The Fourth Sunday in Lent.
The
Collect.
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RANT, we
beseech thee, Almighty God, that we, who for our evil deeds do worthily deserve
to be punished, by the comfort of thy grace may mercifully be relieved; through
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 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.
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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.
The Epistle
Galatians iv.21
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ELL me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?
For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other
by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but
he of the freewoman was by promise. Which things are an allegory: for these are
the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage,
which is Agar. For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to
Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem
which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written,
Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not: break forth and cry, thou that
travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an
husband. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. But as
then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the
Spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the
bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the
son of the freewoman. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman,
but of the free.
When we read and study the matter of salvation, we are drawn to observe that
Grace is the very key that opens the Door of Heaven. Grace precedes faith and
profession. The Galatian Epistle for today bears this out in stark fashion
(along with a host of other Bible passages). Yes, we are saved by grace, but
that through faith. As we read in the Epistle to the Ephesians: “For by
grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of
God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10 For we are his
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before
ordained that we should walk in them.” (Eph 2:8-10) If any component of
salvation was keyed to some goodness in our own souls, then there might be
place for boasting, but such is not the case. Grace is a component of God’s
Mercy and not of our worthiness. Good works in no way save, but Grace saves unto
good works. We are accounted good, and are able to do good and pleasing
works, as a result of the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ issuing from His Love.
Please remember two particular young men of Abraham’s day – Ishmael and Isaac.
God had promised Abraham that he would become the father of many nations, yet,
Abraham was without child. When God promises, the flesh tries to takes God’s place
in fulfilling the promise. This was the case with Sarah who, in her advancing
age, began to doubt that God was able to provide progeny for Abraham that He
had promised – at least, not in the ways and means of grace. In Sarah’s mind,
God needed a bit of help. So she gave her Egyptian servant maid, Hagar, to
Abraham for the purpose of bearing him a son. Well, Sarah’s willful breach of
faith worked in gaining for Abraham a son – Ishmael, the father of the Arab
tribes. This was not at all in accord with the will of God, but was an act of
free will of the flesh of Sarah. Sarah attempted to bring about the seed of
promise by her own deed and not that of waiting on God. From that moment until
today, there has not been peace among the Arab peoples, nor of the neighbors
that are scattered about them in the Middle East.
When the seed of promise was granted Sarah in her advanced age (99 years), he
came truly by miraculous birth. He was a type and shadow of that coming
miraculous birth of the Father’s own only Begotten Son, Jesus. Abraham believed
God, and it was counted to him for righteousness. From that sorrowful journey
to Mount Moriah for the purpose of sacrificing his own only Begotten Son (by
Sarah), God was demonstrating to those of the faith of Abraham that that
sacrificial Lamb without Blemish would be provided by God to redeem us from our
sins.
It should be noted, too, that Isaac had no volition about being the child of
the promise while he was yet in his mother’s womb. It was a thing foreordained
by God. Can you fathom the deep and mournful sorrow of Abraham as he traveled
to Moraih with Isaac? Though it may have been a most desponding trip for
Abraham, yet he knew that God does all things well, and He would make the
sacrifice a blessing in the end.
As Abraham and Isaac stood at the base of the mount
of sacrifice (the same range upon which the Lord Jesus Christ was later
sacrificed), “. . . Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My
father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the
wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, My
son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so
they went both of them together.” (Gen 22:7-8) Only in the Received Text
Bibles is this truth revealed so powerfully. In the sentence structure, God is
the subject, provide is the verb, and ‘Himself’ is that object receiving the
action of the verb. “A Lamb of the sacrifice” is a modifying prepositional
phrase for the pronominal object…..i.e. (to be, understood) a Lamb for the
sacrifice).
We learned from Abraham’s Mt. Moriah experience that God would not, and could
not, take the son of Abraham or of any other man, as redemption for our sins.
Out of His unmerited Love, God would, rather, provide His own Son as a Lamb for
the Sacrifice. This He did on the mountains of Moriah 2,000 years ago.
