True Faith

AELW 8:193

"Historical faith does not rely on the Word or trust in it. No, it says: “I hear that Christ suffered and died, etc.” But true faith judges as follows: “I believe that Christ suffered and died for me, etc. About this I have no doubt, and in this faith I find rest. I trust in that Word in opposition to death and sin.” [Emphasis mine}]

A great All Saints Day quote

AELW 8:191

Genesis 48:21. "Then Israel said to Joseph: Behold, I am about to die; but God will be with you and will bring you again to the land of your fathers."

"We who believe have this beginning, that even when we feel death, we nevertheless do not fear it as others, who are tormented by an evil conscience and grow pale even when the word “death” is mentioned, feel it. But the godly and saintly martyrs despise death and laugh at it. Thus when Agnes was being carried off to prison and torture, she said that she felt just as if she were being led to a dance. What, I ask, was the source of such great courage on the part of the maiden? She was not afraid. She did not tremble. No, she exulted as though she were being summoned to a most sumptuous feast. This was no Epicurean contempt of death; it was true wisdom and understanding, because of which she concluded that life was very close to her. Therefore she laughed at the devil and death and regarded them as a joke, because for her death had been swallowed up through life.

This is the theology we teach. It is altogether different from the theology which the blind and foolish scholastics and papists retain. These men are completely ignorant of it and despise faith. Therefore let us listen to the patriarch Jacob as he speaks of death as if he were speaking of sleep. For if you should ask him: “Why are you not terrified at the sight of death, Jacob?” he replies: “To be sure, I shall die and be buried in the tomb; but God lives. He has promised the land into which He will bring you back, but He will transfer me into another, far better land; for He has given His promise.”

A Great Reformation anniversary passage - "Confidence because of the command of Christ"

Justification by Faith alone!

AELW 8:188-189

"But look, I ask you, at Jacob’s faith and at his extraordinary comfort. For when he says: “God will be with you,” he has no doubt whatever that God will take care of them, just as we in the New Testament are certain that Christ will be with us until the end of the age (cf. Matt. 28:20). In addition, he promises that they will be brought back to the land of their fathers. It is as though he were saying: “I am leaving you and departing from you from this life; but you have not been forsaken or abandoned, since the same God and וֹּאֵל (SEE NOTE BELOW) who was with me in such great troubles of this life will also be with you and will bring you back into the Promised Land.”

These are certainly bold words, as if I were to say to one who is about to die: “I absolve you from your sins and commend you to God and all the angels that they may protect you and lead you into eternal life.” This I can and should declare with confidence because of the command of Christ and the infallible promise of God on which such absolution depends. Therefore we can absolve those who believe the Word and send them over into the kingdom of God, for this blessing of the fathers has been given to us too.

But the pope consigns afflicted consciences to purgatory and makes no certain promise about their salvation but demands contrition, confession, and satisfaction, if perhaps God may be appeased and reconciled by such means. “Your contrition could be so great,” he says, “that God Would have regard for it.” Thus he leaves hearts in perpetual doubt and finally drives them to despair and to hatred toward God.

Therefore we encourage fearful hearts in this manner: “Believe that you have been baptized into Christ. I absolve you from your sins in the name of Christ, who died for you and rose again, and said: ‘Because I live, you will live also’ ” (John 14:19). This is solid and firm consolation. In it alone the godly can find rest. Therefore the devil perpetually assails it. Thus recently the asses in Louvain had the audacity to defend purgatory by publishing articles under the seal of Emperor Charles by which they betray their stupidity and madness and openly declare that God has increased their blindness a hundredfold, since they try to extinguish the light of that promise which God, in His wonderful goodness and mercy, has again kindled in our churches."

NOTE:

Regarding the word וֹּאֵל ? The Electronic version prints it out with the spelling as is in red here and seems to be repetitive, e.g., "and God" which would render the sentence..."same God and and God."

The printed version uses the spelling, גֹּאֵל which can mean "Kinsmen or redeemer" which would render the sentence..."same God and redeemer"

Any expert advice on which word was intended is appreciated....maybe the German St. Louis version is clearer here?

