Thursday, June 6, 2024

Thirty Minutes with Melanchthon

 

Our leaders in Scriptural studies, the key Reformation teachers, are:
Luther,
Melanchthon, and
Chemnitz.
YouTube



Clyde Manshreck, one of Roland Bainton's students at Yale, wrote an excellent book, Melanchthon, The Quiet Reformer. I first became interested in Melanchthon at Augustana (Augsburg Confession) College.


1. Melanchthon and Luther lived to be 63 years old. Melanchthon (1497-1560). Luther (1483-1546).

2. They had opposite personalities and both were language geniuses. They greatly admired each other and also had their conflicts. Philip gave the sermon at Luther's funeral.

3. The Walther Four - LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC (sic) - like to brag about being Confessionals, and Orthodox. However, they despise the Augsburg Confession, which is the standard across the world. Their so-called Orthodoxy is largely from Pietism and Calvinism.

4. One clear statement of doctrinal agreement on Justification is found in the graphic above.

5. Melanchthon was denied a priceless library from his great-uncle John Reuchlin when he sided with the Reformation. Reuchlin, like Erasmus, supported the Reformation a bit but returned to the Roman Catholics.

6. Melanchthon had far more students than Luther because of their age difference. Philip was greatly admired across Europe and could have accepted an appointment as the greatest scholar in any kingdom.

7. Philip's contributions to the Book of Concord, 1580, were: 
  • The Augsburg Confession, 1530 - with notes from Luther at a safe castle.
  • The Apology (Defense) of the Augsburg Confession.
  • Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope
Martin Chemnitz edited the Book of Concord, widely admired, seldom studied or taught. He learned from Luther and Melanchthon and enjoyed the combination of polemics (Luther), humor (Luther and Melanchthon), and an enormous knowledge of theological literature.






Daily Luther Sermon Quote - "On the other hand, that poor, wretched, abject male counterpart of Cinderella, Abel, well represents the obscure little brotherhood, the Church of Christ."

 



Luther's Sermons - 1 John 3:13-18.
Second Sunday after Trinity


8. When mother Eve, the dear, godly woman, bore her first son, she declared in her joy and her hope of God’s promise of the future seed that should bruise the serpent’s head: “I have gotten a man with the help of Jehovah” (Genesis 4:1); and she named him Cain, which means “obtained,” as if she would say, “I have obtained the true treasure.” For she had not before seen a human being born; this was the first, precious fruit of man. Over Cain she rejoiced, pronouncing herself blessed. This son was trained in the hope that he should be a savior of the future race, a comfort to his brothers and sisters with all their offspring. Nor was he unaware of these proud hopes. Proudly he lorded it over his brother, who in contrast had to bear the ignominious name of Abel, meaning “nothing,” or “vanity,” as if voicing the thought of the parents’ hearts: “Alas! this one has no future. Cain is the rightful heir to the blessing God has promised man; he is lord and master of his brethren.”

9. It is likely that the godly father and mother for many years drew their solace from the hope placed in their first-born son, as they looked forward with intensest longing to the redemption from their deplorable fall.

Doubtless they trained both sons very carefully and instructed them concerning their own sin and fall and the promise God had given them, until they were fully grown and had entered into the priestly office. Cain the first-born was particularly zealous in that respect, desiring to be first inasmuch as he offered his first fruits of the earth, given by God and obtained by his own labor, as he no doubt had seen his father offer. Abel, however, the inferior, the poor shepherd, offered the firstlings of his sheep, given him of God and obtained without effort and toil of his own. Now, God in a wonderful way manifested his preference concerning the gifts upon the altar. Fire descended from heaven and consumed Abel’s offering, but Cain’s remained. The fire was the sign of God’s favor. The text says: “And Jehovah had respect unto Abel and to his offering: but unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect.” Genesis 4:4-5.

10. Thereupon Adam and Eve saw that the hope and solace centering in their first-born son, were a delusion. They began to learn the wonderful judgments of God, who gave precedence to Abel, the male counterpart of Cinderella —which is all he was in his own sight when he compared himself with his brother. Now Cain, with full confidence in his position, spoiled by the delusion of his parents that as the first-born he was God’s preference, felt himself outraged. His hypocrisy, hitherto masked, comes to the surface. He burns with secret hate against God, with hate and anger against his brother, which he takes no trouble whatever to disguise. The parents rebuke him, but effect nothing. The flame of his resentment rises higher, and meeting him alone upon the field, he fells him to the ground.

Far from contemplating amendment of life or seeking grace from God, he has no mercy upon the only brother he has on earth, who has done him no harm whatever. He cannot forgive him and leave him in unenvied possession of the grace of God.

11. Such was the solace and joy poor Adam and Eve lived to experience in their first children! From this time on their earthly life was fraught with gloom and sorrow, particularly since they could not but see the source of these in their own fall and they would have pined to death had not God comforted them with another son. For when it became evident that the hope they had placed in Cain was a delusion, and that they were deprived of the son who, beyond a doubt, possessed the grace of God, they, without another son, would not have known where to look for the solace of the promised seed.

CAIN THE WORLD, ABEL THE CHURCH.

12. Note, in this man Cain is pictured the world in its true, characteristic colors; in him its true spirit stands reflected. Certainly his equal has never been. In him are unquestionably prefigured the very flower, the very quintessence, of holiness on earth—the most pious servants of God. On the other hand, that poor, wretched, abject male counterpart of Cinderella, Abel, well represents the obscure little brotherhood, the Church of Christ.

