A Great Hymn of Encouragement - And Not from Paul Gerhardt!

 This hymn is sometimes called the hymn Paul Gerhardt did NOT write, but could have written. So let's celebrate George Newmark.

http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Lib/Neumark.htm

Georg Neumark (Hymn-Writer, Composer)

Born: March 16, 1621 - Langensalza, Thuringia, Germany Died: July 18, 1681 - Weimar, Germany

Georg Neumark was educated at the Gymnasiums in Schleusingen and Gotha. He received his certificate of dimission from the latter in September 1641. He left Gotha in the autumn of 1641, along with a number of merchants going to the Michaelmas Fair at Leipzig. He then joined a similar party going from Leipzig to Lübeck, planning to proceed to Königsberg and enroll at the university there. After passing through Magdeburg, they were attacked by bandits on the Gardelegen Heath, who robbed Neumark of all he had with him, except his prayer book and a little money sewed up in his clothes. Georg Neumark returned to Magdeburg, but could not find a job there, nor in Lüneburg, Winsen, or Hamburg, to which in succession the friends he made passed him on. In the beginning of December he went to Kiel, where he found a friend in Nicolaus Becker, a fellow Thuringian and then chief pastor at Kiel. Day after day passed without an opening, till about the end of the month the tutor in the family of judge Stephan Henning fell into disgrace and fled from Kiel. On Becker’s recommendation, Neumark got the job, and this sudden end of his anxieties was the occasion of the writing of his hymn Wer nur den lieb­en Gott lässt walten. Georg Neumark passed the time happily in the Henning home until he had saved enough to proceed to Königsberg, where he enrolled June 21, 1643, as a law student. He remained five years, also studying poetry under Dach and maintaining himself as a family tutor. During this time (in 1646) he again lost all his belongings, this time by fire. In 1648 he left Königsberg, was for a short time in Warsaw, and spent 1649-1650 at Thorn. He was then in Danzig, and September 1651 in Hamburg. By the end of 1651 he had returned to Thuringia, and was noticed by Duke Wilhelm II of Sachse-Weimar, the president of the Fruitbearing Society, the principal German literary organization in the 17th Century. The Duke, apparently in 1652, appointed Neumark as court poet, librarian, and registrar of the administration at Weimar; and finally secretary of the Ducal Archives. In September 1653 Neumark was admitted as a member of the Fruitbearing Society, of which he became secretary in 1656. In 1679, he also became a member of the Pegnitz Order. In 1681, he went blind, but was permitted to keep his posts until he died.

"If Thou But Suffer God to Guide Thee"
by Georg Neumark, 1621-1681
Translated by Catherine Winkworth, 1829-1878

1. If thou but suffer God to guide thee
And hope in Him through all thy ways,
He'll give thee strength, whate'er betide thee,
And bear thee through the evil days.
Who trusts in God's unchanging love
Builds on the Rock that naught can move.

2. What can these anxious cares avail thee,
These never-ceasing moans and sighs?
What can it help if thou bewail thee
O'er each dark moment as it flies?
Our cross and trials do but press
The heavier for our bitterness.

3. Be patient and await His leisure
In cheerful hope, with heart content
To take whate'er thy Father's pleasure
And His discerning love hath sent,
Nor doubt our inmost wants are known
To Him who chose us for His own.

4. God knows full well when times of gladness
Shall be the needful thing for thee.
When He has tried thy soul with sadness
And from all guile has found thee free,
He comes to thee all unaware
And makes thee own His loving care.

5. Nor think amid the fiery trial
That God hath cast thee off unheard,
That he whose hopes meet no denial
Must surely be of God preferred.
Time passes and much change doth bring
And sets a bound to everything.

6. All are alike before the Highest;
'Tis easy to our God, we know,
To raise thee up, though low thou liest,
To make the rich man poor and low.
True wonders still by Him are wrought
Who setteth up and brings to naught.

7. Sing, pray, and keep His ways unswerving,
Perform thy duties faithfully,
And trust His Word, though undeserving,
Thou yet shalt find it true for thee.
God never yet forsook in need
The soul that trusted Him indeed.

