The Eleventh Sunday after Trinity - 2024.

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Bethany Lutheran Church

Springdale, Arkansas

Pastor Gregory Jackson

The Hymn #342          Chief of Sinners

The Absolution
The Introit p. 16

Introit

God is in His holy habitation: 

He is God who setteth the solitary in families.

The God of Israel is He that giveth strength: 

and power unto His people.

Psalm. Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered: 

let them also that hate Him flee before Him.

The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19

Collect

Almighty and everlasting God, who art always more ready to hear than we to pray and art wont to give more than either we desire or deserve, pour down upon us the abundance of Thy mercy, forgiving us those things whereof our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things which we are not worthy to ask but through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth, etc.

The Epistle and Gradual       

Gradual

My heart trusteth in God, and I am helped: 

therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; 

and with my song will I praise Him.

V. Unto Thee will I cry, O Lord, my Rock: 

be not silent to me; hear the voice at my supplications. 

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

V. Lord, Thou hast been our Dwelling Place in all generations. 

Hallelujah!

The Gospel              

Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed             p. 22

The Sermon Hymn #282                   Lord Jesus Christ

Jesus Taught Justification by Faith

The Communion Hymn #207   Like the Golden Sun Ascending - Kingo

[Some parts of the Danish rural population firmly held to Kingo's hymns during the Pietist and Rationalist periods, contributing to their survival.]

The Preface p. 24
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 #575                       Before the Lord We Bow - F. Scott Key                 

In Our Prayers

• Diagnosis and Treatment - Maria Way - two stents; Doc Lito and his wife, Phoenix their grandson - surgery; Sarah Buck, Lori Howell, Pastor Jim Shrader and Chris.  
• Ten more KJVs are arriving soon. 

KJV 1 Corinthians15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: 5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: 6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. 7 After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. 8 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

KJV Luke 18: 9 And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. 13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

Jesus Taught Justification by Faith

KJV Luke 18:9 And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:

This is, of course, a parable, and yet it is so true to life that it reflects the attitudes of our era - and it was just as true back in the days of Luther, and the Old Testament too. The parable concept makes it a perfect example of self-righteousness compared to faith in Jesus Christ.

If a university has a need, the managers seek people with the money to fund the projects. They are delighted to put that person's name on new buildings. Fuller Seminary had someone so evil, and yet they carved his name on the building he funded. So proud, so impressive...but they had to chisel off that marbled name when he was convicted of his crimes. I could name two others among the Lutherans - and the names remain on the buildings, and yet their names remain, but their denominations are failing at a fast pace.

We can can hear God's Word in this parable, because human nature does not change. God does not need the glitz and glamor of another building. It is fascinating to see how many seminaries have been merged into one campus in New Haven, mergers of mergers, such as Yale Divinity merging with the Episcopal seminary, merging those two into Andover Newton, which was once Andover Seminary and Newton Seminary. Andover (liberal Baptist) was at Harvard for a time, too.

10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.

Luther pointed out that this Pharisee is a model of the Law, an example of righteousness. Paul was the same way, before his conversion. Even today there are many who repudiate faith in Jesus Christ and brag about their high standing in Lutherdom. There are many ways to describe the modern Pharisees. First of all, they are ranked highly among their peers, and look down on the ordinary ones. Although they distinguish one synod from the others and even look down on their supposed brothers (the two LCMS seminaries, the Gettysburg and Philadelphia seminaries,  and the WELS and ELS seminaries) their greatest love is for the Church Growth clowns of all the seminaries. PS - I have been at all six of those seminaries, but alas, not at Fuller. 

The publican is a tax collector, and we can see the same burdens today, where people with very little money are taxed heavily and persecuted, even while the superwealthy are given loopholes that make their taxes minimal. Those agents who can get more out of their targets are rewarded and given promotions, more money for themselves. 

The Jews of that era were paying taxes to the Roman Empire, and Rome did not tolerate any opposition. Jesus knew that the destruction of Jerusalem was coming, marked first by His resurrection, fairly soon the first Christians were driven away before the destruction of the city in 70 AD. Jerusalem was destroyed and the early Christians spread out, to take the Gospel to the corners of the earth.

