Thanksgiving, 2012
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
Bethany Lutheran Church, 10
AM Central Time
The Hymn #536 Awake My Soul 3.28
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 1 Timothy 2:1-8
The
Gospel Luke 17:11-19
Glory be to
Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #36 Now Thank
We 3.40
Thankful to God for His Spiritual Blessings
The Hymn #316 O Living Bread 3.45
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 #354 In the Cross 3.84
Twenty-Fifth Sunday After Trinity
Lord God, heavenly Father, we most heartily thank Thee that
by Thy word Thou hast brought us out of the darkness of Papacy into the light
of Thy grace: We beseech Thee, mercifully help us to walk in that light, guard
us from all error and false doctrine, and grant that we may not, as the Jews,
become ungrateful and despise and persecute Thy word, but receive it with all
our heart, govern our lives according to it, and put all our trust in Thy grace
through the merit of Thy dear Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and
reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.
KJV 1 Timothy 2:1 I exhort
therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving
of thanks, be made for all men; 2 For kings, and for all that are in
authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and
honesty. 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our
Saviour; 4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of
the truth. 5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men,
the man Christ Jesus; 6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in
due time. 7 Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the
truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and
verity. 8 I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands,
without wrath and doubting.
KJV Luke 17:11 And it came
to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria
and Galilee. 12 And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men
that were lepers, which stood afar off: 13 And they lifted up their voices,
and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. 14 And when he saw them, he
said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that,
as they went, they were cleansed. 15 And one of them, when he saw that he was
healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, 16 And fell down on his
face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. 17 And Jesus
answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? 18
There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. 19
And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.
Thankful to God for His Spiritual Blessings
Luther has a popular saying,
where he observed that people rejoice over inheriting an estate but do not show
any thanks for the spiritual treasures given to them in the Gospel of Christ.
If we are not thankful for
our spiritual blessings we no longer have them in time, as experience has
shown. One can hardly find a traditional liturgical service in any Lutheran congregation
today. The most is often a “blended” service, which is just a half-way step
toward anti-liturgical service.
Lenski put it another way –
people pray for the wrong things. God provides for believers and unbelievers
alike. We do not pray for daily bread so much as to remind ourselves to be
thankful for that which is already provided.
I had several plans for
coping with the new year. While I was charting out the possibilities, a chance
meeting in the post office led to something else. It was not something I
imagined possible, given all previous experiences. But it all came together in
48 hours on Reformation and All Saints Day. Thus it is proven that God begins
to answer prayers before we even think to ask (Isaiah).
Looking back it is not hard to imagine an angel sent
to a post office months ago, carrying a box of envelopes, that led to a
conversation and common goals. And the angel and his wife are real people who
will visit us as soon as we feel reasonably settled and sane again, so they
must be regular people.
One thing we decided for
2013 – instead of working on monetary goals we would work on book publishing,
even if it did not pan out to be a big deal. Most publishing is not, even at
the big firms, where they boast about best sellers but have many titles that do
not move at all. What really matters at this stage in life is getting the truth
published and helping others get into the same kind of publishing.
There are many things
happening that I am glad to see, but the sad fact is – I do not name them. If I
do, they are viewed as toxic and dangerous – even while the “conservative”
leaders work with Roman Catholics, Fuller, ELCA, and who knows what. They often
brag about it and then deny it ever happened.
When people complain, my
humorous response is, “Then the pastoral epistles are right after all.” That
leads to an awkward pause as they wonder if I am that far off about the
Scriptures. So I continue, The time of apostasy was predicted in 1 Timothy and
2 Timothy, no? And also in 2 Thessalonians 2? Well, that is what we are
seeing.”
I am making no predictions
about time and events, but it is hard to see how the entire world can recover
from the evil set in motion. Not only do we have world financial insanity, but
also two major powers (Islam and Communism) working together while people deny
there is any threat.
Worst of all, the weakened
state of America makes it impossible to resist with any great effort – too
little faith, too many addictions, too much dependency. Of course it can be
done, but it is hard to imagine with this rotting foundation. The Boomers threw
away what they were given by their indulgent parents. Now we have parents who
hardly know what it means to be father and mother.
In the Midst of Apostasy,
the Means of Grace
We should resist the powers
and principalities taking over the world, but we should also remember the Roman
Empire of the Apostolic Age.
The Roman Empire had
absolute rule over most of civilization from the time of Christ to the Nicene
Creed, 325 AD.
In that time the Christian
faith conquered Rome to such an extent that Constantine declared a council to
create that creed we use for each major service.
The Gospel conquered Rome
while being persecuted and banned.
Various things combined to
do this.
