The Lord’s Desire – That We Shall Not
Forget Him
In this we can see naught but condescension and
love; there is no anger here nor vengeance; yea, parents could not deal more
kindly with their children. Christ’s chief desire, as He Himself declares, is
that we shall not forget Him. It is His earnest intention that our whole being
shall be impressed with the memory of His passion, that we may never forget how
He died for us upon the cross and rose again from the dead.
Luther’s
House Postils, Volume 2, p. 5.
Listen to the words with which He gives the bread:
“Take, eat, this is my body, which is given for you,” and with which, soon
after, He gives the cup: “Drink ye all of it; this cup is the New Testament in
my blood, which is shed for you, for the remission of sins.”
This declaration is the Christian’s most effective
consolation; for he who really believes that Christ gave His body for him, and
that He shed His blood for the remission of his sins, cannot despair, no matter
what sin, the world and the devil may say. He knows that this treasure
wherewith his sins have been canceled is far greater than all his iniquities.
But the consolation contained in this declaration
stands not alone; Christ really gives us with the bread His body to eat, and
with the wine His blood to drink, as the words plainly state, in spite of the
devil. Volume Two, P 15
Luther’s
House Postils, Volume 2, p. 6.
But let us learn still another lesson. Our dear
Lord Jesus prays that His Father would let this cup pass from Him, and, as the
true only begotten Son, He expects everything good of His Father. Yet He adds
these words: “Nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt.” Let us do the
same. Let us not on account of temptation and affliction think that God is
angry with us; but turn to Him as the child turns to its father; for, because
we believe in Christ, God will accept us as sons and as joint heirs with
Christ; and let us call upon Him for help, saying: O blessed heavenly Father,
see how hard it goes with me in this or that respect, – help, for the sake of
Thy dear Son, Jesus Christ, – suffer me not to remain in this distress or to
sink under it, and so on. With this God is well pleased. Volume Two, P 52
Luther’s
House Postils, Volume 1, p. 66.
The Resurrection
The great anxiety of the angel to announce the
resurrection of Christ to the disciples, who were nearly drowned in unbelief
and tormented with an accusing conscience, is a certain indication that the
Lord is arisen for the consolation of those who are weak in faith, or perhaps
unbelieving, that they, in the end, might seek and find Him their help and
defense.
If we, therefore, discover that we are afflicted
with similar weaknesses, with sin and unbelief, we should not despair, nor
suppose that Christ will not accept us, but should remember how, in behalf of
such poor, weak and miserable sinners, the angels came from heaven and quickly
dispatched the women to tell them that Christ was arisen, that thereby they
might be comforted and rejoice. For, as we have already heard, the resurrection
of Christ brings consolation, joy and a good conscience, since it banishes sin,
death and the wrath of God from our sight.
Luther’s
House Postils, Volume 2, p. 251f.
The surest and best method of escaping these
attacks is to live in the fear of God, to be earnest in prayer, and to love His
holy Word. This is the true charm with which we can make ourselves secure from
the attacks of the enemy. In that heart, in which the Word of God has its home,
the devil cannot abide; he will trot off speedily. Thus the devil cannot make
his home in the Church if Christ is there, and Christ has said: “Where two or
three are gathered together in my name, there will I be in the midst of them;”
hence we say that the devil must vanish when Christ comes. It behooves us,
therefore, to hear God’s Word willingly, to meditate upon it and to converse
about it often and gladly. But where falsehoods, slanders and other sins
prevail and the conscience is violated, there Christ and His angels depart.
Luther’s
House Postils, Volume 2, p. 262.
This is the true sin, which is such both before God
and in our own sight. Thus David, after he had committed adultery with
Bathsheba, was at first careless as to the sin of which he was guilty; it
slept, yea it was yet dead. But when Nathan came and thundered into his heart
the words: “Thou art the man who art guilty of death before God,” sin began to
revive in David’s soul. Nathan however comforts him with the promise: “Thou
shalt not die.”
Thus we see how the authority of the apostles is
not applied in worldly affairs, which merely pertain to the outward life of
man, nor only to such transgressions as the civil government judges and
punishes, but that it exerts its power over sin, which is regarded and held as
such by God and man. Yea, the sins of the whole world are thus under the
control of the apostles and of all ministers of the Gospel, even of every
Christian in case of necessity; so that we can be fully assured of the
forgiveness of our sins when our pastor, or, in case of his absence, when any
Christian declares it unto us in the name of Jesus Christ. Such a declaration
will be as valid as if Christ were personally present to pronounce it, or had
sent an angel from heaven to proclaim it unto us. Volume Two, P 188.
