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| Black eyed Susie and her mother |
Dear Pastor Jackson,
Today
I will again focus on Christ our good Shepherd in John 10 and highlight
Luther's comforting thoughts from his book Bondage of the Will. These
comforting words of Luther are very precious to me because they bring me
close to the Shepherd and Bishop of my soul, our Lord Jesus Christ.
"Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree that ye
being dead to sin should live unto righteousness by whose stripes ye are
healed. For ye were as sheep going astray but are now returned unto the
Shepherd and Bishop of your souls." (1 Peter 3 )
I
also want to share a true wonderful story of a little cuddly ewe lamb I
named Black Eyed Susie, cared for by her mother named Misty. This true
story lead me to think of my own mother teaching me to pray the Lord's
prayer, and to believe in God my Heavenly Father and in His holy infant
child Jesus. It also lead me to think about my grandmother reading Luke 2
to all of us grandchildren every Christmas. All of us grandchildren
would gather around the old round oak table as our grandmother read Luke
2 to us by the flickering light of the old coal oil lamp:
"And
it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar
Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was
first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be
taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from
Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of
David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and
lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great
with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were
accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her
firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a
manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in
the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over
their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and
the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore
afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring
unto you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For
unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ
the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe
wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was
with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and
saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will
toward men. Luke 2:1-14
And so my grandmother
and my mom constantly taught me God's Word so now I believe in God my
Heavenly Father and in His holy infant child Jesus.
I am pondering in amazement about how God's grace, God's kingdom, and God's Word all came to me by my mother and grandmother:
*Bringing
me to be baptized into Christ and receive the entire Christ and His
righteousness in the name of God the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost.
*Praying the Lord's prayer with me every night and
then answering all my 'God questions' (My brother and I became skilled
in spontaneously asking never ending questions about God until finally
our mother would tossel our hair and tell us it was now time to go to
sleep trusting God our Heavenly Father )
*Reading God's Word
to me from the King James Bible and then later having my brother and I
read the King James Bible out loud. My grandmother would have my
brothers and I look up Bible passages from Portals of Prayer and then
read them from her old dog eared King James Bible.
*Bringing
my brothers and I to church every Sunday and then asking both of us to
explain what we learned from the sermon. When we visited our grandmother
on her farm our whole family would go to her church: St. John's
Lutheran Church. Grandmother would give us a 'chicklet' to chew on
reminding us to sit still and listen. Here I learned to love the King
James Bible liturgy from the red hymnal at a very young age. I also
observed the blessing, strengthening, and peace my mother and
grandmother received at holy communion. I perceived it was not empty but
abundantly full of God's blessings, and a peace that was beyond
understanding.
*Consistently teaching my brothers and I the 10 commandments through out the day.
*Teaching
my brothers and I to be happy especially as we worked. I can still hear
my mother singing as she did the laundry and the endless menial tasks
that tend to make us feel sorry for ourselves. My mom grew up on a farm
during the 1920's and 1930's. They had no electricity, no running water,
no indoor bathroom, no air conditioning, no centralized heating, but
they all had the one thing needful: to listen to, read, and ponder God's
Words. This gave all of them true happiness and peace as they did all
those menial labor intensive chores on the farm. My mom would often tell
me how she could hear her mother singing 'What a Friend We Have In
Jesus' as she carried two buckets of milk from the barn to the house.
*Teaching my brothers and I to endure hardships, sickness, failures, disappointments, trusting God''s Fatherly merciful care.
God
has mother's care for the greatest in the kingdom of God: little
infants, and little children. Their angels do always behold the face of
their Father in heaven. Wow! This should make every mother join with
the virgin Mary saying:
"My soul doth magnify
the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior. For he hath
regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth
all generations shall call me blessed. For he that is mighty hath done
to me great things; and holy is his name. And his mercy is on them that
fear him from generation to generation. He hath showed strength with his
arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He
hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low
degree. He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath
sent empty away. He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of
his mercy; as he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for
ever." Luke 1:46-55
So women preach to us too,
especially when we are little. They bring us to Jesus our Shepherd and
Bishop of our souls. "And they brought unto him also infants, that he
would touch them: but when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But
Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come
unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I
say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a
little child shall in no wise enter therein. " Luke 18:15-17 Take heed
that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That
in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father in heaven.
For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. How
think ye? If a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone
astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the
mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? And if so be that he
find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of
the ninety and nine that went not astray. Even so it is not the will of
your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones perish.