- Some of the great minds of the age were
converted – Augustine was the prime example. Another was Ambrose, whose
justification by faith words are used in the Apology (and misquoted by the
devious UOJ Enthusiasts).
- The martyrs profoundly disturbed their audiences
by dying with grace and peace, making the roaring crowds wonder about the
power of this faith. This also happened when Castro had prisoners killed.
They died yelling “Jesus is King” in Spanish, disturbing the executioners
so much that they had trouble getting men to pull the triggers.
- Persecution spread the Gospel and made people
treasure all the more.
- The power and size of the Empire made travel
relatively easy so the path of the Evangelists was already paved and
charted for them to use, from the edge of India to the wilds of England
where the natives were called Picts for their wild tattoos. (Nothing is
new, of course. We just think so.)
Best
Quotations
Management by Objective
"Those,
however, who set the time, place and measure, tempt God, and believe not that they
are heard or that they have obtained what they asked; therefore, they also
receive nothing."
Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin
Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p.
172. John 16:23-30.
"In like
manner, St. Paul says that God's ability is thus proved, in that He does
exceeding abundantly above and better
than we ask or
think. Ephesians 3:20. Therefore,
we should know we are too finite to be able to name, picture or designate the
time, place, way, measure and other circumstances for that which we ask of
God. Let us leave that
entirely to Him, and immovably and steadfastly believe that He will hear
us."
Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin
Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p. 179f. Fifth Sunday after Easter. Ephesians 3:20.
"If the
world were willing to take advice from a simple, plain man--that is, our Lord
God (who, after all, has some experience too and knows how to rule)--the best
advice would be that in his office and sphere of jurisdiction everybody simply
direct his thoughts and plans to carrying out honestly and doing in good faith
what has been commanded him and that, whatever he does, he depend not on his
own plans and thoughts but commit the care to God. Such a man would certainly find out in
the end who does and accomplishes more, he who trusts God or he who would bring
success to his cause through his own wisdom and thoughts or his own power and
strength."
Martin Luther, What Luther Says, An
Anthology, 3 vols.,
ed., Ewald
Plass, St. Louis: Concordia
Publishing House, 1959, III, p. 1151. Luke
5:1-11.
"For people
come to the preaching of the Gospel as if they were honest pupils. But under
this guise they are seeking nothing else but a full belly and their own
benefit. They consider the
Gospel an economic teaching, designed to teach one to eat and drink in
plenty."
Martin Luther, What Luther Says, An
Anthology, 3 vols.,
ed., Ewald Plass, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, I,
p. 304. John 6:26-27.
"Must
Lutheranism be shorn of its glory to adapt it to our times or our land? No!"
Charles P. Krauth, The Conservative
Reformation and Its Theology, Philadelphia: The United Lutheran Publication House,
1871, p. 208.
"He who
holds fast to the Word alone, trusts and abides in it, does not doubt that what
the Word says will come to pass; he who does not dictate aim or time or means
and ways, but resigns all freely to God's will and pleasure as to when, how,
where, and by whom He will fulfill His Word; he, I say, has a true living faith
which does not nor cannot tempt God."
Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin
Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, I, p.
367. Epiphany, Matthew
2:1-12.
Feelings
"Therefore,
let God's Word be of more authority to you than your own feelings and the
judgment of the whole world; do not give God the lie and rob yourself of the
Spirit of truth."
Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed.,
John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p. 304. Pentecost, Third Sermon. John 14:23-31.
"You have
as much laughter as you have faith."
Martin Luther, What Luther Says, An
Anthology, 3 vols., ed., Ewald Plass, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, II,
p. 692. Psalm 126:5. Erin Joy.
"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."
Martin Luther, What Luther Says, An
Anthology, 3 vols.,
ed., Ewald Plass, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, III,
p. 1244. John 15:19.
"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."
Martin Luther, What Luther Says, An
Anthology, 3 vols.,
ed., Ewald Plass, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, III,
p. 1243.
"He allows
the affliction to remain and to oppress; yet He employs different tactics to
bestow peace; He changes the heart, removing it from the affliction, not the
affliction from the heart. This
is the way it is done: What you are sunk in affliction He so turns your mind
from it and gives you such consolation that you imagine you are dwelling in a
garden of roses."
Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin
Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p. 285. Pentecost Sunday, John 14:23-31.
"But
wherever a Christian, in spite of the terrors of sin, death and hell, with
cheerful heart dies in Christ, there Satan has been truly cast out from his
dwelling place, and deprived of his power and kingdom."
Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin
Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p.
242f. Ascension
Day. Psalm 110:2.
"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."
Martin Luther, What Luther Says, An
Anthology, 3 vols.,
ed., Ewald Plass, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, II,
p. 928.
