#Apostle's Creed Part 1 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

andrewuttaro · 1 year

Text

The Trinity: a bridge

The first Sunday after Pentecost on the liturgical calendar is Trinity Sunday. After the end of the Easter season, standing at the beginning of the vast summer stretch of Ordinary time, this feast may seems irrelevant. Perhaps it feels as irrelevant as many theological debates us religious nuts allow ourselves to have in public places against better judgement. How practical can theologizing about the nature of God be?

The Trinity is the bridge between the practical and theological as I discovered.

Pentecost recalls the coming down of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles as fiery tongues. It is a typological callback to the Tower of Babel and the birthday of the Church. The doors then swing open and, as my own Parish’s Vicar preached, the Church goes public if you will. We may forget that the Holy Spirit is a person of the Trinity. It may be the person we think the least about, but it is indeed the person that moves every grace and motivates every prayer.

Pentecost is a practical solemnity, pointing us to a mission to evangelize the world, and Trinity Sunday might be considered the solemnity marking the divine reflection of that calling. The Holy Trinity, in its much theologized nature, is a meditation on what the calling is. God is, in his very being, a relationship of three persons.

Perhaps you can see it in my writing: I am treading lightly because on the theology side there are few topics more finely defined in what they are not: what we cannot say about them. Rightfully so, we are talking about God after all, but if you saw the image here below and turned and ran the other way you would be forgiven for thinking we’re descending into the irretrievably wonkish depths of theology.

Do not fear, we shall only wade into the shallows there. We’re building a bridge in this article. There are a dizzying amount of metaphors meant to explain the Trinity to some degree because it is inarguably a fundamental tenet of Christian faith. Missionaries ponder it. Ascetics devote themselves to it. Perhaps only the most contentious debates on Christology are as beguiling as the Trinity.

In religious studies Trinitarian belief is sometimes used to delineate if newer denominations have strayed from the most treasured beliefs of the faith explicit in the Nicene Creed. But the theologians, normally so precise in what they accept the homilists say about such nuanced matters, even they give us the most open ended proclamations most of us will ever hear from theologians:

If you think you understand the Trinity, the theologian tells the homilist, you don’t. Or, more sharply, if you think you understand the Trinity you must be misconceiving it.

Indeed the Trinity is a beautiful, unsolvable mystery for which faith is needed in. Even as I try to lay out the basics here now you would not be alone to see all these propositions as saying the same thing in different ways: how exhausting!

1. The Trinity is not belief in three Gods.

2. This one God exists in three persons.

3. The three persons are not different parts of God, but rather fully and equally God.

4. God is not one person with three roles.

5. None of this is a contradiction because of the distinction between a person and essence.

I will pass on trying to describe the distinction between persons and essence. I am not quite educated enough to be so concise. However I do want to draw your attention to the rare thing these truths about the Trinity force us to do. We must define negatives not positives in these assertions: theologians prefer quite the opposite. They like to give detailed descriptions, not these pondering contemplations. Perhaps we might even say the average human being prefers to describe things as what they are and not what they are not.

And that, right there, is precisely it. That is where this discussion gets so very practical. We now cross the apex of the bridge: mystery. God is a mystery. While simultaneously being love, order, and truth, God is a mystery. Indeed, despite sin, we too as beings made in God’s image are complicated, even mysterious… even mysterious to ourselves. Why did I do that? Why do I want this? The way we exist in ourselves and in relation to others: these are not narrowly definable things. We are mysteries that cannot ever be fully solved. We are mysteries that need not to be solved because the unknowing is part of the spiritual majesty of the thing. Spiritual beings exist in a state of relational mystery.

As Pope Francis himself repeats “Reality is more important that ideas” (Pope Francis, Evangeii Gaudium, para. 231).

To be clear, we believe God acts: God reaches out to us in numerous ways both via institution and personal intuition. But always the spiritual mystery of ourselves, God, and our relationship with him must exist in this realm of active unknowing: faith if you will. As the great Thomas Merton once wrote: No man is an island. We need one another. But we do not capture one another. As much as my wife may love the creepy Netflix original “You”, she would also readily admit that Joe Goldberg is not a model for anything healthy, particularly love. Love does not capture: it exists in a state of mystery.

I think we are uniquely disposed to contemplating this truth in our day and age. So many of my peers keep religion at arms-length not because of any hurt or the many hurts religion has inflicted on people: no many of us in this materialist age just don’t want to be fools. We don’t want to get it wrong and there seems to be a lot more space for wrong in believing in a divine being than correctness. Yet these same friends readily acknowledge an intangible, more spiritual reality we may call vibes.

For my parent’s generation this is the old Donatist paradox. In a Church with such widespread abuse how can one trust a priest and, by extension, participate in the Church. The heresy of Donatism dealt precisely with this question and was answered in that the Holy Spirit, God the advocate, works through unholy people because the holiness of the Church is in its sacred contents, not the ministers who govern it. In both my generation and my parent’s generation the deeper concern is relationship: a relationship untainted by foolishness on the one hand and ignorance of abuse on the other.

The Trinity is our answer on both accounts. God himself is relationship. In that reality we may find the peace of a faithful humility and a discipleship that holds the Church accountable. If we know God is a relationship, then what relationship of peoples is not redeemable, not a potential site of healing grace?

Toward the beginning of this article I mentioned my Parish Vicar’s homily on Pentecost. To come full circle on this I want to share what my Parish Pastor’s homily on Trinity Sunday had to say. My pastor started by saying a parishioner challenged him on his usage of “she” and other feminine pronouns in describing the Holy Spirit. This detractor told him to go to the Catechism for his definitions of God as if they were a disappointed instructor from his seminary. My Pastor responded by reading those Catechism paragraphs and directing us to the mystery of God therein.

In his first weekend homily of Pride Month, my pastor bravely pointed out the mystery of God’s triune nature as a point of humbly remembering we cannot capture God or one another. We cannot tell each other to simply acquiesce to our earnest theologizing or rigid plans for a life well lived. The unknowing is the grace… that and the fact that the unknowing is a relationship too. A healthy relationship can figure a thing out without demanding a severe program from the other beings within it. There is grace here in the Trinity: there is a bridge of faith that ultimately enriches us by patient love.

The Trinity is a grace: a mysterious relationship. The trinity is a divine relationship. God is a relationship! Then we ought to recall the humbling truth this imparts when all theologizing ends and all that remains is God and us in some imperfect state of unknowing: we are all together if we have faith. We are all together because even God himself is a relationship. So too must we be in relationship with every other person made in God’s image. Division, the scattering of peoples even for justified reasons, does not accomplish the divine justice the trinity may bring to our lives.

There is a deeper relationship to explore here. Hopefully I can help you discover it. My book, “How to catch feelings for Jesus”, is available online through Wipf & Stock, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and everywhere books are sold online. Stay tuned to this blog for more content from the author... me. And I also encourage talking to me about what I write whether in the comment section, through a private message, or if you see me in person. Some things, especially God, are better understood with the help of others.

3 notes · View notes

pastortomsteers · 16 days

Text

THE SIXTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

September 8, 2024

Pastor Tom Steers

Christ the Saviour Lutheran Church, Toronto

Divine Service Setting III (Pages 184 – 202)

Lutheran Service Book

OPENING HYMN: 656 “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”

By Martin Luther (1483-1546)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igH38WLuyC0

Confession and Absolution Page 184-185

Introit

Psalm 28:1-2, 6-7; antiphon: v. 8

8The Lord is the strength of his people; he is the saving refuge of his anointed. 1To you, O Lord, I call; my rock, be not deaf to me, lest, if you be silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit. 2 Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy, when I cry to you for help, when I lift up my hands toward your most holy sanctuary.

6 Blessed be the Lord! For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy. 7 The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son

and to the Holy Spirit;

as it was in the beginning,

is now, and will be forever. Amen.

8The Lord is the strength of his people; he is the saving refuge of his anointed.

The Kyrie (Lord Have Mercy)

Congregation:

Lord have mercy upon us.

Christ have mercy upon us.

Lord have mercy upon us.

The Salutation:

Pastor: The Lord be with you.

Congregation: And with thy spirit.

Our Collect Prayer:

O Lord, let your merciful ears be open to the prayers of Your humble servants and grant that what we ask may be in accord with your gracious will; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and he holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Our Bible Texts –

Frist Reading: Isaiah 35:4-7a

Psalm 146 (antiphon v.2)

Epistle Reading: James 2:1-10, 14-18

Gospel Reading: Mark 7:24-37

THE APOSTLES’ CREED Page 192

HYMN OF THE DAY: 846 “Your Hand, O Lord, in Days of Old”

THE SERMON --

Brothers and sisters, peace, grace and mercy be with you from God our Father, and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

It doesn’t take long in any given day to see the suffering and brokenness of this world.

It may take only a few minutes watching morning television, or glancing at the headlines online.

We see these things around and outside us.

And they’re real.

But when we take another look, and in the mirror, for an honest review of our own hearts, we find the problem is deeper, because it’s within us, as well.

Jesus tells us this in the verses immediately before our Gospel reading today in Mark Chapter 7.

He said, “Out of the heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery.”

We’re often shocked or angered at what we see in the world.

But the reality is we’re part of it, part of the problem, and the problem is sin.

The question then, is what do we do?

Where do we go for healing, to be made right and reconciled with our all-powerful God who will decide our fate for eternity?

Are we responsible for this fix?

Can we accomplish it, achieve the holiness God demands, on our own?

Thanks be to God’s Word, the Bible, for it tells us where real healing comes from.

And it comes from one place, one person alone, who was both true God and true man --Jesus Christ.

This is Good News, because we could never be as holy as God commands, but Jesus could be, and was.

It’s also humbling, because when we realize our only salvation is through Christ, we acknowledge we could never save ourselves, in whole, or part.

Today, Jesus will draw out of the Syrophoenician woman a remarkable confession of faith.

Here’s a woman as far from clean as you can get.

A spiritual descendent of the evil Jezebel in the Old Testament.

A member of a society that had worshipped pagan idols, and made child sacrifices, perhaps even as we do today, in a culture that sanctions abortion to the idols of pride, lust, and selfishness.

Then we read of Jesus opening a man’s ears and loosening his tongue so he can speak the praise of Jesus that reveals a changed heart, one changed by Christ.

Today’s Bible readings focus attention on our life as a product of God’s activity.

Jesus has made clear that there’s all sorts of nasty stuff in us.

What He will do, today, is put something different inside of people.

Literally, He’ll open their ears and loosen their tongues, so they can speak something different than the spite, hate, lies, and other sin that normally would be within them.

What is good in us, God places there for the sake of Christ, and for a reason.

And so, it is Christ’s goodness that God sees when He looks at believers.

Not our own righteousness, but that of Jesus.

The evil that comes out of us is evidence that in this life we’re still sinners, forgiven sinners, but sinners nonetheless.

But the good that comes out of Christians is a witness to the good God put there for the sake of Christ.

It is a good that’s meant to serve our neighbour, even the least of those around us, the poor, the homeless, the unborn child.

And serve those who are spiritually poor through the Church.

This week, the Gospel of Mark gives us two stories told to help us see that point.

