Do you know who my father is?
I only want to help the church. Why do you persecute me?
The Eighth Sunday after Trinity
Bethany Lutheran Worship, 8 AM, Phoenix Time, Sundays
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
The Hymn #292 by Selnekker – Ach bleib bei uns
The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual Romans 8:12-17
The Gospel Matthew 7:15-23
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #261 by Luther – Erhalt uns Herr
Figs From Thistles
The Hymn #375 by Heerman – Nun freut euch
The Preface p. 24
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn # 436 - Belmont
Romans 8:12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. 13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. 21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
EIGHTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY
Lord God, heavenly Father, we most heartily thank Thee that Thou hast caused us to come to the knowledge of Thy word. We pray Thee: graciously keep us steadfast in this knowledge unto death, that we may obtain eternal life; send us now and ever pious pastors, who faithfully preach Thy word, without offense or false doctrine, and grant them long life. Defend us from all false teachings, and frustrate Thou the counsels of all such as pervert Thy word, who come to us in sheep's clothing, but are inwardly ravening wolves, that Thy true Church may evermore be established among us, and be defended and preserved from such false teachers, through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.
Figs From Thistles
This Gospel lesson has a positive and a negative message. The positive message reminds us that good fruit will always come from a good tree. The good tree is sound doctrine, the true Word of God.
The negative, condemning message teaches us that nothing good can come from an evil tree, from false doctrine. Moreover, Jesus carefully describes false teachers as wolves in sheep’s clothing.
This is one of the great passages about the efficacy of the Word, although the focus is primarily on false doctrine and false teachers.
The one great flaw in the modern Lutheran Church, the foundation for all other errors, is a lack of trust in the efficacy of the Word. Walther perceptively identified the problem as looking for the yield instead of the good tree or seed. Farmers and gardeners have great trust in the final results when they start with good stock and good seed.
I have neglected my rose bushes this year, as a friend pointed out when visiting, but the roses are true to their nature and produce blooms anyway. The old rose bush Madame Isaac Pere and the grandiflora Queen Elisabeth are both tall and blooming, without much attention at all. It is even possible to do the wrong things and have good results, if the stock is good. I thought my ficus died in the big frost, so I cut them down to the base. They had a great root system and water from my neighbors, so they grew up again, about five feet tall.
Congregations, pastors, and parents need to trust the Word of God to accomplish His will, not adjust the Word, water it down, and adulterate it – to obtain the right yield. That is the final jest of Satan in this age, that the worst false teachers have the greatest crowds.
1. First the crowds get a generic, non-threatening Christianity (“a God without wrath sent His Son without a cross into a world without sin” – Niebuhr)
2. Then they get prosperity message, which is a mixture of occult doctrine and Asian philosophy, almost entirely lacking any Gospel message.
3. Finally, they become Unitarians in gradual steps, antagonistic toward the Gospel of Christ.
The true Gospel bears fruit everywhere. First of all, the Gospel creates and sustains faith in Jesus through the working of the Holy Spirit in the Word. Through the Word we receive Christ and His benefits, which are forgiveness of sin, eternal life, an abundant life.
Jesus teaches that a good tree cannot bear evil fruit, yet the synodical leaders teach just the opposite. They do not want ministers to be faithful to the Scriptures and Confessions because that disturbs people. Nothing is quite so illuminating as the constant effort of the LCMS-ELS-WELS-CLC leaders to persecute the Gospel and offer excuses for false teachers. Some blatantly publish their blather in official periodicals:
"There is no Church Growth Movement Program in our synod. Our church body is opposed to the false theology of the Church Growth Movement. We have no programs inside or outside the budget with that name. Nor do we have any programs with a different name which utilize Church Growth theology."
Wayne D. Mueller, Administrator for the Board of Parish Services, WELS, "A Response to 'Saving Souls vs. New Programs,'" The Northwestern Lutheran, February 1, 1992 p. 50.
But the Confessions Allow Our Church Growth Programs
"There may be pastors or congregations which use methodology which church growth people use. This does not mean they have adopted the theology of the Church Growth Movement. Our Lutheran Confessions allow complete freedom among our churches in methodology that does not conflict with the gospel."
Wayne D. Mueller, "A Response to 'Saving Souls' vs. 'New Programs,'" The Northwestern Lutheran, February 1, 1992 p. 50.
Yes, there may be Church Growth pastors. In fact, the network is centered around their leader, Wayne Mueller.
As Luther said, the Gospel message is choked when men know their duty and fail to do it.
