PENTECOST, OR FESTIVAL OF THE OUTPOURING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
SECOND SERMON.
I. THE INTRODUCTION TO THIS SERMON OF COMFORT, TREATING OF CHRIST’S LOVE.
1. In today’s Gospel Christ says plainly and bluntly: “If a man love me, he will keep my Word; he that loveth me not, keepeth not my words.” The text stands there clear; whoever loves God keeps his commandments, and on the contrary, whoever does not love God, does not keep his commandments. Christ here simply casts out of his kingdom all who do not keep his commandments with pleasure and love. Let us thoroughly understand this. It is briefly pictured to us here who are and who are not Christians. No one is a Christian unless he keeps Christ’s Word, as he here says. And no one can keep it, unless he first loves God. God had tested the plan of making people godly by means of force. For, in olden times, God dealt severely with his people, so that they were forced to keep his Word, and not to blaspheme God; to observe the Sabbath and to obey all the other commandments. To this end he threatened to afflict and punish them, severely, as is written in Leviticus 26:14ff. Thus, God from without coerced the people to be pious by means of the fear of punishment; but their hearts were not obedient. The result is the same in the present day.
Therefore, to keep God’s Word is a thing that can be accomplished only by divine love.
2. Accordingly, in the New Testament, God ceased to punish and only administered the Word; for the means must yet come to the point that the divine love be present. Neither the stake, nor bulls nor bans help in the least. Where this love is not, all amounts to nothing, do as we will. If one were to take all the swords in the world in his hands, he would not bring a single heretic to the faith. The people may, indeed, appear to accept the Word, but in their inward hearts there is no faith. Hence God has abolished the sword in this matter and his plan of salvation aims to possess the heart.
The bishops are commanded first to take the heart captive, so that it may find love and pleasure in the Word, and the work is then accomplished.
Hence, he who wishes to be a true bishop, arranges all his administration to the end that he may win souls and develop a love for and a delight in God’s Word and be able to oppose the false babblers with sound teaching, and to stop their mouths. Titus 1:2. This will never be accomplished by means of commandments, bans and bulls.
3. Thus the true spiritual leaders fight. They strike Satan dead and rescue souls from him; for to pierce Satan to death is nothing else than to rescue from him a human being whom he has taken captive by deceitful teaching.
