The Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/bethany-lutheran-worship
Bethany Lutheran Worship, 10 AM Central
The Hymn #260 O Lord Look Down 1.4
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 Ephesians 4:22-28
The Gospel Matthew 9:1-8
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #225 Come Holy Spirit 1.39
New Clothes – New Man
The Hymn #261 Lord Keep Us 1.93
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 #452 The Son of God 1.10
KJV Ephesians 4:22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; 23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; 24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. 25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. 26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: 27 Neither give place to the devil. 28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
KJV Matthew 9:1 And he entered into a ship, and passed over, and came into his own city. 2 And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee. 3 And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth. 4 And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? 5 For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? 6 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house. 7 And he arose, and departed to his house. 8 But when the multitudes saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men
Nineteenth Sunday After Trinity
O mighty and everlasting God, who by Thy Son Jesus Christ didst mercifully help the palsied man both in body and soul: We beseech Thee, for the sake of Thy great mercy: Be gracious also unto us; forgive us all our sins, and so govern us by Thy Holy Spirit, that we may not ourselves be the cause of sickness and other afflictions; keep us in Thy fear, and strengthen us by Thy grace that we may escape temporal and eternal wrath and punishment, through Thy Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.
New Clothes – New Man
KJV Ephesians 4:22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; 23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; 24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
The image in this lesson is familiar in Paul’s letters. The phrase is associated with putting on clothing, especially a robe. Take off the old robe, the conduct of the Old Adam, which is corrupt, and be renewed in your mind, and put on the new robe of the New Man, created by the Word in righteousness and true holiness.
This image is very clearly associated with conversion to faith and Holy Baptism. Perhaps this image applied directly to the baptismal gown worn by adult converts. I am skeptical that all churches followed the same traditions in all places. However, it has been a custom to baptize on Easter Sunday. Even in modern churches one can find adults wearing a special robe for the occasion, not necessarily because they are being immersed. (The Baptists have an interesting argument. They say everyone must be immersed because the verb means to immerse. But the verb really means to wash, emphasizing the sacrament – God giving grace through a visible instrument.)
KJV Galatians 3:26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
In Galatians, which was most likely earlier than Ephesians (and well known to all), Paul connected this verb “put on” with Holy Baptism.
The Christian faith is a great blessing to mankind, because this only true religion, revealed by God, does not take, does not demand, but gives to man. Forgiveness is not earned by works, pain, torture, and self-sacrifice, but won by Christ and distributed by the Gospel Word, in preaching, teaching, Holy Baptism, and Holy Communion.
I often wonder why a nominal Christian society is saturated with so much bad behavior. One indication came to me at a political meeting I attended with my wife. Much was made of a new trend, called oath-takers or oath-keepers. Everyone who takes an oath to perform an office is included (military, firemen, police officers). That may remind people of another fad from 15 years ago, Promise Keepers. The idea is to get people to promise all the good things they will do and make them keep those promises. I have seen that adapted by Lutheran youth groups too. All of this is the Law and bears the fruit of hypocrisy.
People put their trust in their own actions, determination, virtue, and methods employed. Maybe they should write down their promises. Share them with others. Have a special service where they make their promises.
The Lutheran Pietists, who borrowed heavily from the Reformed, were always anxious to prove they were getting good results, visible results in their members.
Sermons and worship were aimed at this, and the conventicle or cell group was considered the key method.
Paul’s admonitions are just the opposite. That is why we see such a contrast between the Means of Grace and Reformed methods.
Luther was often criticized for emphasizing the Gospel so much in his sermons. He reasoned that the people had heard the Law alone for centuries and were properly scared to death about judgment and condemnation. They knew their sinful condition. He preached the Gospel to them to show them the cure was already planned, arranged, and fulfilled for them.
Modern drama evolved out of Medieval plays, which were ways of showing people how they were going to burn forever in Hell. These were effective fund-raising devices when indulgences were sold. That may sound crude but I know of a pastor who used the same method in visiting an elderly patient with brain cancer. He scared the man but that was not a comfort to him or the family.