"But when
the tempest comes and the waves fill the boat, their faith vanishes; because
the calm and peace in which they trust took wings and flew away, therefore they
fly with the calm and peace, and nothing is left but unbelief. But what is this
unbelief able to
do? It sees nothing but
what it experiences. It does not experience life, salvation and safety; but
instead the waves coming into the boat and the sea threatening them with death
and every danger."
Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin
Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, II, p. 93. Fourth Sunday after Epiphany. Matthew 8:23-27.
Law
"After a
long season of sluggishness and lukewarmness, during which you begin to hate
yourself because you saw no way to change your condition, you happen to hear a
real Gospel sermon, and you leave the church a changed man and rejoice in the
fact that you may believe and are a child of God. You suddenly become aware of the fact
that it is not difficult to walk in the way of God's commandments; you seem to
walk in it of your own accord. How
foolish, then, is a preacher who thinks that conditions in his congregation
will improve if he thunders at his people with the Law and points hell and
damnation for them. That
will not at all improve the people."
C. F. W. Walther, The Proper Distinction between Law and
Gospel, trans., W. H. T. Dau, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1928, p.
384.
"Unless the
rocky subsoil in their hearts has been pulverized by the Law, the sweet Gospel
is of no benefit to them."
C. F. W. Walther, The Proper
Distinction Between Law and Gospel, trans., W. H. T. Dau, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1928, p.
119.
"You may
tie a hog ever so well, but you cannot prevent it from grunting, until it is
strangled and killed. Thus
it is with the sins in our flesh."
Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin
Luther, 8 vols.,
ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, II, p.
247. Easter, Second
Sermon. Mark 16:1-8.
Preaching: Is It Worthwhile?
"The
preaching of this message may be likened to a stone thrown into the water,
producing ripples which circle outward from it, the waves rolling always on and
on, one driving the other, till they come to the shore. Although the center becomes quiet, the
waves do not rest, but move forward. So
it is with the preaching of the Word. It
was begun by the apostles, and it constantly goes forward, is pushed on farther
and farther by the preachers, driven hither and thither into the world, yet
always being made known to those who never heard it before, although it be
arrested in the midst of its course and is condemned as heresy."
Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin
Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983,
III, p. 202. Ascension
Day. Mark 16:14-20.
"It is good
to extol the ministry of the Word with every
possible kind of
praise in opposition to the fanatics who dream that the Holy Spirit does not
come through the Word but because of their own preparations. They sit in a dark corner doing and
saying nothing, but only waiting for illumination, as the enthusiasts taught
formerly and the Anabaptists teach now."
Apology of the Augsburg Confession,
Article XIII, The Sacraments, 13, The Book of Concord, ed. Theodore G. Tappert,
Philadelphia: Fortress
Press, 1959, p. 213.
"This is
the province of the work, which the Holy Spirit is to begin in the kingdom of
Christ. It is the teaching
office of the apostles, which is to be of such a character that it must convict
the world, as it finds it outside of Christ, and nobody is to be excepted,
great, small, learned, wise, holy, of high or low condition, etc. This means in short, to bear the
world's anger and to begin strife, and to be struck in the mouth for it. For the world, which rules on earth,
will not and cannot endure its course to be disapproved; therefore
persecution must
arise, and one party must yield to the other, the weakest to the
stronger. But, as the
office of the apostles is to be only a teaching office, it cannot use worldly
power and the world retains its external kingdom and power against the
apostles. But, on the other
hand, the apostles' office of conviction of the world shall likewise not be
suppressed, because it is the office and work of the Holy Spirit, but shall
overcome all and triumph; as Christ promised to them: 'I will give you a mouth
and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to withstand.' Luke
21:15"
Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed.,
John Nicholas
Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker
Book House, 1983, III, p. 136. Fourth
Sunday after Easter, Third Sermon.
John 16:5-15.
"Be not
worried because of this! for even though a man preach and continue in the
Gospel for many years, he must still lament and say: Aye, no one will come, and all
continue in their former state. Therefore
you must not let that grieve or terrify you."
Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin
Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, II, p.
305. Easter Tuesday. Luke 24:36-47.
"And yet,
one single Christian believer, by his preaching and
prayer, can be
the means of salvation to uncounted multitudes. In spite of Satan's hatred and
desire to hinder, many people hear the Gospel, receive baptism and become
teachers of the faith; and through the influence of the Gospel, the sacredness
of home and country are preserved."
Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin
Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p. 241. Ascension Day, Psalm 110:2.
