German-American Lutherans

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

2012-01-27T16:00:00.000-05:00

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

2012-01-10T09:24:00.001-05:00

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

2011-12-01T09:00:00.001-05:00

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.

Posted this day on the north doors of the Schlosskirche

2011-10-31T09:39:00.000-04:00

DISPUTATION OF DOCTOR MARTIN LUTHER ON THE POWER AND EFFICACY OF INDULGENCES

OCTOBER 31, 1517

Out of love for the truth and the desire to bring it to light, the following propositions will be discussed at Wittenberg, under the presidency of the Reverend Father Martin Luther, Master of Arts and of Sacred Theology, and Lecturer in Ordinary on the same at that place. Wherefore he requests that those who are unable to be present and debate orally with us, may do so by letter.

In the Name our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

1. Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, when He said poenitentiam agite ["Repent"], willed that the whole life of believers should be repentance. [Matthew 4:17]

2. This word cannot be understood to mean sacramental penance, i.e., confession and satisfaction, which is administered by the priests.

3. Yet it means not inward repentance only; nay, there is no inward repentance which does not outwardly work divers mortifications of the flesh.

4. The penalty [of sin], therefore, continues so long as hatred of self continues; for this is the true inward repentance, and continues until our entrance into the kingdom of heaven.

5. The pope does not intend to remit, and cannot remit any penalties other than those which he has imposed either by his own authority or by that of the Canons.

6. The pope cannot remit any guilt, except by declaring that it has been remitted by God and by assenting to God's remission; though, to be sure, he may grant remission in cases reserved to his judgment. If his right to grant remission in such cases were despised, the guilt would remain entirely unforgiven.

7. God remits guilt to no one whom He does not, at the same time, humble in all things and bring into subjection to His vicar, the priest.

8. The penitential canons are imposed only on the living, and, according to them, nothing should be imposed on the dying.

9. Therefore the Holy Spirit in the pope is kind to us, because in his decrees he always makes exception of the article of death and of necessity.

10. Ignorant and wicked are the doings of those priests who, in the case of the dying, reserve canonical penances for purgatory.

11. This changing of the canonical penalty to the penalty of purgatory is quite evidently one of the tares that were sown while the bishops slept. [Matthew 13:25]

12. In former times the canonical penalties were imposed not after, but before absolution, as tests of true contrition.

13. The dying are freed by death from all penalties; they are already dead to canonical rules, and have a right to be released from them.

14. The imperfect health [of soul], that is to say, the imperfect love, of the dying brings with it, of necessity, great fear; and the smaller the love, the greater is the fear.

15. This fear and horror is sufficient of itself alone (to say nothing of other things) to constitute the penalty of purgatory, since it is very near the horror of despair.

16. Hell, purgatory, and heaven seem to differ the same as despair, fear, and the assurance of salvation.

17. With souls in purgatory it seems necessary that horror should grow less and love increase.

18. It seems unproved, either by reason or Scripture, that they are outside the state of merit, that is to say, of increasing love.

19. Again, it seems unproved that they, or at least that all of them, are certain or assured of their own blessedness, though we may be quite certain of it.

20. Therefore by "full remission of all penalties" the pope means not actually "of all," but only of those imposed by himself.

21. Therefore those preachers of indulgences are in error, who say that by the pope's indulgences a man is freed from every penalty, and saved;

22. Whereas he remits to souls in purgatory no penalty which, according to the canons, they would have had to pay in this life.

23. If it is at all possible to grant to any one the remission of all penalties whatsoever, it is certain that this remission can be granted only to the most perfect, that is, to the very fewest.

24. It must needs be, therefore, that the greater part of the people are deceived by that indiscriminate and highsounding promise of release from penalty.

25. The power which the pope has, in a general way, over purgatory, is just like the power which any bishop or curate has, in a special way, within his own diocese or parish.

26. The pope does well when he grants remission to souls [in purgatory], not by the power of the keys (which he does not possess), but by way of intercession.

27. They preach man who say that so soon as the penny jingles into the money-box, the soul flies out [of purgatory].

28. It is certain that when the penny jingles into the money-box, gain and avarice can be increased, but the result of the intercession of the Church is in the power of God alone.

29. Who knows whether all the souls in purgatory wish to be bought out of it, as in the legend of Sts. Severinus and Paschal.

30. No one is sure that his own contrition is sincere; much less that he has attained full remission.

31. Rare as is the man that is truly penitent, so rare is also the man who truly buys indulgences, i.e., such men are most rare.

32. They will be condemned eternally, together with their teachers, who believe themselves sure of their salvation because they have letters of pardon.

33. Men must be on their guard against those who say that the pope's pardons are that inestimable gift of God by which man is reconciled to Him;

34. For these "graces of pardon" concern only the penalties of sacramental satisfaction, and these are appointed by man.

35. They preach no Christian doctrine who teach that contrition is not necessary in those who intend to buy souls out of purgatory or to buy confessional privileges preach unchristian doctrine.

36. Every truly repentant Christian has a right to full remission of penalty and guilt, even without letters of pardon.

37. Every true Christian, whether living or dead, participates in all the blessings of Christ and the Church; and this is granted him by God, even without indulgence letters.

38. Nevertheless, papal remission and blessing are by no means to be disregarded for they are, as I have said [Thesis 6], the proclamation of the divine remission.

39. It is most difficult, even for the very keenest theologians, at one and the same time to commend to the people the abundance of pardons and [the need of] true contrition.

40. True contrition seeks and loves penalties, but liberal pardons only relax penalties and cause them to be hated, or at least, furnish an occasion [for hating them].

41. Apostolic pardons are to be preached with caution, lest the people may falsely think them preferable to other good works of love.

42. Christians are to be taught that the pope does not intend the buying of pardons to be compared in any way to works of mercy.

43. Christians are to be taught that he who gives to the poor or lends to the needy does a better work than buying pardons.

44. Because love grows by works of love, and man becomes better; but by pardons man does not grow better, only more free from penalty.

45. Christians are to be taught that he who sees a man in need, and passes him by, and gives [his money] for pardons, purchases not the indulgences of the pope, but the indignation of God.

46. Christians are to be taught that unless they have more than they need, they are bound to keep back what is necessary for their own families, and by no means to squander it on pardons.

47. Christians are to be taught that the buying of pardons is a matter of free will, and not of commandment.

48. Christians are to be taught that the pope, in granting pardons, needs, and therefore desires, their devout prayer for him more than the money they bring.

49. Christians are to be taught that the pope's pardons are useful, if they do not put their trust in them, but altogether harmful, if through them they lose their fear of God.

50. Christians are to be taught that if the pope knew the exactions of the pardon-preachers, he would rather that St. Peter's church should go to ashes, than that it should be built up with the skin, flesh and bones of his sheep.

51. Christians are to be taught that it would be the pope's wish, as it is his duty, to give of his own money to very many of those from whom certain hawkers of pardons cajole money, even though the church of St. Peter might have to be sold.

52. The assurance of salvation by letters of pardon is vain, even though the commissary, nay, even though the pope himself, were to stake his soul upon it.

53. They are enemies of Christ and of the pope, who bid the Word of God be altogether silent in some Churches, in order that pardons may be preached in others.

54. Injury is done the Word of God when, in the same sermon, an equal or a longer time is spent on pardons than on this Word.

55. It must be the intention of the pope that if pardons, which are a very small thing, are celebrated with one bell, with single processions and ceremonies, then the Gospel, which is the very greatest thing, should be preached with a hundred bells, a hundred processions, a hundred ceremonies.

56. The "treasures of the Church," out of which the pope grants indulgences, are not sufficiently named or known among the people of Christ.

57. That they are not temporal treasures is certainly evident, for many of the vendors do not pour out such treasures so easily, but only gather them.

58. Nor are they the merits of Christ and the saints, for, even without the pope, the latter always work grace for the inner man, and the cross, death, and hell for the outer man.

59. St. Lawrence said that the treasures of the Church were the Church's poor, but he spoke according to the usage of the word in his own time.

60. Without rashness we say that the keys of the Church, given by Christ's merit, are that treasure.

61. For it is clear that for the remission of penalties and of reserved cases, the power of the pope is of itself sufficient.

62. The true treasure of the Church is the Most Holy Gospel of the glory and the grace of God.

63. But this treasure is naturally most odious, for it makes the first to be last. [Matt. 20:16]

64. On the other hand, the treasure of indulgences is naturally most acceptable, for it makes the last to be first.

65. Therefore the treasures of the Gospel are nets with which they formerly were wont to fish for men of riches.

66. The treasures of the indulgences are nets with which they now fish for the riches of men.

67. The indulgences which the preachers cry as the "greatest graces" are known to be truly such, in so far as they promote gain.

68. Yet they are in truth the very smallest graces compared with the grace of God and the piety of the Cross.

69. Bishops and curates are bound to admit the commissaries of apostolic pardons, with all reverence.

70. But still more are they bound to strain all their eyes and attend with all their ears, lest these men preach their own dreams instead of the commission of the pope.

71 . He who speaks against the truth of apostolic pardons, let him be anathema and accursed!

72. But he who guards against the lust and license of the pardon-preachers, let him be blessed!

73. The pope justly thunders against those who, by any art, contrive the injury of the traffic in pardons.

74. But much more does he intend to thunder against those who use the pretext of pardons to contrive the injury of holy love and truth.

75. To think the papal pardons so great that they could absolve a man even if he had committed an impossible sin and violated the Mother of God -- this is madness.

76. We say, on the contrary, that the papal pardons are not able to remove the very least of venial sins, so far as its guilt is concerned.

77. It is said that even St. Peter, if he were now Pope, could not bestow greater graces; this is blasphemy against St. Peter and against the pope.

78. We say, on the contrary, that even the present pope, and any pope at all, has greater graces at his disposal; to wit, the Gospel, powers, gifts of healing, etc., as it is written in 1 Corinthians 12[:28].

79. To say that the cross, emblazoned with the papal arms, which is set up [by the preachers of indulgences], is of equal worth with the Cross of Christ, is blasphemy.

80. The bishops, curates and theologians who allow such talk to be spread among the people, will have an account to render.

81. This unbridled preaching of pardons makes it no easy matter, even for learned men, to rescue the reverence due to the pope from slander, or even from the shrewd questionings of the laity.

82. Such as: "Why does not the pope empty purgatory for the sake of holy love and the dire need of the souls that are there if he redeems an infinite number of souls for the sake of miserable money with which to build a church? The former reason would be most just; the latter is most trivial."

83. Again: "Why are mortuary and anniversary masses for the dead continued, and why does he not return or permit the withdrawal of the endowments founded on their behalf, since it is wrong to pray for the redeemed?"

84. Again: "What is this new piety of God and the pope, that for money they allow a man who is impious and their enemy to buy out of purgatory the pious soul of a friend of God, and do not rather, because of that pious and beloved soul's own need, free it for pure love's sake?"

85. Again: "Why are the penitential canons long since in actual fact and through disuse abrogated and dead, now satisfied by the granting of indulgences, as though they were still alive and in force?"

86. Again: "Why does not the pope, whose wealth is today greater than the riches of the richest, build just this one church of St. Peter with his own money, rather than with the money of poor believers?"

87. Again: "What is it that the pope remits, and what participation does he grant to those who, by perfect contrition, have a right to full remission and participation?"

88. Again: "What greater blessing could come to the Church than if the pope were to do a hundred times a day what he now does once, and bestow on every believer these remissions and participations?"

89. "Since the pope, by his pardons, seeks the salvation of souls rather than money, why does he suspend the indulgences and pardons granted heretofore, since these have equal efficacy?"

90. To repress these arguments and scruples of the laity by force alone, and not to resolve them by giving reasons, is to expose the Church and the pope to the ridicule of their enemies, and to make Christians unhappy.

91. If, therefore, pardons were preached according to the spirit and mind of the pope, all these doubts would be readily resolved; nay, they would not exist.

92. Away, then, with all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, "Peace, peace," and there is no peace! [Jeremiah 6:14]

93. Blessed be all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, "Cross, cross," and there is no cross!

94. Christians are to be exhorted that they be diligent in following Christ, their Head, through penalties, deaths, and hell,

95. And thus be confident of entering into heaven rather through many tribulations, than through the assurance of peace. [Acts 14:22]

Matthew 7,14. St. Michael's Day. Henric Schartau

2011-10-21T06:58:00.001-04:00

Matthew 7,14

St. Michael’s Day

Henric Schartau (1757-1825)

(170) Introduction.

For narrow is the gate, and straight the way, that leads unto life, and few are they who find it.

1. Hear this, O man, you who are hoping and longing for eternal life. Your Savior, who has opened the way, says that you cannot enter without opposition and, hence, that there are few who attain the goal. “For narrow is the gate, and straight the way,” etc. Matthew 7,14.

2. Conversion is like a gate to the straight way of godliness. Conversion is the change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit by means of the Word of God, leading to a hearty confidence in the redemption of the Son of God, to the forgiveness of sins and strength to lead the new life determined upon. It is only by means of such a change that a Christian life can begin. The gate of repentance is the entrance to the way of life.

3. This gate is narrow. Man must enter there alone. You cannot bring your sins with you, O man, you must put them away. Human friendship cannot be retained, for you must bear the reproach of Jesus. You cannot expect worldly enjoyments, for you must take up the cross of your Savior. “Narrow is the gate, and straight the way, that leads unto life.”

4. The straight way of godliness follows upon the narrow gate of repentance. If you have been converted and (171) have come to the faith and have thus received the forgiveness of sins, then you must more and more lay off the remaining sinful desires for the manifestations of which you have been forgiven. Upon conversion follows sonship, and with this childlike obedience must be associated.

5. But straight is the way that leads unto life, and few are they who find it. The evil desires cannot be conquered without battle, and few are they who enter upon this warfare, few are they who “run with patience the race that is set before them.” No one can do the will of God without interference, and few are they who pass beyond the first stumbling blocks. Few are rightly converted, and few are they who endure unto the end. “For narrow is the gate, and straight the way, that leads unto life, and few are they who find it.”

6. The gate of repentance is narrow, but not closed. Let us, therefore, pray that some of you may enter. The way of godliness is straight, but not inaccessible. Let each and every one pray that he may be one of the few who find it. For the sake of Jesus, who has opened this way, let us pray for this very thing in His prayer, wherein the way is marked out. “Our Father” etc.

Proposition.

The Entrance into the Reign of God

7. 1. The entrance to the way of godliness by means of the narrow gate of repentance.

8. 2. The entrance into the reign of heaven by means of the straight way of godliness.

(172) First Part.

9. The early disciples took it for granted that they should enter the reign of heaven. They merely asked Jesus who would be greatest therein. Jesus, however, declared that they would not enter at all, unless they were first converted and had thus become like little children.

10. Conversion, then, takes its beginning in such a way that a person who has previously in his state of security taken for granted that he would enter into the reign of heaven, becomes convinced that a true conversion must first take place.

11. Conversion is an entirely foreign matter to a spiritually unconcerned person, for, though such a person may have heard of it in sermons or read about it in devotional books, he has not taken the matter seriously, nor considered that he himself needs to be converted. Either he does not think that he must experience such a change, or he imagines that it has already taken place, so he is of the opinion that the only thing which he must yet do to enter the reign of heaven is to pass away from this world by death.

12. Conversion takes its beginning in a person when he becomes convinced by the Word of God that conversion is necessary for salvation, and that he himself is not converted. when a person has been moved by the sweetness of the first workings of grace to use the Word of God diligently, he learns how conversion takes place and what a man’s condition is after he has been converted. In the light of the spiritual knowledge thus acquired under the guidance of the Spirit of God, he realizes that (173) he is as yet not converted, for his condition is not such as the Word of God attributes to those who are rightly converted. “Through the law comes the knowledge of sin.” God’s commands and th e law then reveal to his conscience that he is still harboring sins which it is not possible for a truly converted man to cherish.

13. Conversion makes progress when a person, by the threats of God’s law, with fear perceives and with pain feels that he is under the wrath and condemnation of God, and when he is thereby impelled to seek salvation for his soul. Even as a person cannot by his own natural reason comprehend that he has offended God and merited eternal condemnation, so neither can he by his own strength fear the wrath of God and grieves over his lost condition. This grief, which is called a grief after God’s mind, is the work of God. The Sprit of God, who has wrought it by the Word, also urges a person more and more into the Word, so that he uses it, not only by reason of its delightful taste, but because it is entirely indispensable as a means unto the salvation of his soul. To use this means of conversion with watchfulness and prayer is, indeed, the only requirement which our Savior has laid in the gospel for those who are to be converted and thereby enter into the reign of heaven. While a person uses the Word to be converted, his conversion is perfected when he rightly believes on Jesus.

14. The law is a tutor impelling a sinner to seek for salvation. It is a tutor unto Christ. When salvation is offered in Christ the Savior, the soul is therefore found prepared to receive, and is concerned about receiving, the salvation offered in the gospel. God’s gracious (174) promises, offering grace and forgiveness, also enable the awakened soul to appropriate the promises of grace and the assurances of justification and salvation which God has given in the Word for Jesus’ sake. These enable the frightened heart ot trust in the merits of Christ the Savior and to be hopeful of obtaining sonship and pardon. This childlike confidence of a man in God is the first part of what the Savior calls to “become like children.” The Apostle Peter also says: “Set your hope perfectly on the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ, as children of obedience.”

15. This faith is the entrance to the straight way of godliness and is at the same time an entrance to the reign of heaven. Faith embraces Christ and is an entering into the reign. So the Scriptures teach everywhere. They promise eternal life through faith in Jesus. the true faith is an entering into the reign, because it is an entering upon the way of godliness and sanctified life. Peter expresses this immediately after the words just quoted. Having admonished unto faith, he also admonishes unto a Christian life: “Not fashioning yourselves according to your former lusts in the time of your ignorance, but like as He who called you is holy, be yourselves also holy in all manner of living because it is written: “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” True faith is the entering upon the way of godliness, for it gives both incentive and power unto a Christian life. When a person has “known and believed the love which God has for us, he abides in love.” Faith manifests itself in love, even as the Apostle John continues: “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not (175) grievous. For whatsoever is begotten of God overcomes the world, and this is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.” It is from Jesus that faith obtains strength to lead a holy life, as the Lord said to Paul: “The Gentiles receive an inheritance among them who are sanctified by faith in Me.” We shall speak more especially about the entering into the reign by way of the straight way of godliness when we now come to the second part of our discourse.

Second Part.

16. If a converted person is to make progress along the way of godliness, he must be humble, “poor in spirit,” or, as the Savior elsewhere expresses it, he must humble himself like a child. As the ambition for honor is one of the chief results of our corruption by sin, it is very important for a Christian to work against an undue love of self. The Spirit of the Lord ha laid a foundation for this in the new birth by then making us poor in spirit. God promotes Christian humility by letting us in temptations and suffering feel our wretchedness and infirmity, and it behooves us to further this purpose of God with watchfulness and prayer, as Peter admonishes: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that He may exalt you in due season.”

17. Christian love is the first and chief fruit of faith; it is also an essential and necessary step on the straight way of godliness. Christian love should, says our Savior in the gospel, be shown even to children, who are otherwise generally considered as of less consequence. The Savior describes this love as primarily exercised (176) in His Name, for His sake, because a person is redeemed by Jesus, even though he does not, like the little children, believe on Him, and has not become a child of God -- as the little children have become -- under the care of the holy angels. A converted person should show love to the little children and to other believers, not alone by giving some insignificant alms, but also where this is necessary and possible, by complete care for the helpless neighbor. Jesus speaks in the gospel of receiving the little ones who believe on Him, that is to assume the manifold duties and the hidden care given by a real father. The Apostle Paul also admonishes the Christians to show such love: “As we have opportunity, let us work that which is good toward all men, and especially toward them who are of the household of faith.”

18. If a converted person is to be able to continue on the straight way of godliness, he must with earnest determination separate himself from everything that is detrimental to his progress. This is what the Savior means when He admonishes those who would enter into eternal life to sever from their body such members as tend to hinder their spiritual advancement,members who “cause you to stumble.” Even if it were something as innocent in itself as the pleasures of vision, if you observe that it leads you into temptation, you must make haste to relinquish it. If some privilege is as useful to a person as his hand, he must forsake it, if he finds that it becomes a snare for the soul. Yes, if some of his earthly goods were as indispensable as his foot, he must rather suffer the greatest temporal want than to have everything in abundance and lack the one thing needful, to possess all privileges in time and lose everything in (177) eternity, first to enjoy all the pleasures of life and then to be consumed by the anguish of eternal death, to have two eyes, two hands, two feet, and be cast into eternal fire. The Savior has declared this to be needful for every one who would follow Him on the way to eternal life, saying: “If any man would come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.”

19. It is by this way of godliness that we enter into the heavenly reign. Although no one will be saved by life and works, neither will any one be saved without these, that is, without having entered upon the way of a godly life, without doing good works. The Savior Himself assert this, saying: “Not every one who says unto Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter into the reign of heaven; but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.” It is by faith in Jesus that a converted person may enter into the heavenly reign, if he remains in this faith to the end; but it is by its exercise in godliness that faith endures. Spiritual poverty makes the riches of divine grace all the more indispensable for the faithful soul. Faith finds exercise in Christian love, and the hindrances to growth in faith are removed by Christian self-denials.

Application.

20. Learn of this, you who lead a manifestly sinful life, that a godless life is no way to the reign of heaven; it is the broad way that leads to destruction. When you do what others consider sinful and you yourselves know to be sin, then you belong to those whom the Word of God calls ungodly, even though you do not wish to bear that name. Know, then, I tell you again, that you are (178) not walking on the straight way of godliness, but on the broad way that leads to destruction. It does you no good to hope for salvation, for your hope shall perish. It is vain to dream of heaven, for if you continue in this condition, you shall certainly come whither you had not imagined.

21. Some of you may lead an honorable life, though you are not converted; but you must know that mere honesty is not Christianity. There is no other entrance to the way of godliness than by the narrow gate of repentance. To avoid things punishable among men -- this is not the fear of the Lord; it is merely the fear of men. Be convinced by the Word of God that all human righteousness is manifest ungodliness before God, in order that you, thus convinced, may be driven to Jesus and by Him find an open way to eternal life, for He is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”

22. Some of you are moved by the Word of God. You have come to the narrow gate, but you have not thereby passed through it, for emotions are not conversion. They are, however, wrought by the Spirit of God. Their aim is that you may be brought to use the Word of God. As this means of salvation has already brought you near the reign of God, enabling you to taste its power, so this same Word of God will also bring you to a true conversion. It is not to stop with a mere taste of the sweetness of God’s grace, but you will come to possess it. Not only will the hope of salvation delight your heart, but the assurance of childhood will gladden your soul.

23. You, who are awakened to anxiety for your soul’s salvation, you are standing in the very gate of conversion. Press earnestly on, so that you may pass through the gate. (179) On the other side you will find the mercy seat of Jesus, where pardon is awaiting you, if you but receive it, and deliverance from your sins, if you but seek it by prayer in Jesus’ Name. Continue to use the Word, and this will bring you to the Savior and place you on the way that leads to eternal life. Then you are protected against eternal death, which you fear. If you should be called from this world after such a change has taken place in you, there can be no danger of your coming to destruction for no man comes to destruction, unless he walks the way that leads thither. You are not on that way if you are earnestly concerned about your salvation; you are on the way to eternal salvation. If you continue along this way, you will assuredly enter into the heavenly reign, whither this way leads.

24. This continuing must be your chief concernment, if you are assured that you have entered upon the straight way of life, for it appears to you that you have only advanced a few steps on that way. Even this, that you feel as though you were far behind, means progress, if you but press on to advance rightly. Jesus is the way. Hence, the clearer your knowledge of Him becomes in the light of the Word, the farther you have advanced. The more you endeavor to assist and serve your fellow men for Jesus’ sake, the more has your love increased. The more faithfulness you show in forsaking everything that leads from the way of salvation, the more has your spiritual strength grown. In order that you may remain on this way, whither the Lord has brought you, it is very important that you use the Word of God diligently, and that you conscientiously follow its directions. Then will the Lord, in the light of the Word, (180) show you the right way and with its power bring you onward. Holy Communion will give you refreshing nourishment on your spiritual journey, and Jesus Himself will follow you on the way: and so you are to enter into eternal life by means of the straight way of godliness, even as you have entered upon His way by means of the narrow gate of repentance. Amen.

