Word of Salvation – Vol. 21 No. 51 - August 1975

 

Lord's Day 24

 

Sermon by Rev. A Nijhuis, B.D. on Lord’s Day 24

 

Silent Prayer

"I love Thee, O Lord, my strength.
 The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer,
 my God, my rock, in Whom I take refuge,
 my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”

Votum & Salutation

Singing: Psalter Hymnal 20

Prayer

Scripture Readings: Isaiah 63:1-9 & Galatians 3:1-14

Text: Lord's Day 24

Singing: Psalter Hymnal 389 before Sermon

Prayer

Offering(s)

Singing: Psalter Hymnal 388:3

Apostles' Creed

Benediction

Doxology: Psalter Hymnal 491

 

Congregation of Our Lord Jesus Christ,

Lord's Day 24 goes on speaking about the righteousness of believers.  They are righteous before God in Christ alone.  He is my righteousness.  Our salvation is not our own achievement, but it is the work of God in our Lord Jesus Christ from beginning to end.  In Him we have all we need for time and eternity.  We need nothing but Jesus.  He is a complete Saviour.

That is the reason why we are called to come to Him and to believe in Him and to accept Him as our Saviour.

There is no other way.  There is no other Name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

Not our faith, neither our prayers nor our piety can save us.  Jesus only and entirely can save us.

What a privilege it is to know Him, and to believe in Him.  What a privilege it is to make His Name known to our children and to those living around us.  What a privilege it is to help one another to expect all things from Him and to trust in His work which was finished on the cross.

Let us realise that the first thing and the most important thing is to know Jesus Christ as our Saviour and Lord.  You cannot mention one other item that is of the same importance.

The apostle Paul says in his letter to the Philippians (3:8): “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord."

Do you agree?  And do you act accordingly?

We know that text don't we?

However, it may be that we have to learn this lesson all over again.  We may have forgotten this truth.  We may have turned to other values.  Paul meant what he professed.  He added, "For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse, in order that I may gain Christ, and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own, based on law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith." (3:8b,9).

Our salvation is based on that firm foundation of Jesus' work.

"I have no hope nor plea but Jesus' blood and righteousness."

We are urged to come, to buy and eat without money and without price.  We are saved by grace and grace alone.

However, the following questions arise.  What do our good works merit us?  What value has our faithfulness, our sacrifices, and our decent conduct?

Well, let us listen to the Word of God as it is summarised in Lord's Day 24, where we learn:

            1.  that our good works don't contribute to our salvation;

            2.  that our works are rewarded by God; and

            3.  that our good works are necessary.

1.  In the first question our good works are mentioned already.  It is not the purpose of the catechism to deal with good works specifically.  That comes later in Lord's Day 32 and 33.  But here they are mentioned in connection with the righteousness in Christ Jesus in order to show that we are not saved by our own works, not even by our faith since faith is a gift from God and not of our own doing. (Eph.2:8,9).  This Lord's Day wants to underline the fact that we are saved by Christ ALONE.  It cannot be stressed too much.  There is always the danger that we forget this and that we rebel against the wonderful gospel of free grace.  It is also a danger that we want to beautify it, but the sad result is that we spoil it and rob sinners from their only comfort.  Whole churches can become deformed that way.  A lot of nice things can be said about such a church; and the members may be nice people and helpful in many ways, but don't be trapped if they rob from you the good tidings of the great joy in Jesus Christ.

Of course, there is also another danger that we overlook the good works and act as if they are not there, and as if they don't play any role in a Christian's life.  They do.  When we listen to the Bible, we shall see that they are mentioned there time and again.  There is hardly any part of the Bible that does not speak about them in one way or another.  It is even stated that without holiness no one will see God. (Hebrews 12:14).

The Sermon on the Mount is a continuous appeal to us to do good works.  Paul urges the readers of his letters (Romans 12-16; & 1 & 2 Cor.; Gal.; Eph.etc.) to serve the Lord and to act according to His will.

There is, I hope, no one among us who is of the opinion that good works are an optional extra in our Christian life and that they are not necessary.

The question is not whether to do good works or not to do good works, but what is the place they have in the work of salvation.  There is the danger that we give them the wrong place and that we think that we can be saved by what we do.  There is the danger that we think that we can save ourselves, by our own efforts and that our good works can be the whole or part of our righteousness before God, and further that what we do is able to open the way to heaven.