"It must be
so, the village must be against them; again, the apostles must despise them and
appear before them, for the
Lord will have
no flatterer as a preacher. He
does not say: Go around the village, or to the one side of it: Go in bravely
and tell them what they do not like to hear. How very few there are now
who enter the village that is against them. We gladly go into the towns that are
on our side. The Lord might
have said: Go ye into the
village before you. That would have been a pleasing and customary form of
speech. But he would indicate this mystery of the ministry, hence he speaks in
an unusual way: Go into the
village that is over against you. That is: Preach to them that are disposed to
prosecute and kill you. You
shall merit such thanks and not try to please them, for such is the way of
hypocrites and not that of the evangelists."
Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin
Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, I, p. 46f. First Sunday in Advent. Matthew
21:1-9.
"No more
splendid work exists than receiving and hearing the Word of God."
Martin Luther, What Luther Says, An
Anthology, 3 vols.,
ed., Ewald Plass, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, I,
p. 302. Luke 10:38.
"Therefore
the Holy Spirit must come to our rescue, not only to preach the Word to us, but
also to enlarge and impel us from within, yea, even to employ the devil, the
world and all kinds of afflictions and persecutions to this end. Just as a pig's bladder must be rubbed
with salt and thoroughly worked to distend it, so this old hide of ours must be
well salted
and plagued until
we call for help and cry aloud, and so stretch and expand ourselves, both
through internal and through external suffering, that we may finally succeed
and attain this heart and cheer, joy and consolation, from Christ's
resurrection."
Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin
Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, II, p. 253. Easter, Third Sermon. Mark
16:1-8.
Marriage
"Note that
when that wise harlot, natural reason (whom the heathen have followed when they
wanted to be very wise), looks at married life, she turns up her nose and
says: Ah, should I rock the
baby, wash diapers, make the bed, smell foul odors, watch through the night,
wait upon the bawling youngster and heal its infected sores, then take care of
the wife, support her by working, tend to this, tend to that, do this, do that,
suffer this, suffer that, and put up with whatever additional displeasure and
trouble married life brings? Should
I be so imprisoned? O you
poor, miserable fellow, did you take a wife? Shame, shame, on the trouble and
displeasure. It is better
to remain free and to lead a quiet life without care."
Martin Luther, What Luther Says, An Anthology, 3 vols.,
ed., Ewald Plass, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, II, p.
885f.
"The
husband should take the initiative and contribute toward keeping unity and love
in the marriage relation. But
he does this by using reason and not force and by letting things pass without
reproving his wife. This he
should do because woman is a frail creature and does not have the courage and
stout heart of a man. They
are easily disturbed, take something to heart quickly, and are moved to joy and
sorrow sooner than men."
Martin Luther, What Luther Says, An
Anthology, 3 vols.,
ed., Ewald Plass, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, II,
p. 903. 1 Peter 3:7.
Baptism
"Thus we
see what a very splendid thing Baptism is. It snatches us from the jaws of the
devil, makes us God's own, restrains and removes sin, and then daily
strengthens the new man within us. It
is and remains ever efficacious until we pass from this state of misery to
eternal glory. For this
reason everyone should consider his Baptism as his daily dress, to be worn
constantly. Every day he
should be found in the faith and its fruits, suppressing the old man, and
growing up in the new; for if we want to be Christians, we must practice the
work whereby we are Christians. But
if anyone falls from baptismal grace, let him return to it. For as Christ, the Mercy Seat, does not
withdraw from us or forbid us to come to Him again even though we sin, so all
His treasures and gifts also remain with us."
Martin Luther, What Luther Says, An
Anthology, 3 vols.,
ed., Ewald Plass, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, I,
p. 61. Article on baptism,
1529.
"There are
the infants, bare and naked in body and soul, having neither faith nor
works. Then the Christian
Church comes forward and prays, that God would pour faith into the child; not
that our faith should help the child, but that it may obtain a faith of its
own. If it has faith, then
after that whatever it does is well done, whether it suckle its mother's
breast, or whether it soil itself, or whatever it may please to do."
Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin Luther,
8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, IV, p. 378. Twelfth Sunday after Trinity. Mark 7:31-37.
Holy Communion
Chemnitz: "Very fitting is this statement
of Bernard: 'The body of
Christ is to the sick a medicine, to pilgrims a
way; it
strengthens the weak, delights the strong, heals weariness, preserves
health. Through it man
becomes more gentle under reproof, more patient under labor, more ardent for
love, wiser for caution, more ready to obey, more devoted to giving of
thanks.'"
Martin Chemnitz, Examination of the
Council of Trent,
Fred Kramer,
translator, St. Louis: Concordia
Publishing House, 1986, II, p. 234.
Chrysostom
says: "If those who
touched the hem of His garment were properly healed, how much more shall we be
strengthened if we have Him in us whole? He will quiet in us the savage law of
our members, He will quench the perturbations of the mind, drive out all
sicknesses, raise us up from every fall, and, when the power of the enemy has
been overcome, He will incite us to true piety and indeed will transform us
into His own image."
