The Tenth Sunday after Trinity, 2017
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual
The Gospel
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The End Is Always Closer
The Preface p. 24
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn #649 Jesus Savior Pilot Me
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn #649 Jesus Savior Pilot Me
KJV 1 Corinthians 12:1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. 2 Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led. 3 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. 4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. 6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. 7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. 8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; 9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; 10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: 11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.
KJV Luke 19:41 And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, 42 Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. 43 For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, 44 And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation. 45 And he went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought; 46 Saying unto them, It is written, My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves. 47 And he taught daily in the temple. But the chief priests and the scribes and the chief of the people sought to destroy him, 48 And could not find what they might do: for all the people were very attentive to hear him.
Tenth Sunday After Trinity
Almighty and everlasting God, who by Thy Holy Ghost hast revealed unto us the gospel of Thy Son, Jesus Christ: We beseech Thee so to quicken our hearts that we may sincerely receive Thy word, and not make light of it, or hear it without fruit, as did Thy people, the unbelieving Jews, but that we may fear Thee and daily grow in faith in Thy mercy, and finally obtain eternal salvation, through Thy Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.
The End Is Always Closer
KJV Luke 19:41 And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, 42 Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.
The sceptics like to say that the Christians anticipated the end times and the return of Christ, but the believers were wrong. Paul wrote about it, and everyone is still waiting.
But that shows a poor understanding of the entire matter, or perhaps a selective understanding. A sect isolates a few verses and makes that the whole Gospel for them and everyone else. The sceptics are like that too. They talk about the end times to mock Christianity, but 2 Thessalonians makes all of that quite clear. God is holding back the end of time according to His wisdom. That Day is known only to the Father. No one else knows it. Mark 13.
And what about this? Jesus predicted with great accuracy the fall of Jerusalem, one of the most protected cities in world history. The details are exactly what happened, only the disaster was far worse than most people realize.
The sceptics answer, "Well, that was written after the event." As one of my members from decades ago said, "Any excuse will do." The fact is - they do not believe and find their evidence to support their unbelief. The UOJ Stormtroopers do that all the time. They fill libraries with their unbelief.
Here we see Jesus revealing His divine foreknowledge. All the members of the drama were already assembled. The Roman Empire was ruthless and never defeated (exception - Herman the German, whose statue is in New Ulm, Minnesota). The fanatical Jews hated Rome's oppression and looked for a chance to break away, reliving the glory days of Judas Maccabees.
The Zealots had a small battle and beat the Roman garrison there. They thought they won the war, but they only poked the bear. The imperial army came and surrounded Jerusalem, starved the city, and ultimately won.
Jesus said these words before entering Jerusalem, knowing that many would believe, but the powers would remain opposed and continue their path of destruction.
3. There are two methods of preaching against the despisers of God’s Word. The first is by threats, as Christ threatens them in Matthew 11:21-24: “Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee Bethsaida! for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon which were done in you, they would have repented long’ ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, it shail be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. And thou, Capernaum (which was his own city, where he performed most of his mighty works), shalt thou be exalted unto heaven? thou shalt go down unto hell; for if the mighty works had been done in Sodom which were done in thee, it would have remained until this day. But I sos’ unto you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.” With these threatening words he would frighten them to their senses, and not to cast to the winds the Word which God sends them.
4. The other method the Lord gives here when he weeps, and shows his sympathy for the poor blinded people, and rebukes and threatens them, not as the hardened and stubbornly blind; but when he melts in love and compassion over his enemies, and with great heart-rending pity and cries, he tells them what shall befall them, which he would gladly prevent, but all is in vain. In the passage just quoted, Matthew 11:21-24, where he rebukes them, he does not treat them in love, but in the severity of faith.
However here, it is all sincere love and mercy. This is worthy of our consideration.
As Luther wrote - many times Jesus spoke harshly about unbelievers and the consequences of their obstinate opposition. Here He displays His compassion about what will happen to those who cannot even imagine how bad it would be. In fact, one has to look into history to read the most horrible details of this lengthy attack and conquest, the starvation and selling into slavery the captives who survived.
These horrible events have been replayed many times, when a few powerful men pitted armies against cities, such as Hitler against Stalingrad, and so forth. But perhaps this is the worst in world history because of the numbers involved.
43 For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, 44 And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.
This is an accurate description of how the Romans worked. They built up walls that were made doubly effective with deep trenches. The chances of going down into the trench, climbing the wall, and escaping were very slim. The walls and trenches kept people in and prevented water and food from entering. It was only a matter of time, and resistance made the suffering worse. Because of the sinfulness of man, the strong will exploit the weak during times of starvation, and that happened in the worst way possible.
Jesus' warned them many times that faith in Him would bring peace, but that only made them more opposed to Him. As we can see in the dialogues of John's Gospel, the more He did and taught, the more they taunted Him.
45 And he went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought; 46 Saying unto them, It is written, My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves.
How easily Jesus could do that today, where Americans have turned Christianity as a great method for storing and acquiring wealth. The worst schools in America with a Christian background have billions in endowments that protect them from any changes of their radical agendas. The smaller the seminary, the larger the endowment, the more ridiculous the professors there. And even when they merge their endowment funds and sell their valuable properties, they have no students to justify their existence.
And American congregations! They sell their souls for petty cash and free trinkets from Thrivent. But the synods get millions upon millions. Matt the Fatt admitted to getting $50 million to $60 million from Thrivent. No one can imagine turning their backs on such a generous, Left-wing, pro-abortion entity. Attacking Thrivent is like attacking the Roman Army. There will be consequences, because it is a capital offense - threatening the capital of the synods.
Most of American Protestantism is cosy with Roman Catholicism, no longer critical. And they are also cosy with occultic Asian religion, where the gods (as Cho teaches) reward the person who demands things from them. Time of Grace is really Time of Prosperity, and people love it.
47 And he taught daily in the temple. But the chief priests and the scribes and the chief of the people sought to destroy him, 48 And could not find what they might do: for all the people were very attentive to hear him.
Jesus risked the murderous opposition of the religious and Roman leaders, to teach the Word of God to people. This led to mass conversions on the Day of Pentecost, and then the escape of many Christians from the persecution that followed - before the great attack against Jerusalem. Persecution spread the Gospel and spared many lives.
As Luther Said - Close with Warnings
People ask me about authors to read. Very few living authors are worth glancing at. I remind readers of the greats, who teach basic Christian doctrine:
- Luther
- The Book of Concord
- Chemnitz and Gerhard
- Krauth
- Jacobs
- Schmauk
- Passavant.
Clearly the synods have not done their job. One person sent his children to synodical schools. "What is the Book of Concord?" One answered, "A manual for the European jet?"
Lack of reading means a lack of capacity for Christian doctrine, which is why people are fooled and manipulated by false teachers.
Regular reading of a good Bible in the KJV family is essential. That is virtually the only translation group that emphasizes precision in translation and the traditional NT manuscripts. The rest are governed by too much time in creative writing classes and the radical Greek NT Nazis who vote verses of the Bible out, 3 votes out of 5 will do it.
As Revelation predicted, there will be a flood of propaganda, secular and religious, against the Gospel, before the End comes.
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| This nonsense is portrayed as the Gospel on - get this - LutherQuest. The worst part of delusion is they do not know how deluded they are. |
