Ezekiel 36:22-28/1 Peter 4:7-14/St John 15:26-16:4
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you. He gave them His Law, inscribed by the Finger of God upon two stone tablets. He sealed the Decalogue in an oath of His only Holy Name. I AM the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before My Face (Ex 20:2-3).
His Ten Words to all the house of Israel were the manifestation of His presence. The Law is His holy and perfect will. His Word enstoned. He is their God. They shall be His people.
Placed into the Ark of the Covenant, covered with the Mercy Seat, the Word of the Lord dwelt in a house of stone in Jerusalem; the Temple of the Most High God. The heart and center of Jerusalem and all Israel. There God the Lord dwelt, by His Word, atop His Ark, among His people. There His glory was seen. He had given them His heart, His holy and perfect will, enstoned in His Ten Words.
Thus His heart was grieved and broken when Israel profaned His Holy Name among the nations. They went through the fiery trial of the serpents in the wilderness and disbelieved. The icon of their redemption, the snake on a pole, was turned into an idol and had to be smashed. They erected false gods before the Face of the one, true God, the Creator of all things in heaven and on earth. Setting up idols of wood and stone they worshipped the creation rather than the Creator.
He had written His Ten Words, His holy will, not only upon tablets of stone, but also upon their consciences. And their consciences rightly accused them. But in their natural borne hatred for Him, their consciences were seared to His holy Word and will.
Beware, beloved, for what befell them serves as a warning to you. What happened in former days was written down for your instruction, upon whom the end of all things has come. Are you not plagued with terror over having transgressed the Lord’s holy will? Fear, having profaned His holy name among the people with whom you live and work? You know your transgression and your sin is ever before you. Against the Lord, and Him only, His holy name, have you sinned and done what is evil in His sight.
Do you not cry for a clean heart and a good conscience, though it does not seem to come? You plead for release from bondage to sin; for rescue from the idolatry that enslaves your flesh. For you feel your conscience becoming calloused, your heart turning to stone, hardened to the Word and will of the Lord your God.
Repent, beloved, and do not despair. For the Lord your God hears you when you cry aloud. He does not hide His face from you. As it is written, Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son (Heb 1:1-2). He has sent to you the One who is the exact imprint of His nature; He who reveals the Face of God to you. He upholds the universe by the Word of His power. And after making purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high (Heb 1:3).
For the sake of His holy Name which He placed upon you the Lord your God has removed the heart of stone and given you a heart of flesh. Whereas once the Lord God dwelt among His people by His Word enstoned in the Ten Commandments, tabernacled among His Israel in a tent of skins, now He dwells among you, His people, all the House of Israel, by giving you His very heart - His eternal Word, who became flesh and dwelt among us. This is His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
For the Law, given through Moses, the Word and will of the Lord enstoned in the Ten Commandments, was the heart and center of Israel. But now the eternal Word, the Light and Life of men, is seen in Jesus Christ, the very enfleshed manifestation of the holy Word and will of God. This is the very heart of the Father: His sole-begotten Word made flesh who is obedient to death, even death upon a Cross.
It is by His Cross and Passion, His holy, innocent, bitter suffering and death, that Christ the Word has gathered you from among the nations. He has brought you into your own land, His eternal kingdom ruled by grace and mercy, which comes to you by the preaching of the Word of His Cross in its truth and purity, and you, as His dear children, lead holy lives according to it, walking in His statues and just decrees. Thus does He keep His Name holy among you.
And it is by the Word of His Cross, read and preached, that the Comforter comes, sent to you by the Son from the Father. He is the Spirit of the Truth and He bears witness to He who is the Truth, the Way, and the Life, even Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh. For that which is the Truth is precisely that which is brought to light, in which there is no shadow or variation.
The Word enstoned, the Ark of the Covenant, the Temple, the Passover these were but shadow, kept in cover of darkness until He who is the Light would appear. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. He is the Light and the Truth. In Him there is no shadow or variation. But He reveals the radiance of the glory of the Lord. He is the beating heart of Christianity. He is the true Ark in whom the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily. He is the Temple made without hands. In Him and by Him and through Him you continually offer praise to God. He is the true Passover Lamb who takes away the sin of the world.
He is your One Mediator between God and men, whose blood covers over the accusations of the Law and the condemnation and wrath of the Father. Beloved, by and through His Word He puts His Spirit within you, the Comforter. He, the Paraclete, through the self-same Word, salves your conscience with the whole and complete forgiveness of all your sins in Christ Jesus your Lord.
He is your Lord and your God, your Redeemer and Advocate. You are His people, holy and beloved, marked with His bloody Name and watery Cross; sprinkling the pure water of His Baptism upon you. So are you clean from all your uncleanness and your idols.
And from His Cross, through the sharing of Christ’s sufferings, He purges you through the fiery trials and creates in you a clean heart and renews a right spirit within you. Thus do you walk in His statues and obey His commands. And His commands are not burdensome. He desires mercy and not sacrifice; earnest love that covers a multitude of sins. By these, according to His holy Word and will, do you offer true service to God in love for your neighbor.
Behold, here is true service of God offered to you: the holy Body and precious Blood of the Jesus Christ, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. For you, O house of Israel, and for the sake of His holy Name by which He has marked you, the Lord your God bestows His very Life and heart, the Word made flesh, come to you in bread and wine. For He is the Lord your God, who brought you out of the kingdom of darkness, out of slavery to sin. You have no other gods. He is your God. You are, by His grace and mercy, His people now and for eternity.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you. He gave them His Law, inscribed by the Finger of God upon two stone tablets. He sealed the Decalogue in an oath of His only Holy Name. I AM the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before My Face (Ex 20:2-3).