Martin Chemnitz, Examination of the
Council of Trent, trans., Fred Kramer, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1986, II,
p. 234.
Closed Communion
"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.
Bad Tree, Bad Fruit
"No work is
so evil that it can damn a man, and no work is so good that it can save a man;
but faith alone saves us, and unbelief damns us. The fact that someone falls into
adultery does not damn him. Rather
the adultery indicates that he has fallen from faith. This damns him; otherwise adultery
would be impossible for him. So, then, nothing makes a good tree except
faith."
Martin Luther, What Luther Says, An
Anthology, 3 vols.,
ed., Ewald Plass, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, I,
p. 475. Matthew 7:15-23.
Means of Grace, Negative
"Observe,
then, the depreciative, contemptuous, and scorning ring in the words of the
Reformed when they speak of the sacred Means of Grace, the Word and the
Sacraments, and the when they speak of these matters...The true reason for the
Reformed view is this: They
do not know how a person is to come into possession of the divine grace, the
forgiveness of
sin,
righteousness in the sight of God, and eternal salvation. Spurning the way
which God has appointed, they are pointing
another way, in
accordance with new devices which they have invented."
C. F. W. Walther, The Proper
Distinction Between Law and Gospel, trans., W. H. T. Dau, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1928, p.
152f.
Means of Grace, Positive
"The
doctrine of the means of grace is a peculiar glory of Lutheran theology. To this central teaching it owes its
sanity and strong appeal, its freedom from sectarian tendencies and morbid
fanaticism, its coherence and practicalness, and its adaptation to men of every
race and every degree of culture. The
Lutheran Confessions bring out with great clearness the thought of the
Reformers upon this subject."
"Grace, Means of," The
Concordia Cyclopedia, L. Fuerbringer, Th. Engelder, P. E. Kretzmann, St. Louis: Concordia
Publishing House, 1927, p. 299.
"Accordingly,
we should and must constantly maintain that God will not deal with us except
through his external Word and sacrament. Whatever is attributed to the Spirit
apart from such Word and sacrament is of the devil."
Smalcald Articles, Part III, Article
VIII, Confession,
The Book of
Concord, ed., Theodore G. Tappert,
Philadelphia: Fortress
Press, 1983, p. 313.
Love the Word, Love the Pastor
"Whoever
does not receive the Word for its own sake, will never receive it for the sake
of the preacher, even if all the angels preached it to him. And he who receives it because of the
preacher does not believe in the Word, neither in God through the Word, but he
believes the preacher and in the
preacher. Hence the faith of such persons does
not last long. But whoever believes the Word, does not care who the person is
that speaks the Word, and neither will he honor the Word for the sake of the
person; but on the contrary, he honors the person because of the Word, and
always subordinates the person to the Word."
Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin
Luther, 8 vols.,
ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, I, p. 162.
Second Christmas Day, Luke 2:15-20.
The Effective Word
"We shall
now set forth from the Word of God how man is converted to God, how and by what
means (namely, the oral Word and the holy sacraments) the Holy Spirit wills to
be efficacious in us by giving and working true repentance, faith, and new
spiritual power and ability for good in our hearts, and how we are to relate
ourselves to and use these means."
Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration,
Article II, Free
Will, 48, The Book of Concord, ed. Theodore G. Tappert,
Philadelphia: Fortress
Press, 1959, p. 530.
"On the one
hand, it is true that both the preacher's planting and watering and the
hearer's running and willing would be in vain, and no conversion would follow,
if there were not added the power and operation of the Holy Spirit, who through
the Word preached and heard illuminates and converts hearts so that men believe
this Word and give their assent to it. On
the other hand, neither the preacher nor the hearer should question this grace
and operation of the Holy Spirit, but
should be
certain that, when the Word of God is preached, pure and unalloyed according to
God's command and will, and when the people diligently and earnestly listen to
and meditate on it, God is certainly present with his grace and gives what man
is unable by his own powers to take or to give. We should not and cannot pass judgment
on the Holy Spirit's presence, operations and gifts merely on the basis of our
feeling..."
Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration, Article II, Free
Will, 55-56, The
Book of Concord, ed. Theodore G. Tappert, Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1959, p. 531f.
"For Christ
wants to assure us, as was necessary, that the Word is efficacious when it is
delivered by men and that we should not look for another word from
heaven."
Apology of the Augsburg Confession,
Article XXVIII, Eccles. Power,
The Book of Concord, ed. Theodore G. Tappert, Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1959, p. 284.