That was the opinion of the Pharisees.  Remember the parable of the Pharisee and the tax-collector?  The story is not that the one was a church-goer and the other one wasn't.  That is what they did, but what a difference in their prayers.  The one, the Pharisee, said, "God, I thank Thee, that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax-collector.  I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get."

So that is a pretty nice picture isn't it?  The Pharisee was a decent and respectable man.  He did a lot for the Lord.  He even paid a tenth of all he got.  He did not only speak pious words but he showed clearly that he was willing to pay for his religion.  We can have a lot of criticism, but we should be very careful.  It is also possible that I use pious and impressive words, but that I don't want to pay accordingly and don't live up to my nice words.  Ten percent, mind you!

However, the Pharisee was not saved by what he did.  He was rejected by the Lord because he did not know himself as a lost sinner and did not turn to the Lord Jesus Christ as his Saviour.  That does not work.  We cannot really do without Him, the Lord Jesus Christ.

So he went home with his good works, with all that he did for the Lord, but he would be a lost man if he did not turn to the Lord Jesus Christ, before it was too late.

The trouble is that our good works are not good enough.  We may mean it well and do our utmost.  We may even give all that we have and there have been people who just did this very thing – and yet, it is not sufficient.  We may be quite satisfied about our achievements and our sacrifices, if any, for the Lord, but the Lord is not impressed.  O no, He does not overlook them and He does not forget them; but they are not sufficient and they don't stand the test, HIS test.

I know only of one Whose work was and is enough; Whose work is finished and got the divine "okay".  There was nothing in it missing or lacking or not up to the standard of God.  It was perfect.  There was not a flaw, not a sin in it.

Jesus Christ is your only hope, brothers and sisters, young people, your only comfort, your only Saviour.  There is no other way.  But what benefit are your own works?

Well, I hope you perform lots of them, but whatever they are, they are not the basis, even not part of the basis on which to build your salvation.  Why not?  Well, "because the righteousness which can stand before the tribunal of God must be absolutely perfect and wholly conformable to the divine law, while even our best works in this life are all imperfect and defiled with sin."

Do you believe this?  Do you agree that your conduct, that your achievements are imperfect and defiled with sin?

Well, it may be that we answer positively, but that we are not convinced, and that we have the idea that we are not all bad and that our life is quite good and acceptable in the eyes of God.

We have to realise that God is a HOLY God.  He cannot stand imperfectness and sin.

God does not want or claim our good efforts, our best intentions.  His will is that I should love the Lord with all my heart and with all my soul and with all my strength ...  and my neighbour as myself.  Do you dare to say that you did just that?  That you never failed, not for a minute?

We may be proud of our works and our fellow-men may honour us because of what we have achieved, but what about the motives and what about our heart?  Is it not true what Isaiah stated so long ago: "We have all become like one who is unclean and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment." (Isaiah 64:6)?

2.  All this does not mean that the Lord does not notice what we do for Him and for His Kingdom; that He is indifferent as far as our conduct is concerned; that He does not mind whether we pay attention to HIS will or that we listen to OTHER voices and serve OTHER gods.  Our good works may not be the FOUNDATION of our salvation, not even PART of that foundation, but this does NOT mean that they play no role AT ALL.  They do!  They are NOT THE ROOT of the tree of salvation, but they are the FRUIT on that free.  They grow there where we are grafted into Christ.  They are the FRUIT of Christ's work in us and through us.  Our good works are NOT THE CAUSE, THE GROUND of our salvation, but AFTER our salvation.  They DON'T PAVE THE WAY for our salvation, but they follow after and show something of our belonging to the Lord Jesus Christ and show something of His power.  They are HIS work and not OURS.  His Name is printed on them, even though we may parade in them and act as if they are our own work.

Now the amazing thing is that God will reward our good works in this and in the future life.  Amazing isn't it?  Imagine that!  CHRIST does the work and WE get the reward for it.  It IS a strange and a wonderful world, that world of God's grace.  It really is, and the longer you live in it, the more you discover the wonders of His grace.  That is pointed out in the previous Lord's Day: "Christ is not only my satisfaction and righteousness, but also my holiness."  God deals with me if I had never committed any sin, yea as if I myself had accomplished all the obedience which Christ has rendered for me, if only I accept such benefit with a believing heart.

Christ's work becomes MY work and MY work becomes CHRIST'S.

