St. John Chrysostom’s Nativity Sermon

Confessions of faith are extremely useful. This is true for several reasons. First, they codify the contents of Scripture in a compact form. The Bible is a big book. A confession of faith is meant to distill the great mass of biblical data into a systematic summary for the church. Second, confessions of faith clarify the central teachings of Scripture. A confession is not intended to summarize every single thing the Bible says about every single topic. Rather, the intention is to select the central doctrines and practices of Scripture and arrange them in logical sequence. This helps the church see what is more important and less important, what deserves major emphasis in the life of the church and what should be given minor emphasis. All of Scripture is the inspired word of God, but not every doctrine is equally crucial. Confessions of faith bring clarity on what is essential and what is non-essential. Third, confessions of faith simplify the central teachings of Scripture. They provide concise statements of biblical truth along with the primary passages that support that truth. If you want to know the meaning of a certain doctrine, a confession will give you a quick definition and overview of the doctrine in light of all that Scripture says. Confessions codify, clarify, and simplify the contents of biblical teaching and instruction for the faith, life, and ministry of the church. This is an extremely useful resource for pastors, teachers, and even whole denominations. As Presbyterians, we are bound by our subscription to the Westminster Confession of Faith, which was drafted and established by our Puritan forefathers in England and Scotland in 1647. It is called a “confession” because it embodies the faith that we confess to believe before God and before the world. To “subscribe” to the Westminster Confession means to pledge allegiance to uphold that confession as a secondary authority under the ultimate authority of Scripture. All ordained Presbyterian ministers are required to preach, teach, and defend what the Westminster Confession says. This requirement of subscription is absolutely necessary for the preservation of the truth and the protection of our churches. The confession keeps us in check. It’s like the guardrails that keeps us from going off the tracks into doctrinal error, heresy, and sin. The Westminster Confession provides a much needed accountability partner for pastors, churches, and the whole denomination. When we abandon our fidelity to our Confession, serious corruption looms ahead in the not-so-distant future. So I highly recommend that all of you take the time to read through the Westminster Confession, or at least the sections most interesting to you ( it’s available Here ). There are sections on the doctrine of God, the person and work of Christ, God’s covenant with his people, free will, sin, the new birth, justification, God’s law, good works, baptism, the Sabbath, worship, marriage, the second coming, and so much more. If you want to understand what our denomination believes and what the Forks of the Brandywine is committed to uphold in all that we do, the best source you can consult is the Westminster Confession of Faith. This is the faith of our Puritan and Presbyterian forefathers, it was the faith of those who founded the Forks in the 1730s, and, Lord willing, it will be the faith we confess before the very judgment seat of God on the last day. Grace and peace, Pastor Wesley

Ignite your love for the Lord Jesus

The Sabbath has its roots deep in the Old Testament. The core idea of the word “sabbath” is “rest.” The Hebrew word for the Sabbath comes from a verb that means to cease, come to a halt, to stop doing something. At the beginning of Genesis 2, we are told that God completed all the work he had set out to do in the first six days of creation, “so on the seventh day he rested from all his work” (Gen. 2:2). God ceased from the work of creation and refrained from doing any work on the seventh day. For this reason, we are told, God set apart the seventh day as the Sabbath, the day of rest, and made it a holy day (Gen. 2:3-4). The precedent that God set by his own course of action in the creation week becomes the pattern for Israel’s work week and a sign of Israel’s covenant with God (Ex. 31:12-17). In the Fourth Commandment, God instructs his people to remember the Sabbath day, follow his example, and keep the day holy by ceasing from all their labor (Ex. 20:8-11). The Sabbath, then, is that holy day on which God’s people are to refrain from all their labors, to stop working, and to rest and be refreshed. When we rest on the Sabbath, we are acknowledging that God alone is the Creator. We are answering the call of Psalm 46:10, where God says, “Be still, and know that I am God.” God invites us to enter his rest and to know him. Our lives are so busy, our schedules so full, our distractions so unending. Sabbath is about resting from all that work, unplugging from all that distraction, and giving God our full attention. Sabbath is about remembering that God is Creator, God is in control, handing our burdens to him, finding rest in his provision, comfort in his care, joy in his fellowship, and renewal in his rest. Sabbath not only points us to God our Creator but also to God our Redeemer. The God of Genesis is also the God of Exodus who liberated his people from slavery. Moses tells us to remember the redemption from Egyptian bondage as the basis of the Sabbath commandment (Deut. 5:15). Sabbath observance is a free man’s worship. We cease from work because we can. We are no longer slaves. We have no taskmasters who force us to work, for God has set us free. Referring to the exodus, God says, “I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself” (Ex. 19:4). Sabbath is about celebrating freedom, leaving bondage behind, and resting secure in the God who saves. On the Sabbath, we sing songs of redemption by a parted sea and rattle severed chains over Egyptian slain. For Christians today under the New Covenant, the ultimate significance and fulfillment of the Sabbath is in Jesus Christ. Through Christ, God created all things and is making all things new (Col. 1:16; 2 Cor. 5:17). Jesus is Lord of the new creation. In Christ, God has redeemed all his people from their sins (Rom. 3:24). Jesus says that “everyone who sins is a slave to sin,” but “if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:34, 36). Jesus is Lord of the new exodus. This same Jesus calls us to himself and promises to give us rest (Matt. 11:28-29). When we come to him by faith, we enter the true rest that the Sabbath foreshadowed (Heb. 4:1-11). Therefore, Christians ought to rest on the Sabbath day because we are justified by faith apart from works.  The Sabbath is ultimately a sign of our new covenant relationship with Jesus. It signifies that we are united to Christ, justified by faith, and enjoy his rest. Amid the bustle of life, remember the Sabbath. Keep it holy. Enter his rest. Be still and know your God. Because you are free, obey. “If you call the Sabbath a delight . . . then you will find your joy in the Lord” (Is. 58:13-14).

