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Anytime we watch anything that touches on a theological notion I go this is just this just bad theology and and she started stopping me as we're watching something she just says mom I know I know it's I'm not turning to this for theology I'm turning it to it for fun but anyway so so there you go the Nephilim the great mystery not as exciting as we think or as as sometimes it's portrayed but but it makes more sense it's more realistic and so there we go all right so we started in Genesis now we're going to jump all the way to revelation there is um revelation is I mean we could I know we talked about this last year we could spend just years in revelation and still um be fascinated and find more uh we're gonna go to revelation 12 revelation 12 so we started in Genesis the very first book of the Bible and we're going all the way to the end to revelation the very last book in the Bible so we're making it very easy to find today um we don't even have to open to the middle and then flip we just know you either go to the front of the back so we're in the back of the Bible revelation verse 12 um so have you ever been reading in Daniel it also has this where where you read and it talks about a time times in half a time and we kind of read past that and go yep okay sounds good what is time times and half a time so that is what we're going to be looking at today so we're going to start with verses uh one through six because this is very interesting remember how we talked last year about how revelation goes in these cycles right it's cyclical writing and so here we're going to find in these first six verses of chapter 12 we find that um that it's it's a quick version of then what is laid out in the rest of 12 so let's go ahead and read verses one through six where John is seeing the vision and he says a great portant appeared in heaven a woman clothed with the sun with the moon under her feet and on her head a crown of 12 stars she was pregnant and was crying out in birth pangs in the agony of giving birth then another portant appeared in heaven a great red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven diadams on his heads his tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth then the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child so that he might devour her child as soon as it was born and she gave birth to a son a male child who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron but her child was snatched away and taken to God and to his throne and the woman fled into the wilderness where she has a place prepared by God so that there she can be nourished for 1,260 days okay so a great sign it begins by saying a great sign a great sign is it's pointing to something of importance remember how we hear that there will be signs and wonders that Jesus did many signs and wonders he is it that is always pointing to something of divine importance that's happening a visual representation of something divine right we know that when Jesus performs miracles something divine is happening right there we know that anytime there's a sign given there's something divine that's happening that's going on so so this woman is wearing a crown of 12 stars on her head now a crown was given in reward for a contest it was it was it showed a victory and this crown of of 12 stars it represents 12 of the 24 elders that were around the throne of God so in the throne room we read about the 12 elders that are praising and worshipping the Lord and we knew when we talked about this last year we talked about how 12 those 12 of those 24 represented or were the 12 tribes of Israel and the other 12 were the 12 apostles so you have the Old Testament and the New Testament coming together and you have the 24 represented so you have you have this woman who is wearing the crown of 12 stars on her head and prior to the child's birth the 12 stars are representing the 12 tribes of Israel it's those those 12 tribes so it's really that old testament people that are being represented here it's it's all the people of God in the Old Testament that are represented then after the child is born the 12 stars are representing the other 12 elders that are that are the 12 apostles which represents the New Testament Church which represents the people of God both both of the Old and the New it's it's the complete people of God the stars are signifying that the woman represents the entire people of God Israel and the New Israel the Old Israel and the New Israel Mary is is the model of the woman or for the woman she's also the model for and represents the church so here we have this woman and and and she is I mean we know that Mary did give birth to Christ but we also know that the church is referred to as a bride remember in the Old Testament how consistently the prophets write and and God writes through through them talking about the the unfaithful bride that is the church and then afterwards we hear in the New Testament about the church that is adorned as the bride for Christ right the bride of the lamb so the church is adorned with the sun and crown of stars God loves and honors his people God loves his people his people of all his people of now and his people to come God loves all of his church the moon that is under the woman's feet that shows that she's the dominant earth entity in his creation so everything everything in creation is governed for the benefit of the church the church is to increase to be cared for the church is protected by God the dragon then is sitting here it's just incredible imagery this dragon that is just waiting for this child to be born to debour him so so we see that the dragon at the start isn't again or isn't after the woman the dragon wants to destroy the child the dragon wants has a focus against the child that's where the warfare is all centered but the child escapes the dragon and that's when the dragon turns his rage toward the woman so if you keep your hand in revelation and if you go to Psalm 2 now we're going to open to the middle of our Bibles into Psalm 2 please it's just incredible when you get into you know I like the the Lutheran the Lutheran way of understanding that scripture interpret scripture because it helps to clarify it helps a lot to make sense of what doesn't seem to make sense and we see that that God has it he has what he wants us to know in his word so so it's just kind of cool that's a total aside but it's just it's just really cool to see how God gives us always through his word understanding so so in in Psalm 2 we read we read about the prophecy of this so reading in Psalm 2 it says why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain the kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and his anointed saying let us burst their bonds a sundering cast their cords from us he who sits in the heavens laugh the Lord has them in derision then he will speak to them in his wrath and terrify them within his fury saying I have set my king on Zion my holy hill I will tell of the decree of the Lord he said to me you are my son today I have begotten you ask of me and I will make the nations your heritage and the ends of