11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

Before his conversion Paul gathered up Christians to be punished. It was God's will to reveal the risen Christ to Paul, which helped him combine his new work with Jews and Gentiles. We can imagine what the believers said about Paul - "Him? An apostle? How can that be?" And Paul became a champion Epistle author and also someone who suffered greatly from being persecuted and scorned by false teachers who wanted to destroy the faith of new Christians.

12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.

Jesus pointed out the people should not advertise their fasts or their donations. He did not want sour faces or looking at the fine points of donating, down to mint, cumin, and dill, Matthew 23:23. One thing we should remember in our explorations of the Bible - the unity of the authors with the main author being the Holy Spirit, which gives the Bible harmony and unity. Jesus said, the Spirit will teach from the Father and the Son, and a Harvard graduate could not find the Trinity in the New Testament. I mention that often because this came up with someone who was troubled about the Trinity and learned this from Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant.

13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

This fits Luther's comparison clearly. We are worriers. We are anxious about the future. That can easily increase blood pressure and make us forgetful as we fret about this and that. Luther's simple phrase is - We do the work, God worries for us. That is a perfect description of faith in Jesus Christ, Who did everything for us; who can serve as his own savior? To imagine we can fix the future is a mighty colossal achievement. Peter says, 

1 Peter 5:1 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. 6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: 7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

Those of us with more candles on the cake can easily look back and look at all the miraculous things we have experienced. Since God is watching over us, the Good Shepherd providing for the sheep and driving away the wolves, we can look back and say how did that happen? Many times the bad has become good, so good we have to be thankful for the final outcome.

14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

One was justified - by faith! - a verse invisible to the Objective Faithless Justification crowd. This is the sample offered by Jesus Christ. The humble person has faith in God; the one who praises himself will be humbled.

How Christianity Built the Framework for the Constitution

Ninth Amendment

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Tenth Amendment

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.

The Word Is Faith, Not Growth, Rev. Drucker. The Faithless Five - ELCA-LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC (sic).

 

The Faithless Five are ELCA-LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC (sic). Pietism began their road to Perdition, setting aside the Means of Grace for a purer, more saintly, exquisitely proud life. Everything notched downward, a little bit at a time. 

I recall a fad from a few years - or decades - ago. That is when people began saying, "Grace alone" in various configurations, as many as five with grace. No one dared question something so positive in graces, so they snarled out the words they spoke, which seemed rather ungracious.

KJV Romans 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Romans 4 is dedicated to describing Justification by Faith, leaving no doubt about it, except to numbskulls and snake oil salesmen who quote Romans 4:25 alone, omitting the complete sentence Romans 4:22-25. Let's try that, which is immediately before Romans 5:1-2. (I am being helpful to the Faithless Five.)

KJV Romans 4:22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.

23 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him;

24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed [counted], if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;

25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

Righteousness is counted if we believe on God who raised our Lord Jesus from the dead. The fog machines of the Faithless Five do not like that, but the Greek is just as clear as the English. 

Therefore, grace comes only to individuals through faith in Jesus Christ, who was raised by God. 

Those magicians and necromancers who claim the entire world is righteous - Objective Justification, General Justification, Universal Objective Justification - are nothing more than antiquarian butchers of dogmatics. They cannot even discern some of the old Lutheran dogmatics with clarity or honesty. I will list them below, but I will first quote the damning accusation of them from Jesus Himself.

KJV John 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:

9 Of sin, because they believe not on me;

All the blowhards, tricksters, warlocks, synod presidents, bishops, and professors are sin. Some of them even say that their toxic Objective Justification is the Chief Articles of the Christian Faith - that is - all denominations.

Daily Luther Sermon Quote - Trinity 11 - Second Sermon - "The one is that of the beautiful, proud saint, the Pharisee; the other, that of the poor, humble, sorrowing sinner, the publican."

 

Luther's Sermons - Luke 18:9-14.
Eleventh Sunday after Trinity - Second Sermon

1. This Gospel brings two extraordinary persons to our notice, or two kinds of people from the multitude called the people of God, who would be God’s servants and come before him seeking righteousness. And the two kinds of righteousness, which are found on earth, are also represented; the one, which makes a great show before all the world and in the eyes of men, and yet before God it amounts to nothing, and is therefore condemned; the other, which is not known among men, and yet before God it is called righteousness and is pleasing in his sight. The one is that of the beautiful, proud saint, the Pharisee; the other, that of the poor, humble, sorrowing sinner, the publican.