John 5,24. The 16th Sunday after Trinity. Henric Schartau

2011-10-14T07:06:00.000-04:00

John 5,24The 16. Sunday after TrinityHenric Schartau (1757-1825) (157) In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Introduction. Truly, truly, I say unto you, he that hears My word, and believe Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and comes not into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. 1. This is the assurance which Jesus, the Prince of Life, has given to us mortals, (John 5,24). After the Creator gave us being, the Father sent His Son into the world “that the world should be save through Him.” Lie is the chief privilege of man, and it is the happiest hope of the believer that this life will endure forever. He knows and believes that the Son of God is sent to work this very thing, that thorough Him we might live eternally happy, in eternal glory and joy. This was the chief mission of Jesus, the chief subject of His discourses, in our text and elsewhere, and it should be the chief object of your careful attention, O man, if you would have a sure foundation for your hope of entering into the joy of eternal life. God has laid no other foundation than the redemption wrought by His Son, neither has He given any other means of attaining it (158) than that set forth in the solemn words of Jesus: “Truly, truly, I say unto you” etc. 2. When this means is rightly used, it undoubtedly brings about and works in us true faith in God. This faith is described as a relying on God, especially in view of His infinite mercy in sending His Son in the fashion of a servant to fulfill our duties and to suffer the penalties for our sins. Jesus says concerning one who has such a faith that he has eternal life, and that the believer has received eternal life by passing from death to life. Here a foundation is laid for a blessed death, indeed, to the extent that the essential transformation which takes place in the death of a believer took place before, even in the very moment when, through faith in Jesus, he passed “from dead works to serve the Living God.” He already possesses the salvation which he expects to enjoy in a greater measure and undistrubedly after death. Jesus represents that as a consequence of this condition the believer will not enter into judgment: “Truly, truly, I say unto you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment.” The Master does not hereby annul the teaching of His Apostle Paul, that “we must all be made manifest before the judgment seat of Christ.” As the Supreme Judge of the world, Jesus merely exempts every believing soul from the judgment of condemnation, which has already been pronounced in the Word against those who continue in unbelief and in an unchanged mind, without the blessed fellowship that is in Jesus. Jesus says that the believer is so much the more safe from such condemnation, as he already possesses the salvation which shall, in the (159) day of judgment, be pronounced upon him by grace. We do not, however, wish to proceed further in the consideration of this matter, until we have approached the seat of mercy and asked for the requisite Divine help. “Our Father” etc. Proposition.The Blessed Passing from Death to Life 2. 1. The foundation is laid and the beginning is made, when one passes from spiritual death to spiritual life. 3. 2. The completion is made in the passing from bodily death to the full enjoyment of the glory and joy of eternal life. First Part. 4. We here note that the foundation of a blessed passing from death to life is laid, and the beginning thereof made, in the passing from spiritual death to spiritual life. 5. All men who by intentional wickedness are separated from God are in the Scriptures called dead, for their spiritual condition resembles the bodily condition of one that is dead. In the hour of death one’s vision becomes darkened so that one cannot see even at bright midday; similarly a person who is separated from God is overwhelmed with blindness in spiritual matters so that he cannot, even in the clearest light of God’s Word, judge the things that pertain to his peace. In Ephesians 4,18, Paul describes those whom in chapter 2,1 he calls spiritually dead, saying that their “understanding is (160) darkened, “ and that they are “alienated from the life of God,” because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their heart. Secure sinners are as void of feelings and emotion as the dead youth in our text on his bier, quite as unconcerned and careless about their future lot throughout the long and fearful eternity. As the youth was being borne out of the city where he had lived, nearer and nearer to his grave, so too, he who is dead in trespasses and sins is by his sins being led and brought farther and farther from God, nearer and nearer to the pit, to “the lake that burns with fire and brimstone.” 6. If Jesus had not met the funeral procession at Nain, the dead would have remained dead, and unless He sought and found a sinner where he goes on the paths of death, the sinner would never be awakened from his stupor,. But Jesus approaches, He is moved with compassion, and in the Word He grasps the sinners heart with His hand of grace. The threats and convictions of the law fill the sinner with anxiety concerning his condition and make him fearful of the end of his perverted life, but now he stops and rushes no longer heedlessly on into ungovernable sins. 7. The sorrow aroused by the law over the misery into which the sinner has plunged himself is increased when flooded by the light of the gospel, which illuminates the law and reminds the sinner of the blessings of God, and of the foolishness and ingratitude with which these have been used or abused. When the sinner thus in the gospel learns to understand what a merciful, gracious, and loving God he has offended and hated, then his sorrow becomes that of God’s mind, approaching the character (161) that God would have it to be. The sinner then departs from his former unrighteousness. He loathes it and, when he realizes his own weakness, he sighs for help out of the deep affliction into which he finds himself plunged. While thus calling upon the Lord, the sinner obtains a clearer insight into the gospel and learns that the help he so urgently needs is to be found in Christ. The Father draws the sinner’s mind to consider the testimony which the prophets bear of Christ, and the Holy Spirit praises Jesus as great and indispensable for a sinner’s salvation. 8. When such grace is not “turned into lasciviousness,” nor is obstinately resisted, it confers a spark of courage, so that the sinner dares to hope in the mighty and merciful Savior. God promises unconditionally, without limitation, to forgive those who have such a faith as He promises to confer. He thus puts courage into the heart of the sinner and enables him to apply the promise to himself. While this takes place in his heart, the Spirit of prayer arouses him to “name the Name of the Lord: and by faith to “press on and apprehend Christ.” The soul battles against doubt and unbelief and is finally victorious, being able to “know in whom he has believed,” namely, the very Son of God, who has made payment for sins and for whose sake they are forgiven, according to the promises of God. 9. As the dead youth became bodily alive, when Jesus said to him: “Young man, I say unto you, Arise,” so the passing from spiritual death to spiritual life takes place when a person hears and obeys the summoning voice of Jesus in the word: “Awake, you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine upon (162) you.” Then the “Sun of Righteousness arises with healing in His wings,” for God fulfills the promises in which the soul has trusted. God grants the believer a share in the merits of the Mediator on whom he relies, and “the blood of Christ cleanses the conscience from dead works.” God forgives our sins for the sake of the bloody atonement of Jesus and, with the comfort of the Holy Spirit, He takes away the fear of death with which our conscience had been grievously troubled. Jesus, who is Life itself, then unites with that soul; gut where Life dwells, there can be no death. The believer can say with Paul: “I live, and yet no longer I, but Christ lives in me: and that life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” By means of such union with Christ a person becomes united with the Holy Trinity and with other believers, even as Jesus prayed: “That they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, so that they also may be in Us: so that the world may believe that You did send Me.” What no law can accomplish, namely, to make the heart alive with love to God and with pleasure in His commandments, this the Holy Spirit, granted to the believer, performs, pouring God’s love into such an heart. A person experiencing this love as well as love for all men, and especially for all who believe, can make the certain inference which John made: “We know that we have passed out of death into life because we love the brethren.” 10. Such a passing from spiritual death is the beginning and basis of a person’s passing from temporal death into eternal life. In general the teaching of Jesus tends (163) to establish: “That whosoever believes shall be saved,” but more especially Jesus derives from the true faith and from eternal life the doctrine that a blessed passing over takes place at the moment of bodily death. At the grave of Lazarus Jesus said: “I Am the Resurrection and the Life; he who believes on Me, though he die, yet he will live.” In the new birth the beginning is made of everything that pertains to the privileges, glory and blessedness of eternal life. The sinful depravity of a believer could not be entirely eradicated in death, unless it had been subdued and had lost its power when the new heart was created in him. The glory which Paul says is to be revealed in a child of God after death, is according to David, already possessed by the true believers, indeed has been ever since they were adopted to be sons and daughters of God. It is concerning the congregation of believers that David sings: “The King’s daughter within is all glorious; her clothing is wrought with gold.” 11. It is from this childhood by faith that Paul derives the right to inherit the glory of eternal life. He says: “If children, then heirs; heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.” God’s presence, which constitutes the eternal glory of the blessed, began when the Father and the Son came and took their abode with the, when they began to “love Jesus and to keep His Word.” Although they have here walked in an imperfect knowledge of faith, they have nevertheless enjoyed “the excellency of the knowledge of Christ,” by faith derived from the Word,and this has been a beginning (164) and a preparation for the perfect knowledge in the higher life. Comparing these different degrees of knowledge, Paul calls the former the rudiments of learning appertaining to children, which precedes the mature, manly knowledge to be obtained when we shall gloriously see God in the land of the living. Second Part. A Blessed Passing from Bodily Death to Eternal Life. 12. When the passing from spiritual death to spiritual life has taken place, then, if we are still in that condition, the passing to eternal life takes place whenever bodily death overtakes us. If Christ is our life, we cannot lose anything when we die. Death separates our soul from the body, but it cannot separate us from Christ. The believer passes out from this life through death and enters immediately “into the joy of the Lord.” A person justified is, then, in no danger of suffering any loss in death. He is prepared to die, and his death will be a blessed one, whenever the Lord will call him. 13. God hyas the control overlife and death, but He does not call a person away as soon as he is prepared for a blessed death. There are other matters for which God would use us, before He permits death to arrive. God wants to use us in His service wherever He is pleased to place us. He wants to try us in the faith, increase our love, and teach us to deny our willfulness and to “bear the cross after Jesus.” 14. When God considers a person mature and approved, this person may go and receive His crown. This is the end which James has in view for the life of a person (165) converted: “When he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life.” When a pardoned sinner has, as “God’s husbandry,” like the seed in the earth, endured many changes of refreshing grace and of the drought of temptation until he is mature; “When the fruit is ripe, straightway he puts forth the sickle,” and brings home a ripe sheaf of wheat in due time. This time -- God’s time -- does not always seem to us to be the due time. The widow of Nain could assuredly not feel that her son was called away in due season, unless her mind was duly enlightened. Some ripen rapidly, they quickly run their course and finish it, attaining their goal in a short time, even before they have left the years of youth. 15. The passing away takes place either violently and by unusual accidents, or usually by sickness, the body becoming in the guidance of God unfit to longer harbor the soul. The eyes no longer see the light. The ears no longer hear the sobs of their friends and relatives. The senses cease to function, and the soul departs from its workhouse. During this transformation there often appears to be much suffering. Indeed, there is some pain in connection with the separation of the soul from the body; but inasmuch as Jesus “has tasted death for every person” and swallowed up its bitterness, He fulfills upon every believer the promise He has given: “If a person keeps My word, he will never taste death.” The comfort of the Holy Spirit robs death of its bitterness, and the peace of God which the believer perceives is a shield against the pains of death. 16. The soul passes out from the body and from all the misery to which it has been subjected while dwelling (166) there, and it becomes glorified and is escorted by angels to heaven, where joy immediately begins. The evil desires are quenched and all evil thoughts disappear. With shame and indignation Satan sees the soul escape forever from his assaults. The soul leaves the turmoil of the world by which it has been surrounded. The glory of God even previously dwelling in the soul evolves and exalts the soul to a nobility which surpasses everything that “has entered into the heart of man.” The soul now tastes the sweetness of God’s love, of which it has previously tasted merely a few drops, and it is filled with an indescribable comfort and joy. The holy angels who have ministered to it during the pilgrimage of grace, though in an invisible manner, now accompany it on its ascension to heaven, being both companions and guides. Upon entering heaven, the soul is greeted by the friends which it had acquired by its stewardship and distribution of earthly goods among fellow-believers on the earth. It finds a room in the Father’s house, the place provided in the reign of His Son. Her it joins the hosts of thousands upon thousands surrounding the throne, praising God and the Lamb for the mercy received during life in the realms of time, and for the salvation now granted and eternally enjoyed. 17. Finally, “at the end of the days,” even the body will arise glorified from the earth and stand before the judgment seat of Christ, thence, united with the soul, to enter into the reign of heaven and to enjoy a glory augmented by the reunion of the body and the soul. As Jesus raised up the widow’s son, so He will also in the last day raise up those who have believed on Him. Then shall the body ascend from the earth, not (167) with the corruptible elements of which it was composed in life, nor with the lowly character in which it was laid in the grave, but with incorruptible glory and power. Even as the whole man has been redeemed by Christ and the whole man has been the temple of God, so the whole man, body and soul, may then enter into eternal life. We may then with glorified eyes, face to face, behold Him who we have believed and loved, though we did not see Him.Our body may then in a worthy manner take part in the gladness of the soul and “the pleasures for evermore in the right hand of God.” The tongue shall then with unutterable words praise Jesus, who shall have “fashioned anew the body of our humiliation, so that it may be conformed to the body of His glory,” and “shine forth as the sun in the reign of the Father.” 18. I herewith close the sermon of a probationer, delivered at my request and with the approval of my superiors. This worthy congregation has again been given an opportunity to prove the measure of grace given to me. I have presented a blessed translation from death to life. I have first shown that the beginning and foundation of this passing from death to life are made in the passing form spiritual death to spiritual life. I have next shown that the completion takes place in the passing from temporal death to a full enjoyment of the glory and joy of eternal life. Application. 19. We are all strangers, travelers and pilgrims. We know that we must depart from this life, and there surely is no one who does not in the hour of death wish (168) for a blessed passing into eternal life. God is my witness, how heartily I wish all of you this good fortune; but you must search the Scriptures and find out whether you have experienced the translation first described, if you have gone out of the camp, away from the service of sin and Satan, if you have passed over to the camp of Jesus and borne His reproach, to be His possession, to live according to His commandments, and not after your own good pleasure nor according to the doctrines of men. If this has not taken place, then you are in the greatest danger, for if bodily death overtakes you in this condition, you will pass from spiritual to eternal death. If you perceive that this is your condition, and if you nevertheless find that you can remain unconcerned in view of your misery, alas, pray God to awaken you from your spiritual stupor,. He will certainly do this, if you use His Word diligently. 20. If you have been enlightened by the law to know your wretchedness, then you may be assured that the beginning toward a passing from spiritual death consists in this very thing, that you feel as though you were spiritually dead, and that the completion is effected when the Holy Spirit has persuaded you to believe that your sins, according to God’s promises, are forgiven. You must then willingly abandon your own efforts, your own works and deeds and put your trust in the merits and suffering of Jesus in your behalf. 21. If and when you have done this, you may in the midst of adversities comfort yourself with the thought in which the children of the world (though without foundation) are wont to take comfort, namely that death is nothing but a transition. Then, my brethren, we may look out over the fields which are yet inshrouded with darkness toward a better life, glimpses of which are revealed in the Word, and we may in this way be sustained in a longing for a blessed passing from death to life. Amen.

1. John 5,13. The 1st Sunday after Epiphany. Henric Schartau

2011-09-14T06:57:00.000-04:00

1. John 5,13
The 1. Sunday after Epiphany
Henric Schartau (1757-1825)

(75) Introduction.

1. These things I have written unto you, so that you may know that you have eternal life, even unto you who believe on the Name of the Son of God.
2. Thus the Apostle John speaks of faith to them who believe. 1. John 5,13.
3. It is remarkable that God has been pleased to select faith as the way by means of which a man shall receive his share in redemption. God has not chosen any work, deed or enterprise of man for this purpose; He has reserved that honor for Himself. God has not provided that the fear of His wrath shall determine any man’s salvation, for He does not wish to force anyone. Neither has He ordained that thankfulness and love shall be determining factors, for love presupposes confidence, but rather this very confidence in His mercy, shown in the suffering and death of the Son of God,and reliance on the atonement by means of which His mercy has become available and efficient.
4. It is this faith by means of which a man obtains the forgiveness of sins and becomes justified and saved. The apostle calls it to believe on the Name of the Son of God, or to trust in God by virtue of what Jesus has wrought. Indeed, ti is only by virtue of this that a man (76) can trust in the God whom he has offended. The salvation contained in the Name of the Savior is by God declared sufficient, but though a person might understand this and become mightily convince of it,m still no real confidence in God arises, unless God Himself, by means of the supernatural power of His Word, which is not dependent on the meditations of human reason, freely puts into man’s heart to believe.
5. Faith is essential. Its development was the object of the words of God which the apostle wrote, and a result thereof, according to our introductory text. He had written that his friends might believe on the name of the Son of God, and he expected this very result of the word which he had written.
6. The apostle describes the growth or different measures of faith as having three degrees. First, to believe on the Name of the Son of Go, as has just been shown, and to trust in the mercy of God in Christ. Secondly, to know that one has eternal life, or to believe that one believes, and to be sure of one’s inheritance of eternal life. Thirdly, the apostle again speaks of believing on the Name of the Son of God,1 thereby conveying something else than that in the first clause, a special degree of faith, to be attained by the converted, after he has gained assurance of his salvation. It is a lesser degree of faith to believe so long as one has assurance of eternal life, and it is a greater degree of faith when a regenerated person retains his trust in the mercy of God in Christ, even though he lacks such assurance of eternal salvation. (77)

Proposition.
The Measure of Faith Granted by God, as a Criterion of One’s Spiritual Condition

I. The measure of faith granted by God.
II. How a person must thereby judge of his spiritual condition.

First Part.
The measure of Faith Granted by God.

7. The first and least measure of faith embraces the whole Christ and appropriates all His merits, bringing with it complete justification, which cannot be increased, and an entire renewal of the heart. Just as a spark is as real fire as a large flame, so the first spark of hope in Christ, arising in a contrite heart, is as real faith as the most confident reliance on the victorious Lord and Savior. Though ever so weak, a true faith embraces Jesus: “who was made unto us wisdom from God,” and it expects to learn of Him to know His word and ways of life. It accepts Him “unto righteousness,” expecting forgiveness, not by virtue of any contrition or repentance of its own, but by virtue of the suffering and obedience of Jesus. It accepts Him “unto sanctification, “expecting to receive from Him a change d heart and strength to follow Him in newness of life. It also accepts Him “unto redemption,” hoping by Him to be delivered from the misfortunes of life and to be saved from the torments of hell.
8. Whereas even the first feeble faith fully embraces Christ, it brings with it complete justification, so that (78) such a believer is considered quite as justified before God as the greatest heroes of faith, and, indeed, quite as pure from sin as “the sprits of just men made perfect,” for he is considered quite as righteous as his Savior. The merits of Jesus, by which the believer has been justified, cannot be increased, nor enlarged by any growth of our faith; so neither can the justification of a true believer be increased. It is quite as complete with the first beginning of faith as it can ever become.
9. The first measure of faith is that when a person begins to inquire about faith, though he cannot then perceive that it is faith at all. The beginning takes place when a person who has been frightened by the law begins to ask for salvation in Jesus Christ. Though the unclothed and wounded Redeemer is altogether too insignificant for a proud reason, He nevertheless is the first fountain of comfort to a grieved soul. Hungering and thirsting after righteousness, such a person begins to search in the Scriptures for the things concerning the Savior. He then finds that it is by faith alone that one enters into fellowship with the Savior, for he finds that God’s promises everywhere have no other qualifications than this: “Unto every one who believes.” This inquiry about faith implies a vital concernment and an earnest seeking, which find expression in prayer that the Lord might grant a true faith. Every desire of such a soul is: “Alas, if I could only believe!” When he hears the Word, he listens carefully to hear if the preacher has anything to say about faith, and when he reads the Word of God, it is as though his heart addressed the authors of the Scriptures in this wise: “You dear apostles of the Lord, you beloved prophets, teach me to know my (79) Savior. Alas! bring me to Him. Show me how I shall acquire a true faith in Him.” That this already is true faith is evident from the word of promise in Jeremiah: “You run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if there is any who do justly, who seek truth;2 and I will pardon it.” God promises pardoning grace to every on e who “seeks truth.” An honest seeking after faith must be faith, for “without faith it is impossible to be well-pleasing unto God.” It is quite as impossible that one who is well-pleasing unto God should be without faith as it is is impossible to be well-pleasing to God without faith. The mystery of faith is hidden from the reason of the natural man. No one concerned about his salvation inquires about faith, until there is faith in his heart, for the concern of an awakened sinner is fixed on the hardship and wretchedness of sin, to the extent that there is no room for such inquiry, unless God HImself directs him to seek this only means of attaining righteousness and eternal salvation. And why is an awakened soul so deeply concerned about obtaining faith? He longs for a part in the merits of His Savior. He is concerned about entering into fellowship with Jesus. He yearns for true righteousness. But what is such concern, such longing, if not faith? Jesus Himself pronounces such a person blessed,”Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness.” It is then certain that he is on the way, coming to Jesus. It is also evident that he has come to Jesus, for Jesus Himself is the way. Yes, a person who is on the way coming to Jesus, has (80) already come to Him, for Jesus has assured such a soul that he shall in no wise be cast out. But there can be no question of any casting out, except from a room where one already is and has his dwelling.
10. We find another measure of faith, where a person has grown in enlightenment to perceive that he has faith, to which belongs a deep sense of joy, though this in not the real measure of his faith. When a person diligently beholds Christ in the Scriptures, he begins to reflect “the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ,” and he is thus enlightened to know himself as well as Jesus. When one enters aright into the Word, one finds shooting forth from all of God’s promises beams of light, which, as it were, find their focal point in one’s heart, so that one is enabled to see clearly how the Word in its entirety acquits one of guilt. Thus enlightened, one finds that his faith is such as the Word of God describes and that he has become converted in the manner prescribed by the Word of God.
11. Upon such enlightenment follows deep joy, for how should a person become aware that he is covered with the robe of righteousness, and yet not rejoice in his Savior? How should he be able to find that he has been clothed with the garments of salvation, without being joyful in God? Spiritual gladness follows the assurance of grace, as the shadow follows the body, but we must not imagine that the shadow is the body itself When the sun shines or a candle has been lit, the shadow appears, but in darkness and gloom it does not appear. It would be foolish to doubt the existence of the body, merely because one cannot see its shadow, for when the sun begins to shine, the shadow immediately appears. (81) As long as the Sun of Righteousness appears to them who fear the Name of the Lord, He brings the perception of “healing in His wings,” but when He appears to set and shine no more, even they who fear the Lord may walk in darkness, without joy or any clearly discernible peace. We must not then conclude that faith has been lost, merely because we do not experience the joy of faith. After the storm has passed, Go again lets the sun of grace shine, and then

“Light is sown for the righteous
and gladness for the upright in heart.”

12. A greater measure of faith is this, that a person is able to believe in spite of everything his heart feels or his reason sees. The beginning of such faith takes place when the Holy Spirit trains and teaches a person to believe without any heartfelt emotions. On the one hand, God removes the emotions before a person has time to rely on them, and, on the other hand, He leads the soul to the gospel and to a hearty reliance on the promises of grace. In this way a person becomes trained in faith and enabled to believe the Scriptures, even though he finds no corresponding feelings in his hear. By such means he eventually obtains so great a stability of faith that he is able to believe the Word, although he finds the opposite in his heart; that he is sure of the promises in the Word, although his heart speaks to the contrary; and that he has perfect assurance of forgiveness, grace, and salvation through Jesus Christ, although in his heart he finds condemnation, wrath and unblessedness. If our heart condemns us, we still know that we are of the truth, and are able to assure our heart before (82) Him with the confidence that “God is greater than our hearth and knows all things.” By this training in faith a person attains such an increase of faith that he can believe quite the contrary of that which his reason sees; that he is able to believe that God will provide for his temporal wants, though there is no visible means for his support; that he may feel sure of help, though he sees before him only want and distress, and expect great goodwill of men, being enabled to live with them in peace, while it appears as though he were hated by all.

Second Part.
How a Person Must Judge of His Spiritual Condition by the Measure of Faith Granted by God.

