2020 Reformation VBS

Just recently, Immanuel hosted a “Reformation VBS,” inviting sister congregations in the area. Below is audio of the two adult sessions (studies). The first is an introduction to Josiah (2 Kings 22-23). The second is an introduction to Luther and the Reformation. Included is also a video clip of Luther (not shown at the study, but available to you here.

Part 1 – Josiah, 2 Kings 22-23

Part 2 – Luther and the Reformation

“The Gospel of Salvation”

Audio

Readings: 2 Kings 22:8-20; Romans 3:19-28; Luke 18:9-14

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

The account of Josiah king of Judah is a memorable one. Josiah was one of the good kings of Judah.  Not all were. Most of them had forsaken the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They followed the ways of the nations around them. They committed idolatry, that is, they worshiped and sacrificed to false gods. Encouraged in their corruption, they committed more and greater abominations before the Lord. They desecrated God’s holy temple by their practices. They neglected both God’s curses and God’s promises made to them before in the Book of the Law, the Torah. They shut their ears to God’s servants, the prophets.

Things were not good for the very people of God before God in the Old Testament. Yet, God was patient with them. He called them to repentance. He sent prophet after prophet that they might turn from their evil ways. But they would not.

There were a few good kings in Judah, but not many. Included among these was Josiah, who we heard about this morning. He was that king who began serving as king at the young age of eight. The Bible records that “He did what was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in all the ways of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left” (2 Ki. 22:2 NKJ).

Josiah did not neglect the Word of the Lord or follow the practices of those false religions around him. Instead, he sought to repair and take care of the temple of God. In doing that, the high priest named Hilkiah found the Book of the Law. Shaphan the scribe read the Book of the Law “before the king” (2 Kings 22:10).

At its hearing, King Josiah tore his clothes, a movement of repentance. He was struck by the judgment of God. He was fearful of God’s wrath. He knew that he was guilty before God, as were the people, for doing all those things that God had earlier commanded that they not do. There was no way out.

Sending Shaphan, Hilkiah, and others to Huldah the prophetess, the prophetess confirmed the words that the king heard from the Book of the Law. They were true. God would bring calamity upon them, “because they have forsaken Me and burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands. Therefore My wrath shall be aroused against this place and shall not be quenched” (2 Ki. 22:17 NKJ).

God’s Word will not return to Him void (Isaiah 55:11). What God says will come to pass, whether that Word be known or not, whether that Word be forsaken or not, whether that Word be believed or not. Of all people who should have known better, the chosen people of God were far off.  Not only had they compromised the Word. They replaced the true worship of God with false worship.

It is the height of hypocrisy to claim worship of the true God without continuing only in the very Word which He has given.

So says Jesus, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me” (Jn. 14:23-24 NKJ).

In doing as they had been doing, the sons of Israel were not loving the Father.

But at the Word of Judgment, heard in his very ears, Josiah did what that Word of judgment was given to do, show Josiah and the people their sin—that they repent, turn from their ways, and believe the promises of God.

Huldah the prophetess, speaking as a servant of the Lord, announced peace to Josiah.  God forgave His sin. Such forgiveness did Josiah have because of God’s mercy. And because Josiah had God’s mercy, he could not do other than seek to do according to God’s Word, having faith in the Lord Almighty for deliverance, salvation, and peace; for there is nowhere else to have these things except the eternal Lord, who promises grace and every blessing through Him born of Mary the virgin, in the line of David, from whom Josiah descended.

Josiah’s reforms were the result, not the cause, of God’s mercy. If they were the cause, they would not have been enough. Sinners cannot appease God’s judgment and wrath. These are too great. Sinners are too small. One larger than Sin must atone. This One is Christ Jesus.

God “made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21 NKJ).

Instead of us bearing the wrath and judgement of God because of our sin, Jesus did. And because He did, the certainty of God’s mercy is yours, not because you do or don’t do, but because Jesus did.

This truth that other man we learned about this morning also came to know, and like Josiah, also by hearing and studying the Word of God.

Dr. Luther grew up in the church, the Catholic church. He was taught that in order to have peace with God, you had to do the “right” things as determined by the Catholic church.  You had to submit to the church’s authority in order to be on God’s good side.

Luther believed these things and became a monk. He did this because he sought nothing less than to ease his conscience. He believed what the Catholic church taught and believed that if he did all the “right” things, he would have peace.

But peace according to the teachings of the church and submission to her authority never came for Luther. The harder he tried, the worse it got.