First the Syrophoenician woman.

As I said, she’s as far from kosher as you can get, and yet out of her mouth come words of remarkable faith.

How were her lips opened to speak these words to Jesus?

The account of the deaf and mute man which immediately follows hers, answers that question.

Jesus returns, through Sidon, the evil Jezebel’s home town, and into the region of Galilee and the Decapolis.

This is the border of the Jewish and Gentile communities.

We don’t know whether this man was a Jew or Gentile, and it doesn’t matter.

The man can’t hear and so he can’t speak plainly.

The crowds present the man to Jesus, hoping for a miracle, they want something to tell their neighbours that night when they go home.

For them, Jesus is becoming a circus act, a show.

But Jesus will have none of this.

He takes the man aside, privately.

He won’t be manipulated a performance, but will also not let this man suffer.

He takes him aside and heals him.

Jesus doesn’t speak with the man, he doesn’t hear.

So, Christ ‘acts out’ what is going on.

You wonder if the man even knew who Jesus was.

Christ puts his fingers into the man’s ears, to do that he has to ben face-to-face with him.

And then Jesus speaks the words “be opened.”

Suddenly, the man is healed.

His speech is clear, because he can hear it.

This is the answer to the question of how the Syrophoenician woman found the words to say.

How does the sinner’s heart become a place from which beautiful and holy things proceed?

It is because Jesus opens ears and loosens tongues.

He puts those holy and beautiful things inside our hearts and draws them out of us as He drew them out of this woman.

How will we speak the Good News of Jesus Christ to this world?

It will be because God came to earth and took on human flesh in Jesus, and went to the cross to save us.

It will be because God gave us His Word, the Bible, that speaks truth to us, and because He offers His sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper to spiritually wash and feed us.

Jesus has opened our ears to hear and lips to speak.

And it is Christ speaking through us when we tell others of His message of grace and salvation.

The Church is called by Christ in the Great Commission to go and teach, and baptize and make disciples.

Christians are called to spread the Good News of Jesus to others around us.

It is only through His power that we can.

The renovation of our hearts, our will and motivations, is His work.

Christ fills us with a faith in Him and a desire to go and tell that passes all understanding.

The world can’t see this and so it labels the Christian life as boring.

But there is no greater adventure than the Christian faith.

When we partake of the Lord’s Supper we hold in our hand the visible Gospel, the true body and blood of Christ, just as He promised and commanded.

When we speak His Gospel, God is backing up our words.

When I splash the baptismal water, it is God giving eternal life.

What looks to unbelievers like total failure and miserable loss at Calvary God turns to salvation, victory and powerful witness.

Our weakness is an opportunity to show God’s strength, and mercy.

Today, Jesus looks us in the eye, puts His fingers in our ears, and says, be opened, and our ears are opened and our tongues loosed once more to be the disciples of His Good News for this world, and this community.

We have news to tell, Christ’s story and our story of faith in Him.

It’s a good one because Jesus is at the centre of it, forgiving sins, healing hurts, comforting the grieving and promising eternal life.

It is a story of real people like you, and me, in fact it is the story of you, and me, and how our Lord has saved us.

May the peace that truly passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Jesus Christ.

Amen.

PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH

SERVICE OF THE SACRAMENT Page 194

THE LORD’S PRAYER Page 196 THE WORDS OF OUR LORD Page 197

Pax Domini Pastor: The peace of the Lord be with you always.

Congregation: Amen.

THE DISTRIBUTION

Our Communion Hymn is: 627 “Jesus Christ our Blessed Saviour”

Post Communion Collect (Left-hand column) Page 201

Salutation and Benedicamus Page 201-202 Benediction Page 202

CLOSING HYMN: 923 “Almighty Father, Bless the Word”

#christian religion #lutheran #christian #faith #jesus #salvation #bible #evangelism #holy spirit

1 note · View note

ramrodd · 28 days

Video

youtube

On the Historicity of the Book of Acts (feat Dr Bart Ehrman) (Craig Keen...

COMMENTARY:

Giggles, as Literature, the Book of Acts is absolutely, inerrantly reliable, As History, who the fuck cares. Post Modern historians cannot identify the influence Aristotle had on Alexander the Great, Apollo 11 is absolutely inerrantly, harmonically, dipped in the blood of the Lamb reliable evidence that Aristotle had a huge influence on Alexander the Great.

You guys are trying to define the Hallelula chorus by applying state of the art acheological protocols on fixing the position of each discarded ticket stup in the audiotorium of Carnegie Hall after a Christmas production of Messiah (players to be named later)

Post Modern Hittoric Deconstruction creates a creative glass curtain between the broken pottery of a culture and how the pottery was handled in the culture, the difference between Hemingway and F. Scott. Except, of course, Papa and Fitz were the leading edge of Post Modern Literary Deconstruction, if you don't count T. S. Eliot.

The question is, is To Kill A Mocking Burd reliable? Or Gone WIth The Wind? Absolutely, in terms of Post Modern Literary Deconstricution. Dr. Molly Worthen achieved her epiphany by breaking through the creative glass ceiling to engage the inerrant epistemology of Jesus and the Bible. Her journalism, N.T. Wright and the Holy Spirit led her to Resurrection.

Is Atlas Shrugged reliable? It is if you're an agent of Project 2025. Post Modern Historic Deconstruction makes Atlas Shrugged a viable alternative interpretation of current events. It/s as good as any. I mean, if it makes sense to Tucker Carlson, it's USDA Approved Project 2025.

A question nobody ever asks is Where, exactly does Luke, a Greek, fit into a Jewish narrative? You claim the "We" passages demonstrate no particular individual as the author. If you are correct that most scholars agree with you, it supports my thesis that Post Modern Historic Deconstrucition has made PhD in Christian literature and apologetics uniformly stupid and you are the high prince of academic pratices and standards.

The “We” passages mark the moment Luke and Paul crossed paths and became a constnat item in luke's medical journals. The question you guys never consider is, how the fuck does a Greek end up in the middle of what everyone from Albert Schweitzer, assumes is a Jewish narrative.

Robyn Faith Walsh and John MacDonald are very close to a Post Modern Literary Deconstricution break through with their thesis of the Gospel of Mark as a literary project.

Exactly.

The Acts of the Apolstles is put together exactly like Truman Capote's In Cold Blood was put together: research and journalism writing. And, for that matter, the Gospel of Mark,

As a physcian trained under the Hipporactic Oath, he journaled everything, It was part of the pleasure of being a physician for Luke: he liked to write, to turn an elegant phrase if only for his own amuement,

But why does Luke compose the longest complete narrative of Jesus from beginning to the source of the Apostle's Creed, the centuiions of the Italian Regiment, who were justified by faith with the Talking Cross of the Gospel of Peter. Luke was traveling with Paul from just after Paul's escape in Phillipi until they got to Caesarea, when Luke begins to compose an amicus breif for Paul's defense in Rome when he is introduced to Cornelius and is resruited to do the research regarding the origins and significance of the covenant of the Talking Cross in regards to the divine status of the stoic culture of the Italian Regiment as the Republican State subordiante to and separate from the “Church” of the Roman secular humanism. Hebrews is a military intelligence finding based on the Bibliography of the 18 documents that predeed it, The connection of Socrates Hemlock to the Cross, Romans 13:1 – 7, Hebrews 13:17, and the authority of Manlian Discipline is straight as a laser to the Justice behind the stoic equity of the authority of the centurion in Matthew 8:9.

So, as History, how do you calculate In Cold Blood? And why Luke?

It has to do with the Pro-Choice interpretation of the woman with the 12 year hemmorage as the basis for Planned Parenthood as the rational application,

Luke is a gynecologist. In a universe where women are unclean by definintion, and beyond unclean during their peiords, Greeks don't share Peter's misogyny, Luke had seen more Hebrew pussy than any of the annoited saints in either covenant except David and Solomon (and, maybe, Saul). I mean, rumor has it that Daved was the the Milton Berle of the Patriarchs: it had to do with Ruth's DNA.

But none of them wanted to deal with any woman during her period. And, for luke, it was just another day in Paradise. And Paul employed Luke like Truman Capote employed Harrper Lee to get interviews with the wives of the people he needed to talk to, including the wives.

And that's how Luke put his two volume study together for Theolophilus, which was delivered by hand before Philippians in 61, CE. Paul had a successful defense before the Praetorian Guard, but the Guard couldn't answer for the Emperor and Paul's timing was bad,

As near as I can tell, your little conference is designed to shape Pauline Theology to fit the Cnristian Nationalism of Pope Benedicts conservative theology.

N.T. Wright's interpretation of Pauline Theology and Pope Francis's Liberation Theology are had in glove. It's why Dr. Molly Worthen had her Born Again epiphany,

#youtube

0 notes

johnhardinsawyer · 1 month

Text

Communion Bread

John Sawyer

Bedford Presbyterian Church

8 / 18 / 24 – Year B, Proper 15

John 6:51-58

Ephesians 5:15-20

“Communion Bread”

(Capital Letters and Community Life)

Some of you may have noticed that – each week in worship this summer – we have been invited to join together in saying the Apostle’s Creed as our Affirmation of Faith. For some people, who grew up in certain Christian traditions, saying the Apostle’s Creed is like slipping into some comfortable Sunday clothes. I, myself, grew up in the United Methodist Church and remember reciting the Apostle’s Creed every Sunday. It was almost as much a part of worship as saying the Lord’s Prayer.

For life-long Presbyterians, saying the Apostle’s Creed might come across as simply one statement of faith among many that the Presbyterian Church has adopted over the centuries. In our Book of Confessions, there are eleven different confessions of faith – including the Apostle’s Creed – spanning 2,000 years of church history. Each one of these historic confessions seeks to speak to the truth of who God was and is to the people in the time in which they were written. Just so you know, our denomination has put a working group together to seek to write a new statement of faith, or confession, that speaks to the world that the church encounters in the 21st Century.

So, some of us grew up saying the Apostle’s Creed, and love it. Some of us are just fine with saying the Apostle’s Creed. But I know that some of us have some questions about the Apostle’s Creed. And usually, there are two main questions that are asked about the Apostle’s Creed: 1) what does the part about Jesus descending into hell mean? And 2) what’s with that “c” word – as in, “Why do we say, ‘catholic Church’ when, clearly, we are Protestant?”

Just briefly, with regard to the first question, the part about Jesus descending into hell – which comes from Ephesians 4:9 and 1 Peter 4:6, among other places[1] – the idea is that when Jesus dies on the cross, he experiences hell-on-earth, on behalf of humanity and then he goes on a spiritual mission into the depths of suffering to set the souls of everyone who had ever died free – bringing salvation to those held captive in death (or hell or Sheol, in the Hebrew language).[2] Why does Jesus do this? Well, because God’s mercy extends beyond our own limited scope of understanding – even beyond death, itself. And how does Jesus do this? Well, because he can. God’s love is stronger than death.

