Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Ash Wednesday, 2014. 7 PM Central



Ash Wednesday, 2014


Pastor Gregory L. Jackson



The Hymn #552                Abide with Me            2.11
The Order of Vespers                                                p. 41
The Psalmody               Psalm 1                        p. 123
The Lection                              Joel 2:12-19
Matthew 6:16-2

The Sermon Hymn # 17            O Worship the King     2.44

The Sermon – Gospel of Faith
The Prayers
The Lord’s Prayer
The Collect for Grace                                       p. 45

The Hymn # 429      Lord, Thee I Love                  2.54


KJV Joel 2:12 Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: 13 And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. 14 Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your God? 15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: 16 Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. 17 Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God? 18 Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people. 19 Yea, the LORD will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen:

KJV Matthew 6:16 Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; 18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. 19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.



Collect
Lord God, heavenly Father, who didst manifest Thyself, with the Holy Ghost, in the fullness of grace at the baptism of Thy dear Son, and with Thy voice didst direct us to Him who hath borne our sins, that we might receive grace and the remission of sins: Keep us, we beseech Thee, in the true faith; and inasmuch as we have been baptized in accordance with Thy command, and the example of Thy dear Son, we pray Thee to strengthen our faith by Thy Holy Spirit, and lead us to everlasting life and salvation, through Thy beloved Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.

Gospel of Faith

KJV Matthew 6:16 Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

I was discussing the righteousness of faith with someone on Facebook. We were writing about the disappearance of Romans 4:25 as "proof" that  the world was absolved without faith on Easter.

UOJ pastors would write this claim and add - "He was raised for our justification. Romans 4:25."

Since the complete sentence includes, "If we believe that Jesus was raised from the dead" in Romans 4:24, that claim was wrecked by the immediate context. Moreover, the argument of Romans 4 is entirely about justification by faith.

The next frontier is "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world." That is described so extensively in the Luther Galatians Commentary that I am surprised it is mentioned as UOJ proof. Later I will develop more about that.

Here we have Jesus speaking about the difference between justification by faith and justification by works. There are two and only two possibilities.

Whoever argues against justification by faith is advocating justification by works, no matter what he may do to crabwalk away from that conclusion. 

All religions are based upon, works, except for the Christian Faith. All religions talk about what man does for God, but Christianity teaches what God gives to man.

Thus, the distinction between the Gospel of faith, taught by Jesus, and the Gospel of works, which He discussed in the behavior of the Pharisees.

Although He was discussing Pharisees the way they were, the description applies to all the great, wise, and holy today who have no faith. Luther had no problems ascribing the same description to most admired of his day.

I have noticed with photos of perpetual alcoholics, like the ELCA bishop who ran down the woman with his car, DUI, they try to look sober. I checked his photos on the Net and he was always trying hard to be the opposite of what he was - pickled.

People without faith, in religious roles, assume an attitude of great piety, and that has always struck me as funny. How would we know that these people are fasting? They have to show us, and so they receive their reward in the regard of fellow unbelievers.

I observed a Pentecostal show, where the minister did such things as weeping on command. He caught my gimlet eye and knew immediately that I was on to him. After the service, as we were leaving, he gave me the handshake that pushes out the door, somewhat like crack the whip.

But this is especially true of those who spend their lives teaching against the Christian Faith while achieving maximum benefits from the religion they despise. This is true of the vast majority of denominational leaders and their spokesmen in the seminaries, not unlike the Medieval Church where the pope and all the great theologians were anti-Christian but super-pious on the outside.

They have their reward in this world but not the next. As I have said many times, I know what they do to ordinary clergy, especially the faithful ones, which is criminal. 

It hard to understand how this can go on much longer, because the most obvious signs of anti-Christianity are abundant among the celebrity leaders, such as open adultery (Benny Hinn) and gay advocacy (Andy Stanley and many other Shrinkers).

17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; 18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.

Or - "you have as much laughter as you have faith," as Luther wrote. There is a vast gulf between knowing that God forgives graciously and thinking that one must put on a show to prove something.

19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Lay up treasures in heaven - This is a great play on words, because people stored treasure and hid treasure in the ancient world - and even recently. One couple claims to have found $10 million worth of gold coins hidden underground, I believe in their yard. The dog dug it up.

