Category: Epistles – Is his letter to our church?

Epistle of Paul to the Romans

Epistles ἐπιστολή or Letters

I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read to all the holy brethren.

Paul’s First Letter to the Thessalonians

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1 CORINTHIANS

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Letters – Is he writing to me?
The short answer: YES.

In their epistles or 1st century church letters the Apostles and other men sent out by Jesus build up the saints [small – ‘s’] or members of local first century churches.

A Disciple or other witness of JESUS would write it. Messengers then delivered these church letters to many isolated worshipers.

Followers of Jesus Christ receive these letters as a major encouragement to their personal faith. Then leaders read them to worshipers of their church.

Although the Epistles 0r Letters to the Church were originally written to churches of the first century,

Romans through Jude will seem like letters to your 21st century church.

What do Peter, Paul, John and others tell us we must do?
Is he talking about an issue in your 21st c. church as well?
How does the writer’s advice, warning, or encouragement to the 1st c. believers apply to you as well
Is the writer of this letter talking about something you need to address in your 21st century ‘christian’ life?

Contemporary Application of the Letters (Epistles)

Most New Testament writers take on specific issues confronting faithful followers of Jesus Christ. These same issues continue to confront believers until the Lord’s coming again in these last days.

Certainly Christ our Lord will come again to those God has chosen for eternal life.

Believers currently suffer more than most of you who know Christ in your local church can imagine.

In other lands Christians continue to suffer by the hand of the ungodly.
Go into all the world

A 21st century Common Era church can see and hear nearly any atrocity of man or artificial imagination of sinful man’s mind, yet ‘christians‘ dare not speak of any absolute truth of the Lord God or talk of JESUS CHRIST.

Will YOU comment on Scripture and share the Gospel?

I invite you to read the inspired word of Scripture written in these LETTERS TO THE CHURCH.

YES, He IS writing to YOU.

Beloved brother or sister in Christ Jesus,

Will you read this ‘CHURCH LETTER’ and talk of JESUS through your comment, sharing and email to me about this ‘Letter to you?”

Roger@talkofJesus.com

Nun danket alle Gott

“Now thank we all our God” is a popular Christian hymn. It is a translation from the German “Nun danket alle Gott”, written circa 1636 by Martin Rinkart (1586–1649), which in turn was inspired by Sirach, chapter 50 verses 22–24, from the praises of Simon the high priest. It was translated into English in the 19th Century by Catherine Winkworth.

Modern Christian songs of praise and worship paint a joyful enough picture of Christianity for us and focus well on the grace of Christ and the joy of heaven to come. Now thank we all our God is a 17th century text that comes to us from a time of religious wars resulting from the Protestant Reformation.

Giving thanks to God in all circumstances is not always easy. Worship of God is not always our first reaction to difficulty. Rinkart experienced such difficulties, as have many faithful Christians of all denominations throughout these last centuries.

You do not need the word of a Pope, a Bishop or other authority to understand that the Bible, God’s Word, is often at the center of religious controversies and even wars. Some Protestants will not even recognize the source of this popular hymn as one inspired from the Canon and Apocrypha of the Bible of some churches; however none will dispute the truth of the worship in these verses.

Apocrypha: Sirach Chapter 50

22 Now therefore bless ye the God of all, which only doeth wondrous things every where, which exalteth our days from the womb, and dealeth with us according to his mercy.

23 He grant us joyfulness of heart, and that peace may be in our days in Israel for ever:

24 That he would confirm his mercy with us, and deliver us at his time!

German pastor Martin Rinkart served in the walled town of Eilenburg during the horrors of the Thirty Years’ War of 1618-1648. Eilenburg became an overcrowded refuge for the surrounding area. The fugitives suffered from epidemic and famine. At the beginning of 1637, the year of the Great Pestilence, there were four ministers in Eilenburg. But one abandoned his post for healthier areas and could not be persuaded to return. Pastor Rinkart officiated at the funerals of the other two. As the only pastor left, he often conducted services for as many as 40 to 50 persons a day—some 4,480 in all. In May of that year, his own wife died. By the end of the year, the refugees had to be buried in trenches without services.

Pastor Rinkart’s text was once well-known in many languages and musical settings. It is well worth our consideration in this season of Thanksgiving, a thankfulness for God’s harvest and our very souls by the mercy and grace of Christ Jesus.

German Text (verses in bold print set by Bach)

English Translation – source: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/Chorale134-Eng3.htm

1

Nun danket alle Gott
Mit Herzen, Mund und Händen,
Der große Dinge tut
An uns und allen Enden,
Der uns von Mutterleib
Und Kindesbeinen an
Unzählig viel zu gut
Bis hier her hat getan.

Now all thank God
with heart, mouth and hands;
He does great things
for us and all our purposes;
He for us from our mother’s womb
and childish steps
countless great good
has done and still continues to do.

2

Der ewig reiche Gott
Woll uns bei unsrem Leben
Ein immer fröhlich Herz
Und edlen Frieden geben,
Und uns in seiner Gnad,
Erhalten fort und fort
Und uns aus aller Not
Erlösen hier und dort.

May God who is forever rich
be willing to give us in our life
a heart that is always joyful
and noble peace
and in his mercy
maintain us for ever and ever
and free us from all distress
here and there (both on earth and in heaven).

3

Lob, Ehr und Preis sei Gott,
Dem Vater und dem Sohne
Und dem, der beiden gleich
Im höchsten Himmelsthrone,
Dem einig höchsten Gott,
Als er anfänglich war
Und ist und bleiben wird
Jetzt und immerdar.

Glory, honour and praise be to God,
to the Father and to the Son
and to Him, who is equal to both
on heaven’s high throne,
to the triune God,
as he was from the beginning
and is and will remain
now and forever.