Hymn #518
The Lutheran Hymnal
Text: Ps. 55:22
Author: Georg Neumark, 1640
Translated by: Catherine Winkworth, 1863, alt.
Titled: "Wer nur den lieben Gott laesst walten"
Composer: Georg Neumark, 1640
Tune: "Wer nur den lieben Gott"

***

GJ - This is a great hymn for those going through a time of trial. The anniversary of the Reformation gave me plenty of reasons to be completely disgusted. The attitude of 100% of the Lutherans was - "Let's get this over with so we can ignore Luther with impunity."

An ELCA pastor teaching the deluded souls at a Jeske conference was a good example of this. She said, "I am already tired of the anniversary."

WELS/ELS cannot give up their position against Luther, because we all know - from these two sects only - that Sig Becker and JP Meyer were far superior to Luther in their theological insights from the Bible or wherever they found their theses.

Matt the Fatt's LCMS has stolen a march on the competition by publishing a catechism that gloriously explains - as Mrs. Matt did to me - that there is an Objective and a Subjective Justification - yes, everywhere but the Bible, Luther, and the Confessions. Thus the Oblates of Walther Immaculate have sealed the fate of their dying sect.

What troubles me is -

• Everyone has access to the English version of Luther's Bible - the King James Version, plus various KJV updates.
• The Book of Concord teaches Justification by Faith and commends Luther's Galatians Lectures.
• Various theologians have repudiated OJ/SJ.
• All the clergy have access to a wealth of theological and Scriptural books but show no inclination to deal with the issues.

The True Church by Emanuel Greenwald - Lutheran Library Publishing Ministry – "Faithful to the Reformation"

The True Church by Emanuel Greenwald - Lutheran Library Publishing Ministry – "Faithful to the Reformation":

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"About Emanuel Greenwald
“Emanuel Greenwald was born near Frederick, Maryland, Jan. 13, 1811, and was, like the prophet Samuel of old, dedicated by his pious parents to the holy office from his earliest infancy. His theological studies were pursued under the private supervision of Rev. David F. Schaeffer, who similarly prepared no less than fourteen other young men, in his own parsonage, for the work of the ministry.

“Dr. Greenwald’s first parish was New Philadelphia, Ohio, and all the adjoining country within a radius of fifteen miles in every direction. At one time he supplied fourteen preaching points on Sundays and week-days. In 1842 he was elected as the first editor of the Lutheran Standard, and from 1848 to 1850 he was the president of the English District Synod of Ohio.

“The years 1851 to 1854 were spent in the city of Columbus, during which time he held many responsible positions on important boards, committees, etc. In September, 1854, he accepted a call to the pastorate of Christ Church, Easton, Penn., which he faithfully served for twelve years. His fourth and last parish was Holy Trinity Church of Lancaster, Penn., in which he labored from May, 1867, up to his death in December, 1885. He began preaching every Thursday evening at a mission point in the northern part of the city, which soon developed into Grace Church, and afterwards started another mission in the western section which was the nucleus of Christ Church. An assistant being necessary for the increasing field, Rev. Charles S. Albert served in this capacity, then Rev. David H. Geissinger, then Rev. John Rumple, then Rev. C. Elvin Haupt, then Rev. Ezra K. Reed, then Rev. Charles L. Fry. Long after his own generation will his memory continue to be revered as an ideal pastor and a man of pre-eminent saintliness. C. L. F.1

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If thou but suffer God to guide thee | Comfort for Christians

George Neumark - inspired a Bach chorale.

If thou but suffer God to guide thee | Comfort for Christians:




"Lyrics Permalink
“If Thou But Suffer God to Guide Thee”
by Georg Neumark, 1621-1681
Translated by Catherine Winkworth, 1829-1878

If thou but suffer God to guide thee
And hope in Him through all thy ways,
He’ll give thee strength, whate’er betide thee,
And bear thee through the evil days.
Who trusts in God’s unchanging love
Builds on the Rock that naught can move.

Be patient and await His leisure
In cheerful hope, with heart content
To take whate’er thy Father’s pleasure
And His discerning love hath sent,
Nor doubt our inmost wants are known
To Him who chose us for His own.

