Why the Law of God? (LD 44; Phil. 3:12-16)

We are a people who will always struggle in sin on this side of glory. One would think that we would never want to hear about the Lord's holiness. This is something that would potentially discourage us from pressing forward in the Christian life. However, we are exhorted in Paul's writings to keep pushing forward. The law of God is a good, it is the Lord's righteous standard, and so we lay out why the Lord's law is something that we should continually hear and be exhorted to conform to the Lord as we walk in Christ.

#expositorypreaching #lawofGod #christianstruggle #sanctification

Living it Out (Matthew 5:21-32)

The Lord has created human beings to be creative.  This is good because it enables us to create, to build, and to live out what it is to be in the image of God.  However, the down side of this is that we are creative in how we apply the law of God.  If we are seeking to use the law lawfully that is great, but the problem is that we can set up our own standard that is not intended in the law of God.  We might wonder why we would do such a thing, but we find that answer when Christ lays out the intention of the law.  How can we be faithful disciples when the Law of God is impossibly rigorous?  

Worship Elements: Confession (Psalm 19)

We have a time of confession at the beginning of our worship service.  As we join together in this time we might wonder why we would engage in such a practice.  Why would we confess our sins if we are forgiven in the Lord?  Why would we join together to confess our sins in a worship service? 

Sojourning Under the Sun: Sabbath Conforming: Humility (Matthew 6:1-18)

The Lord has called us to honor Him and to live a life exclusively for our God.  Christ makes this life a challenge when Christ is very explicit that the law is something that cuts to the heart rather than just being an outward superficial conforming.  It is impossible for us to conform to the Lord from our heart, and so how do we conform to the Lord?  How do we come before the Lord in light of such impossible exhortations?

Sojourning Under the Sun: Sabbath Conforming: Magistrate (Matthew 5:33-48)

Christ tells us not to take an oath, we are not to get vengeance, and we are called to a radical love.  If those things are not hard enough we hear that we are supposed to be perfect as our heavenly father is perfect.  How can we measure up to this standard?  Do we just ignore these commands because they are impossible?  Do we strive to keep them in the hopes that God will still accept us?  What do we do with these difficult commands?

Sojourning Under the Sun: Sabbath Conforming: Murder (Matthew 5:21-26)

Christ continues to instruct the disciples on the mountain regarding life in this kingdom.  His presentation now is that the law of God has more meaning than just a few external commands that are easy to follow.  Christ goes through the command to murder which we might think is pretty easy to obey.  I mean there are a lot of people who have gone through this life without taking another human life.  Our temptation might be to skip over this command and to move onto a commandment that is probably a little more challenging.  So, what is the real challenge for us not to murder someone?

Sojourning Under the Sun: Sabbath Conforming (Matthew 5:17-20)

Christ stands on the mountain and tells us that in order for us to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven our righteousness has to exceed the righteousness of the scribes and the pharisees.  That is pretty serious because they really understood the Lord’s Word and seemed to take it seriously.  So, how can one enter into the Kingdom of Heaven?

Impartial to God’s Law (James 2:1-13)

One of the challenges of the Christian life is not allowing our earthly perspective to get in the way of our heavenly perspective.  We are people called to arrive at heaven.  We are people called to have the orientation of heaven ever before us as we sojourn through this age.  So, how is this worked out?  On the one hand we are struggling sinners called to honor the Lord and on the other hand we are called by a perfect God.  So, how are we to live our the righteous requirements of the law in light of our sinful struggle?

Being a Doer (James 1:19-27)

The law of God is one of those difficult things to address.  On the one hand we can go down the road of being self righteous where we reduce the meaning of the law down to a few outward things that are easy to keep.  We can also become a people who dismiss the seriousness of wanting to conform to the law.  We can claim that this law is not binding.  We can also go to a place where we claim that our works are needed for our entrance into heaven.  So, when James exhorts us to be doers of the law what can he possibly mean?  How can we be a doer of the law without minimizing Christ’s one time completed work?

The Absurdity of Mercy (Matthew 5:1-12 (LD 40)

Christ teaches from the sermon on the mount that murder is far deeper than just taking a human life.  Christ teaches that if we desire to harm, avenge, or even hate then we are guilty of murder.  What is the opposite of murder?  How do we discover a Christian ethic as we consider the opposite of murder?  How does the Christian ethic make us realize our glorious placement in this kingdom?

The Absurd Christian Home (LD 39; Colossians 3:18-4:1)

Today we think that we have the luxury of evaluating what a Christian home looks like.  There is a real temptation to think hat because our day and age is so different from Paul’s time that we can reevaluate the home.  There is no doubt that people have abused their roles as husbands and as wives, but does that change what the Lord has ordained?  What has the Lord ordained and how is Paul’s model for the home something good and honorable even today?  How can we as a family benefit from Paul’s words?

The Absurdity of Idolatry Psalm 90 (LD 34; BC 1)

As Christians we can think that idolatry is only conducting baal worship or something that is forbidden in the Old Testament.  We can think that we do not worship baal or the golden calf so we are free from this sin.  The reality is that we are tempted to trust in many things to sustain us apart from the Lord.  Why is it so absurd to trust in something other than the Lord?

Blessed by Marriage or Freed through Divorce? (Mark 10:1-12)

So often we use the law of God to find loopholes and technicalities.  I think that many times we like the letter of the law because it narrows the sharpness of its requirement.  But, how do we order our lives by the law of God when it seems contradictory?  For instance Christ gives permission for divorce if there is an adulterous relationship.  The Apostle Paul allows for divorce if the unbeliever cannot live with the believer.  Yet, Christ states that, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her.”  How do we reconcile these teachings on divorce and order our lives when they seem to contradict one another?

Loving the Truth (1 Corinthians 13:1-13 (LD 43)

We know that Paul writes one of the most beautiful passages on love.  It is a passage that we use many times for wedding meditations and unfortunately have potentially emptied this passage of its Christian ethic and challenge for the Christian life.  So, what does this love have to do with the Christian life?  What does this passage on love have to do with telling the truth?

Murder: Forgive as Forgiven (Colossians 3:1-17 (LD 40)

We can think that it is easy not to commit murder because all you have to do is not take someone's life. If it were that easy then we could see the Ten Commandments as a simple to do list of ten things to do each day. However it seems that it might be a bit more complicated than not literally taking a human life. So, how complicated or big is this issue?  How do we know we conforming to the Lord?

Honor Authority (Colossians 3:17-4:1; LD 39)

It is tempting to think that maybe Paul is clueless about contemporary struggles or maybe he just does not understand our current struggle in this advanced age.  How does Paul exhort us in such a way that what Paul says to the first century church is just a relevant to the 21st century church?