Until…until he was given the task of teaching, teaching the Bible. And like Josiah, reading the Bible, studying it, reflecting on it, ingesting it, and taking it to heart, he found something that the Catholic church had corrupted, and that which continues to be corrupted all around.

God, in His Word, revealed to Luther the Gospel, God’s grace in Christ, sin’s forgiven. The peace of conscience that Luther so eagerly sought with the teaching of the Catholic church, by doing and doing, he had not found there, but in Christ—alone; in Christ who had already done and born everything already—for Luther, for you, for the world, by means of His fulfilling the Law of God and suffering God’s judgment on the cross.

Hear this brief account of Luther…

“At first I clearly saw that the free grace of God is absolutely necessary to attain to light and eternal life; and I anxiously and busily worked to understand the word of Paul in Rom. 1:17: the righteousness of God is revealed in the Gospel.  I questioned this passage for a long time and labored over it, for the expression “righteousness of God” barred my way.  This phrase was customarily explained to mean that the righteousness of God is a virtue by which He is Himself is righteous and condemns sinners.  In this way all the teachers of the church except Augustine had interpreted the passage.  They had said: The righteousness of God, that is, the wrath of God.  But as often as I read this passage, I wished that God had never revealed the Gospel; for who could love a God who was angry, who judged and condemned people?  This misunderstanding continued until, enlightened by the Holy Spirit, I finally examined more carefully the word of Habakkuk: “The just shall live by His faith” (2:4).  From this passage I concluded that life must be derived from faith…Then the entire Holy Scriptures became clear to me, and heaven itself was opened to me.  Now we see this brilliant light very clearly, and we are privileged to enjoy it abundantly” (Plass, What Luther Says, p385)

The Gospel of salvation is not something you earn. It is God-given.  The Gospel of salvation is given by God in His Word preached, which we hear. The Gospel of salvation is given in sin’s absolved, which we believe. The Gospel of salvation is given by God in water and word applied in Holy Baptism, which we remember, daily drowning the old man and putting on the new, called repentance. The Gospel of salvation is given by God and Word and bread and wine in the Sacrament of the Altar.

Both Josiah and Luther were changed by the Word of the Lord. The Law of God gave them no escape and no comfort. It only left them helpless and hopeless, lost and condemned. But God’s Word of promise, His Word of peace, gives life and salvation, hope and help. Now, instead of running away from God because of our sins, or being deceived into thinking that we appease him by what we do or because we believe, we rest everything on Christ; and there, we humbly and gratefully receive His undeserved mercies. These are found nowhere else than the Word made flesh. Amen.

PRAYERS

Collect of the Day (Reformation Day)

Almighty and gracious Lord, pour out Your Holy Spirit on Your faithful people.  Keep us steadfast in Your grace and truth, protect and deliver us in times of temptation, defend us against all enemies, and grant to Your Church Your saving peace; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

For the Church

Almighty God, grant to Your Church Your Holy Spirit and the wisdom that comes down from above, that Your Word may not be bound but have free course and be preached to the joy and edifying of Christ’s holy people, that in steadfast faith we may serve You and, in the confession of Your name, abide unto the end; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Defending the Church from Error

Almighty and everlasting God, You would have all to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. By Your almighty power and unsearchable wisdom break and hinder all the counsels of those who hate Your Word and who, by corrupt teaching, would destroy it. Enlighten them with the knowledge of Your glory that they may know the riches of Your heavenly grace and, in peace and righteousness, serve You, the only true God; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

For Blessing on the Word

Lord Jesus Christ, giver and perfecter of our faith, we thank and praise You for continuing among us the preaching of Your Gospel for our instruction and edification. Send Your blessing upon the Word, which has been spoken to us, and by Your Holy Spirit increase our saving knowledge of You, that day by day we may be strengthened in the divine truth and remain steadfast in Your grace. Give us strength to fight the good fight and by faith to overcome all the temptations of Satan, the flesh, and the world so that we may finally receive the salvation of our souls; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Audio

“Eating and Drinking”

 

“The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking,

but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

(Rom. 14:17 NKJ)

 

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

The writer to Ecclesiastes writes, “There is nothing new under the sun” (Eccl. 1:9 NKJ).

These words apply to any number of things, not least of which is that of religious belief and practice, particularly with that having to do with the eating of foods and drinking of drinks.

Certain foods and drinks are understood by one group or another to establish, or at least advance, one’s righteousness and piety.

