Purify the Heart

Lent 4 - Laetare - Sermon

32 min · 15 mrt 2026
aflevering Lent 4 - Laetare - Sermon artwork

Beschrijving

Collect of the Day Almighty God, our heavenly Father, Your mercies are new every morning; and though we deserve only punishment, You receive us as Your children and provide for all our needs of body and soul. Grant that we may heartily acknowledge Your merciful goodness, give thanks for all Your benefits, and serve You in willing obedience; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. Old Testament Exodus 16:2–21 2In those days, the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, 3and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” 4Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not. 5On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.” 6So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, “At evening you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, 7and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against the Lord. For what are we, that you grumble against us?” 8And Moses said, “When the Lord gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the Lord has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him—what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the Lord.” 9Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, ‘Come near before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.’” 10And as soon as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. 11And the Lord said to Moses, 12“I have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’” 13In the evening quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning dew lay around the camp. 14And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as frost on the ground. 15When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat. 16This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Gather of it, each one of you, as much as he can eat. You shall each take an omer, according to the number of the persons that each of you has in his tent.’” 17And the people of Israel did so. They gathered, some more, some less. 18But when they measured it with an omer, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack. Each of them gathered as much as he could eat. 19And Moses said to them, “Let no one leave any of it over till the morning.” 20But they did not listen to Moses. Some left part of it till the morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them. 21Morning by morning they gathered it, each as much as he could eat; but when the sun grew hot, it melted. This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Epistle Galatians 4:22—5:1 22Brothers, it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. 23But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise. 24Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. 25Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. 26But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. 27For it is written, “Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than those of the one who has a husband.” 28Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. 29But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now. 30But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.” 31So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman. 1For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Tract Psalm 125:1–2, 5b Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount | Zion,* which cannot be moved, but abides for- | ever.As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his | people,* from this time forth and forevermore. Peace be upon | Israel! Holy Gospel John 6:1–15 The Holy Gospel according to St. John, the sixth chapter. Glory be to Thee, O Lord. 1At that time Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. 2And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. 3Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. 4Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. 5Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” 6He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. 7Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” 8One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9“There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” 10Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. 11Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. 12And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” 13So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten. 14When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!” 15Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself. This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise be to Thee, O Christ. Get full access to Purify the Heart at purifytheheart.substack.com/subscribe [https://purifytheheart.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

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aflevering Daily Devotion for Wednesday, June 3 artwork

Daily Devotion for Wednesday, June 3

In the name of the Father, & of the Son, & of the Holy Spirit. Amen.Welcome to Purify the Heart where our thoughts are being replaced with God’s thoughts as we meditate upon His Word. A reading from Genesis 11: 1 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. 2 And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3 And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” 5 And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. 6 And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.” 8 So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. 9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth. O Lord, have mercy on us. Thanks be to God. Did you hear the confession of the unity in the multiplicity? First we heard it with rebellious man, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves…” Though they were many, they wanted to make a singular name for themselves; the problem was that their unity was false because they were unified by making name for themselves over-against the name of God. This was a unified rebellion against their covenantal Maker. Then we heard the unity in the multiplicity again when God said, “Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.” The narrator continues, “So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth.” The One who said in the plural, “let us go down” is then described as the singular Lord. And what does He do? He destroys the false unity of the people and scatters them. On the day of Pentecost, which we read about in Acts 2, we’re told that while people from across the world were gathered into one place, they all heard the disciples of Jesus speaking in their own tongues or languages regarding the mighty works of God. The name of God is not merely what He’s called but who He is and what He does. When the Lord has His Christians preach His Gospel, the multiplicity of man are then able to be rightly united, not only with one another, but in the singular name of the Triune God. The persons of the Holy Trinity are then seen as working together for the good of mankind, God Himself desiring for man to be united to Him. Let us pray. Almighty and everlasting God, You have given us grace to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity by the confession of a true faith and to worship the Unity in the power of the Divine Majesty. Keep us steadfast in this faith and defend us from all adversities; for You, O Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, live and reign, one God, now and forever. Amen. The grace & peace of Christ be with you. Amen. Get full access to Purify the Heart at purifytheheart.substack.com/subscribe [https://purifytheheart.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

