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
The Lord is the Strength of His people:
He is the saving Strength of His anointed.
Save Thy people and bless Thine inheritance:
feed them also and lift them up forever.
Psalm. Unto Thee will I cry, O Lord, my Rock; be not silent unto me: lest, if Thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit.
The Gloria Patri The Kyrie p. 17 The Gloria in Excelsis The Salutation and Collect p. 19
Collect
Lord of all power and might, who art the Author and Giver of all good things, graft in our hearts the love of Thy name, increase in us true religion, nourish us with all goodness, and of Thy great mercy keep us in the same; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth, etc.
The Epistle and Gradual
Gradual
He shall call to the heavens from above:
and to the earth that He may judge His people.
V. The heavens shall declare His righteousness:
for God is Judge Himself. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
V. The ransomed of the Lord shall come to Zion with everlasting joy upon their lands:
they shall obtain joy and gladness,
and sorrow and weeping shall fly away.
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 #50Lord, Dismiss Us
In Our Prayers
Diagnosis and treatment, Sarah Buck; Maria Ellenberger Way and Kermit Way; Pastor Jim Shrader and Chris Shrader; Callie and her parents; those suffering from emotional and metabolic distress; those we name in our hearts.
Twenty more KJV Bibles were ordered for children and will arrive this week. Cost - $5 each.
Best Buy will have a Geek Squad techie here this coming Saturday, roughly speaking. Codec is an issue in muffling the sound. It can involve Vimeo and individual computers.
Sixth Sunday After Trinity
Lord God, heavenly Father, we confess that we are poor, wretched sinners, and that there is no good in us, our hearts, flesh and blood being so corrupted by sin, that we never in this life can be without sinful lust and concupiscence; therefore we beseech Thee, dear Father, forgive us these sins, and let Thy Holy Spirit so cleanse our hearts that we may desire and love Thy word, abide by it, and thus by Thy grace be forever saved; through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.
KJV Romans 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: 6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. 7 For he that is dead is freed from sin. 8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: 9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. 10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. 11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
KJV Matthew 5:20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. 21 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: 22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. 23 Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; 24 Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. 25 Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. 26 Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.
The Problem with Anger
KJV Matthew 5:20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
This is not Jesus preaching that the Pharisees were outwardly evil. Everyone knew they were scrupulous in their own laws and traditions. Instead, Jesus is saying there is a lot more involved than the righteousness of the Law. For those relying on their own works, this was shocking, completely different from what the scribes and Pharisees were teaching.
The crowd said - "He preaches with divine authority, not like the scribes and Pharisees."
21 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:
Almost everyone would be exonerated if they had never killed someone. But Jesus is leading into something else, and Luther preached a sermon on this topic - anger - when using this text to illustrate.
22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
It is easy to get stuck on these categories. This is an issue involving the most common category of our negative emotions - anger. As a country, we are a nation of angry laws, which grow in venom and minute detail every day. Not long ago, people who honored the Fifth Freedom - the Freedom To Breathe - were handed rebukes and insulting gestures. These were not polite requests to don masks and swab gym equipment with unlabeled purple goop - they were giving orders, often sneering orders and threats. On a passenger jet I was told I could breathe without a mask only if I was drinking coffee. I kept sipping mine and asking for refills - and breathing.
Luther's sermon on anger, based on the Trinity 6 reading from the Sermon on the Mount, deals with our abuse of anger, which so easily becomes a sin and places us on the same level as the scribes and Pharisees.
KJV Ephesians 4:26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
Anger itself is not necessarily a sin, but dwelling on it can easily build its destructive power. Not forgiving builds up the negative emotions and ruins peace of mind, friendships, and marriages. What comes "naturally" is from our sinful self, and that must be washed away.
The foundation is Christ, not our emotions, because He took on all the evil, wrath, and torture that mankind suffers from and He made it His own. That is why the modernists mock the atoning death of Jesus, because they cannot imagine God doing this for all and graciously taking that away from us and replacing it with graces and the fruits of the Spirit.
That is where we must return, to those two little verse that ends up being central to the Gospel - though ignored so often. The Holy Spirit will condemn the world of its sin, because they do not believe in what He did, suffered, rose from the dead, and ascended into Heaven.
KJV John 8 And when He [the Holy Spirit through teaching and preaching the Word] is come, He will reprove [accuse, condemn] the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
9 Of sin, because they believe not on Me;
The central topic of all sermons, lessons, and books must be condemning the angry world for its unbelief. That is because this singular blessing is ignored and the world continues to rage and get worse.
The sermon and the teaching are not provided to raise funds for the new church addition or school gym, not for supporting the denomination's new and very pretty office building, not for re-writing the Bible for modern times.
8. Therefore Christ here takes energetic action, and abolishes anger wholly and completely in the entire world, draws it to himself and says: I do not merely say, Thou shalt not kill, nor say Raca to thy brother, but thou shalt in no case be angry; the one is as solemnly and earnestly prohibited as the other.
For you are not told to judge or avenge yourself, and even though you are right and have a just cause, still your wrath is of the devil; as St. James in his James 1:20, says: “The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
23 Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; 24 Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.
The point is - why harbor grudges while bringing something to the altar? Since faith is central and foundational, everyone should flourish because of contrition and forgiveness.
25 Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. 26 Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.
So our whole conduct should be guided by this, that we do not contemplate or attempt anything of ourselves; but see what God enjoins, or does through his servants; this then God himself has done and all is good and proper.
The most ideal world we can have is one where we experience God's grace through the Gospel each and every day. Getting even is not the worst we can do, because getting especially even is our flawed nature. Every chance to let go of the anger is beneficial to both sides. Often it can be one-sided because of the Old Adam at work, but the standard is still there.
When I was in Canada, the youth leader played a film based on increasing revenge between neighbors as they got more furious with each other. One college student kept snickering and saying, "This has to be an American film." The student was quite the Canadian nationalist. As the film got increasingly grotesque, he raised his voice more and kept repeating his disdain for the creators of the film. The credits rolled - Made in Canada by the Ontario Film Board! I really wanted to laugh but stifled myself.
Someone asked for the definition of holiness or sanctification. I said, "When we are justified by faith in Jesus Christ and receive forgiveness, holiness follows."
Another way of expressing this is - the fruits of the Spirit follow - love, joy, peace - all the blessings given to us from remaining on the True Vine and being cleansed by the Spirit's work (John 15).
Our little congregation, world-wide, continues to be an example of the efficacious Word at work through the Means of Grace.
