"All My Heart This Night Rejoices"
by Paul Gerhardt, 1607-1676
1. All my heart this night rejoices
As I hear Far and near
Sweetest angel voices.
"Christ is born," their choirs are singing
Till the air Everywhere
Now with joy is ringing.
2. Forth today the Conqueror goeth,
Who the foe, Sin and woe,
Death and hell, o'erthroweth.
God is man, man to deliver;
His dear Son Now is one
With our blood forever.
3. Shall we still dread God's displeasure,
Who, to save, Freely gave
His most cherished Treasure?
To redeem us, He hath given
His own Son From the throne
Of His might in heaven.
4. Should He who Himself imparted
Aught withhold From the fold,
Leave us broken-hearted?
Should the Son of God not love us,
Who, to cheer Sufferers here,
Left His throne above us?
5. If our blessed Lord and Maker
Hated men, Would He then
Be of flesh partaker?
If He in our woe delighted,
Would He bear All the care
Of our race benighted?
6. He becomes the Lamb that taketh
Sin away And for aye
Full atonement maketh.
For our life His own He tenders
And our race, By His grace,
Meet for glory renders.
7. Hark! a voice from yonder manger,
Soft and sweet, Doth entreat:
"Flee from woe and danger.
Brethren, from all ills that grieve you
You are feed; All you need
I will surely give you."
8. Come, then, banish all your sadness,
One and all, Great and small;
Come with songs of gladness.
Love Him who with love is glowing;
Hail the Star, Near and far
Light and joy bestowing.
9. Ye whose anguish knew no measure,
Weep no more; See the door
To celestial pleasure.
Cling to Him, for He will guide you
Where no cross, Pain, or loss
Can again betide you.
10. Hither come, ye heavy-hearted,
Who for sin, Deep within,
Long and sore have smarted;
For the poisoned wound you're feeling
Help is near, One is here
Mighty for their healing.
11. Hither come, ye poor and wretched;
Know His will Is to fill
Every hand outstretched.
Here are riches without measure;
Here forget All regret,
Fill your hearts with treasure.
12. Let me in my arms receive Thee;
On Thy breast Let me rest,
Savior, ne'er to leave Thee.
Since Thou hast Thyself presented
Now to me, I shall be
Evermore contented.
13. Guilt no longer can distress me;
Son of God, Thou my load
Bearest to release me.
Stain in me Thou findest never;
I am clean, All my sin
Is removed forever.
14. I am pure, in Thee believing,
From Thy store Evermore
Righteous robes receiving
In my heart I will enfold Thee,
Treasure rare, Let me there,
Loving, ever hold Thee.
15. Dearest Lord, Thee will I cherish.
Though my breath Fail in death,
Yet I shall not perish,
But with Thee abide forever
There on high, In that joy
Which can vanish never.
The Lutheran Hymnal
Hymn # 77
Text: Luke 2:11
Author: Paul Gerhardt, 1653
Translated by: Catherine Winkworth, 1858, alt.
Titled: "Froehlich soll mein Herze springen"
Composer: Johann Crueger, 1653
Tune: "Froehlich soll mein Herze"
Background for Sermon on Matthew 2
The issue is - the divinity of Christ. Every since Halle University Pietism turned into generic rationalism, hosted by the Biblical professors, the dominant teaching of the old, mainline church bodies has been - "Jesus was just a man. The miracles are invented to prove how much he meant to others. Illness was just in their minds, so his presence made them feel healthy again."
So there is still a lot of double-talk about Christmas among these sheep-whisperers. They craft their words to appear as believers but they are not. One of the best examples is Paul Tillich's Christmas article in The Lutheran magazine. He moved from the Nativity to the uncontested fact that everyone loves babies. Christmas is all about babies. Later, the ELCA presiding bishop simply denied the Virgin Birth - the Pietist turned Rationalist Herb Chilstrom.
In the LCA seminary at Waterloo, I asked that each person state whether he believed in the Virgin Birth or not. This was a graduate seminar taught by the seminary's New Testament professor. The class went into a frightened uproar. My suggestion was not followed.
Likewise, at Notre Dame, in a doctoral seminar, a priest and a Christian Brother asked me about two issues in A Study of Generations (Lutheran insurance funded). "Do you believe in the actual physical resurrection of Christ?" They were curious if all the Lutherans were as traditional as the book suggested. I said, "Yes, I do believe that." They looked at each and said, "What?" So they asked one more question, "Do you believe in the Virgin Birth of Christ?" I said, "Of course I do." One of them slammed the book shut, since he was asking from that book. "There is no use talking to you, Jackson." The late Charles Caldwell and I were the program's black sheep after that, but we both finished.
Some will say, with some anguish, "But we belong to conservative synods. Ours is not like that." However, those conservative synods are happy to use the NIV and ESV, which blatantly twist the Scriptures and obliterate the truths of the precise King James Version. One LCMS "scholar" openly declared for the new treatment of the Biblical text as "anything we say it is." And their other "scholar" publishes as though the ending of Mark's Gospel is phony. All under the watchful lupine eyes of Paul McCain and Matt Harrison.
One step back from this is the substitution of entertainment for Means of Grace worship. That is the same as saying, "We do not trust the Word of God. It must be made reasonable, relevant, appealing, and germane." Large gatherings under this rubric will exterminate what faith is left and submerge all Christian doctrine.
Do not get in the way of their self-destruction. After taking over the control of their synods, they will not let anyone question the evil they are teaching and doing. Almost as radical as ELCA, they look down on their "partners in ministry," as they call it, and praise themselves for not being like them.
This Gospel lesson is all about John having the most difficult of all prophetic jobs.
Go Tell John What You See and Hear
KJV Matthew 11:2 Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, 3 And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?
