Title: Christ Jesus has been tempted so that you have a way out!
The Lord’s Prayer: Sixth petition.
And lead us not into temptation
Text: Psalm 116:12-19
12 What shall I render to the LORD
for all his benefits to me?
13 I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the LORD,
14 I will pay my vows to the LORD
in the presence of all his people.
In the Sixth petition we pray, and lead us not into temptation.
And to this Luther asks the question: What does this mean?
And then proceeds to answer.
God, indeed, tempts no one; but we pray in this petition that God would guard and keep us, so that the devil, the world, and our flesh may not deceive us, nor seduce us into disbelief, despair, and other great shame and vice; and though we be assailed by them, that still we may finally overcome and gain the victory..
This is His gracious and good will.
Heavenly Father, it is during this season of Lent that we ask that you would bring we, who are sinful and unclean to repentance so that by your Holy Spirit we might see your leading in our lives as we are led in the paths of righteousness for your names sake. Amen
Christ Jesus has been tempted so that you have a way out!
13 I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the LORD,
“Luther says of this verse,” that it is the Word having spiritual understanding and meaning through faith.”
To this he adds, “The cup is in the hands of the Lord, that is scripture is in the power of God. He will give it to whomever he will, but he gives it to the humble. The cup, I say of pure wine, that is, of the purest understanding without the admixture of carnality [which are the things of this world] but savoring only spiritual things and causing people to savor spiritual things.”
AE Luther’s Works Vol. 10 pg. 459
Ill.
Leonard Ravenhill tells a story about a group of tourists visiting a [beautiful] picturesque village who walked by an old man sitting beside a fence. In a rather patronizing way, one tourist asked, "Were any great men born in this village?" The old man replied, "Nope, only babies." A frothy question brought a profound answer. We are all born as babies, both physically and spiritually, and need, by God’s grace and working of the Holy Spirit, his means of grace - through Word and sacrament - to bring each of us the gift of faith in Christ and the strengthening of that same faith for each one of us.
William C. Shereos.
Christ Jesus has been tempted so that you have a way out!
17 I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving
and call on the name of the LORD.
18 I will pay my vows to the LORD
in the presence of all his people,
19 in the courts of the house of the LORD,
where the congregation [God’s gathered people] assembled for public worship,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Praise the LORD!
[Here] all the believers of [all time] are joined in this hallelujah [of praise] in honor of the God of their salvation and paying their vows to Him in cheerful service.
Ill.
Author, Joseph Stowell writes in his book, Fan the Flame:
“The Greeks had a race in their Olympic games that was unique. The winner was not the runner who finished first. It was the runner who finished with his torch still lit.”
J. Stowell, Fan The Flame, Moody, 1986, p. 32.
By God’s grace and blessing we will run the race of faith in Christ, completing the course and receiving from God himself the crown of life.
One way that God does this is through his gifts and today we celebrate the institution of the Lord’s Supper.
We read in Mark chapter 14:
22 And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” 23 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. 24 And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. 25 Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
As Lutherans we take Jesus and His words for what they are, not reading more into them than what He said or believing less than what He meant.
In a real sense the Real Presence and our understanding of Jesus and the sacrament are truly profound but also very simple; bread and wine and body and blood - for the forgiveness of sins. Because through this blessed gift our faith is strengthened and God by this same faith guards and keep us, so that the devil, the world, and our flesh won’t deceive us, or lead us into unbelief, despair, and though we be attacked by them, we can stand firm in our faith and by, God’s working in us, may finally overcome and gain the victory.
Christ Jesus has been tempted so that you have a way out!
In this blessed gift we hear the words of institution and the elements are consecrated, we receive the bread and the wine by our mouth but in a sacramental way also receive Christ’s true body and blood. This we not fully understand but because Jesus says it is his body and blood it is so and all who come to the table receive this blessed gift.
Those who receive this by faith in Christ’s words given and shed for you receive the Lord’s blessed forgiveness, but St Paul in 1 Corinthians Chapter 11 reminds those who would receive this gift in an unworthy manner, not recognizing the body and blood of the Lord, judgment.
Christ Jesus has been tempted so that you have a way out!
Our Lord and savior Jesus Christ instituted the Lord’s Supper for you and for me so that we can receive Him and his forgiveness today and for all time until his return. Christ gives you as His child the blessed gift of His true body and blood so that you are connected to him, and he to you in this blessed way.
The obstacle of sin was place in the way between God and man. There was no way for man to get out of this predicament. God in Christ can to restore this relationship and the original righteousness that man was created with. In the sacrament you receive a foretaste of the joy and restoration that you have now but that which will be fully enjoyed in Heaven one day where all temptation will cease.
May God bring you comfort and peace in Christ by his gifts given for you in Word and Sacrament.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit!
Amen
No comments:
Post a Comment