LutheranLectionary.org

1 Year Lectionary – Tenth Sunday After Trinity – Sunday, August 21, 2022 | Pr. Chris Rosebrough

Welcome to the Teaching Ministry of Kongsvinger Lutheran Church. Kongsvinger is a beacon for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of Northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone, and now, here’s a message from Pastor Chris Rosebrough:

Time Stamp	Transcript
0:22	The holy gospel according
0:29	to saint luke the 19th chapter
0:38	when jesus drew near and saw the city he wept over it saying o wood that you even
0:44	you had known on this day the things that make for peace but now they are hidden from your eyes for the days will
0:51	come upon you when your enemies shall set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every
0:56	side and tear you down to the ground you and your children within you and they will not leave one stone upon another in
1:03	you because you did not know the time of your visitation he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold
1:09	saying to them it is written my house shall be a house of prayer but you have made it into a den of robbers and he was
1:15	teaching daily in the temple and the chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking
1:20	to destroy him but they did not find anything that they could do for all the people were hanging on his words this is
1:26	the gospel of the lord in the name of jesus all right you’re going to note here our
1:32	gospel text has all law that’s kind of awkward but we’re going to have to work with that so what we’re
1:38	going to do today we’re going to work through our old testament text first we’ll weave in a little bit of the gospel after that and then we’ll take a
1:44	look at our epistle text because that’s the only place i can go in our readings today to find anything resembling the
1:50	gospel so we have to do law and gospel correctly so what we’re going to do we’ll start with jeremiah in jeremiah
1:57	you’ll note that i’ve said it before i’ll say it again the times of jeremiah were extremely treacherous jeremiah was
2:03	the last of the prophets to prophesy to apostate judah who had gone into rank in
2:10	egregious over-the-top abominations and sin namely beginning with their
2:16	syncretism that’s kind of our term for the day syncretism this belief that
2:21	somehow all religions are true and so what they did is they decided
2:27	they were going to give yahweh a wife they set up a false image to the goddess shira inside of the holy of holies they
2:35	set up incense altars to be all they send up incense also to the starry
2:40	host of heaven in all of all places inside of solomon’s temple
2:46	and i would note there’s a an interesting thing that is happening in our day the gnostics of our day point
2:53	to that time in israel’s history as if somehow that’s real judaism as if really
3:00	this idea that yahweh doesn’t have a wife and that there is only one god who constantly uses only male pronouns that
3:07	somehow that’s an aberration brought about by constantinian constantine’s thumb and fist down on the
3:15	christian church it’s an interesting narrative but it’s false and unfortunately there are a lot of people
3:21	who call themselves christians who buy into those types of narratives and then of course i always like to point out
3:27	that something really weird happened at one of the church council meetings there for solomon’s temple because they
3:32	thought it would be a really good idea not only to worship other gods inside of solomon’s temple but also to set up a
3:38	brothel a brothel with male cult shrine prostitutes work that one out you know
3:44	that one’s just strange if you think about it and so this is the world this is the
3:49	apostasy that jeremiah was preaching against and god was the one dictating the message and giving him the words
3:57	says this you shall say to them thus says yahweh when men fall do they not rise again
4:04	now this is a good question now here in minnesota you will note that it depends on what time of the year you fall if you
4:10	happen to be falling like during like the springtime you know what i’m saying i don’t mind snow snow’s fine okay
4:17	snow is beautiful it’s pretty it’s when we get into like march and in the day it melts
4:22	and in the at night it turns into a hockey rink right you’ll note that und hockey actually practices in my driveway
4:29	during that time of the year okay but i’m convinced that well that the ice is out to kill me
4:36	so if you fall on because you’ve slipped on ice you have a good chance of like breaking your hip or something to that
4:44	effect so note then um we we would put an asterisk here when god asks when people fall do they not rise again it
4:50	depends on if they’re in minnesota okay that that’s the answer to the question but he goes on and says if one turns
