3rd Sunday In Lent 03/21/1954

Sermon.19540321.(3rd Sunday in Lent).pdf

Overview

This is the earliest sermon in the archive. The pre-UCC, Evangelical and Reformed Dad. There is a limited sample size from this era, but he must have saved it for a reason. I was two months old when he gave this sermon, so I can't bear personal witness. The end sounds a little bit more like the Dad I knew.

"There is much more hope for the so-called pagans, then for thousands of so-called Christians, who have been inoculated with just enough Christianity to make them immune to it "

Word Dad.

Transcription

Third Sunday in Lent 1954

Oh Lord Our God who has given Thy word to be a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path, grant us Grace to receive thy truth in faith and love, that by it, we may be prepared unto every good word and work, to the glory of Thy Name, through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Read Luke 11:24-26 (see references)

Introduction

The longer in the ministry, the more the truth of this for me and my time is driven home. We see and hear this passage commented upon frequently in our day. We can wish it better known and acted upon by all who are interested in reforming people. The social worker, the psychiatrist, the well-meaning, good hearted soul who wishes the drunkard wasn't a drunkard. A solemn warning here to all engaged in the practice of trying to straighten out humans.

We are coming to see what the biblical witness has seen all along. That there was a time when the spirit of man was akin to that of His Creator. “God breathed His Spirit (his breath) into man and... the real personality of man was that of the image of God”.

Though we cannot say how, still we can all give personal testimony to the fact that the spirit which possesses us, is not that original one. That our house has been invaded, and an alien spirit has possession of us. The whole sweep then, of God’s search for us, has been set forth in the words of the Psalmist who cried, “Create in me a clean heart o God, and renew a spirit of uprightness within me”.

It is not that men do not know what is right, what is good. Our problem is that of doing. It is the core of the personality, that is off center. It is the original spirit of God, which needs to be restored in us. And so God's search for man has been the adventure, the drama, the operation, of planting a new spirit within us. The drama of human history, and of every human life is that of a battle between two opposing spirits. The clean, sharp Holy Spirit, and the divisive corroding Unholy Spirits, which give us all such a ghastly time. (Remark of the colored minister “ They is all active”).

Either men are the slaves of Christ, or the slaves of real, unholy forces contending against Christ. The remark of the colored minister is profoundly true. I would ask you now, to think back to that day, when you became a Christian, when you became a slave of Christ. When the unclean Spirit was cast out of you.

Baptism... the importance

The day you were reunited with God your Father. The day when your house was swept clean. Recall that day. Way back for some, more recent for others.

I recall my confirmation (not my baptism).

Remember the vows.

“Do you now in the presence of God and of this congregation, repent of all your sins; do you confess Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, and do you promise to work for the upbuilding of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ by regularly attending its worship, by giving generously for the support of its activities, and by seeking to bring others to Christ?”

Answer: I do.

At that moment the new occupant of your clean house then became the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ.

“When Christ comes to live in us the devils keep their distance”. Captive of the Holy Spirit, we have found the pearl of great price, God has received us into His Kingdom. Just as he will do for any, who know the agony of demon possession and who cry out to Christ for deliverance.

Know ye not, that you are temples of the Holy Spirit. Stir up the Spirit which was given you. Your Christian life is to be your true life, your life as God intends it to be. With a new Spirit, the upright Spirit, and the clean and obedient heart of Jesus Christ.

But who lives there now?

Our houses having been swept clean, has it been the Holy Spirit that took up residence there? Who can say, I have the heart and mind of Christ?

Is it not rather true, that these spirits have entered instead?

The demon which substitutes church membership for Christ membership. Greater allegiance to a particular branch of the church than to the body of Christ. Or the demon which tells us all that is required is simply passive attendance to worship. Just so you can say you've been to church. No need for, don't even look for, a quickening experience, a new heart and a new mind. If all church members today were Christ members, folk indwelt by his Holy Spirit, how different the face of our world would be. And how great the joy of the angels of heaven. But no, it is an altogether different spirit which possesses us.

Or is it?

The demon which substitutes the worldly standard of success, for the agonizing but enlivening experience of the cross. How many church members are disciples of Dale Carnegie? “How to win friends and influence people”. Rather than the Son of God who said, “ If you love me, the world will hate you”, and again, “in the world you will have much tribulation. Be of good cheer. I have overcome the world”.

Perhaps what I am trying to say is best put by a martyred spirit of World War II. Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Accused of an attempt on the life of Hitler, he died in a concentration camp. “We have substituted cheap Grace for costly Grace”. Whereas once our name was inscribed in the Great Book Of Heaven, we are now satisfied just to have it on the church record. Our Lord gave his life. How much has it cost us in having him as our Lord? Our Lord shed His blood.

He gave all He had. Need I say more?

What kind of a the spirit has moved in on us?

Martin Luther once wrote, “ When God builds a church, the devil runs and builds one right along side of it”. A saying heard even today. “The devil is not bothered about non-Christians, he has them, he's busy working on Christians”.

The truth here is that Christian souls are the battleground of the world. Our houses having been swept clean, two contending spirits seek to enter. Empty houses will not remain empty for very long. The moment of house cleaning is one of great opportunity and also great danger. Either the Holy Spirit of Christ enters, or the cast out demon takes up residence with friends, causing more havoc than ever.

Let us be very clear here. By the Holy Spirit, we mean that Spirit, which dwelling in us bearing fruit in faith, hope, and love. Love of God and all mankind. We are really in bad shape when we substitute for that most real experience of communion with the Living God. When we substitute for that, notions about God, feelings about religion, and then seal it with church attendance. Better that we cry out that we have none of the Spirit, rather than that we fool ourselves by identifying the Spirit with certain mechanical functions that we go through as Christians.

There is much more hope for the hordes of men who honestly reject Jesus Christ and his Cross as a scandal and a stumbling block. There is much more hope for the so-called pagans, then for thousands of so-called Christians, who have been inoculated with just enough Christianity to make them immune to it.

A Pakistani poet.

an infidel before his Idol

with waking heart

is better than the religious man

asleep in his mosque

Our houses were swept clean.

Think back to that greatest day of your life.

Your spiritual birthday.

Is your present state better or worse than when you first believed?

Stir up the spirit which was given you.

References

Luke 11:24-26

24 “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he passes through waterless places seeking rest; and finding none he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ 25 And when he comes he finds it swept and put in order. 26 Then he goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first.”

Genesis 2:7

7 then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

Psalm 51:10

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,

and put a new and right spirit within me.

John 15:18

18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.

John 16:33

33 I have said this to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer - The Cost of Discipleship

Cheap grace means grace sold on the market like cheapjacks' wares. The sacraments, the forgiveness of sin, and the consolations of religion are thrown away at cut prices. Grace is represented as the Church's inexhaustible treasury, from which she showers blessings with generous hands, without asking questions or fixing limits. Grace without price; grace without cost! The essence of grace, we suppose, is that the account has been paid in advance; and, because it has been paid, everything can be had for nothing. Since the cost was infinite, the possibilities of using and spending it are infinite. What would grace be if it were not cheap?...

Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.

Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble; it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him.

Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock.

Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: "ye were bought at a price," and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.”

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