Understanding Luther's Galatians

Introduction by Gregory L. Jackson

By stealth, Lutherans have steadily eroded the Biblical doctrine which established them as Evangelicals and Protestants, allowing others to use those names while surrendering to the worst inclinations of Calvinists, Pietists, and Roman Catholics. The uniting cause, to soothe every worldly conscience, is to declare that God in His grace has already declared the entire world absolved of all sin. After meeting and devouring the perks of Thrivent publicity, the LCMS-WELS-ELS stated –

"Last but certainly not least, there was special joy to understand that we all hold to objective justification—that God declared the world righteous through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and that we all recognize it to be the urgent mission of the church to take this gospel to the entire world."

That particular shout of celebration may be difficult to find verbatim now, apart from a certain blog seldom named but often read. However, the gloating superiority and arrogance can be found in 60 or more essays in the WELS Essay Files.

Overjoyed - They Reject the Chief Article of Christianity - And You Re-Elect Them!"This article concerning justification by faith (as the Apology says) is the chief article in the entire Christian doctrine, without which no poor conscience can have any firm consolation, or can truly know the riches of the grace of Christ, as Dr. Luther also has written: If this only article remains pure on the battlefield, the Christian Church also remains pure..."BoC, FC, SD, III, 6

KJV 2 Thessalonians 2:10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

A Report on the Meetings of ELS, LCMS, and WELS Leaders 2012–2015

https://www.lcms.org/Document.fdoc?src=lcm&id=3864

"Last but certainly not least, there was special joy to understand that we all hold to objective justification—that God declared the world righteous through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and that we all recognize it to be the urgent mission of the church to take this gospel to the entire world."

https://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2018/01/the-lcms-els-wels-and-elca-agree-on.html

Drains and Mrs. Gardener's Sons

The rain has left all the local yards lush with grass, no matter how soon it is mowed. When our neighbor's sons showed up, I expected the roar of the real estate son's machine. But no, they left after considerable work and the front yard was a showcase for the nitrogen found in rainwater.

The mystery was solved when Sassy and I walked home from our book distribution trip. I am the source of inexpensive Chilton repair manuals. Ranger Bob ordered one for his co-worker, and I got one from "the useless Internet - except for books." It was brand new and a bargain. We spotted a Haynes for $500 but bypassed that. The useless Internet is also handy for bargain military and theology books. I was going to give my copy of Alias Shakespeare to a member, but found it easier and faster to use Alibris. Plot twist - the Earl of Oxford wrote Shakespeare and used the actor as his front-man.

Sticking out of the ground was a black plastic drainage pipe, which I often see at hardware stores. Behind the pipe was the mark of digging from the backyard to its opening. Perhaps the water was backing up more in that backyard than mine.

Multiply this many times over, and one cause for floods is obvious. People used to tolerate standing water in the fields and ditches, but now they are inclined to lay drainage materials out to move the water away, downstream. Local levies also raise the level of rivers and transfer the flooding to a southern location.

We have been near - but not in - various floods - Moline, Midland, St. Louis, and New Ulm. People worry about our flood warnings, but our street drains down to Scott, which slants down to White Road, and then even lower.

Norma Boeckler Is Getting Her House Back from the Flood

Norma Boeckler is getting help from friends, family, and neighbors.

Norma Boeckler, our artist-in-residence, wrote to me about recovering from the flood caused by the Edenville dam breaking.

County residents are suing the state for causing the flood.

The basement was wrecked but the flood did not reach the upstairs. Her son was there to help, and neighbors showed up as well. Another church member lives in Midland and is in touch with Norma.

Mennonites showed up to haul the trash away. Three neighbors' homes were destroyed, so it was a close call.

The dam failure from space.

 The basement of this beautiful library was destroyed, just after its multi-million dollar renovation from  the last flood was completed. The library, including the children's section, was my Harvard and Yale in gardening. They had everything, from all the Rodale books to Don't Call It Dirt!

Bilbo and His Garden at Twilight

 Bilbo the Hobbit

"Gandalf: Always remember Bilbo, when your heart wants lifting, think of pleasant things... Bilbo: Eggs and bacon. A good, full pipe. My garden at twilight."