4:56	away does he not return why then has this people turned away in perpetual
5:03	backsliding and here we have to take a look at this word backsliding for a second because when i was growing up in
5:08	the nazarene church backsliding meant that you were playing cards that you
5:14	were watching movies that were rated more than pg that you were you get the
5:19	idea that you were dancing or drinking or smoking or you were backsliding but that’s not what he’s referring to
5:25	backsliding here is backsliding into rank idolatry
5:30	and you’re gonna note here this is a breaking of the first commandment you will have no other gods the breaking of the seven the second commandment you
5:36	shall not take the name of the lord your god in vain this is also going on here and you have to ask the question how
5:43	does one how does a society that’s supposedly based on the bible believes in the one
5:49	true god get to this point well there’s some interesting things
5:54	that are kind of hinted at here and i’ll keep going on and god says the reason for all this is because they
6:00	hold fast to deceit and they refuse to return
6:06	which means there are people out there who are lying through their teeth about
6:12	god and what he requires and assuring people that it’s okay to worship these
6:17	other deities yahweh isn’t really that uptight about this kind of stuff but he
6:23	is and so they because they’re holding on to these false teachers and the deceit
6:29	that’s coming from their mouth they refuse to return i have paid attention and they’ve
6:34	listened but god says they haven’t spoken rightly and as a result of this
6:39	no man relents of his evil saying what have i done you’ll note that the expectation
6:46	is when you rightly handle god’s word when you preach the message of the scriptures you’re going to get two big
6:53	doctrines the law which condemns us of our sin and the gospel which assures us
6:58	of god’s mercy and grace but it is never a fun experience to look into the law of
7:04	god then look at your life then look at the law of god and then look at your life because at some point
7:12	the light bulb goes on and you go what have i done this is a good state to be in by the way
7:18	to ask yourself the question what have i done but because they’re holding fast to
7:24	deceit they’re not being confronted with their sins they’re being given
7:29	false rhetorical arguments that make it sound like yahweh is okay with this sin
7:35	when he’s not and as a result of it the text then says everyone turns to his own
7:41	course like a horse plunging headlong into battle and there’s your problem
7:47	right there as my mechanic would say well there’s your problem you followed your own course you’re following your
7:52	own heart i assure you do not follow the advice of the barbie movie do not follow
7:59	your own heart your own heart will lead you to hell and don’t ask me how i know what the message of the barbie movie is
8:04	i won’t even confess it publicly but to say that i know okay
8:10	the barbie movie is telling you a lie but you’re going to know that same message is in practically every single
8:16	disney movie as well follow your heart your heart is wicked your heart is deceived is deceived your heart is black
8:23	and dead you follow your heart at your own expense well the expense of your eternal soul
8:30	so as a result of this you’ll know that throughout scriptures every time it talks about people following their own
8:37	heart doing what they thought was right in their own eyes it’s never praising them for doing so
8:43	it’s always condemning them and you’ll note that one of paul’s big prophecies
8:48	about the apostasy in the last days that in the visible church people will not
8:53	endure sound doctrine and instead they will gather to themselves teachers who
8:59	will tell them what their itching ears want to hear i want to hear how i can give money so
9:06	that i can become rich i want to hear how i can be healthy wealthy wise command decree declare blah blah blah
9:14	blah blah right and so the landscape is filled with a bunch of yahoos like this but you’re
9:19	going to note god is no universalist there is truth and there is error and so
9:25	god’s notes every one of them like a horse plunges headlong into battle but even the stork in the heavens knows her
9:32	times that’s a polite way of saying the birds are not as bird-brained as you are and the turtledove the swallow and the
9:39	crane they keep the time of their coming but my people they know not the rules of yahweh and that’s odd because they
9:46	actually have the scriptures so how can you say we are wise and the law of yahweh is
9:53	with us and here’s kind of the rub but behold the lying pen
10:00	of the scribes has made it into a lie ah the scribblers ah the book writers right
