Song of Songs 1,7. A sermon for Magistrates. Schartau

Song of Songs 1,7

A Sermon for Magistrates  

Henric Schartau (1757-1825) 

(204) Communion Sermon

In the Name of Jesus Christ. 

1. I am all full of festering sores, come lay Your hand upon me; I am adrift, far from the shores, let Your grace never fail me. I am so weak, have pity, O Lord, an erring sheep Your care afford, Your grace alone I’m pleading. 

2.Thus may every erring, anxious soul pray to the Lord Jesus Christ, for He is True God and the Great Chief Shepherd, who has given His life for the sheep. In the Name of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen. 

3. Tell me, O You whom my soul loves,

Where You feed Your flock, where You

make it to rest at noon: 

For why should I be as one who is veiled

Besides the flocks of Your companions? 

4. The book from which these words are taken is sealed to the world. It contains a conversation between Christ, the Redeemer, represented as a bridegroom, and His faithful congregation, represented as a bride. It is the bride who here speaks to the friend of her soul. She declares her own love for Him and asks where He is dwelling. She expresses her anxiety and fear in view (205) of the condition that would confront her, if she should longer lack His gracious presence. “Tell me, O You whom my soul loves, where You feed Your flock, where You make it to rest at noon; for why should I be as one who is veiled, beside the flocks of Your companions?” Song of Songs 1,7. 

5. We find in this book various figures of speech at which carnal minds have taken offense and fallen, but here are depicted the experiences of a faithful soul who stands in grace, the infirmities that appear, the temptations to which it is exposed, they byways on which it may chance to enter, together with the gracious chastisement of God, the unfailing love of Jesus and the wonderful guidance of the Holy Spirit. 

6. Here the bride is expressing her first longing for communion with the Savior. She has already received great insight into the ways of the Lord. She is aware of the dangers of turning away by which a soul seeking after Jesus may be tempted. To this she gives expression by saying that the reason for her longing to know where her friend is dwelling is that she may not be as one who is veiled beside the flocks of His companions. 

7. It is evident that the bride here speaks of flocks other than that of Jesu, which is one only. She speaks of several flocks under the care of the Savior’s companions, who are shepherds as He and have His pastoral office. They gather flocks for themselves not for Him. By the misuse of natural and official gifts they turn the attention of their listeners away from “God who gives the increase to him who plants and waters.” By seeking and gaining the idolatrous love and the blind confidence of their infatuated followers, they lead hearts (206) from the way where God’s love should find room in them, and in this way souls are drawn rom their rightful owner, who has bought them with His holy and precious blood. The bride fears to come under the guidance of such shepherds and into fellowship with the parties and congregations of men. The reason for her fears is that she realizes how dangerous and blissless the condition is into which she would be placed through such afflictions: “Lest I be as one veiled, lest I go hither and thither.” 

8. The word used depicts the condition of a man fatigued with much walking and afflicted with excessive heat. This is something that usually goes with the state of awakening. It find expression in an old psalm. 

“Though I may roam far from my home, 

On land and sea I languish,

I seek in vain the slightest lane,

Where dwells no grief nor anguish.” 

9. It may readily happen that an awakened soul begins to think that maybe this or that pastor might help him to obtain peace of conscience, or that he might come nearer to the Redeemer, if he should join this or that group which claims to be in so intimate a relationship with the Savior. But quite the reverse happens. You seek for Jesus among men, you heartily long for peace, but your anxiety increases more and more, and you drift farther and farther away from your Savior. It is by Him that you are to enter into communion with His members, not the reverse. Relationships with men do not bring you into a right and blessed communion with your Savior. Choose the only right way. Do as the  (207) bride in our text: turn to your Savior in hearty prayers and supplication so that you may know Him and that He may Himself bring you into His blessed fellowship. Speak to Him and say: “Tell me, O You whom my soul loves, where You feed Your flock, where You make it to rest at noon. For why should I be as one who is veiled beside the flocks of Your companions?” 

10. It may seem strange that a person who is not yet conscious of having come to the Savior may nevertheless love Him, yes, may say in the more exact language of the Spirit: “You whom my soul ardently loves.” It is certain that in a heart where the Holy Spirit has wrought faith, there “the love of God is shed abroad.” Even in the very first moment of faith, when it is perceived merely as a seeking after the Lord, a pressing onward to His righteousness, this constant seeking after Jesus, this hungering and thirsting after His righteousness, as nourishment for the soul and rest for the conscience, are evidences that love for Jesus has been quickened in the soul. We seek for something which we value, something by which we hope to become happy, something in which we find pleasure, something that we love. 

11. As your heart, if you can truthfully address the Lord Jesus with these words, if you can conscientiously say that you dearly love Him. Does your soul affectionately seek after Him? This is the first spark of the love which is kindled in the soul. But what need is there of asking your heart, if your outer life and your deeds bear witness that you are one of those who walk as “the enemies of the cross of Christ?” If you love the world and “mind earthly things,” then the love of the Father is not in you. Judge then for yourself if it is reasonable (208) and consistent with God’s order of grace to suppose that you are nevertheless partaking of God’s grace and love. It is clearly evident that since you do not love the Son of God neither do you believe on Him. “He who believes on the Son has eternal life; but he who obeys not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” 

13. Jesus has commanded His servants to declare this very thing to all impenitent sinners, that they are under the wrath of God as long as they remain in their sins. He said to His disciples: “Receive the Holy Spirit: whosoever sins you retain, they are retained.” According to this commandment of my Savior, I tell you, on His behalf and in the Name of the Triune God, that you, who wish to retain your sins and to love any of them, must also retain the guilt and wretchedness of your sins, and you cannot take comfort in the love and grace of God. 

14. You, who are now penitent, fleeing from sin and seeking Jesus, have been in a similar condition. You saw your sins delineated by the commandments of God, and under His threats you felt that they were abominable and condemnable. You learned that such dregs cannot satisfy an hungry soul.They may give you a sense of tumbling recklessness, but no peace; they may feed your imagination, but they give no refreshing and quickening hope. O that you might turn to the Chief Shepherd and pray that you might find Him and thus obtain the right nourishment for your soul! “Tell me, O You whom my soul loves, where You feed Your flock, where You make it to rest at noon.” You would then certainly find that your prayerful question is already answered (209) in the Word. It is the answer which the bride received in the following verse: 

“If you do not know, O fairest among women, 

go your way forth by the footsteps of the flock,

and feed your kids beside the shepherd’s tents.” 

15. This answer contains, first, a rebuke for ignorance, as the original Hebrew text has it: “Do you not know it?” It is a reprimand similar to that in Hebrews 5,123: “When by reason of the time you ought to be teachers, you have need again that some one teach you the rudiments of the first principles of the oracles of God.” A person who by the Word of God has been brought to seek after Jesus should have learned in the Word where to find Him. It is deplorable that such ignorance can be found in awakened souls. It is usually hidden from them, and they need a rebuke such as was given to the bride in order that their ignorance may be revealed to them. The Messiah, however, mingles kindness with severity and, in the second place, follows up the rebuke with the glad gospel message: “O fairest among women!” 

