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

Romans 13,12; Isaiah 29,15 

2. Prayer Sunday, 1799 

Henric Schartau (1757-1825)

(61) Introduction. 

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

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

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

Texts. 

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

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

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

Proposition. 

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

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

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

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

(63) First Part. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Second Part. 

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

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

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

Third Part. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

Application. 

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

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

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

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 13,1-23. Midsommardag. Henric Schartau

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.

Battlestar Sonatica - Baltar's Theme

This piece was written for BSG to musically score Baltar's experiences on the Cylon basestar. It has a classical sound to it, but when paired with Baltar it has a requiem-like tone in regards to who he is and what he has done.

It is interesting that the official title of this is "Battlestar Sonatica" and that it was written specifically for Baltar's character. In an earlier blog I noted that BSG seems to focus on Baltar's fall from grace and his redemption.

A couple of weeks ago I watched some of the original BSG episodes from 1978. The original Baltar character is similar to the reimaged character. Both fall from grace and both are redeemed, although in the original series Baltar's redemption is not fleshed out completely or satisfactorily.

"Battlestar Sonatica" has a somber and sad mood. This fits Baltar perfectly because, although he is directly linked to the annihilation of the colonies and also responsible for signing (at gunpoint) the authorization fo the Cylons to round up and execute Human resistance fighters on New Caprica, Baltar experiences extreme angst and Anfechtung throughout the series. This occurs all the while when he is receiving visions from God. BSG did an excellent job keeping this tension, especially when Baltar (and we the viewers) were not sure if he was only a con-man, delusional, suffering a nervous breakdown, or really chosen to be an intregal part of God's plan for Humans and Cylons. "Daybreak" finally settled the issue: he was really getting guidiance and visions from God; he really was an agent in God's plan.

The weakness of the BSG series regarding Baltar's redemption is that there was no real, specific person who took upon him or herself Baltar's guilt and paid the price for his freedom. The closest we get is when he is on trial and Lee Adama becomes his lawyer. Lee's passionate arguments persuaded the jury to find Baltar "not guilty" of his crimes against humanity on New Caprica. The deciding vote on this verdict was Adm. Adama.

No human ever tried to save Baltar out of the pure goodness of his or her heart. Lee came the closest, but his reasoning for defending Baltar was not out of kindness or love, but because he believed everyone deserved a fair trial. Lee probably wouldn't have been too heart-broken had Baltar been found "guilty" because, after all, he got a fair trial.

In a small way, Baltar and Caprica Six are BSG's Abraham and Sarah characters. Yes, they imperfectly fit that description, but both Baltar and Caprica Six believe in a monotheistic God. In Baltar's case, he, like Abraham, left a polytheistic culture and embraced the one God. Baltar's farm on Earth is akin to Abraham's settling in Canaan -- the future promised land. If we play this theme out, then Baltar and Caprica Six are the forerunners in the BSG universe for monotheism. Like Abraham, Baltar is still a sinner while also a saint, albeit in Baltar's case his sins make Abraham's pale in comparison. Nevertheless, Baltar seems to embody the monotheistic concept, faith, and justification by faith when he deserved nothing but a sack over his head and a firing squad.

Baltar, then, becomes the character who embodies hope and deliverance from God. He becomes the character who embodies hope for all people. I read one blog where the person was upset that after all Baltar and Caprica Six had done, they get to enjoy a lush piece of land on Earth. Well, that's what happens to those who are redeemed and delivered -- they get what their actions don't deserve, they get grace instead of condemnation. This is the whole point of justification -- someone else merits our salvation. There was no mediator and propitiator for Baltar, but we have one who is called Jesus Christ. He suffered, died, and rose again for us. Praise God for His great gift.