13. The apostle says in our Epistle text: “Let no one think of himself more highly than he out to think, but rather soberly, accord as God has dealt to each person a measure of faith.”
14. If you have not now, nor ever had, the first measure of faith, you cannot have attained to any of the other measures. You then have full reason to consider yourself unconverted, not having any faith at all. An unconverted person is very strangely minded. Occasionally he speaks of his faith as though it were very weak, and then, again, as though he had arrived at the highest measure of certainty and courage. In spite of all this, let it be remembered that you have not as yet prayerfully and diligently searched the Scriptures and inquired for faith. Nor is this strange, for you have never been seeking for Jesus, nor realized that you are without Him. If you really felt, as you say, that your faith is weak, then your would be grieved, and again if, as you (83) sometimes pretend, you had a strong faith in the Lord, then you would have experienced the lack of both faith and grace. But when you say that you have always had a good faith, it immediately becomes apparent that your faith cannot be of the right kind, for you have not grown to such stability of faith in the manner that other children of God do. Furthermore, when your faith is compared with your manner of life, it becomes evident that your faith is a monstrosity. When on organ of a newborn babe is as large as it should be in an adult, while other members of the body are like those of a normal child, this child is deformed. So, too, when faith, which is the chief part of a newborn convert, at once is as large as that of the fathers in grace, while other characteristics and gifts of grace are as small as those of the weakest beginner in Christian life, then this “new man” is without due proportion, a monstrosity. When Your knowledge is so slight that you need to learn “the rudiments of the first principles of the oracles of God”; when the light that is in you is so faint that there scarcely is twilight or dawn of enlightenment; when love is so lukewarm as to give place to carnal jealously and strife; when conditions are such, and you nevertheless boast of a good and strong faith in the Lord, then your whole religion is a monstrosity, and your faith is deformed. It is not a work of the Holy Spirit. Satan has given it to you, or you have taken it yourself. It is not the work of God, nor a true faith -- the faith that embraces Christ. It is not the faith that appropriates the forgiveness of sins. It is not the faith by which Jesus dwells in the heart. It is not the faith that brings with it the Holy Spirit. It is not the faith (84) the possession of which in time is followed by unspeakable blessedness in eternity. No, it is a false, imaginary faith. With this faith you have no part in Jesus; you are far from Him. If you get no other faith than this, you will never get rid of your sins. If you keep this faith to the end, this very faith will become the cord, the chain, by which the evil spirit will bring you into eternal destruction.
15. If, on the other hand, you notice in you some of the things pertaining to the first measure of faith, then you ay consider yourself on the way to Jesus, and if you have received the comforting insight into the Word that you have come to Him, you must not cast it away. When you realize that you have received the first measure of faith God thereby grants you the greater measure, namely the assurance and certainty of a true faith. When a person has been truly converted by the Holy Spirit, he will also be brought forward on the way of life. Though you have unconsciously come to faith in Jesus, God will enlighten you to know that you have the true faith. The Spirit of God will thereby strengthen your soul against approaching temptations and confirm your resolution to belong to Jesus forever. If you have not resisted the beginnings of God’s work of grace, you must not resist the perfecting thereof. If, by the Word of God, you find that you have the first measure of faith, a sincere longing for faith, an inquiry about faith, and a seeking after faith, then this ver insight is an enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, quite as much so as that of your awakening, when you saw that you had no faith. This light cannot deceive you nor lead you astray. Hence, if in this way you become kindly (85) persuaded and comfortingly convinced that you have the true faith, God grants you the second, greater measure of faith by assuring you that you have the first measure. “Cast not away your boldness,” for you shall in this way receive an increased measure of faith, just as surely as faith has been begun in you.
16. If you have the assurance of a true faith, you must not become proud, imagining that you have come to the greatest measure of faith, nor demand that you shall always have this assurance and become impatient when you lack it, for you ought to know that it is God’s purpose to thus bring you to a greater measure of faith, enabling you to believe without feelings and in spite of feelings. If you have found that your faith is real and true, then you may thank and praise the Lord for this gracious refreshing, Let your heart be strengthened thereby, but be not puffed up, You have indeed received an increased faith, but not the greatest measure. Jesus blesses those who “have not seen, and yet have believed.” It is to guard you from pride and to train you in faith that the Lord soon deprives you of that assurance, Remember that God’s ways are such with His faithful ones, and be content therewith. Do not rush willfully along, endeavoring to regain the certainty of mind, for you cannot find it in the recesses of your heart. Go rather to the Word of God and look for insight into its promises and ask the Holy Spirit to teach you to rely on these. Behold, you have a greater faith, when you are able to believe without consulting the feelings of your heart; for God is greater than your heart. Your faith thus gains stability and certainty, for the words of promise are irrevocable and unfailing, (86) while your feelings are changeable and unreliable. You thus eventually obtain a durable peace, and you are being prepared for the future beholding of God’s face in heaven, while God frequently hides His face from you during your earthly pilgrimage.
17. Finally, you must also take warning and remember that it is quite as possible to recede as to advance in the measure of faith. By neglecting the means of grace and growing sluggish in prayer and careless in his manner of life, it may happen that one who had attained the stability of the fathers can be set back to the weakness of spiritual children, so that, while before he could believe in spite of the condemnations of his heart, he now finds it increasingly difficult to feel at ease without the conscious enjoyment of the sweetness of grace. It may likewise happen that one who had attained certainty, can, by the neglect of grace, fall into protracted wavering and lose the assurance of his state in grace, to the extent that there remains only a seeking after grace, like that at the first awakening. A person in this state considers himself without any part in Jesus, just as he did at his first awakening, but he is still remaining in the state of grace, though near falling away from it.
18. In conclusion, let me instruct the upright in heart so that hte great measure of faith cannot always be perceived, but only now and then, between the spiritual battles. When the devil cannot prevent your growth in faith, he tries to deprive you of the joy which you should have when you become aware of your spiritual growth. The Lord permits this. The evil one is allowed to cover you with darkness and to obscure from (87) your vision the measure of faith attained; for it is one of the great wonders along the way that a lack of assurance increases faith, and that faith becomes greater by seeming less. If you find yourself unexpectedly set back in your faith, without any previous neglect on your part of the Word and of prayer, this is no evidence of a diminishing faith, but rather of a new spiritual battle, which thus almost imperceptibly begins. You have the less reason to fear that you have erred from the faith, if you notice that your conception of the Redeemer is retained, working on your mind, sustaining your hope, and urging you to obedience. This is an evidence that you are grasped by your Redeemer. Be content with this very slight measure of faith. The Lord who has helped you to the lesser faith will also help you to the greater. Only continue to press on, so that you may apprehend that which you have not yet apprehended, and you shall not forever miss the goal, though you have not yet attained it, but you shall reach the goal which God has set before you and to which you are aspiring,since you are able to say with Paul: “I press on, if so be that I may apprehend that for which also I was apprehended by Christ Jesus.” Amen.

Luke 16,1-9. The 9. Sunday after Trinity. Henric Schartau

2011-08-28T15:53:00.000-04:00

Luke 16,1-9
The 9. Sunday after Trinity
Henric Schartau (1757-1825)

1. (140) In the Name of the Great Triune God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
2. What shall I do? The steward in our text put this question to himself, when he realized that he was near his fall. In a wretched world, full of toil and sorrow, this sad question is not infrequently heard. Men have fascinating speculations, but some unexpected accident upsets their plans, and they are cast into greater difficulties than before. Then all shrewdness disappears, and hope is changed into perplexity. In this condition a person looks round about everywhere for counsel and help, inquiring with anxiety: “What shall I do?” Luke 16,3.
3. With most people this concern extends only to the misery pertaining to this life. O confident sinner, either you never think as far as eternity, or you consider it an easy matter to be saved. You consider it great, important, and fortunate to feel good while here, to be glad, to get what you want in life, but thoughts concerning your eternal welfare you leave for an advanced age, for the sick-bed, or for the time of death, as though the reflections of a few brief moments, and a few sighs were thinking enough, provision enough, for your soul and for eternity, while your whole lifetime has not sufficed for the innumerable concerns for this world and for your body.
4. (141) If you stopped to think why you have come into this world, and whither you will go when you must depart; how helpless you are with reference to your soul’s salvation; how many and powerful enemies surround you; how unexpectedly death may come upon you; how great is your guilt before God; how long eternity is, and how impossible it is there to repent -- if you meditate on these matters, then, like the steward, you would begin to worry and, even with reference to your salvation, earnestly inquire: “What shall I do?”
5. Indeed, you cannot do anything for your salvation. Your Savior has done everything to purchase it for you. The Holy Spirit ha undertaken to do everything to have you share salvation. The only thing for you to do is to use the means of grace, accept grace, and not resist the workings of the Holy Spirit. We do not wish to enter more deeply into these meditations, until we have found occasion in the Gospel of the day and sought God’s grace for the performance. We ask this in the Savior’s Name, praying: “Our Father,” etc.

Proposition.
The First Workings of Grace by which the Holy Spirit Seeks to Awaken Confident Sinners to Anxiety for their Eternal Salvation

The first workings of grace.
A great number act in an entirely wrong way when spiritual emotions arise.
The correct and only way to take when anxiety for salvation arises in the soul.

(142) First Part.
The First Workings of Grace whereby the Holy Spirit Seeks to Awaken Secure Sinners to Anxiety for Their Eternal Election.

6. “There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he was wasting his goods.” So we read in the Gospel. God is this rich man, “the same Lord of all,rich unto all who call upon Him.” A lot of this riches, both in the reign of nature and of grace, He has given you, as stewards, to use and to care for. The servant in the Gospel wasted his master’s goods. There are, indeed, many who act no better with reference to the goods of their Lord. Here is one who has good health but it is being destroyed, either by vice or in riotous enjoyments. Here is one whom God has given opportunity to acquire great learning, but it is being lazily neglected. Here is another on whom God has lavished worldly riches, but he squanders it as a profligate or he hoards it as a miser. To each one of you God has given the most precious of all His treasures, His only begotten Son, but a large number of you pass Him by in unbelief. God grants you emotions of grace, but you either resist the or misinterpret them to the appropriation of false comfort. He gives you time for repentance,but you abuse it and move heedlessly on in sins and impenitence. Nor is this, as you wish to (143) pretend, done by reason of your weakness, because you are an imperfect human being. No, it is done by reason of your impenitence, by reason of an obdurate soul, which is unwilling to accept the grace of God unto repentance.
7. The unrighteous steward did not think of a day of reckoning before him. Like another “evil servant,” mentioned in Matthew 24,48, he probably thought: “My Lord tarries”; but while he was suing his master’s goods in an unjustifiable manner, the report of his faithlessness went abroad, and his master returned. When the steward least expected it, a message arrived from his master, summoning the steward to give an account. In like mann you also, O unconcerned soul, are wasting your Lord’s goods and neglecting His grace. You may, indeed, cherish the thought that death will tarry, and that in the meantime you are without responsibility; but when you feel most secure, perchance, in the midst of a sinful life, a fearful message reaches you from God. A few words from the preacher arrive like arrows from the Lord and pierce your hardened heart,causing pain and anxiety. A few lines in a devotional book become to you like the message of the Lord to Ezekiel: “Written within and without: and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning and woe.” Sometimes the Holy Spirit makes use of some word which has lain inactive in your memory. This work becomes heavy and weighty, sinking down into the heart, and setting it in motion,. These first workings of grace, this first anxiety for salvation, are results of the Holy Spirit’s operation through the Word, just as the master in our Gospel “called the steward (144) and said unto him: What is this that I hear of you?” Even if outward occurrences contribute to this result, as in the case of the jailer in Philippi, it is nevertheless the Word which brings about true anxiety for the soul’s salvation; and it is the redemption wrought by Jesus which is the foundation of it all. His “blood speaks better than that of Abel.” It calls to God even for the unconverted sinner, lest it be in vain for him, and in order that he may experience its power unto spiritual awakening. It calls and, as it were, admonishes the Spirit of grace to try His utmost to arouse the sinner to an earnest concern for a share in the propitiation which this blood has wrought before God.
8. 1. This results from the upbraidings of conscience. “What is this that I hear of you?” said the master in our text to his servant. Although everything is silent in the dormant heart of a sinner, still conscience occasionally raises its voice, upbraiding him: “Thus you are doing, that is how you live.” Do you suppose that “The Lord shall not see, Neither shall the God of Jacob consider? He that planted the ear, shall He not hear? He that formed the eye, shall He not see?” the evil that you are doing? Shall He not hear your sinful speech? Does not the great searcher of hearts know the abominations, which you are harboring in your mind? Indeed, it is He who inquires: “What is this that I hear of you?” Is it right to live thus? Or why do you do this? Your oaths and curses -- are they your songs of praise for the good which the (145) Lord has done even to you? Your intentional sins -- are they the compensation for His goodness? The hostility, hardness, and indifference of your heart to your Savior -- are they your acknowledgement of His poverty, of His labor, of the hatred which He endured, of His anxiety, of His wound, of His pain of His death? May we not ask with Jeremiah: “Shall evil be recompensed for good?” Or in the words of our text: “What is this that I hear of you?” Such thoughts are often considered to be merely self-assumed fancies, or at best a natural consequence of a manifestly wicked life, but they are not the works of nature; they are the works of grace. It is the Holy Spirit, who thus quickens the conscience and arouses the sinner to think. If this supreme custodian of the conscience did not awaken sinners, they would never awake themselves after having once fallen asleep.
9. 2. The first workings of grace appear with unexpected reminders of death. “You can no longer be steward,” the master said in our text to his servant. He had to leave his stewardship. Such will be your lot in death. Then you must leave the world and its goods. The master in our text prepared his servant for the final dismissal. In like manner God reminds you that you must die, and He does this before death arrives. He does not reveal when or how death will arrive, but He reminds you of the brevity of life and of mortality. You live on a long time without thinking of this, but all at once there arrives a thought of death. Dear friends pass away, and you reflect today of what may happen to you tomorrow. Accidents and dangers represent death as more probable and, as it (146) were, near at hand. A certain fear follows upon such presentiments of the approaching King of Terror. Nor are these thoughts of death merely vain fancies or natural fears, for they sometimes occur without any apparent reason. No, it is the Holy Spirit, who would “teach you to number your days, so that you may get an heart of wisdom,” so that you may consider the aim of life and realize that you must soon “fly away.”
10. 3. The Holy Spirit awakens a sinner with secret dread of the day of reckoning, of judgment and of punishment: “Render the account of your stewardship.” The servant had received his stewardship with the understanding that he should render account tt his master. God gives freely, but He expects an account. In death it will appear how you have used the talent entrusted to you. If you wish to know what you have to hope or fear, just ask your conscience how your account stands, The judgment there found is written by the finger of God. It is the same judgment which will eventually be pronounced against you before the world, but God warns you while it may yet be altered. Believe me, the dread of eternity, which occasionally arises in your soul, the fear of hell, which often causes your heart to shudder -- these are the workings of grace wrought by the Holy Spirit, who seeks to awaken you to an earnest anxiety for your eternal welfare and salvation.

Second Part.
How a Great Number of People Act in an Entirely Wrong Way, When Such Anxiety Arises in Their Heart

11. The unfaithful steward is represented as being in anxiety over his situation. He gave expression to his uneasiness of mind, as we recall from the introduction. He realized his sad predicament, but he was not heartily concerned about regaining his master’s favor; no, he was merely concerned about how he might be supported during the rest of his life. So, likewise, the great majority of men, when they first become concerned about their soul’s salvation, seek not for grace that they may be saved, but only how they may quiet their anxiety and get rid of their uneasiness of mind. They stop with these first emotions and do not advance farther on the way of repentance.
12. 1. Some turn away from the first hardships that meet them on the way of repentance; they do this by reason of physical effeminacy and love of comfort. “I have not the strength to dig,” said the unfaithful steward. He was accustomed to luxury and did not think that he could endure hard work. He loved comfort and had no desire to try any human hardships. He therefore said: “I do not have the strength to dig.” In like manner you act with reference to your your salvation, O careless soul! When the Holy Spirit begins to arouse your conscience,your flesh and blood begin to wail. When the salt of the Holy Scriptures smart in the wounds of sin, you say as some of the followers of Jesus once said: “This is a hard saying; who can hear it?” It appears to you that the representations of Scripture are (148) altogether too severe. You make the claim that you have a delicate and sensitive heart, which might in this way easily be brought to pangs of conscience and despair, and so you allow the fear of such pangs of conscience and despair to frighten you, and you fear them to the extent that you continue securely on the way to hell. Indeed, I believe, and make the confident assertion, that this foolish fear of despair is like a public thoroughfare on which most people journey to eternal perdition. O how utterly perverse to act thus! To begin and not finish! To be moved and yet remain unwilling to be converted! To see danger and not attempt to be saved, but rather grasp the wretched comfort of running into it with folded eyes! Even if it should cost you the most bitter tears of penitence, thus surely cannot be worse than the condition found where there is “weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Even though you should in your awakening experience the most awful agony, this cannot rise to the heat that prevails in “the lake of fire, which burns with fire and brimstone.”
13. 2. Others turn back by reason of false modesty. They say: “I am ashamed to beg.” You are ashamed of that which is not disgraceful. When the workings of grace become apparent, so that they attract the notice of the world, then you are ashamed to weep, and hence you endeavor to conceal and quench your emotions. The steward presumably thought that it would cost him too dearly to beg, after he had enjoyed plenty, even to the extent that he had been able to give to others. In like manner, it appears difficult for you who have looked upon yourself as a good Christian, and have been so considered by others, now to acknowledge that you are (149) a sinner under condemnation. You are ashamed to acknowledge that you need comfort, since you have comforted others. But you area fool; you are ashamed of that which is the greatest honor, namely, that the great God is drawing near to your heart. Do you suppose that you will gain greater honor by being thus ashamed? No, by trying to escape from temporal scorn, you put yourself in danger of eternal shame. You are now ashamed before a crowd of blind and ignorant people, but some day you may with them stand ashamed before the Majesty of God, before the heavenly hosts, yes, before the whole world; for Jesus has said: “Whosoever shall be ashamed of Me and of My words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when He arrives in His glory, and the glory of the Father, and of the holy angels.”
14. At first the steward had been at a loss to know what he should do, but when he was unwilling to do what he ought to have done, he chose perverse means out of his misery. When the first anxiety was over, he saw his way clear. He said: “I am resolved what to do.,” In consultation with his master’s creditors he thereupon falsified their bonds. He doubtless altered his accounts also, so that bonds and accounts might agree. In this way, too, his own indebtedness appeared far less, the books as well as bonds showing smaller receipts. What is the significance of all your excuses? Are they not counterfeits,falsifying God’s rights and your debts? You say: “I do the best I can,” and that, you imagine, is all that God can expect. You feel sure that He cannot demand more. But do you not know that God demands your whole heart? He says: “Give me, my son, (150) your heart.” Does he get it? No, you give your heart to the world. It is only a few externals you leave for God, and you thus make a deceitful subtraction from the great requirement of God: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your might.”
15. Another expedient resorted to by sinners in their spiritual anxiety is that of looking to men for comfort. The unfaithful steward did this instead of going to his master and taking refuge in his mercy. In like manner, you do not exactly seek for grace and salvation, but to be comforted and to find peace. Of course, I do not mean to deny that an awakened sinner whose heart is filled with godly sorrow should have comfort. This he obtains from the God of all comfort, who has said: “Comfort, comfort My people.” No, but it is unreasonable to look for comfort before you are really sad at heart. Indeed, you wish to be comforted, in order that you may not be thus grieved, and that the first spark of unrest may be quenched before it develops into real anxiety. People are constantly crying for comfort, but they do not turn to God for it, but to men, even to men as blind and perverse as they themselves. These mighty comforters then sing to them the same lull-a-by, whereby they are accustomed to put their own conscience to sleep, and so “the blind lead the blind,” and both come nearer to the pit, the pit, whereof Isaiah says that “it is prepared of old, made deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood.” Is a sore healed merely because the pain has once subsided? No be assured that it will return and that, if you never wish to be sorrowful unto repentance, you shall eventually, (151) without repentance, land where there is indescribable sorrow and, eternally, no comfort.

Third Part.
The Correct and Only Way to Be Taken, When Anxiety for Salvation Arises in the Soul.

16. Some earnestly anxious soul may now ask: “shall I do so that I may be saved?” To this I reply, You must, in a way, do precisely what the steward was unwilling to do, what he felt unable and ashamed to do, dig and beg.
17. 1. You must dig, not in a bodily way, nor in such a spiritual way as if it were my counsel to a sorrowful soul that he should make every effort to work and thus try to help himself. Neither do I mean that you should try to dig yourself deeper and deeper into the knowledge of your sinful depravity, deeper than the Holy Spirit finds profitable and admits. Alas, no! There was digging enough for the purchasing of grace, when the earth was opened on Calvary, when the cross was planted on which the Son of God died as a curse or sinners. There was digging enough, when the thorns of His crown made deep pits in the head of the King of kings. There was digging enough, when the lashes of the scourging plowed deep furrows in His back. There was digging enough, when His side was pierced, after He had finished His labor for our sins and ended His toil for our transgressions. Consequently, there has been digging enough in the redemption of Jesus for the establishment of salvation. But your heart is like bedrock, unmoved by the love of Jesus, until it is torn by (152) the strokes of God’s mighty Word and leaves room for the power of redemption unto purity and sanctification. Prior to this, it is like a smoothened road, where the seed cannot strike root, until the earth has been plowed. Hence, Jeremiah says: “Break up your fallow ground and do not sow among thorns,” and Paul speaks of the human heart and the work of grace thereon as “God’s husbandry.” It is, then, not your own work of which I speak but that of the Holy Spirit, who begins and perfects such good work. It is He, who must examine how deeply the digging and plowing must go to cause humility and contrition, and it is He who must bring it about.
18. The only work of digging allowed you is that commanded by the Savior: “Search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and these are they that bear witness of Me.” The Savior here had in mind the faithful work, the untiring thoughtfulness, with which miners dig in the earth and examine into its crevices in search of precious metals and the treasures of the earth. Thus He would have you not grow weary, but search the Scriptures with increasing diligence and devout care, so that you may there, in Christ, the rock of salvation, find the incorruptible treasures of heaven. This takes place, when you are rightly enlightened by the Spirit to understand, and by the mighty workings of God enabled to believe, the testimony of Christ, of which the Scriptures are full. “To Him bear all the prophets witness, that through His Name every one who believes on Him will receive remission of sins.”
19. 2. In the second place, a soul that is concerned about (153) salvation may beg. Begging in the usuals sense is by no means commendable, nor profitable for the body or the soul, but in spiritual trials begging is the only way of receiving grace and salvation. When a person is destitute and cannot earn anything for his livelihood, he takes to begging. So too, when you are poor in spirit, when you find that there is not the slightest good in you, nothing that can meet the approval of the holy and righteous God, when you realize that you cannot purchase or merit anything that will help you to obtain God’s grace and the inheritance of His reign, then the only means remaining is to ask or grace and to beg for mercy. You must, in the first place, come as a beggar to receive grace, but you must not on your way for spiritual alms proceed in your rags. You cannot conceal your wretchedness and nakedness before the omniscient God, nor even before men, for your filth is nevertheless apparent. The only thing you ay bring with you is a staff wherewith to support your fatigued soul and, like beggars, to defend yourself and chase the dogs away. I mean a bold hope in God’s mercy and grace for the sake of the merits of His only begotten Son. This is the staff on which you must lean when you approach the mercy seat. By it you are to drive away the dogs who come against you with chains of darkness, the impure spirits who are wont to attack the souls that seek for mercy, to tempt and trouble them with disheartening doubts. Come, then, though vile, approach the door of grace with timid boldness, knock with heartfelt sighing, and beg earnestly even for a crumb of the bread of grace in Jesus’ Name. If you find no immediate response, if the door remains shut (154) for a little while, if everything is quiet and it seems as though the Lord had not heard your raping nor heeded your prayer, you must still not depart in disheartening impatience, but wait quietly for the fulfillment of the promise: “Every one who asks receives; and he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks it shall be opened.” Only continue, with earnest perseverance, to sigh and pray for forgiveness, for the sake of the redemption of Jesus, and for the Father’s grace by reason of the merits of His Son, and you shall eventually be admitted into the reign of grace, yes, be received, not as a faithless servant, but as a beloved child and a dear friend. Then shall the Lord blot out your guilt with the blood of Jesus and compensate for your faults and sins with His perfect righteousness. He shall also endow you with wisdom and power and a mind to understand and obey the good, acceptable and perfect will of God.

