Rev. David Holwick V After Acts: Early Church series #4
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
June 20, 2004
2 Corinthians 6:14-17
|
I. Why Tertullian?
A. He is one of the earliest defenders of the Christian faith.
1) Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus was born about
A.D. 150 in Carthage, North Africa.
a) Carthage was second only to Rome in power and prestige.
b) It became a significant center for the early church.
2) He was a convinced Christian.
3) He used his education to challenge pagan society for
Christ.
B. He advocated high morals, though he could be rigid about it.
1) The church struggles with the same issue today.
C. He was dissatisfied with the status quo.
1) To Tertullian, Christians should be different.
2) There is nothing generic about really knowing God.
II. His conversion.
A. Roman upbringing.
1) His father was a captain in the Roman army.
2) Tertullian had a good mind and was given an outstanding
education.
3) His father wanted him to be a lawyer, and he became
one of the most qualified in Rome.
B. Tertullian's search for truth.
As a young man, Tertullian loved to ask questions.
He tried to find the meaning of life in many different
philosophies.
With each new philosopher he pestered with questions.
Eventually the answers gave out, and he wandered on, a
disappointed man.
And then one day, when Tertullian was in his early 40's, he
met a man whose answers made sense.
This man didn't pretend to know everything.
But he did know God.
It is said that Tertullian became a Christian that day.
#2441
1) The lesson stayed with him.
In his Apology, Tertullian alludes to the story of Croesus.
Croesus was the richest man in the world, and he asked the
wisest man in the world, Thallus, "What is God?"
The philosopher asked for a day to think about it, and then
for another, and then for another, and another, and
another.
Finally the philosopher had to confess that he was not able
to answer the question.
Tertullian eagerly seized upon this incident and said it
was an example of the world's ignorance of God.
He concluded, "There is the wisest man in the world, and
he cannot tell you who God is.
But the most ignorant mechanic among the Christians knows
God, and is able to make him known to others."
#12613
2) Tertullian applied the skills of his pagan profession to
his new-found faith, and left the legal field for good.
III. His convictions.
A. Tertullian helped to define orthodox faith.
1) He coined the phrase "the Trinity" to describe God.
a) (It does not occur in the Bible, though the concept is
certainly taught there.)
2) He upheld the integrity and authority of the Bible.
a) Others used pagan philosophers to defend the faith.
b) Tertullian - "What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?"
1> We don't need pagan wisdom, just God's wisdom from
the Bible.
3) He disliked infant baptism.
4) He believed the Holy Spirit was essential for a victorious
Christian life.
5) He anticipated the Second Coming of Jesus and thought it
was imminent.
B. Best remembered for his uncompromising morals.
1) Death over compromise.
In the early centuries of the Church, a Christian man who
faced terrible pressure to compromise with his business
came to Tertullian.
He explained his situation, then said, "Whatever shall I
do? - I must live."
Tertullian simply replied, "Must you?"
#23247
2) Tertullian, like many others in the early church, allowed
only one major sin after baptism.
a) The single allowed repentance was harsh - they had to
wear sackcloth to church and might be told to leave
before the sermon, or before communion.
b) They would have to repent like this for up to ten years.
IV. We must stand against the world.
A. Different Christian attitudes about relating to the world.
1) Some see no tension between culture and the church.
a) Often have a low view of conversion.
b) Jesus is my buddy, period.
c) Uncritical view of society taken.
2) Some say we can accept the best in culture and wed it to
the church.
a) The Medieval ideal.
1> The Popes sponsored the Sistine Chapel, but they
also had armies and territories.
b) Also Evangelist Billy Sunday.
1> His altar calls summoned people to be good,
red-blooded Americans.
2> Is being a good citizen and a good Christian the
same thing?
3> Are "nice people" safe in God's eyes?
c) Once again, culture and church can become
indistinguishable.
3) Tertullian saw culture as an enemy.
a) Bible: "Friend of world, enemy of God." James 4:4
1> "Come out from them and be separate." 2 Cor 6:14-17
2> Tertullian took these verses to heart.
b) The goal of the church is to create a new society, not
reform the old one.
1> Mennonites and others agree with Tertullian.
2> Strong thread among Baptists too.
c) Strict interpretation of Sermon on the Mount.