She must yield to Cain the lord the distinction of being everything before God, of being the recipient of every gift of God, of being entitled to all honor and every privilege. He feels important in his imagined dignity, permits this spirit to pervade his sacrifices and his worships, and thinks that God cannot but favor and accept his offering rather than that of his brother.

Meanwhile, the pious Abel goes his way, meekly suffering his brother’s contempt. He willingly yields Cain the honor, esteems himself vastly inferior and beholds no consolation for himself aside from the pure mercy and goodness of God. He believes in God and hopes for the promised future seed. In such faith he performs his sacrifice as a confession, a sign, of his gratitude.

13. This illustration is intended by God as solace for his little throng; for the incident is not written for Abel’s sake but for the sake of the humble children of God, whose condition is like that of Abel. God has not forgotten them, though they are haughtily ignored by proud Cain, who regards them as nothing in his presence. God graciously looks upon them and rejects proud Cain with his birthright and offering.

14. Innocent Abel becomes the object of anger and hatred when the Word of God lays hold of Cain revealing God’s displeasure where he had fancied himself worthy, and God’s unwillingness to regard his offering and devotion as superior to this of his brother and more meritorious. Cain begins bitterly to hate and persecute his brother. He finds no rest until Abel is laid low and cut off from the earth. Now you have the cause of the world’s hatred and anger against Christians; simply this, as John says of Cain: “Because his works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.”

15. What offense had godly Abel committed against his brother to be so hated? He had even regarded that brother as the first-born, as vastly superior to himself, and had done him all honor and loved him as became a brother. He was easily satisfied, desiring simply the grace of God. He prayed for the future seed, that is, for the salvation and happiness of his parents, his brother and the entire human race. How could Cain be unmerciful and inhuman enough in his frenzy to murder his own flesh and blood?

The answer is found in the fact that the devil had filled Cain’s heart with pride and vanity over his birthright. He considered himself a man of distinction, with every claim upon God’s favor and sinless, whilst his brother was nothing whatever. Cain’s heart is devoid of true brotherly love; he has only contempt for Abel. He cannot endure God’s manifest favor toward his brother, and will not be moved by the injunction to humble himself and seek God’s grace. Anger and envy possess him to the extent that he cannot tolerate his brother alive. In violation of God’s commandment and his own conscience, he becomes a murderer, and then goes his way as if he had done right.

16. This is what John means when he says that Cain had no other cause for his crime than that his own works were evil and his brother’s righteous.

Missouri Follows ELCA! - The Walther Four - LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC (sic) -
Follow Harrison!

 

The Missouri Synod is comprised of followers, not leaders. The clergy learned more from Fuller Seminary graduate programs than they did from their two, feeble seminaries. Ditto WELS, ELS, CLC - and they all bragged about it from their neo-Calvinist pulpits. But face it - the LCMS continues to worship CFW Walther, who was a greater scoundrel than his Bishop Martin Stephan, because Walther signed on Stephan's bishop promotion, knew of the bishop's adultery long before staging a riot, and stole Stephan's gold, books, and property - for the glory of God, of course.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion was a manufactured fad from the 1960s, but it was forced upon higher education only a few years ago. It seems as if many institutions were lying in wait for more to join the happy throng.

Unlike many other destructive ideas for the masses, DEI soon created a backlash against its destructive agenda. Decades ago, Fuller Seminary stated in its catalog that anyone who questioned women's ordination would get a visit from their Church Growth secret police. Perhaps the futurist revolutionaries will back down before everything is destroyed. ELCA is doing its worst, and Missouri will continue to serve as the Judas Goat, leading everyone else to the slaughter house.

Judas Goat - 

a person who betrays followers or dependents, often unwittingly as the tool of an enemy:

Some say the leader of the union is a Judas goat, far too cozy with management and making too many compromises.

Missouri Synod - One-Stop Shopping for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion

 

Rachel Furgeson is the ninth "conservative Lutheran" with a Jesuit PhD, from St. Louis University.

"A small group of faculty and staff members at Concordia University Chicago (CUC), River Forest, Ill., recently field-tested a new CUC curriculum titled Unity and Civility in a Diverse Community. The group, which numbered about 10, worked through the curriculum together, led by CUC Professor of Music Dr. Maurice Boyer. The curriculum was created by a committee chaired by Dr. Rachel Ferguson, director of CUC’s Free Enterprise Center and assistant dean of the CUC College of Business. 

Ferguson, who has also been instrumental in developing the curriculum, said its purpose is “to provide a biblically grounded approach to many of the questions that other institutions of higher education are answering with Diversity, Equity and Inclusion content."


Diversity, unity, civility: New curriculum grounds all three in Christ



Erich Heidenreich (Erich)
Senior Member
Username: Erich

Post Number: 1785
Registered: 12-2004
Posted on Wednesday, June 05, 2024 - 9:45 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

From The Reporter, June 3, 2024, Diversity, unity, civility: New curriculum grounds all three in Christ

quote:

The curriculum was created by a committee chaired by Dr. Rachel Ferguson, [co-author of Black Liberation Through the Marketplace: Hope, Heartbreak, and the Promise of America]...

Some of the topics covered in the course include...

The blessing of diversity and how that, too, flows from the Creator;

How people navigate issues of power and authority as they serve in the roles into which God has placed them... 

Wednesday, June 5, 2024

Stanford Students Lock Themselves in Their President's Office.
What Would Father Hesburgh Say?

 

BREAKING: An "autonomous group" of students occupied the office of the president of Stanford University president. Police had to break into the office to arrest the students.