His Ten Words to all the house of Israel were the manifestation of His presence. The Law is His holy and perfect will. His Word enstoned. He is their God. They shall be His people.
Placed into the Ark of the Covenant, covered with the Mercy Seat, the Word of the Lord dwelt in a house of stone in Jerusalem; the Temple of the Most High God. The heart and center of Jerusalem and all Israel. There God the Lord dwelt, by His Word, atop His Ark, among His people. There His glory was seen. He had given them His heart, His holy and perfect will, enstoned in His Ten Words.
Thus His heart was grieved and broken when Israel profaned His Holy Name among the nations. They went through the fiery trial of the serpents in the wilderness and disbelieved. The icon of their redemption, the snake on a pole, was turned into an idol and had to be smashed. They erected false gods before the Face of the one, true God, the Creator of all things in heaven and on earth. Setting up idols of wood and stone they worshipped the creation rather than the Creator.
He had written His Ten Words, His holy will, not only upon tablets of stone, but also upon their consciences. And their consciences rightly accused them. But in their natural borne hatred for Him, their consciences were seared to His holy Word and will.
Beware, beloved, for what befell them serves as a warning to you. What happened in former days was written down for your instruction, upon whom the end of all things has come. Are you not plagued with terror over having transgressed the Lord’s holy will? Fear, having profaned His holy name among the people with whom you live and work? You know your transgression and your sin is ever before you. Against the Lord, and Him only, His holy name, have you sinned and done what is evil in His sight.
Do you not cry for a clean heart and a good conscience, though it does not seem to come? You plead for release from bondage to sin; for rescue from the idolatry that enslaves your flesh. For you feel your conscience becoming calloused, your heart turning to stone, hardened to the Word and will of the Lord your God.
Repent, beloved, and do not despair. For the Lord your God hears you when you cry aloud. He does not hide His face from you. As it is written, Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son (Heb 1:1-2). He has sent to you the One who is the exact imprint of His nature; He who reveals the Face of God to you. He upholds the universe by the Word of His power. And after making purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high (Heb 1:3).
For the sake of His holy Name which He placed upon you the Lord your God has removed the heart of stone and given you a heart of flesh. Whereas once the Lord God dwelt among His people by His Word enstoned in the Ten Commandments, tabernacled among His Israel in a tent of skins, now He dwells among you, His people, all the House of Israel, by giving you His very heart - His eternal Word, who became flesh and dwelt among us. This is His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
For the Law, given through Moses, the Word and will of the Lord enstoned in the Ten Commandments, was the heart and center of Israel. But now the eternal Word, the Light and Life of men, is seen in Jesus Christ, the very enfleshed manifestation of the holy Word and will of God. This is the very heart of the Father: His sole-begotten Word made flesh who is obedient to death, even death upon a Cross.
It is by His Cross and Passion, His holy, innocent, bitter suffering and death, that Christ the Word has gathered you from among the nations. He has brought you into your own land, His eternal kingdom ruled by grace and mercy, which comes to you by the preaching of the Word of His Cross in its truth and purity, and you, as His dear children, lead holy lives according to it, walking in His statues and just decrees. Thus does He keep His Name holy among you.
And it is by the Word of His Cross, read and preached, that the Comforter comes, sent to you by the Son from the Father. He is the Spirit of the Truth and He bears witness to He who is the Truth, the Way, and the Life, even Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh. For that which is the Truth is precisely that which is brought to light, in which there is no shadow or variation.
The Word enstoned, the Ark of the Covenant, the Temple, the Passover these were but shadow, kept in cover of darkness until He who is the Light would appear. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. He is the Light and the Truth. In Him there is no shadow or variation. But He reveals the radiance of the glory of the Lord. He is the beating heart of Christianity. He is the true Ark in whom the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily. He is the Temple made without hands. In Him and by Him and through Him you continually offer praise to God. He is the true Passover Lamb who takes away the sin of the world.
He is your One Mediator between God and men, whose blood covers over the accusations of the Law and the condemnation and wrath of the Father. Beloved, by and through His Word He puts His Spirit within you, the Comforter. He, the Paraclete, through the self-same Word, salves your conscience with the whole and complete forgiveness of all your sins in Christ Jesus your Lord.
He is your Lord and your God, your Redeemer and Advocate. You are His people, holy and beloved, marked with His bloody Name and watery Cross; sprinkling the pure water of His Baptism upon you. So are you clean from all your uncleanness and your idols.
And from His Cross, through the sharing of Christ’s sufferings, He purges you through the fiery trials and creates in you a clean heart and renews a right spirit within you. Thus do you walk in His statues and obey His commands. And His commands are not burdensome. He desires mercy and not sacrifice; earnest love that covers a multitude of sins. By these, according to His holy Word and will, do you offer true service to God in love for your neighbor.
Behold, here is true service of God offered to you: the holy Body and precious Blood of the Jesus Christ, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. For you, O house of Israel, and for the sake of His holy Name by which He has marked you, the Lord your God bestows His very Life and heart, the Word made flesh, come to you in bread and wine. For He is the Lord your God, who brought you out of the kingdom of darkness, out of slavery to sin. You have no other gods. He is your God. You are, by His grace and mercy, His people now and for eternity.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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