Oculi - Third Sunday in Lent

  

The Hymn #175      When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16

 Introit

Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord: 

for He shall pluck my feet out of the net.

Turn Thee unto me and have mercy upon me: 

for I am desolate and afflicted.

Psalm. Unto Thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul: 

O my God, I trust in Thee; let me not be ashamed.

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

Collect

We beseech Thee, Almighty God, look upon the hearty desires 

of Thy humble servants and stretch forth the right hand of Thy majesty 

to be our defense against all our enemies; through Jesus Christ, 

Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth, etc.

The Epistle and Gradual             Ephesians 5:1-9
The Gospel                                 Luke 11:14-28
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #376                         Rock of Ages

                      The End Game

The Hymn #315:1-5          I Come O Savior To Thy Table

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 #568                  We Praise Thee O God        

    

Prayers and Announcements

• Treatment and recovery - Randy Anderson - hospital, Pastor Jim Shrader, Lori Howell, Sarah Buck, Kermit Way.
• If Zoom "recording" still does not work, another expert will be brought in.
• Wednesday - Vespers at 7 PM.  

Norma A. Boeckler

KJV Ephesians 5:1 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; 2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour. 3 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; 4 Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. 5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. 7 Be not ye therefore partakers with them. 8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: 9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)

KJV Luke 11:14 And he was casting out a devil, and it was dumb. And it came to pass, when the devil was gone out, the dumb spake; and the people wondered. 15 But some of them said, He casteth out devils through Beelzebub the chief of the devils. 16 And others, tempting him, sought of him a sign from heaven. 17 But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house against a house falleth. 18 If Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? because ye say that I cast out devils through Beelzebub. 19 And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out? therefore shall they be your judges. 20 But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you.

21 When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace: 22 But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils.

23 He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth. 24 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out. 25 And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. 26 Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.

27 And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked. 28 But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.

Third Sunday in Lent

Lord God, heavenly Father, who hast sent Thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to take upon Himself our flesh, that He might overcome the devil, and defend us poor sinners against the adversary: We give thanks unto Thee for Thy merciful help, and we beseech Thee to attend us with Thy grace in all temptations, to preserve us from carnal security, and by Thy Holy Spirit to keep us in Thy word and Thy fear, that unto the end we may be delivered from the enemy, and obtain eternal salvation, through the same, Thy beloved Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.

The End Game

KJV Luke 11:14 And he was casting out a devil, and it was dumb. And it came to pass, when the devil was gone out, the dumb spake; and the people wondered. 15 But some of them said, He casteth out devils through Beelzebub the chief of the devils.

KJV Matthew 12:22 Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw.

Being unable to speak is not rare. Medicine can cause a stroke; our area has a regional center for strokes. He had multiple problems, and Jesus, the Great Physician, healed this man. The crowd was filled with wonder. Wherever there is faith in the Savior, there is also opposition. Some in the crowd said, Satan's power is behind this healing!

16 And others, tempting him, sought of him a sign from heaven. 17 But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house against a house falleth.

This is like the miraculous feeding of the multitude, where one great miracle of feeding led people to demand another miracle from heaven, as if their own feeding in the desert was not the great wonder they experienced for themselves. "A sign" is not meant to be a hint or a nudge, but we have watered down that phrase "a sign" to make it almost meaningless. Example - "A postcard came - it was a sign from heaven, I'm sure." Jesus knew the thoughts of people, as He does today, and that led to His warning - A kingdom divided is ruined, and a house divided falls.

Luther wrote:

By this act Christ draws us to himself, leads us to look to him for every blessing, and to go to him in every time of need. He does this that we also, according to the nature of love, should do unto others as he does unto us.

18 If Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? because ye say that I cast out devils through Beelzebub.

If someone wants to observe Satanic hatred, only a nudge toward the Scriptures or basic Christian doctrine is needed. The extreme liberal ELCA pastors and bishops found that out when an even more extreme group united against them to take away the clout of the not-extreme-enough radicals. But there must be a far more extreme faction, because the demands continue. It is no good to mark off a stopping point, because that has been done many times already.