2. We also hear two wonderful, strange sentences of judgment, wholly and entirely opposed to human wisdom and the whims of reason, hard and terrible to all the world, which condemns the great saints as unjust, and declares the poor sinners acceptable, righteous and holy. But, as the text itself shows, he speaks of such saints who trusted in themselves to find a righteousness in their own lives and works, which God was bound to respect; and again of such sinners, who from their hearts desired to become? free from their sins, and long for forgiveness and the grace of God. For nothing is said here of that other great multitude in the world, who are like neither this publican nor this Pharisee, who care nothing at all, either for sin or grace, but continue in security and wickedness, without inquiring after any God, heaven or hell.

3. Of the two kinds of persons among the Jews, the Pharisees and publicans, we have sufficiently heard in another place, namely, that the name Pharisee means the very first, most upright and pious people, who with all earnestness endeavored to serve God, and to keep the law, as St. Paul also boasts of himself, that before his conversion he was one of them, Philippians 3:5.

4. Again, the name “publican” among them meant a man living in open sin and vice, and served neither God nor man, and was only busy to rob, to oppress and harm his neighbor, as they were forced to do in their occupation which they bought from the Romans for great sums of money, if they desired fully to take advantage of it. In short, they were people who were regarded as no better than public, godless heathen, even though they were Jews by birth, as Christ also compares them to Gentiles, Matthew 18:17: “And if he refuse to hear the church also, let him be unto thee as the Gentile and the publican.”

5. It is indeed wonderful that Christ brings two such persons together, who are so entirely different and the farthest removed from each other; and still more wonderful, and even offensive, that he expresses such weighty Judgments, wholly condemning the Pharisee and declaring the publican just. Although he plainly speaks thus of both, nevertheless he shows that he does not reject, nor desire to have rejected such works of which the Pharisee here boasts; for he represents and sets him forth as a beautiful saint, with works that are neither to be rebuked nor punished, but that are good and worthy of praise, On the other hand he can neither boast of nor praise the publican for his life and works, for he is himself forced to confess before God, and to condemn himself as a sinner, and can think of no good he has done. And yet Christ thus searches, proves and examines both, and finds nothing good in the holy Pharisee, although he did many costly works, not on account of the works, which in themselves are not wrong; but because the person was not good but full of iniquity. While on the other hand in the publican who hitherto had been a public, condemned sinner, he now finds a real good tree and good fruit, although he does not shine forth with the great works of the Pharisee. Wherefore let us in brief consider both persons.

6. First of all you must properly magnify and adorn the Pharisee, as Christ presents him with his beautiful life; for here you have a man who dares to stand before God, and praise his life in the divine presence. This can never be intended as a false praise, but is meant in all earnestness and truth. He appeals to himself as a witness, and is willing to announce himself before God and be found in the true worship, and give an account of his entire life, that it is spent in obedience to God. He begins with the highest and first commandment, and shows himself as one who worships the true and only God, and seeks first of all his kingdom and his will; he confesses that he has everything from God, what he is and lives, he brings all back to him and thanks him for all he has given him, especially for this particular grace and kindness that he preserves him from sin and shame, that he is not like the public sinners and publicans, and prays that God may preserve him in this, and further grant unto him his grace and goodness. Here you see nothing but beautiful works of the first table of the law, of all three commandments; for hereby he also observes the Sabbath, because he goes into the temple only to seek God and to pray.

7. He later goes further into the second table, and purifies his conscience before God and the world, in that he is not unjust, a robber, adulterer, like the great majority of people. Here the other five commandments are taken together, so that he is a man who can boast of himself before all the world, that he has done no one wrong, violence or pain, nor oppressed or offended against the fifth, sixth and eighth commandments, and in this connection he dares to defy everyone to prove anything different against him. Besides he has strictly kept the sixth commandment, he has not committed adultery or led an unchaste life, but kept his body in subjection and discipline, and also fasted twice every week, which was not a false fasting, as that of our priests and monks chiefly is, but a real fasting as the Jews observed from morning until evening, to the going down of the sun.

