Satisfied With Jesus – Part 2
Luke 2:25-40 (33-40)
October 22, 2017

Last time we met we began looking at these last two witnesses
That Luke uses surrounding the birth of Jesus.

We noted how Luke has not only given the history surrounding the birth of Christ, but how he has also DOCUMENTED that history every step of the way through reliable WITNESSES and EVENTS.

• We saw the muteness of Zacharias.
• We saw the unlikely pregnancy of Elizabeth.
• We heard the remarkable song of praise form Mary
• We marveled at the arrival of the shepherds at Jesus’ birth

All of those served as documented proof of the history Luke is presenting.

They also serve as a prototype of the type of people God saves.
Each of these people represented those who can be explained by those BEATITUDES we find the Sermon on the Mount.

• In them we find “poor in spirit”
• In them we find “mourning” over sin.
• In them we find “meekness”
• In them we find “hungering and thirsting for righteousness”

We are NOT SAYING that these people were acceptable to God
And did not need to be saved…that’s not it at all.

What we ARE SAYING is that these people had
The proper attitude to make them ready and eager for a Savior.

• There was no pride…
• There was no self-sufficiency…
• There was no preoccupation with worldly success…
• There was no disregard for righteousness…

These people, though very different,
All shared the common mindset that they were in need of a Savior,
And because of that attitude,
They were all able to rejoice when this new Savior was revealed.

We are finding that this is ALSO TRUE
With these LAST TWO WITNESSES that Luke brings forth.

• Jesus was circumcised at 8 days old.
• Mary then had to wait 33 days for her purification.
• And then the couple entered the temple in order to make atonement for Mary.

• No doubt this place was crawling with priests and Levites and other religious travelers.
• I’m sure you can find tourists and curious people of every kind.
• I wouldn’t even be surprising to find some of those flea-market types there expecting to make a buck or two.

But of all the people there, Luke brings to our attention
The only two who saw beyond the business of the temple
And recognized that God had truly done something remarkable.

We began looking at the first last week, his name was Simeon.
#1 SIMEON
Luke 2:25-35

And we won’t rehash the life of Simeon except to remind everyone that
He was not a priest, nor a Levite; he had no religious pedigree.

Simeon was simply a man who was “righteous and devout”

He loved God and God had determined to use him to reveal the Christ.
So on the day when Mary and Joseph brought Jesus in,
God revealed it to Simeon instantly and Simeon rejoiced!

(29) “Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace, According to Your word; For my eyes have seen Your salvation”

As we said, Simeon was a man who was fully satisfied in Christ.

This was a man who knew that the beginning of the life of Jesus
Also signified the end of his life on earth.

The natural man would not have anticipated it so readily.

In fact, there was another man in Scripture who assumed that the birth of Christ signified the end of his reign, and he responded totally different.

Remember Herod?
He also heard of the birth of this “King of the Jews” and was so bothered by the arrival of this baby that he “slew all the mail children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under” (Matthew 2:16)

That is how a natural man responds.
But not Simeon, he rejoiced.

There was no “bucket list” left unfulfilled,
This world held no value to him any longer.
All he was looking for was the “consolation of Israel”
And on this day his total desire was satisfied.

He had Jesus, he needed nothing else.

But where we LEFT OFF LAST TIME
Was in the special message which Simeon had for Mary.

Everything had been all peachy and roses in regard to the prophecies regarding this baby.

• Gabriel talked about how this holy child would reign over the house of Jacob.
• Zacharias talked about how He would bring salvation from our enemies.
• The heavenly host talked about how He would be a Savior for all people.
• Even Simeon said He was “a Light of revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel.”

It had been nothing but positive.

And then Simeon throws the wet blanket on the deal.
(34-35) “And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed — and a sword will pierce even your own soul — to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

We understood what Simeon was saying.

While you are rejoicing in this child who is a Savior for all people,
You need to understand that not all people
Are going to be as excited about this as you are.

There are plenty of people who aren’t looking for a Savior from their sin. They love their sin and want to keep it.

John 3:19 “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.”

There are plenty of people who aren’t looking for a King to reign.
They don’t really like the idea of taking orders from someone else.
(We saw that parable about the king whose subjects did not want him to reign over them)

Point being: many in this world are not going to be happy about this baby.
(We already saw Herod’s response)

And Mary, I just have to tell you that what this world is going to do to this baby is going to be like a knife in your heart.

“to the end that thoughts from many hearts will be revealed.”

In short, Jesus is the litmus test.
What people do with Jesus
Reveals who and what they are more than anything else.

If you don’t love Jesus, then don’t claim to love God.
AND WE SAW JESUS EXPOSE MEN LIKE THIS OVER AND OVER

• These religious people walked around in their long robes and their religious traditions and they sure looked faithful to everyone who observed them.

But Jesus came to expose them.
He would reveal that they did not love God as much as they claimed.

Listen to what the writer of Hebrews said about Jesus:
Hebrews 4:12-13 “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.”

I know that passage is about the word of God, but did you notice how the writer switched to a “He” in verse 13?

This passage is about Jesus, who is the incarnate word,
And it speaks to His ability to expose men for what they are.

And because men don’t want to be exposed,
They will hate this child and will do unthinkable things to Him.

And this is not a new thought…
Isaiah 50:6 “I gave My back to those who strike Me, And My cheeks to those who pluck out the beard; I did not cover My face from humiliation and spitting.”

Isaiah 53:3 “He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.”

And here we are, while everyone is celebrating
And high-fiving each other regarding the birth of Messiah,
SIMEON STEPS IN AND REMINDS EVERYONE OF HIS PURPOSE.

This child is going to be rejected and will suffer and will die.

Now, before we move on to Anna, there is sort of a sub-plot here that I want to make sure and address because I think it is extremely valuable.

As I studied these passages, there was one phrase I couldn’t get past.

verse 34, “Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother”

This sobering reality that Simeon spoke of, he directed it for Mary.
It wasn’t just some open ended prophesy for all to hear.

Luke writes it as though Simeon grabbed Mary’s hand,
Looked here in the eye, and said, “There’s something you need to know.”

And I just kept wondering, “Why Mary?”
And I actually think the answer is found in the way Luke chapter 2 ends.

If you look down to verses 39-40
“When they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city of Nazareth. The Child continued to grow and become strong, increasing in wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.”

And of course then we have the story of when Jesus was forgotten
In Jerusalem at the Passover as a boy. (And we’ll look at that story next week)

Luke 2:48-49 “When they saw Him, they were astonished; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You treated us this way? Behold, Your father and I have been anxiously looking for You.” And He said to them, “Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?”

What you begin to understand is that Jesus went through a period
Where He was also a boy who was growing up.

Sometimes we have this tendency to skip from baby to man
And sort of forget that Jesus grew up just like the rest of us.

Also important to understand is that we find throughout the Bible
That much of the teaching and instruction that comes to children
Comes from their mother.

(No, I’m not disregarding the clearly revealed Fatherly mandate to bring up your children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord)
It’s just that while the Father’s worked, the mommas did the raising.

Remember Paul talking to Timothy?
2 Timothy 1:5 “For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well.”

And then later:
2 Timothy 3:14-15 “You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”

Well who do you think taught Timothy those sacred writings from infancy?

In fact, Paul even outlines in 1 Timothy that this role of raising godly children is the ultimate mode of significance for the Christian woman.
1 Timothy 2:15 “But women will be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint.”

It’s the whole “The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world” concept.

While both parents share the burden, the fact remained that
Much of the instruction and training occurred at the hands of the mother.

MY POINT?
Mary had better have a good handle on what she was raising this boy for.

I’m not trying to knock any parent in here, for indeed I want the same things…
But if you’ll stop and pay attention I’d venture to guess that
About 99% of the prayers that get offered up for our kids
Focus on their safety, happiness, and general well-being.

“Lord, watch over them…”
“Lord, keep them safe…”
“Lord, make them feel better…”

And those prayers are often coupled with parallel forms of instruction.
“Don’t run with scissors…”
“Don’t put that in your mouth…”
“Don’t drive fast…”
“Be careful…”

And really, even most of our warnings against sin
Have more to do with them not getting hurt
Than they do with being worried about whether or not God is offended.

What’s the problem with that preacher?
Nothing, in a general sense.

But everything is wrong with it if you raise your child to think
Their sole ambition in life is to be happy and not get hurt.

Simeon is giving Mary a lesson in “Godly-Motherhood 101”
“Mary, God has a plan for this boy,
And I can already tell you that it’s not going to be a pleasant one.
You make sure that you raise this boy to be faithful, not merely careful.”

That, by the way, is Christian parenting at its finest.