Now, there’s a lot more that can be said about this question about hell from the Apostle’s Creed, and maybe we’ll revisit this sometime, but for today – in light of our reading from the Gospel of John – it would be good for us to focus on the second question – the one about that word: catholic. Today’s passage – rightly or wrongly – has a particular confusing connection with the “c” word that we say as part of the Apostle’s Creed and I feel like we need to untangle a little bit of it, especially as we give thanks for our particular congregation’s legacy of 275 years and the celebration of community that we’ll be helping to host this afternoon at the Bedford Community Picnic.

So, do you think we can do all of this in the next 7 to 10 minutes? Let’s give it a shot!

First, it would be good for us to define the word “catholic” that is used in the Apostle’s Creed, because people have questions about this. We should note that the word used in the Creed begins with a lower-case letter “c.” This “small-c” catholic is a word that means “universal” or “general” or “whole,” as in “. . . I believe in. . . the ‘ancient, undivided, whole Christian church’[3] – from which all of us Christians are descended and – despite the many divisions and denominations within the church over the centuries – the whole and undivided church that God still calls us to become and is leading us toward.” This is what the “small-c” catholic means in the Apostle’s Creed.

Now, if the Apostle’s Creed used a “Capital-letter C,” we would be saying that we Presbyterians believe in the “Roman Catholic Church” – the church from which our spiritual forebears split over 500 years ago. Some of our Roman Catholic siblings in the faith might love it if we said that we believe in them and their Church, but since we are using a “lower-case c,” we are saying that the church – though currently split in thousands of ways – didn’t used to be and won’t always be divided. Jesus’ great hope for the church, as expressed later in John’s Gospel, is that we may be one.[4] It was kind of funny and kind of ironic that, earlier this summer, when someone asked me about the word “catholic” in the Apostle’s Creed, I wrote them an e-mail explaining the difference between the “lower-case c” (the universal and whole church) and the “Upper-case C” (the Roman Catholic Church). And then, wouldn’t you know it, the next week, there was a typo in the bulletin using an “Upper-case C.” A few of you keen-eyed folks caught this error and definitely let me know about it. What can I say? Sometimes auto-correct can provide an opportunity for learning.

With regard to learning, one of the big differences between our own Reformed Tradition – the tradition that is descended from the church reformers of 500 years ago, like Martin Luther and John Calvin – and our siblings in the Roman Catholic Church is the question of what on earth – or what in heaven’s name – Jesus is talking about in today’s passage when he talks about his own flesh and blood.

At first glance, Jesus’ words about eating flesh and drinking blood are almost offensive – cannibalistic. The Judeans in today’s passage are openly questioning this idea: “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” they ask. (John 6:52). When Jesus tells the people, “. . . those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day. . .” (John 6:54), our “Capital-C” Roman Catholic siblings take this to mean that whenever they celebrate the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, the bread and the wine are “transubstantiated.” The bread and wine literally and miraculously, become the flesh and blood of Jesus and people eat and drink this.

As Presbyterian Protestants who are not Roman Catholic, we tend to take a different view of this phenomenon, in that, when we celebrate the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, we believe in the “real presence of Jesus Christ.” It might not be Jesus’ literal flesh and blood, but Jesus is spiritually real and present in the meal, by the power of the Holy Spirit. How does this happen, exactly? We are not the only ones to wonder about this. One commentator on this passage, Dale Bruner, writes,

[Martin] Luther was once asked how in the world the bread and wine could be the true (and not just the symbolic) body and blood of Christ when, at his original institution of the supper, Jesus’ [physical] body was there beside the table and the bread and the wine were there upon the table, apart from him. Luther replied, “Jesus is good at miracles.” If Jesus says of the bread and wine that “this is” (and not “this represents” or, as in the parables, “the kingdom of heaven is like this”), then is it not? . . . I believe it will be well for the Church’s . . . unity when as many churches as possible simply take Jesus at his word in the eucharistic texts.[5]

In other words, when it comes down to one of the main differences between us and our “Capital-C” Roman Catholic siblings, both sides have dug our theological and scriptural trenches over the centuries and have been casting aspersions on each other ever since – never to sit together at the Lord’s Supper again. . . or so we might think to ourselves. But, as Martin Luther once said, “Jesus is good at miracles. . .” – even the miracle of breaking down the walls that divide us and making us one.

There are many libraries of books that could be gathered together, collecting all of the many things that have been written about the holy and mysterious meaning of the Lord’s Supper over the years. In today’s passage, though, Jesus is talking about sharing himself with those who believe in him – thereby making himself easier for us to receive – and then. . . share. As Dale Bruner writes,

[Jesus] not only wants to talk to us, but to touch us. He not only wants to make an impression on our hearts and minds, but he wants to reach our bodies. . . He wants to make himself even more accessible. . . to make our comings to him in our Communions as earthly and as physical as his historical coming was to us in his Incarnation, so that our trust remains not just a soul matter but becomes a body matter as well. . . . The sacraments. . . are simply Jesus’. . . way of salvation scaled down, physicalized, individualized, simplified, and concretized, from heart to hands, from soul to body, from group to individual.[6]

So, all of the “this is my body. . . this is my blood. . . eat my flesh. . . drink my blood” language is far more than a big metaphor. It is not really symbolic at all. It is the real presence of Jesus, internalized – a real presence that strengthens, and heals, and forgives, and calls, and commissions, and sends all who receive God’s grace out into the world to carry and share God’s grace in the world.

This is something that our congregation has been seeking to do for 275 years. You should know that back in May of this year, we held our big 275th birthday for the church a few months early. Our congregation was actually chartered in August of 1749 – right about this time of year – becoming a very real physical presence in this particular place. And, over the centuries, as we have gathered – again and again – around this Table to receive the Lord’s Supper, we have joined with the “small-c” catholic church (which includes – whether they (or we) want to admit it or not, our Roman Catholic siblings) to welcome Jesus Christ into our hearts and souls but also into our bodies, so that Christ may abide in us. As Jesus tells us, “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them.” (6:56) Jesus offers himself to us so that we may become the embodiment – the incarnational real presence – of himself, embodying Christ with and for our community, wherever we go, and whoever we meet.

This is a tremendous gift and a tremendous responsibility – that just as Jesus becomes the Bread (with a “Capital B”), we might play even some small part in being the Bread of Christ’s Body in the world. Would you join with me in being this Bread – this life, this grace – to our community and beyond? Do you feel up to the task? If not, remember and trust that Jesus is good at miracles – even the miracle of working in and through you and me – bringing faith, and hope, and love, and life to the world.

So, whether we are at a community picnic or a polling place, whether we are out in a garden or at the grocery, whether we are sitting at this Table or at any other table in our community, remember that Jesus is working a miracle in and through you and me: the miracle of “Communion” with a “Capital-C” – sharing the unity of body and spirit, flesh and blood, goodness and grace, Bread and blessing for the world.

Jesus is good at miracles. May we embody his miracle.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

------

[1]Matthew 12:40, 27:50-54; Acts 2:24, 2:31; Ephesians 4:9; Colossians 1:18; 1 Peter 3:18-19, 4:6.

[2]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrowing_of_Hell#:~:text=His%20descent%20to%20the%20underworld,as%20also%20supporting%20this%20interpretation.

[3] Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary (Springfield: Merriam-Webster, Inc., Publishers, 1988) 216. “catholic.”

[4] See John 17:21-23.

[5] Frederick Dale Bruner, The Gospel of John: A Commentary (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, Co., 2012) 435.

[6] Bruner, 433.

0 notes

biblenewsprophecy · 2 months

Text

Cults and other Name Calling

What is a cult? What is a heretic? If the Continuing Church of God holds to the original faith once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3) can it be a heretical cult? Was the Apostle Paul accused of being the ringleader of a cult? Did Jesus warn that people would insult His faithful followers? Do scholars teach that the Greco-Roman Catholic churches have or do not have the teachings of the first two centuries of the Christian church era? Does the ‘Parable of the Sower,’ recorded in Matthew, Mark, and Luke’s Gospel accounts warn that Satan the Devil will try to try people away from the true faith? Was the original church trinitarian? Was the trinity formally adopted by the Council of Constantinople called by Emperor Theodosius in 381 according to the ‘Catechism of the Catholic Church’? Were early Christians actually binitarian (semi-Arian)? Should doctrine be based on the word of God, the Bible? Are there scriptural and historical reasons to consider the Continuing Church of God as faithful and not some changed cultic faith? Dr. Thiel deals with these issues and more.

youtube

Youtube video link: Cults and other Name Calling

Related Items:

Is the true Church of God a Heretical Cult? The true Christian church has long been called names like being a cult. Did Jesus says others would say bad things against His true followers? In modern times, are there also misleading statements on the internet against the truth? Here is a link to a related sermon: Cults and other Name Calling.

Did the True Church Ever Teach a Trinity? Most act like this is so, but is it? Here is an old, by somewhat related, article in the Spanish language LA DOCTRINA DE LA TRINIDAD. Two related sermons are available: Trinity: Fundamental to Christianity or Something Else? and The Godhead and the Trinity. A brief video is also available: Three trinitarian scriptures?

The Bible, Peter, Paul, John, Polycarp, Herbert W. Armstrong, Roderick C. Meredith, and Bob Thiel on Church Government What form of governance did the early church have? Was it hierarchical? Which form of governance would one expect to have in the Philadelphia remnant? The people decide and/or committee forms, odd dictatorships, or the same type that the Philadelphia era itself had? What are some of the scriptural limits on ecclesiastical authority? Do some commit organizational idolatry? Here is a Spanish language version La Biblia, Policarpo, Herbert W. Armstrong, y Roderick C. Meredith sobre el gobierno de la Iglesia. Here is a link to a sermon titled Church Governance.

Universal OFFER of Salvation, Apokatastasis: Can God save the lost in an age to come? Hundreds of scriptures reveal God’s plan of salvation Will all get a fair chance at salvation? This free book is packed with scriptures showing that God does intend to offer salvation to all who ever lived–the elect in this age, and the rest in the age to come. Here is a link to a related sermon series: Universal Offer of Salvation 1: Apocatastasis, Universal Offer of Salvation 2: Jesus Desires All to be Saved, Mysteries of the Great White Throne Judgment (Universal Offer of Salvation part 3), Is God Fair, Will God Pardon the Ignorant?, Can God Save Your Relatives?, Babies, Limbo, Purgatory and God’s Plan, and ‘By the Mouth of All His Holy Prophets’.

Is God Calling You? This booklet discusses topics including calling, election, and selection. If God is calling you, how will you respond? Here is are links to related sermons: Christian Election: Is God Calling YOU? and Predestination and Your Selection. A short animation is also available: Is God Calling You?

Beliefs of the Original Catholic Church. Did the original “catholic church” have doctrines held by the Continuing Church of God? Did Church of God leaders uses the term “catholic church” to ever describe the church they were part of? Here are links to related sermons: Original Catholic Church of God?, Original Catholic Doctrine: Creed, Liturgy, Baptism, Passover, What Type of Catholic was Polycarp of Smyrna?, Tradition, Holy Days, Salvation, Dress, & Celibacy, Early Heresies and Heretics, Doctrines: 3 Days, Abortion, Ecumenism, Meats, Tithes, Crosses, Destiny, and more, Saturday or Sunday?, The Godhead, Apostolic Laying on of Hands Succession, Church in the Wilderness Apostolic Succession List, Holy Mother Church and Heresies, and Lying Wonders and Original Beliefs.

