Reformation Hope Church Brookfield WI Dr Wayne Sedlak

Cliff Notes on this message:

The Mystery was hidden in the Old Testament… God did not reveal it except as a mystery. Exodus 27:20

The lamp, referenced in the tabernacle is the Church. So, we have the revelation of the mystery.

It is a light in the tabernacle and later on in the Temple, and as we see in Ephesians, is the Church. We are spread throughout the whole world. The oil in the lamp was to turn always, but we know it did not… but it was to burn always, and that is what the church is to be…providing the light for the nations.

I Kings 15:4 The temple light...and the tabernacle, represent the Church established in Jerusalem. A powerful picture. The 7 candlesticks represent the Church. They burn inside the temple, spread throughout the whole earth…. Here in the midst of Jerusalem, a symbol of a new kind of society built by His people. We are the new Jerusalem come down out of heaven…. Created as people, not just individual Christians… a new Jerusalem, spread throughout the earth…. We are to be a lamp, a light and a testimony.

Job 12:4ff. … a lamp despised… Job’s complaint…the Christian man is mocked by his neighbor who calls upon God and is often ready to slip with his feet. The Scriptures know much about people inside of his kingdom that are at ease and troubled… they create trouble for those who do provide a theology…a lamp. The upright and righteousness man is part and parcel of the lamp.

Proverbs 6:23 Commandment lamp…. Law Light.. The Law is a lamp and a light…no longer just identified with the Holy Spirit, but in its essence gives forth the Law of the Lord … and as Psalm 32 says…. A commandment. The essence of the light is the Law of the Lord and it points to the Gospel, Jesus Christ. The law explains the gospel and drives men to it, hence it is called Life.

Isaiah 62:1 The Prophet realizes things are difficult in his day to be a godly man. God’s people are full of tares. But for Zion’ sake he will not hold his peace… so a remnant can be raised up… He did not give up. He will not rest, until the Jerusalem from above (God’s people worldwide) is raised up brightly, and salvation burns… God will not rest until the light is throughout the whole earth, and it is through us he will do it… Even out of season we preach… and persevere for a new remnant that will rise in the earth.

Lamps are set in order and that sequential order is mapped out in Revelation.

The mystery isn’t just secret…but a wealth and depth of understanding. Not mystic… but unfathomable to man who can not grasp or understand it on its own. The church is a wealth, a depth of knowledge. The world cannot destroy the Church which will grow despite what the world may say or do. Satan must undermine us, come into the church and enthrone himself and pervert the wellspring of our understanding, doctrines and ethic…this downward spiral begins by removing the Law of the Lord. The Law is offensive…. stirs enmity in the heart.

No magic… but great depth. How does the church reproduce when under persecution? How does she grow in understanding and doctrine...transforming nations and destroying the gates of hell?

Once the picture is matured, God takes away the picture…No more lambs… Resurrected now, the position of the High Priest was dissolved. Same true with these pictures… As the temple grew throughout the whole earth God put away the temple.

Romans 7: 4 - 25 will be referenced during our lesson on the Grace of God's Law.

The sermon, entitle "Of Enmity, the Prophets and the Church: God's Care for us unto Eternity, will focus on Romans 8: 1-11 and will reference, among other Scriptures, Acts 24.

Jacques Ellul was a teacher and professor prior to WWII, put out of his position in Vichy France because of his outspoken resistance to the compromises of French officials to the Nazis. He went on to become a famous French Resistance Fighter against the Nazi. During that time, he studied Nazi propaganda seeking to discover their tactics and methods used to eviscerate the heart of men and women. 20 years later he would write a book called “Propaganda” in which he demonstrated almost 30 years of increased expertise in the subject we call propaganda. Propaganda has nothing to do with telling big stories to persuade people, but rather, he taught there are two kinds of propaganda which work hand in glove with each other.

One type is Agitation Propaganda…which has its sole purpose to cause resentment and social unrest. It gives many people “purpose” in life to simply “resent” society. There is another kind of propaganda which is Integration Propaganda, which acclimates the heart to accepting new trends, new movements and new ideas without resistance. Jacques Ellul warned these two arms of modern propaganda are, in his opinion, the two greatest dangers to society’s peace and well being.

They are also Satanic… and are being played out in the streets of America.