16. The communion of saints is the most beautiful and glorious of all human associations, whether secular or religious, before the All-seeing Son of God, who searches the reins and hearts of men. It is the inner man which the Holy Spirit has sanctified “to the praise of the glory of His grace which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.” He has built up in our inmost souls faith “in the beloved Son in whom God is well pleased,” while “without faith it is impossible to please God.” It is by faith that saints are dressed in the garments of righteousness and salvation, as the psalmist signifies when he (210) says concerning the bride of Christ: “The king’s daughter within the palace is all glorious;

 her clothing is inwrought with gold.” The bride herself refers to this in the verses preceding our text, where she compares her appearance to that of the “tents of Kedar and the curtains of Solomon,” which are outwardly “scorched and swarthy,” like wretched dwellings, while within they were beautifully decorated and filled with riches or, though orderly and dignified outside as Solomon’s porches and curtains, they were surpassingly so inwardly full of riches and splendor. 

17. In the third place, the answer of the bridegroom contains instruction, for both rebuke and comfort become fruitless, unless the ignorant are also instructed. therefore Christ tells His bride how she will come to enjoy His presence. He gives her twofold advice. 

18. “Go your way forth by the footsteps of the flock.” The footsteps of the sheep mark the way by which the approved saints of the Lord have gone through repentance and faith to eternal life, and these marks are recorded in the Scriptures. We find their footsteps traced in the 11^th chapter of Hebrews, and in the beginning of the 12^th chapter a faithful witness of Jesus exclaims: “Let us also, seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight, and the sin which does so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising shame, and has sat down at the right hand (211) of the throne of God.” Enter in upon these footsteps. Look and see in the Holy Scriptures how many have been converted and saved, and you shall find that it is not impossible for any one, and that you also can and should be saved. there cannot be so great obstacles in the way of any one seeking for salvation but that other believers mentioned in the Scriptures have passed through the like and have been saved. Lot did not perish in the godless Sodom. Joseph and Daniel did not deviate form the ways of the Lord, though they dwelt in royal palaces. Lazarus was saved in his poverty, and Abraham in his riches. Let then the Spirit of God lead you on the way which these have gone. God your way forth by the footsteps of the flock. Let the Spirit of God lead you on the way which these have gone. Go your way forth by the footsteps of the flock. Let the Spirit of God constrain you to give heed to these things, as Lydia did, and the Lord shall open your heart as He opened hers. Go like Peter out from your evil companions and consider your fall penitently as he did, and you shall be helped and restored as he was. Let yourself be persuaded to make an honest confession as David did, saying heartily: “I have sinned against the Lord,” and you shall receive the same reply as he: “The Lord has also put away your sin; you shall not die.” 

19. The second item of advice which Christ gives His bride is this: “Feed your kids beside the shepherd’s tents.” The shepherds formerly had their houses out in the fields where there was the best of pasturage. Here the sheep were gathered to rest, for there was less danger of going astray here than out on the vast frontiers., The homes of right minded pastors are such tents, where sorrowful sinners may find direction how they shall find food and rest for their souls. But more especially the churches (212) are such tents, where the flock of the Good Shepherd may congregate. Here the Word is found in its greatest purity and blessing. The “kids” are the spiritual children, who do not have great ability of discernment to distinguish evil from good, while evil and good are co-mingled even at many places where there is much talking in the name of the Word of God. Therefore the spiritual children are safest when gathering their spiritual food in the house of the Lord. It is such a place where I am no speaking the Word of the Lord. I will therefore as a faithful shepherd make diligence to gibe my sheep wholesome food, and I shall by the grace of God beware lest I be like those who corrupt the Word of God. 

20. After the bride has asked the Chief Shepherd where He feeds His flock, she next inquires where He prepares rest for His sheep: “Tell me, O You whom my soul loves, where You feed Your flock, where You make it to rest at noon.” Mark this, dear soul, this order: first food, then rest for the soul. First you are to be brought  to the green pastures of God’s Word, and thereupon you are to receive refreshment and peace unto your soul as these are found in the Holy Communion with Jesus. the peace which a faithful Christian finds in the Lord’s Supper is the “rest at noon” whereof our text speaks. In the eastern countries where Solomon wrote this book the heat at noon is very great, so that the sheep cannot then eat, but must seek rest in a shady place. We may imagine how the shepherd gathered the sheep nearer about himself and how they lay down beside him. It has already been shown that in the book heat symbolizes anxiety, sorrow, and unrest, weakness (213) and suffering. When the heat of affliction and temptation has reached the height of noon, then it is time to seek shelter and rest. These the believer finds with God, Immanuel, the Chief Shepherd, for He “has been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a refuge form the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.” “He is our peace,” and the peace He gives is found in His Supper. Our text represents that the Chief Shepherd Himself also rest, for His bride asks Him where He dwells: “Tell me, O You whom my soul loves, where You feed and find rest at noon.” It is also with reference to Holy Communion as administered in Zion, that is in the true congregation of Jesus, that He says: 

“This is My resting place forever: 

Here I will dwell, for I have desired it.” 

21. At the communion table the Chief Shepherd gathers His sheep round about Himself; here He is the very nearest to them, He gives them His body and blood and thus brings them into the most intimate communion with Himself. If you have hitherto wandered from one flock to another, come now to the table of grace. Jesus calls you: “Come unto Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Here your unrest shall be quieted, here your heart shall find rest. You have His own word that you shall find Him here, for He has Himself said that in this bread you have His body, and in this cup His blood. You may rely on His promise that here you shall find the forgiveness of sins when you partake of His blood, which was shed for the (214) remission of your sins. With this you must be satisfied and not ask more than He has promised, namely refreshment and peace. Yes, even when you enjoy this, you must not expect that is shall always be thus. The bride says expressly in our text that it is not only at noon that she expects to find the Chief Shepherd at rest with His flock. A soul fatigued with anxiety needs rest and peace, but a person who always desires to rest is lazy. A person who boasts of enjoying undisturbed quiet in his heart is not with Jesus, does not belong to His flock, for after His sheep have enjoyed communion with Him in the Lord’s Supper, they are again brought out in the pastures of the Word to grow in peace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Here they must not rest in quiet, but ever advance along the way that leads to eternal life, whither the Chief Shepherd has Himself gone before them. They may not enjoy undisturbed peace, for their enemies the wolves -- Satan, the world and the flesh -- daily tempt them to sin,. They must also according to their Lord’s commandment use the nourishment which they have received in the Word, the strength imparted by the Holy Supper, not to rest idly in the consciousness of the grace they have received, but to exercise themselves in godliness and to be diligent in doing good and fervent in love to God. Go then, according to the words of the Chief Shepherd, from this peaceful Supper to have peace in your work, there to show fidelity and to receive your reward. When you come out into the pastures of the Word, behold, you shall find a vast field, covered with the most beautiful flowers, the most glorious and comforting truths, teachings, examples, promises and commandments. These grow (215) together. Do not undertake to make selections according to your own mind, but take them according as the Chief Shepherd enables you to understand and believe them. After such an interchange of work and rest, war and peace, Jesus shall, in a blessed death, take you from the pasture into the paradise of God and “give you to eat of the tree of life.” He shall translate you to “the rest which remains for the people of God,” where no heat of anxiety shall befall you, and where God shall wipe all tears from your eyes. 

22. If anyone of you here has wandered hither and thither to the flocks of the companions, it is time that you seek rest for your soul. This you will find with Him who is our peace. Come to Him who has bought you, and tell Him of your utter weariness. Confess your many sins, committed against Him, not only when like one spiritually asleep you were walking in manifest wickedness, but also when though awakened you walked in errors, relying on the testimonies of men with reference to your spiritual condition, in ignorant disputations about spiritual matters, in useless Sunday visits, in discord with worldly minded parents, in loveless wrangling with benighted people, yielding to carnal desires neglecting your earthly vocation, passing unkind remarks about people you do not know, and in numberless wrong deeds which a useless doctrine brings forth. As the Lord Jesus to forgive you all this and to give you a hearty confidence in His infinite love. He gave His life for the sheep. He is ever present in His Word, though you do not see Him; yes, He is in your very midst while you are here congregated in His Name. Come to agreement with Him. Confess your sins (216) before Him. Ask Him to receive you in His arms as one of His sheep, saying: “I poor, sinful being” etc.  Amen. 