The boundless kindness of God

AELW 8:182-183

"At the present time, thanks to the boundless kindness of God, we have the most glorious honor of Christ, as is clear from our sermons and the whole ministry. Look at Baptism, the Lords Supper, absolution, and the Gospel. These great gifts of the Holy Spirit should be praised and proclaimed by all, and in them God, who has given such power to men (cf. Matt. 9:8), should be acknowledged and praised. I am not the patriarch Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob. But observe what I do. I take an infant, and by baptizing it I redeem it from death, the devil, and sins, and translate it from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. This a pastor of the church does, and in an emergency any Christian does so.

Therefore it is meet and right that we should wonder at and proclaim such great mercy and goodness of God. He blesses us with an eternal and spiritual blessing, so that the devil is compelled to flee when he sees an infant being baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. For here I am not destroying the kingdom of the Turk or of Augustus or of the king of the Persians. No, I am destroying the kingdom of the prince and god of this world.

In the same manner, when a sinner comes confessing his sins, I say to him: “I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” For here I am recalling from the depths of hell one who was confused, lost, hopeless, swallowed up, and eternally dead in his sins.

Thus in the Lord’s Supper I eat the body and drink the blood of Christ, the Son of God, given and shed for me for the remission of sins, that is, for eternal life.

Accordingly, this glory is far greater and far more lustrous than that of the fathers. The only thing we lack is that we do not open our eyes, ears, and hearts and do not value these gifts in accordance with their importance and worth. It is true and certain that he who is baptized and absolved at the hand of a pastor, and, in case of necessity, at the hand of any brother, is undoubtedly holy and saved, and that the kingdom of the devil, death, and sin has been destroyed. How? Through the mouth of a miserable man, a priest or a brother.

Surely these are great and immeasurable miracles, and the power given to us by God is incomparably greater than that of the fathers, which nevertheless was surpassingly great. For Christ says to us: “Lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age” (Matt. 28:20) and “I go away, and I will come to you” (John 14:28). Likewise: “We will come to him and make Our home with him” (John 14:23).

The church shall be my fortress, my castle, and my chamber, as is stated in Is. 31:9: “Says the Lord, whose fire is in Zion, and whose furnace is in Jerusalem.” Therefore when we baptize, Christ Himself is baptizing through the mouth and hand of the minister."

Bow and revere God

AELW 8:145

"When we hear the Word of God, we should receive it with special reverence and piety, if not with bended knees, at least with humble hearts. Thus it is good that the Sacrament of the Altar is honored with bended knees; for the true body and blood of the Lord are there, likewise the presence of the Holy Spirit and the promise or the Word of God, which should be heard reverently. For God works there, and the Lord shows Himself. In Moses this is sometimes called the face of God. He means that God is present and appears to me. Here it is certainly fitting for me to rise or to fall on my knees. And the appearances and faces of God we experience are equal to, yes, superior to, all the appearances in the Law of Moses. When I approach Baptism, I must certainly conclude that nothing human is being done there. But the water is a veil or a means. So is the Word with which God is veiled. Behind these stands our Lord God, and they are the faces of God through which He speaks with us and works in every person individually. He baptizes me; He absolves me and gives me His body and blood through the tongue and the hand of the minister. For God works salvation in Baptism. And this is the presence or form and epiphany of God in these means. Therefore we do the right thing when we bow and revere God when He speaks with us. If we do not do so with our bodies, we should at least do so with all our hearts.

And in Baptism, of course, our eyes and hearts should always be directed to the manifest appearance in the Jordan, where the voice of the Father is heard from heaven, the flesh of the Son is seen, and the Holy Spirit appears in the form of a dove. Thus also in our Baptism. And what is primary in the Lords Supper is the means by which Christ gives me His body. Thus it is actually God, not the minister, who nourishes and feeds us. In Baptism the voice of the Trinity is heard, and the words of Baptism must not be understood or received in any other way. Therefore this adoration is necessary, if not with a bending of the body, at least with spiritual reverence."

