Series A – Sixth Sunday After the Epiphany – Sunday, February 12, 2017 | Pr. Chris Rosebrough
| Welcome to the Teaching Ministry of Kongsvinger Lutheran Church. Kongsvinger is a beacon for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of Northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone, and now, here’s a message from Pastor Chris Rosebrough: |
| Time Stamp | Transcript |
| 0:29 | the holy Gospel According to Saint Matthew chapter 5 verses 21-37 |
| 0:35 | Jesus said you have heard that it was said to those of old you shall not murder whoever murders will be liable to |
| 0:43 | judgment but I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment whoever insults his |
| 0:49 | brother will be liable to the council whoever says you fool will be liable to |
| 0:54 | the hell of Fire so if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your |
| 1:00 | brother has something against you leave your gift there before the Altar and go first be reconciled to your brother and |
| 1:06 | then come and offer your gift come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court lest |
| 1:12 | your accuser hands you over to the judge the judge to the guard and you be put in prison truly I say to you you will never |
| 1:19 | get out until you have paid the last penny you have heard that it was said You shall not commit adultery but I say to |
| 1:26 | you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart |
| 1:32 | if your right eye causes you to sin tear it out throw it away for it is better that you lose one of your members than |
| 1:38 | your whole body be thrown into hell and if your right hand causes you to sin cut it off throw it away it is better that |
| 1:45 | you lose one of your members than your whole body go into hell it was also said whoever divorces his |
| 1:51 | wife let him give her a certificate of divorce but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife except on the |
| 1:57 | ground of sexual immorality makes her commit adultery whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery again |
| 2:04 | you have heard that it was said to those of old you shall not swear falsely but shall perform to the Lord which you have |
| 2:10 | sworn but I say to you do not take an oath at all either by heaven for it is the Throne of God or by the Earth for it |
| 2:17 | is the footstool his footstool or by Jerusalem for it is the city of the great king and do not take an oath by |
| 2:24 | your head you cannot make one hair white or black let which you say Simply Be yes |
| 2:29 | or no anything more than this comes from evil in the name of Jesus |
| 2:37 | whoa did you catch that gospel text that was not a gospel text that was a |
| 2:44 | law text and let’s not mince words here I mean |
| 2:49 | Jesus whoa he sounds nothing like so many of |
| 2:55 | today’s mealy mouth squishy spineless octopus-like |
| 3:01 | serpent preachers I mean Jesus here calls Sin Sin and says the |
| 3:10 | consequences of that sin is hell and he even describes it as fire |
| 3:17 | hmm I thought the church voted a few decades ago to get rid of hell |
| 3:25 | didn’t we we don’t want to have any we want to grow the church this is not the |
| 3:30 | kind of talk that’s going to make people feel good about themselves |
| 3:35 | and let’s be honest here I mean as I was reading this |
| 3:43 | I was made to feel like I was a sinner how about you |
| 3:48 | and you sit there and you go you know I I think Jesus is being a little uptight just a smidge uppity |
| 3:55 | yeah maybe a little bit old-fashioned I mean after all this was 2 000 years ago I mean as I read this Jesus was |
| 4:02 | literally saying if I haven’t murdered somebody but I was angry and hateful in my heart |
| 4:10 | that I’m guilty of murder really I’m a murderer oh yeah you’re a |
| 4:18 | murderer for real remember what we confessed today |
| 4:23 | I have sinned against you and thought word deed so many people think that sin |
| 4:29 | is just a matter of well it’s not that big of a deal I mean it’s only the things we do that make us sinners |
| 4:35 | so if you haven’t actually pulled the trigger plunge the knife into someone’s heart you’re not really a murderer Jesus |
| 4:42 | says oh no no really you are and on top of that you’re going to go to hell and sentenced to an eternity in the |
| 4:49 | fires of hell as a murderer and then well this next part what are we supposed to |
| 4:55 | do with this I mean in the post 60s world after the whole |
| 5:02 | sexual revolution has been waged and won apparently Jesus is talking in a way |
| 5:07 | that completely flies in the face of all of our culturally agreed upon sexual |
| 5:13 | ethics remember you are what you feel now |
| 5:18 | so if you got that wibbly wobbly wormy feeling about for somebody doesn’t |
| 5:23 | matter if they’re married or not doesn’t matter if you’re married or not you just gotta Love the One You’re With is that |
| 5:30 | how the song goes and Jesus is saying oh no no no no no no no no no when you have |
| 5:36 | that wibbly wobbly lustful kind of I can’t get you out of my mind kind of feeling and you’re undressing that |
