Trinity 25 - 2023

 The Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Trinity, 2023

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

 

 

The Hymn #200   I Know That My Redeemer Lives

The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16

Introit

Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am in trouble: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies and from them that persecute me.

Let me not be ashamed, O Lord: 

for I have called upon Thee.

Psalm. In Thee, O Lord, do I put my trust: 

let me never be ashamed.

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

Collect

Almighty God, we beseech Thee, show Thy mercy unto Thy humble servants, that we who put no trust in our own merits may not be dealt with after the severity of Thy judgment, but according to Thy mercy; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth, etc.

The Epistle and Gradual  

Gradual

Thine enemies roar in the midst of Thy congregations: they set up their ensigns for signs.

V. Remember Thy congregation which Thou hast purchased of old: the rod of Thine inheritance, which Thou hast redeemed. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

V. There is a river the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God: 

God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved. Hallelujah!

    

The Gospel              

Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed             p. 22

The Sermon Hymn #611        The Day Is Surely Drawing Near

   

We Walk by Faith

The Communion Hymn #316                O Living Bread  Winkworth translation

The Preface p. 24
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 #649           Jesus Savior Pilot Me             

Prayers and Announcements

• Our Biblical doctrine series has a name - Reformation Seminary. Zoom has another step in W-9.
• In treatment - Kermit Way; Randy Anderson; ; Pastor Jim Shrader (surgery) and Chris; Sarah Buck; Lori Howell; Dr. Lito Cruz and his father. 
• Callie and her parents; little Aaron with the heart problem;
• Those suffering from emotional and metabolic stress.

 Norma A. Boeckler 

KJV 1 Thessalonians 4:13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent [precede] them which are asleep. 16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

 Norma A. Boeckler 

KJV Matthew 24:15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) 16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: 17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: 18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. 19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! 20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: 21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. 23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. 24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. 25 Behold, I have told you before. 26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. 27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 28 For wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together.

We Walk by Faith

KJV Matthew 24:15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) 16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: 17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: 18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.

These passages leave us with two parallel thoughts. One is that the end will come at any time, appointed only by God the Father. Jesus warned the disciples strictly, and this is recorded more than once. No one knows the time.

On the other hand, the warning is clearly stated so that no one takes for granted what will come, how quickly time will come to an end. So what did the early church fathers do? This is very important, because it became the core of institutional thinking. The answer teaches us all about the decline of the Christian Faith, even though the institution grew across the world. The era of the pope was already established by Augustine's time (the 400s). When there was a dispute about justification, Augustine wrote famously - "Rome has spoken - the case is closed." Gone was the meeting of Biblical teachers in keeping the truth of the Scriptures. Following the rigid structure of the failing Roman Empire, the Christian Church set up one supreme ruler, the Bishop of Rome, who called himself the First Among Equals, not just a bishop (shepherd) but superior to the rest.

Nothing teaches us in the Scriptures about holy people going out and living alone or in groups of believers far away from society. Nothing forbids marriage. In fact, the Scriptures show us that marriage and family are blessings from God, not burdens of sin. Nevertheless, already by Augustine's time, priests did not marry. Communes of women and men gathered to follow religious orders and to keep each other working to support themselves, sometimes by begging as well. 

This set up a toxin which remains to this day, not only the Antichrist sitting on his throne, but also people seeking holiness by craving a higher order of the Faith with robes, incense, special clothing, retreats away from society, and all kinds of drama in worship. Chemnitz said about the Roman Mass (Holy Communion) that the priest carried on so much that it was difficult to laugh or cry during the performance.

What do we have today? Supposed Lutheran pastors (Latin for shepherd) crave special, expensive clothing, clouds of incense, bowing, kneeling, long on requirements but short on Biblical knowledge, often opposed to the Gospel itself, especially Luther, Melanchthon, and Chemnitz.