Above all this, that he was not only not unjust, nor an extortioner of his neighbor’s goods and honor, but gave the tenth of all he had honestly and fairly earned, and by this also yields his obedience to God, and gives for the support of divine worship and the priestly office of all that God gave him, and does not lay up anything in a niggardly or miserly spirit.

41. See, thus you have in this publican a beautiful example of true Christian repentance and faith, and an excellent masterpiece of high spiritual wisdom or theology, of which the Pharisee and those like him have never received a taste or smell. Besides you see here the proper fruits that follow faith, that he is now a different man, with a different mind, thoughts, words and works than formerly; he gives honor and praise to God alone for his divine grace; he calls and prays to him from the heart and in true confidence in his Word and promise; otherwise he could not have either thought or prayed these words; and thus he performs unto God the true and acceptable worship, and observes the true Sabbath. And now he also has a heart which is an enemy to sin and disobedience. He does not rejoice but is sorry that he has lived in violation of God’s commandments, and now he earnestly and from his whole heart seeks to forsake his evil ways, not to offend, deceive, belie, nor treat anyone unjustly or with violence, and anxiously desires that even thus everyone should live in the same way.

John 1 - Installment 3 - Basics

Augsburg Confession

YouTube

Nils Dahl - "What do we know for sure? The text! The text!"

Basics of John - 

Capstone of the Synoptics (Matthew-Mark-Luke)

1. Three year mission v. one year in the Synoptics.
2. John has valuable details in harmony with Synoptics
3. The Gospel simple in language, soaring in perspective - the Eagle. 
4. Slight difference to the Baptism and Holy Communion.

The Trinity and the Creating Word - Genesis

KJV John 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

Limitations of Moses and Jesus the Exegete

KJV John 1:17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

18 No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him (exegesis).

The Prophet Isaiah

KJV John 1:23 He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.

Holy Spirit - Creation and Isaiah - Disciples

KJV John 1:32 And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.

Gathering Disciples

KJV John 1:42 And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.

Whac-A-Mole Continues To Serve the Faithless Five - ELCA-LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC (sic)

 

The scape-goat has been replaced by the Whac-A-Mole, a fun toy to teach the next leader on the path of getting-away-with-crimes. 

For instance, Matt the Fatt stirred up his entire sect by attacking one person and waving the bloody shirt of "alt-right." That came from the same SP wannabee who once serenaded the late Herman Otten in his first quest to become synod president. That worked so well that the target victim had already left that congregation but was excommunicated by the congregation after the fact. That should be counted as post-mortem disciple, ideal in pushing the sect president over the top.

The same "Dr." Harrison wrote and sang a song slandering the same person he once praised (Otten). Harrison's attack was covered by photos and the actual script, which included Matt's diagnosis that Otten was crazy. 

WELS is far more consistent - their managers lie all the time, the fruit of a system of hazing which begins at the "prep level" (high school), then the college level and  finally introduces students to seminary life. The primary tool is using both sides of every argument and denying the crime.

• "I drank a lot of beer with Larry in seminary."
• "My father is the second highest person in WELS."
  
• "Do you know who his father is?"
• "I don't know anything about this."
• "Are you saying our leaders are not trustworthy?"
• Synod President - "If we go over the $8 million to do this, we will pull the plug."
• Part 2 - "The bulldozers have already started so we can't stop." ($30 million)
• "That's the way we are."

They love every doctrine but their own.

They continue to sing their own praises while denying their fetid attachment to Fuller Seminary, Willow Creek Community Sex Scandals, Trinity Divinity, and other aberrations, funded by Thrivent and lining their pockets.

The Faithless Five have proved themselves to be utterly self-destructive. The more the bishops, district presidents, and circuit Jesuits run the show for their own benefit and rewards, the faster they will all go downhill.

The property is being consumed as a way to keep the sects afloat. A typical old congregation has a huge bank account and two extra large women pastors guiding the last 20 members into another congregation, calling it a merger. The Waltherians are adding women's ordination, step by step, so do not get your fellowship hackles up. Fuller Seminary only accepts those who agree with women's ordination, and they will soon openly endorse gay ordination.