Indulgences and Pietism methods both aim at works of the Law, so they fail in providing comfort and forgiveness. They stir up the dust of the Law, the evil desires (carnal and spiritual) without providing a solution or cure.
The false Gospel of Universal Objective Justification sounds like pure Gospel to some, but its Pietistic roots give it away. UOJ is anti-Means of Grace and therefore anti-Biblical. The method is clear, quoting Paul Kelm. He reversed Law and Gospel and said we should start with the Gospel (meaning everyone in the world is forgiven, without faith) and move to the Law (imposing demands on people). The Zinzendorf Pietists (now called Moravians) advocated the same plan, starting with the Gospel and ending with the Law.
Calvin and Karl Barth said the same thing – The gift (salvation) is a demand.
All the holiness and Reformed groups end up in the same position, requiring works with faith for salvation. That is why one Baptist author said his denomination was very close to Roman Catholicism in its concept of sanctification (the Christian life).
So how do we escape the swamp of Pietism, the Slough of Despond, which has attracted and trapped so many well-meaning Christians?
Paul’s words must be taken in the context of Scripture interpreting Scripture. Putting off the Old Adam means giving up on the way the world conducts itself and measures virtue.
Putting on the New Man, the New Creature, does not mean making a vow or going on a pilgrimage. Paul equates Holy Baptism with putting on Christ. Our robe of righteousness is not ours, but His.
Paul’s admonition is Gospel. Our conduct in life is based upon Christ paying for our sins and giving us His righteousness through the visible and invisible Word.
Remaining on the True Vine makes us fruitful, not because of us and our promises, but because of the Vine.
KJV John 15:1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. 3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. 8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
Notice that the Father is glorified when believers bear fruit. Nothing speaks more eloquently about false teachers than their glorying in themselves. They are the best, the greatest, and they have most stuff. One CG blogger wrote, “Look at all the people we have.” Not once did he mention being faithful to the Word.
The anti-Means of Grace nominal Lutherans love the word “disciples” but they never quote this verse:
KJV John 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
The statement is not, “If you have a large congregation, you are my disciples indeed.”
The statement is not, “If the world admires you and features you in the Sunday magazine supplement, you are my disciples indeed.’
KJV John 15:19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. 20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
Jesus, in John’s Gospel, constantly emphasized the hatred of the world toward believers and the importance of guarding the Word. It is God’s Word given to them and to us, not our word to be bandied about and manipulated for our purposes. The Word has the cross attached to it, so many prefer the toxic word of success-magic, borrowed from the Asian magic religions (Taoism especially and perhaps Buddhism). One man told me he was becoming a Buddhist because his special number was 22 and they showed him that number as his number - at their temple. Knowing how much he talked, I imagine they gleaned that from him first, then “revealed” it later. He probably owns Trump mortgage bonds today.
The new WELS youth rally is saturated with success propaganda based on the low ebb of Pietism, bordering on the occult. Pietism gets boring and the occult concepts tickle the fraying nerves of law-mongers. “Heather is 18 and recently graduated from High school. She is a single mom, and has a newborn baby named Kendall. She will talk about the struggles and trials she has overcome and the breakthrough victories she was able to accomplish because of her fearless faith in her Savior Jesus.” Her faith accomplished these things, so let’s all admire her fearless faith.
The Scriptures constantly emphasize faith, but they point to faith in Christ, not faith in us.
So put on the New Man means – Remember your baptism. Because Christ has done everything for you, paid for your sins with His innocent blood, and risen from the dead, conduct yourselves according to the Gospel.
Our baptism is a constant reminder of God giving us the Gospel at the earliest point in life (in many cases) or confirming our faith in the case of adult conversions. I remember seeing my baptism certificate, from a Congregational church. Later my family joined the local personality-cult church growthy church (Disciples of Christ). That led me to join the Lutheran Church. The pastor thought I might be put off by the liturgy. He never realized how superficial the non-liturgical churches were. Those who grow up in liturgical Lutheran churches take them for granted and think Evangelicals have more freedom and attractiveness. But what is better than the Word?
