One of these does not belong.

I was discussing the cult-attraction of the Synodical Conference participants with a reader. They have the same pathetic need to be accepted by Holy Mother Sect.

Just as all socialists look to Communism as the culmination of their hopes, so the little sects look up to Mother Missouri as the New Jerusalem, the Israel of God, heaven on earth. Anyone who leaves the bosom of Missouri can and should be shunned, but the icy looks or hostile gestures vanish when the Prodigal rejoins the fold.

Straight Talk - isn't that a micro-aggression? Jeske's free ad on the LCMS websty.

Mark Jeske is the midwife who quietly minded the patient by being the media star of Missouri, WELS, and the ELS at the same time. He appeared on the Missouri website and WELS pastors were scandalized, for a few seconds. They are always shocked and alarmed for a short time, until the official excuse is passed around.

Joining the board of Thrivent ($140,000 a year!) made Jeske the Elijah of the great reunion - ELCA and the LCMS cult, united by Universal Objective Justification. How can they object when they teach exactly what ELCA promotes - universal forgiveness without faith? Besides that, WELS is not quite so open about it, but the Wisconsin Synod schools are gayer than lavender hose. They just need to get past their habit of lying about it to the membership.

On the sidelines, the cousins Tiefel are knitting together the fragments of the CLC(sic)-WELS-ELS alliance. James Tipple is the Mequon professor, an early promoter of Church Growth and other intoxicating ideas. Paul Tipple is the equally nasty promoter of Church Growth in the CLC (sic). They have done a fine job of turning their abusive sects away from any suspicion of Lutheran doctrine, uniting them in Church Growthism without damaging the methods of abuse still earnestly applied, like whips on unrepentant backs.

Kilcrease is born of a WELS parsonage, yet a product of ELCA and Jesuit education.  He is an UOJ expert for LCMS, a Roman Catholic lecturer, and professor of UOJ at Jay Webber's ELCA seminary, ILT. Rated at Marquette - "Class is really boring. He is monotonous, rambling, doesn't use the board much (like 3 times in the semester he wrote a word or two, or drew a map). Not very engaging. 3 essays and a couple exams (essay/mc). he gave out pretty good study guides for all but the final exam. not too hard, just not exciting."

• Jack Kilcrease, O.P. (Dominican, for you Mequon grads)

I am going to list a selection that really ought to be read in these times, highlighting a few things that must be studied.

Luther
His sermons. I like the Lenker collection, found on this blog and various other places, on Kindle, and in print.

Luther's Galatians Commentary. The short version is on the Net. The final printed version is from Kregel. The Book of Concord commends this work twice, so read it, mark it, remember it. You will be ahead of 99.9% of all Lutheran leaders and teachers.

Luther in the Book of Concord.
1. The Large Catechism comes from his sermons.
2. The Smalcald Articles, especially on Enthusiasm. See the graphic above.

Melanchthon
1. The Augsburg Confession, especially Articles 1-6.
2. The Apology, especially the section on justification by faith.

Chemnitz
1. The Formula of Concord.
2. The Righteousness of Faith, III in the Formula.
3. Examination of the Council of Trent and Two Natures - must be read by pastors.



Chytraeus
1. His doctrinal book is quite good, concise. He was a best-seller long ago, for about 100 years or so.

Gerhard
1. Baptism and the Lord's Supper - excellent book and very good on justification by faith.

Pastor Paul Rydecki Books
Where to start? Hunnius would be a good place. The post-Concord era is especially useful to know because Pietism gave us UOJ. The post-Concord theologians were death on UOJ and always taught justification by faith.

Pastor Paul Rydecki has uncovered a wealth of post-Concord material worth owning and studying.

Synodical Conference
1. Stephan book on the real story to be read with Zion on the Mississippi, which is extremely detailed, especially the early years. So much to learn between the two books.
2. Walther Servant of the Word - funniest hagiography ever.
3. Fuerbringer's two books on the LCMS. Eighty Eventful Years and the sequel. Although he was CFW's nephew and did not deal with the criminal beginning of Missouri, Fuerbringer offers many insights about Missouri's first leaders and mentions the personal gift of the jeweled chalice to Bishop Stephan, which the Walther mob stole and used for Holy Communion ever since. Thieves, kidnappers, liars, and cover-up artists - the Synodical Conference tradition.


Muhlenberg Tradition
1. Krauth, Henry E. Jacobs, and Schmauk are very good, verbose at times but great evidence of the doctrinal struggle that took place as revivalistic General Synod leaders became truly Confessional.
2. Passavant's Life and Letters. Anyone who studies the Muhlenberg tradition without knowing Passavant's life is missing the story of this era, now mostly lost and forgotten.



Missouri and the Muhlenberg tradition struggled with Pietism versus the Confessions, but both have surrendered to rationalistic Pietism, universal forgiveness without faith.

One reader looked at the Lutheran reading list I drew up and asked, "All those?"

Some readers are much younger than I am, so they appreciate a little guidance for a lifetime of reading.

Some are my age and need to be nudged back into the Luther orbit. At the very least, Luther's sermons and Luther's writings in the Book of Concord should be primary for all clergy.

How odd to have CFW Walther, Bachelor of Arts, the final authority on all things doctrinal, all practical applications, all cultural matters!

That is quite a sleight of hand, misdirection of the brain cells, to talk up Luther-an doctrine and use a poorly educated, unethical, dishonest cult follower like Walther as the ultimate, the ruling norm.

The yahoos running the LCMS, WELS, and ELS would be laughed off the stage if the somnolent clergy actually knew Luther's sermons and his Book of Concord writing. But this is why that never happens. No one enforces this statement of Luther.

Luther, Introduction, Large Catechism, Book of Concord
12] And what need is there of many words? If I were to recount all the profit and fruit which God's Word produces, whence would I get enough paper and time? The devil is called the master of a thousand arts. But what shall we call God's Word, which drives away and brings to naught this master of a thousand arts with all his arts and power? It must indeed be the master of more than a hundred thousand arts. 13] And shall we frivolously despise such power, profit, strength, and fruit-we, especially, who claim to be pastors and preachers? If so, we should not only have nothing given us to eat, but be driven out, being baited with dogs, and pelted with dung, because we not only need all this every day as we need our daily bread, but must also daily use it against the daily and unabated attacks and lurking of the devil, the master of a thousand arts.

