"United to God Through the Word" (Revelation 22:1-20)

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Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

“He said to me, ‘These words are trustworthy and true’” (Revelation 22:6a).

 

The inspired Psalmist David writes, “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity” (Psalm 133:1). God desires unity with us, but we have such disunity.

 

Instead of being united with God, we are more like those outside the holy city: those “dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood” (Revelation 22:15).

 

So, why is there such disunity? Well, obviously, we are not living in the Garden of Eden. So, that is a clue.

 

We have disunity, tension, strife, and conflict because we have always had disunity, tension, strife, and conflict since Adam and Eve declared war against God. And we – you and me – are sinful descendants of Adam and Eve. We were all conceived with their sinful nature. So, it is our natural state to be at war with God. And if we are at war with God, then naturally, we are at disunity with each other. 

 

We all deserve God’s eternal wrath because of our sin, which separates us from God and separates us from our neighbor. So, left to us, there could only be disunity.

 

But God intended for us to be united with Him. God intended for us to gather with Him in unity: around the tree of life.

 

We have such disunity because we have fallen for a lie. Adam and Eve fell for the devil’s lie. They went their own way. And what did it get them? They gave up on the image of God, to be “like” God. They gave up the true worship of God.

 

Adam rejected God’s command for him and his wife to not eat of the tree. They turned away from God’s face. They feared God’s presence because they feared His wrath.

 

You see, our first parents thought they could be independent of God. They believed they didn’t need Him or His Word. They embraced the devil’s lie and the death that came with it.

 

“Did God really say?” The fallen world is captive to that lie. The fallen world says you can handle life on your own without God. The fallen world says we need to be independent from God.

 

We have fallen for that same lie. We have become slaves and victims of the devil’s wicked schemes.

 

May I ask: How often do you actually examine the Scriptures? How often do you take the word of a preacher as gospel truth no matter what he says? Yes, we should respect pastors. They are called and ordained servants of Christ. Pastors are to take the Scriptures reverently and seriously. 

 

But both God-fearing pastors and wolves in sheep’s clothing have something in common. For they both say, “Thus says the Lord.” But in the case of the sham pastors the claim is a lie. Those who claim to have received a revelation apart from Scripture utter only a falsehood, a lie, for with the completion of the New Testament Jesus has the last word, a word that redeems us from sin and death.

 

For God’s Word says, “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book” (Revelation 22:18-19).

 

So, God doesn’t take monkeying around with His Holy Word lightly. So, the warning here not to add to what He has said and the equal warning not to take away. Add to God’s Word and God will add to you the plagues described in this Book. Take away by cutting from God’s Word and God will take away your share in the tree of life.

 

Now, these false pastors and false theologians will not come to you and say, “We are frauds, and we aim to lead people away from the Savior and His Word.” By doing so, they would defeat their purpose in misleading Christ’s disciples.

 

And what about just a minor error? For Jesus, any false teaching – no matter how big or how small – can undermine and finally destroy saving faith. Every error is dangerous! This is why Jesus gives us this warning, so that we would repent and trust in Christ!

 

For if we keep adding to God’s Word or subtracting from God’s Word, eventually we could lose all of God’s saving Word. We could eventually lose the point of God’s Word as St. John writes in John 20: “These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:31).

 

Remember, God desires unity. In this Holy Bible, He speaks of His love for unity from Genesis to Revelation. He speaks of our need to forgive each other. He speaks of our need of repentance and faith. He speaks of our redemption in Jesus Christ alone. Every word in His Word, the Bible, is “trustworthy and true” (Revelation 22:6) because He “never lies” (Titus 1:2).

 

And because God never lies by keeping all His promises, He unites us with the truth of His Word. He unites us in faith in the Divine Service and He serves us His grace, mercy and peace.

 

Through the power of the Holy Spirit, He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. It’s the Holy Spirit who brings us to Jesus, who is our “bright morning star” (Revelation 22:16). It’s the Holy Spirit who brings us to Jesus, who is “the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end” (Revelation 22:13).

 

The Holy Spirit calls, gathers and “teaches us all things” (John 14:26) through the Scriptures. And through the Bible, His Word is a lamp of truth (Psalm 119:105), which banishes the darkness of sin and unbelief and lies.

 

God unites us to Him as we are united in the flesh of Christ. Jesus is fully God. Jesus is fully man. God became man through the incarnation. So, Jesus understands all that we go through each day of our lives. He knows our pains and our struggles. And that is why God became man, so that through His atoning death, we would be reconciled and united to God the Father.