the earth your possession you shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel now therefore oh kings be wise be warned oh rulers of the earth serve the Lord with fear with trembling kiss his feet or he will be angry and you will perish in the way for his wrath is quickly kindled happy are all who take refuge in him so we see that in Psalm 2 God is telling us that he will anoint his king he will install his king who is the anointed one and in Psalm 2 verse 9 when it talks about the iron rod it's looking past the present age where gods or Christ rain is hidden right it's looking past that into the future rain when Christ's rain will be revealed in power and with glory and so it's light in light of the future rain the the future rain of Christ the kings kings are told fear worship and serve the Lord in that knowing that this rain indeed is coming and so this is what is the kings and those of us on earth are invited to to fear and worship so that that the escape of the wrath of God can happen remember happier all who take refuge in him we know that the rain the eternal forever rain is the Lord's and so when he comes again in all power and glory and and his kingdom is no longer hidden from the world we know as believers we do not need to tremble because our time now is is revering the Lord our king and and we know his kingdom is to come so that is that is an invitation and a warning right that that those who who revel in the worldly rain and the reign of the dragon gods wrath indeed will come upon them the dragon the dragon though can only look toward or look forward to his complete termination his a complete termination of his of his rule and so he's furious with this child he's furious with this child and that's where he wants to to snatch the child in Luke chapter one verses 31 and 32 we find out that the male child that is to be born to marry is to rule on the throne forever we know that his his rule and reign will be forever it is eternal and Jesus declares in his ministry over and over again that he is the shepherd he is the one who has come to call and gather the sheep just as God had promised so so in verse five going back to Revelation in verse five we read she gave birth to a son a male child who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron but her child was snatched away and taken to God and to his throne a lot happens in that phrase in this phrase we have the incarnation we have the ministry of Jesus we have the passion the death the resurrection and the ascension in just a little phrase so so so we have the sum of our whole everything that we know about Christ all in those few words that the child was born and snatched up to God Jesus the child he is exalted and enthroned it is not the dragon it is not the dragon who prevailed it is Christ it is the child born who prevailed praise the Lord the dragon couldn't destroy the child at his birth so now now we're going to jump down so so those verses one through six that an overall explanation of what's happening here then then John in his writing with the prophecy he comes back then beginning in verse seven and goes back over it and explains what happens and tells of it in more detail so in that we hear beginning in verse seven war broke out in heaven Michael and his angels fought against the dragon the dragon and his angels fought back but they were defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven the great dragon was thrown down that ancient ancient serpent who is called the devil and Satan and deceiver of the whole world he was thrown down to the earth and his angels were thrown down with him then I heard a loud voice in heaven proclaiming now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Messiah for the accuser of our comrades has been thrown down who accuses them day and night before our God but they have conquered him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony for they did not cling to life even in the face of death rejoice then you heavens and those who dwell in them but woe to the earth and to the sea for the devil has come down to you with great wrath because he knows that his time is short okay a couple of things here why I keep highlighting that that this you know the first six verses give a shortened version and then we come back to get more details because when when one reads revelation in a linear fashion then we see that there are that that they're they're really then are two dragons how does this work and you see this timeline getting really muddled and very confused so when we understand that we're coming back to to the deeper explanation or more details it makes it clearer does that make sense yes oh good I'm so glad I also I also want to highlight I just find it so amazing these incredible descriptions of the serpent of the devil given where where it is it is in verse um verse 10 and into 11 it talks about um the accuser the accuser who accuses that day and night before our God and isn't that exactly what the devil does but stand there first saying you know come on it's okay you know tempting us warring us into sin we sin and then he says can you believe what you just did you should be ashamed you are unworthy you are un-savable right isn't that what the great accuser does I love those verses just it's just anyway so um so the dragon can't destroy child that has then the woman this this first Mary is now the church it's both the old and the new Israel um and and we read about that where where Paul in Romans writes about there's no longer Jew in Greek but but we're one in Ephesians chapter two we we read all about um the unity of who we are in Christ right that we are no longer separated but we are one we read in the New Testament in Paul where he talks about um you know we're all one in the Lord one Lord one spirit one baptism for the forgiveness of sin and so we have this unity and um let's go ahead and go back to Revelation verse 13 so when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child so he's pursuing after this woman he can't he cannot defeat the child and so he goes after the woman he goes after the church but the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she could fly from the serpent into the wilderness to her place where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time see time and times and half a time okay we're gonna math that's okay this is this is simple math okay yes so we have we have time that's one we have times so that's two so we have that and then we have half so that is time times and half a time one plus two is three plus half is three and a half simple math now I'm gonna explain what this even means so so um three three and a half is half of number seven right so the number seven is very key here okay so when we read um we read earlier in Revelation we read about um about a 1,260 days uh that the witnesses of God are on the earth right and we read about um 1,260 days where where the city is trampled right and and so this is a very figurative language um three and a half years equals 1,260 days so we we're coming to look at this figuratively um and not linear so it's not that there will be two prophets proclaiming for three