I spoke with a lady on the phone this past week. She’s got a daughter (whose name I can’t say) who is serving on the mission field in a country I can’t mention. It is that dangerous.

After reading this passage, I thanked that mother for spending her life raising her children to be faithful, not just careful.

Mary is about to raise this child,
And Simeon, whose sole concern is the consolation of Israel,
Wants to make sure that Mary knows what her role is here.

It is truly a sobering reality and reminder.

But that’s the first witness Luke brings up here on this day.
#2 ANNA
Luke 2:36-38

Just in reading those 3 verses you probably already see
Just how many similarities Anna had to Simeon.

First she is called “a prophetess”
And I’ll just take that at face value
And say she was a proclaimer of the word of God.

• Since there was no new revelation occurring that day,
• It does not indicate that she was receiving new revelations and delivering them to the people,
• But it is not at all far-fetched to imagine this godly woman teaching the children and the younger women in the temple court yard.

Again, Paul spoke of the role of an older woman:
Titus 2:3-5 “Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.”

I don’t think it’s a stretch to see a ministry just like that for this woman.

We also find that she was “the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher”
Indicating that her service was not some sort of obligatory service.

She wasn’t of the tribe of Levi.
You know she didn’t grow up in a priest’s household.

She was just a normal Jewish woman,
Who had a commitment to the word of God.

“She was advanced in years and had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four”

This speaks to her chastity and devotion.
Perhaps you remember Paul speaking of widows and widowers.

1 Corinthians 7:8-9 “But I say to the unmarried and to widows that it is good for them if they remain even as I. But if they do not have self-control, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.”

The reason of course:
1 Corinthians 7:32-35 “But I want you to be free from concern. One who is unmarried is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord; but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and his interests are divided. The woman who is unmarried, and the virgin, is concerned about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit; but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how she may please her husband. This I say for your own benefit; not to put a restraint upon you, but to promote what is appropriate and to secure undistracted devotion to the Lord.”

Paul could have had Anna in mind when he wrote that.
Her husband died early in life and she transferred that devotion to Jesus.

Luke goes on to say:
“She never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers.”

Certainly I think there is some hyperbole there.
Luke’s point is merely that it was an extreme rarity
To go to the temple and not see Anna there fasting and praying.

Anna is what Paul would call “a widow indeed”
1 Timothy 5:5 “Now she who is a widow indeed and who has been left alone, has fixed her hope on God and continues in entreaties and prayers night and day.”

• When her husband died she didn’t become a busy-body.
• She didn’t become “overly concerned with community affairs”.
• And she also didn’t just start living for her own happiness.

She saw the absence of her husband
As a void only to be filled by the presence of God.

WHAT IS MORE, By serving in the temple continually, what do you suppose she did for income? How did she make a living?

She was obviously dependent upon the generosity of those who came to worship. This is what Paul meant by she “has fixed her hope on God”.

THIS WOMAN HAD NO WORLDLY HOOKS.

So, can we talk about Anna’s devotion now too?
You can see what she and Simeon each had in common.

Neither of them had an attachment to the world.
They had crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

And look at her response when she sees Jesus.
(She probably heard Simeon’s statements)

(38) “At that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.”

Anna went from fasting and praying to thanksgiving and evangelism.
She found everyone in the temple whom she knew was also “looking for the redemption of Jerusalem” and started telling them all about this baby.

The key phrase there is EXCITEMENT, wouldn’t you say?
This woman has been in this temple for well over 60 years praying and fasting continually…her excitement tells us what she was praying and fasting for.
She wanted a Redeemer.

And in her we find the exact same picture as we find in Simeon.
• A person who has no desire or attachment to this world at all.
• A person whose sole desire is redemption and deliverance.
• A person who found Jesus and was totally satisfied.

Certainly neither of them needed anything else,
But do you see that neither of them even wanted anything else?
THEY WERE SATISFIED WITH JESUS.

And to return to those beatitudes we talked about, we would say that these two are “pure in heart”.
• They didn’t just pretend to be poor in spirit, they really were.
• They didn’t just pretend to mourn over sin, they really did.
• They didn’t just say they would be meek, they really were.
• They didn’t just claim to want righteousness, they really did.

And we know that based on the way they responded to Jesus.

Jesus is just a baby and yet He has already revealed two hearts.
• Simeon has seen all he needs and is now ready to go home.
• Anna has seen the satisfaction of 60+ years of praying.

JESUS REALLY WAS ALL THEY WANTED.

And that makes for a very penetrating observation for each of us.
We don’t anticipate the first coming of the Messiah as they did,
WE ANTICIPATE THE SECOND.

But I would hesitate to say that any of us
Anticipates the coming of Jesus like these two did.

One was ready at any moment to see Christ and leave this earth,
The other had spent her entire life praying for this day.
I don’t know that any of us can match that. (In fact, I know we can’t)

And that confronts the fact that perhaps
We are still trying to find fulfillment in this world instead of in Christ alone

Can we really sing the songs we are so familiar with:
• “Jesus is all the world to me, My life, my joy, my all”?
• “All that thrills my soul is Jesus, He is more than life to me”?
• “I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold; I’d rather be His than have riches untold, I’d rather have Jesus than houses or lands, I’d rather be led by His nail-pierced hand”?
• “I am satisfied with Jesus”
I THINK YOU GET THE POINT.

• And look, I’m not trying to sit here and insinuate that I’m a shining example and you are all just idolatrous thugs…
• Nor am I blindly assuming that you don’t love Jesus more than anything else…

I’m merely asking you to CONSIDER WHAT YOUR PRIORITIES ARE
And to realize that regardless of what your priorities were
When you came in here this morning,
I WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT JESUS IS BETTER!

He alone is all-satisfying!
He alone is totally fulfilling!
He alone is all-sufficient!

And I know that because we just saw two people who weren’t satisfied by anything this world had to offer and yet they were satisfied in Jesus.
JESUS IS ENOUGH

TURN TO: Psalms 4
This is a Psalm I really “saw” for this first time this week.

It begins with David begging God to answer his prayer.
(1) “Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have relieved me in my distress; Be gracious to me and hear my prayer.”

Certainly we recognize:
• David’s confession that God is his “righteousness”
• And that God is his Savior who has “relieved [him] in [his] distress”

But we also see that David has a request that he wants God to answer.

So my natural question is: What is your request?

Well, David doesn’t immediately tell us.
Instead, he immediately begins to address the “sons of men”

(2) “O sons of men, how long will my honor become a reproach?
How long will you love what is worthless and aim at deception?”

Well we know what David’s “honor” was,
It was God who is his Savior, and the righteousness He had provided.

And here we find David asking people
• Why they have such reproach for God and His righteousness?
• Why they love worthless things so much.

But before they answer, David has a word of testimony.
And his word is great.
He assures them that there is a fulfillment in having God
That perhaps they have never understood.

(3) “But know that the LORD has set apart the godly man for Himself; The LORD hears when I call to Him.”

I don’t know why you love the world so much,
But I’m telling you that being a child of God is a tremendous thing!
Having God hear me when I call is a tremendous thing!

And then David even gives sort of an invitation to the wicked to draw near to God.
(4) “Tremble, and do not sin; Meditate in your heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.”

AND HERE WE ARE AT SORT OF THAT MOMENT OF TRUTH.

• David sees a world that loves sin and hates righteousness.
• David wants them to know that there is a fulfillment in God that they can’t receive anywhere else.
• David even tells them that the way to receive this fulfillment is to repent of their sin and draw near to God.

But let’s be honest…
How many times have we offered that very invitation to people?
How many times has that invitation been offered to us when we become preoccupied with the world?

I can’t count the number of times I’ve had conversations
And tried to assure people that if they would let of their sin
They would find fulfillment in Christ.

It seems like nearly every time they disregard my advice.

THAT IS WHERE DAVID IS.
He can’t seem to get through to people just how fulfilling Christ is.

NOW WE COME BACK TO HIS PRAYER REQUEST.
(6-8) “Many are saying, “Who will show us any good?” Lift up the light of Your countenance upon us, O LORD! You have put gladness in my heart, More than when their grain and new wine abound. In peace I will both lie down and sleep, For You alone, O LORD, make me to dwell in safety.”

David first reveals the world’s cry for satisfaction, “who will show us any good?”
Mick Jagger said it accurately, they just can’t get no satisfaction.

And David has a solution.
“Lift up the light of Your countenance upon us, O LORD!”

What is David’s request?
SHOW THEM YOUR FACE!

“God, I can’t seem to get through to them, that you are the all-fulfilling, all-sufficient, God of the world. They just keep looking for love in all the wrong places. God please show them Your face!”