"For the
Word through which we are called is a ministry of the Spirit--'which gives the
Spirit' (2 Corinthians 3:8) and a 'power of God' to save (Romans 1:16). And because the Holy Spirit wills to
be efficacious through the Word, to strengthen us, and to give us power and
ability, it is God's will that we should accept the Word, believe and obey
it."
Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration,
Article XI., Election, The Book of Concord, ed. Theodore G. Tappert,
Philadelphia: Fortress
Press, 1959, p. 621.
"Every poor
sinner must therefore attend on it, hear it with diligence, and in no way doubt
the drawing of the Father because the Holy Spirit wills to be present in the
Word and to be efficacious with his power through it. And this is the drawing of the
Father."
Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration,
Article XI., Election, The Book of Concord, ed. Theodore G. Tappert,
Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1959, p. 629.
"The reason
for such contempt of the Word is not God's foreknowledge but man's own perverse
will, which rejects or perverts the means and instrument of the Holy Spirit
which God offers to him through the call and resists the Holy Spirit who wills
to be efficaciously active through the Word, as Christ says, 'How often would I
have gathered you together and you would not!' (Matthew 23:37)."
Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration,
Article XI, Election, 41, The Book of Concord, ed. Theodore G. Tappert, Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1959, p. 623.
What's Good about Bad Sects
"But now
these sects are our whetstones and polishers; they whet and grind our faith and
doctrine so that, smooth and clean, they sparkle as a mirror. Moreover we also learn to know the
devil and his thoughts and become prepared to fight against him."
Martin Luther, What Luther Says, An
Anthology, 3 vols.,
ed., Ewald
Plass, St. Louis: Concordia
Publishing House, 1959, III, p. 1269.
Sects' Appeal
"The sects
have two great advantages among the masses. The one is curiosity, the other is
satiety. These are the two
great gateways through which the devil drives with a hay wagon, aye, with all
hell."
Martin Luther, What Luther Says, An
Anthology, 3 vols.,
ed., Ewald
Plass, St. Louis: Concordia
Publishing House,
1959, III, p.
1268. 1 Corinthians 15.
Good Fruit
"The Holy
Spirit is given to none except to those who are in sorrow and fear; in them it
produces good fruit. This
gift is so precious and worthy that God does not cast it before dogs. Though
the unrepentant discover it themselves, hearing it preached, they devour it and
know not what they devour." Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin Luther, 8
vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p.
281f. Pentecost
Sunday. John 14:23-31.
Teachers and Preachers
"True, the
estate of teachers has, in general, been little respected, especially in ages
gone by; and as far as the teachers of the Word of God are concerned, they are,
of all men, most despised and even hated by the world. Nevertheless their estate and office
is the most glorious of all, for the following reasons:-- 1. The work of their office centers about
man's spiritual welfare, his immortal soul. 2. They employ the salutary means and
instrument in their work, namely, the Word of the living God. 3. They aim at the salutary and glorious
end, namely, to make man truly happy in
the present life
and to lead him to the life of eternal bliss. 4. They are most wholesomely engaged in
an occupation which entirely satisfies their spirits and advances their own
selves in the way of salvation. 5. Their labor yields the most precious
result, namely, the salvation of man. 6. Their labors have the most glorious
promise of the cooperation of
the Lord, so that
they are never entirely futile and in vain. 7. Their labors have the promise of a
gracious reward, which consists in a glory in the world to come that is
unutterably great, exceeding abundantly above all they ever could have asked
and prayed for in this life."
C. F. W. Walther, The Proper
Distinction between Law and Gospel, trans., W. H. T. Dau, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1928, p.
285.
Trials
"One
Christian who has been tried is worth a hundred who have not been tried, for
the blessing of God grows in trials. He
who has experienced them can teach, comfort, and advise many in bodily and
spiritual matters."
Martin Luther, What Luther Says, An
Anthology, 3 vols.,
ed., Ewald Plass, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, III,
p. 1381. Genesis 27:28-29.
"In order
to keep your faith pure, do nothing else than stand still, enjoy its blessings,
accept Christ's works, and let him bestow His love upon you. You must be blind, lame, deaf, dead,
leprous and poor, otherwise you will stumble at Christ. That Gospel which
suffers Christ to be seen and to be doing good only among the needy, will not
belie you."
Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin
Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, I, p.
110. Third Sunday in
Advent. Matthew 11:2-10.
"We have
the comfort of this victory of Christ--that He maintains His Church against the
wrath and power of the devil; but in the meantime we must endure such stabs and
cruel wounds from the devil as are necessarily painful to our flesh and
blood. The hardest part is
that we must see and suffer all these things from those who call themselves the
people of God
and the
Christian Church. We must
learn to accept these things calmly, for neither Christ nor the saints have
fared better."
Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin
Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p.
