Reformation Seminary - Gospel of John, The True Vine, Chapter 15 - 10 AM Central Today

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15 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.

2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.

3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.

4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.

10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.

11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.

18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.

19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.

21 But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me.

22 If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin.

23 He that hateth me hateth my Father also.

24 If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.

25 But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.

26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:

27 And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.

WELS President Has 1/2 Million Dollar Mansion - Deluxe Vacation with the Guys And Girls

Not exactly far from ELCA, eh?

WELS President Mark Schroeder - "The Conference of Presidents (COP) met for its winter meeting Jan. 7–10, 2025. The COP is composed of the 12 district presidents, the synod president, and the two synod vice presidents. The synod secretary serves as a non-voting advisory member of the COP."

Strange how important details are avoided. Are WELS big-wigs engaging in joint meetings with ELCA executives and LCMS corpulents? WELS was doing that a long time ago, with lavish loot from Thrivent, using identical material, and denying it --hands up! -- like thugs exposed in the high-beam from a cop car.

Thrivent is the unifier of the Apostate Three (ELCA-WELS-LCMS), so they can shrink in unison while clutching their Irrevocable Charitable Annuity Funds. That means the family can be wiped out by a single signature from granny. Thus a single financial fund can increase their ongoing funds while impoverishing the families. "It's for the Church!"

You may wonder how I know? Answer - I was a CLU at Northwestern Mutual and given some extra training in annuities. A WELS widow had to take her beloved church to court because of the sect's mis-management of the funds. 

Those with the Thrivent-ELCA-LCMS-WELS union are somewhat aware of using federal funds for their joint enjoyment.

If Congress donates money to religious organizations in gigantic lump sums, the recipients are filtered through those generous saints who sanctify their lives with holy gifts and saintly results in appealing charities - NGOs. Non-Gubmint-Organizations.

Thrivent!

Daily Luther Sermon Quote - Epiphany 5 Epistle - "Were God to deal with us according to the rigor of his laws, we should all be lost. But he mercifully suspends the Law. Isaiah says (9:4): “For the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, thou hast broken.” God now only persuades."

 

Luther's Sermons - Colossians 3:12-17.
Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany

The others, because they love and esteem themselves, are despicable and unacceptable in the sight of God. Again, we are chosen of God for the reason that we despise ourselves as filth. Such God chooses, and has chosen from eternity. Because the would-be saints elect themselves, God will reject them, as indeed he has from eternity. Now, this is what Paul means by these words, “A heart of compassion.”

5. They stand for a part of the ornament, the beautiful, charming Christian jewel, that becomes us better in the sight of God than pearls, precious stones, silk and gold become us in the eyes of the world. “A heart of compassion” is evidence of the true Christian. Paul would say: “Not simply in external deed, or in appearance, are ye to be merciful, but in the inmost heart.” He refers to that sincere and whole-souled mercy characteristic of the father and mother who witness the distress of a child for whom they would readily expose their lives or sacrifice all they possess. The Christian’s mind and heart should be constantly devoted to merciful deeds, with an ardor so intense as to make him unaware he is doing good and compassionate acts.

6. With this single phrase Paul condemns the works and arbitrary rules of hypocritical saints, whose severity will not permit them to associate with sinners. Their rigorous laws must be all-controlling. They do nothing but compel and drive. They exhibit no mercy, but perpetual reproach, censure, condemnation, blame and bluster. They can endure no imperfection. But among Christians many are sinners, many infirm. In fact, Christians associate only with these; not with saints. Christians reject none, but bear with all. Indeed, they are as sincerely interested for sinners as they would be for themselves were they the infirm. They pray for the sinners, teach, admonish, persuade, do all in their power to reclaim. Such is the true character of a Christian. So God, in Christ, has dealt with us and ever deals. So Christ dealt with the adulteress ( John 8:11) when he released her from her tormentors, and with his gracious words influenced her to repentance and suffered her to depart. We read of St. Antony having said that Paphrutius knew how souls are to be saved, because he rescued a certain individual from brethren who persecuted and oppressed him for his transgression. See “Lives of the Fathers.”

Were God to deal with us according to the rigor of his laws, we should all be lost. But he mercifully suspends the Law. Isaiah says (9:4): “For the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, thou hast broken.” God now only persuades.

7. Note how involved in the Law and in hypocrisy they still are who esteem themselves prominent saints and at the same time are intolerant of the infirmities of Christians. If they fail to find perfect holiness — a miracle of purity — in those who possess Christ and know the Gospel, then nothing is as it should be; the heavens are on the point of falling and the earth about to be destroyed. They can only judge, censure and deride, saying: “Oh, yes, he is truly evangelical; indeed, he is a visionary!” Thus they indicate their utter blindness. With the beam constantly in their own eyes, they show how little they know of Christ.

Know, then, when you meet one so ready to censure and condemn, one requiring absolute perfection in Christians — know that such a one is merely an enforcer of the Law, a base hypocrite, a merciless jailer, with no true knowledge of Christ. As, with Christians, there is no law but all is love, so neither can there be judgment, condemnation and censure. And he who calls another a visionary is certainly a visionary ten-fold himself. In the thing for which he judges and condemns another, he condemns himself.

Since he ignores mercy and all but the Law, he finds no mercy in the sight of God; in fact, he has never experienced, never tasted, God’s mercy. To his taste, both God and neighbor are bitter as gall and wormwood.