In the Bible, there most certainly are mandates of God not to eat certain things and to eat certain foods (see Genesis 1:29; 2:17-18; 9:3-4; Leviticus 7:23ff).

Such consumption or lack of consumption, however, were not to either establish or advance righteousness before God.

The consumption of foods or the refusal to eat certain things based on God’s command, obedience to the Word, is here to be distinguished from false righteousness and piety.

Outward piety without faith in Christ is not the righteousness of God, but the arrogance of ungodliness (Romans 8:5-8; 14:23; Hebrews 11:6).

Though such might look good and garner approval by the world, it does not have the approval God.

What has the approval of God is faith and trust in Him—according to His Word.

When it comes to food and drink, we ask what God commands and what He forbids.

The Old Testament having its fulfillment in Christ Jesus (see Matthew 5:17), the words of St. Paul sound loud and clear, “Let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God. Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations—‘Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,’ which all concern things which perish with the using– according to the commandments and doctrines of men? These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh”(Col. 2:16-23 NKJ).

These revealing words St. Paul prefaces with these, “As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it” (Col. 2:6-15 NKJ).

Note those words of Paul, “Complete in Him,” in Jesus (Col. 2:10).

Nothing added. Nothing taken away.

Eating or not eating is not about righteousness before God, advancing personal piety, or putting on a good show for people to see (i.e. Matthew 6:1-4, 16-18).

Instead, choosing to eat or not eat certain foods, for the Christian, has to do with Christian freedom (that of the Gospel) and loving one’s neighbor.

Righteousness before God comes by way of faith, through faith, in Christ Jesus (Genesis 15:6; Romans 1:17; Galatians 2:20; 3:11) and not according to one’s diet.

As such, because Christians are free in these matters with regard to food (where God neither commands or forbids), in seeking to love neighbor, Christians will sometimes refrain from eating certain foods and at other times not, not because they can or can’t according to God’s command for or against, but out of concern and compassion for neighbor, that is, out of love.

Biblical Christianity teaches living by faith in Christ Jesus.

Living by faith means not trusting in one’s own good works, piety, or self-righteousness, but in Christ’s alone.

In Christ alone the Christian lives, and in so living, freely also loves neighbor, even denying self because of the freedom in which the Christian lives.

It’s then not a question of must or should concerning food but love for neighbor that leads the way. (Note: The content here is not on amount of food consumed and isn’t seeking to answer the question, “How much is too much?” That would be for another post.)

 

Luther

“It is possible to avoid certain foods for one reason, namely, out of a concern for charity. There is no danger in this, for it is good to render such a service to a weak brother. This is what Paul himself both did and taught. A second reason, however, is that you avoid them in order to be righteous and to be saved, supposing that if you do not avoid them, you are sinning and will be damned. A curse on such charity and on all the duties and acts of charity! For to avoid foods this way is to deny Christ, to tread His blood underfoot, to blaspheme against the Holy Spirit, against God, and against everything holy. Therefore if one has to lose one or the other, it is better to lose a friend and a brother than to lose God the Father. For if God the Father is lost, man the brother will not remain very long.” (Luther’s Works, Vol 26: Lectures on Galatians 1535, Chapters 1-4, 26, p111)

 

Prayer: Gracious Father, you give us food to eat and beverage to drink for our enjoyment. Grant us not to misuse these Your gifts, but to receive them with joy and thanksgiving, trusting Your Word, entrusting ourselves into Christ’s salvation, and using the freedom You give in the Gospel to freely serve those around us.

 

 

Not better or worse…

“Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”

Jn. 7:24

 

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

People are tempted to see others as better than themselves, or, on the other hand, to see themselves as better than others.  Both positions are extremes and not in accordance with the way things really are.

Before God, all stand on equal footing.

“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), writes St. Paul.

Of these all, Paul also writes, “being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24).

Christians continue to struggle with their sinful flesh, and in this struggle, we are tempted to believe that the saints of Old (i.e. Hebrews 11) are somehow better or worse than we are, and more or less deserving of God’s kindness and mercy.

Example after example reveals otherwise.

As God’s mercy extended to them, so also to us.

Others are not better than you before God, nor are they the worse because of their sin.  It is sin, period, that condemns.  Yet, such sin, all of it, and its accompanying judgment, have been accounted for through Christ’s death on the cross.

The one who believes this, whether lesser the sinner or greater the sinner in the eyes of others, is justified before God (Romans 5:1).

This is good news, indeed!