I have told this story often but it sticks with me. I was just at the world headquarters of Wal-Mart this week and attended a meeting there. An Evangelical minister toured McDonald’s headquarters and was dazzled by all the media equipment. He said to the Evangelism conference, “If only the church had all that equipment!”
But the church has the Word, and Gospel-energy is far more powerful than hardware and software, sub-woofers and tweeters.
Lenski has an ironic statement in one of his books, which is parallel to this discussion. He says, “Everyone prays for the one thing we do not need to pray for.” (Our daily bread – God provides this to believers and unbelievers alike). “But we do not pray for the one thing Christ prayed for – the unity of the church.” That unity can only come from agreement in doctrine, sound doctrine, God’s revealed Word.
Civilization IV recognizes that. This video game rewards the gamer who has the same religion in all his cities. It even helps in taking over other cities that belong to another country. Christian disharmony has been at the center of many crises affecting national governments. That leads to the influence of pagan religions. Minnesota was once a Lutheran state. Now it is rapidly becoming a Muslim run state, with a radical Muslim as Senator and the other Senator a comedian who supports the radicals.
So man constantly corrupts the true Word of God and turns it into the word of man. Justification by faith alone, apart from the works of the Law, is the healing message of the Gospel and the power to face temptation.
No one likes bad directions, which we got recently on the way to a doctor 120 miles away. I said, “Let’s try it my way,” and I was right for once. People can die from bad medicine.
I had a member whose father was dying in the hospital. His adult brother was called home from South America for the final days. They discovered the father was being given the wrong medicine for his condition, and that was killing him. They took him off the wrong medicine and he went home from the hospital, healthy.
It is essential that we receive the right medicine, no other Gospel, as Paul said to the Galatians. The right medicine is the cure. It is a comfort and relief, not a burden. It brings healing. From time to time I have had to take medicine for an illness or condition. The moment I took one pill, I said, “That’s it. Now I know what I needed.” Many types of medicine are on-going treatments, for things like blood pressure and diabetes. The Gospel is our medicine for our on-going condition of sinfulness, which is treated but never cured this side of Heaven.
A chorus of voices will tell us to take nostrums and bad medicine, but the Word of God prescribes the right medicine even if everyone else says otherwise.
KJV Psalm 103:1 {A Psalm of David.} Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. 2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: 3 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; 4 Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; 5 Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's. 6 The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed. 7 He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel. 8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. 9 He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever. 10 He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. 11 For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. 12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. 13 Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him. 14 For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust. 15 As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. 16 For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more. 17 But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children; 18 To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them. 19 The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all. 20 Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word. 21 Bless ye the LORD, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure. 22 Bless the LORD, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the LORD, O my soul.
The benefits of this everlasting Gospel are the fruits we see from the power of the Word. We enjoy them first of all in our families, which are God’s appointed schools for building Christian character. We see them in many other relationships blessed by Christian faith.
I have lived in many different regions, thanks to the Church Growth people, and I have noticed a distinct difference in the populations. I was confirmed in an Augustana Synod church, a group profoundly influenced by William Passavant. He was so firm about the Confessions, after being part of the Church Growthism of the 19th century (revivalism, which was also unionistic), that he constantly emphasized Lutheran orthodoxy according to the Book of Concord. He insisted on a confessional subscription for all the seminary professors at the school he established by buying the land. He bought the land where Wrigley Field is located. That was bought by him for the seminary. It was purchased and land bought in Maywood, where the seminary was actually established. Every seminary professor had to sign his name to the Book of Concord, in order to teach there. Even then that was a remarkable emphasis, going against all the trends of the moment. Augustana never reconciled its divergent doctrine, but Passavant’s leadership (as an outsider!) meant the Swedish Lutherans were actively engaged in all kinds of charitable and missionary work as the fruit of the Gospel. They were far more involved and generous than their liberal, ULCA counterparts. Ultimately Pietism won out with unionism, and they turned their charitable work into political activism. The first LCA lobbyist in Washington DC was an Augustana pastor. Sad.
