Dear Pastor Jackson,
This continues my
previous article about Christ our good Shepherd carrying us into
pastures of rest for our souls. Today I write about a real life example
in the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod of which I am a member. Yes many
LCMS pastors, laymen, and seminary professors speak correctly but think
wickedly of whom I am sharply critical. Not all pastors in LCMS are this
way. Some LCMS pastors, laymen, and seminary professors are really
trying to follow Christ their good shepherd. It is our duty to encourage
all of them even though they are wobbly and unstable. We must help them
by God's word to be strengthened. So I begin with a tiny rural LCMS
congregation in a tiny little town of Golden, Illinois which I attend
regularly. They use the red King James Bible hymnal. They love to sing
"Dear Christians One and All Rejoice" written by Martin Luther and also
"Jesus Christ Our Blessed Savior" by John Huss to name a few. Their
pastor who is really trying to follow Christ recently accepted a call to
North Dakota so now they are vulnerable to LCMS wolves promoting church
growth business models at the expense of God's Word and Sacraments.
Here is the letter I wrote to the call committee now searching for a new
pastor.
Holy Cross Lutheran Church at Golden,
Illinois sustained, nourished, and strengthened me with God's Word and
Sacraments during the six years I cared for my mom 24 hours a day 7 days
a week. That's really all I had. It was all I really needed. Christ is
alive! His Word is efficacious, living, powerful, giving forgiveness of
all my sins, giving deliverance from my sin, my death, my hell, and
lifting all the evil of this world off of me, and giving me a peace that
passes all understanding. I was full of worry, cares, fears and my soul
was troubled about many things, but only one thing was needful: to
listen to my gentle Shepherd the Lord Jesus Christ and to listen to and
ponder His words being repeated verbatim by another gentle Shepherd,
pastor Mike Grieve. Pastor Grieve obeyed Christ's command and promise to
forgive my sins in the person of Christ. (St. Paul expounds on this in 2
Cor. 2:10) The Office of The Keys is Christ's command and promise to
all of us, especially pastors.
"Then Jesus said
to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so
send I you: and when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith
unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: whose soever sins ye remit, they
are remitted into them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are
retained. John 20:21-23
Let's not rush past
these very important words of Christ. First Christ says "ye" which is
plural referring to the whole church especially pastors. Secondly,
Christ says 'Receive ye the Holy Ghost'. Wow this is huge!! God gives
all of us, especially pastors, the Holy Ghost to forgive sins in
Christ's stead. It is God the Holy Ghost who is forgiving our sins when
the pastor says, (see pg. 16 Red Hymnal)
"Upon
this your confession, I, by virtue of my office, as a called and
ordained servant of the Word, announce the grace of God unto all of you,
and in the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ I forgive
you all your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost."
This is precious to me, very
precious! I hope it is precious to you also and that you will want your
next pastor to forgive your sins in the person of Christ.
I
stress the word 'forgive' because many 'pastors' fail to do this
probably because they really do not believe what Luther taught and
especially what Christ taught. So these smart alecks say, 'I assure'
instead of 'I forgive'. It is happening here in Quincy and many LCMS
pastors speak correctly but think wickedly. I want you to be ready to
insist pastors repeat the words of Christ verbatim.
Now a word from Luther written to his friend Spenlein:
"I
wish to know the condition of your heart, whether you have at last come
to loathe your own righteousness and desire to rejoice in the
righteousness of Christ and to be of good cheer because of it. For in
these days the temptation to presumptuousness is very strong,
particularly in those who strive with might and main to be righteous and
godly and do not know of the altogether immaculate righteousness of God
which is freely given us in Christ. As a result of this they are
searching for something good in themselves until they become confident
that they can pass muster before God as people who are properly adorned
with virtuous and meritorious deeds, all of which is impossible. While
you were with us, you held this opinion, or rather this error, just as I
did. For my part, I am still wrestling with this error and am not quite
rid of it yet. Therefore my dear brother, learn Christ - Christ
crucified. Learn to sing praises to Him and to despair utterly of your
own works...Ponder this love of His, and you will realize His sweetest
consolation. For if we must achieve rest of conscience by our own toil
and worry, for what purpose did He die? Therefore you are to find peace
in Him by a hearty despair of yourself and your own works. And now that
He has received you, made your sins His and His righteousness yours,
learn also from Him firmly to believe this, as behooves you; for cursed
is everyone who does not believe it " (Martin Luther, St Louis Ed.,
XXIa, 20f)
Your next pastor can't do it alone.
So you must support him, encourage him to do and teach exactly what
Luther said in above quote. Are these words of Luther precious to you?