3 jun 20264 min
aflevering Daily Devotion for Tuesday, June 2 artwork

Daily Devotion for Tuesday, June 2

In the name of the Father, & of the Son, & of the Holy Spirit. Amen.Welcome to Purify the Heart where our thoughts are being replaced with God’s thoughts as we meditate upon His Word. A reading from Genesis 1:26-27 26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. O Lord, have mercy on us. Thanks be to God. When God made man in His own image, He spoke in the plural “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” And yet in the very next verse, the narrator (Moses) tells us “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” So within two verses of the first chapter of the Bible we have God described both in the plural and in the singular. This is to show the complexity of God’s essence in a simple, albeit somewhat confusing way. The reader, or listener, is led to ask, “So God is both many, and yet only one?” I like to put it this way: God is the unity of a multiplicity. On the one hand, we can’t really know what that means. How can God be three persons and yet one God? But a way for us to begin to comprehend the mystery of God is also given to us in those same verses, through the creature called “man” who was created in God’s image. Notice a similarity in confusing language: “Let us make man... And let them have dominion…. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” Within the first two verses which describe man, again both singular and plural are used. It makes sense that the image bearer of God is going to reflect the essence of God. If God is a unity of multiplicity, then the only creature that’s going to reflect the image of God is naturally going to at least convey some kind of unity of multiplicity. And notice how that was described? Although “man” is singular, we’re told that God gave dominion to “them”, who are specifically male and female. The next verse after that we are then told, “And God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply…”. So when the male and the female are united in the one-flesh union, the result is another human being added to the equation. Where 1+1+1=3, the 3 are one singular unit: a family. Hence the existence of the household community is the essential reflection of the relationship of the three persons of the Holy Trinity. Now something supremely complex is not only made simple, but supremely relevant. Let us pray. Almighty and everlasting God, You have given us grace to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity by the confession of a true faith and to worship the Unity in the power of the Divine Majesty. Keep us steadfast in this faith and defend us from all adversities; for You, O Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, live and reign, one God, now and forever. Amen. The grace & peace of Christ be with you. Amen. Get full access to Purify the Heart at purifytheheart.substack.com/subscribe [https://purifytheheart.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Gisteren4 min
aflevering Daily Devotion for Monday, June 1 artwork

Daily Devotion for Monday, June 1

In the name of the Father, & of the Son, & of the Holy Spirit. Amen.Welcome to Purify the Heart where our thoughts are being replaced with God’s thoughts as we meditate upon His Word. Yesterday, on Holy Trinity Sunday, I read the first part of the Athanasian Creed. Today, we finish with part two. It is also necessary for everlasting salvation that one faithfully believe the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, it is the right faith that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is at the same time both God and man. He is God, begotten from the substance of the Father before all ages; and He is man, born from the substance of His mother in this age: perfect God and perfect man, composed of a rational soul and human flesh; equal to the Father with respect to His divinity, less than the Father with respect to His humanity. Although He is God and man, He is not two, but one Christ: one, however, not by the conversion of the divinity into flesh, but by the assumption of the humanity into God; one altogether, not by confusion of substance, but by unity of person. For as the rational soul and flesh is one man, so God and man is one Christ, Who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose again the third day from the dead, ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father, God Almighty, from whence He will come to judge the living and the dead. At His coming all people will rise again with their bodies and give an account concerning their own deeds. And those who have done good will enter into eternal life, and those who have done evil into eternal fire. This is the catholic faith; whoever does not believe it faithfully and firmly cannot be saved. Let us pray. Almighty and everlasting God, You have given us grace to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity by the confession of a true faith and to worship the Unity in the power of the Divine Majesty. Keep us steadfast in this faith and defend us from all adversities; for You, O Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, live and reign, one God, now and forever. Amen. The grace & peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. Get full access to Purify the Heart at purifytheheart.substack.com/subscribe [https://purifytheheart.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Gisteren2 min
aflevering Daily Devotion for Sunday, May 31 (Holy Trinity Sunday) artwork

Daily Devotion for Sunday, May 31 (Holy Trinity Sunday)

In the name of the Father, & of the Son, & of the Holy Spirit. Amen.Welcome to Purify the Heart where our thoughts are being replaced with God’s thoughts as we meditate upon His Word. Today being Holy Trinity Sunday, I will be reading to you the first part of the Athanasian Creed. Whoever desires to be saved must, above all, hold the catholic faith. Whoever does not keep it whole and undefiled will without doubt perish eternally. And the catholic faith is this, that we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity, neither confusing the persons nor dividing the substance. For the Father is one person, the Son is another, and the Holy Spirit is another. But the Godhead of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit is one: the glory equal, the majesty coeternal. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit: the Father uncreated, the Son uncreated, the Holy Spirit uncreated; the Father infinite, the Son infinite, the Holy Spirit infinite; the Father eternal, the Son eternal, the Holy Spirit eternal. And yet there are not three Eternals, but one Eternal, just as there are not three Uncreated or three Infinites, but one Uncreated and one Infinite. In the same way, the Father is almighty, the Son almighty, the Holy Spirit almighty; and yet there are not three Almighties, but one Almighty. So the Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God; And yet there are not three Gods, but one God. So the Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, the Holy Spirit is Lord; And yet there are not three Lords, but one Lord. Just as we are compelled by the Christian truth to acknowledge each distinct person as God and Lord, so also are we prohibited by the catholic religion to say that there are three Gods or Lords. The Father is not made nor created nor begotten by anyone. The Son is neither made nor created, but begotten of the Father alone. The Holy Spirit is of the Father and of the Son, neither made nor created nor begotten, but proceeding. Thus, there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Spirit, not three Holy Spirits. And in this Trinity none is before after another; none is greater or less than another; But the whole three persons are coeternal with each other and coequal, so that in all things, as has been stated above, the Trinity in Unity and Unity in Trinity is to be worshiped. Therefore, whoever desires to be saved must think thus about the Trinity. Here ends the first part of the Athanasian Creed. Let us pray. Almighty and everlasting God, You have given us grace to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity by the confession of a true faith and to worship the Unity in the power of the Divine Majesty. Keep us steadfast in this faith and defend us from all adversities; for You, O Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, live and reign, one God, now and forever. Amen. The grace & peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. Get full access to Purify the Heart at purifytheheart.substack.com/subscribe [https://purifytheheart.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Gisteren4 min