Mark 13,34. A Sermon for Magistrates. Henric Schartau

Mark 13,34 

A Sermon for Magistrates  

Henric Schartau (1757-1825) 

1. (194) In the Name of God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. 

2. It is as when a man, sojourning in another country, having left his house, and given authority to his servants, to each one his work, commanded also the porter to watch. Watch therefore: for you do not know when the lord of the house arrives. 

3. In this parable Jesus Christ represents the condition of every man with reference to the account of his administration, which the Lord of all the earth shall unexpectedly demand of him, and the watchfulness therefore necessary in our stewardship. “It is as when a man, sojourning,” etc. Mark 13,34. 

4.After Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Son of Man, had with His blood bought us to be His own, and had with grievous and bitter toil provided us with gifts and appointed us as stewards, He was declared to be “Lord of all.” After He had come down to this world and here taken upon Himself human nature, after He had spent thirty years sharing the misery of this life, He now, in the parable before us, considered heaven to be another, yes, a foreign country, although He “was in heaven” even while here on earth. He departed in a visible manner and was taken up to heaven in the (195) sight of the disciples. Before this, however, He left the goods in His house, His possessions in the reign of nature and of grace, in the care of His servants. He gave them “authority, and to each one his work.” The porter, or the ministry, received a special admonition to watch and await the return of the master, which should certainly take place, though no one knew when. The Lord Jesus now extends and applies this admonition to each and every one: “Watch therefore, for you do not know when the lord of the house arrives.” 

5. This same Lord of all lords has, even since His departure to the Father, in His almighty government retained earthly rulers and judges. In His Word He asserts that these officials are retained and sustained by the government of God. They have not, like the wild beast, received their thrones and power from the dragon, but from God, “for the powers that be are ordained by God.” The office is from God, though men determine who shall manage it. 

6. Inasmuch as a judge has received his office and the power thereto appertaining, he is obligated to render an account to the Lord from whom he has received his office. The admonition in our text,then, concerns also judges: “Watch therefore, for you do not know when the lord of the house arrives.” Let us pray that they as well as all men may humbly take the admonition to heart. “Our Father,” etc. 

Text 2. Corinthians 5,10 

7. For we must all be made manifest before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive the things don in the body, according to what he has done, whether it is good or bad. 

Proposition. (196) 

THE TRIAL AND FINAL JUDGMENT OF AN EARTHLY JUDGE AS A WEIGHTY MATTER FOR HIS CONSIDERATION IN THE PERFORMANCE OF HIS OFFICIAL DUTIES

1. The trial and judgment of an earthly judge in his official capacity.

2. A weighty matter for his consideration in the performance of his official duties. 

First Part. 

The Trial and Judgment of an Earthly Judge in the Day of Judgment. 

8. This trial is inevitable, for “we must all be made manifest before the judgment seat of Christ.” It is not in the matter of judgment as in that of conversion, that a person may do as he pleases. No, judgment will be made, thought we may not like it. You cannot in judgment act as you may attempt to act when called to the reign, namely, excuse yourself and stay away. No, you must be manifest, even though you might prefer to be buried under mountains and hills, for “we must all be made manifest before the judgment seat of Christ.” Such an investigation awaits us all, consequently also judges, for our text says, “we must all be made manifest before the judgment seat of Christ.” There are certain events which are very common among men, but none of these is more common than judgments. It is a general law that we must all (197) die, and yet there have been exceptions even to this law. Enoch and Elijah were taken to heaven without any previous separation of body and soul. On the last day there shall be numerous exceptions to this law of mortality, for “we shall not all sleep,” says Paul with reference to the human race. Concerning those who shall live at the end of the world, he says more especially that they shall be changed. But even on that very day, when so many shall escape death, no one will  escape judgment: “For we must all be made manifest before the judgment seat of Christ” 

9. There will be a careful, considerate investigation on the last day. The apostle expresses this with the word “manifest. “We must all be made manifest before the judgment seat of Christ.” The whole man, with all his relationships, shall then be brought into the light which beams forth from the all-seeing eyes of Jesus Christ. This implies, not only what the apostle says at another place: “We shall all stand before the judgment seat of God,” gut even more, namely, what Solomon says in the last words of Ecclesiastes: “God shall bring every work into judgment, with every hidden thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil.” 

10. Then a judge also shall be made manifest in all his official transactions, not only in matters pertaining to him personally and to other so f his profession, which shall all be made known, but even everything that has taken place in the official performance of his judicial duties. The purpose he had in view when he sought for so responsible a position and the ways and means used to attain so great a distinction shall be made manifest, not only according to the conception of a light-hearted (198) and covetous world, but in the light of God’s Word, which even now shines, but which shall then reproachingly enlighten consciences where prejudice and blindness mostly prevailed. Everything that the judge has said in matters belonging to his office shall then be revealed, even the most hidden motives actuating him, for “the Lord will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and make manifest the counsels of the hearts.” 

11. Upon this trial follows a stern and irrevocable judgment. Paul expresses this emphatically. Instead of the judgment he mentions its executions, punishments or reward, for here execution follows immediately upon the judgment. He does not say that each one may be judged according to what he has done, but “that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done.” Nor will the result, as is sometimes the case when men pass judgment, be different from that which the appearance of things led one to expect. No, you may know beforehand what the result will be, if your conscience is enlightened by the Spirit of God so that you know what you have done, for “each one shall receive the things done in the body,” that is the things done while he lived. Here the judge is not guided by the false testimony of perjurers, for the deeds shall themselves bear witness. They shall be the data and material for the judgment, and “each one shall receive the things done.” 

12. A judge, no doubt, has opportunity to do much good, for he has great power. If he has permitted the Holy Spirit to convert his heart to believe on Jesus Christ, so that in the love of Christ he desires to do that which is right and good, that is good according to the Word (199) of God, then he has somewhat of his Savior’s power also. It is then certain that he will do good, for what he does comes from a heart cleansed and sanctified by grace. Nor will he fail of his reward, not indeed by reason of his own merits, but by reason of the grace of God, for Christ’s sake alone. The judge’s unselfishness shall be rewarded with imperishable, heavenly treasures, instead of the gifts of perishable silver and gold which he has sacrificed. Having been just in his judgments, he shall bee crowned with the “crown of righteousness.” For his kindness and patience with the cries of distress he shall “find mercy of the Lord in that day,” when “each one shall receive the things done in the body, whether it be good or bad.” 

13. On the other hand, woe to the unrighteous judge, “who did not fear God, and did not regard man,” for he shall receive the deeds done in the body. The bribes which he has received so that he might pervert justice shall be as an eternal fire in his conscience, and the tears of those who have suffered wrong shall unceasingly trouble his soul, for “each one shall receive the things done in the body,” and be judged according to his deeds. 

Second Part. 