We Have a Thorough Conviction

Christians talk a lot about faith. That is understandable. We all know faith is vitally important. You can’t be a Christian without faith. Believing in Jesus is how we get saved, but then what? Where does faith fit into the rest of my life? What does faith do? What is faith for? Does faith really work? These are natural questions, and finding the right answer will have a tremendous impact on your Christian life. Get the wrong answer, and it could lead to a dead end in your walk with Christ. So let’s turn to the words of Jesus to figure this out. In Matthew chapter 8, a Roman soldier approaches Jesus and pleads for help. This is very unusual. Roman soldiers do not typically ask Jewish peasants for anything other than submission. Rome had conquered the Jewish homeland, and this soldier is stationed in Israel to enforce Roman law and order by any brutal means necessary. And this is no ordinary soldier; this is a centurion, an officer with a unit of 80 troops under his command. This is a man of authority. Centurions do not ask conquered subjects for help, but this time something is different. The centurion says to Jesus, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly” (Matthew 8:6). No matter how much authority this man possesses, he has no say over sickness. Suffering and death are not his subordinates. He could command all he wants, but his servant could not obey his order to get well. He needed help from someone with much more power and authority than he possessed. That is why he came to Jesus. He felt powerless, helpless, desperate. Jesus was his last chance. Jesus does not refuse his request. He offers to go with the centurion to heal the servant in person, but, surprisingly, the centurion refuses. He says to Jesus, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it” (Matthew 8:8-9). The centurion recognizes his own unworthiness in the presence of Jesus and acknowledges that he is at his mercy. As a Roman soldier, he understands better than anyone how authority works. He merely says the word, and his soldiers obey without question. That’s how it works. He recognizes that Jesus has the power and authority to give a command that makes even sickness and death obey him. That’s how he works. What an amazing display of faith in Jesus! It was so amazing, in fact, and so unexpected, that even Jesus himself is astonished. Matthew tells us that Jesus was so astonished “he marveled and said to those who followed him, ‘Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith’” (Matthew 8:10). What do we learn from this encounter? Jesus tells us that if we want to know what faith is and what faith does, look no further than this Roman soldier. The centurion’s faith has at least three parts to it: 1. Faith is a humble, confident trust in the power and authority of Jesus. 2. Faith looks away from self and pleads with Jesus to do for us what only he can do. 3. Faith listens expectantly to the mighty word of Jesus. Faith begins with the recognition that I am powerless and weak, but he is mighty and strong. I am helpless and needy, but he is generous and all-sufficient. I am most unworthy, but he is perfectly good and full of grace. We must see ourselves as we really are in the light of who he truly is. Once we see the matchless power and authority of Jesus, we cry out to him like the centurion, “Only say the word, Lord, and it shall be done just as you say!” We put our full confidence in him, we lean all our weight upon his word, and we rest assured that his word will never fail us. True faith is an unshakeable confidence that enables and emboldens us to stake our lives on the word of Jesus, to endure all things for his sake with hope and joy, and to follow Jesus in a life that is faithful, fruitful, and fulfilling. Faith like this is what Jesus wants from his disciples. It’s the level of trust and commitment he wants from you. If you feel that you are incapable of living up to this expectation, you are exactly right— and you just completed step one for having true faith. This kind of faith is a divine gift, granted to us by the sovereign power of the Holy Spirit working in our hearts. This is good news. If faith is a gift from God, then it is yours for the asking.

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