Some Notre Dame students took over a building to protest. Hesburgh's policy was clear -

Father Hesburgh then laid out his "15-minute" rule, which would give any disruptive demonstrator 15-minutes to "cease and desist." They would be given a chance to do so at that time, but after five more minutes, would be suspended. If they chose to persist, they would be expelled from Notre Dame. https://hesburghportal.nd.edu/story-dedication-protests.html

If you know how precious the ND degree is to Catholic parents and how difficult it is for their children to get in, there is no chance a group would even consider staging a protest to prove something. Nevertheless, college presidents all over the country felt their knees buckle and they caved in.

I was told at Waterloo Lutheran Seminary that I could not go into the library because they were staging a lockout for the entire Waterloo Lutheran University campus. That was about 1972. I said, "I am not in your lockout." They offered to let me participate in all-night prayer for part of their protest, adding "You don't have to pray." I laughed and walked away. Kent State was in 1970, but I cannot remember which protest du jour was on the menu that day.


Reformation Seminary Greek Lesson

 


YouTube

Stephanus John 3:16 -  ουτως γαρ ηγαπησεν ο θεος τον κοσμον ωστε τον υιον αυτου τον μονογενη εδωκεν ινα πας ο πιστευων εις αυτον μη αποληται αλλ εχη ζωην αιωνιον


Matthew 28:19-20     πορευθεντες ουν μαθητευσατε παντα τα εθνη βαπτιζοντες αυτους εις το ονομα του πατρος και του υιου και του αγιου πνευματος

διδασκοντες αυτους τηρειν παντα οσα ενετειλαμην υμιν και ιδου εγω μεθ υμων ειμι πασας τας ημερας εως της συντελειας του αιωνος αμην

Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.


1 John 1  ο ην απ αρχης ο ακηκοαμεν ο εωρακαμεν τοις οφθαλμοις ημων ο εθεασαμεθα και αι χειρες ημων εψηλαφησαν περι του λογου της ζωης


That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;

Trinity 2 - Epistle Lesson - “Since the world hates even God for his kindness,” argues John, “marvel not, my beloved, that you suffer the same fate. What does it signify that I show my love by hazarding life and limb to sustain this doctrine of the Gospel and help my neighbor? Mine is but a poor, mean, uncouth, offensive love in comparison with the love that led Christ to die for me and to redeem me from eternal death."




Luther's Sermons - 1 John 3:13-18.
Second Sunday after Trinity


1 JOHN 3:13-18. 13 Marvel not, brethren, if the world hateth you. 14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not abideth in death. 15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. 16 Hereby know we love, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 17 But whoso hath the world’s goods, and beholdeth his brother in need, and shutteth up his compassion from him, how does the love of God abide in him? 18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither with the tongue; but in deed and truth.

EXHORTATION TO BROTHERLY LOVE.

1. The Epistles and Gospels selected for the Pentecost cycle of Sundays have love as their general theme. They deal not only with the love we owe to Christ and God, which is only to be thankful for the unspeakable blessing of forgiveness of sins and salvation through Christ’s blood and death, but also of the love we owe our neighbor; not a love in return for favors, but one that unceasingly gives, forgives and works all good even when unrequited.

2. John here admonishes the Christian to exercise the virtue of love. Considering the evident rarity of love among men, this admonition is necessary. He particularly warns Christians not to wonder at the world’s hatred and desire for their death. Such was the hate of Cain for his brother, of which the apostle has just spoken. The world’s hate, it must be admitted, repels love and powerfully obstructs its exercise.

3. Is it not surpassing strange that one can hate those who love him and from whom he has received only kindness? Such wickedness is almost inconceivable, we say. What incentive is there for any to render the world service when in ingratitude it rewards love with hatred? But let us examine ourselves, who are baptized and have received the Gospel, and confess how we requite the supreme love of God in giving us his Son. What a beautiful example of glad gratitude we display! For the shame of it we ought to despise ourselves before God and his angels.

And what shall we say of those who will not endure the preaching of the glorious message of God’s grace and blessing, but condemn it as heresy? to whom they who seek to serve, to benefit and save the world by declaring the good news, must be, as Paul says, “as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things,” 1 Corinthians 4:13. Indeed, no criminal receives more wretched and ignominious treatment and execution, of which the Pope and his followers are a case in point.

THE WORLD’S HATRED.

4. While experience has proven this otherwise incredible fact, John vouchsafes the admonition notwithstanding: “Marvel not, brethren, if the world hateth you.” If we are not to wonder at this, is there anything in the world to incite wonder? I should truly think the hearing of a single sermon on the grace of Christ would suffice to bring the world to receive the Gospel with intense joy and never to forget the divine mercy and blessing.

It would be no wonder should the earth suddenly open and engulf mankind because of its ingratitude to God who has given his Son to become man for the purpose of redeeming us condemned mortals from sin and death and restoring us to life and salvation. Is it not a horrible thing that any man should shun and oppose such a Savior and his doctrine even more than he does the devil himself?

5. But what is God’s attitude toward such conduct? Well does he say to the Jews through the prophet: “O my people, what have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied thee? testify against me. For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of bondage; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. O my people, remember now what Balak, king of Moab, devised; and what Balaam, the son of Beor, answered him; remember from Shittim unto Gilgal, that ye may know the righteous acts of Jehovah.” Micah 6:3-5. And well does Christ say to his ungrateful people: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that killeth the prophets, and stoneth them that are sent unto her ! how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” Matthew 23:37. As if he would say, “I surely did not come to effect your death and condemnation by my message. I am about to suffer death and God’s wrath for your sins. I bring you God’s endless grace and blessing for time and eternity. Then why this bitter hatred against me and my message?”

