Sermon Tone Analysis

| *Reasons for the Reformation-1*!

Romans 16:17-19

October 26, 2008 

17I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned.

Keep away from them.

18For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites.

By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people.

19Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I am full of joy over you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.

PRAY 

Scripture Memory:*Review*: If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

– Romans 10:9 (NIV)For from him & through him and to him are all things.

To him be the glory forever!

Amen.

Romans 11:36 (NIV)Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!

Romans 11:33(NIV) 

Intro:Reformation – Revitalization – Renewal – Revival – RegenerationWhat do they all have in common?

They are all REpeats…Form… REformVitality… REvitalizationNew… REnewVive… REviveGenerate… REgenerate

Return to where we once were,

Restore what has been lost,

Rebuild what has been destroyed,

Reform what has been distorted,

Revive what has died,

Renew what has become old…

*Why did the Reformation happen?*

*Why is it important for us to remember the reformation?*

*Why do we need to continually pursue revitalization?*

*Three reasons:

*The world – We are constantly bombarded with pressures from the world to conform, to compromise, to redefine “truth” according to our present societal norms…

the flesh – Pride, Self-consumption, etc.  

and the devil – The devil HATES the church…

*Three other reasons:

*The truth – the Scriptures are filled with God’s call to His people to remember, repent and to restore what was lost…

the gospel – The gospel is a constant reminder of our ongoing need for grace, and of our need to humble ourselves before the Lord

and the Lord – He is worthy of SO MUCH MORE than we give Him…We have an amazing capacity to distort anything and every good thing that God gives us.Sexual intimacy, eating, even WORSHIP!!! 

*Four things to watch out for and something to do:*

*1.

Watch out for those who cause divisions.*

*2.

Watch out for those who put obstacles in your way*

*3.

Watch out for those who teach what is contrary to what you have been taught*

*4.

Watch out for people who serve their own appetites rather than Christ*

*Be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.*

This morning: Three of Four things to watch out for…

Next week a Fourth thing to watch out for and something to do…

1. Watch out for those who cause divisions.

What causes divisions?

Right ~/ Good things…Wrong ~/ Bad things…

Is division always wrong?

Absolutely NOT!

The OT is filled with God’s command for His people both to remain separate from the pagans all around them, as well as to put out those from within who violate God’s standards.

The NT continues this, commanding us not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers (2 Cor.

6:14-17)

2 Corinthians 6:14-17 (NIV) – Do not be yoked together with unbelievers.

For what do righteousness & wickedness have in common?

Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?

15What harmony is there between Christ & Belial?

What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?

16What agreement is there between the temple of God & idols?

For we are the temple of the living God.

As God has said: “I will live with them & walk among them, & I will be their God, & they will be my people.”

17“Therefore come out from them & be separate, says the Lord.

The question is not really whether or not there should be divisions, but rather what the basis if those divisions is.

Paul has already told the church in Rome to be wary of those who would deny the gospel of graceIn the context of this epistle, as in the time of the Reformation, we have natural tendency to gravitate back to the /Covenant of Works/….

This is clearly something which is worth dividing over!I recently read a book on the Mayflower.

The author repeatedly berated the Pilgrims for rejecting the authority of the established church in, what he perceived to be, an arrogant appeal to the Bible…

Sola Scriptura (*/Scripture Alone/*) (the Cambridge Declaration)

*We reaffirm* the inerrant Scripture to be the sole source of written divine revelation, which alone can bind the conscience.

The Bible alone teaches all that is necessary for our salvation from sin and is the std by which all Christian behavior must be measured.

*We deny* that any creed, council or individual may bind a Christian’s conscience, that the Holy Spirit speaks independently of or contrary to what is set forth in the Bible, or that personal spiritual experience can ever be a vehicle of revelation.

My friends.

May we all guard this door with great diligence!

…

We CANNOT agree to disagree on this foundational issue!

Neither the counsels of the church, nor our self-deceiving powers of rationalization, nor any other authority can supersede God’s Word!

Always seek a church that bases what they do and what they believe on this infallible source of truth… 

2.

Watch out for those who put obstacles in your wayWhat is an obstacle?

/Skandalon //– /a trap, snare ~/ any impediment placed in the way and causing one to stumble or fall ~/ any person or thing by which one is (entrapped) drawn into error or sin Strong’s

Once again, there are right~/good obstacles and wrong~/bad ones

Jesus, Himself, is said to be a /skandalon/ (1 Peter 2:8)

Negatively, this can refer to those who would set up things which would HINDER us entering God’s Kingdom.

Earlier in this epistle we dealt with the subject of exercising our freedom in Christ in a way that callously causes others to stumble.

In the case of the Reformation, this, specifically came in the form of things one must DO to enter God’s Kingdom…

The essence of Religion: Any attempt by people to overcome evil in themselves in an attempt to achieve a closer relationship or harmony with God

The essence of Christianity: Any attempt by people to overcome evil in themselves in an attempt to achieve a closer relationship or harmony with God falls FAR short of even BEGINNING to achieve that goal.

Only God can accomplish this, and he has, in the Person and work of Jesus Christ.

Once again we have to understand our natural propensity to constantly drift back to the Covenant of Works…

We find it very easy to see where others are falling short, while, at the same time, we tend to rationalize and justify our own shortcomings.

We WANT to feel good about ourselves.

In order to do that, we tend to do the following:

☞    *We lower God’s standards to a level that we can achieve.*

☞    *We establish a means of penance whereby we can atone for our own sins.*

☞    *We unconsciously look for ways that we can exalt ourselves by focusing on other’s failures.*

☞    *We allow the opinions of others to motivate us more than God’s Word*

The Roman church, by the time of the Reformation had done this in a major way.

☞    *They had lowered God’s standards by establishing a list of rules whereby a person could be considered acceptable to God*

☞    *They had established an elaborate system of penance whereby people could atone for their sin*

☞    *They exalted themselves by comparing themselves to those who did not do things their way.*

☞    *They formed definitions of /right/ and /wrong/ based upon the words of men, rather than upon the Word of God.*

Martin Luther…

Solus Christus* (/Christ Alone/)*

*We reaffirm* that our salvation is accomplished by the mediatorial work of the historical Christ alone.

His sinless life and substitutionary atonement alone are sufficient for our justification and reconciliation to the Father.

*We deny* that the gospel is preached if Christ’s substitutionary work is not declared and faith in Christ and his work is not solicited.



Mat.