and a half years exactly and then there will be burning in the city for three and a half years exactly and then but it's it's figurative so the two the the prophets the witnesses of God were in that time period okay so um but we're talking about times time time times and and half a time um so so three and a half is half of seven seven is God's number seven is God's number remember he created in seven days and created in six rested on the seventh but but it's the seven days of creation um so so we have this this fullness in the number seven the fullness of of God well three and a half is half that is the devil's mockery of God three and a half is the devil's mockery of God and until the completion of God's time we are in a period of the devil's mockery we're in a period of the devil the accuser wreaking havoc and accusing doing all he can to torment the the church so he chased after the woman the woman went into the wilderness and she was in verse 14 it says that she is nourished for a time and times and half a time so we are currently in the time and times and half a time but the woman remember at this point is the church she is the church let's go back to Revelation to read in verse 15 then from his mouth the serpent poured water like a river after the woman to sweep her away with the flood but the earth came to the help of the woman it opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth then the dragon was angry with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her children those who keep the commandments of God and hold the testimony of Jesus so remember the dragon now is being referred to as the serpent where do we first see the serpent genocents in the Garden of Eden who deceive, eve and Adam right and is also told by God that he will be crushed that he will be crushed by Eve's offspring so now the dragon the serpent has been trying to devour this child can't cannot destroy the child he chases after the woman chases after the church continues to hound after the woman but the woman is cared for she is nourished she is nourished by creation she is provided for and we know that as the church we are under complete and the church being you know believers we are always under fire by the the serpent by the devil the dragon but we are nourished week after week with word and sacrament we are nourished day after day with word right and so we're always nourished and kept in in God's reign and rule by his mercy and by his grace so um yeah so God cares for the woman in the wilderness the serpent still causes a lot of pain a lot of anxiety and we see that he turns to then torment the rest of her seed. Now putting our fear aside I do have to stress and this is really important that it does not mean when we put our fear aside it does not mean that we stop with discernment right caution is always justified when dealing or encountering strangers it's really important that we don't just cast all caution all discernment aside because we are just not going to fear right we need to be smart we need to work in wisdom and and know people wisely when we set aside our fear we're really setting aside or aiming to set aside our timidity we can make all sorts of excuses not to speak to someone but it's often our own insecurities that are bubbling to the surface so when we're when we're timid right instead of fearful because most of us don't fear fear our neighbor right but we're a little timid about reaching out and meeting our neighbors but that's often our own insecurities that are bubbling to the surface you know this is going to be awkward I don't want awkwardness or maybe I'm an introvert so someone else would really be better at this than me what about my neighbor is going to think I'm really weird or what if my neighbor rejects me can you imagine going to the door knocking with something in hand brownies or or a pie and and they just say nope bye bye right that that's a little scary it's it's a little cause for timidity but let's go to Timothy second Timothy chapter one I keep closing my Bible and then reopening it I just need to leave it open but first Timothy so we were in Ephesians you're going to keep going to the right and you're going to find the tea books so after Thessalonians you'll have first Timothy we want to go to second Timothy chapter one verse seven God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self discipline in the ESV it says that God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self control we have absolutely no need to be timid or fearful because God empowers us and enables us to be bold and to take that first step with our neighbors we can remind ourselves all the time as we feel those feelings of fear or feelings of timidity starting to bubble or rise we remind ourselves that getting through the weirdness or getting through the awkwardness is probably going to be the most difficult part in the process of neighboring so if we can make it through the awkwardness if we can make it through that weirdness that's probably going to be the worst part of it which really isn't too bad is it go to the next page so now we're going to talk about taking the first steps and then the steps after that so we want to be a good neighbor we want to reach out to our neighbors but how how do we do this J and Dave who wrote the book The Art of Neighboring they compare this perplexity to cleaning the garage I love this metaphor so if you ever stared into a garage and you think to yourself I know I need to spend the day cleaning this I know I do but I just don't know where to begin right where do I start and you're overwhelmed with the starting point how do I tackle this situation how do I tackle what I know I want to do what I know I need to do but I just don't know where to start or how to do it the thing is is that when we don't know where to start or we're overwhelmed a lot of times we'll give up another neighbor can talk to that one I don't want to do this I give up I quit right but we don't want to quit we want to continue to reach out to our neighbors and we want to continue to have that opportunity to connect and grow in relationship to the impact and glory of God's kingdom right so there's a simple framework that we can use as a helpful tool of where to start and then continue to grow in relationship with our neighbors and that is yep there we go so we are strangers and then we take that next step into acquaintances and then that from there we can build relationships so stranger acquaintance relationship stranger acquaintance relationship so how do we take this first jump from stranger to acquaintance all right we're going to get out that block map again lots of flipping here get out your block map because we're going to use this okay so the people that you don't know as you're filling this in the people that you don't know their names those are the strangers okay those are the strangers those are the ones that you have to meet so the first step as we discovered last week is to learn your neighbors names make it a point to have a conversation with a neighbor who you don't know his or her name so you can you can learn the name now right now that's going to look a little bit