6. “Since the world hates even God for his kindness,” argues John, “marvel not, my beloved, that you suffer the same fate. What does it signify that I show my love by hazarding life and limb to sustain this doctrine of the Gospel and help my neighbor? Mine is but a poor, mean, uncouth, offensive love in comparison with the love that led Christ to die for me and to redeem me from eternal death. If God’s supreme, unfathomable love fails to awaken the gratitude of the world, what wonder if the world hates you for all your kindness? Why will you bring down your fist and stamp your foot in anger at such ingratitude? You are yourselves of that race for whom the Son of God had to die. And even were you to die for the Gospel, your sacrifice would be as nothing in comparison to the fact that God, for the sake of the world, spared not his own Son but permitted the world to put him to death.”

7. But whence arises the world’s hatred? John tells us in verse twelve when he mentions the incident of Cain, who, he says, “was of the evil one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.” An excellent reason, indeed, for hating—the hater and murderer is evil and the benefactor good! In civil and domestic affairs it is the evil-doers and disobedient who incur displeasure and receive punishment; and such reward is just. But whenever God has dealings with the world, it shows what a rotten fruit it is by hating, persecuting, and putting to death as evil-doers and impostors its very benefactors. This trait it inherits, John tells us, from its ancestor Cain, the great fratricide saint. He is a true picture of the world of all times, and ever its spirit and fashion is patterned after him.

Tuesday, June 4, 2024

A Funny Thing Happened in the Dark Room

 


I finished the lecture today and set up the YouTube version, which is easy to do, perhaps too easy. All I had to do was load the video/sound file and put some touches on those little things in Zoom and YouTube.

I played the video, which looked OK - but where were the flowers? The brilliant red flowers (Take It Easy) were gone! I went to the chapel - the red roses were still there! Hmmm!?

Maybe I downloaded a previous file and titled it for today, with the Weeds graphic. Aha and Yes! All I had to do is figure out how to remove an earlier file from the Weeds graphic. That was easy to do and worked out well. The flowers were back on the altar and on the mike stand for today.

I am going to maintain this pattern - lectures on Tuesday and Thursday at 11 AM Central, Greek lesson on Wednesday at 11 AM Central. Given that and the Sunday services, our little church can provide over 2,000 YouTube videos a year.

PS - I began photography in a darkroom in Sturgis. It was a lot of fun and educational, black and white, and I learned enough to wave goodbye in favor of digital.



Reformation Seminary - Parable of the Tares - 11 AM Today



YouTube

KJV Matthew 13:24

Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: 25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. 26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. 27 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? 28 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? 29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

[a grain of mustard seed...leaven...teaching in parables]

37 He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; 38 The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; 39 The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. 40 As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. 41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; 42 And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

1. Creation - weeds are guardians of the soil.

2. Weeds prove the soil is good and they also improve the soil. Dandelion is an herb.

3. Wooden shoes were used to trample down growing fields. Sabotage. 

4. The tares are spread in the field to take advantage of believers. Evil ones are acting with their Father Below.

5. Tearing up the weeds can wreck the crop, so they wait for the harvest.

6. The greatest bishops, popes, and theologians can be tares and increase evil over time.

7. The Son of Man will send angels to gather and burn the tares - evil doers.

8. The righteous will shine forth in the Kingdom of their Father.






The View from the Masthead - The Big Five - ELCA-LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC (sic).
The Walther Four - LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC (sic)

 

Standing on the masthead, in Moby Dick, was essential for spotting whales.

I missed out on joining the Lutheran Church in America, which began its toxic unification effort with the American Lutheran Church and the Seminex faction. The Michigan Synod of the LCA hosted numerous events for its pastors, leaving behind precious memories.

One event included about 10 pastors and a synod staff member who had been a company executive. 

Everyone was offering a some opinions, so I said, "The Michigan Synod is funded and organized for its own destruction." Everyone went silent at once, then one pastor asked the staffer timidly, "Is Greg correct?"

The staffer said, "Greg is correct." 

My bags were already getting packed to leave the LCA. One pastor was from Gay, Michigan, so I told him what I could do to help him get a position in ELCA, which was being 100% quota (aka DEI) organized. "I can write you in as a Gay pastor from Michigan." Normally jolly, he said, "Don't you dare!" He was serious, and I was not. 

The merger, which they hastened to call A New Church, began its meltdown immediately. I followed the Big Five - ELCA-LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC (sic) from that time onward, because I left before the merger and dared to quote the Braaten-Jenson Dogmatics from the pulpit, as a warning unheeded, clearly irritating some members. 

From the masthead, the Big Five were living from the riches of Thrivent Insurance, another merger (AAL, Lutheran Brotherhood) that began its way downward from its association with the Big Five. To be fair, they were working together and dying together.  

The three LCA churches I served no longer exist. Christina's home church in South Bend, Indiana, moved away from their location and are now selling the brick house offered for sale.

Some may ask, as in their wont, about the Big Five and separately the Walther Four. 

The Big Five are all together, no matter how much they strut and preen, as peacocks do. They are too dishonest to admit they teach a weak and conflicted brand of Universalism. God is so gracious that He has forgiven everyone. "Hell is filled with guilt-free saints," although ELCA denies Hell, too. But they all have so much in common that they can work, study, and become bankrupt together.