When people feared invasion or went on long trips, they buried treasure in a field. Often it was not dug up by the owner and became a big surprise for later residents.
Treasure is hidden away because of fears of theft.

The Lutheran Reformation recognized that the Gospel is our treasure. The Book of Concord is full of references to this treasure. Luther used the term, too. The atonement of Christ is the great treasure, but it does us no good in a heap. So the Holy Spirit distributes it through the Means of Grace.

This is such a beautiful contrast between that treasure that does not last and gathering the treasure that does last.

No one is exempt from this. Many a minister has handled the Gospel in such a way and to insure his own security and luxury. He finds a way to compromise to keep things the way they are and not have the apostates take them away. They are so happy to enroll another member of their union, to see how fear can silence someone without any real threat being made. An implied threat is so much better. Saber rattling is effective when the wrong treasure is guarded.

But when we gather around the Means of Grace, God increases our blessings and our faith. 


Virtue Online - The Head of the Episcopalian Church Is a Joke - So Let's Give Her an Oxford Doctorate

The actress who played the witch in
Lewis' The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe was perfect.
She is an atheist who hates Christianity -
just like Katherine Jefferts-Schori.


Episcopal Presiding Bishop Scores a Triple Winner

By David W. Virtue 
www.virtueonline.org 
February 19, 2014

First came the news that Katharine Jefferts Schori is to receive an honorary Doctor of Divinity from Oxford University.

The announcement produced scorn, outrage and disbelief from differing academics. An Oxford Don and Anglican sociologist described the announcement as "disastrous and derisory...I'm ashamed of my alma mater." Episcopal liberals and progressives rejoiced in the announcement while one blogger described it as scandalum magnum.

Archbishop Justin Welby welcomed the news saying the award was "richly deserved, and reaffirmed Bishop Katharine's remarkable gifts of intellect and compassion, which she has dedicated to the service of Christ."

The surprise announcement left many in the Anglican world, other than the Archbishop of Canterbury, scratching their heads in wonderment and disbelief, considering the American Presiding Bishop's well known and thoroughly documented trail of unChristian and anti-Christian actions and theological stances bordering on heresy and apostasy.

Then we learned that the Episcopal Presiding Bishop would give the annual C.S. Lewis Legacy Lecture at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri. One blogger observed that Jefferts Schori exemplifies just about everything C.S. Lewis mocked and deplored in the Anglican Church.

"I wonder if she will take Lewis's famous essay, Priestesses in the Church? for her topic, or maybe she will speak on the apostate bishop Lewis caricatured in The Great Divorce."

In a laughable press release about this travesty, professor Cliff Cain (as in Cain killed Abel) says, "Her divinity degree combined with her bachelor's degree in biology and two graduate degrees in oceanography make her uniquely qualified to offer remarks on this subject.

"I mean, if they were really looking for an unqualified, female celebrity whose whole life is a repudiation of everything C.S. Lewis stands for, why didn't they ask Paris Hilton or Lindsey Lohan?"

To cap the insanity, the announcement was made today that the Presiding Bishop would preach at St. Paul's in London at the invitation of the Very Rev. Dr. David Ison on March 7 at the 11:30 am GMT service.

"I look forward to joining the St. Paul's community again and meeting the new Dean," the Presiding Bishop said. "I give thanks for the remarkable witness and ministry of this cathedral, and pray that its faithful leadership may continue to bless the people of London and far beyond." Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori previously preached at St. Paul's on July 25, 2010.

"The Presiding Bishop is the Chief Ecumenical Officer of the Church and the pastor and primate of this national church with over 4.6 million members in America alone," added the Dean. NOTE: This figure is blatantly false. TEC has less than 2 million members on the books and less than 700,000 in Average Sunday Attendance.

"The Presiding Bishop is charged with responsibility for leadership in initiating, developing, and articulating policy and strategy, overseeing the administration of the national church staff, and speaking for the church on issues of concern and interest," noted the Dean.

And Jesus wept.

END

Ash Wednesday Service, Tonight at 7 PM Central