By faith in Christ alone, the believer in Christ, stands forgiven and has God’s peace. Amen.

 

Luther

“For it is a great comfort for us to hear that even such great saints sin—a comfort which those who say that saints cannot sin would take away from us.

Samson, David, and many other celebrated men who were full of the Holy Spirit fell into huge sins. Job (3:3 ff.) and Jeremiah (20:14) curse the day of their birth; Elijah (1 Kings 19:4) and Jonah (4:8) are tired of life and pray for death. Such errors and sins of the saints are set forth in order that those who are troubled and desperate may find comfort and that those who are proud may be afraid. No man has ever fallen so grievously that he could not have stood up again. On the other hand, no one has such a sure footing that he cannot fall. If Peter fell, I, too, may fall; if he stood up again, so can I.

Those whose consciences are weak and tender should set great store by such examples, in order that they may understand better what they are praying when they say: “Forgive us, etc.,” or “I believe in the forgiveness of sins,” in which the apostles and all the saints believed. They prayed the Our Father just as we do. The apostles were not superior to us in anything except in their apostolic office. We have the same gifts that they had, namely, the same Christ, Baptism, Word, and forgiveness of sins. They needed all this no less than we do; they were sanctified and saved by all this just as we are.” (Luther’s Lectures on Galatians, LW 26, p108-109)

 

Prayer: Holy and gracious God, look not upon my sin, but look upon Jesus, who died for me and through whom I am reconciled with you.  Help me to receive comfort from the examples of the saints, for as they had your Word and promise, Your compassion and mercy, so do I. Amen.

 

 

Luther–Whether One May Flee From a Deadly Plague

 

In the following letter, here are a few areas Luther addresses:

• Christians will not all respond in the same manner
• Vocation and office
• Prayer
• Loving neighbor, Caring for the Sick
• Denouncing the devil
• Use of God-given reason
• Hearing God’s Word, Receiving the Sacrament, Confessing one’s sins
• Contact the pastor for pastoral care

“We here give you our opinion as far as God grants us to understand and perceive. This we would humbly submit to your judgment and to that of all devout Christians for them, as is proper, to come to their own decision and conclusion. Since the rumor of death is to be heard in these and many other parts also, we have permitted these instructions of ours to be printed because others might also want to make use of them…” (Luther)

 

Luther-Whether One May Flee From A Deadly Plague

 

O God, You desire not the death of sinners, but rather that we turn from our wickedness and live. Graciously behold Your people who plead to You and spare us. Withdraw the scourge of Your wrath and be moved in mercy to turn away this pestilence from us; for the sake of Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. (LCMS, In Time of Pestilence)

 

 

 

Luther’s Small Catechism: The Lord’s Prayer

 

First Reading–James 5:15-18

“¹⁵ And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. ¹⁶ Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. ¹⁷ Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. ¹⁸ And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.” (NKJ)

 

Second Reading–Matthew 6:9-13

“⁹ “In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. ¹⁰ Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. ¹¹ Give us this day our daily bread. ¹² And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. ¹³ And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” (NKJ)

 

In the Name of Jesus. Amen

Tonight, we come to the Third Chief Part of the Small Catechism.

Luther’s Small Catechism, along with the hymnal, and the Holy Bible, are and have been the primary devotional resources of Lutherans through the years.

They should remain so.

The Holy Bible is God’s Word “Written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope” (Rom. 15:4 NKJ), and given “That you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” (Jn. 20:31 NKJ).

The hymnal, the book containing hymns, prayers, and liturgies of our church, confess Christ.

The words therein give expression of and direction to Christ our Savior, and life lived by faith in God’s Son.

The Small Catechism of Luther is sometimes referred to as “the layman’s Bible,” as the text clearly states what is necessary for the Christian faith and life.

For review, the First Chief Part of the Catechism concerns the 10 Commandments, how God’s people are to live, how we are to be, to God and neighbor.

The Second Chief Part concerns the Creed, who God is, what He has done, and what He continues to do for His creation, temporally, and eternally.

While the Commandments serve as curb, show us our sins, and serve as rule/guide, the Creed testifies of God’s Word in Christ, His doing, Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection, for our preservation in the faith and for our salvation.

The Third Chief Part directs our attention to the response of faith to having God as God, Jesus as Savior, and the Holy Spirit as Creator and sustainer of that which saves unto eternal life and delivers from eternal death.