Sing, pray, and keep His ways unswerving,
Perform thy duties faithfully,
And trust His Word, though undeserving,
Thou yet shalt find it true for thee.
God never yet forsook in need
The soul that trusted Him indeed.

2. What can these anxious cares avail thee,
These never-ceasing moans and sighs?
What can it help if thou bewail thee
O’er each dark moment as it flies?
Our cross and trials do but press
The heavier for our bitterness.

4. God knows full well when times of gladness
Shall be the needful thing for thee.
When He has tried thy soul with sadness
And from all guile has found thee free,
He comes to thee all unaware
And makes thee own His loving care.

5. Nor think amid the fiery trial
That God hath cast thee off unheard,
That he whose hopes meet no denial
Must surely be of God preferred.
Time passes and much change doth bring
And sets a bound to everything.

6. All are alike before the Highest;
‘Tis easy to our God, we know,
To raise thee up, though low thou liest,
To make the rich man poor and low.
True wonders still by Him are wrought
Who setteth up and brings to naught.


Hymn #518 in The Lutheran Hymnal
Text: Ps. 55:22
Author: Georg Neumark, 1640
Translated by: Catherine Winkworth, 1863, alt.
Titled: “Wer nur den lieben Gott laesst walten”
Composer: Georg Neumark, 1640
Tune: “Wer nur den lieben Gott”"

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Tis a Good Thing I Watered Key Flowers Yesterday. The Storm Is Coming - Has Arrived

 The upside-down Nuthatch was designed to make feeding from the bark that much easier. Likewise, squirrels are engineered to max their speed and ability in trees and designed with split image eye lenses to judge distance to my bird feeders. From Norma A. Boeckler

I used to depend on Mr. Gardener's weather reports, because Weather.com and Accuweather (sic) seldom agreed. Worst of all the weather sites overreport the next rain, which means we often see the storm sail on from Oklahoma to Eastern Arkansas.

When Mr. Gardener got on his riding mower and grimly cut down the growth of his lawn, as if the storm was about to break, I knew the rain was coming.

Yesterday I began by watering the enormous Cat Mint mound that started last year and decided 2018 was its leap year. The combination of mint roots and clay soil meant I wanted some soft soil to move most of it to the Butterfly Garden (the sunniest area) and to share with others. Ranger Bob has two cats and I told him how one comes over just to rub herself against the Cat Mint. Our dentist's mother also wants Cat Mint. Do not worry - I could start a business from that one mound and I have more besides.

I decided to soak most of the rose garden, just in case the "maybe rain" forecast turned out to be another fantasy. As Ishmael wondered in Moby Dick, "Did you ever feel like the whole world was a practical joke and you were the butt end of it?"

I heard thunder and rain last night, and the rain continues. The radar suggests that rain will continue today a bit, a prelude to rain tomorrow.

Ranger Bob, in spite of his work in landscaping, hates rainy days. However, I love to see a long, slow rain. Watering and then seeing the water bill can make anyone appreciate free rainwater expertly applied, packed with usable nitrogen compounds, lacking chlorine - God's best liquid fertilizer, guaranteed not to burn. However, flooding may occur.

Some organic gardening book probably calculates the fertilizer laid down by one rainstorm over several states. The amount of water itself is impossible to imagine.

Rain is like news, good and bad - I cannot control the rain, only what I do about it. Every plant serves to channel rain downward, which is very good, so that also means storing the water in its tissue. Every creature is mostly water and also stores the rain. A good rainstorm is captured by the growth of plants, bacteria, protozoa, mold, earthworms, and all soil creatures. The plants also build channels for the water to penetrate more deeply and be stored.

Some say "Boo hiss" when they hear about clay soil, but God made clay soil to hold a lot of water and to exchange mineral ions easily. When I am ankle deep in super-saturated clay mud and possibly falling over, I am not so keen on clay. Nevertheless, clay plus organic matter is the best foundation for most crops.

This is where I have to put in a good word for the God-created and wind-sown weeds - and the weeds squirrels work hard to plant and manage. Weeds are Guardians of the Soil (a classic work that will crush your bias against weeds). Weeds build the soil and hold it in place. They often have taproots that send rain water deep into the soil. Squirrels manage most of mine, by planting nuts where they will be watered most - under a rose bush. So cute, not. But I counter their trickery by cutting deep-rooted weeds at the soil level, a landscaper's trick. It uses no toxins, keeps the roots at work, and prevents the little trees from becoming a nut plantation.

