{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_30619/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_30619","id":"gutenberg_30619","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/30619","summary":null,"tags":["Bible. Epistles -- Commentaries","Category: Essays, Letters & Speeches","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Sermons"],"text":"Produced by Ron Swanson (This file was produced from images\ngenerously made available by The Internet Archive/American\nLibraries)\n\n\n\n\n\n\nLUTHER'S\nEPISTLE SERMONS\nTRINITY SUNDAY TO ADVENT.\n\n\nTRANSLATED WITH THE HELP OF OTHERS\nBY\nPROF. JOHN NICHOLAS LENKER, D.D.\n\nAUTHOR OF \"LUTHERANS IN ALL LANDS,\" TRANSLATOR OF\nLUTHER'S WORKS INTO ENGLISH, AND PRESIDENT OF\nTHE NATIONAL LUTHERAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION\n\n\n\n\nVOL. III.\n(_Volume IX of Luther's Complete Works_.)\nThird Thousand\n\n\n\n\n_The Luther Press_\nMINNEAPOLIS, MINN., U.S.A.\n1909.\n\n\n\n\n_Dedication_\n\n\nTo all Laymen of Evangelical Christendom interested in developing a\ndeeper Christian Life, on the basis of the spiritual classics of our\nProtestant Church Fathers, this volume of sermons that apply the pure\ndoctrine of God's Word to everyday life, is prayerfully dedicated.\n\n\n\n\nCopyright, 1909, by J. N. LENKER.\n\n\n\n\n_Foreword_\n\n\nHere comes the English Luther in his twelfth visit to your home. In\npeasant boots, decorated by no star of worldliness nor even by the\ncross of churchliness, but by the Book from heaven pressed to his\nheart in a firm attitude of earnest prayer, he comes as the man of\nprayer and of the one Book, a familiar friend, to help you to live\nthe simple Christian life.\n\nThis volume of twenty-four practical sermons from Trinity Sunday to\nAdvent marks an epoch in that it completes in an unabridged form one\nbranch of Luther's writings, the eight volumes of his Gospel and\nEpistle Postil. They are bound in uniform size, numbered as in the\nErlangen edition from the seventh to the fourteenth volume inclusive,\nparagraphed for convenient reference according to the Walch edition\nwith summaries of the Gospel sermons by Bugenhagen. The few subheads\ninserted in the text are a new feature for American readers.\n\nThese eight volumes of 175 sermons and 3,110 pages are the classic\ndevotional literature of Protestantism. They were preached by its\nfounder to the mother congregation of Evangelical Christendom in the\nbirth-period of the greatest factor in modern civilization. No\ncollection of Evangelical sermons has passed through more editions\nand been printed in more languages, none more loved and praised, none\nmore read and prayed. They will be a valuable addition to the meager\nsermon literature on the Epistle texts in the English language.\nEnglish Protestants will hereafter have no excuse for unacquaintance\nwith Luther's spiritual writings.\n\nWhat Luther's two Catechisms were in the school room to teach the\nChristian faith to the youth, that these sermons were in the homes to\ndevelop the same faith in adults. They have maintained their good\nname wherever translated until the present and their contents are\nabove the reach of critics. These Epistle sermons especially apply\nthe Christian truth to everyday life. The order in developing the\nChristian life with the best help from the prince of the Teutonic\nchurch fathers, should be from the Small to the Large Catechism and\nthen to his Epistle sermons. Blessed the pastor and congregation who\ncan lead the youth to \"Church Postil Reading\"--to read in harmony\nwith their church-going. Blessed is the immigrant or diaspora\nmissionary who finds his people reading them in the new settlements\nhe visits.\n\nNext to the Bible and Catechisms no books did more to awaken and\nsustain the great Evangelical religious movements under Spener in\nGermany, Rosenius in Sweden, and Hauge in Norway, than these sermon\nbooks devoutly and regularly read in the homes of church members.\n\nThe transition of a people and church from a weak language into a\nstronger, is easy and accompanied by gain; while the opposite course\nfrom a strong into a weaker tongue is difficult; and accompanied by\nloss. While in our land the Germans and Scandinavians lose much in\nthe transition ordeal, all is not lost; they have something to give.\n\nIt is a good sign that two-tongued congregations are growing in\nfavor. Familiar thought in a strange language is not so strange as\nwhen both language and thought are foreign. A church whose\nconstituency is many-tongued should avoid becoming one-tongued.\nChurch divisions are often more ethnological than theological. If\nexclusively English pastors learned one-tenth as much German and\nScandinavian as these people do English, unity would be greatly\npromoted. As Protestantism is far more divided in the English\nlanguage than in German or Scandinavian, the enthusiasm over the\nunifying influence of English is misleading. The hope is rather in\nthe oneness of teaching and of spirit. This treasure, given first in\nHebrew, Greek and German, can be translated into all languages. Who\nequals Luther as a translator? May his followers be inspired by his\nexample and translate the Evangelical classics of this prophet of the\nGentiles into all their dialects! That these volumes may contribute\nto this end is our prayer.\n\nThe history of the writing of these sermons is found in volumes 10,\n11, 12 and 13 of the Gospel sermons of the \"Standard Edition of\nLuther's Works in English.\"\n\nThe German text will be readily found in the 12th volume of the Walch\nand of the St. Louis Walch editions, and in the 9th volume of the\nErlangen edition of Luther's works.\n\nGrateful acknowledgment is hereby made for translations to the\nfollowing: To Pastor H. L. Burry, the first sermon for Trinity\nSunday; Pastor W. E. Tressel, Third Sunday after Trinity; Prof. A. G.\nVoigt, D. D., the Fifth and Twenty-fourth Sundays; Dr. Joseph Stump,\nSixth, Eighth and Thirteenth Sundays; Prof. A. W. Meyer, Eighteenth\nand Nineteenth Sundays; and to Pastor C. B. Gohdes for revising the\nSecond Sermon for Trinity Sunday and the sermons for the Second,\nTenth, Twelfth and Sixteenth Sundays after Trinity.\n\nNext volumes to appear will be Genesis Vol. II, Psalms Vol. II and\nGalatians.\n\nHeartily do we thank all parts of the church for their complimentary,\nsuggestive and helpful cooperation and earnestly hope our work may be\nworthy of its continuance.\n\n  J. N. LENKER.\n  Home for Young Women,\n  Minneapolis, Minn., Pentecost, 1909.\n\n\n\n\n_Contents_\n\n\nTrinity Sunday.--The Article of Faith on the Trinity. The\n  Revelation of the Divine Nature and Will. Romans 11, 33-36 . .    7\n\nSecond Sermon.--The Trinity. Romans 11, 33-36  . . . . . . . . .   36\n\nFirst Sunday After Trinity.--Love. God is Love. 1 John 4, 16-21    40\n\nSecond Sunday After Trinity.--Exhortation to Brotherly Love.\n  1 John 3, 13-18  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   41\n\nThird Sunday After Trinity.--Humility, Trust, Watchfulness,\n  Suffering. 1 Peter 5, 5-11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   57\n\nFourth Sunday After Trinity.--Consolation in Suffering and\n  Patience. Waiting for the Revealing of the Sons of God. Romans\n  8, 18-22 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   96\n\nSecond Sermon.--Suffering, Waiting and Sighing of Creation.\n  Romans 8, 18-22  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  109\n\nFifth Sunday After Trinity.--Exhortation to the Fruits of Faith.\n  Duty of Unity and Love. 1 Peter 3, 8-15  . . . . . . . . . . .  119\n\nSixth Sunday After Trinity.--Exhortation to Christian Living.\n  Life in Christ. Romans 6, 3-11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  141\n\nSeventh Sunday After Trinity.--Exhortation to Resist Sin. The\n  Wages of Sin and the Gift of God. Romans 6, 19-23  . . . . . .  156\n\nEighth Sunday After Trinity.--Exhortation to Live in the Spirit\n  Since We Have Become the Children of God, Sons and Heirs.\n  Romans 8, 12-17  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  168\n\nNinth Sunday After Trinity.--Warning to Christians Against\n  Carnal Security and Its Evils. 1 Corinthians 10, 6-13  . . . .  180\n\nTenth Sunday After Trinity.--Spiritual Counsel for Church\n  Officers. The Use of the Spiritual Gifts. 1 Corinthians 12,\n  1-11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  197\n\nEleventh Sunday After Trinity.--Paul's Witness to Christ's\n  Resurrection. 1 Corinthians 15, 1-10 . . . . . . . . . . . . .  221\n\nTwelfth Sunday After Trinity.--The Twofold Use of the Law and\n  the Gospel. \"Letter\" and \"Spirit.\" 2 Corinthians 3, 4-11 . . .  223\n\nThirteenth Sunday After Trinity.--God's Testament and Promise in\n  Christ, and Use of the Law. Galatians 3, 15-22 . . . . . . . .  248\n\nFourteenth Sunday After Trinity.--Works of the Flesh and Fruits\n  of the Spirit. Galatians 5, 16-24  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  255\n\nFifteenth Sunday After Trinity.--Conduct of Christians to One\n  Another in Church Government. Sowing and Reaping. Galatians 5,\n  25-26 and 6, 1-10  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  257\n\nSixteenth Sunday After Trinity.--Paul's Care and Prayer for the\n  Church That It May Continue to Abide in Christ. Ephesians 3,\n  13-21  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  259\n\nSeventeenth Sunday After Trinity.--Exhortation to Live According\n  to the Christian Calling, and in the Unity of the Spirit.\n  Ephesians 4, 1-6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  281\n\nEighteenth Sunday After Trinity.--The Treasure Christians Have\n  in the Preaching of the Gospel. The Call to Fellowship.\n  1 Corinthians 1, 4-9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  292\n\nNineteenth Sunday After Trinity.--Putting on the New Man and\n  Laying Off the Old Man. Ephesians 4, 22-28 . . . . . . . . . .  304\n\nTwentieth Sunday After Trinity.--The Careful Walk of the\n  Christian and Redeeming the Time. Ephesians 5, 15-21 . . . . .  317\n\nTwenty-First Sunday After Trinity.--The Christian Armor and\n  Weapons. Ephesians 6, 10-17  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  329\n\nTwenty-Second Sunday After Trinity.--Paul's Thanks and Prayers\n  for His Churches. Philippians 1, 3-11  . . . . . . . . . . . .  330\n\nTwenty-Third Sunday After Trinity.--The Enemies of the Cross of\n  Christ and the Christian's Citizenship in Heaven. Philippians\n  3, 17-21 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  343\n\nTwenty-Fourth Sunday After Trinity.--Knowledge of God's Will and\n  Its Fruits. Prayer and Spiritual Knowledge. Colossians 1, 3-14  358\n\nTwenty-Fifth Sunday After Trinity.--Christ Will Take Both Alike\n  to Himself, the Dead and Living, When He Comes.\n  1 Thessalonians 4, 13-18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  379\n\nTwenty-Sixth Sunday After Trinity.--God's Righteous Judgment in\n  the Future. When Christ Comes. 2 Thessalonians 1, 3-10 . . . .  380\n\n\n\n\n_Trinity Sunday_\n\nText: Romans 11, 33-36.\n\n33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of\nGod! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing\nout! 34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his\ncounsellor? 35 or who hath first given to him, and it shall be\nrecompensed unto him again? 36 For of him and through him, and unto\nhim, are all things. To him be the glory for ever. Amen.\n\n\nTHE ARTICLE OF FAITH ON THE TRINITY.\n\n1. This epistle is read today because the festival of Holy Trinity,\nor of the three persons of the Godhead--which is the prime, great,\nincomprehensible and chief article of faith--is observed on this day.\nThe object of its observance is that, by the Word of God, this truth\nof the Godhead may be preserved among Christians, enabling them to\nknow God as he would be known. For although Paul does not treat of\nthat article in this epistle, but touches on it only in a few words\nin the conclusion, nevertheless he would teach that in our attempts\nto comprehend God we must not speculate and judge according to human\nwisdom, but in the light of the Word of God alone. For these divine\ntruths are too far above the reach of reason ever to be comprehended\nand explored by the understanding of man.\n\n2. And although I have, on other occasions, taught and written on\nthis article fully and frequently enough, still I must say a few\nwords in general concerning it here. True, it is not choice German,\nnor has it a pleasing sound, when we designate God by the word\n\"Dreifaltigkeit\" (nor is the Latin, Trinitas, more elegant); but\nsince we have no better term, we must employ these. For, as I have\nsaid, this article is so far above the power of the human mind to\ngrasp, or the tongue to express, that God, as the Father of his\nchildren, will pardon us when we stammer and lisp as best we can, if\nonly our faith be pure and right. By this term, however, we would say\nthat we believe the divine majesty to be three distinct persons of\none true essence.\n\n3. This is the revelation and knowledge Christians have of God: they\nnot only know him to be one true God, who is independent of and over\nall creatures, and that there can be no more than this one true God,\nbut they know also what this one true God in his essential,\ninscrutable essence is.\n\n4. The reason and wisdom of man may go so far as to reach the\nconclusion, although feebly, that there must be one eternal divine\nbeing, who has created and who preserves and governs all things. Man\nsees such a beautiful and wonderful creation in the heavens and on\nthe earth, one so wonderfully, regularly and securely preserved and\nordered, that he must say: It is impossible that this came into\nexistence by mere chance, or that it originated and controls itself;\nthere must have been a Creator and Lord from whom all these things\nproceed and by whom they are governed. Thus God may be known by his\ncreatures, as St. Paul says: \"For the invisible things of him since\nthe creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through\nthe things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity.\"\nRom 1, 20. This is (a posteriori) the knowledge that we have when we\ncontemplate God from without, in his works and government; as one,\nlooking upon a castle or house from without, would draw conclusions\nas to its lord or keeper.\n\n5. But from within (a priori) no human wisdom has been able to\nconceive what God is in himself, or in his internal essence. Neither\ncan anyone know or give information of it except it be revealed to\nhim by the Holy Spirit. For no one knoweth, as Paul says (1 Cor 2,\n11), the things of man save the spirit of man which is in him; even\nso the things of God none knoweth save the Spirit of God. From\nwithout, I may see what you do, but what your intentions are and what\nyou think, I cannot see. Again, neither can you know what I think\nexcept I enable you to understand it by word or sign. Much less can\nwe know what God, in his own inner and secret essence is, until the\nHoly Spirit, who searcheth and knoweth all things, yea, the deep\nthings of God--as Paul says above--reveals it to us: as he does in\nthe declaration of this article, in which he teaches us the existence\nin the divine majesty of the one undivided essence, but in such\nmanner that there is, first, the person which is called the Father;\nand of him exists the second person called the Son, born from\neternity; and proceeding from both these is the third, namely, the\nHoly Spirit. These three persons are not distinct from each other, as\nindividual brothers or sisters are, but they have being in one and\nthe same eternal, undivided and indivisible essence.\n\n6. This, I say, is not discovered or attained to by human reason. It\nis revealed from heaven above. Therefore, only Christians can\nintelligently speak of what the Godhead essentially is, and of his\noutward manifestation to his creatures, and his will toward men\nconcerning their salvation. For all this is imparted to them by the\nHoly Spirit, who reveals and proclaims it through the Word.\n\n7. Those who have no such revelation, and who judge according to\ntheir own wisdom, such as the Jews, Turks and heathen, must consider\nthe Christian's declaration the greatest error and rankest heresy;\nthey must say that we Christians are mad and foolish in imagining\nthat there are three Gods, when, according to all reason--yea, even\naccording to the Word of God--there can be but one God. It would not\nbe reasonable, they will say, that there should be more than one\nhouseholder over the same house, more than one lord or sovereign over\nthe same government; much less reasonably should more than one God\nreign over heaven and earth. They imagine that thus with their wisdom\nthey have completely overthrown our faith and exposed it to the\nderision and scorn of all the world. As if we were all blockheads and\negregious fools and could not see their logic as well as they! But,\nthank God, we have understanding equal to theirs, and can argue as\nconvincingly, or more so, than they with their Alkoran and Talmud,\nthat there is but the one God.\n\n8. Further, we know, from the testimony of Holy Writ, that we cannot\nexpound the mystery of these divine things by the speculations of\nreason and a pretense of great wisdom. To explain this, as well as\nall the articles of our faith, we must have a knowledge higher than\nany to which the understanding of man can attain. That knowledge of\nGod which the heathen can perceive by reason or deduce from rational\npremises is but a small part of the knowledge that we should possess.\nThe heathen Aristotle in his best book concludes from a passage in\nthe wisest pagan poet, Homer: There can be no good government in\nwhich there is more than one lord; it results as where more than one\nmaster or mistress attempts to direct the household servants. So must\nthere be but one lord and regent in every government. This is all\nrightly true. God has implanted such light and understanding in human\nnature for the purpose of giving a conception and an illustration of\nhis divine office, the only Lord and Maker of all creatures. But,\neven knowing this, we have not yet searched out or fathomed the\nexalted, eternal, divine Godhead essence. For even though I have\nlearned that there is an only divine majesty, who governs all things,\nI do not thereby know the inner workings of this divine essence\nhimself; this no one can tell me, except, as we have said, in so far\nas God himself reveals it in his Word.\n\n9. Now we Christians have the Scriptures, which we know to be the\nWord of God. The Jews also have them, from whose fathers they have\ndescended to us. From these, and from no other source, we have\nobtained all that is known of God and divine works, from the\nbeginning of the world. Even among the Turks and the heathen, all\ntheir knowledge of God--excepting what is manifestly fable and\nfiction--came from the Scriptures. And our knowledge is confirmed and\nproven by great miracles, even to the present day. These Scriptures\ndeclare, concerning this article, that there is no God or divine\nbeing save this one alone. They not only manifest him to us from\nwithout, but they lead us into his inner essence, and show us that in\nhim there are three persons; not three Gods or three different kinds\nof divinity, but the same undivided, divine essence.\n\n10. Such a revelation is radiantly shed forth from the greatest of\nGod's works, the declaration of his divine counsel and will. In that\ncounsel and will it was decreed from all eternity, and, accordingly,\nwas proclaimed in his promises, that his Son should become man and\ndie to reconcile man to God. For in our dreadful fall into sin and\ndeath eternal, there was no way to save us excepting through an\neternal person who had power over sin and death to destroy them, and\nto give us righteousness and everlasting life instead. This no angel\nor other creature could do; it must needs be done of God himself.\nNow, it could not be done by the person of the Father, who was to be\nreconciled, but it must be done by a second person, with whom this\ncounsel was determined and through whom and for whose sake the\nreconciliation was to be brought about.\n\n11. Here there are, therefore, two distinct persons, one of whom\nbecomes reconciled, and the other is sent to reconcile and becomes\nman. The former is called the Father, being first in that he did not\nhave his origin in any other; the latter is called the Son, being\nborn of the Father from eternity. To this the Scriptures attest, for\nthey make mention of God's Son; as, for instance, in Psalm 2, 7:\n\"Thou art my son; this day have I begotten thee;\" and again,\nGalatians 4, 4: \"But when the fulness of the time came, God sent\nforth his Son,\" etc. From this it necessarily follows that the Son,\nwho is spoken of as a person, must be distinct from the person of the\nFather.\n\n12. Again, in the same manner, the Spirit of God is specifically and\ndistinctively mentioned as a person sent or proceeding from God the\nFather and the Son: for instance, God says in Joel 2, 28: \"I will\npour out my Spirit upon all flesh,\" etc. Here a spirit is poured out\nwho is God's, or a divine spirit, and who must be of the same\nessence, otherwise he could not say, \"my Spirit;\" and yet he must be\na person other than he who sent him or who pours out. Again, because\nwhen he was sent he manifested himself, and appeared in his descent\nin a visible form, like that of a dove or tongues of fire, he must be\ndistinct in person from both the Father and the Son.\n\n13. But in this article of faith, in which we say that the Son of God\nbecame man and that he was of the same nature as we ourselves are, in\norder that he might redeem us from sin and death and give us eternal\nlife without any merit or worthiness of our own, we give Jews and\nTurks no less occasion for laughter and mockery than when we speak of\nthe three persons. For this is a more absurd assertion by far, in the\nestimation of human reason, which speculates in its Jewish and\nTurkish--yea, heathenish--teachings, on this wise: God is an only,\nalmighty Lord of all, who has created all men and given them the law\naccording to which they are to live; accordingly it follows that he\nwill be merciful to the good and obedient, but will condemn and\npunish the disobedient. Therefore, he who does good works and guards\nhimself against sin, God will reward. These are nothing but\nheathenish conclusions drawn from earthly, worldly experience and\nobservation, as if God's government must be conducted on the same\nprinciples as that of a father among his children and domestics; for\nthose are considered good rulers and masters who make a distinction\nwith regard to their own interests.\n\n14. Such heathen ideas of wisdom, holiness and service of God are\ntaught and practiced by the Pope. And so we believed, myself and\nothers, while we were under him, not knowing any better; otherwise we\nwould have done and taught differently. And, in fact, he who has not\nthis revelation and Word of God, can neither believe nor teach other\nthan pagan doctrine. With such a faith, how much better were we than\nthe heathen and Turks? Yea, how could we guard ourselves against any\ndeception and lying nonsense that might be offered as good works and\nas service of God? Then we had to follow every impostor who came with\nhis cowl and cord, as if Christ were represented in him; and we\nthought that in the observance of these things we would be saved. So\nthe whole world was filled with naught but false service of\nGod--which the Scriptures properly call idolatry--the product of\nhuman wisdom, which is so easily deceived by that which pretends to\nbe a good work and to be obedience to God. For human wisdom knows no\nbetter; and how could it know better without the revelation? Even\nwhen the revelation was proclaimed, human wisdom would not heed it,\nbut despised it and followed its own fancies. Hence it continued to\nbe hidden and incomprehensible to such wisdom, as Saint Paul says:\n\"For who hath known the mind of the Lord?\"\n\n15. But to us this counsel and mind of God in giving his Son to take\nupon himself our flesh, is revealed and declared. For from the Word\nof God we have the knowledge that no man of himself can be righteous\nbefore God; that our whole life and all our deeds are under wrath and\ncondemnation, because we are wholly born in sin and by nature are\ndisobedient to God; but if we would be delivered from sin and be\nsaved, we must believe on this mediator, the Son of God, who has\ntaken our sin and death upon himself, by his own blood and death\nrendering satisfaction, and has by his resurrection, delivered us. In\nthis truth we will abide, regardless of the ridicule heaped upon us\nbecause of such faith, by heathen wisdom, which teaches that God\nrewards the pious. We understand that quite as well, if not better,\nthan heathenism does. But in these mysteries we need a higher wisdom\nthan our own minds have devised or can devise, a wisdom given to us\nby grace alone, through divine revelation.\n\n16. For it is not our intention thus to pry into the counsel,\nthoughts and ways of God with our understanding and opinions, and to\nbe his counselors, as they do who meddle in the affairs that are the\nprerogative of the Godhead, and who even dare, in the face of this\npassage of Saint Paul, to refuse to receive or learn of God, but\nwould impart to him that for which he must recompense again. And thus\nthey make gods after their own fancy, as many gods as they have\nthoughts; so that every shabby monastic cowl or self-appointed work,\nin their estimation, accomplishes as much and passes for as much as\nGod the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, in their eternal divine counsel,\ndetermine and accomplish. And they continue to be nothing but wearers\nof cowls and instructors in works, which works even they can do who\nknow nothing of God and are manifestly scoundrels. And even though\nthey have long been occupied with these things, they still do not\nknow how matters stand between themselves and God. And it will ever\nbe true as Saint Paul says: \"For who hath known the mind of the Lord,\nor who hath been his counselor?\"\n\n17. For your own theories--which are no more than what anyone can\narrive at, conjecture or conceive in his own mind, without divine\nrevelation--are not a knowledge of the mind of God. And what does it\navail if you are not able to say more than that God is merciful to\nthe good and will punish the wicked? Who will assure you that you are\ngood and that you are pleasing to God with your papistic, Turkish\nmonkery and holiness? Is it all that is necessary to assert: God will\nreward with heaven such as are faithful to the order? No, dear\nbrother, mere presumption, or an expression of your opinion, will not\nsuffice here. I could do that as well as you. Indeed, each may devise\nhis own peculiar idea; one a black, and another a gray monk's cowl.\nBut we should hear and know what God's counsel is, what is his will\nand mind. This none can tell you by his own understanding, and no\nbook on earth can teach it except the Scriptures. These God himself\nhas given, and they make known to us that he has sent his Son into\nthe world to redeem us from sin and the wrath of God, and that\nwhosoever believes in him should have everlasting life.\n\n\nDIVINE MYSTERIES INEXPLICABLE TO REASON.\n\n18. Behold, Paul's purpose in this epistle is to show Christians that\nthese sublime and divine mysteries--that is, God's actual divine\nessence and his will, administration and works--are absolutely beyond\nall human thought, human understanding or wisdom; in short, that they\nare and ever will be incomprehensible, inscrutable and altogether\nhidden to human reason. When reason presumptuously undertakes to\nsolve, to teach and explain these matters, the result is worthless,\nyea, utter darkness and deception. If anything is to be ascertained,\nit must be through revelation alone; that is, the Word of God, which\nwas sent from heaven.\n\n19. We do not apply these words of Paul to the question of divine\npredestination for every human being--who will be saved and who not.\nFor into these things God would not have us curiously inquire. He has\nnot given us any special revelation in regard to them, but refers all\nmen here to the words of the Gospel. By them they are to be guided.\nHe would have them hear and learn the Gospel, and believing in it\nthey shall be saved. Therein have all the saints found comfort and\nassurance in regard to their election to eternal life; not in any\nspecial revelation in regard to their predestination, but in faith in\nChrist. Therefore, where Saint Paul treats of election, in the three\nchapters preceding this text, he would not have any to inquire or\nsearch out whether he has been predestinated or not; but he holds\nforth the Gospel and faith to all men. So he taught before, that we\nare saved through faith in Christ. He says (Rom 10, 8): \"The word is\nnigh thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart,\" and he explains himself\nby saying that this word should be proclaimed to all men, that they\nmay believe what he says in verses 12 and 13: \"For the same Lord is\nLord of all, and is rich unto all that call upon him: for, Whosoever\nshall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.\"\n\n20. But he speaks of the marvelous ruling of God in the Church,\naccording to which they who have the name and honor of being the\npeople of God, and the Church--the people of Israel--are rejected on\naccount of their unbelief. Others, on the other hand, who formerly\nwere not God's people, but were unbelieving, are now, since they have\nreceived the Gospel and believe in Christ, become the true Church in\nthe sight of God, and are saved. Consequently it was on account of\ntheir own unbelief that the former were rejected. Then the grace and\nmercy of God in Christ was offered unto everlasting life, and without\nany merit of their own, to all such as were formerly in unbelief and\nsin, if only they would accept and believe it. He declares: \"For God\nhath shut up all unto disobedience, that he might have mercy upon\nall.\" Rom 11, 32.\n\n21. Hereupon follows the text, which Saint Paul begins with emotions\nof profound astonishment at the judgment and dealings of God in his\nChurch, saying:\n\n\"O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of\nGod! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing\nout!\"\n\n22. Sublime are the thoughts and counsel of God, transcending by far\nthe mind and comprehension of man, yea of all creatures, when he so\nrichly pours forth his goodness and out of pure grace and mercy\nelects, as beneficiaries of that goodness, the poor and wretched and\nunworthy, who are concluded under sin--that is, those who acknowledge\nthemselves before God to be guilty and deserving of everlasting wrath\nand perdition; when he does all this that they might know him in his\nreal divine essence, and the sentiment of his heart--that through his\nSon he will give all who believe everlasting life. And, again, that\nthey might know how he will reject and condemn the others--those who,\nin pride and security, boast of their own gifts and the fact that\nthey are called the people of God in preference to all other nations;\nwho boast that they have special promises, that they have the\nprophets, the fathers, etc.; who think that God will acknowledge no\nnation on earth but themselves as his people and his Church. He will\nreject them on account of their unbelief, in which they are fettered\nby the pride and imaginations of their own wisdom and holiness.\n\n23. This is that rich, inexpressible, divine wisdom and knowledge\nwhich they possess who believe in Christ, and by which they are\nenabled to look into the depths and see what the purposes and\nthoughts of the divine heart are. True, in their weakness they cannot\nfully reach it; they only can apprehend it in the revealed Word, by\nfaith, as in a glass or image, as Saint Paul says. 1 Cor 13, 12. But\nto blind, unbelieving reason, divine wisdom will be foreign and\nhidden; nothing of it will enter reason's consciousness and thoughts,\nnor will reason desire more though a revelation be given.\n\n24. That attitude Saint Paul encountered, especially when the\narrogant Jews opposed themselves so sternly and stubbornly to the\npreaching of the Gospel. Filled with astonishment, he exclaimed: What\nshall I say more? I see indeed that it is but the deep unsearchable\nwisdom of God, his incomprehensible judgment, his inscrutable ways.\nSo he says elsewhere: \"But we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, even\nthe wisdom that hath been hidden, which God foreordained before the\nworld unto our glory: which none of the rulers of this world hath\nknown.\" 1 Cor 2, 7-8.\n\n25. This depth and richness of wisdom and knowledge, we Christians\napprehend through faith; for, as Saint Paul says, it cannot be\napprehended nor comprehended otherwise. Though the world will not do\nit, we will firmly believe that God is a true God and Lord, wise,\njust and gracious, whose riches and depth are ineffable. We will\nglorify him with our whole heart, therefore, as he ought justly to be\npraised and glorified by every creature, for his wonderful government\nof his Church, through his Word and revelation. Whosoever will hear\nand receive the same shall have light that will turn them to him and\ngive them a knowledge of their salvation--an experience which others\ncan never realize. And he is to be glorified because he manifests\nsuch unutterable goodness to all who are in sin and under God's wrath\nthat he translates them, though they are unworthy and condemned, from\nthe power of death and hell into the kingdom of eternal grace and\nlife, if they will only seek grace and believe on Christ his Son.\nAnd, on the other hand, he is to be glorified because, as a just\njudge, he rightfully rejects and condemns those who will not believe\nthe revelation and testimony of his will in his Son; who insist on,\nand boast of, their blind fancies, of their own wisdom and\nrighteousness. Being accordingly deprived of such light, such grace\nand consolation, they must forever be separated and cast forth from\nthe kingdom of God, regardless of what great name and fame may have\nbeen theirs when they were supposed to be the people and Church of\nGod.\n\n26. And such are God's unsearchable judgments and his ways past\ntracing out. Such are his government and works. For by \"judgments\" is\nmeant that which in his view is right or wrong; what pleases or does\nnot please him; what merits his praise or his censure; in short, what\nwe should follow or avoid. Again, by \"his ways\" is meant that which\nhe will manifest unto men and how he will deal with them. These\nthings men cannot and would not discover by their own reason, nor\nsearch out by their own intellect, and never should they oppose their\njudgments or speculations to God. It is not for them to say what is\nright or wrong, whether an act or ruling is divine. They should\nhumble themselves before him and acknowledge that they cannot\nunderstand, they cannot teach God in such matters; they should give\nhim, as their God and Creator, the honor of better understanding\nhimself and his purposes than do we poor, miserable worms.\n\n\"For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his\ncounselor? or who hath first given to him, and it shall be\nrecompensed unto him again?\"\n\n27. Paul states three propositions which take away from the world all\nits boasting concerning divine things: To know the mind of the\nLord--what are his thoughts and purposes, or what he has determined\nwithin himself from eternity; to be his counselor--advising or\nshowing him what to do and how to do it; to give to him--assisting\nhim, by one's own ability, to accomplish his divine purpose. All this\nis impossible to human nature; it cannot know his mind, and how much\nless will it be able, with all of its wisdom and activity, to counsel\nhim or give him anything.\n\n28. Therefore, it is a shameful presumption on the part of the world\nto presume by its own powers to ascertain and discover God's essence,\nhis will and works, and to counsel him as to his duties and\npleasures; and shameful is it that it presumes with its works to have\nmerited something from him, and to have earned a recompense; shameful\npresumption to expect to be honored as having achieved much for God's\nkingdom and for the Church--strengthening and preserving them and\nfilling heaven with holiness!\n\n29. God must defeat minds so perverted. In his administration he must\ndisregard their opinions and attempts. Thus, being made fools by\ntheir own wisdom, they may stumble and be offended at it. So would\nGod, by showing us the realities, convince us of the futility of our\nown endeavors and lead us to acknowledge that we have not fathomed\nhis mind, his counsel and will, and that we cannot counsel him. No\nman or angel has ever yet first thought out for God his counsel, or\noffered suggestion to him. Much less is he compelled to call us into\ncounsel, or recompense us for anything we have given to him.\n\n\nTHREE CLASSES OF PEOPLE.\n\n30. There are three different kinds of people on earth, among whom\nChristians must live. The first of these are that rude class which is\nunconcerned about the nature of God and how he rules. They have no\nregard for God's Word. Their faith is only in their mammon and their\nown appetites. They think only of how they may live unto themselves,\nlike swine in the sty. To such we need not preach anything of this\ntext: \"O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge\nof God.\" They would understand nothing of it though we were to preach\nit to them everlastingly. They would rather hear of the husks and\nswill with which they fill themselves. Therefore we will let them\nremain the swine that they are, and separated from others as they\nare. But it is exasperating to have to encounter them among\nChristians.\n\n31. The second class are they who are still reasonable, concerning\nthemselves, about God's purposes and their fulfilment, and how we may\nbe saved. The heathen, and even we ourselves when under the papacy,\ncontended, according to reason, over these things. Here is the\nbeginning of all idolatry on earth; everyone teaches of God according\nto his own opinion. Mohammed says: He that believes his Koran and its\ndoctrines is pleasing to God. A monk: He that is faithful to the\norder and its regulations will be saved. The Pope: He who observes\nhis prescriptions and ritual, who makes a pilgrimage to the apostles\nat Rome, buys himself an indulgence; he has acquired the forgiveness\nof sins: but he who neglects it is under the wrath of God. These\nobservances they call judgments and ways, controlling consciences and\ndirecting them to eternal life; and they imagine that they are God's\njudgments and ways.\n\n32. On the contrary, the Word declares that God wants none of these\nthings; that they are error and darkness and a vain service--idolatry,\nwhich he hates and which provokes him to the utmost. All must\nacknowledge who have practiced their own self-appointed observances\nfor any length of time, that they have no real assurance that God will\nbe gracious unto them and take pleasure in them because of their lives\nand observances. Yet, in their blind delusion and presumption, they go\non in their vagaries till God touches their hearts by a revelation of\nhis law; then, alarmed, they must admit that they have lived without a\nknowledge of God and of his will, and that they have no counsel or\nhelp unless they lay hold on the words of the Gospel of Christ.\n\n33. We were all like that heretofore. Even I, a learned doctor of\ndivinity, did not know better. I imagined that with my monk's cowl I\nwas pleasing to God and on the way to heaven. I thought that I knew\nthe mind of God well. I wanted to be his counselor, and to earn a\nrecompense of him. But now I realize that my belief was false; it was\nblindness. I know that I must learn from his Word; that nothing else\navails before him but faith in the crucified Christ, his Son; and\nthat in such faith we must live, and do as our respective callings or\npositions require. Thus we may know right and wrong in God's sight;\nfor our knowledge is not of our own invention, but we have it from\nrevelation. By revelation God shows us his mind; as Saint Paul says\n(1 Cor 2, 16): \"We have the mind of Christ.\" And again (verse 10):\n\"But unto us God revealed them through the Spirit.\"\n\n34. The third class are those who transgress, having knowledge. They\nhave the Word of revelation. I am not now speaking of those who\nknowingly persecute the truth--those of the first class, who are\nunconcerned about God--but I am speaking of those who recognize the\nrevelation but are led by the devil to override it and go around it.\nThey would conceive ways and judgments of God that he has not\nrevealed. If they were Christians, they would be satisfied and thank\nGod for having given us his Word, in which he shows us what is\npleasing to him and how we may be saved. But instead, they allow\nthemselves to be led by the devil to seek for other revelations and\nto speculate on what God in his invisible majesty is, and how he\nsecretly governs the world, and what he has determined in regard to\nthe future of each particular individual. And so presumptuous is our\nhuman nature that it would even interfere, with its wisdom, in God's\njudgment, and intrude into his most secret counsel, attempting to\nteach him and direct him. It was because of his arrogance that the\ndevil was cast out into the abyss of hell; because he aspired to\ninterference in the affairs of divine majesty, and would drag down\nman in the fall with himself. So did he cause man to fall in\nparadise, and so did he tempt the saints; and so he tempted Christ\nhimself when he set him on the pinnacle of the temple.\n\n35. Against this third class Saint Paul directs his words, in answer\nto the impudent questions of wise reason as to why God punished and\nrejected the Jews, as he did, and allowed the condemned heathen to\ncome into the Gospel grace; why he so administers justice as to exalt\nthe godless and allow the godly to suffer and be oppressed; why he\nelected Judas as an apostle and afterwards rejected him and accepted\na murderer and malefactor. With these words Saint Paul would command\nthe wise to cease their impertinent strivings after the things of the\nsecret majesty, and to confine themselves to the revelation he has\ngiven us; for all such searching and prying will be in vain and\nharmful. Though you were to search forever you would nowhere attain\nthe secrets of God's purposes, but would only risk your soul.\n\n36. If you, therefore, would proceed wisely, you cannot do better\nthan to be interested in the Word and in God's works. In them he has\nrevealed himself, and in them he may be comprehended. For instance,\nhe manifests his Son, Christ, to you, on the cross. This is the work\nof your redemption. In it you may truly apprehend God, and learn that\nhe will not condemn you on account of your sins, if you believe, but\nwill give you everlasting life. So Christ tells you: \"God so loved\nthe world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever\nbelieveth on him should not perish, but have eternal life.\" Jn 3, 16.\nIn this Christ, says Saint Paul (Col 2, 3), are all the treasures of\nwisdom and knowledge hidden. Herein you will have more than enough to\nlearn, to study and ponder. You will marvel at the wonderful\nrevelation of God, and you will learn to delight in and love him. It\nis a mine which can never be exhausted in this life by study, and in\nthe contemplation of which, as Peter says (1 Pet 1, 12), even the\nangels never tire, but find unceasing joy and pleasure.\n\n37. I say this so that we may be prepared to instruct and direct\nthose we may meet who, assailed and tormented by such thoughts of the\ndevil, are led to tempt God. They are beguiled by the devil to search\nand grope, in his false ways, after what may be the intention of God\nconcerning them, and thereby they are led into such apprehension and\ndespair that they are unable to endure it. Such individuals must be\nreminded of these words, and be reproved by them. So did Paul reprove\nthe Jews and cavilers of his day when they presumed to comprehend God\nwith their wisdom, to instruct him as his counselors and masters, to\ndeal with him directly themselves, without any mediator, and to\nrender him such service that he would owe them a recompense. Nothing\nwill come of such searching. Against its endeavors he has erected\nbarriers that, with all your striving, you will never be able to\novercome. And so infinite are his wisdom, his counsel and riches,\nthat you will never be able to fathom nor exhaust them. You ought to\nrejoice that he gives you some knowledge of his omnipotence in his\nrevelation, as follows:\n\n\"For of him, and through him, and unto him, are all things. To him be\nthe glory for ever.\"\n\n38. Why should we boast, he would say here, when everything that has\nbeing--and our own wisdom and capabilities, of course--did not\noriginate itself but had its origin in him and must be preserved by\nhim, must exist through him? He says (Acts 17, 28): \"For in him we\nlive, and move, and have our being.\" And again (Ps 100, 3): \"It is he\nthat hath made us, and not we ourselves.\" That is, what we are and\nare able to do, and the fact that we live and have peace and\nprotection--in short, all the good or evil that happens to us--comes\nto pass not by accident or chance. It all proceeds from his divine\ncounsel and good pleasure. He cares for us as his people and flock.\nHe governs us and gives us good things. He aids and preserves us in\nevery time of need. Therefore, all honor and glory are due to him\nalone, from his creatures.\n\n\nEVERYTHING IS OF GOD.\n\n39. But when he says, Of him, through him, in him, are all things--he\nsays in the simplest way that the beginning, middle and end is of\nGod; that all creatures have their origin in him, also their growth\nand their limitations. To illustrate: Every little grain of corn has\nits beginning. A root springs from the dead seed in the ground; then\na shoot comes forth and becomes a stalk, a leaflet, an ear of corn,\nand here it pauses, having the three parts it is intended to have.\nAll creatures also have their beginning, their continuation and end,\nfilling up the period of their existence. When this order ceases,\nevery creature will cease to exist. That which has a beginning and\ngrows but does not attain its end, does not reach perfection, is\nnothing. To sum it all up, everything must be of God. Nothing can\nexist without origin in him. Nothing that has come into being can\ncontinue to exist without him. He has not created the world as a\ncarpenter builds a house and, departing, leaves it to stand as it\nmay. God remains with and preserves all things which he has made;\notherwise they would not continue to exist.\n\n40. Saint Paul does not simply say--as he does elsewhere--Of him are\nall things. He adds two other assertions, making a triple expression,\nand then unites the three thoughts into one whole when he says, \"To\nhim be the glory for ever.\" No doubt it was his intention therewith\nto convey the thought of this article of faith and to distinguish the\nthree persons of the Godhead, even though he does not mention them by\nname, which is not necessary here. The ancient teachers also looked\nupon this passage as a testimony to the Holy Trinity. Their analysis\nwas: All things are created by God the Father through the Son--even\nas he does all things through the Son--and are preserved, in God's\ngood pleasure, through the Holy Spirit. So Paul is wont to say\nelsewhere; for example (1 Cor 8, 6): \"There is one God, the Father,\nof whom are all things, and we unto him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ,\nthrough whom are all things.\" And concerning the Holy Spirit, Genesis\n1, 31 says: \"And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it\nwas very good.\"\n\n41. The Scriptures teach us that all creation is the work of one God,\nor the whole Godhead; and yet, inasmuch as they make a distinction\nbetween the three persons of the one Godhead, we may properly say\nthat everything had its origin, everything exists and continues, in\nthe Father as the first person; through the Son, who is of the\nFather; and in the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from both the Father and\nthe Son; which three, nevertheless, are comprehended in the one\nundivided essence.\n\n42. But how such a distinction of persons exists in the divine\nessence from eternity is a mystery which we shall and must leave\nunsolved. For we cannot, with our crude understanding, even fathom\nGod's creatures; no creature is wise enough to understand these three\nparts of itself--the beginning, the middle and the end. Though they\nare distinct from each other, nevertheless they are so closely\nconnected that we cannot with our physical senses separate one from\nthe other. Who has ever been able to discover or explain the process\nby which a leaflet grows from a tree, or a tiny grain of corn becomes\na root, or a cherry grows from the blossom to wood and kernel? Again,\nwho can explain how the bodily members of a human being manifestly\ngrow; what the sight of the eye is; how the tongue can make such a\nvariety of sounds and words, which enter, with marvelous diversity,\ninto so many ears and hearts? Much less are we able to analyze the\ninner workings of the mind--its thoughts, its meditations, its\nmemory. Why, then, should we presume, with our reason, to compass and\ncomprehend the eternal, invisible essence of God?\n\n\n\n\n_Trinity Sunday_\n\nSecond Sermon. Text: Romans 11, 33-36.\n\n\nTHE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY.[1]\n\n[Footnote 1: This sermon was first printed in 1535, at Wittenberg.]\n\n1. This festival requires us to instruct the people in the dogma of\nthe Holy Trinity, and to strengthen both memory and faith concerning\nit. This is the reason why we take up the subject once more. Without\nproper instruction and a sound foundation in this regard, other\ndogmas cannot be rightly and successfully treated. The other\nfestivals of the year present the Lord God clothed in his works and\nmiracles. For instance: on Christmas we celebrate his incarnation; on\nEaster his resurrection from the dead; on Whitsunday the gift of the\nHoly Spirit and the establishment of the Christian Church. Thus all\nthe other festivals present the Lord in the guise of a worker of one\nthing or another. But this Trinity Festival discloses him to us as he\nis in himself. Here we see him apart from whatever guise assumed,\nfrom whatever work done, solely in his divine essence. We must go\nbeyond and above all reason, leaving behind the evidence of created\nthings, and hear only God's own testimony concerning himself and his\ninner essence; otherwise we shall remain unenlightened.\n\n2. Upon this subject the foolishness of God and the wisdom of the\nworld conflict. God's declaration that he is one God in three\ndistinct persons, the world looks upon as wholly unreasonable and\nfoolish; and the followers of mere reason, when they hear it, regard\nevery one that teaches or believes it as no more than a fool.\nTherefore this article has been assailed continually, from the times\nof the apostles and the fathers down to the present day, as history\ntestifies. Especially the Gospel of St. John has been subjected to\nattack, which was written for the special purpose of fortifying this\ndogma against the attacks of Cerinthus the heretic, who in the\napostolic age already attempted to prove from Moses the existence of\nbut one God, which he assigned as reason that our Lord Jesus cannot\nbe true God on account of the impossibility of God and man being\nunited in one being. Thus he gave us the prattle of his reason, which\nhe made the sole standard for heaven to conform to.\n\n3. O shameless reason! How can we poor, miserable mortals grasp this\nmystery of the Trinity? we who do not understand the operation of our\nown physical powers--speech, laughter, sleep, things whereof we have\ndaily experience? Yet we would, untaught by the Word of God, guided\nmerely by our fallible head, pronounce upon the very nature of God.\nIs it not supreme blindness for man, when he is unable to explain the\nmost insignificant physical operation daily witnessed in his own\nbody, to presume to understand something above and beyond the power\nof reason to comprehend, something whereof only God can speak, and to\nrashly affirm that Christ is not God?\n\n4. Indeed, if reason were the standard of judgment in such matters, I\nalso might make a successful venture; but when the conclusions of\neven long and mature reflections upon the subject are compared with\nScripture, they will not stand. Therefore we must repeat, even though\na mere stammering should be the result, what the Scriptures say to\nus, namely: that Jesus Christ is true God and that the Holy Spirit is\nlikewise true God, yet there are not three Gods; not three divine\nnatures, as we may speak of three brothers, three angels, three suns,\nthree windows. There is one indivisible divine essence, while we\nrecognize a distinction as to the persons.\n\n\nSCRIPTURE PROOF THAT CHRIST IS GOD.\n\nPaul, speaking of Christ in Hebrews 1, 3, refers to him as the\nexpress image of God's substance. Again, in Colossians 1, 15 he says\nof Christ: \"Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of\nall creation.\" We must take these words for what they say--that all\ncreatures, even angels and men, are ranked below Christ. This\nclassification leaves room for God only: taking away the creature,\nonly God remains. It is one and the same thing, then, to say that\nChrist is the firstborn of all creatures and that Christ is true and\nessential God.\n\n5. To make the matter as clear as possible Paul uses the expression\n\"image of the invisible God.\" If Christ be the image of God he must\nbe a person distinct from him whose image he is, but at the same time\nin one divine essence with the Father. He and the Father are not one\nperson, but two, and yet Christ could not be the express image of the\nFather's person, or essence, if he were not equally divine. No\ncreature can be an image of the divine essence, for it does not\npossess that essence. To repeat, Christ could not be called the\nexpress image of God if he and the Father were not distinct persons;\nthere must be one imaged and one who is the image. Expressed more\nclearly and according to Scripture, one person is the Father, who in\neternity begets the other; the other is the Son, begotten in\neternity, yet both are equally eternal, mighty, wise and just.\n\n6. Though the Jews and Turks ridicule our doctrine, as if we taught\nthe existence of three brothers in heaven, it does not signify. Might\nI also cavil were it to serve any purpose here. But they do us wrong\nand falsify our teaching; for we do not conceive of the Trinity as in\nthe nature of three men or of three angels. We regard it as one\ndivine essence, an intimacy surpassing any earthly unity. The human\nbody and soul are not so completely one as the Triune God. Further,\nwe claim the Holy Scriptures teach that in the one divine essence,\nGod the Father begot a son. Before any creature was made, before the\nworld was created, as Paul says, \"before the foundation of the\nworld,\" in eternity, the Father begot a Son who is equal with him and\nin all respects God like himself. Not otherwise could Paul call\nChrist the express image of the invisible God. Thus it is proven that\nthe Father and the Son are distinct persons, and that nevertheless\nbut one God exists, a conclusion we cannot escape unless we would\ncontradict Paul, and would become Jews and Turks.\n\n\nPAUL AND MOSES AGREE IN TESTIMONY.\n\n7. Again, Paul makes mention of Christ in different phrase, saying:\n\"Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were\ndestroyed of serpents.\" 1 Cor 10, 9. Now, keeping this verse in mind,\nnote how Paul and Moses kiss each other, how clearly the one responds\nto the other. For Moses says (Num 14, 22): \"All those men ... have\ntempted me these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice,\" and\nin this connection the speaker is represented by the term \"Lord,\"\neverywhere in the Bible printed by us in capitals to indicate a name\nbelonging only to the Eternal, applicable to none but the one true\nGod. Other terms used to designate God are sometimes applied also to\nmen, but this word \"Lord\" refers only to God.\n\nNow, Moses says: \"And the Lord [Adonai, the true God] said ... All\nthese men ... have tempted me these ten times.\" Then comes Paul\nexplaining who this God is--saying they tempted \"Christ.\" Crawl\nthrough this statement if you may; the fact remains that Paul\ndeclares it was Christ who was tempted, and Moses makes him the one\neternal and true God. Moreover, Christ was not at that time born; no,\nnor were Mary and David. Nevertheless, the apostle plainly says, They\ntempted Christ, let us not also tempt him.\n\n8. Certainly enough, then, Christ is the man to whom Moses refers as\nGod. Thus the testimony of Moses long before is identical with that\nof Paul. Though employing different terms, they both confess Christ\nas the Son of God, born in eternity of the Father, in the same divine\nessence and yet distinct from him. You may call this difference what\nyou will; we indicate it by the term \"person.\" True, we do not make a\nwholly clear explanation of the mystery; we but stammer when speaking\nof a \"Trinity.\" But what are we to do? we cannot better the attempt.\nSo, then, the Father is not the Son, but the Son is born of the\nFather in eternity; and the Holy Spirit proceeds from God the Father\nand God the Son. Thus there are three persons, and yet but one God.\nFor what Moses declares concerning God Paul says is spoken of Christ.\n\n9. The same argument substantially Paul employs in Acts 20, 28, when,\nblessing the Church of Miletus and exhorting the assembled ministers\nconcerning their office, he says: \"Take heed unto yourselves, and to\nall the flock, in which the Holy Spirit hath made you bishops, to\nfeed the church of the Lord which he purchased with his own blood.\"\nThis, too, is a significant text, proving beyond all controversy that\nChrist our Lord, who purchased the Church with his blood, is truly\nGod, and to him the Church belongs. For the apostle plainly asserts\nit was God who bought the Church with his blood and that the Church\nis his own.\n\nNow, in view of the fact already established that the persons are\ndistinct, and of the further statement that God has purchased the\nChurch through his own blood, we inevitably conclude that Christ our\nSaviour is true God, born of the Father in eternity, and that he also\nbecame man and was born of the Virgin Mary in time.\n\n10. If such blood--the material, tangible, crimson blood, shed by a\nreal man--is truly to be called the blood of God, then he who shed it\nmust be actually God, an eternal, almighty person in the one divine\nessence. In that case we truly can say the blood flowing from the\nside of the crucified One and spilled upon the ground is not merely\nthe blood of an ordinary man, but God's own. Paul does not indulge in\nfrivolous talk. He speaks of a most momentous matter; and he is in\ndead earnest when he in his exhortation reminds us that it is an\nexalted office to rule the Church and to feed it with the Word of\nGod. Lest we toy in the performance of such an office we are reminded\nthat the flock is as dear to him as the blood of his dear Son, so\nprecious that all creatures combined can furnish no equivalent. And\nif we are indolent or unfaithful, we sin against the blood of God and\nbecome guilty of it, inasmuch as through our fault it has been shed\nin vain for the souls which we should oversee.\n\n11. There are many passages of similar import, particularly in the\nGospel of John. So we cannot evade the truth but must say God the\nFather, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are three individual\npersons, yet of one divine essence. We do not, as the Jews and Turks\nderisively allege, worship three Gods; we worship only one God,\nrepresented to us in the Scriptures as three persons.\n\nChrist said to Philip (Jn 14, 9), \"He that hath seen me hath seen the\nFather.\" There Christ claims unity and equality with the Father in\nthe one divine essence. So does Paul in Colossians 1, 15, where he\ncalls Christ \"the image of the invisible God,\" at the same time\nindicating two distinct persons: the Father is not the Son and the\nSon is not the Father, yet they are one God. Such passages, I say,\nare frequent. By means of them the sainted fathers valiantly\nmaintained this dogma of the Trinity against the devil and the world,\nthus making it our heritage.\n\n12. Now, what care we that reason should regard it as foolishness? It\nrequires no skill to cavil over these things; I could do that as well\nas others. But, praise God, I have the grace to desire no controversy\non this point. When I know it is the Word of God that declares the\nTrinity, that God has said so, I do not inquire how it can be true; I\nam content with the simple Word of God, let it harmonize with reason\nas it may. And every Christian should adopt the same course with\nrespect to all the articles of our faith. Let there be no caviling\nand contention on the score of possibility; be satisfied with the\ninquiry: Is it the Word of God? If a thing be his Word, if he has\nspoken it, you may confidently rely upon it he will not lie nor\ndeceive you, though you may not understand the how and the when.\n\nSince, then, this article of the Holy Trinity is certified by the\nWord of God, and the sainted fathers have from the inception of the\nChurch chivalrously defended and maintained the article against every\nsect, we are not to dispute as to how God the Father, the Son and the\nHoly Spirit are one God. This is an incomprehensible mystery. It is\nenough that God in his Word gives such testimony of himself. Both his\nnature and its revelation to us are far beyond our understanding.\n\n\nPHYSICAL LIFE INEXPLICABLE TO REASON.\n\n13. And why should you presume to comprehend, to exactly understand,\nthe sublime, inconceivable divine essence when you are wholly\nignorant of your own body and life? You cannot explain the action of\nyour laughter, nor how your eyes give you knowledge of a castle or\nmountain ten miles away. You cannot tell how in sleep one, dead to\nthe external world, is yet alive. If we are unable to understand the\nleast detail of our physical selves, anything so insignificant as the\ngrowth of a mere hair, for instance, can we, unaided by the\nrevelation of God's Word, climb by reason--that reason so blind to\nthings within its natural realm--into the realm of heavenly mysteries\nand comprehend and define God in his majesty?\n\nIf you employ reason from mere love of disputation, why not devote it\nto questions concerning the daily workings of your physical nature?\nfor instance, where are the five senses during sleep? just how is the\nsound of your own laughter produced? We might without sin occupy\nourselves with such questions. But as to the absolute truth in a\nmatter such as this, let us abide patiently by the authority of the\nWord. The Word says that Christ is the express image of the invisible\nGod, the firstborn of all creatures; in other words, he is God\nequally with the Father.\n\n14. Again, John 5, 23 testifies that all should honor the Son as they\nhonor the Father. And in John 12, 44 we read: \"He that believeth on\nme, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me.\" Also, John 14, 1:\n\"Believe in God, believe also in me.\" And again, John 16, 15: \"All\nthings whatsoever the Father hath are mine.\" These and similar\npassages are armor that cannot be pierced: for they are uttered by\nGod, who does not lie and who alone is qualified to speak the truth\nconcerning himself. Thus the dogma of the Trinity is thoroughly\nfounded upon the holy Scriptures.\n\n\nTHE THIRD PERSON OF THE TRINITY.\n\n15. Now, having established the existence of Christ in the Trinity,\nwe must next consider the third person, the Holy Spirit, in Scripture\nsometimes termed the \"Spirit\" of God and sometimes his \"Soul.\" This\nperson is not spoken of as \"born\"; he is not born like the Son, but\nproceeds from the Father and the Son. To express it differently, he\nis a person possessing in eternity the divine essence, which he\nderives from the Father and Son in unity in the same way the Son\nderives it from the Father alone. There are, then, three distinct\npersons in one divine essence, one divine majesty. According to the\nScripture explanation of the mystery, Christ the Lord is the Son of\nGod from eternity, the express image of the Father, and equally\ngreat, mighty, wise and just. All deity, wisdom, power and might\ninherent in the Father is also in Christ, and likewise in the Holy\nSpirit, who proceeds from Father and Son. Now, when you are asked to\nexplain the Trinity, reply that it is an incomprehensible mystery,\nbeyond the understanding of angels and creatures, the knowledge of\nwhich is confined to the revelations of Scripture.\n\n16. Rightly did the fathers compose the Creed, or Symbol, in the\nsimple form repeated by Christian children: \"I believe in God the\nFather Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ his\nonly Son ... I believe in the Holy Ghost.\" This confession we did not\ndevise, nor did the fathers of former times. As the bee collects\nhoney from many fair and gay flowers, so is this Creed collected, in\nappropriate brevity, from the books of the beloved prophets and\napostles--from the entire holy Scriptures--for children and for\nunlearned Christians. It is fittingly called the \"Apostle's Symbol,\"\nor \"Apostle's Creed.\" For brevity and clearness it could not have\nbeen better arranged, and it has remained in the Church from ancient\ntime. It must either have been composed by the apostles themselves or\nit was collected from their writings and sermons by their ablest\ndisciples.\n\n17. It begins \"I believe.\" In whom? \"In God the Father.\" This is the\nfirst person in the Godhead. For the sake of clear distinction, the\npeculiar attribute and office in which each person manifests himself\nis briefly expressed. With the first it is the work of creation.\nTrue, creation is not the work of one individual person, but of the\none divine, eternal essence as such. We must say, God the Father, God\nthe Son and God the Holy Spirit created heaven and earth. Yet that\nwork is more especially predicated of the person of the Father, the\nfirst person, for the reason that creation is the only work of the\nFather in which he has stepped forth out of concealment into\nobservation; it is the first work wrought by the divine Majesty upon\nthe creature. By the word \"Father\" he is particularly and rightly\ndistinguished from the other persons of the Trinity. It indicates him\nas the first person, derived from no other, the Son and the Holy\nSpirit having existence from him.\n\n18. Continuing, the Creed says, I believe in another who is also God.\nFor to believe is something we owe to no being but God alone. Who is\nthis second person? Jesus Christ, God's only begotten Son. Christians\nhave so confessed for more than fifteen hundred years; indeed, such\nhas been the confession of believers from the beginning of the world.\nThough not employing precisely these words, yet this has been their\nfaith and profession.\n\n19. The first designation of God the Son makes him the only Son of\nGod. Although angels are called sons of the Lord our God, and even\nChristians are termed his children, yet no one of these is said to be\nthe \"only\" or \"only-begotten\" Son. Such is the effect of Christ's\nbirth from the Father that he is unequaled by any creature, not\nexcepting even the angels. For he is in truth and by nature the Son\nof God the Father; that is, he is of the same divine, eternal,\nuncreated essence.\n\n20. Next comes the enumeration of the acts peculiar to him: \"Who was\nconceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under\nPontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried. He descended into\nhell; on the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into\nheaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from\nthence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.\" The distinct\npersonality of the Son is thus demonstrated by acts peculiar to\nhimself. Not the Father and not the Holy Spirit, but the Son alone,\nassumed human nature of flesh and blood, like unto ours, to suffer,\ndie, rise again and ascend into heaven.\n\n21. In the third place we confess, \"I believe in the Holy Ghost.\"\nHere again a distinct person is named, yet one in divine essence with\nthe Father and the Son; for we must believe in no one but the true\nGod, in obedience to the first commandment: \"I am Jehovah thy God ...\nThou shalt have no other gods before me.\"\n\nThus briefly this confession comprehends the unity of the divine\nessence--we accept and worship only one God--and the revealed truth\nthat in the Trinity are three distinct persons. The same distinction\nis indicated in holy baptism; we are baptized into the faith of one\nGod, yet Christ commands us to baptize \"into the name of the Father\nand of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.\"\n\n22. The peculiarity of this third person is the fact that he proceeds\nfrom both the Father and the Son. He is therefore called also the\nSpirit of the Father and the Son; he is poured into the human heart\nand reveals himself in the gathering of the Church of Christ in all\ntongues. Through the Word of the Gospel he enlightens and kindles the\nhearts of men unto one faith, sanctifying, quickening and saving\nthem.\n\n23. So the Creed confesses three persons as comprehended in one\ndivine essence, each one, however, retaining his distinct\npersonality; and in order that the simple Christian may recognize\nthat there is but one divine essence and one God, who is\ntri-personal, a special work, peculiar to himself, is ascribed to\neach person. And such acts, peculiar to each person, are mentioned\nfor the reason that thus a confusion of persons is avoided. To the\nFather we ascribe the work of creation; to the Son the work of\nRedemption; to the Holy Spirit the power to forgive sins, to gladden,\nto strengthen, to transport from death to life eternal.\n\nThe thought is not that the Father alone is the Creator, the Son\nalone Redeemer and the Holy Spirit alone Sanctifier. The creation and\npreservation of the universe, atonement for sin and its forgiveness,\nresurrection from the dead and the gift of eternal life--all these\nare operations of the one Divine Majesty as such. Yet the Father is\nespecially emphasized in the work of creation, which proceeds\noriginally from him as the first person; the Son is emphasized in the\nredemption he has accomplished in his own person; and the Holy Spirit\nin the peculiar work of sanctification, which is both his mission and\nrevelation. Such distinction is made for the purpose of affording\nChristians the unqualified assurance that there is but one God and\nyet three persons in the one divine essence--truths the sainted\nfathers have faithfully gathered from the writings of Moses, the\nprophets and the apostles, and which they have maintained against all\nheretics.\n\n24. This faith has descended to us by inheritance, and by his power\nGod has maintained it in his Church, against sects and adversaries,\nunto the present time. So we must abide by it in its simplicity and\nnot be wise. Christians are under the necessity of believing things\napparently foolish to reason. As Paul says (1 Cor 1, 21): \"It was\nGod's good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save\nthem that believe.\" How can reason adapt itself to comprehend that\nthree are one, and one is three; that God became man; that he who is\nwashed with water in obedience to Christ's command, is washed with\nthe blood of our Lord Jesus Christ and cleansed from all sins? Such\narticles of faith appear utterly foolish to reason. Paul aptly calls\nthe Gospel foolish preaching wherewith God saves such as do not\ndepend on their own wisdom but simply believe the Word. They who will\nfollow reason in the things dealt with in these articles, and will\nreject the Word, shall be defeated and destroyed in their wisdom.\n\n25. Now, we have in the holy Scriptures and in the Creed sufficient\ninformation concerning the Holy Trinity, and all that is necessary\nfor the instruction of ordinary Christians. Besides, the divinity of\nour Lord Jesus Christ and that of the Holy Spirit is also attested by\nmiracles not to be lightly esteemed nor disregarded. The Lord our God\nbrings to pass miraculous things for the Christian's sake--for the\nstrengthening of his faith--and not merely as a rebuke to false\nteachers. Were he to consider the false teachers alone, he might\neasily defer their retribution to the future life, since he permits\nmany other transgressors to go unpunished for ten, twenty or thirty\nyears. But the fact is, God openly in this life lays hold upon\nleaders of sects who blaspheme and slander him with their false\ndoctrines. He inflicts upon them unusual punishments for the sake of\nwarning others. Besides being openly convicted of blasphemy and\nhaving the condemnation of their own conscience, the misguided ones\nreceive testimony to the fact that these false leaders are\ninstigators of blasphemy against God's name and his Word. All men are\ncompelled to admit God can have no pleasure in their doctrine, since\nhe visits them with special marks of his displeasure, destroying them\nwith severer punishments than ordinarily befall offenders.\n\n26. History records that John the evangelist had as contemporary a\nheretic, by the name of Cerinthus, who was the first to arise in\nopposition to the apostolic doctrine and in blasphemy against the\nLord Jesus with the claim that Jesus is not God. This blasphemy\nspread to such an extent that John saw himself compelled to\nsupplement the work of the other evangelists with his Gospel, whose\ndistinct purpose it is to defend and maintain the deity of Christ\nagainst Cerinthus and his rabble.\n\nA feature of John's Gospel patent to all is the sublime beginning of\nhis Gospel which renders it distinct from the others. He does not lay\nstress upon the miraculous doings of Christ, but upon his preaching,\nwherein he reveals himself powerfully as true God, born of the Father\nfrom eternity, and his equal in power, honor, wisdom, righteousness\nand every other divine work.\n\nWith respect to John and Cerinthus it is reported that the former,\nhaving gone to a public bath with some of his disciples, became aware\nthat Cerinthus and his rabble were there, also. Without hesitation he\ntold his disciples to be up and away, and not to abide among\nblasphemers. The disciples followed his advice and departed.\nImmediately after their departure the room collapsed, and Cerinthus\nwith his followers perished, not one escaping.\n\n27. We also read concerning the heretic Arius, the chief foe of his\ntime toward the dogma of the deity of Christ. The injury done by this\nman to the cause of Christ was such as to occupy the Church for four\ncenturies after his death; and still today his heresy has not been\naltogether rooted out. But the Lord took the matter in hand by the\nperformance of a miracle which could not but be understood.\n\nHistory records that Arius had ingratiated himself into the favor of\nConstantine, the emperor, and his counselors. With an oath he had\nsucceeded in impressing them with the righteousness of his doctrine,\nso that the emperor gave command that Alexander, bishop of\nConstantinople, should recognize him as a member of the Christian\nChurch and restore him to the priestly office. When the godly bishop\nrefused to accede to this demand, knowing full well the purpose\npursued by Arius and his followers, Eusebius and the other bishops\nwho supported Arius threatened him with the imperial edict and\nexpressed the determination to drive him out by force and to have\nArius restored by the congregation as such. However, they gave him a\nday to think the matter over.\n\n28. The godly bishop was fearful. The following of Arius was large\nand powerful, being supported by the imperial edict and the whole\ncourt. The bishop, therefore, resolved to seek help from God, where\nalone it is found in all things relating to God's honor. He fell down\nupon his face in the church and prayed all night long that God should\npreserve his name and honor by methods calculated to stem the tide of\nevil purpose, and to preserve Christendom against the heretics. When\nit was morning, and the hour had come when Alexander the bishop\nshould either restore Arius to office or be cast out of his own,\nArius convened punctually with his followers. As the procession was\nwending its way to the church, Arius suddenly felt ill and was\ncompelled to seek privacy. The pompous procession halted, waiting his\nreturn, when the message came that his lungs and liver had passed\nfrom him, causing his death. The narrative comments: Mortem dignam\nblasphema et foetida mente--a death worthy such a blasphemous and\nturpid mind.\n\n29. We see, then, that this dogma has been preserved by God first\nthrough the writings and the conflicts of the apostles, and then by\nmiracles, against the devil and his blasphemers. And it shall be\npreserved in the future likewise, so that, without a trace of doubt,\nwe may believe in God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.\nThis is the faith which we confess with our children daily. To guard\nagainst a mixing of persons or the abandonment of the tri-personality,\nthree distinct acts are predicated. This should enable the common\nChristian to avoid confusing the persons, while maintaining the divine\nunity as to essence.\n\nWe proclaim these things on this Sunday in order to call attention to\nthe fact that we have not come upon this doctrine in a dream, but by\nthe grace of God through his Word and the holy apostles and Fathers.\nGod help us to be found constant and without blemish in this doctrine\nand faith to our end. Amen.\n\n\n\n\n_First Sunday After Trinity_\n\nText: 1 John 4, 16-21.\n\n16 God is love; and he that abideth in love abideth in God, and God\nabideth in him. 17 Herein is love made perfect with us, that we may\nhave boldness in the day of judgment; because as he is, even so are\nwe in this world. 18 There is no fear in love: but perfect love\ncasteth out fear, because fear hath punishment; and he that feareth\nis not made perfect in love. 19 We love, because he first loved us.\n20 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar:\nfor he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, cannot love God\nwhom he hath not seen. 21 And this commandment have we from him, that\nhe who loveth God love his brother also.\n\n\nGOD IS LOVE.\n\nThis epistle text is amply expounded in the \"Explanation of Certain\nEpistles of the Apostles\" printed in other volumes. Those who wish\nmay read there one or more sermons for themselves or their people.\nThey are too long to insert here.\n\n\n\n\n_Second Sunday After Trinity_\n\nText: 1 John 3, 13-18.\n\n13 Marvel not, brethren, if the world hateth you. 14 We know that we\nhave passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He\nthat loveth not abideth in death. 15 Whosoever hateth his brother is\na murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in\nhim. 16 Hereby know we love, because he laid down his life for us:\nand we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 17 But whoso\nhath the world's goods, and beholdeth his brother in need, and\nshutteth up his compassion from him, how does the love of God abide\nin him? 18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither with\nthe tongue; but in deed and truth.\n\n\nEXHORTATION TO BROTHERLY LOVE.\n\n1. The Epistles and Gospels selected for the Pentecost cycle of\nSundays have love as their general theme. They deal not only with the\nlove we owe to Christ and God, which is only to be thankful for the\nunspeakable blessing of forgiveness of sins and salvation through\nChrist's blood and death, but also of the love we owe our neighbor;\nnot a love in return for favors, but one that unceasingly gives,\nforgives and works all good even when unrequited.\n\n2. John here admonishes the Christian to exercise the virtue of love.\nConsidering the evident rarity of love among men, this admonition is\nnecessary. He particularly warns Christians not to wonder at the\nworld's hatred and desire for their death. Such was the hate of Cain\nfor his brother, of which the apostle has just spoken. The world's\nhate, it must be admitted, repels love and powerfully obstructs its\nexercise.\n\n3. Is it not surpassing strange that one can hate those who love him\nand from whom he has received only kindness? Such wickedness is\nalmost inconceivable, we say. What incentive is there for any to\nrender the world service when in ingratitude it rewards love with\nhatred? But let us examine ourselves, who are baptized and have\nreceived the Gospel, and confess how we requite the supreme love of\nGod in giving us his Son. What a beautiful example of glad gratitude\nwe display! For the shame of it we ought to despise ourselves before\nGod and his angels.\n\nAnd what shall we say of those who will not endure the preaching of\nthe glorious message of God's grace and blessing, but condemn it as\nheresy? to whom they who seek to serve, to benefit and save the world\nby declaring the good news, must be, as Paul says, \"as the filth of\nthe world, the offscouring of all things,\" 1 Cor 4, 13. Indeed, no\ncriminal receives more wretched and ignominious treatment and\nexecution, of which the Pope and his followers are a case in point.\n\n\nTHE WORLD'S HATRED.\n\n4. While experience has proven this otherwise incredible fact, John\nvouchsafes the admonition notwithstanding: \"Marvel not, brethren, if\nthe world hateth you.\" If we are not to wonder at this, is there\nanything in the world to incite wonder? I should truly think the\nhearing of a single sermon on the grace of Christ would suffice to\nbring the world to receive the Gospel with intense joy and never to\nforget the divine mercy and blessing. It would be no wonder should\nthe earth suddenly open and engulf mankind because of its ingratitude\nto God who has given his Son to become man for the purpose of\nredeeming us condemned mortals from sin and death and restoring us to\nlife and salvation. Is it not a horrible thing that any man should\nshun and oppose such a Savior and his doctrine even more than he does\nthe devil himself?\n\n5. But what is God's attitude toward such conduct? Well does he say\nto the Jews through the prophet: \"O my people, what have I done unto\nthee? and wherein have I wearied thee? testify against me. For I\nbrought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of\nthe house of bondage; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and\nMiriam. O my people, remember now what Balak, king of Moab, devised;\nand what Balaam, the son of Beor, answered him; remember from Shittim\nunto Gilgal, that ye may know the righteous acts of Jehovah.\" Mic 6,\n3-5. And well does Christ say to his ungrateful people: \"O Jerusalem,\nJerusalem, that killeth the prophets, and stoneth them that are sent\nunto her! how often would I have gathered thy children together, even\nas a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!\"\nMt 23, 37. As if he would say, \"I surely did not come to effect your\ndeath and condemnation by my message. I am about to suffer death and\nGod's wrath for your sins. I bring you God's endless grace and\nblessing for time and eternity. Then why this bitter hatred against\nme and my message?\"\n\n6. \"Since the world hates even God for his kindness,\" argues John,\n\"marvel not, my beloved, that you suffer the same fate. What does it\nsignify that I show my love by hazarding life and limb to sustain\nthis doctrine of the Gospel and help my neighbor? Mine is but a poor,\nmean, uncouth, offensive love in comparison with the love that led\nChrist to die for me and to redeem me from eternal death. If God's\nsupreme, unfathomable love fails to awaken the gratitude of the\nworld, what wonder if the world hates you for all your kindness? Why\nwill you bring down your fist and stamp your foot in anger at such\ningratitude? You are yourselves of that race for whom the Son of God\nhad to die. And even were you to die for the Gospel, your sacrifice\nwould be as nothing in comparison to the fact that God, for the sake\nof the world, spared not his own Son but permitted the world to put\nhim to death.\"\n\n7. But whence arises the world's hatred? John tells us in verse\ntwelve when he mentions the incident of Cain, who, he says, \"was of\nthe evil one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him?\nBecause his works were evil, and his brother's righteous.\" An\nexcellent reason, indeed, for hating--the hater and murderer is evil\nand the benefactor good! In civil and domestic affairs it is the\nevil-doers and disobedient who incur displeasure and receive\npunishment; and such reward is just. But whenever God has dealings\nwith the world, it shows what a rotten fruit it is by hating,\npersecuting, and putting to death as evil-doers and impostors its\nvery benefactors. This trait it inherits, John tells us, from its\nancestor Cain, the great fratricide saint. He is a true picture of\nthe world of all times, and ever its spirit and fashion is patterned\nafter him.\n\n8. When mother Eve, the dear, godly woman, bore her first son, she\ndeclared in her joy and her hope of God's promise of the future seed\nthat should bruise the serpent's head: \"I have gotten a man with the\nhelp of Jehovah\" (Gen 4, 1); and she named him Cain, which means\n\"obtained,\" as if she would say, \"I have obtained the true treasure.\"\nFor she had not before seen a human being born; this was the first,\nprecious fruit of man. Over Cain she rejoiced, pronouncing herself\nblessed. This son was trained in the hope that he should be a savior\nof the future race, a comfort to his brothers and sisters with all\ntheir offspring. Nor was he unaware of these proud hopes. Proudly he\nlorded it over his brother, who in contrast had to bear the\nignominious name of Abel, meaning \"nothing,\" or \"vanity,\" as if\nvoicing the thought of the parents' hearts: \"Alas! this one has no\nfuture. Cain is the rightful heir to the blessing God has promised\nman; he is lord and master of his brethren.\"\n\n9. It is likely that the godly father and mother for many years drew\ntheir solace from the hope placed in their first-born son, as they\nlooked forward with intensest longing to the redemption from their\ndeplorable fall. Doubtless they trained both sons very carefully and\ninstructed them concerning their own sin and fall and the promise God\nhad given them, until they were fully grown and had entered into the\npriestly office. Cain the first-born was particularly zealous in that\nrespect, desiring to be first inasmuch as he offered his first fruits\nof the earth, given by God and obtained by his own labor, as he no\ndoubt had seen his father offer. Abel, however, the inferior, the\npoor shepherd, offered the firstlings of his sheep, given him of God\nand obtained without effort and toil of his own. Now, God in a\nwonderful way manifested his preference concerning the gifts upon the\naltar. Fire descended from heaven and consumed Abel's offering, but\nCain's remained. The fire was the sign of God's favor. The text says:\n\"And Jehovah had respect unto Abel and to his offering: but unto Cain\nand to his offering he had not respect.\" Gen 4, 4-5.\n\n10. Thereupon Adam and Eve saw that the hope and solace centering in\ntheir first-born son, were a delusion. They began to learn the\nwonderful judgments of God, who gave precedence to Abel, the male\ncounterpart of Cinderella--which is all he was in his own sight when\nhe compared himself with his brother. Now Cain, with full confidence\nin his position, spoiled by the delusion of his parents that as the\nfirst-born he was God's preference, felt himself outraged. His\nhypocrisy, hitherto masked, comes to the surface. He burns with\nsecret hate against God, with hate and anger against his brother,\nwhich he takes no trouble whatever to disguise. The parents rebuke\nhim, but effect nothing. The flame of his resentment rises higher,\nand meeting him alone upon the field, he fells him to the ground. Far\nfrom contemplating amendment of life or seeking grace from God, he\nhas no mercy upon the only brother he has on earth, who has done him\nno harm whatever. He cannot forgive him and leave him in unenvied\npossession of the grace of God.\n\n11. Such was the solace and joy poor Adam and Eve lived to experience\nin their first children! From this time on their earthly life was\nfraught with gloom and sorrow, particularly since they could not but\nsee the source of these in their own fall and they would have pined\nto death had not God comforted them with another son. For when it\nbecame evident that the hope they had placed in Cain was a delusion,\nand that they were deprived of the son who, beyond a doubt, possessed\nthe grace of God, they, without another son, would not have known\nwhere to look for the solace of the promised seed.\n\n\nCAIN THE WORLD, ABEL THE CHURCH.\n\n12. Note, in this man Cain is pictured the world in its true,\ncharacteristic colors; in him its true spirit stands reflected.\nCertainly his equal has never been. In him are unquestionably\nprefigured the very flower, the very quintessence, of holiness on\nearth--the most pious servants of God. On the other hand, that poor,\nwretched, abject male counterpart of Cinderella, Abel, well\nrepresents the obscure little brotherhood, the Church of Christ. She\nmust yield to Cain the lord the distinction of being everything\nbefore God, of being the recipient of every gift of God, of being\nentitled to all honor and every privilege. He feels important in his\nimagined dignity, permits this spirit to pervade his sacrifices and\nhis worships, and thinks that God cannot but favor and accept his\noffering rather than that of his brother.\n\nMeanwhile, the pious Abel goes his way, meekly suffering his\nbrother's contempt. He willingly yields Cain the honor, esteems\nhimself vastly inferior and beholds no consolation for himself aside\nfrom the pure mercy and goodness of God. He believes in God and hopes\nfor the promised future seed. In such faith he performs his sacrifice\nas a confession, a sign, of his gratitude.\n\n13. This illustration is intended by God as solace for his little\nthrong; for the incident is not written for Abel's sake but for the\nsake of the humble children of God, whose condition is like that of\nAbel. God has not forgotten them, though they are haughtily ignored\nby proud Cain, who regards them as nothing in his presence. God\ngraciously looks upon them and rejects proud Cain with his birthright\nand offering.\n\n14. Innocent Abel becomes the object of anger and hatred when the\nWord of God lays hold of Cain revealing God's displeasure where he\nhad fancied himself worthy, and God's unwillingness to regard his\noffering and devotion as superior to this of his brother and more\nmeritorious. Cain begins bitterly to hate and persecute his brother.\nHe finds no rest until Abel is laid low and cut off from the earth.\nNow you have the cause of the world's hatred and anger against\nChristians; simply this, as John says of Cain: \"Because his works\nwere evil, and his brother's righteous.\"\n\n15. What offense had godly Abel committed against his brother to be\nso hated? He had even regarded that brother as the first-born, as\nvastly superior to himself, and had done him all honor and loved him\nas became a brother. He was easily satisfied, desiring simply the\ngrace of God. He prayed for the future seed, that is, for the\nsalvation and happiness of his parents, his brother and the entire\nhuman race. How could Cain be unmerciful and inhuman enough in his\nfrenzy to murder his own flesh and blood?\n\nThe answer is found in the fact that the devil had filled Cain's\nheart with pride and vanity over his birthright. He considered\nhimself a man of distinction, with every claim upon God's favor and\nsinless, whilst his brother was nothing whatever. Cain's heart is\ndevoid of true brotherly love; he has only contempt for Abel. He\ncannot endure God's manifest favor toward his brother, and will not\nbe moved by the injunction to humble himself and seek God's grace.\nAnger and envy possess him to the extent that he cannot tolerate his\nbrother alive. In violation of God's commandment and his own\nconscience, he becomes a murderer, and then goes his way as if he had\ndone right.\n\n16. This is what John means when he says that Cain had no other cause\nfor his crime than that his own works were evil and his brother's\nrighteous. Similarly, that obedient daughter of Saint Cain, the\nworld, hates the Christians; and for no other reason than the\nlatter's love and goodness of heart. Witness the examples of the holy\npatriarchs, the prophets and, most of all, of Christ himself.\n\n17. What sin against the world did the beloved apostles commit? They\ndesired the injury of none, but went about in extreme poverty and\ntoil, teaching mankind how, through faith in Christ, to be saved from\nthe devil's kingdom and from eternal death. This the world will not\nhear and suffer; hence the hue and cry: \"Kill, kill these people!\nAway with them from off the earth! Show them no mercy!\" Why this\nhostility? Because the apostles sought to relieve the world of its\nidolatry and damnable doings. Such good works the world could not\ntolerate. What it desires is nothing but praise and commendation for\nits own evil doings, expecting from God the impossible endorsement,\n\"Your deeds are good and well-pleasing to me. Pious children of mine\nare you. Just keep on cheerfully killing all who believe and preach\nmy Word.\"\n\n18. In the same way does the world conduct itself today with\nreference to our Gospel. For no other reason are we hated and\npersecuted than because we have, through God's grace, proclaimed his\nWord that recovered us from the blindness and idolatry in which we\nwere sunken as deeply as the world, and because we desire to rescue\nothers. That is the unpardonable sin by which we have incurred the\nworld's irreconcilable anger and its inextinguishable hatred. It\ncannot permit us to live.\n\nWe preach no other doctrine than faith in Christ, which our children\npray and they themselves confess in words. We differ only in our\nclaim that Christ having been crucified for us and having shed his\nblood to redeem us from sin and death, our salvation is not effected\nby our own works, or holiness or devotion. The fact that we do not\nregard their faithless worship equal to Christ himself, but teach men\nto trust in the grace of God and not their own worthiness, and to\nrender him gratitude for his grace--this fact is intolerable to the\nworld. It would be well for our adversaries if they would receive\nsuch teaching, since it would render them more than ever what they\nprofess to be: our superiors in wisdom, knowledge and reputation--a\nclaim we are willing to concede. But Cain's works are evil and Abel's\nrighteous. The world simply cannot tolerate the Gospel, and no unity\nor harmony is ever to be hoped for. The world will not forsake its\nidolatry nor receive the faith. It would force us to renounce the\nWord of God and praise its Cain-like worship, or take death at their\nhands.\n\n19. Therefore, John says, \"Marvel not, brethren, if the world hateth\nyou,\" for it is compelled to act according to the nature inherited\nfrom its father Cain. It would have all merits and concede to Abel\nnone. The world comprises the exalted, the wise, the learned, the\nmighty. The Scriptures represent these as under necessity to hate and\npersecute the poor throng of the Church of Christ by reason of the\ngood works done by them. They can under no consideration tolerate the\nidea of being taught by this despised and humble throng the doctrine\nof salvation through the grace and mercy of God alone, not through\nman's own merits. They cannot endure the teaching that their\noffering--the mass, regarded by the Papists as a work of superlative\nmerit and holiness--avails nothing before God.