Brews with Andrewes brewswithandrewes
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- Religion & Spirituality
Fr. Michael and Fr. Allen of St. Michael the Archangel Anglican Church Charolette invite you to the table for a drink and to discuss the works of this quintessential Anglican and famous Caroline Divine Lancelot Andrewes in order to see what he would have to say about the world in which we live.
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Episode 11: Who is this that cometh from Edom in Isaiah 63
Who is this that cometh from Edom in Isaiah 63:1-3
Andrewes on the victorious return of Jesus, the blood-stained warrior, from His conquest against demons, death, and Hell on Resurrection Sunday.
July 19, 2022
Sermon XVII of Lancelot Andrewes’ Sermons on The Resurrection Preached upon Easter-Day before King James at Whitehall on April 13, 1623.
Copies can be found in Lancelot Andrewes Works, Sermons, Volume Three, or on The Project Canterbury Website.
Summary:
Andrewes uses the imagery of winepresses in Isaiah 63:1-3 to, first, speak about Christ’s victory over the kingdom of demons and death (Edom), along with its capital city, Hell (Bozrah), by His Passion and Resurrection, and, then, to emphasize the benefits that Christ offers to His people who accept the great exchange He won – namely that of “God becoming man so man can be able to become god,” or in theological terms: man’s deification (qewsiV, theosis) by grace.
Introductory Remarks about Isaiah 63:1-3
Philip could have just as easily used this passage to teach the Ethiopian Eunuch about Christ
Isaiah 53:7-8 teaches about Jesus’ Passion (cf.Act.8:26-40)
Isaiah 63:1-3 teaches about Jesus’ Resurrection
This passage is about Christ for two reasons
Immediately before it, in Isa.62:11, we are told “Behold, here comes your savior,” and our passage says, “Who is this who comes?”
The one coming says that He has accomplished this saving work alone.
This passage was fulfilled by Christ by his Resurrection from death and hell
He was not left in hell (Ps.16:10) – in Bozrah
He was brought back from the deep of the earth (Ps.71:20) – from Edom
This passage is therefore a conversation between the prophet Isaiah and the Christ.
The Prophet asks, “Who is this?” And Christ answers:
The one who “speaks righteousness”
The one “Mighty to save”
The Prophet asks, “Why are you covered in red?”
The winepress of redemption: “I have trodden alone”
The winepress of vengeance: “I will tread them down”
The prophet asks these questions because of the stranger’s appearance (his habit) and the way he is walking (his gait)
The person responds that He had a conquest in Edom and a victory in Bozrah
This was good news for Isaiah since Edom was one of the worst enemies of God’s people.
A Spiritual Edom and Bozrah
As Jesus was never in Bozrah physically, we must look to the spiritual meaning and fulfilment (compare spiritual Sodom and Egypt where Jesus was crucified, Rev.11:8)
Edom symbolizes the kingdom of darkness and death because of their wickedness, envy, rancor, and insulting over men in misery.
Historically, it was known for its notoriously wicked people who the LORD always had anger toward (cf.Mal.1:4)
The Edomits were descendants of Esau, Jacob’s older brother, and were the nearest of kin to the Jews. Yet out of their envy of Israel, they turned into rancorous enemies of God’s people.
They gloated in Israel’s misfortunes and desired to see God’s people suffer.
Historical Edomites of note were Doeg, antagonist to David (1Sam.21-22), and Herod the Great, antagonist to Christ.
Bozrah symbolizes hell itself, the seat of the Prince of Darkness
As the strongest hold and city of the Kingdom of Edom
As a great walled-in seat of power
Edom and Bozrah Conquered
Geographically David conquered historical Edom and Bozrah
Symbolically David’s Son conquered spiritual Edom/death and Bozrah/hell
He did this in His Crucifixion, Death, and Resurrection
It was a shocking victory and no one recognized Him at first when He came walking back (for example: Mary at the grave and the disciples on the Road to Emmaus)
Two Titles to answer “Who is this?”
Both titles are fulfilled by Christ as the one who subdues and treads down death, hell, and all the powers of Satan.
The One “speaking righteousness”
His Word is truth
He is known by His Word
He is the Word who was “in the beginning” (Jhn.1:1)
He is a Priest -
Episode Ten: Remember Lot’s Wife
Episode Ten: Remembering Lot’s Wife in Luke 17:32
Andrewes on the requisite intentions for spiritual growth
and the lifelong perseverance that marks
the lives of true believers.