14] And if this were not sufficient to admonish us to read the Catechism daily, yet we should feel sufficiently constrained by the command of God alone, who solemnly enjoins in Deut. 6:6ff that we should always meditate upon His precepts, sitting, walking, standing, lying down, and rising, and have them before our eyes and in our hands as a constant mark and sign. Doubtless He did not so solemnly require and enjoin this without a purpose; but because He knows our danger and need, as well as the constant and furious assaults and temptations of devils, He wishes to warn, equip, and preserve us against them, as with a good armor against their fiery darts and with good medicine against their evil infection and suggestion.

15] Oh, what mad, senseless fools are we that, while we must ever live and dwell among such mighty enemies as the devils are, we nevertheless despise our weapons and defense, and are too lazy to look at or think of them!

Eighth Commandment
I have noticed that the citation of the Eighth Commandment has receded a bit, because many are quite willing to quote this from the Large Catechism:


The Church Growth Movement has crept up under the cover of the Eighth Commandment, like the Roman soldiers who interlocked their shields as they approached their targets. With the shields overlapping, they were a mobile, armored division.

So when I quoted Paul Kelm at a conference meeting, where I was invited ot speak, Forrest Bivens (Fuller Seminary alumni) became Jumpin' Jack and sprang up to cite  the Eighth Commandment. He was so quick to call me a slanderer! Bivens, "I want to protect the good name of Paul Kelm." He solemnly doubted whether that was a gen-you-whine quotation.

Someone asked, "Do you have proof Kelm said this?" I opened my briefcase and got out the brochure where Kent Hunter (Fuller Seminary grad) quoted Paul Kelm (Fuller Seminary grad) on some Church Growth program they were hatching. Of course, I just made up quotations! And the picture of Paul Kelm in the brochure.

Someone offered, "How do we know Kelm actually wrote that?" So now Kent Hunter, who produced the brochure, was the liar who made up quotations!

Later, I asked Kent Hunter (Fuller Seminary grad) if Paul Kelm (Fuller Seminary grad) actually wrote those words. He said, "I asked him for a recommendation and Paul gave me one."

As readers might recall, if they have memorized 14,000 posts, Bivens bragged about studying at Fuller Seminary and denied it to his gullible students at Mequon. No wonder he said he said his students were not very bright. When he denied what I published about his study at Fuller, he was calling me a liar, which is ... fill in the blank.

DP Seifert denied twice that Bivens talked about studying at Fuller Seminary, then agreed when I reminded him. I did not give him a chance to deny the truth three times - too Biblical for a future DP.


Larry Olson (DMin, Fuller Seminary) bought a drive-by degree at Fuller Seminary but had a pal from WELS question in Christian News whether that was true. I had the physical proof of his love affair with Fuller, because I found his article in a Church Growth journal, where he gushed about meeting McGavran.

Likewise, David Valleskey showed obvious signs of Fuller intoxication when he gave his odious Spoiling the Egyptians paper, subsequently published in WELS' hideous journal of false doctrine. I asked him to his face, and he denied studying at Fuller. Later, he admitted it to David Koenig, CLC Church Growther and friend of Gutsche.

Valleskey was furious with Koenig for telling the truth, and Koenig was furious with me for quoting him.

Gutsche has been a WELS pastor too, according to his LinkedIn profile, which I copied into this blog.

Falsehood requires refutation. Otherwise, we are simply condoning it.

Romans 16:17-18King James Version (KJV)

Forrest Bivens, WELS, could not even write his own introduction for his disastrous UOJ essay. He had to plagiarize Mark Zarling's equally bad effort.

No Lutheran leader today will let the words "King James" pass his lips, except to complain about the KJV translation.

Many excuses are offered for all the new ones. The Bible salesmen work like the agitating little sister one Yale professor wrote about. She would start something in the car, like, "The sun is so bright it hurts my eyes." No one thought so until she said that. Soon everyone was responding according.

All agitators work that way. "I really hate the thees and thous," they say. That is so comical, coming from a Germanic synod - not that anyone in seminary knows German anymore. If they did, the concept of thou (du) and word endings - which are now sparse in English - would make sense. And they might explain that to those who object.



But bring out a new Bible translation, every week, and the publishing houses can sell them like strawberry Pop-tarts.

One excuse is "The KJV came from Calvinists." That is especially comical, because the WELS-LCMS partnership loves the NIV (pan-denominational) and the ESV (a Calvinist editor for the old RSV).

The KJV, in fact, came from Tyndale, who worked in Germany during the Lutheran Reformation to produce his first English Bible. Thus the KJV is a fine representative of Luther-style translating, with precision, rather than the dynamic equivalence of the modernist failures. In other words - accuracy of translation versus

• Inserting words never in the text, 
• Erasing words that are in the text plus,
• Mistranslating words to change the meaning of the text - all failures of the RSV, NIV, etc.

In the NIV, which is now official in WELS, thanks to the corruption of the DPs, the Fullerism of the faculties, and the lethargy of the laity,

1. The Sacraments have disappeared entirely.
2. UOJ has emerged from Romans 3, by a miracle of invention - "all" are justified.
3. Testament in Hebrews 9 is Calvin's covenant.
4. The English language has been taken down to surfer dude eloquence, you know, like, um. cool.

The president of Emory University has spoken to demonstrators who said they were frightened after someone wrote 'Trump 2016' in chalk around campus.

Students at the Atlanta school, which has an enrollment of more than 14,000 claim their 'safe space' was violated when the messages appeared on sidewalks and buildings.

Jim Wagner, president of the Atlanta university, wrote Tuesday that the students viewed the messages as intimidation, and they voiced 'genuine concern and pain' as a result. He acted after student government wrote to him and slammed the university's response, prompting a meeting that led to protests. Now administrators want to track down those responsible for the controversial markings. But some commentators on the university's student newspaper website told the students to grow up and accused them of being babies.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3506491/Emory-president-Students-scared-Trump-2016-chalk-signs.html#ixzz43n3LdHI2
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***

GJ - Many are alarmed at the students who cannot bear a different idea being voiced on their campus. The schools offer a safe place for them, hot chocolate, and all the extras for their pre-school emotional state.