Just as my need for fresh coffee took over, Ranger Bob knocked on the door and brought Sassy out of her rest barking in excitement.

It was late afternoon and the sky was a dark grey, the air still. We had some Brazilian coffee and crackers outside with Sassy.

Bob was stunned by the Veterans Honor roses in full bloom. Sunny days are great and rare, but the filtered light of the looming storm really lit up the pure red, perfectly formed flowers. He began pointing them out, and I added a few more locations. I only planted Veterans Honor roses this year. Politely, they let Easy Does It have all the glory for Mother's Day.

Bob also has his eye on the Butterfly Weed that grows along the little picket fence in front of the patio. Mrs. Ichabod liked the touch and it does slow down trampling on that row of flowers. Butterfly Weed is slow to develop but the flowers last a long time. This time we have a stately row, tall and starting to bud.

We are in a budding and blooming frenzy. The Elderflowers are turning white. The Triple Crown Blackberries are showing off their white blooms too. New Joe Pye plants are showing their vigor, and the older plants are already 5 feet tall.

I was trying to build a Butterfly Garden on the sunniest side of the house, but it is also where we seldom look. That area is now the site of very large Yarrow plants, Comfrey, Joe Pye, and Chaste Tree - so overall a magnet to all pollinators.

 Yarrow

Partial sun will grow almost anything, so the butterfly concept - where we might actually see them - was added to the Rose Garden. The view from the porch now includes:

• Two Clethra - aka Summer Sweet or Sugar Spice.
• Numerous Joe Pye Weeds
• Butterfly Weed
• Hostas sending up their flower spikes for the Hummingbirds
• Cat Mint
• Pink Neon Spirea bushes
• Bee Balm in vigorous growth, not yet blooming
• Whoops-a-Daisy blooming and Shasta Daisies only starting to grow

I used to wonder how my mother had flowers blooming at all times. Now I realize that if enough flowers are planted, something will be blooming, even at the end of summer (Beauty Berry).

We all look forward to the early spring flowers, but we would be very downcast if they finished in June.

When that party-changing billionaire Bloomberg described how easy farming was, I just laughed. "Drop a seed in the ground and water it." He did not comprehend the predatory nature of birds, rodents, rabbits, squirrels, and man - nor the complexities of fungus, nematodes, springtails, slugs, and weather.

The Garden Path Not Taken

That is why I would prescribe a semester of gardening for all the seminary students and two years of gardening for the synod officials. Mowing the lawn would not count. They would have to treat the soil kindly, improve it Creationally, and grow plants in the midst of hostile forces - man, nature, and Lowe's.

That would teach them the long, patient joy of labor rewarded many times over by the living seed of the Word. They would understand the efficacy of the Word as no different from rain and snow. One morning, when an entire row of seedlings popped out of the ground, they would recall the Parable of the Seed Growing Secretly (St. Mark only).

They would go over Luther's sermon on the Parable of the Sower and say to themselves - and others - "Now I see what we have been doing wrong. The old farmers knew this. The older Lutherans like Loy, Reu, Lenski, Passavant, and Krauth lived it. The rain and the snow demonstrate the efficacy of the Word, the divinity of the Word, the exclusive relationship of the Spirit and Word."

  Triple Crown Blackberries

Elderberry Ambitions

First there are enormous green formations, which turn white and delightsome for pollinators.

"Although elderberries grow well in moist soils, it's a myth they can grow in poorly drained, wet soils." Call me Myther Gardener - we have soggy clay soil, poorly drained, overloaded with rain.

 This bush is weighed down by the ripe berries. My two elderberries are currently about 10 feet tall and not yet ripe. I would gladly have a green wall of them, but the birds planted their own favorites.

Bad Behavior of the Political Left = Model for the "Conservative" Lutheran Synods

 Rejects the Chief Article - not apt to teach. Rejects the Chief Article - not apt to teach. Rejects the Chief Article - not apt to teach.

The more I read about the corruption of the Mueller prosecutors, the top floor of the FBI, and the neo-Nazi governors of the Wuhan Flu states, the more I think of WELS-LCMS-ELS-CLC (sic). I can easily add their Lutheran cheering sections - LutherQuest (sic), Steadfast (sic) Lutherans (sic), Logia (sic), Christian News (sic) and other pests too numerous to list.