Application.
20. It is remarkable that there is no one who has not at some time been noticeably moved by the Word of God. This is the first workings of grace by which the Holy Spirit seeks to awaken you to anxiety for salvation. It may seem hard for flesh and blood, but do not turn away fro this first step on the way of life, even though you fear still greater and more formidable difficulties. If you willingly submit to the workings of the Holy Spirit, heed His reminders, and follow His guidance; if you carefully use the grace He grants you, the first anxiety will become easier than you had expected.
21. O you anxious sinners, do not feel ashamed of this, (155) nor quench the anxiety of your soul. Be assured that although the world despises and hates you at times, it nevertheless harbors an inward feeling of respect for an upright form of Christianity. There will also come a time when the worldly minded will feel constrained to wish that they were like you, saying, with Balaam:   “Let me die the death of the righteous, and my last end be like his!”
22. Let not your natural egotism deceive you to make excuses and to minimize your guilt before God. Is it not easier to have it all blotted out at once and remitted for the sake of the payment made by Jesus than to make a vain attempt at falsify your bonds or, with your own righteousness, to pay the last farthing of an infinite debt? Bewared of the false comforts of men. They help you merely “from the ashes into the fire.”
23. You, my friends, who have passed through the first anxiety of repentance and have found comfort and peace in your Savior through faith in Him, do not let the love of worldly comfort entice you away from the cross. “If any man would come after me, let him take up his cross, and follow Me.” Consider how your Savior, in order to save you from eternal woe, gave up the joy of heaven and the comfort of the earth to the extent that He could say, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the heaven have nests; but the Son of Man has no where to lay His head.” Do not feel ashamed of Him and His gospel, for He was not ashamed of your wretchedness. He took it upon Himself and became, in your stead, “despised and rejected of men.” Nor is He in His exaltation and glory ashamed of the wretchedness (156) and infirmity of His children. He is not ashamed to call them brethren. Only continue to sink your hearts by faith into His wounds, into the boundless knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Press forward to a nearer and more intimate, loving and childlike confidence in Him. Do this by daily using His Word aright, begging for His grace and mercy. He will then eventually in a blessed death take you away from all manner of anxiety and grant you the salvation which He has purchased for you.
24. Lord Jesus! You have been anxious and grieved for our sins. Grant that Your power, thus obtained, may work in the hearts of sinners an earnest anxiety for the salvation which You have so dearly purchased. Mercifully do this for the sake of Your anxiety during thirty years, for the sake of Your indescribable anguish and Your eternal pain. Amen, Lord Jesus, amen.

Matthew 7,13-14. The 8. Sunday after Trinity. Henric Schartau

2011-08-16T07:50:00.000-04:00

Matthew 7,13-14
The 8. Sunday after Trinity
Henric Schartau (1757-1825)

(127) Introduction.
Enter in by the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many that enter in thereby. For narrow is the gate, and straitened the way that leads unto life, and few are they who find it.

1. This admonition of our Lord Jesus embraces the chief thing a person should accomplish while here on earth. It also describes the two different ways people walk upon. One of these you are certainly going! Note, then, their character, and hear how they terminate, so that you may understand which way you are on, and that you may know beforehand where you will eventually stop., “Enter in by the narrow gate, etc.” Matthew 7,13-14.

2. The Savior uses the figure of a way to set forth the spiritual attitude of a person toward God, but the entering into this attitude He represents as a matter by itself, just as a gate is quite a different thing from the way to which it gives access. In like manner the beginning both of the way to life and of the way to destruction is something quite different from the continuous walking upon the way. To pass through a gate and to enter upon the way to which the gate give access requires but little time. Similarly the (128) entrance through the narrow gate of repentance leading to faith is of comparatively brief duration; so likewise the lapsing away from faith into intentional sins, leading in upon the way to destruction, can be quickly accomplished. There is this difference, however, that just as it is easier to pass through a wide gate than a narrow one, so it is easier to fall away from God than to return to Him. There is this similarity, nevertheless, that as soon as one has passed through either gate, one is immediately upon the way, advancing nearer and nearer to the place whither that way leads. As soon as you have come to faith in Jesus, you are on the way to heaven,m constantly approaching your full salvation; while, on the other hand, if you have turned away form God into intentional sins, you are already on the way to hell, approaching it nearer and nearer, day by day.

3. Our Savior described the conditions appertaining to these ways, saying that many enter by the wide gate, while they are few that find the narrow gate and the way to life. There are many walking on the broad way to destruction. They enter, as it were by chance, without search or effort On the contrary, it also happens that some who seek for the narrow way of life do not find it, for they do not seek it in the right manner. They use blind guides, follow false doctrines, depend on feelings, or strive after good deeds. There are not many who seek after the way of life at all, and only a few of these find what they seek. Jesus says concerning this way, “Few are they that find it.”

4. It was by reason of these facts that Jesus gave His admonition unto repentance, “Enter in by the (129) narrow gate.” He thereupon immediately speaks about the wide gate and the broad way,m wishing to show that, if you have not experienced a true conversion, you must certainly have entered by the wide gate, and you are now on the broad way. The Savior nevertheless also represents your condition in such a way, as if there were frequent opportunities and occasions to repent, yes, as if you were often near the gate of repentance. He does not wish to have you leave it thus, however. Jesus is not satisfied to have you near the narrow gate; He wishes you to enter thereby. He does not say, “Come near the gate,” nor, “Stand in the narrow gate.” No, He says, “Enter by the narrow gate.” You are not on the way to life until you have passed through the narrow gate. If you have experienced emotions only, you have merely come to the gate, but you have not entered, you have not come to faith. If you have begun to realize that your condition is not right, you are, as it were, standing in the gate, you are in the process of repentance. But, dear friends, see to it that you enter and pass through this narrow gate, that by means of prayer and the Word you may come to an earnest seeking after grace in Christ. The wide gate is near at hand,m and it may fare with you as with many others who have stood in the gate and looked in upon the way of life, but who thought that the gate was too narrow or the way too much straitened, or were frightened into retreat or were enticed to return. They have thus come out of the narrow gate and found the broad gate close at hand. Satan then induces them to enter in by this gate, and they pass through rapidly and advance at full speed on the broad way.

(130) Proposition.
Some Remarkable Differences Between the Way of Salvation and the Way of Destruction.

1. In their beginning.
2. In their continuation.
3. In their termination.

First Part.
The Differences Between the Way of Salvation and the Way of Destruction in Their Beginnings.

5. Paul described the way of destruction, saying that men there live according to the flesh, and he adds that such a life terminates with a condition which he calls death, “If you live after the flesh, you must die.” When the word “flesh” is used in such a connection in the Scriptures so that we can understand that it signifies something evil and harmful, then it signifies our sinful depravity, the original sin, the inherent evil, and the constant inclination to transgress the law. When a man begins to live in such a way that the law is being recklessly transgressed, when he pursues his evil desires, permitting evil to prevail in his life, then such an one begins “to live after the flesh,” and he is at the beginning of the way to destruction.

6. The entrance to the way of destruction is wide and easy. It is not hard to find it,m and it seems so easy for a person to begin such a life. He gets rid of the troublesome studying of the Word, and he chooses some other kind of literature to read or, at any rate, some other way of passing the time and spending his leisure (131) moments. To be alone seems depressive and horrible, but no recourse is taken to prayer. Then the fallen sinner puts no restraint upon his evil propensities, for the entrance upon the way of destruction takes place precisely when the passions are given freedom, when a person consents to sin.

7. The entrance to the way of destruction is dark. When a person neglects to “walk in the light and believe on the light,” he gets into gloominess and darkness. He becomes blind and cannot see the light, nor receive enlightenment and come to certainty. Soon he cannot even endure the light, but “hates the light, and comes not to the light, let his works should be reproved.” He “walks in the darkness and knows not whither he goes, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.” While in the state of slumber and sleeping he has slowly and imperceptibly come upon the way of destruction, and he even advances a long way thereon, before he becomes aware that he has gone astray.

8. Paul describes the way of life, saying, that when a person walks on it, there is in him something which the apostle calls “spirit,” by which a person overcomes the deeds of the flesh. This way terminates with a condition which the apostle calls “to live.” “If by the spirit you mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live.” When the word “spirit” is used in the Scriptures, referring to something characteristic of those who are converted, something at war against our inherent evil, then this word signifies the new spiritual mind, which has been wrought by the Spirit of God in a regenerated heart, and the new spiritual powers granted by the same Spirit, enabling a person to “mortify the deeds (132) of the body.” The beginning on the way of life, then, takes place when a person gets this spirit, as David expresses it, “O God, renew a right spirit within me.”

9. The beginning on the way of life is narrow and difficult. It is hard to give up a false hope, to tear away the very foundation on which one has so long built, and to surrender the treacherous comfort to which one has so tenaciously clung. It is hard to feel the judgment with which one has been judged, “because he has not believed on the Name of the only begotten Son of God,” to see oneself lost and to perceive that one is entirely ruined. The entrance also becomes narrow, by virtue of the fact that, since a sinner cannot take any of his sins with him through the narrow gate, the evil desires of the flesh press on, endeavoring to prevent the creation of a new spirit in the heart. Satan and his people surround a person who is about to be converted, and crowd him, as it were, in the gate to life with insinuations and mockery, thus endeavoring to worry and hinder him.

10. The entrance to the way of life is, however, also light. Even is there is no comfort in the beginning of conversion, there is nevertheless enlightenment. If the awakened sinner cannot remember the Word as he would like, he can at any rate read and understand it. Where before there was ignorance there is now knowledge, and where there had been knowledge, or where knowledge has been acquired, there now arises enlightenment, for the light of the Word shines in the heart. It is becoming day, and the ruddy dawn of a larger measure of grace is already heralding the approach of “the Sun of Righteousness with healing in His wings.”

(133)
Second Part.
The Difference between the Way of Salvation and the Way of Perdition in Their Continuation.

11. The continuation on the way of salvation takes place when one converted is busy at mortifying the deeds of the flesh by the spirit. “Deeds of the flesh,” these are the things wrought, or brought about, by the flesh, inwardly and outwardly. Though the spirit cannot put the flesh itself to death, but must leave it alive even in one rightly converted, it can at least “mortify the deeds of the flesh.” As soon as the deeds of the fleshy come forth,they are attacked in spirit by the believer and demolished quite as completely as the flesh itself will be destroyed in a blessed death. The passions are suppressed with prayer, faults are rectified with watching and self-denial, the will is broken during sore temptations, and the residue of bad habits is consumed in the fire of affliction.

12. Such progress cannot take place without difficulties, for the way of life is narrow. You cannot there go where you will, for there is not room for the choice, on so narrow a way. It therefore seems difficult even to God’s children. They do not alway fare as they think and had supposed that they should. They are not left free to choose the conditions they are to pass through, nor to stake out the changes they are to experience. The way of life is narrow. You cannot travel with comfort on it, nor carry with you much baggage. A believing soul cannot follow his own willfulness, nor leave room for the persuasions of his temperament, but must remember, “That through many (134) tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God.” The narrow way leads to the end that we may be “glorified with Christ” but it also leads “through the great tribulation,” where we must suffer with Christ. One must be careful when journeying along a narrow way, for there are many obstacles, not, indeed, right on the way, but beside it, always near at hand, for the way is narrow. True Christianity, indeed,offers no obstacles to our progress in grace, but we have many associations that offer conflicting duties, thus impeding our way.

13. It is true that progress on the way of salvation is made with difficulty, but progress is nevertheless made, for it is promoted by the Spirit of God. Upon this way the believers enjoy the companionship of the Holy Spirit. The apostle says, “As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God,” but we may also say that as many as are God’s children are thus led by the Spirit. They are by Him urged to advance, lest slothfulness might deter them. They are led by the Holy Spirit, lest, when stumbling by reason of their infirmity, they might fall and destroy themselves. The Holy Spirit makes their steps more certain and their walk more secure the more He is permitted to remove the spirit of bondage and to discipline them in the right spirit of adoption, “Whereby we constantly cry, Abba, dear Father.” When some great suffering or temptation impends and is near at hand, the children of God are strengthened by the Spirit of God, “who bears witness with their spirit, that they are the children of God.”

14. Progress along the way to perdition is made, when (135) the unconverted “live after the flesh.” The carnal mind becomes the chief originator and motive power impelling the sinner in all he actions. Original sin dominates his life. Indeed, he lives in sin and finds his life there.

15. Progress along this way takes place imperceptibly, for the way to perdition is broad. It resembles a large, broad field, where one cannot know with any real certitude how far one has advanced. Hence, secure sinners cannot notice any particular change in their life, whether for better or worse. This is especially the case with those who feel secure by reason of their honesty. Their inward evil increases. An unconverted man gains more and more stability in his carnal mind. He become stronger and stronger in his prejudices and erroneous principles. He becomes more and more unresponsive to the Word of God and, at the same time, all the more obstinate in his false hope,. It is the inward carnal life which especially increases in these apparently honest sinners.

16. The progress on the way to perdition becomes even more imperceptible in those who have the appearance of actually walking on the way of salvation. They have the appearance of spirituality, while they live after the flesh. Their speech is spiritual, but their mind is carnal. They advance more and more in hypocrisy, and their false godliness makes them more and more like him who transforms himself to resemble an angel of light.

17. Progress on the way to perdition is associated with great freedom from care. Indeed, it is the increase of this freedom from care which shows what a person is on (136) the way to condemnation. The way is so broad that there is little need of carefulness to remain thereon. The unconverted have the whole field of sins before them. They may choose whatever they best like, and all the byways lead to eternal destruction. Yes, on so broad a way there is ample room for all lusts, plenty of room for a careless life, and nothing to hinder a person from serving and enjoying the lusts. This freedom from care becomes especially great in the case of those who have been awakened and concerned for their salvation, but who have stifled the cry of conscience. When a person who has harbored one devil has swept his house clean and has thereupon received eight in his heart; when a person who has fallen into gross sins stops his remorse and feels satisfied with a decent life; when the quickenings of conscience are turned into false comfort and a specious spirituality, arising from false learning; and when one who has walked in his own self-righteousness ends with the abuse of evangelical grace, then progress along the way to perdition takes place with all the more freedom from care, inasmuch as these people advance along another side of the road than before, and hence suppose that they are walking on another road.

Third Part.
The Difference between the Way of Salvation and the Way of Destruction in Their Termination.

18. The end of this way is perdition, for the way ends at the place whither it leads. The apostle calls this termination “to die,” which, he says, is the sequence of a life after the flesh. It is also clear that he does not (137) here means bodily death, for the whole man never dies, the soul never in eternity loses its essential life, but lives on in death and after death. The apostle means eternal death, that is the eternal separation from God which takes place when the bodily death finds a person without union with Christ. After the struggles of bodily death are finished, the lost soul finds that, although it is parted from the body, the pangs of death still exist, yes, are every moment renewed and shall so continue forever. What a gnawing feeling of want must then fill the lost soul, when God has departed, with all His goodness, mercy, and comfort! What horror the unfortunate one must experience, when he perceives the presence of the evil spirit, and must remain under its control! What an affliction to hear the moaning of the condemned as well as one’s own, to see their agony and to suffer inexpressible pain! Here the way of destruction terminates in torment never to be allayed, never to cease, in “the outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth,” in hell and the flames of fire, “the lake of fire, which is the second death.”

19. The way of salvation, on the other hand, ends in eternal glory and joy. This the apostle calls “to live,” saying, “If you mortify the deeds of the body by the spirit, then you shall live.” The life of a Christian, which is a constant warfare of the spirit to put the deeds of the flesh to death, terminates with death, and then life eternal begins. In death a man begins to live aright, never more to die. If his condition is then blessed, it may be called life indeed, as the Scriptures also call it. If the beginning of a Christian’s journey along the way of (138) salvation has been difficult, the end nevertheless is full of joy. If, in the continuation, he has passed through much wretchedness, the end eventually attained is indesribably glorious. At the end of this race-course there is the eternal prize of grace, “the crown of glory that does not fade away.” The narrow way terminates “in the bosom of Abraham,” where Lazarus enjoys comfort; in paradise, where the repentant thief even on the day of his death was with Christ; in the Father’s house in the many mansions, where the Son has prepared a room for every disciple. After much tribulation the faithful soul finds rest from its labor, even “the sabbath rest, which remains for the people of God.” He forgets the dangers he has passed through and finds “fullness of joy and pleasures for evermore,” in the presence of God, in the “kingdom prepared form the foundation of the world.”

Application.
20. I have today set before you the way to life and the way to death. I have described the way of salvation and the way of destruction. See to it that you may ascertain what way you are on. May it be that you have never seen or understood this? Surely, you should not thus walk to eternity by chance; you should know wither you are going, lest you may land where you had not expected and find that you had gone astray, when you cannot return.

21. If you notice that you are on the “way of wickedness,” then this is the beginning leading to the right way. Take the Word for your enlightenment and pray the Holy Spirit to be your companion. You will then (139) certainly enter upon the right way, for you thus come to Christ, who is the right way of life. If you have advanced to the extent that you have a spirit which puts to death the deeds of the flesh, then take these words of the Lord for your guide, “This is the way, walk in it; when you turn to the right hand, and when you turn to the left.: Be concerned that, by a right use of the Word, of prayer, and of Holy Communion, you may advance more and more along the way of salvation to the mortification and the laying off of the flesh and the deeds thereof, by the spirit which gathers strength unto assurance in faith through increasing knowledge of Jesus Christ, unto earnestness in love, and patience in hope, thus being assured that you are on the way of life, “for few are they who find it.” Amen.

Matthew 7,13-14. The 8. Sunday after Trinity. Henric Schartau

2011-08-16T07:48:00.001-04:00

Matthew 7,13-14
The 8. Sunday after Trinity
Henric Schartau (1757-1825)

(127) Introduction.
Enter in by the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many that enter in thereby. For narrow is the gate, and straitened the way that leads unto life, and few are they who find it.

1. This admonition of our Lord Jesus embraces the chief thing a person should accomplish while here on earth. It also describes the two different ways people walk upon. One of these you are certainly going! Note, then, their character, and hear how they terminate, so that you may understand which way you are on, and that you may know beforehand where you will eventually stop., “Enter in by the narrow gate, etc.” Matthew 7,13-14.
2. The Savior uses the figure of a way to set forth the spiritual attitude of a person toward God, but the entering into this attitude He represents as a matter by itself, just as a gate is quite a different thing from the way to which it gives access. In like manner the beginning both of the way to life and of the way to destruction is something quite different from the continuous walking upon the way. To pass through a gate and to enter upon the way to which the gate give access requires but little time. Similarly the (128) entrance through the narrow gate of repentance leading to faith is of comparatively brief duration; so likewise the lapsing away from faith into intentional sins, leading in upon the way to destruction, can be quickly accomplished. There is this difference, however, that just as it is easier to pass through a wide gate than a narrow one, so it is easier to fall away from God than to return to Him. There is this similarity, nevertheless, that as soon as one has passed through either gate, one is immediately upon the way, advancing nearer and nearer to the place whither that way leads. As soon as you have come to faith in Jesus, you are on the way to heaven,m constantly approaching your full salvation; while, on the other hand, if you have turned away form God into intentional sins, you are already on the way to hell, approaching it nearer and nearer, day by day.
3. Our Savior described the conditions appertaining to these ways, saying that many enter by the wide gate, while they are few that find the narrow gate and the way to life. There are many walking on the broad way to destruction. They enter, as it were by chance, without search or effort On the contrary, it also happens that some who seek for the narrow way of life do not find it, for they do not seek it in the right manner. They use blind guides, follow false doctrines, depend on feelings, or strive after good deeds. There are not many who seek after the way of life at all, and only a few of these find what they seek. Jesus says concerning this way, “Few are they that find it.”
4. It was by reason of these facts that Jesus gave His admonition unto repentance, “Enter in by the (129) narrow gate.” He thereupon immediately speaks about the wide gate and the broad way,m wishing to show that, if you have not experienced a true conversion, you must certainly have entered by the wide gate, and you are now on the broad way. The Savior nevertheless also represents your condition in such a way, as if there were frequent opportunities and occasions to repent, yes, as if you were often near the gate of repentance. He does not wish to have you leave it thus, however. Jesus is not satisfied to have you near the narrow gate; He wishes you to enter thereby. He does not say, “Come near the gate,” nor, “Stand in the narrow gate.” No, He says, “Enter by the narrow gate.” You are not on the way to life until you have passed through the narrow gate. If you have experienced emotions only, you have merely come to the gate, but you have not entered, you have not come to faith. If you have begun to realize that your condition is not right, you are, as it were, standing in the gate, you are in the process of repentance. But, dear friends, see to it that you enter and pass through this narrow gate, that by means of prayer and the Word you may come to an earnest seeking after grace in Christ. The wide gate is near at hand,m and it may fare with you as with many others who have stood in the gate and looked in upon the way of life, but who thought that the gate was too narrow or the way too much straitened, or were frightened into retreat or were enticed to return. They have thus come out of the narrow gate and found the broad gate close at hand. Satan then induces them to enter in by this gate, and they pass through rapidly and advance at full speed on the broad way.

(130) Proposition.
Some Remarkable Differences Between the Way of Salvation and the Way of Destruction.
1. In their beginning.
2. In their continuation.
3. In their termination.

First Part.
The Differences Between the Way of Salvation and the Way of Destruction in Their Beginnings.
5. Paul described the way of destruction, saying that men there live according to the flesh, and he adds that such a life terminates with a condition which he calls death, “If you live after the flesh, you must die.” When the word “flesh” is used in such a connection in the Scriptures so that we can understand that it signifies something evil and harmful, then it signifies our sinful depravity, the original sin, the inherent evil, and the constant inclination to transgress the law. When a man begins to live in such a way that the law is being recklessly transgressed, when he pursues his evil desires, permitting evil to prevail in his life, then such an one begins “to live after the flesh,” and he is at the beginning of the way to destruction.
6. The entrance to the way of destruction is wide and easy. It is not hard to find it,m and it seems so easy for a person to begin such a life. He gets rid of the troublesome studying of the Word, and he chooses some other kind of literature to read or, at any rate, some other way of passing the time and spending his leisure (131) moments. To be alone seems depressive and horrible, but no recourse is taken to prayer. Then the fallen sinner puts no restraint upon his evil propensities, for the entrance upon the way of destruction takes place precisely when the passions are given freedom, when a person consents to sin.
7. The entrance to the way of destruction is dark. When a person neglects to “walk in the light and believe on the light,” he gets into gloominess and darkness. He becomes blind and cannot see the light, nor receive enlightenment and come to certainty. Soon he cannot even endure the light, but “hates the light, and comes not to the light, let his works should be reproved.” He “walks in the darkness and knows not whither he goes, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.” While in the state of slumber and sleeping he has slowly and imperceptibly come upon the way of destruction, and he even advances a long way thereon, before he becomes aware that he has gone astray.
8. Paul describes the way of life, saying, that when a person walks on it, there is in him something which the apostle calls “spirit,” by which a person overcomes the deeds of the flesh. This way terminates with a condition which the apostle calls “to live.” “If by the spirit you mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live.” When the word “spirit” is used in the Scriptures, referring to something characteristic of those who are converted, something at war against our inherent evil, then this word signifies the new spiritual mind, which has been wrought by the Spirit of God in a regenerated heart, and the new spiritual powers granted by the same Spirit, enabling a person to “mortify the deeds (132) of the body.” The beginning on the way of life, then, takes place when a person gets this spirit, as David expresses it, “O God, renew a right spirit within me.”
9. The beginning on the way of life is narrow and difficult. It is hard to give up a false hope, to tear away the very foundation on which one has so long built, and to surrender the treacherous comfort to which one has so tenaciously clung. It is hard to feel the judgment with which one has been judged, “because he has not believed on the Name of the only begotten Son of God,” to see oneself lost and to perceive that one is entirely ruined. The entrance also becomes narrow, by virtue of the fact that, since a sinner cannot take any of his sins with him through the narrow gate, the evil desires of the flesh press on, endeavoring to prevent the creation of a new spirit in the heart. Satan and his people surround a person who is about to be converted, and crowd him, as it were, in the gate to life with insinuations and mockery, thus endeavoring to worry and hinder him.
10. The entrance to the way of life is, however, also light. Even is there is no comfort in the beginning of conversion, there is nevertheless enlightenment. If the awakened sinner cannot remember the Word as he would like, he can at any rate read and understand it. Where before there was ignorance there is now knowledge, and where there had been knowledge, or where knowledge has been acquired, there now arises enlightenment, for the light of the Word shines in the heart. It is becoming day, and the ruddy dawn of a larger measure of grace is already heralding the approach of “the Sun of Righteousness with healing in His wings.”