 

Today, God sustains us with the river of the water of life. In this water of life, He gave us faith when united with His Word in Holy Baptism.

Today, God sustains us with the tree of life. Instead of a tree with branches and roots, God sustains us through a tree cut into a wooden cross, with nails pounded into Jesus’ flesh and bone. And we receive this fruit from this tree in the Lord’s Supper under simple bread and wine, which begets forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and salvation!

 

Each Lord’s Day, we are gathered in the unity of true worship of Almighty God. Here, Jesus gives us unity in His promises. By grace through faith in Christ alone, we receive His promises from the fruits of His cross, the new tree of life: forgiveness, life, and salvation. 

 

And He says, “Surely I am coming soon” (Revelation 22:20). His promise, which was given nearly 2,000 years ago, is still as true today. The risen and ascended Lord is coming soon! And yet, He is here with us now through His Word and Sacraments. He is never far away. Soon is not a matter of chronological time, but of “nearness” of time.

 

It seemed so long in human time from the promise of Adam and Eve of one to crush the head of the serpent until Jesus was born. But it was a blink of an eye in God’s time until Jesus came in “the fullness of time” (Galatians 4:4). He is coming! His words are trustworthy and true! And when He comes, all the faithful will see Him face to face in the holy city and will possess the image of God as they worship Him day and night in His temple. Until that day, let us proclaim God’s Word faithfully and join St. John in saying, “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20).

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,

 keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.  

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

Sermon for Pentecost 19: "Continuing in What You Have Learned" (2 Timothy 3:14-4:5)

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

 

[Watching You]

 

“As for you,” Paul says to Timothy, and us – “continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings” (2 Timothy 3:14-15).

 

Timothy had learned well. From his teachers – his grandmother Lois, his mother Eunice, and the Apostle Paul – he had acquired strong convictions. From these convictions, he is taught that he should stand by them and not let himself be shaken from them.

 

But notice, Lois and Eunice didn’t wait until Timothy was “old enough” to make his own decisions. They didn’t wait to see if Timothy would decide to become a Christian. No, they started indoctrinating – that is teaching him the fundamentals – right away “from childhood.” Now, literally, “from childhood” means “from infancy.” That is really the best time to start any teaching. So, right as soon as any infant is baptized, parents ought to raise their child in the one true faith, teaching him or her the ABCs of the faith. It is the expectation of parents that they will bring their child to the Divine Service in God’s house, regularly, each week. It is the expectation of the parents to teach their child the Ten Commandments, the Creed, and the Lord’s Prayer, as well as leading the child to the reception of the Sacrament of the Altar. All of that, and more, is what it means to teach your child the sacred writings.

 

But how well do our children know the Bible? And, how well do adults know the Bible? Are we even teaching our children? Well, yes, we are. We are constantly teaching, even if we don’t intend to be teaching. You see, whatever we do as adults is catechizing our children – for good or for bad. So, if attending church is not a high priority, then your children will see church as not a priority. If you see sports and recreation as important, your children will likely see it that way, too.

 

Again, children tend to imitate their parents. Now, there are always exceptions to every rule, but this Proverb is true: “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6).

 

Yes, we have all known children who departed from the faith who had God-fearing parents, but how many children remained in the faith who had God-fearing parents? No matter what, children typically follow their parents’ example for good or for bad.

 

The 2006 country song “Watching You” by Rodney Atkins shows this at work through song. He sang:

Driving through town just my boy and me
With a happy meal in his booster seat
Knowing that he couldn't have the toy
'Till his nuggets were gone.

 

A green traffic light turned straight to red.
I hit my brakes and mumbled under my breath.
His fries went a flying and his orange drink covered his lap.
Well then, my four-year-old said a four-letter word
That started with "s" and I was concerned.
So I said, “Son, now where did you learn to talk like that?”

 

He said, “I've been watching you dad, ain't that cool?
I'm your buckaroo, I wanna be like you. …
I wanna do everything you do,

So, I've been watching you.”

 

You see, our children – even if they say they don’t – they model their lives after their parents. So, whatever the parent does is ultimately catechizing their children. But as that child noticed what his dad spoke, he also noticed his dad’s other actions. That night, he witnessed his son do something else, as he sung:

He crawled out of bed and he got down on his knees
He closed his little eyes, folded his little hands
And spoke to God like he was talking to a friend
And I said, “Son, now where'd you learn to pray like that?”

