ICHABOD, THE GLORY HAS DEPARTED - explores the Age of Apostasy, predicted in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, to attack Objective Faithless Justification, Church Growth Clowns, and their ringmasters. The antidote to these poisons is trusting the efficacious Word in the Means of Grace. John 16:8. Isaiah 55:8ff. Romans 10. Most readers are WELS, LCMS, ELS, or ELCA. This blog also covers the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, and the Left-wing, National Council of Churches denominations.
The Confession of Sins The Absolution The Introit p. 16
Introit
Have respect, O Lord, unto Thy covenant:
oh, let not the oppressed return ashamed!
Arise, O God, plead Thine own cause:
and forget not the voice of Thine enemies.
Psalm. O God, why hast Thou cast us off forever?
Why doth Thine anger smoke against the sheep of Thy pasture?
The Gloria Patri The Kyrie p. 17 The Gloria in Excelsis The Salutation and Collect p. 19
Collect
Almighty and everlasting God, give unto us the increase of faith, hope, and charity; and that we may obtain that which Thou dost promise, make us to love that which Thou dost command; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth, etc.
The Epistle and Gradual
Have respect, O Lord, unto Thy covenant:
oh, let not the oppressed return ashamed!
V. Arise, O God, plead Thine own cause:
and forget not the voice of Thine enemies.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
V. O Lord God of my salvation:
I have cried day and night before Thee. Hallelujah!
The Gospel
Glory be to Thee, O Lord! Praise be to Thee, O Christ! The Nicene Creed p. 22
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 #660 I'm But a Stranger Here
Prayers and Announcements
Veteran's Honor Rose for Gary Meyer.
Alicia Meyer's home is now recovering.
Charlie Kirk - Christian martyr.
Medical care: Sarah Buck, Pastor Jim Shrader and his wife Chris.
KJV Galatians 3:15 Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto. 16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. 17 And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. 18 For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise. 19 Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. 20 Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one. 21 Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. 22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
Part 1
KJV Luke 10:23-37 And he turned him unto his disciples, and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see: 24 For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.
Part 2
25 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 26 He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? 27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. 28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. 29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
Part 3
30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 An by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, 34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. 36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? 37 And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
Lord God, heavenly Father, we most heartily thank Thee that Thou hast granted us to live in this accepted time, when we may hear Thy holy gospel, know Thy fatherly will, and behold Thy Son, Jesus Christ! We pray Thee, most merciful Father: Let the light of Thy holy word remain with us, and so govern our hearts by Thy Holy Spirit, that we may never forsake Thy word, but remain steadfast in it, and finally obtain eternal 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.
Jesus the Good Samaritan and Wounded Man
KJV Luke 10:23-37 And he turned him unto his disciples, and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see: 24 For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.
The Gospel of Luke is filled with clear passages so easily appreciated and also misunderstood. Most people assume that the Good Samaritan is a do-gooder, an example for all of us. I recall the era when sermons were scoured like this - "Get off your padded pews!" Another version was - "Make the world a better place." The Social Gospel Movement was based upon turning the Savior into works-righteousness. The Social Gospelers (who turned atheist) urged, "Shouldn't we make the road to Damascus safe?"
Listen to the clergy emphasize today the works that have to be done
25 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 26 He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? 27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. 28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. 29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
The Talmud became an instrument for surrounding the Old Testament, so it did not have all those volumes at that stage. Clergy often buy entire sets of Bible interpretation, but they are reflections of the editors, with a lot of extra wording and opposition to the Scriptures themselves. Individual books on the singlewords alone are popular. I find them very hard to find the NT words and themes - efficacy, and "faith comes by hearing."
30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 An by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.
Luther explained that the man who fell among thieved, stripped of his robes, and wounded was a figure of Jesus. Since this is a story, an illustration, we can see how this is true. Jesus was suggesting that He would be like the man, ignored by the holy ones of Israel, avoided, abandoned - a priest and a Levite. The priest avoided the beaten man, going to the opposite side of the road, and the Levite looked the man over and avoided being close. Wasn't Jesus in the same position on the cross, beaten and abandoned? He last words on the cross were from the Psalm, My God My God, why hast though forsaken Me?