In the words of Luther:

¹ We have now heard what we must do (i.e. The Commandments) and believe (i.e. The Creed), in what things the best and happiest life consists. Now follows the third part, how we ought to pray. ² For we are in a situation where no person can perfectly keep the Ten Commandments, even though he has begun to believe. The devil with all his power, together with the world and our own flesh, resists our efforts. Therefore, nothing is more necessary than that we should continually turn towards God’s ear, call upon Him, and pray to Him. We must pray that He would give, preserve, and increase faith in us and the fulfillment of the Ten Commandments [2 Thessalonians 1:3]. We pray that He would remove everything that is in our way and that opposes us in these matters. ³ So that we might know what and how to pray, our Lord Christ has Himself taught us both the way and the words [Luke 11:1–4]. (The Lutheran Confessions, 1-3)

In the second reading, we hear the words of Jesus according to St. Matthew.

Directly, Jesus to His disciples says, “In this manner, therefore, pray…”

Jesus gives the very words to pray.

In St. Luke’s account, the disciples of Jesus themselves inquire about prayer.

St. Luke tells it this way, “Now it came to pass, as He (Jesus) was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” ² So He said to them, “When you pray, say,” and then the words of the Lord’s Prayer (Lk. 11:1-2 NKJ).

In both accounts, that of Jesus directly giving the words to pray, according to St. Matthew, or according to St. Luke, where the disciples first ask the “how” of prayer, Jesus in both instructs his disciples with the very words of praying, beginning with, “Our Father…”

Such words of Jesus are not to be taken lightly.

When Jesus says, “In this way pray,” or “When you pray, say,” He means what He says.

To say that we cannot or should not pray the very words that Jesus gives to say is hypocrisy if one claims to be Christian, for Christians believe Jesus and His Word.

In our circles, this is not an issue, but it has been in others, simply because they do not take God at His Word.

Yet, taking God at His Word is just what Christians do, because Christians are of Christ.

As the Lord Jesus gives the very words of prayer to pray, no better prayer can be prayed than that which the Lord Himself has given to pray.

Again, Luther writes,

²² …We should be moved and drawn to prayer. In addition to this commandment (to pray) and promise (that God will hear and answer), God expects us and He Himself arranges the words and form of prayer for us. He places them on our lips for how and what we should pray [Psalm 51:15], so that we may see how heartily He pities us in our distress [Psalm 4:1], and we may never doubt that such prayer is pleasing to Him and shall certainly be answered. ²³ This ‹the Lord’s Prayer› is a great advantage indeed over all other prayers that we might compose ourselves. For in our own prayers the conscience would ever be in doubt and say, “I have prayed, but who knows if it pleases Him or whether I have hit upon the right proportions and form?” Therefore, there is no nobler prayer to be found upon earth than the Lord’s Prayer. We pray it daily [Matthew 6:11], because it has this excellent testimony, that God loves to hear it. We ought not to surrender this for all the riches of the world. (The Lutheran confessions ¶ 22-23)

God both commands prayer and He promises to hear the petitions directed to Him through His Son.

In His Word is our confidence, both in praying and for God’s response.

We commend ourselves into God’s keeping.

The answer is His.

Into God’s hands we commend ourselves.

In this, too, is our confidence.

Not only does God place on our lips the very words to pray.

He gives the faith that says, “Amen” to His Word and will.

Briefly, the Lord’s Prayer is set into seven petitions, beginning with an Introduction and ending with a Conclusion.

Throughout the seven petitions, we pray the very petitions that our Lord would have us pray.

We request from God the very things for which He would have us request.

We pray that His Name be hallowed among us and by us, by our word and deed.

We pray that His kingdom come, that He give His Holy Spirit, that “we believe His Word and lead godly lives here in time and there in eternity.”

We pray that His will be done, that “the plan and purpose of the devil, the world, and our sinful nature” be thwarted and that God “keep us firm in His Word and faith until we die.”

We pray that God give us what we need—daily—that “God would lead us to realize” that God is the Giver of our daily bread, all that we need for this body and life, “even to all evil people,” and that we “receive our daily bread with thanksgiving.”

We pray for forgiveness, also our continual prayer, “That our Father in heaven would not look at our sins, or deny our prayer because of them.  We are neither worthy of the things for which we pray, nor have we deserved them, but we ask that He would give all to us by grace, for we daily sin much and surely deserve nothing by punishment.”

We pray “That God would guard and keep us so that the devil, the world, and our sinful nature may not deceive us or mislead us into false belief, despair, and other great shame and vice,” but “that we may finally overcome them and win the victory.”

