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| S. S. Schmucker is the spiritual father of all the dumb Schmuckers who call themselves Lutheran but are really generic Protestants wanting to shed the burden of Luther, Melanchthon, and Chemnitz. The ELCA contingent has proven themselves eager to work with LCMS and WELS, to worship together at Fuller Seminary, Trinity Divinity, and other melting pots of toxic Schmuckerism. |
ICHABOD, THE GLORY HAS DEPARTED - explores the Age of Apostasy, predicted in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, to attack Objective Faithless Justification, Church Growth Clowns, and their ringmasters. The antidote is trusting the efficacious Word in the Means of Grace. John 16:8. Isaiah 55:8ff. Romans 10. Most readers are WELS, LCMS, ELS, or ELCA. This blog also covers the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, and the National Council of Churches.
Wednesday, February 28, 2024
WOW! More Than 80 People Came To Observe the 225th Birthday of the Worst "Lutheran" Ever.
Mid-Week Lenten Service 2024
Bethany Lutheran Church
Third Midweek Lenten Service
7 PM Central Time
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
The Psalmody
The Lection The Passion History
The Sermon Hymn #381 I Know My Faith Is Founded
The Lection The Passion History
The Sermon Hymn #381 I Know My Faith Is Founded
Faith Is First, Prayer Follows
The Prayers
The Lord’s Prayer
The Collect for Grace p. 45
The Hymn #558 All Praise To Thee
The Hymn #558 All Praise To Thee
Faith Is First, Prayer Follows
People find ways to complicate the Christian Faith. If we look at the Fourth Gospel, it is clear that Jesus placed faith in Him as the starting point, the only starting point. The Gospel of John is very important in teaching us about faith, because the other details are already in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The apostate scholars love to dismiss John, but that is because the message is so powerful and clear.
The effect of Gospel teaching and preaching is to plant faith in the hearts of people of all ages, even babies. I just watched a video where a very good singer vocalized for a very young baby. The baby listened to every word and note, trying to imitate the singer singing about love. Babies and small children learn very quickly, and faith is planted in their hearts and minds so they can grow spiritually.
Everything in Christianity, correctly taught, begins with faith. Trust means seeing and hearing the message of Jesus the Son of God just as He teaches it. I said to on FB friend, John's Gospel can be read easily in any language, and it is easy to learn a language through the simple words of that Gospel. The friends said, "I supposed that is what God intended."
Faith in Jesus means seeing Him exactly as He is, though too many are willing to drift away with their dreams and claims. One way to look at this is to ask why people hated him so much and tried to oppose Him at every opportunity. The thorn in their minds was this simple - Jesus taught the righteousness of faith in Him while they adhered to the righteousness of works.
So this lingers in all of mankind. People want to know what they must do to be a follower of Jesus. That is because they come from the righteousness of works and only think that way. Jesus does not ask disciples to punish themselves or do all kinds of acts of contrition. He has already done that through His atoning death. As the Canaanite woman's story shows, Jesus wanted to pursue and hunt her until she gave the purest possible confession of faith in Him. "Even the household dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the Master's table." Jesus pushed her to the extremes of faith in Him, and she responded with faith. Her daughter's healing happened immediately.
Of course that miracle clearly asks us to be patient about how God works. His time is not our time, because we cannot even imagine the majesty and complexity of Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is so complex that only a child can understand. When I ask children about all the miracles of Jesus, they have the same idea, such as walking on water and healing the sick - "Jesus is God. He can do anything." It takes many years of study to have the wrong idea and deny the truth. When a priest and a teaching brother asked me about the actual resurrection of Christ and the Virgin Birth, they were outraged and said, "There is no dealing with you!" We were in the classroom of Notre Dame's seminary, and they were completely in line with the teacher of that class, a PhD who became an honored professor at Harvard.
That means, faith in Jesus Christ is beneficial, but nothing good can happen from unfaith. There are many worldly benefits that fall upon those who have rejected the truth, in spite of all the wisdom of the ages - when people believed - and when they denied.
The first benefit of faith in Jesus is forgiveness of sin. That is an ongoing process that benefits the individual and everyone else, because faith grows and brings fruit. People should easily find this lesson in the garden and lawn. We planted hundreds of daffodil bulbs over time and our winter rains were almost endless at times. Now the ugly bulbs have turned into beautiful varieties of color, size, and height. Girls live on each side of my house, and they gather on the front fence near Porchie and Dustmop. I grabbed a few vases and gave them a vase of daffodils for each family. There is nothing quite like daffodils when most of the outside colors are brown and grey.
