The Feast of Holy Trinity

 

Bethany Lutheran Church

Springdale, Arkansas

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

• The melody site is linked here.
• TLH Lyrics and artwork are here.

The Hymn # 476                              Ten Thousand Times Ten Thousand              

The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16

Introit

Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: 

of Him and through Him and to Him are all things.

Psalm. O Lord, our Lord: 

how excellent is Thy name in all the earth!

The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19

Collect

Almighty and everlasting God, who hast given unto us, Thy servants, grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity and in the power of the Divine Majesty to worship the Unity, we beseech Thee that Thou wouldst lump us steadfast in this faith and evermore defend us from all adversities; who liveth, etc.

The Epistle and Gradual   

Gradual

Blessed art Thou, O Lord, who beholdest the deep; 

and who dwellest between the cherubim.

V. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, in the firmament of heaven: 

and greatly to be praised forever. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

V. Blessed art Thou, O Lord God of our fathers: 

and greatly to be praised and glorified forever. Hallelujah!

   

The Gospel               

Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Athanasian Creed             p. 53
The Hymn # 246                              Holy, Holy, Holy       

How Excellent Is Thy Name

The Hymn #250                  Holy God We Praise Thy Name

The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn #657                                  Beautiful Savior            

Prayers and Announcements

• Diagnosis and treatment - Sarah Buck, Pastor Jim Shrader and Chris, Kermit Way; those with emotional and metabolic distress.
• More KJVs have been ordered for women's prison ministries, for a total of 30 copies. The supplier is providing some good discounts in addition to low costs. We now give them in tiny (children), normal (prison ministries), and Super Giant Print sizes (Silver Sneaker qualified).

     

KJV Romans 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! 34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? 35 Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? 36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

KJV John 3:1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. 3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? 5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. 8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. 9 Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? 10 Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? 11 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. 12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? 13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

Pentecost Monday Gospel:

KJV John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

How Excellent Is Thy Name

KJV John 3:1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.

This famous passage in John begins with a detail - Nicodemus came to Jesus by night. He was intrigued but also timid. As a leader among the Jews, he was risking his life and reputation. No decent person would go out at night, with only the stars and perhaps the moon to guide him. Simply being out at night made him an object of suspicious. So Nicodemus had enough faith to risk everything. 

Nicodemus began with the obvious - Jesus was a miracle-worker, with the power of God. Strangely, today's clergy and the scholars want to eliminate the miracles of Jesus, but they want miracles for themselves. These charlatans turn the Scriptures inside out and declare, "Now you can understand what the Bible is all about." Paul Tillich, who was on the cover of Time magazine for The Courage To Be, was afraid to die - a great irony given the title of his opaque best-seller. 

Nicodemus knew enough to acknowledge Jesus had special power, but he did not go beyond the realm of flattery. All this is significant because Nicodemus risked his life when Jesus was crucified. He is described twice more in John's Gospel.

KJV John 7:50 Nicodemus saith unto them, (he that came to Jesus by night, being one of them,) 51 Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth? 52 They answered and said unto him, Art thou also of Galilee? Search, and look: for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet. 53 And every man went unto his own house.

KJV John 19:39 And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. 40 Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury. 41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid. 42 There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews' preparation day; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand. 

3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

The primary meaning of born again is born from above in Common Greek, but many have translated it as "making a decision for Christ." It is important to recognize that this great scholar have lived his entire life with the Old Testament and commentaries but did not understand this.

This Sunday and this season emphasize the Holy Trinity - the Spirit taking from the Father and the Son and teaching us through the Scriptures. The Trinity is revealed in Genesis 1 and explained in John 1, so we have a clear understanding through faith in the Word of God.

Being born from above means - Through the Word, God initiates the relationship between God and the individual. Nicodemus knows a lot but he cannot see Jesus yet and cannot comprehend the majesty of the Savior before him.

4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?

Nicodemus is the example of the great and wise, who do not grasp the truth and conjure up some fantasy or ridicule. That is why it is so important for individuals to humble themselves and receive what God teaches through the Scriptures. Nicodemus had two alternatives with Jesus' brief introduction and seized on the ridiculous alternative. This shows that he has nothing sensible at the moment, which is often the case when someone starts with the Scriptures and discovers a problem. The so-called Hard Sayings of Jesus are only difficult when faith is lacking or the individual has not sought the Scriptures explaining the matter. 

5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. 8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

This literally means "water-Spirit born," that is - someone must be baptized, receiving the Holy Spirit, in order to enter the Kingdom of God.

Pentecostals have separated the two, saying, "I was baptized in the church but I never received the Spirit until I was baptized by the Spirit." That second baptism used to be confirmed, so they thought, by speaking in tongues, but that is fading away among Pentecostals. 

Baptists and similar groups emphasize having faith before they are baptized, often a spoken confession of faith. 

The real meaning of this passage is that the Holy Spirit, always at work in the Word, is like the wind (same word, Spirit and wind, in both Hebrew and Greek). I was at Lowe's and looked at a rather fragile shade contraption. I asked them, "How far will this fly if we get that windstorm today?" They said, "Pretty far" and laughed. "So they should not tie the dog to one of the legs?" We had a big rain and windstorm a few hours later.

Wind and Spirit are equally powerful and invisible. We can hear the wind howling and making a ruckus but we cannot see it. We can see it powering generators and ships and no one knows where it comes from and where it is going.

A believer is someone born of the Spirit/Word. That power can never be defined by man, limited or manufactured.

9 Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? 10 Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? 11 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. 12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?

Nicodemus came to Jesus as a great scholar, a person respected by everyone, the source of wisdom and knowledge, but Jesus said, "If you cannot grasp this little lesson, how can you teach Israel?" 

Here is the great puzzle - God has given us everything in the Scriptures and kept it concise and easy to understand - if we trust in the Word and abide in what is taught. Everyone wants to trademark their version when they do not even know the content of the Bible. The Gospel of John is so clear and basic that anyone can learn a new language simply by reading and comparing the Fourth Gospel in that language. I studied The Little Prince and the Gospel of John in French to take the French language test at Notre Dame. I passed.

13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

The ending of this selection is especially strange, unless we  look at the context and study more. Here is a reference to the Torah which leader of the Pharisees would know. It may sail right by us, but not if we look up the original verses.

KJV Numbers 21:6 And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. 7 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee; pray unto the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. 8 And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. 9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

Jesus predicted His crucifixion for Nicodemus, based upon a passage from the time of Moses. The foreshadowing of the Messiah's death was parallel to many other references to the Son of God during the Exodus. How could that be known so early?

As the children explain to me when I ask, "Jesus is God. He can do anything."

So the Little Gospel, John 3:16, completes the Nicodemus story in the Fourth Gospel, and explains why Nicodemus risked his life following Jesus. Nicodemus participated in the burial of Jesus at a time when death was hovering over all those who believed in Him.