 

He said, “I've been watching you dad, ain't that cool?
I'm your buckaroo, I wanna be like you. …
I wanna do everything you do,
So I've been watching you.”

 

Our children are always watching. So, what are you teaching your children?

 

This is what Timothy was doing. He watched and learned from Eunice and Lois, just as we learn from our parents and guardians on what is good and right. So, Timothy from infancy heard the writings of the Old Testament. And from those Writings, the Holy Spirit brought him to faith in Christ Jesus, the promised Messiah.

 

So, if you haven’t been the best teacher when it comes to God’s Word, the good news is this: God is gracious. He forgives our sins. He restores and renews us. This, in fact, is the very message of Scripture: the forgiving, renewing, restoring grace of God in Christ. This is God’s Word for all of us this morning. You see, God is gracious. The blood of Christ covers all of our sins. The Holy Spirit will pick us up and help us to do better. God is always faithful, despite our unfaithfulness.

 

Now, did you also notice that Paul is writing to an adult Timothy when he writes: “continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed” (2 Timothy 3:14)? The point is, the learning of Holy Scripture does not stop when we are confirmed. In fact, we are called to be lifelong learners. Even for the most-astute pastor, he is still consistently learning more from God’s Word. 

 

So, we must continue in what we have learned. We must continue in learning from the Scriptures. But why? Why can’t I just worship God in nature?

 

Well, yes, God is seen in nature. He is the Creator of all things. But what is missing? What do we not notice in nature that is revealed in Scripture? Well, Scripture is how we “are able to [be] wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:15). There it is! Scripture is the means by which God reveals our salvation.

 

[Doubting Faith]

 

Now, back some years ago when I was a teenager, I began to doubt my Christian faith. Just a couple years earlier in catechism class, my pastor taught me that the Bible was entirely God’s Word. He proclaimed what Paul proclaims to Timothy: “All Scripture is breathed out by God” (2 Timothy 3:16) – that all Scripture is “God breathed” or “Divinely inspired.” He said the Bible is true from cover to cover, since every word of the prophets, evangelists, and apostles were inspired by – and willed by – the Holy Spirit.

 

Now, all of a sudden, I was hearing the opposite from another pastor. He claimed that portions of the Bible were inspired, while other portions were products of human imagination. I thought, “If the Bible cannot be trusted, why even come to church?” I began questioning the crucifixion and resurrection. I was questioning everything.

 

In my moments of doubt, I remembered the previous pastor mentioning an obscure book called The Book of Concord, so I purchased this book and I began looking through it until I came across this statement in the Epitome of the Formula of Concord: 

“We believe, teach, and confess that the only rule and guiding principle according to which all teachings and teachers are to be evaluated and judged are the prophetic and apostolic writings of the Old and New Testaments alone, as it is written, ‘Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path’ (Psalm 119:105), and Saint Paul: ‘If … an angel from heaven should proclaim to you something contrary, … let that one be accursed!’ (Galatians 1:8).” 

It also stated: 

“Holy Scripture alone remains the only judge, rule, and guiding principle, according to which, as the only touchstone, all teachings should and must be recognized and judged, whether they are good or evil, correct or incorrect.”

 

When I read that, the Holy Spirit strengthened my weak faith and assured me of the truthfulness of the Scriptures. And this is what eventually led me to The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod, since this church body is still tethered to God’s inerrant Word.

 

“All Scripture” – the Old and New Testaments – points us to Christ, so that we can take a hold of Him by faith. Jesus Himself said, “[The Scriptures] bear witness about Me” (John 5:39). The entire Bible is about the dying and rising Christ conquering death for us, and the message of repentance and forgiveness in His name.

 

[Continue in the Sacred Writings]

 

So, we must continue in what we have learned in these sacred writings! Paul teaches Timothy – as well as us – that all Scripture is “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that a man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16b-17). 

 

So why are the Scriptures profitable? Well, they are for reproof, that is, to expose and convict sin. But the logical question is this: What is sin? Is abortion sin? Is gender-affirming surgery sin? Is cohabitation sin? Is gossiping sin? Is being discontent sin? Now, not everyone will give the same answer. But who is right? This confusion in the world can also confuse the Christian. Where do we turn to know what is truly a sin? Well, God determines what is sin. In His Scripture, He gives us the only reliable standard on what is right and what is wrong.

 

 

 

Another way Scripture is profitable is for correcting, which means restoring those who fall into sin. The Law certainly rebukes and convicts, but to restore the sinner, the Gospel is essential. The Gospel moves the heart, strengthens faith, and builds up so that correction takes place.