differently than it would under normal circumstances when we are not distancing ourselves from people and if we're unable to find a person's name or number right now some of these meetings or getting to know your neighbor some of that might might have to be on hold a little bit until we're able to actually go over to someone's house in person but if there's someone that you don't know their name but you do know their number or you don't know their name and when we're done with the quarantines the shelter in place the social distancing that you actually can get out and meet people a conversation might look at like this hi I'm Carrie I know you've told me your name before I got to be honest I am terrible with names can you please give it to me again right so you're you're telling them I know you've told me your name I can't remember it but I want to know it I want to remember it right and so you're learning their name and you're being honest and they know when you're being honest with them they can trust you more right that that builds right there just a little bit of trust or maybe if it's someone that you've never known their name you can you can approach them say hey you know we wave to each other all the time I'd love to know your name my name's Carrie and you'd say your name of course right um so now you have your names you've got your names what next well the first step is to after you learn their names write it down write it down on your block map you don't have to throw this out right keep your block map write their names down on it and then hang it on your fridge or hang it somewhere that's prominent enough that you will see it every single day this not only reminds you of your neighbor's names right now you know their names but it also keeps that neighbor at the top of your mind it keeps you thinking about the neighbors you know and the ones that you have yet to meet it's a tangible way for you to remember who God has placed you in the midst of right so keep that um and if you want to take it a step further with the block map you can do what one of the authors wife's did wife did she used this block map to make a block directory I love this she went door to door around this block and she ended up doing it for her whole neighborhood it depends on how big your neighborhood is but she went door to door she gathered contact information and she made copies for all of these other neighbors so she had addresses cell phone numbers email addresses and when she then distributed it to all the other neighbors that meant that they could connect with one another too that they all had means of building those relationships with their neighbors it'd be a very very handy tool to have something like a block directory at a time like this right where you could call your neighbor up really easily you have their name you have their number you have their email address and it's already there for you so that's a great way to use the block map um what they found was that by doing the block map where then they they made it a directory they found that the contact information it actually began to facilitate and further new relationships that the neighbors started contacting one another and they would say oh yeah it's laid out and I see your garage is still open I don't know if you want to close that or one woman had used the information to invite all the women of the neighborhood for a girl's night out so they started to see that by taking that step of of using their block map and then gathering the information and sharing it as a block directory they were seeing the fruits of that within their own neighborhood not everyone is going to be more than an acquaintance for us and that's okay but what relationships are we opening the door for if we take these little steps so the next step after learning names is to move into well after learning names and then work acquaintances right so we're strangers we know someone's name now we're acquaintances so now we want to move into that relationship realm we can't force relationships as much as I would love to do that as much as I sometimes try to do that be my friend we can't do that we can't force relationships but we can create the opportunity for relationships to develop right so one couple found that even though they didn't know how to take the first step in meeting people one of the things that they did to open the opportunity for relationships is that they moved their family's center of activity from the backyard to the front yard they put a swing in the front yard they put some chairs out there and instead of staying in the backyard fenced in where no one could access them they couldn't see who was walking on the street they moved everything to the front yard after a short while the other kids in the neighborhood were coming over to play with their kids people walking their dogs would stop to say hi they would be chatting they would get to know their neighbors and then all of a sudden these people were starting to share meals and these block parties were kind of forming out of just moving to the front yard block parties or parties are also a really great tool that can be used in creating warmth and opening that atmosphere for friendship within the neighborhood parties really create a safe space and an easy space for us to talk with others in a relaxed atmosphere this is what we do or attempt to do with the life groups too right we're not inviting someone to a very structured thing that they'll feel out of place it's it's a social time we're wanting people to be able to connect in a relaxed and easygoing atmosphere let's turn our bibles to Luke chapter five so you're going to go back towards the beginning of the New Testament Matthew Mark Luke and then John so Luke chapter five if I can find it which I think I can Luke chapter five we're going to start in verse 27 so after this Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax booth and he said to him follow me and Levi got up left everything and followed him then Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house and there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others sitting at the table with them the Pharisees and their scribes were complaining to his disciples saying why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners Jesus answered those who are well have no need of a physician but those who are sick I have come to call not the righteous but the sinners to repentance Levi threw a party there were all sorts there and Jesus used that banquet that time of party of fellowship of togetherness to show his solidarity with sinners not that he is okay with sin not that he encouraged sin but his solidarity that he came for the sinner he came for you and I he emphasized that his mission was to call the sinner to repentance so a block party a block party is not or should not be held with the intent of a bait and switch right we're not inviting people to come and mingle with us so that we can have an agenda and coerce them into hearing the good news of the gospel of course if it comes up if the topic arises we certainly want to bring a word of faith we certainly want to bring the good news to those