When I published an essay in the now-defunct Orthodox Lutheran Forum, using this passage, the ELS and WELS went bonkers because I dared to point out how ludicrous the latest WELS Church Growth book was. Instead of dealing with Valleskey’s obvious false doctrine, they lined up to support him and attack me, which is what I expected. They also had the same reaction when I published Liberalism, Its Cause and Cure, with a final chapter on the Means of Grace. How can Lutherans have a Satanic reaction to the Means of Grace? Simple – they are not Lutheran but fallen-away Lutherans, apostates. One Northwestern College student (not a relative) was punished for writing a favorable review of Liberalism: Its Cause and Cure in the student paper.
Others have had similar experiences by the score.
The most amazing thing today is how many are fooled or want to be fooled. Everyone has access to the Book of Concord, a good translation of the Scriptures, and recent publications and websites of these wolves in sheep clothing. Yet it all goes on as if nothing as happened.
The key description is “wolves in sheep’s clothing.” We should not expect wolves to show up as wolves. After all, in earlier days people did not attack Christ, but Jonah and the whale, or the days of Creation. Not that it matters, but one whale can seat four men at a card table in his mouth. The problem is not the whale’s mouth but God commanding the wind, the creatures of the sea, and converting Jonah. By casting doubt on Jonah, the liberals of the 1970s undermined people’s trust in the Word.
We are not to judge teachers by their personalities, but by their doctrine. That tends to be self-fulfilling. If people love false doctrine, they think the false teacher is wonderful (in spite of evidence to the contrary). If they love false doctrine, sound teachers bother them endlessly and they find fault with that person.
The Ichabod posting by a pastor’s wife quickly became the most viewed page on Ichabod. Luther discussed this topic once. He pointed out that people who love the Word also love the one who brings it to them. Those who hate the Word hate the one who teachers it. If they cannot get away with attacking the minister, they attack the minister’s family. Luther wrote about that 500 years ago. People have not changed.
The moment the Gospel gets a foothold anywhere, Satan’s disciples line up to attack.
The problem today – and the main difference – is that Lutheran leaders despise the Word, so they despise their own ministers. Therefore, they also despise the families of the ministers. Is it any wonder that so few children of church workers want to follow their parents as teachers and ministers? In the past, the overwhelming number of pastors and parochial school teachers came from the homes of church workers. That has changed completely. I agree with the children for avoiding a life
A pastor, the son of a highly respected minister, told me he would not recommend seminary to anyone today. As Luther said, if people want wolf-preaching, they will get wolf preaching. So why would someone saddle himself with enormous debt with the chance of being ousted by the district pope in his first call?
Slick Brenner told me 20 years ago that WELS was facing a great judgment. God punishes people who love false doctrine by giving them false teachers.
21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
One of the intriguing characteristics or works of false teachers is their eagerness to deceive. They can pretend to be more pious than God, more loyal to synod institutions than anyone, but they give themselves away with their deceit. I have had numerous Fuller Seminary grads admit to going there, brag about going there, and then deny going there. If the school were so great, why did they deny going there? If they were so ashamed of studying there, why did they attend in the first place?
Likewise, they engage in the much greater deceit about God’s Word. These wolves teach that the plain meaning of the Word is not the real meaning. Claims are infinite in number:
1. The Bible teaches a form of evolution.
2. Jesus did not think He was the Messiah.
3. The Trinity is not taught in the Bible.
4. Paul turned a lowly rabbi into the Savior of the world.
5. The Word is not effective but man-made schemes are effective.
The gutless ones, who tell everyone they are confessional Lutherans go along with this and even explain away the false teaching. The famous WELS explanation is, “Well, that can be understood correctly.” (In other words, the published false doctrine can be translated into sound doctrine. Be sure to stretch out the word “can.”) Or, “that is a g-r-e-y area of Scripture,” a doctrinal pratfall, an attack on the plain meaning of the Word.
Someone who insists on doctrinal clarity, precision, and orthodoxy is “a legalist” or “an extremist,” or “a person with a Luther complex.”
Apostates call every fair judgment of their doctrine a personal attack, when someone questions their doctrine, or Satan’s doctrine. They answer—not with a defense of their doctrine—but with a personal attack avoiding the doctrinal issue. Calling someone a slanderer for addressing doctrinal issues – that is a personal attack. “Legalist” is name-calling, another personal attack. So is “extremist.”
We can rely on God being at work in the Word. Two responses are expected and proof of God at work. One is opposition. The most obvious teachings of the Scriptures are under constant attack. Another is the cross. Anyone who insists on the pure Word of God will experience the cross, specifically because of the Word. This also fulfills what Paul said – For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you. 1 Corinthians 11:19.