The reason is simple. Each college student is a "walking bag of money," as they call foreign students in the WELS system who pay their full share of costs.

I "applied" as a Bethany Lutheran College, Mankato student - a child of alumni, with great SAT and ACT scores. That earned me about $12,000 off and a chance at a very big presidential scholarship. That has to come from somewhere, and foreign students pay 100%.

Even a tiny college with no frills is asking for $30,000 a year for room, board, and tuition. The gain or loss of a few students means a lot of money. Let's say a 200 enrollment college loses 10 students to other colleges charging less (especially for new and transfer students) and offering more frills. They just lost $300,000 from the annual budget.

If the private college is more established, the basic cost is often $50,000 a year. Ten of those goldmines are worth $500,000 a year.

That is why Martin Luther College has been in free-fall for years, always too few students and plenty of competition for Wisconsin Lutheran College and Bethany. Colleges need endowment funds to make up the difference, and the synodical schools lack that, so they throw the difference onto the students in the form of student loans.

No one wants to do anything to offend a single college student, and that attitude reverberates through the whole school.

If a student is offended by a single remark and tweets it around school, everyone is up in arms and getting the administrators to do something about it. The administrators are so worried about losing a few walking bags of money - or a lot of them - that they react with fear and cowardice.

First-hand experience: The official policy was to expel a student who is caught plagiarizing three times.  A student is caught three times in the same class and reported. He gets an F for the class, as is proper, and his coach gives him an easy A during the summer in a made up class. The two grades average as C, and the student stays, grinning about his fate, confirmed by his Evangelical school in his blatant dishonesty.

A faculty member told me that everyone was cheating, via tweets, during a test, so she erased the entire test from the gradebook. So - it never happened - and she continued teaching a lot of classes for very little pay.

The coaches, the college president, his mother, his sisters, and his brothers-in-law got the bulk of salaries. Those walking bags of money were precious in their eyes. Can you imagine anything more fun than dressing up as a coach, skipping all academic meetings, and playing ball all day? Only a sucker would teach a real class for McDonalds pay.



Boo!
I had fun with the skittish in class. I grew tired of students who capitalized every word in the english Language but could not manage to capitalize The word bible. I said, "If anyone writes Bible with a small b again, I will flunk you out of this class and have you expelled from this college." The reaction ricocheted through the college for some time, and I saw Bible written the right way from then on.

The gradebook was online and calculated the grade average as soon as scores were put in the right place. I would drop in all the zeroes and watch the reaction. "But I have been sick, busy, pre-occupied, moving to a new place, getting a new job!"

My response was, "I cannot grade nothing with anything but a zero."

College graduates cannot write and spell because no one wanted to offend them with a low grade, so they enter graduate school unable to write at a junior high level.

The Boomers are still in charge of academics in America, and they are the Grifter Generation. We were lucky to have been taught by people who survived the Depression and WWII. The snowflake generation will melt away when challenged to accept adult roles in the future. But the saying goes, the housemates of the Bernie Sanders student cadre are all called "Mom" and "Dad."

I start the day with coffee and writing. Lately I fixed Mrs. Ichabod some hot tea and brew coffee for myself. She officially approved the new booklet concept.

This will follow the Creation Gardening book.

Luther and the Word: The Lost Dutchman's Mine Discovered

I might reverse the subtitle and title, but that is the concept. I taught in the Suspicion Mountain range, Apache Junction, in the Phoenix area. The Lost Dutchman's Mine was often featured in the news, because no one found it, yet there was proof that exceptional gold was found somewhere out there.

Dutchman is the Americanized name for a German - Deutschman - so I thought that fit Luther very well. Besides that, he compared the Scriptures to a gold mine. The Book of Concord often calls the Gospel a treasure.


I. First - the historic view of the Scriptures.

II. Second, Luther's view of the Word of God and the Scriptures.

Some dealing with the modernist evasions about infallible and the Bible containing God's Word but not God's Word.

Roman Catholic evasions - gra-a-a-a-a-ay areas of Scripture, the pope needing to clarify it, Holy Mother Synod - all the excuses used by Lutherans today.

III. Annotated Lutheran reading list - the most important books to read for theology students, clergy, and laity. I already have an offer to help with the research and a suggestion for the book list.

IV. Pretty good books. For those building up their libraries, paper or Kindle, additional titles.

V. How to find books, printed and Internet.

Campolo. The Evangelicals have the same rule as the WELS-LCMS-ELS: no one can criticize their heroes, for any reason.

GOOD FRIDAY.
 

A SERMON ON HOW TO CONTEMPLATE CHRIST’S HOLY SUFFERINGS.

In 1519 many pamphlet editions of this sermon appeared and other editions without a date. In 1519 there were 15 editions, in 1520 two, in 1521 one, in 1522 one and in 1524 one. In 152I a Latin translation appeared at Wittenberg. It is one of the most frequently issued writings of Luther.

German text: Erlangen edition 11:150; Walch 11:785; St. Louis 11:574.

CONTENTS:

THE TRUE AND THE FALSE VIEWS OF CHRIST’S SUFFERINGS.
I. THE FALSE VIEW OF CHRIST’ S SUFFERINGS,WHICH ARISES: 1. When in our consideration of Christ’s sufferings we become angry at the Jews

2. When we consider them only in a superficial way and apply them to incredible things 2.

3. When we weep for Christ and misuse the mass 3.

II. THE TRUE VIEW OF CHRIST’ S SUFFERINGS.

A. Christ’s Sufferings Are To Be So Considered, That We Thereby Become Terror-Stricken Because Of The Great Wrath Of God On Account Of Sin And Sinners 4-11.THIS TAKES PLACE 1. When we know and believe that our sins caused such great suffering 4-5.

2. When we know and believe that we should have suffered in eternity the same that Christ suffered. a. The nature of this knowledge 6-7. b. The necessity of this knowledge 8-9. c. The fruit and benefit of this knowledge

10. d. That this knowledge is not our work, but God’s 9-11.