Luther’s
House Postils, Volume 2, p. 278.
No Christian can now reasonably complain that he is
forsaken. It may be that one is in need of money and earthly property; another
may be deprived of health; and a third may want something else, so that it
might appear that we were in the midst of wolves and without a shepherd, as
Christ also says: “Behold, I send you as sheep into the midst of wolves.” We
can see it with our own eyes, every day of our life, how the Christian Church
is in the condition of a sheep which the wolf has seized by its fleece and which
he is about to devour. It may seem sometimes as if we were without a Shepherd.
But thus it must be, else we would not seek our only comfort in our true Shepherd’s
reed, which sounds so invitingly when Christ says: “My sheep know my voice.”
The Good Shepherd
If we obey this voice and follow it, we can then truly
say that we know our Shepherd and that we are known of Him. Nor can the devil
injure him who heeds and follows the Word of the good Shepherd. No matter what
may betide our person under the providence of God, or our possessions, or our
household, we will ever hear the voice of our Shepherd, who cheers us with
these words: Ye are my dearly purchased flock who know my voice and who I am; I
will not forget you. Such recognition has its foundation in the Word and in
faith; on none other can it rest; therefore Christ declares: “I know them even
as the Father knoweth me and I the Father.”
Luther’s
House Postils, Volume 2, p. 294.
What is sin? Is it to steal, to murder, to commit
adultery, and the like? Yea, these are indeed sins, but they are not those
which are most prevalent and most grave. Many persons are not guilty of these
manifest sins; but of that chief sin of which the Holy Ghost reproves the
world, no one is free, else the Holy Ghost could not reprove the whole world.
This great sin is the unbelief of the world, the refusal to believe in Jesus
Christ. Nor does the world know anything of this sin before the Holy Ghost
reproves the people of it through His teachings; the world considers only such
deeds sinful as are contrary to the second table of the law. It knows nothing
of Christ, and much less is it aware of the sin of not believing in Him. But we
need not talk of the world in this regard; we find many among the Christians
who do not consider unbelief a sin, much less an original sin. No one but the
Holy Ghost can teach the world that unbelief is sin; He reproves all as
sinners, no matter how some may attempt to cover up their faults by good works
or to pass themselves off as pure under the tinsel of self-righteousness.
The Holy Ghost, therefore, preaches this truth that
all men, without an exception, are sinners and cannot of themselves believe in
Christ. This is, of course, strange preaching for the world. The world of
itself is perfectly ignorant of the duty of having faith in Christ, the Son of
man. Men suppose that they have fulfilled their duty if they can say with the
Pharisee, Luke 18, that they are no murderers, no adulterers and no unjust
persons.
But the Holy Ghost teaches otherwise and tells man:
I know that this one or that one may lead an outwardly upright life, but still
the great sin of unbelief nestles deep down in the heart of every one. If we
are not reproved of this sin by the Holy Ghost, we will never discover it.
We must then infer from this that “every thing not
concluded in faith is sin,” whether it be monastic vows, or prayers, fastings,
and giving of alms. Wherever faith in Christ is wanting, there the Holy Ghost
must come with His reproof. There is no other way to be relieved from this sin
but to believe in Christ Jesus the Savior. Volume Two, P 211
Luther’s
House Postils, Volume 2, p. 313.
When Christ further says: “These things have I
spoken unto you in proverbs,” He does not wish to say that these instructions
had been given in dubious and difficult words; for His expressions are definite
and clear; but He portrays in these words the condition of the understanding of
His disciples. They had as yet no experience in these things, nor did they know
what kingdom Christ was establishing; all this was dark before their eyes, and
when He spoke of it to them they understood not His words. But the hour was
nigh when this would be changed. He says: “The time cometh, when I shall speak
to you no more in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father.” When
the Holy Spirit comes and fills the hearts with faith and confidence in the
mercy and grace of God through Christ, then will follow the desire to engage in
prayer, which will be a pleasure. Without the Holy Spirit it is impossible to
pray.
Zechariah therefore calls this Spirit “the Spirit
of grace and of supplication.” Both belong together. God must be recognized
through faith as a merciful Father, because He gave for us His Son; but this
faith is a gift of God, bestowed upon us through the Holy Ghost by means of the
Gospel. Where this “Spirit of grace” dwells, there is also the “Spirit of
supplication,” so that we will implore God for help in suffering and
tribulation, firmly believing that He will hear us for the sake of Jesus
Christ, His dear Son, and that He will be with us and bless us now and
evermore. P. 225
Luther’s
House Postils, Volume 2, p. 337.
