New Warrior Ministries!: III Pentecost (3rd Sunday after Pentecost)

III Pentecost

3rd Sunday after Pentecost!

Greetings in Christ Jesus,

(Third Sunday of the cycle of six Sundays)

During this week:

The Beginning of Night: read the Book of Acts throughout this week.

Matins: Week III throughout this week, for the verses before the Second

Canticle of Moses, the Song of the Three Youths, and the Matins Resurrection Gospel

Old Testament: Isaiah 40: 28-41:4 (“Know you not, or have you not heard? The Lord is

the everlasting God, Who has created the ends of the earth: He shall not faint, nor labor,

neither is there any searching out of His wisdom. It is He that giveth strength to the

weary, and increases force and might to them that are not. Youths shall faint, and

labor, and young men shall fall by infirmity. But they that hope in the Lord

shall renew their strength, they shall take wings as eagles... Who has wrought

and done these things, calling the generations from the beginning?

Epistle: Romans 3: 21-4:3 (Justified by faith. The works of God are greater than the

works of men. “What shall we say then that Abraham has found, who is our

father according to the flesh? For if Abraham were justified by works, he

has whereof to glory, but not before God. For what says the scripture?

Abraham believed God; and it was reputed to him unto justice.” Gen. 15:6)

Gradual: (Psalm): Psalm 76/ Hebrew 77 I cried to the Lord with my voice (Verses 12-14

as the Alleluia. This Psalm asks and answers: “Your way, O God, is in the holy place: who

is the great God like our God? You are the God that does wonders.

You have made Your power known among the nations: with your arm you have

redeemed Your people, the children of Jacob and of Joseph.”)

Gospel: Matthew 7: 7-11 (Ask and it shall be given to you; seek and you shall find... If

you being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, God the Father in heaven

will give good gifts to those that ask Him. - not as material gifts, but salvation.

And, we can only be saved by the gift of God.)

Friends,

Justified by faith! What does this mean to us today? We are still looking at Justification by Faith today and not our works but the works of God for God’s works are greater than man’s. Friends we can do nothing to earn our salvation, there is no works that we can do to gain heaven and yet by our faith and belief in our Lord and savior Jesus the Christ we will begin a life of works. If we say that there is no God and yet we help people who need help and give money to non-profit organizations who claim to help others; will we see heaven? No! We will not see heaven, we may do some good here but by denying God, claiming that He does not exist we have already separated ourselves from Him and therefore we have no part in Him.

By claiming that Christ Jesus was a good man full of wisdom and good teachings and denying His sacrifice for our salvation, denying that He came from God, taught, died, was buried, rose, and ascended back to God then we have separated ourselves from our Lord and therefore if we do not claim Him how can He claim us? We are not His by our own admission.

It is only by our faith in our Lord Jesus that we can be saved. Our labors are in vain when it comes to our eternity. Even though we may have helped some on earth we have not helped our own eternal soul. This is an issue for today because the saying is; ‘I can do good things all on my own I do not need some god to tell me to be good’, so, my friends, I know that you have seen this written and possibly even heard some speak these words. If possible you may attempt to correct this understanding but if it is not possible it is on them. It is a rare place in what is considered to be the civilized world that the name of Jesus has not been heard.

We must live our faith in spite of those who make the statement that they do not need God in their life to do good. We who believe still need our Savior because we sin everyday whether in thought, word or deed. There is no amount of good that we can do that will erase our sin once we have committed it. There is only our faith in Christ Jesus, our recognition of our sin, our confession, and repentance. This is our faith.

God can do all things; there is no situation that we get ourselves into that God cannot help us out of. Don’t think though that if there is some earthly penalty that we must pay that we will escape this because we suddenly come to God for help. We simply must have the faith and believe. Keep in mind however; God's plan is far above ours. We suffer and we have plenty coming based on what God Himself has in store for us whether it is for purging, for testing, or for reward or necessity for our life. God is in control.

We do not know when this will end and the new beginning will be, in spite of the many modern prophets who make a living selling Jesus and the destruction of the world; we have no clue when it will be. In the meantime, it rains on us all, haters and lovers of Jesus. The sun shines on us all, haters and lovers of Jesus. We remain together in this world until that day. So take a lesson from the readings. Continue to praise and worship Jesus the Christ and the Father through Him. Never cease to pray and live according to the gospel. Allow the Holy Ghost to guide you. Love God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your mind, and with all of your strength; love your neighbor as yourself. You never know whose life you will change because of this love of God in you.

The light has entered the world and the times; they are a-changing.

If one does not have love for the soul of mankind and the desire that all come to the truth than one does not have Christ in them fully.

Little children, love one another; because this is our Lord’s command and if you fulfill this, nothing else is needed. Through love and because of love we will follow all of the commandments that we have been given. They are written on our hearts by the hand of Almighty God. We simply need to see them within us and follow.

Remember; if we confess our sins and repent, he is faithful and just, to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all iniquity.

May the peace of our Lord Jesus the Christ be with you throughout this day and the rest of your life. May the Holy Spirit fill us all to overflowing so that everyone in whose path we cross may receive a blessing from our Lord Jesus the Christ.

In Christ.