Remember, Thrivent merged Lutheran Brotherhood and Aid Association for Lutherans. They were in trouble, ahead of the game. Now they are more ecumenical than ever.

Daily Luther Sermon Quote - Trinity 11 - "Now he comes and praises himself that he is just. He has a poisonous, wicked heart, who praises himself most gloriously on account of his pretended good works, how he fasted and gave the tenth of all he had."

 

Eleventh Sunday after Trinity, Luke 18:9-14. 

A Picture and an Example of a True Saint

21. Further, since he has now blasphemed God and lied to him, because he is unwilling to confess his sins, he falls further and sins against love to his neighbor, in that he says: “Even as this publican.” He could not bear his presence without blaming and condemning him. Here all commandments are abolished and transgressed, for he denies God and does his neighbor no good. In this way he goes to ruin, because he has not obeyed a letter of the law. For if he had said: Oh God, we are all sinners, this poor sinner is also like myself and all the rest: and had he joined the congregation and said: Oh God, be merciful unto us! then he would have fulfilled God’s commandment, namely, the first, in that he gave God the honor and the praise, and had he afterwards said: Oh God, I see this one is a sinner, in the jaws of the devil; dear Lord, help him! and had he thus brought him to God and prayed to God for him, he would then also have obeyed the other commandment of Christian love as Paul says, Galatians 6:2, and teaches: “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”

22. Now he comes and praises himself that he is just. He has a poisonous, wicked heart, who praises himself most gloriously on account of his pretended good works, how he fasted and gave the tenth of all he had. Hence he is so full of hatred to his neighbor, if God allowed him to judge, he would plunge the poor publican down into the deepest hell. Behold, is not this a wicked heart and terrible to hear, that I would all men should go to ruin, if only I be praised? Yet all this is so finely decorated and adorned by external conduct, that no one can censure it. Here we see how we are to know the tree from its fruits. For when I view his heart with spiritual eyes, I recognize it is full of blasphemy and hatred to his neighbor. From these fruits I know that the tree is evil. For works would not be evil in themselves, but the evil root in the heart makes them evil. This is set before us that we may beware and guard ourselves against it.

23. Again, on the other hand, examine the heart also of the publican. Here we find that he believes. Hence his works are good and of service to the whole world, for he teaches that a man should humble himself and praise God. On the contrary the other with his works makes saints who are puffed up and proud of heart; for he is entrapped in sins, his soul is condemned, and is fast in the jaws of the devil, and the high minded knave steps forth and praises himself, because his neighbor over there is a sinner. To sum up all, he misleads the whole world with his hypocritical life. Thus we must judge the fruits with spiritual eyes as we have now judged these two; then we will know the tree whether it be good or evil.

24. Now, where did I obtain this judgment? Here: God has given me his law like a mirror, in which I see what is good and evil. It says: Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself,” Deuteronomy 6:5, Matthew 22:37. ‘Now the works of the publican praise God and benefit the whole world, because they teach us to know, and show us the way of God our Savior. Therefore they are good because they praise God and benefit our neighbor. On the other hand, the hypocrite struts forth and blasphemes God, and with his corrupt life misleads the whole world.

25. I should also speak of the great and shameful vice of slander, when one belies another, exposes him and speaks evil of him; while we are all alike after all, and no one has a reason to exalt himself above another. But that the government judges and punishes crime, it does by virtue of its office.

For it wields the sword to make the transgressor fear. For God will not tolerate sin, and desires that the wicked have no rest, as the prophet Isaiah says, Isaiah48:22: “There is no peace, saith Jehovah, to the wicked.”

Therefore where God does not internally disturb sinners, he will wipe out sin by fire and water, that they can have no peace from without. When such sins are to be punished, the officers, judges and people should think thus:

Oh God! although I myself am a poor sinner and a much greater one than this person, and a much greater thief and adulterer than this one; still I will execute my office and leave him no rest in his sins and belabor him; for this is thy divine command. Concerning this I have said more on other occasions, especially in my book on the Civil Government, which you can read yourself; for the present let this suffice, and pray God for grace.