The Walther Four try to gloat that they are special, unique, far too pure to associate openly with the others, but they feel the darkness.


This is one of many mastheads designed by Norma Boeckler, the term used by journalists long ago.





Daily Luther Sermon Quote - Trinity 2 - Second Sermon - "The third class say: The Gospel is a doctrine that will not allow covetousness, nor permit us to strive to have sufficient for our bodily needs, but commands us to risk everything, body and life, money and goods, for Christ’s sake."

 

  Luke 14:24 For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.


Complete ->Luther's Sermons - Luke 14:16-24.
Second Sunday, Second Sermon after Trinity


20. For Christ here treats of these three parties. The first says: I want to see my farm. These are the foremost and best among them, among the Jews they were the entire priesthood and the chief rulers. These said: We priests must work, cultivate and harvest the land, that is, we must rule the people, and wait upon the priesthood God has entrusted unto us, as Christ also calls ministers cultivators of the soil who sow the Gospel. But as the teachings of the Apostles are opposed to this, it is wrong, and we are justly excused when we do not accept their doctrine.

21. Thus others also who had offices in the civil government excuse themselves with the oxen. For oxen are called the rulers of the people, Psalm 22:12: “Many bulls have encompassed me; strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.” These also have a fair excuse and say: We have a kingdom and government, instituted and appointed of God, with this we must remain and see to it how we may preserve it.

22. The third class say: The Gospel is a doctrine that will not allow covetousness, nor permit us to strive to have sufficient for our bodily needs, but commands us to risk everything, body and life, money and goods, for Christ’s sake. Therefore we will and cannot come, for we must see how we may keep our own, which God has given us. For to take a wife is not to do or undertake anything dishonorable, but to enter an honorable state, and to be at home and plan how to support yourself, which is everyone’s duty. But all this is just that by which an honest housefather commits sin, when he only thinks of this, how he may become rich, keep house well and prosper. God grant it whether it be done with or against God. For the Jews took into consideration only how Moses had promised them if they would be good and keep God’s commandments, to give temporal blessings, cattle, lands, wife, child, and all things should be blessed and prosper. Therefore they only sought to have their cellars and kitchens full, and to be rich, and then they thought that they were good, and that God had thus blessed them, as the Psalm says, Psalm 144:13-14.

23. Just in this very manner our Papists still excuse themselves and say:

The doctrine is right, of course, but we must still adhere to the Church and her orderly government. Again, we must above all things maintain obedience to the worldly power, so that there may be no disturbance and insurrection. Thus they are troubled just like the Jews. If they would accept the Gospel, they fear they might lose their Church and government, whereas the Gospel alone builds up the true Christian church, and prevents all injustice, violence and insurrection. Besides covetousness is also present; since they see nothing in the Gospel but mere poverty and persecution, so that it goes as it does here, that they simply and without fear refuse to obey the Gospel and say, they have taken wives and cannot come, and still they want to be Christians and claim to have done just right, and want to be regarded as pious bishops, good princes and good citizens.

24. But how will it go with them? Just as it did with the Jews. They held so long to their law, priesthood, kingdom and treasures, until they at last went to destruction, and lost one after the other; so that now they dwell here and there and have their homes under foreign princes as if living in a swing. This is the reward for which they labored. For they desired not this supper, and preferred their kingdom, priesthood and houses, rather than the Gospel. Therefore they lost all three, and received the sentence that none of them should taste of this supper, and thus be deprived of both, of temporal things here on earth, and of the everlasting feast in heaven. The same will also certainly be the fate of our adversaries.

25. Thus Christ our Lord lectured this sharp doctor and his associates at the table, and showed them how they stood before our Lord God, namely, that God was angry at them, and would look out for other guests, as follows: “Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servants, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in hither the poor, and maimed, and blind, and lame.”

Monday, June 3, 2024

Tom Fisher - On the Nature of Christ

 



Dear Pastor Jackson, 

The apostles received great comfort being with Jesus. The first thing I thought of this morning was the apostle John leaning on Jesus chest. How wonderful and comforting to picture our Lord Christ letting a big burly strong fisherman named John lean his head and shoulders on Jesus chest like a little child.  

"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the Word of life; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) 1 John 1:2-2

All of the apostles are eye witnesses that Jesus is true God and true man in one person. True God from the beginning. True God, one with God the Father and God the Holy Ghost from all eternity. True man born of the virgin Mary.

 Notice how this passage is infallible eyewitness proof that Jesus is true God from all eternity and also true man born of the virgin Mary. The ears, eyes, and hands of all the apostles invincibly prove Jesus is true God and true man in one person who took all our sins upon Himself, was crucified, dead, buried, and rose from the dead for us. 

Notice how closely and carefully all of the apostles "looked upon" Jesus. They saw Jesus with their own eyes and also carefully "looked upon" Jesus, noticing every characteristic of Christ our Lord.

Christ encouraged all of the apostles to hold onto his hands and his feet after His resurrection. He wanted them to grab hold of Him. The apostle John gives us special comfort by leaning on Jesus chest, invincibly proving Christ is true God and true man in one person for us sinners. 

"Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have." Luke 24:38,39

God our heavenly Father laid all our sins on Jesus His only begotten Son. Here is the ultimate and enduring comfort for our souls: that Christ wrapped Himself in our sins and even claims our sins and our guilt as His own. Psalm 40, 41 and 69 is the Holy Ghost speaking in the person of Christ, claiming our sins and guilt as His own.

