Apologetics in a Post Christian Age (Audio) -- Making the Case for Christianity (Montgomery and Schaeffer)

Here's the audio from the Wednesday night Bible Study:  Making the Case for Christianity -- Montgomery and Schaeffer

"Whatever One Sows, That Will He Also Reap" -- Galatians 6:1-10

The Twelfth in a Series of Sermons on Galatians

Throughout his Galatian letter, Paul has let the Galatians have it–pointedly reminding the Galatians of the gospel which he preached to them, and then exhorting them to stand firm and not give in to the false teaching of the Judaizers.  Before he wraps up this letter to these struggling churches, the apostle stops to give some practical and pastoral advice to those suffering from the effects of the dissension and back-biting which the Judaizers brought upon the Galatian churches.

In last two chapters of Galatians (chapters 5-6), Paul addresses the consequences of the false doctrine taught by the Judaizers–the inevitable havoc wrought by a theology based upon justification by human effort and compliance to law and ritual.  As Paul argued in Galatians 5, those who have been taken in by the Judaizers risk being severed from Christ and falling from grace.  Any who seek to be justified on the ground of circumcision, obedience to dietary laws, and the keeping of the Jewish religious calendar (the so-called “emblems” or “badges” of Judaism), will be greatly disappointed.

But if the Law is fulfilled in love–which, as Paul has been saying flows out of justifying faith–then there are of number of specific points of application which need to be made in response to the self-righteousness and judgmental attitude introduced into the church as a direct result of false teaching.  In his response, the apostle sets out a sharp contrast between the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit.  The presence of the fruit of the Spirit is characteristic of every Christian believer, now freed from sin, death, and the Law.  But Paul also makes clear, Christians will inevitably struggle with the flesh and indwelling sin until they die, or Christ comes back, whichever comes first.  

Turning, then, to the first ten verses of Galatians chapter six (our text), Paul offers practical and pastoral advice, in which his prior discussion about the Law being fulfilled in love is now applied to the specific circumstances in Galatia.  Paul is dealing with the consequences of the deceptive actions of the Judaizers and the false gospel that they were teaching–all of which led to a very difficult situation in the churches throughout Galatia.  Many of those influenced by the Judaizers had stooped to such a low level that they were now spying on each other’s liberty, and, in doing so, created an atmosphere of judgment and in-fighting in the church.  

The Judaizers were seeking nothing less than to re-enslave the Galatians to the bondage of the “basic principles of the world.”  The tragic result of all of this was conflict in the church, stemming from fear and doubt about one’s relationship to God created in the vacuum of the absence of Christian liberty–the very blessing which Jesus Christ died to secure for his people.  Since the false gospel of the Judaizers was based upon human compliance to law, and therefore, grounded in human merit (“self-righteousness”) Paul reports that many of those who had been taken in by the deception of the Judaizers, were now acting in a conceited manner, provoking, and envying each other–all of which is the inevitable consequence of thinking that your merit is greater than another’s.  

Paul has expressed his amazement at how quickly the leaven of the Judaizers spread throughout the churches.  People were not only confused about the gospel, but, as a result, they were behaving like wild beasts.  This is why Paul so pointedly urges the Galatians to “walk by the Spirit.”  Christians are to act in an appropriate manner even under the difficult circumstances now facing them.  Heresy, strife, and animosity are the bitter fruit brought forth by those who oppose the gospel of free grace and justification by an imputed righteousness received by faith alone.  Paul will give the Galatians specific instruction as to what it means to “walk by the Spirit.”  As is typical of Paul, these are all very straightforward and make a great deal of sense in the context of the situation then facing the Galatian Christians.

To read the rest of this sermon:  Click Here

This Week at Christ Reformed Church (January 28-February 3)

Sunday Morning, February 3:  We will consider Zechariah's prophecy of a coming Messiah who will be "pierced" while his people mourn (Zechariah 12:1-14).  Our worship service begins at 10:30 a.m.

Sunday Afternoon:  We have undertaken a series on the Heidelberg Catechism.  We will look at the structure of the catechism and the importance of the practice of catechism.  Our afternoon service begins at 1:15 p.m.

Wednesday Night Bible Study: (January 30 @ 7:30 p.m.).  We continue "making the case for Christianity."  This week we'll discuss the apologetic method of John Warwick Montgomery and begin to look at Francis Schaeffer's approach to defending the faith.  

Friday Night Academy: (Friday, February 1).  Our lecture is entitled, "Thomas Reid and His Common Sense Philosophy -- Part Two"

For more information on Christ Reformed Church you can always find us here Christ Reformed Church, or Christ Reformed on Facebook.

"Thirty Pieces of Silver" -- Zechariah 11:1-17

Here's the audio from this morning's sermon on Zechariah from our series on the Minor Prophets:  Click here

"Thomas Reid and His Common Sense Philosophy" -- (Part One)

Here's the audio from the Academy lecture on Thomas Reid (the first in a two part series).