 Mussels have the Michigan Attorney General in place to protect them from the possible ill effects of lowering the dam water in flood season. Who protects the citizens?

Flood waters from the burst dam, Holy Scripture ELS Church in Midland, illustrate the results of Stalinist state politics.

I do not need to mention many details about Left-wing politics. The People's Republic of Michigan threatened the dam owner with a lawsuit if he did not raise the water level of his fragile Edenville Dam to protect some mussels. As predicted, the dam burst and flooded the entire area with great devastation and the loss of many mussels.

I predict the mussel-heads will defend the Attorney General and her boss, the Governor of Michigan and VP Wannabee, Whitmer.

 Those who read The Frog in the Kettle hopped away from these conservative, orthodox, confessional, too-good-to-be-true Lutheran sects.

"We Are Here To Save Holy Mother Church"

The soi-disant conservative Lutherans behave and carry out their Leftist agenda with the same Stalinist moves and propaganda of the politicians. To seize and hold power, they united behind the Barthian Church Growth agenda devoured by their bedmates - the Church of Rome, ELCA, and the other failing mainline groups.

 To have a great hymnal, one must cross the center line and erase the evidence.

WELS-LCMS-ELS-CLC oligarchs hated the fact that I was onto their schemes and their intimate communion with ELCA. Tiefel's Calvinist Worship hymnal was a clone of ELCA's Liberal Book of Weirdness - same typeface, same templates, same hymns, same avoidance of doctrinal war lyrics, plus copyrights from ELCA.

Worship was the key. If the Lutheran Stalinists could wrench worship to the Left - "for the children" - they could own the next generation of digital-addicted, pot-hazy Lutherans. One WELS leader said in New Ulm, where I had a unique listening post - "What if we lose all the older Lutherans in order to attract the younger ones with CW?" The WELS also began promoting gay marriage in the 1990s.

 "We did it. We fooled them all."
The next WELS SP will need the NSA to find the remnants of their sect.

As bad as CW was, the next WELS hymnal promises to be everything expected from the chameleon administration of Mirthless Mark Schroeder. WELS members will be paying royalties on 25 new Calvinist jingles for their entertainment evangelism agenda.

 Harrison shaved his beard for this photo-op.
Everything is worse than the reader imagines, much worse.

Said "Orthodox Lutheran" Father Steve Spencer - SP Schroeder and DP Buchholz would be Reformers for WELS. When both politicians proved to be as sinuous and slippery as previous Leftist church parasites, Steve was there to provide billows of smoke and excuses. "What pleases them, pleases me."

The Left requires a powerful propaganda wing. That is why each synod, locked in an embrace with ELCA, pretends to be as pure as St. Agatha.

WELS loathes the Chief Article but promotes Sodom. Does it take a computer to figure it out?

No Wonder You Have Birds - You Feed Them All the Time

Ranger Bob went outside and saw birds feeding on the tops of the garbage barrels. We have Blue Jays, Cardinals, Goldfinches, Starlings, Grackles, and Doves. Squirrels will jump up and land on or near a bird, scaring it away. A Jay kept jumping up and screaming at one feeding squirrel. He didn't care.

Turning over the soil when planting or weeding will excite the interest of birds, who know fresh food will be wiggling and squirming near the top. I had an ultra-compost spot at our Midland parsonage, overseen by a flock of birds. As soon as I began working on that area, they all began to chatter and make happy sounds, like fans waiting to get into the rally or the World Series.
The reason was that the compost ingredients were welcomed by a mass of earthworms, because I was testing how much they could grow in numbers in that location. The birds knew that my labor would provide a feast of fresh worms in softly stirred soil.  Sometimes people left the kitchen door, spooking all the birds into flight - lots of noise. "Why didn't you warn me?"

Similar things happen when the faithful stir up the classics of the past. When they are suddenly visible again - though they were always present, if hard to find - people begin talking about them. One reader said, "I would never know about Loy, Reu, Jacobs, and Schmauk except for you writing about them."

Likewise, we would not have instant access to them without the Lutheran Librarian making them public in print and in ebooks.

Lutheran Library Publishing Ministry

Lutheran Librarian Print Books

God creatures expand according to the food, water, and shelter available. When soil creatures are encouraged with organic matter and deep roots, plants increase and so do birds and bunnies.