A Weighty Matter for the Consideration of a Judge in the Performance of his Official Duties 

14.  The final judgment is a weighty matter. According to what has just been said, the coming judgment is important, for there will not then as now be any way of escape for an unrighteous judge. Things cannot be buried in darkness before Him “who has eyes like a (200) flame of fire.” It shall be impossible to complicate the trial and to give matters a false appearance, for the Supreme Judge is an Omniscient God, who searches the reins and hearts of men. It shall not avail against the Almighty, to use a power one no longer has,m nor to resort to new deeds of violence in defense of previous wrongs. 

15. The final judgment is a weighty matter for a judge, for on it depends his eternal welfare. My beloved, what is temporal welfare in comparison with eternal welfare, and of what avail is the former if the latter is neglected? It is truly nothing but imagination, a dream, often mingled with apprehensions and pain. How rapidly this changing stream of time flows on; and we are carried along soon to face the Judge and to receive the verdict of our eternal destiny as prepared by ourselves in this present life. 

16. This final trial and judgment is important for a judge, for he will then be confronted by a situation which a judge fears above all things in this life. To have all his actions and judicial decision subjected to an official public examination has always -- and rightly so -- seemed to a public officer a terrible ordeal. But this, our text tells us, shall certainly happen on the last day. Even the book of conscience will be opened and the whole world shall be able to read what is there written. If a judge should be judged by his inferiors, yes, by those whom he has judged, he would consider this very humiliating, but this very thing shall happen. A judge, who has not been sanctified by the Holy Spirt, nor has by the Holy God been received into fellowship with the saints that are to judge the world, will be (201) judged by them. If he has been a man of the world, here in life, if from his judgment seat he has spoken of the world, then he shall have to suffer the disgrace in the day of judgment of seeing among his own judges those whom he here despised and judged. 

17. A judge should consider this weighty matter, namely, that a careful examination and a stern judgment await him in the day of judgment. 

18. He should be anxious to have his own case adjudged before that day: the matters that concern his own person, the matter of his salvation; hat the offenses committed by him in office and out of office, for which his conscience accuses him in his solitary moments and in times oif distress; that sins condemned in the Word of God may be conquered and that he may desist from his denials and excuses and no longer resist the Holy Spirit. He should be anxious that the Holy Spirit may by means of the Word reveal Jesus Christ in his conscience, so that he may realize how the Savior has in His death fulfilled the judgment against us and that in His resurrection He was “taken away from oppression and judgment.” A judge should remember that “the Father has given all judgment unto the Son,” so that it is He who can make the serfs of sin free indeed from the punishment of serfdom which He has Himself endured and justify them with the righteousness which He has purchased for them with His own obedience. to seek after this in the Word of the Lord and to call upon His Name should be matters of chief concern to a judge, for otherwise his whole official position becomes fundamentally iniquitous and his judgment fearful, whether men praise or censure him.  

19. (202) A judge should consider this weighty matter that he might conduct his office in the fear of Gd. The Apostle Paul makes an analogous conclusion in the verse following our text: “knowing therefore the fear of the Lord, we persuade men,” we deal gently and tactfully with men. Paul realized this as a teacher, and judges should come to a similar realization, that they may be kind and sympathetic in their office, remembering that they must give account of their stewardship, and that a careful examination and a stern judgment are pending. With this object in view this doctrine is presented in the Word of God by the apostle of Christ, and with the same object in view I have presented it today. 

Application.

20. Most worthy auditors, you who are appointed to be judges over the people, hear now the voice of God, a message from the Judge of all the world, even of you. Hear the word now preached to you and according to which you are to be judged on the last day, hear it in such a manner that it may, even before that day, be a judge in your thoughts, in your inmost hearts, in your consciences, in order that you ay with free consciences and courageous hearts proceed to judge your brothers. Do not then forget that you are someday to be judged exactly as you have judged others. As is done before your judgment seats, so it will be done in that supreme judgment when each one will receive the things done in the body. The Lord God grant that even the, on the day of judgment, you may be judges, that you may be numbered among the many thousand saints with whom the Lord will come “to execute judgment upon (203) all, and to “convict all the ungodly of all their works of ungodliness which they have ungodly wrought, and of all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” 

21. It is not judges alone who are to be examined in the last day, for “we must all be made manifest before the judgment seat of Christ.” Judgment will then be passed, not only upon the deeds of judges, but also upon my conduct as a preacher; upon your way of bringing up your children, O father and mother; upon your manner of living together, O man and wife; upon your conduct in your parental home, O child; upon your conduct as a servant. Consider this matter in the light of the Word, before that final judgment will be made. Pass the sentence upon yourself in confession and prayer before the mercy seat, and you will obtain mercy and not come into condemnation, but pass from death to life. Beware of passing judgment upon the consciences of others, for that judgment belongs to God; or upon their faults, for that belongs to the judges. Still less does it behoove you to pass judgment privately upon judges in their public transaction, for you are not a judge at all, least of all their judge. “Wherefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord arrives.”  Amen. 

Romans 13,12. 2nd Prayer Sunday. Henric Schartau

Romans 13,12; Isaiah 29,15 

2. Prayer Sunday, 1799 

Henric Schartau (1757-1825)

(61) Introduction. 

Up, get out of this place; for the Lord will destroy the city. 

1. It was with fear and amazement that Lot brought this message and warning to his sons-in-law. We read the narrative in Genesis 19,1-14. 

2. It is not my purpose to appear as a prophet predicting destruction on this place, but the whole condition of an unconverted man is like that of a city or a place where he rests in security, but whence he must depart. Therefore, O sinner, cast your sins away, lest for their sake you are cast away from God’s presence. Forsake sin, lest you be eternally forsaken by God. Up, get out of this place! Sin belongs to hell. It comes from there and it tends thither. Everyone who clings to his sins in life and to whom sins adhere in death must follow them whither they tend, to the abode of the devil, who is the author of sin. If you are his subject, you must at last abide with your master. Up, get out of this place! Nor imagine that this is an easy matter. The departure out of Sodom, though only an earthly journey, demanded some preparation, for which a certain brief time was allowed. Your whole life is granted for such a purpose. Use it well and prepare yourself (62) for the great final journey. Think not that grace is obtained with a mere sigh, nor imagine that you shall be converted by uttering a few words. Do not venture to the brink of eternity, for you may soon be precipitated into its bottomless depths. Let not the devil edge you along to the slippery ice of sickness, for the storms of despair may bring you out on the boundless regions of eternity, where you may not be able to stop in your flight. Beware, lest perchance, after repeated delays and postponements in the matter of your soul’s salvation, the day when you would repent find you in the depths of eternal perdition. Up, get out of this place! 

Texts. 

The night is far spent, and the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Romans 13,12. 

Therefore I now bow the knees of my heart and ask You, O Lord, for pardon. Alas, O Lord, I have sinned, I have sinned, and I know my transgressions. Manasseh, v. 11. 

Woe unto them who hide deep their counsel from Yahweh, and whose works are in the dark, and who say: Who sees us? and who knows us? Isaiah 29,15.

Proposition. 

The Grace of God as a Refuge for an Awakened Sinner. 

1. Whence a sinner must flee to find refuge with God. Romans 13,12. 

2. Whither an awakened sinner must flee. Manasseh 11. 

3. What he must aspire to, if he shall retain his refuge with God and His grace. Isaiah 29,15. 

(63) First Part. 