10:08	have you guys ever been to a bible study where they didn’t crack open a bible
10:13	it’s a weird experience if you think about it there we are we’re going to be studying beth moore’s latest book well
10:20	last time i checked beth moore is not an author of scripture weird right and you’re going to note here that many
10:26	people who come under the influence of today’s christian books are often the ones who are most vehemently against
10:33	sound doctrine and oppose it i remember the day i remember the day when brian
10:39	mclaren’s book a generous orthodoxy came onto the scene are you familiar with
10:44	this book at all by the way a generous orthodoxy let let me take a look at the cover of this thing if i can
10:51	well actually i don’t even have it up anymore oh bummer for me i’ll just have to find it because it’s so interesting
10:58	in brian mclaren’s book a generous orthodoxy brian mclaren claims and i kid
11:03	you not that somebody can be a christian and also
11:09	well well believe in jesus or believe in muhammad or believe the teachings of
11:16	buddha or shiva or vishnu in fact he kind of puts it this way that people can
11:21	be followers of god in the way of jesus they can be followers of god in the way
11:27	of muhammad and who are we to judge and you’re going to note there’s a term for
11:32	that and the term for that is is not syncretism but universalism
11:37	universalism and in the cover hang on a second here i’m going to pull this up
11:43	because i had it and then my my my thing crashed orth
11:49	oh doxy yes there we go generous orthodoxy listen to the cover of just the cover of this thing it’s just
11:55	stunning in the things that it says hang on a second it says here we go genesis orthodoxy brian mclaren says why
12:02	i am a missional evangelical post-protestant liberal conservative mystical poetic biblical charismatic
12:10	contemplative fundamentalist calvinist anabaptist anglican methodist catholic green incarnational depressed
12:17	yet hopeful emergent unfinished christian let that one sink in for a second what
12:24	on earth is he saying is he saying that he believes in flaming snowflakes does he believe in round
12:29	squares or does he believe in square triangles what are we to make of this nonsense and here’s where i’m going to
12:36	note something and that is is that this so-called generous orthodoxy is the same
12:41	kind of syncretism and universalism that we saw judah being judged for by god in
12:49	jeremiah and i’m going to say something very unpopular here but it needs to be said
12:55	over the past year and a half i have done a deep dive study into initiatic
13:01	secret societies not just one but many of them and the one thing i found in
13:07	common with all of them is that there is a kind of a core group that all believes
13:12	this same kind of universalism now that doesn’t mean that everybody in these initiatic societies believes this
13:18	because a lot of them really kind of just consider these cl these these societies to be like
13:24	fraternal orders or community organizations but i would note that there are those who are core within
13:31	them that are full-blown gnostics most notably is a fellow by the name of
13:37	manley p hall if you’re familiar with him he was a free mason and he wrote in
13:42	his book called the lost keys of freemasonry listen to this he says a true mason is not creed bound
13:50	he realizes with the divine illumination of his lodge that as mason his religion
13:56	must be universal christ buddha or muhammad the name means
14:02	little for he recognizes only the light but not the light bearer that’s an
14:08	interesting statement have you ever heard somebody talk about how jesus is well he is one of the christ or the
14:16	christ came upon him he’s not the light he’s the bearer of the light yeah now you’re getting into gnosticism and he
14:22	says he recognizes only the not only the light but not the lightbearer he worships at every shrine he bows before
14:30	every altar whether in temple mosque or cathedral realizing with his truer
14:35	understanding the oneness of all spiritual truth and that’s kind of the
14:40	thing he says with his truer understanding with these initiatic societies it’s all about the
14:48	light ever more increasing light you’re trying to become more and more illumined
14:54	and you have these aha moments where you realize you can’t trust what the bible says on its face it has a deeper more
15:01	spiritual esoteric meaning that you’ve got to follow and that that’s the thing that’s really true
15:07	so he says all true nations know that they are only our own
15:13	they only are heathen who have great ideals but not live up to them they know
15:18	that all religions are but one story told in diverse ways for people who