May 30, 2022
Sermon IV of Lancelot Andrewes’ Sermons Preached in Lent
Preached before Queen Elizabeth on March 6, 1594.
Copies can be found in Lancelot Andrewes Works,
Sermons, Volume Two, or on The Project Canterbury Website.
Summary:
Andrewes teaches on the sobering example of Lot’s wife, which Jesus commanded His followers to remember in Luke 17:32.
Introductory Remarks
This verse is short so there is no excuse for not memorizing and learning its lesson.
The context of this verse is applied to future events, so it still applies to us
Two Moments of God’s Judgment
The lake of Sodom – a punishment for resolute sin
For sins of commission – a judgment against those in a state of sin
We ought to learn the dangers of living in open sin
Lot’s wife’s pillar – punishment for faint virtue [Christ’s emphasis is on this one]
For sins of omission – a judgement against those in a state of grace
We ought to learn the dangers of not continuing to grow/progress in faith – “We sprinkle ourselves with the salt of her pillar that we turn not again to follow, or fall away from our steadfastness.
If we stop growing, then we stop going.
Two Necessary Reminders
In regards to religion
Her story is for old-timers, not new converts
She motivates us take serious progression in religious life
In regards to nature
As breasts complete the work of the womb, or a healthy regiment completes the work of the physician, so remembering her story completes our first faith
She motivates us to take serious the proneness-to-wander-astray of our nature
Like Israelites wanting to go back to Egypt
Like the Romans turning their backs on Paul
Like the declining morality of our time: “The wavering and amaze of others that stand in the plain with Lot’s wife, looking about, and cannot tell whether to go forward to little Zoar or back again to the ease of Sodom, show plainly that Lot’s wife is forgotten.”
Point One: Christ uses such stories and calls us to remember these stories of the past
By the office of preaching reminding us of the fragility of life and dark days to come
By the preservation of the Scriptures for us to remember the days of old
We are to hold our actions up in comparison to the actions seen in these stories
We are to read stories past so that we do not become the stories of the future
Point Two: What to remember about Lot’s wife particularly
Two kinds of “remembering”
Remembering examples to follow
Remembering examples to flee from
Two things to be remembered: “what they did” and “what their outcome was”
What Lot’s wife did – “she drew back, or looked back
She did not head the angel’s warning (Gen.19:17) as if there was no peril
She did all that she was forbidden and despised the counsel of God
What was her outcome – she was turned into a salt stone
The Degrees of Her Disobedience
A wavering Mind with the Sin of Unbelief – She did not keep the Angel’s charge but believed her sons-in-law knew better.
This sin produced a weariness and slow steps – She lost the intent to follow drawing back
For the love of Sodom remained in her heart causing the convulsion of her neck – She cast her eyes for where she longed.
She did not want to give up Sodom’s ease – She had been moving all her life, Sodom gave her a sense of stability and security; she did not want to enter an uncertain future.
The Doubly-heinous nature of her sin
She fell away and looked back after 30 long years of hard faithfulness
She was punished the instant she looked back out of willful defection from God’s mercies
Judged for forgetting all of God’s past mercies to her
After God so warmly remembered her all the times past, she coldly forgot Him here
She chose bodily pleasures of Sodom instead of safety of -
Episode Nine: On the Lord's Prayer, Pt. 4
Episode Nine: The Lord’s Prayer, Pt.4
Andrewes on seeking God’s grace to do no evil
nor befall it and giving God the glory as the
only One Who can give such grace.
January 23, 2021
Sermons 16 - 19 of Lancelot Andrewes’
Nineteen Sermons upon Prayer in General,
and The Lord’s Prayer in Particular.
Copies can be found in Lancelot Andrewes Works,
Sermons, Volume Five,
or on The Project Canterbury Website.
Summary:
With the 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th sermons of this 13-sermon collection on the Lord’s Prayer, Andrewes teaches on the often over-looked, or unconsidered, realties contained in the intentional wording of the Lord’s Prayer’s “Lead Us Not into Temptation” “But Deliver Us from Evil,” “For Thine is the Kingdom, Power, and Glory, for Ever and Ever” and finally “Amen.”