They should be! They must be precious to you if you want to be
Christian. Works righteousness, and reasoning is around all our necks.
None of us are immune from slipping, but God has saved us from this in
our baptism into Christ.
So let's go to the
Jordan river where Christ is baptized with our sins and we are clothed
in the righteousness of Christ. This blessed exchange is the forever
innocent Christ being clothed with our sins and us sinners being clothed
in the entire Christ and His righteousness.
"Now
when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also
being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Ghost
descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from
heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleasèd."
(Luke 3:21,22)
This is very very precious to me! The same things happened to me at my infant baptism:
*Heaven was opened
*God the Holy Ghost was given to me so I believe in Christ and God's Word and persistently cling to it.
*God clothed me in the righteousness of Christ (without my works)
*Christ is wrapped in all my sins
Reasoning can't grasp this. Faith holds firmly on to it. God makes me His child in baptism.
"For
ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of
you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ."(Gal.
3:26,27)
Time has gotten away from me. It's already time to do chores. I must make a few more important points.
The Lord's Supper is medicine for my soul.
Now a word from Martin Luther:
"So
in this matter, you must above all else take heed to your heart, that
you believe the words of Christ, and admit their truth, when He says to
you and to all, 'This is my blood, a new testament, by which I bequeath
to you forgiveness of all sins and eternal life.'" (Martin Luther, LW,
vol. 35, pg 88)
Holy Communion is Christ's last
will and testament bequeathing to you forgiveness of all sins and
eternal life. I firmly believe this. It is very very precious to me!!
"That
little word 'testament' is a short summary of all God's wonder and
grace fulfilled for us in Christ." (Martin Luther, LW, vol 35, pg. 84)
Yet
there are many smart aleck 'pastors' who say 'covenant' instead of
'testament' during the words of institution. The word 'covenant' is
Calvinistic. It gives nothing. To support their heresy these smart aleck
'pastors' state that their Bible says 'covenant' not 'testament'. Of
course it does. These heretics always use modern corrupted Bibles such
as the ESV, NIV, NKJV, RSV to name a few. There is only one Bible that
says 'testament' : the Bible God chose for the reformation: the King
James Bible. This is Luther's Bible in English.
It
is a terrible sin to change Christ's last will and testament into an
empty Calvinistic 'covenant'. These smart aleck pastors, laymen, and
seminary professors really don't believe what Luther said and especially
what Christ Himself said. They are above Luther, Chemnitz, and
especially above Christ Himself. Chemnitz, the second Luther, has harsh
words against all of these high powered smart alecks:
"For
since Christ instituted His supper in the form of a testament, it is
also not allowed at another time to distort even a man's covenant, if it
is confirmed, by adding or subtracting. How much greater sin it is
therefore, to change or mutilate the testament of the Son of God."
(Martin Chemnitz, Ministry Word, and Sacrament, CPH, 1981, pg. 122)
So,
I hope your next pastor will cherish and adhere to Christ's Word
'testament' during the words of institution and not change it into an
empty Calvinistic 'covenant' that gives nothing.
What is the church?
* A business that thrives on advertising and business strategies like Knapheide, and FS?
*A
little gathering of Christians who believe God's Word and live by every
word that proceeds out of the mouth of God and insist their pastor
repeats the words of Christ verbatim as found in the red King James
hymnal liturgy:
**'I forgive you - Office of the Keys
**'This cup is the New Testament in my blood, which is shed for you for the remission of sin.
**Baptism into Christ: clothes us in the entire Christ and his righteousness..
**Justification by faith in Jesus Christ without works.
-Not universalism (Everyone is already forgiven without faith in Christ: objective justification)
-Not synergism (man must make a decision to accept everyone is already
forgiven without faith in Christ: subjective justification)
So
I am a genuine Christian who holds to the King James Bible, the red
hymnal, the old 1943 King James catechism. Are you a true Christian?
I
think we need a reformation that takes us back to the the King James
Bible that worked wonders during the reformation and especially now!!!!!
The corrupt Bibles (ESV, NKJV, RSV, NIV etc) and corrupt
catechisms, and business model church growth all need to be cast aside
unless of course you want to be a smart aleck heretic instead of a
Christian.
Pastor Jackson, please publish freely as you wish and add your own comments freely as much as you would like.
I
began memorizing, reading, and studying the King James Bible in eighth
grade and continue to do so today over 50 years later. God's Word is
efficacious, living, and powerful in a still, quiet and peaceful sort of
way. It reached into the depths of my soul so I could later accept
Luther's correct teachings. He became my trusted friend and pastor as I
read his writings and continue to do so today. Thank you Pastor Jackson
for helping me continue to study Luther's sermons by your many books,
and your web site!
Tom Fisher
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