(133)
Second Part.
The Difference between the Way of Salvation and the Way of Perdition in Their Continuation.

11. The continuation on the way of salvation takes place when one converted is busy at mortifying the deeds of the flesh by the spirit. “Deeds of the flesh,” these are the things wrought, or brought about, by the flesh, inwardly and outwardly. Though the spirit cannot put the flesh itself to death, but must leave it alive even in one rightly converted, it can at least “mortify the deeds of the flesh.” As soon as the deeds of the fleshy come forth,they are attacked in spirit by the believer and demolished quite as completely as the flesh itself will be destroyed in a blessed death. The passions are suppressed with prayer, faults are rectified with watching and self-denial, the will is broken during sore temptations, and the residue of bad habits is consumed in the fire of affliction.
12. Such progress cannot take place without difficulties, for the way of life is narrow. You cannot there go where you will, for there is not room for the choice, on so narrow a way. It therefore seems difficult even to God’s children. They do not alway fare as they think and had supposed that they should. They are not left free to choose the conditions they are to pass through, nor to stake out the changes they are to experience. The way of life is narrow. You cannot travel with comfort on it, nor carry with you much baggage. A believing soul cannot follow his own willfulness, nor leave room for the persuasions of his temperament, but must remember, “That through many (134) tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God.” The narrow way leads to the end that we may be “glorified with Christ” but it also leads “through the great tribulation,” where we must suffer with Christ. One must be careful when journeying along a narrow way, for there are many obstacles, not, indeed, right on the way, but beside it, always near at hand, for the way is narrow. True Christianity, indeed,offers no obstacles to our progress in grace, but we have many associations that offer conflicting duties, thus impeding our way.
13. It is true that progress on the way of salvation is made with difficulty, but progress is nevertheless made, for it is promoted by the Spirit of God. Upon this way the believers enjoy the companionship of the Holy Spirit. The apostle says, “As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God,” but we may also say that as many as are God’s children are thus led by the Spirit. They are by Him urged to advance, lest slothfulness might deter them. They are led by the Holy Spirit, lest, when stumbling by reason of their infirmity, they might fall and destroy themselves. The Holy Spirit makes their steps more certain and their walk more secure the more He is permitted to remove the spirit of bondage and to discipline them in the right spirit of adoption, “Whereby we constantly cry, Abba, dear Father.” When some great suffering or temptation impends and is near at hand, the children of God are strengthened by the Spirit of God, “who bears witness with their spirit, that they are the children of God.”
14. Progress along the way to perdition is made, when (135) the unconverted “live after the flesh.” The carnal mind becomes the chief originator and motive power impelling the sinner in all he actions. Original sin dominates his life. Indeed, he lives in sin and finds his life there.
15. Progress along this way takes place imperceptibly, for the way to perdition is broad. It resembles a large, broad field, where one cannot know with any real certitude how far one has advanced. Hence, secure sinners cannot notice any particular change in their life, whether for better or worse. This is especially the case with those who feel secure by reason of their honesty. Their inward evil increases. An unconverted man gains more and more stability in his carnal mind. He become stronger and stronger in his prejudices and erroneous principles. He becomes more and more unresponsive to the Word of God and, at the same time, all the more obstinate in his false hope,. It is the inward carnal life which especially increases in these apparently honest sinners.
16. The progress on the way to perdition becomes even more imperceptible in those who have the appearance of actually walking on the way of salvation. They have the appearance of spirituality, while they live after the flesh. Their speech is spiritual, but their mind is carnal. They advance more and more in hypocrisy, and their false godliness makes them more and more like him who transforms himself to resemble an angel of light.
17. Progress on the way to perdition is associated with great freedom from care. Indeed, it is the increase of this freedom from care which shows what a person is on (136) the way to condemnation. The way is so broad that there is little need of carefulness to remain thereon. The unconverted have the whole field of sins before them. They may choose whatever they best like, and all the byways lead to eternal destruction. Yes, on so broad a way there is ample room for all lusts, plenty of room for a careless life, and nothing to hinder a person from serving and enjoying the lusts. This freedom from care becomes especially great in the case of those who have been awakened and concerned for their salvation, but who have stifled the cry of conscience. When a person who has harbored one devil has swept his house clean and has thereupon received eight in his heart; when a person who has fallen into gross sins stops his remorse and feels satisfied with a decent life; when the quickenings of conscience are turned into false comfort and a specious spirituality, arising from false learning; and when one who has walked in his own self-righteousness ends with the abuse of evangelical grace, then progress along the way to perdition takes place with all the more freedom from care, inasmuch as these people advance along another side of the road than before, and hence suppose that they are walking on another road.

Third Part.
The Difference between the Way of Salvation and the Way of Destruction in Their Termination.

18. The end of this way is perdition, for the way ends at the place whither it leads. The apostle calls this termination “to die,” which, he says, is the sequence of a life after the flesh. It is also clear that he does not (137) here means bodily death, for the whole man never dies, the soul never in eternity loses its essential life, but lives on in death and after death. The apostle means eternal death, that is the eternal separation from God which takes place when the bodily death finds a person without union with Christ. After the struggles of bodily death are finished, the lost soul finds that, although it is parted from the body, the pangs of death still exist, yes, are every moment renewed and shall so continue forever. What a gnawing feeling of want must then fill the lost soul, when God has departed, with all His goodness, mercy, and comfort! What horror the unfortunate one must experience, when he perceives the presence of the evil spirit, and must remain under its control! What an affliction to hear the moaning of the condemned as well as one’s own, to see their agony and to suffer inexpressible pain! Here the way of destruction terminates in torment never to be allayed, never to cease, in “the outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth,” in hell and the flames of fire, “the lake of fire, which is the second death.”
19. The way of salvation, on the other hand, ends in eternal glory and joy. This the apostle calls “to live,” saying, “If you mortify the deeds of the body by the spirit, then you shall live.” The life of a Christian, which is a constant warfare of the spirit to put the deeds of the flesh to death, terminates with death, and then life eternal begins. In death a man begins to live aright, never more to die. If his condition is then blessed, it may be called life indeed, as the Scriptures also call it. If the beginning of a Christian’s journey along the way of (138) salvation has been difficult, the end nevertheless is full of joy. If, in the continuation, he has passed through much wretchedness, the end eventually attained is indesribably glorious. At the end of this race-course there is the eternal prize of grace, “the crown of glory that does not fade away.” The narrow way terminates “in the bosom of Abraham,” where Lazarus enjoys comfort; in paradise, where the repentant thief even on the day of his death was with Christ; in the Father’s house in the many mansions, where the Son has prepared a room for every disciple. After much tribulation the faithful soul finds rest from its labor, even “the sabbath rest, which remains for the people of God.” He forgets the dangers he has passed through and finds “fullness of joy and pleasures for evermore,” in the presence of God, in the “kingdom prepared form the foundation of the world.”

Application.
20. I have today set before you the way to life and the way to death. I have described the way of salvation and the way of destruction. See to it that you may ascertain what way you are on. May it be that you have never seen or understood this? Surely, you should not thus walk to eternity by chance; you should know wither you are going, lest you may land where you had not expected and find that you had gone astray, when you cannot return.
21. If you notice that you are on the “way of wickedness,” then this is the beginning leading to the right way. Take the Word for your enlightenment and pray the Holy Spirit to be your companion. You will then (139) certainly enter upon the right way, for you thus come to Christ, who is the right way of life. If you have advanced to the extent that you have a spirit which puts to death the deeds of the flesh, then take these words of the Lord for your guide, “This is the way, walk in it; when you turn to the right hand, and when you turn to the left.: Be concerned that, by a right use of the Word, of prayer, and of Holy Communion, you may advance more and more along the way of salvation to the mortification and the laying off of the flesh and the deeds thereof, by the spirit which gathers strength unto assurance in faith through increasing knowledge of Jesus Christ, unto earnestness in love, and patience in hope, thus being assured that you are on the way of life, “for few are they who find it.” Amen.

1. Corinthians 9,24-10,5. Septuagesima. Henrik Schartau

2011-08-03T07:44:00.000-04:00

1. Corinthians 9,24-10,5
Septuagesima
Henric Schartau (1757-1825)

Outline.
And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last. Luke 13,30.

1. (88) The Lord Jesus says that there will be a peculiar interchange of places in His glorious reign, quite different from that which might reasonably be expected.
2. A. Some who have been known as being outside of the reign of God’s grace will, contrary to the expectations of many, be found to be within that glorious reign.
3. No one who at the time of his death stands outside of the reign of grace will ever be found within the reign of glory.
4. But some who have lived in such a way that all who have had knowledge in the Word of God might know that they were not true Christians become such, though the world which saw their former condition may not have observed the latter.
5. B. Some who were expected to be seen in the reign of glory will not be seen there.
6. Fear not, O sorrowful heart! No one who, by reason of the Word of God, can be expected in the reign of glory, shall be wanting there.
7. But some who have been called by grace and have (89) apparently attained to faith have nevertheless remained in their natural condition; and some who have had the true faith have fallen away. these shall be missed in heaven, though it appeared as if they would surely arrive there.
8. C. Many who have had great gifts, who have been sanctified by grace, and who have thus been brilliant, but nevertheless in personal character fundamentally weak -- these belong there.
9. Those who have had exalted positions and who, by virtue of this, have shown enlightenment and power, but who have in themselves been weak -- these may also belong there.
10. D. Some who have been considered humble and of low degree shall there be first, indeed, some who have had slight gifts and who have had external faults so that they scarcely seemed to be Christians.

The Text.
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 1. Corinthians 9,24-10,5.
11. In Greece, and especially in the city of Corinth to which the apostle wrote this letter, there were among other physical exercises also those of races on specially made race-tracks, A large number of young people, even from far distant countries, came to take part in the games. After due training, to which belonged temperance in all things, they all exerted themselves to the (90) utmost to reach the goal first and thus to receive the prize.
12. The apostle here finds an analogy to the racing for the reign of God. He imagines how the athletes rushed on, and he urges the Christian racers to all the more eagerness, inasmuch as they are racing for a crown of greater glory. We can well understand how it frequently happened that some who were last at the beginning of the race gathered strength and advanced to be among the first, and vice versa.

Proposition.
A Great Interchange of Places on the Way to Heaven
I. The last become first.
II. The first become last.

First Part.
The Last Become First.

13. The last are also on the way, though they are last at the very first beginning of the race. They have a heartfelt desire to hear and read the Word of God, and they are often moved thereby, though nothing more. They have not yet been enlightened by the Word to see their depravity, nor have they been moved by its power to seek after salvation.
14. A. Some remain last. There are last which shall be first, says the Savior, and this implies that not all who are last shall be first, but only a few. “Awake up righteously, and do not sin; for some have no knowledge of God.” Some Corinthians were awakened, but (91) not rightly awake, persons who did not know God, but remained lying in their sins.
15. There are some who gladly hear and read the Word, and are moved to tears, but nothing more. Some can remain in this condition for many years. They are “ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” They are being driven by their learning in the Scriptures and appear to be in the race, but they get nowhere; they ever remain last.
16. B. Some attain a righteous life in Christ, though they do not become first. They were for some time, perhaps a long while, among the last, but they permitted the Holy Spirit to quicken them to earnestness, and thus eventually attained a righteous life, though they have not made great progress. They are like those of whom we read in Revelation 3,8: “You have little power.” Those who were ignorant have at least learned the rudiments which are necessary fro salvation, “the first principles of the oracles of God.” These become saved, but scarcely so.
17. C. Some become first, though they were last. They were last, but they gathered new strength and began to rush eagerly along, passing by all their competitors. They were ignorant, but finally, like David, they became more learned than their teachers. Like the Syro-Phenician woman, they advanced so far from their heathen unbelief that they received the testimony which she received of the Lord Jesus: “Your faith is great.” Instead of merely longing for feeling and relying on them, they have attained a faith like that of Thomas, to see not, and yet believe.
18. Such were the Thessalonians. Their faith grew (92) exceedingly, and their love to each other abounded. Their patience had become perfected to the extent that, like Moses, they considered the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt,” and thy had gained such stability in their hope that,like Paul, they were sure that nothing “shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Second Part.
The First Who Shall Be Last.

19. What do we mean with the first? We mean those who have just been described, who have attained the greatest measure and the highest degree of the love of Christ.
20. A. Some are first and remain first. They keep the faith unto the end. Jesus can say to them as He did to His apostles, “You are they who have continued with Me in My temptations.” Other Christians can also give them the same testimony, as for instance, Peter gives his fellow Christians (Acts 1,21). These keep the faith and a good conscience. They remain “always steadfast and unmovable” The apostle John calls them “fathers” and says concerning them that they “knew him who is from the beginning.” They have thus “attained unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,” they are experienced in mind, and they walk steadfastly with their feet.
21. B. Some come near being last, but do not become last. This was the case with the pastor in Ephesus, (93) Revelation 2,1-5, also with Peter in Antioch, and with the Corinthians and the Galatians.
22. The pastor in Ephesus had left his first love, but he nevertheless still had faith, and he labored for the sake of Jesus. The Apostle Peter came near being one of the last in Antioch, where he fell into hypocrisy, eating with the Gentiles while alone with them, but withdrawing from them when other Jews arrived. But he gathered new power when reprimanded by Paul. The Corinthians had fallen back to the extent that there were factions and quarrels among them, and that they even condoned a manifest work of the devil in their midst. But they accepted the reproof in Paul’s first letter to them and repented, so that in his second letter he was enabled to express satisfaction with the results of the reproof.
23. C. Some who have been first become last, but do not remain such; they remain anew.
24. Peter had been one of the first. Jesus had borne testimony that Peter had a knowledge of Christ, not attainable by flesh and blood, but the result of a revelation given him by the Heavenly Father Himself. He become one of the last when he cursed and swore and denied that he knew Jesus. But he was awakened when the rooter crowed, he was convicted by the look of Jesus and became converted. He again advanced in the love of Jesus and could appeal to the omniscience of his Master, asserting that he still loved Him.
25. The Galatians had been among the foremost. Jesus had been set before their eyes as crucified. They had become last when they had fallen from grace and endeavored to become justified by the law. But they revived (94) when Paul was “again in travail until Christ was formed in them”. He hoped that they would become steadfast in Christ, and he had the assurance that the Spirit and the fruits of the Spirit were still to be found among them. He had the confidence that there were still spiritually minded people among them who could restore those who had fallen in sin.
26. D. Some who have been first become last, and remain thus.
27. This was the case with a large number of Jesus’ own disciples who had been with Him a long time. Many went back when Jesus had spoken to them about the necessity of eating His flesh and drinking His blood, and we have no record that they ever returned to Him. Judas Iscariot had been one of the first of the apostles who rejoiced to find that the devils were subject to them in the Name of Jesus: but he became one of the last. He sold his Lord, and he departed into the outer darkness, in despair having taken his own life. Demas had been one of Paul’s disciples, but he left his master, “having loved this present world”, and we nowhere read that he again began to long for the reign of God. In Hebrews 6,4-6, we read of others who had been first. They had “once been enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and tasted the good Word of God , and the powers of the age to come”. Then we are told how they became last, how they “fell away, crucifying to themselves the Son of God afresh, and putting Him to an open shame”. Indeed, we are told that (95) these remain last, for “it is impossible to renew them again unto repentance.”

Application.
28. If you imagine that you are one of the first, or at least nearly so, then you are certainly one of the last, and in danger of drifting away from the way of life. “Wherefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.”
29. If you admit that you are one of the last and desire to remain so, not wishing to advance, then you are not even on the way of salvation. Though you imagine that this is spiritual poverty and humility, it is nothing but hypocrisy whereby you attempt to cover your laziness and indifference. You desire to stand, as it were,on the boundary between the reign of Satan and the reign of God. You wish to have a little of each and to serve God and Mammon. You wish to have the grace of God and the friendship of the world, to find pleasure in the Word of God and to enjoy yourself in the Vanity Fair. But beware, lest Satan lay hold on you and pull you back into his dominion,. Yes, look and see, if you are not already there. I know how you would like to have it. You would like to be in the world, and you feel quite satisfied, if you but enter the door of heaven, but let me tell you the truth: if you are thus satisfied and not striving to advance, you will not even enter through the door. No, you will become one of those who will remain standing outside of the door forever.
30. Do you begin to realize how blind you have been, think that you were one of the first, whereas you (96) now find with anxiety that you are not even on the way? Behold, this is a prompting of the Holy Spirit. If you are deeply concerned about entering on the right way, then let it be your comfort that God is of a like mind. Awake rightly and be concerned about your salvation before you fall asleep in death. You still have an opportunity. Everything thus far neglected can still be retrieved and made good. The race course of life lies open before you, and the crown of life may yet be obtained. But neglect it no longer; you have slept long enough. This is the time to arise out of your slumber and to run the race set before you, so that you may receive the prize. Pray earnestly that you may be heard. Search the Scriptures carefully, so that God may enlighten, grieve, and comfort,and transform your heart.
31. You know that you are on the way, though you do not know whether you are one of the last or one of the first. Let me advise you to press on as diligently to obtain the crown of life, as if you really expected to be one of the first. Though it may see to you as if you were one of the last, you will nevertheless advance farther into heaven than you expected, and will there find greater blessedness than you had supposed. Amen.

Luke 18,31-43. Quinquagesima. Henric Schartau

2011-07-25T07:44:00.001-04:00

Luke 18,31-43
Quinquagesima
Henric Schartau (1757-1825)

Introduction.
I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it is accomplished!

1. (97) Thus Christ our Savior speaks in a parable about His impending suffering. The parable is taken from the custom of that time of completely immersing the person to be baptized. The Savior means to say that just as on e baptized is covered with water, so He must be covered with sores and wales and bathe in His own blood. The words are recorded in Luke 12,50.

2. After the great, lamentable misfortune of the fall into sin, an could be saved in only one way: the Son of the living God must become a true man and submit to suffering and death for His brethren, the poor children of Adam, whose nature and fashion He assumed. His whole life was one of suffering. The weaknesses and infirmities of our nature, which He had taken upon Himself, were a constantly oppressive burden, and the poverty and wretchedness to which He had freely submitted on our behalf were sources of unceasing affliction.

3. Still this was not sufficient for the redemption of the fallen race. The wearisome life which the Savior led in this world terminated with still more grievous suffering, (98) with the most severe pains, and with death itself. Jesus foresaw the inevitable. He knew that the poor human race could not be saved by any other means than the strictest payment and the bloodiest atonement. As a true man, with human feelings, He shuddered at the gruesome anguish and agony and the dreadful pains which He must suffer. But He did not hesitate in the least He had resolutely determined with His Heavenly Father to save the sinful world. The great work of redemption could not by Him be called in question. On the contrary, the Savior longed to finish it, though it had to be done by the most grievous shedding of His blood. “I have a baptism to be baptized with,” He says, “and how I am straitened till it be accomplished!”

4. It is considered to be something great and excellent, when a person calmly submits to the inevitable. It is considered to be an evidence of great friendship, when some one lovingly and freely takes upon himself to endure the hardships of another. But to long for the greatest pains merely in order to save others -- this is an entirely Divine love, shown by no one except our Divine Savior.

Proposition.
The Great Love of Our Savior as Manifested in His Suffering for Us

I. The great love.
II. How we should reciprocate this love.

First Part. (99)
The Great Love.

5. The love of Jesus is great, for He is great who has loved us. It is a great act of friendship, when a man is willing to suffer for another, and it becomes greater, the more exalted and noble the person is who thus suffers for the other. It is, then, the very greatest love, when the most exalted God Himself has been pleased to suffer on our behalf. Our Savior is also true God, the Son of God, by whom all things are made. In His Divine nature He is immutable, and hence exalted above suffering; but He became a man in order that He might, in HIs human nature, suffer and die for us. God, who is the Highest, desired to thus humiliate Himself and to bear the punishment for our sins. The Almighty, whose power is manifested in the creatures, from the largest, who frighten us with their bigness, to the least, who by reason of their smallness escape our vision, God whose wisdom is portrayed in every flower of the field and in every blade of grass trampled under our feet, was “delivered unto the Gentiles. He was mocked, scoffed at, spitted upon, scourged and crucified.”

6. The love of Jesus Christ shown us in His suffering is great, for we, the objects of that love, are small and quite inconsiderable. The Creator has been pleased to suffer for those created by Him, indeed, for creatures who had not remained in the perfection which they had received at His hands, but had fallen into the most nefarious wretchedness and the most horrible wickedness. When a great general falls in battle, it is customary to erect a monument to his memory, bearing the inscription (100) that he died for his beloved fatherland. Indeed, it is true that he died for his brethren and friends at home, but Jesus did much more: He died for His enemies. The Apostle Paul has therefore erected the following memorial to the once crucified Savior: “For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for the good man some one would even dare to die. But God commends His own love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” The greatest Love has died for His enemies, the Holy God for such as were an abomination in His sight, the Righteous God for those who had greatly offended Him.

7. The love of Jesus, shown us in His suffering, is great, for the suffering which He endured was great. He was tightly bound when delivered to the Gentiles. He was buffeted by those who mocked Him. He was bent down toward the earth and scourged. Taunts and jeers followed Him to the cross. His patient silence did not deter His enemies from following Him with their mockery to the very end. And yet His physical suffering can scarcely be compared with His mental agony, for the Son of Man endured anguish unto the sweating of blood and unto the pains of hell, even to the extent that He was forsaken by God. This is what the Son of Man suffered for us, until He gave the greatest evidence of His love by dying for us. Though a friend may sacrifice much for another, he nevertheless saves his own life, as the dearest of all. When a friend loves unto death, love can go no further. Jesus has given evidence of such love, as He also avers, “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

8. The love of Jesus, shown in His suffering, was great, (101) for great was the distress from which He delivered us. Look at your life. Consider what you have done. Judge what you have merited. Howe would you fare, if you had noSavior? What would be your lot at the end of your life? Hell would be gaping to devour every soul on departing hence, if Jesus had not “ransomed them from the grave and redeemed them from death.” He assumed the debt and paid it. The guilty debtor need not now be delivered into the hands of the executioners until the debt is paid. Jesus has endured the punishment for sinners, and they may be spared. God reveals His righteousness by faith unto them who live by faith, “passing over the sins done aforetime, in the forbearance of God.” It was through His death that Jesus “brought to nought him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,” and delivered them who before had been in the service of sin and subject to the bondage of Satan.

9. The love of Jesus, shown in His suffering is great, for great is the glory which is thereby secured. “Him who knew no sin He made to be sin on our behalf; so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” Every one converted from the service of unrighteousness unto faith in Jesus Christ becomes righteous, for His fulfillment of the law is attributed unto every one who “believes on Him that justifies the ungodly.” When a person becomes thus justified by faith, he obtains “peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” He enters into union with Christ, who lives in such a person, and for whom to live is Christ. He may indeed rarely experience the full comfort of his justification and the joy of his election, but he nevertheless looks (102) with patience for the “rest who remain for the people of God,” and he fights the good fight, confidently hoping to gain the imperishable crown of glory.