If anyone wants to know more about Jesus, the Gospel of John is a great place to start, reading slowly and carefully. There the connection of faith and prayer go together. Jesus teaches us to pray about His work among us, and He never stops helping us and blessing us.
Daily Luther Sermon Quote - Lent 3 - “The last state is become worse with them than the first.” 2 Peter 2:20. And if we neglect the great light which we now have, it will come to pass in our case also, that we shall become worse than we were before, for the devil does not slumber."
Complete Luther Sermon Here -> Oculi. Third Sunday in Lent - Luke 11:14-23.
11. He answers them fourthly, with pointed proverbs and teachings, as: “He that is not with me is against me,” and, “He that gathereth not with me, scattereth.” “The devil is not with me for I drive him out, hence he must of necessity be against me.” But this saying does not apply to the devil alone, but also to the blasphemers whom he here convicts and condemns, as being against him since they are not for him. “To be with Christ” is to have the same mind and purpose as Christ, that is, to believe in Christ that his works save us and not our own, for this is what Christ holds and teaches. But “to gather with Christ” is to do good out of love to him, and to become rich in good works. He that does not believe is, by his own free will, not with Christ but against him, because he depends upon his own works. Therefore, he that does not love, does not gather with Christ, but by fruitless works becomes only more sinful and drifts farther and farther from the faith.
12. In the fifth place, he answers with a threat, namely, that the last state always is worse than the first. Therefore we should take heed that we not only refrain from blaspheming the Gospel and Christ, who does such great things for us and drives the devil out of us; but with zeal and fear hold fast to them, in order that we may not become possessed of seven worse devils whereas one possessed us before. For thus it was with the Jews, who had never been so wicked as while the Gospel was being preached to them. So also under the papacy, we have become seven times, (that is, many times) worse heathen under the name of Christ than we ever had been before as St. Peter says: “The last state is become worse with them than the first.” 2 Peter 2:20. And if we neglect the great light which we now have, it will come to pass in our case also, that we shall become worse than we were before, for the devil does not slumber. This should be sufficient warning.
13. Finally, when the woman cries out to Christ and praises him, saying, “Blessed is the mother that bore such a son,” etc., he opposes her carnal worship and takes occasion to teach all of us the substance of this Gospel, namely, that we should not go gaping after the works or merits of the saints but rather see to it that we hear and keep the Word of God. For it does not concern or profit us in the least to know how holy and honorable the mother of this child might be, nor how noble this Son of hers may be; but rather what this Son has done for us, namely that, by grace, without any merit or worthiness on our part, he has redeemed us from the devil. This fact is proclaimed to us through the Word of God, and this we are to hear and hold in firm faith; then shall we too be blessed like this mother and her child. Although such a Word and work will be blasphemed, we should suffer it and give an answer with meekness, as St. Peter teaches, for the improvement of others.
12. In the fifth place, he answers with a threat, namely, that the last state always is worse than the first. Therefore we should take heed that we not only refrain from blaspheming the Gospel and Christ, who does such great things for us and drives the devil out of us; but with zeal and fear hold fast to them, in order that we may not become possessed of seven worse devils whereas one possessed us before. For thus it was with the Jews, who had never been so wicked as while the Gospel was being preached to them. So also under the papacy, we have become seven times, (that is, many times) worse heathen under the name of Christ than we ever had been before as St. Peter says: “The last state is become worse with them than the first.” 2 Peter 2:20. And if we neglect the great light which we now have, it will come to pass in our case also, that we shall become worse than we were before, for the devil does not slumber. This should be sufficient warning.
13. Finally, when the woman cries out to Christ and praises him, saying, “Blessed is the mother that bore such a son,” etc., he opposes her carnal worship and takes occasion to teach all of us the substance of this Gospel, namely, that we should not go gaping after the works or merits of the saints but rather see to it that we hear and keep the Word of God. For it does not concern or profit us in the least to know how holy and honorable the mother of this child might be, nor how noble this Son of hers may be; but rather what this Son has done for us, namely that, by grace, without any merit or worthiness on our part, he has redeemed us from the devil. This fact is proclaimed to us through the Word of God, and this we are to hear and hold in firm faith; then shall we too be blessed like this mother and her child. Although such a Word and work will be blasphemed, we should suffer it and give an answer with meekness, as St. Peter teaches, for the improvement of others.