Lecture Delay - Yes I Am a Bit Late

 

I am in my second day of hosting a corgi dog. The time did not work out well for the lecture, so I will have it done  tomorrow at 11 AM, the usual time.

Daily Luther Sermon Quote - Trinity 11 - "Further, since he has now blasphemed God and lied to him, because he is unwilling to confess his sins, he falls further and sins against love to his neighbor, in that he says: “Even as this publican.” He could not bear his presence without blaming and condemning him."

Eleventh Sunday after Trinity, Luke 18:9-14. 

A Picture and an Example of a True Saint

16. This is one character of the publican, who, according to faith which is the spiritual judgment, is acknowledged justified, while according to the flesh he is unprofitable. For the Pharisee passes and does not notice him, sees not his faith, lets him stand way back, and sees him alone in his sins, and knows not that God has been gracious to him, and converted and reformed him. So when a carnally minded man would condemn a sinner according to his sins, it is otherwise impossible, he must fail.

17. Let us now consider the fool, the Pharisee. Here are most beautiful works. In the first place he thanks God, fasts twice in the week, and all this to honor God, not St. Nicholas or St. Barnabas, he gives the tenth of all his goods, nor has he at any time committed adultery, has never done any one violence or robbed him of his goods. Thus he has conducted himself in an exemplary manner. This is a beautiful honest life, and excites our wonder and surprise. Truly, after the fashion of the world no one could find fault with him, yea, one must praise him. Yes, to be sure he does this himself.

18. But God is the first to come and say, that all the work of the Pharisee is blasphemy. God help us, what an awful sentence this is! Priests and nuns may well be terrified by it, and all their bones quake, as you scarcely ever find one of them as pious as this Pharisee. Would to God we could have many such hypocrites and Pharisees; for then they could be taught better things.

19. Well, what is the matter with the good man? Only this, he does not know his own heart. Here you see that we are our own greatest enemies, who close our eyes and hearts, and think we are as we feel. For if I should ask any such hypocrite: Sir, do you mean just what you say? he would take an oath, that it is not otherwise. But behold, see how deep God’s sword cuts, and pierces through all the recesses of the soul, Hebrews 4:12.

Here everything must go to ruin, or fall to the earth in humiliation, otherwise nothing can stand before God. Thus a pious woman must here fall down and kiss the vilest harlot’s feet, yea, her footprints.

20. Now let us better see and hear what the Lord says to this. There stands the publican and humbles himself, says nothing of fasting, nothing of his good works, nor of anything. Yet the Lord says that his sins are not so great as the sins of the hypocrite; even in spite of anyone now exalting himself above the lowest sinner. If I exalt myself a finger’s breadth above my neighbor, or the vilest sinner, then am I cast down. For the publican during his whole life did not do as many and as great sins as this Pharisee does here when he says: I thank thee God that I am not as other men are; and lies enough to burst all heaven. From him you hear no word like: “God, be thou merciful to me a sinner?’ God’s mercy, sympathy, patience and love are all forgotten by him, while God is nothing but pure mercy, and he who does not know this, thinks there is no God, as in Psalm 14:1: “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.” So it is with an unbeliever who does not know himself. Therefore I say one thing more, if he had committed the vilest sin and deflowered virgins, it would not have been as bad as when he says: “I thank thee God, that I am not as the rest of men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.” Yes, yes, do I hear you have no need of God and despise his goodness, mercy, love and everything that God is? Behold, these are thy sins. Hence the public gross sins that break out are insignificant; but unbelief which is in the heart and we cannot see, this is the real sin in which monks and priests strut forth; these lost and corrupt ones are sunk head and ears in this sin, and pretend to be entirely free from it.

21. Further, since he has now blasphemed God and lied to him, because he is unwilling to confess his sins, he falls further and sins against love to his neighbor, in that he says: “Even as this publican.” He could not bear his presence without blaming and condemning him.

Will the Wisconsin Synod, Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, And ELS Continue To Share Their Bed with ELCA? Ask MN Governor Tim Walz.

 

O Perfidious Lutheran Managers! 

O Fuller Seminary Students! 

KJV Luke 19:41 And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, 42 Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. 43 For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side,44 And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.

Thriventians Three - ELCA-LCMS-WELS - 

They have so much in common. 

