The Festival of the Reformation, 2020
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
Daylight Savings Ends Next Sunday, November 1, All Saints Day
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 Scriptures Judge the Papacy
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 #259 Flung to the Heedless Winds
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 #259 Flung to the Heedless Winds
In Our Prayers
- Christina Jackson is undergoing radiation therapy for the next 9 weekdays. Randy Anderson is preparing for surgery on his leg. Mary Howell is being treated for Hodgkin's. Rush Limbaugh having cancer setbacks.
- Seizures - Callie, Gavin, and Jeshra.
- Pastor K and Doc Lito Cruz - dealing with diabetes
- Pastor Shrader continues his battle with cancer. Pastor Shrader's congregation is in fellowship with us and the Bethany Philippine Mission - they are also contributing to the effort.
Ministries of Bethany Lutheran Church
- The Christian Art of Norma Boeckler and Norma's print books.
- Martin Chemnitz Press - Kindle and print books, and free pdfs.
- Lutheran Library Publishing Ministry and Lutheran Librarian - low-cost print books - Alec Satin.
- Audio Gutenberg - Travis and Lauren Cartee.
- Bethany Lutheran Mission - The Philippines, Pastor and Mrs. Jordan Palangyos. The rice goal of $1,000 has been met. The laptop needed for the congregation's media ministry, teaching, and broadcasting is $500.
KJV Revelation 14:6 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, 7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
KJV Matthew 11:12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. 13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. 14 And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come. 15 He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Romans 5 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope: 5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
Collect
O almighty, eternal God: We confess that we are poor sinners and cannot answer one of a thousand, when Thou contendest with us; but with all our hearts we thank Thee, that Thou hast taken all our guilt from us and laid it upon Thy dear Son Jesus Christ, and made Him to atone for it: We pray Thee graciously to sustain us in faith, and so to govern us by Thy Holy Spirit, that we may live according to Thy will, in neighborly love, service, and helpfulness, and not give way to wrath or revenge, that we may not incur Thy wrath, but always find in Thee a gracious Father, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.
Background for the Sermon - Reformation Day
A superficial glance at the Reformation is the usual response to this moment and this era that changed the world. The most important factor was not the printing press, but that Luther - with a doctorate in the Scriptures and vast knowledge his religion - trusted the Word of God and fearlessly taught the Word, without regard to the consequence. He knew that his organization, the only Church in Europe, would be happy to murder him for his teaching. He also knew that many people around him were inclined to sway with public opinion, so he was very much alone at times. But Luther's endless trust in the power and efficacy of the Scriptures fueled the Reformation, threw off the shackles of Medieval superstitions, and showed people the real Gospel - Justification by Faith, apart from the works of the Law.
The Scriptures Judge the Papacy
I. Forgiveness
Romans 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
This is the first and most important break from the Papacy, and yet the Protestants - including many Lutherans - are willing to surrender this truth to any form of false teaching they encounter and admire. All false religions are invented by man, and they revolve around man earning forgiveness - or almost earning forgiveness.
The genius of the Papacy is keeping most of the Bible complete while gutting its meaning by adding and requiring works. Works must be added to faith for the forgiveness of sin, but those works are never enough. The only promise of eternal peace is dying for the Catholic Faith, though no one is certain.
Medieval Catholic doctrine found a friend in the pagan concept of a Purgatory cleansing people of their sins after death, through the soul's suffering and the faithful praying and donating for their ultimate rest in Heaven. They are glad to say that they agree with Plato's concept of Purgatory, but so much more has been added. Fear is the best ingredient for conformity, as we have seen with Wuhan Flu. This fear moves evil people to donate their estates to the Church (not unlike Schwan Food's founder) to pay for their sins.
The effect is to torture people who are already in anguish about their sins. Almost every message is our culture is the Law. The wise of this age will list a host of sins, some real some fad sins (like using plastic grocery bags), but their answer is to cure the sins revealed by the Law with more Law. "You have to do this!..."
The Holy Spirit teaches us throughout Scriptures that faith in Jesus the Savior is access to God's grace, forgiveness, and love. This faith concept has been weakened, almost removed, by rationalists armed with horrible translations of corrupted texts. Increasingly, more is erased by the great and wise.