Preparing for the ‘Short Work’ and The Famine of the Word What is the ‘short work’ of Romans 9:28? Who is preparing for it? Will Philadelphian Christians instruct many in the end times? Here is a link to a related video sermon titled: The Short Work. Here is a link to another: Preparing to Instruct Many.

Who Gave the World the Bible? The Canon: Why do we have the books we now do in the Bible? Is the Bible complete? Are there lost gospels? What about the Apocrypha? Is the Septuagint better than the Masoretic text? What about the Textus Receptus vs. Nestle Alland? Was the New Testament written in Greek, Aramaic, or Hebrew? Which translations are based upon the best ancient text? Did the true Church of God have the canon from the beginning? Here are links to related sermons: Let’s Talk About the Bible, The Books of the Old Testament, The Septuagint and its Apocrypha, Masoretic Text of the Old Testament, and Lost Books of the Bible, and Let’s Talk About the New Testament, The New Testament Canon From the Beginning, English Versions of the Bible and How Did We Get Them?, What was the Original Language of the New Testament?, Original Order of the Books of the Bible, and Who Gave the World the Bible? Who Had the Chain of Custody?

Proof Jesus is the Messiah This free book has over 200 Hebrew prophecies were fulfilled by Jesus. Plus, His arrival was consistent with specific prophecies and even Jewish interpretations of prophecy. Here are links to seven related sermons: Proof Jesus is the Messiah, Prophecies of Jesus’ birth, timing, and death, Jesus’ prophesied divinity, 200+ OT prophecies Jesus filled; Plus prophecies He made, Why Don’t Jews Accept Jesus?, Daniel 9, Jews, and Jesus, and Facts and Atheists’ Delusions About Jesus. Plus the links to two sermonettes: Luke’s census: Any historical evidence? and Muslims believe Jesus is the Messiah, but …

Hope of Salvation: How the Continuing Church of God Differs from Protestantism The CCOG is NOT Protestant. This free online book explains how the real Church of God differs from mainstream/traditional Protestants. Several sermons related to the free book are also available: Protestant, Baptist, and CCOG History; The First Protestant, God’s Command, Grace, & Character; The New Testament, Martin Luther, and the Canon; Eucharist, Passover, and Easter; Views of Jews, Lost Tribes, Warfare, & Baptism; Scripture vs. Tradition, Sabbath vs. Sunday; Church Services, Sunday, Heaven, and God’s Plan; Seventh Day Baptists/Adventists/Messianics: Protestant or COG?; Millennial Kingdom of God and God’s Plan of Salvation; Crosses, Trees, Tithes, and Unclean Meats; The Godhead and the Trinity; Fleeing or Rapture?; and Ecumenism, Rome, and CCOG Differences.

The MYSTERY of GOD’s PLAN Why Did God Create Anything? Why did God make you? This free online book helps answers some of the biggest questions that human have, including the biblical meaning of life. Here is a link to three related sermons: Mysteries of God’s Plan, Mysteries of Truth, Sin, Rest, Suffering, and God’s Plan, and The Mystery of YOU.

Christians: Ambassadors for the Kingdom of God, Biblical instructions on living as a Christian This is a scripture-filled booklet for those wishing to live as a real Christian. A related sermon is also available: Christians are Ambassadors for the Kingdom of God.

The Ten Commandments: The Decalogue, Christianity, and the Beast This is a free pdf book explaining the what the Ten Commandments are, where they came from, how they develop love, how early professors of Christ viewed them, and how various ones, including the Beast of Revelation, will oppose them. A related sermon is titled: The Ten Commandments and the Beast of Revelation.

The Gospel of the Kingdom of God This free online pdf booklet has answers many questions people have about the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and explains why it is the solution to the issues the world is facing. Here are links to three related sermons: The World’s False Gospel, The Gospel of the Kingdom: From the New and Old Testaments, and The Kingdom of God is the Solution.

Where is the True Christian Church Today? This free online pdf booklet answers that question and includes 18 proofs, clues, and signs to identify the true vs. false Christian church. Plus 7 proofs, clues, and signs to help identify Laodicean churches. A related sermon is also available: Where is the True Christian Church? Here is a link to the booklet in the Spanish language: ¿Dónde está la verdadera Iglesia cristiana de hoy? Here is a link in the German language: WO IST DIE WAHRE CHRISTLICHE KIRCHE HEUTE? Here is a link in the French language: Où est la vraie Église Chrétienne aujourd’hui?

Continuing History of the Church of God This pdf booklet is a historical overview of the true Church of God and some of its main opponents from Acts 2 to the 21st century. Related sermon links include Continuing History of the Church of God: c. 31 to c. 300 A.D. and Continuing History of the Church of God: 4th-16th Centuries and Continuing History of the Church of God: 17th-20th Centuries. The booklet is available in Spanish: Continuación de la Historia de la Iglesia de Dios, German: Kontinuierliche Geschichte der Kirche Gottes, and Ekegusii Omogano Bw’ekanisa Ya Nyasae Egendererete.

CCOG.ORG Continuing Church of God The group striving to be most faithful amongst all real Christian groups to the word of God. There are links to literature is about 160 different languages there.

LATEST SERMONS

0 notes

barbaramoorersm · 5 months

Text

April 28, 2024

Fifth Sunday of Easter

Acts of the Apostles 9:26-31

This reading speaks about Saul’s early acceptance into the community and why so many were afraid of him.

Psalm 22

This is a psalm Paul might have prayed when he remembered his encounter on the Road to Damascus.

1 John 3: 18-24

Jesus calls us to love one another.

John 15: 4a-8

Jesus continues his self-description as the “true vine.”

As we age, we all have stories to tell about members of our family, teachers, preachers, or employers who created fear in our lives. It is easy to understand how and why folks were afraid of Saul (Paul) when you listen to his history in the Scriptures. He rounded up the new Christians, arrested them, and approved of their executions. He did just that, at the stoning of Stephen. Saul was someone to fear.

Our first reading this weekend speaks about the response Saul received as he tried to share his experience of Jesus and the change in his life. “He spoke out boldly in the name of the Lord,” but some tried to “kill him.” In time, he grew into the person of Paul whom we know, but it must have been a rocky start for him. And as he rose into leadership even he and Peter had their issues and disagreements. In time he found his call fulfilled in a ministry to the Gentiles, and as he grew in that recognition, some tried to kill him. What a contrast he presents. Saul who was hated by so many in the early Church, is now the minister to the Gentiles, a culture so hated by his own faith community. What a reversal! But in time, Paul’s ministry produces great fruit as he travels far and wide, preaching, and teaching about Jesus. Paul hears so many stories about Jesus’ teachings and today’s “I am statement,” also speaks to his ministry. The branches Jesus wants to join the vine or remain on the Vine, are rejected even by some of his followers.

In our Gospel Jesus identifies himself as the “true vine.” And he clarifies the statement by saying to his disciples, “…you are the branches.” And, Jesus’ reference to “pruning” becomes a true statement as his disciples and now Paul, begin their preaching and evangelizing. Their rejection and personal threats cause suffering and an understanding of “pruning.” But out of all this reality comes new life. Paul and Jesus’ disciples see the truth of that statement as the Christian community begins to spread and deepen.

How has the example of “pruning” entered our lives and is it present these days? The wise parent that corrects us; the mentor who is very honest and patient with us; our mistakes that become public; the rejection of a loved one are all “pruning” experiences. Life is full of these experiences.

Our own actions and life present them.

Today in our political life we all see areas that need change and we can call these change actions “pruning.” College campuses are trying to “prune” unacceptable dissent with positive disagreements. With the desire for truth and accuracy, we try to confront the lies so frequently told. This all must seem like a pruning experience. To weed out antisemitism, and the attempts to stop limiting voting are “pruning” examples. Our nation in many ways is failing to accept the new branches that are growing among us.

Not only does Jesus say that “pruning” produces new life for the Vine but he also teaches that God’s Word and an understanding that we are connected to the Vine and one another also produce new life. The next time you or I react negatively to someone who is different in race, culture, or creed, hopefully we will remember they too are part of Jesus’ beloved Vine. That recognition is a positive “pruning” example.

1 note · View note

bond-servant-of-christ-jesus · 8 months

Text

Mormonism

Mormonism: a religious cult that was founded by Joseph Smith in the woods of Palmyra, New York in the year 1821. He claimed that God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ appeared to him and told him to establish a completely new church. In other words, he had visions that told him to start a new religion.

Smith claimed that the "Angel Moroni" gave him some golden "Nephi Plates" so that he could translate them into English. This religious text is known as the Book of Mormon. The three other religious texts use by the Mormons are the King James Version, Pearl of Great Price, and the Doctrine and Covenants.

The Mormon Church claims that the entire Christian church and the Bible have been totally corrupted. Thus, its alleged purpose is to restore the church back to the original teachings of Jesus Christ and the apostles.

Is A Total Apostasy Of The Christian Church Possible?:

The Lord Jesus Christ specifically taught that the gates of hell would never prevail against His church (Matthew 16:18). Paul said that God would be eternally glorified in Christ and His saints (Ephesians 3:21). If the Mormon Church is correct, then God must be a liar. May that never be. God has always preserved His faithful remnant. While the Bible does speak of apostasy, it nowhere mentions a total apostasy.

The Words of the Lord are incorruptible. His Word shall endure forever (Isaiah 40:8; Proverbs 30:5-6; 1 Peter 1:23-25). The Scripture cannot be broken (John 10:35). It is simply not possible for the Bible to be lost and forgotten. Those who present strange doctrine are to be deemed heretics (1 Timothy 1:3-4; 2 John 9-11). The faith has been delivered to the saints "once for all" (Jude 3). Thus, there is no need for new revelations. Angelic visions are not an acceptable method of drawing attention to oneself (Colossians 2:18).

The Apostle Paul in Galatians 1:8-9 wrote a categorical condemnation of any different gospels that could arise in the future after his death. He even issued an anathema to angels who could theoretically arrive to preach differently from the doctrine originally delivered by the apostles. So, even granting that Joseph Smith had an encounter with the Angel Moroni, Mormonism is a false religion because it preaches a different message of salvation. According to Paul, another gospel is no gospel at all (Galatians 1:6-7). The gospel never needed to be restored because it was never lost to begin with. Mormon revelation is not of divine but human origin. The simple, true gospel involves placing trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ alone. We are not saved by obeying various laws, ordinances, and attending temple ceremonies.

It is one thing to say that the church has become unrecognizably dirty throughout history, but it is quite another to claim that the church disappeared completely from the face of the earth. The possibility of such a claim is ruled out by Scripture itself.

The Mormon Claim Of Being The Complete Restoration Of Lost Truth Is Unfounded:

An essential question that needs to be addressed is, "When did the Christian church go into the state of total apostasy?" There has always been a unanimous consensus on what constitutes the essential doctrines of the Christian faith in the earliest church creeds. The New Testament is supported by thousands of different manuscripts. It is almost one hundred percent textually pure. The creed summarizing the gospel message that the Apostle Paul recounted in 1 Corinthians 15:1-8 has been dated back to the first century, thereby proving that the gospel has not been lost or altered.