We also pray that “Our Father in heaven would rescue us from every evil of body and soul, possessions and reputation, and finally, when our last hour comes, give us a blessed end, and graciously take us from this valley of sorrow to Himself in heaven.”

To these seven petitions we give an unapologetic and sure “Amen,” certain that these petitions are pleasing to our Father in heaven, and are therefore, heard by Him, for Christ’s sake.

As Jesus gives the very words to pray, and as the Father gives the very faith to pray such petitions as the Lord Jesus gives, so God’s people pray as the Lord teaches.

In the Lord’s Prayer is all that the Lord would have you pray and petition.

All genuine prayer and petitions given to the Lord can thus be said to reflect the Prayer that our Lord teaches us so to pray.

Confidently, therefore, do we “draw near…to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16 ESV), certain of God’s Word, confident of His promise.

The One Who gives the Words of the Lord’s Prayer is the Lord Jesus Himself, Who alone pleases the Father. His resurrection confirms this truth, and through Jesus alone, the Father is also pleased with you, and hears your prayers prayed in faith through the One Whom the Father sent.  Amen.

Dearest Jesus, teach me continually to pray according to Your Holy Word. Give me confidence in Your command and promises, that I petition You in certainty. Amen.

 

 

Luther’s Small Catechism, Part II: “The Creed”

The Apostles’ Creed

The First Article

I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.

The Second Article

And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary; suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

The Third Article

I believe in the Holy Ghost; one holy Christian Church, the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen.

 

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

In the church, Christians universally confess formulated statements of faith.

These formulated statements of faith, known as Creeds, are the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed.

In the Small Catechism, the Creed “learned-by-heart” is the Apostles’ Creed.

As we continue engaging Luther’s Small Catechism during this season of Lent, we now come to that Creed, that formulated statement of faith whereby Christians everywhere confess belief in the Holy Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The Apostles’ Creed consists of three articles.

Each article acknowledges the Person and work of the Godhead.

The First Article confesses God the Father and creation, saying in summary form what the Bible reveals about God as Maker of heaven and earth.

The Second Article confesses God the Son and redemption, by and through whom God the Father gives salvation to sinners.

The Third Article confesses God the Holy Spirit and sanctification, how God “calls, gathers, enlightens, and keeps us in the true faith.”

According to Holy Scripture, the Christian Church believes, teaches, and confesses that God is One.

There is one God, and one God only.

Thus, in the First Commandment, the one true God says, “You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exod. 20:3 NKJ).

The prophet Isaiah declares, “I am the LORD, and there is no other; There is no God besides Me” (Isa. 45:5 NKJ).

Jesus Himself says, “No one comes to the Father except through Me” (Jn. 14:6 NKJ).

He also says, “I and My Father are one” (Jn. 10:30 NKJ).

Jesus also declares, “You believe in God, believe also in Me” (Jn. 14:1 NKJ).

To rightly worship the true God is to believe, teach, and confess the Holy Trinity, for so has God revealed Himself to be.

In fact, to “confess the faith” is literally to “Say the same thing” as God has said.

This is what faith does.

Confessing sin before God is saying, “Amen,” to what God has said about us and our condition.

Confessing the Christian faith and the Holy Trinity is saying, “Amen,” to what God has revealed about Himself and the true teaching according to His Holy Word.

The Second Chief Part of the Small Catechism confesses God’s revelation of Himself, for our salvation.  It testifies to God’s work in Creation, Redemption, and Sanctification.

In distinction from the Ten Commandments, the First Chief Part of the Small Catechism, the Creed does not command anything.

The Creed does not tell what to do, how to live, or how to become better.

The Creed, with linguistic precision, declares what the Bible teaches, and therefore, what Christians believe, of God and His work, not for Himself, but for us:

God’s work of creating, preserving, providing, and sustaining us in our earthly needs;

God’s work of saving sinners through Jesus Christ, God’s Son, the Second Person of the Trinity, by whose fulfillment of the Law (i.e. The Ten Commandments) in their entirety and whose sacrificial death in our stead is eternal life; and

God’s work of creating, preserving, providing, and sustaining us with the needs of the soul, through Christ’s church, which is all about the Means of Grace, God giving life and salvation, won for us by Christ and His cross, given in God’s blessed means of Word and water and bread and wine according to God’s divine institution.

We believe these things because God so says and so promises.

God makes known in His Word what we are to believe, and so we do believe, for we are His people and not another’s.