\n\n20. In the text the nature of the world is portrayed for our\nrecognition. So to understand the world as to know what may be\nexpected from it is essential and valuable knowledge for the\nChristian. Thus armed he will not be dismayed and become impatient of\nsuffering, nor permit its malice and ingratitude to mislead him to\nhate and desire for revenge. He will keep his faith and love,\nsuffering the world to go its way if it refuse to hear his message.\nThe Christian should expect nothing better from the world than its\nbitter persecution in return for his good works and love. The Church\nof Christ on earth, let him remember, is never to have an easier lot.\nHe is not to judge according to show and appearance, thinking: \"They\nare the great throng, the wisest and cleverest people on earth; how\nis it possible that they should all be in error and under\ncondemnation?\"\n\n21. It is necessarily true that discipline and peace are impossible\nwithout the most excellent, exalted, erudite, clever people--royal,\nprincely, noble in achievement and honor. Cain is never plain and\nlowly. He is always eminently clever, wise, holy and in every way\nvastly Abel's superior. In fact, he must in himself represent all\ndesirable things, as his name indicates. And the same characteristic\nis manifest in his children, who are ingenious in the invention of\nevery variety of art. Deplorable the fact that a man of Cain's\nqualifications, born of godly parents and signally honored of God,\nshould display such hatred and inhumanity toward poor Abel merely\nbecause of God's Word and Abel's faith.\n\n22. Such knowledge is comforting to the godly little company of\nChristians, who are confident they have God's favor and know it to be\nthe occasion of their persecution; they have no protection and succor\nbut are exposed to the same fate as Abel. If they fare better, they\nmay thank God for it. But they are ever to abide in love toward God,\nwhose love they have received and felt, and likewise toward men,\ntheir enemies not excepted. This was Abel's way; could he have lived\nagain, he would have kept his brotherly love for his murderer,\nforgiving him and even imploring God's forgiveness for him.\n\n\"We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love\nthe brethren.\"\n\n\nLOVE MOVES CHRISTIANS.\n\n23. To abide in love should be the motive for us Christians. John\ncontrasts it with the motive of the world in hating us--its\nwickedness. The world's hatred of you, as John's words imply, is not\nstrange. The contrast between you and the world is exceedingly great.\nThrough its own evil works, unbelief, pride, contempt for the Word\nand grace of God, and the persecution of the godly, the world has\nbecome by this time the victim of Satan and eternal death. It spurns\nall counsel and aid directed toward its rescue. Stiff-necked and\nhardened, under evident condemnation by its own conscience, it has\nchosen to persist in its doom. But we believers in Christ, God be\npraised! are different people. We have come forth from death; we have\npassed through death and entered into life through the knowledge and\nfaith of the Son of God, who has loved us and given himself for us.\n\n24. Such grace and goodness of God, says the apostle, should prompt\nyou not to be offended and vanquished by the world's ingratitude,\nhate and malice, and thus to cease from holy endeavor and become\nlikewise, evil, which course will result in the loss of your\ntreasure. It is yours, not by your own effort, but by grace alone;\nfor at one time you as well as they languished in the kingdom and\npower of death, in evil works, far from faith and love.\n\nRemember to comfort yourselves, therefore, with the thought of this\ngreat blessing, an advantage you enjoy above the others. What if the\nworld, abiding in death, does hate and persecute you who abide in\nlife? Whom can its hatred injure? It cannot take from you the life\nwhich it lacks while you possess it, nor deliver you to death, from\nwhich you have passed, through Christ. When it does its worst it may\nperhaps falsely slander you, or deprive you of your property, or\ndestroy your corrupt body--the final home of maggots and in any event\ndoomed to corruption--and thus through the death of the body help you\ngain true life. Thus vengeance will be yours rather than its own.\nYours will be the joy of being transplanted from death into life,\nwhereas the world must abide in death. While they of the world think\nto deny you both the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of earth, they\nthemselves lose body and soul. What more terrible retribution could\ntheir hatred and envy receive? For the sake of denying gratification\nto the devil and the world, and much more for your own welfare, you\nmust not allow your persecutions to rob you of your peace and\nsalvation, nor to lead you to lose your faith through impatience and\ndesire for revenge. Rather, pity their wretchedness and doom. You\nlose nothing by their oppression; yours is the gain, theirs the loss.\nFor the slight grief inflicted upon you with reference to body and\ntime, it shall dearly pay both here and hereafter.\n\n25. How do we know we have passed from death unto life? John says,\nbecause we love the brethren. Just what does he mean? Is it not our\ndoctrine that Christ first loved us, as John elsewhere says? that\nbefore we ever loved him he died and rose again for us? When we fully\nbelieve in our Savior's love, then our own hearts respond with\nperfect love to God and our neighbor. Why, then, does John say, \"We\nhave passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren\"?\n\n26. The explanation is found in the words \"We know.\" John says\nplainly, \"From the fact that we love the brethren, we know we have\npassed out of death into life.\" Love of the brethren is the test\nwhereby we may ascertain who are the true believers. The apostle\ndirected this epistle especially against false Christians; many there\nare who extol Christ, as did unbelieving Cain, and yet fail to bear\nthe fruit of faith. John's reference is not to the means whereby we\npass from sin and death to life, but to the proof whereby we may know\nthe fact--not to the cause, but to the effect.\n\n27. It is not sufficient to boast of having passed from death into\nlife; there must be evidence of the fact. Faith is not an inactive\nand lifeless thing. When there is faith in the heart, its power will\nbe manifest. Where power is not in evidence, all boasting is false\nand vain. When the human heart, in its confidence in divine mercy and\nlove, is thrilled with spiritual comfort, and also warmed into\nkindness, friendliness, humility and patience towards the neighbor,\nenvying and despising none but cheerfully serving all and ministering\nunto necessity even to hazarding body and life--when this is the\ncase, then the fruits of faith are manifest.\n\nSuch fruits are proof that the believer has truly passed from death\ninto life. Had he not true faith, but doubted God's grace and love,\nhis heart would not prompt him, by reason of his love and gratitude\nto God, to manifest love for his neighbor. Where man has faith, and\nwhere he realizes God's infinite mercy and goodness in raising him\nfrom death to life, love is enkindled in his heart, and he is\nprompted to do all manner of good, even to his enemies, as God has\ndone to him.\n\n28. Such is the right interpretation and understanding of John's\nexpression: \"We know that we have passed out of death into life,\nbecause we love the brethren.\" It leaves in its integrity the\nfoundation, justification, or deliverance from death, through faith\nalone. This is the first element of Christian doctrine. Granting that\nfaith does justify, the next question is whether the faith is real or\nsimulated, being merely a deceptive show and unsupported claim. The\nclear information imparted by the apostles is, that love, indeed,\ndoes not deliver from death, but that deliverance from death and the\npresence of life becomes a matter of sight and knowledge in that love\nhas been wrought. With true faith we must have come to the point\nwhere we no longer, like Cain, in our pride and conceit, despise our\nneighbor; where we are not filled with envy, hatred and bitterness;\nwhere we desire, and to the extent of our power, promote the\ninterests of our neighbor and work him all good.\n\n29. John draws to a close by showing the opposite side of the\npicture, in that he addresses earnest words that re-echo like peals\nof thunder to those who make the carnal boast of being Christians\nwhile destitute of love. He cites several facts as evidence that\nwhere love is lacking, necessarily faith and deliverance from death\nare absent, likewise. Thus no opportunity is given for self-deception\nor a frivolous excuse based upon wordy boasting of one's faith. The\nreality of the inner life is known by the presence of love, which in\nturn attests the presence of faith in the heart.\n\nI. \"He that loveth not abideth in death.\"\n\n30. Here, in clear, decisive words, the conclusion is expressed that\nno man may boast of life unless he has love. If it is true that faith\nmust be active, it is conversely true that the absence of fruitage\ndemonstrates one's continuance in the old Cain-like manner of\nexistence, torpid and dead, bereft of solace and the experience of\nGod's grace and life. Let no one presume to think he has passed into\nlife so long as he is devoid of love and the fruits of faith. Let him\nbecome serious, and in alarm make ready to become a true believer,\nlest he remain in eternal death and under greater condemnation than\nthose who have never heard the Gospel.\n\nII. \"Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no\nmurderer hath eternal life abiding in him.\"\n\n31. Still clearer and stronger becomes the argument that lack of love\nmeans continuance in death. The stern and frightful judgment is here\nexpressed that the unloving person is no better than Cain the\nfratricide. His heart is under the influence of deadly hate and\nmurderous malice against the brother who refuses to be subservient to\nhis desires. Kindling rage will prove its existence by appropriate\nworks unless restrained by the fear of disgrace and punishment. He\nwishes his brother nothing good, but rejoices in his misfortune.\n\nAll this, however, is impossible for one who believes that he has\nbeen delivered from death. One who knows the wretchedness and misery\nof death from experience, but has entered upon life with its solace\nand joy, blessings he seeks to maintain--such a person will desire\nfor others the same blessing; he cannot rejoice in another's death.\nTherefore it is true conversely: \"We know that no murderer hath\neternal life abiding in him.\"\n\n\nHATRED NATURAL TO HUMAN REASON.\n\n32. Thus we see the nature of the human heart without faith and the\nknowledge of Christ; at bottom it is but the heart of a Cain,\nmurderous toward its neighbor. Nor can anything better be expected\nfrom him who is not a Christian. The Scriptures repeatedly denounce\nsuch faithless hypocrites as bloodthirsty and deceitful. \"Jehovah\nabhorreth the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.\" Ps 5, 6. \"For their\nfeet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood.\" Prov 1, 16. See\nalso verse 11. All mankind are by nature the children of the murderer\nCain. They are, of course, no better than their father. While Cain\nwas a man most magnificent, intelligent and wise, being the first\nfruit born of those holy parents Adam and Eve, and in his superior\nendowment with natural virtues infinitely superior to all who come\nafter him, he was nevertheless an unbeliever before God. Hence he\nbecame the murderer of his brother.\n\nIII. \"Hereby know we love, because he laid down his life for us: and\nwe ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath the\nworld's goods, and beholdeth his brother in need, and shutteth up his\ncompassion from him, how doth the love of God abide in him?\"\n\n33. These words delineate true Christian love and hold up the sublime\nexample, or pattern, of God's love manifest in Christ. Christ's blood\nand death is God's own blood and death. Paul in Acts 20, 28, speaks\nof God having purchased the Church \"with his own blood.\" The heart of\nman by faith receives and apprehends this sacrifice. Under its\ntransforming influence he is disposed to work good to his neighbor as\nhe has himself received good. He even jeopardizes his life to that\nend, being conscious of his redemption from eternal death, and\nknowing physical death powerless to affect his eternal life. But the\nheart that fails to appropriate Christ's sacrifice is without faith\nand insensible to God's love and eternal life.\n\n34. John uses an illustration plain enough for anyone to understand,\nand from which we may judge that the soul found wanting in small\nduties will be deficient in great ones. According to the apostle, if\none possesses this world's goods and sees his neighbor want, he being\nable to render assistance without injury to himself, and yet closes\nhis heart against that neighbor, not assisting him with even the\nslightest work of love, how can the love of God dwell in him since he\nappreciates it so little that he will not spare his needy brother a\npenny? How can he be expected, then, to render a greater service--to\neven lay down his life for his brother? What right has such a soul to\nboast--how can he know--that Christ has laid down his life for him\nand delivered him from death?\n\n35. How frequently are such people to be found! Having this world's\ngoods and being able to help the needy, they close their hearts\nagainst the unfortunate, as did the rich glutton toward poor Lazarus.\nWhere shall we find in imperial courts, among kings, princes and\nlords, any who extend a helping hand to the needy Church, or give her\nso much as a crust of bread toward the maintenance of the poor, of\nthe ministry and of schools, or for other of her necessities? How\nwould they measure up in the greater duty of laying down their lives\nfor the brethren, and especially for the Christian Church? Note the\nterrible judgment that they who are devoid of brotherly love are in\nGod's sight murderers and cannot have eternal life.\n\n36. But the merely selfish may well escape our censure in comparison\nwith those who not only close their purses to the poor but\nshamelessly and forcibly deprive and rob their needy neighbor of his\nown by overreaching, by fraud, oppression and extortion; who take\nfrom the Church the property rightfully hers and especially reserved\nfor her, snatching the bread from her mouth, so to speak. Not only is\nthe papistical rabble today guilty of such sin, but many who would be\nknown as evangelical practice the same fraud with reference to the\nparochial estates and general property of the Church, and, in\naddition, tyrannically harass and torment the poor ministers. But oh,\nhow heavy and terrible the impending judgment for those who have\ndenied to Christ the Lord in his thirst even the cup of cold water!\n\nIV. \"My little children, let us not love in word, neither with the\ntongue; but in deed and truth.\"\n\n37. The world and the false Christians in word pretend great love;\nbut in practice, when love should manifest itself in deeds, it is\nfound to be insincere. So John admonishes that where our love is not\nardent enough to lead us to lay down our lives for our brethren,\nhowever much we may profess Christ, that love is assuredly only a\nvain show, a false pretense, wherewith we deceive ourselves and\nremain in infidelity and death, and in a more deplorable condition\nthan those who are wholly ignorant of the Gospel. Therefore, let him\nwho would proceed safely and prove himself a Christian remember to\nprove himself such by his deeds and works. Then men will know that he\ndoes not, a murderer and liar, like others, follow the devil. They\nwill know, on the contrary, that he truly and with the heart clings\nto the Word of God, having passed from death to life.\n\n\n\n\n_Third Sunday After Trinity_\n\nText: 1 Peter 5, 5-11.\n\n5 Likewise, ye younger, be subject unto the elder. Yea, all of you\ngird yourselves with humility, to serve one another: for God\nresisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble. 6 Humble\nyourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt\nyou in due time; 7 casting all your anxiety upon him, because he\ncareth for you. 8 Be sober, be watchful: your adversary the devil, as\na roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 9 whom\nwithstand stedfast in your faith, knowing that the same sufferings\nare accomplished in your brethren who are in the world. 10 And the\nGod of all grace, who called you unto his eternal glory in Christ,\nafter that ye have suffered a little while, shall himself perfect,\nestablish, strengthen you. 11 To him be the dominion for ever and\never. Amen.\n\n\nHUMILITY, TRUST, WATCHFULNESS, SUFFERING\n\n1. This is the conclusion of Saint Peter's epistle. It is an\nexhortation to good works, such as a Christian, or believer, should\npractice. It is evident that the doctrine of the Gospel is not such\nas is charged by some, forbidding good works, or not earnestly\ncommanding and urging them. Most diligently and repeatedly it urges\nthe doctrine of works--such works as are, indeed, good works. There\nare in this epistle four natural heads which furnish us four good\nsermons.\n\n\nI. HUMILITY.\n\n2. The apostle has, in the verses immediately preceding our text,\nexhorted the elders, that is, preachers, to be in their lives\n\"ensamples to the flock,\" not \"lording it over the charge allotted\"\nto them, but using their office for the service of others. And here\nin our text he exhorts the others, especially the young, to \"be\nsubject unto the elder.\" And, in general, he admonishes all to \"gird\"\nthemselves \"with humility, to serve one another.\" So Paul likewise\nadmonishes that we should honor one another. Humility is the noblest\nand sweetest virtue love brings forth, and it is the most essential\nto peace and discipline. But especially does it become and adorn the\nyoung, making them pleasing and precious to God and men, bringing\nforth an abundance of good fruits.\n\n3. If mankind could be led so to believe this that the virtue of\nhumility would be generally practiced, it would be well everywhere.\nThis would be a beautiful world, filled with discipline and good\nworks. I would much prefer to see a city in which the young are\nreared in this virtue than a hundred monasteries of barefooted and\nCarthusian friars, though they lived ever so strictly. Alas! the\ngreatest and most frequent complaint heard anywhere is concerning the\ndisobedience, wantonness and pride of the younger generation found\namong all ranks. Therefore it is necessary to use all diligence that\nthis exhortation be instilled into the hearts of the young and urged\nupon them, in the hope that it may benefit them.\n\n4. First of all, Peter presents the divine command. We are not left\nto our own good pleasure in the matter--to show humility or not, as\nwe please. God earnestly asks it of us, and asks that we do it\nlovingly and willingly. Otherwise his anger will be poured out upon\nus and we will have no happiness nor favor, not even among men. For\neveryone is a foe to pride and arrogance. These offenses are\ncondemned by the whole world, even by strangers whom they do not\nconcern.\n\nOne may be guilty of pride and not see his own shame, yet he cannot\nsuffer it in another; he will hate and condemn that one. This vice\nhurts no one save himself. He makes himself hateful and contemptible\nbefore God and men. Everyone calls him a great, proud bag of filth\nand cries shame upon him. God metes out judgment and scorn to him,\nwitnessing that he will not let this vice go unpunished, but will put\nthe offender to shame. As Peter here says: \"God resisteth the proud.\"\n\n5. Men should be moved by the examples which daily come to light in\nfulfilment of this passage. If we should have no regard for our own\nhonor and standing before the world, neither for the contempt and the\ncurses of all men; if the illustrious example of the noble character\nand eternal majesty of God's Son, our Lord, should not stir us (which\nought to move us if we have one spark of Christianity in us), as we\nbehold his unspeakable and incomprehensible humility which, rightly\nviewed, should melt the Christian's heart--if all this does not move\nus, we should be humbled by the many awful examples of God's fearful\nwrath which, from the beginning, he has hurled against pride.\n\n6. What is more terrible than the eternal, irreparable fall and\nbanishment of once lofty angelic nature that resulted when the devil\nrobbed himself of the honor and glory enjoyed by the noble blessed\nspirits, and of the contemplation of eternal God, and brought upon\nhimself everlasting and intolerable damnation by seeking to make\nhimself equal with God, and through similar pride, led the human race\nto its awful fall? But what a blind, condemned creature are you, who,\nwith your filthy, shameful pride and haughtiness, become like the\nspirit of evil, thereby turning all the world into your enemy and\nopposing yourself to the divine majesty, before which even the angels\nmust tremble! If you have no fear of losing the favor and prayers of\nmankind, at least be afraid lest God send down upon your head his\nlightning and thunder, with which he crushes iron, rocks, and\nmountains, and hurl you forever into the abyss, as he hurled down the\nproud spirit and his angels.\n\n7. Saint Peter exhorts both those who are in the office of the\nministry, and other Christians, to whom God has given something, that\nthey abide in their calling and office and conduct the same humbly,\ngladly obeying and serving others. Right here this vice of pride is\nthe most hurtful to Christianity. For its whole government, life and\nessence are so ordered by God that no one should exalt himself and\nlord it over others, as the Pope, the true Antichrist has done. Only\nhumility and deeds of Christian love and service should prevail in\nall classes and in all offices and works.\n\n\nPRIDE OPPOSED TO THE FIRST TABLE.\n\n8. Pride in this order of the Church is really and directly opposed\nto the first table of the law. It is a genuinely devilish pride in\nGod's name and Word on the part of such people as would be wise in\nmatters of faith and would lord it over God's Word. They puff\nthemselves up if, forsooth, they have a gift more than others, and\nthey hold God and all men as nothing. This vice is common among the\ngreat, learned and wise bishops and preachers. It prevails among\nthose who learn of them and cling to them, especially beginners who,\ninexperienced and undisciplined, are brought into prominence. Such\npuff themselves up and boast: \"I also am a learned doctor. I love the\nSpirit and other gifts just as well as, and even in greater measure\nthan, these preachers.\" So they think they deserve to be heard and\nhonored above others. They consider themselves so wise that all the\nworld, in comparison, are geese and fools.\n\nAnd the greater one's gifts, the greater and more harmful such pride.\nIt is common in other professions, also. He who has a little ability,\nor bears the title of doctor, makes much ado about it, and despises\nothers. He acts as if what he has were not given him by God, but as\nif it were his by nature and birth, and therefore he deserves the\npraise and worship of all men. Such persons do not realize they are\nacting in opposition to God, and that they will themselves plunge\ninto the abyss of hell before they can hurl God down from his\nheavenly throne.\n\n9. See, from the examples of our own time, how God has overthrown\nsuch people. Thomas Munzer, with his tumultuous prophets, and later\nthe Anabaptist faction, were proud of heart, would not listen to\nadmonition, and lo! suddenly they went down to ruin, not only in\nutter disgrace, but to their own miserable and eternal loss and that\nof many people who had been misled by them. So, too, there are at the\npresent day many proud spirits. Some dare not yet publicly show\nthemselves. Such as have perceived that they are learned, or are held\nin regard by men, thereupon grow boastful and, despite all their\nskill and learning, abide without the Spirit and without fruit, even\nif they do not work more harm in addition to bringing themselves into\ncondemnation.\n\n10. Thus it is in all kinds of gifts and offices where men are not\nGod-fearing and humble. For example, those who are intrusted with the\ncivil government--princes, counselors, lawyers (where they are not\n\"theologians,\" that is, Christians)--are so insolent and proud that\nthey imagine themselves alone to be the people, whom others are to\nreverence as gods. In their pride, they despise God and men, and by\ntheir arrogance they lead the land and the people to destruction.\nThese have already the judgment upon themselves that they, as God's\nenemies, must be hurled down. For they have cut themselves loose from\nGod's kingdom and grace; and the blessings of baptism and of Christ,\nwith his suffering and blood, are lost upon them.\n\n11. We have now shown how pride conflicts with the demands of the\nfirst table of the law. Men do not employ the spiritual treasures and\ngifts to God's honor nor to the good of their neighbors. Thus they\nmar these gifts and, in their wicked course, go to the devil, into\nwhose likeness they have grown.\n\n\nPRIDE OPPOSED TO THE SECOND TABLE.\n\n12. Further, this vice is just as general in the sphere of the second\ntable of the law--among the common people and in the temporal life of\nthe world, each one boasting of himself and despising others. Prince\nand nobleman think that all the world is nothing in comparison with\nthemselves. Commoner and peasant, puffed up because they have much\nwealth, imagine they must defy everybody, and do good to nobody.\nThese deserve to be spit upon by all men. Such pride does not become\nthem better than ornaments of gold or silver would become an image of\nstone or a wooden block. Finally, the women, with their foolish pride\nof dress, must not be forgotten. One prides herself on being better\nor more beautifully adorned than her neighbor. She is, in truth, a\nfinely decorated goose. She imagines that no other woman equals her.\nYea, there is scarcely a house-servant or maid but brags over others.\n\n13. In short, we have come to the point where all men, with their\ninsolence and boastfulness, seek to lord it over others. None will\nhumble himself to another. Each thinks he has full right to act as he\ndoes, and is under no obligation to yield to others. And the civil\ngovernment has grown so weak that there is no hope of restraining the\nhaughtiness of all classes, from the highest to the lowest. At last,\nGod must strike with thunder and lightning to prove to us that he\nresists such people and will not tolerate pride. Therefore the young,\nwho can still be led, should be exhorted and trained, as far as\npossible, to guard themselves against this vice.\n\n14. Peter uses for his purpose a peculiar term when he says, \"Gird\nyourselves with humility.\" \"Gird\" has the meaning of being bound or\njoined together most firmly; or, as a garment, most carefully woven\nthrough and through so that it cannot tear. He illustrates by this\nterm how Christians, with all diligence, should strive after the\nvirtue, and manifest and practice it among themselves, as if upon\nthem as a band it was a special obligation. Thus, he says, must you\nbe twined together and bound to each other, and your hands clasped\ntogether. So must you be joined by humility, which cannot be\ndissolved, dismembered, or torn, even though occasion be given one,\nhere and there, incited by the devil, or the evil word of someone\nelse, to fly into a passion, and grow defiant and boastful, as if to\nsay: Must I suffer such things at the hands of this man? But rather\nsay to yourselves. We are Christians, and must bear with each other\nand yield, in many things; for we are all one body, and we are placed\ntogether here on earth for the sole reason that we may, through love,\nserve one another.\n\n15. And each should recognize his own weakness. He should remember\nthat God has given others also something and can give them yet more,\nand that therefore he should gladly serve and yield to others,\nremembering that he needs their help. Each one is created for the\nsake of others, and we are all to serve one another. God gives the\nsame grace and salvation to all, so that none may exalt himself above\nhis neighbor; or, if he lift himself up, that he lose the grace\nconferred and fall into deeper condemnation. Therefore we must hold\nfast to this humility, so that the unity may not be destroyed. For\nSatan seeks to destroy this also, and uses every possible means to\nlead people to despise each other and to be proud and insolent in\ntheir treatment of each other. And these are things to which flesh\nand blood, even without special incitement, are inclined. Thus\nhumility is easily and quickly lost if men are not alert to fight\nagainst the devil and their own flesh.\n\n\nTHE BEAUTY OF HUMILITY.\n\n16. Humility is one of the beautiful garments and ornaments with\nwhich Christians should adorn themselves before God and the world.\nPaul, in Colossians 3, 12, says, \"Put on humility.\" He regards this\nvirtue as more precious than all earthly crowns and splendor. This is\nthe true spiritual life. It is not to be sought elsewhere, by running\ninto the cloisters or the deserts, by putting on gray gown or cowl.\nPeter here admonishes all classes to cultivate this virtue. This\nsermon on good works concerns every station in every house, city or\nvillage. It is for all churches and schools. Children, servants and\nthe youth should be humbly obedient to parents, superiors and the\naged. On the other hand, it is for those in the higher stations of\nlife who serve their inferiors, even the lowest. If all men so\nobserved this virtue the world would be full of good works. For it is\nimpossible that humility should do evil. It is profitable and\npleasant to all men.\n\n17. By this virtue, true saints and Christians can better be known\nthan by monastic seclusion and holiness. It requires no great effort\nto wear a gray cowl. It is not even such a great trial to lie on the\nground at night and to arise at midnight; scoundrels, thieves, and\nmurderers must often do the same. But to wear and hold fast to this\nangelic garment, humility--this the world is not so willing to accept\nas monasticism and its works. And thus it comes to pass that flesh\nand blood do not strive after this holy life. Each man seeks an easy\nlife, in which he can live to himself and need serve no one nor\nsuffer anything at the hands of others; just as the monks have sought\nand chosen.\n\n18. Peter adds to this admonition the reason: \"For God resisteth the\nproud, but giveth grace to the humble.\" As I have said above, he\nstrives to show the earnestness of God's command. The command is\naccompanied by a threat. He does not simply say, God punishes the\nproud, or God is hostile to them; but he \"resisteth\" them, he sets\nhimself against them. Now, what is the pride of all men toward God?\nNot so much as a poor, empty bubble. Their pride puffs itself up and\ndistends itself as though it would storm the sky and contend against\nthe lightning and thunder, that can shatter heaven and earth. What\ncan the combined might of all creatures accomplish if God oppose\nhimself thereto? And how does a miserable man, whose heart is\noverwhelmed by a small pestilence, rise against the majesty of heaven\nwhich can, any moment, cast him down into the abyss? What are earth\nand ashes proud of? says Sirach, 10, 9.\n\n19. Is it not enough and more than enough that other sin and\ndisobedience are laid to our account, by which we anger God and merit\nheavy punishment, without our trying further to provoke him with our\npride and haughtiness, so that he must arise in his majesty and\nresist us? With other sins he can have patience, that he may exhort\nand incite us to repentance. But if, in hardened impenitence, we defy\nand oppose him, he cannot but rise up against us. Who is there that\nwill bear it, or be able to stand, when God sets his countenance and\nhis power against a poor man already subject, every moment, to death\nand the power of the devil?\n\n\nTHE CONSEQUENCE OF PRIDE.\n\n20. From the beginning, innumerable instances in history have proved\nthe truth of this saying, \"God resisteth the proud.\" They show how he\nhas always overthrown and destroyed the proud world and has cast down\nthe haughty, scornful kings and lords. The great king of Babylon,\nNebuchadnezzar, was humbled when banished from his royal throne to\nthe companionship of the beasts of the field and compelled to eat\ngrass with them, Dan 4, 30ff. Again, remember how suddenly the great\nking Alexander was hurled down, when after the victory and good\nfortune God had given him, he began to grow proud, and wanted to be\nreverenced as a god? Again, there was King Herod Agrippa, Acts 12,\n23. The proud, learned emperor Julian, a virulent mocker and\npersecutor of Christ, whom he had denied--how soon was he drowned in\nhis own blood! And since then, what has become of all the proud,\nhaughty tyrants, who proposed to oppress and crush Christianity?\n\n21. The Pope, also, has ever, in devilish pride, exalted himself, and\nin the temple of God set himself forth as God. Further, in worldly\npomp and pride he has lifted himself above all others. He has even\nlearned, from heathen emperors, as Diocletian and other tyrants, to\nhave men kiss his feet. Yea, he has forced emperors and kings to\nsubmit to this humiliating act. What open, inhuman insolence and\npride Pope Alexander the Third practiced when, by threatening against\nhim his empty ban, he compelled the pious and mighty German emperor,\nFrederick Barbarossa, to prostrate himself at his feet while he\nstepped upon him and said, Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder;\nand when the emperor protested against such shameful pride and said,\nNon tibi, sed Petro (Not to thee, but to Peter), the Pope, with\nincreasing scorn, replied, \"Et mihi, et Petro\" (Both to me, and to\nPeter). This is pride carried almost to its highest point.\n\n22. The Turk, too, is prouder now than ever, and, I hope, has reached\nthe heights of pride, beyond which he cannot and shall not proceed.\nMeantime, may he not attack and humble us! But it will come to pass,\nin the end, that God will overthrow both pope and Turk through his\ndivine power, and, as Daniel says, without the aid of men. This word\nwill not fail, \"God resisteth the proud.\" Its truth must appear in\nhuman events, so that men may see what is meant by the declaration,\n\"God resisteth\"; otherwise no one would believe it. Though the Turk\nand all the world should be a thousand times more proud and powerful,\nthis should not help them when he who is above sees and grows angry,\nand lifts his hand. He asks as little about the power of all Turkish\nemperors and of the Pope as about a dead fly.\n\n23. \"It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God,\"\nHeb 10, 31. This, however, is nothing else than with scorn and\ndefiance to oppose his will, so that he, in turn, must set himself\nagainst man and must lift his hand. Therefore, let everyone beware\nlest he boast and grow defiant in the presence of the divine majesty.\nNot only must he beware, that he may not awaken God's anger, but that\nhe may have grace and blessing in the things he ought to do. For, if\nthou beginnest something in thine own power, and wisdom, and\nhaughtiness, think not he will grant thee success and blessing to\ncarry out thy purpose. On the other hand, if thou humblest thyself,\nand beginnest aught in accordance with his will, in the fear of God\nand trusting in his grace, there is given thee the promise, \"He\ngiveth grace to the humble.\" So, then, thou shalt not only have favor\nwith men, but success shall crown thine efforts. Thou shalt prove a\nuseful man, both to God and to the world, and shalt complete and\nmaintain thy work despite the resistance of the devil. For where\nGod's grace is, there his blessing and protection must follow, and\nhis servant cannot be overthrown or defeated. Though he be oppressed\nfor a time, he shall finally come forth again and be exalted. So\nPeter concludes by saying:\n\n\"Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that he\nmay exalt you in due time.\"\n\n24. Peter shows in these words what true humility is and whence it\ncomes. The heart, through knowledge of its sin, becomes terrified in\nthe presence of God's anger and anxiously seeks grace. Thus a\nhumility is born, not merely external and before men, but of the\nheart and of God, from fear of God and knowledge of one's own\nunworthiness and weakness. He who fears God and \"trembles at his\nword\" (Is 66, 5), will surely defy or hector or boast against nobody.\nYea, he will even manifest a gentle spirit toward his enemies.\nTherefore, he finds favor both with God and men.\n\n25. The cause of this, Peter says, shall be \"the mighty hand of God.\"\nAs though he would say: Ye may not do nor leave undone this thing for\nthe sake of men, but ye ought to humble yourselves under the hand of\nGod. God's hand is powerful and mighty in a twofold respect: It\ndashes down and overthrows the proud and self-secure, however hard\nand iron their heads and hearts may be. They must languish in dust\nand ashes; yea, must lie despondent and desperate in the anguish and\ntorments of hell, if he touch them but a little with the terrors of\nhis anger. These are experiences through which the saints also pass,\nand concerning whose severity they make lamentation. \"For thine\narrows stick fast in me, and thy hand presseth me sore. There is no\nsoundness in my flesh because of thine indignation,\" Ps 38, 2-3. \"For\nI have eaten ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping.\nBecause of thine indignation and thy wrath: for thou hast taken me\nup, and cast me away,\" Ps 102, 9-10. \"I am consumed by the blow of\nthy hand. When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, thou\nmakest his beauty to consume away like a moth,\" Ps 39, 10-11.\n\n\nTHE REWARD OF HUMILITY.\n\n26. In the second place, God's hand is mighty to raise, to comfort\nand strengthen the humbled and the fearful, and, as Peter says here,\nto exalt them. Those who in terror have been cast down should not,\ntherefore, despair, or flee before God, but rise again, and be\ncomforted in God. God wants it preached and published that he never\nlays his hand upon us in order that we may perish and be damned. But\nhe must pursue this course in order to lead us to repentance;\notherwise we would never inquire about his Word and will. And if we\nseek grace, he is ready to help us up again, to grant us forgiveness\nof sins, the Holy Spirit, and eternal life. The Psalms and the\nProphets here and there speak of this. \"Jehovah hath chastened me\nsore; but he hath not given me over unto death,\" Ps 118, 18. \"Jehovah\nraiseth up them that are bowed down,\" Ps 146, 8.\n\n27. God will \"exalt you in due time,\" says Peter. Though God's help\nbe delayed, and the humbled and suffering seem to lie oppressed all\ntoo long under God's hand, and on that account to languish,\nnevertheless, let them hold to the promise Paul has given: God \"will\nnot suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able,\" 1 Cor 10, 13,\nbut he will hear your cry, and will, at the right time, help; and\nwith this let them be comforted. But again, let the proud fear, even\nthough he permit them to go unpunished and to continue in their\nboastful course for a time. He watches their lives, and, when the\nproper time comes, he will descend all too heavily upon them, so that\nthey cannot bear it. He has already stretched forth his mighty hand,\nboth to cast down the godless and to exalt the humble.\n\nII. \"Casting all your anxiety upon him, because he careth for you.\"\n\n28. What will become of him who lives a God-fearing and humble life,\nsuffering the insolence, pride and wantonness of the world? Or, where\nwill he find protection and defense, to abide in his godly ways? We\nsee daily how the pious are harassed and persecuted, and are trod on\nby the world. The Apostle says: \"Ye Christians must endure temptation\nand adversity, want and need, both physical and spiritual, in the\nworld, and your heart is oppressed with anxiety and cares, and ye\nthink within yourselves: O, what will become of me? How shall I be\nsupported? What if I should die?\" (The world only concerns itself\nabout how it may be enriched and be filled, and anxious, unbelieving\nconsciences would, through themselves and their own good works, seek\nto have a gracious God and to die in peace.) \"In view of all this,\"\nhe says, \"only hearken, I will counsel and instruct you aright as to\nwhat disposition you should make of your troubles.\"\n\nThere is a brief passage in the 55th Psalm, verse 22, which reads:\n\"Cast thy burden upon Jehovah, and he will sustain thee: he will\nnever suffer the righteous to be moved.\" Follow ye this advice. Let\nnot your burden rest upon yourselves; for ye cannot bear it, and must\nfinally perish beneath its weight. But, confident and full of joy,\ncast it from you and throw it on God, and say: Heavenly Father, thou\nart my Lord and God, who didst create me when I was nothing; moreover\nhast redeemed me through thy Son. Now, thou hast committed to me and\nlaid upon me, this office or work, and things do not go as well as I\nwould like. There is so much to oppress and worry, that I can find\nneither counsel nor help. Therefore I commend everything to thee. Do\nthou supply counsel and help, and be thou, thyself, everything in\nthese things.\n\n29. Such a prayer is pleasing to God, and he tells us to do only what\nwe are commanded, and throw upon him all anxiety as to the issue and\nwhat we shall accomplish. As also other passages of Scripture\ndeclare: \"Commit thy way unto Jehovah, trust also in him, and he will\nbring it to pass,\" Ps 37, 5. No heathen, philosopher, jurist, if he\nhave not God's Word, can throw his care and complaint upon God. He\nthinks that all the world, especially the great, the wise, who rule,\nmust accomplish everything by their own planning and circumspection.\nAnd where trouble arises--for it is quite common for even the\ngreatest and wisest people to make mistakes--he becomes a madman or a\nfool, and begins to murmur and argue against God and his government,\nas though God's rule merited criticism. But such men receive their\ndeserts when God permits their calculations and hopes to fail, and\nlets the reverse obtain. For they will not admit they have need of\nhim. They think they have sufficient wisdom and power, and that God\nmust respect their plans. Thus, they spend their lives in many vain,\nuseless cares and projects, and must, in the course of their\nexperience, learn and confess, many a time, that the very opposite of\ntheir judgment is the truth.\n\n30. Christians have the rare faculty, above all other people on\nearth, of knowing where to place their care, whilst others vex and\ntorture themselves and at length must despair. Such must be the\nconsequence of unbelief, which has no God and would provide for\nitself. But faith understands this word Peter quotes from the\nScriptures: \"Because he careth for you.\" It joyfully meditates\nthereon and does and suffers faithfully. For faith knows this to be\nits duty. Its trouble, however, it commits to God, and proceeds with\nvigor against all that opposes. It can call upon God as a father, and\nit says: I will do what God has commanded me and leave the result\nwith him.\n\n31. The Christian must take this course if he would proceed safely\nand happily in matters of the highest import. In time of danger and\nin the hour of death, when, with all his worrying, he cannot discover\nwhere he is or how he is journeying, he must, with eyes, senses and\nthoughts closed to the world, surrender himself in faith and\nconfidence and cast himself upon God's hand and care and protection,\nand say: God has permitted me to live until this hour, without my\nsolicitude. Moreover, he has given me his beloved Son as a treasure\nand sure pledge of eternal life. Therefore, my dear soul, journey on\nin joy. Thou hast a faithful Father and Savior, who has taken thee\ninto his own hand, and will preserve thee.\n\n32. The Christian Church collectively must so proceed in the\ndischarge of its high spiritual office, of which Peter speaks here,\nthat no man or creature, by his own wisdom and power, can sustain or\naccomplish any work. No power, might, or protection that can comfort,\nor upon which one may rely, is to be sought in the world. Wholly in\nGod, and in God alone, must help be sought. By his divine power God\nmust uphold the Church. He has, from the beginning, always and\nwonderfully preserved it in the world, in the midst of great\nweakness, in disunion occasioned by schismatics and heretics, in\npersecution by tyrants. And the government is wholly his, though he\ncommits the office and service to men, whom he would summon and use\nto administer his Word and sacrament. Therefore, each Christian,\nespecially if he fills such an office and partakes of this\nfellowship, should be intent, in that whereunto God has called and\nappointed him, upon serving God faithfully and doing that which is\ncommanded him. The anxiety respecting the Church's continued\nexistence and her preservation against the devil and the world, can\nbe left to the Lord. He has taken this upon himself and thus has\nremoved the burden from our shoulders, that we might be certain of\nthe permanence of the Church. If its preservation were committed to\nhuman counsel, might and will, the devil, with his power, would soon\noverthrow and destroy it.\n\n33. Likewise, in every office and station, each one should follow\nthis counsel of Saint Peter. A prince should seek to protect his land\nand people, to promote God's Word, to maintain discipline and peace,\nto do justice to every man, to punish the disobedient, etc. Councils,\nofficials, and those in authority should faithfully advise and direct\nto this end. Pastors and preachers should rightly and fearlessly\ndeclare God's Word and truth. Every citizen and subject should be\nintent upon his work and duty, and whatever, in connection therewith,\nis unusual he must simply commit to God.\n\nBut the world does not pursue this course. Each one says: Why should\nI incur so much danger, opposition and hostility? Again, why should I\nlabor and toil for naught? I will not accomplish my work at any rate.\nIn this spirit of fear and worry, his proper office and work are\ndelayed, or he is always careless.\n\nBut let such people know that they are not Christians, nor do they\npromote God's kingdom or profit the offices conferred on them. If\nthey do not propose to mend their ways, they should give up the\noffice bestowed on them by God. It is not enough to simply sit at\nease in one's office and accept the plaudits of men. We all like to\nrender esteem and honor to office and station. But know this, that\nyou are not in office to parade about in beautiful garments, to sit\nin the front row, and be called \"Gracious Master\" and \"Esquire.\" You\nare to conduct faithfully the office with which God has clothed and\nhonored you, regardless of human honor and profit, shame or injury.\n\n34. But men are not generally inclined to believe and trust God. They\nare not inclined to remember that he cares for us; that he has\nassumed and must bear the greatest of burdens, which no man on earth\ncan bear; that he cared for us before we were born, and could still,\nof himself, execute all things dispensing with all human help, but he\nprefers to accomplish his purpose through human means, and to employ\nus as instruments in these divine works--governing, punishing,\nteaching, comforting.\n\n35. The world is particularly culpable in this matter of pride. When\ndivinely charged with some great work, it always seeks to determine,\nin advance, by its own wisdom, all future danger and accidents, and\ntries to anticipate them. The world looks for man's help, and seeks\nfriendship and assistance wherever it can. It makes alliances, and\nresorts to other schemes. It puts its trust in these and then\nconsiders itself strong enough to meet opposition, and is sure of its\ncause by reason of its own efforts. This is not showing faith in God.\nIt is not committing our cause and all care for ourselves to him. It\nis maintaining the cause through one's own anxiety and forethought.\nIt is ignoring and disbelieving the fact that nothing can be\naccomplished by one's own vexed effort. No human wisdom has power to\nforesee the future. If we looked back at the examples furnished by\nhistory, we should learn how woefully human wisdom is deceived when\nit relies upon itself. The results are not what was expected, but the\nvery opposite.\n\n36. The Scriptures give many pertinent examples of the kings of Judah\nand Israel, whom the prophets often and severely rebuked because they\nsought refuge and help among strange nations and kings. The prophets\nwarned them that they should not trust in human aid, but should do\naccording to God's Word and command. They told them he would protect\nand uphold them. But the kings would not hear. They continued to form\nfriendships and alliances with the kings of Egypt, Syria, Babylon and\nAssyria, and thus invited them as guests into the land, whereupon the\nheathen kings came with force and led away captive the inhabitants\nand laid everything desolate. That was their reward for not heeding\nGod's Word; for not believing that he cared for them, and desired to\nprotect and defend them if they would but trust and obey him.\n\nThe wisest and most eminent, even among the heathen, have lamented,\nin the light of their own experience, that they have been shamefully\ndeluded by their counsels, even though founded on the most careful\ndeliberations. Nor can it be said that the world has grown wiser in\nconsequence of its own or others' sufferings.\n\n37. This exhortation is preached to no one except the few who are\nChristians. They have regard for God's Word, and, now humbled, have\nlearned that they should not rely on their own wisdom and reason, or\nupon human help and comfort. They have come to the belief that God\ncares for them. So they do what they know is right and are in duty\nbound to do, and suffer themselves not to be hindered by such fears\nas possess the world concerning dangers, injuries, and adversities.\nThey commend all such things to God, and at his word go right through\nwith courage.\n\n38. Let me illustrate from my own experience. What should I have done\nwhen I began to denounce the lies of the indulgence system, and later\nthe errors of the papacy, if I had listened and given heed to the\nterrible things all the world wrote and said would happen to me? How\noften I heard it said that if I wrote against such and such eminent\npeople I would provoke their displeasure, which would prove too\nsevere for me and the whole German nation. But, since I had not begun\nthis work of myself, being driven and led thereto by reason of my\noffice (otherwise I should have preferred to keep silence), I must\ncontinue. I commended the cause to God and let him bear the burden of\ncare, both as to the result of the work and also as to my own fate.\nThus I advanced the cause farther, despite tumultuous opposition,\nthan I had ever before dared to think or hope.\n\n39. Oh, how much good would God accomplish through us if people could\nbe persuaded, especially the eminent lords and kings, that what Peter\nhere says is true: \"He careth for you!\" How much he could do if they\nbelieved that truth instead of seeking, through their own wisdom and\nreason, to equip, strengthen, and compose themselves by aid of human\nmight and assistance, friendship and alliance, for the accomplishment\nand maintenance of their cause! It is apparent that mortal plans fail\nand have always failed, and that they accomplish nothing. God hinders\nand resists man's work when he will not trust him. Hence God can\ngrant no success or favor to that which is founded on human wisdom or\non trust in human powers. This is a truth men must finally perceive\nby experience, and they must lament because they would not believe\nit.\n\n40. Let him who would be a Christian learn to believe this. Let him\npractice and exhibit faith in all his affairs, bodily and spiritual,\nin his doing and his suffering, his living and his dying. Let him\nbanish cares and anxious thoughts. Courageous and cheerful, let him\ncast them aside; not into a corner, as some vainly think to do, for\nwhen burdens are permitted to conceal themselves in the heart they\nare not really put away. But let the Christian cast his heart and its\nanxieties upon God. God is strong to bear and he can easily carry the\nburden. Besides, he has commanded that all this be put upon himself.\nThe more thou layest upon him, the more pleasing it is to him. And he\ngives thee the promise that he will carry thy cares for thee, and all\nthings else that concern thee.\n\n41. This is a grand promise, and a beautiful, golden saying, if men\nwould only believe it. If a powerful ruler here on earth were to give\nsuch a promise, and were to demand that we let him have all the\nconcern about gold and silver and the needs of this life, how\ncheerfully and contentedly would every one cling to such promise! But\nnow a greater lord says all this, one who is almighty and truthful,\nwho has power over the body and life, and who can and will give us\neverything we need, both temporal and eternal. We should have in all\nthis, if we only believed it, half of heaven, yea, a perfect paradise\non earth. For what is better and nobler than a quiet, peaceful heart?\nFor this all men are striving and laboring. So have we been doing\nhitherto, running to and fro after it. Yet it is found nowhere except\nin God's word, which bids us cast our cares and burdens on God and\nthus seek peace and rest. It counsels us to throw upon him everything\nthat threatens to oppress and worry us. God would not have anxiety\ndwell in our hearts, for it does not belong there; it is put there by\nthe devil.\n\n42. Therefore, a Christian, even though obliged to suffer all manner\nof adversity, temptation and misfortune, can cheerfully go forward\nand say: Dear Lord God, thou hast commanded me to believe, to teach,\nto govern and to act; this I will attempt in thy name, and I will\ncommend to thee whatever may happen to me in the course of duty.\nThere you have a man who is equal to any task, and can do much good.\nFor he is freed from the greatest misfortune and has laid the\nheaviest weight upon God, whilst another man does nothing except fill\nhis heart with anxiety and gloom. This other can apply himself to no\ngood work. He becomes unfit both to do and to suffer. He is afraid of\nevery trifle and, because of his vexation or impatience, can do\nnothing worth mentioning.\n\nWhat is the world doing now? Princes, lords, counselors, citizens,\nand peasants--all want only power, honor, and wealth. None desires to\nrender service. Everyone fears that this or the other thing might\nhappen to him. Though the world never needed more careful rule than\nat the present time, lords and princes, simply because they are such,\nidly sit adorned with beautiful crowns, though they have received\ntheir trust from God to discharge their princely office. For the\nworld must be governed, the youth must be educated, the wicked must\nbe punished. But if thou desirest the honor only, and art not willing\nto step in the mire, to suffer people's displeasure, and through it\nall learn to trust God and for his sake do everything, thou art not\nworthy of the grace given for the accomplishment of a good and\npraiseworthy work. In punishment, resting under God's wrath, thou\nmust remain unfit for every good work.\n\nIII. \"Be sober, be watchful: your adversary the devil, as a roaring\nlion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: whom withstand\nstedfast in your faith.\"\n\n43. The apostle has set forth two things to be practiced throughout\nthe Christian life; namely, Christian humility--which is fear of\nGod--and faith and confidence in God. Now he admonishes his readers\nto battle and warfare, that these blessings may be preserved. He\nshows us our enemy and adversary who seeks to rob us of our treasure\nand deprive us of our salvation and eternal blessedness. Hence he\nwould say: Be not concerned about living a life of earthly glory, and\nlet not anxious cares fill your soul. But be intent on humbling\nyourselves before God. Trust in him. Let this be your care, that you\nmay abide in the grace of humility. Let it never be wrested from you.\nFor the devil seeks to instill these forbidden cares, and to produce\ndisobedience against God, that he may tear faith and God's Word out\nof your heart.\n\n\nWATCHFULNESS ENJOINED.\n\nTherefore, you must not ignore these facts, and meanwhile strive\nafter something else. You are not to go along in false security or\nsleep and snore as though there were no danger. You must rather know\nthat you have not been placed in a garden of roses here, but in the\nmidst of heavy conflicts, where you must be on your guard, always\nwatchful and prepared for resistance. For you have an adversary who\nis not insignificant or to be despised, but is strong, mighty, and\nmoreover wicked and ferocious. He does not fight with stone and wood,\ndestroying rocks and trees, but he has his eye fixed on you\nChristians. He never grows tired or weary, but without rest and\nceasing he pursues you; not only to spy upon you and to harass you,\nin which he can be withstood, but he desires utterly to devour you.\n\n44. His sole purpose and plan is to murder and destroy men,\nspiritually and bodily; even as, at the beginning, when man had been\ncreated, he led and cast him into death. He practices his schemes\nwith awful and deadly effect in the world against those who do not\nbelieve in Christ, and he will never stop until the judgment day. One\ncan perceive his incessant activity. He bustles about and openly\nraves and roars against all Christendom. He uses for his purpose the\nTurks, and other tyrants and godless people, not to speak of the\nsorrow and murder he works by so possessing people that in their\nfrenzy they do themselves injury, or without cause murder others. He\notherwise, through wicked and shameful snares, leads men into\nmisfortune and sorrow.\n\nIn short, the world is nothing else than the devil's murderous cave,\nboth spiritually and physically. God, in order to somewhat hinder and\nrestrain physical murder, has ordained temporal government, parental\nand other authority. These in their office are to be sober, watchful,\nand diligent. We ought to thank God for his preservation of such\nauthority, for otherwise there would be no peace--everywhere on earth\nnothing but murder. Nevertheless, the awful murder the devil\nperpetrates on those who are without God's Word and faith, is not\nthereby checked.\n\n45. Some other defense and protection, then, another kind of\nwatchfulness, must be sought, in order that men may remain\nundestroyed and unharmed in the presence of this bloodthirsty\nmurderer. Of this Peter speaks here to the little company of\nChristians, and says: Ye, through Christ's blood and death rescued\nfrom the devil's lies and murderous intent, have been made alive and\nhave been transplanted into the heavenly life, like your beloved\nfathers, Adam, Abel, and others. They are no longer under bondage to\nSatan, but live in Christ, though the body lie for a time in the\nearth and truth and life must be supplied to their body and soul. But\nbecause ye still dwell in the world, ye are exposed to all danger.\nPhysically, ye are yet in the murderer's house; therefore ye must\ntake good heed, that he may not kill you again, and murder your souls\ndwelling in these mortal bodies. It shall harm you none that the soul\nwas ruined and the body is yet subject to death. \"Because I live,\"\nsays Christ (Jn 14, 19), \"ye shall live also.\" However, ye must\nstruggle if ye are to abide in the truth and life. To this ye are\nappointed whilst ye live here on earth; otherwise ye would already be\nin Paradise. But the devil has not yet been consigned wholly to the\npunishment of his damnation, which will be at the last day, when he\nwill finally be cast down from his airy height, and from the earth,\ninto the abyss of hell. Then he will no more be able to attack us,\nand there will no longer be cloud or veil between us and God and the\nangels.\n\n\nSOBERNESS ESSENTIAL.\n\n46. In order, now, he continues, that ye may be saved from his\nmurderous designs, and may preserve the life you have begun, ye must\nbe sober and watchful; not only mindful of the body, but much rather\nof the mind and soul. It is true that a Christian who is to resist\nthe devil must be physically sober, for a full hog and drunkard\ncannot be watchful nor can he plan defense against the devil. Yet\nmust a Christian much more guard himself, lest the soul become sleepy\nor drunken. As the soul is burdened by the body when the latter is\noverwhelmed by drunkenness, so, when the soul is watchful and sober,\nthe body also is temperate and prepared to hear God's Word. But where\nthe body is oppressed by drunkenness, there the soul must first have\nbeen a drunkard, not heeding God's Word nor giving attention to\nprayer. Where the soul is drunken and drowned in such security, it\nwill not avail that the body suffer hurt by strict fasting and\nself-mortification, after the fashion of the Carthusians and hermits.\n\n47. Saint Peter, then, forbids not only bodily drunkenness, but also\ndrunkenness of the soul. One's soul is drunk when he lives in carnal\nsecurity, without thought and anxiety as to whether he have and hold\nGod's Word or not; when he asks no questions, either about God's\nwrath or his grace; and when he, moreover, lets himself be filled\nwith the sweet poison of false doctrine through the mob of evil\nspirits Satan employs for this purpose, until he grows numb, loses\nfaith and clear judgment and finally becomes overfull of drunkenness\nand spews it out upon others.\n\n48. The same thing results when men begin to be wise in divine things\nby following human reason. Saint Peter aptly describes this false\ndoctrine with the expression, \"cunningly devised fables,\" 2 Pet 1,\n16. He says: \"We did not follow cunningly devised fables, when we\nmade known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.\"\nSuch are the beautiful words and sermons which make a great show of\nwisdom and holiness, and naturally please men. For instance it is a\ncunningly devised fable when one with the aid of philosophy, which\nreason can understand, sets forth in grandiloquent words what a fine\nthing it is for a man to live honorably, chastely, and to practice\ngood works and virtues. The aim is, with such pretense, to have us\nbelieve that we, through these works (not alone through faith), are\njustified before God; that is, are redeemed from sin and death.\n\n49. Again, other factious spirits travel about with worthy sayings\nwhich they have heard from us--externals do not help souls; the\nSpirit must do the work--and then they proceed to fling contempt on\nbaptism and the Lord's Supper. So Thomas Munzer, with his seditious\npeasants, and the Anabaptist rabble, went about, with great\ndemonstration, preaching about the shameful, wicked life of the\nworld, especially of the authorities, declaring that these were\ngodless people and tyrants, and deserved God's wrath and punishment;\nthat therefore men should depose and execute them, and establish a\nnew government, of only pious and holy people.\n\nThese and similar things Peter calls \"cunningly devised fables.\" They\nare exaggeratingly pretended to be the product of great wisdom and\nart, and are rendered sweet and palatable to reason. So has all\nidolatry, heresy, and false doctrine, from the beginning on,\nprevailed, being fashioned and most beautifully adorned by people\nlearned and wise and held in the esteem of the world.\n\n50. How admirable did the position of Arius and his adherents appear\nin comparison with the true faith concerning the divinity of Christ,\nwhen they declared that though Christ should be exalted above all\nangels and creatures, and that all honor, dominion and power in\nheaven and on earth belong to him, yea, that he is quite equal to\nGod--all this, yet he is not \"homo-ousios\"; that is, he is not in one\nundivided, divine, eternal essence, which is of such unity that it\ncould be imparted to no one else. It would be too much to say that a\nman is God, etc. With such pretense was a great multitude of\nChristians seduced. Even few bishops remained in the pure doctrine\nand faith. And afterward this poison prevailed among the wise people\nof Asia and Greece, until Mohammed, with his Saracens and Turks, had\nmiserably corrupted the greatest part of the world.\n\n51. Likewise the Pope has adorned and colored with a glorious form\nhis abominations and idolatry, claiming for his order of service that\nit is a meritorious and beautiful thing. Again, he calls attention to\nthe serviceableness of the beautiful, orderly government and power of\nthe Church, with its well regulated gradations of office and\nposition--bishops superior to the ordinary priests, and over the\nbishops Saint Peter's chair at Rome. In that chair is vested the\nauthority for the convocation of general councils so often as these\nmay be necessary. These councils are to judge and decide in all\nmatters of faith, and their decisions everyone must follow and obey.\nAgain, he boasts what great service and consolation to the whole\nworld is the work of the priests in the mass, when they daily renew\nand offer to God the sacrifice made by Christ on the cross. This is\nthe sweet wine in the \"golden cup\" of the scarlet harlot of Babylon,\nwith which she has made drunken all kings and nations, Rev 17, 2-4.\n\n52. Where the devil finds those who give ear to such fables, he takes\nthem captive and so fills them with these falsehoods that they\nneither see nor hear anything else. They think their belief is the\nonly one, and they will not suffer themselves to be instructed out of\nGod's Word. And so, in their madness, without rightful intelligence\nof faith and all principles of pure doctrine, they continue in their\ndarkened mind, with their fantastic, lying prattle, without\nrepentance and amendment, having no grace to learn or do anything\ngood. This is amply proved by the example of all seditious spirits.\n\n53. Therefore, Peter admonishes us to be \"sober and watchful,\"\nespecially in spirit, and to guard ourselves against this sweet\npoison and these beautiful, adorned lies and fables of the devil. He\nteaches us how to equip and defend ourselves against his wicked\ndevices.\n\n\"Whom withstand stedfast in your faith.\"\n\n54. The true defense and resistance, in which we are to be sober and\nwatchful, is to be well grounded in God's Word and cling firmly\nthereto when the devil seeks, with his cunningly devised fables, born\nof human understanding and reason, to overthrow our faith. Reason is\nthe devil's bride, and always vaunts itself wise and skilful in\ndivine things, and thinks what it holds to be right and good must be\naccounted so before God. But faith holds to God's Word alone. It\nknows that before God, human wisdom, skill and power, and whatever\ngifts and virtues man may have, count for nothing. Only his grace and\nthe forgiveness of sins in Christ has value. Therefore, faith can\nrepel and defeat all these fine pretensions and cunning fables.\n\n55. Worldly dominion and authority boasts before God in this fashion:\nMy crown is a crown in God's sight, for my power and sovereignty have\nbeen given me by God. Therefore, whatever I say he must respect and\nregard as valid, and everyone must endorse my words and actions.\n\nThe wise philosopher or jurist would thus give expression to his\nboasts and pretensions: We are the learned, the wise rulers of the\nworld, and have admirable laws and statutes. We have superior and\nbeautiful doctrines concerning good works and virtues. Men must\nlisten to us and allow our judgment to have precedence. He who can\ndo, or does, such things as we have done is, in God's sight, superior\nto others.\n\n\nFAITH, NOT WORLDLY WISDOM, ESSENTIAL.\n\n56. No, dear man, says faith to this, I grant that the things of\nwhich thou boastest have been ordained and confirmed by God; but they\nare not of value save for this temporal life. The world regards it a\ncrown to be known as wise. But in the presence of God thou shouldst\nlay aside thy crown, let thy might and power, thy law and wisdom, go,\nand say: God, be merciful to me a poor sinner! Reason has this\nadvantage, that it is equipped and adorned with God's promise to\nconfirm its rule here on earth and to be pleased therewith; but with\nthe provision that reason shall not interfere in God's government, or\nboast over against him. Let it be known that what is called wisdom\nand prudence on earth, is foolishness before God. What in the sight\nof the world is commended and honored as beautiful, valuable, as of\nhonor and virtue, is before God sin, and subject to his wrath. What\non earth is called life, is before God nothing but death.\n\n57. If, now, the parental, governmental, and other authority which\nhe, himself, has arrayed and through his word established, and which\nis even administered by Christians, does not endure before him in\nthat other life, how much less will he allow that to stand which man\nhas devised or subtly contrived out of his own head and heart!\nWouldst thou be wise and prudent, then cultivate these virtues in the\nsphere appointed thee, in thy home, the State, and whatever office\nthou hast. In these temporal things, rule as well as thou canst. Thou\nwilt find little enough to help in all thy books, thy reason and\nwisdom. But when thou beginnest to devise out of thine own reason the\nthings of God, though they may all seem trustworthy wisdom, yet, as\nPeter says, they are nothing else than fables and lies.\n\n58. For example, a monk's words: Whoever dons a cowl can lead a holy\nlife, for he is cut off from the world, can banish all care and\nsorrow, and can undisturbed, in peace and quietness, serve God--these\nwords appear wisely spoken, but at bottom they are nothing but\nunreliable and useless chatter. This is proved from God's Word, which\nteaches that God has forbidden us to invent our own worship; also,\nthat God would have us serve him in our ordinary life and station and\nnot by fleeing therefrom. Hence, such monkery can not be a holy,\ngodly life. In Psalm 119, 85, we read: \"The proud have digged pits\nfor me, who are not according to thy law.\" That is, they preach to me\nabout praiseworthy things, and represent their cause as most worthy,\nin order to overcome me. But when I look at their words aright, I do\nnot find them to be in accord with thy Word and commandments, which\n(says he) \"are faithful.\" A lie is always beautiful. It attracts and\npretends to be truth. It has, further, the advantage that it can\nadorn itself from the wardrobe of God's Word, and, perverting the\nWord, can use it in an uncertain sense. On the other hand, the truth\ndoes not so glitter, because it does not make itself plain to reason.\nFor example, a common Christian, a type of the brethren, hears the\nGospel, believes, uses the sacraments, leads a Christian life at home\nwith wife and children--that does not shine as does the fascinating\nlie of a saintly Carthusian or hermit, who, separated from his fellow\nmen, would be a holier servant of God than other people. Yet the\nlatter is useful to nobody. He lets others preach and rule, and labor\nin the sweat of their brows.\n\n\nGOD'S WORD THE CHRISTIAN'S GUIDE.\n\n59. The one important thing, then, is to see to it that we have God's\nWord, and that we regulate all the teachings and claims of men in\naccordance therewith. We will thus distinguish between the true and\nthe false. We must remember, also, that human reason holds a far\ninferior position to faith and is not to be acknowledged as\ntrustworthy, save as it is authorized by God for temporal authority.\nHe who has faith can easily perceive when reason conflicts with God's\nWord or seeks, in its wisdom, to rise superior thereto; just as, in\nworldly things, each one in his station, office, or calling, knows\nfull well, when another attempts the same work, whether he does it\nright or not. So every householder well understands that in his home\nwantonness and wrong-doing on the part of the servants are not to be\ntolerated. However, in divine things, reason can so attire and adorn\nitself as not to be recognized except by one who, guided by faith,\nhas a right knowledge of God's Word.\n\nReason will not refrain from intruding, with its wisdom and prudence,\ninto the affairs of God, where it has no orders. Thus the devil\ncreates endless misery, as he did at the beginning in the case of our\nfirst parents. And yet reason will not permit, in its own domain, the\nslightest interference of one unskilled in reason's code.\n\n60. If a cobbler were to arise in the Church and censure the people\nbecause they did not wear his make of shoes, and should try to\nconvince people that such a procedure was necessary to salvation,\nthey would pursue him out of the Church with shoes and slippers, and\ncry after him: Stay at home in your shop with your shoes and lasts!\nWhat does that concern the spiritual estate?\n\nBut when a factious spirit stands up and in his supposed wisdom\ngrunts forth: I am a holy, pious man. I have a special illumination\nfrom the spirit. Therefore do not believe what the others say, which\nis nothing but the dead letter, that one person can be God and man;\nthat a virgin can be a mother; that a man can be cleansed from sin by\nwater and the spoken Word, etc.,--when he does this, then there is no\none to offer resistance. Reason then gains the victory if it only\nclaims the glory of guidance by the Spirit, of a holy life, etc.,\neven though God's Word and faith are not present in their purity.\nBehold, what mischief the Turk, with his Mohammed, has wrought and is\nstill working, solely by claiming the honor of worshipping the one\nGod, and asserting that he alone has the true God! He declares that\nonly he and his followers are God's people on earth, to honor which\nGod they war and fight against the Christians. He presses his cause\nthe more vigorously because he has such large fortune and victory; so\neven many Christians who come among them adopt their faith and become\nTurks. But none of the Turks turn Christian.\n\n61. Therefore, no other counsel can be offered for resisting the\ndevil and escaping destruction by him, than this, that we remain firm\nin faith, says Saint Peter. One must have a heart which holds fast to\nGod's Word and fully understands the same and holds it to be true.\nFor faith cannot exist or endure without the Word, nor can it hear or\nunderstand aught else. One must separate the Word far from all reason\nand wisdom, placing it above these. He must hold reason as\nnothing--yea, as dead--in matters pertaining to God's government and\nto how man is to escape sin and eternal death. Reason must keep\nsilent and give to God's Word alone the honor which belongs to the\ntruth, \"bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of\nChrist,\" as Saint Paul says, 2 Cor 10, 5. If reason is to be my\nteacher in these things, what need is there of faith? And why should\nI not throw away all the Scriptures? We Christians, says Paul (1 Cor\n1, 20-21), preach something else and higher than reason comprehends,\nfor the wisdom of the world is mere folly. If reason taught me that\nthe mother of Christ is a virgin, the angel Gabriel might have\nremained in heaven and kept silent concerning the matter. Your faith,\nsays Paul again (1 Cor 2, 4), should not stand in the wisdom of men,\nbut in the power of God. Now you have seen the tricks and wiles of\nthe devil with which he seeks to devour you, which he bases on reason\nas opposed to God's Word.\n\n62. Peter admonishes all Christians, especially the preachers, how to\ndefend themselves against the devil's intrigues and artifices, with\nwhich he seeks to capture them. In order that Christians may be\nproperly equipped, Saint Peter calls attention to two things: First,\nwe must know the enemy and realize his purpose; second, we must be\narmed to meet him and defend ourselves, that we may stand before him\nand conquer. He is a terrible, mighty foe, says Peter, and is the god\nof this world. He has more wisdom and more deceptive snares than all\nmen, and can so blind and unsettle reason that it will cheerfully\nbelieve and follow him.\n\nHe is, moreover, a wicked and bitter enemy to you who in Christ have\nlife. He cannot bear to see you Christ's. He thinks and plots about\nnothing else than your overthrow. And think not that he is far from\nyou, or that he will pursue you from a distance. He has encamped\nclose to you and right around you; yea, in your own territory--that\nis, in your flesh and blood. There he seeks how to reach you, and\novertake you when unguarded, attempting now this, now that. Misguided\nfaith, doubt, anger, impatience, covetousness, evil passions, etc.,\nare points of attack--any place where he finds an opening or\ndiscovers that you are weak. Therefore, think not that he is simply\njesting. He is more furious and hungry than a famished and angry\nlion. He does not purpose merely to wound or prick you, but wholly to\nconsume you, so that nothing of body or soul will remain.\n\n63. Whoever would withstand such a foe must be equipped with other\narmor and weapons than those furnished by human wit and\nunderstanding, by human powers or ability. Your defense is nothing\nelse, says Peter, than faith, which holds and grasps God's Word. And\nbecause the believer holds fast to this, the devil can gain nothing.\nIt is God's truth and power, before which, with his lying and\nmurdering, he cannot stand; he must yield and flee. Therefore\nEphesians 6, 16 says: \"Taking up the shield of faith, wherewith ye\nshall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one.\" These\nfiery darts are chiefly those he hurls into the heart through the\nbeautiful thoughts of human reason. He thus transforms himself into\nan angel of light, to displace right thoughts and faith, and to\nintroduce human whims and false faith. His aim is, also, to lead into\ndoubt, distrust, hatred, and anger toward God.\n\nThus it is, too, in the other temptations and trials of life, when\nSatan drives men into sin and disobedience against God's commandment,\ninto such sins as avarice, usury, anger, revengefulness, unchastity,\nand other vices. Here he uses the same insidious arts, first tearing\nGod's Word out of the heart, then blinding reason with sweet and\nbeautiful thoughts. He says: The thing proposed is not so wicked. God\nwill not be so angry with you. He can afford to be patient with you,\nyou still love the Gospel. With such suggestions as these he carries\nyou away and plunges you under God's fearful anger and condemnation.\n\n64. If you would withstand these wiles, there can be no other plan or\ncounsel than this: Fight with God's Word in firm faith against these\nsuggestions and allurements. Further, keep in mind both your former\nmisery and your present treasures of grace. Remember how you were\nonce under God's wrath when, without fear of God and without faith,\nyou were the devil's own, subject to all his will, and must have\nperished had not God, in boundless goodness, forgiven you your sin\nand bestowed on you his grace. And now give heed that you may not\nlose this treasure, to which end the Holy Spirit has been promised\nyou. You need not succumb if you remain in faith. Again, if you\nexperience weakness and suffer want, you are bidden to call upon him,\ncertain that he will hear you. The promise is: \"If ye shall ask\nanything of the Father, he will give it you in my name,\" Jn 16, 23.\nAlso: \"If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatsoever\nye will, and it shall be done unto you,\" Jn 15, 7.\n\n65. Peter would, with his admonitions, make Christians bold and\nconfident for resisting the temptations of the devil and defending\nthemselves. He would not have us feel terrified nor despair before\nSatan, even though that wicked one press us hard through the\ninstrumentality of the world and of our own flesh, as well as by his\ndirect onslaughts. We are not to fear though he seem too strong for\nus, and though surrender to his prowess seems inevitable. We are to\nhave a manly heart and fight valiantly through faith. We must be\nassured that, if we remain firm in the faith, we shall have strength\nand final victory. The devil shall not defeat us; we shall prove\nsuperior to him.\n\nWe have been called of God and made Christians to the end that we\nrenounce the devil and contend against him, and thus maintain God's\nname, Word, and kingdom against him. Christ, our head, has already,\nin himself, smitten and destroyed for us the devil and his power. In\naddition, he gives us faith and the Holy Spirit, whereby we can\nwholly defeat Satan's further wickedness and his attempts to\noverthrow us.\n\n66. A Christian should bear all this in mind, I say, and learn to\nexperience the strength and power of faith. So will he not yield to\ntemptation and enticement. Nor will he, from love of the devil or the\nworld, to his own eternal hurt, and for the sake of small temporal\nadvantage, pleasure, or honor, cast from him God's grace and the Holy\nSpirit, and put himself again under God's eternal anger and\ncondemnation.\n\nIV. \"Knowing that the same sufferings are accomplished in your\nbrethren who are in the world.\"\n\n67. This is a very precious and comforting passage, the truth of\nwhich Peter learned not only by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, but\nfrom his own experience. One instance of his experience was when, in\nthe high-priest's house, he thrice denied his Lord, and soon\nthereafter fell into such anxiety and despair that he would have\nfollowed the traitor Judas had not Christ turned and looked on him.\nIt was for this reason that Christ, so soon after his resurrection,\nfirst of all commanded that the glad tidings should be announced to\nPeter. Christ also said to him, before all this happened: \"Simon, ...\nI made supplication for thee, that thy faith fail not; and do thou,\nwhen once thou hast turned again, establish thy brethren,\" Lk 22,\n31-32.\n\n\nCONDUCT IN SUFFERING.\n\nPeter makes faithful use of the present passage for his readers'\ncomfort: Ye must expect, in the world, says he, to suffer many and\nsevere things, both in temptations of soul and body, against the\nfirst and the second table of the law, Satan lying in wait for you\nwith his deceitful and murderous arts.\n\n68. Weak Christians suffer beyond measure because they are plagued\nand beset so constantly by the devil. Their afflictions so sorely\noppress them that they conclude that no one suffers so severely as do\nthey. Especially does this seem the case in the great spiritual\ntemptations which come to those endowed with peculiar gifts and who\nare called to positions of prominence in the Church. So Paul often\nlaments his great temptations, which the common people do not\nunderstand and cannot endure. God, moreover, is careful to lay on\neach one just the cross he is able to carry. Still these sufferings\nare such that even the great and strong must languish and wither\nbeneath them were it not for the comfort God bestows. These troubles\ngrip the heart, and consume the very marrow, as the Psalms often\nlament.\n\n69. Some of those living in cloisters, and other pious, tender\nconsciences, have learned by experience how hard such burdens are to\nbear, especially in the darkness of the papacy, where they receive\nbut little genuine comfort. There are, also, some inexperienced and\nforward spirits who have seen but have not understood these things,\nand who yet desire to be regarded as people of large experience.\nWhen, however, the test comes, they are found wanting. It is related\nof one of this class, who heard others bemoaning their temptations,\nthat he prayed God to let temptation visit him also; whereupon God\npermitted him to be tempted with carnal lust. But when he found he\ncould not bear it, he again prayed God, asking that the burden of his\nbrother, whom he regarded inferior to himself, be given him. But when\nthis request was granted, he prayed yet more earnestly that God would\ngive him back his former burden.\n\n70. Amid such temptations Peter comforts suffering Christians by\ntelling them that they are not the first, nor the only ones, to be\nthus assailed. They are not to feel as if it were a wonderful, rare,\nunheard of cross which they bear, or that they bear it alone. They\nare to know that their brethren, the Christians of all times, and\nscattered through all the world, must, because they are in the world,\nsuffer the same things at the hand of Satan and his minions. It\nassuages and comforts beyond measure for the sufferer to know that he\ndoes not suffer alone, but with a great multitude.\n\n71. It is true that in external temptations this comfort is easily\ngrasped, because of the knowledge of others' experiences. But when\nSatan assails thee alone with his poisonous darts--for example, when\nhe tempts thee to doubt God's grace, as if thou alone hadst been cast\noff; or when he suggests horrible blasphemies, hatred of God,\ncondemnation of his government, and so tortures and fills with\nanguish thy heart that thou art led to think that no man on earth is\nmore fearfully assailed than thyself--then there is need to make use\nof this comfort which Peter offers thee and all Christians. In other\nwords, Peter would say: \"My friend, let not the devil and thy\nsufferings terrify thee or lead thee to despair. Thou shouldst know\nthis for a certainty, that thou sufferest not alone. No matter how\nshamefully he attacks thee, he has done and is doing the same to\nothers.\"\n\nThe devil seeks, not only our own destruction, but also that of all\nChristendom. It is ever his purpose to tear out of men's hearts, in\nthe midst of their sufferings, God's Word and faith. He would rob\nthem of their comfort in Christ, and depict God in the most horrible\nand hostile light, that the heart may have not one kind thought\nregarding him. And he can do this; not only with lofty, refined,\nsubtle thoughts, but also by gross suggestions from without, before\nwhich a man must fear and shudder. I, myself, saw and heard a girl\nwho complained of a temptation of this nature; namely, that while she\nstood in the church and saw the sacrament elevated, the thought\noccurred to her: Lo, what a big knave the priest is elevating. And\nshe was suddenly so frightened at the terrible thought that she sank\nto the floor.\n\n72. Such terror and anxiety proceed from the fact that one imagines\nthat no one else has ever experienced such dreadful assaults. He\nthinks he has a special, strange, and unusual affliction. Although it\nis true that men's temptations differ and come from different sources\nand one may imagine his own a peculiar kind, yet the sufferings and\ntemptations of all Christians are alike in this, that the devil tries\nto drive them all from the fear and confidence of God into unbelief,\ncontempt, hatred, and blasphemy against God. Therefore, the apostles\nare accustomed to call Christians' sufferings a fellowship in pain\nand tribulations. They point all men who suffer to the agonies of\nChrist our Lord, as the head and exemplar. Peter says in his first\nepistle, ch. 1, 11: \"The Spirit of Christ ... testified beforehand\nthe sufferings of Christ, and the glories that should follow them.\"\nAnd Paul says, \"I fill up on my part that which is lacking of the\nafflictions of Christ in my flesh,\" Col 1, 24.\n\n73. If one would speak of specially severe sufferings, surely no\nhuman heart can comprehend, much less tell, how great and heavy were\nthe anxiety and sorrow of our first parents on account of their\nmiserable fall. And what sorrow must Adam have witnessed during the\nnine hundred years of his life in the experiences of his first son\nCain, and his children! No man has ever borne such a burden as lay on\nboth parents for nearly a hundred years after Abel's death, until\ntheir third son was born. Truly, these nine hundred years were a\nperiod of sorrow and misery.\n\nPerhaps, on the last day, we shall discuss with this our father the\nsolitary suffering of that time, of which we know nothing. And we\nshall willingly confess that in sorrow's school he stands far above\nus and we have been only insignificant pupils. It must have been most\nsevere and dangerous for him, since he had no example before him of\nsimilar suffering with which to comfort himself.\n\n74. Likewise, if thou couldst rightly understand what the other holy\npatriarchs, the prophets and apostles--especially Paul and Peter--and\nlater all the beloved martyrs and saints, have endured thou wouldst\nbe forced to say that all thy temptation and suffering are nothing in\ncomparison. But above all these must we reckon the experiences of the\nLord Christ, whose heart was so pierced by Satan's fiery darts and\nbitter thrusts that the bloody drops of sweat were pressed out of his\nbody. He has gone before and surpassed us on the way of sorrow. We,\nwith all our suffering, can only follow his footsteps.\n\n\nOF TEMPTATION.\n\n75. Therefore, learn well this saying of Peter, and think not that\nthou alone endurest this severe, fearful temptation and these\nonslaughts of the devil. Remember that thy brethren, not only they\nwho are dead--who also have set thee a good example--but also those\nwho live with thee in the world, have suffered and do suffer such\nterror and distress. For they have the very same enemy Christ and all\nChristendom have. Thou canst be glad and shout: God be praised! I am\nnot the only one that suffers, but with me there is a great\nmultitude, all Christians on earth, my beloved brothers and sisters,\neven down to the last who shall walk this earth. And in this passage\nPeter comforts and strengthens me, as Christ commanded him, who also\nhas tasted of these sorrows, and, indeed, in far greater measure than\nI and others have.\n\n76. I have at times thought, in my trials, that I should like to\nargue with Peter and Paul as to whether they were tried more severely\nthan I. For, when he can do nothing else, the devil resorts to the\nplan of leading a man to fix his attention solely on his own\naffliction, and oppresses him with the thought: No man has been so\ncast off by God, or has sunk so deep into anxiety and distress. The\ndevil has often so wearied me with such arguments that at length I\ncould offer no further opposition to him, but simply turned him over\nto Christ, who can quickly silence him with arguments. If we have not\nChrist with us, Satan proves far too strong for us. We cannot silence\nhim. He soon renders helpless all our skill, and slays us with our\nown sword.\n\n77. Ah, these seditious leaders and other self-secure spirits are\npoor, miserable people, who know nothing at all of this conflict!\nThey drown in their own imaginations, and think they are perfect. And\nsome of them are so shameless and without fear as to blaspheme,\nsaying that God himself could not take their virtue from them. The\ndevil simply strengthens them in these thoughts, and hardens them the\nmore. This very thing is a sign that they do not yet know the devil;\nthey are already blinded and taken captive by him, so that he can\nruin them when he pleases.\n\n78. Genuine Christians are not thus self-confident and boastful when\nthey are attacked. In severe conflicts and anxieties they labor that\nthe devil may not deprive them of the sword. I know that I am learned\nand have seen something of what the devil can do; but I must bear him\nwitness, from my daily experience, that he can overcome me unless I\nam well established in faith and have Christ in my heart. Thomas\nMunzer was so firm and inflexible, as he thought, that he dared to\nsay that he would not behold Christ, if he did not himself wish to\nspeak with him. But at last, when the devil began to attack him, men\nsaw what his pride and boasts were. No, they are not the ones to\naccomplish anything, who go about so boastful, as if they had\nconsumed the devil. They do not see that they, themselves, were long\nsince devoured seven times over by him and are held fast in his jaws.\n\n79. The heretic Arius was also secure and proud enough against the\npious bishops and Christians. Yea, when he was punished for his error\nby his bishop, and admonished to desist, he became the more\nobstinate. He complained about the bitter persecution to which he was\nsubjected. But his suffering was that they would not approve his\nhorrible blasphemy. Just so in every age the heretics and\nblasphemers, yea, even open murderers and tyrants, pose as martyrs\nwhen they are not permitted to run against God's Word and against\npious people. So confident do they try to be that they have no fear\nof God. They count the devil a dead bee until, at length, he suddenly\nseizes and destroys them in a moment.\n\n80. But the poor, tempted Christians have need of the comfort and the\nstrength furnished by God's Word. They must anxiously contend lest\nthey lose, in their hours of severe temptation, God, Christ, faith,\nand Our Father. Therefore, the mission intrusted to Peter, to\nstrengthen his brethren, is most needful. So the same comfort was\nnecessary in his own temptations, and he was even given it beforehand\nby Christ, who declared that he had prayed for him that his faith\nmight not be extinguished nor fail, which faith, however, from the\ntime of his denial on to the third day did almost die, and scarcely\nthe smallest spark remained.\n\nHence he now, as a true apostle, comforts those who are in the like\nfears and straits of a sinking and expiring faith. He says to all the\nsuffering and comfortless: My dear brother, think not that thou alone\nsufferest distress and temptation. Many of thy brethren have suffered\nquite as heavily, perhaps more heavily. I, myself, have been as weak\nas thou canst ever be. If thou dost not believe this, look and see\nwhat occurred in the house of Caiaphas, the high-priest, when I, who\nprotested my readiness to go with Christ into prison and death, at a\nword spoken to me by a maid, fell, and denied and abjured most\nshamefully my beloved Lord. For three whole days I lay in misery. I\nhad no one to comfort me and none who suffered equally with myself. I\nhad no consolation except that my dear Master gave me, with his eyes,\none friendly look.\n\n81. Therefore, no one should regard his distress and need as too\nheavy and fearful, as if it were an entirely new thing, something\nwhich had never been experienced by others. To thee it may be\nsomething new and untried. But look about thee, at the great\nmultitude of the Church, from the beginning until this hour. The\nChurch has been set in the world to suffer the attacks of the devil,\nand without ceasing it must be sifted as wheat, as Christ's words\nsuggest, Luke 22, 31.\n\nMy friend, thou hast not yet seen nor experienced what our first\nparents endured their whole life long, and after them all the holy\nfathers until Christ. Peter, also, has been farther in this school\nthan I and thou, and I would say that the same temptation as his\ncould hardly be found. Paul says of him and the beloved apostles (1\nCor 4, 9): \"For, I think, God hath set forth us the apostles last of\nall, as men doomed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the\nworld, both to angels and men\"--so that Satan may torment us\naccording to his will, and thus work out his pleasure upon us. And\nwhat are the sufferings of all men combined when compared with\nChrist's agony and conflict, in that he sweat blood for thee?\n\n82. When the devil plagues and assails thee with his manifold\ntemptations, refer him to Christ, with whom to dispute about the\nsevere temptations, the death struggle, the anguish of hell, etc.