people but to have that specific agenda to have any agenda it really has a false ring to it people can tell when we have agendas people can tell when we are not sincere or authentic in how or why we are connecting with them we don't want to give a false sense of interest because we are interested in these people certainly as human beings and we do want them connected with Christ we do want them we want everyone connected with Christ but we can't have a weird agenda about it if that makes sense right so it's just not new really so don't have an agenda allow for the godly relationship to develop naturally because it will the Lord will open the time or present the time for those conversations to happen we don't abandon our faith in order to fit in with the sinner we are all sinners right but we don't just throw it all away we don't throw our faith to the wind in order to feel like we fit in with the world but we don't use that false connection because it feels and it will be fake you have in the priesthood of all believers you have every right and you have every authority to speak of your faith and to speak of Jesus Christ as our Savior as our Redeemer you absolutely have that right and don't shy away from it that is not at all what I'm saying do not shy away from sharing your faith but use wisdom in how you bring it to your neighbor I want to encourage you if you have not yet taken the everyday missionary course that everyone has witnessed course or the everyday boldness workshop with Steve if you've not taken those witnessing workshops I really encourage you to do so you will find that in those classes and workshops you are going to find really natural ways of talking with people where you know you want to share the gospel with this person but you also know how to share it and when it's the appropriate time and when it just might not be yet and that's okay the door will open when God is ready for that door to be opened we have to trust that the Lord will work when and where He chooses when and where He wills right we we are open to being used as His vessel but we need to trust the Lord in where He's taking us with that the only way that we can start filling out these block maps that we can start actually moving from stranger to acquaintance and at least opening up the opportunity for relationship is by starting to get out and meet people right we need to actually meet people in order to know people right so for the most part people are not going to be knocking on your door saying hey you I think you need a friend I need a friend let's be friends most people don't do that there are the random occasional extroverts you know who you are who will do that who will knock on a door just to make a friend but for the most part that's not going to happen right but you can be the person to do that with your neighbors not necessarily knocking on everyone's door hey do you want a friend but when you're walking your dog or they're walking a dog or you see someone out waving greeting them saying hi meeting them speaking with them look for opportunities to meet your neighbor go on walks host or co host a block party right now at this time we can offer to get groceries or medicines for our neighbors we can offer to walk our neighbors dog right what if they can't get out and walk their dog maybe that's a service that we can offer for them we can find little ways of connecting all these little ways of connecting that truly truly have everlasting impact I look forward to continuing and wrapping up this study on the art of neighboring with you next week until then I invite you to put into practice your own neighborly selves and have an impact for Jesus in your world bye Hey, good morning. Orthodox Lutheranism Has the emphasis on Salvation by grace through faith That is at the heart of Orthodox Lutheranism One simply can't can't overstate it Because of that Lutherans are accused of something Lutherans are accused by many outside of the Lutheran Church as teaching that we are against good works Because our emphasis is correctly so on we are justified before God by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ By grace by God's action the accusation upon Lutherans is that we are against good works Luther was was accused of this in fact the rumor with regard to Lutherans was that we all lived like beasts with no government no discipline and no marriage That was the rumor in Luther's day with regard to to to Lutherans Some Lutherans even say I'm a Lutheran We don't believe good works in good works since we are saved by grace through faith It doesn't matter they say what we do if we do anything at all Well, there's certainly error there isn't it is it's not what the scripture says Let's go to Titus chapter 2 Titus chapter 2 1st and 2nd Corinthians Galatians Ephesians Philippians Colossians then you hit the tea books 1st and 2nd Thessalonians 1st and 2nd Timothy and then Titus Titus chapter 2 verse 11 For the grace of God has appeared bringing salvation to all Training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions And in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled upright and godly Well, we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ He it is who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all in iniquity and Purify for himself a people of his own Who are zealous for Good deeds zealous for good deeds there is such a thing then as a good Good work a good work these are works not Done in order for us to earn our salvation They are works done in accordance with the ten commandments their works done Whose whole goal is simply to please God who loved us and gave himself For us that's a good Good work See what's a bad good work a bad good work is something that you do to try and earn your way into the good graces of God a Bad good work in the eyes of God is anything Good done apart from faith remember how gee how God describes it It's all it's all just filthy rags. Let's go to Ephesians chapter 2 Matthew Mark Luke John, Axon, Romans first and second Corinthians Galatians and then Ephesians Ephesians chapter 2 verse 8 Ephesians chapter 2 verse 8 Paul writing out the inspiration the spirit writes four by grace you have been saved through faith and This is not your own doing it is the gift of God Not the result of works so that no one may boast For we are what he has made us Created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared before him to be our way of life See the swing there There are the bad Good works there the good good works and Having been brought to faith we have been created By God's grace given faith for the purpose Of doing that which is good and it is good in the eyes of God because it comes from faith Let's go to Romans the the 12th chapter Romans chapter 12 verse 1 I appeal to you therefore brothers and sisters by the mercies of God To present your bodies as a living sacrifice Holy and acceptable to God which is your spiritual worship God gave us whatever ability we have to do good works God gave us the desire to do them and God gives us the Opportunities to to do them and good works are just done by reflex Remember what Luther said about it faith is an active