| 5:42 | person in your heart oh man you’ve actually committed the deed |
| 5:49 | even if you haven’t Jesus is talking |
| 5:54 | in a way that makes it sound like we’re all |
| 6:00 | evil sinful and that the root cause of all of this |
| 6:06 | is something deep inside of us we like to think of sin as well with |
| 6:13 | those people they’re the ones who are the problem we are the holy ones they’re |
| 6:19 | the problem Jesus remember he starts off The Sermon on the Mount with the Blessed blessed are you he’s |
| 6:28 | talking to Christians and he’s talking to those who believe in him and he’s reminding them of the depth and the |
| 6:34 | magnitude of their sin and brothers and sisters let’s face it |
| 6:40 | this text literally Cuts us all down |
| 6:45 | there’s nobody here not one person who after I’ve read this say well none of |
| 6:50 | that applied to me I guess I’m okay no it all applied to every one of us |
| 6:58 | and so we would be wise to consider what it is that Jesus is telling us here and |
| 7:04 | wise to remember that we’re not Sinners because we sin we sin because we are sinners |
| 7:12 | let’s do a little cross-reference work I want to key in on this where this stuff |
| 7:18 | is coming from because Jesus is talking about stuff that begins well in here and |
| 7:24 | makes us guilty even if it doesn’t come out out here |
| 7:30 | Genesis chapter 3 I know I returned to this text often it’s the scene of the crime this is |
| 7:36 | where man fell I want to point something very specific out in this passage Genesis chapter 3 will start at verse 1 |
| 7:43 | but we’re only going to pick up maybe about five or six verses |
| 7:48 | let me remind you how we were all plunged into this Misery the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the |
| 7:54 | field that the Lord God had made he said to the woman did God really say |
| 8:00 | you shall not eat of any tree in the garden and the woman said to the serpent well we may eat of the fruit of the |
| 8:06 | trees in the garden but God said You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that’s in the midst of the garden neither shall you attach it lest you die |
| 8:13 | the serpent said to the woman you will not surely die for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened |
| 8:18 | and you will be like God knowing good and evil now watch where Eve goes next |
| 8:26 | so here’s the question put before Eve should you or shouldn’t you eat of that |
| 8:31 | tree so where do you go to find the answer to this watch where she goes |
| 8:37 | so the woman saw that the tree was good for food and it was after all a delight to the |
| 8:44 | eyes and the tree was to be desired to make one wise where does she go |
| 8:51 | inside she goes right into her heart and now her heart is starting to have sinful |
| 8:58 | desires and see before she even reaches out her hand she’s already |
| 9:05 | dreaming of eating this fruit and the benefits that it will give to her |
| 9:11 | you see sin begins here which is why we don’t go looking for the |
| 9:19 | solution to our problems here we have to listen to the word of God and |
| 9:25 | God’s word comes to us out here not in here out here eyes up |
| 9:31 | not down and see that’s our problem as Sinners the way the church fathers |
| 9:37 | describe it they call it the inkervatus and say that’s a great Latin phrase it |
| 9:42 | means to be curved in on yourself in other words after the fall we are habitual Naval gazers we’re constantly |
| 9:50 | bent in on ourselves and who are we thinking about every waking moment of |
| 9:56 | Our Lives me I’m thinking about me and that’s the problem |
| 10:01 | in order to get the solution you gotta look up look out and in order to do that God has to |
| 10:08 | unbend you so the problem begins when Eve looks inside of herself Luther in |
| 10:14 | the small cold articles which are in our confessions basically says that the devil turned Eve into an enthusiast |
| 10:22 | an Enthusiast you’re thinking well enthusiasm is a great thing you know I mean when I go and watch the basketball |
| 10:27 | game I show enthusiasm when I go to watch the Sioux defeat everybody well |
| 10:32 | I’ve been a little less enthusiastic this year but I try to show some enthusiasm this is what we think about enthusiasm but see enthusiasm in the |
| 10:40 | theological sense is that God within ism and no the problem is when you start |
| 10:46 | looking inside you make your innards God and you listen to that voice rather than the voice of God that really is God okay |
| 10:53 | we don’t listen to God in here we listen to God out here we find him in the word he comes to us in word and Sacrament and |
| 11:01 | Absolution and baptism this is all objective outside of us and it’s not subject to |
| 11:08 | feeling nothing more than feelings don’t you |
| 11:14 | love it when I sing to you guys anyway there’s a I really want to show you a |
| 11:20 | video it’s hilarious anyway that’s another topic another time so now let’s |
| 11:25 | fast forward just a smidge so you can kind of get the theme Genesis chapter 6. this is uh in the chapter |