Why would Mormons use the Bible at all, since they maintain that the whole of Christianity was lost in the first century and the canon was assembled (along with the King James Version being produced in the seventeenth century) by an allegedly apostate church? Which parts of the Bible have been corrupted?

If any of Joseph Smith's claims regarding the alleged total apostasy of Christendom were true, then he should have been able to give an extensive list of all of the original teachings of Jesus Christ, where every denomination had went wrong, provide the exact date of when Christianity went extinct, and go back to the original teachings of Jesus and the apostles. He should have been able to refer to established facts, writings, history, etc. However, Joseph Smith never took the time to verify any of his claims.

0 notes

aclayjar · 1 year

Link

#Heaven #hell #ResurrectionofJesus

0 notes

lesfeldickbiblestudy · 1 year

Text

Through the Bible with Les Feldick LESSON 1 * PART 4 * BOOK 72 THE BIG PICTURE OF WHY WE BELIEVE IN THE PRE-TRIBULATION RAPTURE - 4 I Cor. 9:17; Eph. 1:10; Eph. 3:2; Col. 1:25 Again, for those of you in television, we’re just an informal Bible study. I never try to grind an axe with anyone. All I want people to do is just search the Scriptures. If you disagree with me on a Scriptural basis, fine. But you’d better know what you’re talking about scripturally, because I will not accept any manmade argument or denominational creed or anything like that. Search the Scriptures, because that’s the whole idea of comparing Scripture with Scripture. And as we put it on the screen here several programs back, always determine who is writing, who it is written to, what the circumstances were before and behind and whatever. That’s still the secret. All right, we’re going to jump right back in where we cut off in our last program. I just about didn’t see the end to that program in time, but that doesn’t bother us any. We’re just going to keep going to where we left off. I can see I’m not going to get to the Rapture in this half hour, so we’ll just have to wait until our next taping. All right, here in Acts chapter 11 the verse where we were when we ran out of time was verse 19. These Jews who had been scattered out of the Jerusalem church “went as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch preaching the word (the Old Testament) to none but unto the Jews only.” Now, that’s what the Scripture says. That’s not what Les Feldick thinks or anybody else thinks, but that’s what the Book says. They were not attempting to go to anybody but Jews. But now remember, Acts is a transitional book. We’re coming out of Judaism and the dispensation of Law, and we’re going to be jumping over into the dispensation of Grace and the Pauline epistles. So, you’re going to have some flux, is what I call it. You’re going to have an overlapping of Judaism with Grace. But as they go along, Judaism is going to fall through the cracks, and Peter and the eleven lose their authority with the church at Jerusalem, because now it’s moot as Israel is still rejecting everything. Then Paul becomes the preeminent apostle until we get to the return of God dealing with Israel for the Tribulation. That, of course, is where we come in with our Rapture teaching that we can’t be here for the Tribulation, because we are not part of God dealing with Israel. But we’ll come to that in our next taping more than likely. All right, so in Acts chapter 11 we have the visible unfolding of the transition from Jew to Gentile. And if I don’t take these verses, somebody is going to call and say, “Why did you skip them?” Well, I’m not going to, so go right on into verse 20. Acts 11:20 “And some of them (Some of these Jerusalem church emissaries who have been preaching the word to none but Jews only.) And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they were come to Antioch, (Now, this Antioch is up north of present day Lebanon in Syria. Ancient Antioch, of course, I think the ruins are still there at the head of the river.) spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus.” Now, I know the King James has got Grecian, but I think that’s a gross error. It should be Greeks. Because it wouldn’t be anything unusual for them to be talking to Jews, which was what the word Grecian implies, as a Grecian was a non-Palestinian Jew. But a Greek is a Gentile. I think some of your newer translations may have Greeks. Now, to these Greeks these same Jews start preaching the Lord Jesus. Now again, just take a minute to contemplate, why did the Jerusalem church react the way it did? Now it hasn’t completely been annihilated. The vast numbers of course have run for their lives, but it’s still under the control of the Twelve. Don’t think for a minute it isn’t. All right, so: Acts 11:21 “And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed, and turned to the Lord.” That is these Gentiles are taking an interest now in the things of Israel’s God.

Now verse 22: Acts 11:22a “Then tidings of these things (Gentiles getting interested.) came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem:…” See, that’s why I’m always calling it the Jerusalem church. Now, when the tidings of this came to that Jerusalem church, again, did they, like I said after chapter 10, did they shout--praise the Lord, Hallelujah?! Heavens, no, we’ve got to go check this out. Look at it. Acts 11:22 “Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go far as Antioch.” Well, now read between the lines. For what purpose? To see what in the world are these people doing? They’re not adhering to our Jewishness. They’re bringing in Gentiles. I think I mentioned in one of my Florida Seminars, isn’t it amazing that God always has His own man for the right time and the right place? Had anybody but Barnabas gone up to Antioch, they would have blown the whole thing apart. But see, Barnabas was the man, now read on in verse 23. Acts 11:23-24a “Who, (speaking of Barnabas) when he came, (to the Antioch situation) and had seen the (What?) grace of God, (Saving Gentiles! He--) was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave (or hang on) unto the Lord. 24. For he (Barnabas) was a good man,…” He wasn’t so bigoted like most Jews would have been naturally. He didn’t just have that one mindset. He had the wherewithal to see God is doing something different, and I’m not going to stand in the way. I’m not going to report this to the Jerusalem church, because they’ll just scream and say, shut them down. They don’t want anything to do with this. Acts 11:24 “For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith: (He was God’s man. See?) and much people were added unto the Lord.” Now, what did that prompt Barnabas to do? Go look for Saul. Now, just put all this together. What in the world prompted Barnabas to understand Saul was the man that was needed? Gentiles. Gentiles. And what was the purpose of God sending Saul out into the desert? To be the Apostle of the Gentiles. And Barnabas had enough Spirit-driven understanding that, hey, with Gentiles coming in, we need the Apostle of the Gentiles. So, what does the verse say? Acts 11:25 “Then departed Barnabas (that is from Antioch) to Tarsus, for to seek (or to look for) Saul:” With the purpose that he had to have God’s man for the Gentiles. All right, now the next verse. Acts 11:26a “And when he had found him, (We don’t know how Barnabas looked, how long, but--) when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church,…” Now, the word church is always a called out assembly. But in this case it’s a called out assembly of predominately Gentiles, rather than a Jewish congregation. It’s now Gentile! All right, and Paul, now the Apostle of the Gentiles, is the absolute answer to their need. Acts 11:26b “…that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples (These followers—that’s what the word disciples means. We’re not talking about the Twelve of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. These followers--) were called Christians first in Antioch.” Now, you know what I have to do? Ask yourself a question. See, that’s how you learn. The little kid that asks a lot of questions is usually going to be the first person in his class when he goes to school. I love kids that ask questions. But I wish adults would do the same thing. Ask yourself a question now. Why weren’t the Jerusalem church people called Christians? They were following the same Christ. The Bible never calls them Christians, but who were? The Gentiles believers, see? That’s a point to be taken. Here at this Gentile church up in Antioch, not the Jerusalem church, but the Gentile church up in Antioch, those believers were called Christians for the first time.

Okay, now we’ve got the establishment of Paul dealing with the Gentile church. Now, let’s jump ahead and get ready for our next taping. We’re going to lay out the necessity of a pre-Tribulation Rapture because of the uniqueness of Paul’s ministry to the Gentile world. Turn to Ephesians chapter 3, and this is the dispensation that you and I find ourselves in. So this verse becomes totally pertinent for us. Now, we certainly make it plain that Jews can be saved in this dispensation. It’s going to be rare, but they can be, and we know we have a Jewish audience. We run into it every once in a while, but that doesn’t mean that they’re necessarily believers. At least they’re having a chance at it. So, we never exclude the Jewish people, but it is predominately a Gentile thing. All right, Ephesians chapter 3 and I’m going to start with verse 1. Ephesians 3:1 “For this cause (In other words, what he’s written especially in these first two chapters of Ephesians.) I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,” Well, now stop and think a minute. Where is Paul when he writes the letter to the Ephesians? He’s in prison in Rome. But what got him in prison? His preaching the Gospel of Grace to the Gentiles—all the opposition of the Jews as well as the opposition from the Romans, and it got him between the vise, and he ends up in prison in Rome. And the Spirit leads him to write as a prisoner of Jesus Christ on behalf of you and me as Gentiles. All right, now verse 2. I had my Florida audience try to memorize this. I don’t know how many did, but I certainly tried every night. Memorize this verse. It’s not hard. And it says it all so far as we are concerned in our relationship with God. Ephesians 3:2 “If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given to me (Paul says. Not to us. Not to the Twelve. Not to the Prophets, not Israel, but--) given to me to you-ward: (us Gentiles)” See how plain that is? And yet people can’t see it. I’ve had people sit at my kitchen table and I said, now read it! They would say “I don’t get what you’re driving at.” I always say, you don’t read. I’ve had quite a few people come up and tell me in these last seminars. Les, you’re right, I always read, but I didn’t read. Well, that’s most people’s trouble. They just read you know, and they don’t stop to think. Ask a question here and there and pick it apart. All right, look at it again. Ephesians 3:2a “If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God…” This time of specific directions that’s been placed on the prescription for this age of Grace. That’s what a dispensation is, remember? It is explicit directions for the period of time in which we live. Ephesians 3:2 “If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given to me to you-ward:” Well, who are the you-wards? The Gentiles up in verse 1. See that? So, this dispensation of Grace is the set of directions that are given primarily for the Gentile world to come into a relationship with God. It’s our hope for eternity, and it’s the only way you can find it. Okay, the “dispensation of the grace of God which is given to me to you.” All right, now for emphasis turn ahead a few pages to Colossians chapter 1 and verse 25. This is the other verse I’ve got up here on the board. Let’s read verse 24 first. Colossians 1:24 “Who (speaking of himself, I Paul up in verse 23) now rejoice in my sufferings for you, (In other words, all the privations of his apostleship – hunger, thirst, imprisonment, beatings, stonings -- you name it. This was all--) to rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh (Physically he’d suffered for 28 years, which, of course, he has clarified in his previous epistles.) for his body’s sake, which is the church:” The Body of Christ, which is that composite of Gentile believers, I think from Paul’s own conversion on. Now, here’s the parallel for Ephesians 3 verse 2.