and a busy thing So they just happen let's go to Matthew chapter chapter 25 Matthew chapter 25 verse 31 When the son of man comes in his glory and all the angels with him then he will sit on the throne in his glory All the nations will be gathered before him and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats You put the sheep at his right hand in the goats at the left Then the king will say to those at his right hand come you that are blessed by my father inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world I was hungry you gave me food. Here Paul writing under the inspiration of the Spirit says this, now you have observed my teaching my conduct my aim in life my faith my patience my love my steadfastness my persecutions and my suffering the things that happen to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra what persecutions I endured yet the Lord rescued me from all of them indeed all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted but wicked people and imposter will go from bad to worse deceiving others and being deceived but as for you continue in what you have learned and firmly believe knowing from who you learned it and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus all scripture is inspired Greek there means exhaled by God all scripture is exhaled by God and is useful for teaching for reproof for correction for training and righteousness so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient equipped for every good work the scripture then is trustworthy for doctrine for our faith and for our life and we're going to see in this class how God balances truths we'll see how one truth makes another truth more clear and we're going to example that we're going to examine the narrow middle of scripture and how if error is made you wind up in the ditch on either side the devil tries to manipulate our struggle to stay on the narrow middle so Satan is at work with regard to this let's go to Matthew the fourth chapter please Matthew chapter four very first book in the New Testament Matthew chapter four verse five Matthew four picking up in verse five and there we read then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle that's Jesus on the pinnacle of the temple saying to him if you are the son of God throw yourself down for it is written he will command his angels concerning you and on their hands they will bear you up so that you will not dash your foot against the stone Jesus said to him again it is written do not put the Lord your God to the test notice here how Jesus fights temptation he fights temptation by the work look again here at at verse five if you're the verse six if you're the son of God throw yourself down for it is written he will command his angels concerning you and on their hands they will bear you up so that you will not dash your foot against a stone well there's a promise here in scripture right there's a promise that God will protect his people God will protect his people that's a truth isn't it however look how Satan uses the word here turn over please to Psalm 91 an easy way to find the book of Psalms is just open up the scriptures to the middle Psalm 91 verse 11 and it's interesting here that when Satan quotes scripture Satan just leaves out a little bit here of Psalm 91 that he's quoting so when Psalm 91 verse 11 it says for he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways on their hands they will bear you up so that you will not dash your foot against a stone interesting there in Matthew the fourth chapter that what Satan eliminates is to guard you in all your ways the assumption here in Psalm 91 is that our ways will be in accordance with God's word God does not promise to protect me if following the 11 o'clock service I say I'm going to blindfold myself and walk across northwest highway as an expression of faith in the protective hand of Almighty God no that would just simply be dumb right that would be dumb so we've got the promise God will protect you but Satan leaves out the part in all of your ways assuming that you will enact in accordance with what God wants you to do which would not be put a blindfold on and walk across northwest highway faced with the promises of scripture faced with the truths of scripture we can be tempted to overemphasize one truth and thereby fall into air for example we can overemphasize the grace and love of God so that we then say since God is so loving filled with grace there is no hell you see that's where you overemphasize one promise and you fall in the ditch of air we can overemphasize the grace and love of God so that we wind up in the ditch of the error of universalism that says everyone in the end will be saved no matter what it is they believe or don't believe that's universalism in the end God's going to save everybody and the argument of the universalists is because God is so loving and gracious see what happens that's not dismissal of scripture denial you make arguments that it is but it's an overemphasis of one truth to where one falls then in the ditch of air why do we wind up in so many ditches the reason why one can wind up in so many ditches why one can stray from the middle of scripture where we see God balancing truths and we have to hold those truths together one of the reasons why we can wind up in the ditches is we listen to reason where reason takes control where the word of God should be in control now is is reason a blessing well sure it is is reason a gift of God absolutely reason provides order in life by helping us make reasonable decisions have you ever heard the phrase or used to use it yourself what would you use your head use your head here or I didn't use my head when I when I made that decision well that's just simply referring to reason reason is helpful in the study of of scripture as you're comparing passages as you're looking at the meaning of words as you're tracking down things in scripture reason is helpful but when it comes to theology and remember what theology is the Greek word for God is Theos T-H-E-O-S so you've got God written in theology is the study of God when it comes to theology reason must have the role of servant to the word of God reason doesn't want to accept that role why because our reason is corrupted by sin so we want to elevate our reason above the word of God have you ever heard as you're talking about something a matter of faith with someone and they say to you I don't care what the scripture says I know what I think you see that's the elevation of a person's reason above the scripture where the person says well what seems sensible to me the sharpest conflict between the fallen reason and the word of God is found in the doctrine of salvation that is the sharpest conflict between our fallen reason and the word of God it's right at the doctrine of salvation let's go to first Corinthians the first chapter Matthew Mark Luke John, Acts and then Romans first Corinthians first Corinthians chapter 1 will pick up in verse 18 for the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but to us who are being saved it's the power of God for it is written I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart where's