart strength to us through His Word, He also enables us as
Christians to give strength to each other.
I saw a movie once where a college
professor had been poisoned. One person, a young student of his, held the key to
finding out what the poison was and saving his life. He needed to make sure the
student didn't get away from him, so he spread super glue on his hand and stuck
it on the student's arm. And that was that - they were going to stay together
for better or for worse! As Christians, all of us in this congregation are
tightly attached to one another. And the "glue" that connects us is the
faith that we all share. Together, we have a grip on the truth, and our
challenge this Reformation Sunday is to help make our mutual grip tighter and
stronger and more unbreakable than ever. How can we do that?
For one thing, we can "consider
one another." That means thinking about these people around you. Is there
someone here in our congregation who needs help? Offer your help. Someone who
could use an encouraging word from a fellow Christian? Stop in for a visit and
remind them of God's promises. Someone who's in financial straits? Look into
your heart and your cheque book; maybe you can assist them with some of the
bounty that the Lord has given you. That's the way to "stir up love and good
works!"
Our worship here on Sundays is an
especially important way to strengthen each other's grip on the truth. The
writer to the Hebrews says, "Don't forsake the assembling of yourselves
together." We all know that attendance at Sunday worship is means to
strengthen our own faith, but we often forget how much our presence does to
strengthen the faith of our fellow members. You know what it's like to worship
here when this church is full of people. It's great! It's so encouraging to
stand side-by-side with our fellow Christians, to confess our faith together, to
listen to God's Word together, to encourage each other in the Gospel! Do you
want to add some glue to this bond of fellowship? -Then don't deprive us of the
encouragement of your presence! Put first things first. Let Sunday mornings find
you here, in God's house, joining in the praises of your Saviour.
"And so much the more," the
writer says, "as you see the Day approaching." Judgement Day could come
at any time. If it comes on a Sunday morning, well...I'll be here. Let's all be
here, drinking in the water of life...and strengthening our grip on the truth! AMEN.
Pastor Paul Naumann
If you would like to submit a Guest Sermon then send
to:-
Guest
Sermon Submission
Guest
Sermon By The Revd Chris Hicken BA, AD, BBS
Guest Sermon By Patriarch + Mar Martin McGuire
PhD
Serving
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The
Old
Roman
Catholic
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The Yeshua Worldwide Network
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