Every man and woman are born fallen, and according to the Book of Romans exhibits a knowledge of the One True God whom the heart detests. The heart of man, in its fallen estate without the new birth, is born with enmity (hatred) toward the One True God. Romans 1 and 2 tells us the fallen man knows the judgment of man to come and is guilty of violating God’s holy laws. Thirdly, fallen man tells us the Law of God is written on every fallen man and woman’s heart (Romans 2.) The Prophets, as a movement, shook the world according to many modern historians (even secular historians admit it).

The singular characteristic of the Prophetic voice was that as Paul describes it in Romans 7- “Sin taking occasion by the commandment worked in me all manner of lust.” The word for Occasion in the Greek is Aphorme. It means, sin through enmity, takes the commandment as a base of operations to attack the commandment in our hearts. The Prophets did not merely preach. They struck the very core of fallen men inside and outside the church. They struck at the deepest resentments toward God found in all of us. Whenever God’s Will shows up, your enmity and mine will find a reason to malign it, avoid it, substitute something else for it, replace it, misread it, accuse it and excuse itself… UNLESS God’s Grace combats and overcomes that enmity.

The Prophets and the Apostles were made a spectacle- struck down- because they preached a gospel that struck at enmity “God Hatred.” According to both the Prophets and the Apostle Paul (Romans 7) one of the unique functions of the Law of God is to strike at the enmity in men and women. It is a struggle to the death. If sin prevails, the Church becomes apostate. If Grace prevails, judgment prevails and righteousness flourishes.

According to Ephesians 2, the Prophets and Apostles were the foundation of something much greater built upon them, unto which they ministered, the Church of Jesus Christ. She may not look powerful. She doesn’t have command of tanks, missiles and guns. Her weaponry is far more powerful. Her sword strikes at the heart of enmity and as such, the Church assumes the mantle of the Prophetic Voice in the world.

Sermons grounded in The Word of God and The Grace of God's Law. Dr Wayne C Sedlak has 45 years of Pastoral Ministry in the United States and Africa, including as University Professor and Educator.

Scripture Texts: Luke 11:16 - 42; and I Corinthians 14; Ephesians 4:1-19; and II Chronicles 7: 14

The Sermon by Dr. Wayne Sedlak is entitled Prayer, Prophets, and "the People"

This is no ordinary series on prayer. What does God require of prayer?

“Problem-Searching…Vexed and Confused”

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. (II Chronicles 7:14)

“Problem Searching” is a phrase I’ve used to describe how each of us is responsible to raise questions concerning Scripture texts to find what God intends for us to learn in His Word… Not simply what WE desire to find, or already know. In the passage, God raises a problem many simply do not discern. And what is that “problem”?

When the people of Nineveh were called by the prophet Jonah, we are told in chapter 3 verse 5 “So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.”

This was not the repentance of a few people “plucked from the fires.” “My People” calls for a unity among God’s people that appears to be impossible. In other words, 2nd Chronicles 7:14 begs the situation in which the Church is far more united than anything we have experienced in America in the last 150 years.

The Church is in disarray, vexed and confused, as Deuteronomy 28 tells us. When “my people” are disobedient throughout the culture. When Daniel- a man blessed by God extraordinarily- cried unto the Lord (in chapter 9) he did not exclude himself when he said “we have been disobedient.” “We are vexed and confused unto this day.” So though individually blessed by God, he nonetheless recognized the Body of God’s people were vexed and confused and that he was part of that body.

How then does God’s Word instruct us so that “my people” will stand I agreement with God to heal our land?

If you missed last week's message and would like to be encouraged to listen to the previous sermon for insights to this sermon.

We’re in another era, so often described in Scripture where turbulence and discord seem to have gripped society in general and the church in particular.

Many of today’s pastors are NOT equipped to handle this era. Christians throughout the churches- judging by their comments across a wide range of Internet opinions- show what Deuteronomy speaks of to a troubled, vexed and rebuked society. We are seeing it played out in front of us all throughout the country.

The default response of the average Christian and his/her pastor is “we’ll pray about it.” Obviously, prayer is vital in the walk of the Christian, but it is not a mere default position. And it is certainly tempting, by the lack of any further insights or responses, to judge “we’ll pray about it” as a helpless "that’s all I know what to do" (or discern.)