Introductory Summary and Overview of the Lord’s Prayer
Jesus opens up to us a relationship with the Divine Creator as
Our good, merciful and willing Father
Our powerful and able King
Where we can discover how our lives were always meant to be
Keeping God as number One in our lives
Making sure our lives (careers, possessions, families, etc.) are part of God’s rule on earth
Making sure our wills and wants are in line with God’s
Learning to participate and progress in being made fit for heaven
Where we can find everything necessary for such a life
The necessities for both our physical bodies and spiritual souls
Removal of everything that creates a barrier between us and God
Removal of everything that creates a barrier between us and neighbors
Where we can actually come to live this kind of life on earth
Increasingly learning to no longer commit evil (acts contrary to God’s ways)
Trusting God to protect us from any evil befalling us
Giving God the glory always
Living in the Amen.
“Lead Us Not Into Temptation” (That We May Not Commit Any Evil)
Forgiveness is in vain without repentance
Parts of Repentance
Sorrow for past sins
Care to avoid sin to come
This Petition demonstrates our allegiance against Satan
The Nature of Temptation
God’s Trials
They are for our ultimate good
God allows them to try/prove/purge/strengthen our faith
Satan’s Trials
Not for our ultimate good (only temporal, immediate good)
For quenching our faith and dashing our patience
Inner, Human Temptations
Proceed from within us
Come from the flesh/mortality
Outer Temptations
Proceed from the world outside us
Proceed from the works of the Devil
God Delivers from Temptation
From Inner Temptations
Delivers us to know true pleasure
Delivers us to know what should truly be feared
From Outer Temptations
Grants confidence that God can indeed deliver
Since He has overcome, He can deliver us
By keeping Satan chained/bound limiting his influence
The Nature of Being Led
God knows and will protect our weaknesses
We can’t truly love another without knowing their weakness
He became our weakness so to love us in our weakness and to protect it from Satan
In taking the lead, God prevents us from...
Becoming a son of perdition by being led by a “lying Spirit” (1Kngs.22:19-23; similar to the testing Job faced in Job1:6; 2:1)
Becoming a participant in Satan’s temptation willingly, wittingly, or even delightingly
If God allows us to be led into the wilderness for tempting, then we can count Him to lead us out
Our Duty concerning this petition
We must not set ourselves up for temptation
We must remove known stumbling blocks
We must restrain our eyes and mouths from evil
We must let God lead us; He will not God force Himself upon us
We must pray specifically for key areas of temptation
“But Deliver Us from Evil” (That We May Not Suffer Any Evil)
Praying for the removal of things laborious and troublesome
Things to be aware of concerning this petition
Temptation & Evil are two different things
Unlike the heathen, we have one God to give us what is good and to deliver us from evil
If t -
Episode Eight: On the Lord's Prayer, Pt. 3
Episode Eight: The Lord’s Prayer, Pt.3
Andrewes on Asking for Our Daily Bread and
Seeking the Forgiveness of Our Debts as We
Forgive Our Debtors
Dec.12, 2020
Sermons 13 - 15 of Lancelot Andrewes’
Nineteen Sermons upon Prayer in General,
and The Lord’s Prayer in Particular.
Copies can be found in Lancelot Andrewes Works,
Sermons, Volume Five, or on The Project Canterbury Website.
Summary:
With the 7th, 8th, and 9th sermons of this 13-sermon collection on the Lord’s Prayer, Andrewes teaches on the often over-looked, or unconsidered, realties contained in the intentional wording of “Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread” “Forgive Us Our Debts,” and “As We Forgive Them That Trespass Against Us.”
Outline:
“Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread”
Introduction
We now move from the eternal petition for glory and the spiritual petition for grace, to the natural, temporal petition for necessities to live and to be able to serve God.
Only after first seeking the Kingdom, then for the fulfilling of God’s will, and finally the righteousness God requires, are we to seek the things we stand in need of.
The Petition Itself for God’s Giving
The benefits of our asking God to give
We confess that we are in want (maintaining our dependence upon God)
We are protected from becoming workaholics (maintaining our reliance upon God)
We look for His blessing of our work allowing us contentment (protecting us from idolatry and maintain our relationship with God)
What God Gives
He gives bread to believers and unbelievers by blessing the earth w/fruitfulness
He gives bread to believers and unbelievers by giving them the ability to work
He gives bread to believers and unbelievers by blessing the food to nourish and strengthen their bodies.
He uniquely gives sanctified-bread to believers for them to serve Him with both body and soul.
