Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction:

The Gospel of Santa Claus

You better watch out

You better not cry

Better not pout

I'm telling you why

Santa Claus is coming to town

He's making a list

And checking it twice;

Gonna find out Who's naughty and nice

Santa Claus is coming to town

He sees you when you're sleeping

He knows when you're awake

He knows if you've been bad or good

So be good for goodness sake!

This is what I call the Gospel of Santa Claus.

Serene and I have been having conversations about Santa Claus.

Serene she can’t wait until Santa Clause brings gifts on Christmas day.

Maybe she has been watching some cartoons about it.

And as a pastor, this is what I say to her.

Jesus is so much greater than Santa Claus.

Why?

Santa Claus only gives gifts to good children.

And by the Bible’s definition, no one is good.

So if only good people get gifts, then no one would get gifts because we are all bad.

That means if you live by Santa’s definition, you and your brother and sisters would never get gifts.

Jesus is greater because he gives good gifts not to those who are good, but to those who don’t deserve it.

And you get gifts on Christmas when it is not even your birthday.

Jesus is the gift of salvation not to people who are righteous, but people who are guilty and deserve nothing.

Jesus the reason why we celebrate Christmas.

The Gospel of Santa Claus

I don’t hate Santa, but most secular people believe in the gospel of Santa Clause.

Good people get rewarded, while naughty people get punished.

That is really no good news if we truly understand our condition as described in the Bible.

You better watch out

You better not cry

Better not pout

I'm telling you why

Santa Claus is coming to town

He's making a list

And checking it twice;

Gonna find out Who's naughty and nice

Santa Claus is coming to town

He sees you when you're sleeping

He knows when you're awake

He knows if you've been bad or good

So be good for goodness sake!

Recap

Read more: Christmas Song - Santa Claus Is Coming To Town Lyrics | MetroLyrics

As we have been looking at the Ten Commandments for the past eleven weeks, I hope that we have learned that God’s law is holy and spiritual and good.

I hope I have shown you that by looking deeper into the Law of God, it shows us where we have all stumbled and violated the Holy law.

If you remember, there were three uses of the Law: restrain evil, convict of sin, and show us what pleases God.

“The law bids us, as we try to fulfill its requirements, and become wearied in our weakness under it, to know how to ask the help of grace.”

He writes similarly to Asellius: “The usefulness of the law lies in convicting man of his infirmity and moving him to call upon the remedy of grace which is in Christ.”

Again: “The law was given to accuse you; that accused you might fear; that fearing you might beg forgiveness; and that you might not presume on your own strength.”

Again: “The law was given for this purpose: to make you, being great, little; to show that you do not have in yourself the strength to attain righteousness, and for you, thus helpless, unworthy, and destitute, to flee to grace.”

QUESTION 114.

Can those who are converted to God keep these commandments perfectly?

No: but even the holiest men, while in this life, have only a small beginning of this obedience; yet so, that with earnest purpose they begin to live, not only according to some, but according to all the commandments of God.

QUESTION 115.

Why then doth God so strictly enjoin upon us the ten commandments, since in this life no one can keep them?

First, that all our life long, we may learn more and more to know our sinful nature, and so the more earnestly seek forgiveness of sins and righteousness in Christ; secondly, that we may continually strive, and beg from God the grace of the Holy Ghost, so as to become more and more changed into the image of God, till we attain finally to full perfection after this life.

QUESTION 114.

Can those who are converted to God keep these commandments perfectly?

No: but even the holiest men, while in this life, have only a small beginning of this obedience; yet so, that with earnest purpose they begin to live, not only according to some, but according to all the commandments of God.

QUESTION 115.

Why then doth God so strictly enjoin upon us the ten commandments, since in this life no one can keep them?

First, that all our life long, we may learn more and more to know our sinful nature, and so the more earnestly seek forgiveness of sins and righteousness in Christ; secondly, that we may continually strive, and beg from God the grace of the Holy Ghost, so as to become more and more changed into the image of God, till we attain finally to full perfection after this life.

And I think today;s message is a perfect transition into our meditations on Christmas.

Because Jesus Christ was born under the Law, to set free his people from the curse of the Law, to rewrite the Law by the Spirit of God upon God’s people’s hearts to give them power to obey the Law because we have freedom in Christ.

And this is why we turn to as we meditate on the truths of Christ’s birth this upcoming Christmas.

We celebrate the coming and birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And his birth was the most important birth in human history.

When was He born?

How was He born?

Why was He born?

Background

If you are familiar with the book of Galatians, the fundamental problem Paul is dealing with as he writes to these churches is the danger of abandoning the gospel of Jesus Christ.

False teachers, Judaizers, may have influenced some people of the congregation go back to the Law of Moses to find salvation.

These teachers were saying that if you would be truly saved, not only must you obey God’s Law, but also the ceremonial laws of the OT like circumcision and Sabbath keeping.

In other words, they were believing a Santa-Claus like gospel: good Christians who keep the Law get rewarded, while bad Christians who don’t go to Hell.

Those good Christians who keep ceremonial laws like circumcision and Sabbath keeping are those who are rewarded while those who do not may not be saved.

And Paul writes 6 chapters to defend the doctrine of justification.

In the very center of the letter, Paul says,

And he says,

Anyone who thinks they can keep the Law of God does not truly understand the Law of God and has not truly seen his depraved and wretched condition as one enslaved and cursed by by sin and the power of the Law.

Great Christians throughout history have understand that even though the Law is Holy and Good, yet it reveals their sinfulness and depravity when trying to keep it in the flesh.

“The law bids us, as we try to fulfill its requirements, and become wearied in our weakness under it, to know how to ask the help of grace.”

He writes similarly to Asellius: “The usefulness of the law lies in convicting man of his infirmity and moving him to call upon the remedy of grace which is in Christ.”

Again: “The law was given to accuse you; that accused you might fear; that fearing you might beg forgiveness; and that you might not presume on your own strength.”

Again: “The law was given for this purpose: to make you, being great, little; to show that you do not have in yourself the strength to attain righteousness, and for you, thus helpless, unworthy, and destitute, to flee to grace.”

QUESTION 114.

Can those who are converted to God keep these commandments perfectly?

No: but even the holiest men, while in this life, have only a small beginning of this obedience; yet so, that with earnest purpose they begin to live, not only according to some, but according to all the commandments of God.

QUESTION 115.

Why then doth God so strictly enjoin upon us the ten commandments, since in this life no one can keep them?

First, that all our life long, we may learn more and more to know our sinful nature, and so the more earnestly seek forgiveness of sins and righteousness in Christ; secondly, that we may continually strive, and beg from God the grace of the Holy Ghost, so as to become more and more changed into the image of God, till we attain finally to full perfection after this life.

Luther said, “He hated the righteousness of God.”

And those who have ever tried to live up to the holy demands of God’s law both externally and internally, have come up terribly short.

To try to live up to God’s law is like a man trying to jump up to the moon.