Colossians 1:25 “Whereof I am made a minister, (Now it’s a personal pronoun. It isn’t we. It isn’t a group of people; it’s the singular man, the Apostle Paul.) Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, (Gentiles. And the final purpose of course is--) to fulfill (or bring to completion) the word of God;” Now verse 26, this is a unique part of Paul’s revelation of this dispensation. And that is what he calls the mysteries. Colossians 1:26a “Even the mystery (Now, he’s just dealing with one here.) Even the mystery which hath been hid...” H-I-D—hid. And who hides it? God does! Oh, now I’ve got to turn back, don’t I? Keep your hand in Colossians. Go all the way back to Deuteronomy. Most of you probably know it by memory. You should by now. I use it often enough—Deuteronomy 29:29. If you haven’t memorized it before, do it from now on, because this is the secret to understanding the secrets. Deuteronomy 29:29 and this again shows the Sovereignty of our God. He’s absolute. He can do whatever He wants. All got it? Deuteronomy 29:29 “The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: (Do you see that? God has the prerogative of keeping things secret.) but those things which are revealed (are no longer secret) belong unto us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” Now that, of course, is Moses under the Law. But nevertheless, the overall rendition of that is that God is secret and He can keep things secret as long as He likes. Now, the other one I like to use as an example, a perfect example of how God will keep things secret, and we almost think it’s impossible under these circumstances. Look at Luke 18 during His earthly ministry. He’s now ready to go up to Jerusalem and the Passover and the Crucifixion. And I use these verses over and over when people try to tell me there’s never been more than one Gospel. The Salvation Gospel as we know it is faith in the truth that Christ died for all and was buried and rose from the dead. And they say that’s always been the only Gospel. Well, then how can you explain Luke 18 verses 31 through 34. You all got it? Luke 18, we’ll start at verse 31. And remember what I’m bringing here – how God keeps things secret. He can do it. Verse 31. Luke 18:31 “Then (We’re at the end of His three years.) he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished.” What’s He talking about? Well, the coming crucifixion. Everything pertaining to it as prophesied is going to happen. Now verse 32, He explains what they are. Luke 18:32-33 “For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, (the Romans) and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on: 33. And they shall scourge him, (or beat Him) and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again.” He knew what was coming. It wasn’t any secret to Him. Now He shared this openly with the Twelve. All right, but now look at the next verse, verse 34. Luke 18:34a “And they (the Twelve) understood none (They didn’t have a clue what He was talking about.) of these things: and this saying was (What’s the next word?) hid from them…” But who hid it? God did. It wasn’t time for them to know. And all I ask people to do when I teach this is think—can you just imagine what would have taken place between now and the crucifixion if these twelve men would have known what was coming? Why, they’d have had a riot. They would have had civil war. They would have done everything to keep this from happening. So, God kept it secret even though He told them. And I maintain that here’s another instance. Why do you suppose the Lord told the Twelve something that He wouldn’t let them understand? For our benefit. Now, we know that He was totally God. He knew exactly what was going to happen moment by moment. But on the other hand, He’s going to keep it from the Twelve.

He hid it from them. Now, that’s His prerogative. See? All right, and so “he hid it from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken.” Now, on your way back to where we were in Colossians, stop, if you will, at John’s Gospel chapter 20, which is again proof of this statement in Luke. Even though He told them what was going to happen, they didn’t have a clue that He was going to die. And when they saw Him dying on that Roman Cross, did they just say, hey, so what? Three days and He’s going to be back alive? No! They didn’t know He was going to rise from the dead. They thought it was all over. All right, now here’s the proof of it in John’s Gospel on resurrection morning. You all know it. Mary comes to the tomb and it’s empty. She runs and tells Peter and John. Peter and John run, now verse 4: John 20:4-5 “So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter, (In other words, young John outran Peter.) did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulcher. 5. And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet he went not in.” He was a little bit reluctant, you know. Little, young John I think was timid. All right, then verse 6, here comes big ol’ Peter. John 20:6-8 “Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie, 7. And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. 8. Then went in also that other disciple, (John) who came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, (the evidence and what?) and believed.” Believed what? That Christ had supernaturally risen from the dead because the grave clothes were undisturbed. But now look at the next verse. John 20:9 “For as yet (to this time) they (Peter and John and Mary) knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.” Now isn’t that plain? They didn’t know. They didn’t. As I’ve said a hundred times, they didn’t have a clue that after He was crucified He’d be raised from the dead. Yet Jesus told them, but He hid it from them. All right, now to close out these last few moments, come back again with me to Colossians chapter 1. You want to remember that in this dispensation of Grace, Paul has a whole group of what he calls mysteries that were totally secret from everybody and everything until God revealed it to this Apostle. They come out one at a time, but they make a composite whole. All right, here we go. This dispensation of the grace of God includes: Colossians 1:26-27a “Even the mystery which hath been hid (by an act of God) from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: (That is to these Grace believing Gentiles who are saved now by Faith and Faith alone in that finished work of the Cross. To these believers now--) 27. To whom God would make known….” See, you have to be a believer to understand these things. The unbeliever can’t get a handle on it whatsoever, because it’s way over their head. And it stays over their head until they become a believer, and then it becomes something that we can just feast on. Colossians 1:27 “To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; (Not among Jews. Among Gentiles. And what is this particular mystery?) which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:” Eternal glory, Beloved! And that’s why we can stand here without apology and say that when we trust this Gospel, when we believe the writings of this Apostle writing to us Gentiles, we don’t have to say I hope so or I think so. We know so, and not because of any pride on our part. It’s because we give all the credit to the One who loved us and gave Himself for us. That’s where it’s at. All right, that is one of the secrets that are a part of Paul’s revelation which no other portion of Scripture ever even hints at—that God would come down and, in the form of the Holy Spirit, of course, indwell believing Gentiles and make us a child of God in complete relationship with the Creator, God Himself.

He is in us and us in Him, and we take that by faith. Now, I think I’ve got time. Let’s go back and see one verse that makes that so plain. I Corinthians chapter 12 verse 13. And with this we’ll probably have to close. But see, this is all unique to Paul’s revelations of this dispensation of Grace. You won’t find it in the four gospels. You won’t find it in the book of Revelation or in the Old Testament. It’s uniquely the letters of Paul. All right, I Corinthians chapter 12 verse 13, this is how this relationship comes about that we are in Christ and Christ in us. I Corinthians 12:13 “For by one Spirit (capitalized, the Holy Spirit) we are all (Not just a few. Not just the elite. Not just the best, but every believer from the bottom to the top of the totem pole, if you want to put it that way. For all believers are--) baptized (or placed) into one body,” We’re placed into the whole by a work of the Holy Spirit. That’s what we have to believe as we take it by faith. You don’t feel it. You don’t all of a sudden get up and say, oh, the sky is blue, but rather we take it by faith because the Book says so.

0 notes

catenaaurea · 2 years

Text

Catechism of Pope Saint Pius X

The Apostle’s Creed

The Ninth Article of the Creed

The Church in General

1. Q. What does the Ninth article: The Holy Catholic Church, the Communion of Saints, teach us?

A. The Ninth Article of the Creed teaches us that Jesus Christ founded a visible society on earth called the Catholic Church, and that all those who belong to this Church are in communion with one another.

2. Q. Why immediately after the article that treats of the Holy Ghost is mention made of the Catholic Church?

A. Immediately after the article that treats of the Holy Ghost mention is made of the Catholic Church to indicate that the Church’s holiness comes from the Holy Ghost, who is the Author of all holiness.

3. Q. What does the word Church mean?

A. The word Church means a calling forth or assembly of many.

4. Q. Who has convoked or called us into the Church of Jesus Christ?

A. We have been called into the Church of Jesus Christ by a special grace of God, to the end, that by the light of faith and the observance of the divine law, we may render Him the worship due to Him, and attain eternal life.

5. Q. Where are the members of the Church to be found?

A. The members of the Church are found partly in heaven, forming the Church Triumphant; partly in purgatory, forming the Church Suffering; partly on earth, forming the Church Militant.

6. Q. Do these various parts of the Church constitute one sole Church?

A. Yes, these various parts of the Church constitute one sole Church and one sole body for they have the same Head, Jesus Christ, the same Spirit animating and uniting them, and the same end, eternal happiness, which some already enjoy and the rest hope for.

7. Q. To which part of the Church does this Ninth Article principally refer?

A. This Ninth Article of the Creed principally refers to the Church Militant, which is the Church we actually belong to.

The Church in Particular

8. Q. What is the Catholic Church?

A. The Catholic Church is the Union or Congregation of all the baptized who, still living on earth, profess the same Faith and the same Law of Jesus Christ, participate in the same Sacraments, and obey their lawful Pastors, particularly the Roman Pontiff.

9. Q. State distinctly what is necessary to be a member of the Church?

A. To be a member of the Church it is necessary to be baptized, to believe and profess the teaching of Jesus Christ, to participate in the same Sacraments, and to acknowledge the Pope and the other lawful pastors of the Church.

10. Q. Who are the lawful pastors of the Church?

A. The lawful pastors of the Church are the Roman Pontiff, that is, the Pope, who is Supreme Pastor, and the Bishops. Other priests, also, and especially Parish Priests, have a share in the pastoral office, subject to the Bishop and the Pope.

11. Q. Why do you say that the Roman Pontiff is supreme Pastor of the Church?

A. Because Jesus Christ said to St. Peter, the first Pope: “Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church, and I will give to thee the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound also in Heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed also in Heaven.” And again: “Feed My lambs, feed My sheep.”

12. Q. The many societies of persons who are baptized but who do not acknowledge the Roman Pontiff as their Head do not, then, belong to the Church of Jesus Christ?

A. No, those who do not acknowledge the Roman Pontiff as their Head do not belong to the Church of Jesus Christ.

13. Q. How can the Church of Jesus Christ be distinguished from the numerous societies or sects founded by men, and calling themselves Christian?

A. From the numerous societies or sects founded by men and calling themselves Christian, the Church of Jesus Christ is easily distinguished by four marks: She is One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic.

14. Q. Why is the Church called One?

A. The true Church is called One, because her children of all ages and places are united together in the same faith, in the same worship, in the same law; and in participation of the same Sacraments, under the same visible Head, the Roman Pontiff.

15. Q. Can there not be several Churches?

A. No, there cannot be more than one Church; for as there is but one God, one Faith and one Baptism, there is and can be but one true Church.

16. Q. But are not the faithful of a whole Nation or Diocese also called a Church?

A. The faithful of a whole Nation or Diocese are also called a Church, but they ever remain mere parts of the Universal Church and form but one Church with her.

17. Q. Why is the true Church called Holy?

A. The true church is called Holy because holy is her Invisible Head, Jesus Christ; holy are many of her members; holy are her faith, her laws, her Sacraments; and outside of her there is not and cannot be true holiness.

18. Q. Why is the Church called Catholic?

A. The true Church is called Catholic, or Universal, because she embraces the faithful of all times, of all places, of all ages and conditions; and all peoples are called to belong to her.

19. Q. Why is the Church also called Apostolic?

A. The true Church is also called Apostolic because she goes back without a break to the Apostles; because she believes and teaches all that the Apostles believed and taught; and because she is guided and governed by their lawful successors.

20. Q. And why is the true Church called Roman?

A. The true Church is called Roman, because the four marks of Unity, Sanctity, Catholicity and Apostolicity are found in that Church alone which acknowledges as Head the Bishop of Rome, the Successor of St. Peter.

21. Q. What is the constitution of the Church of Jesus Christ?

A. The Church of Jesus Christ has been constituted as a true and perfect Society; and in her we can distinguish a soul and a body.

22. Q. In what does the Soul of the Church consist?

A. The Soul of the Church consists in her internal and spiritual endowments, that is, faith, hope, charity, the gifts of grace and of the Holy Ghost, together with all the heavenly treasures which are hers through the merits of our Redeemer, Jesus Christ, and of the Saints.