the one who's wise where's the scribe where's the debater of this age has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world for since in the wisdom of God the world did not know God through wisdom God decided through the foolishness of our proclamation to save those who believe or in Romans the third chapter Romans the book right before first Corinthians Romans chapter 3 verse 5 pull dismantles reason here so Romans chapter 3 verse 5 but if our injustice serves to confirm the justice of God what should we say that God is unjust to inflict wrath on us I speak in a human way by no means for then how could God judge the world but if through my falsehood God's truthfulness abounds to his glory why am I still being condemned as a sinner and why not say as some people slander us by saying that we say let us do evil so that good may come their condemnation is deserved Paul is addressing the absurdity that we should go ahead and sin so that God has opportunities to show his grace and love to us see that's a fallen reason who says this is fantastic forgiveness to God God likes to forgive so I'll give him opportunities to forgive me it's a win win right it's a win for us and it's a win for God we're all happy we'll just sin up a store you see Paul takes reason in correct use and dismantles it he knew the narrow middle between contempt for God's gift of reason on the one hand and enthronement of reason over God's word on the other hand and he avoids the ditch by holding to the truth think of think of Satan's blatant attacks just blatant attacks on the word with regard for example to the Ten Commandments the murderer who reasons that his own life will that his own life and well-being are somehow threatened by the continued life of his enemy therefore his enemy should be murdered see that's reason go on a stray the two people having sex outside of the marital union or the adulterer who says but we love each other we love each other how about doctrine Jesus says this is my body this is my blood reason says Jesus could not have meant that so plainly so is doesn't mean is because it doesn't fit reasonably how can you have bread and wine and say this is my body and this is my blood that doesn't fit reason and so reason leads you then into a symbolic understanding with regard to holy communion because it's more compatible to reason to say that when we come forward to communion what we're receiving is a little bit of wine or grape juice and bread and that is a reminder of what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross that seems reasonable but Jesus did not say did he he didn't say let this piece of bread remind you of the cross ahead let this wine remind you of my blood that will be shed he said this is my body and this is my blood and he refers to bread and wine so we take scripture then at face value and we say if scripture says bread and wine body and blood we say what is communion Luther wrote holy communion is the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ given with bread and wine for the forgiveness of sin is that hard for our head to wrap around sure but is that what the scripture says yes and so we bow to the authority of scripture and reason becomes the servant of the word we see in scripture where the word is ignored all together in Catholic doctrine you have the creation it is non-scriptural of purgatory where one goes to work off their sinfulness to make themselves worthy enough for heaven that the sins are forgiven prior to baptism but now you've got to work off the sins with regard to after baptism and so you go to purgatory to work that out that makes sense to the reason right it makes sense to a reason that's used to works righteousness works righteousness is all about us around us in our society it makes sense to us that indeed we then have to work off our salvation is it scriptural absolutely not absolutely not reason says well Mary must have been without sin after all her womb held the savior that sounds reasonable is it scriptural no praying to the saints to intercede for us that sounds reasonable because why not get a few friends here that can kind of help us out before the Almighty right does it sound reasonable sure is it scriptural no reason can act even more subtly reason can pretend to defend one truth of God in order to dismiss another for example Kelvin held up the truth that indeed our salvation is totally the work of God we contribute nothing to it it is totally the work of God what Christ has done for us on the cross totally the work of God faith is a gift Kelvin held up that we contribute absolutely nothing to our salvation but Kelvin falls in the ditch because he then says God chose some to be saved and some to be damned so he falls in the ditch of error why because there's the overemphasizing of one truth and that is God's action in our salvation what Kelvin ignores is what scripture says that if we don't believe then it's totally our own fault and so by overemphasizing one truth you wind up in a ditch what what's the Lutheran middle what is what does Lutheran say if you believe it's totally the work of God if you don't believe it's solely your own fault well how do you resolve that by reason well you don't because if you resolve it by reason you're gonna you're gonna let go by overemphasizing one truth over the other so you let the word stand as it is and you know God has got it figured out in God's own mind and that's good enough for me you too we just let God be God so then you have Arminius who comes along Arminius reacts to Kelvin Arminius says that we are the ones that are responsible for our salvation because we accept what Jesus Christ did on the cross with our free will we accept what Jesus Christ did on the cross what happens with Arminius Arminius just falls on the other ditch right just falls on the other ditch and what Arminius denies is our original sin how scripture says we are fallen and blind and dead and enemies of God period so what can happen then is Satan can work very subtly and can lead to the over-emphasis of truth which actually winds you up in air where reason comes in and says what is reasonable for us instead of reason submitting to the authority of the word Luther said this when something in the Bible conflicts with my reason I simply doth off my doctor's cap and assume that the Holy Spirit the ultimate author of the scriptures is a little smarter than doctor Luther got it right right he puts reason in place in the weeks ahead by God's grace we're going to stay on the on the middle road affirming the truths of scripture so that the ditches we don't wind up in because our eyes are riveted on the word of God so we're going to take a look at the Lutheran middle between doubt and presumption between carnal security and despair between an exclusive emphasis on God's providence or on God's promises concerning prayer the middle between good works and bad works the middle between idolatrous love of the world and ungrateful contempt for the world the middle between the universal priesthood of all believers and the office of the minister the middle between the doctrine of election and the great commission the middle between our