Hopewell Herald – September 26, 2020
Dear Congregation,
Tomorrow’s morning sermon passage is a difficult one. It challenges us (and especially fathers) on worldliness, harmful permissiveness (especially with our daughters), and passivity.
It’s crushing to wrestle seriously with such issues apart from a hearty gospel hope, not only in Christ’s forgiveness, but also in His power and determination to cleanse us and grow us—and in His marvelous mercy to spare us so often and so much from the consequences of our folly and sin.
If we come to consider the real consequences of our sin without this hope, the temptation will be to dismiss the instruction and warning of the Scripture text as legalism or judgmentalism.
But, if we come hoping in Christ, we come rejoicing that He is the righteousness that is counted for us, and that He is determined to make us like Himself by His Spirit.
This rejoicing over what Christ is doing, coupled with a godly sorrow over what sin we have done and what sin remains in us, strengthens us to repentance.
We are enabled to “work out or salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil 2:12) because we rejoice that He is the One who works in us, both to will and to work, according to His good pleasure (Phil 2:13). And we know that He who has begun the good work will bring it unto completion (Phil 1:6)—AND that His Word is the very means by which He does this work (John 17:17)!
So, let us come to Him, clinging to Him in that gospel that enables us to take seriously all of His instruction for our lives, without sliding into the false pride or crippling discouragement of legalism, or denying our Master and harming others by antinomianism.
And, trusting Him to bless His means to us and our children, let us come with a desire to love Him with all our heart and our neighbors (especially those nearest neighbors in our own homes) as ourselves.
Looking forward to coming to Him, while clinging to Him, together with you,
Pastor