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The First Sunday in Lent.
The
Collect.
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.
And due to
the rubric, the Collect for the Day is followed by the Collect for Ash
Wednesday, which is found on Page 124:
The first day of Lent, commonly called
Ash Wednesday.
Ash Wednesday.
The
Collect.
A
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LMIGHTY and everlasting God, who hatest
nothing that thou hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all those who are
penitent; Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily
lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the
God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen.
¶ This Collect is
to be said every day in Lent, after the Collect appointed for the day, until
Palm Sunday.
T
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HEN was Jesus led up of the spirit into
the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days
and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came to
him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made
bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread
alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. 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. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord
thy God. 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. 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. Then the devil
leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.
We learn much about
our Lord Jesus Christ as well as the ways of the Devil in today’s text. The
great sin that caused Lucifer to be cast down with his angels was the
foundation stone for all sin – PRIDE. “12 How
art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art
thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13 For
thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my
throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the
congregation, in the sides of the north: 14 I will ascend
above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. 15 Yet
thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. 16 They
that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying,
Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; 17 That made
the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened
not the house of his prisoners? 18 All the kings of the
nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house. 19 But
thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the
raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to
the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet. (Isaiah 14:9-19)
The
story is told of a young boy who was admiring the lovely goldfish of his parent’s
pond. They glided through the water as if no effort whatsoever was required.
The boy subconsciously uttered, “Oh, how I wish I could swim through the water
as you do, Mr. Fish!” The fish responded, “But what is water?” If we
have no opposing examples of a great blessing, we may appreciate it less. The
fish has never known an environment that was not comprised of water. If we
lived in a world in which there was no temptation, we would have no means to
develop and measure character. That is what temptations do.
Let us, from the
beginning, recognize certain facts borne out in the text:
1.
We could not appreciate light if there was no darkness; or cold
without heat, or good health without sickness; or success in sports without
failure; or height without depth.
2.
Temptation measures character. Without temptations, no challenge
to character.
3.
Fire tempers metal and makes it more solid and firm; so does
temptation build character.
4.
Our Lord came as a Man to demonstrate perfect character that
withstands temptation. The more of a man or woman we are, the better character
we will represent in our lives.
5.
All temptations of Christ came from outside, and not inside, His
soul: and He never submitted to any of them.
Now, let us examine
the text for our own profit:
Forty Days and Forty
Nights
Sound familiar? The
rains gushed forth and the great fountains of the deep erupted for forty days
and forty nights with poor Noah safely ensconced in the Ark. Moses was upon Mt.
Sinai Mount of the Lord for LAW) while the Law was being given and fasted for
forty days and forty nights. Elijah fasted forty days and forty nights
sustained on Mt. Horeb (Mount of the Lord for MERCY) by the gifts of God.
Without the Law, mercy would have no meaning. And the Children of Israel
wondered forty years in the Wilderness….. We observe forty days and forty
nights during Lenten Season (excepting Sundays) as a symbol of our fellowship
of suffering with Christ (That I may know him, and the power of his
resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto
his death) (Phil 3:10) Do we conscientiously fulfill this experience?
There
is something that is magnificently mysterious about these forty days and forty
nights. We only have the mention of three occasions in Scripture of fasting
forty days and forty nights. Read what the old theologian, Adam Clarke, says
about the forty day fast: It is remarkable that Moses, the great lawgiver of
the Jews, previously to his receiving the law from God, fasted forty days in
the mount; that Elijah, the chief of the prophets, fasted also forty days; and
that Christ, the giver of the New Covenant, should act in the same way. Was not
all this intended to show, that God's kingdom on earth was to be spiritual and
Divine?—that it should not consist in meat and drink, but in righteousness,
peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost? Romans 14:17 Relative to the forty days' fast
of Moses, there is a beautiful saying in the Talmudists. "Is it possible
that any man can fast forty days and forty nights? To which Rabbi Meir
answered, When thou takest up thy abode in any particular city, thou must live
according to its customs. Moses ascended to heaven, where they neither eat nor
drink therefore he became assimilated to them. We are accustomed to eat and
drink; and, when angels descend to us, they eat and drink also.
Please
recall with me the account of the Transfiguration of our Lord: 1 And
after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth
them up into an high mountain apart, 2 And was transfigured
before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as
the light. 3 And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and
Elias talking with him. 4 Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus,
Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three
tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. 5 While
he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out
of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased;
hear ye him. 6 And when the disciples heard it, they fell
on their face, and were sore afraid. 7 And Jesus came and
touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid. 8 And
when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only. 9 And
as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no
man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead. (Matt
17:1-9)
This gives evidence of the truth of how Adam Clarke describes the nature of the
fast being that of the Kingdom of God as being spiritual and Divine – of
righteousness, peace, and joy.
He was afterward an
hungred
When Jesus had
suffered every deprivation of bread and water, He was intensely hungry. Satan
bides his time until he perceives the most vulnerable moment in executing his
vile temptations. It was at this moment that the Tempter came to Christ.
If thou be the Son of
God
Satan loves to
question. His first temptation in the Garden was a question: “Hath God said?”
He is not as concerned about total conviction of a lie as he is in simply
creating doubt, for doubt makes faith null. “Command that these stones be
made bread” The greatest physical need Christ feels at this moment is
bread. How tempting to comply with Satan’s urgings! Satan always opens with a
QUESTION of the veracity of God’s Word – much like today.
It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word
that proceedeth out of the mouth of God: Christ answers with Scripture, but that Word
is also the Bread of Heaven! This Bread Satan cannot have. Then Satan loosed a
number of more temptations which Jesus rebuffed, again, with the written Word “It is written again,
Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” What a perfect lesson for us in
confronting Satan. Just as darkness cannot abide the Light, Satan cannot abide
the Word.
5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth
him on a pinnacle of the temple, 6 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 4:4-6) So does this last
quote not bear the text accurately? No, it does not. The Devil, like modern
Bible versions, left something out – that left out was the nature and character
of Christ – “In all thy ways.” The ways of the Lord are mercy and truth.
Here it is fully shown in Psalms 91: 11 For he shall give his angels
charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. 12 They
shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
(Psalm 91:11-12) Strangely (yeah, right) Satan did not
include the next verse since it was the adder was representative of his own
nature. 13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder:
the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. (Psalm
91:13)
Satan will promise you all that he does
not have power to grant and demands all that you do not have the power to keep
from him. Satan demands worship – God INVITES the same. But notice this: just
as in the Garden, Satan opens, not only with a question, but with one that does
not accurately quote the Word of God.
Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship
the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. This last admonition
was more than Satan could bear. “Then the devil leaveth him!” It is
often the mystery of God that He allows our temptation under austere
circumstances and with faint heavenly help. God watches and observes our
overcoming strength through the power of our faith in Him. Then He sends
succor: “and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him”. After
He had born the battle and won the field, God sent the Angels to minister unto
Him!
We learn at least three cardinal lessons from this text today:
1.
Man shall not live by bread alone – we need the Bread of
Heaven which is the Word, and that Word is Christ. It is this Bread that
becomes our weapon against the wiles of Satan.
2.
Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God – We do not make deals of
our righteousness with God. His demands unconditional surrender to Him. We
reserve no secret sins or vices. We cannot cause God to condone any of our
cherished sins, all must be on the table.
3.
Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt
thou serve - not the gods of fashion, of power, of wealth – but the God of
Heaven in every avenue of our lives. Are you committed to Christ in all these
three principles? It is Lenten Season! Now is the time to turn again with fresh
resolve!
