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Fourth Mid-Week Advent Service, 2022
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
The Hymn # 240 Father Most Holy
The Order of Vespers p. 41
The Psalmody Psalm p. 124
The First Lection
The Second Lection
The Sermon Hymn #60 Hark a Thrilling Voice
The First Lection
The Second Lection
The Sermon Hymn #60 Hark a Thrilling Voice
Paul and John Confirmed the Two Natures of Christ
The Prayers and Lord’s Prayer p. 44
The Collect for Peace p. 45
The Benediction p. 45
1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,
2 (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,)
3 Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;
4 And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:
5 By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name:
6 Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ:
7 To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.
9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers;
Paul and John Confirmed the Two Natures of Christ
Nothing is quite so annoying as hearing or reading that the individual scholar or minister denies the Virgin Birth of Christ, as if that were too much to believe. The apostates, who have fallen from the Faith but still an income after losing all but the fragments of Christianity, like to drop that stinkbomb and pretend to be scholarly.
Their escape hatch is - "I agree with St. John and St. Paul about the Virgin Birth." Here is the frailty of their pretension. They are demanding that the truth from Matthew and Luke need two more versions of the Nativity, even though the two witnesses agree. The so-called experts want two more Nativity scenes even though they do not accept apostolic witnesses. That is a parallel to not accepting 5,000 witnesses - the Majority or Apostolic text - and favoring two dubious codices - Sinaiticus (fraud) and Vaticanus (the Greek version of the later Latin version).
Their reaction is to take away as many references to faith and the divinity of Christ as they can manage. Thus the Evil Four - RSV, NRSV, ESV, and the NIV. The four do not agree with each other so they should be rejected. Bibles are not expensive when sold by the thousands, so the Evil Four make a lot of money for ELCA, LCMS, WELS, ELS, ELDONA - for the kickbacks from sales.
3 Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;
4 And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:
Jesus Christ is from the seed of David, and much earlier, the seed of Abraham, the father of faith. That is His humanity - according to the flesh.
When we pray, worship, and meditate about Jesus Christ, we should always consider His human nature. He accepted this role to teach us and to die in our place as our Savior. He understands our temptations (Hebrews 4) because He was tempted too, though without sin. There is no sin which He cannot take away, except refusing to believe in Him.
Many have regretted that they were raised in a false version of the Bible or the Christian faith. But that is true of the Apostle Paul, Luther, and the Reformation leaders. The background keeps us from falling into error and reminds us of the purity of Biblical teacher.
4 And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:
This seems plain and simple - and it is. However, the clever false teachers turn that into "the Easter Faith of the disciples." They do that to deceive listeners and keep their salaries and benefits. Who can deny the divinity of Christ in hundreds of passages?
A neighbor stopped over to give me Christmas presents. One was a cup, always handy to have. But when I opened it, the contents reminded me of the Bible - a dozen gems, though made of candy, the best kinds.
When we open the Bible, there are thousands of gems to discover. And we never run out. Even our most known passages take on new and deeper meaning over time.