Orthodox? - they do not agree with each other, but they share the same insurance loot and work hard at pulling grandma's estate into irrevocable trusts. But they are in fellowship with the Benjies, thanks to Mark Jeske (quasi-WELS, crypto-ELCA) sitting on the Thrivent board and organizing LCMS-ELCA-WELS events for and with women pastors from ELCA.

Evangelical? - That was Luther's label because they were the Gospel group courageously opposing the Church of Rome until the Pope excommunicated them. 

Pro-Life? - ELCA promotes abortion, and so does Thrivent, but that is an adiaphoron for WELS and LCMS.

Orthodox? - A better word would be ortho-apostate, because they agree 100% on Objective (Faithless) Justification.

Inerrant Bible? - Presiding Bishop Liz is opposed to inerrancy and welcomes every translation of the Bible except the King James Version. Mirthless Mark Schroeder and Matt the Fatt Harrison welcome all translations except the King James Version - and they hate Luther.

Confessional? - All three agree that they are confessional but the clear teaching of the Book of Concord opposes their pathetic, anti-Means of Grace clinging to Universalism. Everyone is forgiven and saved, even before birth, according to their experts.  They work together because they reject Justification by Faith together.

Mollie Hemingway, editor-in-chief of The Federalist, said that she, as a "confessional Lutheran," has been getting many questions about Walz being Lutheran. 

"FWIW, Walz is ELCA, an extremely left-wing sub-denomination," she wrote in an X post. "You may be familiar with the ELCA due to some of their congregations using the 'sparkle creed' or hosting drag shows."

The drag queens are in full make-up and costumes. These ELCA pastors share delightful agreement, except for one pastor on the far right.

WELS-LCMS pastors and managers have many years of self-destruction behind them. Their apostasy is so obvious that they brag about it to one another. They have already undermined the most basic doctrines in order to kiss up to ELCA, creating a deceptive magic mirror. WELS-LCMS tell their members that they have a felt-need for more Church Growth principles and Thrivent money.

Current VP Running Mate - Tim Walz - ELCA Member

 

Photoshop of Pilgrim Lutheran Church - ELCA

Protestia

"Pilgrim Lutheran Church in St Paul, MN, is a trainwreck of a congregation. Led by impastor Jen Rome, they are an Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) congregation that exemplifies all the most heretical parts of the denomination. Notably, a recent article by RNS identified this as Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s (who is Kamala Harris’ radical Vice President pick) denomination and parish."

Links from Protestia 

Some of the ELCA’s greatest hits include:

ELCA Praises and Platforms Lutheran Pastrix Who Attended Pride Parade in the Nude
ELCA Publishes Book For Teens Saying Porn Can Be ‘silly fun’ and ‘safe way to explore your sexuality’
ELCA Releases Hilariously Woke DEI Recommendations For their Denomination
ELCA Publishes Book Encouraging ‘Queer Children’ to Ignore and ‘Limit Contact’ with Non-Affirming Parents
ELCA Church Hosts ‘Queer Nativity Play’, Featuring Mary and Joseph As Two Catfighting Lesbians
ELCA Considers Expelling all Conservative, Anti-LGBTQ Pastors from their Midst
Leader of ELCA Goes Off On Jesus in Sermon, Calling Him ‘Mean’, Troubling, and Even a Little Racist
ELCA Church Recites Blasphemous ‘Sparkle Creed’ + ‘I believe in the non-binary God whose pronouns are plural’

Religious News Service

"The only previous vice president connected to the tradition was another Minnesotan, Hubert Humphrey, who was raised Lutheran but ended up attending a Methodist church after his family moved to a city where there wasn’t a Lutheran one available.

Were Walz to follow Harris’ lead and run for president one day, he would become — if elected — the first Lutheran president.

He faced blowback from religious communities — including conservative Lutherans — during the pandemic

Walz was one of many governors who imposed restrictions on worship in his state during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. He was also one of many governors who faced pushback from religious communities, especially conservative ones: On May 22, 2020, leaders of Minnesota Catholic communities and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, a conservative Lutheran denomination, both announced they would return to in-person worship that weekend in direct defiance of Walz’s restrictions, arguing it was hypocritical to bar people from worship while opening the Mall of America."