Category: Audio

Fourth Sunday in Lent at Providence Church (CREC)

March 22^nd, 2009.

Pastor Uri Brito

Eighth Sermon

Title: The Trinitarian Gospel through Cross and Crown, SERMON AUDIO HERE.

Text: John 3:14-21

14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

Prayer: Our Lord, you are the light of the world, whoever follows you will not walk in darkness, but will walk in the light of life. Teach us by the light of your revelation to see Christ our Lord and never turn from Him, but walk in Him all our days. In His Name, Amen.

Sermon: The gospel of St. Mark presents Jesus as the great King, whereas the gospel of St. John sees Jesus as the great Priest. It is a priestly gospel. We have seen that the priest cleanses the temple, but the priest also offers humanity as a gift to the Father. The way He does that, in the words of our Shorter Catechism, “is to reconcile us to God.”[1] The mission of our Lord as priest is to reconcile lost humanity to God; to transform a dark heart into a bright new heart of flesh.

The Old Testament priests were sufficient for that time, but they are not sufficient for this new era of the Kingdom. The people need a faithful priest; a mature priest; one who can commune with the Father in perfect harmony.

In chapter 2 of John, Jesus cleanses the temple and promises to bring a new temple on the third day. He spoke of his own body, which would be raised. Christ is the new temple. Christ is the last temple. In fact, there is no more need for a new temple not now, not in the future, not ever, because Christ is the final temple.

In chapter 3 of John, Jesus our Priest is on His mission again to clean. If He cleanses the physical temple, He now is going to clean the spiritual temple. This is the scenario that unfolds in chapter 3. Continue reading “The Trinitarian Gospel through Cross and Crown, Fourth Sunday in Lent, John 3:14-21”

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Providence Church (CREC)

Pastor Uri Brito

Third Sunday in Lent

March 15^th, 2009.

Title: Zeal for the Father’s House —Sermon Audio HERE

Text: John 2:13-22

13 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. 15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. 16 And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

18 So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

Prayer: Teach us, O Lord, what it means to be consumed with zeal for your house, and in doing so, may we believe the Scripture and the word that Jesus has spoken. Amen.

Sermon:

In C.S. Lewis’ Screwtape Letters, Wormwood, the senior devil says to his junior correspondent that his greatest ally in the war against the church is religion itself. He wants us to think “that a moderated religion is as good for us as no religion at all.” In other words, he is talking about a religion that calls you to commit yourself only half-way; after all, a little religion is better than no religion. This devilish advice seems to have borne much fruit in the Church of our Lord today. Generations of such churches have led to empty church buildings in Europe and a gospel-less Christianity.

This moderated religion is at the heart of the religion of the Israelites in the first century. They had a self-serving religion. They embraced a religion that only suited their purposes. They had become so accustomed to their rituals and liturgy, that they had forgotten that their worship was for the sake of the world.

Our passage in John 2 flows from a context of great joy in the ministry of our Lord. He is in the beginning of his earthly ministry. In the beginning of chapter 2 Jesus has turned the water into wine. He has brought joy into that marriage feast. There can be no feasting without wine, so Jesus the great host, produces wine for his guests. He delights in the wedding feast, he delights in joyful marriages. In the remaining portions of John 2, we see that Jesus is zealous for His house. We have spoken in previous sermons how Jesus desires to clean his house. In order to clean His house, he needs to cleanse the leper and cleanse the unclean spirit. You cannot live in a dirty home, so Jesus begins to clean His house in his earthly ministry. We will see in chapter 3 that Jesus is interested in the cleaning of lost sinners. He cleanses them by water and the Spirit. He tells Nicodemus that He must be born again. If you are to be born again, you have to be as little children for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Continue reading “Zeal for the Father’s House, John 2:13-22; Third Sunday in Lent”

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