The beauty of the King James Version is its steadfast language. A few words are ancient but easily looked up - leasing means "lying, false witness, deceit, hypocrisy, artifice, empty talk, frivolity, laxity.” What we really know comes from the context of the language, so the mischief-makers are always changing the meaning. Even worse, they challenge any traditional meaning of those words, which hearken back to their original use. Some of us began in a Biblical age, when the US Constitution reflected the divine origins and the meaning of law. The 10 Commandments could be framed on the teacher's wall, and Christmas carols were sung to a packed audience of teachers and parents.

So Jesus challenged the critics to make sense out of their claims. If He was possessed by Satan, how could He as Satan cast out Satan? 

19 And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out? therefore shall they be your judges. 20 But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you.

Rabbis were known to be healers, so Jesus challenged them about whether their sons would be Satanic. Jesus was addressing whether the next generation would be godly or divided. Jesus' claim is very clear - and often ridiculed - The Kingdom of God has come upon you, because I cast out demons through the power of God. Verse 20 is saying - You are all going to be part of the revealed Kingdom of God, whether you believe it or not.

Luther:

What then were these blasphemers able to say to such clear arguments? They were put to silence, but their hearts were hardened, so that they did not heed his words. A hardened heart will not be instructed, no matter how plainly and clearly the truth is presented; but the faith of the righteous is strengthened when they see that the ground of their faith is right and good. And for the sake of such we must answer those whose hearts are hardened, and put them to silence.

21 When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace: 22 But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils.

At first this little parable seems to be confusing, but that is the point. Jesus did not teach for every single one, but for the believers. The strong man is Satan. His power and authority continued until the public ministry of Jesus began. The Son of God was stronger and overcame Satan by the cross and resurrection. The tiny band of apostles became the earthly ambassadors of the Gospel and continued in the miracle working of Jesus and His Gospel.

23 He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth.

There is no middle ground. Many ministers find an easy way to live and by being so accommodating to fashion or movements, they end up being against Christ. Neutrality is not possible - a person is on one side or the other, Satan or the Messiah.

24 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out. 25 And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. 26 Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.

I have seen this take place, more than once. Someone gets away from the grip of gambling, or drugs, or alcohol abuse, and more. He is happy and goes back to work. This parable gives the perspective of the unclean spirit, so it is puzzling at first, but with renewed study, it is ironic that the unclean spirit goes back home to haunt someone's life. The unclean spirit finds the repentant tidied up and in good shape again.

And this applies to whole world. As Luther says, the unclean spirits latched onto the Vatican and its fake, unhealthy dogma -

Luther:

When Christ had become known in the world and the devil’s former kingdom with its idol worship had been destroyed, he adopted another plan and attacked us with heresy and introduced and established the papacy, in which Christ was entirely forgotten, and men became worse heathen under the name of Christ than before he was preached, as we can see now with our own eyes.

27 And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked. 28 But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.

The Word of Jesus, spoken about His mother, shows the highest respect, but He did not promote the elevation of Mary into a divine. I found two things in working through these issues at a Vatican owned library, near our parsonage in Columbus. One was the beautifully written passages about Roman Catholic doctrine, page after page - nothing wrong at all. But two - there were inevitable landmines planted here and there, so the Gospel was destroyed entirely. I find dreamy ex-Lutheran pastors trying to feast on what is generously offered by Rome, for good reasons. When Lutherans began to be ashamed of Reformation doctrine, they found themselves easy targets for propagandists.

When LCMS-AELC-LCA Pastor Richard Neuhaus had lunch with the Pope, he was a Roman Catholic priest. I captioned it "Neuhaus has lunch with the Antichrist." He found that amusing. When I talked to him at the Ad Fontes gathering, I mentioned to him that I heard his very conservative father preach on Easter Sunday in Canada. Ad Fontes was organized to gather Lutherans to Rome. I told him, "We are already Fontes (at the Font - the Gospel) and not on the way to your font."

There should be no confusion and no compromise. There is only one Truth, the revealed Truth of the apostolic Scriptures (KJV). Compromising is the easy way, but sticking to God's Truth is the eternal Way, Truth, and the Life.

The end