The “Bread”
“Bread” is symbolic of many things
The physical necessities needed for bodily health, peace/comfort, and contentment
The spiritual necessities needed for the soul
The nourishing force of God’s Word (“bring us out of our dry spell”)
The spiritual food offered by the Savior (Jhn.6:36)
The “Our” Bread
When we ask for “Our” Bread we mean that which rightfully belongs to us as God’s Children
To receive the necessities that are ours by right for faithfully laboring for them
To receive the necessities that are blessed by God
Not the bread of violence, deceit, or demons, but of God
Not the bread only good for this life, but that conveys holiness for both
The “Daily”
We are asking for our daily care
We are asking for that which is appropriate for our substance
Natural sustenance for our natural body
Supernatural sustenance for our spiritual soul (“epiousios” super-substantial)
We are asking for what satisfies hunger, not cravings, as not to become gluttons
Necessity, not wantonness
Needs, not wants
The “Give Us”
The Reason God gives to us
God cares for all His creatures
God cares especially for man
God cares even more especially for redeemed man
The Limitation for God’s Giving
God gives to us for the purpose of blessing others
We are not only to seek the removal of our burdens but to be able to alleviate the burdens of others by what we have received.
The “This Day”
We are seeking our present need, not our future needs
This does not mean we can be careless about our future
Answering Objection: If we have enough today, our desire is, that as we have enough now, so we may be preserved in this state, and that God would not change plenty into poverty.
“And Forgive Us Our Debts”
Intro: the dual nature and purpose of prayer/grace: to receive good and to remove evil
Glory for Kingdom to Come – Removal of Sin
Grace for God’s Will to be Done – Removal of Temptation
Provision of Daily Necessities – Removal of Daily Evil
The Necessity of this Petition
“Debts” = “Sin”
Sin creates a parti -
Episode Seven: On the Lord's Prayer, Pt. 2
Episode Seven: The Lord’s Prayer, Pt.2
Andrewes on Establishing God’s
Heavenly Honor, Kingdom, and Will on Earth
Nov.14, 2020
Special Guest: Bishop Chandler Jones
Sermons 10 - 12 of Lancelot Andrewes’
Nineteen Sermons upon Prayer in General,
and The Lord’s Prayer in Particular.
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Copies can be found in Lancelot Andrewes Works,
Sermons, Volume Five, or on The Project Canterbury Website.
Summary:
With the 4th, 5th, and 6th sermons of this 13-sermon collection on the Lord’s Prayer, Andrewes teaches on the often over-looked, or unconsidered, realties contained in the intentional wording of “Thy Kingdom Come” “Thy Will Be Done,” and “In Earth as it is In Heaven.”
Outline:
“Thy Kingdom Come”
Seek first the kingdom of God/heaven (“Thy Kingdom”)
By seeking the renewal of our minds by God’s Spirit of Wisdom and understanding (cf.Isa.11:2; Rom.12:2; Eph.1:27).
By seeking the renewal of our hearts and learning to contemn, and live for more than, earthly pleasures, our own selves, and this mortal life.
Aspects of God’s Kingdom
It is a Universal Kingdom, with God reigning over all things, kings, rulers, and nations (cf.Ps.99)
It is a Kingdom of Glory (referring to God’s outer power and protection)
Against this, the Kingdom of Satan seeks to rule the world in God’s stead,
The Kingdom of Sin pushes back against the glory of God’s Kingdom, and
The Kingdom of Death pushes back against the power of God’s Kingdom.
It is a Kingdom of Grace (referring to God’s inner working)
This part aspect of the Kingdom grants the New Birth to those who desire it,
Roots out the presence of Satan’s Kingdom of Sin and Death, and
Produces the virtues of righteousness, peace, and joy.
The Nature of Its Coming
When it comes, it reveals our corrupted appetites for the things of this world,
It lightens our blind eyes for us to be able to walk in God’s ways,
It inflames/enlarges our hard hearts to love God’s ways (cf.Ps.119:32)
It removes from our lives all that offends God, and
Its fullest coming will be at the eschaton (Bliss for some and Hell for others):
We enter the Kingdom of Grace now that we might enter the Kingdom of Glory;
Those who do not become acclimated to God in His Kingdom of Grace will find the coming of His Kingdom of Glory dark and torturous.
“Thy Will Be Done” (not just known, but done)
We are seeking the grace to “Do”
We seek God’s grace to reign in us now that we might reign with Him in glory.
It’s not about calling Jesus Lord, but serving Him as Lord. It’s not about wishing, or desiring, but doing.