Ranger Bob mocked my "backyard jungle," but it is a food jungle for birds. The corn patch is solid with Blackberry canes, The other patch has Butterfly Bush, Poke Weed, and Chaste Tree.

The tool shed is overshadowed by a giant Elderberry bush on each side. Some Raspberries grow and so do Beauty Berries for the late fall.

Too many congregations want the results, not the cause. The cause is an abundance of the Means of Grace - the Word and Sacraments.

Planting roses is easy. The results come from fertile soil and beneficial insects. Light work after is mulching with fertility products like Peat Humus and shredded wood.

Sermons are tough for ministers who do not study the Word. They realize they are trying to grow in dry sandbox, so they steal from others. Those sermons are like flowers delivered by mail on a Phoenix summer day - dried out and wilted. Reading another's sermon is as thrilling as reciting the phone book. No wonder live online services caused universal clergy panic.

Veterans Honor for Ranger Bob's Step-Father and Army Ranger

 After Peter Ellenberger died, we put this Veterans Honor rose on the altar. He loved telling us how he was put up for discipline for "threatening an officer" with a potato knife. When the commander saw Peter's 100 pounds of skin and bone and the spud knife, he laughed and dismissed the case.

Ranger Bob came over Sunday afternoon. I wanted him to take the altar flowers to his step-father's grave. Both were Army Rangers. We had a vase of Veterans Honor roses, which were kind enough to bloom on the right day. When I look at photos from previous years, I think, "They cannot be that perfect." And they are, far more than the photos indicate.




Sassy addressed the door knocking with ferocious barking, as if I were not headed for the door -  or  - as if I wanted to throw extra locks on. Her initial stage of greeting Bob is to feign great hurt about not getting her Milkbone, followed by a Pupperoni, followed by some cinnamon cracker. Many chastening barks are laid upon him, so we can hardly converse.

Bob scowls and says, "You chow hound. Can't you think of anything else?" Sassy is in heaven. Like all dogs, she reads the emotion and not the words or feigned scorn. She can hear the slight change in words as he tries to hold back his smiles and laughter.

We had some new dogs move in across Scott. They wanted to do the "Stranger come to kill us all!" bark. I said, "Who's a good boi?" Pause, pointing at each one, "YOU are a good boi." (Animal language is misspelled with bad grammar, so editors, sheathe your swords.) Now the dogs perk up and remain silent. They are good bois.

Try that on strange dogs. They will pull back, as if to say, "You know me? How do you me?"

Sassy sets up a security perimeter after her snacks. Outside she picks a spot where she can see into two back yards, across the street, and over to Scott Lane. No threat has ever come near with her on duty, and she never stops watching and listening.

Five Ellenbergers, German born, served in the US military.

Memorial Day - We Honor Those Who Died in Battle - And Those Who Served

Norm and Jean Woehrle

 Gary Meyer, Alicia, and their sons.

Peter Ellenberger

 Veterans Honor Rose on the Altar

 Medal of Honor, Sgt John Baker, Moline

Exaudi, The Sunday after the Ascension, 2020

Exaudi, The Sunday after the Ascension, 2020

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

https://video.ibm.com/channel/bethany-lutheran-worship

Bethany Lutheran Church, 10 AM Central Daylight Time

The melodies are linked in the hymn name. 

The lyrics are linked in the hymn number.

• The melody site is linked here.
• TLH Lyrics are linked here, the Bethany Hymnal.

The Hymn #12            This Day at Thy Creating Word                     

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       

The Gospel              

Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #523      Why Should Cross and Trial Grieve Me?

The Two Part Remedy against Satan

            

The Communion Hymn #314         Lord Jesus Christ, We Humbly Pray - Henry Eyster Jacobs

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 #657                    Beautiful Savior

In Our Prayers

• Those mourning our military heroes, especially Gary Meyer, Peter Ellenberger, and many others. Veteran Ranger Bob will take the Veterans Honor roses to the grave of his step-father, Ferial.
• Randy Anderson, continuing chemo-therapy for his leg.
• Our Philippine mission, distributing rice.
• Norma Boeckler is back, safe in her home, but the entire basement has to be fixed up, again.