And if God will, David knows that they will be convinced.
(7) “You have put gladness in my heart, more than when their grain and new wine abound.”

That is to say, that
“They’ve been to the best parties and celebrations that the world can throw and yet not one of them has ever reached the level of gladness in their hear that I have found in You.”

The world just can’t compete…

Often times we try to do ministry by competing with the world, We try to entertain.
But in the entertainment arena we cannot compete for the world can appeal to the flesh, and we cannot.

However, we have at our disposal something the world cannot compete with, we have the very presence of God.

DAVID WANT’S GOD TO REVEAL HIMSELF,
BECAUSE IN GOD HE HAS SOMETHING
THE WORLD CANNOT COMPETE WITH.

(8) “In peace I will both lie down and sleep, For You alone, O LORD, make me to dwell in safety.”

In You God, I get:
• True gladness of heart
• True peace of mind

The world can’t offer either, they are found in You alone:
God, please show them your face!

Incidentally, this became my prayer for you this week.
• This became my prayer for me this week.
• This became my prayer for the youth that come on Wednesday nights.

I am praying that God would show His face
So that if you can’t presently say that Jesus is enough,
That very soon you will be.

Consider Asaph in Psalm 73.
• He lamented his inability to be satisfied with the things of the world.
• He didn’t have enough, and he longed for more.

Until he entered the sanctuary of God.
He saw the end of those who seek the world
AND HOW UTTERLY UNFULFILLING IT ALL IS.

This led Asaph to confess:
Psalms 73:25-28 “Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For, behold, those who are far from You will perish; You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to You. But as for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, That I may tell of all Your works.”

Asaph found fulfillment in Christ.
Jesus became all-sufficient to him.

THIS IS MY REQUEST OF YOU THIS MORNING.
Luke has been revealing to us the birth of
The most fulfilling and satisfying person to ever enter the human realm.

It is in fact “good news of great joy” for He is the Savior!
And He is enough.

This morning I’m going to ask you to begin to seek His face.

And NO, I DON’T MEAN some mystical trance where you set Indian style with your eyes rolled back in your head waiting for Jesus to appear.
God reveals His face in His word.

So I’m going to ask you
• If you would simply begin to pray, “God, show me Your face!”
• And if you’d be willing to follow that up by searching for Him in His word.

As you read, ask God to show you who He is.

The result of that will be that
If you don’t currently find Him to be all-satisfying, you will shortly.

I also want you to pray that same prayer for our church,
Pray it for me,
Pray it for the youth of this church.

We cannot seem to get through to others just how wonderful He is
So pray that He will lift up the light of His countenance upon us.

Jesus is all-satisfying, the tragedy is that so many don’t know it.
Simeon knew it…
Anna knew it…
It is my prayer that we all know it as well.

The Effectiveness of Faith – part 2
Romans 4:9-12
October 15, 2017

As you know we are currently examining the doctrine of SOLA FIDE
Namely that man is Justified by Faith Alone

Having looked at the Necessity of Faith
We are now looking at the Effectiveness of Faith

By lifting up the example of Abraham,
We see there is only one way a man is made just before God,
And that is by believing God.

Man cannot possibly do anything good enough to get to God,
But because God is so merciful,
If man will place his faith in God,
Then God will credit that faith as righteousness.

It is the absolute blessing of being forgiven.

Romans 4:6-8 “just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: “BLESSED ARE THOSE WHOSE LAWLESS DEEDS HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN, AND WHOSE SINS HAVE BEEN COVERED. “BLESSED IS THE MAN WHOSE SIN THE LORD WILL NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT.”

It is a blessing to be freely forgiven by God.

So Paul has been hammering “Justification by Faith”
Romans 3:28 “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.”

Romans 4:4-5 “Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness,”

But you and I know, there is a flip side to every argument.
If works don’t get us to God,
Then why do you always talk about works?

Do I work, or not work?
Does it help, or no help?

The fact is that there is nothing which challenges
The doctrine of Justification by Faith Alone
Like a misunderstanding of the relationship
Between faith and works.

And granted, it’s easy to see why people can be confused in this area.

Let me put two verses up on the screen and you’ll see what I mean.

Romans 3:28 “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.”

Seems clear enough.

James 2:24 “You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.”

Do you see the problem?
If all you do is take those two verses out of context
It is an apparent contradiction.

TONIGHT Paul helps us understand this issue.
And in doing so we are again convicted just how effective faith really is.

And in our text, I want you to learn two main points.
#1 FAITH PRECEDES WORKS
Romans 4:9-10

“Is this blessing..?”

Of course he is referring to the blessing
He mentioned in verse 6 that David spoke of.
The blessing of having your sin forgiven…
The blessing of having your sin forsaken…
The blessing of having your sin forgotten…

Paul is here asking the question.
“Is this blessing then on the circumcised, or on the uncircumcised also?”

And that is a very critical question to ask.
He is wanting to know, exactly when forgiveness of sin takes place

Does it occur immediately after faith,
Or does it occur after faith and a few works.

Years ago the local Church of Christ preacher named Bob Martin began publishing the “Caprock Bible Study” in the Texas Spur.
In one of those “Bible Studies” he quoted from the gospel of Mark.

Mark 16:16 “He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.”

He then commenced to say that in order to be saved,
A person must have faith and baptism or else he could not be saved.

It was faith plus this one work.
(Incidentally, Tommy Bailey published nearly the same on Facebook)

It’s important to note that
• None of them were questioning the necessity of faith.
• Every Church of Christ preacher I have ever met would tell you that faith is absolutely required for salvation.

For that matter Rome would absolutely tell you that faith is required for salvation.

None of them question the effectiveness of faith.
What they question is the sufficiency of faith.
(the effectiveness of faith)

That is the question that Paul is asking here.
When does forgiveness occur?

The Jews said, it was faith plus circumcision to be forgiven.
Acts 15:1 “Some men came down from Judea and began teaching the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”

Paul is asking if that is true here.

And so Paul begins to answer the question.
“For we say, “FAITH WAS CREDITED TO ABRAHAM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.” How then was it credited? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised?

AT WHAT POINT DID GOD FORGIVE ABRAHAM?
AFTER FAITH OR AFTER FAITH AND CIRCUMCISION?

“Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised;”

Abraham’s forgiveness came after faith and before circumcision.

Forgiveness:
Genesis 15:6 “Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.”

Circumcision:
Genesis 17:24 “Now Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.”

Please notice that the time span had to be at least 13 years, for Ishmael was born in chapter 16, and Abraham isn’t circumcised until Ishmael is 13 years old.

And the point is OBVIOUS
FORGIVENESS FOLLOWS FAITH & FORGIVENESS PRECEDES WORKS

In order for a person to get to God, faith alone is required.
There is no moral pre-requisite,
There is no standard of goodness to first be attained.

Only faith in Jesus is required.
Romans 3:23-24 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;”

In regard to the preacher who wrote the Bible study.
He quoted one half of one verse
And built his entire theology upon it.

Look at that verse again.
Mark 16:16 “He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.”

When the second half of that verse is read,
It becomes most apparent that believing and not working
Determines salvation.

IF A PERSON TAKES SCRIPTURE AS A WHOLE,
• You will see that Scripture overwhelmingly teaches that faith alone is required for salvation.

John 3:14-18 “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

John 3:36 “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

John 5:24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.”

John 6:35 “Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.”

John 6:40 “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”

John 6:47 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.”

John 11:25-26 “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”

John 12:44-46 “And Jesus cried out and said, “He who believes in Me, does not believe in Me but in Him who sent Me. “He who sees Me sees the One who sent Me. “I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness.”

And that is just the book of John.
In order for God to forgive a person and credit righteousness to their account, the only thing required is faith in Jesus.
IT IS ENOUGH

WHY?
BECAUSE IF YOU DON’T HAVE FAITH, WORKS ARE USELESS

Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’”

Matthew 23:23-28 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. “You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel! “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. “You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. “So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”

Or consider the children of Israel:
1 Corinthians 10:1-5 “For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they were laid low in the wilderness.”

About those same people the writer of Hebrews wrote:
Hebrews 4:2 “For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard.”

The problem with them was not a lack of works,
The problem was a lack of faith.

WHAT DO WE LEARN?
• Faith Alone will justify a sinner.
• Works Alone will not.

Going to church… Lord’s supper… Baptism…
Are NOT means of attaining salvation,
And if they occur before salvation, they are out of order.

In fact, in many cases,
They only succeed in giving the lost a FALSE SENSE OF SALVATION.
Forgiveness occurs directly after faith.
Not directly after works.