3. It is not necessary to remind an intelligent audience that the apostle does not here mean a natural night and day; but it may be in place to say,m for the enlightenment of the simple-hearted, that the apostle speaks of the night of ignorance, blindness and carelessness in the matters pertaining to eternity, a night which covered the whole earth before the time of Christ and His apostles. It was the night of paganism. The condition then prevailing in the world was like that of a natural night. A light may be lit in a room, and there one can see, but outside in space one cannot see anything, for darkness pervails out there. The small country inhabited by Israel was in comparison with the rest of the world like a small cottage on a vast plain,. Here a light was burning, for Israel was “entrusted with the oracles of God.” Elsewhere there prevailed the darkness of idolatry. Here and there among the Jews appeared a true Israelite with concern for another Canaan than that in which he lived. But elsewhere throughout the world, a brutish carelessness expressed itself in tis fashion: :Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we must die.” In Israel some were awake, but in the heathen world sleep was everywhere prevalent. 

4. With the advent of day that vast field became quite as well lit up as the little room where the candle previously burned. When Jesus came and sent His apostles to preach the gospel of the reign and the way thither, the heathens learned to know the way quite as well as the Jews. They needed not, like the Ethiopian eunuch, to make extensive journeys to the land of Israel for enlightenment, for the light was brought to them and set (64) upon its own candlestick. Night was far spent and day was at hand. Indeed, the heathens showed a rather greater earnestness and concernment for the salvation of their souls than the people of Israel itself. 

5. What has here been said concerning the heathen world can also be said concerning every man who is indifferent with reference to his soul. There is night, and at night on cannot see, even though he has perfect eyes, for darkness prevents their right use. If a traveler then asks his companion, if they are in the right way, the latter must admit that he does not know with certainty. A similar admission would be made by spiritually blind sinners, if they spoke sincerely. They may trouble themselves greatly to convince other of their assurance that they are the children of God; but this very troublesome effort shows that they are laboring against a secret voice which dictates the opposite. Their eagerness to defend themselves and to give reason for their pretended hope shows that the hope is not very secure, but that they have reason to fear that some one may rob them of it. Indeed, my friend, assurance of salvation comes not thus lightly into the heart. It comes from God, and if it is obtained, it is not easily removed. No man can give it, nor can any man take it away. Indifferent sinners cannot with certainty know where they are, nor where they are to abide; for in their hearts there is night. The are asleep and lie as unconcerned as those who are asleep, quite unafraid, quite unable to save themselves, even from the most obvious danger. 

6. It is from such slumber that a sinner must be awakened, but it cannot be done until God quickens him. The sinner is even more unable than one physically sleeping to awake himself. (65) Jesus is like a good friend, who notices that fire has broken out in the house of His friend, while all there are asleep. He hastens thither and raps at the door. He calls to the people to awake and save themselves. Thus Jesus represents Himself in Revelation 3,20. It now happens as when one naturally sleeping awakes. While half awake he hears the rapping and the cry. Finally he awakes, opens his eyes, sees his danger, leaps up and endeavors to save himself. In like manner an awakening sinner perceives something unusual when hearing the Word of God, becomes sorrowful and affrighted, convinced of his spiritual danger and impelled to seek after salvation. When a soul is thus awakened and is endeavoring to flee from the wrath of God, it is necessary that the following instruction e given to him in order that he may know what it is that he must flee from, if he is to find refuge in the grace of God. 

7. This instruction is given by the apostle in analogy with the departure of night and the advent of day: “Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.” The works of darkness are intentional sins. Such sins are called “works of darkness,” for they are preferably done in darkness. The sinner is bent on sinning, though he may be ashamed of the abominable appearance of his sin, and so he sins in secret. He chooses the darkness of the night or, at any rate, wishes to have his sins quite as forgotten as if they were covered with the darkness of night. Intentional sins are also called “works of darkness,” because it is the Prince of Darkness who tempts man to sin, fortifies him in sin, and induces him to remain (66) in sin. Hence, such sins are also, in John’s first epistle, called the works of the devil: “To this end was the Son of God manifested, so that He might destroy the works of the devil.” An intentional sinner sins, not by reason of ignorance or imprudence, but, even as the devil, with malicious deliberation. Intentional sins are also called “the works of the flesh.” It is from all such sins that an awakened sinner must flee. It is such sins that he must “cast off.” 

8. You tell me that you cannot understand this. “I have often debated with myself,” you say, “how I might bring about such a change in my life, but, in the midst of such self-deliberation, I have finally stopped in the same mind as before.” I reply, do you knot know whence this comes?  You have the one hand full of sin and the other full of the world; you should cast them away with both hands, but, before you do this, you look at the one and behold the other, and you thus become loath to part with these friends of yours. You are doing like Eve, looking at the forbidden fruit and becoming infatuated with it. While thus deliberating with yourself, you become reversed in mind. Instead of casting away sin and the world, you clasp them to your heart. No, you must act rapidly; if you are to cast them away, it will not do to shove them away slowly; you must cast off the works of darkness, or, as Jesus expresses it, cut off the aggravating foot or hand, pluck out the enticing eye. 

9. Someone again remarks: “I have tried to cast them off, but I have not been able to do it. I have determined never to do thus and thus again, but still I have sinned again. Angered with myself, I have resolutely (67) promised that it should never happen again, but I have nevertheless again fallen into sin.” I reply: Of course, you have fallen. You have tried to cast off the works of darkness, but you have not put on the armor of light. This must follow in life, as it follows in the words of the apostle. The devil will not easily let go of his captive. You cannot unarmed escape from his superior power. When he notices that you are becoming concerned about your salvation, he acts like a spider when a fly tries to get loose from his web. As the spider winds new cords about the wretched little fly, so the devil arranges new entertainments or devices to hold captive, even more securely, the soul that has begun to seek for rescue. So then, you need weapons, as the apostle has said, weapons of light against the Prince of Darkness. Of course, we are not here speaking of natural light. “The armor of light” signifies the Word of God, which in the Scriptures is called a light and also a weapon. 

10. “Yes,” you now rejoin, “but I have the Word of God, and I read it now and then, and still no change has taken place in me.” I reply: This is due to the fact that, as you say, you use the Word “now and then.” If a warrior were thus to leave his weapons hanging on the wall, his enemies might well surprise him and slay him, before he could get his musket and defend himself. He must in time of war carry his weapons with him; they must be, as it were, a part of his dress and be ever at hand for ready use. This is Paul’s teaching when he says: “Put on the armor of light.” If you leave your Bible lying on the shelf, the tempter may overtake you before you can look up your Bible and (68) find out what to do in your present exigency. You must see to it that the Word of God is as near to you as your very clothing, so that it may enter into your mind with knowledge and into your heart with desire. You must see to it that the Word of God is planted into your life, and that you may be clothed with this weapon of light. Then you will be enabled to flee from the former manner of sinful life and to cast off the works of darkness. 

Second Part. 