 Graphic by Norma A. Boeckler

1 Peter 4:7 But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer. 8 And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. 9 Use hospitality one to another without grudging. 10 As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 11 If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

John 15:26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:  27 And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning. 16:1 These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.  2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.  3 And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me.  4 But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you.

Luther’s Two Sermons for Exaudi

Prayer

Lord God, heavenly Father, we give thanks unto Thee, that through Thy Holy Spirit Thou hast appointed us to bear witness of Thy dear Son, our Lord Jesus Christ: We beseech Thee, inasmuch as the world cannot endure such testimony, and persecutes us in every way, grant us courage and comfort, that we may not be offended because of the cross, but continue steadfastly in Thy testimony, and be found always among those who know Thee and Thy Son, until we obtain eternal salvation through the same, Thy Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.

 The Pantheon in Rome. Did it honor all gods?
Scholars are divided.

Background for the Epistle Sermon, 1 Peter 4:7ff

The ancient world was very much like ours, where the unbelievers ruled and controlled most aspects of society. The Christians were a tiny minority and suspect because of their connection with Jews. Rome did not differentiate, so Christians were automatically viewed with suspicion and lacked the official protection enjoyed by Jews.

As Luther said, Rome tolerated every god except the One True God - Jesus. That sounds exactly like today, when all religions are promoted in schools and gatherings but the hammer comes down on anything specifically Christian. American religion is very much like Roman religion - honoring the Pantheon - a temple still standing to honor all gods (except One). 

Banning Christian worship in person while welcoming big retail, liquor stores, and abortion businesses - that is another sign of our government's animosity toward Christianity and Judaism. It is not the freedom of religion from the Bills of Rights, but freedom from religion.

Two remedies commended by St. Peter are - 

1. Diligence in study, prayer, and worship.
2. Calling upon God for every need.

Both are equally vexing for Satan and effective for the believer. The first remedy is remaining in the power and protection of the Incarnate Word, for Jesus is in us as surely as we are in Him, and as He is in the Father and the Father in Him.

The second remedy is trusting in God the Father hearing our prayers because He loves us for loving His Son.

The Two Part Remedy against Satan

1 Peter 4:7 But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer. 8 And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.

Luther stirred up about five sermons from his sermon on the epistle for the Sunday after the Ascension. One insight is the parallel between the Roman Empire at that time and his Germany, the Germany of the Reformation. We could say the same thing - we know the Gospel as a nation but the prevailing attitude seems to be pagan.

When Paul and the Apostles spoke of the end of all things, as Jesus did, this conjures up the unbelief of the Christian academics who say, "See! They were all wrong. It never happened and still has not. They were already feeling that conflict in the New Testament.

The sceptics conveniently overlook the basic concepts of 

1. Only the Father knowing the exact time;
2. Jesus extending the time in such passages as Mark 13;
3. God holding back the End Times, in 2 Thessalonians 2.

We have no concept of God's time, so we can only concentrate on the two remedies. 

The First Remedy against Satan

The first remedy is being constant in the studying the Word, in prayer, and in the Means of Grace.

Studying the Word of God is better than ever before, because everyone has access to the English version of Luther's Bible - the KJV, the Sermons of Luther, and the books of Lutheran pioneers from the past (Lenski, Leupold, Loy, Jacobs, Schmauk). Those people lived in conflicted times where they had to fight the allure of fitting in with the majority.

The Word also flies around the world with the Scripture and hymn graphics of Norma Boeckler.

The Lutheran Librarian, Audio Gutenberg, and Martin Chemnitz Press have made various books or selections available when they used to be something discovered at a seminary book sale or a church rummage sale.

Prayer is not only found in the form we remember but also in hymns. We can study, read over, and listen to hymns. One thing displaces the other. I used to listen to classic pop and opera music while grading (a pain-killer). However, it filled me with ear worms, song phrases that annoyed me. When TLH was almost taken away - no more website - and I began working on the lyrics and music - that displaced the secular music. That is not to condemn secular music for being what it is - just that the great hymns of the past are overwhelmingly superior and always uplifting. Hymns are musical prayers. 