The Gospel rain moves on, as Luther said. It is inevitable that people will take for granted whatever is abundant. We value Lutheran orthodoxy all the more now because so few give it any credibility, and it seems to be fading away in so many quarters. To judge results is not our job – only to remain faithful stewards of the mysteries of God.
Quotations
"Next in importance to the above three framers was David Chytraeus (1530-1600). A south German, educated at Wittenberg under Melanchthon, he spent most of his professional ife, 49 years, as professor at Rostock in Mecklenburg in north Germany. Like Melanchthon he was never ordained. Next to Chemnitz, he was the brightest and best theologian in the group...Like many other had had become disenchanted with Melanchthon and turned against him on the Lord's Supper."
J. A. O. Preus, The Second Martin, The Life and Theology of Martin Chemnitz, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1994, p. 186.
6) Antinomistic Controversy, 1527-1556. John Agricola, repentance wrought by Gospel, not Law. Rejection of Third Use. Decided by FC, Articles V and VI. 7) Crypto-Calvinistic Controversy, 1560-1574. Philippists in Wittenberg, Leipzig, Dresden, tried to supplant Luther's doctrines with Calvin's on the Lord's Supper and the majesty of the human nature of Christ. Unmasked in 1574. Decided by FC, Articles VII and VIII. 8) Descent into Hell - John Aepinus in Hamburg. FC, Article IX. Once saved, always saved. Zanchi, a Crypto-Calvinist, in Strassburg. FC, Article XI.
F. Bente, Concordia Triglotta, Historical Introductions to the Symbolical Books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, 031 p. 103.
of innocent and faithful Lutheran ministers. The fact was clearly established that these Philippists had been systematically plotting to Calvinize Saxony. The very arguments with which Luther's doctrine of the Lord's Supper and the Person of Christ might best be refuted were enumerated in these letters. However, when asked by the Elector whether they were Calvinists, these self-convicted deceivers are said to have answered that 'they would not see the face of God in eternity if in any point they were addicted to the doctrines of the Sacramentarians or deviated in the least from Dr. Luther's teaching.' (Walther, 56.)"
F. Bente, Concordia Triglotta, Historical Introductions to the Symbolical Books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, 057 p. 190.
"Calvin and his adherents boldly rejected the universality of God's grace, of Christ's redemption, and of the Spirit's efficacious operation through the means of grace, and taught that, in the last analysis, also the eternal doom of the damned was solely due to an absolute decree of divine reprobation (in their estimation the logical complement of election), and this at the very time when they pretended adherence to the Augsburg Confession and were making heavy inroads into Lutheran territory with their doctrine concerning the Lord's Supper and the person of Christ,--which in itself was sufficient reason for a public discussion and determined resentment of their absolute predestinarianism."
F. Bente, Concordia Triglotta, Historical Introductions to the Symbolical Books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, 061 p. 195f.
"Calvin and his adherents boldly rejected the universality of God's grace, of Christ's redemption, and of the Spirit's efficacious operation through the means of grace, and taught that, in the last analysis, also the eternal doom of the damned was solely due to an absolute decree of divine reprobation (in their estimation the logical complement of election), and this at the very time when they pretended adherence to the Augsburg Confession and were making heavy inroads into Lutheran territory with their doctrine concerning the Lord's Supper and the person of Christ,--which in itself was sufficient reason for a public discussion and determined resentment of their absolute predestinarianism." F. Bente, Concordia Triglotta, Historical Introductions to the Symbolical Books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, 061 p. 195f. "It was, above all, the spirit of indifferentism toward false doctrine, particularly concerning the Lord's Supper, which Luther observed and deplored in his Wittenberg colleagues: Melanchthon, Bugenhagen, Cruciger, Eber, and Major."