This Gospel teaches us about God's grace and faith in Jesus Christ. I want to start with a parallel issue about the Means of Grace.
Someone asked about prayer as a Means of Grace, which led to a lot of discussion. The best approach is - what causes and nurtures faith? The only answer can be - the Word of God, chiefly through His Promises, Gospel forgiveness and His Promises of blessings.
That does not mean grace only comes to us through formal worship. One Lutheran writer, long ago, stated that the Word of God has its power - its effect - when heard (as in a sermon or less), when read (from the Bible or a faithful book) and remembered (a good reason to memorize, or to dwell on a passage for a long time).
When we pray, we are moved by faith to trust in this great miracle - that God through Christ hears our prayers and answers them. And He proves that He does hear and answer them. That faith comes from the Gospel heard, read, and remembered.
Grace and forgiveness are with us as long as we continue being attached to the True Vine (John 15). By this continued dwelling with Christ in the invisible and visible Word, our faith is sustained and strengthened. That is what He teaches clearly in John 15, because the unfruitful (no connection) wither while the fruitful are cleansed (Justification by Faith) to be even more fruitful.
Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?
John was facing death for being a consistent believer in his mission. He was not filled with doubt, since he was the one who publicly identified Christ as the promised Messiah.
John had the most difficult job of all, to tell the world that this ordinary looking teacher was the fulfillment of all their hopes. Luther observed that this made John the greatest of all prophets because it is easier to believe in, to hope for a future Messiah not seen than to look at the opposite of their dreams and confess, "This is the One."
As he faced death, John knew that his disciples could set up a secondary following for him as a martyr. That would not be good or productive. By sending them to Jesus, John gave them the chance to see and hear the promised Messiah and to join Him as followers.
4 Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: 5 The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.
The wording almost seems to say that John needed to be reminded, that he was full of doubt about Jesus. But that misses the basic foundation of the New Testament - believe and confess with the tongue. What does it meant to silently agree and then remain silent in the face of opposition. The idea of confessing the truth (the basis for homiletics, preaching) is found everywhere in the Bible.
If John's disciples hear, see, and believe, they will confess the truth about Jesus to their leader. All these miracles are part of Jesus' ministry, which is to show everyone He is the Son of God with divine power, so He should be everyone's Teacher.
The blind receive their sight;
The lame walk;
The lepers are cleansed;
The deaf hear;
The dead are raised to life;
And the poor have good news preached to them.
5 τυφλοι αναβλεπουσιν και χωλοι περιπατουσιν λεπροι καθαριζονται και κωφοι ακουουσιν νεκροι εγειρονται και πτωχοι ευαγγελιζονται
The divine miracles are valued, remembered, and impossible to ignore. No one is healed from these maladies by having "a positive attitude." The dead raised to life - that is the greatest. And the surest sign of God's mercy is - the poor hear the Gospel.
6 And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in Me.
6 και μακαριος εστιν ος εαν μη σκανδαλισθη εν εμοι
This is a most important verse, really the keystone of all that is said here. Those who had Greek 10 at the seminary say - oh, scandalized. Unfortunately, in this age of always being huffy about plastic straws and similar trivia, people see "offended" or "scandalized" as a matter of feelings, reactions.
This is more a matter of falling into the trap, by setting off the trigger (skandalon). So, we could say triggered if it is understood seriously.
There are a thousand ways to trigger people into rejecting just one part of the Gospel message, with "Yes, but..."
- Yes, He healed, but I don't believe that was unique.
- Yes, He taught, but many taught exactly the same thing.
- Yes, the Bible teaches the truth, but we have to make it appealing to people. If the ushers are not friendly, the sermon will do no good.
The entire Bible is a record of what God has done, many great miracles, and then in the New Testament, fulfilling so many events foreshadowed in the Old Testament.
Can God do this for me? Lack of faith in God - from a lack of the Gospel - will stymie and thwart that prayer. Lack of prayer will mean that many miracles around the individual will never be noticed.
The future Mrs. Jackson and I were at an assembly at Augustana College. The professor, a pastor and academic, asked, "Does anyone know there is a beautiful rose garden near the campus?" I said, "Yes..." I was hushed up, but I walked by the garden all the time and took an interest in it. Most did not know it was there, because they drove by in their cars on the way to important events.
The problem is not in the existence of God's work among us but our blindness to it. Some will object and say, "Oh sure, here and there, but not in my life. I have nothing but troubles." Miracles are God's transformation of the bad into the good, as only He can do it.
A gracious prayer asks for help and direction, instead of bossing God around in the manner of Rev. Cho, who insisted God cannot do something unless told exactly how. That comes from Asian pagan occult thinking, not from the Bible.
Jesus answered John's disciples in His deeds first and in His teaching second. These are great, stupendous acts of God, and "the poor hear the Gospel." That is not a minor statement.
The rich and powerful always have access to spiritual wisdom. Herod had the great scholars tell him what the Star of Bethlehem meant. The poor shepherds had no one but an army of angels in the sky. The Gospel was preached directly to them. They were overjoyed; Herod was afraid.
The richest countries have all the books and Christian churches. I understand America has more Christian church buildings than the rest of the world combined. For the first time there is a rapid reduction in pastors graduating from seminary. I wonder why? More congregations have full bank accounts and empty pews. I wonder why?
Meanwhile the poorest countries are hungry for the Gospel. Supposedly, China has an underground movement for the Gospel. Persecution is routine in many countries and throughout Africa, but people are still hungry for the Gospel.
America has another chance coming, but it is a long road back to sanity. The big battle has already been won, and now it will play out. The question is whether Americans will treasure our Christian heritage or allow ourselves to be hypnotized into accepting an ignorant, anti-Christian, anti-family society, thrust on us by Leftwing activists (often in the name of Christianity).