The Galatians may have been influenced in their thinking by Judaizers that they
must obey the Law and not place their full faith in the grace of God. But if
not, it is still in the nature of man to believe that he must save himself
through good works. Truly, even a fervent Christian cannot do any good works at
all. Whatever good we do is not our own works, but those of Christ working in,
and through, us. Paul asked: “Tell me, ye that desire to be under the
law, do ye not hear the law?” It must be said that Jesus
was, indeed, perfect in His obedience to the Law. But only He among all the
sons of men was able. He even saved us through the Law in the sense that the
justice of God was satisfied for us in His atoning sacrifice and death – for
the wages of sin is death. Jesus took our sins upon His own sinless soul and
died in our stead at Calvary. But He paid the penalty of the Law that we might
be spared. The Law kills, but grace makes alive.
“For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid,
the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the
flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. Which things are an allegory:
for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth
to bondage, which is Agar.” Agar is the Greek pronunciation
for Hagar. Even today, the children of Hagar (Arab peoples) are in bondage to
the Law. They suffer amputations of limbs and stoning for the most meager of
sins. Those Jews who practice their Old Testament obedience to the Law are no
better in terms of salvation. Those who reject the benefits of Christ are in no
wise chosen people of God. Only those who believe and receive the faith of
Abraham are the true children of the promise. The Elect of God are born of the
Free Woman (Sarah) by terms of grace and faith – the faith of Abraham. The
fleshly DNA of Abraham is not a factor – only the faith that Abraham exercised.
God does not place any credibility to race or blood in calling His children.
All are condemned already in Adam; but all are made alive who accept the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are made bond-servants naturally through the Law,
but we are made free only through the faith that Abraham possessed in looking
forward to the ultimate Seed of Promise which was Christ.
“For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her
children. But Jerusalem which is above is free,
which is the mother of us all. For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren
that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the
desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.”
It is a remarkable evidence of the veracity of God Word that the two faiths
that depend upon obedience to the severity of the Law BOTH hold their heritage
in present-day Jerusalem. I pray to be accounted a citizen – not of that filthy
and treacherous little town called Jerusalem – but that immaculate and amazing
City of Peace called New Jerusalem which descends down from Heaven. Dr.,
Schofield has deceived untold multitudes in his mischaracterization of this
truth. Yes, and those, like Sarah, who are desolate, will have many more
children of promise than Hagar who had a child through the works of sinful man
and not of God.
Who, then, are the chosen of God? Is it those who came by the way of the flesh
and schemes of men, or those who receive that same promise given to Abraham of
the Promised Seed (Jesus Christ)? “Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are
the children of promise. But as then he that was born after the flesh
persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.”
The Jews erroneously believe that they are saved by the blood that courses
through their veins and through their strict obedience to the Law. They find
our reliance upon the grace of God abhorrent. They are yet in bondage. The
Moslems are no different. They are dependent upon that blood that flowed
through Ishmael’s veins to identify themselves as the chosen of a false god
(allah). They are the true descendents of Hagar in whom there was no promise.
Where are Christians persecuted more egregiously than anywhere else in the
world? It is in the Moslem nations – the descendents of Ishmael of whom God
said to Hagar: “And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art
with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the
LORD hath heard thy affliction. And he will be a wild man; his hand will be
against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the
presence of all his brethren.” (Gen 16:11-12) This prophecy of God has
been perfectly fulfilled. The Arab nations flock together today in the Middle
East. They are constantly at war. If they are not fighting an enemy from
without, they are fighting each other. You will note that the natures of both
Ishmael and Isaac were foreordained of God ere these two saw the light of day.
Here follows a deep thought expressed by Paul in the Book of Romans. It runs
counter to the prevailing opinions of modern man: “Not as though the word
of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of
Israel: Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children:
but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, They which are the
children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but
the children of the promise are counted for the seed. For this is the
word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sara shall have a son.
(For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil,
that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of
him that calleth;) (Romans 9:11)
Note the result of Sarah’s indiscretion in providing Hagar to Abraham. Ishmael
was saved in the flesh in the Wilderness. Isaac was saved in the spirit atop
Mt. Moriah. Having been lain on an altar (all that touches the altar belongs to
God), Isaac was saved as the special seed of promise to Abraham to walk in the
ways of faith of his father Abraham – just as we are today. The Old Testament
Church of Abraham was saved by that same faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as we
are saved today. They looked forward in faith to the redemption made
available by the Son of God as we look back to the accomplished fact. Their
faith had to be made of a sterner stuff than ours today. We have history AND
faith to confirm our profession – they had only faith and promise. It was
enough! “Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman
and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the
freewoman. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the
free.” Are you still in bondage to sin and the Law; or have you
accepted the adoption made available by Christ into that Elect Family of God?