B. We Are To Consider Christ’s Sufferings In A Way That We Are Comforted By Them.THIS TAKES PLACE 1. When we do not let our sins remain in our consciences, but lay them upon Christ. a. The necessity of this 12-18. b. The nature of it 18. c. How we come to this 14.

2. When we reflect upon the love of God and of Christ that shines forth out of these sufferings 15.

C. We Are So To Consider Christ’s Sufferings That They May Serve Us As An Example Through Our Whole Life 16-17.

I. THE FALSE VIEWS OF CHRIST’S SUFFERINGS.

1. In the first place, some reflect upon the sufferings of Christ in a way that they become angry at the Jews, sing and lament about poor Judas, and are then satisfied; just like by habit they complain of other persons, and condemn and spend their time with their enemies. Such an exercise may truly be called a meditation not on the sufferings of Christ, but on the wickedness of Judas and the Jews.

2. In the second place, others have pointed out the different benefits and fruits springing from a consideration of Christ’s Passion. Here the saying ascribed to Albertus is misleading, that to think once superficially on the sufferings of Christ is better than to fast a whole year or to pray the Psalter every day, etc. The people thus blindly follow him and act contrary to the true fruits of Christ’s Passion; for they seek therein their own selfish interests. Therefore they decorate themselves with pictures and booklets, with letters and crucifixes, and some go so far as to imagine that they thus protect themselves against the perils of water, of fire, and of the sword, and all other dangers. In this way the suffering of Christ is to work in them an absence of suffering, which is contrary to its nature and character.

3. A third class so sympathize with Christ as to weep and lament for him because he was so innocent, like the women who followed Christ from Jerusalem, whom he rebuked, in that they should better weep for themselves and for their children. Such are they who run far away in the midst of the Passion season, and are greatly benefited by the departure of Christ from Bethany and by the pains and sorrows of the Virgin Mary, but they never get farther. Hence they postpone the Passion many hours, and God only knows whether it is devised more for sleeping than for watching.

And among these fanatics are those who taught what great blessings come from the holy mass, and in their simple way they think it is enough if they attend mass. To this we are led through the sayings of certain teachers, that the mass opere operati, non opere operantis, is acceptable of itself, even without our merit and worthiness, just as if that were enough. Nevertheless the mass was not instituted for the sake of its own worthiness, but to prove us, especially for the purpose of meditating upon the sufferings of Christ.

For where this is not done, we make a temporal, unfruitful work out of the mass, however good it may be in itself. For what help is it to you, that God is God, if he is not God to you? What benefit is it that eating and drinking are in themselves healthful and good, if they are not healthful for you, and there is fear that we never grow better by reason of our many masses, if we fail to seek the true fruit in them?

II. THE TRUE VIEW OF CHRIST’S SUFFERINGS.

4. Fourthly, they meditate on the Passion of Christ aright, who so view Christ that they become terror-stricken in heart at the sight, and their conscience at once sinks in despair. This terror-stricken feeling should spring forth, so that you see the severe wrath and the unchangeable earnestness of God in regard to sin and sinners, in that he was unwilling that his only and dearly beloved Son should set sinners free unless he paid the costly ransom for them as is mentioned in Isaiah 53:8: “For the transgression of my people was he stricken.” What happens to the sinner, when the dear child is thus stricken? An earnestness must be present that is inexpressible and unbearable, which a person so immeasurably great goes to meet, and suffers and dies for it; and if you reflect upon it real deeply, that God’s Son, the eternal wisdom of the Father, himself suffers, you will indeed be terror-stricken; and the more you reflect the deeper will be the impression.

5. Fifthly, that you deeply believe and never doubt the least, that you are the one who thus martyred Christ. For your sins most surely did it. Thus St. Peter struck and terrified the Jews as with a thunderbolt in Acts 2:36-37, when he spoke to them all in common: “Him have ye crucified,” so that three thousand were terror-stricken the same day and tremblingly cried to the apostles: “O beloved brethren what shall we do?” Therefore, when you view the nails piercing through his hands, firmly believe it is your work. Do you behold his crown of thorns, believe the thorns are your wicked thoughts, etc.

6. Sixthly, now see, where one thorn pierces Christ, there more than a thousand thorns should pierce thee, yea, eternally should they thus and even more painfully pierce thee. Where one nail is driven through his hands and feet, thou shouldest eternally suffer such and even more painful nails; as will be also visited upon those who let Christ’s sufferings be lost and fruitless as far as they are concerned. For this earnest mirror, Christ, will neither lie nor mock; whatever he says must be fully realized.

7. Seventhly, St. Bernard was so terror-stricken by Christ’s sufferings that he said: I imagined I was secure and I knew nothing of the eternal judgment passed upon me in heaven, until I saw the eternal Son of God took mercy upon me, stepped forward and offered himself on my behalf in the same judgment. Ah, it does not become me still to play and remain secure when such earnestness. is behind those sufferings. Hence he commanded the women: “Weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children.” Luke 23:28; and gives in the 31st verse the reason: “For if they do these things in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry?” As if to say: Learn from my martyrdom what you have merited and how you should be rewarded. For here it is true that a little dog was slain in order to terrorize a big one. Likewise the prophet also said: “All generations shall lament and bewail themselves more than him”; it is not said they shall lament him, but themselves rather than him. Likewise were also the apostles terror-stricken in Acts 2:27, as mentioned before, so that they said to the apostles: “O, brethren, what shall we do?” So the church also sings: I will diligently meditate thereon, and thus my soul in me will exhaust itself.

8. Eighthly, one must skillfully exercise himself in this point, for the benefit of Christ’s sufferings depends almost entirely upon man coming to a true knowledge of himself, and becoming terror-stricken and slain before himself. And where man does not come to this point, the sufferings of Christ have become of no true benefit to him. For the characteristic, natural work of Christ’s sufferings is that they make all men equal and alike, so that as Christ was horribly martyred as to body and soul in our sins, we must also like him be martyred in our consciences by our sins. This does not take place by means of many words, but by means of deep thoughts and a profound realization of our sins. Take an illustration: If an evil-doer were judged because he had slain the child of a prince or king, and you were in safety, and sang and played, as if you were entirely innocent, until one seized you in a horrible manner and convinced you that you had enabled the wicked person to do the act; behold, then you would be in the greatest straits, especially if your conscience also revolted against you.