Second Part.
How We Should Reciprocate the Great Love, Which the Savior Has Shown Us in His Suffering.

10. He that has received open eyes of understanding, anointed with eyesalve, enabling him to rightly evaluate the Savior’s love, must, in the first place, consider the suffering of Jesus greater than all his sins. If Jesus is greater than you, then His payment is also greater than your debts. He is the propitiation for the sins of the whole world. A grievous suffering like His cannot be in vain for any one who rightly wishes to appropriate its blessings. The powerful fetters of Satan cannot avail against so mighty a Redeemer. He is the stronger One, who overcomes the strong enemy; “He takes from him his whole armor, and divides his spoils.” Honor, then, your Savior as He deserves to be honored. Acknowledge Him as the mighty Savior that He is, and do not make of yourself an exception to His unlimited redemption. If He has borne the burden of your sins, then lay them down at His feet, and if He has opened the dungeon of darkness, you should no longer remain in your wretchedness, since the Son of God offers to make you free indeed.

11. If you have been set free, thank Him for your deliverance and render unto Him praise for your redemption. As a bird escaping from the trap, immediately, on the very first branch where its feet find rest begins to chirp its song of gladness over its deliverance, and as (103) a prisoner, losing his fetters, stretches out his hands to his deliverer, thanking him for his new-won liberty, so likewise should every saved soul, when the snare is broken and he is set free, raise his voice in praise to his Savior and lift high his arms to glorify his Redeemer. All creatures praise Him as their Creator; surely, then, man should glorify Him as Savior. “The heavens declare the glory of God,” every bird pipes its own lay to His honor, every brooklet ripples its gladsome voice in acknowledgement of Him who guides its course. Should not man, then, praise Him the more -- man, whom He has saved from the greatest distress? Though weakness constrains his voice and destruction fetters his tongue, he should nevertheless, standing on the shore of the deep waters of misery, praise God for his salvation and join with the Church triumphant, “saying with a great voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb that has been slain to receive the power, and riches, and wisdom, and might, and honor, and glory, and blessing.”

12. If Jesus has given Himself in death for you, you should give yourself to Him. Though you are only a poor and wretched creature, give Him your heart. It is a small reward for the great labor which He has had to save you from your sins. Since He willingly assumed the fashion of a servant on your behalf, you should feel in duty bound to serve Him all the days of your life. He showed you such love while you were yet His enemy, and therefore you should feel all the more constrained to love Him, when the love of God has been shed abroad in your heart. St. John says, “We love, because He first loved us,” and again, “This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.” Since Jesus (104) has been pleased to suffer in expressibly much for you, should not you be willing to suffer a little for Him? Of what consequence is the slight disgrace caused you by the world in comparison with the shame which the Son of God must suffer to save you from eternal death? “Consider, therefore, Him who has endured such gainsaying of sinners against himself, that you wax not weary, fainting in your souls.” If Jesus suffered, bearing His cross and your heavy burden of sin, you should not deem it grievous to deny yourself, and take up your cross, and follow Him.

Application.

13. Such, O man, is the love which your Savior has shown you. Where,then, is the love which you should show HIm in return? Are you not one of those concerning whom the Lord complains: “They have rewarded Me evil for good, and hatred for My love.” You know that He hates an ungodly manner of life, but you persist in living thus. You know that intentional sins provoke Him to anger, and still you continue to violate His commandments. Do you not fear that the wrath of the Lord Jesus will, upon His final coming in judgment, prove quite as great as the grace shown at His first advent and birth? Alas! How can it be otherwise? His righteousness must be quite as infinite as His mercy. How shamefully you change His grace into opportunity, license,and boldness to sin! Jesus has redeemed you, but you again give yourself into bondage. (105) Jesus has bought you to be His own, and you have surrendered yourself to the power of Satan. Wretched creature, how do you treat yourself? Jesus has shown you love, but you act as thought you were your own worst enemy. You cast yourself into the misery from which Jesus has saved you. You thoughtlessly neglect the salvation which He has procured. Who shall save you, if you thus persist until the hour of death to neglect so great a redemption? who shall be able to bless you, if your Savior who has procured salvation for you has been neglected during your lifetime, and if in your death you have been by Him eternally condemned? Truly, there is no other Savior than He. When He shall no longer be a Savior, but throughout eternity a judge and an avenger, what can you expect but judgment, condemnation, and eternal pain?

14. If your sins sicken your heart, if Satan is threatening you, and if you fear death, then know that you are redeemed. Learn to know it more and more in the words of life, and pray God that you may be enabled to believe it with certainty and assurance in your heart. Your sins shall then be forgiven, just as surely as Jesus has made payment for them, and you shall be delivered from the power of darkness, just as surely as He has redeemed the world. You shall be clad in His eternal righteousness when you put off the defiled garments of your own righteousness. The righteousness of Jesus shall become, not only your everyday attire, in which you shall walk securely through this earthly vale of misery, but also your festal garb, in which you shall be able to stand before Him on the great day of His arrival.

15. But remember that when Jesus has received you to be (106) His own you cannot longer live unto yourself. All that you have belongs to Him and should be submitted to Him, sacrificed for His service. Do not become a backslider, who believes for a while, but falls away in times of temptations. Seek your comfort in His love alone, your enlightenment in His word, and your hope in His righteousness. Then shall your love to Him, kindled in your heart by the gospel of His love, be fanned in to a brighter flame and increased by that same love of Christ. If you love Him who has first loved you, you must also love them that He has loved, for “if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” Take His yoke upon you, and learn of Him to be meek and lowly in heart. You shall then, in childlike innocence, enjoy the peace of children, and though this peace be disturbed by the threats of Satan, it shall not fail, but rather be translated into the beautiful “rest that remains for the people of God.” The comforts of the Holy Spirit, though here often covered with the miseries of this life, shall be changed into eternal joy. It is the Eternal who has procured this for you, and the righteousness which He has given is also external. “Even as He is risen from the dead, and lives and reigns to all eternity. This is most certainly true.” Amen.

Matthew 13,1-23. Midsommardag. Henric Schartau

2011-07-15T07:39:00.004-04:00

Matthew 13,1-23 (Schartau doesn't list the text, but this is the context of his sermon)
Midsummer Day
Henric Schartau (1757-1825)

Introduction.

1. (107) When a sinner has been awakened and the eyes of his understanding have been opened to see hat he has been on an evil way, he also becomes aware that an innumerable multitude is found on that same way to perdition. When his heart has thereupon found peace, and when his soul has found assurance that he is on the way of live, then he looks about himself with a keen eye to find a few hidden Christians, and he listens attentively for the speech that might perchance betray a secret disciple of Jesu, whom he might get as his companion. He finds, however, that the multitude is concerned about earthly gains and worldly pleasures, that a great number of those who appear to be somewhat different are in error, merely having the appearance of godliness, while only a very inconsiderable number “work out their salvation with fear and trembling.”

2. His experience, then, agrees with the words of the Savior, that they are few that find the way of life. Indeed, he sees that the number of those who ruse to perdition is even larger than he had at first supposed. His heart is moved with amazement, mortification, and pity, and he wonders why so many people are thus unfortunate. Has not the Son of God made a sufficient (108) payment, and are not His merits valid for all? Has not God in His Word shown Himself concerned about the salvation of all men, and has not His Word wrought mightily in those who have been moved thereby? The real reason for the deplorable stat of affairs is none other than that which Jesus charged against Jerusalem, “How often would I have gathered your children together … and you would not!” Nevertheless, this contrariness appears in so many ways and in so many different conditions that we have reason to say that there are many obstacles that would hinder people from entering upon the way of salvation. I have thought of mentioning seven of the most important of them, since it is impossible to count them all, not to say, describe them all. If some one, then, has in mind to get saved, though he has not yet begun to seek salvation in earnest, it is, indeed, very important to know the obstacles which would hinder him from accomplishing his purpose. It may be that you will recognize in some of the obstacles which I am going to mention the reason why all the grace of God shown you has hitherto been fruitless. It is very necessary for you to learn to know this, in order that you may with all hour heart endeavor to have this obstacle removed, lest you lose your inheritance of eternal joy.

Prayer.

3. O God of infinite love, it is Your will that all men should be saved; You have not laid any obstacles in the way; You can and You will remove the obstacles which originate from ourselves and our spiritual foes. Teach us by Your Word to know that which still (109) restrains us, and make us deeply concerned, by Your gracious help, to have removed the obstacle which would hinder our entrance and progress on the way of salvation. “Our Father,” etc.

Exegesis.

4. God commands His servants to comfort His people, which He had chosen and redeemed. First, He gives the assurance that the time of deliverance was approaching from the Babylonian captivity and from sins by the fulfillment of the redemption in Jesus Christ. Secondly, He testifies that they already had the forgiveness of sins and a blessing twice as great as the curse which they had brought over themselves by their sins. Thirdly, John the Baptizer, the precursor of Jesus, was to instruct the people of the New Covenant how to accept the Savior of the world upon His coming in human flesh. To this end, the obstacles in His way must be removed, in order that Jesus might find free entrance in to the hearts of sinners. Whereas it is necessary in the very first instance to know the obstacles which are to be removed, I shall present the following.

Proposition.
A few of the worst obstacles in the way of a true conversion

5. 1. Gross ignorance is as great an obstacle in the way of a true conversion as a great mountain is where a new road is to be made.

6. Ignorance is very great among some people. They do not know the basis of their salvation, nor how they (110) shall be saved, and still less how they are to rightly use the means of grace. The matter of salvation is quite foreign to them. They are not used to the Word of God. It is, then, not strange that they do not understand what is being preached, nor that they remain quite as unmoved as if they could not hear. Hence, these people live and die with the most pitiable and unreasonable conceptions of the fear of God. They depart as if by chance. They suppose that, since they do no more evil than they feel constrained to for their livelihood, and since they go to church occasionally and even participate in the Lord’s Supper twice a year, they surely can go nowhere else than to heaven. But it is quite as impossible to have faith in God before one knows Him as it is to travel across steep mountains before a road is made. It is impossible to come to heaven before one knows the way thither, and to escapes from hell if one has never been concerned about it.

7. 2. Another obstacle, quite as great, arises, when a person gives way to his natural antipathy. A feeling of repugnance to religious matters is found among all people. It is subdued by the first movements of grace, but Satan is a past master in the art of quickening it anew. It could be conquered, if you carefully guarded the grace received and made room for it in your heart, if you used the power thus received to fight against yourself. Unless you do so, you will soon grow weary of the Word; its representations become repugnant and later unbearable. You will not accept them, and, for no other reason than this, that you do not wish to, that it is repugnant to you. In this way your condition will (111) not improve, for God does not force His grace upon anyone,m and no one will be converted against his will.

8. 3. Some who have been visited by grace are immediately overcome by their sinful habits and by the power of evil desires. This obstacle is in comparison with the two former like a hill over against a mountain, but a hill can be a very ugly hindrance in the way. While sinners are being moved by the Word, their lusts are subdued and, as it were, removed, but the forces of grace are not always equally active. After a time of great activity they frequently subside, leaving a person to himself. Then new incentives and opportunities to sin make their appearance. The lusts are again awakened and rise to their former intensity. The perceptions of grace, tears, longings, and determinations disappear as though they had been mere dreams. The sinner is overcome and laid prostrate in sin, leaving not the slightest trace of the grace which had wroght so mightily in his heart, and he cannot conceive the possibility of any other condition.

9. 4. Some are so entangled in the world that they cannot extricate themselves. Their condition is like that of one traveling over a region filled with rolling hills. There are constant ups and downs, and ere one such experience ends another begins. Sometimes they are possessed with the advantages of earthly prosperity, and then again they are busy endeavoring to overcome the difficulties of adversity. They scarcely catch sight of anything better in the Word, nor become convinced of its necessity ere something turns up, hindering them from pressing onwards. Shortly after their return home from church and, indeed, frequently before they (112) have time to lose the book they are reading at home, something happens that must be attended to something invites their attention from the heavenly and invisible verities back down to things visible, something occupies the room in their heart, where the Word of God was about to take root. Sometimes it is their friends and comrades in vanity who attract them back to their evil ways. The sinner finds it quite impossible to refuse to follow and in their company he soon gets far away from the narrow gate of repentance and from the true way of life which he had so nearly approached., Here is verified not only the word of Jesus concerning the rich, “How hardly shall they that have riches enter in to the reign of God,” but also the saying of Paul concerning those who indeed are not rich but would love to be wealthy, “/They that desire to be rich fall in to temptation and a snare and any foolish and hurtful lusts, such as drown men in destruction and perdition.”

10. 5. Some are hindered by cowardly weakness. They fear the pangs of contrition, which they imagine to be very grievous. This obstacle may be compared with the valleys mentioned in our text. Those who are in this way hindered from conversion experience a sense of dizziness like those who are about to descend into a deep valley. They see only the depths, and it appears as thought they are about to fall therein, though, if they proceed, step by step, they would soon,without any harm, arrive at the bottom. This hindrance often comes from a too lenient bringing up in the home. Their parents may have spoiled them form early childhood carefully shielding them from everything which might have caused them grief. Some look upon sorrow (113) as the greatest calamity which can happen to them and, hence, studiously avoid everything which might make them sad. The unconverted often entertain the preconceived notion that conversion begins with despair and is followed by unceasing anxiety. This prejudice easily finds entrance into weak souls. If they experience any sorrow over their sins, they look upon it as the precursor of something worse. They therefore make haste to get rid of it and are very much concerned, lest they again come into such a condition. Yes, even though they know y their own experience or by information that the discipline of grace is very moderate, it nevertheless seems too grievous for them. The present is everything to them, and the future seems to them as non-existing. To escape “godly sorrow,” they proceed along the way that leads to eternal “weeping and gnashing of teeth,” They choose to taste the bitterness of eternal death, “where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched,” rather than to endure the feeling of sinful depravity for a season.

11. 6. Some have gotten into the habit of considering everything frivolously. They cannot entertain the first impression of grace long enough to attain stability. Their mind and behavior resemble the crooked roads in our text,which slant from one side to the other an often cause the traveler to fall. Some people do not adhere long to one thing, but grasp for something else,and they never take anything in earnest. They consider it all as trivial. Such minds are easily touched by the Word, but their emotions quite as easily vanish away. If everything pertaining to conversation could be finished during the brief moment while (114) emotions last, they would be converted, but they cannot bear to take the matter under more serious and prolonged consideration. They scarcely have time to wipe their tears away, ere their minds take flight to something quite different and their thoughts wander far away from the reign of God. While they thus dance about the brink of eternity, they unexpectedly fall into its depths, pass unprepared out of time, and proceed with laughter and jesting to the place of torment.

12. 7. Some are hindered by their egotism, false timidity and fearfulness of men. They are like men journeying along a stony road full of jutting unevenness. They constantly become hurt and wounded and eventually grow tired and weary. When the Word is preached aright it happens even today, as it did when Jesus Himself taught, as we read in John 12,42, “Even of the rulers many believed on Him, but they did not confess it, lest they should be put out of the synagogue.” They wish to be Christians, but in such a way as cannot long endure. They do not wish to confess their Savior’s Name before the world, but desire to be disciples in secret. The sneer of the world for the confessors of Jesus hurts their ambition. Hence, they wish to have their Christianity concealed in their hearts to their own satisfaction, but they do not wish to have it revealed in their outward behavior to the glory of the Savior. They take care lest any one might see them reading the Word of Go or find them engaging in prayer. They are thus frequently hindered from Scripture reading and prayer, because they do not wish to let any one see it. They are often tempted to feel ashamed of Jesus, and so they make themselves deserving (115) of the punishment which will be their lot; for Jesus says, “The Son of Man shall also be ashamed of them, when He arrives in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” Occasionally they come into quite as dangerous a position as that of Peter, when, like him, they wish to be in the palace of the high priest without being known as belonging to Jesus of Nazareth. It may then happen that, upon being addressed by the men of the world, and in order to escape from their taunts, they blush and stammer something like Peter, “I know not the man.” Alas, before the secret work of grace in them can grow in power, as in the case of Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, finally breaking forth in action, it may be choked to death like an infant covered too well. At any rate, they continually become hurt and wounded on so uneven a way, and some grow weary with it all. Like Pilate they consider it quite impossible to set Jesus at liberty if they cannot do this with the consent of the worldly-minded. They excuse themselves, wash their hands in water, and blame others whose behavior they imagine relieves themselves of all responsibility.

Application.

13. Have you among all these obstacles described recognized that which has hindered you from a true conversion, and can you nevertheless allow this hindrance to remain in your way7? If so, how are you going to reach the gate of heaven? If you wish to be hindered from entering the reign of God, does not this imply that you wish to be lost? “No,” you say, “I wish to be saved.” Yes, but you wish to retain such matters as of necessity must hinder you from coming to heaven. You (116) are quite willing to escape from hell, but you persist in proceeding on the way that surely leads thither. You entertain the very largest and most difficult of all obstacles, namely intentional obstinacy and a persistent and willful opposition.

14. Are you grieved at heart in perceiving what has hindered you from repentance and do you fear that it might continue to hinder you, then you may know that God’s quickening and calling grace can overcome all obstacles. Be careful to retain this grace which is working in you. Make haste to take refuge in prayer and in the use of the Word, and consider further with yourself that you have received grace to understand your spiritual condition. As the Lord has removed the obstacles which lay in the way of your awakening, so He will also help you through all the difficulties which always meet awakened souls and keep them for some time from faith and the forgiveness of sins.

15. If you have passed beyond all these obstacles also, you must consider that there are many obstacles even on the way of salvation, which would hinder your progress thereon and prevent your growth in grace. You must not, then, be careless and negligent, if you are to attain to stability ind grace and remain steadfast in the faith. See to it “that you may attend upon the Lord without distraction.” Let nothing hinder you from hearing Him speak to you in His Word, nor let anything prevent you from speaking with Him in prayer. Let nothing exclude you from appropriating Him in Holy Communion. Then you shall, in spite of all obstacles which meet you, “in all these things be more than conquerors through Him who loved you.” Amen.

The Rise of Original Sin

2011-07-14T16:53:00.000-04:00

In the past four days I have seen two trailers on TV for the early August release of "Rise of the Planet of the Apes". The movie seems to be a reboot of the "Apes" movie franchise, this one focusing on the origins of intelligent apes, and thus harkens back to "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes" (1972) which also delved into how Apes became intelligent and conquered the world. (I note that I have all the "Ape" movies and the TV series on DVD: I am a sci-fi guy.)

In one sense, I find it humorous that the protagonist in the original and this reboot is a chimpanzee named Cornelius who leads his monkey brothers and sisters in revolt against humans. In the original, it came about that humans had enslaved apes as manual labor after a disease had wiped out all the dogs and cats. Whether this reboot will focus on this slavery issue is unknown. The trailer indicates that Cornelius is upset that his monkey brothers and sisters are in cages and seeks revenge against those who have imprisoned them. It is humorous because Cornelius detests human treatment towards apes, but in the real ape world of the jungle apes clearly fight one another in fights over food, territory, and mates.

What this brings to mind, however, is the Christian doctrine of original sin. In the original movies, and the reboots, mankind's innate sinfulness has lead to specific sinful actions that have lead to the apes rising up against their oppressors. The whole theme of original sin is a timely theme to explore especially in the early 21st century where too often sin and its origin is pushed to the side and rarely dealt with in a meaningful manner. Let's be honest: people don't like to think about sin and sin's consequence (which ultimately is death).

Much like in the "Apes" mythology that sinful actions lead to dire consequences, so too does original sin lead to deathly consequences. The entire Bible reveals how God will deal with the problem of sin that has spoiled His perfect and holy creation. Sin is mankind's problem: Adam brought it upon us by heeding the temptation of the devil. God, then, promised a savior, and unfolded this salvation history (Heilsgeschichte) in human history. "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" will probably end on a dire note where humans have come under the rule of Cornelius and his intelligent apes. That's how the "Apes" movies predictably end, as they are 70s disaster-theme films. The end result for mankind in this real world is far different: original sin will be overcome at the return of Christ on the last day when sin, death, and the devil are finally and completely triumphed over by the crucified and risen Jesus Christ. The Rise of Eternal Life will then begin.

The Last One: STS-135

2011-07-09T17:44:00.000-04:00

Shuttle Atlantis is now in orbit around the Earth. In eleven days her mission will end, and so will the Shuttle Program. What next?

It is time for private industry and private corporations to step up to the plate and take us farther than any national space agency can. When I was a boy, I had imagined that by 2011 we would have people (not scientists) living in space, orbital hotels, orbital flights from New York to Tokyo in 2 hours, colonies on the Moon, and mining of the asteroids, and imminent colonization of Mars. We are a long way off from those lofty childish dreams.

As private industry gets its space legs, mankind will disperse into the solar system. When investments start returning dividends both monetarily and technologically, then we will see a boom in space development. Perhaps now that the Shuttle Program is about to conclude, Boeing, Martin Marietta, and other groups will turn the corner, and the page, to usher in an even more exciting era of space entrepreneurship than NASA ever did.

NASA must decrease and private industry must increase if we are to obtain The Right Stuff in the 21st century.

Learning from Löhe

2011-06-22T10:06:00.000-04:00

Loehe has an awesome Holy Trinity Sunday sermon on John 3,1-15. Here is the seventh paragraph from his sermon:

"7. Praise God that we will not be dismissed by our ardent desire! The Lord calls the new birth from the Holy Spirit a new birth from the water, and that He relieve us of all embarrassment. For what we certainly meant by the new water birth is: it is the water of Baptism, the grace-filled water of life, the washing of rebirth in the Holy Spirit. This, water is available – and because we now know that the Holy Spirit works through the water, thus we know where the hem of the garments of Christ are that makes us recover from all of our diseases. Or about the water Baptism would it not be the Baptism of the Spirit? Are those people right, who tear apart the two things that Christ has joined , namely is it correct to separate Spirit Baptism from water Baptism and thusmake this thing unapproachable and but those times unapproachable and completely useless? Or vice versa: The Lord said that one must be born again of water and of the Spirit: Does He teach here about a double path of regeneration, one by water and another one by the Spirit, so that He who ascribes what is attributed to the Spirit, also the water? What kind of teaching should this be? No! Not vain the water and the Spirit is not treated, but the Lord sets together water and Spirit, because the child water belongs to the omnipotent Spirit, because water and the Spirit are together only one Baptism, a gracious water of life and a washing of new birth in the Holy Spirit. If we seek the Spirit by whom we are born anew: He’s in the water of Baptism. Where the water is, there the Spirit is. The water Baptism cannot be divorced from the Spirit Baptism. There is only one Baptism – of water and spirit. Whoever wants to be born again must be baptized. Here the path of regeneration is clearly described. This impossible, hidden secret has become for a man a sweet, easy road, for what is easier for people than the new birth, when one is baptized? The angels sing of this Baptism as the greatest act of God: but how easily do we come to this? How beautiful, how gently, the Lord moves along with His powerful water bath gives birth so that one is born anew, and He scarcely wakes a sleeping child from his bodily sleep!"

Google Translate

2011-06-22T06:50:00.000-04:00

I added Google Translate to my blogs.

U.S. Constitution

2011-06-21T17:53:00.000-04:00

On June 21, 1788 the U.S. Constitution was ratified. The Constitutional Convention had written the document on September 17, 1787. It took nine months for nine of the thirteen States to vote to adopt it, and it thus became law. I grew up in Maryland which was the seventh State to adopt the Constitution and I live in New Jersey which was third State to adopt it.

The Constitution replaced the ineffective Articles of Confederation that was the ruling document among the States from 1781-1788. The Federal government lacked the authority to do things that a country needs to do to run effectively.

Howard Chandler Christy painted the renowned "Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States" in 1940.

