The Necessity of True Doctrine

Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine.

1 Timothy 4:16

In the Name of Jesus.  Amen.

St. Paul, writing to Timothy, writes what he writes with a purpose in mind—the purpose of encouraging Timothy to remain in the true doctrine.  Contrary to the world, remaining in the true doctrine is not at all of insignificance.  It does matter, for “doctrine is life.”  I am not talking about man’s doctrine (i.e. Mark 7), for man’s doctrine only alienates from God and hardens the sinner against God.  God’s doctrine, in distinction, does give life, just as Jesus says, “My words are spirit and they are life” (John 6:63).  Depart or stray from these, and there is nothing but death.  Continue in the very Word of the Lord Christ, and you are truly His disciples and “will know the truth” and will be set free by that truth” (John 8:31-32).

Such does God’s Word, The Truth (John 14:6), do.  It gives life, raises that which was dead, and also preserves one in the truth by that same truth.

To the Galatians, St. Paul writes, “Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?  Are you so foolish?  Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?  Have you suffered so many things in vain — if indeed it was in vain?  Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? — just as Abraham ‘believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’” (Galatians 3:2-6)

Not by man’s doctrine and not by man’s doing were the Galatians being made perfect and complete, but by the hearing of faith (Romans 10:17), by hearing the Word of Christ.

The doctrine/teaching is important.  Get this wrong, and you get Christ wrong.  Geting Christ wrong leads to eternal death, not eternal life, for outside of Christ Jesus, there is no forgiveness and no peace with God.  But in Christ Jesus, there is nothing but forgiveness and the peace that surpasses understanding, which the world cannot ever give (Philippians 4:7)

The world and those of the world will go their own way, claiming that you cannot know the truth or that it is not found in the Bible.  But Christians believe differently, for the Christian faith is not of the world, but of God, revealed through the Holy Scriptures, and centered on Christ, and Christ alone!

Luther

‘Let every faithful person work and strive with all his might to learn this doctrine (of the Gospel) and keep it, and for this purpose let him employ humble prayer to God with continual study and meditation on the Word.  Even when we have done ever so much, there will still be much to keep us busy.  For we are involved, not with minor enemies but with strong and powerful ones, who battle against us continually, namely, our own flesh, all the dangers of the world, the Law, sin, death, and the wrath and judgment of God, and the devil h9imself, who never stops tempting us inwardly with his flaming darts (Eph. 6:16) and outwardly with his false apostles, so as to overcome some if not all of us” (Luther’s Lectures on Galatians, LW 26, p65).

Prayer:

Lord, keep us steadfast in Your word; Curb those who by deceit or sword

Would wrest the kingdom from Your Son And bring to naught all He has done.

O Comforter of priceless worth, Send peace and unity on earth;

Support us in our final strife And lead us out of death to life.  Amen.

(Lutheran Service Book (2006), “Lord, Keep Us Steadfast In Your Word” 1, 4)

God’s Grace is Sufficient

Strength is made perfect in weakness?  How could such be?  The world works by way of what it determines as strong, mighty, glorious, wise, prestigious, recognizable, etc.  God, however, works far differently than the way the world does.  He works through weakness, through foolishness, through the lowly.  Thus do we see Christ, who through the weakness and shame of the cross, saves us from our sins.  Also through our own crosses, our own weaknesses, and our own thorns, we see God at work in us, humbling us to be His blessed people, strengthening us in the faith of His Holy Word, and crucifying our sinful flesh that we deny ourselves and follow Him.  God grant this unto us all.  Amen.

 

The Sure Hope Of Heaven, 2 Corinthians 5:1-17

Sermon for 4th Sunday after Pentecost, 2012B

If you Abide in My Word…

“If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.”

John 8:31

Enthusiasm, in the sense of excitement, can be a good thing.  It gets us moving.  However, enthusiasm can also be a hindrance, for it is often temporary.  It wanes away.  We begin something full of zeal, but then soon lose interest.  We then might begin to even despise what we were once eager about.