263. Sunday after
Ascension, Exaudi. John
15:26-16:4.
"Therefore
God must lead us to a recognition of the fact that it is He who puts faith in
our heart and that we cannot produce it ourselves. Thus the fear of God and trust in Him
must not be separated from one another, for we need them both, in order that we
may not become presumptuous and overconfident, depending upon ourselves. This is one of the reasons why God
leads His saints through such great trials."
Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols.,
ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, II, p.
21. First Sunday after
Epiphany. Luke 2:41-52.
"Secondly,
God permits His saints to suffer these trials as an example for others, both to
alarm the carnally secure and to comfort the timid and alarmed...But when we
see and hear that God has in like manner dealt with His saints and did not
spare even His own mother, we have the knowledge and comfort that we need not
despair in our trials, but remain quiet and wait until He helps us, even as He
has helped all His saints."
Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed.,
John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, II, p. 40f. First Sunday after Epiphany, Second
Sermon. Luke 2:41-52.
"Now it is
the consolation of Christians, and especially of preachers, to be sure and
ponder well that when they present and preach Christ, that they must suffer
persecution, and nothing can prevent it; and that it is a very good sign of the
preaching being truly Christian, when they are thus persecuted, especially by
the great, the saintly, the learned and the wise."
Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin
Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, II, p. 97. Fourth Sunday after Epiphany. Matthew 8:23-27.
"Not only
is Christ hidden from the world, but a still harder thing is it that in such
trials Christ conceals himself even from His church, and acts as if He had
forgotten, aye, had entirely forsaken and rejected it, since He permits it to
be oppressed under the cross and subjected to all the cruelty of the world, while
its enemies boast, glory and rejoice over it, as we shall hear in the next
Gospel."
Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin
Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p.
67. Second Sunday after
Easter. John 10:11-16.
"There is
another temptation also in the time of trouble which was punished severely
among the people of Israel and which alas is common as compared to the other
temptation and equally irrational. That
temptation occurs before God's Word is heard; this after we hear the Word,
namely thus: when we know
that God has promised help in the time of any trouble, but are not content with
it, go forward and will not abide His promise, but prescribe time, place, and
manner for His help; and then if He does not come as we expect and desire,
faith vanishes."
Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin
Luther, 8 vols.,
ed., John
Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker
Book House, 1983, I, p. 366. Epiphany. Matthew 2:1-12.
Pastors Articulate Sound Doctrine
"That is
the reason why our Church from the very beginning declared that it requires its
preachers 'not to depart an inch' from its confessions, not to turn aside from
the doctrines laid down in them, non tantum in rebus, sed etiam in phrasibus,
that is, both as regards the matter offered in their sermons and the manner of
their teaching."
C. F. W. Walther, The Proper
Distinction between Law and Gospel, trans., W. H. T. Dau, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1928, p.
277.
A Pastor's Afterlife
"When the
time comes that the worldly shall gnash their teeth, they shall witness all the
elect and angels saying to God: 'This man has been a faithful minister and
teacher. He has proclaimed
the saving Word of God to a world of castaways. On yonder earth he was despised,
persecuted, and maligned, but he shines now as a star with imperishable
luster.'"
C. F. W. Walther, The Proper
Distinction between Law and Gospel, trans., W. H. T. Dau, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1928, p.
402. Daniel 12:3.
How the Church Fares
"Yet this
is also true, that Christ often delays the bestowal of His help, as He did on
this occasion, and on another, John 21, when He permitted the disciples to toil
all the night without taking anything, and really appeared as if He would
forget His own Word and promise."
Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin
Luther, 8 vols.,
ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, IV, p.
154. Fifth Sunday after
Trinity. Luke 5:1-11.
"The word translated
'desolate' literally means 'orphans.' By
use of this word Christ would intimate the condition of the Church. In the eyes of the world, and even in
her own estimation, she has not the appearance of a prosperous and well ordered
organization; rather she is a scattered group of poor, miserable orphans,
without leader, protection or help upon earth. All the world laughs at her and
ridicules her as a great fool in thinking that she is the Church and comprises
the people of God. Furthermore, each individual is so burdened and
oppressed in his need and suffering as to feel that no one else lies so low or
is so far from help as he."
Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed.,
John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p.
304f. Pentecost, Third
Sermon. John 14:23-31.
Orthodox Church Growth Eyes
"Let us
learn more and more to look upon the Lutheran Church with the right kind of
spiritual eyes: it is the
most beautiful and glorious Church; for it is adorned with God's pure
Word. This adornment is so
precious, that even though an orthodox congregation were to consist of very
poor people let us say nothing but woodchoppers - and met in a barn (as the
Lord Christ also lay here on earth in a barn, on hay and straw), every Christian
should much, much rather prefer to affiliate himself with this outwardly so
insignificant congregation, rather than with a heterodox congregation, even if
its members were all bank presidents and assembled in a church built of pure
marble. Let us be sure that
our flesh, and the talk of others does not darken the glory of the orthodox
Church, or crowd it out of our sight."