F. Bente, Concordia Triglotta, Historical Introductions to the Symbolical Books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, 005 p. 94.
"For Scripture never calls either Baptism or the Lord's Supper mysteries or sacraments. Therefore this is an unwritten (agraphos) appellation." Martin Chemnitz, Examination of the Council of Trent, trans., Fred Kramer, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1986, II, p. 29. "In addition there is this perversion, that whereas Christ instituted the use of His Supper for all who receive it, who take, eat, and drink, the papalist Mass transfers the use and benefit of the celebration of the Lord's Supper in our time to the onlookers, who do not communicate, yes, to those who are absent, and even to the dead."
Martin Chemnitz, Examination of the Council of Trent, trans., Fred Kramer, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1986, II, p. 498.
"For a sacrifice, according to Augustine, Contra adversarium legis et prophetarum, Bk. 1, and De civitate Dei, Bk. 10, is a work which we offer, render, and dedicate to God in order that we may dwell in Him in holy fellowship. A sacrament, however, is a holy sign through which God freely offers, conveys, applies, and seals His gratuitous benefits to us. It is therefore an extraordinary perversion of the Lord's Supper to make a sacrifice out of a sacrament, in the way the papalists speak of the sacrifice of their Mass, namely, that the representatory action of the priest procures for us the application of the benefits of Christ and that anyone who causes a Mass to be celebrated in his behalf by this work procures grace and whatever other things are ascribed to the Mass."
Martin Chemnitz, Examination of the Council of Trent, trans., Fred Kramer, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1986, II, p. 498.
"Naturally, Universalists deny that the Sacraments are Means of Grace. Some Universalists observe three sacraments--consecration, Baptism, and the Lord's Supper. The act of consecration of children consists in the parents' pledging themselves to rear their children in the admonition of the Lord." The. Engelder, W. Arndt, Th. Graebner, F. E. Mayer, Popular Symbolics, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1934, p. 409f. "As distinguished from the Gospel, Sacraments are acts, we apply water in Baptism, and we eat and drink in the Lord's Supper. They are sacred acts, and must, as such, be distinguished from ordinary washing, eating and drinking...A Sacrament which offers God's blessings cannot be instituted by man or the Church, but by God alone."
Edward W. A. Koehler, A Short Explanation of Dr. Martin Luther's Small Catechism, Fort Wayne: Concordia Theological Seminary Press, 1946, p. 254.
"The same is true of other factions--the Anabaptists and similar sects. What else do they but slander baptism and the Lord's Supper when they pretend that the external [spoken] Word and outward sacraments do not benefit the soul, that the Spirit alone can do that?" Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin Luther, ed. John Nicolas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, VIII, p. 208. 1 Corinthians 12:1-11;
"For in Confession as in the Lord's Supper you have the additional advantage, that the Word is applied to your person alone. For in preaching it flies out into the whole congregation, and although it strikes you also, yet you are not so sure of it; but here it does not apply to anyone except you. Ought it not to fill your heart with joy to know a place where God is ready to speak to you personally? Yea, if we had a chance to hear an angel speak we would surely run to the ends of the earth."
Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed. John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983 II, p. 199.
"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."
Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholaus Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, V, p. 266. John 4:46-54; 1 Peter 5:8; Ephesians 6:12
"For we can definitely assert that where the Lord's Supper, Baptism, and the Word are found, Christ, the remission of sins, and life eternal are found. On the other hand, where these signs of grace are not found, or where they are despised by men, not only grace is lacking but also foul errors will follow. Then men will set up other forms of worship and other signs for themselves."
Martin Luther, What Luther Says, An Anthology, 3 vols., ed., Ewald Plass, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, II, p. 914. Genesis 4:3.