America is a hybrid of values influenced by Christianity and 18th Century Enlightenment/legal codes. Daniel Hannan's The New Road to Serfdom: A Letter of Warning to America (2010) is a delightful British commentary on America, the Revolution, and the Constitution. One of the points Hannan makes is that the Revolution was a working out of the struggle in England that England could not or would not ultimately engage in but the colonists across the pond could and did. He makes solid arguments that the Constitution is based on English law and jurisprudence.

Berlin's 20th anniversary

2011-06-20T10:12:00.002-04:00

Today, 20. June 2011, is the 20th anniversary of the return of Berlin as Germany's capital. I would have thought it would have been an obvious and easy vote to transition the government from Bonn back to Berlin. According to the Berliner Morgenpost, however, the vote was very close: 338 for Berlin and 320 for Bonn as the German capital. You can read an English translation of the Berliner Morgenpost here.

When I was studying German from 1981-85 in high school, the capital of West Germany was Bonn. I fondly remember our dear Frau Ira Hooper (who was also fluent in French) teaching us High German with textbooks printed in the 1970s complete with those 70s era photos of Germany. Frau Hooper was a teenager when World War 2 broke out. She lived in Berlin. Her father was in the German Navy (a commander on a cruiser or destroyer). She told us many fascinating stories about the Germany of her youth, and I especially remember her describing those pesky cuckoo birds that lived in the Black Forest.

Although the vote was taken in 1991, Berlin did not officially become the German capital until 1999. Even now, Bonn retains about one-half of the Federal government's jobs. I still nostalgically think of Bonn as West Germany's capital from 1949-90. Berlin now houses the center of Germany's government: the Bundestag (German Parliament/Congress), the Bundesrat (council of the German State governors), the Chancellery, and the President's residence.

Happy anniversary, Berlin, as the capital of a united Germany!

Holy Trinity Sunday

2011-06-19T23:01:00.004-04:00

The Athanasian Creed begins: 1 Whoever desires to be saved must, above all, hold the catholic faith. 2 Whoever does not keep it whole and undefiled will without doubt perish eternally. 3 And the catholic faith is this, 4 that we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity, neither confusing the Persons nor dividing the substance.

This Creed is the third and last of the great Creeds in the Western Church. The Roman Catholic Church and all the major Protestant Churches affirm it as a true, Scriptural teaching. Every Holy Trinity Sunday, many Lutheran churches confess this Creed in their Divine Service. For all its verbosity, the Athanasian Creed wonderfully and majestically confesses that the God of the Holy Scriptures is a Triune God: Three Distinct Persons comprising One God. Here Christianity distinguishes herself from the world's other two monotheistic religions, namely, Judaism and Islam.

And yet, if George Barna's 2009 poll accurately reflects the state of American Evangelical Protestantism, over 50% of Protestants do not believe in the Trinity or they are so Biblically illiterate that they cannot properly bear witness to what they confess to believe.

American culture does a superb job of muddying Christian beliefs. George Lucas and his Star Wars franchise have been influencing Christians since 1977. Star Wars is a great franchise with exciting story-telling and good battling and defeating evil.

But many people now, when they think and speak about the Holy Spirit, think of Him in terms of "the force", a mystical and universal power that can be tapped into and used either for good or evil. If we dig deep into the Greco-Roman culture that is the foundation of Western Society, we would probably discover the seeds of this "force" philosophy found in the Greek myths and pantheon. VW has a great commercial using this iconic concept that debuted in the 2011 Super Bowl.

Pastor Will Weedon's four-part presentation on Issues, Etc. and his blog (Weedon's Blog) post on Tuesday June 14, 2011 are wonderful resources on the Creed and the Holy Trinity.

The true, Christian Church worships the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We worship this Triune God because this Triune God has worked out our redemption from all sin and brought us eternal life and salvation. God the Father sent His Son Jesus Christ into this fallen world. The Son of God merited the world’s salvation by suffering, dying, and rising again. The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. He speaks through the Prophetic and Apostolic Scriptures and through them reminds us of all that Christ has done and said. We confess and worship Three Persons in One God and One God who is Three Persons. We worship and confess this Biblical Triune God not just on Holy Trinity Sunday, but each week in the Historic Liturgy of the Divine Service we worship and confess the Three Distinct Persons of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit who are One God. Every Sunday, then, is not only a mini-Easter and a mini-Pentecost but also a mini-Trinity Sunday.

Blessed Holy Trinity Sunday to you all.

The Historic Lectionary

2011-06-18T18:15:00.000-04:00

At the beginning of Advent last year, I made the switch from using the 3-year lectionary to using the Historic Lectionary. With Holy Trinity Sunday tomorrow, it has been about six months that I have been using the 1-year lectionary. My entire life I have only remembered the 3-year lectionary. I used the 3-year throughout my ministry from 1995-2010. Why, after, all that time, did I switch to the Historic Lectionary?

1. I have been working on translating Wilhelm Loehe's sermons on the Gospel readings for over a year now. Loehe, obviously, used the Historic Lectionary. Switching to that lectionary gave me more connectedness to what I was translating from Loehe.

2. There are MANY Lutheran sermons available on the Historic lectionary. Preachers like Luther, Walther, and friends in Germany used/use the Historic lectionary. It is nice to sync up with those resources.

Now, here is where I show my independent streak. I had several choices to go with for the Historic lectionary: LCMS TLH or LSB version, ELS version, Anglican version, SELK version, etc. I ultimately chose the SELK's Historic lectionary. I found that the Old Testament lections, in general, drew from Genesis and Isaiah. Genesis is the foundational Scripture from which the other 65 books flow, and Isaiah is often called the "Fifth Evangelist". In general, however, most of the Historic lectionary variants use the same Gospel lection. There is a fair degree of commonality regarding the Epistle lections. The Old Testament lections show the great variety that exists in the Historic variants.

Overall, I have enjoyed preaching on the Historic lectionary this past year (mostly from the Gospel lections). The themes for the Sundays are well-chosen and time-tested. It was different using the Gesima Sundays before Lent, and a great joy to do so. The great strengths in the Historic lectionary are drawn out in seasons like Advent, Christmas, Holy Week/Easter, and the final three Sundays of the Church year.

There are a few rough edges in the Historic lectionary. Not every lectionary is perfect. Sometimes I thought the LCMS LSB variant was better than the SELK variant for a given Sunday. But Scripture is Scripture. You can't go wrong preaching on the Word of God.

As the Church enters the long Trinity Season, I am looking forward to the Historic lectionary. There are lots of great themes on the horizon, and there are some great, old sermons to be read from Lutheran preachers of the past and present.

Ludwig's Castles

2011-06-15T22:53:00.000-04:00

I like castles, and Germany has plenty of castles throughout the countryside. Bavaria is home to many famous castles, and Ludwig II had several memorable ones built, including the castle that Walt Disney based his Disney World castle after. One day I would like to see the remains of Bauernfeind Castle in Bavaria. It's probably a small mound of stones at this point on a grassy knoll, but it would still be cool to stand on that spot.

Castle Neuschwanstein: the most famous Ludwig castle; this one is used by Disney

Castle Herrenchiemsee: a replica of Louis XIV's palace in Versailles, France

Castle Linderhof: a French style with gardens

Ludwig, you see, was fond of Greco and French architecture. A man after my own heart!

Learning from Loehe

2011-06-14T20:36:00.000-04:00

From Pastor Loehe's Pentecost sermon on John 14,23-27:

Which from then on to urge all nations with power, which was begun in the Temple in Jerusalem. From then on, the people began to change by the light of Zion, and the knowledge of the Lord flooded the earth just as water covers the sea floor. The last big moment in the world, the last portion of their temporal existence, the beginning of a new life had come. All the time, and history of the Church has sprung forth today: today is still Pentecost, as then, because at that time the spread and establishment of the Church was still celebrated. The first Pentecost was the birthday of the Church, and today it is no less even though everyone has since departed. The Apostles, the believers of the first days have gone to sleep. The wind of the first day of Pentecost no longer roars, and tongues of flame and shared language and wonderful gifts are no longer perceived. In this respect, what we celebrate today is over. But that wonderful event that occurred to the first believers through the Apostles also occurs now: by the power of language, the peoples of all languages are related in the unity of faith, and they are triumphant, just as we victoriously sing or pray, “Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful and kindle in them the fire of Your Divine love, by diversity of languages You have gathered the peoples of the world in the unity of faith.”

King Ludwig II of Bavaria

2011-06-13T23:08:00.001-04:00

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Ludwig II (25. August 1845 - 13. June 1886) ruled as King of Bavaria from 1864-86. He is sometimes referred to as the "Mad King" but really he was a bit eccentric; he lived in the real world but he loved castles and Wagner's operas. He built several castles in Bavaria, using his own personal fortunes, and this got him in hot water with a number of politicians, for they claimed his indebtedness was hurting the Bavarian economy. Today, however, Bavaria reaps the whirlwind of tourist money from the castles Ludwig had constructed. He is much beloved by many Bavarians.

Ludwig II coronation portrait, 1865

Ludwig memorial in Starnberger Lake

Learning from Löhe

2011-05-30T12:07:00.000-04:00

Here is the second paragraph from Löhe's Rogate Sunday sermon on John 16,23-33:

2. ,,The entire Gospel deals with prayer and therefore we call this Sunday the Sunday of Prayer. The Lord, which the words of our text are entirely in consideration of His departure, of His ascension back to where He dwelt before His suffering, the dwelling place of perfection and eternal glory, that which exists between Him and His believers, and through Him He builds a continuous connection between His Father and His believers, when He is no longer visible to them nor walks among them. He determined prayer as the means of connection, and also as a means to always experience anew His life and memory. We should pray, and He will send glory from His throne of honor. Our prayers are our enduring love to Him, and when He hear us He will continually remember us. Prayer and answer shall be the mutual sign of life and the sign of love between the Lord and His believers."

Learning from Löhe

2011-05-24T19:30:00.000-04:00

Here is a brief paragraph (and Löhe's paragraphs are rarely this short!) from Wilhelm Löhe's sermon on Cantate Sunday for John 16,5-15:

,,3. Our congregations' mood might be different from the mood of Jesus' disciples of Jesus and so few also echo the comforting speech which the Lord has directed at His disciples, so that most Christians in our day might find: so I want to my do my duty, but you don't draw from the text the comfort that it administers nor do you include the outstanding thought of the near to present. The Lord, the Holy Spirit, knows your hearts, and He can lead you to a spiritual meal whereupon you dine on the sweet words of Jesus who is your Savior. He has recommended it with devout supplication!"

I Survived Judgment Day: 21. May 2011

2011-05-22T08:09:00.000-04:00

It is now Sunday 22. May 2011. I survived judgment day: 21. May 2011. The world did not crash and burn in a mighty earthquake that that traversed the 24 time zones. The rapture (which by the way, that word does not appear in the Holy Scriptures) did not occur. Harold Camping and his cultist group of followers are still here. The earth’s population of nearly 7 billion people are still around. The Church is still here on earth.

So, later this morning I will do what I normally do. I will go to church, celebrate the liturgy, and preach the word of God. The Church still has a commission (even though Camping says differently) to preach the gospel throughout the world.

It is 22. May 2011. I survived judgement day on 21. May 2011. Had God the Father in His infinite and Divine wisdom seen fit to send Jesus back on 21. May, I still would have survived judgment day. The Apostle Paul tells us in his epistle: »if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved« (Romans 10,9). I confess that Jesus is Lord; I believe that He rose from the grave. I am saved. I am certain of this fact.

Mr. Harold Camping’s chief error and heresy is not that he foolishly tried to predict Jesus’ return. Yes, his methodology and hermeneutics regarding this are severly skewed and completely heretical. Nevertheless, the truth remains: Jesus will return one day. That last day will be a day of judgment. We do not know when it will be.

Mr. Camping has many more serious errors and heresies beside His failed prediction of judgment day on 21. May 2011. Here are a few of them: 1. The Church Age ended in 1988, and all the churches are apostate. The only saved Christians are those like Camping and his followers who have left the Church. 2. He denies that the wicked will be resurrected and suffer eternally in hell. This is the ancient heresy known as annihilationism, meaning that the wicked will be annihilated and cease to exist once God judges them as wicked on the last day. 3. Camping teaches and preaches a very heavy emphasis on the law and use of the law, but instead of giving the terror-stricken the pure gospel of Christ Jesus, Camping piles on them more law: you must pray, struggle, beg, and plead for God’s mercy which never amounts to certainty of salvation. There is little, no, or a thoroughly confused understanding of what the gospel actually is. 4. Camping believes and teaches that Jesus died and rose before time began so that when He did it in A.D. 33 it had the power to redeem mankind (Christ died and rose twice). Camping speaks of the cross as just a demonstration of what had already happened before the foundation of the world. 5. There is no certainty of salvation. This is the grand-daddy of all his heresies. There are at least fifteen other errors and heresies that Harold Camping believes and teaches.

The whole message of the Bible, of Christianity, and of the gospel, is that God wants us to be certain of our salvation. God does not want us to doubt or question our eternal destiny. The gospel is about certainty, the certainty that you and I can have regarding salvation. This certainty is not tied up in works or good deeds we do to convince ourselves we are in God’s good graces. This certainty is not tied up in accepting that Jesus is returning on 21. May 2011, or some other specific date that Camping or someone else may try to exhort upon Christendom. This certainty of salvation is grounded firmly and only on Jesus Christ: He is our certainty of salvation.

The Apostle Paul is speaking about the certainty of salvation in Romans 10,9. Here it is again: »if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved«. There are many other Bible verses that convey this. Here are a few more. »Behold, the Lamb of God [Jesus] who is taking away the sin of the world!« (John 1,29). »And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so hat whoever believes in Him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the Name of the only Son of God.« (John 3,14-18). God wants us to be certain of our salvation, and He has founded this certainty on an immoveable Cornerstone which is Jesus Christ.

Those who believe in and confess Jesus Christ as the crucified and risen Savior are saved. You can be certain of this. So whenever judgment day arrives, know this: if Christ has you and you have Christ, then there is nothing to fear for judgment day is the day when you will eternally live with God. If you die before Christ returns, again that is not something to fear because if you believe in, and confess, Christ, then you are saved.

This certainty of salvation looks only to Jesus Christ who voluntarily and sacrificially endured the suffering of the cross to pay for the sin of the world. When this gospel is read or heard and the Holy Spirit creates faith through it, then by faith a person may rightly say: Jesus died for the sins of the world. If He died for the whole world, then He also died for me. That is faith. That is the certainty of salvation. That is the gospel proclamation of the Church, and it is the gospel that I will preach tomorrow and every Sunday after that as long as I am able, have breath, or until the Lord returns.

May 21, 2011?

2011-05-20T11:53:00.000-04:00

Here's a great blog post from my colleague Pastor Weedon. Check out his blog: Weedon's Blog.

The End of the World

is supposed to be on May 21, I understand. For Christians, of course, the end of the world was that moment when the world slew its own Life - the Crucifixion of Him who is the Life of life. The world ended there - and the signs that our Lord foretold would accompany the great and dreadful day were in evidence. But we are an Easter people and alleluia is our song. We simply know that this world that totters on is dead. It's running around like the proverbial chicken with its head cut off. It's dead and doesn't realize it yet! But sooner or later it WILL keel over. The whole thing come undone. And yet in the midst of the dead and dying world, which moves inexorably towards its end, we live our lives from the flesh and blood that rose from the grave on Easter Day, the Pardon of all our sin, the Destruction of all death, the Life that endures to eternity. It changes how we live in this world forever. We know that no amount of bandaids we apply to this world as it is can keep it from its final death throes. But when you belong to an eternal kingdom, all is well, and it is fitting for you to dance through life forevermore (Luther). Should the end come on the 21st, we'll be joyously going on still: singing the praises of the Lamb and joining the saints and angels around the throne. Should the end delay (as I suspect it will), we'll go on: singing the praises of the Lamb and joining the saints and angels around the throne. Either way our life goes on, because our life IS Christ and that's a life that endures forever. What joy to sing together then:

Death you cannot end my gladness,
I am baptized into Christ!
When I die, I leave all sadness
To inherit paradise.
Though I lie in dust and ashes,
Faith's assurance brightly flashes
Baptism has the strength divine
To make life immortal mine.

There is nothing worth comparing
To this life-long comfort sure,
Open eyed my grave is staring,
Even there I'll sleep secure.
Though my flesh awaits its raising,
Still my soul continues praising:
I am baptized into Christ!
I'm a child of Paradise!

Revelation 14,6-7. The Feast of the Reformation

2011-05-18T19:25:00.002-04:00

Soli Deo gloria

Revelation 14,6-7
The Feast of the Reformation (22. Sunday after Trinity, Proper 26C)
Wolfgang, Bishop of Regensburg, Germany. † 994
31. October 2010

O Merciful God and Everlasting Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who in the fullness of the times did send forth Your only begotten Son, who has declared unto us whatsoever He saw and heard in Your bosom: most heartily do we praise and thank You, that You have rekindled among us the light of Your Holy Word, and graciously delivered us from the Babylonian Captivity of the Papacy, and maintained that work done years ago by Your elect servant Martin Luther. In spite of the wrath and temptations of the devil You have preserved Church and School, given power to Your Word, and granted faithful teachers and ministers to Your congregations. And we acknowledge and confess that we are not worthy to receive such manifestation of Your mercy and goodness, but rather deserve Your judgment and condemnation and on account of our indifference, sins, and hypocrites to be left without the light of Your Holy Word. But we beseech You of Your mercy, deal not with us after our sins nor reward us according to our iniquities. Abide with us, O LORD, for it is toward evening. Keep us and our posterity in the faith of Your Word and in the right use of the Holy Sacraments. Sanctify Your Church in our midst; further and advance Your Reign; glorify Your Name; put down Satan under our feet, and destroy the Son of Perdition by the brightness of Your appearance. Preserve us from all false teachers, hypocrites, and enemies of Your Word who seek to overthrow Your Church purchased at so great a cost by Your dear Son, Jesus Christ our Lord; but at all times send us faithful ministers and teachers who shall lead us into the knowledge and confession of the heavenly mysteries, and finally into the glorious righteousness of Your everlasting Reign. Amen (Löhe 149-150).

Our sermon text for this morning, dear brothers and sisters, is from the Revelation given to St. John where the holy evangelist writes: 6Then I saw another angel flying in mid-heaven, with an eternal gospel to preach to those living on earth and to every nation, tribe, language, and people, saying with a loud voice: ,,Fear God and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come, and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.” This is our text.

Before there was Luther, the Germans had Wolfgang the Bishop of Regensburg, Germany in the 10th century. He is considered one of the three greatest German ecclesiastical leaders in German history. Five centuries later, God gave Germany its greatest theologian, a man named Martin Luther.

If you ask any Lutheran when the Reformation began, the answer you would receive would be 31. October 1517, for that is the day Martin Luther walked from his apartment at the Augustinian monastery and posted his famous 95 Theses on the doors of Allerheiligen Kirche (All Saints Church), which is more commonly known as Schloßkirche (Castle Church) because Duke Frederick III the Wise, Elector of Saxony, built this church in Wittenberg from 1490-1511. When the University of Wittenberg was founded in 1502 by Duke Frederick, the Castle Church became the university’s chapel. Luther was a well-educated man. He was an Augustinian friar (1505), a Catholic priest (1507), and a professor at Wittenberg University with the degree of Doctor of Theology (ThD) (1512). Luther posted the theses to announce that he would debate and lecture at Wittenberg University on the topic of indulgences. It took him fifteen minutes to walk down the street from the Augustinian monastery to the Castle Church. It took fifteen minutes for the Medieval world to change, a change that still reverberates into the 21st century.

At issue in 1517 for Luther was the future of the Church. It is still the issue before us five hundred years later. The thesis before us today is:
The future of the Church

1. does not lie in what we do, but
2. lies alone in what God does through Christ# (Martens).

I.
There is one heresy that consistently infects and infests Christ’s Holy Church, and that is the heresy of Pelagianism. The central doctrine of Pelagianism is that men and women have the ability to keep God’s law and therefore merit eternal life. A number of polls are conducted each year by different denominations where the question is asked, Q: How do you get to heaven? The answer given most often by Christians and non-Christians alike is, A: I have to earn my way into heaven. When asked what things earn entrance into heaven, the usual responses are given, A: be a good person, go to church, give an offering, obey the Ten Commandments, and other similar things. At this point Lutherans hold up their head and puff out their chest and proudly proclaim: ,,We are the heirs of Luther and we know the answer to that question!“ Polling data, however, consistently reveals that even 66% of Lutherans give the answer as ,,I must earn my way into heaven.“ Some of these Lutherans say this because, sadly, that’s what they are taught and have preached to them on a regular basis. Most Lutherans, however, give this wrong answer because Pelagianism agrees so much with our fallen nature and way of thinking. There is something in the fallen, sinful nature that reasons that we must do something to save ourselves and restore our broken relationship with Yahweh.

This desire to do something in regards to our salvation results from the uncertainty that attends to our fallen nature. We are uncertain whether enough has been done to merit our forgiveness, therefore, we reason that if we add our own merits to the mix then a certain level of certainty will result and ease our unsettled consciences. In Luther’s day, Medieval certainty involved many different things, including pilgrimages, masses, and indulgences. Instead of providing certainty, such activities actually heightened one’s uncertainty because one never knew if they had merited enough through their acts of piety and penance to reach heaven. The common Medieval portrayal of Jesus in painting and stained glass windows showed Him as an angry God casting sinners into hell. In the face of such anger, no one was sure if they had enough forgiveness and their faith was directed away from Christ and onto other means of certainty.

Little has changed since Luther’s day. Christians are still tempted to doubt their forgiveness and salvation. Is Christ’s merit enough? What can I do or what can I add that will bring me more certainty? Christians are not helped and their Anfechtung (angst) is not relieved when they turn on their TV and see Rick Warren declare: ,,You see, it takes more than faith, it takes more than belief to really please God“. Christians will think ,,Surely, if one of America’s preeminent Evangelical pastors says this, then it must be true.“

II.
Fortunately for us, the Church does not exist in a vacuum. Countless Christian men and women have struggled with such doubts, and they found their answer in the gospel. The future of the Church, and their own eternal future, did not lie in themselves, but it lies upon solus Christus (Christ alone). Luther is perhaps the most well-known theologian to proclaim this answer.

Luther’s 65th thesis is a precious jewel; he writes: ,,The true treasure of the Church is the Most Holy Gospel of the glory and the grace of God.“ Not only does John see in his Apocalypse an angel proclaim this gospel in mid-heaven, but the Holy Spirit has throughout all ages sent prophets, apostles, and pastors who are bishops and teachers to preach this glorious gospel of Christ. True Christian preachers proclaim the opposite of Rick Warren, for true Christian preachers proclaim the pure gospel which is ,,It takes only faith to really please God.“

Let us be clear here, the emphasis is not on ourselves or the faith, but the emphasis is on the subject of the faith, which is Christ. Faith looks to Christ and only Christ. Faith looks to Christ Jesus who suffered on the cross as the ransom price for our sins and who then rose on the third day in victory over sin, death, and the devil. Christ on the cross and Christ risen from the dead are the only merits that please our Heavenly Father. Christ pleases God on our behalf, and faith trusts in Christ and therefore has Christ’s good pleasure credited to the individual who believes in Jesus. Thus faith pleases God.