23. Q. In what does the Body of the Church consist?

A. The Body of the Church consists in her external and visible aspect, that is, in the association of her members, in her worship, in her teaching-power and in her external rule and government.

#Catechism of Pius X #Apostle's Creed part 8 #Catholic #Christian

12 notes · View notes

mybeautifulchristianjourney · 8 months

Text

Nine Things You Should Know About the Westminster Confession

by John R. Bower

After nearly 400 years of service, the Westminster Confession of Faith continues to provide Reformed and Presbyterian churches worldwide a vibrant summary of Scripture’s principal teachings. But how has this document, drawn from a strikingly different age, remained equally relevant to today’s church?

In exploring this question, we consider nine essential elements of the Confession whereby the 17th-century Reformed church can be seen as standing arm in arm with the 21st-century church and beyond.

I. The Westminster Confession was designed as a doctrinal compass to keep the scriptural bearings of the church true, even when tossed by error and division. Civil war had thrown the Church of England into political, social, and ecclesiastical upheaval, and as its first step toward rebuilding the church, Parliament convened a national assembly of clergy to advise on the most scriptural guides for doctrine, worship, and government. Between 1643 and 1648, the Westminster Assembly of Divines created six separate documents for equipping the church anew, but of these the Confession of Faith was key. It alone expressed the mind of the church concerning the truths of Scripture and meshed the documents of worship and government into a unified working system.

II. From its inception, the Confession stood subordinate to the Word of God. In writing the Confession of Faith, the assembly remained passionately committed to the Reformation dictum of sola Scriptura, that Scripture alone speaks with final authority in all areas of faith and life. Indeed, the Confession’s statement “On the Scripture” is the document’s first and longest chapter. Here, Scripture is declared the inspired, infallible, sufficient, understandable, and the supreme judge of all disputes. Throughout the assembly’s work, members were oath-bound to affirm only those propositions supported by Scripture. Reflecting this commitment to the Word, the Confession’s 33 chapters bristle with more than 4,000 verses.

The Confession’s 33 chapters bristle with more than 4,000 verses.

III. In presenting the core truths of Scripture, the Confession followed a comprehensive and unified system of faith, reaching as far back as the Apostle’s Creed. Indeed, among the major Protestant confessions of the Reformation (Augsburg, Belgic, French, Second Helvetic), not only were the principle truths of Scripture held in common, but these doctrines were sorted into the same broad system of faith in God and duty to God. Following its creedal predecessors, the Westminster Assembly carefully preserved this doctrinal division of faith and service—a distinction the Shorter Catechism more expressively rendered as “what we are to believe concerning God” and “what duty God requires of man.”

IV. In its opening chapters, the Confession represents the heart of Reformed orthodoxy and historic Christianity. Here, the doctrines of faith emerge in three parts: God’s creative work and man’s fall (chs. 1–6), Christ’s work as Redeemer (chs. 7–8) and the Holy Spirit’s work in applying redemption (chs. 9–19).

V. The remaining part of the Confession (chs. 20–33) describes the believer’s responsibility to serve God, a service that embraces our neighbor, the state, and the church. The church, however, provides the principle venue wherein we serve God. Moving through chapters 25–31, the Confession elaborates on the doctrine of the church, the communion of the saints, the sacraments, and the far-reaching scope of church discipline. And culminating the saint’s life of service to God is entrance into the church glorious, described by the resurrection of the dead and the last judgment (chs. 32–33).

VI. “Of Christian Liberty and Liberty of Conscience” affirms how the individual believer’s conscience is free to serve Christ alone. But this freedom of conscience is further subject to those lawful civil and ecclesiastical authorities instituted by Christ. Balancing the several God-ordained authorities over conscience proved one of the assembly’s greatest challenges in framing the Confession, especially when faced with increasingly autonomous parishioners and competing civil and ecclesiastical claims of authority.

VII. The Confession offers a superlative platform for expressing consensus on the doctrines of Scripture and building unity within the church at large. When the Westminster Assembly labored to rebuild the church in the 17th century, England—like Scotland and many regions on the continent—recognized only a single church, making unity a societal as well as an ecclesiastical imperative. Today, although multiple denominations have replaced the single church model of the Reformation, the Confession retains its place in fostering unity within, and between, Reformed and Presbyterian churches worldwide.

VIII. Found within each of these nine essentials of the Confession is the centrality of Christ’s church. Guided by Scripture alone, the Confession affords a doctrinal anchor expressing the breadth of faith within the framework of the historic church. Saints are carefully guided in rendering their fullest service to God, especially within the visible church, where they are built toward unity in the one faith. In fact, while the Confession can be seen as enveloping all the great solas of the Reformation, it excelled in advancing the “forgotten sola” of sola ecclessia, the church alone.

While the Confession can be seen as enveloping all the great solas of the Reformation, it excelled in advancing the ‘forgotten sola’ of sola ecclessia, the church alone.

IX. The Confession was not intended to serve as a doctrinal storehouse, but to be communicated to every member of every church. The Larger and Shorter Catechisms were composed for this purpose. Thus, in writing its catechisms, the assembly kept an “eye to the Confession.” But this focus meant more than replicating content; the catechisms effectively conveyed the purposes of the confession, for as the principles of faith, life, and the church were taught and memorized, they built unity in the one faith from the ground up.

3 notes · View notes

stpaullutheranchurch · 2 years

Text

November 6 2022

November 6th 2022 All Saints Day

Old Testament: Revelation 7:9-17 “God will wipe away every tear”

Psalm: Psalm 149 “To execute … the judgment written”

Epistle: 1st John 3:1-3 “We shall see Him as He is”

Gospel: Matthew 5:1-12 “Blessed are … you”

Sermon Text: Revelation 7:9-17

Sermon Title: “Salvation Belong to our God”

Grace to you and peace, from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on My account … for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you”. (Matthew 5:11-12) “Who are these clothed in white robes … these are the ones coming out of the great tribulation”. (Revelation 7:13b-14a) “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb”. (Revelation 7:10b) “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes”. (Revelation 7:17b)

Though there are many who would argue otherwise, according to Holy Scripture, the word saint simply means someone who has true faith in Christ Jesus for the forgiveness of sins. It does not refer to someone of exceptional holiness of life or extraordinary good works done in service to God and others, but rather a person is made a saint by God working in them through the means of grace. So, Luther wrote in the Large Catechism, “the Word of God is what makes us saints”. (L. C. 3rd Commandment)

This is (also) what we confess in the Apostle’s Creed; “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Christian Church, the Communion of Saints …”. What does this mean? “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength, believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to Him, but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the one true faith”. (Small Catechism, 3rd Article, Explanation)

So, if it is the Holy Spirit who alone that does these things through the Gospel, the Word and Sacrament, how can you justify staying away from these means of grace? How can you say (as some did in the recent voters meeting) “its too late to reconcile or to admonish” those who are not coming to hear the Word? Unless you are the Holy Spirit, you do not know when it is “too late”.

The word “saint” in the Old Testament is used primarily in the book of Daniel and in the Psalms where it reads, “precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints”. (Psalm 116:15) In the New Testament, the word is used most frequently by Saint John in the Book of Revelation and over 40 times in Saint Paul’s letter/epistles. Interestingly our text from Revelation does not use the word “saint”, but the reading is clearly about those who have been set apart, called by God, to faith in Christ, through His Word and Sacrament.

Our text this morning is perhaps the most beautiful picture of eternal life to be found in Holy Scripture. John begins, “After this, I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands”. (Revelation 7:9)

This is obviously a picture of heaven (new heavens and new earth) and it is clear that those around the throne of God are those who have believed in Christ, not only from all parts of the world, not only Jews and Gentiles, but all believers from the beginning of time until Jesus’ Second Coming. It is a fulfillment of what the Lord promised to Abraham, that the people of God would be as numerous as the stars in heaven and the grains of sand on the seashore. (See Genesis 15:5 and 32:12)

Practically speaking, this means that all those we love, who have died believing in Jesus are there; and so are we who believe in Christ; as are all who will believe in Him in the future. As we confess in the communion liturgy, “with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven, (the saints) we laud and magnify Thy glorious name”. Those around the throne of God are “crying out with a loud voice; Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb”! (Revelation 7:10)

Salvation belongs to the triune God alone. But what is salvation? In Holy Scripture, salvation is God delivering His people from their enemies. For example, in the Old Testament, God delivering the people of Israel through the Red Sea on dry ground. “Moses said to the people, Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord which He will work for you today”. (Exodus 14:13a)

In the New Testament, salvation is the Lord’s victorious deliverance of His people from the power of sin, death, and the devil, through the death and bodily resurrection of Jesus; “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”. (John 1:29) This Jesus, who is rejected by most in this sinful world, is the only way of salvation, as we heard on Reformation Sunday. “There is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven, given among men, by which we must be saved”. (Acts 4:12) “There is one mediator between Gid and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all”. (1st Timothy 2:5b)

The Apostle John continues; “And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and they worshipped God saying, Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen”. (Revelation 7:11-12) Because God has delivered His people from all their enemies, He is indeed worthy to receive all of these things. He has delivered us by the shedding of His precious blood on the cross, as John now declares.

“Then one of the elders addressed me saying, Who are these clothed in white robes and from where have they come? And I said to him, Sir, you know. And he said to me, these are the ones coming out of the Great Tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb”. (Revelation 7:13-14) “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain”. (Revelation 5:12a)

We have been delivered from the consequences of our sin, “by the “blood of the Lamb”; who has also given us His perfect righteousness as a gift at our baptism, or when we came to faith in Jesus. As the Scriptures declare, “the blood of Jesus His Son, cleanses us from all sin” (1st John 1:7b) and Christ “made peace by the blood of His cross”. (Colossians 1:20b)

The angel also told John that all the saints are “coming out of the Great Tribulation”. Many Christians think this is a time near the end of the world, when things will get progressively worse for the church on earth. But this cannot be the case, since (in our text) these are believers from all times and places in the history of the church. This indicates that all Christians, all who trust in Christ alone, will suffer tribulation in this life for their faith. The life of the Christian and of the church, is not one glorious triumph after another.

This is made clear by Jesus in the Gospel reading for today, “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you, and utter all kinds of evil falsely against you on My account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you”. (Matthew 5:11-12) God’s Word declares this over and over again. Paul wrote, “All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus, will be persecuted”. (2nd Timothy 3:12) Jesus declared “If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you” (John 15:20b) and “in the world, you will have tribulation”. (John 16:33b) Peter wrote “do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you”. (1st Peter 4:12a)

We are blessed in all these difficult circumstances, because we know that whatever tribulations and hardships we face in this life, Christ our Lord has promised to be with us (“I am with you always”) and to bring us through them all, and to take us home to be with Him forever and ever. Jesus said, “Let not your hearts be troubled … In My Father’s house are many rooms … I go to prepare a place for you … that where I am, you may be also”. (John 14:1-3)

In his letter to the Roman churches, the Apostle Paul asked “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ”? (Romans 8:35a) He then gives some potential answers; “Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword”. (Romans 8:35b-36) All of these things certainly threaten to separate us from God, and yet Paul’s answer is; “No. In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us”. (Romans 8:37)

Notice that Paul doesn’t say that we will not have to go through these stressful things; yet he is still confident that despite them all, “I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39) who has triumphed over them all.

