LutheranLectionary.org

Series B – Reformation Sunday – Sunday, October 31, 2021 | 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
0:28	the holy gospel according to saint john
0:30	the 8th chapter
0:32	[Music]
0:39	so Jesus said to the jews who had
0:41	believed in him if you abide in my word
0:43	you are truly my disciples and you will
0:46	know the truth and the truth will set
0:48	you free
0:49	they answered him we are offspring of
0:50	abraham and have never been enslaved to
0:52	anyone how is it that you say you will
0:54	become free Jesus answered them truly
0:57	truly i say to you everyone who commits
0:59	sin is a slave to sin the slave does not
1:02	remain in the house forever the son
1:04	remains forever so if the son sets you
1:06	free you will be free indeed this is the
1:10	gospel of the lord in the name of Jesus
1:13	amen all right hear the words of our
1:15	lord Jesus Christ Jesus said to the jews
1:17	who had believed in him if you abide in
1:20	my word you are truly my disciples you
1:23	will know the truth and the truth will
1:25	set you free so i’m going to ask you a
1:27	question who should you be listening to
1:30	you know i think it was abraham lincoln
1:32	you know centuries ago who wrote that
1:34	you should not believe everything that
1:35	you read on the internet so i want you
1:37	to keep this in mind so the question
1:39	comes down to who should you be
1:41	listening to because you’re going to
1:42	know when it comes to religious opinions
1:45	and speculations oh the world is filled
1:48	with them in fact you’ve probably
1:49	engaged in some of that yourself and
1:52	over and again you’ll note that when we
1:54	start doing that oftentimes we find our
1:57	speculations and our opinions being at
2:00	odds with Christ so i ask the question
2:02	who should you be listening to have you
2:04	ever noticed that if you say something
2:06	to the effect of i absolutely believe
2:08	that salvation is by grace through faith
2:11	apart from works somebody sits there and
2:13	goes you know
2:15	they say
2:16	something different
2:18	now i don’t know who they are okay but
2:20	always it’s they and i’m not talking
2:21	about the people who have issues with
2:23	gender pronouns i’m talking about they
2:25	you know them
2:26	right those people they they say no no
2:29	no no salvation can’t be that free it’s
2:32	it’s got to be you you’ve got to do
2:34	something right they say that you’ve got
2:36	to make sure that you light candles that
2:38	you uh well you know burn incense they
2:42	say that they you got to make sure that
2:44	you don’t use contraception oh and uh
2:46	they also say that you need to pray to
2:48	saints the virgin mary and if your house
2:51	is not selling then you buy a statue of
2:53	saint joseph and buried in your yard and
2:55	that thing will sell quick that’s what
2:56	they say
2:58	right
2:59	my question is
3:01	when do we start listening to them
3:03	all right because Christ said if you
3:06	abide in my word
3:08	you are truly my disciples and you will
3:11	know the truth and the truth will set
3:12	you free and since it’s reformation
3:14	sunday i you know always and again you
3:16	know i don’t knock on the pastors who
3:18	want to give a history of the
3:20	reformation there’s some important
3:21	things that happen in the reformation
3:22	but have you noticed the reformation
3:24	continues to this day
3:26	and vitally so
3:28	because Christianity the best way i can
3:30	say it it had a fantastic
3:32	start
3:33	did you note that on the day of
3:35	pentecost people who didn’t even know
3:39	well
3:40	how to speak
3:41	aramaic or hebrew that on the day of
3:43	pentecost they heard the gospel in their
3:46	own native languages kind of you know i
3:48	think god wants people to hear the
3:50	gospel in their own native languages and
3:53	Christianity starts off and paul writes
3:55	in koine greek there’s a wonderful
3:57	translation of the old testament called
3:59	the septuagint and people are hearing
4:01	the gospel hearing that Christ has bled
4:03	and died for their sins that salvation
4:06	is a gift given by god and we’re not
4:08	justified by our works or our obedience
4:11	to god’s law and it just takes off like
4:14	wildfire well
4:16	along the way a fellow by the name of