Resources and Lutheran Insider Speak

Looking over some previous posts I note that I have broken at least a one of my own rules...

and that is....

to never to use acronymns without immediately explaining what they mean.

In every type of business there is "insider" or "code" language used. It is always frustrating if you have not yet learned what something means, compounded by the fact that everyone around you is nodding their heads knowingly following what is meant. I know personally that I find a hard time revealing in a large group that I don't know what some acronymn means...

Okay, what are you saying and give an example...

Previously I referenced the LSB, a book published by CPH in 2006 for the LCMS.

See how easy it is to use acronyms and what I meant about insider speak?

LSB = The Lutheran Service Book. A Hymnal and Service Book, published in 2006, filled with hymns. devotional materials, as well as, a plethora of other resources. More information may be found regarding this resource at...

http://lsb.cph.org/

CPH = Concordia Publishing House. A publisher with Christian resources for any and every occasion. Well worth reviewing their website and the great materials which they publish....

http://www.cph.org/cphstore/default.asp?ct=true

(btw a tremendous devotional resource being released at the end of this week (October 24, 2008) is The Treasury of Daily Prayer, more information here...

http://www.cph.org/cphstore/pages/resources/tdp/index.asp)

LCMS = The Lutheran Church Missour Synod, an organization of Lutheran Church, founded in 1847. More information here....

http://www.lcms.org/

Thanks and as Tigger (from Winnie the Pooh) would stay TTFN....(ta ta for now)

Two kinds of gray hair

AELW 8:113

" Pharaoh took the opportunity to question Jacob because he saw his unkempt gray hair and his dirty and wrinkled face. But there are two kinds of gray hair. Sometimes it is the result of age, and sometimes it is the result of trouble. People are said to become gray from worries and heartache, as the German expression “This could give me gray hair!” puts it. And in Ps. 6:7 we read: “My eye wastes away because of grief, it grows weak because of all my foes.” It is as if the psalmist were saying: “I am surrounded to such an extent by enemies and vexations that the moment one vexation has come to an end, three other far more serious vexations follow.” For no disaster is alone, as a common saying goes.

But such tribulations and troubles hasten the coming of gray hair, wrinkles, and finally death itself. This is the source of the well-known complaints of afflicted people who say: “You will make me turn gray; you will kill me!” For grievous trials certainly mortify and kill. Therefore Solomon warns as follows in Eccl. 11:9: “Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth.” A young person should be happy. A young man should not torment himself with the anxious and biting cares that consume strength and exhaust the vigor of life. Do not start tormenting yourself when you are young. Later, when age approaches and you are preoccupied with troubles of all kinds, worries and vexations of every kind will also follow. Trouble itself will surely be your teacher.

Therefore Jacob says: “I am an old man, not in years but in the multitude of evils, which are more effective killers than the number of years.” And if we look at the age in which we live, how few there are today who reach 60 years! How many thousands of men there are who are killed by the sword, plague, sorrow, and tribulations before this time! And old age is now 40 or 50 years."

Timeless and timely irony

AELW 8:107

Luther on Genesis 47:3-4 Joseph and his brothers...

"Joseph manfully and prudently advises his brothers to remain in their calling and in the position in which they have been up to this time. They should not seek great honors in a foreign realm but should be content with their lot and condition. Nor should they imagine that because of the exalted honor in which they see their brother established they, too, must aspire to like rank and glory. And this is also foreign to our customs and examples. For you could see many from among the courtiers who, on being elevated to some position of rank, are immediately eager to elevate and enrich their relatives and friends."

The garment of the eternal Sabbath

AELW 8:67

"The earth will be adorned with another garment, and heaven and the heavenly bodies will be much more splendid, as is stated in Is. 30:26: “The light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold.” An old coat that is torn must be replaced with a new one.

In the same manner God also cleanses us from sins and frees us from death. This is the work of the six days of this world. But when these are past, when we have entered into His rest, then our torn and filthy garment will be changed into the garment of the eternal Sabbath (cf. Heb. 4:3–9)"