So what does God require of prayer? In Genesis 32 we see Jacob wresting with the Lord before he received a blessing. Why the wrestling?

In Matthew 15 we see the Canaanite woman in desperation crying unto Christ for help in saving her daughter. Yet the Lord turns His back. He does not answer her. Why this apparent shunning of the women in distress by Christ our Lord?

Hannah cried unto the Lord. For years! There is no sin recorded of her and yet the Lord was silent to her request. She too had to “wrestle” with the Lord and despite years of a broken heart, a desperation expressed in tears and an adversary that provoked… God still did not answer her. Again, the question. Why did the Lord ignore her?

The apostle Paul cried unto God repeatedly and the only response by the Lord was to tell him he would continue to bear his thorn in the flesh. It would not be removed. Why again did the Lord appear unmoved by the prayers, tears and exasperation of his servant?

The Psalmist experienced exactly the same thing as recorded in Psalm 18. The preface to the Psalm (which is also inspired) shows us the Psalmist had years of dealing with the enemies of righteousness and with his enemy Saul.

Why again does the man of God suffer seemingly desperate circumstances without an answer to prayer?

There is a singular thread running through all of this. One which today’s churches must learn… and that in the face of ensnarement’s of evil.

You’ll be surprised at the single thread – the single theme- the SINGLE LESSON our Lord applies to all of these circumstances.

(Warning …if you think that you understand the answer to these questions by some version of the following)

God’s testing me

God wants to teach me humiliation

He is teaching me patience

STOP!!! If those are your answers, as true as they may be, they are not the answer to the above.

The answer to the above is the answer the church in America needs today.

Sermon by Dr.Wayne Sedlak is entitled: Bearing Fruit...Bringing Forth More Fruit, Based on John 15:1-27

Grace of God's Holy Law: Zechariah 4:1-14; Hebrews 11:1-10. Refresh your understanding of Acts 23 as it will be referenced.

Zechariah is awakened from his sleep and is confronted with images of a candlestick and olive branches. As he stares on at the images and does not know what they mean. Similarly, the Church being asleep is being awakened and is confronted with the reality that is in front of her. And she does not understand.

In this sermon Dr. Reverend Sedlak instructs us on what Zerubbabel was confronted with, which was hatred and division, to what we are confronted with and how the Lord commanded Zerubbabel to "Not despise the day of small things."

In the midst of all the confusion, the Church is commanded to bring the Altar forward, as worship of the Lord is paramount, and the principal founding element of the Christian life; as testified by Abraham in his quest through the land of Canaan.

The Culture War is about the hearts of a people. The Psalmist points out in Psalm 60, that when your heart is right that God raises up a protection, as the Psalmist says "Now I know the Lord saves His anointed."

In contrast sinful hearts have an agenda: control someones resources to their benefit.

God sends us into the world so that they may see the goodness of Jesus in all aspects of life.

God gave His Son a people, the Church that is called to deal with the Culture War: with your heart.

Grace of Gods Law Reading: II Chronicles 34; I Peter 4: 11-19 (Reference Acts 23)

Sermon Scripture Text: II Chronicles 6: 40 - 7: 1 - 22: Solomon and The Dedication of the Temple. Of Note: The Fire from Heaven to Consume the Sacrifice....

Our Law portion will consist of Joshua 11: 1- 9; II Chronicles 1: 8 - 17. The sermon, entitled, "Memorial Day: Unique among the Nations of the earth" will focus primarily on Acts 23: 11- 35

The History of the Great Commission shows that the greatest advances in the history of the Church take place when the Church understands its “toolbox” – the Law of the Lord. God made it clear to Israel repeatedly that to impugn or ignore His Law, was to walk away from Him. So is it written in Judges 3, where Israel is revealed as being “tested” by the Lord by the lifestyle, customs, beliefs and behavior of the nations God left in Palestine when Israel conquered the land.

Christ’s admonition in Matthew 5 calls us to be a light to the world. Immediately after that verse 16, Christ, instead of developing the theme of being a light, warns us strictly NOT to believe He came to destroy the Law and the prophets (vs. 17). He came to “fulfill” them. The term Christ uses is πληρόω, “play-ro'-o” in the Greek. Its proper use means “mature.” And Christ teaches us that such maturity begets supernatural impact and awe-inspiring change when the Church teaches and preaches it and the people live it!