 That is my Lowe's feeder, but not my photo.

Pleasant Surprises
Ranger Bob had too much storage on his property, so he asked, "Do you want a storage shed?" I always thought that would be great for gardening tools and convenience. Soon we were carrying it over from his place, and he was painting it white, black, and silver. He loves to paint.

When I spotted a roll-top desk, never used, in his barn, he offered to bring it over on his truck. Three of us could barely manage it, and it barely fit. He likes to work on cars and fix things, but hates paperwork. I help him with taxes and dealing with various bureaucrazies.

Someone was watching our service and a prayer was answered, so he wrong a long letter about it. There are so many consequences of broadcasting the Word - one never knows.

From Norma A. Boeckler

For Campanologists - The Love and Promotion of Church Bells

For More Information - See Church Mouse.

Mail Carrier Hands Out Advice on Growing Roses. One Way a Gardener Can Get Big Hips

 Creation Gardening - By Him Were All Things Made.

The warm weather has prompted a burst of rose blooms. First the wild roses bloomed in profusion - three of them. They have small, dark red flowers, so colorful that the mail carrier asked about them.

His daughter recently said, "I want to grow roses, but I do not know how." He told her, "I have a book for you, but you have to give it back." He smiled, because I gave him two copies of Creation Gardening.

The small, bargain roses are blooming. I think one is called Home Run. The veteran Easy Does It rose began blooming on Saturday, but just for color - short stems so far. I need some longer stems for the vase.

Buckwheat is getting even for being mowed down last summer. It engulfed the roses to such an extent that our Laotian neighbors laughed and pointed at my rose buckwheat garden. The buckwheat plants grew so tall, they covered the Lincoln (very tall) roses. Buckwhat is sensitive to cold, but many seeds survived the winter. They tend to exclude weeds, so I am going to let them have their way for now.

Hostas are gained in two ways. The tiny ones I planted last fall are popping out of the ground, so my despair is disipating. The established ones from the backyard and Mrs. Gardener's are in great shape and ready to bloom in the rose garden this year. I have permission to thin out her hostas, so I will spread more around when I get a good idea about the survival of the little ones.

People think a front yard of roses is odd, but people ask about it all the time. No one drives up to a yard and says, "Is that grass?"

 The hybrid teas were not ready for vases, so I bought a dozen roses just for the neighbors - $10 at Walmart.

Roses for Mother's Day
This is the third year I gave roses to each neighbor on our cul-de-sac for Mother's Day. Our SuperMom got a big bunch - she has four daughters, which I call the Esses. S1 played with Sassy, then S2, and now S3 fusses over her. The baby is not quite ready for Sassy's barking and kissing, but that may develop when the dog to child ration changes.

Ranger Bob takes flowers to the cemetery as often as he can, so Sassy and I took the other bunch of flowers to his house. We prayed for John and Pat in church - she got her rose. Another rose went to a police officer's wife a few blocks away.

 Rugosa for rag-like leaves. I don't see that either.
But they are easy to grow and enjoy.

Rugosa Roses Will Give the Gardener Big Hips
The old-fashioned roses have fewer blooms but larger hips (the seed-pod or fruit of the rose). I got some rugosa roses from Direct Gardening and put them where they had rather poor light and eratic watering. I transplanted the rose this spring and it burst into bloom.

Rugosa roses are as tough as they come, so I may get more in the future.

 Home Run - early color.

Do Not Stand So Close to the Excavation

 We knew Jaroslav Pelikan at Yale. Soon after, I met his father and brother in Cleveland.

Questions come in from people who are being swindled by the UOJ hoaxers. The situation reminds me of Pastor Pelikan, father of the Luther scholar, who was doing the commital at the grave site. Just as he was finishing, he felt the earth give way. He deftly jumped across and landed on solid ground.

At the next funeral, the family asked him, "Pastor Pelikan, will you do the graveside ceremony of leaping over the grave for us?"

Professor Pelikan said, "That is how quickly traditions get established."