Therefore, we conclude that FAITH PRECEDES WORKS
Ephesians 2:8-10 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”

But there is a second truth that we must understand
In order to have a complete understanding of Scripture.

#2 WORKS PROVE FAITH
Romans 4:11-12

Paul really gives us some tremendous
Insight there in the first part of verse 11.
(incidentally this is James’ point)

Paul called circumcision two different things, did you catch that?
1) SIGN
2) SEAL

Works don’t precede faith, they prove your faith is real.
If a man has no works – he has no faith.
If a man has no faith – he has no salvation.

James 2:14-17 “What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.”

We would have to be blind to miss James’s point.
The idea is that if a man’s faith is not accompanied by action,
Then that man has no real faith.

James 2:18-19 “But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.”

Here James lays down a challenge for all to answer.
“show my your faith without the works,”

And of course YOU CAN’T.
Which is why James says next, “I will show you my faith by my works.”

If you don’t have works, then you don’t have faith.

James 2:20-26 “But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “AND ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS,” and he was called the friend of God. You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. In the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.”

And that also fits our example of Abraham.
We know he was saved by faith alone.
But how do we know he had faith?
HIS WORKS PROVED THAT HIS FAITH WAS REAL.
Certainly we think of the willingness to sacrifice his son,
But that wasn’t the first work Abraham ever did.

The first work Abraham performed was circumcision.

WORKS PROVE THAT FAITH IS REAL
And this is seen even in the New Testament.

John 8:31-32 “So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

Matthew 7:16-20 “You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? “So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. “A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. “So then, you will know them by their fruits.”

It is not works that save you.
Works aren’t even required to be saved.
But if you don’t have works, then you don’t have faith.

That is what Paul is speaking of here,
And he gives 3 ways that works prove faith.

1) WORKS SIGNIFY YOUR FAITH
“and he received the sign of circumcision”

“sign” translates SEMEION (say-mi-on)
That which distinguishes a person or thing from others.

It is the word that is used when the crowd wanted to see proof from Jesus that He really was the Son of God.

Matthew 12:38-39 “Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet;”
They heard Jesus’ claims to be the Messiah
They heard Jesus’ claims to be the Son of God
They wanted proof.

So it is with our faith.
We can claim to have it, but is there any way to prove it?
Sure, we call it works.

In Abraham’s case, the first was circumcision.
And as we have said this circumcision
Was also symbolic of what God was doing in his heart.

God was removing the sin of Abraham
Which had been passed down from Adam.

Today, the first step of faith is baptism, but that is just the first.
Loving God…
Righteous living…
Loving your brother…
Loving the poor…
Loving the lost…
ARE ALL WORKS TO PROVE OUR FAITH IS REAL

But that is what works do.
They prove that your faith in God is genuine.

But there are more.
2) WORKS SEAL YOUR FAITH
“a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised”

What is the difference between a “sign” and a “seal”?
As sign is something you do to prove your faith.
A seal is something you receive to show your faith has been approved.

“seal” translates SPHRAGIS (sfrag-ece)
A signet, the stamp impressed as a mark of privacy or genuineness.

That means when we are talking about a “seal”
We are talking about something that is given after as verification.

A seal is a guarantee of authenticity.

WHAT DO WE MEAN?
• Circumcision for Abraham wasn’t just a test to verify his faith.
• Circumcision was also a gift through which God was approving his faith.

THINK OF IT LIKE A WEDDING RING.

When you stand before the preacher they bring out the rings
And the preacher gives the significance of the wedding ring.

He in effect says that this ring is the “sign” of your marriage.
And he asks if you will wear it on behalf of your spouse.

But to you the ring quickly becomes more than just a sign,
It is also a gift to you from your spouse
Which serves as a reminder that they have pledged their life to you.

So in one sense it is a sign and in another sense it is a seal.

So it was with Abraham’s circumcision.
• It was something Abraham did for God – thus validating his faith.
• And it was something God gave to Abraham – thus reminding of his acceptance.

And by extension that is the same thing works do for us.

On one hand they are the first indicator that we really trust God,
But over time they also become the proof that we look at
That God has accepted us and we are His.

And these works become a reliable seal because
True works of faith are only possible if we are in Jesus and He is in us.

I recently hear R.C. Sproul talk about assurance…

Someone came to him doubting their salvation, and he said, “I’ve got 3 questions for you, to help you determine if you are saved.”
1) Do you love the Biblical Jesus perfectly?
2) Do you love Him as much as you should?
3) Do you love Him at all?

And do you realize that even this less than desired love is a fruit of salvation because no unregenerate person has any affection for Christ.

Now it may very well be that
• You need to repent of something that is stealing your assurance,
• Or you need to obey in an area to regain peace,
• But in regard to salvation that evidence of loving God is only available because God gave you the capacity to do it.

So it is with all spiritual works.
They are only possible because they have been granted by God.

FRUIT ONLY COMES FROM A RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS.
John 15:5 “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”

That means if you have fruit, you are the real deal,
Because you can’t have fruit if you are not.

Matthew 7:17-18 “So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. “A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.”

That is why John wrote his first letter.
1 John 3:13-20 “Do not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart before Him in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things.”

John said, we will know we are true believers when our fruit is of God.
And that is only one type of fruit, but you get the point.

Works are not only a sign that you give God to prove your faith,
But works are also a seal that God gives to you
To show your faith is approved.

Ephesians 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”

These works did not originate with you, they originated with God.

Works serve as a seal.

It is a constant stamp of approval
That we can look at to know we are God’s.

Listen to Jesus:
John 5:36 “But the testimony which I have is greater than the testimony of John; for the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish — the very works that I do — testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me.”

Works aren’t just what we do to prove our faith.
They are what God gives us to do,
To prove He has accepted our faith.

When God sees our faith is genuine
He gives us the ability to do good works
Which serve as a seal that we really are His

This is what John had in mind.
1 John 3:7-10 “Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.”

If God gives you the ability to be righteous,
Then let that keep someone from deceiving you that you aren’t.

They signify your faith to God They seal your faith in God
3) WORKS SHOW YOUR FAITH
“so that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be credited to them, and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also follow in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham which he had while uncircumcised.”

Here Paul lists two different categories.
The lost Gentile who is not circumcised.
The lost Jew who is circumcised.

Abraham’s works were meant to show each of them what God required.

The fact that Abraham was justified by faith apart from works
Shows the uncircumcised sinner that he can be saved
And it shows the circumcised Jew that he still needs faith

Works don’t save you, but they are a powerful testimony
To an unbelieving world.

Think about the testimony of baptism.
• Baptize a thug, it reveals that God will save anyone.
• Baptize a religious person, it reveals that everyone needs
salvation

WORKS ARE A POWERFUL TESTIMONY TO LEAD OTHERS TO FAITH.

That’s what James said wasn’t it?
James 2:18 “But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”

Matthew 5:16 “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

Works don’t save you.
They never have, they never will.
BUT WORKS DO HAVE A PURPOSE
They signify your faith – They seal your faith – They show your faith

That is the relationship with faith and works.

THE POINT I AM MAKING IS THAT WHILE WORKS ARE CERTAINLY IMPORTANT, IT IS FAITH AND FAITH ALONE THAT IS EFFECTIVE.

And this is the doctrine which was rescued in the Reformation.

Let me give you another piece of info that I gained from R.C. Sproul.
It is a math analogy, but it paints such a clear picture of what we are about.

Rome says:
FAITH + WORKS = JUSTIFICATION

The Gospel says
FAITH = JUSTIFICATION + WORKS

Antinomianism says (Romans 6)
FAITH = JUSTIFICATION – WORKS

I think that is a clear way to put it.
We are certainly NOT like the antinomians who are asking Paul in Romans 6 if they can go ahead and sin all they want since they are under grace?

Absolutely not!
The genuine faith of Scripture would never make such a claim.

However we don’t at all believe that
Works are in any way necessary for justification either.
WE BELIEVE FAITH IS EFFECTIVE.

Martin Luther said it like this:
“We are justified by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone.”

Meaning, if your faith has no works, then your faith is dead.
It is not saving faith and you are not justified.

But if your faith is genuine, and of the sort that justifies,
Then rest assured it will be evidenced by good works.

We’ll continue on with this next time…

Satisfied With Jesus – Part 1
Luke 2:25-40 (25-35)
October 15, 2017

Well, we’ve actually been about 3 months in our study of Luke’s gospel
And up to this point Luke only has Jesus now up to about 5 weeks old.

Certainly he has given us more information
In around the birth of Jesus than any other gospel writer.

What is becoming obvious to us is that Luke is giving us history
And he is doing so with tremendous documentation.

