Trinity 16 Sermon

KJV Ephesians 3:13 Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory. 14 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. 20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

KJV Luke 7:11 And it came to pass the day after, that he went into a city called Nain; and many of his disciples went with him, and much people. 12 Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her. 13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not. 14 And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. 15 And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother. 16 And there came a fear on all: and they glorified God, saying, That a great prophet is risen up among us; and, That God hath visited his people. 17 And this rumour of him went forth throughout all Judaea, and throughout all the region round about.

TLH Hymns
292 – Lord Jesus Christ (Selnecker, Concordist)
297 – The Gospel Shows the Father’s Grace (Matthias Loy, American Lutheran leader, Delaware, Ohio)
287 – That a Man a Godly Life (Luther)
288 – Lord Help Us Ever to Retain (trans, Loy)


Words and music to hymns at these sites:

http://www.lutheran-hymnal.com/

http://www.hymnsite.com/


http://breadsite.org/hymns.htm


The Power Working in Us: Efficacy of the Word
Ephesians 3:20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

This verse from Ephesians should stop every single Christian, to make him think – what is this power? If we know what this power is, we can understand how God works to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.

That is always the question in religion – what can God do and how does He accomplish His will? The way in which a question is asked or a statement is made will ultimately be a religious statement, often a foundational statement.

One of the problems of legalism - or perhaps rationalism is illustrated by this statement:

“God wants His Church to grow.” Donald McGavran

This is a proposition, not a Biblical statement. Even worse, this is a distortion of a Biblical revelation, so the words appear good, pious, and Christian at first. I find it a bad echo of this verse:

KJV Ezekiel 33:11 Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

One question raised by the McGavran proposition is – which church? The visible church? God wants the organization to grow? That’s the problem with the Methodist hymn, The Church’s One Foundation. The hymn confuses the visible and the invisible church

If it means God wants the true, invisible church to grow, then that is rather vacuous. God is the One Who accomplishes all growth in the true Church.

KJV 1 Corinthians 3:6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.

No one is going to make a million in conference fees with that Biblical citation. In fact, church leaders used to quote 1 Corinthians 3:6-7 all the time, whether they were Lutheran or Protestant. They would say, “Everything is up to God. All we can do is be faithful to His Word.”

Picture a room full of church executives from many different denominations, including the Church of Rome. How these sleek cows of Bashan would love to hear those words – God wants their church body to grow! Success. Promotion. A five-bedroom cottage retreat in the north woods. God’s will!

I constantly repeat myself on this, but people need to know. The Church Growth leaders—who have trained all the mainline, Catholic, and Lutheran leaders—constantly make fun of traditional worship as boring and tedious. Then, when someone detects their hatred of the Gospel, they yell, “Christian-bashing!” Who was actually doing the bashing and still is assaulting divine worship? They loathe Lutheran doctrine and detest Lutheran worship with a special animosity, a demonic hatred.

God’s power and will are the main issues. If God needs man to accomplish His will, He is a very weak God indeed. The McGavran statement implies as much. God needs statistical studies (but never did during Christianity’s miraculous growth in the Apostolic Age). God needs marketing (but never did during the Reformation, which swept through Europe via a printing press made from a wine-press). God will be powerful when His numbers are powerful, as McGavran and his sycophants always teach.

In contrast, the power of God is expressed exclusively in the Bible as derived from His Word. The Holy Spirit never works apart from God’s Word, so we know that even the wild opposition to the Gospel experienced so often is a result of God’s power, the power to harden, to blind, and to enrage. Man causes those adverse reactions, something almost everyone has seen. Speak about the Gospel to a Mormon and the eyes will flare up. The fault is not with the Holy Spirit, not with the Gospel. When someone has hardened himself against the Gospel and hears it again, he normally grows even more opposed to the Gospel.

Power and the Word go together throughout the Bible, from the Creation. God the Father spoke the Word, “Let there be Light,” and there was Light. This Word was and is Christ. All things were created through Him and nothing was created apart from Him. I read this in Greek to my world religion class. I compared Genesis 1 to John 1, showing how the Trinity is taught throughout the Bible. The Holy Spirit brooded over the water, Genesis 1.

The power of God is never divorced from the Word, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not the Word, but we can also say the two are never separate at any time. The Word is always effective and the Holy Spirit always works through the Word. The Bible is utterly consistent in teaching this. So is the Book of Concord, following Luther.

Luther was so influential that all Protestants taught the basic efficacy of the Word, although they added their rationalistic touches. Twenty-five years ago an LCA bishop would say more about the efficacy of the Word than any “conservative” Lutheran leader today.

Some ministers have said, “They have taken my call away, my congregation away. I am shunned everywhere.” And yet the Word remains all powerful. The synods are so tyrannical because they are so frightened. Any pastor can start studying the Bible and Confessions with people and create a congregation through the Word.

If someone truly desires the Holy Spirit, then the only way to receive this Spirit is through the Word. God does not work in dreams and visions, apart from the Word. Faith is a good word in the Bible, not a bad one. God wants us to trust His Word, and proclaims the Gospel to create and sustain that trust.

One I played Trivial Pursuit against Martin when he was fairly young, not even a teen. He knew the answers for his team, so I would interrupt and say, “Are you going to trust a kid for that answer?” That would make them waver. No, the capital of Portugal was not Lisbon. That did not sound right. This worked time after time, leading to our team’s well- deserved victory. All I had to do was question their trust. I never attacked the answer, just the confidence they placed in a child.

Most of the voices in this world question our trust in God’s Word. I know that any mention of creating the universe in six days will earn me looks and open hostility in academic circles. Almost all the communication we get is anti-Word, anti-God in subtle ways.

But if God’s Word is true, something we know and experience, then the secrets of the universe open up. The Bible may not satisfy our curiosity about many things, but the Scriptures do teach us all we need to know about our ultimate destiny. We can also see the purpose for all life in the words of the Testaments.

The concise wording of the verse in question is one of those great secrets, hidden from the wise and powerful, revealed to babes.

1. God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. That is the great promise of all religion, fulfilled only in Christianity. God not only provides for us, but beyond anything we could ask or imagine.
2. According to the power at work in us. The Word is that efficacious power, that divine power, at work (efficacious) in us. We carry Christ with us in that Word, and that Word is powerful.

We are glued together with Christ through Holy Baptism, Holy Communion, and the Word. Christ is with us always, as the popular song says, “My forever Friend, My leave-me-never Friend.” The Scriptures urge us to pray, but the Word also motivates us to pray. This verse is one of the great Gospel promises of the Bible: we will receive far more than we ask.

So why does the Word seem to fail? For one thing, people adulterate the Word of God, mixing it with man’s word to make it appealing, logical, and germane. The word of man is not effective and does not convey Christ to us. The City of Man is built upon love of Self while the City of God is built upon the love of Christ.

Also, people grow tired of the Word. The two enemies of the Gospel are curiosity and satiety, according to Luther. People become curious about pagan beliefs like reincarnation, spirit guides, and other goof-ball notions. Curiosity moves them away from the Gospel. Besides, they grow satisfied and complacent about the Gospel and move on.

Trials and challenges make us return to the Word of God. The Word teaches us:

Ephesians 3:20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.