4:19	jerome he translated the bible into
4:21	latin which was a good thing because in
4:24	the roman empire guess what everybody
4:26	spoke you know latin right and so
4:29	people were hearing the gospel in latin
4:32	but then
4:33	but then well the roman empire crumbled
4:36	from within
4:37	and we
4:39	humanity was plunged into the dark ages
4:41	and you know what happened that that
4:43	well that initial move to make sure that
4:46	everybody heard the gospel in their own
4:48	languages kind of came to a grinding
4:51	halt as people kind of weathered the
4:53	storm of the medieval period and as a
4:56	result of it
4:57	well the scriptures were kind of locked
4:59	up in latin in fact i would note that it
5:02	was the roman catholics who were the
5:03	first kjv only people except for it
5:05	wasn’t the kjv only it was the vulgate
5:08	only all right if if it’s not in the
5:11	vulgate then it’s not true and you can’t
5:13	translate it into the vernacular of the
5:15	common people you know the peasants and
5:17	the unwashed masses
5:19	and so if you wanted to hear the bible
5:21	and actually hear the word of god you
5:24	better have some money because you’re
5:26	going to need to go to school and you’re
5:27	going to need to learn latin you’re
5:29	going to have to study and well the
5:31	peasants didn’t have the ability to pay
5:33	for that so the only people who can hear
5:35	the bible
5:37	the only people can hear
5:39	at that time were the wealthy
5:42	or the learned
5:43	and it was during that time you have
5:45	this great theological creep you know in
5:49	that period then you have the ascendancy
5:52	of indulgences this weird belief that if
5:54	if you make a pilgrimage to such and
5:56	such a castle cathedral and you view the
5:59	knuckle bone of saint teresa that you’ll
6:01	get a thousand years off of purgatory
6:04	and all this weird stuff
6:06	where did that come from right answer it
6:10	came from our own sinful imaginations
6:14	that’s where it came from coming back to
6:16	the point who are you going to be
6:17	listening to there are speculations and
6:20	theological theological opinions of
6:22	plenty and i’m not talking about rome
6:24	anymore have you ever watched well
6:26	Christian television right send in a
6:28	thousand dollar seat offering and god’s
6:30	going to make you a millionaire
6:32	i don’t think so right
6:34	you know let me let me put it in less
6:36	flattering terms all right
6:39	everybody has religious opinions and
6:41	speculations just like everybody has a
6:43	rear end and they all smell
6:46	let’s make that right okay you get it
6:48	that’s a little blunt in your face but
6:51	the point is the Christ says if you
6:52	listen to my
6:54	word
6:55	you will know the truth and the truth
6:58	will set you free
7:00	and so one of the major
7:02	pillars of the reformation if you think
7:05	about the solas of the reformation sola
7:07	gratia solafide sola gratia is sold by
7:11	grace alone solafide by faith alone
7:13	there’s another one
7:15	sola scriptura
7:17	the scripture alone it is only in the
7:19	scriptures that we hear the words of
7:22	Christ so that we can be his disciples
7:25	and so i assure you you’re not my
7:26	disciples i don’t have any if you if you
7:29	think you’re one of mine well you know
7:31	just banish the thought i don’t have any
7:33	disciples we together are disciples of
7:35	Christ and so we’re here to study his
7:37	words and Jesus himself in the great
7:40	commission says go and make disciples of
7:42	all nations baptizing them in the name
7:45	of the father son and the holy spirit
7:46	teaching them all that i have commanded
7:49	you
7:50	now how many books did Jesus write while
7:52	he was on earth
7:55	none zero
7:58	how we supposed to find out his words
8:00	well here’s where it kind of gets fun if
8:02	you think about it you pay attention to
8:03	the biblical text it’ll walk you through
8:05	this so the father sends the son right
8:08	that’s what we hear from Jesus well
8:10	Jesus says to his disciples who would
8:12	become his apostles
8:14	just as the father sent me i’m sending
8:17	you
8:18	and he says these words the one who
8:20	hears you hears me
8:23	the one who hears me here’s the one who
8:24	sent me ah okay so Jesus’s apostles