 

The Scriptures are also profitable for “training in righteousness.” In His Word, we receive training in how to live as God’s child. One way we are trained is that we are to speak God’s Word when we are tempted by our sinful nature. Do you recall what Jesus did when He was tempted by Satan? Did He comply to temptation? No! He responded saying, “It is written” (Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13). He spoke the very Word of God to combat Satan’s lies.

 

God’s Word as revealed in the Scriptures are our tools to fight the lies around us. As Paul wrote, “The time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions” (2 Timothy 4:3).

 

As a result of the Fall, our sinful nature is not satisfied with the Bible. Instead, our sinful nature doesn’t want to hear what we have done wrong to God and to our neighbor, but desires to be flattered. So, instead of listening to the Truth, many of us wander off into myths. This chief myth is that God serves me as He agrees with whatever I want. This false god is like a Disney genie who always agrees with their wishes. So many people search out false teachers who flatter us, instead of being taught God’s unchanging truth.

 

The Old and New Testaments carry the Lord’s own authority. Make no mistake, every word belongs to God and was breathed out by God. They are powerful for accomplishing His own purpose, namely, creating in our hearts saving faith in Jesus Christ. Within this Book, through the merit and work of Jesus, salvation for sinners is revealed!

 

So, with the Holy Spirit’s guidance, let us continue in what we have learned, so that we may be wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ!

 

Blessed Lord, You have caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning. Grant that we may so hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them that, by patience and comfort of Your Holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.

 

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

Sermon for Easter 5: "Into All Truth" (John 16:12-22)

 

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

[Intro]

On the night He was betrayed, Jesus said to His apostles: “When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth” (John 16:13a).

Pontius Pilate famously asked Jesus: “What is truth?” (John 18:38). How would we know truth from fiction? From online fact checkers? From the “Ministry of Truth”?

All too recently, we were told to trust the science. But what happens when the science changes? Do we continually trust the shifting sands? Is truth today considered “fluid”? Is it the nature of truth to change?

So, what is Jesus telling us by saying, “When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth”? Today on this Fifth Sunday of Easter, Jesus gives us the answer to the question that is still asked today: “What is truth?”

[The Truth is Out There]

As I have said, there are so many questions in regard to truth. Today, truth has undertaken a new meaning: opinion. Today, opinion seems to matter more than fact. Today, opinion has taken center stage to some big questions, such as: When does life begin? Is it just a clump of cells until I say it’s life? How do I know my sex or gender? Is it assigned to me, or do I choose? What is a woman? What is a man?

In a world without truth, nothing has meaning. But as the television show X-Files proclaims: The truth is out there. It’s certainly out there, but where?

How are we to distinguish truth from lies?

To this, Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the Spirit of Truth. He does this to contrast with the spirit of lies – the devil – who turns everything on its head: evil is good, good is evil, and truth is exchanged for a lie. Jesus proclaims that the Holy Spirit will teach the apostles and show them that everything He told them is the truth.

Everything Jesus taught is the Truth, for He said, “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). Now, many men have told us the truth, but no Man ever embodied it except for Jesus Christ. You see, if a man proposes to teach moral truth, his character makes all the difference in the world. Moral truth cannot be conveyed solely in words; it must be conveyed by example. Many people could say: “I have taught you the truth.” But only Jesus says: “I am the Truth.”

But how did the unbelieving world react to Jesus? They called Him a blasphemer. They called Him a liar. They said He was crazy. They shouted, “Crucify Him!”

What did Jesus say of Paul being His chosen instrument in proclaiming the Gospel? “I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of My name” (Acts 9:16).

How is this any different from today? It is the fate of every Christian to suffer for the truth because Christ suffered as the Truth. We are to suffer whatever grief the devil and the world can inflict upon us. The question then is: why would anyone want to be a Christian? Who would want to be a Christian if there is guaranteed suffering? Human reason says, “No way!” But the Holy Spirit says otherwise. He is the Spirit of Truth because in spite of what may appear to be suffering – when we are mocked and ridiculed for speaking God’s Word – He strengthens and preserves our hearts in the one true faith.

Without the Holy Spirit, no one would have believed in Jesus for any length of time, or would still believe today, that Jesus is the Christ who sits at the right hand of the Father, and who was crucified as a criminal by His own people is the true God.