\nComfort thyself that thou art one of a great company of sufferers,\npast present and future. O beautiful, glorious company! All under one\nlord and head, who took from the devil his power and hell-fire. In\nshort, thy affliction cannot prove so great that thou wilt not find\nit paralleled in the lives of the apostles, prophets, patriarchs and\nall the saints, especially of Christ himself; with whom, if we\nsuffer, let us not doubt, says Paul, that we shall \"be also\nglorified,\" Rom 8, 17.\n\n\n\n\n_Fourth Sunday After Trinity_\n\nText: Romans 8, 18-22.\n\n18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not\nworthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to\nus-ward. 19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for\nthe revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected\nto vanity not of its own will, but by reason of him who subjected it,\nin hope 21 that the creation itself also shall be delivered from the\nbondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children\nof God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and\ntravaileth in pain together until now.\n\n\nCONSOLATION IN SUFFERING, AND PATIENCE.[1]\n\n[Footnote 1: This sermon was first printed in 1535, at Wittenberg.]\n\n1. Paul's language here is peculiar. He speaks in a manner wholly\ndifferent from the other apostles. There is something particularly\nstrange about the first sentences of the passage. His words must be\nfaithfully studied and their meaning learned by personal experience.\nThe Christian life consists altogether in the practice and experience\nof what the Word of God tells us. He who has no experimental\nknowledge of the Word will have but little conception and\nappreciation of Paul's words here. Indeed, they will be wholly\nunintelligible to him.\n\n2. Up to the point where our text begins, Paul has been assuring us\nin this epistle that through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ we attain\nthe high privilege of calling God our Father; that the Holy Spirit\nbears witness in our hearts of our sonship, and makes us bold enough\nto come, by faith in Christ the Mediator, joyfully before God,\ntrusting him to fill and bless us. Then Paul draws the conclusion,\nfirst, that we are children of God; next, he says: \"If children, then\nheirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ.\" The second\nconclusion is the outcome of the first. For the reason that we have\nthe boldness and assurance to call God our Father in sincerity and\nnothing doubting, we are become not only children but heirs, heirs of\nGod and brethren to Christ, joint-heirs with him. But all this, as\nPaul says, is true \"if so be that we suffer with him\" (verse 17).\n\n3. The high prerogative of heirship, Paul faithfully enjoins, is\ndependent on a sacred duty. Let him who would be Christ's brother,\nand joint-heir with him, remember he must also be a joint-martyr and\njoint-sufferer with Christ. The apostle's meaning is: Many are the\nChristians, indeed, who would be joint-heirs with Christ and gladly\nenjoy the privilege of sharing his inheritance, but who object to\nsuffering with him; they separate themselves from him because\nunwilling to participate in his pain. But Paul says this will not do.\nThe inheritance follows only as a consequence of the suffering. Since\nChrist, our dear Lord and Savior, had to suffer before he could be\nglorified, we must be martyrs with him, with him be mocked by the\nworld, despised, spit upon, crowned with thorns and put to death,\nbefore the inheritance will be ours. It cannot be otherwise.\n\nA consistent sympathy is essential to Christian faith and doctrine.\nHe who would be Christ's brother and fellow-heir must also suffer\nwith him. He who would live with Christ must first die with him. The\nmembers of a family not only enjoy good together but also share in\ntheir ills. As the saying is, \"He who would be a companion in eating\nmust also be a companion in labor.\"\n\n4. Paul would earnestly admonish us not to become false Christians\nwho look to find in Christ mere pleasure and enjoyment, but to\nremember that if we are to participate in the \"eternal weight of\nglory\" we must first bear the \"light affliction, which is for the\nmoment.\" 2 Cor 4, 17.\n\nBy the words \"if so be that we suffer with him\" the writer means that\nwe are to do more than exercise the sympathy that grieves over\nanother's misfortune, though such sympathy is binding upon Christians\nand is a superior Christian virtue, a work of mercy: we ourselves\nmust suffer, non solum affectu, sed etiam effectu, that is, we are\noverwhelmed by like sufferings. As Christ our Lord was persecuted, we\nalso must endure persecution. As the devil harassed him, we also must\nbe harassed unceasingly. And so Satan does torment true Christians.\nIndeed, were it not for the restraining hand of the Lord our God, the\ndevil would suffer us to have no peace. Paul has reference to a\nheartfelt sympathy intense enough to enter into actual suffering. He\nsays to the Hebrews (ch. 10, 32-33): \"Ye endured a great conflict of\nsufferings; partly, being made a gazing stock both by reproaches and\nafflictions.\"\n\n5. And in the verse preceding our text he tells us that as our\nblissful inheritance through brotherhood and joint-heirship with\nChrist is not a mere fancy and false hope of the heart, but a real\ninheritance, so our sympathy must amount to real suffering, which we\ntake upon ourselves as befitting joint-heirs. Now Paul comforts the\nChristian in his sufferings with the authority of one who speaks from\nexperience, from thorough acquaintance with his subject. He seems to\nview this life as through obscurities, while beholding the life to\ncome with clear and unobstructed vision. He says:\n\n\"For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy\nto be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us-ward [in\nus].\"\n\n6. Notice how he turns his back to the world and his face to the\nfuture revelation, as if seeing no suffering anywhere, but all joy.\n\"Even if it does go ill with us,\" he would argue, \"what indeed is our\nsuffering in comparison with the unspeakable joy and glory to be\nrevealed in us? It is too insignificant to be compared and unworthy\nto be called suffering.\" We fail to realize the truth of these words\nbecause we do not see with our bodily eyes the supreme glory awaiting\nus; because we fail to grasp fully the fact that we shall never die\nbut shall have a body that cannot suffer nor be ill. If one could\nconceive the nature of this reward he would be compelled to say:\n\"Were it possible for me to suffer ten deaths by fire or flood, that\nwould be nothing in comparison to the future life of glory. What is\ntemporal suffering, however protracted, contrasted with eternal life?\nIt is not worthy to be called suffering or to be esteemed\nmeritorious.\"\n\n7. In this light does Paul regard suffering, as he says, and he\nadmonishes Christians to look upon it similarly. Then shall they find\nthe infinite beyond all comparison with the finite. What is a single\npenny measured by a world of dollars? though this is not an\nappropriate comparison since the things compared are both perishable.\nThe suffering of the world is always to be counted as nothing\nmeasured by the glorious and eternal possessions yet to be ours. \"I\nentreat you, therefore, beloved brethren,\" Paul would say, \"to fear\nno sufferings, not even should it be your lot to be slain. For if you\nare actually joint-heirs, it must be your fortune, a part of your\ninheritance, to suffer with others. But what is your pain measured by\nthe eternal glory prepared for you and obtained by the sacrifice of\nyour Savior Jesus Christ? It is too insignificant to be contrasted.\"\nSo Paul makes all earthly suffering infinitely small--a drop, a tiny\nspark, so to speak; but of yonder hoped-for glory he makes a\nboundless ocean, an illimitable flame.\n\n8. Why cannot we take his view of the insignificance of our\nafflictions and the magnitude of the future glory? The extravagance\nof our conduct is apparent in the fact that but a harsh word uttered\nby one to his fellow will make the injured one ready to overturn\nmountains and uproot trees in his resentment. To them who are so\nunwilling to suffer, Paul's word of encouragement here is wholly\nunintelligible. Christians are not to conduct themselves in this\nimpatient manner. It ill becomes them to make extravagant complaint\nand outcry about injustice. \"But,\" you say, \"I have truly suffered\ninjustice.\" Very well, so be it. But why do you make so much of your\nsufferings and never give a thought to what awaits you in heaven? Why\nnot exalt the future glory also? If you desire to be a Christian,\ntruly it will not do to conduct yourself in this impatient manner. If\nyou must air your grievances, surely you may do it quietly and\ndecorously.\n\n9. In this life it must be otherwise than in the life of glory. If\nyou essay to be a joint-heir with the Lord Jesus Christ and do not\nsuffer with him, to be his brother and are not like unto him, Christ\ncertainly will not at the last day acknowledge you as a brother and\nfellow-heir. Rather he will ask where are your crown of thorns, your\ncross, the nails and scourge; whether you have been, as he and his\nfollowers ever have from the beginning of time, an abomination to the\nworld. If you cannot qualify in this respect, he cannot regard you as\nhis brother. In short, we must all suffer with the Son of God and be\nmade like unto him, as we shall see later, or we shall not be exalted\nwith him in glory.\n\n10. Upon this same topic Paul addresses also the Galatians (ch. 6,\n17): Henceforth let no one confuse me, say nothing to me about the\ndoctrine that friendship is rewarded on earth; for I bear branded on\nmy body the marks of my Lord Jesus Christ. His reference is to the\nsigns in ancient paintings of Christ, where the Savior was\nrepresented as bearing his cross upon his shoulders, with the nails,\nthe scourge, the crown of thorns and other emblems in evidence. These\nmarks or signs, Paul instructs, all Christians as well as himself\nmust exhibit, not painted on a wall but branded in their flesh and\nblood. They are made when inwardly the devil affrights and assails us\nwith all manner of terrors and overwhelming afflictions, and at the\nsame time outwardly the world slanders us as heretics, laying her\nhand to our throats whenever possible and putting us to death.\n\n\nTHE REWARD.\n\nSuch marks, or scars, for Christ the Lord, Paul admonishes all\nChristians to exhibit. Thus he encourages them not to be terrified\nthough they suffer every conceivable wrong, such as our brethren here\nand there have suffered now for several years. But brighter days are\nin store for us when once the hour of our enemies and the power of\ndarkness shall come. Our adversaries annoy us now with malignant\nwords and slanderous writings, and indeed they may take our lives. So\nbe it. We must in any event suffer if we are ever to attain true\nglory. But what they will secure by putting us to death they\ncertainly shall experience.\n\n11. In Paul's reference to the glory that shall be revealed in us\nthere is a hint as to the cause of man's unwillingness to suffer:\nfaith is yet weak and fails to descry the hidden glory; that glory is\nyet to be revealed in us. Could we but behold it with mortal vision,\nwhat noble, patient martyrs we should be! Suppose one stood on yonder\nside of the Elbe with a chest full of gold, offering it to him who\nshould venture to swim across for it. What an effort would be made\nfor the sake of that tangible wealth!\n\n12. Take the case of the adventurous officer. For a few dollars per\nmonth he defies spears and guns, exposing himself to almost certain\ndeath. The merchant hurries to and fro in the world in a frenzied\neffort to amass riches, hazarding life and limb, apparently careless\nof physical cost so long as God's mercy preserves to him but the\nshattered hulk of a body. And what must not one endure at court\nbefore he realizes, if he ever does, the fulfilment of his ambition?\n\nIn temporal things man can do and suffer everything for the sake of\nhonor, wealth and power, because these are manifest to earthly\nvision. But in the spiritual conflict, because the reward is not\ndiscernible to the senses it is very difficult for the old man in us\nto believe that God will finally grant us glorious bodies, pure souls\nand hearts of gladness, and make us superior to any earthly king.\nIndeed, the very reverse of this condition obtains now. Here is one\ncondemned as a heretic; there one is burned or in some other way put\nto death. Glory, wealth and honor are not in evidence now. So it\nseems hard for us to resign ourselves to suffering and wait for the\nredemption and glory yet unrevealed.\n\nAgain, no hardship is too great for the world to undergo for the sake\nof sordid gain; it willingly suffers whatever comes for that which\nmoth and rust consume and thieves steal.\n\n13. Paul means to say: \"I am certain there is reserved for us\nexceeding glory, in comparison wherewith all earthly suffering is\nactually of no consideration; only it is not yet manifest.\" If we\nhave to face the slightest gale of adversity, or if a trifling\nmisfortune befalls us, we begin to make outcry, filling the heavens\nwith our false complaint of a terrible calamity. Were our faith\ntriumphant, we would regard it but as a small inconvenience to\nsuffer, even for thirty or forty years or longer; indeed, we should\nthink our sufferings too trifling to be taken into account. May the\nLord our God only forbear to reckon with us for the sins we have\ncommitted! Why will we have so much to say about great sufferings and\ntheir merits? How utterly unworthy we are of the free grace and\nineffable glory which are ours in the fact that through Christ we\nbecome children and heirs of God, brethren and joint-heirs with\nChrist!\n\nWell may we resolve: \"I will maintain a cheerful silence about my\nsufferings, boasting not of them nor complaining about them. I will\npatiently endure all my merciful God sends upon me, meanwhile\nrendering him my heartfelt gratitude for calling me to such\nsurpassing grace and blessing.\" But, as I said, the vision of glory\nwill not enter our hearts because of our weak and miserable flesh,\nwhich allows itself to be more influenced by the present than by the\nfuture. So the Holy Spirit must be our schoolmaster to bring the\nmatter home to our hearts.\n\n14. Note particularly how Paul expressly states that the glory is to\nbe revealed in us. He would remind us that not only such as Peter or\nPaul are to participate in the blessing, as we are prone to believe,\nbut that we and all Christians are included in the word \"us.\" Indeed,\neven the merest babe obtains at death, wherein it is a joint-sufferer\nwith mankind, this unspeakable glory, which the Lord Jesus into whose\ndeath it was baptized has purchased and bestowed upon it. Though in\nthe life beyond one saint may have more glory than another, yet all\nwill have the same eternal life. Here on earth men differ in point of\nstrength, comeliness, intellect, yet all enjoy the same animal life.\nSo in the other life there will be degrees of radiance or glory, as\nPaul teaches (1 Cor 15, 41), yet all will share the same eternal\nhappiness and joy; there will be one glory for all, for we shall all\nbe the children of God.\n\n15. Now the first point of consolation is that we turn our backs upon\nall suffering, saying: \"What is all my pain, though it were tenfold\ngreater, compared to the eternal life unto which I am baptized, to\nwhich I am called? My sufferings are not worthy to be so termed in\nconnection with the exceeding glory to be revealed in me.\" Paul\nmagnifies the future glory to make the temporal sufferings the more\ninsignificant. Then follows:\n\n\"For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the\nrevealing [manifestation] of the sons of God. For the creation was\nsubjected to vanity, not of its own will, but by reason of him who\nsubjected it, in hope: [For the creature was made subject to vanity,\nnot willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in\nhope;]\"\n\n16. Here is the second point of consolation. Paul holds up as an\nexample to us the condition of the whole creation. He exhorts us to\nendure patiently, as the creature does, all the violence and\ninjustice we suffer from the devil and the world, and to comfort\nourselves with the hope of future redemption. Remarkable doctrine\nthis, unlike anything elsewhere found in the Scriptures, that heaven\nand earth, sun, moon and stars, leaf and blade, every living thing,\nwaits with sighing and groaning for the revelation of our glory.\n\n\nTHE TRAVAIL OF CREATION.\n\n17. Such sighing and agony of the creature is not audible to me, nor\nis it to you. But Paul tells us he sees and hears it, not expressed\nby one creature alone, but by all God has made. What does he mean?\nWhat is the sighing and longing of creation? It is not that annually\nthe leaves wither and the fruits fall and decay: God purposes that\nevery year new fruits shall grow; he decrees the shattering of the\nfallen tree. But Paul refers to the creature's unwilling subjection\nto the ungodly; \"subject to vanity,\" he phrases it.\n\nFor instance, the blessed sun, most glorious of created things,\nserves the small minority of the godly, but where it shines on one\ngodly man it must shine on thousands and thousands of knaves, such as\nenemies of God, blasphemers, persecutors, with whom the world is\nfilled; also murderers, robbers, thieves, adulterers. To these it\nmust minister in all their ungodliness and wickedness, permitting its\npure and glorious influence to benefit the most unworthy, most\nshameful and abandoned profligates. According to the apostle, this\nsubjection is truly painful, and were the sun a rational creature\nobeying its own volition rather than the decree of the Lord God who\nhas subjected it to vanity against its will, it might deny every one\nof these wicked wretches even the least ray of light; that it is\ncompelled to minister to them is its cross and pain, by reason of\nwhich it sighs and groans.\n\nJust as we Christians endure many kinds of injustice and consequently\nsigh for and implore help and deliverance in the Lord's prayer, so do\nthe creatures sigh. Although they have not human utterance, yet they\nhave speech intelligible to God and the Holy Spirit, who mark the\ncreatures' sighs over their unjust abuse by the ungodly.\n\n18. Nowhere else in the Holy Scriptures do we find anything like\nPaul's declaration here concerning the earnest expectation and\nwaiting of the creatures for the revelation of the children of God;\nwhich waiting the apostle characterizes as a sighing in eager desire\nfor man's redemption. A little later he compares the state of the\ncreature to a woman in travail, saying it cries out in its anguish.\nThe sun, moon and stars, the heavens and earth, the bread we eat, the\nwater or wine we drink, the cattle and sheep, in short, all things\nthat minister to our comfort, cry out in accusation against the world\nbecause they are subjected to vanity and must suffer with Christ and\nhis brethren. This accusing cry is beyond human power to express, for\nGod's created things are innumerable. Rightly was it said from the\npulpit in former times that on the last day all creatures will utter\nan accusing cry against the ungodly who have shown them abuse here on\nearth, and will call them tyrants to whom they were unjustly\nsubjected.\n\n19. Paul presents this example of the creatures for the comfort of\nChristians. His meaning is: Be not sorrowful because of your\nsufferings; they are small indeed when the ensuing transcendent glory\nis considered. You are not alone in your tribulation and your\ncomplaint at injustice; the whole creation suffers with you and cries\nout against its subjection to the wicked world. Every bleat of the\nflock, every low of the herd, is an outcry against the ungodly as\nenemies of God and not worthy to enjoy the creatures' ministrations;\nnot even to receive a morsel of bread or a drink of water. Along this\nline St. Augustine is eloquent. \"A miserly wretch,\" he says, \"is\nunworthy the bread he eats, for he is an enemy of God.\"\n\nPaul tells us the whole creation groans and travails with us, as if\ndesiring relief from anguish; that it suffers like a woman in\ntravail. For instance: the heavenly planets would gladly be freed\nfrom serving, yes, in the extent of their anguish would willingly\nsuffer eclipse; the earth would readily become unfruitful; all waters\nwould voluntarily sink from sight and deny the wicked world a\ndraught; the sheep would prefer to produce thorns for the ungodly\ninstead of wool; the cow would willingly yield them poison rather\nthan milk. But they must perform their appointed work, Paul says,\nbecause of him who has subjected them in hope. God will finally\nanswer the cry of creation; he has already determined that after the\nsix thousand years of its existence now passed, the world shall have\nits evening and end.\n\n20. Had not our parents sinned in paradise, the world would never be\ndissolved. But since man has fallen in sin, we all--the whole\ncreation--must suffer the consequence; because of our sins, creation\nmust be subjected to vanity and dissolution. During the six thousand\nyears, which are as nothing compared to eternal life, all created\nthings must be under the power of a condemned world, and compelled to\nserve with all their energies until God shall overthrow the entire\nworld and for the elect's sake purify again and renew the creature,\nas Peter teaches. 2 Pet 3, 13.\n\n21. The sun is by no means as gloriously brilliant as when created.\nBecause of man's ungodliness its brightness is to an extent dimmed.\nBut on the day of visitation God will cleanse and purify it by fire\n(2 Pet 3, 10), giving it a greater glory than it had in the\nbeginning. Because it must suffer in our sins, and is obliged to\nshine as well for the worst knave as the godly man, even for more\nknaves than godly men, it longs intensely for the day when it shall\nbe cleansed and shall serve the righteous alone with its light.\n\nNeither would the earth produce thistles nor thorns were it not\ncursed for our sins. So it, with all creatures, longs for the day\nwhen it shall be changed and renewed.\n\n22. This is the explanation of Paul's remarkable declaration\nconcerning the \"earnest expectation of the creation.\" The creature\ncontinually regards the end of service, and freedom from slavery to\nthe ungodly. This event will not take place before the revealing of\nthe sons of God; therefore the earnestly expectant creation desires\nthat revelation to come without delay, at any moment. Until such\nmanifestation the world will not consider godly souls as children of\nthe Father, but as children of the devil. So it boldly abuses and\nslanders, persecutes and puts to death, God's beloved children,\nthinking it thereby does God service. In consequence the whole\ncreation cries: \"Oh, for a speedy end of this calamity, and the\ndawning of glory for the children of God!\"\n\n23. We have plain authority for the interpretation of the groaning of\ncreation in Paul's further words, \"the creation was subjected to\nvanity, not of its own will.\" He thus makes all creation--sun and\nmoon, fire, air, water, heaven and earth with all they\ncontain--merely poor, captive servants. And whom do they serve? Not\nour Lord God; not for the most part his children, for they are a\nminority among those ministered unto. To whom, then, is their service\ngiven? To the wicked--to vanity. The created things are not, as they\nwould be, in righteous service. The sun, for instance, would choose\nto shine for Paul, Peter and other godly ones. It begrudges to wicked\ncharacters like Judas, Pilate, Herod, Annas and Caiaphas the least\nray of light; for it is useless service, yielding no good. To serve\nPeter and Paul would be productive of pleasure and profit; well may\nits benefit be bestowed upon these godly ones. But the sun must shine\nas well for the wicked as for the ungodly. Indeed, where it fittingly\nserves one godly individual, thousands abuse its service.\n\nThe case is similar with gold and other minerals, and with all the\narticles of food, drink and clothing. To whom do these minister?\nWicked desperadoes, who in return blaspheme and dishonor God, condemn\nhis holy Gospel and murder his Christians. This is wasted service.\n\n24. So Paul says, \"The creature was made subject to vanity;\" it must\nrender service against its consent, having no pleasure therein. The\nsun does not shine for the purpose of lighting a highway robber to\nmurder. It would light him in godly deeds and errands of mercy; but\nsince he follows not these things the service of the blessed sun is\nabused and that creature ministers with sincere unwillingness. But\nhow is it to avoid service?\n\nA wicked tyrant, a shameful harlot, may wear gold ornaments. Is the\ngold responsible for its use? It is the good creature of the Lord our\nGod and fitted to serve righteous people. But the precious product\nmust submit to accommodating the wicked world against its will. Yet\nit endures in hope of an end of such service--such slavery. Therein\nit obeys God. God has imposed the obligation, that man may know him\nas a merciful God and Father, who, as Christ teaches (Mt 5, 45),\nmakes his sun to rise on the evil and the good. For the Father's sake\nthe blessed sun serves wickedness, performing its service and\nbestowing its favors in vain. But God in his own good time will\nreckon with those who abuse the glorious sunlight and other\ncreatures, and will richly recompense the created things for their\nservice.\n\n25. Beloved, Paul thus traces the holy cross among all creatures;\nheaven and earth and all they contain suffer with us. So we must not\ncomplain and excessively grieve when we fare ill. We must patiently\nwait for the redemption of our bodies and for the glory which is to\nbe revealed in us; especially when we know that all creatures groan\nin anguish, like a woman in travail, longing for the revealing of the\nsons of God. For then shall begin their redemption, when they shall\nnot be slaves to wickedness but shall willingly and with delight\nserve God's children only. In the meantime they bear the cross for\nthe sake of God, who has subjected them in hope. Thus we are assured\nthat captivity will not endure forever, but a time must come when the\ncreatures will be delivered.\n\n\"Do ye likewise, beloved Christians,\" Paul would advise, \"and reflect\nthat as the creature will rejoice with you on the last day, so does\nit now mourn with you; that not you alone must suffer, but the whole\ncreation suffers with you and awaits your redemption, a redemption so\ngreat and glorious as to make your sufferings unworthy to be\nconsidered.\"\n\n\n\n\n_Fourth Sunday After Trinity_\n\nSecond Sermon. Text: Romans 8, 18-22.\n\n\nREDEMPTION OF THE CREATURES.\n\n1. We have heard how Paul comforts the Christians in their\nsufferings, pointing them to the future inconceivable and eternal\nglory to be revealed in us in the world to come; and how he has, for\nour greater consolation, reminded us that the whole creation as one\nbeing suffers in company with the Christian Church. We have noted how\nhe sees, with the clear, keen eye of an apostle, the holy cross in\nevery creature. He brings out this thought prominently, telling us it\nis not strange we Christians should suffer, for in our preaching, our\nreproving and rebuking, we easily merit the world's persecution; but\ncreation must suffer being innocent, must even endure forced\nsubjection to the wicked and the devil himself.\n\n2. Could the sun voice its experience from Adam's time down, what\nmisery it has witnessed and endured, undoubtedly it would tell of its\nheavy cross in being compelled to serve innumerable adulterers,\nthieves, murderers, in fact, the devil's whole kingdom. Yet it is a\nnoble and admirable work of creation, fit to serve only God, angels\nand pious Christians, who thank God for it. But it must serve those\nwho blaspheme and dishonor God and who are guilty of all wickedness\nand lawlessness. Notwithstanding its dislike of such service, it is\nwith every other created thing obedient to God.\n\n3. This is a fine and comforting thought of the apostle's, that all\ncreatures are martyrs, having to endure unwillingly every sort of\ninjustice. The creatures do not approve the conduct of the devil and\nof the wicked in their shameful abuse of creation, but they submit to\nit for the sake of him who has subjected them to vanity, at the same\ntime hoping for a better dispensation in the fulfilment of time, when\nthey shall again be rightly received and abuse be past. Hence Paul\npoints to another life for all creation, declaring it to be as weary\nof this order as we are and to await a new dispensation. By his\nreference to the earnest expectation of the creature he means that it\ndoes not expect to remain in its present condition, but with us looks\ntoward heaven and hopes for a resurrection from this degraded life\ninto a better one where it will be delivered from the bondage of\ncorruption, as he says later.\n\n4. By these sayings Paul gives us to understand that all creation is\nto attain a perfection far beyond its present state where with us it\nmust be subject to tyrants. These tyrants wantonly abuse our\ncharacters, our bodies, our property rights, just as the devil abuses\nour souls. But we must suffer our lot, remembering that mankind is\ncaptive on earth in the kingdom of the devil, and all creation with\nit. The earth must submit to be trodden and to be cultivated by many\na wicked one, to whom it must yield subsistence. Likewise is this\nsubmission true of the elements--air, fire, water--all creation\nhaving its cross, yet hoping for the end of the dispensation.\n\n5. There is a refined and comforting perception in the apostle's\nexposition where he represents the entire creation as one being, with\nus looking forward to entrance upon another life. We are satisfied\nthat our present life is not all, that we await another and true\nlife. Likewise the sun awaits the restoration coming to it, to the\nearth and all creatures, when they shall be purified from the\ncontaminating abuse of the devil and the world.\n\n6. And this condition is to come about when the children of God are\nrevealed. True, they are God's children on earth, but they have not\nyet entered into their glory. Similarly, the sun is not now in\npossession of its real glory, for it is subject to evil; it awaits\nthe appointed time when its servitude shall cease. With all creation\nand with the true saints it waits and longs, being meanwhile subject\nto vanity--that is, the devil and the wicked world--for the sake of\nGod alone, who subjects, yet leaves hope that the trial shall not\ncontinue forever.\n\n7. We are children of God now on earth. We are blessed if we believe\nand are baptized, as it is written: \"He that believeth and is\nbaptized shall be saved.\" Mk 16, 16. And again: \"As many as received\nhim, to them gave he the right to become children of God, even to\nthem that believe on his name.\" Jn 1, 12. Baptism is a visible rite\nand we behold with mortal vision those who receive it; the Word of\nthe Gospel we hear, and we have in ourselves the witness of the Holy\nSpirit that our faith, however weak, is acceptable to God. But who\namong men recognizes us as children of God? Who will apply the term\nto a class imprisoned and tortured and tormented in every conceivable\nway, as if they were children of the devil, condemned and accursed\nsouls?\n\n8. Not without significance is Paul's assertion that the glory of\nGod's children is now unmanifest but shall be revealed in them. In\nColossians 3, 3-4 he declares: \"Ye died, and your life is hid with\nChrist in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall be manifested,\nthen shall ye also with him be manifested in glory.\" So long as God's\nchildren are here upon earth they are not arrayed in the garb of his\nown, but wear the livery of the devil. It would be fitting for the\nchildren of the devil to be bound, fettered and imprisoned and to\nsuffer all manner of misfortune; but it does not so come to pass.\nThey have the world's pleasures. They are wealthy and powerful, have\nhonor and money in plenty and withal bear God's name and wear the\ngarb of his children, as if having his approval. Meanwhile they\nregard us as heretics and enemies of God. Thus the rightful order of\nthings is reversed: they who are God's appear to be the devil's, and\nthe devil's to be God's. This condition is painful to the pious.\nIndeed, heaven and earth and all creatures cry out in complaining\nprotest, unwilling to be subject to evil and to suffer the abuse of\nthe ungodly; to endure that dishonor of God that opposes the\nhallowing of his name, the extension of his kingdom and the execution\nof his will on earth as in heaven.\n\n9. Because God's children are thus unrevealed and denied their true\ninsignia, all creation, as Paul says, cries out with them for the\nLord God to rend the heavens and come down to distinguish his\nchildren from those of the devil. Considering the unrevealed state of\nGod's own on earth, the ungodly in their great blindness are not able\nto discern them. The doctrine of the righteous which magnifies God's\ngrace manifest in Christ is by the wicked termed error, falsehood,\nheresy and diabolical teaching. So Paul says the whole creation waits\nfor the manifestation of the children of God.\n\n\nTHE CHRISTIAN'S GLORY TO BE REVEALED.\n\nJohn, also, says: \"Beloved, now are we children of God, and it is not\nyet made manifest what we shall be. We know that, if he shall be\nmanifested, we shall be like him.\" 1 Jn 3, 2. That is, when our Lord\nJesus Christ comes with his loved angels and we are drawn up into the\nclouds to meet him in the air, he will bring to God's children a\nglory consistent with their name. They will be far more splendidly\narrayed than were the children of the world in their lifetime, who\nwent about in purple and velvet and ornaments of gold, and as the\nrich man, in silk. Then shall they wear their own livery and shine as\nthe sun in the kingdom of their Father. Such is the wonderful glory\nof the revelation that the radiant beauty of poor Lazarus who lay in\nwretchedness at the rich man's gate surpasses all expectation. Upon\nthis topic, see Wisdom of Solomon, chapter 5, 2ff.\n\n10. The hope of this wonderful glory, Paul says, is ours and that of\nall creation with us, for creation is to be purified and renewed for\nour sakes. Then will we be impressed with the grandeur of the sun,\nthe majesty of the trees and the beauty of the flowers. Having so\nmuch in prospect, we should, in the buoyancy of our hope, attach\nlittle importance to the slight suffering that may be our earthly\nlot. What is it compared to the glory to be revealed in us? Doubtless\nin yonder life we shall reproach ourselves with the thought: \"How\nfoolish I was! I am unworthy to be called the child of God, for I\nesteemed myself all too highly on earth and placed too little value\nupon this surpassing glory and happiness. Were I still in the world\nand with the knowledge I now have of the heavenly glory, I would,\nwere it possible, suffer a thousand years of imprisonment, or endure\nillness, persecution or other misfortunes. Now I have proven true\nthat all the sufferings of the world are nothing measured by the\nglory to be manifested in the children of God.\"\n\n11. We find many, even among nominal Christians, with so little\npatience they scarce can endure a word of criticism, even when well\ndeserved. Rather than suffer from the world some slight reproach,\nsome trifling loss, for the sake of the Gospel, they will renounce\nthat Gospel and Christ. But how will it be in the day of revelation?\nBeloved, let us be wise now and not magnify our temporal sufferings;\nlet us patiently submit to them as does creation, according to Paul's\nteaching. We may imagine the earth saying: \"I permit myself to be\nplowed and cultivated for man's benefit, notwithstanding the\nChristians whom I bless are in the minority, the great mass of those\nprofiting by me being wicked men. What am I to do? I will endure the\nconditions and permit myself to be tilled because my Creator so\norders; meanwhile I hope for a different order eventually, when I\nshall no longer be subject to wickedness and obliged to serve God's\nenemies.\"\n\n12. Peter also alludes to the new order of creation, saying: \"The\nheavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be\ndissolved with fervent heat ... But according to his promise, we look\nfor new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.\" 2\nPet 3, 10 and 13. In other words: Here on earth men as a rule are\ndishonorable and wicked and obey not the will of the Lord God as it\nis done in heaven; but the day will come when only righteousness and\nholiness shall dwell on the earth--none but godly, righteous souls.\nAs in heaven all is righteousness, the devil being banished, so on\nthe last day, Satan and all the ungodly shall be thrust from the\nearth. Then will there be none but holy ones in both heaven and\nearth, who will in fullness of joy possess all things. These will be\nthe elect. This is Peter's meaning in the words, \"According to his\npromise, we look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth\nrighteousness.\" Paul adds that all creation waits with us for the\nrevelation, groaning and crying out in anguish.\n\n13. But Paul protects the creature from condemnation and reproach for\nsinful submission to abuse. He says, in effect: \"True, it is subject\nto vanity, yet not willingly.\" Likewise I do not desire to suffer\nreproach as a heretic and a deceiver, but I endure it for God's sake,\nwho permits it. This attitude on my part does not make me partaker of\nthe sin committed against me by enemies of the truth who reproach me.\nThe case is the same as that of the creature suffering abuse for the\nsake of him who has subjected it. And you Christians are to imitate\nthe example of creation. The sun seems to say: \"Great God, I am thy\ncreature; therefore I will perform, I will suffer, whatsoever is the\ndivine will.\" So when the Lord God sends upon you some affliction and\nsays, \"Endure a little suffering for my sake; I will largely repay\nit,\" you are to say: \"Yes, gladly, blessed Lord. Because it is thy\nwill, I will suffer it with a willing heart.\"\n\n\nOF HOPE.\n\nIt also belongs to the consolation against suffering to be conscious\nthat the suffering will not last forever, but will sometime have an\nend--on the day of judgment, when the godless shall be separated from\nthe godly. For this life on earth is nothing else than a masquerade\nwhere people walk in masks, and one sees another different than he\nis. He who appears to be an angel is a devil, and those considered\nthe children of the devil are angels and the children of our dear\nLord. Hence it is that they are attacked, plagued, martyred and put\nto death as heretics and children of the devil. This masquerade must\nbe tolerated until the day of judgment; when the wicked will be\nunmasked and will no longer be able to pass as holy people.[1] The\ntext now continues:\n\n\"That the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of\ncorruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God.\"\n\n\"[Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the\nbondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of\nGod.]\"\n\n[Footnote 1: This paragraph is from the pamphlet edition of 1535.]\n\n14. We Christians are not the only beings to receive deliverance,\nPaul declares; the creature in bondage has the same hope of release\nas the poor, enslaved human being. Sun, moon and every other created\nthing is captive to the devil and to wicked people, and must serve\nthem in every form of sin and vice. Hence these sigh and complain,\nwaiting for the manifestation of the children of God, when the devil\nand the ungodly shall be thrust into hell, and for all eternity be\ndenied sight of sun and moon, the enjoyment of a drop of water or a\nbreath of air, and forever deprived of every blessing.\n\n15. So the apostle tells us, \"Creation itself also shall be delivered\nfrom the bondage of corruption.\" In other words, creation must now\nsubserve most shameful ends. Sun, moon and all creatures must be\nslaves to the devil and the ungodly because God so desires. He wills\nfor his beautiful creation to lie at the feet of Satan and his\nadherents and to serve them for the present. Likewise many a\nsensitive heart is compelled to obey a tyrant or a Turk because the\nLord has imposed that servitude upon it. Some may even have to clean\nthe Turk's boots, or perform still more menial duties, and in\naddition suffer all sorts of indignities from that individual.\n\n16. These words, \"Creation itself also shall be delivered from the\nbondage of corruption,\" signify that all created things must until\nthe final reckoning be servants and menials, not to the godly, but to\nthe devil and wicked men. Paul himself regards with pity the sun and\nother creatures because of their forced service to Satan and to\ntyrannical beings. The created works no more desire such servility\nthan we desire subjection to the Turk. Nevertheless, they submit and\nwait--for what? The glorious liberty of the children of God. Then\nshall they be released from slavery and be no longer bound to serve\nthe wicked and worthless. More than that, in their freedom they will\nhave a grandeur far in excess of their present state and shall\nminister only unto God's children. They will be done with bondage to\nthe devil.\n\n\"For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain\ntogether until now.\"\n\n17. Paul uses forcible language here. Creation is aware, he says, not\nonly of its future deliverance from the bondage of corruption, but of\nits future grandeur. It hopes for the speedy coming of its glory, and\nwaits with the eagerness of a maiden for the dance. Seeing the\nsplendor reserved for itself, it groans and travails unceasingly.\nSimilarly, we Christians groan and intensely desire to have done at\nonce with the Turks, the Pope, and the tyrannical world. Who would\nnot weary of witnessing the present knavery, ungodliness and\nblasphemy against Christ and his Gospel, even as Lot wearied of the\nungodliness he beheld in Sodom? Thus Paul says that creation groaneth\nand travaileth while waiting for the revelation and the glorious\nliberty of the children of God.\n\n18. \"And not only so,\" he adds, \"but ourselves also, who have the\nfirstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves,\nwaiting for our adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.\" We\npray, we cry with great longing, in the Lord's Prayer, \"Thy kingdom\ncome,\" meaning: \"Help, dear Lord, and speed the blessed day of thy\nsecond advent, that we may be delivered from the wicked world, the\ndevil's kingdom, and may be released from the awful distress we\nsuffer--inwardly from our own consciences and outwardly from the\nwicked. Afflict to the limit these old bodies of ours so long as we\nmay obtain others not sinful, as these; not given to iniquity and\ndisobedience; bodies that can never know illness, persecution or\ndeath; bodies delivered from all physical and spiritual distress and\nmade like unto thine own glorified body, dear Lord Jesus Christ. Thus\nmay we finally realize our glorious redemption. Amen.\"\n\n19. Paul uses a peculiar word here in the text, which we cannot\nrender by any other in our language than \"travail.\" It carries the\nidea of pains and pangs such as a woman knows in childbirth. The\nmother's ardent desire is to be delivered. She longs for it with an\nintensity that all the wealth, honor, pleasure and power of the world\ncould not awaken. This is precisely the meaning of the word Paul\napplies to creation. He declares it to be in travail, suffering pain\nand anguish in the extremity of its desire for release. But who can\ndiscern the anguish of creation? Reason cannot believe, nor human\nwisdom imagine, the thing. \"It is impossible,\" declares reason. \"The\nsun cannot be more glorious, more pleasing and beneficent. And what\nis lacking with the moon and stars and the earth? Who says the\ncreature is in travail or unwillingly suffers its present state?\"\n\nThe writer of the text, however, declares creation to be weary of\npresent conditions of servitude, and as eager for liberation as a\nmother for deliverance in the hour of her anguish. Truly it is with\nspiritual sight, with apostolic vision, that Paul discerns this fact\nin regard to creation. He turns away from this world, oblivious to\nthe joys and the sufferings of earthly life, and boasts alone of the\nfuture, eternal life, unseen and unexperienced. Thus he administers\nreal and effectual comfort to Christians, pointing them to a future\nlife for themselves and all created things after this sinful life\nshall have an end.\n\n20. Therefore, believers in Christ are to be confident of eternal\nglory, and with sighs and groans to implore the Lord God to hasten\nthe blessed day of the realization of their hopes. For so Christ has\ntaught us to pray in the Lord's Prayer, \"Thy kingdom come.\" May he\nwho has commanded give us grace and strength to perform, and a firm\nfaith in our future glory. Our faith is not to be exercised for the\nattainment of earthly riches, but as a means to bring us into another\nlife. We are not baptized unto the present life, nor do we receive\nthe Gospel as ministering to our temporal good; these things are to\npoint us to yonder eternal life. God grant the speedy coming of the\nglad day of our redemption, when we shall realize all these\nblessings, which now we hear of and believe in through the Word.\nAmen.\n\n\n\n\n_Fifth Sunday After Trinity_\n\nText: 1 Peter 3, 8-15.\n\n8 Finally, be ye all like-minded, compassionate, loving as brethren,\ntender-hearted, humble-minded: 9 not rendering evil for evil, or\nreviling for reviling; but contrariwise blessing; for hereunto were\nye called, that ye should inherit a blessing. 10 For,\n\n     He that would love life,\n     And see good days,\n     Let him refrain his tongue from evil,\n     And his lips that they speak no guile:\n  11 And let him turn away from evil, and do good;\n     Let him seek peace, and pursue it.\n  12 For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous,\n     And his ears unto their supplication:\n     But the face of the Lord is upon them that do evil.\n\n13 And who is he that will harm you, if ye be zealous of that which\nis good? 14 But even if ye should suffer for righteousness' sake,\nblessed are ye: and fear not their fear, neither be troubled; 15 but\nsanctify in your hearts Christ as Lord.\n\n\nEXHORTATION TO THE FRUITS OF FAITH.\n\n1. Here you have enumerated again a long list of eminently good works\nenjoined upon Christians who believe and have confessed their faith\nin the Gospel. By such fruits is faith to be manifest. Peter\nclassifies these works according to the obligations of Christians to\neach other, and their obligations to enemies and persecutors.\n\n2. Immediately preceding the text, Peter has been instructing\nconcerning the domestic relations of husband and wife; how they\nshould live together as Christians in love and companionship, giving\ndue honor and patiently and reasonably bearing with each other. Now\nhe extends the exhortation to Christians in general, enjoining them\nto live together in Christian love, like brothers and sisters of a\nhousehold. In the rehearsal of many preeminently noble virtues and\nworks, he portrays the ideal church, beautiful in its outward\nadornment, in the grace wherewith it shines before men. With such\nvirtues the Church pleases and honors God, while angels behold with\njoy and delight. And what earthly thing is more desirable to man's\nsight? What happier and more pleasing society may he seek than the\ncompany of those who manifest a unity of heart, mind and will;\nbrotherly love, meekness, kindliness and patience, even toward\nenemies? Surely, no man is too depraved to command such goodness and\nto desire companionship among people of this class.\n\n3. The first virtue is one frequently mentioned by the apostles.\nPaul, for instance, in Romans 12, 16, says: \"Be of the same mind one\ntoward another.\" Also in Ephesians 4, 3: \"Giving diligence to keep\nthe unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.\" Harmony is the\nimperative virtue for the Christian Church. Before the other\nvirtues--love, meekness--can be manifest, there must first be concord\nand unity of heart among all. It is impossible that outward\ncircumstances of human life be always the same; much dissimilarity in\nperson, station, and occupation is inevitable.\n\nTo this very unlikeness and to the natural depravity of flesh and\nblood is due the discord and disagreement of men in this world. Let\none become conscious of personal superiority in point of uprightness,\nlearning, skill or natural ability, or let him become aware of his\nloftier station in life, and he immediately grows self-complacent,\nthinks himself better than his fellows, demands honor and recognition\nfrom all men, is unwilling to yield to or serve an inferior and\nthinks himself entitled to such right and privilege because of his\nsuperiority and virtue.\n\n4. Pride is the common vice of the world, and the devil fosters it\namong his numerous followers thereby causing every sort of misery and\nunhappiness, corrupting all ranks and stations, and rendering men\nvicious, depraved and incapable of executing good. In opposition to\nthis vice the apostles diligently admonish Christians to be of one\nmind, regardless of station or occupation, since every individual\nmust remain in the position to which he has been ordained and called\nof God. All ranks and stations cannot be one. Particularly is this\ntrue in the Church; for in addition to the outward difference of\nperson, station, and so on, there are manifold divine gifts unequally\ndistributed and varyingly imparted. Yet these many dissimilarities,\nboth spiritual and secular, are to be amenable to the unity of the\nspirit, as Paul calls it, or a spiritual unity. Just as the members\nof the physical body have different offices and perform different\nfunctions, no one member being able to do the work of the other, and\nyet all are in the unity of one bodily life; so also Christians,\nwhatever the dissimilarity of language, office and gift among them,\nmust live, increase and be preserved in unity and harmony of mind, as\nin one body.\n\n5. This matter of harmony is the first and most necessary commandment\nenjoined by the doctrine of faith; ay, this virtue is the first fruit\nwhich faith is to effect among Christians, who are called in one\nfaith and baptism. It is to be the beginning of their Christian love.\nFor true faith necessarily creates in all believers the spirit that\nreasons: \"We are all called by one Word, one baptism and Holy Spirit,\nto the same salvation; we are alike heirs of the grace and the\nblessings of God. Although one has more and greater gifts than\nanother, he is not on that account better before God. By grace alone,\nwithout any merit of ours, we are pleasing to God. Before him none\ncan boast of himself.\"\n\n6. How can I think myself better than another by reason of my person\nor my gifts, rank or office? Or what more than I has another to boast\nof before God concerning himself? No one has a different baptism or\nsacrament, a different Christ, from mine, or grace and salvation\nother than I have. And no individual can have another faith than have\nChristians in general, nor does he hear any other Gospel or receive a\ndifferent absolution, be he lord or servant, noble or ignoble, poor\nor rich, young or old, Italian or German. When one imagines himself\ndifferent from or better than his fellows, desiring to exalt and\nglorify himself above others, he is truly no longer a Christian;\nbecause he is no longer in that unity of mind and faith essential to\nChristians. Christ with his grace is always the same, and cannot be\ndivided or apportioned within himself.\n\n7. Not without reason did the beloved apostles urge this point. They\nclearly saw how much depends upon it, and what evil and harm result\nfrom disregard of the commandment. Where this commandment is\ndishonored, schisms and factions will necessarily arise to corrupt\npure doctrine and faith, and the devil will sow his seed, which\nafterwards can be eradicated only with difficulty. When once\nself-conceit rules, and one, pretending more learning, wisdom,\ngoodness and holiness than his fellows, begins to despise others and\nto draw men to himself, away from the unity of mind which makes us\none in Christ, and when he desires the first praise and commendation\nfor his own doctrine and works, his own preaching, then the harm is\nalready done; faith is overthrown and the Church is rent. When unity\nbecomes division, certainly two sects cannot both be the true Church.\nIf one is godly, the other must be the devil's own. On the other\nhand, so long as unity of faith and oneness of mind survives, the\ntrue Church of God abides, notwithstanding there may be some weakness\nin other points. Of this fact the devil is well aware; hence his\nhostility to Christian unity. His chief effort is to destroy harmony.\n\"Having that to contend with,\" he tells himself, \"my task will be a\nhard and wearisome one.\"\n\n8. Therefore, Christians should be all the more careful to cherish\nthe virtue of harmony, both in the Church and in secular government.\nIn each instance there is of necessity much inequality. God would\nhave such dissimilarity balanced by love and unity of mind. Let\neveryone be content, then, with what God has given or ordained for\nhim, and let him take pleasure in another's gifts, knowing that in\neternal blessings he is equally rich, having the same God and Christ,\nthe same grace and salvation; and that although his standing before\nGod may differ from that of his fellows, he is nevertheless in no way\ninferior to them, nor is anyone for the same reason at all better\nthan or superior to himself.\n\n9. In temporal affairs, every inequality in the world can be\nharmonized by a unity of mind and heart. In relations other than\nspiritual there is mutual love and friendship. How great the outward\ndissimilarity between man and wife--in person, nature and employment!\nlikewise between masters and their subjects. Yet, in mutual\nconscientiousness they mutually agree and are well satisfied with\neach other. So it would be possible to enjoy life upon earth in peace\nand happiness were it not that the devil cannot suffer it. He must\ndivide hearts and alienate love, allowing no one to take pleasure in\nanother. He who is illustrious, of noble birth, or has power or\nriches, feels bound to despise others as silly geese or witless\nducks.\n\n\nSYMPATHY A CHRISTIAN VIRTUE.\n\n10. The other virtues enjoined by Peter are easily\nrecognized--\"Compassionate, loving as brethren, tenderhearted, and\nhumbleminded\" [Luther translates \"friendly\"--courteous]. These\nparticularly teach that Christians should esteem one another. God has\nsubjected them all to love and has united them, with the design that\nthey shall be of one heart and soul, and each care for the other as\nfor himself. Peter's exhortation was especially called for at that\ntime, when Christians were terribly persecuted. Here a pastor, there\na citizen, was thrown into prison, driven from wife, child, house and\nhome, and finally executed. Such things happen even now, and may\nbecome yet more frequent considering that unfortunate people are\nharassed by tyrants, or led away by the Turks, and Christians are\nthus dispersed in exile here and there. Wherever by his Word and\nfaith God has gathered a church, and that spiritual unity, the bond\nof Christianity, exists in any measure, there the devil has no peace.\nIf he cannot effect the destruction of that church by factiousness,\nhe furiously persecutes it. Then it is that body, life and everything\nwe have must be jeopardized--put to the stake--for the sake of the\nChurch.\n\n11. Christians, according to Peter, should, in the bond of a common\nheart and mind, sympathetically share the troubles and sufferings of\ntheir brethren in the faith, whoever and wherever the brethren may\nbe. They are to enter into such distresses as if themselves\nsuffering, and are to reason: \"Behold, these suffer for the sake of\nmy precious faith, and standing at the front, are exposed to the\ndevil, while I have peace. It does not become me to rejoice in my\nsecurity and to manifest my pleasure. For what befalls my dear\nbrethren affects me, and my blessings are the cause of their\nmisfortune. I must participate in their suffering as my own.\"\nAccording to the admonition of Hebrews 13, 3: \"Remember them that are\nin bonds, as bound with them; that is, as if in the same bonds and\ndistress. Remember them that are illtreated, as being yourselves also\nin the body;\" as members of the same body.\n\n12. We are all bound to one another, just as in the body one member\nis bound to another. As you know by your own physical experience,\n\"Whether one member suffereth, all the members suffer with it; or one\nmember is honored, all the members rejoice with it,\" as Paul says in\n1 Corinthians 12, 26. Note how, when a foot is trodden upon or a\nfinger pinched, the whole body is affected: eyes twitch, nose is\ncontorted, mouth cries out--all the members are ready to rescue and\nhelp. No one member can forsake the others. In reality not the foot\nor the finger is injured, but the whole body suffers the accident. On\nthe other hand, benefit received by one member is pleasing to all,\nand the whole body rejoices with it. Now the same principle should\nhold in the Church, because it likewise is one body of many members\nwith one mind and heart. Such unity naturally entails the\nparticipation by each individual in the good and evil of every other\none.\n\n13. This virtue of sympathy, resulting as it does from a unity of\nmind and faith, is impossible to the world. In the world every man\nlooks only upon what benefits himself and regards not how others,\nespecially the godly, fare. Indeed, the world is capable of scornful\nsmiles and extreme pleasure at sight of Christians in poverty and\ndistress, and in their sufferings it can give them vinegar and gall\nto drink. But you who claim to be a Christian, should know it is\nyours to share the sufferings of your brethren and to prove your\nheartfelt sympathy with them. If you cannot do more, at least show it\nwith comforting words or prayer. Their suffering concerns you as well\nas themselves, and you must expect the same afflictions from the\ndevil and the wicked world.\n\n\nOF LOVE.\n\n14. \"Loving as brethren.\" This virtue must prevail among Christians\neverywhere. They are to manifest toward one another the love and\nfaithfulness of brothers according to the flesh. It is a law of\nnature that brothers have a peculiar confidence in one another, being\nof the same blood and flesh and having a common inheritance.\nParticularly is this true when in distress. Although they may not be\nunited in other respects, yet when stranger blood assails and\nnecessity comes, they of the same flesh and blood will take one\nanother's part, uniting person, property and honor.\n\n15. Likewise Christians should exercise a peculiar brotherly love and\nfaithfulness toward one another, as having one Father in heaven and\none inheritance, and in the bond of Christianity being of one faith,\nunited in heart and mind. None may despise another. Them among us who\nare still weak, frail and eccentric in faith and morals, we are to\ntreat with gentleness, kindness and patience. They must be exhorted,\ncomforted, strengthened. We should do by them as do the brothers and\nsisters of a household toward the member who is weak or frail or in\nneed. Indeed we cannot otherwise dwell in peace. If we are to live\ntogether we must bear with one another much weakness, trouble and\ninconvenience; for we cannot all be equally strong in faith and\ncourage and have equal gifts and possessions. There is none without\nhis own numerous weaknesses and faults, which he would have others\ntolerate.\n\n\nOF MERCY.\n\n16. \"Tenderhearted, humbleminded\" [friendly]. Here Peter has in mind\nmankind in general--friends and enemies, Christians and persecutors.\nOwing to original sin, man is naturally disposed to seek revenge,\nespecially upon those who injure him without cause. If he can do no\nmore, he at least maliciously invokes evil upon his enemy and\nrejoices in his misfortune. Now, Christians more than any others in\nthis world are innocently persecuted, injured, oppressed and\naggrieved, even by those having the name and honor of Christians, a\nthing of frequent occurrence today. God's people are aggrieved by\nsuch treatment, and if the natural instinct of flesh and blood could\nhave its way, they would gladly revenge themselves; just as they of\nthe world mutually exercise their revenge, not content until passion\nis cooled.\n\n17. But a Christian should not, and indeed consistently he cannot, be\nunmerciful and vindictive, for he has become a child of God, whose\nmercy he has accepted and therein continues to live. He cannot seek\npleasure in injury to his neighbor or enjoy his misfortune. He cannot\nmaintain a bitter or hard and stubborn heart toward him. Rather he is\ndisposed to show mercy even to his hostile neighbor, and to pity his\nblindness and misery; for he recognizes that neighbor as under God's\nwrath and hastening to everlasting ruin and condemnation. Thus the\nChristian is already more than revenged on his enemy. Therefore he\nshould be friendly towards the hostile neighbor and do him every\nkindness he will permit, in an effort to lead him to repentance.\n\n18. Yet, in showing mercy, as frequently enjoined heretofore we are\nnot to interfere with just and ordained punishments. God's Word does\nnot teach us to demand mercy or commend kindness where sin and evil\npractices call for punishment, as the world would have us believe\nwhen their sins merit rebuke, particularly the vices of those in high\nplaces. These transgressors claim that when reproved their honor is\nassailed and occasion is given for contempt of their office and\nauthority, and for rebellion, a thing not to be tolerated. This is\nnot true. The lesson teaches the duty of each individual toward all\nother individuals, not toward the God-ordained office. Office and\nperson must be clearly distinguished. The officer or ruler in his\nofficial capacity is a different man from what he is as John or\nFrederick. The apostle or preacher differs from the individual Peter\nor Paul. The preacher has not his office by virtue of his own\npersonality; he represents it in God's stead. Now, if any person be\nunjustly persecuted, slandered and cursed, I ought to and will say:\n\"Thank God;\" for in God I am richly rewarded for it. But if one\ndishonors my baptism or sacrament, or the Word God has commanded me\nto speak, and so opposes not me but himself, then it is my duty not\nto be silent nor merciful and friendly, but to use my God-ordained\noffice to admonish, threaten and rebuke, with all earnestness, both\nin season and out of season--as Paul says in 2 Timothy 4, 2--those\nwho err in doctrine or faith or who do not amend their lives; and\nthis regardless of who they are or how it pleases them.\n\n19. But the censured may say: \"Nevertheless you publicly impugn my\nhonor; you give me a bad reputation.\" I answer: Why do you not\ncomplain to him who committed the office to me? My honor is likewise\ndear to me, but the honor of my office must be more sacred still. If\nI am silent where I ought to rebuke, I sully my own honor, which I\nshould maintain before God in the proper execution of my office;\nhence I with you deserve to be hanged in mid-day, to the utter\nextinguishment of my honor and yours. No, the Gospel does not give\nyou authority to say the preacher shall not, by the Word of God, tell\nyou of your sin and shame. What does God care for the honor you seek\nfrom the world when you defy his Word with it? To the world you may\nseem to defend your honor with God and a good conscience, but in\nreality you have nothing to boast of before God but your shame. This\nvery fact you must confess if you would retain your honor before him;\nyou must place his honor above that of all creatures. The highest\ndistinction you can achieve for yourself is that of honoring God's\nWord and suffering rebuke.\n\n20. \"Yes, but still you attack the office to which I am appointed.\"\nNo, dear brother, our office is not assailed when I and you are\nreminded of our failure to do right, to conduct the office as we\nshould. But the Word of God rebukes us for dishonoring that divinely\nordained appointment and abusing it in violation of his commandment.\nTherefore you cannot call me to account for reproving you. However,\nwere I not a pastor or preacher, and had I no authority to rebuke\nyou, then it would be my duty and my pleasure to leave your honor and\nthat of every other man unscathed. But if I am to fill a divine\noffice and to represent not my own but God's dignity, then for your\nown sake I must not and will not be silent. If you do wrong, and\ndisgrace and dishonor come upon you, blame yourself. \"Thy blood shall\nbe upon thine own head,\" says Scripture, 1 Kings 2, 37. Certainly\nwhen a judge sentences a thief to the gallows, that man's honor is\nimpugned. Who robs you of your honor but yourself, by your own theft,\nyour contempt of God, disobedience, murder, and so on? God must give\nyou what you deserve. If you consider it a disgrace to be punished,\nthen consider it also no honor to rob, steal, practice usury and do\npublic wrong; you disgrace yourself by dishonoring God's commandment.\n\n21. This much by way of reminder of the difference between official\nrebuke and personal anger and revenge. It must constantly be kept\nbefore us because of the artfulness of flesh and blood, which ever\nseeks to disregard that difference. True, God would have all men to\nbe merciful and friendly, to forgive and not to avenge wrong; but the\noffice, which is ordained for the punishment of the wicked, will not\nalways admit of that course. Few are willing to forgive, and\ntherefore God must enforce his government over the merciless. They\nmust be punished without mercy. This divine principle must not be\nrestricted. Neither must it be applied beyond measure. Every official\nmust be careful not to exceed the demands of his office, exercising\nhis own revenge, his own envy and hatred, in the name and under\npretense of that position.\n\n22. Peter continues to expatiate upon this topic--the good works he\nhas been discussing: gentleness, mercy, friendliness--citing\nbeautiful passages of Scripture and using other exhortations--to\nincite Christians to practice these virtues. He says:\n\n\"Not rendering evil for evil, or reviling for reviling; but\ncontrariwise blessing: for hereunto were ye called, that ye should\ninherit a blessing.\"\n\n23. We have now seen whose prerogative it is to avenge, rebuke and\npunish evil. This passage does not refer to official duty. When the\njudge declares sentence of execution upon a thief we have truly an\ninstance of vengeance and reproach, and a public and extreme\nreflection upon honor. But it is God's judgment and his doing, with\nwhich we are not here concerned. The Christian of true faith and\ninnocent life, who confesses his doctrine and belief, and as he is\ncommanded rebukes opposing forces, will provoke the devil and the\nworld, and will be persecuted, oppressed and harassed in the name of\noffice and right, even by individuals whose official duty it is to\nprotect the godly and restrain unjust power. If these cannot do more,\nthey will at least annoy, hinder and oppose that Christian as far as\npossible. If the Christian be quick-tempered and fail to curb his\nanger and impatience, he will effect no good. He will only bring upon\nhimself that disquiet of heart which consumes and worries itself with\nthoughts of revenge and retaliation upon the offender; which when the\ndevil perceives, he rejoices. He so urges and instigates as to cause\nmore mischief on both sides. Thus he doubly injures the\nChristian--through his enemy and through the anger wherewith the\nChristian torments himself and spoils his own peace.\n\n\nOF PATIENCE.\n\n24. What then shall we do, you say, when we must suffer such abuse\nand without redress? The only resource, Peter says, is to possess\nyour heart in patience and commit the matter to God. This is all that\nremains when they whose duty it is will not help you, nor restrain\nand punish the wrong, but even do you violence themselves. If the\nevil receive not judicial punishment, let it go unpunished until God\nlooks into it. Only see that you keep a quiet conscience and a loving\nheart, not allowing yourself, on account of the devil and wicked men,\nto be disturbed and deprived of your good conscience, your peaceful\nheart and your God-given blessing. But if in your official capacity\nyou are commanded to punish the evil, or if you can obtain protection\nand justice from rightful authorities, avail yourself of these\nprivileges without anger, hatred or bitterness, ay, with a heart that\nprompts to give good for evil and blessing for reviling.\n\n25. Such conduct is becoming you as Christians, the apostle says, for\nyou are a people called to inherit a blessing. Oh, wonderful and\nglorious fact, that God has decreed and appropriated to you this\nblessing whereby all the riches of his grace and everything good are\nyours! and that he will abundantly give you his Spirit to remain with\nyou, blessing body and soul, if only you hold fast his grace and do\nnot allow yourselves to be deprived of it. What price would you not\ngladly pay for this blessing, were it purchasable, instead of being\nfreely given, without your merits, and were you privileged thus to\nbuy the assurance of having a God so gracious, one willing to bless\nyou in time and eternity? Who would not willingly give even body and\nlife, or joyfully undergo all suffering to have the perfect assurance\nof heart which says: \"I know I am a child of God, who has received me\ninto his grace and I live in the sure hope that I will be eternally\nblessed and saved.\" Think, Peter says, what a vast difference God\nmakes between you and others because you are Christians. He has\nappointed you to be heirs of everlasting grace and blessing and of\neternal life. But they who are not Christians--what have they but a\nterrible sentence like a weight about their necks? the sentence\npronouncing them children of the curse and of eternal condemnation.\n\n26. If men would take this to heart, it would be easy by teaching and\npersuasion to win them to friendship and kindness toward their\nfellow-men; to induce them not to return evil or reviling from motive\nof revenge, but when their own privileges and protection and the\npunishment of evil cannot be obtained, quietly and peaceably to\nsuffer injury rather than lose their eternal comfort and joy.\nChristians have excellent reason, a powerful motive, for being\npatient and not revengeful or bitter in the fact that they are so\nrichly blessed of God and given that great glory whereof, as Peter\nafterwards remarks, they cannot be deprived, nor can they suffer its\nloss, if only they abide in it. The apostle emphasizes this fact and\nfurther persuades Christians by citing the beautiful passage in Psalm\n34, 12-16:\n\n\"He that would love life, and see good days, let him refrain his\ntongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: and let him\nturn away from evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and pursue it.\nFor the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears unto\ntheir supplication: but the face of the Lord is upon them that do\nevil.\"\n\n27. These words the Holy Spirit uttered long ago through the prophet\nDavid, for the instruction and admonition of all saints and children\nof God. David presents to us the matter as he daily saw it in his own\nlife and learned from his own experience, and as he gathered from\nexamples of the dear fathers from the beginning of the world. \"Come\nhither, dear children,\" he would say, \"if you will be taught and\nadvised, I will give you sound instruction as to how we are to fear\nGod and become his children. Who desires peace and comfort?\" \"Oh, who\nwould not desire peace and comfort?\" cries the world. For these\neveryone seeks and strives, and all the efforts of the world are\ndirected toward this end.\n\n\nTHE CHRISTIAN'S PEACE.\n\n28. There are two ways to the goal of peace. One is that chosen by\nthe world. The world seeks to obtain peace by preserving its own with\nviolence. It desires the death of all who oppose it and will suffer\ninjury or evil in word or deed from no one. This method, it is true,\nis appointed to governmental authority. It is the duty of civil\nrulers to faithfully employ it to arrest and hinder evil as far as\npossible. But they can never wholly restrain evil nor punish every\noffense. Much wickedness will remain, particularly secret evil, which\nmust punish itself, either by repentance here or in hell hereafter.\nBy this procedure Christians will not accomplish for themselves any\npersonal advantage; the world is too wicked and it will not give them\nsupport.\n\n29. Therefore, if you desire peace for yourself personally,\nparticularly as a Christian, you must choose another way. The Psalm\nshows it to you when it says: \"Refrain thy tongue from evil, and thy\nlips that they speak no guile.\" This injunction really applies to\ndoctrine, meaning that we are to abide by the true Word of God and\nnot to allow ourselves to be seduced by false teaching. But Peter\nhere extends the application to the outward life and conduct of\nChristians in the work, the circumstances being such as to call for\nthis admonition in the matter of refraining the tongue. On account of\nthe faith and confession for which men are called Christians, they\nmust suffer much; they are endangered, hated, persecuted, oppressed\nand harassed by the whole world. Christ foretold (Mt 10, 22): \"Ye\nshall be hated of all men for my name's sake.\" Easily, then,\nChristians, might believe they have cause to return evil, and being\nstill flesh and blood mortals, they are inevitably moved to be angry\nand to curse, or to forsake their confession and doctrine and with\nunbelievers to join the false church with its idolatrous teaching.\nHere the Psalm admonishes: Dear Christian, let not all this move you\nto rave, curse, blaspheme and revile again, but abide in the blessing\nprepared for you to inherit; for you will not by violence remedy\nmatters or obtain any help. The world will remain as it is, and will\ncontinue to hate and persecute the godly and believing. Of what use\nis it for you to hate, chafe and curse against its attitude? You only\ndisturb your own heart with bitterness, and deprive yourself thereby\nof the priceless blessing bestowed upon you.\n\n30. We have the same teaching in the fourth verse of Psalm 4, which\ncomforts saints and strengthens them against the temptation and\nprovocation to anger and impatience which they must experience in the\nworld. \"Be ye angry,\" David says, \"and sin not: commune with your own\nheart upon your bed, and be still.\" That is, although according to\nthe nature of flesh and blood you fret because you are compelled to\nwitness the prosperity of the world in its ungodly life and\nwickedness, and how it spites, despises and persecutes you with pride\nand insolence, nevertheless let not yourselves be easily provoked;\nlet wrong, displeasure, vexation and worry remain outside the inner\nlife; let them affect only the outward life, body and possessions. By\nno means let them become rooted in your heart. Still your hearts and\ncontent yourselves, and regard all this vexation as not worth losing\nsleep over. If you desire to serve God truly and to render acceptable\nsacrifice to him, then with faith in his Word place your hope in him\nas your dear Father who cares for you, hears you and will wondrously\nsupport you.\n\n\nGUARDING THE LIPS.\n\n31. But the psalmist's additional words, \"Refrain your lips that they\nspeak no guile,\" refer, as I have said, primarily to confession of\nthe doctrine; but there is another thought: When one is prompted to\nanger and to complaint about injury and wrong, in his impatience and\nirritation he cannot speak fairly concerning the matter of offense,\nbut invariably exaggerates. So it is with anger and retaliation. One\nreceiving but a pin-point wound will fly into a passion and be ready\nto break the offender's head. The individual that suffers a single\nadverse word immediately proceeds to abuse and slander in the extreme\nhis opponent. In short, an angry heart knows no moderation and cannot\nequally repay, but must make of a splinter, even a mote, a great\nbeam, or must fan a tiny spark into a volcano of flame, by\nretaliating with reviling and cursing. Yet it will not admit that it\ndoes wrong. It would, if possible, actually murder the offender, thus\ncommitting a greater wrong than it has suffered.\n\n32. So wicked and unjust is human nature that when offended it stops\nnot with equal measure in retribution; it goes beyond and in its\nanger and revenge spares neither the neighbor's honor nor his body\nand life. James 1, 20 says: \"The wrath of man worketh not the\nrighteousness of God\"; that is, it suffers not a man to abide in his\nfaith and good conscience. But official indignation, which is God's\nwrath, does not so. It seeks not the destruction of man, but only the\npunishment of the actual fault. Man's anger and revenge, so wicked\nand insatiable are they, return ten blows for one, or even double\nthat number, and repay a single abusive word with a hundred.\n\n33. So Peter admonishes you to restrain your tongues, to curb them,\nlest they suddenly escape your control and sin with wicked words,\ndoing injury double that you have received. Guard your lips that your\nmouth utter not guile or falsehood through your anger, and that it\nmay not calumniate, abuse and slander your neighbor contrary to truth\nand justice and in violation of the eighth commandment. Such conduct\nis, before God and man, unbecoming a Christian and leads to that most\ndisgraceful vice of slander, which God supremely hates. It is the\ndevil's own, whence he has his name of liar or slanderer--diabolus,\nor devil.\n\n\nGOOD WORKS.\n\n34. The Psalm says further: \"Turn away from evil and do good\"; that\nis, beware lest on account of the wickedness of another you also\nbecome wicked, for anger and revenge meditate only harm and\nwickedness. Therefore be all the more diligent to do good, if you\ncan, that your heart may retain its honor and joy and that you may\nabide in righteousness, and not fall from God's grace and from\nobedience to him into the service of the devil. By anger and revenge\nthe devil tempts you, endeavoring to get you again into his toils and\nto embitter your heart and conscience until you shall exceed others\nin sin.\n\n35. \"Seek peace and pursue it,\" continues the apostle. This is a\nsublime exhortation, and faithful, divine counsel. You must not\nthink, Peter would say, that peace will run after you, or that the\nworld--much less the devil--will bring it into your house. Rather you\nwill find the very opposite true. From without strife will be carried\nto you in bales, and within your own heart will be kindled anger and\nbitterness to fill you with everlasting disquiet. Therefore if you\ndesire peace, wait not until other people help you to obtain it, nor\nuntil you create it for yourself by force and revenge. Begin with\nyourself. Turn from the evil to the good. Even undergo suffering to\nprovide your heart with the peace which endures in spite of all that\nwould rob you of it. Strive ever to keep your heart firm in the\nresolve: I will not be angry nor seek revenge, but will commit my\naffairs to God and to those whose duty it is to punish evil and\nwrong-doing. As for my enemy, may God convert and enlighten him. And\nhowever much more of violence and wrong I may suffer, I will not\nallow my heart to be robbed of its peace.\n\n36. Notice, the way to preserve peace and to see good days even in\nevil times is to keep a silent tongue and a quiet heart through the\ncomfort of divine grace and blessing. No outward occasion may be\ngiven for strife, but always peace is to be sought with good words,\nworks and prayers. We must even pursue peace, follow after it, with\ngenuine and strong suffering. Thus we preserve it by force. In no\nother way can a Christian see good days and hold fast his blessing.\nRemember you must make strenuous effort if you would not reject your\nblessing nor be influenced by another to carelessly lie and otherwise\nsin with your tongue. Flesh and blood are weak and sluggish in the\nmatter of preserving peace, therefore Peter strengthens his\nexhortation and further encourages us by the promise of God's help\nand protection for the faithful and his punishment of their enemies.\nHe says:\n\n\"For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears unto\ntheir supplication.\"\n\n37. Inscribe this verse upon your heart in firm faith and see if it\ndoes not bring you peace and blessings. Try to believe that God sits\nabove, sleepless and with his vigilant eye ever upon you. With\nwatchful vision he beholds the righteous as they suffer violence and\nwrong. Why will you complain and become discouraged by reason of the\nharm and grief you experience, when the gracious eyes of the true\nJudge and God are upon you and his intent is to help you? All the\nwealth of the world would I give, if I might, to purchase that\nwatchful care, or rather to obtain the requisite faith; for surely\nthe lack is not in his regarding, but in our faith.\n\n\nGOD OVER ALL.\n\n38. More than this, God's ears, the apostle tells us, are also open\nto the prayers of the righteous. As he looks upon you with gracious,\nwinning eyes, so also are his ears alert to even the faintest sound.\nHe hears your complaint, your sighing and prayer, and hears, too,\nwillingly and with pleasure; as soon as you open your mouth, your\nprayer is heard and answered.\n\n39. Again, Peter says: \"The face of the Lord is upon them that do\nevil.\" True, God's eyes are upon the righteous, but nevertheless he\nsees also the others. In this case he beholds not with a friendly\nlook or gracious countenance, but with a displeased and wrathful\nface. When a man is angry the forehead frowns, the nostrils dilate\nand the eyes flash. Such a manifestation of anger are we to\nunderstand by the Scripture when it refers here to \"the face of the\nLord.\" On the other hand it illustrates the pleased and gracious\naspect of God by \"the eyes of the Lord.\"\n\n40. Now, why is \"the face of the Lord\" upon evil-doers and what is\nits effect? Certainly God's purpose is not to heed or to help them,\nto bestow blessing or success upon their evil-doing. His purpose is,\naccording to the succeeding words in the psalm, \"to cut off the\nremembrance of them from the earth.\" This is a terrible, an appalling\nsentence, before which a heart may well be prostrated as from a\nthunderbolt. And ungodly hearts would be thus appalled were they not\nso hardened as to despise God's Word.\n\n41. Notwithstanding the indifference of the wicked, the sentence is\npassed. Verily it is no jest with God. It illustrates how sincerely\nhe cares for the righteous and how he will avenge them on the wicked,\ntoward whom his countenance bespeaks punishment in due time and the\ncutting off of their memory from the earth. In contrast, the\nrighteous, because they have feared God and abode in their piety\nthough suffering for it, shall, even here upon earth, live to see\nblessing and prosperity upon their children's children. Although for\na time the company of the wicked conduct themselves with pride upon\nthe earth, and imagine themselves secure beyond the possibility of\nbeing unseated, nevertheless when their hour comes they are suddenly\nhurled down from earth into the abyss of hell and must suffer the\nrighteous to remain in possession of the earth. So testifies Christ\nin Matthew 5, 5, and Psalm 37 more fully explains the matter.\n\n42. It is proven by all the examples of Scripture and also by the\nexperience of the whole world from the beginning, that God casts down\nthose who seek only to injure. They who have despised God's threats\nand angry countenance with security and defiance have at last\nexperienced the fulfillment of these warnings and perished thereby.\nKing Saul thought to destroy godly David, to exterminate his root and\nbranch and blot out his name as if he had been a rebellious, accursed\nman. But God effected the very opposite. Because David in his\nsufferings and persecution walked in the fear of God and trusted him\nwith simplicity, desiring no harm to his enemy, God's gracious eye\nwas ever upon him and preserved him from that enemy. On the other\nhand, the angry face of God was bent upon King Saul, and before David\nwas aware of it the king had fallen, and his whole family met ruin\nwith him; they were obliged to surrender crown and kingdom to the\npersecuted David.\n\n43. Christians should strengthen their faith with the comforting\nthought that God's gracious countenance is over them and he turns eye\nand ear toward them; and that on the other hand he looks with angry\nface upon their enemies and those seeking to injure, and will take a\nhand in their game, obliging them either to refrain from their\nevil-doing, or to perish by it. Such retribution is certain. No one\ncan live long without proving by his own experience and that of other\nmen the truth of the proverb, \"Right will assert itself.\" However, we\nlack in faith and cannot wait God's hour. We think he delays too long\nand that we suffer too much. But in reality his time will come\nspeedily, and we can well wait and endure if we believe in God, who\nbut grants our enemies a brief opportunity to be converted. But their\nappointed hour is already at hand and they will not escape if it\novertakes them without repentance.\n\n\"And who is he that will harm you, if ye be zealous of that which is\ngood? But even if ye should suffer for righteousness' sake, blessed\nare ye.\"\n\n44. According to Peter's words here, you have a very great advantage\nover all your enemies, whoever they be, in being richly endowed by\nGod with eternal blessing. You know he will protect, support and\navenge you, hence you abide in your faith and godliness. Although\nyour adversaries think to trouble and harm you, they can do you no\nreal injury whatever they effect. For wherein can persecution harm if\nyou strive for godliness and abide in it? Not by malice, might and\nviolence can your enemies take from you, or diminish, your piety and\nGod's grace, his help and blessing. And even from all the bodily and\ntemporal harm they can inflict, you suffer no loss. For the more they\nseek to injure you, the more they hasten their own punishment and\ndestruction, and the greater is your recompense from God. By the very\nfact that they slander, disgrace, persecute and trouble you, they\nmultiply your blessing with God and further your cause, for God must\nthe sooner consider your case, supporting you and overthrowing them.\nThey but prepare your reward and benefit by their wicked, venomous\nhatred, their envy, anger and fury. At the same time they effect for\nthemselves conditions the very reverse. Being condemned by their own\nevil consciences, they cannot in their hearts enjoy one good day, one\npeaceful hour; and they heap up for themselves God's wrath and\npunishment.\n\n45. Indeed, you are all the more blessed, temporally and eternally,\nPeter declares, for the very reason that you suffer for\nrighteousness' sake. You are so to regard the situation and to praise\nand thank God for your suffering. The apostle looks upon tribulation\nin this light and exalts it as supreme blessedness and a glorious\nthing. Christ says in Matthew 5, 11-12: \"Blessed are ye when men\nshall reproach you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil\nagainst you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad: for\ngreat is your reward in heaven.\" Oh, your adversaries should purchase\na little of this comfort regardless of cost and boast of suffering a\nlittle for the sake of righteousness! Could they understand the\npromise and be worthy of it, how intensely might they desire to have\nsuffered all and much more than they thought to inflict upon you, if\nonly they might be blessed and prove the comfort of this precious,\ndivine promise!\n\n\"Fear not their fear, neither be troubled; but sanctify in your\nhearts Christ as Lord.\"\n\n46. Here again Peter resorts to Scripture and cites a verse from the\nprophet Isaiah (ch. 8, 12-13) where he admonishes God's people not to\nbe terror-stricken by the wrath and threats of men, but firmly and\nconfidently to trust in God. The prophet speaks similarly in chapter\n51, verse 7: \"Fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye dismayed\nat their revilings.\" As if he would say: Why will you permit\nyourselves to be disturbed by the persecutions of men, however great,\nmighty and terrible enemies they may be, when you are blessed and\nhappy in God to the extent that all creatures must pronounce you\nblessed? Moreover, you know the eyes of your God behold you and his\nears are open to your cry, and whatever you desire and pray for is\nheard and granted. More than this, your adversaries are threatened by\nhis angry face. What are all men--tyrants, pope, Turk, Tartars, ay,\nthe devil himself--compared to this Lord, and what can they do\nagainst him, when and wheresoever he chooses to show his power? They\nare but as a straw to a mighty thunderbolt which makes the earth\ntremble. Therefore, if you are indeed Christians and believe in God\nyou ought in no wise to fear all these adversaries, but rather,\njoyfully and with scornful courage to despise their defiance, their\nthreatening and rage, as something utterly harmless to you; they are\nbut effecting their own destruction in hurling themselves at the\nMajesty before which all creatures must tremble.\n\n\nTRUST IN GOD ENJOINED.\n\n47. But this you are to do: Sanctify God; that is, regard and honor\nhim as holy. This is nothing else than to believe his Word; be\nconfident that in God you have truly one who, if you suffer for\nrighteousness' sake, neither forgets nor forsakes, but graciously\nlooks upon you and purposes to give his support and to revenge you on\nyour enemies. Such faith and confession honors him as the true God,\nupon whom man can confidently and joyfully call for help, reposing\nhis whole trust in him upon the authority of his sure Word and\npromise, which cannot deceive or fail.\n\n48. In contrast, unbelievers cannot sanctify God; they cannot render\nhim due honor, although they may talk much of him and display much\ndivine worship. They do not accept God's Word as the truth, but\nalways remain in doubt. In the hour of suffering they deem themselves\nutterly forgotten and forsaken by the Lord. Therefore they murmur and\nfret, being very impatient and disobedient toward God. They rashly\nseek to protect and revenge themselves by their own power. That very\nconduct betrays them as beings without a God, as blind, miserable,\ncondemned heathen. Such are the great multitude of Turks, Jews,\nPapists and unbelieving saints today throughout the world.\n\n\n\n\n_Sixth Sunday After Trinity_\n\nText: Romans 6, 3-11.\n\n3 Or are ye ignorant that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus\nwere baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him\nthrough baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised from the\ndead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in\nnewness of life. 5 For if we have become united with him in the\nlikeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his\nresurrection; 6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with\nhim, that the body of sin might be done away, that so we should no\nlonger be in bondage to sin; 7 for he that hath died is justified\nfrom sin. 8 But if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also\nlive with him; 9 knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth\nno more; death no more hath dominion over him. 10 For the death that\nhe died, he died unto sin once: but the life that he liveth, he\nliveth unto God. 11 Even so reckon ye also yourselves to be dead unto\nsin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus.\n\n\nEXHORTATION TO CHRISTIAN LIVING.\n\n1. In this epistle lesson Paul gives Christians instruction\nconcerning the Christian life on earth, and connects with it the hope\nof the future and eternal life, in view of which they have been\nbaptized and become Christians. He makes of our earthly life a\ndeath--a grave--with the understanding, however, that henceforth the\nrisen man and the newness of life should be found in us. And he\ntreats of this doctrine because of an error that always prevails:\nWhen we preach that upon us is bestowed grace and the forgiveness of\nsins, without any merit on our part, people are disposed to regard\nthemselves as free from obligation and will do no works except those\nto which their own desires prompt them. This was Saint Paul's\nexperience when he so strongly commended the grace of Christ and its\nconsolation (ch. 5, 20), declaring that \"where sin abounded, grace\ndid abound more exceedingly,\" and that where there are many and great\nsins, there also reigns great, abundant and rich grace. The rude\ncrowd cried: Oh, is it true that great grace follows upon great sin?\nIn that case we will cheerfully load ourselves with sin so that we\nmay receive the greater grace.\n\n\nGRACE DOES NOT GIVE LICENSE TO SIN.\n\n2. Such argument Paul now confutes. He says: It is not the intention\nof the Gospel to teach sin or to allow it; it teaches the very\nopposite--how we may escape from sin and from the awful wrath of God\nwhich it incurs. Escape is not effected by any doings of our own, but\nby the fact that God, out of pure grace, forgives us our sins for his\nSon's sake; for God finds in us nothing but sin and condemnation. How\nthen can this doctrine give occasion or permission to sin when it is\nso diametrically opposed to it and teaches how it is to be blotted\nout and put away?\n\n3. Paul does not teach that grace is acquired through sin, nor that\nsin brings grace; he says quite the opposite--that \"the wrath of God\nis revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness\nof men,\" Rom 1, 18. But because the sins of men which are taken away\nare so grievous and numerous, the grace which drowns and destroys\nthem must be mighty and abundant also. Where there is great thirst, a\ngreat draft is needed to quench it. Where there is a mighty\nconflagration, powerful streams of water are necessary to extinguish\nit. In cases of severe illness, strong medicine is essential to a\ncure. But these facts do not give us authority to say: Let us\ncheerfully drink to satiety that we may become more thirsty for good\nwine; or, Let us injure ourselves and make ourselves ill that\nmedicine may do us more good. Still less does it follow that we may\nheap up and multiply sins for the purpose of receiving more abundant\ngrace. Grace is opposed to sin and destroys it; how then should it\nstrengthen or increase it?\n\n4. Therefore he begins his sermon by inquiring, in this sixth chapter\n(verses 1-3): \"What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that\ngrace may abound? God forbid. We who died to sin, how shall we any\nlonger live therein?\" In other words: How is it possible that because\ngrace should destroy sin ye should live unto sin? And then, further\nto illustrate this, he says:\n\n\"Or are ye ignorant that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus\nwere baptized into his death?\"\n\n5. He speaks here in figurative language to clearly and forcibly\nimpress this matter upon us; ordinarily it would have been sufficient\nfor him to ask: \"We who died to sin, how shall we any longer live\ntherein?