The UOJ hoaxers try to pull the innocent into their traps by quoting Luther selectively. One must always remember - Spinning a new doctrine from a brief quotation is bound to be deceptive and wrong.

An example of this can be found in the 50 page bloviation of Jay Webber, trying to make Luther an advocate of Halle's Objective Justification - Universal Forgiveness without Faith.

 The improvement gang and correction guys want to take us as far away from the Gospel as they are. They do not trust the efficacy of the Word.

"Jesus Is All Forgiveness" and "You Are Already Forgiven"
Naturally we should start with the Gospel of John, the Epistles of Paul, Genesis 15, or anywhere in the Bible.

But they pull out these Luther quips to build their case, like the time I stacked book boxes on empty cardboard boxes to keep the books dry. The basement floor became wet and the foundation crumbled, tumbling the book boxes into the water. Thus Webber and his coven of ignorant, false teachers tumble into the swamp they have constructed for everyone else.

So let us start with Luther since they want to lead with their weakest hand. What was Luther arguing against? Answer - the Roman Catholic dogma of faith requiring works to satisfy God, not that all the works in the world are enough. 

Opposing the papal portrayal of Jesus as an angry, vengeful Judge, Luther repeated the Johannine portrait of Jesus - He has died for all our sins, so trust that He is all forgiveness.

What is sin in the Teaching of Jesus? The Spirit will convict the world of sin - "because they believe not on Me."

Basic Luther
Since everyone claims a quia subscription to the Book of Concord, let's give the Quia Marias a lesson from the Confessions. The Formula of Concord commended Luther's Galatians Lectures for further study of Justification by Faith. Webber mentioned the work but clearly has never read it, and certain has not understood it if he did.

Basic Paul
If St. Paul teaches Justification without Faith, parallel with Justification by Faith, he contradicts himself and Genesis 15.

 This Luther refuted Objective Justification before OJ was belched forth from Huber the Calvinist Lutheran or the Halle Pietists (Lutheran style/Calvinist substance).

Really Basic Biblical Doctrine
What we call Lutheran doctrine is simply what the Scriptures teach. The Holy Spirit works through the Word and only through the Word, so there is no magical poof where everyone in the world is forgiven and saved without faith. When they define their magical poof, they contradict each other, reminding us of how the UOJists hate each other and scrap like junkyard dogs fighting over a wounded rat. Poof! - when Jesus died? when Jesus rose? when the angels announced His birth?

Applying filters for "understanding" the Word - that comes from the Pope and his legion of followers, from Calvin and his confused disciples.

No wonder the graduates of the Concordia Seminaries either run to Rome and the others align with Fuller Seminary. It depends on which dogmatic foundation seems most appealing to the poor, misguided UOJists.

Ecclesia College FOIA lawsuit continues. When Will the Loot Be Returned to the Taxpayers?

 Oren Paris III plea-bargained to one count,
but took the 5th at the trial.

Ecclesia College FOIA lawsuit continues:



"A Fort Smith law firm has filed a motion to compel Ecclesia College in Springdale to release its fund disbursements in hopes of discovering details of where more than $400,000 in state Grant Improvement Fund money went.

Jim Parsons, a former Ecclesia College board member and 85-year-old Army Green Beret veteran, first petitioned the private Christian college for the information through McCutchen & Sexton Law Firm in Fort Smith in a February 2017 Freedom of Information Act Violation lawsuit.

It was shortly after Micah Neal, a former state representative from Springdale, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to one count of conspiracy to commit honest services fraud in a case that has so far also ensnared one other former state representative, Jonathan E. Woods, 40, of Springdale, and Randall G. Shelton Jr., a 39-year-old consultant of Alma, in a bribery scheme to direct state funds to Ecclesia College in exchange for kickbacks funneled through the consultant’s business.

Some Ecclesia Inc. documents were provided by Travis Story of Story Law Firm in Springdale to the Fort Smith law firm on April 23. But there were “no canceled checks,” Chip Sexton of McCutchen & Sexton wrote in an email reply April 25 to Story.

“There were no canceled checks or other documents pertaining to the distribution or dissemination of funds from Ecclesia to anyone,” Sexton wrote in the April 25 email to Story.