8:28	Jesus sent them to preach Jesus’s words
8:32	and you know what they did and they
8:33	wrote it all down for us it’s in the
8:34	scripture
8:36	so we don’t need to have any religious
8:38	opinions
8:39	in fact you know have you noticed that
8:41	like on social media there’s like this
8:43	phenomenon everyone’s talking about
8:44	karen’s i feel bad for like anybody who
8:47	has the name karen nowadays but you know
8:49	karen is like this outrageous bizarre
8:53	neighbor woman you know who like if you
8:55	put your trash can like six inches onto
8:58	her property line she’s gonna come and
8:59	she’s gonna scream in your face you
9:02	can’t do that i’m gonna call the i’m
9:04	gonna call the association and they’re
9:06	gonna make you move you know this weird
9:08	stuff like this right but when it comes
9:11	to Christianity
9:14	every one of us have a karen inside of
9:16	us that’s our own sinful nature
9:18	and there’s our karen inside of us
9:20	screaming it can’t be free you have to
9:23	do something come on i want my mind to
9:26	have to be conformed to his words i just
9:28	need a little bit of my own ideas on top
9:31	of that
9:34	all right maybe we should make tick-tock
9:36	videos about our own inner karen’s
9:39	but the problem is we need to silence
9:40	that woman we need to well you know my
9:43	inner woman yeah i need a silencer yeah
9:45	yeah
9:48	just kind of work through the
9:48	implications of that you betcha amen
9:51	right
9:54	so with that we recognize then
9:57	Christ’s words if you abide in my words
9:59	you will know the truth and the truth
10:01	will set you free and it’s in that
10:03	regard then we consider then the words
10:05	of the apostle paul in our epistle text
10:07	and and here’s the point i would like to
10:09	kind of make ahead of time have you ever
10:12	told somebody
10:14	that women can’t be pastors
10:18	and the person says to you yeah well
10:20	that’s what the apostle paul wrote and
10:23	well
10:24	we don’t really listen to the apostle
10:26	paul because everybody knows that the
10:28	apostle paul hated women
10:31	really
10:32	so you’re going to slander the man all
10:33	right now we’re going to note something
10:35	here
10:36	paul is an apostle of Jesus Christ he
10:40	was commissioned set aside for this
10:42	apostolic ministry he’s the apostle
10:44	abnormally born and again i’m not a
10:47	rocket surgeon but i would note this
10:49	when it comes to whether or not paul’s
10:51	words are scripture i don’t think i’m
10:53	smarter than peter the reason why i say
10:56	that is because peter’s that guy who
10:57	actually hung out with Jesus and he was
11:00	he was restored into the apostolic
11:02	ministry by Jesus himself and in second
11:05	peter chapter three you can look this up
11:08	the apostle peter
11:10	says that paul’s writings are scripture
11:15	that’s what he says
11:17	so you can sit there and you can slander
11:18	paul all you want i’m still going to
11:20	listen to him because i’m not going to
11:22	listen to your karen your karen is out
11:24	of
11:25	out of line here saying the apostle paul
11:27	he was just a woman hater no he wasn’t
11:31	he was an apostle of Jesus Christ and he
11:34	is the one who tells us in our epistle
11:36	text that wonderful good news that we
11:40	are saved by grace apart from works
11:43	here’s what the text says now we know
11:45	that whatever the law says
11:47	it speaks to those who are under the law
11:51	so that every mouth may be stopped and
11:53	the whole world may be held accountable
11:56	to god love it love it love it see if
11:58	you listen to the scriptures the
12:00	scriptures are going to tell you what
12:01	the purpose of the law is if you think
12:04	that the ten commandments and those all
12:06	the things that god requires of you form
12:08	some kind of a list with a checkbox next
12:11	next to it and all you got to do is
12:12	check off the boxes right i did that i
12:15	did that i did that ooh i’m going to
12:17	heaven
12:19	you have no clue
12:21	what the law is about
12:22	listen to the words of the apostle of
12:25	Jesus Christ
12:27	paul he says the purpose of the law is
12:30	to silence you
12:32	always and again i’m still working
12:33	through you know therapy issues