It is the Holy Spirit who enables us to live and to die by the truth. The Holy Spirit is the guide who leads us into all truth. The Holy Spirit occupies Himself in how to rescue men from sin and death by making them children of God, righteous and heirs of eternal life. The Holy Spirit is about building the kingdom of God and destroying the kingdom of hell. He teaches us how to fight against the devil and overcome him. He gives us comfort, strength, and support to a believing conscience. The Holy Spirit does all of this so we may remain alive in the midst of death and may be able to keep a good conscience even when we are aware of our sins, so that we confess those sins to God our Father and receive reconciliation.

It is certainly necessary to fight and grapple with the devil and sin. Here nothing but eternal things – eternal life or eternal death – is at issue. As Baptized Christians, Satan constantly goes after us with all his fury. He wants us to denounce our inheritance as children of the heavenly Father. So, in this life, we are faced with either gaining the victory over the devil and sin by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone, or being their captives and lost forever.

As Christians, we are opposed by an enemy who is not interested in our temporal knowledge which we possess. No, he struggles and strives to hold our consciences bound in sin and to plague us from the eternal terrors of hell and with despair to drag us down with him from the kingdom of God and from all communion with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and into eternal damnation and the fire of hell. Such battles cannot be fought and such victories cannot be won without the Holy Spirit. Our reason and strength alone get us nowhere, as all temporal things will pass away.

Therefore, let us cling to this truth which the Holy Spirit teaches: how we can retain faith in Christ; tread the devil, sin, and death underfoot; bear and overcome the world’s wrath and raging; build God’s kingdom and gain eternal life. And where does the Holy Spirit work in us to retain this? It is only through His Means of Grace.

[Holy Spirit in Means of Grace]

When we hear God’s Word proclaimed and preached, receive Christ’s forgiveness in holy absolution and in receiving Christ’s very Body and Blood under the bread and the wine, we receive forgiveness of sins, which is supplied through Christ’s work of reconciliation, hence God’s grace. It is through these Means of Grace that God reveals and declares to believers that he or she is fully reconciled through Christ. The efficacious power of the Means of Grace consists of this, that through Word and Sacrament, the Holy Spirit works and strengthens faith, faith in the very forgiveness, God’s love and grace, which these means declare and reveal.

So, when we avoid the Means of Grace, we are depriving the Holy Spirit from awaking and strengthening our faith in Jesus Christ. For, as Martin Luther has said, “God does not wish to deal with us otherwise than through the spoken Word and Sacraments. It is the devil himself who is extolled as spirit without the Word and the Sacrament.”[1]

It is through the Means of Grace that the Holy Spirit works through us the preservation of the pure doctrine and of faith; victory over sin, the devil, and hell; and also love and obedience to God and our neighbor.

So, we know the truth from the Holy Spirit working within us through His Means of Grace. But does truth change with the times? Can men become women? Does life begin at conception or at birth, or even after birth?

[The Guide into All Truth]

To that question, Jesus says: “He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak, and He will declare to you the things that are to come” (John 16:13b-c).

Here, Jesus defines the Holy Spirit’s office. The Holy Spirit is the guide into all truth.

There are two kinds of teachers. There are some who speak on their own authority by evolving their message from their own reasoning and judgment. And, there are those who do not speak on their own authority.

The Holy Spirit does not speak on His own authority, and His message will not be a human dream and thought like those who speak on their own authority of things which they have never seen nor experienced. The Holy Spirit’s message has substance: It is certain and absolute truth, for He proclaims what He has received from the Father and the Son.

We recognize the Holy Spirit by the fact that He does not speak on His own authority – as the spirit of lies, the devil, and his mobs do – but will proclaim what He will hear. The Holy Spirit speaks exclusively of Jesus and glorifies Jesus, so that people would believe in Jesus as their crucified and risen Savior.

In this way, Jesus sets the bounds for the message of the Holy Spirit Himself. He does not preach anything new or anything else than Christ and His Word. Thus, we have a sure guide and touchstone for judging false spirits.

Christ teaches His followers: “If you abide in My Word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32). We come to know the truth through the nature of the Scriptures. You see, the entire Scriptures – the prophetic and apostolic writings of the Old and New Testaments – are inspired by the Holy Spirit. Everything in the Scriptures has its origin in the Father, and in the Son, and in the Holy Spirit. These are the very words of Jesus that have been preserved by the Holy Spirit.

So, all who imagine that they have found truth elsewhere are deluding themselves, because as Psalm 119 proclaims: “the sum of Your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever” (Psalm 119:160).

