The First Sunday in Lent.
The
Collect.
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O
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LORD who for our sake didst fast
forty days and forty nights; Give us grace to use such abstinence, that, our
flesh being subdued to the Spirit we may ever obey thy godly motions in
righteousness, and true holiness, to thy honour and glory, who livest and
reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.
This Collect is addressed directly to the Lord Jesus Christ and is an original
Collect written by the Reformers for the 1549 Book of Common Prayer. This
Collect replaces the medieval collect which called for strict fasting and good
works as a means of earning merit – a view alien to the New Testament faith.
The Collect is based upon Hebrews 4:15 - 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. Christ was tempted with
our same feelings of infirmity, yet remained sinless.
Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of
the devil. (Matt 4:1) What are we told in this text was
the purpose of the Spirit leading Christ into the wilderness? It was for the
purpose of being tempted. Christ faced three cardinal temptations, 1)
Temptations of the Flesh. 2) Temptations of the Mind. And 3) Temptations of the
Spirit. (Mind, Body, and Soul, we might say).
It
was a sore temptation at that. Christ was tempted, first of all, in His fleshly
desire for nourishing bread: And when the tempter came to him, he said,
If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread
(Matt 4:3) Despite His ravening hunger, Christ refused the temptation of Satan:
It is written, Man shall not live by bread
alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
(Matt 4:4) It is noteworthy that Satan usually, and he does here, begin his
tempting airs with a question in order to establish doubt. But Christ relies
not upon human understanding, but always responds to the temptations with these
three words: IT IS WRITTEN! We, too,
rather than leaning on our own understanding, must appeal to the Word of God in
our defense.
Secondly, Satan appeals to the mind (pride and logic): Then the devil
taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, 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.
(Matt 4:5-6 ) Here Satan appeals to the logic and rationale of the mind. Surely
God has promised in the 91st Psalm to defend us as Satan
states. So why not go ahead and put God to the test and prove, for the sake of
pride, that Christ is the Son of God? This is a direct appeal to the mind of
man and not the Mind of God. But the Mind of Christ is truly the Mind of God. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not
tempt the Lord thy God. (Matt 4:7 )
Thirdly, and finally, Satan appeals to the spiritual: 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; And saith unto him, All
these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
(Matt 4:8-9) Satan promises, always, that which he cannot deliver. Even though
he is prince of the air, and lower kingdoms, what he promises Christ is a lie!
If Christ were to succumb to the temptation of worshipping Satan, all would be
lost. Though Christ is physically able to sin, His virtue and nature as Son of
God forbid it. 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. (Matt 4:10) When Satan has released
his fiery salvos against mind, body, and soul, and we yet resist, he will leave
us alone for a time. Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came
and ministered unto him. (Matt 4:11) Every temptation resisted builds
strong spiritual bones and muscles.
Archbishop Cranmer's salient point in this Collect is not that of warfare
between flesh and spirit, but more emphatically the discipline exercised
through all of our human faculties by the Holy Spirit of God. In the granting
of sovereignty of that Spirit in our lives, and the obedience thereto, it becomes
a natural tendency to resist evil rather than the more common natural
inclination to sin. This is the process of sanctification working in the
members (all members) of each Christian soul. We must not excuse certain sins
as owing to a weak flesh and contrary to a willing spirit. We must resist sin
in our whole being – mind, body and soul at once. For God hath not
given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
(2 Tim 1:7) Need I remind you that the strongest of these is love because love
is life in Christ: For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor
angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor
height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from
the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)
This prayer points out that our abstinence from sin comes not at our own power,
but that endowed us by the Holy Spirit. Give us grace to use such
abstinence, that, our flesh being subdued to the Spirit we may ever obey thy
godly motions in righteousness, and true holiness, to thy honour and glory.
Further we must know that owing to our only righteous works belonging to God who
works in us, all honor and glory are His and not our own goodness.
When temptations arise, will you tell the Devil to "get behind you?"
For each of his wily temptations will you rely, not upon his oft-misquoted and
twisted scripture, but the pure, infallible Word of God in your response? If
so, victory shall be yours!