Story, which represents Ecclesia in the FOIA suit, replied “we still disagree that Ecclesia College is subject to FOIA (Freedom of Information Act).” The Ecclesia defense has been that it is a “church” and not subject to FOIA rules. Sexton argued Friday during a conference call at McCutchen & Sexton Law Firm that although Ecclesia College is a private entity, “it is subject to FOIA because of taxpayer money.”

As noted in the FOIA violation lawsuit, Ecclesia College “is, on information and belief, a college that holds itself out as a church when it is favorable to it to do so and it receives both state and federal funds.”

“I don’t think we got all the records ... I know we didn’t get the records of the disbursement of the funds,” Joey McCutchen of McCutchen & Sexton said Friday. “We filed a motion to compel the records and they still haven’t responded, and I think they are untimely at this point so we’re asking for a hearing to produce those records related to the illegal tax exaction that we’ve claimed.”

Sexton noted that Story has until May 17 to provide the documents under the first request. McCutchen said their claims of illegal tax exaction are being “pared back” because of a 2017 U.S. Supreme Court case involving a Missouri church day care. In that case, Missouri’s decision to prevent a church-operated day care and preschool from receiving funding from a state program was deemed unconstitutional.

The financial information requested by Parsons on Ecclesia could shine more light on the inner workings of a private entity that assists students in obtaining federal student aid. McCutchen said there is at least one other state representatives on the periphery of the Ecclesia College scandal that he holds in suspicion.

State Rep. Bob Ballinger, R-Berryville, a law partner at Story Law Firm who took office in 2013, was the attorney who prepared the deed work for a questionable land deal between Ecclesia Inc. and James and Patricia Hollingworth in December 2013. The closing agent, Elizabeth Middleton, is no long associated with Wilson & Associates in Little Rock and could not be located Friday for further details.

The house and property at 3870 Al’s Drive in Springdale that was sold for $675,000 to Ecclesia College had been valued by the county at $204,600 on Dec. 2, 2013. Ballinger said Friday the reason the land sold for more than three times its estimated value was because of the U.S. 412 Northern Bypass. Ballinger is running for state Senate District 5 against incumbent state Sen. Bryan King, R-Green Forest.

“There was no GIF money at that time,” Ballinger said in relation to the Hollingsworth land purchase by Ecclesia. “No GIF money was involved in that transaction.”"

 It is a family business, so it is none of your business where the money went.

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Exaudi, The Sunday after the Ascension, 2018.

 Graphic by Norma A. Boeckler

Exaudi, The Sunday after the Ascension, 2018

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/bethany-lutheran-worship

Bethany Lutheran Church, 10 AM Central Daylight Time

The melodies are linked in the hymn name. 

The lyrics are linked in the hymn number.

• The melody site is linked here.
• TLH Lyrics site is linked here unless copyrighted.

The Hymn # 9            O Day of Rest                       

The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual       

The Gospel              

Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #629      Let Children Hear the Mighty Deeds

The Spoken Word to Children

            

The Communion Hymn #625          Oh, Blest the House

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 #261                    Lord Keep Us Steadfast                   

 Graphic by Norma A. Boeckler

KJV 1 Peter 4:7 But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer. 8 And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. 9 Use hospitality one to another without grudging. 10 As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 11 If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

John 15:26 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. 16:1 These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.  2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.  3 And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me.  4 But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you.

Prayer

Lord God, heavenly Father, we give thanks unto Thee, that through Thy Holy Spirit Thou hast appointed us to bear witness of Thy dear Son, our Lord Jesus Christ: We beseech Thee, inasmuch as the world cannot endure such testimony, and persecutes us in every way, grant us courage and comfort, that we may not be offended because of the cross, but continue steadfastly in Thy testimony, and be found always among those who know Thee and Thy Son, until we obtain eternal salvation through the same, Thy Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.

Luther’s Two Sermons for Exaudi

The Spoken Word to Children

John 15:26 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: 

Luther's emphasis was not upon dogmatics books, which is how he was trained to be a monk and priest. Instead, he always advocated teaching by word of mouth. So he called the Christian Church a "mouth church" and an "ear church."