"For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart faileth me." Psalm 40:12

"I said, LORD, be merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee." Psalm 41:4

"And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, and settest me before thy face for ever." Psalm 41:12

"O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee." Psalm 69:5

Christ never lost His innocence while he claimed all our sins and guilt as His own. Notice Psalm 41:12 shows Christ is always sinless while He is claiming our sins and guilt as His own.

"And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, and settest me before thy face for ever." Psalm 41:12

Psalm 40:7-8 is God the Holy Ghost speaking in the person of Christ.  Here we see Christ keeping the law for us while claiming our sins and guilt as His own.

"Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart." Psalm 40:7,8

Luther explains this in his lectures on Galatians:

"Isaiah 53:6 speaks the same way about Christ. It says: 'God has laid on Him the iniquities of us all.' These words must not be diluted but must be left in their precise and serious sense. For God is not joking in the words of the prophet; He is speaking seriously and out of great love, namely, that this Lamb of God, Christ, should bear the iniquity of us all. But what does it mean to 'bear'? The sophists reply: 'To be punished.' Good. But why is Christ punished? Is it not because He has sin and bears sin? That Christ has sin is the testimony of the Holy Spirit in the Psalms. Thus in Psalm 40:12 we read: mine iniquities have taken hold upon Me' ; in Psalm 41:4: 'I said, LORD, be merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee' ; and in Psalm 69:5: O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee.'" In these Psalms the Holy Spirit is speaking in the Person of Christ and testifying in clear words that He has sinned or has sins. These testimonies of the Psalms are not the words of an innocent one; they are the words of the suffering Christ, who undertook to bear the person of all sinners and therefore was made guilty of the sins of the entire world." (Martin Luther; LW; CPH; Vol. 26; pgs. 278-279 ISBN 0-570-06426-0)

"For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." 2 Corinthians 5:21

"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." Isaiah 53:6

In Christ,

Tom Fisher

Please Read the Rush Limbaugh Senior Essay Below




The Rush Limbaugh essay below should be read annually.

Essential Information For Understanding Why Trump’s Appeal Will Succeed

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2024/06/essential_information_for_understanding_why_trump_s_appeal_will_succeed.html

This article explains why the New York case should be reversed a dozen different ways. Please read it for details.

Crucial differences should remind us why the United States were formed as a Constitutional Republic, with many checks and balances to avoid the traps of royal authority.

The jury system has slowly evolved to protect people from the abuse of law, the very thing emphasized by the constant attacks on Trump, when quashed, rose up to be repeated mostly by media numbskulls but also by those who thought glory would come from their echo chamber.

When errors are made by the judge and prosecutor in a trial, the case can go to appeals court, the ultimate being the US Supreme Court. An error or errors can overturn a verdict, which is 100% certain in my perspective. Some hints came up before the trial was over. Judge Merchan and the prosecutor both showed their willingness to go against the Constitution, which makes them completely wrong in many different categories.

Denominations work the same way, which is why I compare them to criminal operations - which they are - beholding to no one. That may explain why members of every Holy Mother Sect ae leaving - whether the flock are bored, scandalized, or disgusted. The managers (aka leader) cover up murders and slander anyone who brings up the truth in a variety of circumstances. 

WELS and Missouri are just as gay as ELCA, which may explain why the drainage from ELCA never seems to help the Walther Four - LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC (sic) from dying.

From Rush Limbaugh's Father - "Our Lives, Our Fortunes, Our Sacred Honor"



RUSH INTRODUCTION: My father, Rush H. Limbaugh, Jr., delivered this oft-requested address locally a number of times, but it had never before appeared in print until it was published in The Limbaugh Letter. My dad was renowned for his oratory skills and for his original mind; this speech is, I think, a superb demonstration of both. I will always be grateful to him for instilling in me a passion for the ideas and lives of America's Founders, as well as a deep appreciation for the inspirational power of words, which you will see evidenced here:

Rush Limbaugh, Senior



"Our Lives, Our Fortunes, Our Sacred Honor"

It was a glorious morning. The sun was shining and the wind was from the Southeast. Up especially early, a tall bony, redheaded young Virginian found time to buy a new thermometer, for which he paid three pounds, fifteen shillings. He also bought gloves for Martha, his wife, who was ill at home.

Thomas Jefferson arrived early at the statehouse. The temperature was 72.5 degrees and the horseflies weren't nearly so bad at that hour. It was a lovely room, very large, with gleaming white walls. The chairs were comfortable. Facing the single door were two brass fireplaces, but they would not be used today.

The moment the door was shut, and it was always kept locked, the room became an oven. The tall windows were shut, so that loud quarreling voices could not be heard by passersby. Small openings atop the windows allowed a slight stir of air, and also a large number of horseflies. Jefferson records that "the horseflies were dexterous in finding necks, and the silk of stockings was nothing to them." All discussing was punctuated by the slap of hands on necks.

On the wall at the back, facing the president's desk, was a panoply -- consisting of a drum, swords, and banners seized from Fort Ticonderoga the previous year. Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold had captured the place, shouting that they were taking it "in the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress!"

Now Congress got to work, promptly taking up an emergency measure about which there was discussion but no dissension. "Resolved: That an application be made to the Committee of Safety of Pennsylvania for a supply of flints for the troops at New York."