Francis Pieper, The Difference between
Orthodox and Heterodox Churches, and Supplement, Coos Bay, Oregon: St. Paul's Lutheran Church, 1981, p.
47.
Lutheran "Community Churches"
"Shall we
permit this to be done! is
the name of Christian unity! and by a latitudinarianism that is our own
heritage, which rises ever anew from the embers of the past to find such veiled
support and strength in the citadel of Zion that Confessionalism is told to
whisper low in Jerusalem lest she be heard on the streets of Gath."
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. 941.
Orthodoxy Is, Is Not
"If any one
shows us that even only one pastor preached false doctrine, or that even only
one periodical is in the service of false doctrine, and we did not remove this
false doctrine, we thereby would have ceased to be an orthodox Synod, and we
would have become a unionistic fellowship." (Ephasis in original; Lehre
und Wehre, Jahrgang 36, Nummer 8, S. 262-3)
Francis Pieper, The Difference Between Orthodox And
Heterodox Churches, and Supplement, Coos Bay, Oregon: St. Paul's Lutheran Church, 1981, p.
55.
"You may
say: 'I want to remain in the heterodox church in order to accomplish good in
it, namely to prevent it from losing the truth altogether.' If you happen to be
in a heterodox church, then first of all, bear witness to the truth clearly and
definitely. If they listen
to you, good. Under certain circumstances, you can wait a little, to see whether
the truth is accepted. But
as soon as it is clear that they will not accept the truth, you must separate
yourself from that group which holds to the error. If you, nevertheless, remain in it,
then you are no longer reinforcing the truth, but rather, the error...It is an
absolute contradiction to be both a witness-bearer for the truth, and an
associate of false teachers."
Francis Pieper, The Difference Between
Orthodox
And Heterodox Churches, and Supplement, Coos Bay, Oregon: St.
Paul's Lutheran Church, 1981, p. 49.
"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.
"Thus in
heterodox churches, in order to defend false doctrine, God's Word must
continually be denied. It
is rightly said: 'It cost
nine lies to maintain one lie.' Whoever allows himself such liberties with the
Word of God, let him beware, lest the devil also make this clear Word doubtful
for him in the hour of death: 'The
blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin.' 1 John 1:7"
Francis Pieper, The Difference between Orthodox and
Heterodox
Churches, and Supplement, Coos Bay, Oregon: St. Paul's Lutheran Church, 1981, p.
40. 1 John 1:7.
"The
orthodox character of a church is established not by its mere name nor by its
outward acceptance of, and subscription to, an orthodox creed, but by the
doctrine which is actually taught in its pulpits, in its theological
seminaries, and in its publications. On
the other hand, a church does not forfeit its orthodox character through the
casual intrusion of errors, provided these are combated and eventually removed
by means of doctrinal discipline." (A Brief Statement of the Missouri
Synod's Doctrinal Position, 1932)
Francis Pieper, The Difference Between
Orthodox
And Heterodox Churches, and Supplement, Coos Bay, Oregon: St.
Paul's Lutheran Church, 1981, p. 2.
The Word and the Cross
(Luther makes
the following general comment on Romans 2:610): "Patient continuance is so
altogether necessary that no work can be good in which patient continuance is
lacking. The world is so utterly perverse and Satan is so heinously wicked that
he cannot allow any good work to be done, but he must persecute
it. However, in this very way God, in His wonderful wisdom, proves what
work is good and pleasing to Him. Here
the rule holds: As long as
we do good and for our good do not encounter contradiction, hatred, and all manner
of disagreeable and disadvantageous things, so we must fear that our good work
as yet is not pleasing to God; for just so long it is not yet done with patient
continuance. But when our
good work is followed by persecution, let us rejoice and firmly believe that it
is pleasing to God; indeed, then let us be assured that it comes from God, for
whatever is of God is bound to be crucified by the world. As long as it does not bring the
cross, that is, as long as it does not bring shame and contempt as we patiently
continue in it, it cannot be esteemed as a divine work since even the Son of
God was not free from it--(suffering for the sake of the good He did) --but
left us an example in this. He
Himself tells us in Matthew 5:10, 12: 'Blessed are they which are persecuted
for righteousness sake..Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your
reward in heaven.'"
Martin Luther, Commentary on Romans,
trans. J. Theodore
Mueller, Grand
Rapids: Kregel
Publications, 1976, p. 55. Matthew 5: 10, 12.