The Papacy tried to argue the Scriptures when dealing with the Reformation, but they were shellacked every time, so they removed the authority from the Bible moved it to the visible Church. The highest teaching authority became the Pope and whatever he taught from his throne. That was an enormous temptation to increase fear and promote financial solutions for removing that fear, but never entirely. Purgatory is wonderful as a type of trust fund where there is a torture for centuries for any given sin remaining after a lifetime - or a dying moment - of contrition.
The Gospel is not for the proud and arrogant, but for the sorrowful, the meek, the anguished souls that long for the righteousness of faith. The Pope says he will provide that service, partially, with the rest of the payments coming due after death. That means the Son of God did not do enough for us when He died on the cross, so we must finish the work of forgiveness. But access to this grace is by faith in Jesus Christ. The Papacy offers a lifetime and then some of bearing the burden of sin ourselves. The Gospel promises forgiveness each and every day through this Gospel of the Savior.
II Power and Authority
Many ancient writers taught the power and authority of the Scriptures, but when the Western Roman Empire collapsed around 400 AD, the Church gained control by being the government of Europe with the same language - Latin. Although this varied with the leaders, the Pope was often the primary authority for all things secular and religious in Europe.
To keep people in line and giving generously, the Papacy invented the authority of the Pope as being ultimate (a long struggle, but fully acknowledged now). The Papacy instilled fear, endless obligations, and entertainment.
What do we see as the greatest folly in Christendom now, so obvious that a journalist will spot it and call it "McChurch?" - food and fun and grand buildings! Like the failure Robert Schuller, the current ringmasters tell everyone - "We have IT! Look at our buildings! Look at our grounds! Look at our endowments!" The Pope and the little Antichrists see themselves as significant, relevant, powerful - if everyone is in awe of their material success.
Isaiah 55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth:
a - it shall not return unto me void,
b - but it shall accomplish that which I please, and
c - it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
The entire cycle of weather and food is briefly condensed to show the rain and snow are like the Word of God. Three Promises teach:
a. God's Word never returns empty - the double negative excludes all exceptions.
b. God's Word accomplishes His purpose.
c. God's Word prospers His purpose.
The have-to laws are completely contrary to Isaiah. No institution is grander than the Papacy in abandoning the Word for these have-to laws:
We have to have a world figure as our leader.
We have to have the world's largest and oldest institution.
We have to have splendid buildings with the richest features.
We have to gather people in enormous numbers.
We have to depress the others with our grand Papal Mass.
We have to have money and endowments beyond all human dreams.
Luther wrote out his books by hand. Sometimes they were created from notes by faithful associates. He simply responded to the needs of the moment and used the Scriptures to address the issues. When we think in terms of material success and institutions, we betray the Scriptures and the Reformation.
The Church without Walls slipped off the tracks and ended up with mortgages of 29 million dollars. They also teach financial planning, which is like WELS and Missouri teaching fellowship principles and financial planning.
III Papacy - The Scriptures Are Confusing and Incomplete
The outcome of the basic papal errors is to claim that the Scriptures are confusing, contradictory, and incomplete. This was their answer to the Reformation saying that the Scriptures are clear, in perfect harmony, and inerrant. Most of what the Reformation taught was already known or taught some of the ancient fathers, but that was eroded as the Papacy grew stronger and even more when the Reformation mortally wounded the Vatican.
The modernists took the NT volume called Vaticanus and used its errors to corrupt the New Testament text. This made playing with the NT text a game for a limited field of liberal scholars who loved the readings that contradicted the vast majority of all witnesses. It is like saying "redheads have freckles." Then one in a thousand has no freckles. So the new rule is "No redheads have freckles." If someone argues, the new thinker says, "Scholars agree that redheads do not have freckles. You must be mistaken or just a trouble-maker."
Anyone can see where this Papal attitude takes people.
They give up studying the Bible on its own.
They are fodder for any crazy Biblical theory.
They become confused about doctrinal fads and practices.
They see no reason to get the best Bible and to read the best sources. All opinions matter.
The opposite is true, because the Word always has an effect, one so powerful in the long run that we cannot deny its divine effectiveness.
As the General Council emphasized, the purer the teaching, the more powerful it is. The farther away from Biblical truth, the weaker and less effective the message is.