This happened during the Reformation concerning the Gospel in Luther’s day.  People were excited about the doctrine of the forgiveness of sins by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ.  People paid in earnest to the teachings of God.  But shortly thereafter, the heat waned into lukewarmness and even into indifference on the count of many.  People tired of the truth and wanted something new and different to tickle their fancy.

Long before Luther, St. Paul the apostle encountered a similar situation, for to the Christians in Galatia he writes, “I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.  But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.  As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.  For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ” (Galatians 1:6-10).

The Galatian Christians were turning from the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ to something else, another teaching, a teaching which was not of God.  They were tired, ironically, of the only truth that truly makes alive new.

Christians today are beset by the same temptations.  How easy it is to consider the glorious resurrection of our Lord on Easter Sunday, and then go into the “ho-humness” of everyday life, including Sunday morning!  How easy it is for us to distance ourselves further and further from the Lord and His saving doctrine and all the while take for granted the Good News of forgiveness in Christ!

Like the Christians in Galatia or the Christians during of the Reformation, we too currently face such trials as the people of God in the year 2012.  The answer, however, is not to be found in trying to solve this problem, trying harder, or in looking for something to bring about the escaping enthusiasm and excitement that we so long for.  The answer, simply, is turn from selfishness to Christ—to not seek what the world and our sinful nature looks for—but to seek Him who alone forgives and saves the ungodly (Psalm 32:1-2).

Enthusiasm goes up and down for this and for that.  It can be sometimes quite hot.  On the other hand, it can also become quite frigid.

God’s love for sinners, for you, in Christ, does not wax or wane.  It is constant.  And in Christ, God’s love for you is sure and certain (Romans 5:8).  Therefore do His people seek to continue in that sure and certain Word and doctrine of Christ, for it is only there that Christ’s disciples remain (John 12:26).

Luther

“Whatever we do, we are always very ardent at the beginning; but when the ardor of our initial feelings is spent, we soon lose our enthusiasm.  We give up on things and completely reject them as a impetuously as we undertake them.  When the light of the Gospel first began to appear after the great darkness of human traditions, many listened eagerly to sermons.   Now that the teaching of religion has been successfully reformed by the great growth of the Word of God, many are joining the sects, to their destruction.  Many despise not only Sacred Scripture but almost all learning.”  (Luther’s Lectures on Galatians, LW 26, p47).

Prayer: Heavenly Father, forgive us for our lack of enthusiasm for Your Holy and life-giving Word.  Keep us from becoming indifferent to Your heavenly doctrine.  Uphold us by Your Word and grant us diligence in its study, that we continue to be Your faithful servants.  In  Jesus’ Name.  Amen.

The Resurrection of Our Lord

¹When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him.  ²And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb.  ³And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?”  ⁴And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large.  ⁵And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed.  ⁶And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed.  You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified.  He has risen; he is not here.  See the place where they laid him.  ⁷But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee.  There you will see him, just as he told you.”  ⁸And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. Mark 16:1–8 (ESV)

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Isaiah 25:6–9 (OT Reading)

        ⁶On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.  ⁷And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations.  ⁸He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.  ⁹It will be said on that day,  “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us.  This is the Lord; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”

1 Corinthians 15:1–11 (Epistle Reading)

¹Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, ²and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

      ³For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, ⁴that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, ⁵and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. ⁶Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. ⁷Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. ⁸Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. ⁹For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. ¹⁰But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. ¹¹Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

 

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With certain expectation did the women approach the tomb of our Lord on that first day of the week.  They came prepared, bringing spices to anoint Jesus’ body (Mark 16:1).  But what they found, and what they didn’t find, they were least expecting.  Though the Lord Jesus had told beforehand what would be, the believed Him not.  And though He had clearly spoken, His words they did had not remembered.  Therefore did the women approach the tomb, expecting a body to be present, the body of Jesus, laying there in the tomb.