The Means of Grace - we suffered no disruptions when people closed their congregations. It is not that we lack person-to-person services. We have done that here in Arkansas, in Iowa, in Washington, and in Michigan. Long ago I was impressed by a church that printed sermons for people to take home or share. That was quite an operation by itself. Now we have the blog version and the entire saved audio-visual.

These things happen, not from one person, but from God moving many people to promote and spread the Gospel, as we do in the Philippines, not from seeking the mission but the mission coming to us.

The Second Remedy against Satan

The second remedy against Satan is equally effective and pointedly so. When prayer is a regular habit, we are stronger and more willing to invoke it against Satan. 

Jesus is an excellent example. He was tempted in every way we are. He was overwhelmed with work and went apart from the crowd and disciples to pray. His faith in the Father led Him to pray and motivated Him to pray. The faith of Jesus is not only an example for us but also the foundation of our forgiveness from sin.

When we despair, that opens up avenues for Satanic attacks and temptations. Just as Satan displaces our trust in all things belonging to Christ, so does spiritual discipline displace temptations and various ways we waste energy.

I have to insert my favorite bearing the cross quotation from Luther. When anything pleasing to God really takes root, count on the worst kind of reactions, especially from those who would seem to be natural allies and friends. I reminded someone writing a book, who was devastated - not by the normal or expected critics - - but by the assumed friends.

 Persecuted for the righteousness of faith.

Despair would have us live like everyone else, which seems to be the way to go. They seem to be the most successful, honored for the least, and tolerated in all the evil they do, maybe even praised for it. But that never lasts.

have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.

Mutual charity - love - binds people together and strengthens them. Peter urged them to create mutual support, mutual trust, and to bear the fruits of the Spirit in doing so.

9 Use hospitality one to another without grudging.

The everyday miracle of hospitality and love is that nothing is lost, similar to the fragments after the Feeding of the Multitude. What is given away is not gone but multiplied many ways. When I give away books, more arrive. 

It is our childish nature to see opportunities as "have to." That was our big question, "Do I have to?" That naturally prompted the response, "YES YOU HAVE TO." Various warnings might follow. In time we see that the have-tos are better when they are want-tos.

10 As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

This was very important in the early days of Christianity, when believers were driven away and lost their possessions. Again during the Reformation and Thirty Years War, houses and possessions were burned. Yet there was a fake charity for mendicant priests and monks, who built up wealthy monastery properties and lived like royalty.

11 If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

This is extremely important, even if it seems to be a side comment when talking about the gifts of the Spirit, from faith.

Three words mean a lot. One is laleo for solemnly speaking or teaching, the other is logia - for the Word. The other is of God.

ει τις λαλει ως λογια θεου

This is significant in an age when pastors and laity speak about "my theology" the way others speak of MyPillow. That means it is very special and uniquely theirs. It may be one new (or old) fad they picked up. Or it may be an official pronouncement that has no citation in the Scriptures.

That kind of attitude is going to divide people, especially when the "new" seems so much more interesting than what is old, traditional, and proven valid. People have been in dungeons and died for the true Word of God, so it is shameful that descendants will honor old/new fads and get carried away with disrespecting what is old, valid, and truthful.

In the distant past, I have seen people running around with their favorite new concept and declaring any opposition to them being "Satanic" because the Holy Spirit told them so.

There is a wide separation between those who declare their own ideas and those who teach what the Bible proclaims. The same is true of those who repeat official positions regardless of what the Bible says. It is easy to rest upon a published book or document, but that is not the same as the revealed Word.

It is ironic that St. Marvin of Schwan subsidized the creation of Logia as a journal for "conservative" Lutherans. They will not tolerate the Biblical doctrine of the Word but lovingly repeat the errors of the recent past and apostate future. They could not do this on their own but begged the rich man to subsidize their personal oracles.

the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ

A hostile audience - or even one person - may reject what a minister is trying to convey. God has chosen weak vessels to convey His eternal Word. A traditional service is one in which the minister is strengthened by the Word he must teach. And he is strengthened by the other elements of the service that contribute to his confidence that the Spirit delivers the Word - and the Spirit also creates the desire to hear the Word spoken.

So we can never judge that moment whether the Word is successful or not but remain confident His Word is always at work. That reduces the anxieties and fears we face, especially when we see how God has taken care of so many things for us.