Every step of the way he has provided for us absolutely perfect witnesses
To validate that this Jesus really is the Savior of the world.

We first saw ZACHARIAH’S PUNISHMENT
• We remember how Zacharias was made mute and deaf for his failure to
believe the angelic announcement.
• More than just punishment or cruelty this actually proved to be a prophetic
sign.
• It first convinced the crowds that Zacharias had seen a vision
• Later at his healing it convinced the crowds that John was someone special,
even giving Zacharias an opportunity to prophesy about the coming Savior.

Next we saw ELIZABETH’S PREGNANCY
• This woman was barren, and this woman was old, but this woman conceived
and bore a son in her old age.
• This again was part of God’s way of revealing something remarkable was
occurring.

Then we saw MARY’S PRAISE
• Here we had 13 year old pregnant unwed mother.
• Under Jewish Law this was about as bad as it gets,
• But instead of lamenting or horrific condition we find Mary praising God with
regard to the salvation that He had provided for her.

Next we saw the SHEPHERD’S PRESENCE
• When Jesus was born in Bethlehem he had the strangest visitors to his birth.
• We actually had shepherds abandon their flocks that they might come and
gaze upon this new born Savior.
• They came because the heavenly host revealed to them about His birth,
• They proved to be a great verifying proof that this child was no ordinary child.

And THIS MORNING we get to the final two pieces of documentation.
Their names are Simeon and Anna.

Neither of them are mentioned anywhere else in Scripture, but
They are used by Luke to verify that this Jesus
Is in fact God’s Savior of the world.

• We have here two righteous and devout and dedicated servants of God, who have totally severed all ties with worldly treasure and comfort.

• Nothing in this world has a hold on either of them anymore, nothing in this world can satisfy.

• Yet both announce total fulfillment and satisfaction when they set their gaze on God’s Savior, and both announce His presence with extreme excitement and joy.

They are more of Luke’s documentation to his history.

Beyond that, these also fit the mold of the other great point of Luke.
Remember Luke is dead set to remind us of the type of people God uses,
Or the type of people that God accepts.

The fact that people are not acceptable to God as they are,
Has been proven by the fact that before sending Jesus,
God first sent John to prepare the people for Him.

John’s role was to cultivate the proper attitude in those who would be saved
That they might rejoice in Jesus when He arrived.

That proper attitude is the very attitude that Jesus spoke of
In the Sermon on the Mount as those beatitudes.

Things like “poor in spirit”, “mourning” over sin, “meekness”, “hungering and thirsting” for righteousness, and being “pure in heart”

Now do you see that each of the characters that Luke reveals fit that bill?

What can we say of Zacharias and Elizabeth if not “poor in spirit”?
• Zacharias was so humble he couldn’t even believe that God could use him in his lowly condition.
• Elizabeth lamented the life of scorn she had received among women.
• Those two were societal castaways, the bottom of the barrel, they were poor in spirit with nothing to offer and yet they were the first to hear the good news.

Mary certainly fits the bill of being “meek”.
• Meek of course means “strength under control” or submissive.
• This is seen in Mary’s immediate response to the announcement of her immaculate conception; “may it be done to me according to your word.”

The shepherds certainly epitomized those who hungered and thirsted for righteousness.
• They wanted a Savior so bad that they left their sheep in order to see Him.

And now we get to Simeon and Anna; people who are the very definition of what it means to be “pure in heart” as you will see.

So I hope you are getting a big picture view of what Luke is doing here.

Not only is he revealing history
And carefully documenting that history with eye witnesses,
But Luke is also revealing the very theology of salvation
And the necessary attitude of all who would be saved.

This is an absolutely remarkable work which Luke is giving us.

Well, THIS MORNING, we want to begin looking at
These last two eye-witnesses and examples that Luke brings forth.

#1 SIMEON
Luke 2:25-35

When we left off in our story,
• Jesus had been born, and reached the age of 8 days old
• And we saw Jesus circumcised, effectively putting Him “under the Law”

• Then there was another 33 day waiting period as Mary was unclean due to having given birth to a boy.

• Following this, they then entered the temple to pay the sacrifice for Mary’s atonement, a price which we noted, was more than she could pay.

But that is the setting.
Mary and Joseph and Jesus (now about 5 weeks old) have entered the temple
AND LUKE IS ABOUT TO VALIDATE THIS CHILD ONCE AGAIN.

Simeon arrives.

Let’s take a look at Simeon
1) HIS CHARACTER (25a)
“And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout”

Scripture DOESN’T SAY Simeon was a priest or a prophet or a member of the Sanhedrin or give any title or indication for him at all.
You’ve probably figured out, those things don’t mean a whole lot to Luke.

But Simeon WAS a man who “was righteous and devout”

The fact that he was considered “righteous”
• Indicates that like Abraham, and all the faithful Jews of the Old Testament, he had been justified by faith.
• God had declared him righteous by reason of his faith in God.
• He is what we would call a genuinely saved person.

We also find that he was “devout”
• Which of course reveals the fruit of his faith.
• Simeon wasn’t just justified, he was also sanctified.
• He wasn’t just a Jew outwardly as so many of his contemporaries were, he was a Jew inwardly.

The word “devout” comes from a Greek word that means “careful”
As in careful to do everything according to the will and word of God.

It mattered to him that he be obedient.
He was no empty claimer
He was no false confessor

When Simeon determined to trust God,
He put his money where his mouth was.
He is the very definition of “pure in heart”.

2) HIS DESIRE (25b)
“looking for the consolation of Israel;”

“consolation” is a word that means “comfort”
He longed for Israel’s deliverance.
He longed for Israel’s return.

More than that he longed for Israel’s revival.
He was not content with where Israel was in her current state.
He longed for more.
He wanted her to be saved and delivered and renewed.

His life had moved long past all the temporal desires of the world.
He wasn’t after comfort or fame or fortune,
He wanted to see God move.

He wanted his brothers and sisters
To be brought to repentance and salvation and restoration.
Spiritual things were far more important than physical things.

3) HIS ANNOINTING (25c)
“and the Holy Spirit was upon him.”

Don’t confuse this with the New Testament reality of being indwelt with the Holy Spirit.
• We are still pre-cross, and therefore technically still in the Old Testament.
• And while the Holy Spirit was just as active in the Old Testament as He is in the New Testament, His function was a little different.

• It isn’t until after Jesus atones for sinners that the Holy Spirit would actually come to dwell “in” believers.

• During this time, He merely dwelt “with” believers.
• And anytime God set apart a man or woman for a specific task we commonly read that the Holy Spirit would come upon him.

That is what we find here regarding Simeon.
He was a believer, He was focused on spiritual things,
And God had set him apart for a special purpose.

That purpose is made clear in verse 26
4) HIS PROMISE (26)
“And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.”

God had set this man apart for the purpose
Of being an eye-witness of the Messiah.
He would not die before he saw the Messiah.

5) HIS SATISFACTION (27-30)
“And he came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to carry out for Him the custom of the Law, then he took Him into his arms, and blessed God, and said, “Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace, According to Your word; For my eyes have seen Your salvation,”

I love these verses.
• Do you see the satisfaction that Simeon has found in Jesus?
• Do you see that for him Jesus is absolutely enough?
• Do you see that this world holds no other allurement for him?

That is no coincidence.

Listen to the statement.
“Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace”

When is the last time you ever heard someone talk about death in that way?

It is the same mindset we find in Paul:
Philippians 1:22-26 “But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better; yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith, so that your proud confidence in me may abound in Christ Jesus through my coming to you again.”

Simeon looked at it just like that.
This life had no hold on him.

It is a far cry from the number of believers today, if given the option,
Would delay the return of Christ
Until they get to do everything they want to do on this earth.

I remember the statement of one man during a funeral meal who told me, “I want to go to heaven, but I’m not homesick yet.”

WELL PAUL WAS AND SIMEON WAS.

These men had “crucified the flesh with all its passions and desires”
And this world held no treasure for them.
For them, Jesus was enough.

All Simeon wanted was to see Jesus,
And everything else in this world faded after that.

Don’t think that it is just a coincidence
That God chose this man to reveal His Son.

This is the type of person God is looking for,
This is a very attitude of salvation.

ALL HE HUNGERED FOR WAS
Salvation, Righteousness, and the very Presence of God,
That he might abandon this sin infested world
To go and dwell with Him forever.

And on the day he saw Jesus, his excitement hit an all-time high,
Because it meant he was leaving this joint!

I’ll just leave that there for you to measure your ambitions by his.