The thoughts of the women were on what they expected, anointing the body of Jesus with spices, and that the stone at the entrance of the tomb would still be there.  These were on their mind as they approached the tomb of our Lord.  Jesus had been  Numbered with the transgressors on the cross, and His grave was with the wicked, but with the rich at His death (Isaiah 53:12, 9).

What the women expected to be was not.  What they had not expected at all, that is what was.  Truly it is God who works this way, surpassing human expectation, and fulfilling that which is according to His Holy Word.  This Jesus did that day, on that first day of the week, the day after the Saturday Sabbath, early in the morning when the women had come to the tomb.

As the angel had declared, so it was, You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified.  He has risen; he is not here.

But who believes such an account today?  Who believes that Christ is physically, bodily, and corporeally risen from the dead?  No man can come back to life of himself after being dead three days.

But it is truly Jesus who in St. John’s Gospel is recorded as saying, The Father loves me, because I lay down my life, in order that I might take it up again.  No one takes it from me, but a I lay it down of myself.  I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again (John 10:17-18, my translation).

Who believes such an account today?  You do, but not because you have seen it with your own two eyes, but because God’s Spirit testifies that it is so by means of Christ’s Holy Word.  And His testimony is sufficient.

Eyes, senses, and reason will all speak differently than the Lord does on this matter.  Like the women of our text, we too have certain expectations of what is and of what will be.  According to what we know from human experience, man remains dead after death.  Corpses remain corpses.  Bodies decay.  But not so with Christ.  His body saw no decay.  Nor did God’s Holy One see corruption (Psalm 16:10; Acts 2:31).

Neither will you remain in the grave into eternity.  As Christ resurrected, so shall we when our Lord returns, for Jesus says, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die (John 11:25-26)

Those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation (John 5:29).

Pilate did not have authority of himself to put Jesus to death.  Rather was that authority to put Jesus to death given to him.  And on that cross of crucifixion, Jesus bore the sins of all and truly died.  Yet none, not even the devil and death, had power to keep Jesus dead and in the tomb.

On this day of days, we celebrate, we rejoice greatly in the resurrection of our Lord.  The crucified One is no longer in the grave. He is risen!  He is risen indeed!  Alleluia!  Death and grave have lost their hold, for Christ has conquered death and the grave has lost its power.  Sin no more has dominion (Romans 6:14).  Jesus reigns victorious over sin, death, and the grave, now and forevermore.

But in all honesty, it doesn’t appear this way.  We still contend with our own sin and the sin of others.  And in this life, we still must face the reality of our own mortality and death, whether we like it or not, and whether we deny it or not.  Death comes to all of us, unless Christ comes before that time.  Yet for this reason did Christ die, in order to save you from your sin, from your sin that leads you to eternal death.

Jesus had not died on Good Friday on account of any transgression of His own.  On the cross, He died your death, yours and mine, and there crucified and put to death all your sin before our Holy God.  And now, because of Christ, your sin no longer belongs to you, for Christ has taken it away.  Now, because of Christ, you have His goodness, righteousness, and the Father’s everlasting kindness.  And Jesus rose again on the third day to demonstrate His power and authority over sin and death.

Therefore Christ is your life.  Death could not hold Him.  The grave could not keep Him.  In Christ, you have new life and even eternal life, where sin, death, and sorrow will be no more.

Now is Christ’s victory your victory, through faith.  And this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? (1 John 5:4-5).

All your sin, your doubt, your faithlessness, and your despair has been swallowed up by His death, and the joy of His resurrection is now your own.

Today, we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord!  In the confession of this faith, we declare to one another and to the world this Christ, crucified and now risen.  But not only this day do we celebrate on this day.  Each day is lived in the resurrection of our Lord.  Each Sunday is a celebration of Christ’s resurrection from the dead.  And in every Lord’s Supper, we proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes, receiving into our very mouths the very body and blood, given and shed for the forgiveness of our sins, confessing too that the same Jesus Christ is no longer dead but risen, risen indeed!  Alleluia!  Amen.