We note the words, “I believe” in the Creed.

As a statement of what is believed by Christians everywhere, the Creed does not say everything word-for-word that the Bible teaches of God.

The Creed does identify, clearly and concisely, Who God is, in distinction from Who God is not.

In the First Article, Christians say, “I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.”

In a few words, Christians confess that God “Created the heavens and the earth,” just as recorded in Genesis 1:1 and given throughout the Bible.

What this means, however, is more than just that God created the world at one point in time and is now either indifferent to it or just doesn’t care about what goes on it anymore.

Nor does God having created the world imply that we are free to believe according to our own notions or that of popular scientific theory that God created differently than what the Bible records.

To believe either that God did not create as the Bible tells us in Genesis 1 & 2 and throughout Holy Writ, or that God just doesn’t care about His creation is to deny what the Bible teaches about God as Creator.

Very simply, such positions deny God as God.

Far from being indifferent to the world and His creation, God continues to provide for its needs.

Human worry and anxiety about our world, including that of climate change, population growth, health, and advancement, are largely commentaries on sinful unbelief.   They are not expressions of confidence upon God to sustain and preserve His creation as He Himself wills.

Yet, as St. Peter says, “By the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men” (2 Pet. 3:5-7 NKJ).

“The earth is the LORD’S, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein,” writes the Psalmist (Ps. 24:1 NKJ).

If God was indifferent to the world and the people of it, as some erroneously claim, believe, or demonstrate in plentiful ways, what is to be made of all that the Bible records of God’s caring for His people, His provision of food and water through fields and rain, His compassion on the weary and spent?

How are we to comprehend the sending of the Father’s only-begotten Son, if not by the love of God for the world?

How are we to believe the giving of Christ in Word and Sacrament, if not as the Lord having mercy and compassion upon sinners, sinners who can’t and don’t save themselves, and who, apart from God, remain condemned in their sin?

The Second Article of the Creed clearly testifies to God the Father’s love for the world, in Christ Jesus.

Listen to the meaning given to the Second Article, as expressed in the Small Catechism.

“I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is my Lord, Who has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death, that I may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity. This is most certainly true.”

These words most certainly testify to what the Bible teaches of God’s love in Christ for sinners.

“The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:28 NKJ).

“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 Jn. 4:10 NKJ).

“In due time Christ died for the ungodly” (Rom. 5:6 NKJ).

“God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8 NKJ).

“When we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son” (Rom. 5:10 NKJ).

And, “If anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world” (1 Jn. 2:1-2 NKJ).

We are not deserving of any of God’s mercies and kindnesses—none of them—yet God freely gives what we are not able to earn or merit.

God freely gives that for which we do not ask.

Of His love, God hears our petitions for Christ’s sake and answers according to His good and gracious will and for our good.

Not only does God provide by means physical for body. God provides by means physical for the soul. We call these means, “Means of Grace.”

Throughout these days of Lent, the Sunday readings press onward toward Jerusalem, Gethsemane, and Golgotha, significant locales in the Passion of our Lord.

On the cross is where Jesus won your forgiveness, your salvation, your eternal peace with the Father.

There, Jesus died.

There, His shed blood cleanses you of all your sin.

But you don’t there go to receive such blessings, your forgiveness, your peace with God, your salvation.

You don’t go there.

Christ Jesus comes to you.

Christ comes to you in Word, in water, in bread and wine.

Here is where God freely gives you life to sustain your soul, the certainty of sins atoned, God’s grace unmerited.

This is what the Christian congregation is all about—giving God’s divine gifts.

The is what Christians confess by the words of the Third Article of the Creed.

God’s call by the Gospel is through the means of Word preached and Sacraments administered.

This is how the Holy Spirit works, not through the empty vacuum of space and the unknowable, but through the concreteness of the Word proclaimed, the earthiness of water applied, and the eating and drinking of Christ’s body and blood in real bread and real wine.

By these, the Lord creates faith and sustains faith.

Outside of us and from the Lord, according to His Word, they are certain.

Even as what is outside of us is the means by which God provides for the body, so by what is external to us is the means by which God gives and sustains us to eternal life.

These things we confess in the Creed.

It is not we who provide and do for ourselves.

It is God, Who, through means, continually does so.

Such is His love, that God neglects neither the smallest detail nor our greatest need.

We are bold, then, to confess, “I believe in God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  God is my God, of Whom I am not ashamed.  He keeps me.  He sustains me. He saves me.” Amen.