We are seeking that God’s Will would become our own will by submitting to His hidden/secret will and framing our actions to His revealed/open will:
God’s Hidden/Secret Will
God’s Revealed/Open Will
For His Pleasure
What He wills
Knowable only to Him
Irresistible
To be adored (election/reprobation)
Passive (kept with or without our intention or awareness)
In regards to the Secret Will we pray that nothing God’s commands will displease us and that nothing we do displeases Him:
Anything not plainly spelled out can be dissented to
It is possible in good will to desire something else than what God wills secretly (e., death of a loved one)
It is possible in ill will to desire to do something God has willed not
Disclosed to us
What we ought to will
Knowable and to be searched by all
Resistible (thus we pray to be able to do it)
To be studied
Active (must be made aware of and intentionally acted upon)
In regards to the Open Will we pray that when God does reveal His Will, we will have what it takes to see that it is done:
Be it death,
Be it trials and tribulations, or
Be it His commands,
We pray we might do it well
We show our desire for God’s Kingdom by our obedience to His Will.
Requirements for doing God’s Will
We must lay aside, seek the conversion of, and discipline of our own wills for God’s Will
We must acknowledge and honor -
Episode Six: On the Lord's Prayer, Pt.1
Episode Six: The Lord’s Prayer, Pt.1
Andrewes on Understanding God as Our Father in Heaven
And Sanctifying His Name
October 3, 2020
Sermons 7 - 9 of Lancelot Andrewes’
Nineteen Sermons upon Prayer in General,
and The Lord’s Prayer in Particular.
Copies can be found in Lancelot Andrewes Works,
Sermons, Volume Five, or on The Project Canterbury Website.
Summary:
With these first 3 sermons of the 13 sermon collection, Andrewes teaches on the often over-looked, or unconsidered, realties contained in the intentional wording of “Our Father,” “Which art in Heaven,” and “Hollowed be Thy Name.”
Outline:
“Our Father” (Connecting to the perfection of God’s goodness and merciful nature)
Benefits of Praying to God
The guarantee of being heard when we prayer
The gift of being able to pray to God as “Father”
It reinforces our trust in God’s goodwill and favor toward us
It balances our experience of kingly fear with bold confidence (Kingship implies His ability to answer prayers; Fatherhood implies His willingness to answer those prayers for us).
Ramifications of having God as “Our Father”
Calling God “Father” demonstrates the love we bear to Him
Calling God “Our” demonstrates the love we bear toward our neighbor (other children of God)
Knowing God as “Father” assures of His favor and gives us hope
Challenges to accepting God as “Our Father”
His Majesty ≠ our baseness (having been made from dust and ashes)
His holiness ≠ our sinfulness
Christ authorizes and enables us to call God “Our Father”
We are given an exalted position above the Patriarchs and Heavenly Spirits
By returning to God through the unique Son, we are given a unique relationship
God as “Father” speaks of and acknowledges His affection for what He has made
He is the Father of all creatures
He is the Father of humanity, which He created in His own image
He is the Father Who prepared the way back for His fallen children
He is the Father of the New Birth granting us sonship
As “Father” God’s affection toward us is shown to be immutable and excellent
His fatherly love for us is unchanging in both chastening and blessing
His fatherly love for us is excellent and abounding in forgiveness and mercy
Additional benefits of God’s affection toward us being fatherly:
It doesn’t take much to satisfy a Father’s anger
There is a plentiful bounty of mercy
We share in the inheritance He has prepared for His Son
Out duty and response to God as “Our Father”
To live as becomes His children and to repent/return to the Father when we haven’t
To seek to grow up fully through His glorification/theosis as sons of God
Respectfully reverence Him as our “Father”
Realize all these benefits apply to everyone who refers to Him as their “Father”
Pledge our love to all other brethren who say “Our” Father
This fights against pride
This prevents malice
This teaches us to pray for others (fellow believers, those in open rebellion to God and their neighbor, and even our enemies).
“Which Art in Heaven” (Connecting to the excellency of God’s power and greatness)
This phrase is meant to be and expression of the Father’s greatness and power more than a description of the location to where the prayer is being sent.
The phrase is used to temper the boldness gain by the idea of God as “Father” and to maintain a balanced understanding of God (He is both merciful Father and powerful rulers).
The phrase is used to increase our confidence and faith in God because, like heaven, He is immortal, immutable, and able to give that which is incorruptible.
The phrase serves to prepare us for prayer by making us to look upward in our desires.
The phrase serves to focus us upon asking for heavenly gifts and blessings
The phrase serves to beckon us to discover our true selves which were meant for that heavenly country
In desiring to be in heaven, we begin to desire wanting to learn its ways
In desir