\" that is to say, Inasmuch as ye have been saved from sin\nthrough grace, it is not possible that grace should command you to\ncontinue in sin, for it is the business of grace to destroy sin. Now,\nin the figurative words above quoted, he wishes to vividly remind us\nwhat Christ has bestowed upon us. He would say to us: Do but call to\nmind why you are Christians--you have been baptized into Christ. Do\nyou know why and whereunto you have been baptized, and what it\nsignifies that you have been baptized with water? The meaning is that\nnot only have you there been washed and cleansed in soul through the\nforgiveness of sins, but your flesh and blood have been condemned,\ngiven over unto death, to be drowned, and your life on earth to be a\ndaily dying unto sin. For your baptism is simply an overwhelming by\ngrace--a gracious overwhelming--whereby sin in you is drowned; so may\nyou remain subjects of grace and not be destroyed by the wrath of God\nbecause of your sin. Therefore, if you let yourself be baptized, you\ngive yourself over to gracious drowning and merciful slaying at the\nhands of your God, and say to him: Drown and overwhelm me, dear Lord,\nfor gladly would I henceforth, with thy Son, be dead to sin, that I\nmay, with him, also live through grace.\n\n\nTHE POWER OF BAPTISM.\n\n6. When he says, \"All we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were\nbaptized into his death,\" and again, \"We were buried therefore with\nhim through baptism into death,\" he speaks in his own Pauline style\nconcerning the power of baptism, which derives its efficacy from the\ndeath of Christ. By his death he has paid for and taken away our\nsins; his death has been an actual strangling and putting to death of\nsin, and it no longer has dominion over him. So we, also, through his\ndeath have obtained forgiveness of sins; that sin may not condemn us,\nwe die unto sin through that power which Christ--because we are\nbaptized into him--imparts to and works in us.\n\n7. Yea, he further declares that we are not only baptized into his\ndeath, but, by the same baptism, we are buried with him into death;\nfor in his death he took our sins with him into the grave, burying\nthem completely and leaving them there. And it follows that, for\nthose who through baptism are in Christ, sin is and shall remain\ncompletely destroyed and buried; but we, through his\nresurrection--which, by faith, gives us the victory over sin and\ndeath and bestows upon us everlasting righteousness and life--should\nhenceforth walk in newness of life.\n\n8. Having these things through baptism, we dare no longer obey--live\nunto--the sin which still dwells in our flesh and blood in this life;\nwe must daily strangle it so that it may have no power nor life in us\nif we desire to be found in the estate and life of Christ. For he\ndied unto sin, destroying it by his death and burying it in his\ngrave; and he acquired life and the victory over sin and death by his\nresurrection, and bestows them upon us by baptism. The fact that\nChrist himself had to die for sin is evidence of the severe wrath of\nGod against sin. Sin had to be put to death and laid away in the\ngrave in the body of Christ. Thereby God shows us that he will not\ncountenance sin in us, but has given us Christ and baptism for the\npurpose of putting to death and burying sin in our bodies.\n\n9. Thus Paul shows us in these words what has been effected by\nChrist's death and burial, and what is the signification of our being\nburied with him. In the first place, Christ was buried that he might,\nthrough forgiveness, cover up and destroy our sin, both that which we\nhave actually committed and that which is inherent in us; he would\nnot have it inculpate and condemn us. In the second place, he was\nburied that he might, through the Holy Spirit, mortify this flesh and\nblood with its inherent sinful lusts; they must no longer have\ndominion over us, but must be subject to the Spirit until we are\nutterly freed from them.\n\n10. Thus, we still lie with Christ in the grave according to the\nflesh. Although it be true that we have the forgiveness of sins, that\nwe are God's children and possess salvation, yet all this is not\nperceptible to our own senses or to the world. It is hidden in Christ\nby faith until the judgment day. For we do not yet experience in\nourselves such righteousness, such holiness, such life and such\nsalvation as God's Word describes and as faith expects to find.\nWherefore Paul says in Colossians 3, 3-4 (as we have heard in the\nEaster sermons), \"Your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ,\nwho is our life, shall be manifested, then shall ye also with him be\nmanifested in glory.\"\n\n11. On the other hand, we are outwardly oppressed with the cross and\nsufferings, and with the persecution and torments of the world and\nthe devil, as with the weight of a heavy stone upon us, subduing our\nold sinful nature and checking us against antagonizing the Spirit and\ncommitting other sins.\n\n\"For if we have become united [planted together] with him in the\nlikeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his\nresurrection; knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him,\nthat the body of sin might be done away, that so we should no longer\nbe in bondage to sin; for he that hath died is justified from sin.\"\n\n12. This is another distinctly apostolic discourse. Being baptized\ninto Christ's death and buried with him, to which Paul had just\nreferred, he here calls being united, or planted together, with\nChrist in the likeness of his death. Christ's death and resurrection\nand our baptism are intimately united with, and related to, one\nanother. Baptism is not to be regarded a mere empty sign, as\nAnabaptists erroneously hold. In it is embodied the power of both\nChrist's death and resurrection. Hence Paul says, \"we are planted\ntogether with him,\" engrafted into him as a member of his body, so\nthat he is a power in us and his death works in us. Through baptism\nhe dedicates us to himself and imparts to us the power of his death\nand resurrection, to the end that both death and life may follow in\nus. Hence our sins are crucified through his death, taken away, that\nthey may finally die in us and no longer live.\n\n13. Being placed under the water in baptism signifies that we die in\nChrist. Coming forth from the water teaches, and imparts to, us a new\nlife in him, just as Christ remained not in death, but was raised\nagain to life. Such life should not and can not be a life of sin,\nbecause sin was crucified before in us and we had to die to it. It\nmust be a new life of righteousness and holiness, Christ through his\nresurrection finally destroyed sin, because of which he had to die,\nand instead he brought to himself the true life of righteousness, and\nimparts it to us. Hence we are said to be planted together with\nChrist or united with him and become one, so that we both have in us\nthe power of his death and resurrection. The fruits and results of\nthis power will be found in us after we are baptized into him.\n\n14. The apostle speaks consolingly of the death of the Christian as a\nbeing planted, to show that the Christian's death and sufferings on\nearth are not really death and harm, but a planting unto life; being\nredeemed, by the resurrection, from death and sin, we shall live\neternally. For that which is planted is not planted unto death and\ndestruction, but planted that it may sprout and grow. So Christ was\nplanted, through death, unto life; for not until he was released from\nthis mortal life and from the sin which rested on him and brought him\ninto death on our account, did he come into his divine glory and\npower. Since this planting begins in baptism, as said, and we by\nfaith possess life in Christ, it is evident that this life must\nstrike root in us and bear fruit. For that which is planted is not\nplanted without purpose; it is to grow and bear fruit. So must we\nprove, by our new conversation and by our fruits, that we are planted\nin Christ unto life.\n\n\nCHRISTIAN GROWTH.\n\n15. Paul gives the reason for new growth. He says: \"Knowing this,\nthat our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might\nbe done away, that so we should no longer be in bondage to sin.\" It\ndoes not become us, as baptized Christians, to desire to remain in\nour old sinful estate. That is already crucified with Christ; the\nsentence of condemnation upon it has been pronounced and carried out.\nFor that is what being crucified means. Just so, Christ, in suffering\ncrucifixion for our sins, bore the penalty of death and the wrath of\nGod. Christ, innocent and sinless, being crucified for our sins, sin\nmust be crucified in our body; it must be utterly condemned and\ndestroyed, rendered lifeless and powerless. We dare not, then, in any\nwise serve sin nor consent to it. We must regard it as actually\ncondemned, and with all our power we must resist it; we must subdue\nand put it to death.\n\n16. Paul here makes a distinction. He says, \"Our old man was\ncrucified with him [Christ],\" and \"that the body of sin might be done\naway.\" He intimates that the \"old man\" and \"the body of sin\" are two\ndifferent things. By the term \"old man\" he means not only the\nbody--the grossly sinful deeds which the body commits with its five\nsenses--but the whole tree with all its fruits, the whole man as he\nis descended from Adam. In it are included body and soul, will,\nreason and understanding. Both inwardly and outwardly, it is still\nunder the sway of unbelief, impiety and disobedience. Man is called\nold, not because of his years; for it is possible for a man to be\nyoung and strong and vigorous and yet to be without faith or a\nreligious spirit, to despise God, to be greedy and vainglorious, or\nto live in pride or the conceit of wisdom and power. But he is called\nthe old man because he is unconverted, unchanged from his original\ncondition as a sinful descendant of Adam. The child of a day is\nincluded as well as the man of eighty years; we all are thus from our\nmother's womb. The more sins a man commits, the older and more unfit\nhe is before God. This old man, Paul says, must be crucified--utterly\ncondemned, executed, put out of the way, even here in this life. For\nwhere he still remains in his strength, it is impossible that faith\nor the spirit should be; and thus man remains in his sins, drowned\nunder the wrath of God, troubled with an evil conscience which\ncondemns him and keeps him out of God's kingdom.\n\n17. The \"new man\" is one who has turned to God in repentance, one who\nhas a new heart and understanding, who has changed his belief and\nthrough the power of the Holy Spirit lives in accordance with the\nWord and will of God. This new man must be found in all Christians;\nit begins in baptism or in repentance and conversion. It resists and\nsubdues the old man and its sinful lusts through the power of the\nHoly Spirit. Paul declares, \"They that are of Christ Jesus have\ncrucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts,\" Gal 5, 24.\n\n18. Now, although in those who are new men, the old man is crucified,\nthere yet, Paul says, remains in them in this life \"the body of sin.\"\nBy this we understand the remaining lusts of the old man, which are\nstill felt to be active in the flesh and blood, and which would fain\nresist the spirit. But inasmuch as the head and life of sin are\ndestroyed, these lusts cannot harm the Christian. Still the Christian\nmust take care not to become obedient to them, lest the old man come\nto power again. The new man must keep the upper hand; the remaining\nsinful lusts must be weakened and subdued. And this body of ours must\nfinally decay and turn to dust, thereby utterly annihilating sin in\nit.\n\n19. Now, he says, if ye be dead to sin under the reign of the spirit\nand the new man, and adjudged to death under the reign of the body,\nye must no longer permit sin to bring you under its dominion, lest it\ninculpate and condemn you. But ye must live as those who are wholly\nreleased from it, over whom it no longer has any right or power. For\nwe read, \"He that hath died is justified from sin.\" This is said of\nall who are dead. He that has died has paid for his sin; he need not\ndie for it again, for he no longer commits sin and evil deeds. If sin\nbe destroyed in man by the Spirit, and the flesh also is dead and\ngone, man is completely released and freed from sin.\n\n20. Paul comprehends the whole existence of the Christian on earth in\nthe death of Christ, and represents it as dead and buried, in the\ncoffin; that is, the Christian has ceased from the life of sin, and\nhas nothing more to do with it. He speaks of sin as being dead unto\nthe Christian and of the latter as being dead unto sin for the reason\nthat Christians no longer take part in the sinful life of the world.\nAnd, too, they are doubly dead. First, spiritually they are dead unto\nsin. And this, though painful and bitter to flesh and blood, is a\nblessed, a comfortable and happy dying, sweet and delightful, for it\nproduces a heavenly life, pure and perfect. Secondly, they are\nphysically dead--the body dies. But this is not really death; rather\na gentle, soothing sleep. Therefore ye are, Paul would say, beyond\nmeasure happy. In Christ ye have already escaped death by dying unto\nsin; that death ye need die no more. It--the first death, which ye\nhave inherited from Adam through sin--is already taken away from you.\nThat being the real, the bitter and eternal death, ye are\nconsequently freed from the necessity of dying. At the same time\nthere is a death, or rather only the semblance of one, which ye must\nsuffer because ye are yet on earth and are the descendants of Adam.\n\n\nSPIRITUAL AND PHYSICAL RESURRECTION.\n\n21. The first death, inherited from Adam, is done away with, changed\ninto a spiritual dying unto sin, by reason of which the soul no\nlonger consents to sin and the body no longer commits it. Thus, in\nplace of the death which sin has brought upon us, eternal life is\nalready begun in you. Ye are now freed from the dreadful damning\ndeath; then accept the sweet, holy and blessed death unto sin, that\nye may beware of sin and no longer serve it. Such is to be the result\nof the death of Christ into which ye are baptized; Christ has died\nand has commanded you to be baptized in order that sin might be\ndrowned in you.\n\n22. The other, the \"little death,\" is that outward, physical death.\nIn the Scriptures it is called a sleep. It is imposed upon the flesh,\nbecause, so long as we live on earth, the flesh never ceases to\nresist the spirit and its life. Paul says: \"The flesh lusteth against\nthe Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are contrary\nthe one to the other; that ye may not do the things that ye would.\"\nGal 5, 17. The spirit, or soul, says: I am dead unto sin and will not\nsin any more. But the flesh says: I am not dead and must make use of\nmy life while I have it. The spirit declares: I believe that God has\nforgiven my sins and taken them away from me through Christ. But the\nflesh asks: What do I know of God or his will? The spirit resolves: I\nmust be meek, pure, chaste, humble, patient, and seek the future\nlife. But the flesh in reply makes a loud outcry: Away with your\nheaven! if only I had enough of bread and money and property here!\nThus the flesh does continually, as long as it lives here; it draws\nand drags sin after itself; it is rebellious and refuses to die.\nTherefore God must finally put it to death before it becomes dead\nunto sin.\n\n23. And after all, it is but a gentle and easy death. It is truly\nonly a sleep. Since soul and spirit are no longer dead, the body\nshall not remain dead; it shall come forth again, cleansed and\npurified, on the last day, to be united with the soul. Then shall it\nbe a gentle, pure and obedient body, without sin or evil lust.\n\n24. These words of Paul are an admirable Christian picture of death,\nrepresenting it not as an awful thing, but as something comforting\nand pleasant to contemplate. For how could Paul present a more\nattractive description than when he describes it as stripped of its\npower and repulsiveness and makes it the medium through which we\nattain life and joy? What is more desirable than to be freed from sin\nand the punishment and misery it involves, and to possess a joyful,\ncheerful heart and conscience? For where there is sin and real\ndeath--the sense of sin and God's wrath--there are such terror and\ndismay that man feels like rushing through iron walls. Christ says,\nin Luke 23, 30, quoting from the prophet Hosea (ch. 10, v. 8), that\nsuch a one shall pray that the mountains and the hills may fall on\nhim and cover him.\n\n25. That dreadful death which is called in the Scriptures the second\ndeath is taken away from the Christian through Christ, and is\nswallowed up in his life. In place of it there is left a miniature\ndeath, a death in which the bitterness is covered up. In it the\nChristian dies according to the flesh; that is, he passes from\nunbelief to faith, from the remaining sin to eternal righteousness,\nfrom woes and sadness and tribulation to perfect eternal joy. Such a\ndeath is sweeter and better than any life on earth. For not all the\nlife and wealth and delight and joy of the world can make man as\nhappy as he will be when he dies with a conscience at peace with God\nand with the sure faith and comfort of everlasting life. Therefore\ntruly may this death of the body be said to be only a falling into a\nsweet and gentle slumber. The body ceases from sin. It no longer\nhinders or harasses the spirit. It is cleansed and freed from sin and\ncomes forth again in the resurrection clothed with the obedience, joy\nand life which the spirit imparts.\n\n26. The only trouble is that the stupid flesh cannot understand this.\nIt is terrified by the mask of death, and imagines that it is still\nsuffering the old death; for it does not understand the spiritual\ndying unto sin. It judges only by outward appearance. It sees that\nman perishes, decays under the ground and is consumed. Having only\nthis abominable and hideous mask before its eyes, it is afraid of\ndeath. But its fear is only because of its lack of understanding. If\nit knew, it would by no means be afraid or shudder at death. Our\nreason is like a little child who has become frightened by a bugbear\nor a mask, and cannot be lulled to sleep; or like a poor man, bereft\nof his senses, who imagines when brought to his couch that he is\nbeing put into the water and drowned. What we do not understand we\ncannot intelligently deal with. If, for instance, a man has a penny\nand imagines it to be a five-dollar gold piece, he is just as proud\nof it as if it were a real gold piece; if he loses it he is as\ngrieved as if he had lost that more valuable coin. But it does not\nfollow that he has suffered such loss; he has simply deluded himself\nwith a false idea.\n\n27. Thus it is not the reality of death and burial that terrifies;\nthe terror lies in the flesh and blood, which cannot understand that\ndeath and the grave mean nothing more than that God lays us--like a\nlittle child is laid in a cradle or an easy bed--where we shall\nsweetly sleep till the judgment day. Flesh and blood shudders in fear\nat that which gives no reason for it, and finds comfort and joy in\nthat which really gives no comfort or joy. Thus Christians must be\nharassed by their ignorant and insane flesh, because it will not\nunderstand its own good or harm. They must verily fight against it as\nlong as they live, at the cost of much pain and weariness.\n\n28. There is none so perfect that he does not flee from and shudder\nat death and the grave. Paul complains and confesses of himself, and\nin his own person of all Christians: \"For that which I do I know not:\nfor not what I would, that do I practice.\" Rom 7, 15. In other words:\nBy the spirit, I am well aware that when this body comes to die God\nsimply lays me to rest in sweetest slumber, and I would gladly have\nmy flesh to understand this; but I cannot bring it to it. The spirit\nindeed is willing and desires bodily death as a gentle sleep. It does\nnot consider it to be death; it knows no such thing as death. It\nknows that it is freed from sin and that where there is no sin there\nis no death--life only. But the flesh halts and hesitates, and is in\nconstant dread lest I die and perish in the abyss. It will not allow\nitself to be tamed and brought into that obedience and into that\nconsoling view of death which the spirit exercises. Even Saint Paul\ncries out in anxiety of spirit: \"Wretched man that I am! who shall\ndeliver me out of the body of this death?\" Rom 7, 24. Now we see what\nis meant by the statement, \"The flesh lusteth against the Spirit.\"\nThe flesh must be dragged along and compelled by the spirit to\nobediently follow, in spite of its resistance and trembling. It must\nbe forced into submission until it is finally overcome. Just so the\nmother so deals with the child that is fretful and restless that she\nconstrains it to sleep.\n\n29. Paul says, \"Knowing this, that our old man was crucified\"--that\nis, we know that, in soul and spirit, we are already dead unto\nsin--\"that the body of sin might be done away.\" The meaning is:\nBecause the body does not willingly and cheerfully follow the spirit,\nbut resists and would fain linger in the old life of sin, it is\nalready sentenced, compelled to follow and to be put to death that\nsin may be destroyed in it.\n\n30. He does not say that the body is destroyed as soon as a man has\nbeen baptized and is become a Christian, but that the body of sin is\ndestroyed. The body which before was obstinate and disobedient to the\nspirit is now changed; it is no longer a body of sin but of\nrighteousness and newness of life. So he adds, \"that we should no\nlonger be in bondage to sin.\"\n\n\"But if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with\nhim; knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more;\ndeath no more hath dominion over him. For the death that he died, he\ndied unto sin once; but the life that he liveth, he liveth unto God.\"\n\n31. Here he leads us out of the death and grave of sin to the\nresurrection of spirit and body. When we die--spiritually unto sin,\nand physically to the world and self--what doth it profit us? Is\nthere nothing else in store for the Christian but to die and be\nburied? By all means yes, he says; we are sure by faith that we also\nshall live, even as Christ rose from death and the grave and lives.\nFor we have died with him, or, as stated above, \"we have become\nunited with him in the likeness of his death.\" By his death he has\ndestroyed our sin and death; therefore we share in his resurrection\nand life. There shall be no more sin and death in our spirit or body,\njust as there is no more death in him. Christ, having once died and\nbeen raised again, dieth no more. There is nothing to die for. He has\naccomplished everything. He has destroyed the sin for which he died,\nand has swallowed up death in victory. And that he now lives means\nthat he lives in everlasting righteousness, life and majesty. So,\nwhen ye have once passed through both deaths, the spiritual death\nunto sin and the gentle death of the body, death can no more touch\nyou, no more reign over you.\n\n32. This, then, is our comfort for the timidity of the poor, weak\nflesh which still shudders at death. If thou art a Christian, then\nknow that thy Lord Jesus Christ, being raised from the dead, dieth no\nmore; death hath no more dominion over him. Therefore, death hath no\nmore dominion over thee, who art baptized into him. Satan is defied\nand dared to try all his powers and terrors on Christ; for we are\nassured, \"Death no more hath dominion over him.\" Death may awaken\nanger, malice, melancholy, fear and terror in our poor, weak flesh,\nbut it hath no more dominion over Christ. On the contrary, death must\nsubmit to the dominion of Christ, in his own person and in us. We\nhave died unto sin; that is, we have been redeemed from the sting and\npower, the control, of death. Christ has fully accomplished the work\nby which he obtained power over death, and has bestowed that power\nupon us, that in him we should reign over death. So Paul says in\nconclusion:\n\n\"Even so reckon ye also yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive\nunto God in Christ Jesus.\"\n\n33. \"Reckon ye also yourselves,\" he says. Ye, as Christians, should\nbe conscious of these things, and should conduct yourselves in all\nyour walk and conversation as those who are dead to sin and who give\nevidence of it to the world. Ye shall not serve sin, shall not follow\nafter it, as if it had dominion over you. Ye shall live in newness of\nlife, which means that ye shall lead a godly life, inwardly by faith\nand outwardly in your conduct; ye shall have power over sin until the\nflesh--the body--shall at last fall asleep, and thus both deaths be\naccomplished in you. Then there will remain nothing but life--no\nterror or fear of death and no more of its dominion.\n\n\n\n\n_Seventh Sunday After Trinity_\n\nText: Romans 6, 19-23.\n\n19 I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your\nflesh: for as ye presented your members as servants to uncleanness\nand to iniquity unto iniquity, even so now present your members as\nservants to righteousness unto sanctification. 20 For when ye were\nservants of sin, ye were free in regard of righteousness. 21 What\nfruit then had ye at that time in the things whereof ye are now\nashamed? for the end of those things is death. 22 But now being made\nfree from sin and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto\nsanctification, and the end eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is\ndeath; but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our\nLord.\n\n\nEXHORTATION TO RESIST SIN.\n\n1. The text properly should include several verses preceding. Paul\nhas not yet concluded the subject of the epistle for last Sunday.\nThere he urges that since we are baptized into Christ and believe, we\nshould henceforth walk in a new life; that we are now dead to sin\nbecause we are in Christ, who by his death and resurrection has\nconquered and destroyed sin. He illustrates the power of Christ's\ndeath and resurrection by saying: \"For sin shall not have dominion\nover you: for ye are not under law, but under grace.\" That is, being\nin Christ and possessed of the power of his resurrection--in other\nwords, having God's grace and the forgiveness of sins--you can now\nreadily resist sin. Although you may not perfectly fulfill the letter\nof the Law in its demands, yet it cannot condemn you as a sinner nor\nsubject you to God's wrath.\n\n\nGOOD WORKS NOT FORBIDDEN.\n\n2. Then Paul presents again the question raised by the obstinate\nworld when it encounters this doctrine. \"What then?\" he asks, \"shall\nwe sin because we are not under the law but under grace?\" It is the\nperversity of the world that, when we preach about forgiveness of\nsins by pure grace and without merit of man, it should either say we\nforbid good works, or else try to draw the conclusion that man may\ncontinue to live in sin and follow his own pleasure; when the fact\nis, we should particularly strive to live a life the very reverse of\nsinful, that our doctrine may draw people to good works, unto the\npraise and honor and glory of God. Our doctrine, rightly apprehended,\ndoes not influence to pride and vice, but to humility and obedience.\n\n3. In affairs of temporal government, whether domestic or civil,\njudge or ruler, it is understood that he who asks for pardon\nconfesses himself guilty, acknowledges his error and promises to\nreform--to transgress no more. For instance, when the judge extends\nmercy and pardon to the thief deserving of the gallows, the law is\ncanceled by grace. Suppose now the thief continues in wrong-doing and\nboasts, \"Now that I am under grace I may do as I please, I have no\nlaw to fear\"; who would tolerate him? For though the law is indeed\ncanceled for him and he receives not merited punishment, though grace\ndelivers him from the rope and the sword, life is not granted him\nthat he may continue to steal, to murder; rather he is supposed to\nbecome honest and virtuous. If he does not, the law will again\novertake him and punish him as he deserves. In short, where grace\nfulfills the law, no one is for that reason given license to continue\nin wrong-doing; on the contrary, he is under increased obligation to\navoid occasions of falling under condemnation of the law.\n\n4. Everyone can readily comprehend this principle in temporal things;\nno one is stupid enough to tolerate the idea of grace being granted\nto extend opportunity to do wrong. It is only the Gospel doctrine\nconcerning God's grace and the forgiveness of sin that must suffer\nthe slanderous misrepresentation that makes it abolish good works or\ngive occasion for sin. We are told how God, in his unfathomable\ngrace, has canceled the sentence of eternal death and hell fire\nwhich, according to the Law and divine judgment, we deserved, and has\ngiven us instead the freedom of life eternal; thus our life is purely\nof grace. Yet certainly we are not pardoned that we may live as\nbefore when, under condemnation and wrath, we incurred death. Rather,\nforgiveness is bestowed that we in appreciation of the sublimity and\nsanctity of God's unspeakably great blessing which delivers us from\ndeath unto life, should henceforth take heed that we lose it not;\nthat we fall not from grace to pass again under judgment and the\nsentence of eternal death. We are to conduct ourselves as men made\nalive and saved.\n\n5. So Paul says in verse 16, \"Know ye not, that to whom ye present\nyourselves as servants unto obedience, his servants ye are whom ye\nobey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?\"\nMeaning, Since you now have, under grace, obtained forgiveness of sin\nand are become righteous, you owe it to God to live in obedience to\nhis will. Necessarily your life must be obedient to some master.\nEither you obey sin, to continue in the service of which brings death\nand God's wrath, or you obey God, in grace, unto a new manner of\nlife. So, then, you are no more to obey sin, having been freed from\nits dominion and power. Paul continues the topic in this Sunday's\nepistle text, saying:\n\n\nGOOD AND EVIL \"AFTER THE MANNER OF MEN.\"\n\n\"I speak after the manner of men, because of the infirmity of your\nflesh: for as ye presented your members as members to uncleanness,\"\netc.\n\n6. Heretofore he had been speaking, under the inspiration of the Holy\nSpirit, in language unusual and unintelligible to the world. To the\ngentiles it was a strange and incomprehensible thing he said about\ndying with Christ unto sin, being buried and planted into his death,\nand so on. But now, since his former words are obscure to the natural\nunderstanding, he will, he says, speak according to human\nreason--\"after the manner of men.\"\n\n7. Even reason and the laws of all the gentiles, he goes on to say,\nteach we are not to do evil; rather to avoid it and do good. All\nsovereigns establish laws to restrain evil and preserve order.\n\nHow could we introduce through the Gospel a doctrine countenancing\nevil? Though the wisdom of the Gospel is a higher gift than human\nreason, it does not alter or nullify the God-implanted intelligence\nof the latter. Hence it is a perversion of our doctrine to say it\ndoes not teach us to love good works and practice them. \"Now, if you\ncannot understand this truth from my explanation,\" Paul would\nsay--\"that through faith you have, by baptism, died to the sinful\nlife, even been buried--then learn it through your accustomed\nexercise of reason. You know for yourselves that pardon for former\ntransgression and release from lawful punishment gives no one license\nto do evil--to commit theft or murder.\"\n\n8. It is a commonly recognized fact among men that pardon does not\nmean license. God's Word confirms the same. Yet the disadvantage is\nthat although reason teaches, through the Law, good works and forbids\nevil, it is unable to comprehend why its teachings are not fulfilled.\nIt perceives from the results which follow dishonoring of the Law,\nthat to honor is best, that it is right and praiseworthy not to steal\nand commit crime. But it fails to understand why, given the teachings\nat first, they are not naturally fulfilled. Nor, again, does it know\nhow existing conditions may be removed or bettered. It resorts to\nthis expedient and that to restrain evil, but it cannot attain the\nart of uprooting and destroying it. With the sword, rack and gallows\nthe judge may restrain public crime, but he cannot punish more than\nwhat is known and witnessed to before the court. Whatever is done\nsecretly and never comes before him, he cannot punish or restrain.\nThe Word of God, however, takes hold of the difficulty in a different\nmanner. It teaches how to crush the head of the serpent and to slay\nthe evil. Then the judge and the executioner are no longer necessary.\nBut where we may not control the cause of the wrong, we should,\nnevertheless, restrain so far as possible its manifest workings.\n\nNow, the utmost reason can teach is that we are not to do evil even\nin thought or desire, and the extent of its punishment relates only\nto outward works; it cannot punish the thought and inclination to do\nevil.\n\n9. \"But we preach another doctrine,\" Paul means to say, \"a doctrine\nhaving power to control the heart and restrain the will. We say you\nbelievers in Christ, who are baptized into his death and buried with\nhim, are not only to be reckoned dead, but are truly dead unto sin.\"\nA Christian has certain knowledge that through the grace of Christ\nhis sins are forgiven--blotted out and deprived of condemning power.\nBecause he has obtained and believes in such grace, he receives a\nheart abhorrent of sin. Although feeling within himself, perhaps, the\npresence of evil thoughts and lusts, yet his faith and the Holy\nSpirit are with him to remind him of his baptism. \"Notwithstanding\ntime and opportunity permit me to do evil,\" he says to himself, \"and\nthough I run no risk of being detected and punished, yet I will not\ndo it. I will obey God and honor Christ my Lord, for I am baptized\ninto Christ and as a Christian am dead unto sin, nor will I come\nagain under its power.\"\n\nSo acted godly Joseph, who, when tempted by his master's wife, \"left\nhis garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out\" (Gen 39, 12);\nwhereas another might have been glad of the invitation. He was but\nflesh and blood and naturally not insensible to her inducement, to\nthe time and opportunity, the friendship of the woman and the offered\nenjoyment; but he restrained himself, not yielding even in thought to\nthe temptation. Such obedience to God destroys indeed the source of\nevil--sin. Reason and human wisdom know nothing of it. It is not to\nbe effected by laws, by punishment, by prison and sword. It can be\nattained only by faith and a knowledge of Christ's grace, through\nwhich we die to sin and the world, and restrain the will from evil\neven when detection and punishment are impossible.\n\n10. Now, such doctrine is not to be learned from human reason; it is\nspiritual and taught of the Scriptures. It reveals the source of evil\nand how to restrain it. Since, then, we teach restraint of evil and\nshow withal a way higher and more effectual than reason can find, the\naccusation that we prohibit good works and license sin is\nsufficiently answered and disproved. But Paul would say to the\nRomans, \"If you cannot comprehend our superior doctrine as to the\nquestions raised, then answer them according to the teachings of your\nown reason, for even that will tell you--and no man will dispute\nit--we are to do no wrong. The Word of God confirms this doctrine.\"\n\n11. The apostle says he will speak of the point they raise, after the\nmanner of men. That does not mean according to corrupt flesh and\nblood, which are not capable of speaking anything good, but according\nto natural reason as God created it, where some good still remains,\nfor there are to be found many upright individuals who make just\nlaws. I speak thus \"because of the infirmity of your flesh,\" Paul\ndeclares. As if he would say, I have not yet said as much as reason,\nthe teachers of the Law and the jurists would demand, but I will go\nno further because you are yet too weak spiritually, and too\nunaccustomed to my manner of speech, for all of you to understand it.\nI must come down to your apprehension and speak according to your\ncapacity. Now, I want to say, ask your own statutes, your own laws,\nwhether they authorize the prohibition of good works; if they license\nevil, though they may not be able to prevent it. Thus I convince you\nthat such a pretense regarding our doctrine is not to be tolerated.\n\n\nTHE TEACHINGS OF REASON.\n\n\"Even reason teaches that your lives must conform to your business;\neach is in duty bound to obey him whom he serves. As Christians you\nare obliged to render another service than that you gave when under\nthe dominion of sin, and obedient to it; when you were unable to\nescape its power and to do any work good before God. You have now\ncome out of bondage and are relieved from obedience to sin, through\ngrace, having devoted yourselves to the service of God, to obeying\nhim. Therefore, assuredly you must change your manner of life.\"\n\n12. Truly, Paul here argues reasonably and within the scope of man's\nnatural understanding. We preach the same truths, but, presenting\nthem in the form of Christian doctrine, we necessarily employ\ndifferent language and a loftier tone, lest it be offensive to the\nworld. We may say that theft, murder, envy, hate and other crimes and\nvices are transgressions, yet we cannot remedy the evils by the mere\nprohibitions of the law. The remedy must be effected through God's\ngrace, and is accomplished in the believer, not by our power, but by\nthe Holy Spirit. But when we so explain, the stupid world immediately\nblurts out, \"Oh, if it be true that our works do not remedy evils,\nlet us enjoy ourselves and not bother about good works!\"\n\n13. That their implication is false and a wanton perversion of the\ntrue doctrine is manifest from the fact that we exalt and endorse the\ncommand of God, and also the doctrine of reason, that teach us to do\ngood and avoid evil. Indeed, we assist reason, which is powerless to\nremedy evil. If reason were itself sufficient, men would not permit\nthemselves to be deceived by their own visionary ideas and false\ndoctrines about worthless and vain works, as are followers of the\npapacy and of all false worship. No doubt such error has its rise in\nthe principle that we are to do good and avoid evil. The principle\nfundamentally is true, and accepted by all men; but when it comes to\nthe theories we build upon it, the speculations as to how it is to be\nput into practice, there is disagreement. Only the Word of God can\nshow how to accomplish it.\n\nReason is easily blinded on this point and deceived by false\nappearances, being led by anything merely called good. Even when it\nhas performed all it believes to be right, it is still uncertain of\nacceptance. Indeed, it perceives no fruits, no benefit, to result\nfrom its teaching; for at best its achievements extend no farther\nthan outward works--the object being to make the doer appear\nrighteous and respectable before men--while inward sinfulness is\nunrestrained and the soul remains captive to its former life,\nobedient to the lusts of sin. And the motive of such a one is not\nsincere; he would conduct himself quite otherwise were he not\nrestrained by fear of shame and punishment.\n\n\nGOSPEL HIGHER THAN REASON.\n\n14. We present a higher doctrine--the Gospel. The Gospel teaches\nfirst how sin in ourselves is, through Christ, slain and buried. Thus\nwe obtain a good conscience, a conscience hating and opposing sin,\nand become obedient to another power. Being delivered from sin we\nwould serve God and exert ourselves to do his pleasure, even though\nno fear, punishment, judge or executioner existed.\n\nWith this point accepted--with the settlement of this minor subject\nof controversy as to how we are delivered from sin and attain to\ntruly good works, we unite once more on the fundamental principle\nthat good is to be done and evil avoided. Therefore, we immediately\nconclude: Since we are free from sin and converted to God, we must in\nobedience to him do good and live no more in sin.\n\n15. Thus does Paul make use of the Law, and of human reason so far as\nit is able to interpret the Law, to resist them who speak falsely and\npervert the right doctrine. Evidently, then, the doctrine of the\nGospel does not oppose the doctrine of good works, but transcends it.\nFor it reveals the source and inspiration of good works--not human\nreason, not human ability, but the grace and power of the Holy\nSpirit. Now Paul deduces the point:\n\n\"For as ye presented [yielded] your members as servants to\nuncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity, even so now present\n[yield] your members as servants to righteousness unto sanctification\n[holiness].\"\n\n\nBODY NOT TO SERVE SIN.\n\n16. Even reason teaches that, being no more subject to sin and\nunrighteousness, you are no longer to serve them with your body and\nmembers--your whole physical life. And further, having yielded\nyourselves to obey God and righteousness, you are in duty bound to\nserve them with body and life. To put it concisely and clearly, Let\nhim who formerly was evil and lived contrary to his own conscience\nand to God's will, now become godly and serve the Lord with a good\nconscience. Or, as Paul says, \"Let him that stole steal no more,\" Eph\n4, 28.\n\n17. Formerly, he tells them, their members--eyes, ears, mouth, hands,\nfeet--even the whole body, served uncleanness. For \"vice\" he uses\nthis term \"uncleanness,\" readily intelligible to reason and inclusive\nof all forms of sin. \"You permitted your members to serve\nunrighteousness,\" he would say, \"and devoted them to every sort of\nunholy life, every wicked work, committing one iniquity after another\nand exercising all manner of villainy that can be named. Now reverse\nthe order. Reasoning according to your own logic: while before you\nwillingly witnessed, heard and uttered things shameful and unchaste,\nand sought lewdness, lending your bodies to it, let impurity now be\ndistressing to your sight and hearing; let the body flee from it; be\npure in words and works. All the members of the body, all its\nfunctions, are to be devoted to righteousness.\"\n\nThus your members, your whole bodies, are to become holy--to be God's\nown--and given over solely to his service. The longer and the more\nardently they serve, the more cheerfully will they honor and obey\nGod, being devoted to all that is divine, praiseworthy, honorable and\nvirtuous. The instructions God has written upon your own heart would\nteach you this principle, even were there no Word of God. It is\nuseless for you to protest: \"Yes, but you have taught that good works\ndo not save,\" for that doctrine is not inconsistent, but beyond your\nunderstanding. Indeed, it is the true light whereby you may fulfill\nthe teachings of reason.\n\n\"For when ye were servants of sin, ye were free in regard of [free\nfrom] righteousness.\"\n\n18. All these expressions Paul uses \"after the manner of men,\"\nadapting them from the laws and customs of the times concerning\nslavery, service and freedom. Then servants were bondmen, purchased\nby their masters, with whom they must abide until set at liberty by\nthose owners, or otherwise freed. His allusion to a former service of\nunrighteousness and a present service of righteousness implies two\nconditions of servitude and consequently two conditions of freedom.\nHe who serves sin, the apostle teaches, is free from righteousness;\nthat is, he is captive under sin, unable to attain to righteousness\nand to do righteous works. Even reason can comprehend the principle\nthat he is free who does not serve--who is not servant. Again,\nservants of righteousness means service and obedience to\nrighteousness, and freedom from sin.\n\n\nFRUITS OF TWO KINDS OF SERVICE.\n\nPaul now puts the matter a little differently, contrasting the\nexperience of the Romans in the two forms of service. He leaves it\nwith them to determine which has been productive of benefit and which\nof injury, and to choose accordingly as to future service and\nobedience.\n\n\"What fruit then had ye at that time in the things whereof ye are now\nashamed? for the end of those things is death. But now being made\nfree from sin and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto\nsanctification [holiness], and the end eternal life.\"\n\n19. Rather recall your manner of life when you were free from\nrighteousness and obeyed only the urgings and enticements of sin.\nWhat pleasure or gain had you in it? None, except that for which you\nare now ashamed. Further, had you remained in it you would at last\nhave found death. Only these two grand results--shame and death.\nNothing better have you earned in its service. Munificent reward\nindeed for him who, choosing freedom from righteousness, lives to his\nown pleasure. He is deceived into thinking he has chosen a highly\ndesirable life, for it gratifies the fleshly desires, and he thinks\nto go unpunished.\n\nBut gratification is succeeded by two severe punishments: First,\nshame--confession of disgrace before God and the world. Thus Adam and\nEve in Paradise, when they chose to violate God's command and,\nenticed by the devil, followed their desire for a forbidden thing,\nwere made to feel the disgrace of their sin; they were in their\nhearts ashamed to appear in the presence of God. The other and added\npunishment is eternal death and the fires of hell, into which also\nfell our first parents.\n\n20. Is it not better, then, to be free from the service of sin and to\nserve righteousness? So doing, you would never suffer shame nor\ninjury but would receive a double blessing: First, a clear conscience\nbefore God and all creatures, proof in itself that you live a holy\nlife and belong to God; second and chief, the rich and incorruptible\nreward of eternal life.\n\n21. In all these observations Paul is still speaking after the manner\nof men; in a way comprehended and accepted by reason, even without\nknowledge of Christ. It is universally true in the world that\nevil-doers--thieves, murderers and the like--are punished in addition\nto the public disgrace they feel. Similarly, they who do good\nreceive, in addition to the honor of men, all manner of happy reward.\n\n\"For the wages of sin is death; but the free gift of God is eternal\nlife in Christ Jesus our Lord.\"\n\n22. It seems a strange saying, that evil-doers are to receive wages,\nseemingly implying right and deserving action on their part.\nOrdinarily the term \"wages\" signifies a good reward, given to those\nwho acquit themselves righteously and bravely. Paul uses the word to\ndiscomfit them who pervert his teaching. For they say, \"Ah, Paul\npreaches of grace alone, yet he promises wages to sin.\" \"Yes,\" Paul\nwould respond, \"boast as you will, you will receive a reward--death\nand hell-fire. You must confidently expect it if you interpret the\nGospel to teach that God shall reward you who serve sin.\" With the\nconvincing words of the text, Paul would undeceive those who\nadvocate, or suffer themselves to believe, that man can serve God in\nsin and can receive a happy reward. He chooses words familiar to\nthem. \"Yes, if, as you maintain, wages must be the reward of every\nservice, you will of course receive yours--death and hell. These any\nmay have who desire them and regard them precious.\"\n\n23. Paul says further, \"The free gift of God is eternal life.\"\nObserve his choice of words. He does not here use the term \"wages,\"\nbecause he has previously taught that eternal life is not the reward\nof our works, but is given of pure grace, through faith and for\nChrist's sake. So he speaks of it as a \"free gift of God, through\nChrist Jesus our Lord.\" The soul possessing eternal life is furnished\nwith power to crush the serpent's head, and none can deprive him of\nhis priceless blessing. He has also power to avoid sin and to\nconstantly crucify his flesh. These are things not to be effected by\nany law, any human ability; faith is requisite. Through faith we are\nincorporated into Christ and planted with him in the death of sin,\nunto eternal life and truly good works.\n\n\n\n\n_Eighth Sunday After Trinity_\n\nText: Romans 8, 12-17.\n\n12 So then, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after\nthe flesh: 13 for if ye live after the flesh, ye must die; but if by\nthe Spirit ye put to death the deeds of the body, ye shall live. 14\nFor as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.\n15 For ye received not the spirit of bondage again unto fear; but ye\nreceived the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16 The\nSpirit himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are children\nof God: 17 and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs\nwith Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also\nglorified with him.\n\n\nLIVING IN THE SPIRIT AS GOD'S CHILDREN.\n\n1. This text, like the preceding one, is an exhortation to Christian\nlife and works. The language employed, however, is of different\nconstruction. The hateful machinations of the devil, by which he\nproduces so much disaster in the world, make it necessary to urge\nthis exhortation in many different forms upon those who have become\nChristians. For when God out of grace, without any merit on our part,\nbestows upon us the forgiveness of sins which we ourselves are unable\nto buy or acquire, the devil instigates men at once to conclude and\nexclaim: Oh, in that case we need no longer do good! Whenever,\ntherefore, the apostle speaks of the doctrine of faith, he is obliged\ncontinually to maintain that grace implies nothing of that kind. For\nour sins are not forgiven with the design that we should continue to\ncommit sin, but that we should cease from it. Otherwise it would more\njustly be called, not forgiveness of sin but permission to sin.\n\n2. It is a shameful perversion of the salutary doctrine of the Gospel\nand great and damnable ingratitude for the unfathomable grace and\nsalvation received, to be unwilling to do good. For we ought in fact\nto be impelled by this very grace to do, with all diligence and to\nthe utmost of our knowledge and ability, everything that is good and\nwell-pleasing to God, to the praise and glory of his name.\n\n3. Of this Paul reminds and admonishes us here, in plain and simple\nbut earnest and important words, in which he points out to us how\nmuch we owe to God for that which we have received from him, and what\ninjury we shall suffer if we do not value it as we should, and act\naccordingly. He says:\n\n\"We are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.\"\n\n4. Because we have been redeemed from the condemnation we deserved by\nour sins, and now have eternal life through the Spirit of Christ\ndwelling in us (he speaks of this in the preceding verses), therefore\nwe are debtors to live after the Spirit and obey God. This Paul\ndeclares also in the text for last Sunday: \"Now being made free from\nsin and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto\nsanctification.\" Rom 6, 22. Therefore, he says, ye are debtors; your\nnew calling, station, and nature require of you that, since ye have\nbecome Christians and have the Holy Spirit, ye should live as the\nHoly Spirit directs and teaches. It is not left to your own caprice\nto do or to leave undone. If ye desire to glory in the possession of\ngrace and the Holy Spirit, ye must confess yourselves debtors to\nlive, not after the flesh, the only desire of which is to continue in\nsin, but after the Spirit; the Spirit shows you that, having been\nbaptized and redeemed from sin, ye must turn from sin to the new life\nof righteousness and not from that new life to sin.\n\n\"For if ye live after the flesh, ye must die.\"\n\n5. Here judgment is plainly and tersely pronounced on the pretensions\nof those foolish people who seek to make the freedom of grace a\npretext for giving license to the flesh. The apostle speaks these\nwords that he may deter them from presumption, lest in place of the\nlife and grace in which they pride themselves, they bring upon\nthemselves again eternal wrath and death. It would be utterly\ninconsistent in you who are now saved and freed from eternal death to\ndesire henceforth to live after the flesh. For if ye do that, ye need\nnot imagine that ye shall retain eternal life; ye will be subject to\ndeath and condemned to hell. For ye know that it was solely because\nof your sins that ye lay under the wrath of God and had incurred\ndeath, and that it was because ye lived after the flesh that ye\ndeserved condemnation. Most assuredly Christ has not died for those\nwho are determined to remain in their sins; he has died that he might\nrescue from their sins those who would gladly be released but cannot\nliberate themselves.\n\n6. Therefore, let him that is a Christian take care not to be guilty\nof such nonsense as to say: I am free from the Law, therefore I may\ndo as I please. Rather let him say and do the contrary. Let him,\nbecause he is a Christian, fear and shun sin, lest he fall from his\nfreedom into his former state of bondage to sin under the Law and\nGod's wrath; or lest the life, begun in God, lapse again into death.\nFor here stands the express declaration, \"If ye live after the flesh,\nye must die;\" as if the apostle meant: It will not avail you that ye\nhave heard the Gospel, that ye boast of Christ, that ye receive the\nsacraments, so long as ye do not, through the faith and Holy Spirit\nreceived, subdue your sinful lusts, your ungodliness and impiety,\nyour avarice, malice, pride, hatred, envy and the like.\n\n7. For the meaning of \"living after the flesh\" has been repeatedly\nstated and is readily understood. It includes not only the gross,\nsensual lust of fornication or other uncleanness, but everything man\nhas inherited by his natural birth; not only the physical body, but\nalso the soul and all the faculties of our nature, both mental and\ncorporal--our reason, will and senses--which are by nature without\nthe Spirit and are not regulated by God's Word. It includes\nparticularly those things which the reason is not inclined to regard\nas sin; for instance, living in unbelief, idolatry, contempt of God's\nWord, presumption and dependence on our own wisdom and strength, our\nown honor, and the like. Everything of this nature must be shunned by\nChristians (who have the Holy Spirit and are hence able to judge what\nis carnal) as a fatal poison which produces death and damnation.\n\n\nPUTTING TO DEATH SIN.\n\n\"But if by the Spirit ye put to death the deeds of the body, ye shall\nlive.\"\n\n8. Here the apostle confesses that even in the Christian there is a\nremnant of the flesh, that must be put to death--all manner of\ntemptation and lusts in opposition to God's commandments. These are\nactive in the flesh and prompt to sin. They are here called the\n\"deeds of the body.\" Of this nature are thoughts of unbelief and\ndistrust, carnal security and presumption instead of the fear of God,\ncoldness and indolence with respect to God's Word and prayer,\nimpatience and murmurings under suffering, anger and vindictiveness\nor envy and hatred against our neighbor, avarice, unchastity and the\nlike. Such inclinations as these dwell in flesh and blood and cease\nnot to move and tempt man. Yea, because of human infirmity they at\ntimes overtake him when he is not careful enough about transgression.\nThey will certainly overpower him unless he resolutely opposes them\nand, as here stated, \"puts to death the deeds of the body.\" To do\nthis means a severe struggle, a battle, which never abates nor ceases\nso long as we live. The Christian dare never become slothful or\nnegligent in this matter. He must arouse himself through the Spirit\nso as not to give place to the flesh. He must constantly put to death\nthe flesh lest he himself be put to death by it. The apostle\ndeclares, \"If ye live after the flesh, ye must die,\" and again\ncomforts us, \"If by the Spirit ye put to death [mortify] the deeds of\nthe body, ye shall live.\" For the Christian receives the gift of the\nHoly Spirit that he may become willing and able to mortify these\nsinful lusts.\n\n9. This mortifying of sin through the Spirit is accomplished on this\nwise: Man recognizes his sin and infirmity, at once repents,\nremembers God's Word, and, through faith in the forgiveness of sins,\nstrengthens himself against sin, and so resists it that he does not\nconsent to it nor permit it to come to deeds.\n\n10. This constitutes the difference between those who are Christians\nand sanctified and those who are without faith and the Holy Spirit or\nwho grieve and lose the Spirit. For although believers, as well as\nunbelievers, are not wholly free from the sinful lusts of the flesh,\nthey yet remain in repentance and the fear of God; they hold fast to\nthe belief that their sins are forgiven, for Christ's sake, because\nthey do not yield to them but resist them. Therefore they continue\nunder forgiveness, and their remaining infirmity is not fatal nor\ndamning to them as it is to those who, without repentance and faith,\ngo on in carnal security and purposely follow their evil lusts\nagainst their own conscience; who thus cast away from themselves both\nfaith and the Holy Spirit.\n\n11. So Paul admonishes the Christians to remember what they have\nreceived, and whereunto they are called. Having received the\nforgiveness of sins and the Holy Spirit, they are to be careful not\nto lose these again; they must use them in contending against the\nsinful lusts of the flesh. They are to comfort themselves with the\nfact that they have the Holy Spirit, that is, have help and strength\nby means of which they can resist and mortify sin. These things are\nimpossible to those who have not faith. Therefore Paul declares\nfurther:\n\n\"For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of\nGod.\"\n\n12. Like ourselves, Paul had to deal with two classes of people, the\ntrue and the false Christians. There is not so much danger from the\nadversaries of the doctrine; for instance, from popery: their\nopposition is so open that we can readily beware of them. But since\nthe devil sows even among us his seed--they are called Christians and\nboast of the Gospel--it behooves us to take heed, not to the mouth,\nbut to the works, of those who claim to be Christians. Not what they\nsay, but what they do, is the question. It is easy enough to boast of\nGod and of Christ and of the Spirit. But whether such boasting has\nany foundation or not, depends on whether or not the Spirit so works\nand rules in one as to subdue and mortify sin. For where the Spirit\nis, there assuredly the Spirit is not idle nor powerless. He proves\nhis presence by ruling and directing man and prevailing on man to\nobey and follow his promptings. Such a man has the comfort that he is\na child of God, and that God so reigns and works in him that he is\nnot subject to death; he has life.\n\n\nMEANING OF \"LED BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD.\"\n\n13. To be \"led by the Spirit of God\" means, then, to be given a heart\nwhich gladly hears God's Word and believes that in Christ it has\ngrace and the forgiveness of sins; a heart which confesses and proves\nits faith before the world; a heart which seeks, above all things,\nthe glory of God, and endeavors to live without giving offense, to\nserve others and to be obedient, patient, pure and chaste, mild and\ngentle; a heart which, though at times overtaken in a fault and it\nstumble, soon rises again by repentance, and ceases to sin. All these\nthings the Holy Spirit teaches one if he hears and receives the Word,\nand does not wilfully resist the Spirit.\n\n14. On the other hand, the devil, who also is a spirit, persuades the\nhearts of the worldlings. But it soon becomes evident that his work\nis not that of a good spirit or a divine spirit. For he only leads\nmen to do the reverse of that which the Spirit of God leads them to\ndo; then they find no pleasure in hearing and obeying God's Word, but\ndespise God, and become proud and haughty, avaricious, unmerciful.\n\n15. Let every one therefore take heed that he do not deceive himself.\nFor there are many who claim to be Christians and yet are not. We\nperceive this from the fact that not all are led by the Spirit of\nGod. Some spirit there must be by which men are led. If it is not the\nSpirit of God leading them to oppose the flesh, then it must be the\nother and evil spirit leading them to give way to the flesh and its\nlusts and to oppose the Spirit of God. They must, therefore, either\nbe God's own, his dear children, his sons and his daughters, called\nto eternal life and glory; or they must be rejected and abandoned,\nchildren of the devil, and with him heirs of eternal fire.\n\n16. Paul takes occasion to speak more at length on the words \"sons of\nGod,\" and proceeds in beautiful and comforting words to describe the\nnature and glory of this sonship. He only begins the subject,\nhowever, in today's text. He says:\n\n\"For ye received not the spirit of bondage again unto fear; but ye\nreceived the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.\"\n\n17. This is a noble and comforting text, worthy of being written in\nletters of gold. Because ye now through faith, he means to say, have\nthe Holy Spirit and are led by him, ye are no longer in bondage as ye\nwere when under the Law; ye need no longer be afraid of its terrors\nand its demands, as if God would condemn and reject you on account of\nyour unworthiness and the remaining infirmity of your flesh. On the\ncontrary, ye have the consolation that, through faith, ye have the\nassurance of God's grace, and may consider God your Father and call\nupon him as his children.\n\n\nTWO KINDS OF PREACHING AND OF WORKS.\n\n18. Thus he contrasts the two kinds of works which spring from the\ntwo kinds of preaching and doctrine--of the Law and of the\nGospel--and which constitute the difference between the Christians\nand those still without faith and the knowledge of Christ. They who\nhave nothing and know nothing but the Law, can never attain to true,\nheartfelt trust and confidence in God, though they do ever so much\nand exercise themselves ever so earnestly in the Law. For when the\nLaw shines upon them in real clearness and they see what it demands\nof them and how far they come short of its fulfilment, when it thus\ndiscloses to them God's wrath, it produces in them only a terror, a\nfear and dread, of God under which they must at last perish if they\nbe not rescued by the Gospel. This is what Paul here terms \"the\nspirit of bondage,\" one that produces only fear and dread of God.\nBut, on the other hand, if the heart grasps the preaching of the\nGospel, which declares that, without any merit or worthiness on our\npart, God forgives us our sins, for Christ's sake, if we believe in\nhim--then it finds in God's grace comfort against the terrors of the\nLaw; then the Holy Spirit enables it to abide in that confidence, to\nhold fast to that comfort, and to call upon God sincerely in that\nfaith, even though it feels and confesses to be still weak and\nsinful. This is what is meant by receiving \"the spirit of adoption.\"\n\n19. Paul speaks of the \"spirit of bondage\" and the \"spirit of\nadoption\" according to the customs of his times. In those days\nmen-servants and maid-servants were the property of the master of the\nhouse in the same sense that a cow was his property. He bought them\nwith his money; he did with them as he pleased, just as with his\ncattle. They were afraid of their master and had to expect stripes,\nimprisonment and punishment even unto death. They could not say, So\nmuch of my master's property belongs to me, and he must give it to\nme. But they had always to reflect: Here I serve for my bread only; I\nhave nothing to expect but stripes, and must be content to have my\nmaster cast me out or sell me to someone else whenever he chooses.\nThey could never have a well-grounded hope of release from such fear\nand bondage and coercion.\n\n20. Such a slavish spirit, such a captive, fearful and uncertain\nspirit, ye do not have, says the apostle. Ye are not compelled to\nlive continually in fear of wrath and condemnation as are the\nfollowers of Moses and all who are under the Law. On the contrary, ye\nhave a delightful, free spirit, one confident and contented, such as\na child entertains toward its father, and ye need not fear that God\nis angry with you or will cast you off and condemn you. For ye have\nthe Spirit of his Son (as he says above and in Galatians 4, 6) in\nyour heart and know that ye shall remain in his house and receive the\ninheritance, and that ye may comfort yourselves with it and boast of\nit as being your own.\n\n\nCHILDREN OF GOD.\n\n21. On this \"spirit of adoption,\" that is on what the apostle means\nwhen he says \"whereby we cry, Abba, Father,\" I have spoken at some\nlength in my sermon on the text Galatians 4, 6, where the same words\nare used. In short, Paul describes here the power of the kingdom of\nChrist, the real work and the true exalted worship the Holy Spirit\neffects in believers: the comfort by which the heart is freed from\nthe terror and fear of sin and given peace, and the heartfelt\nsupplication which in faith expects of God an answer and his help.\nThese blessings cannot be secured through the Law or our own\nholiness. By such means man could never obtain the comfort of God's\ngrace and love to him; he would always remain in fear and dread of\nwrath and condemnation, and, because of such doubt, would flee from\nGod, not daring to call upon him. But where there is faith in Christ,\nthere the Holy Spirit brings the comfort spoken of, and a childlike\ntrust which does not doubt that God is gracious and will answer\nprayer, because he has promised all these--grace and help, comfort,\nand answer to prayer--not for the sake of our worthiness, but for the\nsake of the name and merit of Christ, his Son.\n\n22. Of these two works of the Holy Spirit, comfort and supplication,\nthe prophet Zechariah (ch. 12, 10) said that God would establish a\nnew dispensation in the kingdom of Christ when he should pour out\n\"the spirit of grace and of supplication.\" The spirit he speaks of is\nthe same who assures us that we are God's children, and desires us to\ncry to him with heartfelt supplications.\n\n23. The Hebrew word \"Abba\"--which, as the apostle himself interprets\nit, means \"Father\"--is the word which the tiny heir lisps in\nchildlike confidence to its father, calling him \"Ab, Ab\"; for it is\nthe easiest word the child can learn to speak: or, as the old German\nlanguage has it, almost easier still, \"Etha, Etha.\" Such simple,\nchildlike words faith uses toward God through the Holy Spirit, but\nthey proceed out of the depth of the heart and, as afterwards stated,\n\"with groanings which cannot be uttered.\" Rom 8, 26. Especially is\nthis the case when the doubtings of the flesh and the terrors and\ntorments of the devil bring conflict and distress. Man must defend\nhimself against these and cries out: O dear Father! Thou art, indeed,\nmy Father, for thou hast given thine only and beloved Son for me.\nThou wilt not be angry with me or disown me. Or: Thou seest my\ndistress and my weakness; do thou help and save me.\n\n\"The Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are\nchildren of God.\"\n\n24. That we are children of God and may confidently regard ourselves\nas such, we do not learn from ourselves nor from the Law. We learn it\nfrom the witness of the Spirit, who, in spite of the Law and of our\nunworthiness, testifies to it in our weakness and assures us of it.\nThis witness is the experience within ourselves of the power of the\nHoly Spirit working through the Word, and the knowledge that our\nexperience accords with the Word and the preaching of the Gospel. For\nthou art surely aware whether or no, when thou art in fear and\ndistress, thou dost obtain comfort from the Gospel, and art able to\novercome thy doubts and terror; to so overcome that thy heart is\nassured of God's graciousness, and thou no longer fleest from him,\nbut canst cheerfully call upon him in faith, expecting help. Where\nsuch a faith exists, consciousness of help must follow. So Saint Paul\nsays, Rom 5, 4-5: \"Stedfastness worketh approvedness; and\napprovedness, hope: and hope putteth not to shame.\"\n\n25. This is the true inward witness by which thou mayest perceive\nthat the Holy Spirit is at work in thee. In addition to this, thou\nhast also external witnesses and signs: for instance, it is a witness\nof the Holy Spirit in thee that he gives thee special gifts, acute\nspiritual understanding, grace and success in thy calling; that thou\nhast pleasure and delight in God's Word, confessing it before the\nworld at the peril of life and limb; that thou hatest and resistest\nungodliness and sin. Those who have not the Holy Spirit are neither\nwilling nor able to do these things. It is true, that even in the\nChristian, these things are accomplished in great weakness; but the\nHoly Spirit governs them in their weakness, and strengthens in them\nthis witness, as Paul says again: \"The Spirit also helpeth our\ninfirmity.\" Rom 8, 26.\n\n\nHEIRS OF GOD.\n\n\"And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with\nChrist; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also\nglorified with him.\"\n\n26. Here, then, thou hast the high boast, the honor and the glory of\nthe Christian. Leave to the world its splendor, its pride and its\nhonors, which mean nothing else--when it comes to the point--than\nthat they are the children of the devil. But do thou consider the\nmarvel of this, that a poor, miserable sinner should obtain such\nhonor with God as to be called, not a slave nor a servant of God, but\na son and an heir of God! Any man, yea the whole world, might well\nconsider it privilege enough to be called one of God's lowest\ncreatures, only so that they might have the honor of being God's\nproperty. For who would not wish to belong to such a Lord and\nCreator? But the apostle declares here that we who believe in Christ\nshall be not his servants, but his own sons and daughters, his heirs.\nWho can sufficiently magnify or utter God's grace? It is beyond the\npower of our expression or comprehension.\n\n27. Yet here our great human weakness discovers itself. If we fully\nand confidently believed this, then of what should we be afraid or\nwho could do us harm? He who from the heart can say to God, Thou art\nmy Father and I am thy child--he who can say this can surely bid\ndefiance to all the devils in hell, and joyfully despise the\nthreatenings and ragings of the whole world. For he possesses, in his\nFather, a Lord before whom all creatures must tremble and without\nwhose will they can do nothing; and he possesses a heritage which no\ncreature can harm, a dominion which none can reduce.\n\n28. But the apostle adds here the words, \"if so be that we suffer\nwith him,\" to teach us that while we are on earth we must so live as\nto approve ourselves good, obedient children, who do not obey the\nflesh, but who, for the sake of this dominion, endure whatever\nbefalls them or causes pain to the flesh. If we do this, then we may\nwell comfort ourselves and with reason rejoice and glory in the fact\nthe apostle declares, that \"as many as are led by the Spirit of God,\"\nand do not obey the promptings of the flesh, \"these are the sons of\nGod.\"\n\n29. O how noble it is in a man not to obey his lusts, but to resist\nthem with a strong faith, even though he suffer for it! To be the\nchild of a mighty and renowned king or emperor means to possess\nnobility, honor and glory on earth. How much more glorious it would\nbe, could a man truthfully boast that he is the son of one of the\nhighest of the angels! Yet what would be all that compared with one\nwho is named and chosen by God himself, and called his son, the heir\nof exalted divine majesty? Such sonship and heritage must assuredly\nimply great and unspeakable glory and riches, and power and honor,\nabove all else that is in heaven or in earth. This very honor, even\nthough we had nothing but the name and fame of it, ought to move us\nto become the enemies of this sinful life on earth and to strive\nagainst it with all our powers, notwithstanding we should have to\nsurrender all for its sake and suffer all things possible for a human\nbeing to suffer. But the human heart cannot grasp the greatness of\nthe honor and glory to which we shall be exalted with Christ. It is\naltogether above our comprehension or imagination. This Paul declares\nin what follows, in verse 18, where he says: \"I reckon that the\nsufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with\nthe glory which shall be revealed to us-ward,\" as we have heard in\nthe text for the fifth Sunday after Trinity.\n\n\n\n\n_Ninth Sunday After Trinity_\n\nText: 1 Corinthians 10, 6-13.\n\n6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not\nlust after evil things, as they also lusted. 7 Neither be ye\nidolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat\ndown to eat and drink, and rose up to play. 8 Neither let us commit\nfornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and\ntwenty thousand. 9 Neither let us make trial of the Lord, as some of\nthem made trial, and perished by the serpents. 10 Neither murmur ye,\nas some of them murmured, and perished by the destroyer. 11 Now these\nthings happened unto them by way of example; and they were written\nfor our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come. 12\nWherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.\n13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as man can bear: but\nGod is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye\nare able; but will with the temptation make also the way of escape,\nthat ye may be able to endure it.\n\n\nCARNAL SECURITY AND ITS VICES.\n\n1. Here is a very earnest admonition, a message as severe as Paul\never indited, although he is writing to baptized Christians, who\nalways compose the true Church of Christ. He confronts them with\nseveral awful examples selected from the very Church, from Israel the\nchosen people of God.\n\n2. Paul's occasion and meaning in writing this epistle was the\nsecurity of the Corinthians. Conscious of their privileged enjoyment\nof Christ, of baptism and the Sacrament, they thought they lacked\nnothing and fell to creating sects and schisms among themselves.\nForgetting charity, they despised one another. So far from reforming\nin life, and retrieving their works of iniquity, they became more and\nmore secure, and followed their own inclinations, even allowing a man\nto have his father's wife. At the same time they desired to be\nregarded Christians, and boastfully prided themselves on having\nreceived the Gospel from the great apostles. So Paul was impelled to\nwrite them a stern letter, dealing them severity such as he nowhere\nelse employs. In fact, it seems almost as if it were going too far to\nso address Christians; the rebuke might easily have struck weak and\ntender consciences with intolerable harshness. But, as in the second\nepistle, seeing how his sternness has startled the Corinthians, he\nmodifies it to some extent, and deals tenderly with the repentant.\n\n3. However, in the striking Scripture examples of the text here, he\nsufficiently shows the need for such admonition to them who would,\nafter having received grace, become carnally secure and abandon the\nrepentant life.\n\n4. The text should properly include the beginning of this tenth\nchapter, which is read in the passage for Third Sunday before Lent.\nHe begins with: \"I would not, brethren, have you ignorant, that our\nfathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and\nwere all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and did all\neat the same spiritual food; and did all drink the same spiritual\ndrink.... Howbeit with most of them God was not well pleased: for\nthey were overthrown in the wilderness.\" Then follows our text\nhere--\"Now these things were our examples.\"\n\n5. As we said, the admonition is to those already Christians. Paul\nwould have them know that although they are baptized unto Christ, and\nhave received and still enjoy his blessing through grace alone,\nwithout their own merit, yet they are under obligation ever to obey\nhim; they are not to be proud and boastful, nor to misuse his grace.\nChrist desires obedience on our part, though obedience does not\njustify us in his sight nor merit his grace. For instance, a bride's\nfidelity to her husband cannot be the merit that purchased his favor\nwhen he chose her. She is the bridegroom's own because it pleased him\nto make her so, even had she been a harlot. But now that he has\nhonored her, he would have her maintain that honor henceforth by her\npurity; if she fails therein, the bridegroom has the right and power\nto put her away.\n\nAgain, a poor, wretched orphan, a bastard, a foundling, may be\nadopted as a son by some godly man and made his heir, though not\nmeriting the honor. Now, if in return for such kindness the child\nbecomes disobedient and refractory, he justly may be cut off from the\ninheritance. Not by the merit of their devotion, as Moses often\nhinted, did the Jews become the people of God; they were ever\nstiff-necked and continually rebelled against him. God, having chosen\nthem and led them out of Egypt, urgently commanded them to serve him\nand obey his Word. But when they failed to fulfil the commandments,\nthey had to feel the terrific force of his punishment.\n\n\nISRAEL'S CARNAL SECURITY A WARNING TO US.\n\n6. Their example Paul here, with great earnestness, holds up to the\nworld as a warning against carnally and confidently presuming upon\nthe grace and goodness of God because we have already received of\nthem. In unmistakable colors the apostle portrays the teaching of\nthis striking and important, this weighty and specific, example.\nRightly viewed, there certainly is no greater, more wonderful, story\nfrom the creation of the world down to the present time, nothing more\nmarvelous to be found in any book--except that supremely wonderful\nwork, the death and resurrection of the Son of God--than this history\nof a people led by God's power out of Egypt, through the wilderness\nand into the promised land. It is filled with the remarkably\nwonderful works of God, with striking examples of his anger and of\nhis great kindness.\n\n7. Referring to these examples, Paul goes on to imply: \"As Christians\nand baptized, you should be familiar with them. If you are not, I\nwould not fail to bring them before you for reflection on what befell\nother people of God, according to the Scripture record. They were our\nfathers, a noble, intelligent and great company and congregation of\nmen, numbering over six hundred thousands, not counting wives and\nchildren.\"\n\nThey, Paul tells us, were termed, and rightly, the holy people of\nGod. God designed their welfare; and through Moses, their bishop and\npope, they had the Word of God, the promise and the Sacrament. Under\nMoses they were all baptized, when he led them through the sea, and\nby the cloud, under the shadow of which, sheltered from the heat,\nthey daily pursued their journey. At night a beautiful pillar of\nfire, an intense lightning-like brilliance, protected them. In\naddition, their bread came daily from heaven and they drank water\nfrom the rock. These providences were their Sacrament, and their sign\nthat God was with them to protect. They believed on the promised\nChrist, the Son of God, their guide in the wilderness. Thus they were\na noble, highly-favored and holy people.\n\n8. But with the great mass of the people, how long did faith last? No\nlonger than until they came into the wilderness. There they began to\ndespise God's Word, to murmur against Moses and against God and to\nfall into idolatry. Whereupon God vindicated himself among them; of\nall that great nation which came out from Egypt, of all the\nillustrious ones who assisted Moses in leading and governing, only\ntwo individuals passed from the wilderness into Canaan. Plainly,\nthen, God had no pleasure in the great mass of that host. It did not\navail them to be called the people of God, a holy people, a company\nto whom God had shown marvelous kindness and great wonders; because\nthey refused to believe and obey the Word of God.\n\nThe prospect was good when they were so wonderfully and gloriously\ndelivered from their enemies, and had at Mount Sinai received from\nGod the Law and a noble order of worship--their prospect was good for\nthem to enter into the land; they were already at the gate. But even\nin that auspicious moment they provoked God until he turned them back\nto wander forty years in the wilderness, where they perished.\n\n9. Their punishment was wholly the result of their odious arrogance\nin boasting in the face of God's Word, of their privileges as the\npeople of God, upon whom he daily bestowed great kindness. \"Do you\nnot recognize,\" they bragged, \"the holiness of this entire\ncongregation, among whom God dwells, daily performing his marvelous\nwonders?\" In their pride and defiance they became stiff-necked and\nobstinate enough to continually complain against Moses and to oppose\nhim whatever course he took with them. Thus they day by day awakened\nGod's wrath against themselves, forcing him to visit them with many\nterrible plagues. These failing to humble, he was compelled to remove\nthe entire nation. Many times God would have destroyed them all at\nonce had not Moses prostrated himself before him in their behalf and\nwith earnest entreaty and strong supplication turned aside his wrath.\nBecause of their perversity, Moses was a most wretched and harassed\nman. \"The man Moses was very meek, above all the men that were upon\nthe face of the earth.\" Num 12, 3. For he was daily vexed with the\ndefiance, disobedience and opposition of this great company of\npeople; and further, he had to witness and endure for the entire\nforty years the numerous and awful plagues sent upon his people, his\nheart being filled with anguish for them. Then, too, it was his\ncontinually to withstand God's wrath.\n\n10. Terrible indeed is the thing we learn of this famously great\npeople--God's own nation, unto whom he reveals himself, to whom God\nand Christ himself are revealed; a nation God governs and leads by\nhis angels; a people he honors by wonders marvelous beyond anything\never heard on earth of any nation. As Moses says in Deuteronomy 4, 7:\n\"What great nation is there, that hath a god so nigh unto them, as\nJehovah our God is whensoever we call upon him?\" Yet all who came out\nof Egypt and had witnessed the mighty wonders God wrought among\nthemselves and among their enemies, fell and glaringly sinned; not\naccording to the measure of the mere weakness and imperfection of\nhuman nature, but they sinned disobediently and in willful contempt\nof God. Hardened in unbelief unto insensibility, they brought upon\nthemselves overwhelming punishment.\n\n11. Paul mentions several instances of the sin whereby they merited\nthe wrath of God, to illustrate how they fell from faith and\ndisregarded God's Word. First, he makes the general assertion that\nwith many of them God was not well pleased. He means to include the\ngreat mass of the people; particularly the officials and leaders, the\neminent of their number, individuals looked up to as the worthiest\nand holiest of the congregation, and who actually had wrought great\nthings. Many of these fell into hypocrisy through boasting of the\ndivine name, the divine office and spirit; Korah, for instance, with\nhis faction, including two hundred and fifty princes of the\ncongregation. Num 16, 1-2. He and his leaders claimed right to the\npriesthood and government equal with Moses and Aaron, and so\nostentatiously and boastfully that only God could say whether they\nwere right. Necessarily God had to make it manifest that he had no\npleasure in them; for they boasted until the earth swallowed them up\nalive, and many who adhered to and upheld them were consumed by fire.\n\n\nISRAEL'S VICES IN THE WILDERNESS PUNISHED.\n\n12. Proceeding, Paul recounts the vices which occasioned God's\npunishment and overthrow of the people in the wilderness. First, he\nsays, they lusted after evil things. In the second year from the\ndeparture, when they actually had come into Canaan, they forgot God's\nkindness and wonderful works in their behalf and, becoming\ndissatisfied, longed to be back in Egypt to sit by the flesh-pots.\nThey murmured against God and Moses until God was forced summarily to\nstop them with fire from heaven. Many of the people were consumed and\na multitude more were smitten with a great plague while yet they ate\nof the flesh they craved; therefore the place of the camp was named\nthe \"Graves of Lust.\" Num 11. Such was the reward of their\nconcupiscence, which Paul here aptly explains as \"lusting after evil\nthings.\"\n\n13. Truly it is but lusting after the wrath and punishment of God\nwhen, in forgetfulness of and ingratitude for his grace and goodness\nwe seek something new. The world is coming to be filled with the\nspirit of concupiscence, for the multitude is weary of the Gospel.\nParticularly are they dissatisfied with it because it profits not the\nflesh; contributes not to power, wealth and luxury. Men desire again\nthe old and formal things of popery, notwithstanding they suffered\ntherein extreme oppression and were burdened not less than were the\npeople of Israel in Egypt. But they will eventually have to pay a\ngrievous penalty for their concupiscence.\n\n14. In the third place, the apostle mentions the great sin--idolatry.\n\"Neither be ye idolaters,\" he counsels, \"as were some of them.\" Not\nsimply the lower class of people were guilty in this respect, but the\nleaders and examples. As they led, the multitude followed. Even\nAaron, the brother of Moses, himself high-priest, swayed by the\ninfluential ones, yielded and set up the golden calf (Ex 32, 4) while\nMoses tarried in the mount. We are astounded that those eminently\nworthy individuals, having heard God's Word and seen his wonders\nliberally displayed, should so soon fall unrestrainedly into the\nfalse worship of idolatry, as if they were heathen and possessed not\nthe Word. Much less need we wonder that the blind world always is\nentangled with idol-worship.\n\n15. Where the Word of God is lacking or disregarded, human wisdom\nmakes for itself a worship. It will find its pleasure in the thing of\nits own construction and regard it something to be prized, though it\nmay be imperatively forbidden in God's Word, perhaps even an\nabomination before him. Human reason thinks it may handle divine\nmatters according to its own judgment; that God must be pleased with\nwhat suits its pleasure. Accordingly, to sanction idolatry, it\nappropriates the name of the Word of God. The Word must be forced\ninto harmony with the false worship to give the latter an admirable\nappearance, notwithstanding the worship is essentially the reverse of\nwhat it is made to appear. Similarly popery set off its abominations\nof the mass, of monkery and the worship of saints; and the world in\nturn seeks to set off that idolatry to make it stand before God's\nWord.\n\nSuch is the conduct of the eminent Aaron when he makes for the people\nthe golden calf (Ex 32, 5-6), an image or sign of their offerings and\nworship. He builds an altar to it and causes to be proclaimed a feast\nto the Lord who has led them out of the land of Egypt. They must\nimitate the worship of the true God, a worship of sincere devotion\nand honest intention, with their offering, the calf, in the attempt\nto introduce a refined and ennobling worship.\n\n16. Thereupon follows what is recorded in Exodus 32, 6, to which Paul\nhere refers: \"And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt\nofferings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to\neat and to drink, and rose up to play.\" That is, they rejoiced and\nwere well pleased with themselves, content to have performed such\nworship, and deemed they had done well. Next they proceed to their\nown pleasure, as if having provided against God's anger. Thenceforth\nthey would live according to their inclinations, wholly unrestrained\nand unreproved by the Word of God; for, as they said, Aaron made the\npeople free.\n\n17. Such is the usual course of idolatry. Refusing to be considered a\nsin, it presumes to merit grace and boasts of the liberty of the\npeople of God. It continues unrepentant and self-assured, even in the\npractice of open vice, imagining every offense to be forgiven before\nGod for the sake of its holy worship. Thus have the priestly rabble\nof popery been doing hitherto; and they still adorn--yes, strengthen\nand defend--their shameful adultery, unchastity and all vices, with\nthe name of the Church, the holy worship, the mass, and so on.\n\n\nISRAEL'S TRIAL OF GOD.\n\n18. In the fourth admonition, the apostle says, \"Neither let us make\ntrial of the Lord, as some of them made trial, and perished by the\nserpents.\" This, too, is a heinous sin, as is proven by the terrible\npunishment. In Numbers 21 we read that after the people had journeyed\nfor forty years in the wilderness and God had brought them through\nall their difficulties and given them victory over their enemies, as\nthey drew near to the promised land, they became dissatisfied and\nimpatient. They were setting out to go around the land of the\nEdomites, who refused them a passage through their country, when they\nbegan to murmur against God and Moses for leading them out of Egypt.\nThereupon God sent among them fiery serpents and they were bitten, a\nmultitude of the people perishing.\n\nComplaining against God is here called tempting him. Men set\nthemselves against the Word of God and blaspheme as if God and his\nWord were utterly insignificant, because his disposing is not as they\ndesire. Properly speaking, it is tempting God when we not only\ndisbelieve him but oppose him, refusing to accept what he says as\ntrue and desiring that our own wisdom rule. That is boasting\nourselves against him. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10, 22: \"Do we\nprovoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he?\"\n\n19. Such was the conduct of the Jews. Notwithstanding God's promise\nto be their God, to remain with them and to preserve them in trouble,\nif only they would believe in him and trust him; and notwithstanding\nhe proved his care by daily providences expressed as special\nblessings and strange wonders, yet all these things availed not to\nsave them from murmuring. When the ordering of events accorded not\nexactly with their wisdom or desire, or when, perhaps, disaster or\nfailure threatened, immediately they began to make outcry against\nMoses; in other words, against his God-given office and message. \"Why\nhave you led us out of Egypt?\" they would complain, meaning: \"If you\nbore, as you say you do, the word and command of God and if he truly\ndesigned to work such marvels with us, he would not permit us to\nsuffer want like this.\" In fact, they could not believe God's\ndealings with them were in accord with his promise and design. They\ninsisted that he should, through Moses, perform what they dictated;\notherwise he should not be their God.\n\nAt the outset, when they entered the wilderness, after having come\nout of Egypt and having experienced God's wonderful preservation of\nthem in the Red Sea and his deliverance from their enemy, and having\nreceived from him bread and flesh, they immediately began to murmur\nagainst Moses and Aaron and to chide them for leading into the\nwilderness where no water was. \"Is Jehovah among us, or not?\" they\nburst forth. Ex 17, 7. This was, indeed, as our text says, tempting\nGod; for abundantly as his word and his wonders had been revealed to\nthem, they refused to believe unless he should fulfil their desires.\n\n20. And they persisted in so opposing and tempting God as long as\nthey were in the wilderness, unto the fortieth year; to which God\ntestifies when he says to Moses: \"Because all those men that have\nseen my glory, and my signs, which I wrought in Egypt and in the\nwilderness, yet have tempted me these ten times, and have not\nhearkened to my voice,\" etc., Num 14, 22. It was in the second year\nafter the departure from Egypt that the Jews murmured about the\nwater, and now in the fortieth year, when they should have been\nhumbled after so long experience, and when they whose lives covered\nthat period ought to have been conscious of the wonderful\ndeliverances they had experienced in not being destroyed with others\nof their number, but being brought safely to the promised land--now\nthey begin anew to complain with great impatience and bitterness:\n\"Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?\"\nOr, in other words: \"You often remind us you represent God's command,\nand you have promised us great things. This is a fine way you take to\nlead us into the land when here we have yet farther to journey and\nare all going to die in the wilderness!\"\n\n21. Notice, Paul in speaking of how they tempted God says, \"They\ntempted Christ,\" pointing to the fact that the eternal Son of God was\nfrom the beginning with his Church and with the people who received\nfrom the ancient fathers the promise of his coming in the form of\nman. They believed as we do that Christ--to use Paul's words in the\nbeginning--was the rock that followed them.\n\nTherefore the apostle gives us to understand, the point of the\nIsraelites' insult was directed against faith in Christ, against the\npromise concerning him. Moses was compelled to hear them protest\nafter this manner: \"Yes, you boast about a Messiah who is one with\nGod, and who is with us to lead us; one revealed to the fathers and\npromised to be born unto us of our flesh and blood, to redeem us and\nbring relief to all men; a Messiah who for that reason adopts us for\nhis own people, to bring us into the land; but where is he? This is a\nfine way he relieves us! Is our God one to permit us to wander for\nforty years in the wilderness until we all perish?\"\n\n22. That such sin and blasphemy was the real meaning of their\nmurmurings is indicated by the fact that Moses afterward, in the\nterrible punishment of the fiery serpents by which the people were\nbitten and died, erected at God's command a brazen serpent and\nwhoever looked upon it lived. It was to them a sign of Christ who was\nto be offered for the salvation of sinners. It taught the people they\nhad blasphemed against God, incurred his wrath and deserved\npunishment, and therefore in order to be saved from wrath and\ncondemnation, they had no possible alternative but to believe again\nin Christ.\n\n\nMURMURING AGAINST GOD OPEN REVOLT.\n\n23. This last point is akin to the one preceding. Paul defines\nmurmuring against God as an open revolt actuated by unbelief in the\nWord, a manifestation of anger and impatience, an unwillingness to\nobey when events are not ordered according to the pleasure of flesh\nand blood, and a readiness instantly to see God as hating and\nunwilling to help. Just so the Jews persistently behaved, despite\nMoses' efforts to reconcile. Being also continually punished for\ntheir perversity, they ought prudently to have abandoned their\nmurmurings; but they only murmured the more.\n\n24. The apostle's intent in the narration is to warn all who profess\nto be Christians, or people of God, as we shall hear later. He holds\nthat the example of the Israelites ought deeply to impress us,\nteaching us to continue in the fear of God and to be conscious of it,\nand to guard against self-confidence. For God by the punishments\nmentioned shows forcibly enough to the world that he will not trifle\nwith, nor excuse, our sin--as the world and our own flesh fondly\nimagine--if we, under cover of his high and sacred name, dare despise\nand pervert his Word; if we, actuated by presumptuous confidence in\nour own wisdom, our own holiness and the gifts of God, follow our\nprivate opinions, our own judgment and inclinations, and vainly\nsatisfy ourselves with the delusion: \"God is not angry with me, one\nso meritorious, so superior, in his sight.