The Eighth Sunday after Trinity 2019
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
The melodies are linked in the hymn title.
The lyrics are linked in the hymn number.
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 Gospel
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Faith of Jesus
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 # 309 O Jesus Blessed Lord
In Our Prayers
- Pastor and Mrs. Palangyos' daughter, Jeshra.
- Andrea, whose eyes will need careful, patient help.
- Carl Roper, who is being treated for more occurrences.
- Christina Jackson, being treated for infection.
- Elizabeth Mior - has cancer. She is the mother of two small children.
- Those looking for work and a better income.
- Glen Kotten is doing well and appreciates your prayers.
- Our country's leaders as justice is served to the criminals and traitors. Over 60,000 indictments.
KJV Romans 8:12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. 13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
KJV Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. 21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Eighth Sunday After Trinity
Lord God, heavenly Father, we most heartily thank Thee that Thou hast caused us to come to the knowledge of Thy word. We pray Thee: graciously keep us steadfast in this knowledge unto death, that we may obtain eternal life; send us now and ever pious pastors, who faithfully preach Thy word, without offense or false doctrine, and grant them long life. Defend us from all false teachings, and frustrate Thou the counsels of all such as pervert Thy word, who come to us in sheep's clothing, but are inwardly ravening wolves, that Thy true Church may evermore be established among us, and be defended and preserved from such false teachers, through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.
Background for the Sermon, Matthew 7:15-21
This passage is at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, which begins with the Beatitudes. The sermon itself is concise, condensed wisdom with illustrations from Creation. Therefore, anyone with basic knowledge can understand the lessons, because they are connected to what they observe in daily life, the birds, wildflowers, animals, and trees.
Many people know "about Jesus," but relatively few know the actual message of Jesus about salvation. Just before this passage is the comparison of the narrow and broad gates (7:13-14). The natural way is the broad gate that leads to destruction.
Finding the narrow and difficult gate leads to eternal life. John 1:41-45 describes disciples
finding Jesus.
"John 1:45 Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."
Doctrine is treated as a bad word by many, but that is just another word for teaching. The title of Doctor originally meant someone qualified and certified to teach Christianity. That created some amusing conversation with the medical staff of Dr. Jackson asking what field I practiced in. For them, Doctor only meant medicine. Now it seems to mean everything except theology.
Jesus distinguishes between correct teaching and false teaching, and the analogy is perfect. False teachers pretend to be sheep and adopt the outward characteristics of sheep, but they are wolves hungry to tear, murder, and scatter the sheep. The analogy shifts to trees, because they are even clearer to imagine.
Because there is a difference between good and bad teaching, there is also a difference between what we follow and believe. If we follow what is good, the results are good. If we follow what is bad, the results will also be bad.
Many have claimed they are improving, clarifying, and building upon the past when they change doctrine and worship. Those claims are clearly false and can be judged by their results. They said they were going to fill the churches (Church Growth) but they have emptied congregations and the seminaries. They were going to make everything better but it is now worse. They represented love, they said, but they hated anyone who even raised an eyebrow at what they were doing.They closed down hundreds of churches for good, but said hopefully, "There will be fewer - but better - members in the future." (From Ninotchka)
KJV Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
False prophets are examples of deception. They pretend to be what they are not, because truth would drive people away. The famous Rob Bell (MDiv, Fuller Seminary) had thousands in his church on Sunday, until he wrote a book and told everyone what he really believed. Once he was removed, he began speaking to atheists.
I believe those Lutherans who taught Church Growth while denying it were anti-Lutheran, anti-Bible from the start. They found a philosophy they could promote, one completely at odds with Luther and the Scriptures. This worked across denominational lines because they saw the value of working in packs, like wolves. They could quote each other, invite each other to speak to their groups, sell each other's books.
Fuller Seminary has about 700 regular students now, which makes them many times larger than any Lutheran seminary from any synod. The Lutheran seminaries failed while taking on Fuller ideas and teaching them. But everyone saw that someone could be president of Lutheran seminary or VP of a synod from having Fuller on his hidden resume.
Lenski, Romans, p. 300 - ""Within" refers to their real nature which gives the lie to their appearance. They are "wolves" that are akin to the wolf mentioned in John 10:12, brothers to the grievous wolves of Acts 20:29, described and warned against in Rom. 16:18; Eph. 5:6; Col. 2:4; etc."
16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
This is something so plain and obvious that when I wrote an essay on it, the Lutheran Church Growth leaders exploded in anger and revenge. David Valleskey had promoted Church Growth by using the "spoiling the Egyptians" phrase from Augustine (via a Fuller expert). So I called my analysis of his argument "Figs from Thistles."
Anyone who gardens chuckles at grapes growing in thorny plants or figs growing on thistles. Thorny weeds and thistles are something we get rid of because they are sterile, producing nothing of value and yet are fast growing and tenacious. I got rid of 9 foot tall thorns in a parsonage backyard and wore them back into the house.
Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit
This is central to this passage. In contrast to the negative feeling of the warning - is a great Promise. First of all, this is all about doctrine, not material success. The New Testament books are very concerned about what is taught, what is rejected, but very little concerned with structure, budgets, and anything material.