I cover Reid's life and history, the role of first principles and his understanding of "common sense," and also the differences between Reid, Hume, and Kant, and Reid's critique of what he identifies as the "ideal theory."

I also discuss how Reid's "realism" undergirds the Old Princeton evidential apologetic, and how Kant's views on perception have influenced Kuyper and Van Til.

The Common Sense Philosophy of Thomas Reid -- Part One

Apologetics in a Post Christian Age (Audio) -- Making the Case for Christianity (Van Til's Two Step Method)

Here's the audio from the Wednesday night Bible Study: Van Til's Two Step Method

"Walk By the Spirit" -- Galatians 5:16-26

The Eleventh in a Series of Sermons on Galatians

In face of attacks made upon the gospel by the Judaizers, Paul exhorted the Galatians to stand firm in the freedom won for them by Jesus Christ.  Taking up a discussion of the Christian life in the fifth chapter of Galatians, Paul tells his hearers that although they are justified by grace alone, through faith alone, on account of Christ alone, the faith through which they are justified is also a faith that works in love.  Paul also says, the Law–obedience to which cannot justify–is fulfilled through obedience to the command to love one another.  But the power to fulfill the law is not our own.  It must be given to us through the indwelling Holy Spirit, so that we “walk by the Spirit.”

Paul’s critics in Galatia accused him of preaching one gospel of “faith alone” to the Gentiles and another of “faith plus circumcision” to the Jews.  But if Paul were doing such a thing, why was he being persecuted?  The Judaizers have told the Galatians repeatedly that Paul’s doctrine of justification is positively dangerous, since supposedly it leads to license–which is why the Judaizers were snooping around in the Galatian churches spying on Gentile liberty.  The Judaizers accused Paul of being an antinomian–slandering the apostle by claiming he had no regard for circumcision, the Law, or the traditions of the fathers.  In Galatians 5, Paul must correct a number of the ways in which he and the gospel have been misrepresented.  He takes great care in setting out just how it is, since we are justified by grace, alone through faith alone, on account of Christ alone, that we are to live our lives in light of Jesus Christ’s saving work. The life which springs from faith in Jesus is “walking by the Spirit.”

In verses 16-18 of Galatians 5, Paul draws a contrast between the Holy Spirit producing the fruit of the Spirit (characteristic of the Christian), with the works brought forth from the flesh (our sinful nature, apart from Christ).  Paul describes the Christian’s intense struggle with sin as a war between what we were in Adam and what we are presently in Christ.  Paul tells the Galatians they were called by God to be free, but they were not to use this freedom as an excuse to indulge the sinful nature (flesh).  Instead they were to use their freedom in Christ to serve one another in love (5:13-15) and not devour each other as wild animals.  As is his custom, Paul follows these comments with an imperative [command] in verse 16 (which opens our passage).  “But I say, walk by the Spirit.”  “To walk” is an Old Testament figure of speech descriptive of how one lives one’s life.  The one who walks in the Spirit “will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”  Paul exhorts us to walk by the Spirit as a habit of life because in doing so we will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

There is a loud Old Testament echo here.  The notion of life in the Spirit was a central blessing of the coming messianic age and the new covenant yet to dawn, and a major theme in the prophecy of Jeremiah 31:31-34 of the new covenant (as in our Old Testament lesson).  Under the old covenant, the law was an eternal code of conduct (i.e., a list of rules).  But when the Holy Spirit is given to all of God’s people in the new covenant era, the law is said to be written on our hearts as an inward principle through the indwelling work of the Holy Spirit.

To read the rest of this sermon, Click Here

This Week at Christ Reformed Church (January 21-January 27)

Sunday Morning, January 27:  As we work our way through the Book of Zechariah, we come to chapter 11:1-17, and the prophecy of YHWH's shepherd who saves his flock, but is rejected by his people.  Our worship service begins at 10:30 a.m.

Sunday Afternoon:  We begin a study of the Heidelberg Catechism.  We'll introduce the catechism and explain why it plays such an important role in Reformed piety.  Our afternoon service begins at 1:15 p.m.

Wednesday Night Bible Study: (January 23 @ 7:30 p.m.).  As we continue to "make the case for Christianity," how does a presuppositional apologetic work in practice?  

Friday Night Academy: (Friday, January 25).  Our lecture is entitled, "Thomas Reid and His Common Sense Philosophy"

For more information on Christ Reformed Church you can always find us here Christ Reformed Church, or Christ Reformed on Facebook.

"They Shall Remember Me" -- Zechariah 10:1-12

Here's the audio from this morning's sermon on Zechariah from our series on the Minor Prophets:  Click Here

Apologetics in a Post Christian Age (Audio) -- Making the Case for Christianity (Part Two)

Here's the audio from the Wednesday night Bible study:  Making the Case for Christianity: Part Two