6) HIS THEOLOGY (30-33)
“For my eyes have seen Your salvation, Which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, A LIGHT OF REVELATION TO THE GENTILES, And the glory of Your people Israel.” And His father and mother were amazed at the things which were being said about Him.”

What Simeon said here would have absolutely offended the Jews.
Simeon spoke of a salvation that was for ALL people.

The Jews certainly missed that reality.
They saw themselves alone as God’s chosen and saw no need or reason for Gentile salvation.
• Perhaps you remember the trouble Peter got into for visiting the house of Cornelius?
• Perhaps you remember the uproar of the early church when all these uncircumcised Gentiles were supposedly being saved?

Jews had no concept of this
Despite the fact that it was all over the Old Testament.

Isaiah 49:6 “He says, “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

Isaiah 52:10 “The LORD has bared His holy arm In the sight of all the nations, That all the ends of the earth may see The salvation of our God.”

And those are just a couple.
• It was never God’s plan to only save Jews.
• Jews were to be the evangelists.
• They were to be the light of the world.

But they took their light and hid it under a bushel.

Simeon however understood God’s salvation.
• He knew where it came from “Which You have prepared”
• He knew who it was for “in the presence of all peoples.”
• He knew what it looked like “a light of revelation to the Gentiles” and “the glory of Your people Israel.”

Simeon knew that when God’s salvation broke onto the scene
That it would be a salvation available for the whole world.

It would be a salvation that gave hope to the hopeless,
Truth to the ignorant, and would be the absolute best thing (“glory”) of any and all religious people.

In short, Simeon was in tune with God’s heart.
He knew God to be a Savior.

And as you can see, Simeon was used by God
To be yet another verifying voice of exactly who Jesus was.

Zacharias, Elizabeth, Mary, the angels, the shepherds, and now Simeon.

They’ve all been saying the same thing.
God is sending His Savior into the world and this Child is that Savior.

That has been Luke’s redundant theme over and over and over.
The Savior is coming! The Savior is here!

Simeon is the next witness in line.

But what you should also know is that
Simeon also provides the first piece of bad news
Recorded in Luke’s gospel.

7) HIS REVELATION (34-35)
“And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed — and a sword will pierce even your own soul — to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

Talk about a wet blanket…

Everything has been kittens and rainbows up to this point.
• Angels are singing, shepherds are rejoicing, people randomly show up in the temple and break into songs of praise.

After taking us about as high as we can possibly go,
Speaking about a Savior for all people,
Simeon now reveals the heart breaking reality that
Most of those “all people” won’t be interested.

In fact, they will oppose Him.

(34-35) “Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed”

Without a doubt, Simeon here puts a bit of a damper on the excitement.
Let’s look a little closer at what he is saying.

He says that Jesus is “appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel”

In a very simple sense it means that
Jesus is the great DETERMINER OF DESTINY.

He is the absolute and most polarizing
And necessary figure in the whole of human history.
What men do with Him
Determines everything about them and their eternal destiny.

Those who oppose Him will “fall” and those who receive Him will “rise”.

YOU JUST CAN’T BE NEUTRAL WITH JESUS.

Jesus Himself said:
Luke 11:23 “He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me, scatters.”

You either come in humility & repentance that He might raise you up,
Or you resist in pride and arrogance resulting in His eternal judgment.
BUT YOU DON’T JUST STAY NEUTRAL.

In addition to that Simeon says that Jesus is “a sign”

What does he mean?

• Many times throughout the gospels you have people approaching Jesus and
wanting Him to perform a sign.

• Sometimes because they were skeptical, sometimes because they were
greedy, but we see it all the time.

What they failed to realize is that Jesus WAS the sign.
His presence indicated that the Kingdom of Heaven was among them.

Luke 17:20-21 “Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”

When Jesus began His ministry, His first sermon was clear:
Matthew 4:17 “From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Jesus was that long awaited Messiah.
Jesus is God’s anointed and chosen King.

His presence indicated that God was now sending His King into the world that He might rule and reign in the hearts of men.

John the Baptist was sent to prepare you for His arrival.

What was the problem?
MEN DIDN’T WANT A KING TO RULE THEM.

That is why Simeon said that Jesus was “a sign to be opposed”
• If You want to come and give us bread…that’d be great.
• If You want to come and take away our disease…we’d love to have You.
• If You want to come and overthrow Rome…awesome!

But don’t come around here assuming that
You’re going to be our boss or something like that.
They had no intention of submitting their lives to God.

Remember?
Psalms 2:1-3 “Why are the nations in an uproar And the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!”

TURN TO: LUKE 19:11-27

The context of this parable was a curiosity about the kingdom.
“they supposed that the kingdom was going to appear immediately”

Jesus is clarifying what men really think about the kingdom.
(READ 12-14)

• They didn’t really want a king.
• They certainly wanted all the benefits of a strong and secure kingdom,
• They just didn’t want a king ruling over them.

This reality made it very difficult for the King’s servants.
And that is an explanation for
Why at least one of those servants proves to be unfaithful.
(READ 15-26)

You see the similarity to the parable of the talents here, but you get a little more insight as to why that third slave was so wicked and lazy.

He was afraid because he recognized that
The people around him weren’t not interested in submitting to the King.

And notice how the king responds.
(READ 27)

You see that the King will destroy all who oppose Him.

But it does greatly illustrate the point that
There will be a great many people
Who have no interest in submitting to this King.

He is “a sign to be opposed”

And as if that is not enough, SIMEON TAKES IT A STEP FURTHER
To reveal to Mary just how far this opposition will go.

(35) “and a sword will pierce even your own soul”

It’s not going to be pleasant Mary.

This Child whom you’ve delivered is certainly the Savior of the world,
That is obvious by now.

But Mary you need to know that this world isn’t looking for a Savior. They’re going to oppose Him and the manner in which they do
Will be like a sword in the heart.

Well we know what Simeon was talking about.
• He was talking about the coming crucifixion of Jesus.
• He was talking about how they would arrest Him and insult Him and mock Him and beat Him.
• He was talking about how they would deny Him justice and wrongfully convict Him.
• He was talking about how they would leverage Pilate and get a sentence of death brought against Him.
• He was talking about how they would lead Him up the hill to Golgotha and drive nails in His hands and feet and crucify Him in open shame.

That sort of thing is brutal on a mother.
And Simeon is revealing to her now (at 5 weeks of age) that it’s coming.

• You have a Savior here, and that is in fact good news of great joy!
• He is the Savior of all people, and Simeon most certainly rejoiced at that.
• But Simeon wants His mother to know that many will oppose Him and hate Him.

TO WHAT END?
(35) “to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

While Jesus is the Savior of the World
We know that not everyone in the world will be saved.
We know about the rebellion of men and the reality of eternal judgment.

SO WHILE HE IS THE ONLY SAVIOR THIS WORLD WILL RECEIVE,
NOT EVERYONE WILL BE UNDER HIS SALVATION.

But there is one reality that Jesus brings to all men.
HE EXPOSES THEM

We know what kind of person someone is
By what they do with Jesus.

Some reject Him and prove themselves arrogant or cowardly or covetous or idolatrous or selfish, etc.

And by their rejection of Jesus the true colors of their heart are exposed.
It doesn’t matter how religious they are,
Or how long the tassels on their garments are.

THEIR REJECTION EXPOSES THEM FOR WHAT THEY REALLY ARE
They are God-Haters.

They might be religious, they might carry a Bible everywhere they go,
But in their heart they are at enmity with God.
In their heart they really hated God.

Listen to Jesus:
John 8:39-47 “They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you are Abraham’s children, do the deeds of Abraham. “But as it is, you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God; this Abraham did not do. “You are doing the deeds of your father.” They said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father: God.” Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me. “Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. “But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me. “Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me? “He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God.”

There was a multitude of people in Israel who were as religiously zealous as any people had ever been, but they didn’t love God.

They were those apathetic people that Malachi talked about.
They were those people
Who would not be able to stand the coming of the King.

Because this King refused to allow their religious façade to fool anybody any longer.

They didn’t love God, they loved themselves, and they used the system of religion as a means to gratify themselves.
• Religion allowed them fame
• Religion allowed them prestige
• Religion allowed them riches
• Religion allowed them to stroke their own egos

They didn’t love God.
And where it not for Jesus, we might not have ever realized that.
JESUS EXPOSED IT.

When God is in the heavens it’s easy to claim to love Him,
But when God takes on human form and stands beside you
Now we’re going to find out.

JESUS EXPOSED THESE PEOPLE.

He revealed that
• It wasn’t the Pharisees and Sadducees and Chief Priests who were the true children of God.
• Instead it was these social outcasts like Zacharias and Elizabeth and Mary and the Shepherds and Simeon and Anna.