Thus much more anxious you should be, when you consider Christ’s sufferings. For the evil doers, the Jews, although they have now judged and banished God, they have still been the servants of your sins, and you are truly the one who strangled and crucified the Son of God through your sins, as has been said.

9. Ninthly, whoever perceives himself to be so hard and sterile that he is not terror-stricken by Christ’s sufferings and led to a knowledge of him, he should fear and tremble. For it cannot be otherwise; you must become like the picture and sufferings of Christ, be it realized in life or in hell; you must at the time of death, if not sooner, fall into terror, tremble, quake and experience all Christ suffered on the cross. It is truly terrible to attend to this on your deathbed; therefore you should pray God to soften your heart and permit you fruitfully to meditate upon Christ’s Passion. For it is impossible for us profoundly to meditate upon the sufferings of Christ of ourselves, unless God sink them into our hearts. Further, neither this meditation nor any other doctrine is given to you to the end that you should fall fresh upon it of yourself, to accomplish the same; but you are first to seek and long for the grace of God, that you may accomplish it through God’s grace and not through your own power. For in this way it happens that those referred to above never treat the sufferings of Christ aright; for they never call upon God to that end, but devise out of their own ability their own way, and treat those sufferings entirely in a human and an unfruitful manner.

10. Tenthly, whoever meditates thus upon God’s sufferings for a day, an hour, yea, for a quarter of an hour, we wish to say freely and publicly, that it is better than if he fasts a whole year, prays the Psalter every day, yea, than if he hears a hundred masses. For such a meditation changes a man’s character and almost as in baptism he is born again, anew. Then Christ’s suffering accomplishes its true, natural and noble work, it slays the old Adam, banishes all lust, pleasure and security that one may obtain from God’s creatures; just like Christ was forsaken by all, even by God.

11. Eleventhly, since then such a work is not in our hands, it happens that sometimes we pray and do not receive it at the time; in spite of this one should not despair nor cease to pray. At times it comes when we are not praying for it, as God knows and wills; for it will be free and unbound: then man is distressed in conscience and is wickedly displeased with his own life, and it may easily happen that he does not know that Christ’s Passion is working this very thing in him, of which perhaps he was not aware, just like the others so exclusively meditated on Christ’s Passion that in their knowledge of self they could not extricate themselves out of that state of meditation. Among the first the sufferings of Christ are quite and true, among the others a show and false, and according to its nature God often turns the leaf, so that those who do not meditate on the Passion, really do meditate on it; and those who hear the mass, do not hear it; and those who hear it not, do hear it.

III. THE COMFORT OF CHRIST’S SUFFERINGS.

12. Until the present we have been in the Passion week and have celebrated Good Friday in the right way: now we come to Easter and Christ’s resurrection. When man perceives his sins in this light and is completely terror-stricken in his conscience, he must be on his guard that his sins do not thus remain in his conscience, and nothing but pure doubt certainly come out of it; but just as the sins flowed out of Christ and we became conscious of them, so should we pour them again upon him and set our conscience free. Therefore see well to it that you act not like perverted people, who bite and devour themselves with their sins in their heart, and run here and there with their good works or their own satisfaction, or even work themselves out of this condition by means of indulgences and become rid of their sins; which is impossible, and, alas, such a false refuge of satisfaction and pilgrimages has spread far and wide.

13. Thirteenthly. Then cast your sins from yourself upon Christ, believe with a festive spirit that your sins are his wounds and sufferings, that he carries them and makes satisfaction for them, as Isaiah 53:6 says: “Jehovah hath laid on him the iniquity of us all;” and St. Peter in his first Epistle 1 Peter 2:24: “Who his own self bare our sins in his body upon the tree” of the cross; and St. Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:21: “Him who knew no sin was made to be sin on our behalf; that we might become the righteousness of God in him.” Upon these and like passages you must rely with all your weight, and so much the more the harder your conscience martyrs you. For if you do not take this course, but miss the opportunity of stilling your heart, then you will never secure peace, and must yet finally despair in doubt. For if we deal with our sins in our conscience and let them continue within us and be cherished in our hearts, they become much too strong for us to manage and they will live forever. But when we see that they are laid on Christ and he has triumphed over them by his resurrection and we fearlessly believe it, then they are dead and have become as nothing. For upon Christ they cannot rest, there they are swallowed up by his resurrection, and you see now no wound, no pain, in him, that is, no sign of sin. Thus St. Paul speaks in Romans 4:25, that he was delivered up for our trespasses and was raised for our justification; that is, in his sufferings he made known our sins and also crucified them; but by his resurrection he makes us righteous and free from all sin, even if we believe the same differently.

14. Fourteenthly. Now if you are not able to believe, then, as I said before, you should pray to God for faith. For this is a matter in the hands of God that is entirely free, and is also bestowed alike at times knowingly, at times secretly, as was just said on the subject of suffering.

15. But now bestir yourself to the end: first, not to behold Christ’s sufferings any longer; for they have already done their work and terrified you; but press through all difficulties and behold his friendly heart, how full of love it is toward you, which love constrained him to bear the heavy load of your conscience and your sin. Thus will your heart be loving and sweet toward him, and the assurance of your faith be strengthened. Then ascend higher through the heart of Christ to the heart of God, and see that Christ would not have been able to love you if God had not willed it in eternal love, to which Christ is obedient in his love toward you; there you will find the divine, good father heart, and, as Christ says, be thus drawn to the Father through Christ. Then will you understand the saying of Christ in John 3:16: “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son,” etc. That means to know God aright, if we apprehend him not by his power and wisdom, which terrify us, but by his goodness and love; there our faith and confidence can then stand unmovable and man is truly thus born anew in God.