"Both Baptism and the Lord's Supper qualify as Means of Grace because of the simple fact that they are visible forms of the essential Gospel message announcing the forgiveness of sins." Martin W. Lutz, "God the HS Acts Through the Lord's Supper," God The Holy Spirit Acts, ed., Eugene P. Kaulfield, Milwaukee: Northwestern Publishing House, 1972, p. 117. "Since God has connected His most gracious promise of forgiveness with Baptism and the Lord's Supper, these also are true and efficacious means of grace, namely, by virtue of the divine promises that are attached to them."
John Theodore Mueller, Christian Dogmatics, A Handbook of Doctrinal Theology, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1934, p. 444.
"In reconciling the world unto Himself by Christ's substitutionary satisfaction, God asked no one's advice concerning His singular method of reconciliation. In like manner, without asking any man's advice, He ordained the means by which He gives men the infallible assurance of His gracious will toward them; in other words, He both confers on men the remission of sins merited by Christ and works faith in the proffered remission or, where faith already exists, strengthens it. The Church has appropriately called these divine ordinances the means of grace, media gratiae, instrumenta gratiae; Formula of Concord: 'Instrumenta sive media Spiritus Sancti' (Triglotta, p. 903, Solid Declaration, II, 58). They are the Word of the Gospel, Baptism, and the Lord's Supper, as will be shown more fully on the following pages."
Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, 3 vols., trans., Walter W. F. Albrecht, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1953, III, p. 103.
"We saw before that Scripture ascribes the forgiveness of sins without reservation to the Word of the Gospel, to Baptism, and to the Lord's Supper. Therefore all means of grace have the vis effectiva, the power to work and to strengthen faith." [Note: Augsburg Confession, V, XIII]
Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, 3 vols., trans., Walter W. F. Albrecht, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1953, III, p. 108f.
"In fact, there is no basis for a real disagreement between Zwingli and Calvin. The situation here is analogous to the one that obtains in the doctrine of Christ's Person and Word and the doctrine of the Lord's Supper. In these doctrines Zwingli and Calvin and all Reformed will agree as long as they all teach that Christ's body can possess only a local and visible mode of subsistence or presence. Similarly, Zwingli and Calvin cannot differ materially in their teaching on the means of grace because they agree, first, that Christ's merit and saving grace do not apply to all who use the means of grace; secondly, that saving grace is not bound to the means of grace."
Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, 3 vols., trans., Walter W. F. Albrecht, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1950, III, p. 163.
"The Reformed, and all Reformed sects, deny the Real Presence of the body and blood of Christ in the Lord's Supper. Through this they detract from God's honor." Francis Pieper, The Difference between Orthodox and Heterodox Churches, and Supplement, Coos Bay, Oregon: St. Paul's Lutheran Church, 1981, p. 36. "Whoever denies the Real Presence of the body and blood of Christ in the Lord's Supper must pervert the words of Institution where Christ the Lord, speaking of that which He gives His Christians to eat, says: 'This is My body,' and, speaking of that which He gives them to drink, says: 'This is My blood.' [Also 1 Corinthians 10:16]
Francis Pieper, The Difference between Orthodox and Heterodox Churches, and Supplement, Coos Bay, Oregon: St. Paul's Lutheran Church, 1981, p. 40. 1 Corinthians 10:16.
"Furthermore, consider this: All doctrines of the Bible are connected with one another; they form a unit. One error draws others in after it. Zwingli's first error was the denial of the presence of Christ's body and blood in the Lord's Supper. In order to support this error, he had to invent a false doctrine of Christ's Person, of heaven, of the right hand of God, etc."
Francis Pieper, The Difference between Orthodox and Heterodox Churches, and Supplement, Coos Bay, Oregon: St. Paul's Lutheran Church, 1981, p. 41.
"It is, for example, very terrible that the Lutheran Church, because it has the true doctrine of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, is decried as 'Catholic.' This attack against the true Church is no small matter." Francis Pieper, The Difference between Orthodox and Heterodox Churches, and Supplement, Coos Bay, Oregon: St. Paul's Lutheran Church, 1981, p. 44.