\"\n\n25. You learn here that God spared none of the great throng from\nEgypt, among whom were many worthy and eminent individuals, even the\nprogenitors of Christ in the tribe of Judah. He visited terrible\npunishment upon the distinguished princes and the leaders among the\npriesthood and other classes, and that in the sight of the entire\npeople among whom he had performed so many marvelous wonders. Having\nby Moses delivered them from temporal bondage in Egypt, and through\nhis office spiritually baptized and sanctified them; having given\nChrist, to speak with, lead, defend and help them; having dealt\nkindly with them as would a father with his children: yet he visits\nterrible destruction upon these Jews because they have abused his\ngrace and brought forth no fruits of faith, and have become proud,\nboasting themselves the people of God, children of Abraham and\ncircumcised, sole possessors of the promise of a Messiah, and\nconsequently sure of participating in the kingdom of God and enjoying\nhis grace.\n\n26. Now, as Paul teaches, if terrible judgment and awful punishment\ncame upon these illustrious and good people, let us not be proud and\npresumptuous. We are far inferior to them and cannot hope, in these\nlast ages of the world, to know gifts and wonders as great and\nglorious as they knew. Let us see ourselves mirrored in them and\nprofit by their example, being mindful that while we are privileged\nto glory in Christ, in the forgiveness of sins and the grace of God,\nwe must be faithfully careful not to lose what we have received and\nfall into the same condemnation and punishment before God which was\nthe fate of this people. For we have not yet completed our\npilgrimage; we have not arrived at the place toward which we journey.\nWe are still on the way and must constantly go forward in the\nundertaking, in spite of dangers and hindrances that may assail. The\nwork of salvation is indeed begun in us, but as yet is incomplete. We\nhave come out of Egypt and have passed through the Red Sea; that is,\nhave been led out of the devil's dominion into the kingdom of God,\nthrough Christian baptism. But we are not yet through the wilderness\nand in the promised land. There is a possibility of our still\nwandering from the way, into defeat, and missing salvation.\n\n27. Nothing is lacking on God's part; he has given us his Word and\nthe Sacraments, has bestowed the Spirit, given grace and the\nnecessary gifts, and is willing to help us even further. It rests\nwith ourselves not to fall from grace, not to thrust it from us\nthrough unbelief, ingratitude, disobedience and contempt of God's\nWord. For salvation is not to him who only begins well, but, as\nChrist says (Mt 24, 13), \"He that endureth to the end, the same shall\nbe saved.\" But the apostle continues:\n\n\"Now these things happened unto them by way of example; and they were\nwritten for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come.\"\n\n\nISRAEL'S CAREER AN ADMONITION TO INDIVIDUALS.\n\n28. When you read or hear this historical example, the terrible\npunishment the Jewish people suffered in the wilderness, think not it\nis an obsolete record and without present significance. The narrative\nis certainly not written for the dead, but for us who live. It is\nintended to restrain us, to be a permanent example to the whole\nChurch. For God's dealings with his own flock are always the same,\nfrom the beginning of time to the end. Likewise must the people of\nGod, or the Church, be always the same. This history is a portrait of\nthe Church in every age, representing largely its actual life--the\nvital part; for it shows on what the success of the Church on earth\nalways depends and how it acts. The record teaches that the Church is\nat all times wonderfully governed and preserved by God, without human\nagency, in the midst of manifold temptations, trials, suffering and\ndefeat; that it does not exist as an established government regulated\naccording to human wisdom, with harmony of parts and logical action,\nbut is continually agitated, impaired and weakened in itself by much\nconfusion and numerous penalties; that the great and best part, who\nbear the name of the Church, fall and bring about a state of things\nso deplorable God can no longer spare, but is compelled to send\npunishments in the nature of mutinies and similar disorders, the\nterrible character of which leaves but a small proportion of the\npeople upright.\n\n29. Now, if such disaster befell the nation selected of God, chosen\nfrom the first as his people, among whom he performed works marvelous\nand manifest beyond anything ever known since, what better thing may\nwe expect for ourselves? Indeed, how much greater the danger\nthreatening us; how much reason we have to take heed that the same\nfate, or worse, overtake not ourselves!\n\nWith reference to the things chronicled in our text, Paul tells us:\n\"They were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages\nare come.\" That is, we are now in the last and most evil of days, a\ntime bringing many awful dangers and severe punishments. It is\nforetold in the Scriptures, predicted by Christ and the apostles,\nthat awful and distressing times will come, when there shall be wide\nwanderings from the true faith and sad desolations of the Church.\nAnd, alas, we see the prophecies only too painfully fulfilled in past\nheresy, and later in Mohammedanism and the papacy.\n\n30. The era constituting the \"last time\" began with the apostles. The\nChristians living since Christ's ascension constitute the people of\nthe latter times, the little company left for heaven; and we\ngentiles, amidst the innumerable multitude of the ungodly generation\nin the wide world, must experience worse calamities than befell the\nJews, who lived under the law of Moses and the Word of God, under an\nadmirable external discipline and a well-regulated government. Yet\neven in this final age so near the end of time, when we should be\noccupied with proclaiming the Gospel everywhere, the great multitude\nare chiefly employed with boasting their Christian name. We see how\nextravagantly the Pope extols his church, teaching that outside its\npale no Christians are to be found on earth, and that the entire\nworld must regard him as the head of the Church.\n\n31. True, his subjects were baptized unto Christ, called to the\nkingdom of God and granted the Sacrament and the name of Christ. But\nhow do they conduct themselves? Under that superior name and honor,\nthey suppress Christ's Word and his kingdom. For more than a thousand\nyears now they have desolated the Church, and to this hour most\ndeplorably persecute it. On the other hand, great countries, vast\nkingdoms, claiming to be Christian but disregarding the true doctrine\nof faith, are punished by the Turk's desolating hand, and instead of\nthe incense of Christianity, with them is the revolting odor of\nMohammed's faith.\n\n32. Great and terrible was the punishment of the Jewish people.\nSeemingly no disaster could befall man more awful than overtook them\nin the wilderness. Yet it was physical punishment, and although many,\nthrough unbelief and contempt of God, fell and incurred everlasting\ncondemnation, still the Word of God remained with a remnant--Moses\nand the true Church. But the punishment of this last age is\ninfinitely more awful, for God permits the pure doctrine to be lost,\nand sends strong delusions, that they who receive not the truth nor\nlove it shall believe falsehood and be eternally lost. 2 Thes 2, 10.\nSuch has been our reward; we have only too terribly suffered\npunishment. And if we are not more thankful for the grace God extends\nin his Word--a last gleam of light, on the point of extinction--we\nshall meet with retribution even more appalling.\n\n\"Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.\"\n\n33. Here is summed up the teaching of the above examples. The sermon\nis directed against the self-confident. Some there were among the\nChristian Corinthians who boasted they were disciples of the great\napostles, and who had even received the Holy Spirit, but who stirred\nup sects and desired to be commended in all their acts. To these Paul\nwould say: \"No, dear brother, be not too secure, not too sure where\nyou stand. When you think you stand most firmly you are perhaps\nnearest to falling, and you may fall too far to rise again. They of\nthe wilderness were worthy people and began well, doing great deeds,\nyet they fell deplorably and were destroyed. Therefore, be cautious\nand suffer not the devil to deceive you. You will need to be\nvigilant, for you are in the flesh, which always strives against the\nspirit; and you have the devil for enemy, and dangers and\ndifficulties beset you on all sides. Be careful lest you lose what\nyou have received. You have only made a beginning; the end is yet to\nbe attained.\" So we must be wary and steadfast, that we may, as Paul\nhas it, work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. Phil 2,\n12.\n\n\"There hath no temptation taken you but such as man can bear [such as\nis common to man]: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be\ntempted above that ye are able.\"\n\n34. Paul's meaning is: I must not terrify you too much. I would in a\nmeasure comfort you. So far you have had no temptations greater than\nflesh and blood offer. They have risen among yourselves--one holding\nanother in contempt, one doing another injustice; allowing adulteries\nand other evils to creep in, which things are indeed not right nor\ndecent. You must resolve to reform in these things lest worse error\nbefall you. For should Satan get hold of you in earnest with his\nfalse doctrine and spiritual delusions, his strong temptations of the\nsoul--contempt of God, for instance--such as assailed Peter and many\nothers of the saints, you could not stand. You are yet weak; you are\nnew and untried Christians. Then thank God who gives you strength to\nbear your present temptations; who, to retain you, presents what is\nbest for you, admonishing you, through his Word, to be on your guard\nagainst falling yet deeper into temptation.\n\n\n\n\n_Tenth Sunday After Trinity_\n\nText: 1 Corinthians 12, 1-11.\n\n1 Now, concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you\nignorant. 2 Ye know that when ye were Gentiles ye were led away unto\nthose dumb idols, howsoever ye might be led. 3 Wherefore I make known\nunto you, that no man speaking in the Spirit of God saith, Jesus is\nanathema [accursed], and no man can say, Jesus is Lord, but in the\nHoly Spirit. 4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same\nSpirit. 5 And there are diversities of ministrations, and the same\nLord. 6 And there are diversities of workings, but the same God, who\nworketh all things in all. 7 But to each one is given the\nmanifestation of the Spirit to profit withal. 8 For to one is given\nthrough the Spirit the word of wisdom; and to another the word of\nknowledge, according to the same Spirit; 9 to another faith, in the\nsame Spirit; and to another gifts of healings, in the one Spirit; 10\nand to another workings of miracles; and to another prophecy; and to\nanother discernings of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues;\nand to another the interpretation of tongues; 11 but all these\nworketh the one and the same Spirit, dividing to each one severally\neven as he will.\n\n\nSPIRITUAL COUNSEL FOR CHURCH OFFICERS.\n\n1. This epistle selection treats of spiritual things, things which\nchiefly pertain to the office of the ministry and concern the Church\nauthorities. Paul instructs how those in office should employ their\ngifts for the benefit of one another and thus further the unity and\nadvancement of the Churches. Inharmony is a deplorable offense in the\ncase of Christians, putting them in the worst possible light, and\nmaking it impossible for them to steer clear of factions. Divisions\nare an offense to the world's wisest and best, who cry out, \"If the\nChristians' doctrine were true, they would preserve unity among\nthemselves, but as it is they envy and slander and devour one\nanother.\" For, though the world carries its own great beam in its\neye, it cannot refrain from judging us for our mote, and thus\nexalting itself as if it were pure and beautiful.\n\n\nPERFECT HARMONY NOT TO BE EXPECTED.\n\n2. Well, we cannot altogether prevent inharmony in the Church. Paul\nsays (1 Cor 11, 19), \"For there must be also factions among you, that\nthey that are approved may be made manifest among you.\" Wherever the\nWord of God has a foothold, there the devil will be. By the agency of\nhis factions he will always build his taverns and kitchens beside\nGod's house. So he did at first, in Paradise. In the family of Adam\nhe entrenched himself, establishing there his church. And such has\nbeen his practice ever since, and doubtless will ever be. He who\ntakes offense at differences in the Church, who when he sees any\ninharmony at once concludes there is no Church there, will in the end\nmiss both the Church and Christ. You will never find any congregation\nof such purity that all its members are unanimous on every point of\nbelief and teaching and all live in perfect harmony.\n\n3. Paul had experience in this matter in the case of the beautiful\nand famed Church at Corinth in Achaia, which he himself planted and\nwhere he taught two years. Soon after his departure they began to\ndisagree about their preachers and to attach themselves to certain\nones--some to Paul, some to Peter, some to Apollos. Though these had\nall taught correctly, though they had been unanimous in their\ndoctrine, yet men would cleave to a certain one because he was more\nor differently gifted than the others, could speak better, or was\nmore attractive in personal appearance. And among the ministers of\nthe Church, if one had a special gift or office, he thought he ought\nto be a little better and a little greater than the others.\nNecessarily, from such division and inharmony, grew hatred, strife\nand jealousy, resulting in great injury and disorder to the Church.\n\n4. We must, then, so far as possible, guard against this fatal evil,\nthough we cannot altogether keep it out of the Church. Were we to\noffer no resistance at all, the devil would seize all authority and\nbring every element into discord. But when we resist Satan, God will\ncontinue to extend his grace and favor, and some fruit and\nimprovement will follow. Even were it not possible for us to\naccomplish anything, yet as faithful ministers we must not keep\nsilent if we would not be regarded indolent hirelings who flee when\nthe wolf comes. See Jn 10, 12.\n\n5. Such is the tenor of this text from Paul. He begins by preaching\non spiritual gifts and admonishing the Corinthians how to conduct\nthemselves in respect to them. In proportion to the greatness and\nexcellence of the gifts are flesh and blood inclined to discord and\nto coveting personal honor. Let one have a good understanding of the\nScriptures and be able to explain them, or let him have the power to\nwork miracles, and he will soon begin to have an extravagantly good\nopinion of himself, deeming himself worthy the honor of all men,\ndesiring the multitude to follow only him, and positively refusing to\nregard anyone his equal. He will seek to create something new in\ndoctrine, to change the old order, as if he could introduce something\nbetter than others, who must be infinitely below him or at least his\ninferiors.\n\n6. The same thing has taken place in our day--and will continue to\ntake place--with respect to the Gospel. But through the grace of God\nthat Gospel is brought to light again, and rightly instructs and\nharmonizes the people. The devil, unable to rest, had to rouse his\nfactious rabble, his selfish souls, who desired the name of being\nsuperior and inspired people, a people who could preach, write and\nexplain the Scriptures better than others; for they had learned a\nlittle from us. They conceded that the Gospel had indeed made a\nbeginning, had somewhat purified ecclesiastical doctrine, but claimed\nit had not gone far enough; it was necessary that greater improvement\nbe made--Church doctrine must be brought to far greater perfection.\nBut as Paul says (1 Cor 3, 11), they could, with their doctrine, lay\nno other foundation, could preach no other Christ, than the Christ of\nthe Gospel. Nevertheless, they pretended to teach something better\nand higher. They hindered and perverted the true doctrine. Their work\ncould not be called building up the faith, but was rather breaking up\nand destroying its foundation and leading the people back into error\nand blindness. So Paul begins his admonition in these words:\n\n\"Ye know that when ye were Gentiles ye were led away unto those dumb\nidols, howsoever ye might be led.\"\n\n7. Paul reminds the Corinthians of their manner of life before they\nbecame Christians, for he would have them pause to think that their\ngifts, past and present, are not of their own procuring, nor are any\ngifts bestowed upon them because of merit on their part. It is his\nintent to restrain them from pride in their gifts and from\ndisputations concerning them; to keep them from divisions and from\npretending to teach and introduce into the Church something new and\nbetter. But at the same time he deals a blow to those who take\noffense at inharmony among Christians.\n\n8. \"Recall, all of you,\" Paul would say, \"your manner of life before\nyou came to Christ. What were you? Mere darkened heathen, having no\nknowledge of God but suffering yourselves blindly to be led by anyone\nwho should say aught to you of God. All your devotion was but a\ndiscordant worship. Each one--even the child in the cradle, the\ninfant at the mother's breast--must find his own idol wherever he\nmight turn.\" St. Augustine tells us that the city of Rome alone had\nmore than four hundred gods, and that it erected a church for all the\ngods in the world, which building still stands--the Pantheon.\n\n\"These superstitions,\" Paul's words imply, \"you followed as you were\nled; you flocked after them, praying and sacrificing, hanging your\nhearts upon dumb idols which could not teach and advise you, could\nnot comfort, relieve or help you. In return for your devotion you\nobtained only the privilege of being a blind, wretched, divided,\nmiserable people, unable to fortify yourselves against any error, and\nallowing yourselves to be distracted by the advocate of any doctrine.\nYou were like a flock of helpless sheep scattered by wolves.\n\n9. \"But now you have been turned from that manifold idolatry to the\none true worship and have been enlightened by God's Word. More than\nthat, in Christ have been bestowed upon you great and glorious\ngifts--discerning of the Scriptures, diversities of tongues, power to\nwork miracles--things impossible to the world. It is unmistakably\nevident that you embrace the true God, who does not, like dumb idols,\nleave you to wander in the error of your own speculations,\nuncounseled by the Word; a living God, who speaks to you that you may\nknow what to expect from him, and works among you publicly and\nvisibly.\n\n\"Therefore, it is not for you to make divisions among yourselves\nafter the manner of the heathen as you see in the great Babel\nconfusion and divisions of the world, where no one agrees with\nanother, where one runs to this his idol and another to that, each\nclaiming superiority for his own. Knowing that you all embrace the\none true God and his Word, you are to hold together in one faith and\none mind, not disagreeing among yourselves as if you had a variety of\ngods, of faiths, of baptisms, spirits and salvations.\"\n\n\nCAVILERS THEMSELVES LED ASTRAY.\n\n10. Paul speaks with particular plainness to the fault-finding and\ninsolent cavilers against Christians and to other factious leaders\nwhen he says, \"Ye were led away unto those dumb idols, howsoever ye\nmight be led.\" This class peremptorily judge and criticise the life\nand doctrine of the Church because they see therein a measure of\ndefects, and even some divisions and disagreements; notwithstanding\nthe fact is plainly evident to them that the Church possesses the\nWord of God in purity, a knowledge of Christ, an illumined\nunderstanding of God's will and his grace, and true comfort for all\ndistress of conscience, and that, in addition to all these, the Holy\nSpirit manifestly operates with them. At the same time, these same\nuncalled-for and self-constituted critics would never have been able\nto say anything about the Christian religion had they not witnessed\nthat religion in the little company of Christians who have the Word\nof God and the Spirit's gifts.\n\n11. These fault-finders were individuals who, undoubtedly to a\ngreater extent than others, suffered themselves to be blindly led in\nwhatever way was pointed out, and who gave credence to what was\ntaught and preached to them concerning the way to serve God, yet who\nall the time were but worshipers of dumb idols, possessing not the\nWord of God and having no witness to the truth of their faith and\ntheir works. Each believed and followed the devices of his own\nimagination or the popular choice. No man was able to teach anything\ncertain and steadfast, anything to give the heart satisfaction and\nperfect security. They continually changed from one thing to another,\naccepting every new thing presented as real worship and true\ndoctrine.\n\n12. And the world, ever from the beginning, has had naught but dumb\nidols in the countless forms of worship offered to the numerous\ngods--gods which never existed, but of which images were made and to\nwhich divine honors were shown. Worship has been rendered to the mere\nnames of misfortune, disaster and disease, of all sorts; yes, to\ninsects, and to garlic and onions even. Yet, in the practice of all\nthis idolatry, supposed to be evidence of great holiness, each one\nsacrificing to the idol of his choice--in it all no one could have\nthe assurance of being heard and answered by his god. Men had no word\nor sign of the divine will or work; they possessed naught but a vain\ndream and delusion of the human imagination; man devised and made his\nown idols.\n\n13. And what did we under the papacy but walk blindly? We suffered\nourselves to be led just as we were directed by the names of God and\nthe saints. I was myself a pious monk and priest, holding mass daily,\nwherein I worshiped St. Barbara, St. Anna, St. Christopher and\nothers--more saints than the calendar mentions, some of whom no one\nknew anything about. I had no knowledge of Christ, I knew not why I\nshould find comfort in him nor what I should expect of him. I was as\nmuch afraid of him as of the devil himself, regarding him more a\nstern Judge than a Saviour. How many shameful pilgrimages were made\nto dead idols of wood and stone, images of Mary and of the saints!\nHow many were the pilgrimages to the graves of the dead, and to bones\ncalled \"holy relics\"! These relics were mere open deception, devised\nby shameless impostors; yet such worship was established by popes and\nbishops, and indulgences granted therefor.\n\n14. How many new saints, new brotherhoods, new psalms to Mary, and\nnew rosaries and crowns did the monks daily invent? In fact,\neverything each individual monk might dream of had to be a special\nform of worship, and no one inquired whether or not it was at all\nauthorized by God's Word. When we had done all, we were uncertain\nthat we had pleased God. What was this sort of worship but a worship\nof dumb idols in the place of the living God--idols which could not\ntalk with us and could not give any definite information or comfort,\nbut left the people fettered and ruined with eternal doubts?\n\n\nFAITH IN THE ONE CHRIST PRODUCTIVE OF UNITY.\n\n15. But Christians, as Paul says, have not a dead and dumb god, for\nwhich the Lord be praised! Nor will we countenance such idols. We\nhave a living, speaking God, who gives us his infallible Word. We\nknow how he is disposed toward us and what we may expect from him;\nnamely: through faith in Christ we have forgiveness of sins and are\nhis beloved children; and as evidence of acceptance with God, we have\nbaptism and the Holy Supper, the office and gifts of the Holy Spirit,\nby which he works in our hearts. We know that in the faith of Christ\nour works and lives are pleasing to God, and that he will hear and\nhelp when in our distress and weakness we cry unto him.\n\n16. Where this confidence obtains, where hearts enjoy such faith,\nthere will be unity in the Church; for verily no one then will allow\nhimself to be led into the manifold doctrines of insensible idols.\nBut dissensions, sects and divisions are sure signs that the true\ndoctrine is either ignored or misunderstood, men thus being left in a\ncondition to be \"tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind\nof doctrine,\" as Paul says (Eph 4, 14); which is indisputably the\ncase with these same schismatics who condemn the Church and her\ndoctrines because of some discordant ones.\n\nThe schismatics show by their very instability that they do not\nembrace the true, uniform and established doctrine, nor can exhibit\nany substitute for it. They refuse to see that in cases where the\nChristian doctrine does not obtain, there is only blindness,\ndistraction and confusion, and warring factions and sects, none\nagreeing with another, each claiming to be better than the other.\nNumerous have been the sects of monks, and of saints of the Pope and\nhis god the devil, no two of which agreed. Each class regarded its\nown whims and speculations, and claimed to be holier than the others.\nThe Pope, however, gave validity to them all, granting great\nindulgence to these factious fraternities. And I am not saying\nanything of other discords in the papacy--among the monasteries and\nin the parishes, and between these and the cloisters everywhere,\nperpetual quarreling, rioting and bitter contention. Such is\ninevitably the case when righteousness and divine worship are made to\nconsist in external self-devised works and forms, for then each\nindividual, pleased with his own ideas, thinks his way right; under\nsuch circumstances, there can never be unanimity of opinion as to\nwhat is right and the best.\n\n17. \"From these numerous sources of disunion and idolatry,\" Paul\nwould say to the Corinthians, \"you are now delivered. You know you\nembrace the real Word of God, the true faith. You worship one God,\none Lord, and enjoy the same grace, the same Spirit, the same\nsalvation. You need not seek other forms and ceremonies as essential\nto salvation--wearing a white or a gray cowl, refraining from this or\nthat food, forbearing to touch certain things. No diversity of\nexternal service, of persons, offices and conditions, destroys the\nunity in Christ.\n\n\"But take heed to continue in unity, to hold fast to it.\nUnquestionably, you should be made wiser by the experience you have\nhad with error; in the future you ought to be prudent, and watchful\nagainst being allured from the unity of this settled mind and true\nfaith into your former blindness again. But so it will certainly\nbefall you if you forget such grace and seek your own honor and\npraise more than the doctrine of the Holy Spirit and his gifts, and\ncome to despise one another and to conduct yourselves as if you had\nmany and not the same God, the same Christ, the same Spirit. God's\ngifts cannot be different from, but must be one with his nature, and\nhence he cannot give to one a better Gospel or a different baptism\nfrom that given another.\"\n\nIn short, Paul teaches there must be unity in Christ, otherwise we\nhave no Christ, no God and Holy Spirit, no grace nor salvation; as\nthe next verse emphasizes.\n\n\"Wherefore I make known unto you that no man speaking in the Spirit\nof God saith, Jesus is anathema [calleth Jesus accursed]; and no man\ncan say, Jesus is Lord, but in the Holy Spirit.\"\n\n18. \"Why make divisions and differences,\" Paul inquires, \"in the\ndoctrine and faith of the Church, which rests wholly upon the one\nChrist? In him you are to be one if you are Christians at all; you\nmust harmoniously praise him, according to your individual gifts. No\none can possibly possess the Holy Spirit if he does not regard Christ\nas the Lord, much less if he call him accursed. Destroy the\nfoundation and you destroy all; there will be no God, no Spirit, and\nall your claims, teaching and works are naught. You must recognize\nand be governed by the fact that either Christ must be received and\nbelieved in as the one true Lord, and praised and glorified as such,\nor else he will be cursed; between these alternatives is no medium.\"\n\n\nTHE SPIRIT, THE TEST OF THE TRUE TEACHER.\n\nIt is easy, then, to judge the doctrine of every official teacher of\nthe Christian Church. No one need resort to faction, no one need gaze\nhither and thither in uncertainty and hesitate as to which gift or\nwhich person is most to be regarded. We are to make the doctrine of\nthis verse the standard and authority as to what and how we preach\nconcerning Christ. He who speaks by inspiration of the Holy Spirit\ncertainly will not curse Christ; he will glorify and praise him. So\ndoing, he surely will not teach error, or give occasion for\ndivisions. If his teaching is not to the glory of God, you may safely\nconclude that he is not true, not inspired by the Holy Spirit.\n\n19. Thus Paul rejects the glorying and boasting of the sects over\ntheir offices and gifts--they who pretend to be filled with the\nSpirit and to teach the people correctly, and who make out that Paul\nand other teachers are of no consequence. Themselves the chief of\napostles, the people must hear them and accept their baptism. More\nthan that, they demand a higher attainment in the Spirit for Gospel\nministers, deeming faith, the Sacrament and the outward office not\nsufficient.\n\nBut Paul says: \"Boast as you will about the great measure of the\nSpirit you possess, it is certain that the Spirit-inspired teacher\nwill not curse Christ.\" In other words, such boasting of the Spirit\nwill not answer the purpose. What you believe and teach concerning\nChrist must receive attention. You are either reproaching and cursing\nJesus, or praising him and owning him your Lord. If your preaching\nand teaching fail to point to Christ, something else being offered,\nand you nevertheless boast of the Spirit, you are already judged: the\nspirit you boast is not the Holy Spirit, not the true Spirit, but a\nfalse one. To it we are not to listen. Rather we are to condemn it to\nthe abyss of hell, as Paul declares (Gal 1, 8), saying: \"But though\nwe, or an angel from heaven, should preach unto you any Gospel other\nthan that which we preached unto you, let him be anathema.\"\n\n20. When Paul here speaks of calling Jesus accursed, he does not only\nhave reference to openly blaspheming or cursing Christ's name or\nperson after the manner of heathen and of ungodly Jews; with them\nPaul has nothing to do here, nor are the Corinthians supposed to be\nof that character. Paul refers rather to the Christian who, though\nboasting of the Holy Spirit, does not preach Christ as the ground of\nour salvation as he should, but, neglecting this truth, points the\nsoul away to something else, pretending that this substitute is of\nthe Holy Spirit and is something better and more essential than the\ncommon doctrine of the Gospel.\n\nAll such teachers are in reality simply guilty of condemning,\nreproaching and cursing Christ, though themselves bearing and\nboasting that name. To slight Christ's Word and ministry, and exalt\nin their stead other things as mediums for obtaining the Holy Spirit\nand eternal life, or at least as being equally efficacious and\nessential--what is this but scorning Christ and making him of no\nconsequence? Indeed, according to Hebrews 6, 6 and 10, 29, it is\ncrucifying the Son of God afresh, and treading under foot his blood.\n\n21. Christ himself explains the office and ministry of the Holy\nSpirit--what he is to teach in the Church--saying (Jn 15, 26), \"He\nshall bear witness of me.\" Again (Jn 16, 14): \"He shall glorify me:\nfor he shall take of mine, and shall declare it unto you.\" The tongue\nof a minister of Christ--the language he employs--must be of that\nsimplicity which preaches naught but Christ. If he is to testify of\nthe Saviour and glorify him, he cannot present other things whereby\nChrist would be ignored and robbed of his glory. He who does so,\ncertainly is not inspired by the Holy Spirit, even though he possess\ngreat gifts and be called a teacher, a bishop, a pope, a council, an\napostle even--yes, an angel from heaven. There were among the\nCorinthians some who thus neglected to preach only Christ, and\npresented instead the apostles, making choice of them--one Cephas,\nanother Apollos and a third Paul.\n\nAnd just so our monks have done. They have in a way highly extolled\nJesus, have in words honored and worshiped his name and used it to\nclothe all their lying nonsense and idolatry. For instance, they\nexalt Mary as the mother of Jesus and Anna as his grandmother. But\nthey have thus torn men's hearts away from Christ, turning over to\nMary and the saints the honor due him alone, and teaching the people\nto invoke these as mediators and intercessors having power to protect\nus in the hour of death. This is substituting dumb idols for Christ.\nNo saint has ever taught such things; still less does the Word of God\nenjoin them. Thus the monks really curse and insult Christ.\n\n22. The Pope, throughout his whole administration, has been guilty of\nsuch insult to Christ, notwithstanding his boast that his kingdom\nrepresents the Christian Church, that he truly possesses the Holy\nSpirit and that his decrees and ordinances must be respected. Nothing\ncan dissuade the Papists from their practice. They ever boast of\nbeing led by the Spirit, yet their vaunting is mere malediction, not\nonly of Christ in person, but of his Word and his sacraments. For\nthey openly condemn, and denounce as heresy, the doctrine of the\nGospel, which Gospel assures us that to Christ alone we owe the\nunmerited forgiveness of our sins; they condemn also the use of the\nsacraments according to Christ's command and institution. And they\ndestroy the people who thus offend them.\n\nThe fact is, the Pope has in our doctrine nothing to curse but Jesus\nChrist, its foundation and principle, expressed by his Word and\nsacraments. The same is true of other factions--the Anabaptists and\nsimilar sects. What else do they but slander baptism and the Lord's\nSupper when they pretend that the external Word and outward\nsacraments do not benefit the soul, that the Spirit alone can do\nthat? But in these matters you have Paul's sure word of judgment to\nstrengthen your faith. You may be assured that the factions of the\nPope and other sects are not, as they boast, the Church of Christ,\nbut accursed schisms of the devil. The true Church, the righteous\nbride of Christ, certainly will not curse him nor persecute his Word.\nLet no one be moved by hearing men loudly boast about Christ after\nthe manner of the false apostles who called themselves disciples of\nthe true apostles of Jesus, and claimed that certain of their number\nhad even seen Christ in person. The Saviour himself warns us against\nthis class when he says (Mt 24, 5-24), \"Many shall come in my name\n... and shall show wonders\"; and (Mt 7, 21), \"Not every one that\nsaith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.\"\n\n\nHOLY SPIRIT ALONE GIVES ASSURANCE.\n\n23. Paul has the same thought here when he says, \"No man can say,\nJesus is Lord, but in the Holy Spirit.\" To call Jesus \"Lord\" is to\nconfess one's self his servant and to seek his honor alone; to act as\nhis messenger or the bearer of his Word and command. Paul's reference\nhere is chiefly to the office representative of Christ and bearing\nhis Word. Where the office answers these conditions and points to\nChrist as the Lord, it is truly the message of the Holy Spirit, even\nthough the occupant of the office does not in his own person possess\nthe Spirit; the office itself is essentially the Holy Spirit.\nHypocrisy and invention have no place here. One must proceed in\nsincerity if he would be certain he is Christ's minister, or apostle,\nand really handles his Word. Only the inspiration of the Holy Spirit\ncan give one this assurance.\n\n24. All Christians--each in his own work or sphere--equally may call\nChrist \"Lord.\" One may be assured he serves Christ if he can call him\n\"Lord,\" for only by the Holy Spirit is he enabled to do that. Let him\ntry for a single day--from morning until evening--whether or no he\ncan truly say at all times that he is the servant of God and of\nChrist in what he does. When delivering a sermon or listening to one,\nwhen baptizing a child or bringing a child to baptism, when pursuing\nyour daily home duties, ask yourself if the act is attended by such\nfaith that you can, without misgiving and not hypocritically nor\nmechanically, boast--and if necessary die by your word--that you\nserve and please Christ therein. This is calling Christ \"Lord.\"\nUnquestionably you will often feel your heart doubting and trembling\nover the matter.\n\n25. In the papacy we were altogether hindered from feeling thus\nconfident--yes, frightened from it by accursed scepticism. No one\ncould--no one dared--say, \"I know I am a servant, a bondsman, of\nChrist, and that my conduct pleases him.\" Flesh and blood are too\nweak to obtain this glorious confidence; the Holy Spirit is\nessential. Reason and our own hearts cry out in protest: \"Alas, I am\nfar too evil and unworthy! How could I be proud and presumptuous\nenough to boast myself the servant of the Lord Jesus Christ? I might\nif I were as holy as St. Peter, St. Paul and others.\"\n\n26. I used often to wonder that St. Ambrose was so bold as, in his\nletters, to call himself a servant of Jesus Christ. I supposed we all\nought to be terrified at thoughts of this kind, and that none but the\napostles might boast of such honor. But the fact is, we must all say\nto Christ: \"Thou art my Lord and I am thy servant; for I believe on\nthee and aspire to be with thee and all the faithful and to possess\nthy Word and Sacrament.\" Otherwise Christ will not acknowledge us.\n\n\nCHRISTIANS TO GIVE ALL GLORY TO GOD.\n\nIt is written (Mt 4, 10)--indeed, it is the first commandment--\"Thou\nshalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.\" There\nChrist requires of us, under the penalty of forfeiting eternal life,\nto honor him as our Lord and so to regulate our lives that we shall\nknow we serve him. Peter also teaches (1 Pet 4, 11) that all the\nChristian's words and deeds should be regarded not as his own, but as\nGod's. The word and the act are to be of the ability which God gives,\nthat in it all God may be glorified. Of necessity this condition can\nobtain only through the Holy Spirit.\n\n27. In this point--the glorification of Christ--do the true\nChristians distinguish themselves from false Christians, hypocrites\nand factious spirits, who likewise triumphantly boast of the Spirit\nand of their divine office. But the vanity of their boasting is\nevident from the fact that they do not hold to the doctrine that\nglorifies Christ, but preach that which leads to other evils and\ndeceives; yes, which condemns and persecutes the right doctrine and\nthe true faith of Christ. Further evidence of the emptiness of their\nboasting is apparent in the fact that they have no conscious\ntestimony that they serve Christ, nor can their followers give\nassurance on the same point. You have here the clear sentence of Paul\ndeclaring this class devoid of the Holy Spirit and thus separated\nfrom the true Church and from Christians. He exhorts us to be on our\nguard against them, and would bring Christians together in one faith\nand under one Lord and Spirit. Now he teaches how to employ rightly\nthe manifold gifts of a united Church for the general benefit of its\nmembers.\n\n\"Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.\"\n\n28. \"In former time, when you were heathen, you followed many kinds\nof idolatrous worship, many doctrines and spirits; but it was only a\ndivided religion, and representative of blindness and error. Now,\nhowever, you possess various beautiful divine gifts and offices.\nThese are mutually related and all emanate, not from man's reason or\nfaculties, but from the one true God. They are his work--the\nexpression of his power. Notwithstanding the dissimilarity of gifts,\noffices and works, of a certain order in one and otherwise in\nanother, many and few, great and small, weak and strong--notwithstanding\nall, we are not to divide the Spirit, God and faith; we are not to\ncreate factions, exalting this individual or that one solely because of\nhis gifts, and despising others. All gifts are direct from one God, one\nLord, one Spirit, and to serve the same purpose--to bring men to the\nknowledge of the one God and to build up the Church in the unity of\nfaith. Therefore, you are united in the one doctrine, your object being\nto serve God and the Church in a harmonious way.\" This verse is briefly\nthe substance of all that follows in the text.\n\n\nTHE TRINITY.\n\n29. Paul presents three different points: \"Diversities of gifts, but\nthe same Spirit;\" \"diversities of administrations, and the same\nLord;\" \"diversities of workings, but the same God.\" Unquestionably,\nPaul touches the article of faith concerning the Trinity, or three\npersons in the Divine Essence, and shows that both Christ and the\nHoly Spirit are true God and yet different in person from the Father\nand from each other. He teaches the same elsewhere (1 Cor 8, 5-6),\nsaying: \"For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven\nor on earth; as there are gods many, and lords many; yet to us there\nis one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we unto him; and\none Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we through\nhim.\"\n\n30. In the text before us, the apostle likewise distinguishes the\nthree--one God, one Lord, one Spirit. He assigns to each the\nparticular operation whereby he manifests himself. One is God the\nFather, and from him as the origin and first person emanates all\npower. Another is the Lord, Christ the Son of God, who as the head of\nthe Church appoints all offices. The third is the Spirit, who\nproduces and dispenses all gifts in the Church. Yet all three are of\none divine, almighty and eternal essence. They are of the same name,\nand are truly one since God must be an indivisible essence.\n\nTo each individual is attributed only the characteristics of the\nDivine Majesty. As he who is the source of all operative power in the\nChurch and in the entire creation is true God; so also must the Lord\nwho appoints all offices, and the Spirit who confers all gifts, be\ntrue God. No creature is able to impart spiritual offices and gifts;\nthat is impossible to any but God. These three--God, Lord and\nSpirit--are not Gods of unlike nature, but one in divine essence. The\nLord is no other God than God the Father; and the Spirit is none\nother than God and the Lord. But more on this topic elsewhere.\n\n\nSPIRITUAL GIFTS SPECIFIED.\n\n31. The names and nature of the spiritual gifts, the apostle here\nspecifies. He names wisdom, knowledge, prophecy, power to discern\nspirits, capacity to speak with tongues and to interpret,\nextraordinary gifts of faith, and power to work miracles. \"The word\nof wisdom\" is the doctrine which teaches a knowledge of God,\nrevealing his will, counsel and design. It embraces every article of\nbelief and justification. The world knows nothing of this loftiest,\nmost exalted gift of the Spirit.\n\n\nTHE WORD OF KNOWLEDGE.\n\nThe \"word of knowledge\" also teaches of the outward life and\ninterests of the Christian: how we are to conduct ourselves toward\nall others, making a profitable use of the Gospel doctrine according\nas necessity of time and person demands; it teaches us the wisest\ncourse toward the weak and the strong, the timid and the obstinate.\n\n\nTHE GIFT OF PROPHECY.\n\nThe gift of prophecy is the ability to rightly interpret and explain\nthe Scriptures, and powerfully to reveal therefrom the doctrine of\nfaith and the overthrow of false doctrine. The gift of prophecy\nincludes, further, the ability to employ the Scriptures for\nadmonition and reproof, for imparting strength and comfort, by\npointing out, on the one hand, the certainty of future indignation,\nvengeance and punishment for the unbelieving and disobedient, and on\nthe other hand presenting divine aid and reward to godly believers.\nThus did the prophets with the Word of God, both the Law and the\npromises.\n\n\nTHE GIFT OF FAITH.\n\n32. Paul is making mention of gifts not common to all. Only to\ncertain ones are they given, and the gifts in themselves are unlike.\n\"To another faith,\" he says, \"to another workings of miracles, and to\nanother prophecy.\" In \"faith\" here the reference is not to ordinary\nfaith in Christ which brings justification before God and forgiveness\nof sin; such faith is essentially the property of every Christian,\neven if they do not possess the particular gifts here enumerated.\nPaul is speaking of a particular virtue or power of the Spirit\noperating in the Church, whereby certain ones can effect great and\nglorious things by reason of their remarkable and confident courage;\nas instanced in Paul's words later on (1 Cor 13, 2), \"If I have all\nfaith, so as to remove mountains.\"\n\nTo work such wonders, a very strong and sure faith is certainly\nnecessary. An unwavering, vigorous, courageous faith may accomplish a\nspecial work in the name and power of Christ although the worker may\nnot himself be truly repentant nor possess the right kind of faith to\nsecure forgiveness of sins and grace in Christ. He may be a\nhypocrite, a false saint. Christ says (Mt 7, 22), \"Many will say to\nme in that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy by thy name, and by\nthy name cast out demons, and by thy name do many mighty works?\" It\nis true that such gifts are exercised, such works performed, in the\nname of Christ, and that the gifts are granted to none but\nindividuals in the Church of Christ, and yet the possessor may not be\naltogether righteous, may even be a false Christian. For the effects\nwrought do not emanate from the individual but from the office he\nrepresents, being the operation of the Spirit given in behalf of the\nChurch. Thus, as occupants of the office and by virtue of the Church,\nthese persons perform many and great works, benefiting not themselves\nbut others.\n\n33. Paul says of all these, \"There are diversities of gifts, but the\nsame Spirit,\" by way of admonishing us against creating sects. The\nSpirit is equally effective through him whose gifts are few and less\nsignificant and through him of remarkable gifts. And as with gifts,\nso it is with workings and ministrations.\n\n\nMEANING OF \"WORKINGS.\"\n\n34. The term \"workings,\" or operations, has reference to remarkable\nworks of God wrought through certain individuals in an exceptional\nway. For instance, he grants to Paul a ministerial office of unusual\ninfluence: Paul is permitted to convert more souls than other\napostles, to perform more wonders and accomplish more. He says\nhimself (1 Cor 15, 10) that by the grace of God he labored more\nabundantly than all.\n\n\nMEANING OF \"ADMINISTRATIONS.\"\n\n35. The meaning of \"administrations\" is easily apparent. Office is an\nordained and essential feature of every government. It represents\nvarious duties imposed and commanded by sovereign authority. It may\nhave reference to the duties enjoined upon a society collectively, in\nthe service of others. There are various offices in the Church; for\ninstance, one individual is an apostle, another an evangelist,\nanother a teacher, as Paul mentions in Ephesians 4, 11. And as he\nsays in First Corinthians 14, 26 and also hints in this text, the\noffice of one is to read the Scriptures in different languages, of\nanother to interpret and explain. So it was ordained in the Church at\nthat time, and similarly today are ordained certain offices--of\npastors, preachers, deacons or priests, their duties being to hear\nconfessions, to administer the Sacrament, and so on.\n\n36. Not every Christian is obliged, nor is able, to execute such\nduties; only upon certain ones are they enjoined. \"Administrations\"\ndiffer from what Paul terms \"workings\" and gifts. There have ever\nbeen many Christians who, though possessing the Holy Spirit, were not\n\"administrators;\" for instance, virgins and wives--Agnes Anastasia\nand others--and martyrs, many of whom wrought miracles and had other\ngifts. True, both gifts and workings are imparted chiefly for the\nexecution of Christian duties. It is essential here, especially in\nthe superior office of preaching, that the occupant be peculiarly\nqualified for the place. The preacher must be able to understand and\nexplain the Scriptures and be familiar with the languages. It is\nnecessary to the effectiveness of his labors that he be accompanied\nby God's operative power. Thus the three--gifts, workings,\nadministrations--are harmonious features of one divine government in\nthe Church; Christ is the Lord, who regulates and maintains the\noffices, while God works and the Holy Spirit bestows his gifts.\n\n\nDIVERSITY OF GIFTS NO REASON FOR SECTS.\n\n37. As we said, offices are many and varied, even as one gift is\ngreater than another: an apostle, for instance, is superior to a\nteacher or expounder, while the office of a baptizer is inferior to\nthat of a preacher. Yet notwithstanding, we are to remember, Paul\nsays, that all are ordained of the same Lord, and the occupant of a\nsuperior office is not to consider himself any better by reason of\nhis position and to despise others. He must bear in mind that all\nserve the same Lord, the least as well as the greatest, and\nconsequently the holder of the inferior office is not necessarily\ninferior with his Lord, nor the executor of the higher office greater\nwith him. Christ is ever Lord of all; one belongs as much to his\nrealm as another. Therefore he will have no divisions and sects over\nthis point; rather he wills that such diversity of gifts and offices\nbe promotive of unity.\n\n38. When I preach and you listen, we are not exercising the same gift\nand office, yet you as truly serve Christ by listening as I by\npreaching. If you preach, explain the Scriptures, baptize, comfort or\naught else, through you works the same Christ who works through\nanother. All is wrought in obedience to the order of him who commands\nme to hear his Word as well as to preach to you, and to exercise the\nsame faith and Spirit with you. Thus all alike praise the one Lord.\nYou say, \"The Word I hear is the true Word of God,\" and I as a\npreacher prove and declare the very same thing. When I baptize,\nadminister the Sacrament or absolve, and you accept my\nadministrations, we are both engaged in the service of the same Lord\nand harmoniously execute his command. You and I, however, so far as\noffice and gifts are considered, may be of different capacities.\n\n39. A peculiarity of the Christian profession, and the chief point of\ndistinction between Christians and the heathen, is their recognition\nof the fact that workings, offices and gifts are of God, Christ the\nLord and the Holy Spirit. The world does not perceive this truth,\nthough it, too, enjoys the gifts of God. For God remembers all his\ncreatures, though, like swine that enter the trough on all fours with\nno thought but of eating and rooting therein, not even lifting their\neyes, they cannot raise their thoughts to the source of all their\ngood and have not a thought as to whom they should thank for it. He\nwho is not a Christian comes before God in an insensible and beastly\nattitude. The world is but a pen of animals indifferent to the\nkingdom of God and with no idea of gratitude for his rich\nbeneficence, his gifts for body and soul. The worldly seek only their\nhusks and their troughs. To these they cleave like fattening swine\nintended for slaughter. Jeremiah (ch. 12, 3) says concerning the\nungodly, who with great satisfaction persecute the righteous: \"Pull\nthem out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day\nof slaughter.\"\n\n40. God gives the ungodly mighty kingdoms, riches, lands and houses,\nmaking them to enjoy greatness and abundance. But when the swine are\nfed and fat, the question of bacon and sausage introduces a struggle.\nA slaughterer--a sausage-maker--appears, perchance, to slaughter the\nswine in their sty; one comes desolating the country, overthrowing\nthe kingdom, destroying people and all; for, desiring to be but\nswine, the people must be destroyed like swine. Even though the world\nhave personal knowledge of such punishment, it continues its course\nso long as possible--until the slaughterer comes. Swine remain swine;\nthey are capable of standing ever unmoved by their trough, one\nperfectly indifferent if another be struck dead before its eyes.\n\n\nCHRISTIANS RECOGNIZE THE DIVINE SOURCE OF THEIR GIFTS.\n\n41. Christians, however, though obliged to live among swine and to be\nat times trampled under foot and rooted about, have nevertheless\nsurpassing glory; for they can look up and intelligently behold their\nLord and his gifts. They are not of the pen of swine intended only\nfor slaughter; they know themselves children of God, adorned by him\nwith gifts and graces not merely temporal. They are conscious that,\nhaving given them body and life--for these they realize are not of\ntheir own obtaining--he will also supply their further needs,\nproviding for them forever.\n\n42. Christians are able to recognize even God's least blessing as\nmost precious, as truly excellent; not only because it comes from\nhim, but because of its inherent value. No one who recognizes even\ntemporal blessings would give an eye, or a less important member of\nthe body, to redeem the riches of the entire world. How much loftier\nand more precious to the Christian are the spiritual gifts concerning\nwhich Paul here speaks--gifts bestowed as means unto salvation! The\nbaptizing of a child or the absolution of a penitent makes no great\nshow, but were the office viewed in the true light, the bestowed\ntreasure rightly appreciated, all the officers, authority and riches\nof kings and emperors would be nothing at all in comparison.\n\n43. Regarding the baptizer--who may be a woman even--and the\nbaptized, we certainly can see nothing wonderful. The humanity in the\ncase does not effect any great work; the work is wrought by him who\nis God, Lord and Spirit. It is he who gives to the office power and\ngreatness above that of all emperors, kings and lords, however\ninferior the instrumentality--the occupants of the sacred offices. By\nthese ministrations souls are won from the devil, snatched out of\nhell and transformed into saints blessed forever. Person and office\nmay be apparently inferior, but the office is of God and God is no\ninferior being. His greatness cannot be equaled by a hundred thousand\nworlds. He accomplishes things incomprehensible to the world and\nimpossible to angels.\n\nThe combined efforts of all creation could not produce baptism. Were\nthe world to unite in baptizing an infant, the infant would receive\nno good therefrom unless God the Lord commanded the deed. Let the\nSultan be many thousands of times more powerful than at present and\nhe could not, with all his riches, his dominion and peoples, free\nhimself or any other from the power of the least sin. He could not\neffectively pronounce the absolution, \"God has forgiven you your\nsins.\" For the Sultan has neither gift, office nor work; indeed, he\nknows nothing about them. They belong to God alone, though human\nmouths and hands are instrumental therein.\n\n44. Note why Paul boasts of the fact that God bestows such great\nblessings. It is that Christians may discern them and thank him; and\nthat such discernment may lead them to serve one another in humility,\nwith mutual faith and love, each one learning to praise God fervently\nwherever he beholds God's gifts and offices operative in the Church,\nand to esteem them as he would esteem God himself. For,\nunquestionably, none would possess office and gifts had not God\nordained and bestowed them.\n\n45. How we have exalted our own nonsense--pilgrimages, cloisters,\ncords, cowls, running to the dead in the wilderness and so on! But to\nwhat purpose? What benefit have we derived therefrom, notwithstanding\nwe walked until our feet were bleeding, and watched and fasted and\ntormented ourselves to death? Such a life, it is true, may be called\nholy, divine, yet it is not at all the gift, the work, the office, of\nGod. No God, no Lord, no Spirit, is in that practice. God has nowhere\ncommanded such a life. We have devised it and may reward and help\nourselves for so doing. We cannot boast his authority for it nor find\ndivine comfort therein.\n\nBut the discerning Christian can with satisfaction boast on this\nwise: \"My baptism or my absolution is not of my own devising or\nordaining, nor of another man's. It is of Christ my Lord. For here is\nhis command ordaining the office: 'Go ye therefore, and make\ndisciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the\nFather and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.' Mt 28, 19. Upon\nauthority of the office, work and gift here presented, I can boast\nand be strong in faith against the devil and all the gates of hell;\notherwise I cannot withstand Satan for one moment. He would not be\nafraid of me and my works though I should be able to boast of having\nlived seventy years as a member of a holy order, serving God every\nday and hour, praying, fasting, and so on.\"\n\n46. The devil hurls both person and work, as he finds them, into the\nabyss of hell. If he ask you where God has commanded such works as\nyours, you have no answer. But let him hear you boast in the\nconfident faith God's command inspires: \"I have received from Christ\nmy Lord baptism and absolution; of this I am certain, and what I do\nis done at his command and by his power\"--let him hear that and he is\nforced immediately to leave you. He must flee, not from your person\nor works, but from Christ's office and gifts found with you.\n\n47. Paul presents these thoughts to teach us what we Christians have\nfrom God in the three forms, blessings superior to those enjoyed by\nall others in the world. The apostle would have us be grateful for\nthese things and make use of them in a spirit of Christian love. He\ndesires that the possessor of gifts devote them to the service of\nothers. He teaches we are to honor God in the gifts another\npossesses; that we are highly to esteem them, remembering they are\nnot of man's production, not wrought of man's ability or skill, but\nare the offices, gifts and works of God. They are not the inferior\nand trivial things they seem to the world because making no show and\nnoise. God does not give unredeemable coin or empty shells and mere\nhusks. His gifts and works in his Church must effect inexpressible\nresults, taking souls from the jaws of the devil and translating them\ninto eternal life and glory.\n\n\n\n\n_Eleventh Sunday After Trinity_\n\nText: 1 Corinthians 15, 1-10.\n\n1 Now I make known unto you, brethren, the gospel which I preached\nunto you, which also ye received, wherein also ye stand, 2 by which\nalso ye are saved, if ye hold fast the word which I preached unto\nyou, except ye believed in vain. 3 For I delivered unto you first of\nall that which also I received: that Christ died for our sins\naccording to the scriptures; 4 and that he was buried; and that he\nhath been raised on the third day according to the scriptures; 5 and\nthat he appeared to Cephas; then to the twelve; 6 then he appeared to\nabove five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain\nuntil now, but some are fallen asleep; 7 then he appeared to James;\nthen to all the apostles; 8 and last of all, as to the child untimely\nborn, he appeared to me also. 9 For I am the least of the apostles,\nthat am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the\nchurch of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his\ngrace which was bestowed upon me was not found vain; but I labored\nmore abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which\nwas with me.\n\n\nPAUL'S WITNESS TO CHRIST'S RESURRECTION.\n\nThis text is fully explained in the sermons on the entire chapter,\nwhich have been published separately. He who desires may read them\nthere. It speaks almost exclusively of the resurrection of the dead,\nand therefore ought properly to be read and preached at the Easter\nseason. The reason of its selection for this Sunday seems to be that\nthe latter part of it corresponds with the Gospel for this Sunday.\n\nFor Saint Paul, though he was an exalted apostle, and had labored in\nthat office more than all the others together, boasts not of his own\ndeeds, as did the proud Pharisee. Like the poor publican he confessed\nhis sin and unworthiness, and ascribed all that he is to the grace of\nGod alone, which made a Christian and an apostle of him who had been\na persecutor.\n\n\n\n\n_Twelfth Sunday After Trinity_\n\nText: 2 Corinthians 3, 4-11.\n\n4 And such confidence have we through Christ to God-ward: 5 not that\nwe are sufficient of ourselves, to account anything as from\nourselves; but our sufficiency is from God; 6 who also made us\nsufficient as ministers of a new covenant; not of the letter, but of\nthe spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. 7 But\nif the ministration of death, written, and engraven on stones, came\nwith glory, so that the children of Israel could not look stedfastly\nupon the face of Moses for the glory of his face; which glory was\npassing away: 8 how shall not rather the ministration of the spirit\nbe with glory? 9 For if the ministration of condemnation hath glory,\nmuch rather doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.\n10 For verily that which hath been made glorious hath not been made\nglorious in this respect, by reason of the glory that surpasseth. 11\nFor if that which passeth away was with glory, much more that which\nremaineth is in glory.\n\n\nGOSPEL TRANSCENDS LAW.\n\n1. This epistle lesson sounds altogether strange and wonderful to\nindividuals unaccustomed to Scripture language, particularly to that\nof Paul. To the inexperienced ear and heart it is not intelligible.\nIn popedom thus far it has remained quite unapprehended, although\nreading of the words has been practiced.\n\n2. That we may understand it, we must first get an idea of Paul's\ntheme. Briefly, he would oppose the vain boasting of false apostles\nand preachers concerning their possession of the spirit and their\npeculiar skill and gifts, by praising and glorifying the office of a\npreacher of the Gospel with which he is intrusted. For he found that,\nespecially in the Church at Corinth, which he had converted by the\nwords of his own lips and brought to faith in Christ, soon after his\ndeparture the devil introduced his heresies whereby the people were\nturned from the truth and betrayed into other ways. Since it became\nhis duty to make an attack upon such heresies, he devoted both his\nepistles to the purpose of keeping the Corinthians in the right way,\nso that they might retain the pure doctrine received from him, and\nbeware of false spirits. The main thing which moved him to write this\nsecond epistle was his desire to emphasize to them his apostolic\noffice of a preacher of the Gospel, in order to put to shame the\nglory of those other teachers--the glory they boasted with many words\nand great pretense.\n\n3. He starts in on this theme just before he reaches our text. And\nthis is how it is he comes to speak in high terms of praise of the\nministration of the Gospel and to contrast and compare the twofold\nministration or message which may be proclaimed in the Church,\nprovided, of course, that God's Word is to be preached and not the\nnonsense of human falsehood and the doctrine of the devil. One is\nthat of the Old Testament, the other of the New; in other words, the\noffice of Moses, or the Law, and the office of the Gospel of Christ.\nHe contrasts the glory and power of the latter with those of the\nformer, which, it is true, is also the Word of God. In this manner he\nendeavors to defeat the teachings and pretensions of those seductive\nspirits who, as he but lately foretold, pervert God's Word, in that\nthey greatly extol the Law of God, yet at best do not teach its right\nuse, but, instead of making it tributary to faith in Christ, misuse\nit to teach work-righteousness.\n\n4. Since the words before us are in reality a continuation of those\nwith which the chapter opens, the latter must be considered in this\nconnection. We read:\n\n\"Are we beginning again to commend ourselves? or need we, as do some,\nepistles of commendation to you or from you? Ye are our epistle,\nwritten in our hearts, known and read of all men; being made manifest\nthat ye are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with\nink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone,\nbut in tables that are hearts of flesh.\"\n\n\"We, my fellow-apostles and co-laborers and I,\" he says, \"do not ask\nfor letters and seals from others commending us to you, or from you\ncommending us to others, in order to seduce people after gaining\ntheir good will in your church and in others as well. Such is the\npractice of the false apostles, and many even now present letters and\ncertificates from honest preachers and Churches, and make them the\nmeans whereby their unrighteous plotting may be received in good\nfaith. Such letters, thank God, we stand not in need of, and you need\nnot fear we shall use such means of deception. For you are yourselves\nthe letter we have written and wherein we may pride ourselves and\nwhich we present everywhere. For it is a matter of common knowledge\nthat you have been taught by us, and brought to Christ through our\nministry.\"\n\n\nPAUL'S CONVERTS LIVING EPISTLES.\n\n5. Inasmuch as his activity among them is his testimonial, and they\nthemselves are aware that through his ministerial office he has\nconstituted them a church, he calls them an epistle written by\nhimself; not with ink and in paragraphs, not on paper or wood, nor\nengraved upon hard rock as the Ten Commandments written upon tables\nof stone, which Moses placed before the people, but written by the\nHoly Spirit upon fleshly tables--hearts of tender flesh. The Spirit\nis the ink or the inscription, yes, even the writer himself; but the\npencil or pen and the hand of the writer is the ministry of Paul.\n\n6. This figure of a written epistle is, however, in accord with\nScripture usage. Moses commands (Deut 6, 6-9; 11, 18) that the\nIsraelites write the Ten Commandments in all places where they walked\nor stood--upon the posts of their houses, and upon their gates, and\never have them before their eyes and in their hearts. Again (Prov 7,\n2-3), Solomon says: \"Keep my commandments and ... my law as the apple\nof thine eye. Bind them upon thy fingers; write them upon the tablet\nof thy heart.\" He speaks as a father to his child when giving the\nchild an earnest charge to remember a certain thing--\"Dear child,\nremember this; forget it not; keep it in thy heart.\" Likewise, God\nsays in the book of Jeremiah the prophet (ch. 31, 33), \"I will put my\nlaw in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it.\" Here\nman's heart is represented as a sheet, or slate, or page, whereon is\nwritten the preached Word; for the heart is to receive and securely\nkeep the Word. In this sense Paul says: \"We have, by our ministry,\nwritten a booklet or letter upon your heart, which witnesses that you\nbelieve in God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost and have the assurance\nthat through Christ you are redeemed and saved. This testimony is\nwhat is written on your heart. The letters are not characters traced\nwith ink or crayon, but the living thoughts, the fire and force of\nthe heart.\"\n\n7. Note further, that it is his ministry to which Paul ascribes the\npreparation of their heart thereon and the inscription which\nconstitutes them \"living epistles of Christ.\" He contrasts his\nministry with the blind fancies of those fanatics who seek to\nreceive, and dream of having, the Holy Spirit without the oral word;\nwho, perchance, creep into a corner and grasp the Spirit through\ndreams, directing the people away from the preached Word and visible\nministry. But Paul says that the Spirit, through his preaching, has\nwrought in the hearts of his Corinthians, to the end that Christ\nlives and is mighty in them. After such statement he bursts into\npraise of the ministerial office, comparing the message, or\npreaching, of Moses with that of himself and the apostles. He says:\n\n\"Such confidence have we through Christ to God-ward: not that we are\nsufficient of ourselves, to account anything as from ourselves; but\nour sufficiency is from God.\"\n\n\nTRUE PREACHERS COMMISSIONED BY GOD.\n\n8. These words are blows and thrusts for the false apostles and\npreachers. Paul is mortal enemy to the blockheads who make great\nboast, pretending to what they do not possess and to what they cannot\ndo; who boast of having the Spirit in great measure; who are ready to\ncounsel and aid the whole world; who pride themselves on the ability\nto invent something new. It is to be a surpassingly precious and\nheavenly thing they are to spin out of their heads, as the dreams of\npope and monks have been in time past.\n\n\"We do not so,\" says Paul. \"We rely not upon ourselves or our wisdom\nand ability. We preach not what we have ourselves invented. But this\nis our boast and trust in Christ before God, that we have made of you\na divine epistle; have written upon your hearts, not our thoughts,\nbut the Word of God. We are not, however, glorifying our own power,\nbut the works and the power of him who has called and equipped us for\nsuch an office; from whom proceeds all you have heard and believed.\"\n\n9. It is a glory which every preacher may claim, to be able to say\nwith full confidence of heart: \"This trust have I toward God in\nChrist, that what I teach and preach is truly the Word of God.\"\nLikewise, when he performs other official duties in the\nChurch--baptizes a child, absolves and comforts a sinner--it must be\ndone in the same firm conviction that such is the command of Christ.\n\n10. He who would teach and exercise authority in the Church without\nthis glory, \"it is profitable for him,\" as Christ says (Mt 18, 6),\n\"that a great millstone should be hanged about his neck, and that he\nshould be sunk in the depths of the sea.\" For the devil's lies he\npreaches, and death is what he effects. Our Papists, in time past,\nafter much and long-continued teaching, after many inventions and\nworks whereby they hoped to be saved, nevertheless always doubted in\nheart and mind whether or no they had pleased God. The teaching and\nworks of all heretics and seditious spirits certainly do not bespeak\nfor them trust in Christ; their own glory is the object of their\nteaching, and the homage and praise of the people is the goal of\ntheir desire.\n\n\"Not that we are sufficient of ourselves, to account anything as from\nourselves.\"\n\n11. As said before, this is spoken in denunciation of the false\nspirits who believe that by reason of eminent equipment of special\ncreation and election, they are called to come to the rescue of the\npeople, expecting wonders from whatever they say and do.\n\n\nHUMAN DOCTRINE NO PLACE IN THE CHURCH.\n\n12. Now, we know ourselves to be of the same clay whereof they are\nmade; indeed, we perhaps have the greater call from God: yet we\ncannot boast of being capable of ourselves to advise or aid men. We\ncannot even originate an idea calculated to give help. And when it\ncomes to the knowledge of how one may stand before God and attain to\neternal life, that is truly not to be achieved by our work or power,\nnor to originate in our brain. In other things, those pertaining to\nthis temporal life, you may glory in what you know, you may advance\nthe teachings of reason, you may invent ideas of your own; for\nexample: how to make shoes or clothes, how to govern a household, how\nto manage a herd. In such things exercise your mind to the best of\nyour ability. Cloth or leather of this sort will permit itself to be\nstretched and cut according to the good pleasure of the tailor or\nshoemaker. But in spiritual matters, human reasoning certainly is not\nin order; other intelligence, other skill and power, are requisite\nhere--something to be granted by God himself and revealed through his\nWord.\n\n13. What mortal has ever discovered or fathomed the truth that the\nthree persons in the eternal divine essence are one God; that the\nsecond person, the Son of God, was obliged to become man, born of a\nvirgin; and that no way of life could be opened for us, save through\nhis crucifixion? Such truth never would have been heard nor preached,\nwould never in all eternity have been published, learned and\nbelieved, had not God himself revealed it.\n\n14. For this season they are blind fools of first magnitude and\ndangerous characters who would boast of their grand performances, and\nthink that the people are served when they preach their own fancies\nand inventions. It has been the practice in the Church for anyone to\nintroduce any teaching he saw fit; for example, the monks and priests\nhave daily produced new saints, pilgrimages, special prayers, works\nand sacrifices in the effort to blot out sin, redeem souls from\npurgatory, and so on. They who make up things of this kind are not\nsuch as put their trust in God through Christ, but rather such as\ndefy God and Christ. Into the hearts of men, where Christ alone\nshould be, they shove the filth and write the lies of the devil. Yet\nthey think themselves, and themselves only, qualified for all\nessential teaching and work, self-grown doctors that they are, saints\nall-powerful without the help of God and Christ.\n\n\"But our sufficiency is from God.\"\n\n15. Of ourselves--in our own wisdom and strength--we cannot effect,\ndiscover nor teach any counsel or help for man, whether for ourselves\nor others. Any good work we perform among you, any doctrine we write\nupon your heart--that is God's own work. He puts into our heart and\nmouth what we should say, and impresses it upon your heart through\nthe Holy Spirit. Therefore, we cannot ascribe to ourselves any honor\ntherein, cannot seek our own glory as the self-instructed and proud\nspirits do; we must give to God alone the honor, and must glory in\nthe fact that by his grace and power he works in you unto salvation,\nthrough the office committed unto us.\n\n16. Now, Paul's thought here is that nothing should be taught and\npracticed in the Church but what is unquestionably God's Word. It\nwill not do to introduce or perform anything whatever upon the\nstrength of man's judgment. Man's achievements, man's reasoning and\npower, are of no avail save in so far as they come from God. As Peter\nsays in his first epistle (ch. 4, 11): \"If any man speaketh, speaking\nas it were oracles of God; if any man ministereth, ministering as of\nthe strength which God supplieth.\" In short, let him who would be\nwise, who would boast of great skill, talents and power, confine\nhimself to things other than spiritual; with respect to spiritual\nmatters, let him keep his place and refrain from boasting and\npretense. For it is of no moment that men observe your greatness and\nability; the important thing is that poor souls may rest assured of\nbeing presented with God's Word and works, whereby they may be saved.\n\n\"Who also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant; not of\nthe letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit\ngiveth life.\"\n\n\nTHE NEW COVENANT.\n\n17. Paul here proceeds to exalt the office and power of the Gospel\nover the glorying of the false apostles, and to elevate the power of\nthe Word above that of all other doctrine, even of the Law of God.\nTruly we are not sufficient of ourselves and have nothing to boast of\nso far as human activity is considered. For that is without merit or\npower, however strenuous the effort may be to fulfil God's Law. We\nhave, however, something infinitely better to boast of, something not\ngrounded in our own activity: by God we have been made sufficient for\na noble ministry, termed the ministry \"of a New Covenant.\" This\nministry is not only exalted far above any teaching to be evolved by\nhuman wisdom, skill and power, but is more glorious than the ministry\ntermed the \"Old Covenant,\" which in time past was delivered to the\nJews through Moses. While this ministry clings, in common with other\ndoctrine, to the Word given by revelation, it is the agency whereby\nthe Holy Spirit works in the heart. Therefore, Paul says it is not a\nministration of the letter, but \"of the spirit.\"\n\n\n\"SPIRIT\" AND \"LETTER.\"\n\n18. This passage relative to spirit and letter has in the past been\nwholly strange language to us. Indeed, to such extent has man's\nnonsensical interpretation perverted and weakened it that I, though a\nlearned doctor of the holy Scriptures, failed to understand it\naltogether, and I could find no one to teach me. And to this day it\nis unintelligible to all popedom. In fact, even the old\nteachers--Origen, Jerome and others--have not caught Paul's thought.\nAnd no wonder, truly! For it is essentially a doctrine far beyond the\npower of man's intelligence to comprehend. When human reason meddles\nwith it, it becomes perplexed. The doctrine is wholly unintelligible\nto it, for human thought goes no farther than the Law and the Ten\nCommandments. Laying hold upon these it confines itself to them. It\ndoes not attempt to do more, being governed by the principle that\nunto him who fulfils the demands of the Law, or commandments, God is\ngracious. Reason knows nothing about the wretchedness of depraved\nnature. It does not recognize the fact that no man is able to keep\nGod's commandments; that all are under sin and condemnation; and that\nthe only way whereby help could be received was for God to give his\nSon for the world, ordaining another ministration, one through which\ngrace and reconciliation might be proclaimed to us. Now, he who does\nnot understand the sublime subject of which Paul speaks cannot but\nmiss the true meaning of his words. How much more did we invite this\nfate when we threw the Scriptures and Saint Paul's epistles under the\nbench, and, like swine in husks, wallowed in man's nonsense!\nTherefore, we must submit to correction and learn to understand the\napostle's utterance aright.\n\n19. \"Letter\" and \"spirit\" have been understood to mean, according to\nOrigen and Jerome, the obvious sense of the written word. St.\nAugustine, it must be admitted, has gotten an inkling of the truth.\nNow, the position of the former teachers would perhaps not be quite\nincorrect did they correctly explain the words. By \"literary sense\"\nthey signify the meaning of a Scripture narrative according to the\nordinary interpretation of the words. By \"spiritual sense\" they\nsignify the secondary, hidden, sense found in the words.\n\nFor instance: The Scripture narrative in Genesis third records how\nthe serpent persuaded the woman to eat of the forbidden fruit and to\ngive to her husband, who also ate. This narrative in its simplest\nmeaning represents what they understand by \"letter.\" \"Spirit,\"\nhowever, they understand to mean the spiritual interpretation, which\nis thus: The serpent signifies the evil temptation which lures to\nsin. The woman represents the sensual state, or the sphere in which\nsuch enticements and temptations make themselves felt. Adam, the man,\nstands for reason, which is called man's highest endowment. Now, when\nreason does not yield to the allurements of external sense, all is\nwell; but when it permits itself to waver and consent, the fall has\ntaken place.\n\n20. Origen was the first to trifle thus with the holy Scriptures, and\nmany others followed, until now it is thought to be the sign of great\ncleverness for the Church to be filled with such quibblings. The aim\nis to imitate Paul, who (Gal 4, 22-24) figuratively interprets the\nstory of Abraham's two sons, the one by the free woman, or the\nmistress of the house, and the other by the hand-maid. The two women,\nPaul says, represent the two covenants: one covenant makes only\nbond-servants, which is just what he in our text terms the\nministration of the letter; the other leads to liberty, or, as he\nsays here, the ministration of the spirit, which gives life. And the\ntwo sons are the two peoples, one of which does not go farther than\nthe Law, while the other accepts in faith the Gospel.\n\nTrue, this is an interpretation not directly suggested by the\nnarrative and the text. Paul himself calls it an allegory; that is, a\nmystic narrative, or a story with a hidden meaning. But he does not\nsay that the literal text is necessarily the letter that killeth, and\nthe allegory, or hidden meaning, the spirit. But the false teachers\nassert of all Scripture that the text, or record itself, is but a\ndead \"letter,\" its interpretation being \"the spirit.\" Yet they have\nnot pushed interpretation farther than the teaching of the Law; and\nit is precisely the Law which Paul means when he speaks of \"the\nletter.\"[1]\n\n[Footnote 1: What Luther means is that the popish theologians with\ntheir vaunted \"spiritual\" interpretation had never penetrated to the\nGospel, which confers the life in the Spirit, but had satisfied\nthemselves with so literal and superficial an interpretation of the\nLaw as to seek salvation through work-righteousness.]\n\n21. Paul employs the word \"letter\" in such contemptuous sense in\nreference to the Law--though the Law is, nevertheless, the Word of\nGod--when he compares it with the ministry of the Gospel. The letter\nis to him the doctrine of the Ten Commandments, which teach how we\nshould obey God, honor parents, love our neighbor, and so on--the\nvery best doctrine to be found in all books, sermons and schools.\n\nThe word \"letter\" is to the apostle Paul everything which may take\nthe form of doctrine, of literary arrangement, of record, so long as\nit remains something spoken or written. Also thoughts which may be\npictured or expressed by word or writing, but it is not that which is\nwritten in the heart, to become its life. \"Letter\" is the whole Law\nof Moses, or the Ten Commandments, though the supreme authority of\nsuch teaching is not denied. It matters not whether you hear them,\nread them, or reproduce them mentally. For instance, when I sit down\nto meditate upon the first commandment: \"Thou shalt have no other\ngods before me,\" or the second, or the third, and so forth, I have\nsomething which I can read, write, discuss, and aim to fulfil with\nall my might. The process is quite similar when the emperor or prince\ngives a command and says: \"This you shall do, that you shall eschew.\"\nThis is what the apostle calls \"the letter,\" or, as we have called it\non another occasion, the written sense.\n\n22. Now, as opposed to \"the letter,\" there is another doctrine or\nmessage, which he terms the \"ministration of a New Covenant\" and \"of\nthe Spirit.\" This doctrine does not teach what works are required of\nman, for that man has already heard; but it makes known to him what\nGod would do for him and bestow upon him, indeed what he has already\ndone: he has given his Son Christ for us; because, for our\ndisobedience to the Law, which no man fulfils, we were under God's\nwrath and condemnation. Christ made satisfaction for our sins,\neffected a reconciliation with God and gave to us his own\nrighteousness. Nothing is said in this ministration of man's deeds;\nit tells rather of the works of Christ, who is unique in that he was\nborn of a virgin, died for sin and rose from the dead, something no\nother man has been able to do. This doctrine is revealed through none\nbut the Holy Spirit, and none other confers the Holy Spirit. The Holy\nSpirit works in the hearts of them who hear and accept the doctrine.\nTherefore, this ministration is termed a ministration \"of the\nSpirit.\"\n\n23. The apostle employs the words \"letter\" and \"spirit,\" to contrast\nthe two doctrines; to emphasize his office and show its advantage\nover all others, however eminent the teachers whom they boast, and\nhowever great the spiritual unction which they vaunt. It is of design\nthat he does not term the two dispensations \"Law\" and \"Gospel,\" but\nnames them according to the respective effects produced. He honors\nthe Gospel with a superior term--\"ministration of the spirit.\" Of the\nLaw, on the contrary, he speaks almost contemptuously, as if he would\nnot honor it with the title of God's commandment, which in reality it\nis, according to his own admission later on that its deliverance to\nMoses and its injunction upon the children of Israel was an occasion\nof surpassing glory.\n\n24. Why does Paul choose this method? Is it right for one to despise\nor dishonor God's Law? Is not a chaste and honorable life a matter of\nbeauty and godliness? Such facts, it may be contended, are implanted\nby God in reason itself, and all books teach them; they are the\ngoverning force in the world. I reply: Paul's chief concern is to\ndefeat the vainglory and pretensions of false preachers, and to teach\nthem the right conception and appreciation of the Gospel which he\nproclaimed. What Paul means is this: When the Jews vaunt their Law of\nMoses, which was received as Law from God and recorded upon two\ntables of stone; when they vaunt their learned and saintly preachers\nof the Law and its exponents, and hold their deeds and manner of life\nup to admiration, what is all that compared to the Gospel message?\nThe claim may be well made: a fine sermon, a splendid exposition;\nbut, after all, nothing more comes of it than precepts, expositions,\nwritten comments. The precept, \"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with\nall thy heart, and thy neighbor as thyself,\" remains a mere array of\nwords. When much time and effort have been spent in conforming one's\nlife to it, nothing has been accomplished. You have pods without\npeas, husks without kernels.\n\n25. For it is impossible to keep the Law without Christ, though man\nmay, for the sake of honor or property, or from fear of punishment,\nfeign outward holiness. The heart which does not discern God's grace\nin Christ cannot turn to God nor trust in him; it cannot love his\ncommandments and delight in them, but rather resists them. For nature\nrebels at compulsion. No man likes to be a captive in chains. One\ndoes not voluntarily bow to the rod of punishment or submit to the\nexecutioner's sword; rather, because of these things, his anger\nagainst the Law is but increased, and he ever thinks: \"Would that I\nmight unhindered steal, rob, hoard, gratify my lust, and so on!\" And\nwhen restrained by force, he would there were no Law and no God. And\nthis is the case where conduct shows some effects of discipline, in\nthat the outer man has been subjected to the teaching of the Law.\n\n26. But in a far more appalling degree does inward rebellion ensue\nwhen the heart feels the full force of the Law; when, standing before\nGod's judgment, it feels the sentence of condemnation; as we shall\npresently hear, for the apostle says \"the letter killeth.\" Then the\ntruly hard knots appear. Human nature fumes and rages against the\nLaw; offenses appear in the heart, the fruit of hate and enmity\nagainst the Law; and presently human nature flees before God and is\nincensed at God's judgment. It begins to question the equity of his\ndealings, to ask if he is a just God. Influenced by such thoughts, it\nfalls ever deeper into doubt, it murmurs and chafes, until finally,\nunless the Gospel comes to the rescue, it utterly despairs, as did\nJudas, and Saul, and perhaps pass out of this life with God and\ncreation. This is what Paul means when he says (Rom 7, 8-9) that the\nLaw works sin in the heart of man, and sin works death, or kills.\n\n27. You see, then, why the Law is called \"the letter\": though noble\ndoctrine, it remains on the surface; it does not enter the heart as a\nvital force which begets obedience. Such is the baseness of human\nnature, it will not and cannot conform to the Law; and so corrupt is\nmankind, there is no individual who does not violate all God's\ncommandments in spite of daily hearing the preached Word and having\nheld up to view God's wrath and eternal condemnation. Indeed, the\nharder pressed man is, the more furiously he storms against the Law.\n\n28. The substance of the matter is this: When all the commandments\nhave been put together, when their message receives every particle of\npraise to which it is entitled, it is still a mere letter. That is,\nteaching not put into practice. By \"letter\" is signified all manner\nof law, doctrine and message, which goes no farther than the oral or\nwritten word, which consists only of the powerless letter. To\nillustrate: A law promulgated by a prince or the authorities of a\ncity, if not enforced, remains merely an open letter, which makes a\ndemand indeed, but ineffectually. Similarly, God's Law, although a\nteaching of supreme authority and the eternal will of God, must\nsuffer itself to become a mere empty letter or husk. Without a\nquickening heart, and devoid of fruit, the Law is powerless to effect\nlife and salvation. It may well be called a veritable table of\nomissions (Lass-tafel); that is, it is a written enumeration, not of\nduties performed but of duties cast aside. In the languages of the\nworld, it is a royal edict which remains unobserved and unperformed.\nIn this light St. Augustine understood the Law. He says, commenting\non Psalm 17, \"What is Law without grace but a letter without spirit?\"\nHuman nature, without the aid of Christ and his grace, cannot keep\nit.\n\n29. Again, Paul in terming the Gospel a \"ministration of the spirit\"\nwould call attention to its power to produce in the hearts of men an\neffect wholly different from that of the Law: it is accompanied by\nthe Holy Spirit and it creates a new heart. Man, driven into fear and\nanxiety by the preaching of the Law, hears this Gospel message,\nwhich, instead of reminding him of God's demands, tells him what God\nhas done for him. It points not to man's works, but to the works of\nChrist, and bids him confidently believe that for the sake of his Son\nGod will forgive his sins and accept him as his child. And this\nmessage, when received in faith, immediately cheers and comforts the\nheart. The heart will no longer flee from God; rather it turns to\nhim. Finding grace with God and experiencing his mercy, the heart\nfeels drawn to him. It commences to call upon him and to treat and\nrevere him as its beloved God. In proportion as such faith and solace\ngrow, also love for the commandments will grow and obedience to them\nwill be man's delight. Therefore, God would have his Gospel message\nurged unceasingly as the means of awakening man's heart to discern\nhis state and recall the great grace and lovingkindness of God, with\nthe result that the power of the Holy Spirit is increased constantly.\nNote, no influence of the Law, no work of man is present here. The\nforce is a new and heavenly one--the power of the Holy Spirit. He\nimpresses upon the heart Christ and his works, making of it a true\nbook which does not consist in the tracery of mere letters and words,\nbut in true life and action.\n\n30. God promised of old, in Joel 2, 28 and other passages, to give\nthe Spirit through the new message, the Gospel. And he has verified\nhis promise by public manifestations in connection with the preaching\nof that Gospel, as on the day of Pentecost and again later. When the\napostles, Peter and others, began to preach, the Holy Spirit\ndescended visibly from heaven upon their hearts. Acts 8, 17; 10, 44.\nUp to that time, throughout the period the Law was preached, no one\nhad heard or seen such manifestation. The fact could not but be\ngrasped that this was a vastly different message from that of the Law\nwhen such mighty results followed in its train. And yet its substance\nwas no more than what Paul declared (Acts 13, 38-39): \"Through this\nman is proclaimed unto you remission of sins: and by him every one\nthat believeth is justified from all things, from which ye could not\nbe justified by the law of Moses.\"\n\n31. In this teaching you see no more the empty letters, the valueless\nhusks or shells, of the Law, which unceasingly enjoins, \"This thou\nshalt do and observe,\" and ever in vain. You see instead the true\nkernel and power which confers Christ and the fullness of His Spirit.\nIn consequence, men heartily believe the message of the Gospel and\nenjoy its riches. They are accounted as having fulfilled the Ten\nCommandments. John says (Jn 1, 16-17): \"Of his fullness we all\nreceived, and grace for grace. For the Law was given through Moses;\ngrace and truth came through Jesus Christ.\" John's thought is: The\nLaw has indeed been given by Moses, but what avails that fact? To be\nsure, it is a noble doctrine and portrays a beautiful and instructive\npicture of man's duty to God and all mankind; it is really excellent\nas to the letter. Yet it remains empty; it does not enter into the\nheart. Therefore it is called \"law,\" nor can it become aught else, so\nlong as nothing more is given.\n\n\nCHRIST SUPERSEDES MOSES.\n\nBefore there can be fulfilment, another than Moses must come,\nbringing another doctrine. Instead of a law enjoined, there must be\ngrace and truth revealed. For to enjoin a command and to embody the\ntruth[2] are two different things; just as teaching and doing differ.\nMoses, it is true, teaches the doctrine of the Law, so far as\nexposition is concerned, but he can neither fulfil it himself nor\ngive others the ability to do so. That it might be fulfilled, God's\nSon had to come with his fullness; he has fulfilled the Law for\nhimself and it is he who communicates to our empty heart the power to\nattain to the same fullness.\n\n[Footnote 2: Es ist zweirlei, Gesetz geben, und, Wahrheit werden.]\n\nThis becomes possible when we receive grace for grace, that is, when\nwe come to the enjoyment of Christ, and for the sake of him who\nenjoys with God fullness of grace, although our own obedience to the\nLaw is still imperfect. Being possessed of solace and grace, we\nreceive by his power the Holy Spirit also, so that, instead of\nharboring mere empty letters within us, we come to the truth and\nbegin to fulfil God's Law, in such a way, however, that we draw from\nhis fullness and drink from that as a fountain.\n\n\nCHRIST THE SOURCE OF LIFE GREATER THAN ADAM THE SOURCE OF DEATH.\n\n32. Paul gives us the same thought in Romans 5, 17-18, where he\ncompares Adam and Christ. Adam, he says, by his disobedience in\nParadise, became the source of sin and death in the world; by the sin\nof this one man, condemnation passed upon all men. But on the other\nhand, Christ, by his obedience and righteousness, has become for us\nthe abundant source wherefrom all may obtain righteousness and the\npower of obedience. And with respect to the latter source, it is far\nricher and more abundant than the former. While by the single sin of\none man, sin and death passed upon all men, to wax still more\npowerful with the advent of the Law, of such surpassing strength and\ngreatness, on the other hand, is the grace and bounty which we have\nin Christ that it not only washes away the particular sin of the one\nman Adam, which, until Christ came, overwhelmed all men in death, but\noverwhelms and blots out all sin whatever. Thus they who receive his\nfullness of grace and bounty unto righteousness are, according to\nPaul, lords of life through Jesus Christ alone.\n\n\nTHE LAW INEFFECTUAL.\n\n33. You see now how the two messages differ, and why Paul exalts the\none, the preaching of the Gospel, and calls it a \"ministration of the\nspirit,\" but terms the other, the Law, a mere empty \"letter.\" His\nobject is to humble the pride of the false apostles and preachers\nwhich they felt in their Judaism and the law of Moses, telling the\npeople with bold pretensions: \"Beloved, let Paul preach what he will,\nhe cannot overthrow Moses, who on Mount Sinai received the Law, God's\nirrevocable command, obedience to which is ever the only way to\nsalvation.\"\n\n34. Similarly today, Papists, Anabaptists and other sects make\noutcry: \"What mean you by preaching so much about faith and Christ?\nAre the people thereby made better? Surely works are essential.