| 11:31 | leading up to the great flood the flood of the entire Earth if I were to ask you |
| 11:36 | just off the cuff what was the reason why God flooded the whole world |
| 11:42 | what was the reason some people would say well there was clearly a lot of violence going on yeah let’s take a look |
| 11:49 | at the text and see what it says Genesis 6 5. here’s what it says Yahweh saw that |
| 11:55 | the wickedness of man was great in the earth and listen to this that every |
| 12:00 | intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil |
| 12:07 | continually hmm |
| 12:12 | no wonder Jesus says that if you hate your brother you’ve |
| 12:18 | already committed murder it all begins in here and that’s the reason why God |
| 12:23 | floods the earth now we live in a day that is quite crazy and insane |
| 12:29 | let me give you an example my birth certificate says that when I was born |
| 12:35 | I’m a boy but we live in a world now that if I were to decide that you know |
| 12:41 | I’m tired of being a boy I feel like I need to be something different so I’m going to be a girl |
| 12:48 | what would the world say oh you’re being authentic you’re being who you truly are |
| 12:55 | because who you truly are is based upon what what you feel inside of here so if |
| 13:01 | I feel like I’m the Eiffel Tower and I move to Paris and park myself in the middle of one of those Open Spaces I |
| 13:09 | should expect to see photos of myself and people next to me look at us in front of the Eiffel Tower and you sit |
| 13:16 | there and go this is insanity yes it is insanity and the reason for it |
| 13:23 | simple have you ever stopped to think that sin itself is just crazy |
| 13:29 | it really is it’s totally irrational contrary to sound reason logic how the |
| 13:37 | world operates it’s the exact opposite of God but we live in a world where well if you |
| 13:42 | just feel something that’s the thing you need to go with no |
| 13:49 | that’s the problem let’s take a look at Matthew 15. now we |
| 13:54 | all know in Matthew 15 this is this wonderful passage where Jesus comes into conflict with the Pharisees and what |
| 14:01 | does he come into conflict with him about well they had made a man-made law basically said if you were out in the |
| 14:08 | marketplace among the unwashed Heathen that you their Heathen cooties would get |
| 14:14 | on you somehow and you needed to wash your hands upon entering your home there |
| 14:19 | was a little religious ceremonial hand-washing ceremony that went on and before you would eat you would have to |
| 14:25 | do that because if you ate without washing your hands you’ve now defiled yourself and defiling |
| 14:33 | well that sounds really serious really really really serious but Jesus taught his disciples to not obey that |
| 14:40 | really little religious ceremony it’s not found in the scripture and the Theology of it is totally backwards and |
| 14:46 | he explains start at verse 10. so Jesus called the people to him and he said to |
| 14:52 | them hear and understand are you ready here’s kind Jesus he’s going to start |
| 14:58 | offending people it’s not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person |
| 15:04 | what what Pharisee over here said it does Jesus |
| 15:10 | says it doesn’t notice Jesus is contradicting the religious leaders of his day you can’t |
| 15:17 | do this it’s going to cause conflict people aren’t going to get along |
| 15:22 | he says it’s what comes out of the mouth this is what defiles a person so then |
| 15:28 | the disciples came and they said to Jesus do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard you saying |
| 15:34 | this and watch what Jesus doesn’t do Jesus doesn’t go oh |
| 15:40 | oh what was I thinking I’ve offended somebody now a little bit of a side note |
| 15:46 | we live in a day right now where one of the greatest crimes you can |
| 15:51 | commit in society is to offend another person |
| 15:56 | and we all know that we are careful about what we say in |
| 16:03 | public on social media and stuff like that I want you to think of it this way this is social Sharia law |
| 16:13 | Jesus didn’t obey social Sharia law he spoke the truth even if it offended |
| 16:20 | somebody because they need to hear the truth and you sit there go but if I do that I might lose my job I might be made |
| 16:27 | to suffer somebody might unfriend me on Facebook I may not get that invite to that really cool Christmas party this |
| 16:33 | year so be it Jesus offended people it just says so |
| 16:40 | right here and watch what Jesus Does so disciples came and said do you know that the Pharisees were offended when |
| 16:47 | they heard you saying this he answered every plant that my heavenly father has not planted will be rooted up leave them |
| 16:53 | alone they’re blind guides and if the blind lead the blind both will fall into a pit Oh my Jesus just called them names |
| 17:02 | Jesus didn’t repent and notice this Jesus goes to the cross sinless |
| 17:09 | it is not a sin to offend somebody for the sake of Truth offend them for the sake of offense that’s a different story |