11. We here ask whither an awakened sinner shall flee, and I reply, He must flee to the grace of God. We first note what it is that impels him to take refuge in the grace of God. It is a thorough knowledge of sin and its wretchedness. Manasseh, whose words constitute our Second Text, was a king of Judah. He had been very much infatuated with the errors of idolatry and had committed many sins. He had even been cruel to those who were not like-minded with him. God chastised and punished him with defeat at the hands of a foreign king. In his captivity Manasseh began to think, and it was probably now that he offered the prayer of which our text is a part. He describes his state of mind, saying: “I know my transgressions.” Behold, O sinner! When a man arrives at true knowledge of his sins, he does not consider them merely as shortcomings and faults, but a awful transgressions. then you realize that you have transgressed all the commandments of God, and that even the sins which are deemed negligible by the world are abominable before God. In this way you learn to understand that you have sinned against all the commandments, but that (69) the source of your unhappiness lies even deeper, not in your manner of living, but in your heart, not in your acts, but in your person. Manasseh expresses this by repeating his confession, pointing out his own person. “I have sinned, I have sinned.” Thus you discover the sinful depravity of your heart, O sinner, and get a clear conception of your corrupted nature. There is the root which bears the fruit of evil. There is the well-spring of corruption. When you realize tis, you look in vain for refuge. Anguish and weeping then prove inefficient to blot out such an immense indebtedness, and you find it utterly impossible to expect any real improvement by the mere exertions of a depraved soul. There is no other refuge left for you than the grace of God, and you look in vain for another. Blessed be the Lord Jesus Christ! He has opened “a new and living way.” With the suffering in His flesh, He wrought atonement for the wrath of God, and opened a way to the grace of God. By means of what He did while walking here in the garb of human flesh and blood, Jesus purchased an eternal righteousness, which suffices throughout all time even for you. 

12. This refuge in the grace of God is taken with prayer. “Therefore I bow the knees of my heart and ask You, O Lord, for pardon.” This is not a thoughtless and careless repetition of a few prayers, for when Manasseh speaks of bowing the knees of his heart, he means what Jesus expresses by saying that we should “pray in spirit and in truth.” An awakened sinner asks for the grace which Jesus purchased with His atonement and righteousness. He has no other plea to offer than the merits of Jesus, no other basis for his hope to be heard than (70) God’s promise to grant this grace to everyone who desires to accept it for nothing, as the grace of Jesus Christ, for His sake and on His account. 

13. An awakened sinner comes with a sincere confession of his sins and seeks refuge in the grace of God. Manasseh said: “Alas, O Lord, I have sinned.” Such a confession is not needed for the Lord’s sake. He knows, far better than you do, your sinful ways; it is He who has shown them to you. The confession is needed for your own sake, so that you may the better learn to know how loathsome your sins are, and that your heart may be opened before God to make your confession with sincerity and confidence. When David thus sought refuge in the grace of God, he tells us that he approached the mercy seat and found what he sought, for God found room in the heart thus opened, and His Spirit was enabled to grant a true faith, bringing with it the forgiveness of sins. 

Third Part. 

14. When an awakened sinner has found refuge in the grace of God, it nevertheless becomes necessary for him to flee from everything which would deprive him of the grace he has found. I shall therefore now proceed to show that an awakened sinner must flee from sin, after he has found refuge in the grace of God. 

15. A person just converted meets his greatest dangers among his former associates, and therefore he must leave them and especially flee from those who do not have any regard for the grace of God. Their mockery might soon make the new convert ashamed of Jesus and His Word and thus make him again unworthy of the grace which he has just received. Their threats might (71) make him afraid and lead him like Peter to deny his Lord. their persuasive speech might deceive an easily perverted heart to follow them back to the former ways. Their examples might quicken passions so recently subdued and again bring the saved soul into the thraldom of sin. Their conversation might suffocate the feeble spirit and gradually extinguish its flame. Therefore it is entirely necessary for a new convert to flee from the evil associations of those who are not converted nor wish to be. The Scriptures also counsel and admonish us to avoid such companionship, saying: “Blessed is the person who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners.” This was God’s intent when He forbade the Jews’ yoking together a horse and an ox not that the yoking together of animals of different species was wrong in itself, but it had a deep significance, namely that which Paul expresses when he says: “Do not be unequally yoked with the unbelievers.” It is quite sufficient that we cannot entirely avoid their company, since we cannot escape from this world. It is enough that we are constrained to deal with them in matters pertaining to this present life. It is enough that our Christian sense of duty now and then demands that we must endure those who are evil, and that our common charity occasionally makes such associations necessary. We should all the more take are to avoid unnecessary associations and undue intimacy with those of a carnal and worldly mind. 

16. “But,” you say, “how shall I be able to know who they are, in order that I may beware of them?” I reply: This is precisely what I propose to show in the light of our text. It mentions three characteristics of those (72) from whom a person must flee after he has taken refuge in the grace of God. “Woe unto them who hide deep their counsel from Yahweh” etc. 

17. First, they seek to hide their counsel. When you meet a person who shows a wrong purpose but immediately,m when caught, turns about, saying: “O no, that was not my intention. I did not mean to say that, but this is what I meant”; when you find people who do not shoot whither they aim, then you must beware lest you be entangled, like Eve, by the craftiness of the serpent. 

18. Secondly, there are those who are somewhat more simple-minded. “Whose works are in the dark.” This is another characteristic of those from whom a converted person must flee. Converted people are like the Roman of old who built his house with windows on all sides, so that everybody could see what he was about. Jesus characterizes a converted man when He says: “He that does the truth comes to the light so that his works may be made manifest, that they have been wrought in God.” A converted person might indeed permit another converted person to see everything he does, yes even open his heart to be read like a book. “But everyone who does ill hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his works should be reproved,.” If you notice someone who is very much inclined to deny what he does and to obliterate the marks of his footsteps along the ways that he has walked, continually anxious that no one shall know what he is about, such an one is certainly a child of deception. He assuredly has something which he needs to conceal since he thus hides himself. 

19. (73) With this extreme cunning, with all these devices, the children of this world imagine that much is being accomplished, to the extent that it has become a maxim with them, so that they say: “Who sees us? and who knows us?” This is a third characteristic of the unconverted. they will not listen to the idea that anyone might be able to understand their inner condition. They become intolerant, if anyone intimates that he has the slightest conception of this. They immediately protest against judgments and condemnations, and it is a real doctrine in the system of the unconverted that, in as much as one cannot search a man’s heart, no one can make conclusion with reference to the condition of another’s soul. When you find people who lose their peace as soon as a spiritual conversation is directed their way, you may indeed flee, and be glad, if you can make your escape and save yourself, without stopping to deliberate how you might do something for their persuasion. 

Application. 

20. Let me now, in conclusion, admonish you with the words recorded in Ephesians 5,14. “Awake, you who sleeps, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall shine upon you.” If you hear the Word of the Lord more clearly now than otherwise, then awake and arise, lest you awake with the rich man in the flames of hell. If you awake and are enabled to realize the danger of your soul, beware, lest you merely awake and remain lying there; awake rightly and do not sin, awake and flee from your former sinful life, and see that you cast away the works of darkness, to the end that Christ may enlighten you. By walking in the light of grace you shall be enlightened. If you diligently seek for refuge, you shall find it in the grace which your Savior has procured. If you are laden with sins, if you are laboring against the assaults of temptations, then your Savior offers you a refuge, saying: “Come unto Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” And after you have found this refuge, He assures you that you shall not be excluded therefrom, for whosoever comes to Him shall in no wise be cast out.  Amen. 

Matthew 8,1-13. Third Sunday after Epiphany. Schartau

Matthew 8,1-13

3. Sunday after Epiphany

Henric Schartau (1757-1825)

In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

1. (181) I am all full of festering sores, Come lay Your hand upon me; I am adrift far from the shores, Let Your grace never fail me. I am so weak, have pity, Lord, An erring sheep Your care afford. Your grace alone I’m pleading. 

2. Pray thus, O penitent sinner who is aware of Your soul’s infirmity and longs for spiritual health. Pray to Jesus, the Right Physician of souls, in the Name of God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Amen. 

Introduction. 

3. “Do you want to be made whole?” This strange question was put by the Lord to a man who lay bodily sick. Today I wish to direct the same question to all who are spiritually sick: “Do you want to be made whole?” 