The tragedy of our impotence in the Church for so long lies in the way our teachers and pastors have been teaching us that “fulfill” means “when Christ arrived, the Law came to an end.” Thus, in essence, the Law becomes, at best, a museum piece …. or …. a mere quote book. It gets marginalized by the pulpits until its precepts are simply not known to most in the pews.

That is the tragedy.

The Law of the Lord (Pentateuch) is foundational to the rest of the Bible. Without it, the Great Commission is damaged and the Church wanders from her moorings. Satan knows that and seeks to blind us concerning the Law, keeping the Church from the understanding of its miraculous and pregnant content (Psalm 119: 18 ff.)

God is judging the world. But Peter tells us that when He does so, He first goes to the Church in judgment: “For judgment begins in the house of God…”

We desperately need to understand this truth, for the Lord will NOT lift His wrath and judgment UNTIL we repent and adopt the Law of the Lord… and move forward to mature it.

All throughout history, government has been one of the least examined issues by the Church of Christ. It is simply presumed that because God is sovereign over “governments” (cf. Romans 13:1), He has taken that issue on Himself and left us to merely “obey” government edicts as if “from God.”

However, governments throughout the history of the world have been dominantly “pagan” and have consistently been responsible for untold suffering. To make matters worse, such suffering has been the direct result of disobedience to God’s “Civil Laws.”

God tells us there is a Fellowship with rulers of all the earth with which he is concerned. Repeatedly, they violate that Fellowship.

“Shall the Throne of iniquity have fellowship with Thee, those that frame perversity with a law?” - Psalm 94:20

Both Psalms and Hosea 8 challenge the pulpits of today by declaring that God did not choose wicked rulers in the sense of any call to obedience to them. Yes, God is Sovereign over the nations just as He is Sovereign over wicked men. But that does not mean in either case “Sovereign” call to honor and obedience of same. Impenitent evil is never justified and got abhors the wicked (cf. Psalm 11).

The law the Lord is divided into three branches:

1) The Moral law of the Lord guides us in our walk, both personally and as societies.

2) The Ceremonial law of Israel thereby instructed us in the major Doctrines of our faith, including such doctrines as Atonement, Sin, Redemption, Justification, The high priesthood of Jesus Christ, the Fall of man, etc.

3) Civil Laws of the Lord teach governments principles guiding their framework, rules of evidence, and application of “just” principles of jurisprudence and law..

Many of those Civil Laws of the Lord provided the explicit framing for a constitutional history, a fact little-known to theologians lawyers and people in the pews. Principles include three branches of government – Executive, judicial, legislative (cf. Isaiah 33:22), formation of national and tribal legislative assemblies (bicameral structure), appellate jurisdiction, constitutional (derived) authority, local government, qualifications of rulers and judges, to name a few.

1 Samuel 8 provides us with the failure of idolatrous Israel, a failure reflected in an inability to mature the principles of constitutional government. As the prophets repeatedly charge Israel with idolatry, so Israel repeatedly demonstrated an incapacity to rule itself in a godly, upright and safe manner, with Jesus Christ as the King over all nations (cf. Psalm 2).

1 Samuel 8 explains the principles dominating the disobedience of all idolatrous nations. Such nations have invariably tended toward “conquest” and not peace and safety, much less any honor toward the Lord. Church of Christ needs to begin to teach God’s Civil Laws in-depth so that magistrates and people BOTH may understand HOW justice is to reign to the glory of God and the peace of society (cf. 1 Timothy 2:1 – 6). Until the Church learns a lesson taught us in the book of Acts in the person of the apostle Paul, governments will continue to march toward conquest, bloodshed, wars, famine, and evil under Satan’s authority (cf. Ephesians 6). That lesson? The Church needs to take the principles of the Civil Laws of God and “institutionalize” the principles of justice as in part once understood in early America, England, Scotland and other historical episodes (though none matured consistently).

It is foretold of the ministers of Jesus Christ throughout Scripture, there will be a day in which such ministers will teach the Civil Laws of the Lord worldwide. Until that day, God will continue to “break” fellowship with governments of the earth, and judge them until they repent or are uprooted (cf. Psalm 2; 149).

6000 years is simply too long a period of injustice. God is calling us, worldwide, to repent of our presumptuousness concerning the gift of government… abused.