1 Peter 1:

Born Again to a Living Hope

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

November 26, 2013
Thank God

ALMIGHTY God, unto whom all hearts be open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love thee, and worthily magnify thy holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Then shall the Priest, turning to the people, rehearse distinctly all the TEN COMMANDMENTS: and the people still kneeling shall after every Commandment ask God mercy for their transgression thereof for the time past, and grace to keep the same for the time to come, as followeth.

In worship we have finally bowed down to God. We have repented of our sin. We seek His holiness through the Cross of Christ Jesus.

Though I could have chosen liturgy of many denominations of our Lord’s church, we exam ourselves through the part of the liturgy of communion in the Anglican Church.

BCP – Holy Communion

Then shall the Priest say to them that come to receive the holy Communion,

YE that do truly and earnestly repent you of your sins, and are in love and charity with your neighbours, and intend to lead a new life, following the commandments of God, and walking from henceforth in his holy ways: Draw near with faith, and take this holy Sacrament to your comfort; and make your humble confession to Almighty God, meekly kneeling upon your knees.

I ask you to pause here: Consider our position before God in light of our examination of scripture, sin and righteousness, the heavens above and hell beneath; in the light of the cross of Christ and hopelessness of our own nature to sin against our Lord, rather than to worship Him and bow down to His will. Do our sinful lives not require His grace?

Therefore let us put off the soiled garments of our hypocrisy and confess our sins before Almighty God.

Then shall this general Confession be made, in the name of all those that are minded to receive the holy Communion, by one of the Ministers: both he and all the people kneeling humbly upon their knees and saying,

ALMIGHTY God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Maker of all things, Judge of all men: We acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness, Which we from time to time most grievously have committed, By thought, word, and deed, Against thy Divine Majesty, Provoking most justly thy wrath and indignation against us. We do earnestly repent, And are heartily sorry for these our misdoings; The remembrance of them is grievous unto us; The burden of them is intolerable. Have mercy upon us, Have mercy upon us, most merciful Father; For thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, Forgive us all that is past; And grant that we may ever hereafter Serve and please thee In newness of life, To the honour and glory of thy Name; Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

These words always stuck in my craw as I remembered my sin:

We acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness.

“…Which we from time to time…” is most kind; for by thought, word and deed are we not constant sinners?

Do we not well deserve the wrath of God and punishment of hell?

Yet God is a loving Father of all mercies, who sent to us his only Son, even as a sacrifice on the cross for your sin and mine; for the sins of the world, those saved and those yet to be saved.

This is mercy. This is grace. This is the highest reason for a sinner like me, a lowly creation of a loving God, to worship and bow down to God our Father in Heaven and Christ Jesus, Sacrifice of His love for us on the Cross.

It is our duty and obligation of this sinful flesh, formed by God and given the life of His Spirit, to bow down to our Creator as Lord. Because of His love for us, He came to us in the flesh – the sinless flesh of Christ Jesus the only Son of the Father in Heaven. He IS and was and IS to be our Savior and Lord.

Therefore, let us worship Christ our Lord. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God for His Spirit and the eternal life made possible for us only by the Blood of Jesus on the Cross.

As the Apostle Paul instructs us, let us give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:18

November 25, 2013
Closer to Hell than Heaven

A descent of God from the Throne of the Third Heaven, down to the heavens seen by man, and down to the clouds of the first heaven above us in this earthly atmosphere; even down to the dust and ashes upon which we walk is a great humility for the Living God Who created it all.

As if Jesus being born of ‘adam (Mary, betrothed to Joseph of Nazareth) is not humility enough – as if crucifixion for our sins is not humility enough; Jesus descended into Hell before He was raised to His former glory.

Ephesians 4:9 In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth?

We walk closer to Hell than the Third Heaven of our Lord God. We are nearer to perishing than to salvation.

Romans 3

English Standard Version (ESV)

“None is righteous, no, not one;

11     no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.”
13 “Their throat is an open grave;
they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
14     “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16     in their paths are ruin and misery,
17 and the way of peace they have not known.”
18     “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.

Do you recall the devastation of Mount St. Helens in 2008 A.D or Mount Vesuvius burying Pompeii in 79 A.D.? Certainly the power and wrath of God are in evidence in current disasters: hurricanes, typhoons, earthquakes, even the eruption of mountains spewing out hot lava from the depths of the earth.

Can you think vertically? We walk nearer the bowels of the earth than to the Third Heaven of God.

God can wash the sea upon us, crack the earth beneath us or cover us with the ashes that were once a mountain.

Why do the nations not worship God? Why do the people refuse to follow Christ Jesus, our ONLY hope for eternal life?

Think horizontally for a brief moment in these last days:

Genesis 1:1-2 KJV

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

OR to put the beginning in a context of Christ:

John 1

English Standard Version (ESV)

The Word Became Flesh

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Matthew 1 provides a genealogy of the Son of man, Christ Jesus, beginning from Abraham, the descendant of Adam. We refer to this horizontal timeline as B.C., that is: Before Christ.

2013 A.D. (from the Latin) means in the year of our Lord.

We have no problem projecting horizontally into 2014 A.D., 2030 A.D., even perhaps a time beyond our certain death like 2100 A.D.

Think ahead.

Think of Jesus Christ as the center of the Cross of grace for you. HE has descended into the depths of hell from the heights of Heaven. HE was before the beginning. HE was before His incarnation, His own death and His resurrection. HE IS.

HE was before you and I were born. HE IS now. HE will be after our death.

Jesus Christ will be after the end.

What must we do for eternal life?

Worship the Lord and bow down.

November 16, 2013