Readings for Easter Wednesday

Acts 3:13–15, 17–19

¹³The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. ¹⁴But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, ¹⁵and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. . . .

      ¹⁷“And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. ¹⁸But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. ¹⁹Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out. . . .”

Colossians 3:1–7

¹If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. ²Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. ³For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

      ⁵Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. ⁶On account of these the wrath of God is coming. ⁷In these you too once walked, when you were living in them.

John 21:1–14

¹After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. ²Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. ³Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

      ⁴Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. ⁵Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” ⁶He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. ⁷That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea. ⁸The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off.

      ⁹When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. ¹⁰Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” ¹¹So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn. ¹²Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. ¹³Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. ¹⁴This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

Collect of the Day

Almighty God, by the glorious resurrection of Your Son, Jesus Christ, You destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light. Grant that we who have been raised with Him may abide in His presence and rejoice in the hope of eternal glory; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

Readings for Easter Tuesday

 

Daniel 3:8–28

⁸At that time certain Chaldeans came forward and maliciously accused the Jews. ⁹They declared to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever! ¹⁰You, O king, have made a decree, that every man who hears the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image. ¹¹And whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into a burning fiery furnace. ¹²There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, pay no attention to you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

      ¹³Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king. ¹⁴Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? ¹⁵Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?”

      ¹⁶Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. ¹⁷If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. ¹⁸But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

      ¹⁹Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated. ²⁰And he ordered some of the mighty men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. ²¹Then these men were bound in their cloaks, their tunics, their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace. ²²Because the king’s order was urgent and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. ²³And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell bound into the burning fiery furnace.

      ²⁴Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” ²⁵He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.”

      ²⁶Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the burning fiery furnace; he declared, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire. ²⁷And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men. The hair of their heads was not singed, their cloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them. ²⁸Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set aside the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God.

Acts 13:26–33

²⁶“Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation. ²⁷For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not recognize him nor understand the utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him. ²⁸And though they found in him no guilt worthy of death, they asked Pilate to have him executed. ²⁹And when they had carried out all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. ³⁰But God raised him from the dead, ³¹and for many days he appeared to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people. ³²And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, ³³this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm, “‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you.’”

Luke 24:36–49

³⁶As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” ³⁷But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. ³⁸And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? ³⁹See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” ⁴⁰And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. ⁴¹And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” ⁴²They gave him a piece of broiled fish, ⁴³and he took it and ate before them.

      ⁴⁴Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” ⁴⁵Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, ⁴⁶and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, ⁴⁷and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. ⁴⁸You are witnesses of these things. ⁴⁹And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

Collect of the Day

Almighty God, through the resurrection of Your Son You have secured peace for our troubled consciences. Grant us this peace evermore that trusting in the merit of Your Son we may come at last to the perfect peace of heaven; through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

 

The Christian’s boast is in Christ

 

For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.  But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence.  But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God — and righteousness and sanctification and redemption — that, as it is written,

“He who boasts, let him boast in the LORD.”

1 Corinthians 1:26-31

Christians are a peculiar people. They live in the flesh.  They live in the world.  But they are not of the world.  They live by faith in Jesus Christ (Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 1:17, etc.).  Jesus is their confidence.  He alone is their boast and their glory.

Whether having little or much, we learn, by God’s grace, that it matters not whether we have abundance or lack (Philippians 4:13).  Having Christ, we have everything we need, for what is more needful than God’s judgment and condemnation for our sin subsiding?  What greater need does the sinner have before God but to have that sin atoned for, taken away, and not counted against the sinner?