This is not a stretch, to identify Jesus both with the man going to Damascus and the Samaritan who stopped to help. The entire Bible is about Jesus, primarily Jesus because He is God in the flesh, so we can see and understand the Trinity in the flesh.
KJV Colossians 2:9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, 34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.
The Good Samaritan has been distorted as the Law for a long time. Various ministers have used it to tax everyone on their need to take care of others. I blame this in part on the Social Gospel Movement, which blossomed under the rationalistic Federal Council of Churches. They were so scandalous (Marxist) that they changed their name to the National Council of Churches and produced the RSV, ESV, and NRSV Bibles. I exposed the theology of one famous LCA pastor. He said he opposed the Social Gospel Movement but in his talk said, "Should we bind the wounds of the man left for dead on the road to Damascus? or make the road safe?!" I told him afterwards, "That was the Social Gospel."
The National Council of Churches are so Unitarian in denying the Christian Faith that they use their dogma to support destructive programs in America, which we see everywhere today, and it keeps getting worse.
The Samaritan is clearly Jesus, because He became an outcast and yet in His compassion sought to give us forgiveness, peace, and security.
First, he observed the miserable state of the beaten, abandoned man.
a) he went to the man
b) bound up his wounds,
c) pouring in oil and wine, and
d) set him on his own beast, and
e) brought him to an inn, and
f) took care of him.
Second, we see the six-fold response complete the actions of the Samaritan - and he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. [another group of six]
This is how Jesus works with all who believe in Him. Nothing is so low or repugnant that He cannot
help the person in distress. People are bound to be in distress today because the radicals have done so much to wreck American jobs, American schools, and the US military. Name an entity which is not infected by a widespread, organized attempt to wreck the last bulwark of freedom this world.
Charlie Kirk is an example of those who are harmed or killed for no good reason, from the railroad trains to the open forums for people to hear and see what leaders can say for our country. I noticed that Wiki quickly responded against Kirk.
The only hope for America is to return its Constitutional guide, which assumed God as the cornerstone of this great land.
Today’s guest post is from Daniel L. Dreisbach, a professor at American University in Washington, D.C. He has authored or edited 10 books, including Reading the Bible with the Founding Fathers (Oxford University Press, 2017), from which this article is adapted. You can follow him on Twitter at @d3bach
John Adams, in his retirement, was disheartened. What had his life in politics counted for? he wondered.
The renewal in 1805 of a 30-year friendship with Doctor Benjamin Rush reinvigorated him. Their frank correspondence, touching on all manner of topics, lifted his spirits. “Dr. Rush’s letters are of inestimable value to me,” the former president recalled.
A Philadelphia physician, social reformer, and a venerated signer of the Declaration of Independence, Rush was respected by the leading political figures of the day. He would later negotiate a rapprochement between former presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson a decade after the bitter political campaign of 1800 had left their relationship in tatters.
In one conversation about the “perfectibility of man” and religion’s role in making “men and nations happy,” both Rush and Adams lamented the moral decay they witnessed in the world around them. “By renouncing the Bible,” Rush interjected, “philosophers swing from their moorings upon all moral Subjects. . . . It is the only correct map of the human heart that ever has been published. It contains a faithful representation of all its follies, Vices & Crimes.” He then concluded: “All Systems of Religion, morals, and Government not founded upon it, must perish, and how consoling the tho[ugh]t! — it will not only survive the wreck of those Systems, but the World itself. ‘The Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it [Matt. 16:18].’”
“The Bible,” Adams promptly responded, “contains the most profound Philosophy, the most perfect Morality, and the most refined Policy, that ever was conceived upon Earth. It is the most Republican Book in the World, and therefore I will still revere it. . . . [W]ithout national Morality,” he continued, “a Republican Government cannot be maintained.”