| 17:17 | so Peter said to him all right explain the parable to us he said all right are you still without understanding and |
| 17:23 | here’s the important part do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled oh boy |
| 17:30 | is this a clean translation it’s a little more graphic in the Greek talks about a latrine so it goes into |
| 17:37 | your stomach and then is expelled but watch this it’s what comes out of the mouth |
| 17:43 | that proceeds from the heart this is what defiles a person |
| 17:49 | for out of the heart come evil thoughts murder adultery sexual immorality theft false |
| 17:59 | witness slander these are what defile a person |
| 18:04 | but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone |
| 18:11 | brothers and sisters the problem is in here and in that list are any of you able to |
| 18:17 | say glad that didn’t apply to me my heart’s clean |
| 18:23 | no now you’ve got to be thinking okay what do we do with this |
| 18:30 | these verses these passages that I just read out have nailed us all to the wall |
| 18:37 | they show that we are defiled that we’ve defiled ourselves |
| 18:44 | we’ve done this through our thoughts our words our Deeds which then flow from our |
| 18:50 | Wicked heart this is showing us that the diagnosis is not good and it’s not |
| 18:55 | making us feel good about ourselves and it’s not supposed to |
| 19:02 | I mean if you were suffering from cancer and didn’t know it and you went to see the doctor and say |
| 19:08 | you know doctor slump and I’m just not feeling right I |
| 19:14 | know something’s wrong and so the doctor runs the battery of tests and the battery of tests he’s sitting there with |
| 19:20 | that folder that little manila folder and he opens it up and he sees big words cancer terminal stage four death and he |
| 19:27 | says you know I think you’re just not getting enough sleep you need to exercise a little bit |
| 19:34 | more maybe take some multivitamins and uh and uh you know and drink more water that’ll that’ll clear some stuff up |
| 19:41 | right what would we think of this doctor when three months later you drop dead |
| 19:47 | what kind of person is this who does that but that’s what we want our pastors to do |
| 19:53 | stop telling us it’s terminal stop saying we’re Sinners stop making it |
| 19:59 | sound like I can’t climb the head to heaven on my good works and please God by fixing things myself |
| 20:07 | stop telling me the diagnosis is terminal you keep labeling me as a sinner every |
| 20:14 | time you open up the scripture you keep making me feel bad about myself here’s the thing |
| 20:22 | I’m just telling you what Jesus said blame it on him I’m just the messenger |
| 20:29 | he’s the one saying to you you’re a sinner you don’t measure up you’re defiled and |
| 20:37 | the problem isn’t just a small one it’s a big one it’s so huge that you are defiled and it |
| 20:44 | begins from the inside and when we see it manifest in your actions oh those are |
| 20:50 | just the tip of the iceberg we all know how icebergs work that part that sticks out that’s the small part |
| 20:56 | the big Parts what’s under the surface and Jesus is saying that about your sin |
| 21:02 | problem the little stuff we see coming out in your actions oh man that’s the least of |
| 21:08 | your worries that shows that underneath the surface yuck |
| 21:15 | so what do we do what do we do I got to do something to fix this |
| 21:20 | problem because we all know we’re going to stand before God someday and have to explain all of this to him and have to |
| 21:26 | explain it to him from the inside out Jesus isn’t going to sit there with an inventory of your Deeds oh you did this |
| 21:33 | this this this this and this that’s the short list Jesus is going to say hey let’s talk about these thoughts you had over here |
| 21:42 | and it’s dark and it’s wicked it’s damnable and Jesus talked about |
| 21:50 | hell because hell is real we didn’t get devoted away you see Jesus |
| 21:57 | is Lord of the church he gets to decide what’s true and not true we don’t get to vote on it |
| 22:04 | so that hell thing is real so what do we do if you notice there was no gospel in Our |
| 22:09 | Gospel text so what do we do we just try harder maybe read my Bible more that’ll fix it |
| 22:17 | maybe I should go and give a sandwich to a homeless person that’ll get me into heaven |
| 22:23 | no you’re stuck you’re absolutely stuck |
| 22:31 | you want to note the application of this sermon text is repent |
| 22:37 | repent means to say God you’re right I’m wrong |
| 22:43 | God I’m not good I’m evil God I’m not sinless |
| 22:50 | I’m defiled that’s what it means to repent |
| 22:55 | and with that I think comes a lot of feelings feelings of recognizing that you have |
| 23:00 | sinned against the very God who created you and sustains you sinned against his holiness |
| 23:06 | and it doesn’t make you feel good about yourself it’s not supposed to it’s supposed to make you feel |
| 23:13 | correctly about yourself to see you for what you really are but thankfully |
| 23:19 | the Bible in cross-references helps us get to the gospel today flip over to |