Nothing compares to what we have in Christ Jesus.  Nothing!  Nothing in the world at all approaches the grace of God.  And yet, we take it for granted.  We neglect the forgiveness of our sins and consider it an insignificant thing to replace Christ with our own interests, activities, and life.  We neglect the hearing of God’s Word.  We complain and grumble that things are not the way that we think things should be.  We seek our own way out of trouble rather than waiting on the Lord (Psalm 27:14).  In effect, we boast and glory in our own accomplishments, trying to make them our own, and consider God to be our servant, imploring Him to do our bidding instead of we being His servants and seeking to do His bidding according to His Word.  We fret and get all worked up because God does not do things our way and thus, we lose sight of God’s ways for our own and in the process, call our ways good and God’s ways evil.

Through Isaiah the prophet, God speaks of this when He declares, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!  Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, And prudent in their own sight!” (Isaiah 5:20-21)

Instead of putting yourselves before God and His ways, like Peter who wanted nothing of a suffering Christ and who was rightly rebuked (Matthew 16:21-23), be mindful of the things of God, not the things of men (see also Colossians 3:1-4ff).  Consider who you are in the light of God’s Holy Law—a sinner, a sinner in need of God’s salvation in Christ; a sinner for whom Christ died, willingly, that you might live.

Consider now your place as God’s blessed child, having been baptized into the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Consider that you are no longer your own, but God’s child, purchased with the price of Christ’s blood (1 Corinthians 6:20; 7:23; 1 Peter 1:18-19).

Now that you know that God is “for you” in Christ, and that nothing can separate you from God’s love in Christ (Romans 8), so now live.  Live in confidence!  Should even Satan stand against you, he cannot prevail, for Christ is victor!  Since such is the case, what need you fear the things of this life?  “If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31)

You have no reason not to boast and glory in Christ, for God forgives your sins, you have eternal life promised you, and you belong to your Heavenly Father.  God is your God!  Salvation is yours!

 Luther

“Now Christians know their boast in Christ, not that we are rich and worth a fortune, nor that we win a kingdom and principality, but that through Christ we become loosed from sins, from death and the devil and are established in hope.  So to this extent, we are brought into the eternal kingdom and we boast that we have a gracious God and Father because we are baptized and believe in the man who can give us eternal life, of whom no Turk, no divisive spirit, no bishop or the pope, no prince, no teacher or false saint and in summary, the whole world, knows nothing.” (Geo. Link, Luther’s Family Devotions, 644)

Prayer: Dear Jesus, forgive us for our pride before you, lamenting that we do not have what we think we ought and for seeking what you do not promise.  Help us to recognize and believe that You only are our everything, and that having You, we need no more, for You will provide and care for us of Your bountiful mercies.  Amen.

Jesus’ Temptation & Our Own

[12] The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.  [13] And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.

Mark 1:12-13 (ESV)

 

Even Jesus wasn’t free from temptation, temptation being that which would lead to sin against God and away from God if given into.  Immediately following His baptism by St. John the Baptist, as according to Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness for forty days where He was tempted by Satan himself.  No figure of speech here is meant by that name Satan.  The Satan here means none other than the devil himself, the same devil who was thrown out of heaven because he wanted to be like God (Revelation 12:7-9).  This is the same devil who as a serpent in the Garden of Eden tempted Eve, the woman formed from the rib of the first man Adam, to eat of the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:21-23; 3:1-6).  This is that same Satan who attacked Job in the Old Testament book with the same name, that same Job who suffered greatly and suffered much at the hands of the accuser, but who would not give-in to curse God and die (Job 2:9-10).

Satan is a real being, contrary to the results of many a poll in our day that say otherwise.  When it comes to matters of truth, numbers and the majority don’t run the show.  God’s Word does.  Though we do not see Satan, he tries to not only hurt, harm, and tempt to sin, but ultimately he tries to lead us to doubt and to disbelieve God’s promises, that we not trust Jesus for help and hope and find in Him rest for our weary souls, but rather that we despair and find no comfort whatsoever, or that we find comfort in that which is not the true and everlasting comfort of God’s Word (Matthew 11:28-29).

