Invocavit, the First Sunday in Lent, 2020. Matthew 4:1-11

Invocavit, The First Sunday in Lent, 2020

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

https://video.ibm.com/channel/bethany-lutheran-worship

Bethany Lutheran Church, 10 AM Central Standard Time

The Hymn #148           Lord Jesus Christ                

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 Sermon Hymn #146      Lamb of God                         

Workers Together With Him

The Hymn #153             Stricken Smitten                   

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 #154 Alas and Did My Savior  

Bethany Philippine Mission - Walls Going Up.

  

Prayers and Announcements

• Treatment and recovery - John Hicks, Rush Limbaugh, Kermit Way, Christina Jackson. Her radiation is done and some new options may be available.
• Pray for our country as the major trials begin.
• Thanksgiving - Glen Kotten is doing well, Pastor Shrader is clear on his scans.
• Wednesdays are Vespers at 7 PM, followed by The Gospel of John in Greek, starting slowly for newcomers.

         

KJV 2 Corinthians 6:1 We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. 2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) 3 Giving no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed: 4 But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, 5 In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings; 6 By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, 7 By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, 8 By honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true; 9 As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; 10 As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.

KJV Matthew 4:1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. 2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. 3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. 4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. 5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, 6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. 8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. 10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 11 Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

First Sunday In Lent

Lord God, heavenly Father, inasmuch as the adversary doth continually afflict us, and as a roaring lion doth walk about, seeking to devour us: We beseech Thee for the sake of the suffering and death of Thy Son, Jesus Christ, to help us by the grace of the Holy Spirit, and to strengthen our hearts by Thy word, that our enemy may not prevail over us, but that we may evermore abide in Thy grace, and be preserved unto everlasting life; through the same, Thy beloved Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.

Background for the Gospel Sermon, Matthew 4:1-11

This lesson concerns the human nature of Christ, but also His divine nature. Without discounting any miracle of Christ, the greatest of all is God becoming man, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary.

That means Jesus was and is - from that point - completely human and completely divine - at all times. Those who did not comprehend or teach the efficacy of the Word also had trouble with the two natures of Christ. 

The result of not believing the two natures is what we have today, those who only teach the humanity of Christ, never the divinity. That also corrupts their concept of the Scriptures, which are - to them - documents they can play with and use for their rationalistic philosophy. The Seminex spirit, which united Objective Justification and Biblical rationalism (WELS professors Jungkuntz and Gehrke), infected the LCMS and the merger called ELCA. As they say in medicine, rationalism went from an epidemic to a pandemic.

Was Jesus capable of sinning? That is at the heart of His temptations. If He could not sin, then He could not be tempted. 

Hebrews 4: 14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. 15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

This shows His two natures perfectly. Because He understands temptation and sin, truly human, His nature is to forgive as only God can.

KJV Matthew 4:1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. 2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.

I recall being told that we had to fast, a command that certainly countered the Gospel, which is where all false doctrine begins. It is the spirit of Romanism, which several seminaries and groups teach, to the detriment of all.

As Luther stated, fasting is nowhere commanded by Christ, but the papacy in his time made it a meritorious work deserving some years removed the the Purgatory. For that reason, fasting became worse than reveling.

3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. 4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

By His voluntary fasting, Jesus teaches us about involuntary fasting as well. There are times forced upon us where we do not have enough - or we face that reality, just around the corner. When a company like GM abandons a country, hundreds or thousands are forced out of work with few offers for their particular line of work. Relative comfort and security will disappear soon enough, so the threat might as well be reality.

That is when people check into Doubting Castle for a long stay, with room service provided by Giant Despair. The worst torture is mental torture, though I would not recommend physical torture. Still, mental torture can break people forever, as ghoulish experiments have shown.

Satan tempted Jesus when He was extremely hungry - "Turn these stones into bread. You can do it." Hunger can make the most stale bread, even concrete-hard donuts, seem to be a delicacy. I once described how good one particular candy was, in a sermon, and members went out and bought boxes of them. What got to them was dwelling on them - Slo-Pokes - when they were beyond reach.

Many ads work on this principle. Show people what they do not have and how that will make them happy once they have it. It is true fasting in the mind when what we have taken for granted is going to be taken away with nothing to replace it.

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

This is a passage for comforting and guiding us through a time of loss, denial, fears, and anxieties. What God can do, He does do, at remarkable times, but never exactly when we expect it or even how we expect it. To understand this one must study and experience the effect of God's all-powerful Word.

When that power is diminished by man's rationalism, the divinely created relationship is also weakened. For example, take away the concept of miracles and man's reason takes over. If we were all so wise, the world would not be so mixed up. But gradualism works. How else could people accept and tolerate the destruction of great cities, where we imitate the worst of primitive cities, homeless people on the streets, living by illegal means, and everything that follows. That would not have been accepted if it happened overnight, but now it is standard and discussed without a solution.

It is easy to focus on the foolishness of the world. We see it all around us, along with so much injustice. But that is the exact same thing Jesus was born into and where the apostles worked. They were sent out as sheep among wolves, so tiny a group that they were laughable and easily persecuted. Yet the persecutions enlarged the Church by spreading it along the land and sea routes of the Roman Empire. God was the first to use negative forces for positive results.

He took the greatest evil, the crucifixion of His innocent Son, and turned it into the greatest good, the Atonement predicted in Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22.

It is mainly in looking back that we can discover how God was providing and preparing us when we were most disappointed. If certain things had happened, I would have been tied up working and not writing. We would have remained in a crime ridden metro area instead of a pleasant small town. We would have had indifferent doctors instead of really good ones when they were needed most. Those matters are not figured out in advance. 