Then Congress transformed itself into a committee of the whole. The Declaration of Independence was read aloud once more, and debate resumed. Though Jefferson was the best writer of all of them, he had been somewhat verbose. Congress hacked the excess away. They did a good job, as a side-by-side comparison of the rough draft and the final text shows. They cut the phrase "by a self-assumed power." "Climb" was replaced by "must read," then "must" was eliminated, then the whole sentence, and soon the whole paragraph was cut. Jefferson groaned as they continued what he later called "their depredations." "Inherent and inalienable rights" came out "certain unalienable rights," and to this day no one knows who suggested the elegant change.

A total of 86 alterations were made. Almost 500 words were eliminated, leaving 1,337. At last, after three days of wrangling, the document was put to a vote.

Here in this hall Patrick Henry had once thundered: "I am no longer a Virginian, sir, but an American." But today the loud, sometimes bitter argument stilled, and without fanfare the vote was taken from north to south by colonies, as was the custom. On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted.

There were no trumpets blown. No one stood on his chair and cheered. The afternoon was waning and Congress had no thought of delaying the full calendar of routine business on its hands. For several hours they worked on many other problems before adjourning for the day.

Much To Lose

What kind of men were the 56 signers who adopted the Declaration of Independence and who, by their signing, committed an act of treason against the crown? To each of you, the names Franklin, Adams, Hancock and Jefferson are almost as familiar as household words. Most of us, however, know nothing of the other signers. Who were they? What happened to them?

I imagine that many of you are somewhat surprised at the names not there: George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Patrick Henry. All were elsewhere.

Ben Franklin was the only really old man. Eighteen were under 40; three were in their 20s. Of the 56 almost half - 24 - were judges and lawyers. Eleven were merchants, nine were landowners and farmers, and the remaining 12 were doctors, ministers, and politicians.

With only a few exceptions, such as Samuel Adams of Massachusetts, these were men of substantial property. All but two had families. The vast majority were men of education and standing in their communities. They had economic security as few men had in the 18th Century.

Each had more to lose from revolution than he had to gain by it. John Hancock, one of the richest men in America, already had a price of 500 pounds on his head. He signed in enormous letters so that his Majesty could now read his name without glasses and could now double the reward. Ben Franklin wryly noted: "Indeed we must all hang together, otherwise we shall most assuredly hang separately."

Fat Benjamin Harrison of Virginia told tiny Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts: "With me it will all be over in a minute, but you, you will be dancing on air an hour after I am gone."

These men knew what they risked. The penalty for treason was death by hanging. And remember, a great British fleet was already at anchor in New York Harbor.

They were sober men. There were no dreamy-eyed intellectuals or draft card burners here. They were far from hot-eyed fanatics yammering for an explosion. They simply asked for the status quo. It was change they resisted. It was equality with the mother country they desired. It was taxation with representation they sought. They were all conservatives, yet they rebelled.

It was principle, not property, that had brought these men to Philadelphia. Two of them became presidents of the United States. Seven of them became state governors. One died in office as vice president of the United States. Several would go on to be US Senators. One, the richest man in America, in 1828 founded the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. One, a delegate from Philadelphia, was the only real poet, musician and philosopher of the signers. (It was he, Francis Hopkinson not Betsy Ross who designed the United States flag.)

Richard Henry Lee, a delegate from Virginia, had introduced the resolution to adopt the Declaration of Independence in June of 1776. He was prophetic in his concluding remarks: "Why then sir, why do we longer delay? Why still deliberate? Let this happy day give birth to an American Republic. Let her arise not to devastate and to conquer but to reestablish the reign of peace and law.

"The eyes of Europe are fixed upon us. She demands of us a living example of freedom that may exhibit a contrast in the felicity of the citizen to the ever-increasing tyranny which desolates her polluted shores. She invites us to prepare an asylum where the unhappy may find solace, and the persecuted repost.

"If we are not this day wanting in our duty, the names of the American Legislatures of 1776 will be placed by posterity at the side of all of those whose memory has been and ever will be dear to virtuous men and good citizens."

Though the resolution was formally adopted July 4, it was not until July 8 that two of the states authorized their delegates to sign, and it was not until August 2 that the signers met at Philadelphia to actually put their names to the Declaration.

William Ellery, delegate from Rhode Island, was curious to see the signers' faces as they committed this supreme act of personal courage. He saw some men sign quickly, "but in no face was he able to discern real fear." Stephan Hopkins, Ellery's colleague from Rhode Island, was a man past 60. As he signed with a shaking pen, he declared: "My hand trembles, but my heart does not."


"Most Glorious Service"

Even before the list was published, the British marked down every member of Congress suspected of having put his name to treason. All of them became the objects of vicious manhunts. Some were taken. Some, like Jefferson, had narrow escapes. All who had property or families near British strongholds suffered.