\"\nArguments of this character have indeed a semblance of merit, but,\nwhen examined by the light of truth, are mere empty, worthless\ntwaddle. For if deeds, or works, are to be considered, there are the\nTen Commandments; we teach and practice these as well as they. The\nCommandments would answer the purpose indeed--if one could preach\nthem so effectively as to compel their fulfilment.\n\nBut the question is, whether what is preached is also practiced. Is\nthere something more than mere words--or letters, as Paul says? do\nthe words result in life and spirit? This message we have in common;\nunquestionably, one must teach the Ten Commandments, and, what is\nmore, live them. But we charge that they are not observed. Therefore\nsomething else is requisite in order to render obedience to them\npossible. When Moses and the Law are made to say: \"You should do\nthus; God demands this of you,\" what does it profit? Ay, beloved\nMoses, I hear that plainly, and it is certainly a righteous command;\nbut pray tell me whence shall I obtain ability to do what, alas, I\nnever have done nor can do? It is not easy to spend money from an\nempty pocket, or to drink from an empty can. If I am to pay my debt,\nor to quench my thirst, tell me how first to fill pocket or can. But\nupon this point such prattlers are silent; they but continue to drive\nand plague with the Law, let the people stick to their sins, and make\nmerry of them to their own hurt.\n\n35. In this light Paul here portrays the false apostles and like\npernicious schismatics, who make great boasts of having a clearer\nunderstanding and of knowing much better what to teach than is the\ncase with true preachers of the Gospel. And when they do their very\nbest, when they pretend great things, and do wonders with their\npreaching, there is naught but the mere empty \"letter.\" Indeed, their\nmessage falls far short of Moses. Moses was a noble preacher, truly,\nand wrought greater things than any of them may do. Nevertheless, the\ndoctrine of the Law could do no more than remain a letter, an Old\nTestament, and God had to ordain a different doctrine, a New\nTestament, which should impart the \"spirit.\"\n\n\"It is the letter,\" says Paul, \"which we preach. If any glorying is\nto be done, we can glory in better things and make the defiant plea\nthat they are not the only teachers of what ought to be done,\nincapable as they are of carrying out their own precepts. We give\ndirection and power as to performing and living those precepts. For\nthis reason our message is not called the Old Testament, or the\nmessage of the dead letter, but that of the New Testament and of the\nliving Spirit.\"\n\n36. No seditious spirit, it is certain, ever carries out its own\nprecepts, nor will he ever be capable of doing so, though he may\nloudly boast the Spirit alone as his guide. Of this fact you may rest\nassured. For such individuals know nothing more than the doctrine of\nworks--nor can they rise higher and point you to anything else. They\nmay indeed speak of Christ, but it is only to hold him up as an\nexample of patience in suffering. In short, there can be no New\nTestament preached if the doctrine of faith in Christ be left out;\nthe spirit cannot enter into the heart, but all teaching, endeavor,\nreflection, works and power remain mere \"letters,\" devoid of grace,\ntruth, and life. Without Christ the heart remains unchanged and\nunrenewed. It has no more power to fulfil the Law than the book in\nwhich the Ten Commandments are written, or the stones upon which\nengraved.\n\n\"For the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.\"\n\n37. Here is yet stronger condemnation of the glory of the doctrine of\nthe Law; yet higher exaltation of the Gospel ministry. Is the apostle\noverbold in that he dares thus to assail the Law and say: \"The Law is\nnot only a lifeless letter, but qualified merely to kill\"? Surely\nthat is not calling the Law a good and profitable message, but one\naltogether harmful. Who, unless he would be a cursed heretic in the\neyes of the world and invite execution as a blasphemer, would dare to\nspeak thus, except Paul himself? Even Paul must praise the Law, which\nis God's command, declaring it good and not to be despised nor in any\nway modified, but to be confirmed and fulfilled so completely, as\nChrist says (Mt 5, 18), that not a tittle of it shall pass away. How,\nthen, does Paul come to speak so disparagingly, even abusively, of\nthe Law, actually presenting it as veritable death and poison? Well,\nhis is a sublime doctrine, one that reason does not understand. The\nworld, particularly they who would be called holy and godly, cannot\ntolerate it at all; for it amounts to nothing short of pronouncing\nall our works, however precious, mere death and poison.\n\n38. Paul's purpose is to bring about the complete overthrow of the\nboast of the false teachers and hypocrites, and to reveal the\nweakness of their doctrine, showing how little it effects even at its\nbest, since it offers only the Law, Christ remaining unproclaimed and\nunknown. They say in terms of vainglorious eloquence that if a man\ndiligently keep the commandments and do many good works, he shall be\nsaved. But theirs are only vain words, a pernicious doctrine. This\nfact is eventually learned by him who, having heard no other\ndoctrine, trusts in their false one. He finds out that it holds\nneither comfort nor power of life, but only doubt and anxiety,\nfollowed by death and destruction.\n\n\nTERRORS OF THE LAW.\n\n39. When man, conscious of his failure to keep God's command, is\nconstantly urged by the Law to make payment of his debt and\nconfronted with nothing but the terrible wrath of God and eternal\ncondemnation, he cannot but sink into despair over his sins. Such is\nthe inevitable consequence where the Law alone is taught with a view\nto attaining heaven thereby. The vanity of such trust in works is\nillustrated in the case of the noted hermit mentioned in Vitae Patrum\n(Lives of the Fathers). For over seventy years this hermit had led a\nlife of utmost austerity, and had many followers. When the hour of\ndeath came he began to tremble, and for three days was in a state of\nagony. His disciples came to comfort him, exhorting him to die in\npeace since he had led so holy a life. But he replied: \"Alas, I truly\nhave all my life served Christ and lived austerely; but God's\njudgment greatly differs from that of men.\"\n\n40. Note, this worthy man, despite the holiness of his life, has no\nacquaintance with any article but that of the divine judgment\naccording to the Law. He knows not the comfort of Christ's Gospel.\nAfter a long life spent in the attempt to keep God's commandments and\nsecure salvation, the Law now slays him through his own works. He is\ncompelled to exclaim: \"Alas, who knows how God will look upon my\nefforts? Who may stand before him?\" That means, to forfeit heaven\nthrough the verdict of his own conscience. The work he has wrought\nand his holiness of life avail nothing. They merely push him deeper\ninto death, since he is without the solace of the Gospel, while\nothers, such as the thief on the cross and the publican, grasp the\ncomfort of the Gospel, the forgiveness of sins in Christ. Thus sin is\nconquered; they escape the sentence of the Law, and pass through\ndeath into life eternal.\n\n\nEFFICACY OF THE GOSPEL.\n\n41. Now the meaning of the contrasting clause, \"the spirit giveth\nlife,\" becomes clear. The reference is to naught else but the holy\nGospel, a message of healing and salvation; a precious, comforting\nword. It comforts and refreshes the sad heart. It wrests it out of\nthe jaws of death and hell, as it were, and transports it to the\ncertain hope of eternal life, through faith in Christ. When the last\nhour comes to the believer, and death and God's judgment appear\nbefore his eyes, he does not base his comfort upon his works. Even\nthough he may have lived the holiest life possible, he says with Paul\n(1 Cor 4, 4): \"I know nothing against myself, yet am I not hereby\njustified.\"\n\n42. These words imply being ill pleased with self, with the whole\nlife; indeed, even the putting to death of self. Though the heart\nsays, \"By my works I am neither made righteous nor saved,\" which is\npractically admitting oneself to be worthy of death and condemnation,\nthe Spirit extricates from despair, through the Gospel faith, which\nconfesses, as did St. Bernard in the hour of death: \"Dear Lord Jesus,\nI am aware that my life at its best has been but worthy of\ncondemnation, but I trust in the fact that thou hast died for me and\nhast sprinkled me with blood from thy holy wounds. For I have been\nbaptized in thy name and have given heed to thy Word whereby thou\nhast called me, awarded me grace and life, and bidden me believe. In\nthis assurance will I pass out of life; not in uncertainty and\nanxiety, thinking, Who knows what sentence God in heaven will pass\nupon me?\"\n\nThe Christian must not utter such a question. The sentence against\nhis life and works has long since been passed by the Law. Therefore,\nhe must confess himself guilty and condemned. But he lives by the\ngracious judgment of God declared from heaven, whereby the sentence\nof the Law is overruled and reversed. It is this: \"He that believeth\non the Son hath eternal life.\" Jn 3, 36.\n\n43. When the consolation of the Gospel has once been received and it\nhas wrested the heart from death and the terrors of hell, the\nSpirit's influence is felt. By its power God's Law begins to live in\nman's heart; he loves it, delights in it and enters upon its\nfulfilment. Thus eternal life begins here, being continued forever\nand perfected in the life to come.\n\n44. Now you see how much more glorious, how much better, is the\ndoctrine of the apostles--the New Testament--than the doctrine of\nthose who preach merely great works and holiness without Christ. We\nshould see in this fact an incentive to hear the Gospel with\ngladness. We ought joyfully to thank God for it when we learn how it\nhas power to bring to men life and eternal salvation, and when it\ngives us assurance that the Holy Spirit accompanies it and is\nimparted to believers.\n\n\"But if the ministration of death, written, and engraven on stones,\ncame with glory, so that the children of Israel could not look\nstedfastly upon the face of Moses for the glory of his face; which\nglory was passing away: how shall not rather the ministration of the\nSpirit be with glory? For if the ministration of condemnation hath\nglory, much rather doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in\nglory.\"\n\n\nGLORY OF THE GOSPEL.\n\n45. Paul is in an ecstasy of delight, and his heart overflows in\nwords of praise for the Gospel. Again he handles the Law severely,\ncalling it a ministration, or doctrine, of death and condemnation.\nWhat term significant of greater abomination could he apply to God's\nLaw than to call it a doctrine of death and hell? And again (Gal 2,\n17), he calls it a \"minister (or preacher) of sin;\" and (Gal 3, 10)\nthe message which proclaims a curse, saying, \"As many as are of the\nworks of the law are under a curse.\" Absolute, then, is the\nconclusion that Law and works are powerless to justify before God;\nfor how can a doctrine proclaiming only sin, death and condemnation\njustify and save?\n\n46. Paul is compelled to speak thus, as we said above because of the\ninfamous presumption of both teachers and pupils, in that they permit\nflesh and blood to coquet with the Law, and make their own works\nwhich they bring before God their boast. Yet, nothing is effected but\nself-deception and destruction. For, when the Law is viewed in its\ntrue light, when its \"glory,\" as Paul has it, is revealed, it is\nfound to do nothing more than to kill man and sink him into\ncondemnation.\n\n47. Therefore, the Christian will do well to learn this text of Paul\nand have an armor against the boasting of false teachers, and the\ntorments and trials of the devil when he urges the Law and induces\nmen to seek righteousness in their own works, tormenting their heart\nwith the thought that salvation is dependent upon the achievements of\nthe individual. The Christian will do well to learn this text, I say,\nso that in such conflicts he may take the devil's own sword, saying:\n\"Why dost thou annoy me with talk of the Law and my works? What is\nthe Law after all, however much you may preach it to me, but that\nwhich makes me feel the weight of sin, death and condemnation? Why\nshould I seek therein righteousness before God?\"\n\n48. When Paul speaks of the \"glory of the Law,\" of which the Jewish\nteachers of work-righteousness boast, he has reference to the things\nnarrated in the twentieth and thirty-fourth chapters of Exodus--how,\nwhen the Law was given, God descended in majesty and glory from\nheaven, and there were thunderings and lightnings, and the mountain\nwas encircled with fire; and how when Moses returned from the\nmountain, bringing the Law, his face shone with a glory so dazzling\nthat the people could not look upon his face and he was obliged to\nveil it.\n\n49. Turning their glory against them, Paul says: \"Truly, we do not\ndeny the glory; splendor and majesty were there; but what does such\nglory do but compel souls to flee before God, and drive into death\nand hell?\" We believers, however, boast another glory,--that of our\nministration. The Gospel record tells us (Mt 17, 2-4) that Christ\nclearly revealed such glory to his disciples when his face shone as\nthe sun, and Moses and Elijah were present. Before the manifestation\nof such glory, the disciples did not flee; they beheld with amazed\njoy and said: \"Lord, it is good for us to be here. We will make here\ntabernacles for thee and for Moses,\" etc.\n\n50. Compare the two scenes and you will understand plainly the import\nof Paul's words here. As before said, this is the substance of his\nmeaning: \"The Law produces naught but terror and death when it\ndazzles the heart with its glory and stands revealed in its true\nnature. On the other hand, the Gospel yields comfort and joy.\" But to\nexplain in detail the signification of the veiled face of Moses, and\nof his shining uncovered face, would take too long to enter upon\nhere.\n\n51. There is also especial comfort to be derived from Paul's\nassertion that the \"ministration,\" or doctrine, of the Law \"passeth\naway\"; for otherwise there would be naught but eternal condemnation.\nThe doctrine of the Law \"passes away\" when the preaching of the\nGospel of Christ finds place. To Christ, Moses shall yield, that he\nalone may hold sway. Moses shall not terrify the conscience of the\nbeliever. When, perceiving the glory of Moses, the conscience\ntrembles and despairs before God's wrath, then it is time for\nChrist's glory to shine with its gracious, comforting light into the\nheart. Then can the heart endure Moses and Elijah. For the glory of\nthe Law, or the unveiled face of Moses, shall shine only until man is\nhumbled and driven to desire the blessed countenance of Christ. If\nyou come to Christ, you shall no longer hear Moses to your fright and\nterror; you shall hear him as one who remains servant to the Lord\nChrist, leaving the solace and the joy of his countenance unobscured.\nIn conclusion:\n\n\"For verily that which hath been made glorious hath not been made\nglorious in this respect, by reason of the glory that surpasseth.\"\n\n52. The meaning here is: When the glory and holiness of Christ,\nrevealed through the preaching of the Gospel, is rightly perceived,\nthen the glory of the Law--which is but a feeble and transitory\nglory--is seen to be not really glorious. It is mere dark clouds in\ncontrast to the light of Christ shining to lead us out of sin, death\nand hell unto God and eternal life.\n\n\n\n\n_Thirteenth Sunday After Trinity_\n\nText: Galatians 3, 15-22.\n\n15 Brethren, I speak after the manner of men: Though it be but a\nman's covenant, yet when it hath been confirmed, no one maketh it\nvoid, or addeth thereto. 16 Now to Abraham were the promises spoken,\nand to his seed. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of\none, And to thy seed, which is Christ. 17 Now this I say: A covenant\nconfirmed beforehand by God, the law, which came four hundred and\nthirty years after, doth not disannul, so as to make the promise of\nnone effect. 18 For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no more\nof promise: but God hath granted it to Abraham by promise. 19 What\nthen is the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the\nseed should come to whom the promise hath been made; and it was\nordained through angels by the hand of a mediator. 20 Now a mediator\nis not a mediator of one; but God is one. 21 Is the law then against\nthe promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given\nwhich could make alive, verily righteousness would have been of the\nlaw. 22 But the scripture shut up all things under sin, that the\npromise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.\n\n\nGOD'S TESTAMENT AND PROMISE IN CHRIST.\n\n1. This is a keen, severe epistle, one that is unintelligible to the\nordinary man. Because the doctrine it contains has not hitherto been\nemployed and enforced, it has not been understood. It is also too\nlong and rich to be treated briefly. But it is fully explained in the\ncomplete commentary on this epistle to the Galatians, where those who\nwill may read it. The substance of it is, that here, as in the whole\nepistle, Paul would earnestly constrain the Christian to distinguish\nbetween the righteousness of faith and the righteousness of works or\nof the Law. In order that we may note to some extent the main points\nPaul makes in this text, we remark that he emphasizes two things. He\ntreats first of the doctrine that we are justified by faith alone,\nand he maintains this, after giving many reasons and proofs, by\nsaying in effect:\n\n2. In this connection you should note that no one, whether Jew or\ngentile, is justified by works or by the Law. For the Law was given\nfour hundred and thirty years after the promise of a Savior had been\nmade to Abraham (who was to be the father of all the people of God)\nand the assurance that all nations should be blessed in him. It was\ngiven after it had been testified of Abraham that his faith was\nimputed to him for righteousness. And as he was justified and\nreceived the blessing by reason of his faith, so also his children\nand descendants were justified and received the blessing through the\nsame faith in that seed for whose sake the blessing had been promised\nto all the world. For in his dealings with the Jews and with the\nwhole world, God always promised his grace and the forgiveness of\nsins (and that means to be blessed of God) even when there was as yet\nno Law by which they might pretend to become righteous, and before\nMoses was born.\n\n3. Therefore the Law, being given to this people only after the lapse\nof so long a period, could not have been given to them for\njustification; otherwise it would have been given earlier. Or if it\nhad been necessary for righteousness, then Abraham and his children\nup to that date could not have been justified at all. Indeed God\ndesigned that the Law should be given so long after Abraham.\nUndoubtedly he would have been able to give it to the fathers much\nearlier if he had seen fit to do so. Apparently he desired thereby to\nteach that the Law was not given to the end that God's grace and\nblessing should be acquired through it, but that these come from the\npure mercy of God which was promised and bestowed so long before upon\nAbraham and those who believed.\n\n4. Therefore Paul concludes: How could the Law produce righteousness\nfor those who lived before Moses, since Moses was the first through\nwhom the Law was given; and since even before his time there were\nholy people and people who were saved? Whence did they derive their\nrighteousness? Certainly not from the fact that they had offered\nsacrifice at Jerusalem, but from the fact that they believed the Word\nin which God promised to bless them through the coming seed, Christ.\nHence, those also who lived afterwards could not have been justified\nby the Law; for they did not receive the grace of God in a different\nway from that in which those who went before had received it. God did\nnot annul or revoke by the Law the promise of blessing which he had\nmade and freely bestowed without the Law.\n\n5. Here some might desire to show their wisdom and say to Paul:\nAlthough the fathers did not have the Law of Moses, they had the same\nWord of God which teaches the ten commandments and which was\nimplanted in the human heart from the beginning of the world, whence\nalso it is called the law of nature or the natural law; and the same\nlaw was afterwards given publicly to the Jewish people and\ncomprehended in the ten commandments. It might also be said that\nMoses borrowed the ten commandments from the fathers, to which Christ\ntestifies in John 7, 22. For it is certain that the fathers from the\nbeginning taught them and urged them upon their children and\ndescendants. With what consistency, then, does Paul conclude that the\nfathers were not justified by the Law because it was not given until\nfour hundred years after Abraham's time; as if the fathers before\nthat time had no Law?\n\n6. To answer this question we must observe the meaning and purpose of\nPaul's words; for he so speaks because of the boasting of the Jews,\nwho placed their dependence on the Law and claimed that it was given\nto them that they might be God's people. They considered their\nattempts at keeping his Law, sufficient to procure justification. Why\nelse did God give the Law, they said, and distinguish us from all\nheathen peoples, if we were not thereby to be preeminent before God\nand more pleasing to him than they who have it not? They made so much\nof this boasting that they paid no respect at all to the promise of\nblessing in the coming seed, given to the fathers, nor thought that\nfaith therein was necessary to their justification. Thus they\npractically considered it as annulled and made void, excepting for a\ntemporal interpretation which they put upon it--that the Messiah\nwould come and, because of their Law and piety, give to them the\ndominion of the world and other great rewards.\n\n\nTHE JEWS GOD'S PEOPLE BY PROMISE.\n\n7. To rout such vain delusions and boasts, and to show that the Jews\nwere not justified through the Law and did not become God's children\nthereby, Paul cites the fact that the holy patriarchs, their fathers,\nwere justified neither by the Law of which they boast, because it was\nnot yet given, nor by their own deeds, whether of the natural law or\nthe ten commandments. God had based no promise of blessing or\nsalvation on their works. He had promised out of pure grace to give\nthem the blessing freely (that is, to give them grace or\nrighteousness and all eternal blessing), through the coming seed,\nwhich had been promised also to our first parents without their\nmerit, when by their transgression they had fallen under God's wrath\nand condemnation. Therefore, although the fathers had a knowledge of\nthe Law, or God's commandments, these did not help them to become\nrighteous before God. They had to hear and apprehend by faith the\npromise of God, which was based not on works but only on the coming\nseed. For if they had been able by means of the Law or of good works\nto become righteous, it would have been wholly unnecessary to give\nthe promise of blessing in Christ.\n\n8. Now, if Abraham and the fathers could not be justified by works,\nand in fact were not justified by them, no more were their children\nand descendants justified by the Law or by works. They were justified\nin no other way than by faith in the promise given to Abraham and to\nhis seed, a promise by which not only the Jews but all the heathen\n(through the same faith) were blessed.\n\n9. This truth Paul now further enforces and establishes on the basis\nof these two particulars--God's promise, and his free grace or\ngift--in opposition to the boasting of the Law and our own merit.\nFirst, he makes a declaration concerning the value and weight which\nevery testament or promise of the last will possesses. Likewise in\nthe fourth commandment is implied an ordinance that the last will of\nparents should be honored by their children and heirs.\n\n10. In regard to this subject he asserts that the rule is, if a man's\ntestament be confirmed (and it is confirmed by his death) no man dare\nalter it nor add to it nor take away from it. So the jurists declare\nit to be a divine law that no one should break a man's last will. How\nmuch more then should God's testament be honored intact? Now, God has\nmade a testament, which is to be his final last will; namely, that he\nwill bless all nations through the seed which at first he promised to\nthe fathers. This he determined upon, and assured to Abraham, and in\nhim to all the world--to us all. And he has confirmed it by the death\nof this seed, his only Son, who had to become man and die (as was\ntypified by the sacrifice of Isaac on the part of Abraham) in order\nthat the inheritance of the blessing and eternal life might be\nbestowed upon us. This is God's last will. He does not desire to make\nany other. Therefore, no man can or dare change it or add anything to\nit. Now, it is adding to it, it is breaking or revoking it--since\nthis testament has been opened and the blessing proclaimed to all the\nworld--if anyone claims that we must first earn that blessing through\nthe Law, proceeding as if, without the Law, this testament, by mere\nvirtue of its promise and will, had no force at all.\n\n11. In short, this testament, Paul concludes, is a simple promise of\nblessing and sonship with God. Accordingly, there is no law which we\nmust keep in order to merit it. Here nothing avails but the will\nwhich promises saying, I will not regard your deeds, but promise the\nblessing--that is, grace and eternal life--to you who are found in\nsin and death. This I will confirm by the death of my Son, who shall\nmerit and obtain this inheritance for you.\n\nNow, God made this testament in the first place without the Law, and\nhas thus confirmed it; therefore, the Law, published and confirmed\nlong afterwards, cannot take aught from it, much less annul or revoke\nit. And he who declares or teaches that we are to be justified by the\nLaw--are to obtain God's blessing by it--does nothing else but\ninterfere with God's testament and destroy and annul his last will.\nThis is one argument of Paul, based on the word \"promise,\" or\n\"testament,\" and is readily understood; for no one is so stupid that\nhe cannot distinguish between these two--law or commandment, and\npromise.\n\n12. The second argument of Paul is based on the words, \"God gave it\nto Abraham by promise.\" Here also it is easy for one who is possessed\nof common sense to perceive there is a marked difference between\nreceiving something as a gift and earning it. What is earned is given\nbecause of obligation and debt, as wages, and he who receives it may\nboast of it, rather than he who gives it, and may insist upon his\nright. But when something is given for nothing and, as Paul here\nsays, is bestowed freely--out of grace--then there can be no boasting\nof right or of merit on the part of the recipient. On the contrary,\nhe must praise the goodness and kindness of his benefactor. So Paul\nconcludes: God freely gave the blessing and the inheritance to\nAbraham by promise. Therefore, Abraham did not earn it by his works;\nnor was it given to him as a reward, much less to his children.\n\n13. It is evident enough to even a child that what is earned by works\nas a reward is not identical with what is promised or bestowed\ngratis, out of grace and pure free will. There is a distinction\nbetween them. God has stopped the mouth of all the world and deprived\nit of all occasion for boasting that it has received God's grace by\nreason of the Law. For he promised and bestowed that as a gift,\nbefore the Law or merit through the Law had any existence. In his\ndealings with his own people, with Abraham and his descendants, God\npromised to bless the patriarch and all his race and said nothing of\nany law, works or reward; he based all solely on the coming seed.\n\n14. In the faith of this promise they lived and died--Abraham himself\nand his children's children--till over four hundred and thirty years\nhad elapsed. Then only did God give the Law, institute an outward\nform of worship, a priesthood, etc., and direct them how to live and\ngovern themselves. They had now become a separate people, released\nfrom foreign domination, and brought into their own land, and they\nneeded an external form of government. It was not intended that only\nnow and by means of these gifts they should obtain forgiveness of\nsins and God's blessing.\n\n15. This is the substance of the first part of this epistle. In\nteaching how we are to be justified before God, Paul would have us\ndistinguish well these two points, promise and law; or again, gift\nand reward. If we teach that God, out of pure grace, and not because\nof any law or merit, bestows forgiveness of sins and eternal life,\nthe question at once presents itself: Why is the Law given, or of\nwhat use is it? Shall we not perform any good works? Why do we teach\nthe ten commandments at all? Paul takes up this matter and asks the\nquestion, \"What then is the Law?\" Then he proceeds to discuss at\nlength what is the office and use of the Law, and shows the\ndifference between it and the Gospel. Of this enough has been said\nelsewhere, in other postils.\n\n\n\n\n_Fourteenth Sunday After Trinity_\n\nText: Galatians 5, 16-24.\n\n16 But I say, Walk by the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of\nthe flesh. 17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the\nSpirit against the flesh; for these are contrary the one to the\nother; that ye may not do the things that ye would. 18 But if ye are\nled by the Spirit, ye are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the\nflesh are manifest, which are these: fornication, uncleanness,\nlasciviousness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousies,\nwraths, factions, divisions, parties, 21 envyings, drunkenness,\nrevellings, and such like; of which I forewarn you, even as I did\nforewarn you, that they who practise such things shall not inherit\nthe kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,\npeace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 meekness,\nself-control; against such there is no law. 24 And they that are of\nChrist Jesus have crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts\nthereof.\n\n\nWORKS OF THE FLESH AND FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT.\n\nThis Epistle has been treated at length in the complete commentary\n(Luther's Commentary on Galatians). It exhorts to good works or\nfruits of faith in those who have the Holy Spirit through faith. And\nit does so in a way to show that it is not the design of this\ndoctrine to forbid good works or to tolerate and refrain from\ncensuring bad ones, or to prevent the preaching of the Law. On the\ncontrary it shows clearly that God earnestly wills that Christians\nshould flee and avoid the lusts of the flesh, if they would remain in\nthe Spirit. To have and retain the Spirit and faith, and yet to\nfulfil the lusts of the flesh, are two things that cannot harmonize;\nfor \"these,\" Paul says, \"are contrary the one to the other,\" and\nthere is between them a vehement conflict. They cannot tolerate each\nother; one must be supreme and cast the other out. For this reason he\nclearly mentions some works of the flesh which plainly and evidently\nare not of the Spirit, and immediately concludes that those who\ncommit and practice these are not in a condition to inherit God's\nkingdom. They have lost the Holy Spirit and faith. But he also shows\nwhence the Christians obtain strength to enable them to resist the\nlusts of the flesh; namely, from the fact that they have received the\nHoly Spirit through faith, and from the knowledge that they have a\ngracious God. Thus their hearts become filled with love and a desire\nto obey God and to shun sin. Consequently they resist and refuse to\nobey the lusts of the flesh, lest they make God angry again. And\nalthough in this conflict they still feel their weakness, the Law\nnevertheless cannot condemn them, because through faith they are and\nremain in Christ.\n\n\n\n\n_Fifteenth Sunday After Trinity_\n\nText: Galatians 5, 25-26 and 6, 1-10.\n\n25 If we live by the Spirit, by the Spirit let us also walk. 26 Let\nus not become vainglorious, provoking one another, envying one\nanother.\n\n1 Brethren, even if a man be overtaken in any trespass, ye who are\nspiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; looking to\nthyself, lest thou also be tempted. 2 Bear ye one another's burdens,\nand so fulfil the law of Christ. 3 For if a man thinketh himself to\nbe something when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. 4 But let each\nman prove his own work, and then shall he have his glorying in regard\nof himself alone, and not of his neighbor. 5 For each man shall bear\nhis own burden. 6 But let him that is taught in the word communicate\nunto him that teacheth in all good things. 7 Be not deceived; God is\nnot mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8\nFor he that soweth unto his own flesh shall of the flesh reap\ncorruption; but he that soweth unto the Spirit shall of the Spirit\nreap eternal life. 9 And let us not be weary in well-doing: for in\ndue season we shall reap, if we faint not. 10 So then, as we have\nopportunity, let us work that which is good toward all men, and\nespecially toward them that are of the household of the faith.\n\n\nCHURCH OFFICERS WARNED OF VAIN-GLORY.\n\nThe chief aim of this epistle text is to instruct those in official\nauthority in the Church. Since Christians are under obligation to\nhonor their pastors and teachers, they are admonished by the apostle\nto guard against the sin of vain-glory, that those in authority may\nnot become proud nor misuse their office against unity in doctrine\nand in love, and that they may not despise or pass by the wounded and\nhelpless, as the priest and Levite did. Lk 10, 31-32. Finally, Paul\nexhorts all diligently to do the good and thus serve everyone, as\nChrist also teaches in the Gospel (Mt. 6, 34) that everyone should do\nthe work of each day and not be anxious about the future. [See the\nexplanation of these verses in Luther's Commentary on the Galatians.]\n\n\n\n\n_Sixteenth Sunday After Trinity_\n\nText: Ephesians 3, 13-21.\n\n13. Wherefore I ask that ye may not faint at my tribulations for you,\nwhich are your glory. 14 For this cause I bow my knees unto the\nFather, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16\nand that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory,\nthat ye may be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the\ninward man; 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; to\nthe end that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be strong\nto apprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and\nheight and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ which passeth\nknowledge, that ye may be filled unto all the fulness of God. 20 Now\nunto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we\nask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 21 unto him\nbe the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus unto all generations\nfor ever and ever. Amen.\n\n\nPAUL'S CARE AND PRAYER FOR THE CHURCH.[1]\n\n[Footnote 1: This sermon appeared in three editions the first year it\nwas printed in 1525, at Wittenberg.]\n\n1. Up to this time Paul has been extolling the office of the\nministry, which proclaims the Gospel of the New Testament. In lofty\nand impressive terms he introduces its purpose, power and wisdom--in\na word, the great benefits the office effects, since God thereby\nbestows upon us abundantly all manner of wisdom, strength and\nblessings, all which things, in heaven or earth, are of his\ndispensing. The Gospel proclaims to us life from death, righteousness\nfrom sin, redemption from hell and all evil, and brings us out of the\nkingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God. So sublime is the whole\nsubject, Paul does not venture to compass it with words but in the\nloftiest of language suggests much.\n\n2. In the first part of the text he shows the depth of his concern\nthat the Ephesians should retain the Gospel preaching received from\nhim, not allowing themselves to be torn away from it. To this end he\nemploys two expedients: first, he consoles and admonishes; second, he\nprays and desires.\n\n\"Wherefore I ask that ye may not faint at my tribulations for you,\nwhich are your glory.\"\n\n\nPAUL CONSOLES HIS CONVERTS.\n\n3. Having been imprisoned at Rome by order of the emperor, Paul thus\nconsoles his beloved converts at Ephesus, admonishing them to cleave\nto the doctrine learned from him; not to be frightened from it by\nbeholding his fate, nor permit themselves to be alienated by such\ncomment as this: \"This man Paul in his preaching to you made great\npretentions to being commissioned of Christ himself, and to outdoing\nall the other apostles. And you made your boast in him and relied\nupon him as if he were the only and all-deserving one. Where is he\nnow? What assistance can he render you? There he lies in Rome, by the\nJews condemned to death; more than that, he is in the hands of that\ncruel tyrant, Emperor Nero. Did we not long ago tell you he would\nmeet such fate? Presumably this puts an end to his boastings over\nevery other man.\"\n\n4. To prevent the offense that threatened, Paul writes from his\nprison, and his message is, in effect, this: \"Dear friends, you see I\nam imprisoned; the devil and the world have me in their hands. This\nmay perhaps alarm you, and rouse in you the evil suspicion, 'If his\ndoctrine were all right and if he were the great apostle of Christ he\nclaims to be, God would not permit him to suffer such fate.'\" For\nsome of the false apostles thus taunted Paul's disciples. \"But I\nentreat and exhort you,\" Paul would say, \"not to be offended, or\nalarmed, not to grow faint, though I am in prison. Whether we be\ntempted and suffer tribulation, whether we be honored or dishonored,\nno matter what comes, only cleave to the doctrine I have preached to\nyou--the Gospel, God's sure Word, as you know.\" He reminds them, as\nbefore he has done, of that whereunto God has called them, and of\nwhat they have received through his preaching.\n\n5. Such admonition is still, and will ever be, necessary in the\nChristian community. The weak must endure severe conflicts in the\ntribulations the Gospel inevitably entails. The trial is especially\nhard when they must lose their leaders and teachers, and in addition\nhear the shameful, bitter taunts of the calumniators. We in this day\nhave to expect that some will be offended when teachers are assailed.\nWe should therefore be prepared, and when any of our number fall away\nfrom our faith to flatter tyrants and the Pope, and to become liars\nand knaves, we must individually lay hold of the Gospel in a way to\nenable us to stand and say: \"Not because a certain one has so taught,\ndo I believe. It matters not what becomes of him or what he may be,\nthe doctrine itself is right. This I know, whatever God may permit to\nbefall myself or others because of it.\"\n\n\nTHE CHRISTIAN'S CONFIDENCE MUST BE IN GOD.\n\n6. So have I personally had to do, and must still do. Otherwise I\nwould have been terrified and enervated when I saw the Pope, and\nbishops, emperors, kings and all the world, opposed to the doctrine\nthey ought to sustain. I would have been overwhelmed, thinking,\n\"They, too, are men and cannot all be followers of the devil.\" How\ncould I comfort myself and stand firm unless I were able to say:\n\"Though ten other worlds and everything great, lofty, wise and\nprudent, and all my dear friends and brethren as well, should turn\nfrom me, the doctrine still remains true. It stands: it will not,\nlike men, totter and fall. I will adhere to the Word of God, stand or\nfall what may.\"\n\n7. The Christian must be discerning enough to strip the individual of\nhis mask--of his great pomp and majesty--and distinguish it from the\nWord. He who cannot so do, cannot stand under temptation; let one\nfall, and he will soon follow suit.\n\n8. Such is the nature of the Church in its earthly government that\nhuman wisdom must stumble thereat; various sects of the offended must\nrise in opposition to the faith. But God delights to rule, not with\nthe sword or with visible power, but through weakness and in\nopposition to the devil and the world. Seemingly, he would permit his\nChurch to be utterly overthrown. Guard against and resist offenses as\nwell as we may--and the practice is not without its efficacy--still\nwe must ultimately be driven to say defiantly: \"He who established\nthe Church and has to this time preserved it, will continue to\nprotect it. Man would not rule it wisely, but the living Christ is\nseated upon the throne whereon God placed him, and we shall see who\ncan pull him down and destroy his Church.\"\n\n\nPAUL'S SUFFERINGS FOR THE CHURCH'S GOOD.\n\n9. When the trying hour arrives, we are able to accomplish about as\nlittle against the enemy as Paul when he lay in chains powerless to\nsuccor a soul. He was obliged to commit his cause to the Lord. At the\nsame time, as a faithful apostle, he ceased not, though removed from\nhis followers, to admonish and warn to the full extent of his power.\nWell he knew that many false apostles were ready, so sure as he said\na word, to pervert it and to fill the ears of the people with their\nown empty words and poisonous teaching. He elsewhere complains (2 Tim\n1, 15) that by the influence of this class all Asia was turned away\nfrom him. He had reference to the nearest neighbors of the Ephesians\nin Asia.\n\n10. For the sake of affording his converts comfort and strength, Paul\nproceeds to make his sufferings and tribulations pleasing to them by\nspeaking of these afflictions in unusual and beautiful terms. He\npresents a view quite opposed to the opinion of the world and the\njudgment of calumniators. \"My sufferings and tribulations,\" says\nPaul, \"which to you and the world, viewed in a fleshy way, are most\ndisastrous, really work you no injury nor disadvantage,\nnotwithstanding what the pernicious babblers claim about such trials.\nRather, they are beneficial to you and me. Though your enemies seek\nthus to injure you to the fullest extent, benefits they never foresee\nwill accrue to us.\n\n\"My sufferings are not for my own sake, but yours. They work your\nbenefit; it is better for you as it is, than for me to be present and\npreach to you. And how so? Because I suffer only for the sake of the\nministry, for that Gospel I delivered you. I risk my life and all I\nhave that you may hold it fast; such is my earnest desire. I contend\nfor and cleave to, at the risk of my life, that which Christ gave me\nand enjoined upon me. Thus by my chains and bands I honor and\nestablish the Gospel, that you may be strengthened and may cleave\nmore firmly to it.\n\n11. \"So we shall joyfully transform the tribulation imposed by the\nworld in an attempt to inflict great evils: God will have to\npronounce the sentence: 'Hear, O world, devil, emperor, tyrant! Thou\nhast imprisoned my apostle Paul for the sake of my godly Christians.\nWhat injury have they done thee? what fault committed? With no wrong\non their part, thou persecutest them. It is simply because I gave\nthem my Word; therefore thou art opposing and defying me. What shall\nI say but that thou hast imprisoned and bound, not Paul, but me? Is\nit not insupportable that a perishable worm, be he emperor or prince,\nshould presume to apprehend God in heaven? But thinkest thou I will\nremain silent and unprotesting? Thinkest thou I will not break\nchains, stocks and bands, and give command: Hold thou, devil and\ntyrant, and submit! Let me rule, substituting for one Paul, ten; and\nfor one Church at Ephesus establishing thirty, yes, a hundred.'\"\n\n12. And as in Paul's time, so today: when our enemies get hold of an\nevangelical preacher, either he must secretly be drowned or murdered,\nor he must publicly be hanged or burned. Why is it? Because of the\nChristians to whom he has taught his doctrine. For a while God looks\non serenely. He says: \"Beloved lords, be not enraged. Know you whom\nyou have apprehended and murdered? It is I, the Divine Majesty. It\nwas not their own word and command but mine which these preachers\ntaught and my Christians believed. You cannot deny the fact. I must,\nthen, consider how to secure myself against your wrath. How shall I\ndo it? Indeed, by way of returning your favors and kindnesses, I must\nso arrange that where one town had a minister and the Gospel, ten,\nyes twenty, towns must have their pastor and preachers. I will, O\nPope and bishops, invade your own dioceses and you must tolerate and\naccept the Gospel, whether to your joy or your grief. If you begin to\nrave, I will give you cause for alarm, for you shall be overthrown,\nbishops, hats and all.\"\n\n13. Note, when Paul says he suffers for the Ephesians, he means that\nhis suffering is for their profit, to teach them they have nothing to\nfear in suffering. They, not he, are the subjects of concern in this\nmatter. His pains are not merely those of Paul--upon whom not so much\ndepends--but of an apostle or preacher of the Church of Christ. When\nthe latter name is associated with the suffering, when it is not John\nor Peter who is cast into prison--that God might tolerate--but a\nminister of the Church, then the deed is a too gross jesting with the\nmajesty of God; it is tempting him too far, yes apprehending him.\n\n14. It was necessary that Paul give his converts this admonition:\n\"Dear children, fear not. Do not be alarmed at my arrest and intended\nexecution. Let our enemies put forth their utmost effort. You shall\nsee how I will rend the cords and burst the prison, humiliating them\nuntil they lie in ashes; the place of one resister of the Gospel will\nbe filled by ten who preach it.\"\n\n\nCHRIST PERSECUTED IN CHRISTIANS.\n\nSince Paul's enemies refuse instruction and will not cease their\nraging, since they refuse to learn against whom they rage, he must\nmake known to them who is the object of their persecution. It is\nneither Paul nor an apostle, but he to whom it was said (Ps 110, 1),\n\"Sit thou at my right hand.\" It is a perilous thing to take liberties\nwith him. He is now seated where he will brook no suffering. The\nenemies of the Christians must behold such things as did the Jews who\ndelivered Paul into the Emperor's hands, and as the Romans witnessed.\nSoon after Paul's execution, Jerusalem lay in ashes, and not a great\nwhile after, the city of Rome was destroyed. For when Christ was\noppressed, when in the person of his apostles and martyrs he was\nseized and put to death, he had no alternative but to destroy a whole\ncity. And Germany may expect a similar fate.\n\n\nNO MAN CAN MERIT ETERNAL LIFE FOR ANOTHER.\n\n15. It is unnecessary here to reply to those wicked and illiterate\ndolts, the Papists and Anabaptist factions, who explain Paul's words,\n\"my tribulations for you,\" and similar passages, as teaching that one\nChristian can by his sufferings merit or aid in the salvation of\nothers. Paul does not say, \"My tribulations for you are designed to\nsecure for you forgiveness of sins and salvation.\" He clearly\ndeclares, as the Scriptures everywhere do, that only Christ's\nsufferings are thus effective and for all men. Paul's thought may\nwell be expressed--and every minister may say the same--in these\nwords: \"My preaching and my suffering are for your sake.\" Just as a\nparent may say to a child, \"I must do or endure this for you.\"\n\nTrue, works wrought and sufferings endured for another's sake are\nproductive of the good and comfort of that one or of many, but the\nworker or sufferer does not thereby merit, either for himself or\nanother, God's grace and eternal life. No, these things demand the\noffices of a being of another order--Christ. He through his\nsufferings exterminates your sins, and through his death gives you\nlife. Then again, Paul is addressing those already Christians and\nhaving forgiveness of sins and all the requirements of a Christian;\nyet he suffers for them; that is, for their good--that in proportion\nas his enemies seek to oppose the Gospel, its influence may be\nwidened and the faith of his followers strengthened.\n\n16. In the effort to comfort and strengthen the Ephesians, Paul yet\nfurther glorifies and extols his tribulations in the words \"which are\nyour glory.\" What unheardof talk is this? Is it not much rather, as\nreason dictates and as all the world affirms, a disgrace to his\nfollowers that he lies there in prison? What greater dishonor can\nChristians suffer than to have their ministers and pastors--their\ninstructors and consolers--shamefully arrested? So it seems to the\nworld, it is true; but I tell you, in God's sight and in reality,\nthis trial is a great honor to you, one of which you may proudly\nboast. This very disgrace and provocation you may turn squarely to\nyour good, saying: \"From the very fact of our disgrace, I know the\ndoctrine is true and divine. For it is the lot of the Word of God and\nof salutary doctrine, together with the supporters of the same, to be\ndefamed and persecuted by the world and the devil.\" Such persecution\nis but glory and honor to Christians. Paul says in Romans 5, 3, \"We\nrejoice in our tribulations.\" In other words, we regard them as\nglorious, beneficial, precious, blessed.\n\n\nCHRISTIANS TO REJOICE IN PERSECUTIONS.\n\n17. Christians should not, and cannot, have their glory in the things\nthe world esteems and honors; for the world will not, nor can it,\nhonor even God and his Word. Christ's followers, then, should not be\nterrified at such treatment as Paul received nor feel disgraced. Let\nthem rather rejoice, deriving comfort and glory therefrom, as did the\napostles. We read (Acts 4, 13) of their boldness, and (Acts 5, 41)\nthat they rejoiced in being \"counted worthy to suffer dishonor for\nthe Name.\" So it fared with Christ himself, and Christians ought to\nbe grieved if it be otherwise with them and if the world regard them\nin a kindly way. In proportion as the world persecutes them and heaps\nupon them its malice, should they rejoice. Let them accept\npersecution as a good indication, regarding themselves blessed, as\nChrist teaches in Matthew 5, 11. So much for the first part of our\ntext; now follows the second:\n\n\"For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father [of our Lord Jesus\nChrist], from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.\"\n\n\nPREACHING MUST BE FOLLOWED BY PRACTICE.\n\n18. Having comforted his followers concerning his tribulations, Paul\ntells them it is his earnest petition, his longing, that God would\ngrant them power to cleave in firm faith to the Gospel, not forsaking\nit or growing weary when they have to endure affronts and\ntribulations, but firmly resisting these. It is not enough merely to\naccept the Gospel, or even to preach it. Acceptance must be followed\nby that spiritual power which renders faith firm and manifests\nsteadfastness in conflicts and temptations; for \"the kingdom of God\nis not in word, but in power,\" as Paul says, 1 Cor 4, 20. There must\nbe a motive force consisting of the inner belief of the heart and the\noutward proofs of faith: not mere speaking, but doing: not mere\ntalking, but living. Conditions must be such that the Word does not\nsimply remain on the tongue and in the ears, but becomes operative\nand accomplishes something. In the Old Testament dispensation, Moses\npreached much indeed, and the people practiced little; but here Paul\ndesires that much be done and little said. He would not have the\nGospel preached in vain, but desires that it accomplish the object of\nits revelation.\n\n19. Note how Paul devotes himself to the welfare of the Christian\ncommunity. He sets an example, to us ministers in particular, of how\nto effect the good of the people. But we do not rightly heed his\nexample. We imagine it sufficient to hear the Gospel and be able to\ndiscourse about it; we stop at the mere knowledge of it; we never\navail ourselves of the Gospel's power in the struggles of life.\nUnquestionably, the trouble is, we do not earnestly pray. We ought\nconstantly to come to God with great longing, entreating him day and\nnight to give the Word power to move men's hearts. David says (Ps 68,\n33), \"Lo, he uttereth his voice, a mighty voice.\"\n\n20. Not only preachers, but all Christians, should constantly entreat\nthe God who grants knowledge to grant also efficacy; should beseech\nhim that the Word may not pass with the utterance, but may manifest\nitself in power. The prevailing complaint at present is that much\npreaching obtains, but no practice; that the people are shamefully\nrude, cold and indolent, and less active than ever, while at the same\ntime they enjoy the strong, clear light of revelation concerning all\nright and wrong in the world. Well may we pray, then, as Paul does\nhere. He says, in effect: \"You are well supplied: the Word is richly\nproclaimed to you--abundantly poured out upon you. But I bend my\nknees to God, praying that he may add his blessing to the Word and\ngrant you to behold his honor and praise and to be firmly\nestablished, that the Word may grow in you and yield fruit.\"\n\n21. Feelingly does Paul speak of praying for his followers. He seems\nto say: \"I must lie here imprisoned, not privileged to be with you or\nto aid you in any way but by bending my knees--that is, entreating\nand imploring God earnestly and in deep humility--to the end that God\nmay grant you, may effect in you, what neither myself nor any other\nhuman being can accomplish--what I could not do even were I free and\never present with you.\"\n\n\nTRUE PRAYER CONSISTS NOT IN OUTWARD THINGS.\n\n22. Observe, the apostle alludes to his prayer by naming its outward\nexpression--bending the knees. But the external posture, if\naccompanied by nothing else, is sheer hypocrisy. When prayer is\ngenuine, possessing the fire by which it is kindled, prompted by a\nsincere heart which recognizes its need and likewise the blessings\nthat are ours as proclaimed in the Word, and when faith in God's\nWord--in his promise--revives, then the individual will be possessed\nwith a fervor prompting him to fall upon his knees and pray for\nstrength and for the power of the Spirit. When the Spirit of prayer\nis enkindled and burns within the heart, the body will responsively\nassume the proper attitude; involuntarily, eyes and hands will be\nupraised and knees bended. Witness the examples of Moses, David and\neven Christ himself.\n\nWhen we pray with glowing hearts, external gestures will take care of\nthemselves. They are prompted by the Spirit, and therefore are not to\nbe denounced. If assumed, unbidden of the Spirit, they are\nhypocritical; as, for instance, when one presumes outwardly to serve\nGod and perform good works while his heart is far away. The prophet\nsays (Is 29, 13), \"This people draw nigh unto me, and with their\nmouth and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart\nfar from me.\"\n\n23. By the declaration, \"I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord\nJesus Christ,\" Paul establishes the doctrine that no one should\npresume to speak to God, to entreat him for any favor, unless\napproaching, as Paul does here, in the name of \"the Father of our\nLord Jesus Christ.\" For Christ is our sole Mediator, and no one need\nexpect to be heard unless he approach the Father in the name of that\nMediator and confess him Lord given of God as intercessor for us and\nruler of our bodies and souls. Prayer according to these conditions\nis approved. Strong faith, however, is necessary to lay hold of the\ncomforting Word, picturing God in our hearts as the Father of our\nLord Jesus Christ.\n\n24. The statement that Christ is our Lord is very comforting, though\nwe have made it terrifying by regarding Christ as a stern and angry\njudge. But the fact is, he is Lord for the sole purpose of securing\nus against harsh lords, tyrants, the devil, the world, death, sin and\nevery sort of misfortune. We are his inheritance, and therefore he\nwill espouse our cause, deliver us from violence and oppression of\nall kinds and better our condition.\n\nThe name \"Lord,\" then, is altogether lovable and comforting to us who\nbelieve, and gives us confidence of heart. But still more comforting\nis it to know that our God, our Lord, is the Father of our Lord Jesus\nChrist. The name \"Lord\" stands for the complete Godhead, who gives\nhimself to us. Therefore, all we ask in this name must be abundantly\nbestowed. Naught is here for me but real help and pure grace. For God\ndesigns to have me his child in Christ, placed above all things\ntemporal and eternal.\n\n\nGOD OUR FATHER.\n\n25. Paul further declares that God is not merely a father, but the\ntrue Father, \"from whom every family in heaven and on earth is\nnamed.\" Earthly fathers are so called because in a flesh and blood\nway they have begotten us, or on account of their age and their claim\nto honor. It is the universal custom to apply the term \"father\" to an\nold master. In Second Kings 5, 13, for instance, the servants of\nNaaman called their lord \"father.\" Paul's thought is: \"All fatherhood\non earth is but a semblance, a shadow, a painted image, in comparison\nwith the divine Fatherhood of God.\"\n\n26. But reason can never see it so. And only by the Spirit's work can\nthe heart recognize the fact. Reason may go so far as to regard God\nan angry and terrible judge, one who makes the world, even hell\nitself, too narrow for it and leaves it without a foothold. But it is\nimpossible for natural reason to call God a father in sincerity; much\nless to regard him the divine Father, preeminent over all who bear\nthe name of \"father\" in heaven or on earth, of whom all other fathers\nare as mirror reflections.\n\n27. Think of the attitude of an earthly father toward his child, and\nof the child toward his father. Even where actual parenthood is\nlacking, the name engenders a confidence affectionate and pleasing\nenough to kindle the brightest anticipations of great good to be\nreceived. Now, if the sincere, loyal designs of earthly fathers for\ntheir children are mere pretense compared to the blessed purposes of\nour heavenly Father, what must we look for from this heavenly Father,\nthis Father above all others? Paul would teach us to look at the\nproportions, and from the confidence we repose in our natural fathers\nestimate the character of God as a Father and what we may expect from\nhim.\n\n28. He who can put his trust in God, who can confidently rely upon\nhim and sincerely cry, \"Thou art my beloved Father!\" need not fear to\nask anything of God, or that God will at all deny him. His own heart\nwill tell him that his petitions will be granted. Because of the\nstrength of his confidence, he cannot fail to secure his heart's\ndesires. Thus God himself teaches us to break open heaven and lay him\nbare before our eyes that we may see who this Father is.\n\n[Thus Paul is confident what he asks is pleasing to God and will be\ngranted. If we did the same we would, doubtless, have a like\nexperience. There are still people who pray. It would be a blessing\nif there were many more. Then the Gospel would make greater progress\nand impart to us greater power. It is evident, God be praised, that\nall who rage against the Gospel must be put to shame. The more they\nrage, the more the Gospel spreads, and all without our help or\ncounsel, only because God awakens hearts to pray that it may prosper,\neven without our help. The more fervently we pray, the greater is\nGod's pleasure to hear.]\n\n29. What is the nature of the prayer Paul here presents? It is the\nsame as the Lord's Prayer, being particularly identical with the\nfirst, second and third petitions. In words of different sound but\nimplying the very same thing, Paul briefly embraces these\npetitions--the hallowing of God's name and Word in our midst, and the\ndestruction of the devil's kingdom and all evil--whatever is opposed\nto the Word and will of God. He says:\n\n\"That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, that\nye may be strengthened with power.\"\n\n\nGOD LAVISH IN HIS BLESSINGS.\n\n30. Sublime words are these, wrung from a fervent heart. Evidently,\nin the effort to express himself fully, clearly and in language\nworthy of his subject, the apostle finds words too weak and rare. The\nfervor of his heart can be but poorly portrayed. By the phrase,\n\"according to the riches of his glory,\" Paul means to say: \"Such is\nthe greatness of God's glory, it deserves the title of riches. For it\nis conducive to God's honor and praise that he gives abundantly.\"\nThese words reveal the nature of God, proclaiming him the source\nwhence we may expect all good, and all aid in time of need. He is God\nof all the world. The reason the world has made many gods, has\ninvoked many saints, is because it looks to them for aid and benefit.\nThe Scriptures term \"gods\" certain individuals who do good and lend\nassistance to their fellows. God says to Moses (Ex 7, 1), \"I have\nmade thee as God [a god] to Pharaoh.\"\n\n31. But God, because of the abundance and lavishness of his gifts, is\nentitled to greater honor and glory. He is the true God, to whom\nalone belongs all glory; yea, the riches of glory. He pours out his\nblessings abundantly and above measure; he is the source of all\nblessings in heaven and on earth. Even his most inferior\ncreatures--water, air, the earth and its products--are so generously\nbestowed that we can appropriate only an infinitesimal part of them.\nYet in our blindness and stupidity we do not see, yea, we utterly\nignore the fact that God is the giver of these. Now, how much more\ngenerous is God in spiritual blessings! He has freely given\nhimself--poured out himself--for us, and also gifts and blessings of\nthe highest order. He has illumined us with a light bright enough to\nreveal to us the real character of the world, the devil and the\nangels. Yes, to show to us God's purposes, present, past and future.\nThus we have all wisdom and all power over sin, the devil and death,\nbeing lords of all creatures. In a word, our riches are inexpressibly\ngreat.\n\n32. Paul employs forcible words to record his prayer here. He has\nfirm confidence in God that the petition must be efficacious, must\npenetrate the clouds and open heaven. He does not say that God looks\nupon our merit and worthiness and for the sake of these grants our\nrequests; but for the sake of the riches of his glory. We are not\nworthy his favors, but his glory is worthy of our recognition, and we\nare to honor him because he gratuitously lavishes his blessings upon\nus, that his name alone may be hallowed. Only with a recognition of\nthese facts may prayer be offered if it is to avail before God. If\nGod were to consider our merit, very small would be the portion due\nus. But if we are to be richly blessed, it must come about through\nour recognition of pure grace as the source of our gifts, and our\npraise of God's exceeding glory.\n\n33. But what are the blessings for which Paul's prayer entreats?\nSomething more than continuance of the Word with his followers,\nthough it is a great and good gift even to have the Word thoroughly\ntaught: he prays that the heart may taste the Word and that it may be\neffectual in the life. Thus the apostle contrasts a knowledge of the\nWord with the power of the Word. Many have the knowledge, but few the\nimpelling and productive power that the results may be as we teach.\nHence they are criticised and not without reason. But our enemies\ncannot censure and reproach us to greater extent than to say that we\npreach and accept much good doctrine to no purpose; that no one\npractices it and profits thereby; that in fact we are morally worse\nthan before we heard the doctrines, and consequently it would have\nbeen better had things remained as they were.\n\n\nWE SHOULD PRAY FOR THE POWER OF THE WORD.\n\n34. What answer shall we make? This: In the first place, considering\nour unsatisfactory condition and the lack of power with the Word, we\nhave great reason to pray with the earnestness Paul's example\nteaches. And secondly, though our enemies see little improvement and\nfew fruits of the Gospel, it is not theirs to judge. They think we\nought to do nothing but work miracles--raising the dead and bordering\nthe Christian's walk with roses, until naught but holiness obtains\neverywhere. This being the case, where would be the need to pray? We\ncannot, nor dare we, pray for what we already have, but must thank\nGod for it. But, since Paul and other Scripture authorities command\nus to pray, a defect somewhere in our strength is indicated.\nOtherwise why say they so much about it?\n\nThus Paul himself acknowledges the Ephesians were weak. He complains\nof the same weakness in other Epistles and especially in those to the\nCorinthians. Everywhere he urges them to do and live as they had been\ntaught. The only reason Paul advocates this is that he saw, as we now\nsee, that everywhere they fail, and things are not as they should be.\n\nIn spite of the fact that not everyone's conduct is satisfactory,\nsome do mend their ways; and the happy condition obtains that many\nconsciences are assured and many former evils are now avoided. If the\ntwo sides of the question were carefully compared, we would see much\nadvantage with us not now noticed. Again, even though we are somewhat\nweak, is that any reason for saying all is lost? Further, there is\nnaught else but filth and corruption in the ranks of our enemies,\nwhich they would gladly adorn with our weakness even. But they must\nlook upon their way as excellent and ours as odious.\n\n35. Let them go on with their judging. We admit we are not all\nstrong, but it is also true that were there no weakness in our ranks,\nwe would have no need of prayer, perseverance, exhortation and daily\npreaching. In condemning the Gospel because of our admitted weakness,\nsomething we ourselves confess, our enemies are themselves judged\nbefore God by their judging us. It is possible for me to be truly in\nthe kingdom of grace and at the same time outwardly weak enough to be\nregarded of men as a knave. My faith is not apparent to men, but God\nsees it and I am myself sensible of it. You meantime erroneously\njudge me by my outward conduct, thus bringing judgment upon yourself.\nWe are aware of, and also lament, our weakness and imperfection.\nHence we cry and groan, and pray to God to grant us strength and\npower.\n\n\nWORLD SEES NOT INNER MARKS OF CHRISTIANS.\n\n36. A third answer to our enemies is: We are certain that wherever\nthe Word of God is proclaimed, the fruits of the same must exist. We\nhave the Word of God, and therefore the Spirit of God must be with\nus. And where the Spirit is, faith must obtain, however weak it may\nbe. Though visible evidence may be lacking, yet inevitably there must\nbe some among us who daily pray, while we may not be aware of it. It\nis reasonably to be expected that our enemies should judge\nerroneously, because they look for outward evidences of Christianity,\nwhich are not forthcoming.\n\nThe Word is too sublime to pass under our judgment; it is the\nprovince of the Word to judge us. The world, however, while unwilling\nto be judged and convicted by us, essays to judge and convict the\nWord of God. Here God steps in. It would be a pity for the worldly to\nsee a godly Christian, so God blinds them and they miss his kingdom.\nAs Isaiah says (ch. 26, 10): \"In the land of uprightness will he deal\nwrongfully, and will not behold the majesty of Jehovah.\" For this\nreason, few real Christians come under the observation of cavilers;\nthe latter, in general, observe fools and fanatics, at whom they\nmaliciously stumble and take offense. They are unworthy to behold\nGod's honor in a godly Christian upon whom the Lord has poured out\nhimself in fullness of blessing.\n\n37. Let the real Christian come into the presence of the caviler,\nstand before his very eyes, and the caviler will not see him. Let the\nfault-finder hear that one leads an irreproachable life and he will\nsay: \"Heretics have behaved similarly, but under a good appearance\nconcealed poison.\" Let one be refractory and reckless, and he must be\na knave. Whatever we do, they are not satisfied. If we pipe, they\nwill not dance; if we mourn, they will not lament. Neither sweet nor\nsour appeals to them. Wisdom must permit herself to be schooled and\ngoverned by these cavilers, as Christ says in Matthew 11, 19. Thus\nGod confounds and shames the world; while all the time tolerating its\njudgment of himself, he is ever careful to have the Gospel\ninculcated, even though the worldly burst with rage. I say these\nthings to teach us to be careful not to join the caviler in judging\npresumptuously the work and Word of God. Notwithstanding our\nweakness, we are yet certain the kingdom of God is in our midst so\nlong as we have his Word and daily pray for its efficacy and for an\nincrease of our faith, as the following words recommend:\n\n\"That ye may be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the\ninward man.\"\n\n\nTHE SPIRIT IMPARTS REAL STRENGTH.\n\n38. The apostle here speaks with varied expression. He leaves little\nhonor and glory, as it were, for free-will, but desires for his\nfollowers the heavenly power imparted through the Holy Spirit. There\nis also a power of the world, and a spirit--the devil, the prince of\nthe world, who blinds and hardens men's hearts. He boasts of himself\nand imparts to men a spirit of daring in his purpose to suppress and\nexterminate Christian doctrine. But while worldings are courageous\nand daring, so are Christians, and the latter are greater and far\nmore powerful through the Holy Spirit, and are undaunted by the\nworld, the devil, death and all kinds of misfortune. This is real\nspiritual strength. The Hebrew word \"spirit\" might well be rendered\n\"bold, undaunted courage.\" Spiritual strength is not the strength of\nmuscle and bone; it is true courage--boldness of heart. Weakness, on\nthe contrary, is faint-heartedness, timidity, lack of courage.\n\n39. Paul's meaning, then, is: \"I desire for you, and pray God to\ngrant you, that bold, dauntless courage and that strong, cheerful\nspirit which will not be terrified by poverty, shame, sin, the devil\nor death, but is confident that nothing can harm us and we will never\nbe in need.\" The courage of the world--the spirit of the world--holds\nout only until exhaustion of the stores whereon it relies. As the\nsaying is, \"Wealth gives temporal boldness, but the soul must rely on\nGod alone.\" The boldness resulting from riches and worldly power is\nhaughty and makes its boast in earthly things. But the soul has no\nhoarded treasure. In God alone it braves every evil; it has a courage\nand heart very different from that of the world.\n\nThis is the strength for which Paul prays on behalf of his converts,\na strength not inherent in flesh and blood. The possessor thereof\ndoes not rely and build on his own powers and riches, nor upon any\nhuman help and support. This strength dwells in the inner man. It is\nthe trust of the dauntless, cheerful heart in God's grace and\nassistance, and in these alone. The heart which so trusts has no\nfear. It possesses by faith abundance of riches and pleasures--God\nhimself with all his blessings. At the same time, to human sight only\nwant, weakness and terror may be apparent.\n\n\"That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.\"\n\n40. The Holy Spirit brings Christ into the heart and teaches it to\nknow him. He imparts warmth and courage through faith in Christ. Paul\neverywhere intimates that no man should presume to approach God\notherwise than through Christ, the one Mediator. Now, if Christ\ndwells in my heart and regulates my entire life, it matters not\nthough my faith be weak. Christ is not mere bone but also flesh. Yes,\nhe has blisters and boils and sins of which he is not ashamed,\nnotwithstanding the eminent saints may hold their noses thereat. And\nwhere he dwells all fullness is, let the individual be weak or strong\nas God permits.\n\n\nCHRIST EMBRACED ONLY BY THE HEART.\n\n41. For Christ to dwell in the heart is simply for the heart to know\nhim; in other words, to understand who he is and what we are to\nexpect from him--that he is our Saviour, through whom we may call God\nour Father and may receive the Spirit who imparts courage to brave\nall trials. It is thus that Christ dwells with us, in our hearts.\nOnly so can he be embraced; for he is not an inanimate thing, but the\nliving God. How does man lay hold of the Saviour in the heart? Not by\nembracing him intellectually. It is accomplished only by living\nfaith. Christ will not permit himself to be received by works, nor to\nbe apprehended with mental vision; he will consent only to be\nembraced by the heart. If your faith be true and on a firm\nfoundation, you have and feel Christ in your heart and are aware of\nall he thinks and does in heaven and on earth--how he rules through\nhis Word and his Spirit, and the attitude of those who have Christ\nand those who have him not.\n\n42. Paul desires Christ to be efficacious in the hearts of his\nfollowers unto the full realization of the promises of the\nWord--liberation from sin and death, and assurance of grace and\neternal life. It is impossible for the heart having such experience\nto be other than firm and courageous to oppose the terrors of the\ndevil and the world. But the heart which has not yet arrived at this\npoint is here advised what course to take, namely, to pray God for\nsuch faith and strength, and to avail himself of the prayers of\nothers to the same end. So much in regard to faith; now follows the\nmention of love.\n\n\"That ye, being rooted and grounded in love.\"\n\n\nLOVE, THE EXPRESSION OF FAITH.\n\n43. This is an unusual way of speaking. Is it not in faith that we\nare to be rooted, engrafted and grounded? Why, then, does Paul here\nsubstitute \"love?\" I reply: Faith, it is true, is the essential\nthing, but love shows whether or no faith is real and the heart\nconfident and courageous in God. Where one has an unquestioning\nconfidence that God is his Father, necessarily, be his faith never so\nweak, that faith must find expression in word and deed. He will serve\nhis neighbor in teaching and in extending to him a helping hand. This\nis what Paul calls being rooted and grounded in love--having the\nconscious experience of possessing true faith. Love is the test that\ndetermines the reality of faith. Peter says (2 Pet 1, 10), \"Give the\nmore diligence to make your calling and election sure.\" That is,\nproceed to good works that others may see and you experience that you\nhave true faith. Until you do, you will always be uncertain,\nvacillating, superficial in heart, not rooted and grounded. So by\nthese two clauses Paul teaches, first, that we should have in our\nhearts genuine faith toward God; and second, that faith should find\nexpression in loving service to one's neighbor.\n\n\"May be strong to apprehend with all the saints what is the breadth\nand length and height and depth.\"\n\n\nTRUE CHRISTIANS FIND CHRIST EVERYWHERE.\n\n44. These words represent another feature of the apostle's desire for\nhis Christians to be established and comforted in God through faith,\nand rooted and grounded in love toward their neighbors. \"When you are\nthus strengthened,\" he would say, \"and are perseveringly pressing\nforward, you will be able to grasp with all saints the four parts, to\nincrease therein and to appreciate them more and more.\" Faith alone\neffects this apprehension. Love is not the moving force here, but it\ncontributes by making faith manifest.\n\n45. Some teachers would make these words reflect and measure the holy\ncross. But Paul does not say a word about the cross. He simply says,\nin effect: \"That you may apprehend all things; may see the length and\nbreadth, the height and depth, of Christ's kingdom.\" This condition\nobtains when my heart has reached the point where Christ cannot make\nthe spiritual life too long or too wide for me to follow, nor high\nenough or deep enough to cause my fall from him or his Word; the\npoint where I may be satisfied that wherever I go he is, and that he\nrules in all places, however long or broad, deep or high, the\nsituation from either a temporal or eternal point of view. No matter\nhow long or wide I measure, I find him everywhere. David says (Ps\n139, 7-8): \"Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? or whither shall I\nflee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there:\nif I make my bed in Sheol, behold, thou art there.\" Christ rules\neternally. His length and breadth, his depth and height, are\nunlimited. If I descend into hell, my heart and my faith tell me he\nis there.\n\n46. The sum of the matter is this: Depressed or exalted,\ncircumscribed in whatsoever way, dragged hither or thither, I still\nfind Christ. For he holds in his hands everything in heaven or on\nearth, and all are subject to him--angels, the devil, the world, sin,\ndeath and hell. Therefore, so long as he dwells in my heart, I have\ncourage, wherever I go, I cannot be lost. I dwell where Christ my\nLord dwells. This, however, is a situation impossible to reason.\nShould reason ascend a yard above the earth or descend a yard below,\nor be deprived of the tangible things of the present, it would have\nto despair. We Christians are, through Christ, better fortified. We\nare assured that he dwells everywhere, be it in honor or dishonor,\nhunger, sorrow, illness, imprisonment, death or life, blessing or\naffliction. It is Paul's desire for the Ephesians that God give them\ngrace and strength to have such heart-apprehension of his kingdom. He\nconcludes the details of his prayer in these words:\n\n\"And to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, that ye may\nbe filled unto all the fulness of God.\"\n\n47. He means: \"I desire you, in addition to having faith and\napprehending the four proportions of Christ's kingdom, to know the\nlove of Christ we should have--the love Christ bears toward us, and\nthe love we owe our neighbor. This knowledge transcends all other,\neven familiarity with the Gospel; for, know as much as you may, your\nknowledge will avail little or nothing without love.\"\n\n48. Paul's desire, briefly summed up, is that the faith of Christians\nmay be strengthened unto efficacy, and that love may be warm and\nfervent, and the heart filled with the fullness of God. \"Filled unto\nall the fullness of God\" means, if we follow the Hebrew, filled with\neverything God's bounty supplies, full of God, adorned with his grace\nand the gifts of his Spirit--the Spirit who gives us steadfastness,\nilluminates us with his light, lives within us his life, saves us\nwith his salvation, and with his love enkindles love in us; in short,\nit means having God himself and all his blessings dwelling in us in\nfullness and being effective to make us wholly divine--not so that we\npossess merely something of God, but all his fullness.\n\n\nCHRISTIAN PERFECTION.\n\n49. Much has been written about the way we are to become godlike.\nSome have constructed ladders whereby we are to ascend to heaven, and\nothers similar things. But this is all patchwork. In this passage is\ndesignated the truest way to attain godlikeness. It is to become\nfilled to the utmost with God, lacking in no particular; to be\ncompletely permeated with him until every word, thought and deed, the\nwhole life in fact, be utterly godly.\n\n50. But let none imagine such fullness can be attained in this life.\nWe may indeed desire it and pray for it, like Paul here, but we will\nnot find a man thus perfect. We stand, however, upon the fact that we\ndesire such perfection and groan after it. So long as we live in the\nflesh, we are filled with the fullness of Adam. Hence it is necessary\nfor us continually to pray God to replace our weakness with courage,\nand to put into our hearts his Spirit to fill us with grace and\nstrength and rule and work in us absolutely. We ought all to desire\nthis state for one another. To this end may God grant us grace. Amen.\n\n\n\n\n_Seventeenth Sunday After Trinity_\n\nText: Ephesians 4, 1-6.\n\n1 I, therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beseech you to walk\nworthily of the calling wherewith ye were called, 2 with all\nlowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in\nlove; 3 giving diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond\nof peace. 4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as also ye were\ncalled in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one\nbaptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through\nall, and in all.\n\n\nTHE CHRISTIAN CALLING AND UNITY.\n\n1. This, too, is a beautiful sermon, delivered by Paul to the\nEphesians, concerning the good works of Christians, who believe and\nare obedient to the doctrine of the Gospel. In the knowledge of good\nworks Paul desires Christians to grow and increase, as we learned in\nthe epistle for last Sunday. The ground of all doctrine, of all right\nliving, the supreme and eternal treasure of him who is a Christian in\nthe sight of God, is faith in Christ. It alone secures forgiveness of\nsins and makes us children of God. Now, where this faith is, fruits\nshould follow as evidence that Christians in their lives honor and\nobey God. They are necessary for God's glory and for the Christian's\nown honor and eternal reward before him.\n\n2. Paul, remembering the imprisonment and tribulations he suffered\nbecause of the Gospel and for the advantage, as he before said, of\nthe Ephesians, gives the admonition here. He would have them, in\nreturn for his sufferings, honor the Gospel in their lives. First he\nnames a general rule of life for Christians.\n\n\"To walk worthily of the calling wherewith ye were called.\"\n\n\nTHE CHRISTIAN CALLING.\n\n3. The chief thing that should influence a Christian's outward walk\nis the remembrance of his calling and appointment by God. He should\nbe mindful of why he is called a Christian, and live consistently. He\nmust shine before the world; that is, through his life and God's\nwork, the Word and the name of Christ the Lord must be exalted.\nChrist exhorts his disciples: \"Even so let your light shine before\nmen; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who\nis in heaven.\" Mt 5, 16.\n\n4. Similarly, Paul would say: \"You have received God's grace and his\nWord and are a blessed people. In Christ all your needs are blessedly\nsupplied. Be mindful of this and remember you are called to a far\ndifferent and vastly higher life than others know. Show by your\nmanner of living that you seek a higher good than the world\nseeks--indeed, that you have received far greater blessings. Let your\nlives honor and glorify the Lord who has given you such blessings.\nGive no occasion for dishonoring your treasured faith, or for\nscorning his Word. Rather, influence men by your godly walk and good\nworks to believe in Christ and to glorify him.\"\n\n5. Let the Christian know his earthly life is not unto himself, nor\nfor his own sake; his life and work here belong to Christ, his Lord.\nHence must his walk be such as shall contribute to the honor and\nglory of his Master, whom he should so serve that he may be able to\nsay with Paul, not only with respect to the spiritual life--the life\nof faith and of righteousness by grace--but also with respect to its\nfruits--the outward conduct: \"It is no longer I that live, but Christ\nliveth in me.\" Gal 2, 20. The Christian's manner of life may be\nstyled \"walking in Christ\"; yes, as Paul elsewhere has it (Rom 13,\n14), \"putting on\" the Lord Jesus Christ, like a garment or an\nornament. The world is to recognize Christ by his shining in us.\n\n6. But the so-called Christian life that does not honor Christ makes\nits sin the more heinous for the name it bears. Every sin the people\nof God commit is a provocation of Jehovah; not only in the act of\ndisobedience itself, but also in the transgression of the second\ncommandment. The enormity of the sin is magnified by the conditions\nthat make it a blasphemy of God's name and an occasion of offense to\nothers. Paul says in Romans 2, 24: \"For the name of God is blasphemed\namong the Gentiles because of you.\" So a Christian should, in his\nlife, by all means guard the honor of God--of Christ. He must take\nheed that he be not guilty of blaspheming that name and of doing\nwickedness. The devil, aided by the world, construes every act, when\npossible, to reflect upon God's honor and glory. His purpose is to\nmanifest his bitter hatred against Christ and the Word; also to\ninjure the Church by charging offenses, thus deterring unbelievers\nfrom embracing the Gospel and causing the weak to fall away.\n\n7. To guard against such disaster, Christians should be particularly\ncareful to give, in their conduct, no occasion for offense, and to\nvalue the name and honor of their God too highly to permit blasphemy\nof them. They should prefer to lose their own honor, their wealth,\ntheir physical well-being, even their lives, rather than that these,\ntheir most precious possessions and greatest blessings, should suffer\ndisgrace. Let them remember that upon keeping sacred the name and\nhonor of God depends their own standing before God and men. God\npromises (1 Sam 2, 30), \"Them that honor me I will honor.\" But\npursuing the opposite course, Christians bring upon themselves God's\nsternest wrath and effect their own rejection and shame. For he says\nfurther: \"They that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.\" And in the\nsecond commandment God threatens certain and terrible punishment to\nabusers of his name; that is, to them who do not employ it to his\nhonor and praise.\n\n8. Well may every Christian examine his own life to see if he is\ncareful to guard against offense to the Gospel and to regulate his\nwords and conduct by God's first commandment, making them contribute\nto the honor and praise of the divine name and the holy Gospel.\nWeighty indeed and well calculated to cause complaint are the sins to\nwhich every Christian is liable in this respect; well may he avoid\nthem lest he heap to himself the wrath of God. Especially need we be\ncareful in these last and evil times when the Gospel is everywhere\nsuppressed by great offenses. Man was created to be the image of God,\nthat through this his image God might himself be expressed. God's\nimage, then, should be reflected in the lives of men as a likeness in\na glass, and a Christian can have no higher concern than to live\nwithout dishonor to the name of God.\n\n\nADMONITION TO SPECIAL CHRISTIAN VIRTUES.\n\n9. Such is the first part of Paul's admonition concerning the general\nlife of Christians. He goes on to make special mention of several\ngood works which Christians should diligently observe: humility,\nmeekness, long-suffering, preservation of the unity of the Spirit,\nand so on. These have been specially treated before, in other epistle\nlessons, particularly those from Peter. Humility, for\ninstance--mentioned in today's lesson--is taken up the third Sunday\nafter Trinity; patience and meekness, the second Sunday after Easter,\nand the fifth Sunday after Trinity.\n\n10. The text here presents good works sufficient to occupy all\nChristians in every station of life; we need not seek other nor\nbetter ones. Paul would not impose upon Christians peculiar works,\nsomething unrelated to the ordinary walks of life, as certain false\nsaints taught and practiced. These teachers commanded separation from\nsociety, isolation in the wilderness, the establishment of monkeries\nand the performance of self-appointed works. Such works they exalted\nas superior to ordinary Christian virtues. Indeed, their practice\namounted to rejection of the latter, and they actually regarded them\nas dangerous. The Papacy has in the past shamelessly styled the\nobservance of Christian good works as worldly living, and men were\ncompelled to believe they would find it hard to reach heaven unless\nthey became ecclesiasts--for they regarded only the monks and priests\nworthy--or at least made themselves partakers of the works of\necclesiasts by purchasing their merits.\n\nBut Paul--in fact, the entire Scriptures--teaches no other good works\nthan God enjoins upon all men in the Ten Commandments, and which\npertain to the common conditions of life. True, these make not such\nbrilliant show in the eyes of the world as do the self-appointed\nceremonials constituting the divine service of hypocrites;\nnevertheless, they are true, worthy, good and profitable works in the\nsight of God and man. What can be more acceptable to God and\nadvantageous to man than a life lived, in its own calling, in the way\nthat contributes to the honor of God, and that by its example\ninfluences others to love God's Word and to praise his name?\nMoreover, what virtues, of all man possesses, serve him better than\nhumility, meekness, patience and harmony of mind?\n\n11. Now, where is a better opportunity for the exercise of these\nvirtues than amidst the conditions in which God destined us to\nlive--in society, where we mingle with one another? Upon these\nconditions, self-appointed, unusual lives and monastic holiness have\nno bearing. For what other person is profited by your entering a\ncloister, making yourself peculiar, refusing to live as your fellows\ndo? Who is benefited by your cowl, your austere countenance, your\nhard bed? Who comes to know God or to have a peaceful conscience by\nsuch practices on your part, or who is thereby influenced to love his\nneighbor? Indeed, how can you serve your neighbor by such a life? How\nmanifest your love, humility, patience and meekness if you are\nunwilling to live among men? if you so strenuously adhere to your\nself-appointed orders as to allow your neighbor to suffer want before\nyou would dishonor your rules?\n\n12. Astonishing fact, that the world is merged in darkness so great\nit utterly disregards the Word of God and the conditions he designed\nfor our daily living. If we preach to the world faith in God's Word,\nthe world receives it as heresy. If we speak of works instituted of\nGod himself and conditions of his own appointing, the world regards\nit as idle talk; it knows better. To live a simple Christian life in\none's own family, to faithfully perform the duties of a man-servant\nor maid-servant--\"Oh, that,\" it says, \"is merely the following of\nworldly pursuits. To do good works you must set about it in a\ndifferent way. You must creep into a corner, don a cap, make\npilgrimages to some saint; then you may be able to help yourself and\nothers to gain heaven.\" If the question be asked, \"Why do so? where\nhas God commanded it?\" there is, according to their theory, really no\nanswer to make but this: Our Lord God knows nothing about the matter;\nhe does not understand what good works are. How can he teach us? He\nmust himself be tutored by these remarkably enlightened saints.\n\n\nFRUITS OF ORIGINAL SIN.\n\n13. But all this error results from that miserable inherent plague,\nthat evil termed \"original sin.\" It is a blind wickedness, refusing\nto recognize the Word of God and his will and work, but introducing\ninstead things of its own heathenish imagination. It draws such a\nthick covering over eyes, ears and hearts that it renders men unable\nto perceive how the simple life of a Christian, of husband or wife,\nof the lower or the higher walks of life, can be beautified by\nhonoring the Word of God. Original sin will not be persuaded to the\nfaithful performance of the works that God testifies are well\npleasing to him when wrought by believers in Christ. In a word,\nuniversal experience proves that to perform really good works is a\nspecial and remarkable grace to which few attain; while the great\nmass of souls aspiring after holiness vainly busy themselves with\nworthless works, being deceived into thinking them great, and thus\nmake themselves, as Paul says, \"unto every good work reprobate.\" Tit\n1, 16. This fruitless effort is one evil result of the error of human\nideas of holiness and the practice of self-chosen works.\n\n14. Another error is the hindrance--yes, the suppression and\ndestruction--of the beautiful virtues of humility, meekness, patience\nand spiritual harmony here commended of Paul. At the same time the\ndevil is given occasion to encourage fiendish blasphemy. In every\ninstance where the Word of God is set aside for humanly-appointed\nworks, differing views and theories must obtain. One introduces this\nand another that, each striving for first recognition; then a third\nendeavors to improve upon their doctrine. Consequently divisions and\nfactions ensue as numerous as the teachers and their creeds; as\nexemplified in the countless sects to this time prevalent in Popedom,\nand in the factious spirits of all time. Under such circumstances,\nnone of the virtues like humility, meekness, patience, love, can have\nplace. Opposite conditions must prevail, since harmony of hearts and\nminds is lacking. One teacher haughtily rejects another, and if his\nown opinions fail to receive recognition and approval, he displays\nanger, envy and hatred. He will neither affiliate with nor tolerate\nhim whose practices accord not with his own.\n\n15. On the other hand, the Christian life, the life of faith with its\nfruits, controlled as it is by the Word of God, is in every way\nconducive to the preservation of love and harmony, and to the\npromotion of all virtues. It interferes not with the God-ordained\nrelations of life and their attendant obligations upon men--the\nrequirements of social order, the duties of father and mother, of son\nand daughter, master and mistress, servant and maid. All life's\nrelations are confirmed by it as valid and its duties as vital. The\nChristian faith bids each person in his life, and all in common, to\nbe diligent in the works of love, humility, patience. It teaches that\none be not intolerant of another, but rather render him his due,\nremembering that he whose condition in life is the most insignificant\ncan be equally upright and blessed before God with the occupant of\nthe most significant position. Again, it teaches that man must have\npatience with the weakness of his fellow, being mindful of how others\nmust bear with his own imperfections. In short, it says one must\nmanifest to another the love and kindness he would have that other\nextend to him.\n\n16. To this Christian attainment, contributes very largely the single\nfact that a Christian is conscious he has, through Christ, the grace\nof God, the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. And these not for\nhis own merits or peculiar life and works, but because he is, no\nmatter how insignificant in condition before the world, a child of\nGod and blessed; a partaker, if he but believes, in all the blessings\nof Christ, sharing equally with the most eminent saint. So, then, he\nneed not look about for works not enjoined upon him. He need not\ncovet those wrought in prominence and by the aid of great gifts of\nGod--of unusual attainments. Let him confine himself to his own\nsphere; let him serve God in his vocation, remembering that God makes\nhim, too, his instrument in his own place.\n\nAgain, the occupant of a higher sphere, the possessor of higher gifts\nand accomplishments, who likewise serves in his vocation received\nfrom God, should learn and exhibit harmony of mind. So shall he\ncontinue humble and be tolerant of others. He should remember that he\nis not worthier in the eyes of God because of his greater gifts, but\nrather is under deeper obligation to serve his fellows, and that God\ncan use the possessor of lesser gifts for even greater\naccomplishments than himself can boast. Having so learned, he will be\nable to manifest patience, meekness and love toward his weak and\nimperfect neighbors, considering them members of Christ with him, and\npartakers of the same grace and salvation.\n\n\nTHE UNITY OF THE SPIRIT.