16. Sixteenthly. When your heart is thus established in Christ, and you are an enemy of sin, out of love and not out of fear of punishment, Christ’s sufferings should also be an example for your whole life, and you should meditate on the same in a different way. For hitherto we have considered Christ’s Passion as a sacrament that works in us and we suffer; now we consider it, that we also work, namely thus: if a day of sorrow or sickness weighs you down, think, how trifling that is compared with the thorns and nails of Christ. If you must do or leave undone what is distasteful to you: think, how Christ was led hither and thither, bound and a captive. Does pride attack you: behold, how your Lord was mocked and disgraced with murderers. Do unchastity and lust thrust themselves against you: think, how bitter it was for Christ to have his tender flesh torn, pierced and beaten again and again. Do hatred and envy war against you, or do you seek vengeance: remember how Christ with many tears and cries prayed for you and all his enemies, who indeed had more reason to seek revenge.

If trouble or whatever adversity of body or soul afflict you, strengthen your heart and say: Ah, why then should I not also suffer a little since my Lord sweat blood in the garden because of anxiety and grief? That would be a lazy, disgraceful servant who would wish to lie in his bed while his lord was compelled to battle with the pangs of death.

17. Behold, one can thus find in Christ strength and comfort against all vice and bad habits. That is the right observance of Christ’s Passion, and that is the fruit of his suffering, and he who exercises himself thus in the same does better than by hearing the whole Passion or reading all masses. And they are called true Christians who in corporate the life and name of Christ into their own life, as St. Paul says in Galatians 5:24: “And they that are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts thereof.” For Christ’s Passion must be dealt with not in words and a show, but in our lives and in truth. Thus St. Paul admonishes us in Hebrews 12:3: “For consider him that hath endured such gainsaying of sinners against himself, that ye wax not weary, fainting in your souls;” and St.

Peter in his 1 Epistle 1 Peter 4:1: “As Christ suffered in the flesh, arm ye yourselves also with the same mind.” But this kind of meditation is now out of use and very rare, although the Epistles of St. Paul and St. Peter are full of it. We have changed the essence into a mere show, and painted the meditation of Christ’s sufferings only in letters and on walls.

Liebig

I wrote about pruning all the roses as soon as they started to leaf out. That encourages even more growth. We pruned the KnockOuts back by 50%, and they are responding well.

Inspection of roses - only one died during the winter. That will happen, and it is a very low rate for 60 to 70 roses. A true rosarian says, "I know what I will plant there."

The maple tree garden has 18 rose bushes, 8 of them transplants, all doing well. By transplanting early, pruning the transplants, and watering them well - with rain following - the transplants are all chipper and growing.

The main rose garden will grow by one row. Mrs. Ichabod prefers roses to grass. Rose are really low maintenance when grown the right way (my way).

Four barrels are gathering rainwater now, two in the front. I am filling gallon jars with rainwater to serve in two ways, In the tomato garden they will gather heat and radiate it all night, which protects against frost and gives the plants a energy efficient, solar-powered blanket at night. If some plants look stressed from dry weather, I have gallons of rainwater to pour on them at once.

More than 60 bags of autumn leaves are on the cardboard, the grass is composting below. Since I already inoculated the area with Uncle Jim's red wigglers, reduction to the best soil will take place rapidly. The remaining layer on top should make a good weed barrier. This is my first large scale cardboard and leaves compost/mulch factory. Grandson Alex loved it last fall. "May I walk on it?" The sound was hollow underneath.



Bird Paradise

The platform bird feeder needed some help, so I straightened it out in the ground and built some gravel in cinder blocks around the base. The squirrels take great leaps to land on the feeder, which rocked it back and forth.

The two rain barrels yielded two lids for bird baths. I have about six large bird baths in the backyard. They will be placed in other areas later. When I am walking with Sassy in the morning, we see the starling flock circle the block and land in our yards. Sometimes we have a flock of grackles. Both are corvids, very clever, and great at eating grubs in the soil.

I had a bag of sunflower seed, so I filled the platform and scattered some old cheap seed around the tree stumps.

Luther's Third Sermon for EASTER SUNDAY. Mark 16:1-8

THIRD SERMON. MARK 16:1-8.

Mark 16:1-8. And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, that they might come and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, they come to the tomb when the sun was risen. And they were saying among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the tomb? and looking up, they see that the stone is rolled back: for it was exceeding great. And entering into the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, arrayed in a white robe; and they were amazed. And he saith unto them, Be not amazed: ye seek Jesus, the Nazarene, who hath been crucified : he is risen: he is not here: behold, the place where they laid him! But go tell his disciples and Peter, He goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you. And they went out, and fled from the tomb; for trembling and astonishment had come upon them: and they said nothing to any one; for they were afraid.

This sermon, delivered in 1538, is printed in place of the preceding one in edition c. It appeared under the title: “A beautiful Easter sermon delivered in the presence of the Elector of Saxony. Dr. Martin Luther, Wittenberg, 1538. Printed at Wittenberg by Nickel Schirlentz.”

German text: Erlangen edition vol. 11, 223; Walch edition vol. 11, 861; St.

Louis edition vol. 11, 632.

CONTENTS:

THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.
I. THE STORY OF CHRIST’ S RESURRECTION

II. THE BENEFIT AND COMFORT OF CHRIST’ S RESURRECTION,IN THE LIGHT OF THIS SERMON CHRIST PREACHED TO HIS DISCIPLES.

A. That This Benefit And Comfort Are The Chief Things In The Resurrection 3.

B. The Sermon, In Which This Benefit Isaiah Set Forth.

1. This is the first and the most comforting sermon Christ delivered after his resurrection 3-4.

2. The occasion on which Christ preached this sermon 5-6, 3. How Christ used an entirely new discourse in this sermon 7.

4. How and why it is very difficult for both the apostles and all believers to understand this sermon 8-10.

5. The contents of this sermon, which treat of the brotherhood of Christ. a. How and why we should thoroughly consider this brotherhood 11- 12. b. This brotherhood is unmerited grace

13. c. The exceeding greatness and honor of this brotherhood 14-17. d. How and why this brotherhood can never be sufficiently understood 17-18. e. How this brotherhood helps us to pray the Lord’s Prayer aright 18f. f. How this brotherhood should give us true comfort in the time of temptation 19-23. g. How and why one should exercise himself thoroughly to understand this brotherhood 24-28. h . That it is the greatest sin to neglect this brotherhood through unbelief 29-30. i. How and by what means God chastises those who slight this brotherhood 31. k. How the papists despise and deny this brotherhood 32-35. l. How Paul greatly praises the righteousness that springs from this brotherhood 85-87.