12:35	regarding my childhood i’ve told you
12:37	about my best friend he was a son of a
12:39	cuban immigrant a guy who actually was
12:41	tortured by fidel castro and had the
12:43	scars to prove it but
12:46	always and again his i don’t think his
12:48	dad liked me very much because whenever
12:50	i would say something stupid
12:53	and i would do that often as a kid
12:56	whenever i would say something stupid he
12:58	would kind of say
13:00	not under his breath but loud enough for
13:01	me to be for me to hear him even if he
13:04	was in the kitchen he would say cayete
13:06	gringo
13:10	loose translation we’ll forget the
13:12	gringo part because that’s a slur
13:14	loose translation from the italian shut
13:17	up of your face
13:18	okay
13:20	that’s the purpose of the law
13:24	to silence you
13:26	but i’m a good person no you’re not
13:30	you’re out of control you’re out of line
13:32	here i’m really not that bad it’s worse
13:34	than you think
13:36	right
13:37	so the purpose of the law is to silence
13:39	you and hold you accountable to god but
13:41	that doesn’t make my self-esteem feel
13:43	good good your self-esteem is a problem
13:46	you have way too high of an opinion of
13:48	yourself
13:51	well you’re not going to grow a church
13:52	doing that i don’t grow the church
13:54	Christ does
13:57	for by works of the law
14:00	no human being will be justified that
14:03	means to be declared righteous or
14:05	declared innocent in god’s sight by
14:07	works of the law not one human being
14:10	will be justified in god’s sight since
14:13	through the law comes the knowledge of
14:16	sin that law was not given as a list for
14:18	you to follow to save yourself it was
14:20	given as a list to check off and sit
14:22	there and go oh boy i’m in trouble
14:25	i’m a sinner
14:27	and then
14:28	best word in all of scripture but
14:32	but
14:33	but now
14:34	the righteousness of god whose
14:36	righteousness is it
14:38	god’s righteousness the righteousness of
14:41	god has been manifested apart from the
14:44	law
14:45	the law and the prophets they bear
14:46	witness to it and this is the
14:48	righteousness of god and watch your
14:50	connecting words here the righteousness
14:53	of god
14:54	through faith in Jesus Christ and here’s
14:56	a super important word
14:59	for
15:01	for all who believe
15:04	if you think about in these terms the
15:06	great exchange
15:07	on the cross Christ takes your sin upon
15:10	himself
15:12	and he bears your sin on the cross
15:14	he suffers and bleeds and dies in your
15:17	place experiencing the wrath of god to
15:20	the full so that you can be forgiven and
15:23	when you are brought to faith in Christ
15:26	the holy spirit working this in you
15:28	then you are clothed with Jesus’s
15:32	perfect sinless righteousness that’s
15:34	what the righteousness of god is so the
15:36	righteousness of god it is
15:39	for all who believe
15:42	and then we get these and you’ll note
15:44	that all of sinned
15:46	all fall short of the glory of god
15:48	including your inner karen and
15:51	are justified then by his grace as a
15:54	gift through the redemption that is in
15:56	Christ Jesus and it was this text this
15:59	exact text that martin luther was
16:02	working his way through when he had the
16:04	big kind of aha gospel movement he was
16:07	legitimately trying to save himself by
16:11	working his
16:12	body to the bone as a monk in roman
16:15	catholicism
16:17	i’ve said it before luther has quoted
16:20	has said if anybody could have been
16:23	saved by monkery it was me
16:30	but we can’t be saved by our
16:31	righteousness we can’t be saved by our
16:33	good works
16:35	the purpose of the law is to show us our
16:37	sin and the good news tells us that
16:39	Christ died for our sins he bled for
16:42	your sins and mine
16:43	and all of us we’ve fallen fallen short
16:45	of the glory god and then we are
16:47	declared righteous then by his grace
16:50	as a gift every time i preach to this
16:53	text i ask the question how much do you
16:55	pay people to give you Christmas gifts
16:59	you don’t it’s not a gift if you pay for
17:01	it
17:02	and that’s the point it’s free
17:05	the whole kitten caboodle salvation
17:07	reconciliation reconciliation with god
17:10	forgiveness of your sins