John now further describes the life of the blessed saints in heaven; where none of these things will bother us ever again; “They are before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will shelter them with His presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and He will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes”. (Revelation 7:15-17) All the pains and sorrows of this world will be gone; forever. As Jesus promised in the Beatitudes, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted”. (Matthew 5:4)

Knowing God’s gracious and precious promises to those who trust in Him alone for the forgiveness of sins; and seeing John’s vision of what awaits all these saints of God; including all of our loved ones who have died in the faith; “and since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely to us and look to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of God”. (Hebrews 12:1-2) Amen.

The peace of God …

0 notes

pastortomsteers · 1 month

Text

Our Service for the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost

August 25, 2024

Pastor Tom Steers

Christ the Saviour Lutheran Church, Toronto

Our Opening Hymn is: “O Christ Our True and Only Light”

Lutheran Service Book, 839 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITcK0kBrrHg

We begin our service with the Invocation:

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Confession and Absolution LSB page 184

The Introit –

Psalm 26:1-2, 6-7; antiphon: Ps. 26:8

O Lord, I love the habitation of your house

and the place where your glory dwells.

Vindicate me, O Lord,

for I have walked in my integrity,

and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering.

2 Prove me, O Lord, and try me;

test my heart and my mind.

I wash my hands in innocence

and go around your altar, O Lord,

7 proclaiming thanksgiving aloud,

and telling all your wondrous deeds.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son

and to the Holy Spirit;

as it was in the beginning,

is now, and will be forever. Amen.

O Lord, I love the habitation of your house

and the place where your glory dwells.

Our Collect Prayer:

Almighty and merciful God, defend Your Church from all false teaching and error that Your faithful people may confess You to be the only true God and rejoice in your good gifts of life and salvation; through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Our Bible texts:

Old Testament – Isaiah 29:11-19

Psalm 14 (antiphon v. 7a)

Epistle - Ephesians 5:22-33

Gospel – Mark 7:1-13

The Apostles’ Creed –

I believe in God, the Father almighty,

maker of heaven and earth,

And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

born of the Virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, died and was buried.

He descended into hell.

The third day he rose again from the dead.

He ascended into heaven

and sits at the right hand of God

the Father almighty.

From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy Christian Church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life everlasting. Amen.

Our Hymn of the Day is: “Lord Help Us Ever to Remain”

Lutheran Service Book, 865 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJn7dxm3eI8

The Sermon,

The Word of God verses the word of man --

This morning Mark the Evangelist describes a confrontation between Jesus and the Pharisees.

A confrontation between the Word of God and the word of man.

A confrontation that will bring Christ one step closer to the cross.

The encounter is also an occasion for Mark to paint the picture of Christ and His people persecuted for the faith.

Behind all this Mark ultimately sees the hand of our real enemy, satan.

As you hear the dispute with the Pharisees, see this as more than a historical record.

It is, as well, the opposition Jesus continues to face today, through false Christian doctrine, and in persecuted Christians such as our Brothers & Sisters in Afghanistan.

When Christ confronts Saul on the road to Damascus, He asks, “Why do you persecute me?”

Jesus, of whom Mark writes, is truly and actively present in the people of God, then and now.

We see Christ in conflict with the teachers of the Law.

The issue is human thinking versus the “spirit” of God’s Word, which they violate.

Our verses from Isaiah come from a section where the prophet tells of a great calamity to befall the people because they’ve fallen away from God.

We read this passage today because it connects so well with our Gospel text.

In Isaiah, God is frustrated with His people.

He says it’s been like giving them a book they either won’t open or can’t read.

They have His Word, the truth is right in front of them, but it does no good.

The Israelites are blind, deaf, not on the same page as the Almighty.

Surrounded by the love of God and His gracious teaching, they ignore it.

God promises to take action, and that’s actually grace on God’s part, although a frightening grace.

He’ll pry their ears open so they can hear His Word.

God will do wonders and signs before them, just as He did of old.

The ‘human’ wisdom of the wise will perish.

Isaiah 29:14 is the exact verse Paul has in mind when he writes Chapter One of his first letter to the Corinthians.

The people try to hide their ways from the Lord, try to do things in secret, away from Him who knows all.

Their wisdom is foolishness, it doesn’t reflect reality.

In their world the roles of the potter and clay have reversed, with the clay making the potter.

The same is true today.

The false religion of our culture, secular materialism, would have us believe the universe, matter, created itself.

God is considered a myth, or His image and Word distorted.

The basic, simple logic of first cause, that someone brought this vast universe into being, is a reality ‘science’ has no answer for, so it ignores it.

Our society does as well, because many would rather be their own ‘gods,’ making up rules that suit them.

Isaiah warns God will answer this foolishness, and every eye will see and knee bow, as Paul declares in Philippians 2:9-11.

In our Psalm reading we hear this again:

“The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none who does good.”

Through the Psalmist God asks: “Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread and do not call upon the LORD?”

Paul quotes the third verse of this Psalm in his indictment of humanity in Romans Chapter 3.

These words of God put an end to any thought of human-based righteousness, of ‘do-it-yourself’ salvation in whole or part, of hypocritical self-sanctity.

The image of the rich, the powerful devouring the poor like a loaf of bread is horrifying, and tragically accurate.

Human, secular reasoning is used today to justify the murder of unborn children, this despite God’s Word, despite the Fifth Commandment, ignoring Bible teaching that unborn children are God’s creation, loved by Him.

We see God’s call to protect and respect the unborn in verses like Jeremiah 1:4-5; Job 31:15; Psalm 22:10-11; Psalm 139:13-16 and so many others.

Isaiah and history tell us ignoring God’s Word isn’t new.

But the results of falling away from God are tragically the same.

Untold millions have died.

It didn’t matter if it was a government of the so-called left or right; whether it was Hitler, Stalin, or Mao Tse Tung; whether today it’s North Korea or Iran or for that matter North America.

Since abortion was allowed in Canada and the U.S., more than 65 million people, unborn children, have been killed.

It’s a Holocaust.

And people ask who will stop it?

What’s the answer?

Who has the solution?

It is not ultimately with government.

Governments and politicians come and go.

It’s not with a human strategy or tactic.

The answer is found back in the 7th verse of today’s Psalm reading.

It is when God comes in.

It’s when people turn back to Him.

We know God, His will and way, from His Word, the Bible.

Today secular society turns away from God’s basic social building block: marriage.

The world would have us believe marriage is either not important or can be something other than the joining of one man and one woman.

Again, this ignores God’s Word in verses like Genesis 2:22-24; Matthew 19:4-6; and today’s reading from Ephesians Chapter 5.

The world sees marriage as a human institution to do with as it will.

The Bible sees marriage as an act of God.

It was intended for us before the fall into sin, and it is the image of something perfect, the relationship Christ established with His Church.

Paul in our passage from Ephesians is speaking of a love relationship where man and woman submit to and love one another as Jesus loves His bride, the Church.

This love and submission mirrors the submission Christ had to the Father when He went to the cross out of love for us.

Paul describes the Church as presented pure, without spot, cleansed by water and Word.

We are cleansed through the water and God’s Word in Baptism.

In marriage a man and woman become one flesh.

We become one flesh with Christ, and other believers, through the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.

In our Gospel teaching from Mark, we’re again faced with the imperfect word of man and perfect Word of God.

The Pharisees go after Jesus because His disciples haven’t washed their hands before eating.

This breaks their regulations and human tradition.

Christ calls them hypocrites; they are.

Jesus quotes today’s text from Isaiah.

The Pharisees have allowed people to ignore their needy parents if they contribute to the church establishment they’re part of.

The parents can go hungry if the kids have a donation receipt.

The Son of God says this is wrong.

Jesus cites God’s Word, the Fourth Commandment to honour your parents.

He tells the Pharisees they’ve made, “void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down.”

These religious authorities ignored God’s Word and replaced it with man-made regulations.

This is what Martin Luther confronted the Church of his time with.

The ‘catholic church’ had abandoned the Bible, created false human traditions, and taught salvation not through Christ alone but through obedience to rules.

The same is true today of that false church and others, and that’s why the Lutheran Reformation continues.

In our readings we’ve seen strong words of correction.

But there are even stronger words of Gospel.

Today Jesus calls us to remember that God is at the centre of the universe, not ourselves.

Our very Creator sent His only Son down to us to take on human flesh to save us, out of love, and only He could do that.

God defines us and life itself, in this world and the one to come.

Christ reminds us to be guided by God’s Word, His priorities, not our own agendas.

He calls us to a humility manifested in love and service to Him and one another.

To honour life that He alone creates.

To honour His institution of marriage as He defines it.

Jesus is in conflict with the Pharisees.

By the end of the short Gospel of Mark the only perfect man who ever lived will die on a cross to pay for our sins and be raised for our justification.

Christ’s death will be wrought by dishonest men who hypocritically condemn Him because they rely on their own salvation, their own righteousness.

Christ sets the priorities right in word and deed.

In love for His creation, that transcends our understanding, He will die, even for the stubborn Pharisees who confront Him.

As Christians, the first readers of this Gospel were also experiencing persecution.

Mark puts their experience into context.

They’re one with Jesus.

God will work with and through them in just this sort of conflict.

Their suffering is not God’s failure, but a situation God uses for good, for their witness to the Gospel.

It’s painful, even torturous, but so was the cross for Jesus.

We, as well, should not despair from persecution and difficulties the world throws at Christians, because we know that through them God can work His good purposes.

As the Apostle Paul wrote, I do not seek suffering, but I suffer in hope.

In the darkest of days, the light of Christ shines brightest.

Amen.

The Benediction –

The Lord bless you and keep you.

The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you.

The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and + give you peace.

Amen.

PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH

SERVICE OF THE SACRAMENT Page 194

THE LORD’S PRAYER Page 196

THE WORDS OF OUR LORD Page 197

Pax Domini Pastor: The peace of the Lord be with you always.

Congregation: Amen.

THE DISTRIBUTION

Post Communion Collect (Right-hand column) Page 201

Salutation and Benedicamus Page 201-202

Our Closing Hymn is: “Lord of Our Life”

Lutheran Service Book, 659 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLnwC-poLEs

1 Lord of our life and God of our salvation,

Star of our night and Hope of every nation:

Hear and receive Your Church's supplication,

Lord God Almighty.

2 See round Your ark the hungry billows curling;

See how Your foes their banners are unfurling

And with great spite their fiery darts are hurling,

O Lord, preserve us.

3 Lord, be our light when worldly darkness veils us;

Lord, be our shield when earthly armor fails us;

And in the day when hell itself assails us,

Grant us Your peace, Lord:

4 Peace in our hearts, where sinful thoughts are raging,

Peace in Your Church, our troubled souls assuaging,

Peace when the world its endless war is waging,

Peace in Your Heaven.

#christian religion #lutheran #christian #faith #jesus #salvation #bible #evangelism #holy spirit

1 note · View note