* Why believers still fear death and hell

* What we are to answer our opponents, when they make the charge that we know nothing to teach but faith 39.



I. THE STORY OF CHRIST’S RESURRECTION.

1. This Gospel lesson is part of the general account and the first announcement of the resurrection of Christ, which was made by the angel to the women who went early to the tomb to anoint the dead body of the Lord, before Christ showed himself to them and talked with them; inasmuch as he wanted to reveal his resurrection through the Word, even before they should see him and experience the power of his resurrection.

2. And as we said there are two ways of considering Christ’s passion and death and the other doctrines of Christ, so there are also two things concerning the Lord’s resurrection that we ought to know and understand.

First, the history which relates the events as they occurred, together with the different circumstances and how he revealed himself alive in various manifestations; so that we might have a sure record and testimony of everything as a foundation and support of our faith, inasmuch as this article of faith on the resurrection is the chief one upon which our salvation is finally based, and without which all others would be useless and altogether fruitless.

Now, what a person ought to know about the historical events, namely in what order these two events, the appearance of the angel — which is reported in part in this Gospel — and the manifestation of the Lord occurred, that should be discussed in connection with the full account, compiled and arranged in order from all the Evangelists; therefore, we will treat the part mentioned in this Gospel in connection with that account.

II. THE BENEFIT AND COMFORT OF CHRIST’S RESURRECTION.

3. The second point, that is more important and necessary, and on account of which the narrative has been recorded and is preached, is the power, benefit and comfort of the joyous resurrection of the Lord; and the use we are to make of the same faith. Concerning this Paul and all the apostles and the entire Scriptures teach and preach gloriously and richly; but most gloriously of all did Christ the Lord himself preach, when he manifested himself first of all to the women. Therefore, in order that we too may hear and gather something useful from it, let us consider the words Christ spoke unto Mary Magdalene, as recorded in the Gospel according to John 20:17: “Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended unto the Father; but go unto my brethren, and say to them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and my God and your God.”

4. This is the first sermon our Lord delivered after his resurrection and, without doubt, also the most comforting; although in words very brief, but exceedingly kind and tender, and spoken first of all to his beloved Mary Magdalene, and through her also to his disciples after their deep woe, grief and sorrow, caused by his departure and death, that he might comfort and gladden them by his resurrection. And since this Mary is far more deeply and tenderly concerned about the Lord than the others, and is first at the grave to anoint the body of Christ with costly spices; and especially because, when she fails to find him, she is frightened and bewildered, deeply troubled and in tears, supposing him to have been taken away; therefore, he permits her to enjoy this evidence of his love, in that he appears first of all to her, comforting her in her fears, and preaching this beautiful sermon, which we will now consider.

5. In the first place, when Jesus manifests himself to her not far from the tomb, before he speaks to her, she mistakes him for the gardener; but when he calls her by name and says “Mary,” she immediately recognizes the voice, and at once turns with that name upon her lips by which she as well as the other disciples had been accustomed to address him in their language, namely “Rabboni,” that is: O dear Master, or dear Lord, for they would say Master, whereas we generally say, My Lord, and immediately, as she was accustomed to do, she falls at his feet to touch him. But he restrains her and says: “Touch me not,” as though he meant to say: I know indeed that thou lovest me, but thou canst not yet rightly look upon nor touch me, as thou shouldest look upon and touch me.

For her joy is no higher or greater than the mere bodily, fleshly pleasure of having her Lord alive again as she had him before; clinging thus only to the fact of his return, and thinking that he will again be with them as he had been before, to eat and drink with them, to preach and do miracles; intending therefore, by her service and by touching his feet, to show him that love she had shown him before, when she anointed him both in life and in death.

6. He does not permit himself to be touched in this manner now, however, because he wants her to stand still and listen, and learn what as yet she knows not; namely, that he refuses to be touched and anointed or to be served and waited upon, as she had done heretofore; but he says ‘ I will tell thee something different and new’ I am not risen in order to walk and remain with you bodily and temporally, but that I may ascend to my Father; hence I do not need or desire such service and attention, nor will it do to look upon me as you look upon Lazarus and others, still living in the body.

For it is not here that I intend to dwell and abide; but I would have you believe that I go to the Father, where I will rule and reign with him eternally, and whither I will also bring you out of your death and sorrow.

There you shall have me visibly and tangibly with you indeed, and you shall rejoice forever in eternal communion with me and the Father.

Therefore, he wishes to say: Refrain henceforth from all such bodily service and reverence, and go rather and become a messenger, and proclaim what I tell thee unto my dear brethren, that I will no more be and abide here in bodily form, but that I have left this mortal state to enter upon a different existence, where ye may no more handle and touch me, but shall know and possess me only in faith.

7. Here he uses language entirely new, when he says: “Go and tell my brethren,” taken from Psalm 22:22, which treats entirely of Christ, and in which he speaks both of his passion and resurrection, saying: “I will declare thy name unto my brethren, etc.” Never had he spoken in this manner to his apostles before. For at the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, he indeed calls them his “dear children” and his “friends,” John 13:33; John 15:14; but now he employs the most affectionate and glorious name possible and calls them his “brethren.” And it is of great importance to him; for he does not delay, but as soon as he is risen, his first concern is to have them told what he intends to do and why he is risen from the dead.

8. And, indeed, this is said in a manner that is lovely and sweet beyond all measure, so that whoever desires to believe, has reason enough to believe, all his life and as long as the world endures, that these things are true indeed; even as the dear apostles themselves had found in them encouragement enough, and more than enough, to believe. For the comfort is too great and the joy too glorious, and the heart of man too small and narrow to have attained it.



9. The Apostles crouched behind barred doors, not only discouraged and cowed, as sheep that are scattered without a shepherd, but also troubled in conscience. Peter had denied and renounced his Lord with an oath, and cursed himself; and the others had all fled and proved themselves to be disloyal. That was indeed a fall so deep and terrible that they might well think they would never be forgiven for denying the Son of God, and so shamefully forsaking their dear Lord and faithful Savior. How could it have ever entered their hearts that Christ would send such an affectionate greeting and such a kind good-morning to them who had been so disloyal and denied him, and would not only forgive everything, but also call them his dear brethren? Or who can believe and grasp it today? I myself would like to believe it at times, but I cannot get it into my heart so completely that I dare rely upon it wholly, and dare count it to be really true. Yea, if we only could, we would be in heavenly bliss already in this life, and would fear neither death, nor the devil, nor the world, but our hearts would constantly bound for joy, and sing to God an eternal Te Deum Laudamus, i.e. We praise thee, O God.