17:13	well the promise of an inheritance in
17:15	the new earth
17:17	i mean a good way to think about an
17:18	inheritance is inheritance is a gift
17:20	given by somebody who died
17:23	so Jesus is our rich heavenly uncle
17:26	he died and he and he’s written us into
17:28	the will and given us the whole estate
17:30	all as a gift because because of his
17:33	great love and mercy and grace in fact
17:36	god himself put Jesus forward as an
17:38	atoning sacrifice by his blood to be
17:41	received by faith
17:42	and so then you’ll note that
17:45	well
17:46	if you believe the words of Jesus you
17:48	know
17:49	the words of his apostles the ones he
17:51	sent the one he’s the ones he said of
17:54	the one who hears you hears me
17:56	right if you listen to his apostles and
17:58	you recognize salvation is totally 100
18:01	free what do you got to boast about
18:04	then
18:05	one of the last words of martin luther
18:07	was we’re all beggars
18:10	am i as a beggar am i going to boast
18:12	about the fact i found where the bread
18:13	is
18:14	no i’m going to go tell the other
18:15	beggars i know where the bread is you
18:17	need a meal let’s go let’s go get fed
18:19	that’s the whole point
18:21	so you’ll note that boasting is out of
18:22	place
18:24	it’s excluded
18:25	because we hold and listen to the final
18:28	words of the epistle text we hold
18:30	that one is justified by faith apart
18:33	from works of the law
18:35	and then they
18:36	they they they go crazy
18:38	they they lose their minds no it can’t
18:41	be that free if you start saying that
18:43	then people are going to use that good
18:45	news to go out and sin and fornal
18:48	kabutilate
18:51	you know you’re telling me a lot more
18:52	about yourself than you are telling me
18:54	about what the scripture says
18:56	in fact the apostle paul if when you
18:58	read the book of acts when he preaches
19:01	the gospel as a missionary planting
19:02	churches goes into synagogues and
19:04	proclaims Christ free forgiveness of
19:06	sins he has detractors
19:08	and in the book of romans itself in
19:10	romans 6 paul takes up some of the karen
19:15	talk from the people who were slandering
19:17	him well well the you’re saying that if
19:20	we that because of grace we can sin so
19:22	the grace may abound
19:25	that’s literally what these people were
19:27	saying of paul and so he asked the
19:29	question what shall we say are we to
19:30	continue in sin so the grace may abound
19:33	by no means
19:35	how can we who died to sin still live in
19:37	it
19:40	and see there’s the the next bit if you
19:42	think about our gospel text
19:44	Christ says
19:45	you will know the truth and the truth
19:47	will set you free and the jews hearing
19:49	the words of Christ here in john 8
19:52	they they were scratching their heads
19:54	trying to figure out what he meant that
19:56	they would be set free because they’re
19:59	not slaves and so they look at Jesus and
20:01	they say we’re the offspring of abraham
20:04	we’ve never been enslaved to anyone
20:07	how is it that you say you will become
20:08	free they legitimately don’t get it
20:12	and so Jesus kindly explains truly truly
20:14	amen amen i say to you
20:16	everyone who commits sin
20:19	is a slave to sin
20:21	the slave does not remain in the house
20:23	forever the sun remains forever
20:25	so if the sun sets you free
20:27	you will be free indeed
20:29	oh wait a second now i’m starting to get
20:31	it what have i been set free from you’ve
20:33	been set free
20:34	from slavery to sin
20:36	sin is egypt
20:38	sin is slavery sin is not freedom Jesus
20:42	doesn’t set you free so that you can be
20:44	a slave to sin
20:46	that doesn’t make
20:48	any sense and that is all through the
20:51	gospel not the law the law doesn’t set
20:54	you free from slavery to sin it shows
20:57	you you’re a sinner
20:58	it’s only the gospel only the
21:00	forgiveness of sins that sets you free
21:02	from it and this is why
21:04	paul then goes on again an apostle of
21:07	Jesus Christ how can we who died to sin
21:10	still live in it
21:11	do you not know that all of us who have
21:14	been baptized into Christ we were
21:17	baptized into his death we were buried
21:20	therefore with him by baptism into death