"Is the Lord's Supper the place to display my toleration, my Christian sympathy, or my fellowship with another Christian, when that is the very point in which most of all we differ; and in which the difference means for me everything--means for me, the reception of the Savior's atonement? Is this the point to be selected for the display of Christian union, when in fact it is the very point in which Christian union does not exist?"
Theodore E. Schmauk and C. Theodore Benze, The Confessional Principle and the Confessions, as Embodying the Evangelical Confession of the Christian Church, Philadelphia: 1911, p. 905f.
"As to your observation that this kind of open communion is common practice in the WELS, you may be correct. It is an aberration that has caught on, especially in the mission fields like California. It's a kind of 'Don't ask, don't tell' for the Lord's Supper!" Rev. Steve Spencer, Letter to Gregory L. Jackson, 3-15-95.
"If we call Sacraments rites which have the command of God, and to which the promise of grace has been added, it is easy to decide what are properly Sacraments...Therefore Baptism, the Lord's Supper, and Absolution, which is the Sacrament of Repentance, are truly Sacraments. For these rites have God's command and the promise of grace, which is peculiar to the New Testament. For when we are baptized, when we eat the Lord's body, when we are absolved, our hearts must be firmly assured that God truly forgives us for Christ's sake. And God, at the same time, by the Word and by the rite, moves hearts to believe and conceive faith, just as Paul says, Romans 10:17: 'Faith cometh by hearing.' But just as the Word enters the ear in order to strike our heart, so the rite itself strikes the eye, in order to move the heart. The effect of the Word and of the rite is the same..." [Luther, Bab Captivity, 3 sacraments]
Article XIII, Number/Use Sacraments, Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 309.
"Our adversaries have no testimonies and no command from Scripture for defending the application of the ceremony for liberating the souls of the dead, although from this they derive infinite revenue. Nor, indeed, is it a light sin to establish such services in the Church without the command of God and without the example of Scripture, and to apply to the dead the Lord's Supper, which was instituted for commemoration and preaching among the living [for the purpose of strengthening the faith of those who use the ceremony]. This is to violate the Second Commandment, by abusing God's name."
Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Article XXIV, The Mass, Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 414f.
"In what vulgar terms does Zwingli here speak of these sacred matters! When the Holy Spirit wants to approach man, He does not need the Word of God, the Gospel, Baptism, the Lord's Supper, for a conveyance; He can come without them! It must be a queer Bible which Zwingli read."
C. F. W. Walther, The Proper Distinction Between Law and Gospel, trans., W. H. T. Dau, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1928, p. 156.
"They separate grace from Baptism and leave us a mere external sign, in which there is not a grain of mercy; all grace has been cut away. Now, if the grace of Christ has been removed from Baptism, there remains nothing but a mere work. Likewise, in the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper the fanatics remove the promise offered us in this Sacrament; they tell us that what we eat and drink is nothing but bread and wine. Here, too, the proffered grace is cut away and renounced. For they teach us that the only good work that we do by communing is professing Christ; as to the rest, we merely eat and drink bread and wine in the Supper, and there is no grace in it for us. That is the result of falling away from the First Commandment: a person promptly sets up an idol in the form of some meritorious work, in which he trusts." (Luther, on Deuteronomy 4:28; St. L. III, 1691 ff.)
C. F. W. Walther, The Proper Distinction Between Law and Gospel, trans., W. H. T. Dau, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1928, p. 160. Deuteronomy 4:28.
"Calvin was dissatisfied with Zwingli's interpretation of the Lord's Supper, but his own interpretation was also wrong. He said that a person desiring to receive the body and blood of Christ could not get it under the bread and wine, but must by his faith mount up to heaven, where the Holy Spirit would negotiate a way for feeding him with the body and blood of Christ. These are mere vagaries, which originated in Calvin's fancy. But an incident like this shows that men will not believe that God bears us poor sinners such great love that He is willing to come to us."
C. F. W. Walther, The Proper Distinction Between Law and Gospel, trans., W. H. T. Dau, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1928, p. 185.