This is where Satan would lead us, not to belief and trust in God’s Son our Savior, but belief and trust in another that is not the true God.  Thus would Satan lead us to hell, not to heaven.  For this reason, Satan has his eyes not only on us, but during those 40 days that Jesus was in the wilderness, Satan had his eyes fixed on Jesus, not in belief, but for the purpose of bringing about Christ’s downfall.  Had he succeeded, no Savior would we have and certainly lost eternally would we be.

That Jesus suffered temptation and yet was without sin (Hebrews 4:15) is a sure testament that temptation, in and of itself, cannot harm us.  Here, Dr. Luther’s Words of the Reformation are helpful, for they rightly distinguish between ‘being tempted’ and ‘giving in’ to temptation.  There is a distinction, as is recorded in Luther’s Large Catechism,

¹⁰⁷ To feel temptation, therefore, is quite a different thing from consenting and yielding to it. We must all feel it, though not all to the same degree; some have more frequent and severe temptations than others. Youths, for example, are tempted chiefly by the flesh; older people are tempted by the world. Others, who are concerned with spiritual matters (that is, strong Christians) are tempted by the devil. ¹⁰⁸ But we cannot be harmed by the mere feeling of temptation as long as it is contrary to our will and we would prefer to be rid of it. If we did not feel it, it could not be called a temptation. But to consent to it is to give it free rein and neither resist it nor pray for help against it. (Tappert, T. G. (2000, c1959). The book of concord : The confessions of the evangelical Lutheran church (The Large Catechism: 3, 107-108). Philadelphia: Fortress Press.)

These words hold more than a little comfort for all who are troubled by temptation.  It is a sure sign that one is on the right path if one wants to be rid of temptations all together and sees them for what they are.  But resisting them by our own strength we cannot do, as even by experience we know.  As soon as we believe ourselves strong enough to overcome, we find that we fall.  By our own strength, we cannot resist. To the Lord we must cling.  It is He who gives His strength that we keep at it, not losing heart, but trust in the Lord for grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16).

Here, our Lord does not forsake, for No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it (1 Corinthians 10:13). The Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one (2 Thessalonians 3:3).

It is not the faithlessness of God that leads into temptation, but Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed (James 1:14).  Therefore do we certainly struggle with our own desires which are contrary to God’s Word and will.  But here we are not left to ourselves, nor are we old Adam only.  In Christ we are new creations.  The Old has passed and the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17).  Your sinful flesh has been drowned in the water of Holy Baptism.  No longer are we your own.  You belong to another, even to the Lord who has redeemed you from your sin and saves you from eternal death.  Belonging to Him, we wish not to remain as we once were according to the flesh.  We wish to change, living Godly and upright lives according to God’s Word unto Him who calls us to Himself.

And to you does God give strength and preserve you in the faith that you continue in Him.  According to His Holy Word does He call you from despair and doubt, and from self-righteousness and pride.  He offers you His forgiveness and His body and blood that you believe and eat and drink and so be confident of His grace and mercy, for we know ourselves to still be sinners.  He gives you of His Spirit that you live unto Him who is your Head, deny yourselves, and follow Him.  And these you do, though feebly on your part on account of your sin that still clings to you.  But God in Christ shows you your Savior and Lord, even your Salvation, your anchor and your sure foundation.

Therefore, to Christ flee for refuge.  Temptations surely do and will come, even as our Lord says, Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall (1 Corinthians 10:12).  Of yourselves and by yourselves, we will fall.  But pray to the Lord for help, even as you pray in the Lord’s prayer, “Lead us not into temptation” and “Deliver us from the evil one.”  And so our Lord does, through He who did overcome when He Himself was tempted in the wilderness for 40 days and through He who delivers you from sin, death, and the power of the devil through His own death on Good Friday.  Amen.

Prayer:  Lord, in Your mercy, do not forsake me.  Help me to resist temptation and always firmly to believe in You.  Amen.