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer” (Ps. 19:14 NKJ). Amen.

 

 

Series on Luther’s Small Catechism for midweek Lenten Services.

 

 

Faith is God’s Work

 

“This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent” (Jn. 6:29 NKJ).

 

“Faith is a divine work in us which changes us and makes us to be born anew of God, John 1[:12–13]. It kills the old Adam and makes us altogether different men, in heart and spirit and mind and powers; and it brings with it the Holy Spirit. O it is a living, busy, active, mighty thing, this faith. It is impossible for it not to be doing good works incessantly. It does not ask whether good works are to be done, but before the question is asked, it has already done them, and is constantly doing them. Whoever does not do such works, however, is an unbeliever. He gropes and looks around for faith and good works, but knows neither what faith is nor what good works are. Yet he talks and talks, with many words, about faith and good works.

Faith is a living, daring confidence in God’s grace, so sure and certain that the believer would stake his life on it a thousand times. This knowledge of and confidence in God’s grace makes men glad and bold and happy in dealing with God and with all creatures. And this is the work which the Holy Spirit performs in faith. Because of it, without compulsion, a person is ready and glad to do good to everyone, to serve everyone, to suffer everything, out of love and praise to God who has shown him this grace. Thus it is impossible to separate works from faith, quite as impossible as to separate heat and light from fire. Beware, therefore, of your own false notions and of the idle talkers who imagine themselves wise enough to make decisions about faith and good works, and yet are the greatest fools. Pray God that he may work faith in you. Otherwise you will surely remain forever without faith, regardless of what you may think or do.” (Luther’s Works 35)

 

 

Doing and fulfilling the Law

 

“Accustom yourself, then, to this language, that doing the works of the law and fulfilling the law are two very different things. The work of the law is everything that one does, or can do, toward keeping the law of his own free will or by his own powers. But since in the midst of all these works and along with them there remains in the heart a dislike of the law and compulsion with respect to it, these works are all wasted and have no value. That is what St. Paul means in chapter 3[:20], when he says, “By works of the law will no man be justified in God’s sight.” Hence you see that the wranglers and sophists practice deception when they teach men to prepare themselves for grace by means of works. How can a man prepare himself for good by means of works, if he does good works only with aversion and unwillingness in his heart? How shall a work please God if it proceeds from a reluctant and resisting heart?

To fulfil the law, however, is to do its works with pleasure and love, to live a godly and good life of one’s own accord, without the compulsion of the law. This pleasure and love for the law is put into the heart by the Holy Spirit, as St. Paul says in chapter 5[:5]. But the Holy Spirit is not given except in, with, and by faith in Jesus Christ, as St. Paul says in the introduction. Faith, moreover, comes only through God’s Word or gospel, which preaches Christ, saying that he is God’s Son and a man, and has died and risen again for our sakes, as he says in chapters 3[:25]; 4[:25], and 10[:9].

So it happens that faith alone makes a person righteous and fulfils the law. For out of the merit of Christ it brings forth the Spirit. And the Spirit makes the heart glad and free, as the law requires that it shall be. Thus good works emerge from faith itself. That is what St. Paul means in chapter 3[:31]; after he has rejected the works of the law, it sounds as if he would overthrow the law by this faith. “No,” he says, “we uphold the law by faith”; that is, we fulfil it by faith.” (Luther’s Works 35)

 

 

I am not ashamed, Romans 1:16-17

 

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.  For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”

Romans 1:16-17

 

Some words of Luther on the Gospel and righteousness…

Let us summarize: The Gospel deals with His Son, who was born of the seed of David but now has been manifested as the Son of God with power over all things through the Holy Spirit, given from the resurrection of the dead, even Jesus Christ, our Lord. See, there you have it: The Gospel is the message concerning Christ, the Son of God, who was first humbled and then glorified through the Holy Spirit. (Luther’s Works vol 25)

In human teachings the righteousness of man is revealed and taught, that is, who is and becomes righteous before himself and before other people and how this takes place. Only in the Gospel is the righteousness of God revealed (that is, who is and becomes righteous before God and how this takes place) by faith alone, by which the Word of God is believed, as it is written in the last chapter of Mark (16:16): “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” For the righteousness of God is the cause of salvation. And here again, by the righteousness of God we must not understand the righteousness by which He is righteous in Himself but the righteousness by which we are made righteous by God. This happens through faith in the Gospel. (Luther’s Works vol 25)