B. Fundamentalism as separation.
1) Tertullian was a Fundamentalist in that he advocated a
separation from the corrupting world.
2) We must avoid moral and doctrinal corruption from pagans.
a) Avoid the theater, pagan banquets, public assemblies,
guilds, and above all, the gladiatorial contests.
b) These places were riddled with idolatry.
c) It wasn't just idolatry - gladiator games and sporting
events only excite the wild and furious passions of
anger and lust.
#26729
3) Pacifism and limits on professions.
a) Tertullian wrote:
"The divine banner and the human banner (those used in
battle) do not go together, nor the standard of
Christ and the standard of the devil.
Only without the sword can the Christian wage war:
for the Lord has abolished the sword."
#19507
b) He believed Christians should not be soldiers or police
or government officials.
1> (Not everyone agreed with him - the Roman army was
loaded with believers.)
V. Assessing Tertullian.
A. There is some value in his harsh approach.
1) Takes sin seriously and doesn't compromise with the world.
a) Modern Christians often treat their faith as a hobby,
or a slight preference.
b) Tertullian knew Christians must be different.
1> Holiness was important to him, and it is important
to God.
2) But Tertullian goes overboard.
a) His strict morality looses sight of God's grace.
1> He is stricter than Jesus, who taught the
forgiveness of sins "70 times 7."
b) Purity becomes a human contest which we can never win.
B. The world is an enemy, but enemies can be converted.
1) Christians can improve our world.
a) It has long been an American ideal.
When the Massachusetts Bay colonists sailed for America
in 1630, John Winthrop and his fellow Puritans left
behind their aristocratic homes and financial
security for an unknown American wilderness.
In a sermon Winthrop preached during the voyage to
America, the governor emphasized that the purpose of
their going to America was to increase the body
of Christ.
It was also to preserve themselves and their children
from the corruption of this evil world.
The colonists had made a covenant together to obey the
commandments of God in their enterprise, and the
Lord would surely bless them in their new land if
they continued to follow Him.
If they maintained Christian unity, Winthrop was
certain "the Lord will be our God and delight to
dwell among us as his own people...
When he shall make us a praise and a glory, that men
shall say of succeeding plantations: the Lord make it
like that of New England:
For we must Consider that we shall be as a City upon a
Hill, the eyes of all people are upon us."
Winthrop's imagery of the model Christian society as a
city on a hill, taken from Matthew 5:14, has become
a motif that has inspired American political
thought into the twentieth century.
It was quoted by Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day
O'Connor at Ronald Reagan's funeral last week.
We can produce a society that can be an example to
others.
It may never be perfect, but it can be better than what
exists now.
#26730
b) Can we really make a difference?
1> Christians have made a difference in America.
A> We are certainly not totally Christian, and many
of the Founding Fathers were not believers.
B> However, our society reflects many Christian
principles just justice and compassion.
2> Our upcoming Haiti mission trip - at least it makes
a difference to the families who get new houses.
3> Genuine change in society requires the conversion of
individual citizens, but even non-believers can
benefit from our "light."
2) Does it matter in the end?
a) Christians often focus on Second Coming and ignore
social concerns.
b) Both are important.
c) We are not "of the world," but we are definitely
"in it."
1> We have no choice but to be a light.
=========================================================================
SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
# 2441 "Tertullian Sought Answers," by Rev. Wayne Brouwer, Dynamic
Preaching (www.sermons.com), August 1992.
#12613 "An Ignorant Mechanic Can Know God," Fredericksburg Church of
Christ Illustration Collection, November 1998.
#19507 "Can a Christian Be a Pacifist?" by Don Murphy,
http://www.spiritualitytoday.org/spir2day/863821murphy.html,
Spirituality Today, Spring 1986.
#23247 "Death Before Compromise," http://www.ebcg.ch/sermons/030907.htm.
#26729 "Quintus Florens Tertullian - Defender Of The Faith,"
http://www.higherpraise.org/preachers/tertullian.htm
#26730 "City On A Hill," Christian History Institute "Glimpses";
http://www.gospelcom.net/chi/glimpsef/glimpses/glmps022.shtml;
adapted by Rev. David Holwick
These and 25,000 others are part of a database that can be downloaded,
absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
=========================================================================
Copyright © 2026 by Rev. David Holwick
Created with the Freeware Edition of HelpNDoc: Free Web Help generator