21:23	in order that just as Christ was raised
21:25	from the dead by the glory of the father
21:26	we too might walk in newness of light
21:29	you’ll note same theological topic
21:32	slavery to sin freedom from sin and here
21:36	the apostle of Jesus Christ the apostle
21:38	paul points us to a very important
21:40	moment in all of our lives as Christians
21:43	that day when we were baptized in the
21:45	name of the father and the son and the
21:48	holy spirit now i know there are those
21:50	within the visible church who say well
21:52	it’s just a symbol but paul’s not
21:54	arguing here as a symbol
21:56	he’s pointing us back to that because
21:57	what did he what did Jesus say if the
22:00	son sets you free you will be free
22:01	indeed
22:03	the question is have you been set free
22:07	the answer is yeah
22:10	you who are baptized you were baptized
22:12	into Christ’s death and into his
22:14	resurrection so that you might walk in
22:16	newness of life
22:17	this is not a symbol
22:19	this is a reality
22:22	given Christ has set you free in fact
22:25	paul goes on to say if we have been
22:28	united with him in a death like his and
22:30	we have we shall certainly be united
22:33	with him in a resurrection like his and
22:34	by the way we will
22:36	we know then that our old self was
22:38	crucified with Christ in order that the
22:41	body of sin may be brought to nothing so
22:43	that we would no longer be enslaved to
22:45	sin for one who has died has been set
22:50	free from sin
22:51	let me read verse 7 again one who has
22:54	died has already been set free from sin
23:00	so are you dead or not
23:06	and i’m not talking about like mostly
23:08	dead that’s not what i’m talking about i
23:10	know everyone’s mind goes there right
23:11	mine does too
23:13	the answer is if you’ve been baptized
23:15	you have already died
23:18	you have been tucked away into Christ’s
23:19	death and his resurrection death no
23:22	longer has dominion over you paul says
23:25	for the death Christ died he died to sin
23:27	once for all the life he lives he lives
23:29	to god so you must consider yourselves
23:31	dead to sin and alive to god in Christ
23:34	and what does that require by the way
23:38	faith
23:40	it requires faith
23:42	do you believe these words or not
23:44	that Christ has set you free you are
23:47	free indeed paul goes on to say in verse
23:49	15 what then are we to sin because we’re
23:52	not under the law but under grace
23:54	you just hear them going oy vay
23:56	no do you not know that if you present
23:58	yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves
24:01	your slaves are the one to whom you obey
24:03	neither of sin which leads to death or
24:06	of obedience which leads to
24:07	righteousness but thanks be to god that
24:10	you who were once slaves of sin you have
24:12	become obedient from the heart
24:14	to the standard of teaching to which you
24:16	were committed and you’ve been set free
24:18	from sin and have become instead slaves
24:21	of righteousness
24:23	this is all true
24:25	you see brothers and sisters i’m here to
24:27	proclaim to you the reformation
24:28	continues to this day because the number
24:31	of theological opinions hasn’t gotten
24:33	smaller since the reformation it’s
24:36	gotten greater
24:37	the cacophony of voices that would lead
24:39	you away from the voice of Christ and
24:42	Christ makes it very clear the one who
24:44	abides in his word is his disciples and
24:48	that person will know the truth and the
24:50	truth will set them free today we have
24:52	heard that Christ has set us free in the
24:54	waters of baptism that he has borne our
24:56	sin on the cross that he was the
24:58	propitiation put forward by god so that
25:01	we can be forgiven so that we can be set
25:03	free from slavery to sin and all of this
25:06	is a gift given by god
25:09	everyone who commits sin is a slave to
25:11	sin the slave doesn’t remain forever the
25:13	sun remains forever and that’s what you
25:15	have been made in the waters of baptism
25:17	the sons the daughters the children of
25:20	god so if the son sets you free you will
25:23	be free indeed and you are indeed free
25:30	in the name of Jesus
25:32	amen

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