Do not let the devil or your conscience weigh you down, arguing that you must do something more, something else, to be sure of your righteous standing before our Heavenly Father. Do not believe the lies of Rick Warren, or any other preacher, who tells you that you must put your certainty of salvation in Jesus plus something else, or faith in addition to some other work to be assured of your justification. We only need Christ alone. We only need faith alone in this great and glorious Redeemer.
Such is the purifying message of Luther’s Reformation. He brought certainty to uncertain sinners. He brought them Christ, and only Christ, as the cure and balm for the forgiveness of sins. We must be vigilant with this precious gospel, for it is easily lost. The landscape of Protestantism is littered with denominations that have jettisoned or corrupted the pure gospel of Christ crucified. American Christianity assuredly needs the Reformation with its doctrine of justification just as badly as the Medieval Church needed it in Luther’s day. May the Holy Spirit raise up this day men and women who will ensure that the proclamation of the gospel endures and may He raise up bishops, pastors, and theologians who will ring the bells with their joyous peals of the gospel in sermons, in books, and on the Internet. It took Martin Luther fifteen minutes to change the world with the gospel of Christ penned in his 95 Theses, and it only takes a pastor fifteen minutes to proclaim this same gospel from the pulpit. For when the gospel is purely preached, Christ is rightly glorified and His Church is strengthened and expands because sinners are assured of their forgiveness through the merit of solus Christus (Christ alone). Amen.

Let us pray. O Lord Jesus, the Shepherd of Your Church, take away our fear and give us peace so that we are certain and assured that on account of You and Your merit alone that it is Your Father’s good pleasure to give us the reign of heaven and that we enter into this blessed reign solely on account of the fact that You, O Christ, has opened heaven for us. Amen.

One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you!

All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4th Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27th Edition © 1993 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the New Testament Greek Manuscripts, Luke © 1995 by Reuben Joseph Swanson.
Löhe, Wilhelm. Liturgy for Christian Congregations of the Lutheran Church. Copyright © 1997 Repristination Press.
Martens. Gottfried. A sermon preached on 31. October 2009 (Gedenktag der Reformation) in Berlin-Zehlendorf, Germany on John 2,13-22. Copyright © 2009 The Rev. Dr. Gottfried Martens. The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind, Tr. © 2010.

Siebermacher's description of the Bauernfeind coat of arms

2011-05-18T19:25:00.000-04:00

Das Illustrierte Bauernfeind Wappen ist offiziell. Im Siebermachers Wappenbuch Dokumentiert. Die original Beschreibung diese Wappens ist wie folgt:

Geviert: 1. 4. G. Einhorn in B. 2. 3. Gespalten, vorn W. Adler am Spalt in K. Hinten 6. aus dem Spalt Hervorgehende G. Flammen in R. (altdeutsche Beschreibung)

Schildbescreibung: „Quadriert: 1) und 4) blau; ein goldenes Einhorn. 2) und 3) senkrecht Geteilt: A) rot; ein weisser Adler Ensteigt der Teilung. B) rot; sechs goldene, übereinander Illustrierte Fische, der Teilung zugekehrt.“

Helmzier: „Ein goldenes, sich aufbaeumendes Einhorn.“

The Illustrated Bauernfeind Coat of Arms is officially documented in Siebermacher’s coat of arms book. The original description of this crest is as follows:

Quarter: 1. and 4. a gold unicorn on blue; 2. And 3. divided, in front of the division in K. white eagle, and behind the division six gold flames on red. (Old German description)

Shield description: “Quarter: 1) and 4) blue, a gold unicorn. 2) and 3) vertically shared: A) red, a white eagle emerges from the division. B) red, six gold fish one above the other facing the partition.”

Helm ornament: “A gold unicorn rearing up.”

More than a Skeleton: A Review

2011-05-18T19:24:00.000-04:00

Last week I finished reading Dr. Maier's novel "More than a Skeleton". It picks up a year or more after the first novel. It is an easy-to-read book. Dr. Maier does an excellent job introducing the characters and the main plot. Several characters return from the first novel, particularly the two heroes/protaganists (technically one hero and one heroine). As with his novels, "More than" is packed full of actual history and archeology. I spent more time in the opening chapters doing research on the internet when an actual person or event or place was introduced in the novel. Dr. Maier is quite adept at seemlessly introducing these historical facts into his writing and it gives it a flair of extreme reality and reliability.

I won't give away any major spoilers, except this one: the plot revolves around someone who claims to be the returned Jesus Christ. Dr. Jonathan Weber must determine whether this man's claim is true or not. This wonderfully written novel draws you in and takes you on a great ride throughout Israel and the Vatican City. Dr. Maier also drops many excellent theological truths throughout, but it never comes off as "preachy" or "dry". This novel is an excellent historical thriller.

Btw, the other day my copy of Maier's newsest novel: "The Constantine Codex" arrived in the mail. I can't wait to delve into that one, as I have always like reading about Constantine and that era of the Church.

More than a Skeleton

2011-05-06T22:44:00.002-04:00

Years ago, I read Dr. Paul Maier's book "A Skeleton in God's Closet" in brief, it examined what would happen if someone claimed to have found the bones of the crucified Jesus. It was a well-written book with great archeological and historical facts.

The other day I downloaded the Kindle edition of the sequel, "More than a Skeleton". Dr. Maier writes in the jacket blurb that it is not necessary to have read the first book, as this sequel is a stand alone novel. Huzzah! Because I don't remember all the specifics of the first novel.

And now, onto the second novel ....

WORLD MATTERS: A royalist dream – Harry, King of Saxony

2011-05-05T10:55:00.004-04:00

Britain's Prince Harry standing in front of his Apache Helicopter, taken while he was in the French Alps on his Mountain Flying training in March 2011. / AP / Clarence House

Uwe Siemon-Netto
www.freepressers.com

Pardon this outburst from an unreconstructed German monarchist: Scanning the Internet for news about the impending royal wedding has rendered me envious, morose and frustrated. Never mind the uncomprehending sniggers by Bill O’Reilly about this display of allegedly antiquated glamour. O’Reilly might have many merits but he does not grasp the need for glamour in this era of vulgarity and triviality every one of his T.V. shows so aptly portrays night after night.

Being German, I am keenly aware of the dearth of glamour that has marked my country for almost a century. In church we have surly preachers in black robes opining from the pulpit about separating garbage instead of chanting the rich Lutheran liturgy and joyfully proclaiming the Gospel. In academia, colorful commencement proceedings have been abolished; graduates are told to pick up their diplomas in the Admin Building, room 312/A, between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. In affairs of state, we are represented not by Kaisers or kings with spiked helmets but grey-clad presidents; some of these have been impressive, I admit, but glamorous they were not. Recently, one of our heads of state just walked off the job like a peeved bookkeeper; compare that with the iron self discipline of Queen Elizabeth II who has just turned 85 and never missed a single workday in the 58 years of her reign.

What galls me most is that royal ceremonies in neighboring countries, in Britain, Luxembourg, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Monaco or Spain, are all implicitly German affairs because the blue blood in the veins of at least one of the players is our blue blood – quality German blood. The German yellow press reports every minutiae of these events while missing the central point: A little more of this kind of style in our own country would insert a modicum of elegance into our political and societal discourse, which is even more annoying than its American equivalent because we tend to systematize everything, including imported bad taste.

At this point, though, I must report some good news blessing our bland republican reality with a ray of potential glitter. In my home state of Saxony a baron by the name of Hildebrand von Thumbshirn is waging a campaign to place Prince Harry on the throne of Dresden. I confess that I know little about Herr von Thumbshirn, other than that his family hails from Schloss Ponitz, a fine Renaissance castle in the duchy of Altenburg.

According Thumbshill, there is only one problem with his proposal. He lacks the €250,000 ($360,000) required to start a “Saxon Windsor Party.” There is another problem, too: why Windsor? Why this name that is as spurious as “liberty cabbage,” the American neologism cooked up in World War I to camouflage the German origin of sauerkraut; as specious as the British misnomer, Alsatian, for German Shepherd dogs, and as daft as the term “freedom fries” latter-day American know-nothings invented for French Fries ten years ago when France and Germany opposed the second Iraq war?

So I wonder: Is it not a little petty of the royal family to cling to the fake name it adopted after their own relative, Kaiser Wilhelm II, Queen Victoria’s first grandson, had become their adversary in Europe’s fratricidal World War I? Why not acknowledge what they are – a blend of German clans, the Hanoverians plus the house of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, whose name they bore until they traded it in for the name of a small town in the County of Surrey? Here you might interject: What about that Greek in the equation? Indeed there is one; Prince Philip of Greece married Elizabeth née Windsor and became the Duke of Edinburgh, but what, do you suppose, is the Greek royal family’s real name? Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg.

You see, if you look carefully, you can’t escape us. Schleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of Germany’s 16 states. It has a discrete but still wealthy and influential ducal family by this very name; its branches reign in Denmark and Norway and once upon a time lorded over Greece; via its Greek line it is related by marriage to the royal families of Spain and Britain. In addition to Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg a second German dynasty with an Anglicized name contributed to the noble genealogy of the Queen’s consort. They call themselves Mountbatten but used to be known as Battenberg; Philip’s mother is one of those.

Germany’s top aristocracy has held thrones almost everywhere in Europe – in Russia, Bulgaria, Romania, Belgium, Scandinavia and Luxembourg. They even left their mark across the Atlantic, in Brazil and Mexico, but also in Hollywood where Prince Frederic von Anhalt shares the glamour of his name with Zsa Zsa Gabor, although he acquired it by adoption; at birth he was called Hans Lichtenberg. Real Anhalt blood has survived in the Romanov family; Catherine the Great was a Princess of Anhalt before becoming a tsarina. And perhaps the noblest Anhalt was Joachim Ernst, the last reigning duke. He resisted the Nazis, was sent to Dachau concentration camp, then liberated by the Americans only to die 1947 at Communist hands in Buchenwald concentration camp.

He was a stellar example of German royals opposing Hitler, a phenomenon rarely acknowledged by Germans or their former adversaries, but this is a story for another day.

Before I proceed with my and Baron von Thumbshill’s monarchist reveries, I may be permitted a historical reminder. Preceding the invention of the automobile by Carl Benz 125 years ago, princes and princesses were Germany’s most precious export items. Our nation with its countless dukes, margraves and landgraves was an amazingly rich source of bluebloods. The British in particular couldn’t get enough of them. They loved King George III, even though the United Kingdom lost much of North America during his reign. They loved this Hanoverian eccentric, especially when he stepped into the sea at Weymouth stark naked, while a band hidden in a nearby bathing machine struck up “God Save the King;” bathing machines, an English invention, were large-wheeled carts that were rolled off the beaches into the water to afford bathers privacy; sometimes they had pianos and even sizable musical ensembles on board.

Or think how much leverage the British allowed George’s daughter-in-law, Caroline of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, even though she often neglected to wash, wore dirty clothes, consequently emitted unpleasant smells, and then eventually absconded to Italy with her manservant, Bartolomeo Pergami, leaving her husband, the debauched George IV, in the arms of Maria Fitzherbert whom he had secretly married before even meeting Caroline. The British loathed him and loved her.

Far be it from me to try to wrestle away from our British cousins the scions of our finest families. By all means, hold onto them, you are welcome! But it would be nice if they sent us back just one of them and stopped the false labeling. Please, they are not Windsors but Saxe-Coburg-Gothas! Now I know from personal experience that hyphenated names can be cumbersome, and names with two hyphens must be especially awkward, which is why the Bulgarians quite sensibly called their royal family Sakskoburggotski, though the Belgians, who were twice invaded by the Germans in the 20th century, seem to have no problem to have a king sporting two German hyphens.

To get back to Baron Thumpshirn’s proposal, and to propose to the British a way out of their Windsor bagatelle, how about reverting to the elaborate family’s real name, which is Wettin. The Wettin dynasty has been around and much beloved by its subjects in assorted principalities of central Germany since the 10th century, 100 years before William the Conqueror invaded England. A Wettin prince-elector, Frederick the Wise, was Luther’s protector. Another Wettin, Augustus the Strong, built baroque Dresden and with one of his numerous mistresses, Countess Maria Aurora von Königsmarck, sired Maurice de Saxe (1696-1750), who became one of France’s most celebrated field marshals; one of his grand children gained literary fame calling herself George Sand.

So let’s take up Thumbshirn’s suggestion and make Harry von Wettin King of Saxony. That he is a brave military officer with a great sense of humor won’t hurt. A wholesome display of manliness and humor from the throne will do us Saxons, actually all Germans, a lot of good.

Uwe Siemon-Netto, the former religious affairs editor of United Press International, has been an international journalist for 54 years, covering North America, Vietnam, the Middle East and Europe for German publications. Dr. Siemon-Netto currently directs the League of Faithful Masks and Center for Lutheran Theology and Public Life in Irvine, California.

Holy Week

2011-04-19T19:43:00.004-04:00

The German Church traditions have wonderfully descriptive names for the days of the Triduum (Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Vigil of Easter on Saturday evening).

Maundy Thursday comes from the Latin noun mandatum, which means "command" as is found in John 13,34. Compare the verse below:

»A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another« (ESV).

»mandatum novum do vobis ut diligatis invicem sicut dilexi vos ut et vos diligatis invicem« (Vulgate).

In German, however, Maundy Thursday is called Gründonnerstag (literally "Green Thursday"). This may come from the German tradition to eat green vegetables, especially spinach, on this day (Bill Petro). I think perhaps more ecclesiastically the name dates back to Medieval Europe when it was customary in the Catholic Church to give penitents the gift of green branches on Thursday of Holy Week for the imminent completion of their fasting during Lent. The term certainly isn't derived from the liturgical color for the day, as Maundy Thursday/Gründonnerstag is traditionally the color "white."

Good Friday is Karfreitag or Charfreitag in German. Grim connects the old German Karfreitag with the Old High German chara, grief, suffering, Old Saxon cara, Gothic kara (Woerterbuch, S. V.). So old English care, Anglo-Saxon cearu, mean grief. Thus, Karfreitag translates as "suffering/mourning Friday". It is also important to note that the old Teutonic cara means preparation, and links the word back to Friday as the day of preparation for the Sabbath. See Grim's reference for documentation.

Linguistics are certainly grand!

The liturgical words point us to the theme of the day, and on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday the theme is Christ and forgiveness, promised and given at Jesus last seder meal when He instituted the Lord's Supper to distribute the forgiveness of sins and purchased on the next day when Jesus offered up His very body and shed His precious blood as payment for the world's sin. And then comes blessed Easter ...

In Memoriam: Rev. Dr. Walter E. Keller

2011-04-06T14:17:00.003-04:00

20. February 1929 - 25. February 2011

Today you will be with Me in Paradise. So said Jesus to the rebel on the cross next to Him. So to is it for Dr. Keller.

Dr. Keller was a theology professor at Valparaiso University when I was a student there. He spent most of his ministry at the university teaching theology, especially the New Testament and Paul's Epistles. He was, quite frankly, the brightest light of my academic and theological studies at VU from 1988-1991. He had a salt and pepper beard, a deep bass voice, and a wonderful belly laugh. He was a Pauline scholar. I was so blessed and fortunate to have him for three separate classes my senior year: New Testament overview, Paul's Epistles, and Dept. of Theology Senior symposia. The symposia was wonderful because that class only had five or six students: those theology majors who were seniors. At least three of us in that class went on to the Lutheran seminary to become pastors.

I am indebted to Dr. Keller. He was a wonderful mentor who molded me into the scholar and theologian I am today. He preached the gospel with vigor and gusto. I remember a time when the Chapel of the Resurrection's audio system went out. VU's chapel can hold over 2000 people. Dr. Keller kept on preaching with his powerful voice and he could be heard throughout the entire chapel. Not only did I have Dr. Keller as a professor, but my first 8 years in the ministry was in northwest Indiana so I was blessed to be in Dr. Keller's presence as a fellow pastor.

I cannot calculate the number of men he encouraged and taught as they prepared to enter the pastoral ministry. Thousands, I would think, over the decades. He was mightily used by the Holy Spirit. He was one of the few bright, Lutheran lights at VU. May the LORD raise up a new generation. For me, I will continue to pass on to parishoners the great insights I first received from Dr. Keller.

O LORD, have mercy on Japan and the Japanese

2011-03-13T10:30:00.003-04:00

Japan, you are in my prayers that you recover quickly from the trifecta calamaties that have struck your beautiful island nation.

Almighty God, Merciful Father, a very present help in time of trouble, again we are brought to realize that Your thoughts are not our thoughts. Your ways are not our ways. In Your wisdom You have permitted disastrous earthquakes, tsunami, and radiological tribulations to be visited upon Japan and surrounding nations. We implore You, let not the hearts of Your people despair, but sustain and comfort them. Heal the injured, console the bereaved and afflicted, protect the innocent and helpless, and deliver any who are still in danger, through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Norwegian practicality

2011-02-25T17:26:00.002-05:00

I receive a weekly Norwegian-American newspaper. In a recent issue, there was an article on Norway's pension fund. In brief, Norway invests the money made on their gas and natural gas drilling into a pension fund. Norway has funded a full pension for every single Norwegian with these investments.

It makes me wonder. America has many resources, but we squander them too often. I don't know if we could set up some sort of investment system like Norway has, as they have only a few million citizens compared to America's 300+ million. But it makes me wonder why we refuse to safely utilize and extract our natural resources of coal, natural gas, and oil, among many others.

It just seems to me that Norway has embarked on a practical course of social security, while we have constantly raided our social security savings to pay for other projects in the budget so that their is practically nothing left for those who will retire in the next couple of decades. I wish our leaders could put forward some sort of practical plan to prepare for the future.

Go Pack Go!!!

2011-02-05T23:19:00.004-05:00

Tomorrow is the Superbowl. I have been a Green Bay Packer fan for many years. I am hoping that Rogers and company can bring the Vince Lombardi trophy home to Green Bay once again. I dreamed that the Packers won by 10 points, but I hope it will be by a much larger number. Go Pack Go!!!

Translations in LOGIA

2011-01-13T22:39:00.002-05:00

I received today the newest volume of LOGIA. (LOGIA is a confessional journal of Lutheran theology). I have been a subscriber to the journal since it debuted in the early 1990s. The Epiphany 2011 volume is entitled "Lutheranism in Europe". A while ago (six months to a year ... has it been that long?) I submitted two translations to the journal for this issue. I was happy to see both of them printed in the LOGIA Forum section. The translations are "The Hour of the SELK" and "A Sermon on the Holy Trinity". These translations were a work of joy as I wanted to expose a wider audience to the richness and theology of the SELK (Independent Evangelical-Lutheran Church) in Germany.

"The Hour of the SELK" is a brief article about the future blessing the SELK can have in Germany and the Church global. "A Sermon on the Holy Trinity" is a sermon preached by my friend Armin Wenz who is a pastor in Oberursel, Germany. He is an excellent preacher.

If you like, you can read the translations (and the entire volume) by visiting LOGIA. You will have to download the electronic version of the volume for $6. This is a great price for a great journal, and the Epiphany 2011 volume is an exceptionally good volume.

It looks like Christmas

2010-12-14T10:42:00.004-05:00

Our blizzard in 2006

Last night we had our first snowfall since last February. It was nothing much, just a dusting, really, and thankfully not like the pounding we got in 2006, and as the snow drifted down against the bright lights of Main St. and the generic Christmas decorations adorning the lamp posts,it began to look and feel like Christmas.

It would be nice if the borough would fix some of the ornaments, though. Several of them have burned out lights. But all in all, our little town does a fine job decorating for Christmas. Our boro hall has a nice Christmas tree and some decorations that are the highlight of Main St.

Even though it is drawing closer to Christmas, I have yet to put up any decorations. I usually wait until Dec. 21st. Something in me appreciates Christmas once it turns officially to winter. I shall have to post some pics of the boros lights.

Caprica Cancelled

2010-11-13T22:12:00.004-05:00

Really SyFy? Really? You cancelled one of the few programs on your network that is truly science-fiction. Caprica was one of your best written shows. Sure, it was not fast-paced or totally action-oriented, but it was great television. Now I get to wait until 2012 for your next BSG spin-off Blood and Chrome. Please don't make us wait a whole year between seasons like you did with Caprica. I hope that you tie in with the plot line of Caprica.

Luther statue presented

2010-10-31T22:21:00.003-04:00

Here's a link from the Bundestag

Luther

Unfortunately, most German politicians view Luther as merely a cultural icon rather than the preeminent Reformation theologian.

Regarding the statue, this is the most famous pose of Luther, and it is found around the world.

God in America

2010-10-20T21:25:00.003-04:00

It has been a week since PBS aired its six-hour documentary "God in America". I thought it was a balanced and academic look at religion in America. Others have noted tahat it was really about religious freedom in America rather than God. I agree with that assessment, too.

I wish the show had done two things:

1. Devoted a whole two hours to the topic specifically from 2000-2010;
2. Devoted 1-2 hours on Islam in America.

I think having a total of 10 hours would have provided a solid beginning in understanding religious freedom in the States.

Also, the program mentioned many examples of "separation of church and state" issues but spent liitle time discussing whether the First Ammendment and the separation of church and state are the same or different perspectives. It was just assumed that the two refer to the same principle. This is a discussion that runs through our contemporary society and will continue as long as we have our Constitution.

I also liked that PBS did not drag out the old theological warhorses, but had younger (and in my experience unheard of) theologians. It was refreshing to hear their perspectives and expertise and added to the quality of the show.

People's List of 100 Influential TV shows

2010-09-15T18:52:00.002-04:00

As I was waiting in the checkout line at the supermarket today, I looked at the cover of People magazine with it's chief article about the 100 most influential TV shows and characters/actors/actresses over the past 40 years. I suspect this month or the next their is some 40th anniversary milestone for TV, but that would place it in the year 1970, and that leaves out two great decades of TV shows. Maybe 1970 was when People magazine first hit the newstands and the supermarket checkout lines.

The tag line for the cover article was: Top 100 TV shows and actors who have changed our lives over the past 40 years. There were memorable photos on the cover: J. R. Ewing, Captain Kirk, Ron Howard, and at least two dozen more.

Honestly, no TV has "changed my life" in any meaningful way. Although I enjoyed watching "Dallas", the burning question of "Who shot J. R.?" did not and has not changed my life. Although I remember when ABC ruled the airwaves with shows like "Happy Days" and "Laverne and Shirley", Fonzy jumping the shark hasn't had a major impact in my life. I remember fondly the double header of "The Love Boat" and "Fantasy Island" that crushed all competition on Saturday nights (or was it Friday?).

Over the decades there have been plenty of TV shows that have entertained, and either through cable/satellite channels or Netflix, we can re-watch those old favorites. Right now I am watching "LEXX" that used to be on the SciFi (now SyFy) channel in the late 1990s. I do not remember ever seeing the first two seasons, so thus far every episode is fresh and new.

I think back to the great shows of years gone by, and it seems to me that at least half the shows we have at our disposal nowadays are some sort of reality shows. While some are quite good, they are a far cry from the shows we had on the airwaves even ten years ago. Reality shows are basically cheap and inexpensive ways for the networks to crowd their lineup each week. Most written shows are rarely given the chance to develop an audience or work out the kinks that most new shows exhibit the first several episodes. This impatience is quite disheartening, because shows like "Newhart" and "Seinfeld" were just awful their first few episodes and even their first season, but the shows plugged along and were given the time to shake out the kinks and blossomed into fine shows.

Two shows that I really enjoyed recently were not given that chance. "Knight Rider" got cancelled after about a dozen episodes and "FlashForward" was axed after its first season. I thought "Knight Rider" was a good 21st century update of the classic from the 1980s. Although "FlashForward" started slow and the story line plodded along for several weeks before everything started to come together and make more sense, I enjoyed its slow pace, causing thought about what was going to happen. It was refreshing to have such a pace when most things are so fast to accomodate for a dwindling attention span in the public.

I am sure there will be a lot of clunkers this new fall season, but hopefully the networks will give these new shows a fighting chance of becoming good shows. It doesn't happen overnight.

North America Lutheran Church

2010-08-29T18:44:00.004-04:00

Okay, you may have heard about this already, but I just discovered today that the congregations that were leaving the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) have formed a new church: the North American Lutheran Church (NALC).

Check out the NALC website.

I suspect there is a lot of enthusiasm right now among those churches, pastors, and lay people involved in the NALC. There is also the daunting task of organizing a new church body and all the administrative hassles that involves. God's blessings on their endeavor.

Guess that means if the LCMS wants to change her name, we cannot choose NALC anymore. Thank God! I am happy with the name the Synod has now.