\n\n17. Now you have the reason why the apostles Paul and Peter\neverywhere so faithfully enforce this virtue, the unity of the\nSpirit. It is the most necessary and beautiful grace that Christians\npossess. It holds together the Christian community, preventing\nfactions and schisms, as before explained. So Paul here admonishes\nmen to be careful for harmony, making every endeavor to preserve it.\nThe term \"unity of the Spirit\" is used to make plain the apostle's\nmeaning. He would thus emphasize oneness of doctrine--the one true\nfaith. Since the Holy Spirit is present only where there is knowledge\nof and faith in the Gospel of Christ, \"unity of the Spirit\" implies a\nunity of faith. Above all things, then, the effort must be to\npreserve, in the Church, the doctrine of the Scriptures, pure and in\nits unity.\n\n18. One of the wickedest offenses possible to commit against the\nChurch is the stirring up of doctrinal discord and division, a thing\nthe devil encourages to the utmost. This sin usually has its rise\nwith certain haughty, conceited, self-seeking leaders who desire\npeculiar distinction for themselves and strive for personal honor and\nglory. They harmonize with none and would think themselves disgraced\nwere they not honored as superior and more learned individuals than\ntheir fellows, a distinction they do not merit. They will give honor\nto no one, even when they have to recognize the superiority of his\ngifts over their own. In their envy, anger, hatred and vengefulness,\nthey seek occasion to create factions and to draw people to\nthemselves. Therefore Paul exhorts first to the necessary virtue of\nlove, having which men will be enabled to exercise humility, patience\nand forbearance toward one another.\n\n19. The character of the evils resulting to the Church from divisions\nand discords in doctrine is evident from the facts. Many are\ndeceived; the masses immediately respond to new doctrine brilliantly\npresented in specious words by presumptuous individuals thirsting for\nfame. More than that, many weak but well-meaning ones fall to\ndoubting, uncertain where to stand or with whom to hold. Consequently\nmen reject and blaspheme the Christian doctrine and seek occasion to\ndispute it. Many become reckless pleasure-lovers, disregarding all\nreligion and ignoring the Word of God. Further, even they who are\ncalled Christians come to have hard feelings against one another,\nand, figuratively, bite and devour in their hate and envy.\nConsequently their love grows cold and faith is extinguished.\n\n20. Of so much disturbance in the Church, and of the resulting\ninjuries to souls, are guilty those conceited, factious leaders who\ndo not adhere to the true doctrine, preserving the unity of the\nSpirit, but seek to institute something new for the sake of advancing\ntheir own ideas and their own honor, or gratifying their revenge.\nThey thus bring upon themselves damnation infinitely more intolerable\nthan others suffer. Christians, then, should be careful to give no\noccasion for division or discord, but to be diligent, as Paul here\nadmonishes, to preserve unity. And this is not an easy thing to do,\nfor among Christians occasions frequently arise provoking self-will,\nanger and hatred. The devil is always at hand to stir and blow the\nflame of discord. Let Christians take heed they do not give place to\nthe promptings of the devil and of the flesh. They must strive\nagainst them, submitting to all suffering, and performing all\ndemands, whether honor, property, physical welfare or life itself be\ninvolved, in the effort to prevent, so far as in them lies, any\ndisturbance of the unity of doctrine, of faith and of Spirit.\n\n\"There is one body, and one Spirit, even as also ye were called in\none hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God\nand Father of all.\"\n\n21. Christians should feel bound to maintain the unity of the Spirit,\nsince they are all members of one body and partakers of the same\nspiritual blessings. They have the same priceless treasures--one God\nand Father in heaven, one Lord and Savior, one Word, baptism and\nfaith; in short, one and the same salvation, a blessing common to all\nwhereof one has as much as another, and cannot obtain more. What\noccasion, then, for divisions or for further seeking?\n\n22. Here Paul teaches what the true Christian Church is and how it\nmay be identified. There is not more than one Church, or people of\nGod, one earth. This one Church has one faith, one baptism, one\nconfession of God the Father and of Jesus Christ. Its members\nfaithfully hold, and abide by, these common truths. Every one\ndesiring to be saved and to come to God must be incorporated into\nthis Church, outside of which no one will be saved.\n\n23. Unity of the Church does not consist in similarity of outward\nform of government, likeness of Law, tradition and ecclesiastical\ncustoms, as the Pope and his followers claim. They would exclude from\nthe Church all not obedient to them in these outward things, though\nmembers of the one faith, one baptism, and so on. The Church is\ntermed \"one holy, catholic or Christian Church,\" because it\nrepresents one plain, pure Gospel doctrine, and an outward confession\nthereof, always and everywhere, regardless of dissimilarity of\nphysical life, or of outward ordinances, customs and ceremonies.\n\n24. But they are not members of the true Church of Christ who,\ninstead of preserving unity of doctrine and oneness of Christian\nfaith, cause divisions and offenses--as Paul says (Rom 16, 17)--by\nthe human doctrines and self-appointed works for which they contend,\nimposing them upon all Christians as necessary. They are perverters\nand destroyers of the Church, as we have elsewhere frequently shown.\nThe consolation of the true doctrine is ours, and we hold it in\nopposition to Popedom, which accuses us of having withdrawn from\nthem, and so condemns us as apostates from the Church. They are,\nhowever, themselves the real apostates, persecuting the truth and\ndestroying the unity of the Spirit under the name and title of the\nChurch and of Christ. Therefore, according to the command of God, all\nmen are under obligation to shun them and withdraw from them.\n\n\n\n\n_Eighteenth Sunday After Trinity_\n\nText: 1 Corinthians 1, 4-9.\n\n4 I thank my God always concerning you, for the grace of God which\nwas given you in Christ Jesus; 5 that in everything ye were enriched\nin him, in all utterance and all knowledge; 6 even as the testimony\nof Christ was confirmed in you: 7 so that ye come behind in no gift;\nwaiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ; 8 who shall also\nconfirm you unto the end, that ye be unreprovable in the day of our\nLord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, through whom ye were called\ninto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.\n\n\nTREASURE CHRISTIANS HAVE IN THE GOSPEL.\n\n1. We have before us the opening words of the Epistle to the\nCorinthians, which Paul was moved to write because of unpleasant\nconditions in the Church at Corinth after his departure. Divisions\nhad arisen and sad confusion prevailed in doctrine and life. Hence\nthe apostle was constrained to rebuke their wickedness and correct\ntheir infirmities. Because of these wholesome admonitions, the\nreading and heeding of this epistle is not only profitable but\nessential to this day; for the devil takes no respite, but whenever\nthe Gospel is preached in its purity he mixes with the children of\nGod and sows his seed.\n\n2. Paul intends to be rather severe--even caustic--but he begins very\nleniently, showing them what they have received through the Gospel.\nHis purpose is to arouse their gratitude to God, and to induce them,\nfor his honor and glory, to be harmonious in doctrine and life,\navoiding divisions and other offenses.\n\n\"I thank my God always concerning you, for the grace of God which was\ngiven you in Christ Jesus,\" etc.\n\n3. In other words, Paul would say: Dear brethren, consider, I pray\nyou, what abundant grace and gifts have been given you of God. They\nare bestowed not because of the Law, or because of your\nrighteousness, your merits and works; you are given no reason to\nexalt yourselves above others, or to originate sects or schisms. Nay,\nall these blessings have been freely given you in Christ and for his\nsake, through the preaching of the Gospel. The Gospel is a grace\nwhich brings to you all manner of gifts, by him enriching you in\neverything. You lack nothing from God, but you await this one thing,\nthat blessed day when Christ will reveal himself to you with all\nthose heavenly gifts which you now possess in faith.\n\n4. In this wise he extols to them the preaching of the Gospel (as\nindeed he does on different occasions); his purpose is to induce them\nto regard it most appreciatively. He gives them an example of his own\ngratitude, thanking God on their behalf, for the purpose of calling\nforth their especial gratitude when they should consider what they\nformerly were and what they now had received through the Gospel. And\nagain, he would have them beware lest, forgetful of their former\nmisery and present grace, they relapse into their old blindness. A\nsad beginning in such backsliding had been made by factions in their\nmidst, who, satiated with the Gospel and indifferent to the abundant\ngrace they enjoyed, began to cast about for something else.\n\n5. Now observe: If the exalted apostle and venerable teacher of the\nGentiles in his day had to witness in his own parish such factions\nand sects as those which, in sinful security and ingratitude toward\nthe Gospel, arose during his life, what wonder is it that today, when\nwe do not have the excellent preachers and pious Christians of those\ntimes, there are similar sects? We are aware of the great benefits\nbestowed upon us, but at the same time we see and realize that the\ndevil instigates divisions and scandals. And the cause of these evils\nmay be traced to our ingratitude; we have quickly forgotten the ills\nwe endured under the blindness of popery, and how miserably we were\ndeluded and tormented. Necessarily, where God's mercies are lightly\ndismissed from the mind and disregarded, gratitude and regard for\nGod's Word cannot be the result; satiated, listless Christians go\ntheir way fancying that spiritual conditions always were and always\nwill be as now.\n\n6. The people, therefore, must be awakened to consider their former\ndestitution, the very wretchedness they were in. The apostle later on\nvividly pictures such condition to his Corinthians, while here, in\nthe opening chapter, he intimates to them, in kind and courteous\nwords, to consider, in the light of the Gospel benefits they now\nenjoy, what they lacked before and might be deprived of again.\n\n7. Therefore he says, You now have received the grace whereby in\neverything ye are enriched. Formerly you had not this grace and would\nnot have it today had not the Gospel been preached to you. You are\nenriched in everything pertaining to yonder life, for it is not the\npurpose of the Gospel to give earthly riches. But in spiritual\nblessings ye come behind in no gift and have need of naught except\nthis one thing, that the Lord himself should come. This blessing you\nare yet to have, and biding its advent you here live by the gifts and\ngrace with which you were enriched, until you are finally redeemed\nfrom the sinful, wicked life of the world and from all its\noppressions. You must know, and must thank God for it, that you need\nnot seek after any higher calling or better gifts, thinking you have\nnot all that is essential, as the factious spirits would have you\nbelieve.\n\n8. For in your own judgment, what better thing could you have than is\nthe Christian's in his Gospel and his faith? He has assurance of sins\nforgiven and washed away in holy baptism, of justification and\nholiness before God, and of the fact that he is God's child and heir\nto eternal life. Furthermore, although the Christian is conscious of\nremaining weakness and sin, yea, although he be overcome by a fault,\nhe may avail himself of absolution, comfort and strength through his\nfellow Christians and by the aid of the sacraments; and he has daily\nguidance for his conduct and faith in all the walks of life. Again,\nhe can call upon God in prayer in the day of trouble, and the firm\nassurance is his that God will hear and help him. What further can\none desire, or what more does he need, than the knowledge that he is\nGod's child through baptism and has God's Word at hand for comfort\nand strength in weakness and sin? Do you consider it slight\nenrichment to have assurance of the fact that God himself is speaking\nto you and, by means of the office of the ministry, is effective in\nyou, teaching, admonishing, comforting, sustaining you, yea, granting\nyou victory over the devil, death and all evil influences on earth?\n\n9. Formerly what would we not gladly have given and done for but a\nsingle Gospel truth in our distress and trials of conscience! True,\nwhen one was discouraged or perplexed he was advised to seek and\nfollow the counsel of some intelligent and judicious mind; but such\njudicious one who might assist with his counsel was nowhere to be\nfound. For a wise man's counsel does not answer in such case. The\nWord of God alone suffices, and you are to rely on it as if God\nhimself revealed his counsel to you from heaven.\n\n10. As Paul says, it is great riches, a precious treasure, to possess\nin very fact the Word of God and not to doubt that it is the Word of\nGod. It is this that will answer; this can comfort your heart and\nsupport it. Of spiritual benefits you know we had none under the\ntyranny and darkness of the Pope. At that time we suffered ourselves\nto be led and driven by his commandments, vain human baubles, by\nbulls, lies, invocation of saints, indulgences, masses, monkery. And\nwe did whatever was enjoined in the name of the Church, solely to\ngain comfort and help, that we might not despair of God's grace. But\ninstead of comforting us, these things led us to the devil and thrust\nus into greater anguish and terror; for there was nothing in the\ndoctrine of the papists that could give us certainty. Indeed, they\nthemselves had to confess that by its teachings no man could or\nshould be certain of his state of grace.\n\n11. Yea, they forced poor, timid, tempted hearts to dread and fear\nChrist more than the devil even, as I myself experienced full well. I\nresorted to the dead--St. Barbara, St. Ann and other departed\nsaints--regarding them as mediators between me and Christ's wrath.\nBut this availed me nothing, nor did it free me from a fearful and\nfugitive conscience. There was not one among us all--and we were\ncalled very learned doctors of Holy Writ--who could have given true\ncomfort from God's Word, saying: This is God's Word; this one thing\nGod asks of you, that you honor him by accepting comfort; believe and\nknow that he forgives your transgressions and has no wrath against\nyou. If someone could have told me this, I would have given all I\npossessed for the knowledge; yea, for such word of comfort I would\nnot have taken in exchange the glory and the crowns of all kings, for\nit would have restored my soul, it would have refreshed and sustained\nmy body and life.\n\n12. All this we should bear in mind, by no means should we forget it;\nthat we may return thanks to God, recounting the superior and\nwonderful gifts which have enriched us in all things. We have besides\nthe Word, free prayer and the Lord's Prayer, knowing what to pray for\nand how to pray--knowledge common to the very children today, thank\nGod. In former times, all men, especially we monks, tormented\nthemselves with lengthy repetitions in reading and singing; yet our\nprayers were but chattering, as the noise of geese over their food,\nor of monks repeating a psalm.\n\n13. I, too, wanted to be a pious and godly monk and I prepared with\nearnest devotion for mass and for prayers. But when most devout I\nwent to the altar a doubter and left the altar a doubter. When I had\nrendered my confession I still doubted, and I doubted when I did not\nrender it. For we were wholly wrapped up in the erroneous idea that\nwe could not pray and would not be heard unless we were absolutely\nclean and without sin, like the saints in heaven. It would have been\nmuch better not to pray at all and to have done something else, than\nthus to take God's name in vain. Still, we monks--in fact all the\necclesiastics--deluded the people, promising them our prayers for\ntheir money and possessions, actually selling our prayers, though we\ndid not even know that we prayed in a manner acceptable to God. But\ntoday, thank God, we do know and understand, not only what to pray\nfor and how to approach God \"nothing doubting,\" but we can also add a\nhearty Amen, believing that according to his promise he will\ncertainly hear us.\n\n\nTHE CHRISTIAN'S TREASURE.\n\n14. The Christian has indeed inestimable treasure. In the first place\nhe has the testimony of the Word of God, which is the word of eternal\ngrace and comfort, that he has a right and true conception of\nbaptism, the Lord's Supper, the Ten Commandments and the Creed. In\naddition he has the sure refuge of God's promise to deliver us from\nevery trouble in which we shall call upon him, and to give us, as he\npromised by the prophet Zechariah (12, 10), the Spirit of grace and\nof prayer. And the Christian, by virtue of his enlightened\nunderstanding, can wisely discern what are good works and what\ncallings are pleasing to God; on the other hand, his judgment is\nequally true as to unprofitable and vain works and false services.\nBefore, we had not this wholesome knowledge. We knew not what we\nbelieved, or how we prayed and lived. We sought comfort and salvation\nin self-devised trivialities, in penances, confessions and\nsatisfactions, in self-righteous works of monkery and in obedience to\nthe commands of the Pope. We believed such works to be fully\nsatisfactory and, indeed, the only things that were holy; the\npursuits of common Christians we considered worldly and dangerous.\n\n15. In illustration of this idea, a picture was exhibited--with the\nsanction of the Pope--representing a great ship in the wild, wide\nsea, containing only the holy monks and the super-holy popes,\ncardinals, bishops, etc., who were throwing their merits to those in\nperil struggling in the water, or extending a hand, or by means of\nropes and their stoles drawing the drowning to safety in the boat.\n\n16. In contrast to this darkness, consider the priceless and\nto-be-cherished blessing of knowing with certainty wherein the heart\nis to take comfort, how to seek help in distress and how to conduct\none's self in one's own station. If, though provided with spiritual\nriches on all sides, you are not sufficient of yourself at all times\nto grasp them, you can, nevertheless, always reach and appropriate\nthem by means of the ordinary ministry and office of the Church, yes,\nby the aid of your fellow-Christians. Again, it is productive of the\ngreatest happiness to know that when living aright in the ordinary\nwalks of life established by God, you are more acceptable and\npleasing to him than you would be to purchase the works and merits of\nall the monks and hermits.\n\n17. What Paul terms being \"enriched,\" first, \"in all utterance,\" or\nknowledge--which, in the exalted spiritual meaning of the words,\nbears on life everlasting--is having the comfort of faith in Christ\nand of invocation and prayer. And enriched in \"all knowledge,\" means\nhaving true conception and right judgment in all things of our\nphysical life and in all our earthly relations. All things that a\nChristian should know and should possess are comprehended in these\ntwo terms. These blessings are gifts and treasures indescribably\ngreat. He who will contrast them with the destitution of our former\ncondition cannot but be joyful and thankful. I remember the time when\nI, engaged in earnest study of Holy Writ, would have given a great\ndeal for the right exposition of a psalm; and when had I but begun to\nunderstand a verse aright, I would have been as rejoiced as if born\nto life anew.\n\n18. Truly, then, we should now render to God heartfelt thanks for the\ngreat favor and blessing of restored light and understanding in\nScripture, and the right conception of doctrinal matters. But, alas!\nit is likely to be with us as with the Corinthians, who had received\nmost abundantly from Paul but by way of return had made ill use of it\nand proved shamefully unthankful. And they met with retribution, the\nworst of it being false doctrine and seductions, until at last that\ngrand congregation was wholly ruined and destroyed. A similar\nretribution threatens us, yes, is before the door with appalling\nknock, in the instance of the Turks and in other distress and\ncalamity. For this reason we should, with a thankful heart and\nserious mind, pray, as Paul here does for his Corinthians, that God\nwould keep us steadfast in the possession of his gifts and blameless\nin the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.\n\n19. Paul admonishes us to continue in this knowledge and appreciation\nof the grace and gifts of God. Since by these blessings we have\nreceived riches and happiness to the satisfying of all our need, the\napostle further admonishes us to look only for the Lord to reveal to\nus publicly by his coming that which he has promised and through\nfaith already granted us.\n\n20. In the past, much has been written and ingeniously devised on the\ntopic of preparing for death and the final judgment. But it has only\nserved to further confuse timid consciences. For these comforters\nwere not able to show anything of the comfort to be found in the\nriches of grace and bliss in Christ. They directed the people to\noppose with their own works and good life, death and God's judgment.\nIn place of this delusion is now evident the precious truth; he who\nknows the Gospel doctrines, goes on and performs his own work and\nduty in his respective calling. He takes comfort in the fact that\nthrough baptism he is engrafted into Christ; he receives absolution\nand partakes of the holy supper for the strengthening of his faith,\ncommending his soul and body to Christ. Why should such a one fear\ndeath? Though it come at any time, in form of pestilence or accident,\nit will always find the Christian ready and well prepared, be he\nawake or asleep; for he is in Christ Jesus.\n\n21. For all these things the Christian may well thank and bless God,\nrealizing that he has no further need, nor can he gain anything\nbetter than he already has in the remission of sins, the gift of the\nHoly Spirit and the faithful prosecution of his calling; however, he\nshould remain in, and daily grow in, faith and supplication. But he\ncannot hope to attain to another and better doctrine, faith, Spirit,\nprayer, sacrament, reward, etc., than had all the saints, John the\nBaptist, Peter, Paul, or in fact than has now every Christian that is\nbaptized. Therefore I need not idly spend time in trying to prepare\npeople for death and inspire them with courage by such commonplaces\nas recalling and relating the innumerable daily accidents, ills and\ndangers of this life. This method will not answer; death will not\nthereby be frightened away, nor will the fear of death be removed.\nThe Gospel teaching is: Believe in Christ, pray and live in\naccordance with God's Word, and then, when death overtakes and\nattacks you, you will know that you are Christ the Lord's. Paul says\n(Rom 14, 8): \"Whether we live ... or die, we are the Lord's.\" Indeed,\nwe Christians live upon this earth to the very end that we may have\nassured comfort, salvation and victory over death and hell.\n\n22. Of this Paul here reminds us, and dwells on it more fully later\nin this Epistle; he would have us duly thankful for this great grace\nand living among ourselves in a Christian and brotherly manner, in\ndoctrine and practice, ignoring and avoiding that wild, disorderly\nconduct of the contentious and disorderly. He who recognizes such\ngrace and blessing cannot but love and thank God and conduct himself\naright toward his neighbor; and when he finds himself falling short\nin this he will, by admonition and the Word of God, make amends.\n\n23. Here you might put the question: Why does Paul speak in such a\ncommendatory way of the Corinthians, saying that they were enriched\nin everything and came behind in no gift, when he himself confesses\nlater on that they had contentions and schisms--in regard to baptism,\nto the sacrament, to the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead and\nin regard to abuse of liberty, and some lived as they pleased. Would\nyou not call these things faults and shortcomings? How, then, is he\nin a position to say that they were abundantly supplied with all\nthings spiritual, lacking not one thing?\n\n24. Well, you should recall what I have repeatedly stated:\nChristendom is never so spotless that there are not some spurious and\nwicked admixed, just as you will always find weeds, darnel, tares, or\nwild mustard together with pure grain. And he who will examine the\nChurch with only a view of finding faults and frailties among those\ncalled Christians, will miss the Church, yes, the Gospel and Christ,\nand never discover a Church at all.\n\n25. But we have the consolation of knowing that if we have the Gospel\npure, we have the treasure God gives his Church and we cannot go\nastray nor want. But as yet we have not reached that degree of\nperfection where all hearers of the Gospel will grasp it fully and\nwholly or are faultless in faith and life; at all times there will be\nsome who do not believe and some who are weak and imperfect. However,\nthat great treasure and rich blessing of doctrine and knowledge is\npresent. There is no defect in this, and it is effective and\nfruitful. The fact that some do not believe, does not weaken baptism\nor the Gospel or the Church; they only harm themselves. To sum up,\nwhere the Word remains, there most assuredly is also the Church. For\nwherever the doctrine is pure, there you can also keep purity in\nbaptism, the sacrament, absolution, the Ten Commandments, the Lord's\nPrayer, good works and all callings; and wherever you find a defect\nor an irregularity, you can admonish, amend and rectify by means of\nthe Word.\n\n26. Some there must be who have the Word and sacraments pure and\nunadulterated, who have faith, pray aright, keep God's commandments\nand do other things, as, thank God, we have with us. Then we may\nfirmly conclude: If the true Church were not here, these\ncharacteristics would be lacking; therefore we must have among\nourselves true members of the Church and true saints. Now even though\nchildren of the world intermingle (as will be the case always and in\nall places), who show neither faith nor a godly life, it would\ncorrupt neither faith, nor baptism, nor doctrine, nor would the\nChurch perish on that account--the treasure remains in its integrity\nand efficacy, and God may graciously cause some to turn from their\nunbelief and wicked life and be added to the faithful and to mend\ntheir ways.\n\n27. Again, they with whom this treasure--the Word or doctrine and its\nknowledge--is not found, cannot be the Christian Church nor members\nof it, and for that reason they cannot pray or believe aright or do\ngood works pleasing to God. It follows that their whole lives are in\nGod's sight lost and condemned, though they may assiduously extol God\nand the Church and before the world may have the appearance and\nreputation of leading particularly holy lives and excelling even the\nupright Christians in virtues and honor. It is a settled fact that\noutside the Church of Christ there is no God, no grace, no bliss; as\nPaul says (Eph 4, 5): \"One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and\nFather of all,\" etc. And Acts 4, 12 says: \"And in none other is there\nsalvation: for neither is there any other name under heaven, that is\ngiven among men, wherein we must be saved.\"\n\n28. And so Paul, when here extolling the Corinthians, has not an eye\nto the contentious, the Epicureans, or to those who give public\noffense, as the man that \"had his father's wife;\" but the apostle\nlooks to the fact that a few remain who have the pure Word of God,\nfaith, baptism and the sacrament, though some hypocrites be among\nthem. Because of these few--and few indeed there may be--we recognize\nthe presence of that inestimable treasure of which the apostle\nspeaks. It is found as well where two or three are gathered together\nas with thousands. Neither the Gospel nor the ministers nor the\nChurch is to be blamed that the multitude miss this treasure; the\nmultitude have but themselves to blame, for they close their ears and\neyes.\n\n29. Now behold how loftily Paul has extolled and how beautifully\nportrayed the Christian Church--where she is to be found on earth and\nwhat inestimable blessings and gifts she has received of Christ, for\nwhich she is in duty bound to thank and praise him in her confession\nand in her life. This subject the apostle concludes with the words:\n\n\"God is faithful, through whom ye were called into the fellowship of\nhis Son Jesus Christ our Lord.\"\n\n30. The good work which Christ has begun in you and already assured\nto you, he will without fail establish in you until the end and for\never, if you but do not fall away through unbelief, or cast grace\nfrom you. For his Word or promise given to you, and his work begun in\nyou, are not changeable as is man's word and work, but are firm,\ncertain, divine, immovable truth. Since you are in possession of this\nyour divine calling, draw comfort therefrom and rely on it without\nwavering. Amen.\n\n\n\n\n_Nineteenth Sunday After Trinity_\n\nText: Ephesians 4, 22-28.\n\n22 That ye put away, as concerning your former manner of life, the\nold man, that waxeth corrupt after the lusts of deceit; 23 and that\nye be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and put on the new man,\nthat after God hath been created in righteousness and holiness of\ntruth. 25 Wherefore, putting away falsehood, speak ye truth each one\nwith his neighbor: for we are members one of another. 26 Be ye angry,\nand sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: 27 neither give\nplace to the devil. 28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather\nlet him labor, working with his hands the thing that is good, that he\nmay have whereof to give to him that hath need.\n\n\nDUTY TO NEW AND OLD MAN.\n\n1. Here again is an admonition for Christians to follow up their\nfaith by good works and a new life, for though they have forgiveness\nof sins through baptism, the old Adam still adheres to their flesh\nand makes himself felt in tendencies and desires to vices physical\nand mental. The result is that unless Christians offer resistance,\nthey will lose their faith and the remission of sins and will in the\nend be worse than they were at first; for they will begin to despise\nand persecute the Word of God when corrected by it. Yea, even those\nwho gladly hear the Word of God, who highly prize it and aim to\nfollow it, have daily need of admonition and encouragement, so strong\nand tough is that old hide of our sinful flesh. And so powerful and\nwily is our old evil foe that wherever he can gain enough of an\nopening to insert one of his claws, he thrusts in his whole self and\nwill not desist until he has again sunk man into his former\ncondemnable unbelief and his old way of despising and disobeying God.\n\n2. Therefore, the Gospel ministry is necessary in the Church, not\nonly for instruction of the ignorant--such as the simple, unlettered\npeople and the children--but also for the purpose of awakening those\nwho know very well what they are to believe and how they are to live,\nand admonishing them to be on their guard daily and not to become\nindolent, disheartened or tired in the war they must wage on this\nearth with the devil, with their own flesh and with all manner of\nevil.\n\n3. For this reason Paul is so persistent in his admonitions that he\nactually seems to be overdoing it. He proceeds as if the Christians\nwere either too dull to comprehend or so inattentive and forgetful\nthat they must be reminded and driven. The apostle well knows that\nthough they have made a beginning in faith and are in that state\nwhich should show the fruits of faith, such result is not so easily\nforthcoming. It will not do to think and say: Well, it is sufficient\nto have the doctrine, and if we have the Spirit and faith, then\nfruits and good works will follow of their own accord. For although\nthe Spirit truly is present and, as Christ says, willing and\neffective in those that believe, on the other hand the flesh is weak\nand sluggish. Besides, the devil is not idle, but seeks to seduce our\nweak nature by temptations and allurements.\n\n4. So we must not permit the people to go on in their way, neglecting\nto urge and admonish them, through God's Word, to lead a godly life.\nIndeed, you dare not be negligent and backward in this duty; for, as\nit is, our flesh is all too sluggish to heed the Spirit and all too\nable to resist it. Paul says (Gal 5, 17): \"For the flesh lusteth\nagainst the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh ... that ye may\nnot do the things that ye would.\" Therefore, God is constrained to do\nas a good and diligent householder or ruler, who, having a slothful\nman-servant or maid-servant, or careless officers, who otherwise are\nneither wicked nor faithless, will not consider it sufficient once or\ntwice to direct, but will constantly be supervising and directing.\n\n5. Nor have we as yet arrived at the point where our flesh and blood\nwill joyfully and gladly abound in good works and obedience to God as\nthe spirit is inclined and faith directs. Even with the utmost\nefforts the Spirit scarce can compel our old man. What would be the\nresult if we were no more urged and admonished but could go our way\nthinking, as many self-satisfied persons do: I am well acquainted\nwith my duties, having learned them many years ago and having heard\nfrequent explanations of them; yea, I have taught others? It might be\nthat one year's intermission of preaching and admonition would place\nus below the level of the heathen.\n\n6. Now, this exhortation in itself is simple and easy of\ncomprehension. The apostle is but repeating his exhortations of other\nplaces--on the fruits of faith, or a godly walk--merely in different\nterms. Here he speaks of putting away the old man and putting on the\nnew man, of being \"renewed in the spirit of your mind.\"\n\n\n\"THE OLD MAN.\"\n\n7. What he calls \"the old man\" is well known to us; namely, the whole\nnature of man as descended from Adam after his fall in paradise,\nbeing blinded by the devil, depraved in soul, not keeping God before\nhis eyes nor trusting him, yes, utterly regardless of God and the\njudgment day. Though with his mouth he may honor God's Word and the\nGospel, yet in reality he is unchanged; if he does have a little\nadditional knowledge, he has just as little fear, love and trust in\nGod as heretofore.\n\n8. Such a life and such conduct should not be found among you, says\nthe apostle; you are not to continue with \"the old man.\" He must be\nput off and laid aside. Your former manner of life, inherited of\nAdam, consisted in disobeying God, in neither fearing, trusting nor\ncalling upon him. Again, in your body you obeyed not God's\ncommandments, being given to lust, pride, insatiable greed, envy,\nhatred, etc. A life and walk of this nature is not becoming a\nChristian who is regarded as, and truly is, a different order of\nbeing from his former self, as we shall hear. Necessarily he should\nwalk differently.\n\n9. In this respect a Christian must take heed that he does not\ndeceive himself; the true Christian differs from the hypocrite. True\nChristians so live that it is apparent from their lives that they\nkeep God before their eyes and truly believe the Gospel, while\nhypocrites likewise show by their walk that their pretensions of\nfaith and forgiveness of sin are hollow. No proof is seen in their\nlives and works showing that they have in any wise mended their\nformer ways; they merely deck themselves with a pretense, with the\nname of Gospel, of faith, of Christ.\n\n10. Now, the apostle has two things to say of the old man: that he\ncorrupts himself in error as to the soul and in lusts as to the body.\nPaul portrays the old man--meaning every man without true faith\nthough he bear the name of a Christian--as in the first place given\nto error: coming short of the truth, knowing naught of the true\nknowledge of Christ and faith in him, indifferent alike to God's\nwrath and God's grace, deceiving himself with his own conceit that\ndarkness is light. The old man believes that God will not be moved to\nvengeance though he do as he pleases, even to decorating vices with\nthe names of virtues. Haughtiness, greed, oppressing and tormenting\nthe poor, wrath, envy--all this he would call preserving his dignity,\nexercising strict discipline, honestly and economically conducting\nhis domestic affairs, caring for his wife and children, displaying\nChristian zeal and love of justice, etc. In short, he proceeds in the\nperfectly empty delusion and self-conceit that he is a Christian.\n\n11. Out of this error proceeds the other corruption, the lusts of the\nbody, which are fruits of unbelief. Unbelief causes men to walk in\nsinful security and yield to all the appetites of their flesh. Such\nhave no inclination toward what is good, nor do they aim to promote\norderliness, honor or virtue. They take desperate chances on their\nlives, wanting to live according to the lusts of their flesh and yet\nnot be reprimanded.\n\n12. This, says the apostle, is the old man's course and nature. He\nwill do naught but ruin himself. The longer continued, the greater\nhis debasement. He draws down upon himself his own condemnation and\npenalty for body and soul; for in proportion as he becomes\nunbelieving and hard-hearted, does he become haughty, hateful and\nfaithless, and eventually a perfect scoundrel and villain. This was\nyour former manner of life, when as yet you were heathen and\nnon-Christians. Therefore you must by all means put off the old man\nand cast him far from you; otherwise you cannot remain a Christian.\nFor glorying in the grace of God and the forgiveness of sin is\ninconsistent with following sin--remaining in the former old\nun-Christian life and walking in error and deceitful lusts.\n\n\nTHE GROWTH OF \"THE NEW MAN.\"\n\n\"And that ye be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the\nnew man, that after God hath been created in righteousness and\nholiness of truth.\"\n\n13. Having put away the old man, the apostle exhorts us further to\nput on the new man, that day by day we may grow as new creatures.\nThis is effected by first being delivered from error--from the\nerroneous thoughts and ideas incident to our corrupt nature with its\nfalse conceptions of God, wherein we do not fear nor believe him--and\nthen from God's Word receiving the right understanding of him. When\nwe rightly understand, we shall fear his wrath against sin and rely\non his grace in true faith, believing that he will forgive our sins\nfor Christ's sake and will hear our prayer for strength and\nassistance to withstand and conquer, and to continually grow in\nfaith.\n\n14. This change Paul calls being \"renewed in the spirit of your\nmind\"; that is, constantly growing and becoming established in that\ntrue conception and clear knowledge of Christ begun in us, in\nopposition to error and idle vaporings. He who is thus received, says\nthe apostle, is a man \"that after God hath been created in\nrighteousness and holiness of truth.\" In the old man there is naught\nbut error, by means of which the devil leads to destruction. But the\nnew man has the Spirit and the truth, by which the heart is illumined\nunto righteousness and holiness, wherein man follows the guidance of\nGod's Word and feels a desire for a godly walk and good life; just\nas, on the other hand, the desire and love for sin and wickedness is\nthe product of error. This new man is created after God, as an image\nof God, and must of necessity differ from such as live in error and\nin lusts, without the knowledge of God and disobedient to him. For if\nGod's image is in man, man must consequently have the right knowledge\nof God and right conceptions and ideas, and lead a godly life\nconsistent with holiness and righteousness as found in God himself.\n\n15. Such an image of God Adam was when first created. He was, as to\nthe soul, truthful, free from error, and possessed of true faith and\nknowledge of God; and as to the body, holy and pure, that is, without\nthe impure, unclean desires of avarice, lasciviousness, envy, hatred,\netc. And all his children--all men--would have so remained from their\nbirth if he had not suffered himself to be led astray by the devil\nand to be thus ruined. But since Christians, by the grace and Spirit\nof God, now have been renewed to this image of God, they are so to\nlive that soul and spirit are righteous and pleasing to God through\nfaith in Christ; and that also the body--meaning the whole external\nlife--be pure and holy, which is genuine holiness.\n\n16. Some there are who pretend to great holiness and purity, but it\nis mere pretense, deceiving the people in general. Such are the\nfactious spirits and monastic saints, who base their holiness and\nuprightness solely on an external, peculiar life and on self-elected\nworks. Theirs may be apparently a commendable, holy and pure way of\npraying and fasting, of denying self, etc., and the people may call\nit so; but inwardly they are and remain haughty, venomous, hateful,\nfilled with the filth of human lust and evil thoughts, as Christ says\nof such. Mt 15, 19; Lk 16, 15. Likewise their righteousness on which\nthey pride themselves before God has a certain gloss, on the strength\nof which they presume to merit the grace of God for themselves and\nothers; but inwardly they have no true conception of God, being in\nrank unbelief, that is, false and vain suppositions, or doubts. Such\nrighteousness, or holiness, is not true nor honest. It is made up\nwholly of hypocrisy and deceit. It is built, not of God nor after\nGod, but after that lying spirit, the devil.\n\n17. The true Christian, Paul asserts, has been molded through faith\nin Christ into a new man, like unto God, truly justified and holy in\nhis sight; even as Adam originally was in perfect harmony of heart\nwith God, showing true, straightforward confidence, love and\nwillingness. And his body was holy and pure, knowing naught of evil,\nimpure or improper desire. Thus the whole life of the man was a\nbeautiful portrait of God, a mirror wherein God himself was\nreflected; even as the lives and natures of the holy spirits the\nangels are wrapped up in God and represent true knowledge of him,\nassurance, and joy in him and utterly pure and holy thoughts and\nworks according to the will of God.\n\n18. But since man is now so grievously fallen from this cheerful\nconfidence, this certainty and joy, into doubts or into presumption\ntoward God, and from unspotted, noble obedience into the lusts of\niniquity and ungodliness, it follows that not from mankind can come\nhelp or relief. Nor can any one hope for remedy except the\nChristians, who through faith in Christ begin again to have a joyful\nand confident heart toward God. They thus enter again into their\nformer relation and into the true paradise of perfect harmony with\nGod and of justification; they are comforted by his grace.\nAccordingly they are disposed to lead a godly life in harmony with\nGod's commandments and to resist ungodly lusts and ways. These begin\nto taste God's goodness and loving kindness, as Paul says, and\nrealize what they lost in paradise. He, therefore, that would be a\nChristian should strive to be found in this new man created after\nGod; not in blind error and vain conceit, but in the very essence of\nrighteousness and holiness before God.\n\n\nTWO CLASSES OF SINS.\n\n\"Wherefore, putting away falsehood, speak ye truth each one with his\nneighbor: for we are members one of another.\"\n\n19. Lest there might be one who failed to understand the meaning of\nthe old and the new man, or of true and false righteousness and\nholiness, the apostle now proceeds to give an example or two, making\nit easier for us to grasp the idea. All sin comes under one of two\nclasses: First, that of the devil's own making, such as murder and\ndeceit; for by lies he establishes all idolatry, error, false faith\nand holiness, and among men he creates faithlessness, deceit, malice,\netc. Secondly, those sins which he instigates man to commit against\nman; deeds of wrath, hatred, vengeance and murder. Paul combines\nthese two classes.\n\n20. Now, when a man does not deal fairly with his neighbor, but\npractices dishonesty and deceit, be it in matters spiritual or\ntemporal (and the world is ever deceitful in all transactions), then\ncertainly the old man holds sway and not righteousness nor holiness,\nhowever much the man may effect a good appearance and evade the\ncourts. For such conduct does not reflect God's image, but the\ndevil's. For the heart does not rely on God and his truth, otherwise\nit would war with fraud and deception; but its object is to clothe\nitself with a misleading garb, even assuming the name of God, and\nthus to deceive, belie, betray and forsake its neighbor at the\nbidding of every fiendish whim, and all for the satisfaction of its\navarice, selfishness and pride.\n\n21. In contrast thereto you can recognize the new man. He speaks the\ntruth and hates lies, not only those momentous lies against the first\ntable of the Ten Commandments, but also those against the second\ntable; for he deals faithfully and in a brotherly way with others,\ndoing as he would be done by himself. Thus should Christians live\nwith each other, as members of one body, according to the apostle,\nand as having in Christ all things common and alike.\n\n\"Be ye angry and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath.\"\n\n22. Half the sins which the world has learned of its lord and master,\nthe devil, consist in lying and deceiving, and that in the name and\nappearance of truth. No one wants to be called a liar, and even the\ndevil covers his lies with the name of truth. The other half, which\nis easier to recognize, consists in wrath and its fruits. And this\nclass is usually the result of the other. The world, for its own\nadvantage, lies and deceives; and when it sees mankind acting in\nopposition to its wishes, or beholds its lies exposed and its schemes\nthwarted, it begins to rage in wrath against God, endeavoring to\navenge itself and inflict harm, but fraudulently disguising its\nwicked motive under the plea of having good and abundant reasons for\nits action.\n\n23. Therefore Paul admonishes the Christians as new creatures, to\nguard against this vice of wrath, adducing the fourth verse of the\nfourth Psalm: \"Stand in awe and sin not.\" The repetition of this\npassage sounds, in Paul's rendering, as if permission to be angry\nwere given; he says: \"Be ye angry, and sin not.\" But Paul is taking\ninto consideration the way of the world. Men are tempted and moved to\nanger. There are no clean records. Under sudden provocation the heart\nswells with ire, while the devil busily fans the flame; for he is\never alert to stamp upon us his seal and image and make us like unto\nhim, either through error and false doctrine, or through wrath and\nmurder in conflict with love and patience. These two forms of evil\nyou will encounter, especially if you make an effort to be a godly\nChristian, to defend the truth and to live uprightly in the sight of\nall. You will meet with all manner of malice aforethought and deceit,\nand with faithlessness and malignity on the part of those you have\nbenefited; again, with unmasked violence and injustice on the part of\nthose who should protect you and see to your interests. This will\nhurt and move you to wrath. Yea, in your own house and among your\ndear Christian brethren you will often meet with that which vexes\nyou; again, a word of yours may hurt their feelings. And it will not\nbe otherwise. This life of ours is so constituted that such\nconditions must be. Flesh and blood cannot but be stirred at times by\nwrath and impatience, especially when it receives evil for good; and\nthe devil is ever at hand kindling your anger and endeavoring to fan\ninto a blaze the wrath and ill humor between yourself and your\nneighbor.\n\n24. But right here, says the apostle, you should beware and not sin;\nnot give rein, nor yield to the impulse and promptings of wrath. That\nyou may indeed be moved, the apostle would say, I well know, and you\nmay fancy to have the best of reasons for exhibiting anger and\nvengeance; but beware of doing what your wrath would have you do: and\nif overcome by wrath and led to rashness, do not continue in it, do\nnot harbor it, but subdue and restrain it, the sooner the better; do\nnot suffer it to take root or to remain with you over night.\n\n25. If followed, wrath will not suffer you to do a single right\nthing, as James affirms (ch. 1, 20). It causes man to fall and sin\nagainst God and his neighbor. Even the heathen have seen that wrath\ngets the better of reason and is never the source of good counsel. In\nline with this, we read that St. Ambrose reproved the emperor\nTheodosius for having, while in a rage, caused the execution of many\npersons in Thessalonica; and that he succeeded in having the emperor\nissue a rescript to the effect that no one should be executed, even\non his imperial order and command, until a full month had passed by,\nthus affording an opportunity to rescind the order if given in haste\nand wrath.\n\n26. Therefore the Psalm says: When wrath attacks and moves you, do\nnot at once give it leave to do its will. Therein you would certainly\ncommit sin. But go into your chamber, commune and take counsel with\nyourself, pray the Lord's Prayer, repeat some good passages from\nGod's Word, curb yourself and confide in God; he will uphold your\nrights.\n\n27. It is this the apostle has in mind when saying: \"Let not the sun\ngo down upon your wrath.\" A Christian must not entertain wrath; he\nshould instantly quench and stifle it. It is the part of the new man\nto control anger, that the devil may not move him from his new-found\nfaith and make him lose what he has received. If he yields to these\ninstigations of his flesh, he thereby returns to the error and\ncondemnation in the old man and loses control of himself, following\nhis own desires. Then he adorns a lie with the appearance of truth,\nclaiming the right to be angry and take revenge; just as the world\ndoes when it asserts: This fellow has done me infinite violence and\ninjustice; am I to suffer it? I have a just cause and shall not\nrecline my head in ease until he is repaid! By such talk it loses its\ncase before both God and men; as the saying goes: He that strikes\nback has the most unjust cause.\n\n28. Both divine and human justice forbids that a man be judge in his\nown case. For this very reason God has established governmental and\njudicial authority, in his stead to punish transgressions,\nwhich--when properly administered--is not man's but God's judgment.\nHe therefore that invades such judgment, invades the authority of God\nhimself; he commits a double wrong and merits double condemnation. If\nyou desire to seek and obtain redress in the courts, you are at\nliberty to do so, provided you proceed in the proper way, at the\nproper place and with those to whom God has entrusted authority. To\nthese authorities you may appeal for redress. If you obtain it\naccording to law, well and good; if not, you must suffer wrong and\ncommit your case to God, as we have explained more fully elsewhere.\n\n29. In short, we find in this unique passage a statement to the\neffect that he who curbs not his wrath but retains it longer than a\nday, or over night, cannot be a Christian. Where then do they stand\nwho entertain wrath and hatred indefinitely, for one, two, three,\nseven, ten years? Such is no longer human wrath but fiendish wrath\nfrom hell; it will not be satisfied nor extinguished, but when it\nonce takes possession of a man he would, if able, destroy everything\nin a moment with his hellish fire. Even so the arch-fiend is not\nsatisfied with having cast the whole human race into sin and death,\nbut will not rest content unless he can drag all human beings into\neternal damnation.\n\n30. A Christian therefore has ample cause to carefully guard against\nthis vice. God may have patience with you when wrath wells up in your\nheart--although that, too, is sinful--but take heed that wrath does\nnot overcome you and cause you to fall. Rather take serious counsel\nwith yourself and extinguish and expel your anger by applying\npassages of Holy Writ and calling upon your faith. When alone or\nabout to retire, repeat the Lord's Prayer, ask for forgiveness and\nconfess that God daily forgives you much oftener than your neighbor\nsins against you.\n\n\"Neither give place to the devil. Let him that stole steal no more:\nbut rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing that is\ngood, that he may have whereof to give to him that hath need.\"\n\n31. This thought is brought out also in the next Epistle, namely,\nthat a Christian should guard against giving offense to anybody by\nhis life, lest God's name be blasphemed. It is a grand thing to be a\nChristian, who, as has been stated, is a new man created after God\nand a true image of God, wherein God himself desires to be reflected.\nTherefore, whatever of good a Christian does, or whatever of evil he\ndoes, under the name of a Christian, either honors or disgraces God's\nname. Now, says Paul, whenever you follow your lusts, in obedience to\nyour old Adam, you do naught but give occasion to the slanderers--the\ndevil and his troop--to blaspheme the name of God. For the devil,\neven without your assistance, at all times seeks opportunity--nor can\nhe desist--to befoul our dear Gospel and the name of God with his\nslanderous tales, composed, if need be, entirely of lies. But where\nhe finds the semblance of occasion he knows how to profit by it. He\nwill then open his mouth wide and cry: Behold, these are your Gospel\npeople! Here you have the fruits of this new doctrine! Is their\nChrist such a one as they honor by their lives?\n\n32. So then a Christian should be exceedingly careful and cautious\nfor this reason, if for no other: to protect the name and honor of\nhis dear God and Saviour and not to do the devil the favor of letting\nhim whet his slanderous tongue on Christ's name. How shall we stand\nand answer in his sight when we cannot deny the fact that our life\ngives just cause for complaint and offense? By such a life we\nintentionally bring disgrace and shame upon God's name and Word,\nwhich things should be our highest treasures and most valuable\npossessions.\n\n33. When the apostle says, \"Let him that stole steal no more: but\nrather let him labor, working with his hands the thing that is good,\nthat he may have whereof to give to him that hath need,\" he indicates\nthe true fruit of repentance, which consists in abandoning and\nutterly abstaining from evil and in doing good. He at the same time\nattacks and reproves the sin of theft so common in all walks of life.\nAnd them who idle away their time and neglect their duty of serving\nand helping their fellow-beings, he calls--and rightfully--thieves in\nGod's sight.\n\n34. For the right interpretation of the commandment, Thou shalt not\nsteal, is this: Thou shalt live of thine own work, that thou mayest\nhave to give to the needy. This is your bounden duty, and if you do\nnot so God will pronounce you not a Christian but a thief and robber.\nIn the first place, because you are an idler and do not support\nyourself, but live by the sweat and toil of others; in the second\nplace, because you withhold from your neighbor what you plainly owe\nhim. Where now shall we find those who keep this commandment? Indeed,\nwhere should we dare look for them except where no people live? But\nsuch a class of people should Christians be. Therefore, let each of\nus beware lest he deceive himself; for God will not be mocked nor\ndeceived. Gal 6, 7.\n\n\n\n\n_Twentieth Sunday After Trinity_\n\nText: Ephesians 5, 15-21.\n\n15 Look therefore carefully how ye walk [See then that ye walk\ncircumspectly], not as unwise, but as wise; 16 redeeming the time,\nbecause the days are evil. 17 Wherefore be ye not foolish, but\nunderstand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And be not drunken with\nwine, wherein is riot, but be filled with the Spirit; 19 speaking one\nto another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and\nmaking melody with your heart to the Lord; 20 giving thanks always\nfor all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the\nFather; 21 subjecting yourselves one to another in the fear of\nChrist.\n\n\nTHE CAREFUL WALK OF THE CHRISTIAN.\n\n1. Paul's admonition here is designed for those who, having heard the\nGospel and made a fine start in believing, immediately imagine\nthemselves secure and think they have accomplished all. Forgetful\nthat they are still flesh and blood, and in the world and in contact\nwith the devil's kingdom, they live in unconcern, as if delivered\nfrom all danger, and the devil far fled. By the very reason of their\nsecurity they are overcome of the devil and their own flesh, and fall\nunawares from the Gospel. They have just enough connection with it to\nbe able to prate of it, boasting themselves Christians but giving no\nindication of the fact in their conduct.\n\n2. Paul would tell them how, in view of these things, vigilance is\nessential to the Christian life. To regulate the life by keeping\nGod's will ever before the eyes, always conforming the conduct to\nit--this he calls walking circumspectly and being wise. If you for a\nmoment lose sight of God's will, the devil immediately possesses you\nand works pernicious results, transforming a Christian into an\nindolent, self-secure hypocrite; a hypocrite into a heretic and\nfactionist; and a heretic into an open enemy. So the apostle here\nteaches that in all seriousness if we would secure ourselves against\nthe craft and power of the devil we must be vigilant; we must be\ncareful how we walk. In Satan we have an enemy bent on hindering us;\non undermining our very foundation.\n\n3. Consequently they who fail to keep earnest watch over their\nChristian life--that is, to have a care for soundness of belief and\nto gladly hear and obey the Word of God--are unwise, even foolish,\nand have no knowledge of God's will. They have removed the light from\nbefore their eyes to behold instead a thing of their own imagination.\nThey see as through a painted glass, presuming they do well in\nfollowing such phantoms of their reason, until they are misled and\ndefeated of the devil.\n\n\nTHE WORD, THE GUIDE OF THE CHRISTIAN.\n\n4. Therefore, not without reason does Paul warn Christians to be\nalways wise and circumspect--to keep the Word of God before them.\nUpon so doing depends their wisdom and understanding. Let each one\nmake it a matter of personal concern, and especially should it be the\ngeneral interest of the congregation. Where care is not observed to\nretain the Word in the Church, but there are admitted to the pulpit\nbrawlers who set forth their own fraudulent doctrines, the Church is\ninjured; the congregation will soon be as the preacher. Again, if the\nindividual fails to regulate his daily life--the affairs of his\ncalling--by the Word of God; if he forgets the Word and absorbs\nhimself in accumulating wealth; if he is tangled with secular\ninterests, he soon becomes a cold and indolent Christian, then an\nerring soul, and finally utterly disregards God's will and his Word.\n\nIt is for these reasons God so frequently commands us in the\nScriptures continually to explain and apply his Word, to hear it\nwillingly and practice it faithfully, and to meditate upon it day and\nnight. He would have our lives emanate from the Word in honor to God\nand gratitude to him--from the Word wherein we daily look as in a\nmirror. But care and diligence are necessary to bring it to pass, and\nwe should faithfully assist each other by instruction, advice, and in\nother ways.\n\n5. In my admonitions I have often enough urged those who have\ninfluence, to use all diligence in drawing the young to school, where\nthey may receive proper instruction to become pastors and preachers;\nand I have earnestly advised that in cases of necessity ample\nfinancial provision be made for students. But, alas, few communities,\nfew States, are interested in the matter. In all Germany, look at the\nbishops, princes, noblemen, the inhabitants of town and country--how\nconfidently they go on sleeping and snoring in their indifference to\nthe question. They presume to think there is no need for action; the\nmatter will adjust itself; there will always be pastors and\npreachers. But assuredly they deceive themselves if they think they\nare consulting their best interests in this affair; for they will, as\nthe text says, become foolish and fail to recognize the will of God.\nTherefore they will some day have to experience what they do not now\nbelieve: in a few years after our day they will seek preachers and\nfind none; they will have to hear rude, illiterate dolts who, lacking\nunderstanding of the Word of God, will, like all stupid Papists,\npreach the vile, offensive things of the Pope, about consecrated\nwater and salt, about gray gowns, new monasteries and the like.\n\n6. Cry, preach and admonish as we will, no one will hear; foreseeing\nwhich, Paul prophesies that they who observe not God's will, become\nunwise, foolish, and consequently waste the day of grace and neglect\ntheir salvation. Now, it is God's will we should sanctify his name,\nlove and advance his Word, and so aid in building up his kingdom.\nWhen we fulfill his will in these things, he will regard our desires,\nproviding us with daily bread and granting peace and happiness.\n\n7. Now, it should be our chief concern to preserve to ourselves the\nWord and will of God. That would truly be wisdom, and redeeming the\ntime. But failing therein, it must be with us as with the unwise and\nfools; we will have to hear the declaration: \"Since you refuse to\nsanctify my name, to advance my kingdom and to do my will, neither\nwill I provide you daily bread, nor forgive your sins, nor keep from\ntemptation and deliver from evil.\" God will then permit us to deplore\nthe great calamities of the world--its turmoil and wickedness, the\ncause whereof the world attributes to the Gospel. But the punishment\njust mentioned must be visited upon them who will not recognize the\nwill of God and submit to it. These, however, desire to justify\nthemselves and are unwilling to receive censure for having conducted\nthemselves unwisely, even foolishly.\n\n8. So much for a general observation upon the expression \"walking\nwisely and circumspectly\"; so much upon unwise conduct in regard to\nmatters of vital importance to the Church, which have to do with the\noffice of the ministry and with God's Word. Where the ministry and\nthe Word of God are preserved, there will always be some among the\nmasses to attend upon the preaching of the Word and to conform their\nlives to it. But when the Bible leaves the pulpit, little good will\nbe accomplished, even though one here and there be able to read the\nScriptures for themselves and imagine they have no need of the\npreached Word. Where will the untaught masses stand? Note how it has\nbeen with the poor people in our time who were misled by Munzer and\nMunster, and their prophets and factionists.\n\n\nPUBLIC PREACHING OF THE WORD ENJOINED.\n\nThen let everyone lend earnest effort to promote public preaching of\nthe Word everywhere, and public attendance upon that preaching; and\nthus rightly to found and build up the Church. Let him also put on\nthe wedding garment himself (mentioned in the Gospel for today); let\nhim take care to be found an earnest advocate of the Word of God,\nuninfluenced by thoughts common to the secure spirit: \"Oh, there are\npastors and preachers enough for me. I can hear or read the Word when\nI please; have access to it any day. I must give first attention to\nbread-winning and like things. Let others look out for themselves.\"\nTake care, my dear sir; you can easily fail by carelessness here and\nbe found without the wedding garment, perhaps may die without it,\nunaware how you are being deceived. Whose fault will it be but your\nown since you would not hear Paul's admonition to walk wisely and\ncircumspectly?\n\n9. We should make provision while the opportunity is at our doors,\nfor, judging from the present course of the world, it will not long\nretain what it has. Everywhere men are diligently helping to hunt\ndown ministers, or at least to so bring to bear upon them hunger and\npoverty, to so oppose them with secret fraud, as to drive them from\nthe land. And little trouble and labor will be required to accomplish\nit. We shall only too soon be rid of our ministers and have their\nplaces amply supplied by deceivers. I would much rather suffer in\nhell with Judas the Betrayer than to bear the guilt of accomplishing\none minister's death or of being instrumental in offering place to\none deceiver. For it would not be so intolerable to suffer the\nanguish of the betrayer of Christ as to endure that of one who, by\nhis sin in this respect, is responsible for the loss of countless\nsouls.\n\n\nNECESSITY OF IMPROVING THE TIME.\n\n10. Paul goes on to elaborate his admonition by explaining what it is\nto walk circumspectly and wisely--to \"redeem the time, because the\ndays are evil.\" In other words: Think not happy days are in store for\nyou and you may defer duty till better times; better times will never\nbe. The devil is always in the world to hinder your every effort to\ndo good, and his opposition increases with time. The longer you\ntarry, the less your power to accomplish good; wasted time only makes\nmatters worse. Then redeem the time; grasp your opportunities as best\nyou can. Let no interest be so dear to you as the promotion of God's\nkingdom and the serving of the public in every good and useful way\npossible, whatever befall yourself.\n\n11. Christ in like manner says to the Jews: \"While ye have the light,\nbelieve on the light, that ye may become sons of light.\" Jn 12, 36.\nAnd Paul, after quoting from Isaiah 49, 8, adds: \"Behold, now is the\nacceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.\" 2 Cor 6, 2. So\nhis counsel in our text means: Take heed you receive not the grace of\nGod in vain. Or, neglect not the matter of your salvation; enjoy\nwhile you may the opportunity of furthering the kingdom of God, for\nthe sake of your own and others' salvation. Defer not the thing to\nanother time, lest the opportunity escape you.\n\nElsewhere (Gal 6, 10) the apostle says, \"As we have opportunity, let\nus work that which is good.\" In other words: Act now, while you may.\nYour time passes with astonishing rapidity. Be not deceived, then, by\nthe thought, \"Oh, I can attend to the matter a year from now--two\nyears--three.\" That is simply foolish. It is an unwise conclusion of\nthe thoughtless. Before they are aware, they have lost the salvation\nextended them. They defer to consider God's will, putting it off for\na season, until they shall have accomplished their own aims; then\nthey have deferred too long.\n\n12. The Lord comes to your door. You do not have to seek him. If you\nare grateful he tarries to speak with you. But if you let him pass by\nyou will have to complain as did the bride in Song of Solomon 5, 6:\n\"I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and\nwas gone ... I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him,\nbut he gave me no answer.\" Think not you will find the Lord when he\nhas once gone, though you traverse the world. But while he is near\nyou may seek and find; as Isaiah says (ch. 55, 6), \"Seek ye Jehovah\nwhile he may be found.\" If through your neglect he pass by, all\nseeking then will be vain.\n\nFor more than twenty years in my cloister I experienced the meaning\nof such disappointment. I sought God with great toil and with severe\nmortification of the body, fasting, watching, singing and praying. In\nthis way I shamefully wasted my time and found not the Lord. The more\nI sought and the nearer I thought I was to him, the farther away I\ngot. No, God does not permit us to find him so. He must first come\nand seek us where we are. We may not pursue and overtake him. That is\nnot his will.\n\n13. Then be careful to avail yourself of the present opportunity.\nEmbrace it while he is near, and faithfully consider what he requires\nof you. To ascertain this, go to the Creed and the Ten Commandments.\nThey will tell you. Regulate your life by them. Be helped by the\nLord's Prayer. Begin with yourself; then pray for the Church. Let it\nbe your desire that God's name be everywhere sanctified and that your\nlife conform to his will. If you are faithful in these things,\nassuredly you will walk wisely; you will avoid sin and do good. For\nthe study and practice of these precepts will leave you no\nopportunity to do evil. God's Word will soon teach you to sanctify\nhis name, to extend his kingdom, to do your neighbor no injury in\nmind, body or estate.\n\n14. Observe this is \"redeeming the time.\" This is employing it well,\nwhile the golden days last in which we have remission from pain and\nsin. Not such remission as the Pope grants in his jubilees, wherein\nhe deceives the world. Right here let us be careful not to cheat\nourselves with the false idea that salvation cannot escape us. Let it\nnot be with us as befell the children of Israel, of whom it is said\nin Psalms 95, 11 and Hebrews 4, 3 that because of their unbelief they\nentered not into the rest of God. They would not accept their\nopportunity in the forty years wherein he gave them his Word and\nshowed them his wonders, daily admonishing them and calling to\nrepentance and faith. They but tempted and provoked him the more.\nHence another admonition was given the people of God and a certain\nday appointed: \"Today if ye shall hear his voice, harden not your\nhearts.\" Heb 4, 7. Every day with us is \"today\" and we are permitted\nto hear God's voice still imploring us not to waste the time.\n\n15. Surely we ought supremely to thank God, as the latter part of our\ntext enjoins, for the great blessing of his nearness to us. We have\nhis presence in our homes. He is with us at our board, by our\ncouch--anywhere we desire him. He offers us all assistance and grants\nall we may ask. So gracious a guest should indeed receive our high\nesteem. We ought to honor him while he is with us.\n\n16. Well may we pray, as I have said. There is too much slumbering\neverywhere in Germany. We cannot perceive how it is possible to\npreserve the Gospel and fill the pulpits for ten years longer. To\nsuch extent does wickedness rage in the world that blindness and\nerror must sweep it as before. And no one will be to blame but the\nstupid bishops and princes, and those of us who esteem not the Word\nof God.\n\n\nINGRATITUDE WILL BE PUNISHED.\n\nAlas, that I am compelled against my will to be a prophet of ill to\nGermany. Yet it is not I, but the prayer of my Lord and your Lord;\nfor according to its teachings he will say: \"You neglected my Word.\nUnwilling to tolerate it, you persecuted and starved out its\nmessengers. Therefore I will withhold your daily bread and give\ninstead famine and war and murder, unto utter desolation; for you\nwish to have it so. Then when you cry for forgiveness of sins and\ndeliverance from the evils come upon you, I will hear you as you\nheard my Word, my entreaties. I will leave you in your misfortunes as\nyou left me and my Word.\"\n\n17. In fact, no one for a moment thinks of how God has signally,\nrichly and graciously blessed us; how we are in possession of actual\nparadise--yes, the entire kingdom of heaven--if we only recognized\nthe fact: and yet we shamefully, ungratefully and unreasonably reject\nthe kingdom; as if it were not enough for us to overstep the Ten\nCommandments in our disobedience, but must even trample under foot\nthe mercy God offers in the Gospel. Then why should we be surprised\nif he send down wrath upon us? What else is he to do but fulfill our\nGospel passage for today, which threatens every individual rejecter\nand persecutor of God's Son and his servants, by whom we are invited\nto the marriage--what else is God to do but send out a divine army of\nservants to arrest the career of such murderers and to terminate\ntheir existence? We are given a special illustration--an example to\nthe world--in the instance of the fate of Jerusalem, and in fact of\nthe entire Jewish nation. They sinned unceasingly against all God's\ncommandments, and when he proclaimed grace and offered forgiveness of\nsins, they trampled upon his mercy. Should Christ not revenge himself\nwhen they shamed and mocked his precious blood?\n\n18. Unto all the abominable sins mentioned, we must heap blasphemies;\nfor when wrath and punishment come upon us we make outcry,\ncomplaining that the Gospel--or the new doctrine, as it is now\ncalled--is responsible. The Jews blame us Christians alone for the\nfact that they are scattered throughout the world. Their prayers day\nand night are directed against us, in blasphemies and reproaches\ninexpressible. Nevertheless, it was not the Christians who harassed\nand scattered them, but the heathenish Roman emperor.\n\nBut whom other than themselves have the Jews to blame for their\ncondition? for they would not tolerate Christ, when he brought them\nonly help and boundless grace. Refusing to accept him whom God gave\nand in whom he promised all blessings, they necessarily lost their\ndaily bread from God, except as they rebelliously extort it by usury\nand wickedness. They had also to suffer the loss of their national\nlife, their priesthood and public worship, forgiveness of sins and\nredemption, and so remain eternally captive under the wrath and\ncondemnation of God. Such is the just and inevitable punishment of\nthe unwise--the foolish--who refused to recognize their opportunity\nwhen Christ was with them.\n\n19. With this terrible example before our eyes, we are still\nunrepentant, pursuing the same course the Jews followed, not only in\ndisobedience to the will of God, but in rejecting his grace. For that\ngrace we should earnestly long and pray, striving to secure to our\nchildren after us baptism, the ministry and the sacrament, in their\npurity. In return for our perversity, it will eventually be with us\nas with the Jews and other ungrateful persecutors and rejecters.\n\n20. Then let him who will receive advice and help, faithfully heed\nPaul's counsel and redeem the time, not sleeping away the blessed\ngolden hour of grace; as Christ earnestly admonishes in the parable\nof the five foolish virgins. Mt 25, 13. The foolish virgins might\nhave made their purchases in season, before the bridegroom's arrival;\nbut failing to attend to the matter until time to meet the\nbridegroom, they missed both the market and the wedding.\n\n21. The ancient poets and sages make use of a similar illustration at\nthe expense of the cricket or grasshopper. As the fable runs, when\nwinter came the grasshoppers, having nothing to eat, went to the ants\nand asked them to divide their gathered store. \"What did you in the\nsummer time that you gathered nothing?\" asked the ants. \"We sang,\"\nthe grasshoppers replied. \"If you sang in the summer, you must dance\nfor it in the winter,\" was the response. Similarly should fools\nunwilling to learn the will of God be answered. Terrible and alarming\nis the wrath of God when with scorn and mockery he turns away a soul.\nIn Proverbs 1, 24 and 26 he threatens: \"Because I have called, and ye\nhave refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man hath\nregarded.... I also will laugh in the day of your calamity; I will\nmock when your fear cometh.\"\n\n22. Some may ask what Paul means by adding to the phrase, \"Redeeming\nthe time,\" the modifier, \"because the days are evil\"; if we are to\nregard the present opportunity golden, why are the days evil?\n\n\nEVIL DOCTRINES EVER OPPOSE THE CHRISTIAN.\n\n23. I answer: The time is unquestionably good so long as the Gospel\nis sounded--is faithfully preached and received. At the same time,\neven today the world is filled with evils, factions, false theories\nand bad examples of every sort; much of this wickedness is inherent\nin ourselves. With these things the Christian must always contend;\nthe devil pursues, and our own flesh discourages us and allures from\nrecognition and observance of the divine will. If we strive not\nagainst it, we shall soon lose sight of God's will, to our own\ninjury, even while listening to the Gospel. For the devil's strongest\nfury is exerted to befoul the world with fanaticism, and to draw from\nthe pure doctrine of faith into that evil even them who possess the\nGospel. Moreover, being still flesh and blood we are always\nself-secure, unwilling to be led by the Spirit, and indolent and\nunresponsive in relation to the Word of God and to prayer. Again, in\nthe outward walks of life, in temporal conditions, only obstacles and\nevils meet us everywhere, impeding our spiritual progress and\nimpelling us to suppress the Gospel and to rend the Church.\n\n24. Let no one, then, expect to enjoy an era of peace and pleasure\nhere on earth. Although the present time is in itself good, and God\nbestows upon us the golden year of his Word and his grace, yet the\ndevil is here with his factions and followers, and our own flesh\nsupports him. He corrupts the blessed days of grace at every possible\nopportunity, and so oppresses Christians that they must contend\nagainst him with their utmost strength and vigilance if they would\nnot, through the influence of evils and obstacles, be wrested from\nthe Gospel they have received, and if they would persevere therein\nunto the end.\n\nWherefore, we have the best reasons to adapt ourselves to the present\ntime in the best possible way; to walk wisely and circumspectly,\nshowing all faithfulness to the will of God; obeying it while we have\nopportunity--while still in possession of God's Word, his grace and\nhis Spirit. Being opposed and obstructed by the devil and our own\nflesh, we must, as Paul implies, be wise and careful; we must guard\nagainst following them. If we fail in this respect, it will not avail\nus to pretend we did not know our duty, or had not time to perform it\nand consequently could not cope with them. So, then, we are to\nunderstand by \"evil days\" the allurements that lead us away from\nGod's Word and his will.\n\n\"And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess.\"\n\n25. The apostle touches upon several evils strongly tending to waste\nof time and neglect of the golden opportunity. Especially is\ndrunkenness one, for drink makes men particularly self-secure,\nreckless and disorderly. The evil was formerly common in Greece, and\nin Germany today are men who delight in being riotously drunk night\nand day. Such individuals are utterly lacking in the faithfulness and\ninterest essential to following the will of God. They are unable,\neven in temporal affairs, to persistently apply themselves, much less\nto be opportune. Indeed, so beastly and swinish do they become, they\nlose all sense of either shame or honor; they have no modesty nor any\nhuman feeling. Alas, examples are before our eyes plainer and more\nnumerous than we can depict.\n\n26. Paul's words of admonition, \"Speaking to yourselves in psalms and\nhymns and spiritual songs,\" are treated in the epistle passage for\nthe fifth Sunday after Epiphany, where the text is similar.\n\n\n\n\n_Twenty First Sunday After Trinity_\n\nText: Ephesians 6, 10-17.\n\n10 Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might.\n11 Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand\nagainst the wiles of the devil. 12 For our wrestling is not against\nflesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers,\nagainst the worldrulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts\nof wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Wherefore take up the whole\narmor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and,\nhaving done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having girded your\nloins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,\n15 and having shod your foot with the preparation of the gospel of\npeace; 16 withal taking up the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be\nable to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one. 17 And take the\nhelmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word\nof God.\n\n\nTHE CHRISTIAN ARMOR AND WEAPONS.\n\nThis epistle text is fully expounded in \"The Explanations and Sermons\non Paul's Epistles\"--in the sermon on Ephesians 6, 10-17, entitled\n\"The Christian Armor and Weapons,\" preached in the year 1533.\n\n\n\n\n_Twenty Second Sunday After Trinity_\n\nText: Philippians 1, 3-11.\n\n3 I thank my God upon all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every\nsupplication of mine on behalf of you all making my supplication with\njoy, 5 for your fellowship in furtherance of the gospel from the\nfirst day until now; 6 being confident of this very thing, that he\nwho began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Jesus\nChrist: 7 even as it is right for me to be thus minded on behalf of\nyou all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as, both in my\nbonds and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are\npartakers with me of grace. 8 For God is my witness, how I long after\nyou in all the tender mercies of Christ Jesus. 9 And this I pray,\nthat your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and all\ndiscernment; 10 so that ye may approve the things that are excellent;\nthat ye may be sincere and void of offence unto the day of Christ; 11\nbeing filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are through\nJesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.\n\n\nPAUL'S THANKS AND PRAYERS FOR CHURCHES.\n\n1. First, the apostle Paul thanks God, as his custom is in the\nbeginning of his epistles, for the grace whereby the Philippians came\ninto the fellowship of the Gospel and were made partakers of it.\nSecondly, his desire and prayer to God is for their increase in the\nknowledge of the Gospel, and their more abundant fruits. His intent\nin extolling the Gospel is to admonish them to remain steadfast in\ntheir faith, continuing as they have begun and as they now stand.\nApparently this is a simple passage, especially to learned and apt\nstudents of the Scriptures. They may not think it holds any great\ntruth to be discovered. Yet we must explain this and like discourses\nfor the benefit of some who do not fully understand it, and who\ndesire to learn.\n\n2. These words give us an exact delineation of the Christian heart\nthat sincerely believes in the holy Gospel. Such hearts are rare in\nthe world. It is especially difficult to find one so beautiful as we\nobserve here unless it be among the beloved apostles or those who\napproached them in Christ-likeness. For in the matter of faith we\ntoday are entirely too indolent and indifferent.\n\n3. But the Christian heart is such as inspired Paul's words; here its\ncharacteristics are shown. He rejoices in the Gospel with his inmost\nsoul. He thanks God that others have come into its fellowship. His\nconfidence is firm regarding certain beginners in the faith, and he\nis so interested in their salvation he rejoices in it as much as in\nhis own, seeming unable to thank God sufficiently for it. He\nunceasingly prays that he may live to see many come with him into\nsuch fellowship and be preserved therein until the day of the Lord\nJesus Christ, who shall perfect and complete all the defects of this\nearthly life. He prays these beginners may go forth faultlessly in\nfaith and hope until that joyful day.\n\n4. Thus the godly apostle expresses himself, pouring out the depths\nof his heart--a heart filled with the real fruits of the Spirit and\nof faith. It burns with love and joy whenever he sees the Gospel\nrecognized, accepted and honored, and the Church flourishing. Paul\ncan conceive for the converts no loftier desire--can offer no greater\npetition for them than to implore God they may increase and persevere\nin the Gospel faith. Such is the inestimable value he places upon\npossessing and holding fast God's Word. And Christ in Luke 11, 28\npronounces blessed those who keep the Word of God.\n\n\nI. THE DUTY OF GRATITUDE.\n\n5. Now, the first thing in which Paul is here an example to us is his\ngratitude. It behooves the Christian who recognizes the grace and\ngoodness of God expressed in the Gospel, first of all to manifest his\nthankfulness therefor; toward God--his highest duty--and toward men.\nAs Christians who have abandoned the false services and sacrifices\nthat in our past heathenish blindness we zealously practiced, let us\nremember our obligation henceforth to be the more fervent in offering\ntrue service and right sacrifices to God. We can render him no\nbetter--in fact, none other--service, or outward work, than the\nthank-offering, as the Scriptures term it. That is, receiving and\nhonoring the grace of God and the preaching and hearing of his Word,\nand furthering their operation, not only in word, but sincerely in\nour hearts and with all our physical and spiritual powers. This is\nthe truest gratitude.\n\n6. God calls that a \"pure offering\" which is rendered to him \"among\nthe gentiles\" (Mal 1, 11), where his name is not preached and praised\nfrom avariciousness, not from pride and presumption in the priesthood\nand in the holiness of human works. These motives actuated the\nboasting Jews, who, as God charges in this reference, presumptuously\nthought to receive honor from him for every trivial service like\nclosing a door or opening a window. But the offering of the gentiles\nis joyfully rendered from a sincere, willing heart. This kind of\nthanksgiving and sacrifices are acceptable to God, for he says in\nPsalms 110, 3, \"Thy people shall be willing\"; and in Second\nCorinthians 9, 7, \"God loveth a cheerful giver.\" The knowledge of the\nGospel should inspire us with gratitude of this order. Let us not be\nfound unthankful, and forgetful of God's infinite goodness.\n\n\nINGRATITUDE DENOUNCED BY THE HEATHEN.\n\n7. The heathen everywhere, despite their ignorance of God and his\ngrace, condemned to the utmost the evil of ingratitude. They regarded\nit the mother of evils, than which was none more malevolent and\nshameful. Among many examples in this respect is one left us by a\npeople in Arabia called Nabathians, who had an excellent form of\ngovernment. So strict were they in regard to this evil that anyone\nfound guilty of ingratitude to his fellows was looked upon as a\nmurderer and punished with death.\n\n8. No sin is more abominable to human nature, and of none is human\nnature less tolerant. It is easier to forgive and to forget the act\nof an enemy who commits a bodily injury, or even murders one's\nparents, than it is to forget the sin of him who repays simple\nkindness and fidelity with ingratitude and faithlessness; who for\nlove and friendship returns hatred. In the sentiment of the Latin\nproverb, to be so rewarded is like rearing a serpent in one's bosom.\nGod likewise regards this sin with extreme enmity and punishes it.\nThe Scriptures say: \"Whoso rewardeth evil for good, evil shall not\ndepart from his house.\" Prov 17, 13.\n\n9. Thus we have the teaching of nature and of reason regarding the\nsin of men's ingratitude toward one another. How much greater the\nevil, how much more shameful and accursed, when manifested toward God\nwho, in his infinite and ineffable goodness, conferred upon us while\nyet enemies to him and deserving of the fires of hell--conferred upon\nus, I say, not ten dollars, not a hundred thousand dollars even, but\nredemption from divine wrath and eternal death, and abundantly\ncomforted us, granting us safety, a good conscience, peace and\nsalvation! These are inexpressible blessings, incomprehensible in\nthis life. And they will continue to occupy our minds in yonder\neternal life. How much more awful the sin of ingratitude for these\nblessings, as exemplified in the servant mentioned in the Gospel\npassage for today, to whom was forgiven the debt of ten thousand\ntalents and who yet would not forgive the debt of his fellow-servant\nwho owed him a hundred pence!\n\n10. Is it not incredible that there are to be found on earth\nindividuals wicked enough to manifest for the highest and eternal\nblessings such unspeakable ingratitude? But alas, we have the\nevidence of our own eyes. We know them in their very dwelling-places.\nWe see how the world abounds with them. Not only are the ingrates to\nbe found among deliberate rejecters of the acknowledged truth of the\nGospel, concerning God's grace, an assured conscience and the promise\nof eternal life, terrible as such malice of the devil is, but they\nare present also in our midst, accepting the Gospel and boasting of\nit. Such shameful ingratitude prevails among the masses it would not\nbe strange were God to send upon them the thunders and lightnings of\nhis wrath, yes, all the Turks and the devils of hell.\n\nThere is a generally prevalent ingratitude like that of the wicked\nservant who readily forgot the straits he experienced when, being\ncalled to account for what he could not pay, the wrathful sentence\nwas pronounced against him that he and all he possessed must be sold,\nand he be indefinitely imprisoned. Nor have we less readily forgotten\nhow we were tortured under the Papacy; how we were overwhelmed,\ndrowned as in a flood, with numberless strange doctrines, when our\nanxious consciences longed for salvation. Now that we are, through\nthe grace of God, liberated from these distresses, our gratitude is\nof a character to increasingly heap to ourselves the wrath of God. So\nhave others before us done, and consequently have endured terrible\nchastisement.\n\n11. Only calculate the enormity of our wickedness when, God having\ninfinitely blessed us in forgiving all our sins and making us lords\nover heaven and earth, we so little respect him as to be unmindful of\nhis blessings; to be unwilling for the sake of them sincerely to\nforgive our neighbor a single slighting word, not to mention\nrendering him service. We conduct ourselves as if God might be\nexpected to connive at our ingratitude and permit us to continue in\nit, at the same time conferring upon us as godly and obedient\nchildren, success and happiness. More than this, we think we have the\nprivilege and power to live and do as we please. Indeed, the more\nlearning and power we have and the more exalted our rank, the greater\nknaves we are; perpetrating every wicked deed, stirring up strife,\ndiscord, war and murder for the sake of executing our own arbitrary\ndesigns, where the question is the surrender of a penny in\nrecognition of the hundreds of thousands of dollars daily received\nfrom God notwithstanding our ingratitude.\n\n12. Two mighty lords clash with each other like powerful battering\nrams, and for what? Perhaps for undisputed possession of a city or\ntwo, a matter they must be ashamed of did they but call to mind what\nthey have received from God. They would be constrained to exclaim:\n\"What are we doing that we injure one another--we who are all\nbaptized in one name, the name of Christ, and pledged to one Lord?\"\nBut no, it will not do for them to consider this matter; not even to\nthink of it. They must turn their eyes away from it, and put it far\nfrom their hearts. Wholly forgetting God's benefits, they must wage\nwar against each other, involving nations, and subjecting people to\nthe Turk. And all for sake of the insignificant farthing each refused\nto yield to the other.\n\n13. The world permits the very devil to saddle and ride it as he\npleases. It seems to be characteristic of every phase of life that\none will not yield to another--will not submit to any demand.\nEveryone is disposed to force his arrogant authority. The presumption\nis that supreme honor and final success depend upon an unyielding,\nunforgiving disposition, and that to seek to retain our possessions\nby peaceable means will prove our ruin. Even the two remaining cows\nin the stall must be brought into requisition, and war waged to the\nlast stick, until when the mutineer comes and we have neither cow nor\nstall, nor house nor stick, we are obliged to cease.\n\n\nRETRIBUTION FOLLOWS INGRATITUDE.\n\nOh, had we but grace enough to reflect on how it would be with us did\nGod require us, as he has a perfect right to do, to pay our whole\nindebtedness, none being forgiven! grace enough to think whether we\nwould not this very moment be in the abyss of hell! But so must it\nfinally be with those who disregard the question and continually heap\nto themselves the wrath of God, being at the same time unwilling for\nhim to deal otherwise with them than he did with the servant he\nforgave. But against that servant was finally passed the irrevocable\nsentence which, without mercy, delivered him to the tormentor till he\nshould pay the debt, something he could never do.\n\n14. Nor is there any wrong or injustice in this ruling. For, as St.\nBernhard says, ingratitude is an evil damnable and pernicious enough\nto quench all the springs of grace and blessing known to God and men;\nit is like a poison-laden, burning, destructive wind. Human nature\nwill not tolerate it. Nor can God permit you, upon whom he has\nbestowed all grace and goodness, all spiritual and temporal blessing,\nto go on continually in wickedness, defiantly abusing his benevolence\nand dishonoring him; you thus recklessly bring upon yourself his\nwrath. For God cannot bless you if you are ungrateful, if you reject\nhis goodness and give it no place in your heart.\n\nIn such case the fountain of grace and mercy that continually springs\nfor all who sincerely desire it, must be quenched for you. You cannot\nenjoy it. It would afford you an abundant and unceasing supply of\nwater did you not yourself dry it up by the deadly wind of your\ningratitude; by shamefully forgetting the ineffable goodness God\nbestows upon you; and by failing to honor the blood of Christ the\nLord, wherewith he purchased us and reconciled us to God--failing to\nhonor it enough to forgive your neighbor, for Christ's sake, a single\nwrong word.\n\n15. What heavy burden is there for the individual who, in submission\nand gratitude to his God, and in honor to Christ, would conduct\nhimself something like a Christian? It will cost him no great effort\nnor trouble. It will not break any bones nor injure him in property\nor honor. Even were it to affect him to some trifling extent, to\nincur for him some slight injustice, he should remember what God has\ngiven him, and will still give, of his grace and goodness.\n\nYes, why complain even were you, in some measure, to endanger body\nand life? What did not the Son of God incur for you? It was not\npleasure for him to take upon himself the wrath of God, to bear the\ncurse for you. It cost him bloody sweat and unspeakable anguish of\nheart, as well as the sacrifice of his body, the shedding of his\nblood, when he bore for you the wrath and curse of God, which would\nhave rested upon you forever. Yet he did it cheerfully and with\nfervent love. Should you not, then, be ashamed in your own heart, and\nhumiliated before all creatures, to be so slow and dull, so\nstock-and-stone-hardened, about enduring and forgiving an occasional\nunkind word--something to be suffered in token of honor and gratitude\nto him? What more noble than, for the sake of Christ, to incur\ndanger, to suffer injury, to aid the poor and needy? in particular to\nfurther the Word of God and to support the ministry, the pulpit and\nthe schools?\n\n16. It would be no marvel had Germany long ago sunk to ruin, or had\nit been razed to its very foundations by Turks and Tartars, because\nof its diabolical forgetfulness, its damnable rejection, of God's\nunspeakable grace. Indeed, it is a wonder the earth continues to\nsupport us and the sun still gives us light. Because of our\ningratitude, well might the heavens become dark and the earth be\nperverted--as the Scriptures teach (Ps 106)--and suffer the fate of\nSodom and Gomorrah, no longer yielding a leaf nor a blade of grass,\nbut completely turned from its course--well might it be so did not\nGod, for the sake of the few godly Christians known and acknowledged\nof him, forbear and still delay.