Everyone can see how this comes to pass on the subject of Holy Communion. The Bible teaches the Real Presence of Christ, the visible Word conferring forgiveness upon the believer. That is a minority view among Christians and one which the so-called Lutherans are all to willing to bargain away in order to worship with various denominations. One pastor argued on the Internet yesterday that the best approach was to give communion to anyone who approached the altar.
Nevertheless, apostates ex-communicate with a vengeance. They are deeply offended at the thought of going into a conservative service. They are loud in their denunciations of Biblical Christianity. If one word is said wrong in their presence, the Left Foot of Fellowship is extended – for life. A minister I know was kicked out of his denomination immediately upon questioning the ordination of women, privately in the presence of his superior. Everyone knows how the apostates in the ELS, LCMS, and WELS have defenestrated conservatives for the last few decades. Doctrinal discipline is not obsolete: it is only practiced by apostates against conservatives.
The greatest saints of the Church have experienced this in past generations, so we should expect no less. It reads better when it is a long-dead Christian leader like the hymn writer Paul Gerhardt. When it happens to us, we do not feel so warm and inspired. That is because so much of the Old Adam remains. The evidence is that we resent the cross being attached to the Word, even though Jesus clearly and repeatedly taught it.
The blessings of the Word remain. Nothing but good fruit comes from the Gospel tree. We take comfort daily in its teaching. We have the inner peace that can only come from the Word of God. We are united with fellow believers across the world. God’s blessings are multiplied in the lives of people around us.
False Teachers Use Work of Others
"Note the master hand wherewith Paul portrays the character of false teachers, showing how they betray their avarice and ambition. First, they permit true teachers to lay the foundation and perform the labor; then they come and desire to do the work over, to reap the honors and the benefits. They bring about that the name and the work of the true teachers receive no regard and credit; what they themselves have brought—that is the thing. They make the poor simple-minded people to stare open-mouthed while they win them with flowery words and seduce them with fair speeches, as mentioned in Romans 16:18. These are the idle drones that consume the honey they will not and cannot make."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, VII, p. 110. Second Sunday in Lent. 2 Corinthians 11:19-33; 12:1-9; Romans 16:18.
False Doctrine Tolerated
"And such false teachers have the good fortune that all their folly is tolerated, even though the people realize how these act the fool, and rather rudely at that. They have success with it all, and people bear with them. But no patience is to be exercised toward true teachers! Their words and their works are watched with the intent of entrapping them, as complained of in Psalm 17:9 and elsewhere. When only apparently a mote is found, it is exaggerated to a very great beam. No toleration is granted. There is only judgment, condemnation and scorn. Hence the office of preaching is a grievous one. He who has not for his sole motive the benefit of his neighbor and the glory of God cannot continue therein. The true teacher must labor, and permit others to have the honor and profit of his efforts, while he receives injury and derision for his reward."
Sermons of Martin Luther, VII, p. 110. 2 Corinthians 11:19-33; 12:1-9. Psalm 17:9.
God Punishes Ingratitude by Allowing False Teachers
"In the second place such teachers are disposed to bring the people into downright bondage and to bind their conscience by forcing laws upon them and teaching works-righteousness. The effect is that fear impels them to do what has been pounded into them, as if they were bondslaves, while their teachers command fear and attention. But the true teachers, they who give us freedom of conscience and create us lords, we soon forget, even despise. The dominion of false teachers is willingly tolerated and patiently endured; indeed, it is given high repute. All those conditions are punishments sent by God upon them who do not receive the Gospel with love and gratitude."
Sermons of Martin Luther, VII, p. 111. 2 Corinthians 11:19-33; 12:1-9. John 5:43.
False Teachers Flay Disciples to Bone
"In the third place, false teachers flay their disciples to the bone, and cut them out of house and home, but even this is taken and endured. Such, I opine, has been our experience under the Papacy. But true preachers are even denied their bread. Yet this all perfectly squares with justice! For, since men fail to give unto those from whom they receive the Word of God, and permit the latter to serve them at their own expense, it is but fair they should give the more unto preachers of lies, whose instruction redounds to their injury. What is withheld from Christ must be given in tenfold proportion to the devil. They who refuse to give the servant of truth a single thread, must be oppressed by liars."
Sermons of Martin Luther, VII, p. 111f. Second Sunday in Lent. 2 Corinthians 11:19-33; 12:1-9.