15:24	whose ideals differ but whose great purpose is in harmony with masonic ideals north east south and west they
15:32	stretch the diversities of human thought and while the ideals of man apparently differ when all is said and the
15:38	crystallization of form with its false concepts then is swept away one basic truth remains all existing things are
15:46	temple builders laboring for a single end no true mason can be narrow for his
15:51	lodge is the divine expression of all broadness there is no place for little
15:58	minds in a great work now i would note not all masons believe
16:04	this and the reason why he wrote this book that the lost keys of freemasonry is because manly hall who is a freemason
16:10	not some kind of secret society guy who’s claiming their conspiracy theories he was embedded in all of this he was
16:17	claiming that the lodge needs to get back to this universalism that was his
16:22	appeal and this esoteric understanding but this is exactly what brian mclaren
16:28	is promoting that same kind of concept that’s exactly what jeremiah was
16:33	preaching against that same kind of universal syncretism and so he goes on
16:40	god says how can you say we are wise the law of the lord is with us but the lying pen of the scribes has made it into a
16:46	lie the wise men then shall be put to shame they shall be dismayed and they
16:52	will be taken behold they have rejected the word of yahweh so what wisdom then is in them and that’s the point if you
17:00	claim to be wise yet reject the words of god you are a fool
17:06	because the beginning of wisdom requires you to confess that god is lord
17:12	and that he is the one who is the truth not you he is the one who decides what truth is not you and by the way there is
17:20	salvation in no other than in jesus christ full stop period end of sentence
17:27	the end the if in fact if you are trying to save yourself by your good works by your
17:33	community service by worshiping a different god or worshiping many gods you will perish eternally scripture says
17:40	for salvation is only in christ and you sit there and go but that’s so negative that’s so bigoted that’s so close-minded
17:48	yeah get over it it is all of that narrow is the path that leads to eternal
17:54	life broad is the road that leads to eternal destruction those are the words of christ jesus was no universalist
18:02	and you’ll note that even christ notes that on the last day the charismatics
18:07	will say to him lord did we not cast out demons in your name do we not perform great signs and wonders in your name did
18:14	we yeah right he’s away from me i never knew you christ is
18:19	no universalist and false jesuses and false doctrine cannot save you false esoteric
18:26	interpretations are just that false these are deceits these are deceitful
18:31	concepts that undermine the truth and unfortunately we’re awash in this kind of thinking
18:37	have you noticed how intolerant the tolerance crowd is
18:44	oh the irony oh the irony right but god then says this
18:50	their wise men will be put to shame they will be dismayed and they will be taken behold they have rejected the word of
18:55	yahweh so what wisdom is in them therefore i will give their wives to others and their fields to conquerors
19:02	because from the least to the greatest everyone is greedy for unjust gain from prophet to priest everyone deals falsely
19:10	and there it is the whole system had gone to seed
19:15	those who should be preaching the truth and calling others to repentance priests and prophet alike they’re all greedy for
19:22	just unjust gain and nobody’s speaking the truth they have healed the wound of
19:27	my people lightly saying peace peace when there is no peace
19:32	boy that sounds familiar first thessalonians chapter 5 paul talking about in the last days before the return
19:39	of christ people would be saying peace peace when destruction would come on them suddenly and so you’re going to
19:46	note here the peace that is being referred to by jeremiah is not the peace
19:51	that we currently as the united states enjoy with like the united kingdom or
19:56	the european union or australia it’s true we’re not lobbing bombs at them nor
20:01	are we pointing missiles at them we don’t ever have anyone talking about how we could potentially get into a shooting
20:08	war with australia we’d win that one by the way but you know nothing against the aussies i’ve seen their military it’s a
20:14	joke but all of that being said that’s not the kind of piece that’s being talked about here
20:21	this is the kind of peace that we all need the peace that we have that comes from
20:28	god peace with god you’ll note that each and every one of us were born dead in trespasses and sins and we were hostile
20:36	to god none of us gets to claim that we were born good as a blank slate no each and