Until this approach failed, clergy and laity argued for busy intersections with a lot of traffic and various forms of attractions. With this golden turkey to take care of, they all feared the power and condemnation of the mission overlords. Conformity came first, so everything else went out the back door.
The grower looks for the best plants and knows he will get the best production from them. I was watching our Veterans Honor rose, which was slowly building up after its first bloom. Yesterday it had two glowing red, fragrant roses and one ready to bloom. After some practice, I have learned to spot favorite roses from a distance.
Likewise, by planting Feverfew, I can trust in its ability to attract pest-killing insects, some more like specks but fatal to pests. I never thought the garden needed Daisies until I learned they attracted a fly that killed aphids. When I cut Daisies to make them bloom again, that fly is there, enjoying its home.
I have seen this repeatedly because each plant has multiple roes. If they attract bees, they often attract hummingbirds with the same food.
The Parable of the Sower teaches us that the living seed of the Word will take root and produce remarkable results - when sown. The parable addresses the problems that occur, but especially emphasizes that the final production more than makes up for the losses. The lesson is simple - sow the living seed of the Word and eternal life will spring up, especially among the most likely people.
The good fruit of this lesson is not a big building or happy campers but sound doctrine itself. Given sound doctrine, the results are inevitable. The time and place are in God's hands, not ours.
The only thing to seek is the Kingdom (governed by Jesus) and its righteousness (the righteousness of faith in Him). All these things that people worry about will be placed before them.
Our missionary wants to get his news out, so I said, use our John Deere 30 row planter. The blog has an average audience of 1,000 every day. The Facebook page is potentially read by 1,500 and shared all over the millions of readers. Will that work? That is like asking if the Word is effective. Yes, it is - never void, always accomplishing His purpose, always prospering His purpose. That is in the Bible.
Why are clergy so controlling in so many places? They do not trust the efficacy of the Word, which is all powerful, but they trust their schemes, which are a joke. Schemes produce more schemes. The Word produces faith, forgiveness, and eternal life.
I passed out more of my best books, such as a Greek New Testament, recently. Why? Because a stored book is no longer a book being read. When the book is opened and read by a new person, it has an effect, sometimes to show what is good and useful, sometimes to warn against error. Print books can be carried around and read anywhere, even when the Wi-Fi is down.
18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
Here we can see that Jesus was not a good writer. He is repeating Himself, turning the terms around. But He is an exceptionally good Teacher. As strong as we want to be, we still have doubts. Let's face it - teach the truth and the wolves slaver, howl, and bite. So people wonder, "Why did I say that was so wrong? Maybe I should appease them and go half-way back."
This is something to remember always - A good tree - sound doctrine - cannot bring evil fruit. Is it worthwhile to write one more post? Someone I have not met looks for that each morning, and one other distant friend checks three times a day, a confirmed Ichapeeker at midnight.
Long ago, a salesman said, "The most is sold by people to make one more call per day." That really applies to the Word. What if one more sermon, booklet, essay, post means everything to an individual?
What if Someone - like Jesus - promises that every instance of Gospel teaching/preaching is guaranteed to be effective, valuable, and producing results over time?
neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
A car repair guru will say, "Never do that. A car parked without the emergency brake will slip out of park and roll somewhere. That is never a good idea to neglect that. Especially with a Chrysler or Ford." He has me so frightened of the results that I do it routinely, automatically, robotically.
But people want to dabble in false doctrine for its magical results. A little bit never hurts, they think. Look at what goes on today, in established churches, which would have been career ending mistakes and sins in the past. The first step is always a little one. No one wants me to quote the section below, about how to defend Objective Justification by consulting with Calvinists.
A Good Idea?
At the time of the faculty’s conversations with Maier II, Robert Preus looked for support and found it among conservative friends in the Evangelical movement who admired him for his defense of biblical inspiration and inerrancy, including several faculty members of Westminster Seminary—Escondido, California, with its renowned Reformed scholar Michael Horton (b. 1964). Preus must have been aware, but chose to ignore that the Reformed see objective justification as a component of their doctrine of election...
Question - What do we admire about the Calvinists?
Answer - Everything - except their doctrine. (Krauth, I believe.)
Scaer, David P.. Surviving the Storms: Memoirs of David P. Scaer . Luther Academy. Kindle Edition.
19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
No matter how great they grow, false teachers and false doctrine will be chopped down and destroyed. This has happened before our eyes in this lifetime, and will still be true if 99% of Christians are deluded and seduced into falsehood.
20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. 21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
This is a thunderous warning against those who pretend to be holy by their outward costumes, impressive manner, and pious gestures. Being indifferent about doctrine does not excuse anyone leading people into error. Being a great showman and create artificial effects that tickle the emotions - that is the opposite of teaching the truth.
But we can hold onto the simple, plain truths of the Bible, even when - especially when the great, mighty, and wise rage against them, work slowly against them, or befriend us in the hopes of compromise. Nothing should be more avoided than a wolf offering a promotion.