| 23:25 | Romans chapter 5. let’s take a look starting at verse 12. |
| 23:30 | therefore just as Sin came into the world through |
| 23:36 | one man and death through sin and so death spread to all men because |
| 23:42 | all have sinned you see because we were all in Adam Adams |
| 23:47 | transgression is imputed to us we are born with a sinful nature and because of |
| 23:52 | his sin each and every one of us was made to be a sinner for sin was indeed in the world before |
| 23:58 | the law was given but sin is not counted where there is no law yet death Reign from Adam to Moses even over those who |
| 24:05 | sinning was not like the transgression of Adam and listen to what it says that Adam was a type of the one who was to come |
| 24:12 | all that type and Shadow talk that I keep giving here from the pulpit in the Sunday School sermons it’s all over the |
| 24:18 | New Testament and so Adam prefigured the one who was to come and that’s Christ and here’s |
| 24:25 | what it says important words the free gift is not like the trespass |
| 24:33 | tell me about that free gift because right now |
| 24:39 | I need something like that for if many died through one man’s trespass how much more have the grace of |
| 24:47 | God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for |
| 24:53 | many and the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin for judgment |
| 24:59 | following one trespass brought condemnation but the free gift following |
| 25:05 | many trespasses brought justification justification is a fancy Biblical word |
| 25:11 | that means to be declared not guilty to be declared righteous |
| 25:18 | for if because of one man’s trespass death reigned through that one man how |
| 25:23 | much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of the righteousness of Christ reign in |
| 25:30 | life through the one man Jesus Christ therefore as one trespass led to |
| 25:36 | condemnation for all men you with me included so one act of righteousness |
| 25:42 | leads to justification and life for all men for as by the one man’s Disobedience the |
| 25:50 | many were made Sinners and there it says it the reason you sin is because you were made to be a sinner so by the one |
| 25:57 | man’s obedience the many will be made righteous |
| 26:02 | so here’s the idea this is an important Doctrine this is an important doctrine that shows |
| 26:08 | and takes us all the way back so that we can rightly deal with our condition there is none who are righteous |
| 26:15 | not one each and every one of us fell and Adam’s fall |
| 26:21 | we were all made to be sinners and the solution to our problem |
| 26:27 | is outside of our reach there is no way to fix what has been |
| 26:33 | broken by us instead God has chosen to solve the problem by |
| 26:41 | not giving us what we deserve and there’s that talk of the free gift you see Jesus is the second Adam |
| 26:49 | and Jesus unlike Adam kept God’s law perfectly he kept it perfectly in his |
| 26:56 | thoughts in his words and in his deeds and he kept it perfectly for you |
| 27:03 | and so the free gift of God is this the Forgiveness of our sins |
| 27:09 | and the giving of Jesus’s righteousness to cover our sins |
| 27:15 | it’s all a gift and God Wills to give this to you by his grace because of his great love and his |
| 27:22 | Mercy there is nothing you can do to earn it nothing you can do to purchase it it can |
| 27:29 | only be received as it is as a gift so when Jesus talks about the fact that |
| 27:36 | we sin and are guilty of murder in adultery and all kinds of defiling |
| 27:43 | sins and that it begins within our heart let us be again be reminded that this is |
| 27:49 | true but the sure and certain word is not the last word from the law but the last word |
| 27:55 | from Christ and the last word from Christ is forgiven |
| 28:01 | absolved so that we do not have to face the fires of hell as we deserve instead because of |
| 28:08 | God’s great love and mercy we don’t get what we deserve we get life |
| 28:14 | because Christ took on himself our sins and the |
| 28:20 | punishment that we deserved was literally wrought on him for us |
| 28:27 | sobering words important thoughts and so brothers and sisters what do you |
| 28:33 | do how do you apply this text repent acknowledge that shows you for what you |
| 28:39 | are and believe that because Christ the second Adam has bled and died for your |
| 28:45 | sins and kept the law perfectly for you that you have a hope of eternal life |
| 28:52 | not condemnation and you have the Forgiveness of your sins now you receive |
| 28:57 | those forgiveness of sins which were one on the cross and the Waters of your baptism last week when we had the Lord’s |
| 29:04 | Supper he received that forgiveness in your mouth with the body and blood and today you heard that forgiveness of your |
| 29:11 | sins in the Absolution when I said I forgive you all of your sins |
| 29:16 | don’t look in here for this all of this comes to you from out here |
| 29:22 | and here’s the problem out here is the solution in the name of |
| 29:27 | Jesus amen [Music] |
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