4. There was in Jerusalem a pool, called Bethesda, into which at certain seasons an angel descended and troubled the water. The first invalid to descend into the water after it had been trouble was healed. There was among others a man who had been sick for thirty-eight years, lying in one of the porches erected for the sick. He had waited long but in vain for the healing bath. He had no one to help him into the water and (182) was always preceded by someone who was a little stronger or who had a helper. Jesus saw him and learned that he had lain there for a long time, and He said to the man: “Do you want to be made whole?” 

5. It may appear superfluous for Jesus to ask this question, since it was evident that the invalid wished to be made whole, but Jesus wished to show, first, that while the sick man could not help himself, his consent was nevertheless necessary; secondly, that when he wished to be made well, Jesus had the requisite power and willingness to heal him. 

6. Man’s spiritual condition resembles that of one bodily sick. Pains, unconsciousness, fever, infirmity, yes, even death follows upon spiritual, as well as upon bodily, diseases. The Holy Scriptures therefore represent the rising up from our sinful depravity as being like a healing from some malady. Our Gospel text speaks of two, who were bodily sick and whom Jesus healed. It is not, then, improper, if we take occasion to speak of spiritual healing from a disease with which our souls are all affected, a disease which eventually leads to eternal destruction, if it is not healed in time. 

7. Jesus has procured so certain a remedy that it never fails, if rightly used. He has also opened a way to this remedy, so that every person can be healed. Jesus has made so perfect a payment for all our sins and purchased grace unto the rising up of the soul from sinful depravity that any one who rightly seeks for atonement and appropriates the grace in Christ never can remain lying in the wretchedness of his sins. The way lies open in repentance and faith, and the means of grace, the Word and the Sacraments, are available. It is by (183) these that the Holy Spirit, without our assistance, enables us to gain the health and life which Jesus has purchased for our sick, dead souls. 

8. On behalf of Jesus I must now ask you the same question that He put to the sick man at Bethesda: “Do you want to be made whole?” Though your consent is necessary for the healing of your soul, you have nothing to contribute. If you wish to be healed spiritually, you shall know that Jesus is willing to heal you. He is also able; He lacks no power, for He is God. He has healed many thousands quite as wretched and corrupted as you. Fall down before HIm as did the leper and ask for the healing of your soul, saying: “Our Father” etc. 

Text: Matthew 8,1-13

Proposition

A Glorious Comfort for Penitent Sinners

1. Penitent sinners to whom it is a comfort that Jesus will make them whole. 

2. The glorious comfort for such penitent sinners, that Jesus will make them whole. 

Prayer

9. O Jesus Christ! You are the healing and life of our souls. Concerning You it is written that, on one occasion when You were teaching many people, the power of the Lord was with You to heal. Let Your Word no be active to the making of this congregation whole by means of the health which You has purchased for us with Your blood.  Amen. 

First Part.

To Whom It Is a Comfort That Jesus Will Make Them Whole.

10. Evidently there can be no comfort to be made well except to those who grieve because they are sick. No one rejoices in the hope of regaining his health, unless he knows that he has lost it and is painfully aware of this loss. 

11. No man is by nature whole. Every one is corrupted by the infection of sin. Spiritually he resembles the leper in our Gospel. Leprosy was a disease which spread sores all over the body, causing pain and an obnoxious odor. Human depravity is by Isaiah described in terms apparently borrowed from this disease: “The whole head is sick, and the whole heart is faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it, but wounds, and bruises and festering sores.” The whole head is sick. The entire reason of man is blinded; the functions of organs of the intellect are in the greatest disorder and confusion, so that “the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, and he cannot know them.” The whole heart is faint. The human will is faint with infirmity, slothfulness and indifference as far as God and the reign of grace are concerned. Indeed, “the mind of the flesh is enmity against God.” Our natural mind neither is, nor can be, “subject to the law of God.” Human nature is full of sin, corruption and wretchedness. From the sole of the foot to the crown of the head there are festering sores or manifest sins, also secret sins, “wounds and bruises:” containing cankerous poison. 

12. No man knows his spiritual infirmity by his own reason. In his natural condition man is like one sick, not only b reason of his suffering, but also because he is so seriously affected tht he loses consciousness of his pains. Immediately after a person has broken his Baptismal covenant, he has disturbing reminders of his backsliding, and an anxious feeling of regret overtakes him when he recalls the blessings he once enjoyed. He soon casts away his anxiety, however, stifles his apprehensions with new sin, and eventually becomes quite callous and secure. even if there are occasional attacks of the former anxiety, they are soon forgotten, and the sinner may in the meantime boast of having a good conscience, not doubting his salvation. 

13. It is the Word of God that informs a person of his spiritual disease. This is the significance of the word by Jeremiah: “Is not My Word like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” It breaks a man’s stony heart and causes a smarting sensation of sorrow, as though the heart were crushed. The spiritual condition then resembles the physical condition of the centurion’s servant of whom we read? “My servant lies in the house sick and grievously tormented.” When the law “pierces to the dividing of soul and spirit, joints and marrow,” then the sins revealed thoroughly frighten the soul with fear of eternal condemnation, which the awakened soul at last realizes that he has merited. The law demands love to God with all one’s heart, but now it becomes apparent in the light of God’s Word that one harbors evil desires. In short, when God begins to heal the soul, its depravity becomes quite apparent. 

14. A person then also becomes aware of his inability to (186) help himself. His soul resembles the servant in our Gospel, who was “sick of the palsy,” and quite unable to help himself out of his tribulations. The awakened sinner is indeed willing to attempt to help himself, but his dismal failures and a greater enlightenment finally convince him that, in the words of the apostle Paul: “We are not sufficient of ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God.” A sinner so awakened fears the wrath of God and finds himself unable to appease the Lord. He feels the loathsome violence of the passions and many a time with heartfelt sorrow and humiliation he experiences his inability to quench and, still less, to uproot them. 

Second Part. 

It Is a Comfort for Such Souls That Jesus Is Willing to Make Them Whole. 

15. Indeed, a person so awakened already has the comfort that Jesus can make a wretched man whole. It is this comfort which secretly sustains a penitent soul and keeps it from despair. For where would otherwise be our hope? But, now hallelujah! Jesus can do it; let Him be eternally praised for it. He can do it, for He has been able to fulfill the law, endure the penalty of our sins, bring the devil to nought, take away sins, appease the wrath of God, and make Himself alive again. Nothing is beyond His power. He says: “All authority has been given unto Me in heaven and on earth.” Jesus can heal a wretched soul. Behold, here there are prospects, there is hope of obtaining health by His stripes, and life by His death.

16. This comfort is given even in the state of awakening. (187) The leper expressed his conviction that Jesus was able to cure him, saying: “You can make me whole.” The centurion had such lofty conceptions of the Savior’s power that he believed Jesus could heal the palsied servant even at a distance by a mere word. He explained his faith with a parable referring to himself. Though he was under authority, he nevertheless had power to accomplish several things by means of his servant and his soldiers, and so he was all the more sure that Jesus who is above all, having no superiors, could do everything. So also an awakened sinner is entirely convinced that Jesus can heal a diseased soul. This conviction of Jesus’ power to help is a result of the first enlightenment by the gospel. When a person has read the Word of God, heard and read it in its entire connection, then he has acquainted himself with the gospel of Jesus Christ as well as with the law.  The latter has indeed, according to God’s order of grace, first enlightened the sinner to know himself and his wretchedness, but thereupon the Holy Spirit makes the gospel vital to the heart and enables the sinner to know Jesus Christ and the great value of His redemption. The penitent sinner then understands and believes that since he is but a mere man while Jesus is God, therefore the payment effected by Jesus is greater than the sinner’s guilt, His reparation greater than the sinner’s fall, the grace purchased greater than the wrath merited, the salvation obtained far surpassing the wretchedness in which the sinner feels himself plunged. He therefore confidently believes that Jesus can forgive all his sins, raise him up out of perdition, and grant him grace unto salvation. Still there is an obscure uncertainty whether Jesus is also (188) willing. The leper said: “If you will.” Jesus was therefore anxious to assure him as well as the centurion of His willingness and readiness to help; He said: “I will; be made clean;””I will come and heal him.” 