My works, which are really Christ's works in me, are rewarded by the Lord.  It is easy to understand that this reward is not a matter of merit but of pure grace.

The Bible tells us that "in keeping the commandments of the Lord there is great reward" (Psalm 19:11) and "that one who sows righteousness gets a sure reward." (Proverbs 11:18).

The Lord Jesus Christ also speaks of a great reward in heaven for those who are reviled and persecuted and who received all kinds of evil on His account (Matt.5:12).

He promised also that "whosoever gives to one of these little ones, even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he shall not lose his reward." (Matt.10:42).

In Luke 6:35 we hear that we are "to love your enemies, and do good and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High."

When Peter once told the Lord that he and the other disciples had left everything and followed the Lord Jesus and asked, "What then shall we have?" Jesus said, "Truly I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of man shall sit on His glorious throne, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.  And every one who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my Name's sake, will receive a hundred fold, and inherit eternal life.”

Because of the many references in the Bible the catechism says in reply to the question: "What?  do our good works then merit nothing, while God will yet reward them in this and in the future life?" with the answer, "This reward is NOT OF MERIT but OF GRACE."

The Lord does not need to reward our good works.  We don't deserve it.  We have no rights to expect a reward.  They are not really OUR good works.

Suppose for a minute that we would have done all the commandments of the Lord and that we did not lack in anything, not even in our love.  Suppose this for a minute, we still have no rights.

The Lord Jesus says, "When you have done all that is commanded you, say: We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty."

When our children are obedient to their parents, they have no right to be rewarded for it.  It is quite normal to be obedient.  It is nothing special.  Even if parents ask for a special job, children have to obey.  Still parents may reward their children.  It is not a "must" and you should not do this too often.  But, when you made a promise of a reward you are obliged to act accordingly and to pay your vows.

That is what the Lord does.  He wants to encourage us.  He likes giving.  That is why we may enjoy so much every day again.

But we don't deserve it.  We don't merit it.  It is mere grace that here and hereafter we receive His special blessings.

Yes, it is a joy to walk with the Lord, to know Him in all our ways.

All this is only the beginning.  What will it be when we may enjoy eternal life and may notice that the Lord has not forgotten what we did out of love to Him?  But don't forget that all we get from our heavenly Father is the fruit of Jesus' cross and of His obedience.

Praise the Lord!

3.  Finally a few words about the last question: "But does not this doctrine make men careless and profane?"

The answer is "By no means; for it is impossible that those who are implanted in Christ by a true faith should not bring forth fruits of thankfulness."

We can well understand this question, can we not?  If our good works don't mean a thing as far as our salvation is concerned, why should we then do them?  If we cannot contribute to our own salvation why should we bother about the service to the Lord and about obedience to Him?

This reasoning seems as sound as a bell.  You cannot find a flaw in it.  Does not everyday life show the same trend?  Is it not true that Roman Catholics and Humanists show more willingness to serve and to do good works?  We may try to belittle this, but all the same, is it not true?  Anyway, that is the impression we may get.

Even if it were true, what does that prove?

Let us be honest.  We can misuse any doctrine for our own wrong purpose.  We can use this doctrine of free grace e.g. to cover our unwillingness to serve the Lord.

 We can hide ourselves behind the fence of free grace.  Yes, that is possible and that happens.

But this does not prove that this doctrine is wrong.  It shows only that we use this beautiful and comforting doctrine in a wrong way, in a destructive way for ourselves.  It does not help me if I SPEAK about free grace.  It does not help me if I am able to defend this comforting doctrine of salvation through Jesus Christ alone.

What I and you need is faith in this Lord Jesus.  What we all need is that personal relationship with that gracious Lord.

If it exists you will see that we like to serve the Lord.  If we base our life on the foundation of Jesus Christ alone, then the fruit of that faith shows itself in our daily life.

This doctrine does not make men careless and profane.  On the contrary, it is impossible that those who are implanted into Christ by a true faith should not bring forth fruits of thankfulness.

It is impossible to love the Lord and to refuse to listen to His voice.  It is impossible to accept the Lord as our Saviour and to reject Him as Our Lord.

It is the same Lord Who takes over my sins, Who changes my heart and my life.  He does not stop half-way.

Do you see Christ at work in your life?  Do you bring forth fruits of thankfulness because of your tie to the Lord Jesus Christ?

Do you belong to the Lord Jesus Christ?  Is that clear in your daily life?

Amen.