As Luther wrote in this sermon, what is essential? Going out into the wilderness to form a secluded hideaway, free from sin? My relatives in Michigan were Millerites, named because they began by selling all their goods and going up on a mountain to wait for the End of the World - twice! They became the Seventh Day Adventists and set up all kinds of special rules. One Noel/Jackson family` decided to move from their Ohio farm to Iowa, where they began raising pigs (not allowed!) and became Evangelicals. 

One Adventist family in Midland, Michigan told us they could not use any animal products at all. They told us about many of their other rules as well. Their son could not dance but he showed us how to do the Moon Walk. I said, "I thought you were not allowed to dance." He said, "Of all the dances I am not allowed to do, that one is my favorite." I thought that summed up legalism quite well - ignoring the Gospel and making up rules for sanctification (holiness, perfection, purity).

In spite of the dire warnings from Jesus about the end of time, various Christian leaders have ordered and emphasized the opposite of what He taught and still teaches today. The answer is not to run into the wilderness to be away from society. This not only goes on today in the Church of Rome and Eastern Orthodoxy but also in various world religions, such as in India and the rest of Asia. The response of so many kinds of religions, expressions, and worship suggests there might be one answer, not 10,000 opinions.

Luther:

22. Now it is high time for him to run and flee, who is able to flee; let everything he has behind and depart; the sooner the better; not with his feet but with his heart, in such a way that he will be rid of the abomination and enter the kingdom of Christ through faith. 

False religions search for actions and works, but Luther wisely taught that the answer is faith - and the answer can only be faith in Jesus Christ, because all the actions are the work of man. The substance of the entire Bible is Jesus Christ the Savior, Who died on the cross for our sins and rose from the dead to show His victory over sin, death, and the devil. 

That is true from beginning to end. The more we see this, the greater the impact. When graduate students deal with Genesis, they have many ideas to follow from one book. One group wanted especially to emphasize Abraham believing and being counted righteous. I added this because I previously did not catch wording.

KJV Genesis 15

4 And, behold, the Word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. 5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. 6 And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

The Word of the Lord is the Son of God, so He is predicting to Abraham the Kingdom of Christ, not just an enormous family but millions of people who will believe in the Good Shepherd and follow Him.

KJV John 8

56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.

57 Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?

58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I AM. (See Exodus 3, the Burning Bush)

The present and future tenses are dazzling because the Son of God establishes Justification by Faith in Him in Genesis and then - in the Roman Empire - states that Abraham rejoiced to see Him, Who was - and is - God Himself.

These two passages teach us the unity and the harmony of the Scriptures, including Exodus 3 and many more examples, because the Bible is One Book of the Holy Spirit, not a combination of ancient sayings. That is what gives us peace and hope, knowing that the Scriptures exist to teach us and turn away from error.

19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! 20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: 21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

Faith in Jesus Christ means that God will take care of us, even in the great tribulation. All things are in God's hands. Those who glory in their shame will have a great awakening but it will not be a pleasant one. They draw people together as followers, as Luther wrote, because people like wolf-preachers. One of my funny moments was listening to the announcements at Willow Creek Community Church (no crosses, lest they offend). After the service was an expensive food court to sell food to those who came for the meaningless service. And like many other fake churches, it fell apart all at once, and the founder was expelled...for cause.

22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. 23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. 24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. 

Ordinary people are so easily overlooked when people are looking for excitement, for something new, for a "breakthrough unlike anything ever experienced before." Many overlook the Christ within their neighbor, even within their own families. The time is fleeting, so we should spend our time wisely, since that is the only commodity we have, each and every one of us.  

25 Behold, I have told you before. 26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. 27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 28 For wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together.

The Apostle Paul's letters to the Thessalonians were his earliest ones (so we think). 1 Thessalonians 4 is one of the two lessons today. 2 Thessalonians 2 is all about the Antichrist, which is clearer than ever. Neither one is being fulfilled at this moment, but they prophesies are clear. That should make us wary of being to bold in our predictions, hopes, and accomplishments.