20:42	every one one of us were born as belligerent well rebels who wanted to do god in and as a
20:51	result of it god wants peace with his creatures he wants peace with you and with me but that calls us to lay down
20:58	our arms to surrender and to recognize that we were in the wrong and that we have sinned grievously against god so
21:05	people were saying peace peace when there is no peace and were they ashamed when they committed abomination no they
21:12	were not ashamed at all they didn’t even know how to blush and you can just see
21:17	it all the way back then because it happens now today right some nice jewish
21:24	lady in jerusalem was hearing the new in vogue doctrines that as they were
21:29	putting in the ashirapole and the incense altars and stuff like this saying is it really true that i can
21:34	worship but all in yahweh’s temple that doesn’t seem to make sense and they were
21:40	saying yahweh isn’t really upset with this kind of stuff you just need to be more open-minded and more tolerant and
21:46	well i don’t want to be wrong and of course we know that rabbi shiva he said
21:51	that this is okay so who are you to say that you know better than rabbi shiva well now that you put it that way
21:58	right this is how this works and then you’ll know in our day i’m going to point to a person that i
22:05	know personally nadia bulls weber i’m going to hold her up as an example
22:10	of somebody who was incapable of blushing or ashamed in her latest book she openly talks about the adultery she
22:18	committed against her husband her marriage by the way failed and she was committing adultery with a
22:24	somebody who she had a romantic tryst with prior to getting married so one of her older boyfriends and in her book she
22:32	describes her adulterous intercourse with her old lover while she
22:38	was married as as a cleansing experience it was like having you know the the bad
22:44	skin rubbed off your your body with a loofah sponge and says it was very therapeutic
22:50	and reading that i thought do you not have any shame at all
22:58	do you not have any shame were they not ashamed when they committed abomination no they weren’t
23:04	ashamed at all they didn’t even know how to blush and that’s where false doctrine leads
23:10	rank sin is excused it’s winked at
23:15	it’s no big deal i remember back in the day you guys remember long ago it seems like a really
23:22	long time ago when it was actually a debated issue as to whether or not same-sex marriages even were a thing
23:30	right and the elca kind of led the way and or and basically organizing the blessing of
23:37	same-sex marriages now it’s so long ago since they’ve done that you know there was like there’s nothing to it but i
23:43	remember at the time i actually confronted nadia bulls weber in public she was speaking in public at an
23:48	emergent conference and i asked her straight up i said nadia you see where the elc is going they’re just on the
23:54	cusp of getting ready to you know to bless same-sex marriages i said what’s next polyamory
24:01	and she said i don’t see any reason why that shouldn’t be a problem well that should be a problem
24:07	at the time she refused to speak out against even that and by the way when she committed
24:13	adultery was she defrocked by the elca no she’s still considered to
24:19	be a rostered pastor this is where false doctrine takes us
24:25	this is where this universalism takes us were they ashamed when they committed abomination no they were not ashamed at
24:31	all they didn’t even know how to blush therefore they shall fall among the fallen when i punish them they shall be
24:37	overthrown note god makes it clear where the end of this goes and it’s not a good end
24:43	and jesus now in our gospel text jesus he draws near to jerusalem he’s a week
24:49	out now from being crucified and when he gets to the city he sees it
24:54	and he weeps over it to heart torn into and he says of jerusalem would that you
25:01	even you had known on this day the things that make for peace
25:07	but they don’t they didn’t know the things that make for peace do you know the things that make for peace the kind
25:13	of peace that christ is talking about but no but now they’re hidden from your eyes these for the days will come upon
25:20	you when your enemies will set up a barricade around you surround you hem you in on every side tear you down to
25:26	the ground you and your children within and this is god’s judgment god exacting
25:32	the last punishment clauses of the mosaic covenant upon them and they will not leave one stone upon another in you
25:38	because you did not know the time of your visitation so brothers and sisters i would note
25:44	here pay attention to christ’s words that we need to make heed of what the
25:50	day is note today is the day of our visitation today is the day of grace and i cannot promise that tomorrow will be