anticipation of heaven heaven and serving Christ in the here and now it's great to have you as part of this class we'll continue next week Well, welcome to this new class that's going to carry us through the end of this cycle of teaching. Adam and Eve had everything down to the fact that they bore the image of God the idea of not having enough not being enough it wasn't even a question in their mind because they had never experienced lack they had never experienced anything outside of perfection they had never experienced anything outside of the completeness of God and then the devil comes that tricky serpent and whispers into Eve's ear and raises the question of enough in her life the temptation stirs in Eve's heart and she thinks maybe what she has isn't enough maybe there's more look with me please at chapter three beginning in verse six so when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise she took of its fruit and ate and she also gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate then the eyes of both were opened and they knew that they were naked and they so did leave together and made loincloths for themselves eating fruit seems pretty innocent it's not a huge deal right to eat a fruit why is that really a big deal after all it looked good it seemed like it would be good to Eve was it a big deal yes it was a big deal because God had expressly forbidden it he had expressly forbidden eating of that fruit we like to judge sin and rank it some sins are worse than others some sins not so bad we can joke about it a little bit but sin is sin sin is sin all sin and sin is not determined by how you or I feel about it sin is not determined by whether we want to say something is right or wrong the whole series of acceptable sins with the big question mark it begs the question what sin is acceptable and the answer is a resounding none no sin is acceptable absolutely zero sin is acceptable even if everyone else does it sin is sin sin is wrong and sin earns the full wrath of God the Father Eve sinned when she questioned the word of God and determined for herself what would be right and good she tried to blame the serpent but the guilt lies directly on her shoulders for her own sin and just like Eve just like Eve we sin out of envy Eve envied God his wisdom Eve envied God his authority and his sovereignty and so she determined for herself that what she had the word of God was not enough and she ate of the fruit just like Eve our envy says that we what we have been given by God is not enough whether it is a matter of a material thing that God has blessed us with we see others who have more and we look at our blessing and say it's not enough out of envy we see the spouse of another person and look at our own spouse and say what God has given me in this spouse is not enough we see others who are wiser than us more talented than us more skilled than us funnyer than us and we envy because we are not enough in our envy we delight in the downfall of others when another struggles we take delight when another when another has a mishap we find little glimpses of joy or humor our envy our envy ultimately comes down to the envy we have over our own lives, over our own morality, over our own decisions that we do not hold the authority that we do not hold the ultimate wisdom that we do not hold ultimate sovereignty and we envy God we envy God and we determine for ourselves what is right and what is wrong in our gospel reading today we have that period where pilot is bringing Jesus before the Jewish people and he has a custom to turn over one of the prisoners to the Jewish people to release him and let him go free and surely he's expecting that he'll let Jesus go because as it said he knew that Jesus had been handed over by the chief priests out of envy the chief priests envy Jesus they envied the power that he had they envied the fluence that he had and they sought his downfall they sought his demise we envy God Jesus stood before the crowd in a crown of thorns and they mocked him and called for his crucifixion do you envy God in that moment they beat him and flogged him stripping away pieces of skin do you envy God they marched him through the streets holding across that he could barely carry do you still envy God they nailed him to two pieces of wood do you envy God Jesus hung there on the cross struggling for breath while those around him crucified with him taunted and tormented him the soldiers at the foot of his cross teased him mocked him while his mother and his friends stood by weeping unable to do a thing do you envy God on that cross the entire wrath of the father was poured out so heavily the burden of the sin of this world of all time all places all people thoughts words and deeds the punishment poured out upon the sun so devastating that he called out my God my God why have you forsaken me and he gave up his spirit to death do you still envy God they removed the body and buried it in a tomb Jesus had died if that had been you or I or any person to ever walk this earth the story would end there it would be done and it would be deserved and just but God God is God he is not you or I God in the second person of the Trinity Jesus Christ walked this earth to live the life that you and I cannot live he walked this earth out of his love for you and I so that when he died experiencing the full punishment unjust punishment of the father he could do what neither you nor I could do and he rose victorious he conquered death he conquered the grave he conquered your sin he conquered my sin even the sin of our envy Jesus did for you and for I what we could never do for ourselves or for anyone else from the beginning of your life of faith when you were born through waters of baptism you were born free you were born into salvation you were born into eternal forgiveness and you were born once again in the image of God and as Paul writes in Galatians it is no longer I who live but it is Christ who lives in me and in Christ you come before the father not enough in yourself but you are in Christ and in Christ you are enough because you stand redeemed in Christ and this was planned from before the beginning in Ephesians chapter one Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit writes he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love he destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ according to the good pleasure of his will to the to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the beloved in him we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us what you have my brothers and sisters is Christ there is no need to be in Christ you have forgiveness in Christ you have salvation in Christ you have life in Christ and what you have in Christ is enough and so the joy that you have in Christ is enough the peace that you have in Christ is enough the love that you have in Christ is enough and so I encourage you I encourage you to live live in Christ because not only is Christ enough Christ is everything Would you open your Bibles, please, with me, for our time and God's Word to the fourth chapter of the Book of Ephesians.

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