Luke 18:10-14
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| Ringo watches the sheep. |
Just one little lamb with a black
eye brought all of these thoughts to mind. Black Eyed Susie had a rough
start. I found her way at the other end of the pasture yelling her head
off for her mother Misty. She was still wet as I carried her back to
her mother. Misty immediately started to lick her off. I thought
everything was going good until Ringo, my guardian dog kept playing with
this little lamb, preventing it from nursing. I had quite a time
keeping Ringo away from Black Eyed Susie. Finally Ringo got the message
and I was sure she had nursed. It takes about five days for new lambs to
latch onto their mother. Until then they do not know their mother's
voice and easily get lost. The grass is tall so little Black Eyed Susie
easily got lost and separated from Misty her mother. I would often find
little Black Eyed Susie lost in the tall grass at the far end of the
pasture. I would pick her up and begin to carry her back to Misty. At
first she would squirm and kick a little. Then she would snuggle down
and enjoy the journey through the pasture. Black Eyed Susie is the most
special, cuddly and snuggly little lamb I have ever carried. Christ our
Shepherd carries us too!
It is so comforting
that Christ our Lord calls us lambs when we are little and sheep when we
are older. Christ here shows how precious we are to him. He is the
Shepherd and Bishop of our souls!!
"My sheep
hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto
them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man
pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater
than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I
and my Father are one " John 10:27-30
Our old
nature, reasoning, and our old will constantly add sneaky, subtle works
righteousness to our justification. Luther constantly corrected this
error that is around all our necks, firmly pushing us back to Christ the
Shepherd and Bishop of our souls. Do it yourself 'christianity' runs
full throttle here in America and throughout the world adding our own
will power, decisions, endeavours, and emotional devotion to our
justification. This eternally fatal error is engrained in the Bible Belt
especially among Baptists who insist you must make a decision for
Christ and come forward to the alter to accept him into your heart. Oh
how they despise God's work, will, name, and power in Baptism. Smart
aleck LCMS pastors, seminary professors, and laymen further undermine
and corrupt justification by faith in Christ. They teach universalism
they cleverly call objective justification (everyone is already forgiven
without faith). Then they add synergism calling it subjective
justification (man must decide to accept their false dogma that everyone
is already forgiven without faith in Christ). Be sure to read page 169
of Pastor Jackson's book, The King James Version: Apostolic Texts,
Precise Translation versus Fraudulent Texts and Heretical Translations;
and also page 11 of The Path To Understanding Justification. Perhaps all
of these sneaky errors could be described by the term 'free-will'.
Luther called it a lie Now a word from Luther from his wonderful book,
Bondage of the Will. Every Christian should read it and reread it
because here Luther grinds our highest powers of reasoning, will,
endeavouring, and devotions into less than dust.
"As
to myself, I openly confess, that I should not wish "Free-will" to be
granted me, even if it could be so, nor anything else to be left in my
own hands, whereby I might endeavor something towards my own salvation.
And that, not merely because in so many opposing dangers, and so many
assaulting devil's, I could not stand and hold it fast, (in which state
no man could be saved, seeing that one devil is stronger than all men;)
but because, even though there were no dangers, no conflicts, no devils,
I should be compelled to labor under a continual uncertainty, and to
beat the air only. Nor would my conscience, even if I should live and
work to all eternity, overcome to a settled certainty, how much it ought
to do in order to satisfy God. For whatever work should be done, there
would still remain a scrumping, whether or not it pleases God, or
whether he required any thing more; as is proved in the experience of
all justiciaries, and as I myself also learned to my bitter cost,
through so many years of my own experience.
But
now, since God has put my salvation out of the way of my will, and has
taken it under His own, and has promised to save me, not according to my
working or manner of life, but according to His own grace and mercy, I
rest fully assured and persuaded that He is faithful, and will not lie,
and moreover great and powerful, so that no devils, no adversities can
destroy Him, or pluck me out of His hand. "No one (saith He) shall pluck
them out of my hand, because My Father which gave them me is greater
than all." (John 10:37-28). Hence it is certain, that in this way, if
all are not saved, yet some, yea, many shall be saved; whereas by the
power of "Free-will," no one whatever could be saved, but all must
perish together. And moreover, we are certain and persuaded, that in
this way we please God, not from the merit of our own works, but from
the favor of His mercy promised unto us; and that if we work less, or
work badly, He does not impute it unto us, but as a Father, pardons us
and makes us better. This is the glorying which all the saints have in
their God! (Martin Luther, On The Bondage Of The Will, Associated
Publishers and Authors, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1971, pg 148-149)
Time
has gotten away from me again It is time to do chores. Ringo will be
waiting for me and if course I need to make sure little Black Eyed Susie
is doing well.
Pastor Jackson please add your
comments or corrections as you wish. If possible please publish the
photo of little Black Eyed Susie and Misty her mother. [Done!]
I
just got in from chores and I am happy to report that Misty and little
Black Eyed Susie are doing great. They were both nibbling on lush red
clover at the far end of the high pasture.
Tom Fisher
