17 Feb Back To The Basics: Not Good Enough 02/16/2020
Pastor Pete Hartwig
Sermon Notes
SLIDE: Back to Basics: YOU are NOT GOOD ENOUGH –
Faith, The Law, Works and The Gospel of Jesus Christ
SLIDE: Matthew 20:1-16 The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard.
20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.
3 “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went.
“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing.6 About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’
7 “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.
“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’
8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’
9 “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’
13 “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’
SLIDE: The Kingdom of Heaven: Work, Wages and God’s generosity
Back to Basics: My pastoral concern – Faith or Works?
If I am a “good person” and do enough “Good works”
Trusting in faith in Jesus for your rightness before God?
Trusting in your “good works” to be “in”?
SLIDE: The Apostle Paul and The Gospel of Jesus Christ
Romans 1:16-17 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
Who is Paul? Jewish leader, met Jesus, OT scholar
SLIDE: “First for the Jew, then to the Gentile”
Jew? Abraham – Genesis 12 2,100 BC
The Call of Abram
Genesis 12 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. 2 “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you: I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.[a] 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.
75 years old – no children
Abraham – Believed, Trusted, placed his Faith in the promise
SLIDE: “The righteous will live by faith.”
Who are the “Righteous” = FAITH – trust, belief
“The righteous” = Those that God declares as being in right standing with him
They are not perfect, they are not sinless
SLIDE: Romans 4:1-3 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter? 2 If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. 3 What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
SLIDE: Genesis 15:6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
Genesis 15: 2 But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless 3 And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”
4 Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” 5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
Genesis 15:6; Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
Circumcision Genesis 17 Abraham 99 years old
4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5 No longer will you be called Abram[b]; your name will be Abraham,[c] for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. 7 I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
9 Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. 10 This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you.
– STILL NO CHILDREN!
SLIDE: Romans 4:4-5 Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. 5 However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.
SLIDE: Romans 4:9-12
We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness. Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! 11 And he received circumcision as a sign, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised.
SLIDE: Romans 4:16 Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham.
SLIDE: FEET TO YOUR FAITH
SLIDE: Romans 4:20-25
20 Yet Abraham did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God… 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. 22 This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” 23 The words “it was credited to him” were written not for Abraham alone, 24 but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.