  • Francis Lewis, New York delegate saw his home plundered -- and his estates in what is now Harlem -- completely destroyed by British Soldiers. Mrs. Lewis was captured and treated with great brutality. Though she was later exchanged for two British prisoners through the efforts of Congress, she died from the effects of her abuse.
  • William Floyd, another New York delegate, was able to escape with his wife and children across Long Island Sound to Connecticut, where they lived as refugees without income for seven years. When they came home they found a devastated ruin.
  • Philips Livingstone had all his great holdings in New York confiscated and his family driven out of their home. Livingstone died in 1778 still working in Congress for the cause.
  • Louis Morris, the fourth New York delegate, saw all his timber, crops, and livestock taken. For seven years he was barred from his home and family.
  • John Hart of Trenton, New Jersey, risked his life to return home to see his dying wife. Hessian soldiers rode after him, and he escaped in the woods. While his wife lay on her deathbed, the soldiers ruined his farm and wrecked his homestead. Hart, 65, slept in caves and woods as he was hunted across the countryside. When at long last, emaciated by hardship, he was able to sneak home, he found his wife had already been buried, and his 13 children taken away. He never saw them again. He died a broken man in 1779, without ever finding his family.
  • Dr. John Witherspoon, signer, was president of the College of New Jersey, later called Princeton. The British occupied the town of Princeton, and billeted troops in the college. They trampled and burned the finest college library in the country.
  • Judge Richard Stockton, another New Jersey delegate signer, had rushed back to his estate in an effort to evacuate his wife and children. The family found refuge with friends, but a Tory sympathizer betrayed them. Judge Stockton was pulled from bed in the night and brutally beaten by the arresting soldiers. Thrown into a common jail, he was deliberately starved. Congress finally arranged for Stockton's parole, but his health was ruined. The judge was released as an invalid, when he could no longer harm the British cause.He returned home to find his estate looted and did not live to see the triumph of the Revolution. His family was forced to live off charity.
  • Robert Morris, merchant prince of Philadelphia, delegate and signer, met Washington's appeals and pleas for money year after year. He made and raised arms and provisions which made it possible for Washington to cross the Delaware at Trenton. In the process he lost 150 ships at sea, bleeding his own fortune and credit almost dry.
  • George Clymer, Pennsylvania signer, escaped with his family from their home, but their property was completely destroyed by the British in the Germantown and Brandywine campaigns.
  • Dr. Benjamin Rush, also from Pennsylvania, was forced to flee to Maryland. As a heroic surgeon with the army, Rush had several narrow escapes.
  • John Martin, a Tory in his views previous to the debate, lived in a strongly loyalist area of Pennsylvania. When he came out for independence, most of his neighbors and even some of his relatives ostracized him. He was a sensitive and troubled man, and many believed this action killed him. When he died in 1777, his last words to his tormentors were: "Tell them that they will live to see the hour when they shall acknowledge it [the signing] to have been the most glorious service that I have ever rendered to my country."
  • William Ellery, Rhode Island delegate, saw his property and home burned to the ground.
  • Thomas Lynch, Jr., South Carolina delegate, had his health broken from privation and exposures while serving as a company commander in the military. His doctors ordered him to seek a cure in the West Indies and on the voyage, he and his young bride were drowned at sea.
  • Edward Rutledge, Arthur Middleton, and Thomas Heyward, Jr., the other three South Carolina signers, were taken by the British in the siege of Charleston. They were carried as prisoners of war to St. Augustine, Florida, where they were singled out for indignities. They were exchanged at the end of the war, the British in the meantime having completely devastated their large landholdings and estates.
  • Thomas Nelson, signer of Virginia, was at the front in command of the Virginia military forces. With British General Charles Cornwallis in Yorktown, fire from 70 heavy American guns began to destroy Yorktown piece by piece. Lord Cornwallis and his staff moved their headquarters into Nelson's palatial home. While American cannonballs were making a shambles of the town, the house of Governor Nelson remained untouched. Nelson turned in rage to the American gunners and asked, "Why do you spare my home?"They replied, "Sir, out of respect to you." Nelson cried, "Give me the cannon!" and fired on his magnificent home himself, smashing it to bits. But Nelson's sacrifice was not quite over. He had raised $2 million for the Revolutionary cause by pledging his own estates. When the loans came due, a newer peacetime Congress refused to honor them, and Nelson's property was forfeited. He was never reimbursed. He died, impoverished, a few years later at the age of 50.

Lives, Fortunes, Honor

Of those 56 who signed the Declaration of Independence, nine died of wounds or hardships during the war. Five were captured and imprisoned, in each case with brutal treatment. Several lost wives, sons or entire families. One lost his 13 children. Two wives were brutally treated. All were at one time or another the victims of manhunts and driven from their homes. Twelve signers had their homes completely burned. Seventeen lost everything they owned. Yet not one defected or went back on his pledged word. Their honor, and the nation they sacrificed so much to create is still intact.

And, finally, there is the New Jersey signer, Abraham Clark.

He gave two sons to the officer corps in the Revolutionary Army. They were captured and sent to that infamous British prison hulk afloat in New York Harbor known as the hell ship Jersey, where 11,000 American captives were to die. The younger Clarks were treated with a special brutality because of their father. One was put in solitary and given no food. With the end almost in sight, with the war almost won, no one could have blamed Abraham Clark for acceding to the British request when they offered him his sons' lives if he would recant and come out for the King and Parliament. The utter despair in this man's heart, the anguish in his very soul, must reach out to each one of us down through 200 years with his answer: "No."

The 56 signers of the Declaration Of Independence proved by their every deed that they made no idle boast when they composed the most magnificent curtain line in history. "And for the support of this Declaration with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."


RUSH EPILOGUE: My friends, I know you have a copy of the Declaration of Independence somewhere around the house - in an old history book (newer ones may well omit it), an encyclopedia, or one of those artificially aged "parchments" we all got in school years ago. I suggest that each of you take the time this month to read through the text of the Declaration, one of the most noble and beautiful political documents in human history.

There is no more profound sentence than this: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness..."

These are far more than mere poetic words. The underlying ideas that infuse every sentence of this treatise have sustained this nation for more than two centuries. They were forged in the crucible of great sacrifice. They are living words that spring from and satisfy the deepest cries for liberty in the human spirit.

"Sacred honor" isn't a phrase we use much these days, but every American life is touched by the bounty of this, the Founders' legacy. It is freedom, tested by blood, and watered with tears.