Avarice in False Teachers
"Fourth, false apostles forcibly take more than is given them. They seize whatever and whenever they can, thus enhancing their insatiable avarice. This, too, is excused in them."
Sermons of Martin Luther, VII, p. 112. Second Sunday in Lent. 2 Corinthians 11:19-33; 12:1-9.
They Lord It Over Us
"Fifth, these deceitful teachers, not satisfied with having acquired our property, must exalt themselves above us and lord it over us...We bow our knees before them, worship them and kiss their feet. And we suffer it all, yes, with fearful reverence regard it as just and right. And it is just and right, for why did we not honor the Gospel by accepting and preserving it?"
Sermons of Martin Luther, VII, p. 112. Second Sunday in Lent. 2 Corinthians 11:19-33; 12:1-9.
We Are Dogs and Foot-Rags
"Sixth, our false apostles justly reward us by smiting us in the face. That is, they consider us inferior to dogs; they abuse us, and treat us as foot-rags."
Sermons of Martin Luther, VII, p. 112. Second Sunday in Lent. 2 Corinthians 11:19-33; 12:1-9.
False Teachers Are Peacocks
"The peacock is an image of heretics and fanatical spirits. For on the order of the peacock they, too, show themselves and strut about in their gifts, which never are outstanding. But if they could see their feet, that is the foundation of their doctrine, they would be stricken with terror, lower their crests, and humble themselves. To be sure, they, too, suffer from jealousy, because they cannot bear honest and true teachers. They want to be the whole show and want to put up with no one next to them. And they are immeasurably envious, as peacocks are. Finally, they have a raucous and unpleasant voice, that is, their doctrine is bitter and sad for afflicted and godly minds; for it casts consciences down more than it lifts them up and strengthens them."
What Luther Says, An Anthology, 3 vols., ed., Ewald Plass, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, II, p. 642.
Satan and Emotions
J-650.1
"Satan torments you until you conclude that you are lost and ruined, that heaven and earth, God and all the angels, are your enemies."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p. 247.
J-651.1
"For that rogue, the devil, has a sharp vision and easily becomes conscious of the presence of a true Christian. Therefore he exerts himself to entrap him, and surrounds and attacks him on all sides; for he cannot bear that anyone should desert his kingdom."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholaus Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, V, p. 264.
J-652.1
"When you preach or confess the Word, you will experience both without, among enemies, and also within, in yourself (where the devil himself will speak to you and prove how hostile he is to you), that he brings you into sadness, impatience, and depression, and that he torments you in all sorts of ways. Who does all this? Certainly not Christ or any good spirit, but the miserable, loathsome enemy...The devil will not bear to have you called a Christian and to cling to Christ or to speak or think a good word about Him. Rather he would gladly poison and permeate your heart with venom and gall, so that you would blaspheme: Why did He make me a Christian? Why do I not let Him go? Then I would at last have peace."
What Luther Says, An Anthology, 3 vols., ed., Ewald Plass, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, II, p. 928.
J-653.1
"Neither is he [Satan] truthful; he is the spirit of lies, who, by means of false fear and false comfort having the appearance of truth, both deceives and destroys. He possesses the art of filling his own victims with sweet comfort ; that is, he gives them unbelieving, arrogant, secure, impious hearts...He can even make them joyful; furthermore, he renders them haughty and proud in their opinions, in their wisdom and self-made personal holiness; then no threat nor terror of God's wrath and of eternal damnation moves them, but their hearts grow harder than steel or adamant."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p. 302.
J-654.1
"The deeper a person is sunk in sadness and emotional upheavals, the better he serves as an instrument of Satan. For our emotions are instruments through which he gets into us and works in us if we do not watch our step. It is easy to water where it is wet. Where the fence is dilapidated, it is easy to get across. So Satan has easy access where there is sadness. Therefore one must pray and associate with godly people."
What Luther Says, An Anthology, 3 vols., ed., Ewald Plass, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, III, p. 1243.
J-655.1
"It is not the devil's aim to plague us physically; he is a spirit who is always thirsting for the tears and the drops of blood that come from our hearts. He wants us to despair and to perish from sadness. This would be his joy and delight. But he will not succeed."
What Luther Says, An Anthology, 3 vols., ed., Ewald Plass, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, III, p. 1244. John 15:19.
Deception of Satan
Satan works primarily as the father of lies (John 8). One famous author, loved by the Church Growth gurus, wrote this:
J-656.1
"One day I overheard my stepmother say to my father: 'The only real devil that exists in this or any other world is the man whose business is that of making devils.' I accepted this statement instantly and never have departed from it."