After decades of emphasizing everything but this, and after avoiding any concept of the effectiveness of the Word in the Means of Grace, the apostate leaders are shocked to find their palaces crumbling and the weapons they trusted falling apart. Nothing is so shocking as to be a Midas where everything is gold and therefore useless. Imagine having a treasury with $60 million in it and begging students to attend your failing school. Oh, pick up and leave, join another failing school. That will fix things for a few years. Several mainline seminaries are doing that at once. The "conservative" Lutheran ones are now being visited by the same dread disease - Nowannagothere, Nowannadebt, Nowannaholloweducation.

God arranged for the strength of society to be the family - husband, wife, parents of children - no changing the recipe. Notice all the spiritual wisdom in this one verse, which is poetic in structure.

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:

The Holy Spirit would be sent from the Son and the Father and testify about the Son. 

How is this conveyed? Mothers are with the children most of all in the early years. They are the ones speaking to their offspring about Jesus and teaching them to pray.

Children are all ears in the early years. They want to know everything, and they have a great capacity for learning. Our grandson grilled me on ancient history and Norse mythology yesterday, and he is 12.

So people take this for granted, as if it is a small thing. When we shopped for a tool shed a few years ago, they gave us prices and added, "But you must have a foundation." That doubled the cost and we forgot about it.

Early training is just a foundation, but it is the foundation. That training is so important that the entire Gospel of John is phrased so any child can understand the words, and yet adults will use up 500 to 1000 pages ot explain it all...partially. No one can exhaust the content of the Gospels, let alone the entire Bible. 

I remember early Sunday just a bit. My hair had to be sprayed in place, so I enjoyed "breaking" it during Sunday School. My mother wondered why her spray-lacquer failed each Sunday, until I told her decades later. But I do remember another student in that class because he had flaming red hair. Years later he had children, then grandchildren, all with flaming red hair. We met again at the 50th reunion, and we would have shared a table but ours was full. We had the same values, as we discovered on Facebook. That must have come from the foundation being set up so early for us.

If we look at this verse, Jesus does not say, "I am going to teach the doctrine of the Trinity." He simply reveals the Trinity in the simplest possible words, so simple that many geniuses cannot find it at all! (UOJ alert - Knapp)

If someone only knows this verse, how can anyone convince him there is no Trinity? Impossible.

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

The witness about Jesus comes from the disciples who spent three years with Him. This witness was not simply from them, but facilitated by the Holy Spirit. And so parents do the same, the Spirit dwelling in them serves to teach the children about the Gospel. 

16:1 These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.

Offended is no longer the intended meaning in this age of everyone being offended or likely to be. It could be phrased - that you will not fall into the trap of unbelief.

Children learn early on about being hurt by circumstances, sometimes by their own actions. So mothers teach them a balance between accept responsibility and expecting injustice. The over-protected become overbearing or as fragile as tissue paper. 

2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. 

This reality is being experienced all over the Third World. It has been true, but now we know and have the disturbing proof of how prevalent that is. The issue is whether parents teach children to value the Faith above all things. When that happens, it is often the mother who is the example cited.

The point of religious persecution is that those who practice it do so with the assurance they are engaged in wonderful, God-blessed service. That happens within abusive sects, when people are so full of their righteousness that anything done against the Ten Commandments is "justified" to use the term loosely.

There has been and will continue to be soft persecution where nothing is said or done, just a blacklisting of people who are faithful to the Word. If children are not prepared for those attitudes, they will be mystified or simply bend to the expectation they will conform.

When my mother was at the end of her life, she was in a nursing home. Everyone was singing. The song was "Don't Fence Me In." When they were done singing that song, she said, "That's me." Mothers often teach and lead by example.

3 And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me.

This is a frequent refrain of Jesus in the Fourth Gospel. Those without faith in Christ, no matter how much they pretend, exhibit the same tendencies. Faith is equated with knowledge, because those who trust in the revealed Word know God's will and His grace in the Savior. That affects what they do and say.

4 But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you.

This verse should echo with many mothers. One thing they can count on. Their reputation will grow by 10 times when they are gone and their children miss them. I hear it all the time, because the parents of my friends have passed away. I can think of one or two exceptions. The posts on Facebook are about how much they miss their mother's wisdom, example, faith, and example.