\n\n\nEXAMPLES OF INGRATITUDE FOR THE GOSPEL.\n\n17. Wherever we turn our eyes we see, in all conditions of life, a\ndeluge of terrible examples of ingratitude for the precious Gospel.\nWe see how kings, princes and lords scratch and bite; how they envy\nand hate one another, oppressing their own people and destroying\ntheir own countries; how they tax themselves with not so much as a\nsingle Christian thought about ameliorating the wretchedness of\nGermany and securing for the oppressed Church somewhere a shelter of\ndefense against the murderous attacks of devil, Pope and Turks. The\nnoblemen rake and rend, robbing whomever they can, prince or\notherwise, and especially the poor Church; like actual devils, they\ntrample under foot pastors and preachers. Townsmen and farmers, too,\nare extremely avaricious, extortionate and treacherous; they\nfearlessly perpetrate every sort of insolence and wickedness, and\nwithout shame and unpunished. The earth cries to heaven, unable\nlonger to tolerate its oppression.\n\n18. But why multiply words? It is in vain so far as the world is\nconcerned; no admonition will avail. The world remains the devil's\nown. We must remember we shall not by any means find with the world\nthat Christian heart pictured by the apostle; on the contrary we\nshall find what might be represented by a picture of the very\nopposite type--the most shameless ingratitude. But let the still\nexisting God-fearing Christians be careful to imitate in their\ngratitude the spirit of the apostle's beautiful picture. Let them\ngive evidence of their willingness to hear the Word of God, of\npleasure and delight in it and grief where it is rejected. Let them\nshow by their lives a consciousness of the great blessing conferred\nby those from whom they received the Gospel. As recipients of such\ngoodness, let their hearts and lips ever be ready with the happy\ndeclaration: \"God be praised!\" For thereunto are we called. As before\nsaid, praise should be the constant service and daily sacrifice of\nChristians; and according to Paul's teaching here, the Christian's\nworks, his fruits of righteousness, should shine before men. Such\nmanifestation of gratitude assuredly must result when we comprehend\nwhat God has given us.\n\n19. Notwithstanding the world's refusal to be influenced by the\nrecognition of God's goodness, and in spite of the fact that we are\nobliged daily to see, hear and suffer the world's increasing\nungratefulness the longer it stands, we must not allow ourselves to\nbe led into error; for we will be unable to change it. We must preach\nagainst the evil of ingratitude wherever possible, severely censuring\nit, and faithfully admonish all men to guard against it. At the same\ntime we have to remember the world will not submit. Although\ncompelled to live among the ungrateful, we are not for that reason to\nfall into error nor to cease from doing good. Let our springs be\ndispersed abroad, as Solomon says in Proverbs 5, 16. Let us\ncontinually do good, not faltering when others receive our good as\nevil. Just as God causes his sun to rise on the thankful and the\nunthankful. Mt 5, 45.\n\n20. But if your good works are wrought with the object of securing\nthe thanks and applause of the world, you will meet with a reception\nquite the reverse. Your reward will justly be that of him who crushes\nwith his teeth the hollow nut only to defile his mouth. Now, if when\ningratitude is met with, you angrily wish to pull down mountains, and\nresolve to give up doing good, you are no longer a Christian. You\ninjure yourself and accomplish nothing. Can you not be mindful of\nyour environment--that you are still in the world where vice and\ningratitude hold sway? that you are, as the phrase goes, with \"those\nwho return evil for good\"? He who would escape this fact must flee\nthe boundaries of the world. It requires no great wisdom to live only\namong the godly and do good, but the keenest judgment is necessary to\nlive with the wicked and not do evil.\n\n21. Christianity should be begun in youth, to give practice in the\nendurance that will enable one to do good to all men while expecting\nevil in return. Not that the Christian is to commend and approve evil\nconduct; he is to censure and restrain wickedness to the limit of the\nauthority his position in life affords. It is the best testimony to\nthe real merit of a work when its beneficiaries are not only\nungrateful but return evil. For its results tend to restrain the doer\nfrom a too high opinion of himself, and the character of the work is\ntoo precious in God's sight for the world to be worthy of rewarding\nit.\n\n\nII. THE DUTY OF PRAYER.\n\n22. The other Christian duty named by Paul in this passage is that of\nprayer. The two obligations--gratitude for benefits received, and\nprayer for the preservation and growth of God's work begun in us--are\nproperly related. Prayer is of supreme importance, for the devil and\nthe world assail us and delight in turning us aside; we have\ncontinually to resist wickedness. So the conflict is a sore one for\nour feeble flesh and blood, and we cannot stand unvanquished unless\nthere be constant, earnest invocation of divine aid. Gratitude and\nprayer are essential and must accompany each other, according to the\nrequirements of the daily sacrifice of the Old Testament: the\noffering of praise, or thank-offering, thanks to God for blessings\nreceived; and the sacrifice of prayer, or the Lord's Prayer--the\npetition against the wickedness and evil from which we would be\nreleased.\n\n23. Our life has not yet reached the heights it is destined to\nattain. We know here only its incipient first-fruits. Desire is not\nsatisfied; we have but a foretaste. As yet we only realize by faith\nwhat is bestowed upon us; full and tangible occupancy is to come.\nTherefore, we need to pray because of the limitations that bind our\nearthly life, until we go yonder where prayer is unnecessary, and all\nis happiness, purity of life and one eternal song of thanks and\npraise to God.\n\nBut heavenly praise and joy is to have its inception and a measure of\ngrowth here on earth through the encouragement of prayer--prayer for\nourselves and the Church as a whole; that is, for them who have\naccepted and believe the Gospel and are thus mutually helpful. For\nthe Gospel will receive greater exaltation and will inspire more joy\nwith the individual because of its acceptance by the many. So Paul\nsays he thanks God for the fellowship of the Philippians in the\nGospel, and offers prayer in their behalf.\n\n\nPRAYER FOR OTHERS.\n\n24. Yes, it should be the joy of a Christian heart to see multitudes\naccept the offer of mercy, and praise and thank God with him. This\ndesire for the participation of others in the Gospel promotes the\nspirit of prayer. The Christian cannot be a misanthrope, wholly\nunconcerned whether his fellows believe or not. He should be\ninterested in all men and unceasingly long and pray for their\nsalvation; for the sanctification of God's name, the coming of his\nkingdom, the fulfilment of his will; and for the exposure everywhere\nof the devil's deceptions, the suppression of his murderous power\nover poor souls and the restraint of his authority.\n\n25. This prayer should be the sincere, earnest outflow of the true\nChristian's heart. Note, Paul's words here indicate that his praise\nand prayer were inspired by a fervent spirit. It is impossible that\nthe words \"I thank my God upon all my remembrance of you, always in\nevery supplication\" be the expression of any but a heart full of such\nsentiments.\n\nTruly, Paul speaks in a way worthy of an apostle--saying he renders\npraise and prayer with keenest pleasure. He rejoices in his heart\nthat he has somewhere a little band of Christians who love the Gospel\nand with whom he may rejoice; that he may thank God for them and pray\nin their behalf. Was there not much more reason that all they who had\nheard the Gospel should rejoice, and thank Paul in heart and in\nexpression for it, praying God in his behalf? should rejoice that\nthey became worthy of the apostle's favor, were delivered from their\nblindness and had now received from him the light transferring from\nsin and death into the grace of God and eternal life?\n\n26. But Paul does not wait for them to take the initiative, as they\nought to have done to declare their joy and their gratitude to him.\nIn his first utterance he pours out the joy of his heart, fervently\nthanking God for them, etc. Well might they have blushed, and\nreproached themselves, when they received the epistle beginning with\nthese words. Well might they have said, \"We should not have permitted\nhim to speak in this way; it was our place first to show him\ngratitude and joy.\"\n\n\nFEW BELIEVERS NO REASON FOR DISCOURAGEMENT.\n\n27. We shall not soon be able to boast the attainment of that\nbeautiful, perfect Christian spirit the apostle's words portray.\nSeeing how the apostle rejoices over finding a few believers in the\nGospel, why should we complain because of the smaller number who\naccord us a hearing and seriously accept the Word of God? We have no\ngreat reason to complain nor to be discouraged since Christ and the\nprophets and apostles, meeting with the same backwardness on the part\nof the people, still were gratified over the occasional few who\naccepted the faith. We note how Christ rejoiced when now and then he\nfound one who had true faith, and on the other hand was depressed\nwhen his own people refused to hear him, and reluctantly censured\nthem. And Paul did not meet with more encouragement. In all the Roman\nEmpire--and through the greater part of it he had traveled with the\nGospel--he only occasionally found a place where was even a small\nband of earnest Christians; but over them he peculiarly rejoices,\nfinding in them greater consolation than in all the treasures on\nearth.\n\n28. But it is a prophecy of good to the world, a portent of ultimate\nsuccess, that Christ and his apostles and ministers must rejoice over\nan occasional reception of the beloved Word. Such acceptance will\ntell in time. One would think all men might eagerly have hastened to\nthe ends of the earth to be afforded an opportunity of hearing an\napostle. But Paul had to go through the world himself upon his\nministry, enduring great fatigue and encountering privations and\ngrave dangers, being rejected and trampled upon by all men. However,\ndisregarding it all, he rejoiced to be able now and then to see some\nsoul accept the Gospel. In time past it was not necessary for the\nPope and his officials to run after anyone. They sat in lordly\nauthority in their kingdom, and all men had to obey their summons,\nwherever wanted, and that without thanks.\n\n29. What running on the part of our fathers, even of many of us, as\nif we were foolish--running from all countries, hundreds of miles, to\nJerusalem, to the holy sepulcher, to Compostella, St. James, Rome, to\nthe heads of St. Peter and St. Paul; some barefooted and others in\ncomplete armor--all this, to say nothing of innumerable other\npilgrimages! We thus expended large sums of money, and thanked God,\nand rejoiced to be able thereby to purchase the wicked indulgences of\nthe Pope and to be worthy to look upon or to kiss the bones of the\ndead exhibited as holy relics, but preferably to kiss the feet of His\nMost Holy Holiness, the Pope. This condition of things the world\ndesires again, and it shall have nothing better.\n\n\n\n\n_Twenty Third Sunday After Trinity_\n\nText: Philippians 3, 17-21.\n\n17 Brethren, be ye imitators [followers] together of me, and mark\nthem that so walk even as ye have us for an ensample. 18 For many\nwalk, of whom I told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that\nthey are the enemies of the cross of Christ: 19 whose end is\nperdition, whose god is the belly, and whose glory is in their shame,\nwho mind earthly things. 20 For our citizenship [conversation] is in\nheaven; whence also we wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: 21\nwho shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation [change our vile\nbody], that it may be conformed [fashioned] to the body of his glory,\naccording to the working whereby he is able even to subject all\nthings unto himself.\n\n\nENEMIES OF THE CROSS OF CHRIST AND THE CHRISTIAN'S CITIZENSHIP IN\nHEAVEN.\n\n1. Paul immeasurably extols the Philippians for having made a good\nbeginning in the holy Gospel and for having acquitted themselves\ncommendably, like men in earnest, as manifest by their fruits of\nfaith. The reason he shows this sincere and strong concern for them\nis his desire that they remain steadfast, not being led astray by\nfalse teachers among the roaming Jews. For at that time many Jews\nwent about with the intent of perverting Paul's converts, pretending\nthey taught something far better; while they drew the people away\nfrom Christ and back to the Law, for the purpose of establishing and\nextending their Jewish doctrines.\n\nPaul, contemplating with special interest and pleasure his Church of\nthe Philippians, is moved by parental care to admonish them--lest\nthey sometime be misled by such teachers--to hold steadily to what\nthey have received, not seeking anything else and not imagining, like\nself-secure, besotted souls who allow themselves to be deceived by\nthe devil--not imagining themselves perfect and with complete\nunderstanding in all things. In the verses just preceding our text he\nspeaks of himself as having not yet attained to full knowledge.\n\n\nPURITY OF DOCTRINE ENJOINED.\n\n2. He particularly admonishes them to follow him and to mark those\nministers who walk as he does; also to shape their belief and conduct\nby the pattern they have received from him. Not only of himself does\nhe make an example, but introduces them who similarly walk, several\nof whom he mentions in this letter to the Philippians. The\nindividuals whom he bids them observe and follow must have been\npersons of special eminence. But it is particularly the doctrine the\napostle would have the Philippians pattern after. Therefore we should\nbe chiefly concerned about preserving the purity of the office of the\nministry and the genuineness of faith. When these are kept unsullied,\ndoctrine will be right, and good works spontaneous. Later on, in\nchapter 4, verse 8, Paul admonishes, with reference to the same\nsubject: \"If there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think\non these things.\"\n\n3. Apparently Paul is a rash man to dare boast himself a pattern for\nall. Other ministers might well accuse him of desiring to exalt his\nindividual self above others. \"Think you,\" our wise ones would say to\nhim, \"that you alone have the Holy Spirit, or that no one else is as\neager for honor as yourself?\" Just so did Miriam and Aaron murmur\nagainst Moses, their own brother, saying: \"Hath Jehovah indeed spoken\nonly with Moses? hath he not spoken also with us?\" Num 12, 2. And it\nwould seem as if Paul had too high an appreciation of his own\ncharacter did he hold up his individual self as a pattern, intimating\nthat no one was to be noted as worthy unless he walked as he did;\nthough there might be some who apparently gave greater evidence of\nthe Spirit, of holiness, humility and other graces, than himself, and\nyet walked not in his way.\n\n4. But he does not say \"I, Paul, alone.\" He says, \"as ye have us for\nan example\", that does not exclude other true apostles and teachers.\nHe is admonishing his Church, as he everywhere does, to hold fast to\nthe one true doctrine received from him in the beginning. They are\nnot to be too confident of their own wisdom in the matter, or to\npresume they have independent authority; but rather to guard against\npretenders to a superior doctrine, for so had some been misled.\n\n\nRIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE LAW IS VAIN.\n\n5. In what respect he was a pattern or example to them, he has made\nplain; for instance, in the beginning of this chapter, in the third\nverse and following, he says: \"For we are the circumcision, who\nworship by the Spirit of God, and glory in Christ Jesus, and have no\nconfidence in the flesh: though I myself might have confidence even\nin the flesh: if any other man thinketh to have confidence in the\nflesh, I yet more: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of\nIsrael, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews.\" That is, he\ncommands the highest honor a Jew can boast. \"As touching the law,\" he\ngoes on, \"a Pharisee; as touching zeal, persecuting the Church; as\ntouching the righteousness which is in the law, found blameless.\nHowbeit what things were gain to me, these have I counted loss for\nChrist. Yea verily, and I count all things to be loss for the\nexcellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I\nsuffered the loss of all things, and do count them but refuse, that I\nmay gain Christ, and be found in him, not having a righteousness of\nmine own, even that which is of the law, but that which is through\nfaith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.\"\n\n6. \"Behold, this is the picture or pattern,\" he would say, \"which we\nhold up for you to follow, that remembering how you obtained\nrighteousness you may hold to it--a righteousness not of the Law.\" So\nfar as the righteousness of the Law is concerned, Paul dares to say\nhe regards it as filth and refuse (that proceeds from the human\nbody); notwithstanding in its beautiful and blameless form it may be\nunsurpassed by anything in the world--such righteousness as was\nmanifest in sincere Jews, and in Paul himself before his conversion;\nfor these in their great holiness, regarded Christians as knaves and\nmeriting damnation, and consequently took delight in being party to\nthe persecution and murder of Christians.\n\n7. \"Yet,\" Paul would say, \"I who am a Jew by birth have counted all\nthis merit as simply loss that I might be found in 'the righteousness\nwhich is from God by faith'.\" Only the righteousness of faith teaches\nus how to apprehend God--how to confidently console ourselves with\nhis grace and await a future life, expecting to approach Christ in\nthe resurrection. By \"approaching\" him we mean to meet him in death\nand at the judgment day without terror, not fleeing but gladly\ndrawing near and hailing him with joy as one waited for with intense\nlonging.\n\nNow, the righteousness of the Law cannot effect such confidence of\nmind. Hence, for me it avails nothing before God; rather it is a\ndetriment. What does avail is God's imputation of righteousness for\nChrist's sake, through faith. God declares to us in his Word that the\nbeliever in his Son shall, for Christ's own sake, have God's grace\nand eternal life. He who knows this is able to wait in hope for the\nlast day, having no fear, no disposition to flee.\n\n8. But is it not treating the righteousness of the Law with\nirreverence and contempt to regard it--and so teach--as something not\nonly useless and even obstructive, but injurious, loathsome and\nabominable? Who would have been able to make such a bold statement,\nand to censure a life so faultless and conforming so closely to the\nLaw as Paul's, without being pronounced by all men a minion of the\ndevil, had not the apostle made that estimation of it himself? And\nwho is to have any more respect for the righteousness of the Law if\nwe are to preach in that strain?\n\n9. Had Paul confined his denunciations to the righteousness of the\nworld or of the heathen--the righteousness dependent upon reason and\ncontrolled by secular government, by laws and regulations--his\nteaching would not have seemed so irreverent. But he distinctly\nspecifies the righteousness of God's Law, or the Ten Commandments, to\nwhich we owe an obligation far above what is due temporal powers, for\nthey teach how to live before God--something no heathenish court of\njustice, no temporal authority, knows anything about. Should we not\ncondemn as a heretic this preacher who goes beyond his prerogative\nand dares find fault with the Law of God? who also warns us to shun\nsuch as observe it, such as trust in its righteousness, and exalts to\nsainthood \"enemies of the cross of Christ ... whose God is the\nbelly\"--who serve the appetites instead of God?\n\n10. Paul would say of himself: I, too, was such a one. In my most\nperfect righteousness of the Law I was an enemy to and persecutor of\nthe congregation, or Church, of Christ. It was the legitimate fruit\nof my righteousness that I thought I must be party to the most\nhorrible persecution of Christ and his Christians. Thus my holiness\nmade me an actual enemy of Christ and a murderer of his followers.\nThe disposition to injure is a natural result of the righteousness of\nthe Law, as all Scripture history from Cain down testifies, and as we\nsee even in the best of the world who have not come to the knowledge\nof Christ. Princes, civil authorities in proportion to their wisdom,\ntheir godliness and honor are the bitter and intolerant enemies of\nthe Gospel.\n\n11. Of the sensual papistical dolts at Rome, cardinals, bishops,\npriests and the like, it is not necessary to speak here. Their works\nare manifest. All honorable secular authorities must confess they are\nsimply abandoned knaves, living shameless lives of open scandal,\navarice, arrogance, unchastity, vanity, robbery and wickedness of\nevery kind. Not only are they guilty of such living, but shamelessly\nendeavor to defend their conduct. They must, then, be regarded\nenemies of Christ and of all honesty and virtue. Hence every\nrespectable man is justly antagonistic toward them. But, as before\nsaid, Paul is not here referring to this class, but to eminent, godly\nindividuals, whose lives are beyond reproach. These very ones, when\nChristians are encountered, are hostile and heinous enough to be able\nto forget all their own faults in the sight of God, and to magnify to\nhuge beams the motes we Christians have. In fact, they must style the\nGospel heresy and satanic doctrine for the purpose of exalting their\nown holiness and zeal for God.\n\n\nRIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE LAW OPPOSES THE CROSS.\n\n12. The thing seems incredible, and I would not have believed it\nmyself, nor have understood Paul's words here, had I not witnessed it\nwith my own eyes and experienced it. Were the apostle to repeat the\ncharge today, who could conceive that our first, noblest, most\nrespectable, godly and holy people, those whom we might expect, above\nall others, to accept the Word of God--that they, I say, should be\nenemies to the Christian doctrine? But the examples before us testify\nvery plainly that the \"enemies\" the apostle refers to must be the\nindividuals styled godly and worthy princes and noblemen, honorable\ncitizens, learned, wise, intelligent individuals. Yet if these could\ndevour at one bite the \"Evangelicals,\" as they are now called, they\nwould do it.\n\n13. If you ask, Whence such a disposition? I answer, it naturally\nsprings from human righteousness. For every individual who professes\nhuman righteousness, and knows nothing of Christ, holds that\nefficacious before God. He relies upon it and gratifies himself with\nit, presuming thereby to present a flattering appearance in God's\nsight and to render himself peculiarly acceptable to him. From being\nproud and arrogant toward God, he comes to reject them who are not\nrighteous according to the Law; as illustrated in the instance of the\nPharisee. Lk 18, 11-12. But greater is his enmity and more bitter his\nhatred toward the preaching that dares to censure such righteousness\nand assert its futility to merit God's grace and eternal life.\n\n14. I myself, and others with me, were dominated by such feelings\nwhen, under popery, we claimed to be holy and pious; we must confess\nthe fact. If thirty years ago, when I was a devout, holy monk,\nholding mass every day and having no thought but that I was in the\nroad leading directly to heaven--if then anyone had accused me--had\npreached to me the things of this text and pronounced our\nrighteousness--which accorded not strictly with the Law of God, but\nconformed to human doctrine and was manifestly idolatrous--pronounced\nit without efficacy and said I was an enemy to the cross of Christ,\nserving my own sensual appetites, I would immediately have at least\nhelped to find stones for putting to death such a Stephen, or to\ngather wood for the burning of this worst of heretics.\n\n15. So human nature ever does. The world cannot conduct itself in any\nother way, when the declaration comes from heaven saying: \"True you\nare a holy man, a great and learned jurist, a conscientious regent, a\nworthy prince, an honorable citizen, and so on, but with all your\nauthority and your upright character you are going to hell; your\nevery act is offensive and condemned in God's sight. If you would be\nsaved you must become an altogether different man; your mind and\nheart must be changed.\" Let this be announced and the fire rises, the\nRhine is all ablaze; for the self-righteous regard it an intolerable\nidea that lives so beautiful, lives devoted to praiseworthy callings,\nshould be publicly censured and condemned by the objectionable\npreaching of a few insignificant individuals regarded as even\npernicious, and according to Paul, as filthy refuse, actual obstacles\nto eternal life.\n\n16. But you may say: \"What? Do you forbid good works? Is it not right\nto lead an honorable, virtuous life? Do you not acknowledge the\nnecessity of political laws, of civil governments? that upon\nobedience to them depends the maintenance of discipline, peace and\nhonor? Indeed, do you not admit that God himself commands such\ninstitutions and wills their observance, punishing where they are\ndisregarded? Much more would he have his own Law and the Ten\nCommandments honored, not rejected. How dare you then assert that\nsuch righteousness is misleading, and obstructive to eternal life?\nWhat consistence is there in teaching people to observe the things of\nthe Law, to be righteous in that respect, and at the same time\ncensuring those things as condemned before God? How can the works of\nthe Law be good and precious, and yet repulsive and productive of\nevil?\"\n\n17. I answer, Paul well knows the world takes its stand on this point\nof righteousness by the Law, and hence would contradict him. But let\nhim who will, consult the apostle as to why he makes such bold\nassertions here. For indeed the words of the text are not our words,\nbut his. True, law and government are essential in temporal life, as\nPaul himself confesses, and God would have everyone honor and obey\nthem. Indeed, he has ordained their observance among Turks and\nheathen. Yet it is a fact that these people, even the best and most\nupright of them, they who lead honorable lives, are naturally in\ntheir hearts enemies to Christ, and devote their intellectual powers\nto exterminating God's people.\n\nIt must be universally admitted that the Turks, with all the\nrestrictions and austerity of life imposed upon them by the Koran, a\nlife more rigorous even than that of Christians--it must be admitted\nthey belong to the devil. In other words, we adjudge them condemned\nwith all their righteousness, but at the same time say they do right\nin punishing thieves, robbers, murderers, drunkards and other\noffenders; more, that Christians living within their jurisdiction are\nunder obligation to pay tribute, and to serve them with person and\nproperty. Precisely the same thing is true respecting our princes who\npersecute the Gospel and are open enemies to Christ: we must be\nobedient to them, paying the tribute and rendering the service\nimposed; yet they, and all obedient followers willingly consenting to\nthe persecution of the Gospel, must be looked upon as condemned\nbefore God.\n\n18. Similarly does Paul speak concerning the righteousness of all the\nJews and pious saints who are not Christians. His utterance is bold\nand of certain sound. He censures them and, weeping, deprecatingly\nrefers to certain who direct the people to the righteousness of the\nlaw with the sole result of making \"enemies to the cross of Christ.\"\n\n19. Again, all the praise he has for them is to say that their \"end\nis perdition\"; they are condemned in spite of strenuous efforts all\ntheir lives to teach and enforce the righteousness of works. Here on\nearth it is truly a priceless distinction, an admirable and noble\ntreasure, a praiseworthy honor, to have the name of being a godly and\nupright prince, ruler or citizen; a pious, virtuous wife or virgin.\nWho would not praise and exalt such virtue? It is indeed a rare and\nvaluable thing in the world. But however beautiful, priceless and\nadmirable an honor it is, Paul tells us, it is ultimately condemned\nand pertains not to heaven.\n\n\nHUMAN RIGHTEOUSNESS IDOLATROUS.\n\n20. The apostle makes his accusation yet more galling with the words\n\"whose god is their belly.\" Thus you hear how human righteousness,\neven at its best, extends no higher than to service of the sensual\nappetites. Take all the wisdom, justice, jurisprudence, artifice,\neven the highest virtues the world affords, and what are they? They\nminister only to that god, carnal appetite. They can go no farther\nthan the needs of this life, their whole purpose being to satisfy\nphysical cravings. When the physical appetites of the worldly pass,\nthey pass likewise, and the gifts and virtues we have mentioned can\nno longer serve them. All perish and go to destruction\ntogether--righteousness, virtues, laws and physical appetites which\nthey have served as their god. For they are wholly ignorant of the\ntrue and eternal God; they know not how to serve him and receive\neternal life. So then in its essential features such a life is merely\nidolatrous, having no greater object than the preservation of this\nperishable body and its enjoyment of peace and honor.\n\n21. The fourth accusation is, \"whose glory is in their shame.\" That\nis all their glory amounts to. Let wise philosophers, scrupulous\nheathen, keen jurists, receive the acme of praise and honor--it is\nyet but shame. True, their motto is \"Love of Virtue\"; they boast\nstrong love of virtue and righteousness and may even think themselves\nsincere. But judged by final results, their boast is without\nfoundation and ends in shame. For the utmost their righteousness can\neffect is the applause of the world--here on earth. Before God it\navails nothing. It cannot touch the life to come. Ultimately it\nleaves its possessor a captive in shame. Death devours and hell\nclutches him.\n\n22. You may again object, \"If what you say is true, why observe\ntemporal restrictions? Let us live in indulgent carelessness\nfollowing our inclinations. Let pass the godly, honorable man; the\nvirtuous, upright wife or virgin.\" I answer, By no means; that is not\nthe design. You have heard it is God's command and will that there be\ntemporal righteousness even among Turks and heathen. And later on\n(ch. 4, 8) Paul admonishes Christians to \"think on these things,\"\nthat is, on what is true. He says: \"Whatsoever things are honorable,\nwhatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever\nthings are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be\nany virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.\" And\ncontinuing, in verse 9, he refers them to his own example, saying,\n\"which ye both learned and received and heard and saw in me.\"\n\n\nFRUITS OF FAITH.\n\n23. With the believers in Christ, them who have their righteousness\nin him, there should follow in this life on earth the fruits of\nupright living, in obedience to God. These fruits constitute the good\nworks acceptable to God, which, being works of faith and wrought in\nChrist, will be rewarded in the life to come. But Paul has in mind\nthe individuals who, rejecting faith in Christ, regard their\nself-directed lives, their humanly-wrought works, which conform to\nthe Law, as righteousness availing in the sight of God. His reference\nis to them who so trust, though wholly ignorant of Christ, for whose\nsake, without any merit on our part, righteousness is imputed to us\nby God. The only condition is we must believe in Christ; for he\nbecame man, died for our sins and rose from the dead, for the very\npurpose of liberating us from our sins and granting us his\nresurrection and life. Toward the heavenly life we should tend, in\nour life here walking in harmony with it; as Paul says in conclusion:\n\"Our citizenship is in heaven [not earthly and not confined to this\ntemporal life only]; whence also we wait for a Saviour, the Lord\nJesus Christ.\"\n\nIf we have no knowledge, no consciousness, of this fact, it matters\nnot how beautiful and praiseworthy our human, earthly righteousness\nmay be, it is merely a hindrance and an injury. For flesh and blood\ncannot help relying on its own righteousness and arrogantly boasting\nin this strain: \"We are better, more honorable, more godly, than\nothers. We Jews are the people of God and keep his Law.\" Even\nChristians are not wholly free from the pernicious influence of human\nholiness. They ever seek to bring their own works and merits before\nGod. I know for myself what pains are inflicted by this godless\nwisdom, this figment of righteousness, and what effort must be made\nbefore the serpent's head is bruised.\n\n24. Now, this is the situation and there is no alternative: Either\nsuffer hell or regard your human righteousness as loss and filth and\nendeavor not to be found relying on it at your last hour, in the\npresence of God and judgment, but rather stand in the righteousness\nof Christ. In the garment of Christ's righteousness and reared in him\nyou may, in the resurrection from sin and death, meet Christ and\nexclaim: \"Hail, beloved Lord and Saviour, thou who hast redeemed me\nfrom the wretched body of sin and death, and fashioned me like unto\nthy holy, pure and glorious body!\"\n\n\nGOD'S PATIENCE WITH HUMAN RIGHTEOUSNESS.\n\n25. Meantime, while we walk in the faith of his righteousness, he has\npatience with the poor, frail righteousness of this earthly life,\nwhich otherwise is but filth in his sight. He honors our human\nholiness by supporting and protecting it during the time we live on\nearth; just as we honor our corrupt, filthy bodies, adorning them\nwith beautiful, costly garments and golden ornaments, and reposing\nthem on cushions and beds of luxury. Though but stench and filth\nencased in flesh, they are honored above everything else on earth.\nFor their sake are all things performed--the ordering and ruling,\nbuilding and laboring; and God himself permits sun and moon to shine\nthat they may receive light and heat, and everything to grow on earth\nfor their benefit. What is the human body but a beautiful pyx\ncontaining that filthy, repulsive object of reverence, the digestive\norgans, which the body must always patiently carry about; yes, which\nwe must even nourish and minister to, glad if only they perform their\nfunctions properly?\n\n26. Similarly God deals with us. Because he would confer eternal life\nupon man, he patiently endures the filthy righteousness of this life\nwherein we must dwell until the last day, for the sake of his chosen\npeople and until the number is complete. For so long as the final day\nis deferred, not all to have eternal life are yet born. When the time\nshall be fulfilled, the number completed, God will suddenly bring to\nan end the world with its governments, its jurists and authorities,\nits conditions of life; in short, he will utterly abolish earthly\nrighteousness, destroying physical appetites and all else together.\nFor every form of human holiness is condemned to destruction; yet for\nthe sake of Christians, to whom eternal life is appointed, and for\ntheir sake only, all these must be perpetuated until the last saint\nis born and has attained life everlasting. Were there but one saint\nyet to be born, for the sake of that one the world must remain. For\nGod regards not the world nor has he need for it, except for the sake\nof his Christians.\n\n27. Therefore, when God enjoins upon us obedience to the emperor, and\ngodly, honest lives on earth, it is no warrant that our subjection to\ntemporal authority is to continue forever. Instead, God necessarily\nwill minister to, adorn and honor this wretched body--vile body, as\nPaul here has it--with power and dominion. Yet the apostle terms\nhuman righteousness \"filth,\" and says it is not necessary to God's\nkingdom; indeed, that it is condemned in the sight of God with all\nits honor and glory, and all the world must be ashamed of it in his\npresence, confessing themselves guilty. Paul in Romans 3, 27 and 4, 2\ntestifies to this fact when he tells how even the exalted, holy\nfathers--Abraham, and others--though having glory before the world\nbecause of their righteous works, could not make them serve to obtain\nhonor before God. Much less will worldly honor avail with God in the\ncase of individuals who, being called honorable, pious, honest,\nvirtuous--lords and princes, wives and husbands--boast of such\nrighteousness.\n\n28. Outwardly, then, though your righteousness may appear dazzlingly\nbeautiful before the world, inwardly you are but filth. Illustrative\nof this point is the story told of a certain nun regarded holy above\nall others. She would not fellowship with anyone else, but sat alone\nin her cell in rapt devotion, praying unceasingly. She boasted\nspecial revelations and visions and had no consciousness of anything\nbut that beloved angels hovered about and adorned her with a golden\ncrown. But some outside, ardently desiring to behold such sights,\npeeped through holes and crevices, and seeing her head but defiled\nwith filth, laughed at her.\n\n29. Notice, the reason Paul calls the righteousness of the Law filth\nand pollution, is his desire to denounce the honor and glory claimed\nfor it in God's sight; notwithstanding he honors before the world the\nobservance of the Law by styling it \"righteousness.\" But if you\nostentatiously boast of such righteousness to him, he pronounces his\nsentence of judgment making you an abomination, an enemy of the cross\nof Christ, and shaming your boasted honor and finally casting you\ninto hell. Concerning the righteousness of faith, however, which in\nChrist avails before God, he says:\n\n\"Our citizenship [conversation] is in heaven, from whence also we\nlook for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ; who shall change our\nvile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body.\"\n\n30. We who are baptized and believe in Christ, Paul's thought is, do\nnot base our works and our hope on the righteousness of this temporal\nlife. Through faith in Christ, we have a righteousness that holds in\nheaven. It abides in Christ alone; otherwise it would avail naught\nbefore God. And our whole concern is to be eternally in Christ; to\nhave our earthly existence culminate in yonder life when Christ shall\ncome and change this life into another, altogether new, pure, holy\nand like unto his own, with a life and a body having the nature of\nhis.\n\n\nTHE CHRISTIAN A CITIZEN OF HEAVEN.\n\n31. Therefore we are no longer citizens of earth. The baptized\nChristian is born a citizen of heaven through baptism. We should be\nmindful of this fact and walk here as if native there. We are to\nconsole ourselves with the fact that God thus accepts us and will\ntransplant us there. Meantime we must await the coming again of the\nSaviour, who is to bring from heaven to us eternal righteousness,\nlife, honor and glory.\n\n32. We are baptized and made Christians, not to the end that we may\nhave great honor, or renown of righteousness, or earthly dominion,\npower and possessions. Notwithstanding we do have these because they\nare requisite to our physical life, yet we are to regard them as mere\nfilth, wherewith we minister to our bodily welfare as best we can for\nthe benefit of posterity. We Christians, however, are expectantly to\nawait the coming of the Saviour. His coming will not be to our injury\nor shame as it may be in the case of others. He comes for the\nsalvation of our unprofitable, impotent bodies. Wretchedly worthless\nas they are in this life, they are much more unprofitable when\nlifeless and perishing in the earth.\n\n33. But, however miserable, powerless and contemptible in life and\ndeath, Christ will at his coming render our bodies beautiful, pure,\nshining and worthy of honor, until they correspond to his own\nimmortal, glorious body. Not like it as it hung on the cross or lay\nin the grave, blood-stained, livid and disgraced; but as it is now,\nglorified at the Father's right hand. We need not, then, be alarmed\nat the necessity of laying aside our earthly bodies; at being\ndespoiled of the honor, righteousness and life adhering in them, to\ndeliver it to the devouring power of death and the grave--something\nwell calculated to terrify the enemies of Christ: but we may joyfully\nhope for and await his speedy coming to deliver us from this\nmiserable, filthy pollution.\n\n\"According to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all\nthings unto himself.\"\n\n\nTHE GLORIFIED BODY OF THE CHRISTIAN.\n\n34. Think of the honor and the glory Christ's righteousness brings\neven to our bodies! How can this poor, sinful, miserable, filthy,\npolluted body become like unto that of the Son of God, the Lord of\nGlory? What are you--your powers and abilities, or those of all men,\nto effect this glorious thing? But Paul says human righteousness,\nmerit, glory and power have nothing to do with it. They are mere\nfilth and pollution, and condemned as well. Another force intervenes,\nthe power of Christ the Lord, who is able to bring all things into\nsubjection to himself. Now, if he has power to subject all things\nunto himself at will, he is also able to glorify the pollution and\nfilth of this wretched body, even when it has become worms and dust.\nIn his hands it is as clay in the hands of the potter, and from the\npolluted lump of clay he can make a vessel that shall be a beautiful,\nnew, pure, glorious body, surpassing the sun in its brilliance and\nbeauty.\n\n35. Through baptism Christ has taken us into his hands, actually that\nhe may exchange our sinful, condemned, perishable, physical lives for\nthe new, imperishable righteousness and life he prepares for body and\nsoul. Such is the power and the agency exalting us to marvelous\nglory--something no earthly righteousness of the Law could\naccomplish. The righteousness of the Law leaves our bodies to shame\nand destruction; it reaches not beyond physical existence. But the\nrighteousness of Christ inspires with power, making evident that we\nworship not the body but the true and living God, who does not leave\nus to shame and destruction, but delivers from sin, death and\ncondemnation, and exalts this perishable body to eternal honor and\nglory.\n\n\n\n\n_Twenty Fourth Sunday After Trinity_\n\nText: Colossians 1, 3-14.\n\n3 We give thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying\nalways for you, 4 having heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of\nthe love which ye have toward all the saints, 5 because of the hope\nwhich is laid up for you in the heavens, whereof ye heard before in\nthe word of the truth of the gospel, 6 which is come unto you; even\nas it is also in all the world bearing fruit and increasing, as it\ndoth in you also, since the day ye heard and knew the grace of God in\ntruth; 7 even as ye learned of Epaphras our beloved fellow-servant,\nwho is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, 8 who also\ndeclared unto us your love in the Spirit.\n\n9 For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to\npray and make request for you, that ye may be filled with the\nknowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10\nto walk worthily of the Lord unto all pleasing, bearing fruit in\nevery good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11\nstrengthened with all power, according to the might of his glory,\nunto all patience and longsuffering with joy; 12 giving thanks unto\nthe Father, who made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of\nthe saints in light; 13 who delivered us out of the power of\ndarkness, and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love;\n14 in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins.\n\n\nPRAYER AND SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE.\n\n1. In this short epistle to the Colossians Paul treats of many\nthings, but particularly of faith, love, patience and gratitude. Upon\nthese topics he is remarkably eloquent, for as God himself declares\nin Acts 9, 15, Paul is a chosen vessel, or instrument, of God--his\nbest preacher on earth. He is particularly strong in his discussion\nof the main principle of the Gospel, faith in Christ. And he exalts\nChrist supremely, in person and kingdom, making him all in all in his\nChurch--God, Lord, Master, Head and Example, and everything\nmentionable in goodness and divinity.\n\n2. The apostle's first words are praise for the Colossians. He\nremarks upon the good report he has heard of them, how they have\nfaith in Christ and love for all saints, and hold fast the hope of\neternal life reserved for them in heaven: in other words, that they\nare true Christians, who have not allowed themselves to be led away\nfrom the pure Word of God but who earnestly cling to it, proving\ntheir faith by their fruits; for they love the poor Christians, and\nfor Christ's sake have endured much in the hope of the promised\nsalvation. So he exalts them as model Christians, a mirror of the\nentire Christian life.\n\n3. \"Hearing these things of you,\" Paul would say, \"I heartily rejoice\nin your good beginning.\" Apparently he was not the one who first\npreached to them. In the first verse of the second chapter he speaks\nof his care for them and others who have not seen his face, and he\nalso intimates here that the Colossians learned of Christ and the\nGospel from Epaphras, Paul's fellow-servant.\n\n4. \"And therefore I always pray for you,\" he writes, \"that you may\ncontinue in this way; may increase and be steadfast.\" He is aware of\nthe necessity for such prayer and exhortation in behalf of Christians\nif they are to abide firm and unchangeable in their new-found faith,\nagainst the ceaseless assaults of the devil, the wickedness of the\nworld, and the weakness of the flesh in tribulation and affliction.\n\n\"That ye may be filled,\" Paul continues, \"with the knowledge of his\nwill.\"\n\n5. This is his chief prayer and desire for them and if it is\nfulfilled there can be no lack. The words are, \"be filled\"; that is,\nnot only hear and understand God's will, but become rich in the\nknowledge of it, with ever-increasing fullness. \"You have begun well;\nyou are promising shoots.\" But something more than a good beginning\nis required, and the knowledge of God's will is not to be\nexhaustively learned immediately on hearing the Word. On the contrary\nit must be constantly pursued and practiced as long as we live if it\nis ever to be rounded and perfected in us.\n\n\nKNOWLEDGE OF GOD'S WILL IMPOSES OBLIGATION.\n\n6. \"Knowing the will of God\" means more than simply knowing about\nGod, that he created heaven and earth and gave the Law, and so on, a\nknowledge even the Jews and Turks possess. For doubtless to them has\nbeen revealed that knowledge of God and of his will concerning our\nconduct which nature--the works of creation--can teach. Rom 1, 20.\nBut if we fail to do God's revealed will, the knowledge of it does\nnot benefit us. Such mere mental consciousness is a vain, empty\nthing; it does not fulfil God's will in us. Indeed, it eventually\nbecomes a condemnatory knowledge of our own eternal destruction. When\nthis point has been reached, further enlightenment is necessary if\nman is to be saved. He must know the meaning of Christ's words in\nJohn 6, 40: \"This is the will of my Father, that every one that\nbeholdeth the Son, and believeth on him, should have eternal life\";\nand in Matthew 18, 14: \"It is not the will of your Father, that one\nof these should perish, which believe on me.\"\n\n7. Since we have not done God's will according to the first\nrevelation and must be rejected and condemned by his eternal,\nunendurable wrath, in his divine wisdom and mercy he has determined,\nor willed, to permit his only Son to take upon himself our sin and\nwrath; to give Christ as a sacrifice for our ransom, whereby the\nunendurable wrath and condemnation might be turned from us; to grant\nus forgiveness of sins and to send the Holy Spirit into our hearts,\nthus enabling us to love God's commandments and delight in them. This\ndetermination or will he reveals through the Son, and commands him to\ndeclare it to the world. And in Matthew 3, 17 he directs us to Christ\nas the source of all these blessings, saying: \"This is my beloved\nSon, in whom I am well pleased: hear ye him.\"\n\n\nSPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE ENJOINED.\n\n8. Paul would gladly have a spiritual knowledge of these things\nincrease in us until we are enriched and filled--wholly assured of\ntheir truth. Sublime and glorious knowledge this, the experience of a\nhuman heart which, born in sins, boldly and confidently believes that\nGod, in his unfathomable majesty, in his divine heart, has\nirrevocably purposed--and wills for all men to accept and believe\nit--that he will not impute sin, but will forgive it and be gracious,\nand grant eternal life, for the sake of his beloved Son.\n\n9. This spiritual knowledge or confidence, is not so easily learned\nas are other things. It is not so readily apprehended as the\nknowledge of the law written in nature, which when duly recognized by\nthe heart overpowers with the conviction of God's wrath. Indeed, that\nmore than anything else hinders Christians and saints from obtaining\nthe knowledge of God's will in Christ, for it compels heart and\nconscience to plead guilty in every respect and to confess having\nmerited the wrath of God; therefore the soul naturally fears and\nflees from God. Then, too, the devil fans the flame of fear and sends\nhis wicked, fiery arrows of dismay into the heart, presenting only\nfrightful pictures and examples of God's anger, filling the heart\nwith this kind of knowledge to the exclusion of every other thought\nor perception. Thus recognition of God's wrath is learned only too\nwell, for it becomes bitterly hard for man to unlearn it, to forget\nit in the knowledge of Christ. Again, the wicked world eagerly\ncontributes its share of hindrance, its bitter hatred and venomous\noutcry against Christians as people of the worst type, outcast,\ncondemned enemies of God. Moreover, by its example it causes the weak\nto stumble. Our flesh and blood also is a drawback, being waywardly\ninclined, making much of its own wisdom and holiness and seeking\nthereby to gain honor and glory or to live in security a life of\nwealth, pleasure and covetousness. Hence on every side a Christian\nmust be in severe conflict, and fight against the world and the\ndevil, and against himself also, if he is to succeed in preserving\nthe knowledge of God's will.\n\n\nWE MUST PRAY FOR SPIRITUAL LIGHT.\n\n10. Now, since this knowledge of the Gospel is so difficult to attain\nand so foreign to nature, it is necessary that we pray for it with\nall earnestness and labor to be increasingly filled with it, and to\nlearn well the will of God. Our own experience testifies that if it\nbe but superficially and improperly learned, when one is overtaken by\na trifling misfortune or alarmed by a slight danger or affliction,\nhis heart is easily overwhelmed with the thunderbolts of God's wrath\nas he reflects: \"Wo to me! God is against me and hates me.\" Why\nshould this miserable \"Wo!\" enter the heart of a Christian upon the\noccasion of a little trouble? If he were filled with the knowledge of\nGod as he should be, and as many secure, self-complacent spirits\nimagine themselves to be, he would not thus fear and make outcry. His\nagitation and his complaint, \"O Lord God! why dost thou permit me to\nsuffer this?\" are evidence that he as yet knows not God's will, or at\nleast has but a faint conception of it; the wo exceeds the joy. But\nfull knowledge of God's will brings with it a joy that far\noverbalances all fear and terror, ay, removes and abolishes them\naltogether.\n\n11. Therefore let us learn this truth and with Paul pray for what we\nand all Christians supremely need--full knowledge of God's will, not\na mere beginning; for we are not to imagine a beginning will suffice\nand to stop there as if we had comprehended it all. Everything is not\naccomplished in the mere planting; watering and cultivation must\nfollow. In this case the watering and cultivating are the Word of\nGod, and prayer against the devil, who day and night labors to\nsuppress spiritual knowledge, to beat down the tender plants wherever\nhe sees them springing up; and also against the world, which promotes\nonly opposition and directs its wisdom and reason to conflicting\nends. Did not God protect us and strengthen the knowledge of his\nwill, we would soon see the devil's power and the extent of our\nspiritual understanding.\n\n12. We have a verification of this assertion in that poetical work,\nthe book of Job. Satan appears before God, who asks (ch. 1, 8): \"Hast\nthou considered my servant Job? for there is none like him in the\nearth, a perfect and upright man, one that feareth God.\" And Satan\nanswers on this wise: \"Yea, thou hast surrounded him with thy\nprotection and kept me at bay; but only withdraw thy hand and I\nventure I will soon bring him around to curse thee to thy face\"; as\nhe afterward did when he afflicted Job with ugly boils and in\naddition filled him with his fiery arrows--terrifying thoughts of\nGod. Further, Christ said to Peter and the other apostles: \"Satan\nasked to have you, that he might sift you as wheat: but I made\nsupplication for thee, that thy faith fail not.\" Lk 22, 31-32. In\nshort, if God hinders him not, Satan dares to overthrow even the\ngreatest and strongest saints.\n\n13. Therefore, although we have become Christians and have made a\nbeginning in the knowledge of God's will, we ought nevertheless to\nwalk in fear and humility, and not to be presumptuous like the\nsoon-wearied, secure spirits, who imagine they exhausted that\nknowledge in an instant, and know not the measure and limit of their\nskill. Such people are particularly pleasing to the devil, for he has\nthem completely in his power and makes use of their teaching and\nexample to harm others and make them likewise secure, and unmindful\nof his presence and of the fact that God may suffer them to be\noverwhelmed. Verily, there is need of earnest and diligent use of the\nWord of God and prayer, that Christians may not only learn to know\nthe will of God, but also to be filled with it. Only so can the\nindividual walk always according to God's will and make constant\nprogress, straining toward the goal of an ever-increasing comfort and\nstrength that shall enable him to face fears and terrors and not\nallow the devil, the world, and flesh and blood to hinder him.\n\n\nSPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE BRINGS INCREASING JOY.\n\n14. Such is the nature of this fullness of knowledge that the\npossessor never becomes satiated with it or tired of it, but it\nyields him ever-increasing pleasure and joy, and he is ever more\neager, more thirsty, for it. As the Scriptures declare, \"They that\ndrink me shall yet be thirsty.\" Ecclus 24, 21. For even the dear\nangels in heaven never become sated with fullness of knowledge, but\nas Peter says, they find an everlasting joy and pleasure in the\nability to behold what is revealed and preached to us. 1 Peter 1, 12.\nTherefore, if we have not a constant hunger and thirst after the full\nand abundant comprehension of God's will--and certainly we ought to\nhave it in greater degree than the angels--until we, too, shall be\nable to behold it eternally in the life everlasting, then we have but\na taste of that knowledge, a mere empty froth, which can neither\nrefresh nor satisfy us, cannot comfort us nor make us better.\n\n\nWHY AFFLICTIONS ARE SENT.\n\n15. To create and stimulate this hunger and thirst in us, and to\nbring us to the attainment of full knowledge, God kindly sends upon\nhis Christians temptation, sorrow and affliction. These preserve them\nfrom carnal satiety and teach them to seek comfort and help. So God\ndid also in former ages, in the time of the martyrs, when he daily\nsuffered them to be violently seized in person and put to death by\nsword, fire, blood and wild beasts. In this way he truly led his\npeople to school, where they were obliged to learn to know his will\nand to be able defiantly to say: \"No, O tyrant, O world, devil and\nflesh, though you may injure me bodily, may beat or torment me,\nbanish me or even take my life, you shall not deprive me of my Lord\nJesus Christ--of God's grace and mercy.\" So faith taught them and\nconfirmed to them that such suffering was God's purpose and immutable\nwill concerning themselves, which, whatever attitude towards them he\nmight assume, he could not alter, even as he could not in the case of\nChrist himself. This discipline and experience of faith strengthened\nthe martyrs and soon accustomed them to suffering, enabling them to\ngo to their death with pleasure and joy. Whence came, even to young\ngirls thirteen and fourteen years old, like Agnes and Agatha, the\ncourage and confidence to stand boldly before the Roman judge, and,\nwhen led to death, to go as joyfully as to a festivity, whence unless\ntheir hearts were filled with a sublime and steadfast faith, a\npositive assurance that God was not angry with them, but that all was\nhis gracious and merciful will and for their highest salvation and\nbliss?\n\n16. Behold, what noble and enlightened, what strong and courageous,\npeople God produced by the discipline of cross and affliction! We, in\ncontrast, because unwilling to experience such suffering, are weak\nand enervated. If but a little smoke gets into our eyes, our joy and\ncourage are gone, likewise our perception of God's will, and we can\nonly raise a loud lamentation and cry of woe. As I said, this is the\ninevitable condition of a heart to which the experience of affliction\nis unknown. Just so Christ's disciples in the ship, when they saw the\ntempest approach and the waves beat over the vessel, quite forgot, in\ntheir trembling and terror, the divine will, although Christ was\npresent with them. They only made anxious lamentation, yet withal\ncried for help: \"Save, Lord; we perish!\" Mt 8, 25. So also in the\ntime of the martyrs, many Christians became timid and at first denied\nChrist from fear of torture or of long confinement in prison.\n\n17. It is God's will that we, too, should learn to accustom ourselves\nto these things through temptation and affliction, though these be\nhard to bear and the heart is prone to become agitated and utter its\ncry of woe. We can quiet our disturbed hearts, saying: \"I know what\nis God's thought, his counsel and will, in Christ, which he will not\nalter: he has promised to me through his Son, and confirmed it\nthrough my baptism, that he who hears and sees the Son shall be\ndelivered from sin and death, and live eternally.\"\n\n18. Now, what Paul calls being filled with the knowledge of the\ndivine will in Christ through the faith of the Gospel, means faith in\nand the comfort of the forgiveness of sins, since we have not in\nourselves the ability to fulfil his will in the ten commandments.\nThis knowledge is not a passive consciousness, but a living, active\nconviction, which will stand before the judgment of God, contend with\nthe devil and prevail over sin, death and life.\n\n19. Now, the heart possessing such knowledge or faith is kindled by\nthe Holy Spirit and acquires a love for and delight in God's\ncommandments. It becomes obedient to them, patient, chaste, modest,\ngentle, given to brotherly kindness, and honors God in confession and\nlife. Thus it is increasingly filled with the knowledge of God's\nwill; it is armed and fortified on all sides to withstand and defeat\nthe flesh and the world, the devil and hell.\n\n\n\"SPIRITUAL WISDOM\" DEFINED.\n\n20. By way of explanation Paul adds the words, \"all spiritual wisdom\nand understanding.\" This is not the wisdom of the world. There is no\nnecessity to strive and to endure persecution for that which concerns\nitself with other than spiritual matters. Nor is it the wisdom of\nreason, which indeed presumes to judge of divine things, but yet can\nnever understand them; on the contrary, although it accepts them, it\nquickly falls away into doubt and despair.\n\n21. \"Wisdom\" signifies with Paul, when he places it in apposition\nwith \"spiritual understanding,\" the sublime and secret doctrine of\nthe Gospel of Christ, which teaches us to know the will of God. And a\n\"wise man\" is a Christian, who knows himself and can intelligently\ninterpret God's will toward us and how we perceive his will by\nfaith--growing and obediently living in harmony with it. This wisdom\nis not devised of reason; it has not entered into the heart of man\nnor is it known to any of the princes of this world, as Paul says in\n1 Corinthians 2, 8-10. But it is revealed from Heaven by the Holy\nSpirit to those who believe the Gospel.\n\n22. But there is necessary to the full completion of wisdom something\nwhich the apostle calls \"understanding\"; that is, a careful retention\nof what has been received. It is possible for one having the\nspiritual wisdom to be overtaken by the devil through a momentary\nintellectual inspiration, or through anger and impatience, or even\nthrough greed and similar deceitful allurements. Therefore it is\nnecessary here to be cautious, alert and watchful in an effort to\nguard against the devil's cunning attacks and always to oppose him\nwith his own spiritual wisdom, that he may not be undeceived. The\nPauline and scriptural use of the word \"understanding\" signifies the\nability to make good use of one's wisdom; to make it effective as a\ntest whereby to prove all things, to judge with keen discernment\nwhatever presents itself in the name and appearance of wisdom. Thus\narmed, the soul defends itself and does not in any case violate its\nown discretion. To furnish himself with understanding, the Christian\nmust ever have regard to the Word of God, must put it into practice,\nlest the devil dazzle his mind with some palaver and error and\ndeceive him before he is aware of it. This Satan is well able to do;\nindeed, he uses every art to accomplish it if a man be not on his\nguard and seek not counsel in God's Word. Such is the teaching of\nDavid's example, who says in Psalm 119, 11: \"Thy word have I laid up\nin my heart, that I might not sin against thee.\" And again in verse\n24: \"Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counsellors.\"\n\n23. A man may be familiar with God's Word, yet if he walks in\nself-security, concerned about other matters, or if perhaps being\ntempted he loses sight of God's Word, it may easily come to pass that\nhe is seduced and deceived by the secret craft and cunning of the\ndevil; or of himself he may become bewildered, losing his wisdom and\nbeing unable to find counsel or help even in the most trivial\ntemptations. For the devil and reason, or human wisdom, can dispute\nand syllogize with extraordinary subtlety in these things until one\nimagines to be true wisdom that which is not. A wise man soon becomes\na fool; men readily err and make false steps; a Christian likewise is\nprone to stumble; ay, even a good teacher and prophet can easily be\ndeceived by reason's brilliant logic. Essentially, then, Christians\nmust take warning and study, with careful meditation, the Word of\nGod.\n\n24. We read of St. Martin how he would not undertake to dispute with\nheretics for the simple reason that he was unwilling to fall into\nwrangling, to rationalize with them or to attempt to defeat them by\nthe weapon of reason, the sole means whereby they pointed and adorned\nall their arguments, as the world always does when opposing the Word\nof God. The shrewd Papists today pretend, as they think, very acutely\nto confirm and support all their antichristian abominations by the\nname of the Church, making the idiotic claim that one must not effect\nnor suffer any change in the religious teaching commonly accepted by\nChristendom. They say we must believe the Christian Church is always\nguided by the Holy Spirit and therefore demands our obedience. Notice\nhere the name of the Church, concerning which your spiritual wisdom\nteaches according to the article: \"I believe in a holy Christian\nChurch.\" But that name is distorted to confirm the lies and idolatry\nof the Papacy, just as is true of the name of God. So there is need\nof understanding, of careful, keen discernment, that wisdom be not\nperverted and falsified, and man be deceived with its counterfeit.\n\n25. By close examination and comparison with God's Word, the standard\nand test, you may clearly prove the Papacy to be not the Church of\nChrist, but a sect of Satan; it is filled with open idolatry, lies\nand murder, which its adherents fain would defend. These things the\nChurch of Christ does not endorse, and to tax it with resolving,\nappointing, ordering and demanding obedience to that which is at\nvariance with the Word of God, is to do the Church wrong and\nviolence.\n\n\nCHURCH NOT TO COMPROMISE WITH PAPISTS.\n\n26. The world at the present time is sagaciously discussing how to\nquell the controversy and strife over doctrine and faith, and how to\neffect a compromise between the Church and the Papacy. Let the\nlearned, the wise, it is said, bishops, emperor and princes,\narbitrate. Each side can easily yield something, and it is better to\nconcede some things which can be construed according to individual\ninterpretation, than that so much persecution, bloodshed, war, and\nterrible, endless dissension and destruction be permitted. Here is\nlack of understanding, for understanding proves by the Word that such\npatchwork is not according to God's will, but that doctrine, faith\nand worship must be preserved pure and unadulterated; there must be\nno mingling with human nonsense, human opinions or wisdom. The\nScriptures give us this rule: \"We must obey God rather than men.\"\nActs 5, 29.\n\n27. We must not, then, regard nor follow the counsels of human\nwisdom, but must keep ever before us God's will as revealed by his\nWord; we are to abide by that for death or life, for evil or good. If\nwar or other calamity results complain to him who wills and commands\nus to teach and believe our doctrine. The calamity is not of our\neffecting; we have not originated it. And we are not required to\nprove by argument whether or no God's will is right and to be obeyed.\nIf he wills to permit persecution and other evils to arise in\nconsequence of our teaching, for the trial and experience of true\nChristians and for the punishment of the ungrateful, let them come;\nand if not, his hand is doubtless strong enough to defend and\npreserve his cause from destruction, that man may know the events to\nbe of his ordering. And so, praise his name, he has done in our case.\nHe has supported us against the strong desires of our adversaries.\nHad we yielded and obeyed them, we would have been drawn into their\nfalsehood and destruction. And God will still support us if we deal\nuprightly and faithfully in these requirements, if we further and\nhonor the Word of God, and be not unthankful nor seek things that\ncounterfeit God's Word.\n\n28. So much by way of explaining what Paul means by wisdom and\nunderstanding to know the will of God, and by way of teaching the\nnecessity of having both wisdom and understanding. For not only must\nthe doctrine whereby wisdom is imparted be inculcated in Christendom,\nbut there is also need for admonition and exhortation concerning that\nunderstanding necessary to preserve wisdom, and for defense in strife\nand conflict. Were not these principles exercised and inculcated in\nus, we would be deceived by false wisdom and vain imaginations, and\nwould accept their gloss and glitter for pure gold, as many in the\nChurch have ever done.\n\n29. The Galatians had received from Paul the wisdom of justification\nbefore God by faith in Christ alone. Nevertheless, in spite of that\nknowledge, they were deceived and would have lost their wisdom\naltogether through the claim of the false prophets that the God-given\nLaw must be observed, had not Paul aroused their understanding at\nthis point and brought them back from error. The Corinthians were\ntaught by their spiritual wisdom the article of Christian liberty;\nthey knew that sacrifices to idols are nothing. But they failed in\nthis respect: they proceeded without understanding, and made carnal\nuse of their liberty, contrary to wisdom and offending others.\nTherefore Paul had to remind them of their departure from his\ndoctrine and wisdom.\n\n30. The Scriptures record many instances of failure in this matter of\nunderstanding. A notable one is found in the thirteenth chapter of\nFirst Kings. A man of God from the kingdom of Judah, who had in the\npresence of King Jeroboam openly denounced the idolatry instituted by\nthe king, and had confirmed his preaching and prophecy by a miracle,\nwas commanded by God not under any circumstances to abide in the\nplace whither he had gone to prophesy, nor to eat and drink there. He\nwas to go straight home by another way than the route he had come.\nYet on the way homeward he allowed himself to be persuaded by another\nprophet, one who falsely claimed to have a revelation from God, by an\nangel, commanding him to take the man of God to his home and give him\nto eat and drink. While they sat together at the table the Word of\nthe Lord came to the inviting prophet and under its inspiration he\ntold the other that he should not reach home alive. The latter,\ndeparting on his journey, was killed on the way by a lion, which\nremained standing by the body and the ass the man of God had ridden,\nnot touching them further, until the old prophet came and found them.\nHe brought the body home on the ass and buried it, commanding that\nafter his own death he should be laid in the same grave. Such was\nGod's punishment of the prophet who allowed himself to be deceived\nand obeyed not God's express command. However, his soul suffered not\nharm, as God testified by the fact the lion did not devour his body\nbut defended it. Now, in what was the prophet lacking? Not in wisdom,\nfor he had the Word of God. He lacked in understanding, allowing\nhimself to be deceived when the other man declared himself a prophet\nwhom the angel of the Lord had instructed. The man of God should have\nabided by the word given to him, and have said to the other: \"You may\nbe a prophet, indeed, but God has commanded me to do this thing. Of\nthat I am certain and I will be governed by it. I will regard no\nconflicting order, be it in the name of an angel or of God.\"\n\n\nNEITHER REASON NOR FEELINGS A RIGHT JUDGE.\n\n31. So it is often with man today, not only in doctrinal controversy\nbut in private affairs and in official capacity. He is prone to\nstumble and to fail in understanding when not watchful of his\npurposes and motives, to see how they accord with the wisdom of God's\nWord. Particularly is his understanding unreliable when the devil\nmoves him to wrath, impatience, dejection, melancholy, or when he is\notherwise tempted. Often they who have been well exercised with\ntrials become bewildered in small temptations and uncertain what\ncourse to take. Here must one be watchful and not go by his reason or\nhis feelings, but remember God's Word--or ascertain if he does not\nknow what it is--and be guided thereby. When tempted man cannot judge\naright by the dictates of reason. Therefore he ought not to follow\nhis own natural intelligence nor to act from hasty conclusions. Let\nhim be suspicious of all his reasoning and beware the cunning of the\ndevil, who seeks either to allure or to intimidate us by his specious\narguments. First of all let man call upon the understanding born of\nhis wisdom in the Gospel, what his faith, love, hope and patience\ncounsel, in fact, what God's will eloquently teaches everywhere and\nin all circumstances if only one strive, labor and pray to be filled\nwith such knowledge.\n\n32. Paul uses the expression, \"spiritual wisdom and understanding,\"\nbecause it represents that which makes us wise and prudent to oppose\nthe devil and his assaults and temptations, or wiles as Paul calls\nthem in Ephesians 6, 11; which governs and guides, shepherds and\nleads, teaches and keeps us, and enables us to fare well\nspiritually--in faith and a good conscience toward God--and also in\nthe temporal affairs of life when reason fails as a counselor or\nteacher. Paul further says:\n\n\"To walk worthily of the Lord unto all pleasing, bearing fruit in\nevery good work; and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened\nwith all power, according to the might of his glory, unto all\npatience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks unto the Father,\nwho made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in\nlight.\"\n\n33. What is meant by \"walking worthily of the Lord\" we have heard in\nother epistles, namely to believe, and to confess the faith by\ndoctrine and life, as people worthy of the Lord and of whom the Lord\ncan triumphantly say: \"These are my people--Christians who live and\nabide in what they have been taught by the Word, who know my will and\nobediently do and suffer for it.\"\n\n34. Our wisdom and understanding of the knowledge of God should serve\nto make us characters that are an honor and praise to God, in whom he\nmay be glorified, and who live to God unto all pleasing, that is,\nplease him in every way, according to his Word. And because of such\nwisdom and knowledge, we should, in our lives, in our stations and\nappointed work, not be unfruitful nor harmful hypocrites and\nunbelievers, as false Christians are, but doers of much good, useful\ncharacters to the honor of God's kingdom. All the time we are to make\nconstant growth and progress in the knowledge of God, that we may not\nbe seduced or driven from it by the cunning of the devil, who at all\ntimes and in all places assails Christians and strenuously seeks to\neffect their fall from the Word and from God's will, even as in the\nbeginning he did with Adam and Eve in paradise.\n\n\nONLY GOD'S POWER CAN OVERCOME THE DEVIL.\n\n35. The apostle continues: \"strengthened with all power, according to\nthe might of his glory.\" Here is preparation to sustain the conflict\nagainst the devil, the world and the flesh, and to overcome. Not our\nown power, nor the combined power of all mankind, can effect it. Only\nGod's own divine, glorious power and might can overcome the devil and\nwin honor and praise in the contest with the gates of hell. Christ in\nhimself proved such efficacy of the divine strength when he overcame\nall the devil's superlative assaults.\n\n36. By this power and might of God must we be strengthened in faith.\nWe must strive after such divine agency and by the help of the Word\npersevere and pray, that there may be not only a beginning, but a\ncontinuation and a victorious end. So shall we become ever stronger\nand stronger in God's might. Whatever we do, it must not be\nundertaken in and by our own strength. We must not boast as if we had\nourselves accomplished it, but must rely upon God, upon his strength\nand support. Certainly it is not due to our ability but to his own\nomnipotent agency if one remains a Christian, steadfast in the\nknowledge of God and not deceived nor conquered by the devil.\n\n\nPATIENCE ESSENTIAL TO ENDURANCE.\n\n37. But, the writer tells us, the attainment of strength and victory\ncalls for \"all patience.\" We must have patience to endure the\npersistent persecution of the devil, the world and the flesh. Not\nonly patience is required here, but \"longsuffering.\" The apostle\nmakes a distinction between the two words, regarding the latter as\nsomething more heroic. It is the devil's way, when he fails to defeat\nby affliction and trouble, to try the heart with endurance. He makes\nthe ordeal unbearably hard and long to patience, even apparently\nwithout end. His scheme is to accomplish by unceasing persistence\nwhat he cannot attain by the severity and multitude of his\ntemptations; he aims to wear out one's patience and to discourage his\nhope of conquering. To meet these conditions there is necessary, in\naddition to patience, longsuffering, which holds out firmly and\nsteadfastly in suffering, with the determination: \"Indeed, you cannot\ntry me too severely or too long, even though the trial continue to\nthe end of the world.\" True, knightly, Christian strength is that\nwhich in conflict and suffering is able to endure not only severe and\nmanifold assaults of the devil, but to hold out indefinitely. More\nthan anything else do we need to be strengthened, through prayer,\nwith the power of God, that we may not succumb in such grievous\nwarfare, but achieve the end.\n\n\nCHRISTIANS SHOULD REJOICE AND BE THANKFUL.\n\n38. And your patience and longsuffering, Paul says, must be exercised\n\"with joy.\" In these severe, multiplied and long temptations you must\nnot allow yourselves to be filled with sad and depressing thoughts.\nYou are to be hopeful and joyous, despising the devil and the\ntroubles and tumults of the world and himself. Rejoice because you\nhave on your side the knowledge of the divine will in Christ, and his\npower and glorious might, and doubt not that his omnipotence will\nhelp you through.\n\n39. Finally the apostle enjoins us to give thanks, or to be thankful.\nForget not, he would say, the unspeakable benefits and gifts God has\nbestowed upon you above all men on earth. He has richly blessed you,\nand liberated you from the power and might of sin, death, hell and\nthe devil, wherein you would, for all you could help yourselves, have\nhad to remain eternally captive; he has appointed you for eternal\nglory, making you co-heirs with the saints elected for his eternal\nkingdom; and he has made you partakers of all eternal, divine,\nheavenly blessings. In your sufferings and conflicts, remember these\nglories ordained for and given to you, and remembering rejoice the\nmore and willingly fight and suffer to obtain possession, to enjoy\nthe fruition, of what is certainly appropriated to you in the Word\nand in faith.\n\n40. The writer of the epistle calls it \"the inheritance of the saints\nin light,\" or of the \"light\" saints, that is, the true saints. Thus\nhe distinguishes from false saints, intimating that there are two\nclasses of saints. To one class belong the many in the world who have\nonly their own claim to sainthood: the Jews, for instance, with their\nholiness of the Law; and the world generally, the philosophers,\njurists and their kind, with their self-righteousness. These are not\nsaints of light; they are saints of darkness, unclean, even defiled.\nIn Philippians 3, 8 Paul counts such righteousness loss and refuse.\nTo this class belong also many false, hypocritical saints in the\ncompany of Christians who have the Gospel; they, too, hear the Gospel\nand attend upon the Holy Supper, but they remain in darkness, without\nthe least experience of the wisdom and understanding that knows the\ndivine will. But they who exercise themselves in these spiritual\ngraces by faith, love and patience in temptation, and perceive the\nwonderful grace and blessing God imparts through the Gospel--these\nhonorably may be called the saints, destined, even appointed, to\neternal light and joy in God's kingdom.\n\n\"Who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us\ninto the kingdom of the Son of his love; in whom we have our\nredemption, the forgiveness of our sins.\"\n\n41. Paul now expatiates on the things that call for our gratitude to\nGod the Father. He sums up the whole teaching of the Gospel, showing\nus what is ours in Christ and giving a glorious and comforting\ndescription of his person and the blessing he brings. But first, he\nsays, we ought, above all, to thank God unceasingly for the knowledge\nof his revealed Gospel. In it we have no small treasure. Rather, it\nis a possession with which all the gold, silver and other riches of\nthis world, all the earthly joy and comfort of this life, are not to\nbe compared. For it means redemption from eternal, irreparable loss\nand ruin under God's eternal, unbearable wrath and condemnation. And\nthis wretchedness was the result of our sin. We were committed to sin\nand without help, without deliverance, ay, we were captive in such\nblindness and darkness that we did not recognize our misery; much\nless could we devise and effect our escape. Now, in place of this\nmisery, we have, without any merit on our part, any preparation, any\ndeed or design, ay, without even a thought, assuredly received,\nthrough God's unfathomable grace and mercy, redemption, or the\nforgiveness of sins.\n\n\nGOD'S GRACE INCOMPREHENSIBLE.\n\n42. The measure of such graciousness and blessing no tongue can\nexpress; indeed, in this life no man can understand it. In hell the\nwicked shall become sensible of it by the realization of their\ncondemnation and the never-ending wrath of the eternal, divine\nMajesty and of all creatures. No created thing shall they be able to\nbehold with joy, because in these ever shall be reflected the\ncondemned one's own unceasing, lamentable sorrow, terror and despair.\nNor, on the other hand, can the creature behold the condemned with\npleasure, but must abhor them; it must be an object of further terror\nand condemnation to the damned. However, in this life God in his\nunspeakable goodness has subjected the creature to vanity, as Paul\nsays in Romans 8, 20, and to the service of the wicked. Yet it serves\nagainst its will, travailing as a woman in pain, with the supreme\ndesire to be liberated from this service of the wicked, condemned\nworld. It must, however, have patience in its hope of redemption, for\nthe sake of those children of God yet to come to Christ and finally\nto be brought to glory; otherwise it is as hostile to sin as God\nhimself.\n\n43. But because an eternal, unchangeable sentence of condemnation has\npassed upon sin--for God cannot and will not regard sin with favor,\nbut his wrath abides upon it eternally and irrevocably--redemption\nwas not possible without a ransom of such precious worth as to atone\nfor sin, to assume the guilt, pay the price of wrath and thus abolish\nsin.\n\n44. This no creature was able to do. There was no remedy except for\nGod's only Son to step into our distress and himself become man, to\ntake upon himself the load of awful and eternal wrath and make his\nown body and blood a sacrifice for the sin. And so he did, out of his\nimmeasurably great mercy and love towards us, giving himself up and\nbearing the sentence of unending wrath and death.\n\n45. So infinitely precious to God is this sacrifice and atonement of\nhis only beloved Son who is one with him in divinity and majesty,\nthat God is reconciled thereby and receives into grace and\nforgiveness of sins all who believe in this Son. Only by believing\nmay we enjoy the precious atonement of Christ, the forgiveness\nobtained for us and given us out of profound, inexpressible love. We\nhave nothing to boast of for ourselves, but must ever joyfully thank\nand praise him who at such priceless cost redeemed us condemned and\nlost sinners.\n\n46. The essential feature of redemption--forgiveness of sins--being\nonce obtained, everything belonging to its completion immediately\nfollows. Eternal death, the wages of sin, is abolished, and eternal\nrighteousness and life are given; as Paul says in Romans 6, 23, the\ngrace, or gift, of God is eternal life. And now that we are\nreconciled to God and washed in the blood of Christ, everything in\nheaven and earth, as Paul again declares (Eph 1, 10), is in turn\nreconciled to us. The creatures are no longer opposed, but at peace\nwith us and friendly; they smile upon us and we have only joy and\nlife in God and his creation.\n\n47. Such is the doctrine of the Gospel, and so is it to be declared.\nIt shows us sin and forgiveness, wrath and grace, death and life; how\nwe were in darkness and how we are redeemed from it. It does not,\nlike the Law, make us sinners, nor is its mission to teach us how to\nmerit and earn grace. But it declares how we, condemned and under the\npower of sin, death and the devil, as we are, receive by faith the\nfreely-given redemption and in return show our gratitude.\n\n48. Paul also explains who it is that has shed his blood for us. He\nwould have us understand the priceless cost of our redemption,\nnamely, the blood of the Son of God, who is the image of the\ninvisible God. The apostle declares that he existed before creation,\nand by him were all things created, and that therefore he is true,\neternal God with the Father. Hence, Paul says, the shed blood truly\nis God's own blood. And so the writer of this epistle clearly and\nmightily establishes the article of the divinity of Christ. But this\nrequires a special and separate sermon.\n\n\n\n\n_Twenty Fifth Sunday After Trinity_\n\nText: 1 Thessalonians 4, 13-18.\n\n13 But we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning them that\nfall asleep; that ye sorrow not, even as the rest, who have no hope.\n14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them\nalso that are fallen asleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 15 For\nthis we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we that are alive,\nthat are left unto the coming of the Lord, shall in no wise precede\nthem that are fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself shall descend\nfrom heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with\nthe trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first; 17 then we\nthat are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up\nin the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be\nwith the Lord. 18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.\n\n\nLIVING AND DEAD WHEN CHRIST RETURNS.\n\nPaul writes these words to comfort Christians who were troubled about\nwhat would take place at the resurrection of the dead. Shall all rise\ntogether? Shall those living on the earth at the last day meet Christ\nbefore others? These and like thoughts worried them. Here Paul\nanswers them by saying that Christ would take all his believers to\nhimself at the same time, etc.\n\nThis epistle text you will find richly expounded in \"The Explanation\nof Certain Epistles,\" which appeared on special occasions. [The\nMiscellaneous Sermons of the Year 1532.]\n\n\n\n\n_Twenty Sixth Sunday After Trinity_\n\nText: 2 Thessalonians 1, 3-10.\n\n3 We are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, even\nas it is meet, for that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the love\nof each one of you all toward one another aboundeth; 4 so that we\nourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and\nfaith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions which ye\nendure; 5 which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God;\nto the end that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for\nwhich ye also suffer: 6 if so be that it is a righteous thing with\nGod to recompense affliction to them that afflict you, 7 and to you\nthat are afflicted rest with us, at the revelation of the Lord Jesus\nfrom heaven with the angels of his power in flaming fire, 8 rendering\nvengeance to them that know not God, and to them that obey not the\ngospel of our Lord Jesus: 9 who shall suffer punishment, even eternal\ndestruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his\nmight, 10 when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be\nmarvelled at in all them that believed (because our testimony unto\nyou was believed) in that day.\n\n\nGOD'S JUDGMENT WHEN CHRIST RETURNS.\n\n1. First, Paul has words of praise for his Church at Thessalonica. In\nview of its faith and its love it was one of the first rank.\nPatiently it stood firm, and even increased, under crosses of\naffliction. The apostle's intent in commending these people is to\nincite to perseverance. He would hold them up to others as an\nexample--an illustration--of the fruits resulting when the Gospel is\npreached and received. He also points out in what the edification and\nsuccess of the true Church of Christ consist. Then he consoles them\nfor their patient sufferings with the mention of the glorious coming\nof Christ the Lord, which shall mean their final redemption, the\nrecompense of peace and joy for their tribulations, and the bringing\nof eternal wrath upon their persecutors.\n\n2. This consolation Paul draws from their sufferings and God's\nrighteous judgment, by which he makes plain why God lets them suffer\nhere on earth--what is his purpose in it. Looking at the Christian\ncommunity with the eye of human reason and reflection, no more\nwretched, tormented, persecuted, unhappy people are in evidence on\nearth than those who confess and glory in Christ the crucified. In\nthe world they are continually persecuted, tormented and assailed by\nthe devil with all manner of wretchedness, misfortune, distress and\ndeath. Even to their own perceptions, it seems as if they surely are\nforgotten and forsaken by God in the sight of mankind. For he allows\nthem to remain prostrate under the weight of the cross, while others\nin the world, particularly their persecutors, live in the enjoyment\nof honor and fortune, of happiness, power and riches, with everything\nmoving to the fulfilment of their desires. The Scriptures frequently\ndeplore this condition of things, especially the Psalms, and Paul in\nFirst Corinthians 15, 19 confesses: \"If we have only hoped in Christ\nin this life, we are of all men most pitiable.\"\n\n\nCHRISTIAN'S SUFFERINGS LEAD TO HAPPINESS.\n\n3. Now, assuredly this state of affairs cannot continue without end;\nit cannot be God's intention to permit Christians thus to suffer\ncontinually while they live, to die because of it and remain dead. It\nwould be incompatible with his eternal, divine truth and honor\nmanifest in his Word. For there he declares he will be the God of the\npious, of them who fear and trust him, and gives them unspeakable\npromises. Necessarily, then, he has planned a future state for\nChristians and for non-Christians, in either instance unlike what\nthey know on earth. Possibly one of the chief reasons why God permits\nChristians to suffer on earth is to make plain the distinction\nbetween their reward and that of the ungodly. In the sufferings of\nbelieving Christians, and in the wickedness, tyranny, rage, and\npersecution directed by the unrighteous against the godly, is certain\nindication of a future life unlike this and a final judgment of God\nin which all men, godly and wicked, shall be forever recompensed.\n\n4. Notice, Paul means to say here when he speaks of the tribulations\nand sufferings of Christians: \"These afflictions are the indication\nof God's righteous judgment, and a sign you are worthy of the kingdom\nof God for which you suffer.\" In other words: \"O beloved Christians,\nregard your sufferings as dear and precious. Think not God is angry\nwith you, or has forgotten you, because he allows you to endure these\nthings. They are your great help and comfort, for they show God will\nbe a righteous judge, will richly bless you and avenge you upon your\npersecutors. Yes, therein you have unfailing assurance. You may\nrejoice, and console yourselves, believing without the shadow of a\ndoubt that you belong to the kingdom of God, and have been made\nworthy of it, because you suffer for its sake.\"\n\n5. Whatever the Christian suffers here on earth at the hands of the\ndevil and the world, befalls him simply for the sake of the name of\nGod and for his Word. True, as a baptized child of God the Christian\nshould justly enjoy unalloyed goodness, comfort and peace on earth;\nbut since he must still dwell in the kingdom of the devil, who\ninfuses sin and death into human flesh, he must endure the devil. Yet\nall Satan's inflictions and the world's plagues, persecutions,\nterrors, tortures, even the taking of the Christian's life, and all\nits abuse, is wrought in violence and injustice. But to offset this,\nthe Christian has the comforting assurance of God's Word that because\nhe suffers for the sake of the kingdom of Christ and of God he shall\nsurely be eternally partaker of that kingdom. Certain it is, no one\nwill be worthy of it unless he suffers for it.\n\n6. \"If so be that it is a righteous thing with God to recompense\naffliction to them that afflict you,\" continues the apostle. It is\nimpossible it should continue to be, as now, well with the world and\nevil with you. God's righteousness will not admit of it. Just because\nhe is a righteous judge, things must be eventually different: the\ngodly must have eternal good, and the wicked, on the other hand, must\nbe punished forever. Otherwise God's judgment would not be righteous;\nin other words, he would not be God. Now, since this is an impossible\nproposition, since God's righteousness and truth are immutable, in\nhis capacity of judge he must perforce, in due time, come from\nheaven, when he shall have assembled his Christians, and avenge them\nof their enemies, recompense the latter according to their merits,\nand confer eternal rest and peace upon his followers for the temporal\nsufferings they have endured here.\n\n\nGOD DOES NOT FORGET HIS CHILDREN.\n\n7. Christians should certainly expect this and comfort themselves in\nthe confidence that God will not permit the wrongs of his people to\ncontinue unpunished and unavenged. We might think he had forgotten\nwere we to judge from the facts that godly Abel was shamefully\nmurdered by his brother, that God's prophets and martyrs--John the\nBaptist, Jeremiah, Paul and others--suffered death at the hands of\nbloodhounds like the Herods, Neros and other shameless, sanguinary\ntyrants of the sort, and this when God had, even in this life, given\nglorious testimony to their being his beloved children. A judgment\nmust be forthcoming that tyrants may suffer pains and punishments,\nand that the godly, delivered from sufferings, may have eternal rest\nand joy. Let all the world know God does not forget, even after\ndeath.\n\n8. This is the consolation the future judgment at the resurrection of\nthe dead holds, that, as God's righteousness requires, the saints\nshall receive for their sufferings a supremely rich and glorious\nrecompense. Paul seems to present as the principal reason why God\nmust punish the world with everlasting pain, the fact that the world\nhas inflicted tribulations on Christians. Apparently his words imply\nthat the perpetrations of the devil and the world--their supreme\ncontempt and hatred of God's name and Word, their blasphemies of\nthese, their wickedness and disobedience in other respects, whereby\nthey bring upon themselves everlasting pain and damnation--that for\nthese sins against himself God is not so ready to punish as for their\npersecution and torment of his poor, believing Christians. This truth\nis indicated where we read that Christ on the last day shall say:\n\"Depart from me, ye cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared\nfor the devil and his angels ... inasmuch as ye did it not unto one\nof these least, ye did it not unto me.\" Mt 25, 41 and 45.\n\n9. Paul's further observations, concerning the manner of the judgment\nto come and the painful punishment of the ungodly, is sufficiently\nclear as rendered, and is also explained in the sermon on the Gospel\ntext. Further explanation here is unnecessary.\n\n\n\n\n_Twenty Seventh Sunday After Trinity_\n\nText: 2 Peter 3, 3-7.\n\n\nTO THE READER.\n\nWhen the year has twenty-seven Sundays after Trinity, which seldom\noccurs, substitute the text of 2 Peter 3, 3-7 for the twenty-sixth\nSunday and use the text of the twenty-sixth Sunday for the\ntwenty-seventh Sunday.","title":"Epistle Sermons, Vol. 3: Trinity Sunday to Advent","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":136006}