Napoleon Hill, Grow Rich With Peace of Mind, New York: Fawcett Crest, 1967, p. 212. [36]
We should consider that Rev. Robert Schuller was given a Napoleon Hill medal by the Napoleon Hill Foundation for promoting the wisdom of Napoleon Hill. [37]
J-657.1
"Now and again I have had evidence that unseen friends hover about me, unknowable to ordinary sense. In my studies I discovered there is a group of strange beings who maintain a school of wisdom which must be ten thousand years old, but I did not connect them with myself. Now there is a connection. I am not one of them!—but I have been watched by them."
Napoleon Hill, Grow Rich With Peace of Mind, New York: Fawcett Crest, 1967, p. 158. check quote
J-658.1
"'I have come,' said the voice, 'to give you one more section to include in your book. In writing this section you may cause some readers to disbelieve you, yet you will write honestly and many will believe and be benefited. The world has been given many philosophies by which men are prepared for death, but you have been chosen to give mankind a philosophy by which men are prepared for happy living...I come from the Great School of the Masters. I am one of the Council of Thirty-Three who serve the Great School and its initiates on the physical plane.'" [Hill explains]: "That is the school of wisdom which has persisted secretly in the Himalayas for ten thousand years...From the remotest days of antiquity, the Masters of the Great School have communicated with each other by telepathy."
Napoleon Hill, Grow Rich With Peace of Mind, New York: Fawcett Crest, 1967, p. 158f.
J-659.1
"The School has Masters who can disembody themselves and travel instantly to any place they choose in order to acquire essential knowledge, or to give knowledge directly, by voice, to anyone else. Now I knew that one of these Masters had come across thousands of miles, through the night, into my study."
Napoleon Hill, Grow Rich With Peace of Mind, New York: Fawcett Crest, 1967, p. 159.
J-660.1
[Great School's message to Hill:] "You have passed through the Jungle of Life safely. Now you must give to the world a blueprint with which others may traverse that same Black Forest."
Napoleon Hill, Grow Rich With Peace of Mind, New York: Fawcett Crest, 1967, p. 160.
J-661.1
"For this reason one should not be too credulous when a preacher comes softly like an angel of God, recommends himself very highly, and swears that his sole aim is to save souls, and says: 'Pax vobis!' For those are the very fellows the devil employs to honey people's mouths. Through them he gains an entrance to preach and to teach, in order that he may afterward inflict his injuries, and that though he accomplish nothing more for the present, he may, at least, confound the people's consciences and finally lead them into misery and despair."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, II, p. 322. Easter Tuesday Luke 24:36-47.
J-662.1
"But, being deceived by the devil, we forsake the light of day and seek to find truth among philosophers and heathen totally ignorant of such matters. In permitting ourselves to be blinded by human doctrines, we return to the night. Whatsoever is not the Gospel day surely cannot be light. Otherwise Paul, and in fact all Scripture, would not urge that day upon us and pronounce everything else night."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholaus Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, VI, p. 17.
J-663.1
"The devil does not rest yet, and hence he stirs up so many sects and factions. How many sects have we not already had? One has taken up the sword, another has attacked the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, others that of baptism."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholaus Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, V, p. 266. Twenty-first Sunday after Trinity, John 4:46-54; 1 Peter 5:8; Ephesians 6:12.
J-664.1
"The devil does not sleep, he will do many more such things, he looks around and exerts himself to exterminate the pure doctrine in the Church and will finally, it is feared, bring it to this, that should one pass through all Germany he would find no pure pulpit, where the Word of God is preached as in former days. He tries with all his might to prevent the pure doctrine from being taught, for he cannot endure it."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholaus Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, V, p. 266.
J-665.1
"The devil also is able to present to the factious spirits the idea that they regard themselves as right, like the Arians who thought their cause was right."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholaus Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, V, p. 266.
J-666.1
"For every sect has always had one or more particular hobbies and articles which are manifestly wrong and can easily be discerned to be of the devil, who publicly teach, urge and defend them as right certain and necessary to believe or to keep For the spirit of lies cannot so conceal himself, but that he must at last put forth his claws, by which you can discern and observe the ravenous wolf."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, IV, p. 282f.
J-667.1
"On that day every false teacher will wish that he had never been born and will curse the day when he was inducted into the sacred office of the ministry. On that day we shall see that false teaching is not the trifling and harmless matter that people in our day think it is."
C. F. W. Walther, The Proper Distinction Between Law and Gospel, trans., W. H. T. Dau, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1928, p. 88.