Luther's Key to Unlock Doubting Castle
6. Secondly, this is written for our admonition, that we may in the light of this example also cheerfully suffer want and temptation for the service of God and the good of our neighbor, like Christ did for us, as often as necessity requires it; which is surely accomplished if we learn and confess God’s Word. Therefore this Gospel is sweet consolation and power against the unbelief and infamy of the stomach, to awaken and strengthen the conscience, that we may not be anxious about the nourishment of our bodies, but be assured that he can and will give us our daily bread.

5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, 6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 

What a great and beautiful temple that was, built to last for centuries, forever. Who knew at the time that it would be thrown down, the stones pried apart to look for gold, not one stone left on another, as Jesus warned. That was only 40 years in the future. I kidded a friend when his water heater broke. "We just got that." It was 30-40 years old, a speck of time looking back.

The pinnacle was so high that someone could barely see the ground. Satan said, "Throw yourself down and find out if His angels will protect you, as promised in the Word."

This attitude is properly described as tempting God, as Jesus said.

7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

This reminds me of the woman who bragged she gave away everything in her house for a rummage sale at church, including a very special bike her children wanted to keep. Like fasting, she seemed to be thinking she did something pleasing to God, as if He would reward her and give her even more bragging rights.

There are "religious" fund-raisers who tempt people this way. They are hired for large amounts to manipulate people into making gifts, expecting seven times as much in return. The professional fund-raisers do not do this themselves. They are out hustling and keeping the money. 

Demands upon God to prove He is God - that is tempting Him. "If you are God, prove it by..." We are not to demand time, manner, and results of God, or God will deny the petition completely. Those who threaten God this way prove that they have no concept of God's grace and power. He will surely answer in His wisdom and mercy, which are far beyond our comprehension.

All those Vision Statements, also used in business, are ways of tempting God. No matter how laughable they are, clergy still promote them, as if giving God directions and goals will move Him to accomplish those material things they desire.

Luther:
22. Who these are, we have identified often enough and very fully, namely, workrighteous persons and unbelieving hypocrites under the name of being Christians and among the congregation of Christian people. For the temptation must take place in the holy city and one temptation is seldom against another. In the first temptation want and hunger are the reasons that we should not believe; and by which we become anxious to have a full sufficiency, so that there is no chance for us to believe. In the second temptation, however, the abundance and the full sufficiency are the reasons that we do not believe, by which we become tired of the common treasure, and every one tries to do something through his own powers to provide for his soul. So we do; if we have nothing, then we doubt God and believe not; if we have abundance, then we become tired of it and wish to have something different, and again we fail to believe. There we flee and turn against want and seek abundance: here we seek want and flee from the abundance we have. No, whatever God does for us, is never right. Such is the bottomless wickedness of our unbelief.

8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. 10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 11 Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him. 

This seems to be the best of all worlds, to have this power and glory and to have it in the Name of God. "How the Lord must love and bless him. Look at his mansion and his fleet of cars." We see that over and over, and it always gains front page, until it is all over.

The temptation comes from seeing those people showcased and praised. Likewise, those who follow Christ and bear the cross seem to be big losers. They glitter, as James writes, but they do not wear the the righteous of Christ, the righteousness of faith.

Luther:
23. Christ’s third temptation consists in temporal honor and power; as the words of the devil clearly teach, when Satan shows and offers Christ all the kingdoms of the world if he would worship him. To this class those belong who fall from their faith for the sake of honor and power, that they may enjoy good days, or not believe further than their honor and power extend. Such are also the heretics who start sects and factions in matters of faith among Christians, that they may make a great parade before the world and soar aloft in their own honor. Hence one may place this third temptation on the right, and the first on the left side. The first is the temptation of misfortune, by which man is stirred to anger, impatience and unbelief; the third and last, the temptation of prosperity, by which man is enticed to lust, honor, joy, and whatever is high. The second or middle temptation is spiritual and deals with the blind tricks and errors that mislead reason from faith.

24. For whom the devil cannot overcome with poverty, want, need and misery, he attacks with riches, favor, honor, pleasure, power and the like, and contends on both sides against us; yea, “he walketh about,” says St. Peter in 1 Peter 5:8, so that if he cannot overthrow us either with suffering or love, that is, with the first temptation on the left or the third on the right, he retires to a higher and different method and attacks us with error, blindness and a false understanding of the Scripture. If he wins there, we fare ill on all sides and in all things; and whether one suffers poverty or has abundance, whether he fights or surrenders, all is lost. For when one is in error, neither patience in misfortune nor firmness in prosperity helps him; seeing that in both heretics are often powerful and the devil deliberately acts as if he were overcome in the first and last temptations, although he is not, if he has only won in the middle or second temptation. For he lets his own children suffer much and be patient, even at times to spurn the world; but never with a true and honest heart.

I wonder if the church leaders will have the same revelation needed among the metropolitan leaders - "We have caused all this destruction. We need to repent!"

They are all improvers too. They destroy (with Satan) on the right hand by improving and correcting everything:

1. The seminaries are empty and teach against the Word.
2. The denominations have become clergy freak-shows, with the worst capturing the leadership roles.
3. The churches are closing or merging, which is a polite word for closing a church.
4. Worship is a joke, though no one is laughing.
5. Each step downward accelerates the so-called improvements.

Much of what Jesus and Paul taught concerns false doctrine, and the leaders hate to see this addressed. As Lord Hate-Good said to Christian and Faithful, "You have offended Lucifer, the founder of our great city."

The warnings are for our own good, and Jesus is the prime example of resisting these temptations. Every experience of the Means of Grace builds us up against temptation by teaching and enforcing the righteousness of faith in Christ.