So, what does the Spirit of Truth say to some of today’s questions?

• On Life: Jeremiah 1(:5a): “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you” and Psalm 139 (:13-14a, 15-16) “For You formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. … My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.”
• On Sex or gender: Genesis 1(:27): “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them,” Matthew 19(:4) “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female,” and Jesus Himself says in today’s Gospel lesson that only women give birth as He compares the birth of a baby to the joy of His resurrection (John 16:21).

We can only be adequately informed of the truth in God’s Means of Grace: Word and Sacrament.

Although, we aspire to be perfect in following God’s commandments, His Law is impossible for us since we are all sinners. We all do what we should not do, and we all forget from time to time on the things we ought to be doing. Thanks be to God that we have Jesus who is perfect and He gives us His perfection that He won for us upon the cross. He gives us reconciliation through repentance and the forgiveness of sins.

It is the Holy Spirit who takes all things that belong to Jesus and gives forgiveness of sins, life and salvation to us. So, do not be deceived by the spirit of lies, who is at work within the sinful hearts of humanity, who attempts to deceive us into lies. Instead, always remember that the Holy Spirit dwells in believers through their Baptism into Christ, through the Lord’s Supper, and in the Scriptures that “are trustworthy and true” (Revelation 21:5b), which reveal to us God’s love and salvation in Jesus Christ. It is the Holy Spirit who supports and comforts believers with Christ’s gift of peace! Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

Portions of the Sermon cited from:

Luther, Martin. Luther’s Works American Edition: Volume 24, Sermons on the Gospel of St. John, Chapters 14-16 (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1961), 357-371.

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[1] Trigl. 495, Part III, Art. VIII, 3-10

Spiritual Warfare: The Constant Battle of the Christian

 

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

 

Jesus teaches His followers that we are always to be prepared when Satan comes at us with his accusations. Due to Christ’s suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension, Satan is indeed judged and he has no power over Christ’s followers. However, just because Satan is judged, this doesn’t mean that he will just give up. Satan never gives up.

 

I have heard it said, “If there is a hell, it is empty.” This could not be more untrue and this is not Biblical. This is what Satan wants us to believe. Satan enjoys when we overlook him. But, there he is lurking in the shadows, as he convinces our sinful flesh to do what is wrong by turning away from God. There he is as he convinces the world to follow his will, instead of God’s will.

 

The Apostle Peter informs us to “be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced” (1 Peter 5:8-9). Now, Satan isn’t always noticeable, after all he is the prince of darkness. Satan does his best work lurking in the shadows. 

 

Jesus often begins His teachings with “Truly, truly, I say to you.” This means His Word is truth and everything God speaks is truth (Psalm 119:160; John 17:17). Satan, on the other hand, is all about confusion and doubt as he constantly asks, “Did God actually say?” (Genesis 3:1). Satan has never relented from his lies, despite his eternal judgment. 

 

In my lifetime, I have never seen so much doubt as I see now. Truth has been replaced by “my truth,” which is actually personal opinion. We have people announcing their pronouns, as if they are a better judge than God who created them. We have people doubting their own very being. This is spiritual warfare. This is Satan working on our consciences as he lurks in the shadows.

 

Beginning on Sunday, June 6, for Adult Bible Class, we will begin a Bible Study on spiritual warfare with the aid of C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters. All ages are welcome! This fictional novel provides unique insight into the battles that we are all facing in the spiritual world. This book is told through a collection of letters from Screwtape, an undersecretary of hell, to his nephew, Wormwood, who is a junior devil. Wormwood’s duty is to lead his first human, a young man, to hell.

 

For all of us who believe in Christ and have been Baptized into His death and resurrection, we have a bullseye on us. Satan wants us back from the triune God, since he is not satisfied with only the current unbelievers and unrepentant sinners in his camp. So, we must always be ready. We must always be prepared for Satan’s lies.

 

So, as the Apostle Paul has said, we must “put on the whole armor of God, that [we] may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:11-12).

 

For everyone in Christ, we have the victory by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone. We are saved from the powers of sin, death, and Satan. Martin Luther was very familiar with spiritual warfare as Satan constantly tormented him. But Luther always proclaimed that no matter Satan’s attack, our victory in Christ has been won through Jesus Christ. In A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, Luther proclaimed:

And take they our life, 

Goods, fame, child and wife, 

Though these all be gone, 

Our victory has been won; 

The Kingdom ours remaineth.

 

In Christ,

Pastor Adelsen