17. It is very certain that Jesus is willing to save sinners, just as we heard in His words that He was willing to heal them of their bodily infirmities. In like manner, and even more so, He is willing to heal their spiritual diseases. If He has come into the world to save sinners, He is also willing to have them share the salvation He has obtained for them. He is the same immutable Son of God that He has ever been, and He still has the same love for men that He had when He gave Himself for them in death. He has asserted this several times in His Word: “The Lord is … long-suffering toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” “Who (God) would have all men to be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth.” “Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them.” 

18. This is great comfort for an awakened soul. When Jesus can and will, it must be so. The penitent sinner becomes assured of this, assured that his sins will be forgiven and that his conscience will be healed. This is the summary of all God’s promises, that God is willing, that His good will is turned toward men. It was this comfort that was announced by angels at the Savior’s birth: “Men in whom He is well pleased.” 

19. This is glorious comfort for a man who is sad by reason of his sins. It sustains him in his temptations and gives him strength to reject the suggestion of the evil one, who whispers in his ear that it were better for him (189) to give up everything since it appears that he is making no progress in godliness. When the question of despair arises in a crushed heart as to whether God ever cares for so wretched and abominable a creature, then here is the glorious comfort that Jesus will help from the depths of sin. The saddened soul is thus enabled to unbosom his troubles to the Lord and to ask for help from the power of sin and Satan. When Jesus had assured the centurion of His willingness to help, the latter became encouraged to disclose his heart to the Savior. The comfort received has a powerful attraction and leads those who seek for salvation to a sincere confidential talk with Jesus concerning His power and will to help, of which His gracious promises give assurance. The comfort also discloses the spiritual poverty and faith of such an heart.When Jesus had comforted the centurion with the assurance of His willingness to help, the centurion said: »I am not worthy that You should come under my roof.« Here was spiritual poverty. He added: »But only say the word, and my servant shall be healed.« Here was a faith the likeness of which Jesus declared He had not found in Israel. 

20. A similar comfort is granted to a soul that is sighing for redemption from the misery of sin. He becomes assured that Jesus will help him. As Jesus stretched forth His hand and gave the leprous man both assurance and help, simultaneously, so He stretches forth His gracious hand in the Word, giving comfort to penitent heart. One thus comforted no longer doubts that he will find healing for his soul, but says with Micah: »He will again have compassion upon us; He will tread our iniquities (190) under foot; and you will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.« 

21. He will also obtain help. Jesus said: »I will,« and immediately continued: “Be made clean.” And straightaway his leprosy was cleansed. After Jesus had first declared Himself willing to come and heal the centurion’s servant, and the man had believed that Jesus could and would do it, it happened even so. Jesus said: “Go your way; as you have believed, so be it done unto you,” and the servant was healed in that very hour., Similarly, in the very moment that a soul frightened by God’s law believes that Jesus can and will blot out his guilt and make him righteous before God, it happens even as he believes. Jesus “blots out his transgressions as a thick cloud,” clothes the soul in His meritorious righteousness, and grants it “an inheritance among them who are sanctified by faith in Jesus,” who has purchased this with His obedience, with His blood and death. 

Application.

22. In conclusion, you have now heard that Jesus is willing to heal you. It cannot be done, however, if you say in your heart: “I will not.” Then Jesus must complain as in the case of the Jews: “You will not come to Me, so that you may have life.” But you say that you wish to be healed. You are anxious to get rid of secret apprehensions which occasionally trouble you, and of the anxiety which attacks you now and then. You are quite willing to have an healed, quiet, contented and peaceful conscience; but you are not willing to admit that your secret uneasiness of mind comes from secret sins, so that you anxiety is derived from a state of guilt not remitted. (191) This is equivalent to an unwillingness to be healed. The wounds of conscience must smart before they can be healed. If your sins have never caused you anguish, you can have no healed soul, and you should consider that your sins are quire as great, yes, even greater being thus concealed, and that eternal death must follow upon the temporal death, if your blindness and sense of security follow you till you meet death. 

23. If there is some one, as I hope there may be, in this great congregation who sincerely wishes to find his soul’s healing through Jesus Christ, I say to him: “Do not cast away your boldness”; for Jesus is of the same will as you, and your healing will certainly come in due season. Search in His Word, the Holy Scriptures, for a greater insight into His promises, which assure you that Jesus is willing to save, Pray that He may, by virtue of the power in His Word, give you the assurance, the same comfort, that He gave to the men in our test: “I will, I will”; then it shall be done unto you even as you believe and as Jesus wills. He shall Himself finish His gracious will upon you, deliver you from the sins which oppress you and grant you His peace.  

24. Again, if there is someone who has obtained such healing, then I have a word of waring in our Gospel of today. Jesus did not allow the leper who had been healed to tell anyone until he had shown himself to the priest in accordance with the law of Moses: “for a testimony unto them.” When the priests had permitted him  to offer the gift of one healed then they had also acknowledged that the leper had been healed, and they had, consequently, testified against themselves that (192) Jesus was from God, since He had been able to do this. From this I wish to take occasion to warn the soul that has been healed: Speak not about it to men until you have first offered a sacrifice of thanks and praise to the Lord. Your offering of praise may thereupon, on some opportune occasion, be given in the presence of your unbelieving relatives and acquaintances as a testimony to the hardness and impenitence of heart in neglecting the grace offered them, by means of which they might have come to the same blessed condition for which you are praising the Lord. 

25. In the second place, I wish to call to the attention of a soul thus healed the warning which Jesus gave to the man who had lain at Bethesda. Jesus found him in the temple after he had been healed, and said to him: “Behold, you are made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing befall you.” Behold, you have found salvation for your soul. A rare occurrence in our days! Sin no more. Beware of your former sins, lest you fall into them again and into a far worse condition than before. You have the same inherited disease as the rest of our race. I mean the  original and congenital sinful depravity. Beware, lest its lusts deceive you to consent to any sin and to transgress God’s commandments. You are living in a world which “lies entirely in the evil one,” and where most men are afflicted with the prevailing leprosy of sin. You must therefore  see to it that you are not again “entangled in the defilements of the world.” “Keep yourself unspotted from the world.” Resist the devil manfully, with prayer in faith, so that he may not wound your conscience and corrupt your soul. Seek Jesus Christ in the Word, for He is your soul’s salvation. (193) Be anxious to have your life in faith strengthened and nourished by frequent communion at the Lord’s Table. 

26. Now if my Lord Jesus should wish that this probation sermon of mine shall be the only word of God which I am to preach among you, let His will be done. It would be great joy for me in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ -- and, indeed, it is even now a gratifying thought -- if, by virtue of the healing power of the Word of God, some of my auditors should stand healed in His sight.

27. Amen, in His Name, amen.