JESUS CAME TO EXPOSE MEN.

There is a whole lot more in this text we need to talk about, and we’ll have to do it next time, but I want to leave you with one simple question.

DO YOU LOVE JESUS?

I mean the Biblical Jesus. (and not just the sweet little baby in the manger)
• The Jesus who calls for repentance
• The Jesus who demands self-denial and sacrifice and faithfulness

Do you love that Jesus?
• Do you search for Him in His word?
• Do you commune with Him in prayer?
• Do you delight in telling about Him to others?

Do you love Jesus?
Because one thing we learn for certain in Scripture.
If you don’t love Jesus, then you don’t love God.

It’s a question that demands and answer, and we’ll talk about this more next time.

The Effectiveness of Faith – Part 1
Romans 4:1-8
October 8, 2017

As you know we are now dealing with our 3rd SOLA which is SOLA FIDE,
Or the belief that man is justified by faith alone.

We spent the last two Sunday nights looking at the Necessity of Faith, and we saw that “without faith it is impossible to please” God.

THAT DEFINITELY MAKES FAITH A NECESSARY THING.

What we begin looking at tonight is THE EFFECTIVENESS OF FAITH.
We know that faith is all God accepts,
What we also want to know is how well it works.

I went to my mom’s this past week and while I was there broke a connector to a hose on my pickup which caused it to overheat. I went to the parts store to get a new connector and while I was there I spoke with a mechanic to ask him how to get the old connector off. He said, “You have to have a special tool, but it doesn’t work.”

What he was saying was that the tool was necessary, but ineffective.
We learned faith is necessary, now we want to know how effective it is.

In examining this, it is important once again to restate the GOAL:
Our goal is to achieve a RIGHTEOUS STANDING before God.

Romans 1:18 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,”

God’s wrath is on the unrighteous
So achieving a righteous standing before God is the goal.

The word we used for this is: JUSTIFICATION

And theologically speaking it is referred to as FORENSIC JUSTIFICATION.
That is a legal term whereby God judicially declares man to be just.

You picture the judge on the bench, then the trial, and then the judge issues his declaration and hits the gavel thus securing his ruling.
That is what we are looking for from God.

We are looking for the Judge to declare us to be just and hit His gavel.

Now, here is what you should know
About the HISTORICAL DEBATE regarding justification.

This is where Rome and Reformers differed.
This is where the church was split.

Both Rome and the Reformers believed in an actual forensic justification.
Both believed God would declare man just.
BUT HERE IS THE DIFFERENCE.

Rome believed in what is called ANALYTICAL JUSTIFICATION
That is “justification under analysis”

Analytical implies something that is true by definition.
If I tell you that “a bachelor is an unmarried man”
You understand that to be true under analysis.

So, under Rome’s view of justification,
God declares men just who are actually just.

• If you stand before God as a righteous man, God will declare you
righteous.
• If you stand before God as a sinful man, God will declare you sinful.

It is analytical justification, and it is what Rome believed and taught.

The Reformers however believed in SYNTHETIC JUSTIFICATION

When you talk about something being synthetic
You are talking about something being added to the original.

The Reformers believed the righteousness God required
Was not originally present in man,
But was added to that man by God.

It was an alien righteousness, not of himself,
Added to the account of the sinner.

Man is declared righteous, not because he is actually righteous under analysis, but because that righteousness is added to him.

• That means that God doesn’t simply declare men righteous who are righteous.
• God declares men righteous who are actually sinful because He adds
righteousness to them.

In an extreme paradox we can say that Christians
Are both sinful and righteous at the same time.
Because God has synthetically justified them.

That is the difference between Rome and the Reformers.

And it is an important distinction for this reason.
• If Rome is right then man must engage in whatever actions will make him righteous (i.e. justification by works)

• If the Reformers are right then it is not about works, but rather man must give God whatever He requires in exchange for righteousness.

Based upon that understanding we found last week that
THE THING GOD REQUIRES IS FAITH…it is necessary.

Now we are asking: DOES IT WORK?

And for that we look to the most famous example in Scripture.
We look to Abraham.

There are three main points in this text tonight.
#1 A FAMOUS EXAMPLE
Romans 4:1-3

If you are familiar with the flow of Romans
You know that Paul has just revealed to us
The great justification process of God.

Romans 3:19-22 “Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin. But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction;”

That is a tremendous statement.
• Paul revealed that the Law (works) never allowed anyone to achieve analytical justification before God.

In fact, the Law never made anyone righteous.
All the Law ever did was condemn men and leave them without excuse.

• However, justification is still possible because “the righteousness of God” is available “through faith in Jesus Christ”

Paul was there saying again that
We are declared righteous before God, not by works, but by faith.

But he understands that Jews are going to have a tough time swallowing this, so from there he moves to EXHIBIT A

“What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found?”

This is a big one.
Abraham was the father of the Jews.

Abraham was the initial recipient of all those promises
That the Jews so persistently hang their hat on.

In fact, you will even remember that many Jews considered themselves righteous before God for no other reason but that they were children of Abraham.

Remember John the Baptist confronting that mindset?
Matthew 3:7-9 “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? “Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance; and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘ We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.”

Abraham was a big deal to the Jews.

Paul wants to know what it was that caused God to declare him righteous.
(2) “For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about,”

We’re going to look at Abraham
And we’re going to find out why God accepted him.

And if it can be proven that Abraham earned God’s favor
Then we’ll look into the human right to boast about what they’ve done.
That’s the investigation here.

And Paul waste’s no time answering whether or not Abraham can boast.
THE ANSWER IS A RESOUNDING “NO”

“but not before God. For what does the Scripture say, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

(There’s your SOLA SCRIPTURA there)

Paul says that the Scripture makes it plain that
Abraham’s justification was a synthetic one.
He did not achieve righteousness,
But instead had righteousness added to him.

Well, let’s go look a little closer at the passage.
TURN TO: GENESIS 15:1-6

You will notice right off the bat that Moses says, “After these things…”
And that is very important transitional statement.

Everything in Genesis builds on top of itself.
You actually find yourself in a great bit of trouble when you start cherry picking stories and studying them out of context.

The “things” Moses is referring to is Abram’s decision
To forsake the world and entrust his prosperity to God.

God has been systematically
Producing and pruning Abram’s faith.
God first gave him faith, and then God began to grow that faith.

And it was actually very early on when God proved to Abram
That He had the ability to bless him and the ability to protect that blessing.

And the real defining moment for Abram
Came in the previous story back in Genesis 14.

To make a long story short, a war broke out in the area
And Lot was kidnapped as a result of it.

Abram then went and rescued Lot (a feat Abram should never have been able to accomplish) and when Abram returned he was met with a choice.

Abram was confronted by two kings.
1) The King of Salem (a picture of Christ)
2) The King of Sodom (a picture of Satan)

The King of Salem brought a blessing, the King of Sodom brought a bribe.

And the reason this was such a defining moment for Abram
Is because Abram had been a very worldly man his whole life.

Abram loved the world, Abram pursued the world, Abram sought to acquire the world.

And yet at this moment he had a choice to make.
To either accept the blessing of God or the benefits of the world.

Well you remember that Abram chose grace.
He refused the bribe of the king of Sodom and instead
Chose to give a tithe of all his possessions to the servant of God.

Abram was letting go of the weeds in his heart
And pledging to let God be his portion and provider.
It was a monumental step of faith.

AT THIS POINT, Abram is ready to believe the promise of God.
And God is ready to offer the relationship.

“After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; Your reward shall be very great.”

Now at first that may seem like a strange statement,
But not when you consider the decision Abram just made.

He just turned his back on his usual way of getting ahead.
He just left his worldly security behind.
In short, he quit banking on the world system
And put all of his surety on the back of God.

And anyone who has done that
Certainly knows the type of anxiety that can come with it.

For a parallel, Abram just did what the Rich Young Ruler would not.
He agreed to forsake his possessions for the sake of something greater.

Now you also remember that when the Rich Young Ruler left Jesus,
It got the disciples to thinking.

Matthew 19:27 “Then Peter said to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?”

Can you detect the anxiety in Peter’s question?
Well Jesus assured Peter that they would be rewarded for their sacrifice, and that is precisely what God is doing for Abram here.

“Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; your reward shall be very great.”

God was promising to protect the interests of Abram
And to prosper him accordingly.

Abram did not make a costly decision with the king of Sodom, Abram made the smartest decision of his life.

Placing his future and his hope on the back of God
Was the safest thing Abram ever did, and God is reminding him of that.

But no sooner does God say that,
Then does Abram reveal his biggest hurdle.