25:57	because we do not know when christ will return the days of grace are coming to an end
26:03	very abruptly maybe soon that being the case oh would that you
26:08	had even known on this day the things that make for peace and the peace here we’re talking about is the peace with
26:13	god and unfortunately the jews decided they wanted to kill christ couldn’t figure
26:19	out how to do it in our gospel text they said they were seeking to destroy him but they didn’t find anything that they
26:24	could do for all the people were hanging on his words but they succeeded a week later
26:30	and as odd as this sounds thank god they did i know that sounds weird because christ came to jerusalem in
26:36	order to make peace with god christ through his blood makes peace with god for you christ because he bore
26:44	your sins on the cross he has taken away the enmity and has given us the true
26:50	peace that reconciles us to god the father and so you’ll note then that we
26:55	here have gathered in the name of jesus and where two or more are gathered he is truly present today is the day of our
27:01	visitation and peace with god is the thing that we need we need to abandon all of our idolatry we need to abandon
27:08	every vestige of our blasphemies and false doctrines that we have held on to
27:14	and know that there is salvation only in christ he is the one who makes peace with god
27:21	for us and gives us that peace as a gift by grace through faith and so you’ll
27:27	note then in our epistle text and here’s where the gospel really shines through
27:32	paul points out that unbelieving jews of his day he really laments the fact that they are
27:39	not believing in christ and he does not pull any punches he makes it very clear
27:45	that they stand outside of salvation by rejecting jesus as the messiah paul says
27:50	what shall we say then that gentiles who didn’t even pursue righteousness that
27:56	they have attained it that is the righteousness that is by faith yeah
28:02	so you’ll note that paul here is writing to gentiles and jews in rome and noting
28:08	that the gentiles who who were born ranked pagans didn’t know anything about
28:14	the covenants of israel that when they heard the gospel and were brought to repentance and trusted in christ that
28:20	they had received then from god the righteousness that is given by grace
28:26	through faith they attained it not by striving for it as if somehow it depended upon their
28:32	morality they attained it by faith as a gift but israel jews they pursued a law
28:40	that would lead to righteousness they didn’t succeed in reaching that law why because they didn’t pursue it by faith
28:47	but as if it were based on works they have then stumbled over the stumbling
28:52	stone that is christ by the way as it is written behold i am laying in zion a stone of stumbling a rock of offense but
29:00	whoever believes in him will not be put to shame
29:05	brian mclaren is wrong there are no followers of god in the way of islam
29:10	there are no followers of god in the way of buddha shiva vishnu ashtaroth or
29:16	whatever there are only followers of god who are believers in christ the stumbling stone
29:23	who gives us righteousness as a gift righteousness that we need desperately
29:29	because only the righteous will stand before god so behold i am laying in zion a stor a stone of stumbling a rock of
29:36	offense but whoever believes in him you me jew gentile greek slave free old
29:43	young whoever trusts in christ will never be put to shame because he is
29:49	peace he is the way of peace he is the one who gives us peace with god so
29:54	brothers and sisters stop listening to the scribblers stop listening to the people who opine
30:00	with their opinions and exalt their opinions above the scripture there is salvation only in christ and i know that
30:07	sounds narrow but that’s what the scripture says and anyone who tells you otherwise is a liar and a deceiver do
30:15	not hold fast to their deceit or you will suffer the same fate that those of
30:20	the time of jeremiah suffered when god finally acted in judgment but in christ because he has bled and died for your
30:26	sins and all of your idolatry all of your blasphemies all of your despising of his word
30:33	there is forgiveness in him life and hope because what christ gives he gives in abundance and only the ungodly who
30:40	trust in him are saved recognize that that is you ask yourself the question what have i done because let that sink
30:47	in you have done evil and you have believed evil participated in evil but Christ he has borne all of that in his
30:54	body so that you can be forgiven reconciled and truly have peace with God
30:59	in the name of Jesus amen

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