(2-3) “Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir.”

Now understand this.
• Abram is not doubting if God can give him a great inheritance…
• Abram is not doubting if God will give him a great inheritance…

God has already proven those things to Abram.
Abram is merely questioning the purpose of it since he has no heir.

GET THIS:
Abram is not doubting God, Abram is doubting Abram.
He doesn’t think that he can be the man God just spoke of.

Ever feel that way?
You know God can, you just don’t know if you can.
You know God is powerful, you just know you are weak.

Abram was analyzing the promise of God while looking in the mirror.
And if you analyze the promises of God while looking in the mirror,
You won’t believe them either.

But don’t analyze God’s promises in front of the mirror.
Instead analyze God’s promises in front of the window.

(4-5) “Then behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.” And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”

God told Abram to quit looking in the mirror
And start looking out the window.

Look at these stars Abram!
Is there anything I can’t do?

Abram, I’m going to bring forth one
“from your own body, he shall be your heir.”

God was promising to do in Abram
Something that Abram could never do for himself.

And listen, that is the great God we serve!

Are you limited? Of course you are.
If it were up to you to secure the intentions of God you’d be in a world of hurt.

But it is not what you do for God, it’s what God does through you.
• When God says you are – you are
• When God says you can – you can
• When God says you will – you will
• When God says you must – you must

Abram had forsaken the world that he might obtain God,
And God was rewarding that commitment
In a way that Abram never even thought possible.

And just to make sure you understand EXACTLY WHERE WE ARE.
THIS IS GOD’S PROPOSAL TO ABRAM.

I’ve told you that the call of God is very much a process in a person’s life.
Often times God begins by revealing pieces of Himself,
And giving tastes of His goodness.

He breathes enough life into the dead man
To give the dead man the ability to see what this life is all about.
It is not full blown salvation, it is merely a taste, a courtship.

But then, after God has revealed Himself,
Then comes the offer or the proposal.

And that is the moment where salvation either occurs or not.

Everything in Abram’s life so far has been God leading up to this moment.
• He’s been revealing more and more of Himself…
• He’s been giving Abram tasted after taste…
• He’s been showing Abram what a life with Him will be like…

And now it is time to make the offer.
That is what God is doing here.

And please understand that is all grace.
From the second Abram entered the scene,
Until verse 5 of this chapter it has been all grace.

God has been offering something to Abram that he did not deserve.
It is all “by grace”.

BUT WE MAINTAIN THAT FAITH IS NECESSARY

For salvation to be reckoned, faith must be involved.
And that is what we see next.

(15:6) “Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.”

For the first time we get saving faith from Abram.
He has just moved from TASTING to TRUSTING.

• He is done feeling God out…
• He is done listening to the proof…
• Abram is seen enough and heard enough…

Abram is all in.
He is entrusting all that he is to God.
He now believes in God and what God will do.

ABRAM BELIEVED GOD.
And if the story ended there, it would be a perfect happy ending to a perfect story.
BUT…
There is so much more here than just that.
“he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.”

WHOA! STOP THE CAR!

God did what?
God “reckoned it to him as righteousness.”

• Abraham didn’t DO anything.
• You can’t find a single work.
• All Abraham did was believe God and God took that faith and in return granted righteousness to Abraham.

We would say then that ABRAHAM’S FAITH WAS EFFECTIVE
It worked…

And that is the FAMOUS EXPERIENCE that Paul is drawing on.

“What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.”

That is the example.
Let’s move on.
#2 THE FITTING EXPLANATION
Romans 4:4-5

Paul here (always the preacher) wants to make sure that
You get the main point, and that you don’t somehow misunderstand.

And what becomes obvious to us is that
Paul is contrasting two types of people here.

• The first person is “the one who works”
• The second person is “the one who does not work, but believes”

And all Paul is trying to do is to make sure
You understand which one Abraham was.

And we discern that by the word Moses used back in Genesis regarding how Abraham became righteous.
• Moses used the word “reckoned”
• Paul wrote it “credited”

And that is an important word to Paul.
Here is why:

If a person works and earns something,
Then you don’t use the word “credited” because it isn’t.

That would be like you working 40 hours for your boss this week and at the end of the week, the boss comes to you with your paycheck and says, “Here I’m gonna do you a favor and give you this money.”

“Give me” nothing!
I worked for that and I earned it.

But if a person “does not work” and you give them a paycheck,
Then you can talk about doing favors.

That is Paul’s point.

If Abraham did anything to earn that righteousness
Then Moses could not have used the word “reckoned” or “credited”.

THE TRANSACTION THAT OCCURRED HERE
WAS DONE PURELY BY GRACE, NOT MERIT.
The only thing Abraham did was believe.

And everything Abraham received was only because of faith, not works,
Since Abraham didn’t do anything.

It is a tremendous explanation of the effectiveness of faith.

The Famous Example, The Fitting Explanation
#3 THE FURTHER EVIDENCE
Romans 4:6-8

I like what Paul does here.
He is making sure that you don’t try to disregard Abraham
Based on hermeneutic principle.

Incidentally, one of the rules of hermeneutics (Bible interpretation) is that Scripture interprets Scripture. That means that we use the overwhelmingly clear texts and total message to interpret the less clear.

EXAMPLE:
In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians he speaks of those who are “baptized for the dead” and someone may well ask, “What does that mean?”
Honestly; we don’t know, but based on the rest of the Bible we do know what it doesn’t mean.

You take the whole message to interpret the single statements.

That is why what Paul does here is important.

He has just built an entire theology on one verse (really on one word)
And it might be easy for someone to say, “That’s an isolated incident, that is not what Scripture as a whole teaches and you have misunderstood the point of Genesis 15.”

So, Paul sets out to broaden the application
By revealing that Abraham’s justification by faith is not isolated.

It happens everywhere.

Hence the, “just as David also speaks…”

So now, we’re going to give a little more evidence
And bring David into the equation.

And David speaks “of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:”

Now pay attention here, because it can be slippery.

Paul quotes Psalms 32:1-2
“BLESSED ARE THOSE WHOSE LAWLESS DEEDS HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN, AND WHOSE SINS HAVE BEEN COVERED. “BLESSED IS THE MAN WHOSE SIN THE LORD WILL NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT.”

Do you know what David is talking about there?
JUSTIFICATION (forensic justification)

David is talking about a person whom God judicially declares just.
• Their “lawless deeds have been forgiven”
• Their “sins have been covered”
• God will not take those sins “into account”

THAT IS JUSTIFICATION.

But listen, Rome would agree with that.
• Rome would simply say that when a person does enough good that it cancels out the bad and God then forgives lawless deeds and declares a person just.

• Rome would say that after an undisclosed stay in Purgatory that a person finally becomes righteous and God will declare them just.

• Just because David spoke of forgiveness or sin being covered or sin being forgotten doesn’t indicate that man is justified by faith instead of works.

WHAT IS THE KEY WORD THERE?
It is the word “Blessed”

That is the word which reveals that this sinner
Is receiving what he does not deserve and what he has not earned.

Again, you work all week and your boss comes to you and says, “I’d like to bless you” and gives you your paycheck.

You’d say, “No, once again all you did was give me what I earned”

But if a man for whom you have not worked says “I’d like to bless you” and gives you a check then you understand the point.

SO WE FIND HERE THAT DAVID UNDERSTOOD
THE SAME JUSTIFICATION THAT ABRAHAM ENJOYED.

• David knew what it meant to be forgiven when forgiveness wasn’t earned.
• David knew what it meant to be declared righteous when righteousness wasn’t actually present.

In fact, Abraham and David are pretty similar in our eyes.
Abraham was worldly and greedy and an adulterer.
David was worldly and an adulterer and a murderer

Neither of them earned righteousness.
Both of them were only righteous because God gave it to them.

And it was given in response to one thing: FAITH
And that is how effective faith is.

FAITH IS SO EFFECTIVE THAT IT CAN ACTUALY CAUSE GOD
TO DECLARE UNRIGHTEOUS MEN RIGHTEOUS.

That is exactly what happened with Abraham
And that is exactly what happened with David.

Study their lives.
• You won’t be impressed with their morality…
• You will be impressed with their faith…

And yet, they are highly regarded throughout history as men in whom God was greatly pleased.
• One is the father if Israel
• The other is head of the Messianic Line

Both were declared righteous by God, neither had anything but faith.

DO YOU SEE HOW EFFECTIVE THEIR FAITH WAS?

Not only was their faith necessary, it was effective.
That’s the main point.

Next time we’ll continue on with Romans 4 and learn more about this faith of Abraham and why God does it this way.