10. But alas, this is not the case upon earth; our miserable beggar’s bag, this old hide of ours, is too cramped. Therefore, the Holy Spirit must come to our rescue, not only to preach the Word to us, but also to enlarge and impel us from within, yea, even to employ the devil, the world and all kinds of afflictions and persecutions to this end. Just as a pig’s bladder must be rubbed with salt and thoroughly worked to distend it, so this old hide of ours must be well salted and plagued until we call for help and cry aloud, and so stretch and expand ourselves, both through internal and through external suffering, that we may finally succeed and attain this heart and cheer, joy and consolation, from Christ’s resurrection.

11. For, let us consider for a moment what manner of words these are, which Christ here uses; and let us not pass lightly over them, as has been done heretofore, and is still done in all popedom, where we have read, heard and sung them until we are weary; and nevertheless we have passed over them, as a cow walks by a sanctuary; so that it is a sin and a shame to have heard and known such words, and still to let them lie, cold and dead, outside of the heart, as if they were spoken and written altogether for naught; and that even Christians themselves, though they do not despise them as others do but use them daily, neither appreciate them as highly nor believe them as firmly as they would like to do.

12. For consider, I say, what these words contain and offer: Go my dear sister, for thus he would undoubtedly address these women, since he appeared unto them first, and tell the denying and disloyal disciples that they are called, and shall be, my dear brethren. Isaiah not this, in a word, including and placing us with Christ into the complete tenure and inheritance of heaven and of everything Christ has? Rich and blessed indeed must be the brethren and sisters who can boast of this Brother, not hanging now upon the cross, nor lying in the grave under the power of death, but a mighty Lord over sin, death, hell and the devil.

13. But how have these poor, frightened and discouraged disciples come to such honor and grace, and wherein have they deserved such brotherhood?

Was it by Peter’s shameful denial of Christ, and by the disloyalty of all the others to him? And how have I and others deserved it to apply this also to ourselves? I, who have read the idolatrous mass for fifteen years blaspheming God and helping daily to crucify Christ afresh? Fine merit this, forsooth, riding to hell in the devil’s service and looking to other brotherhoods, — those of the devil and his clique, bearing the names of dead saints, St. Anthony, St. Francis, St. Sebastian, St. Christopher, St.

George, St. Ann, St. Barbara, concerning some of whom it is not known whether they were saintly, yea, whether they ever lived at all. Fie! what a sin and shame for us, who are called Christians, to have had this brotherhood of Christ the Lord, so graciously offered us, and then to despise and reject it, and fall into such deep blindness as to have ourselves inscribed in the rascally brotherhood of the shameful monks and of the whole herd of the pope, and to preach about and praise this as though it were a precious thing indeed!

But that is what the world deserves. Why did we not appreciate the Word of God that was written, painted, played, sung and rung before our eyes and ears? And even now, that the Word of God itself points this out, and rebukes us, we cease not to blaspheme and to persecute; whereas we ought to thank and praise God for having so graciously delivered us, without, and contrary to, any merit of our own from such blindness and blasphemy, and for having vouchsafed unto us grace to recognize it.

14. Now let him who can believe it. For whether we believe it or not, it is the truth none the less. This brotherhood is founded among us, and is not such a brotherhood as our loose Kaland, and the brotherhood of the monks, but it is that of Christ, wherein God is our Father and his own Son our brother, and where such inheritance is bestowed upon us as assures not merely a hundred thousand dollars, one or more kingdoms, but in which we are redeemed from the fellowship of the devil, from sin and death, and obtain the inheritance and possession of eternal life and eternal righteousness; and though we were once in sin, worthy of death and eternal damnation, and are so even now, we should know that this brotherhood is greater, mightier, stronger and superior to. the devil, sin and all things. We are not fallen so deeply’, and things are not so bad and ruined that this brotherhood cannot arrange and fully restore everything again, inasmuch as it is eternal, infinite and inexhaustible.

15. For who is he that has instituted this brotherhood? The only Son of God and almighty Lord of all creatures, so that on his own account he did not need to endure suffering or death. But I have done all this, he tells us, for your sake, as your dear Brother, who could not bear to see, that you, eternally separated from God by the devil, sin and death, should so miserably perish; hence I stepped into your place and took your misery upon myself, gave my body and life for you that you might be delivered; and I have risen again to proclaim and impart this deliverance and victory to you, and receive you into my brotherhood, that you might possess and enjoy with me all that I have and hold.

16. Thus you see, it is not enough for Christ that the historical fact has occurred, and that as far as he is concerned everything is accomplished; he infuses it into us and creates a brotherhood from it, so that it may become the common possession and inheritance of us all; he does not place it in praedicamento absoluto, but relationis, namely, he has done this, not for himself personally nor for his own sake, but as our Brother and alone for our good. And he does not want to be considered and known otherwise than as being ours with all these blessings, and that we, on the other hand, are his; and that we are therefore so closely united that we could not be more intimately related, having a common Father, enjoying an equal, common and undivided estate, and authorized to use all his power, honor and estate, to boast of it, and to comfort ourselves with it, as though it were our own.

17. Who can fully, comprehend this? and what heart can sufficiently believe that the Lord is so completely ours? For, indeed, it is a thing too great and unspeakable, that we poor, miserable children of Adam, born and grown old in sin, are to be the real brethren of supreme Majesty, joint-heirs and joint-rulers in eternal life; as St. Paul so gloriously declares, Romans 8:17; Galatians 4:7: “And if children then heirs, heirs of God, and jointheirs with Christ, etc.” For all this follows in order: if we are called the children of God, then we must truly be also his heirs, and brethren and joint-heirs of Christ the Lord, who is the only essential Son of God.

18. Hence, let him who can learn rightly to begin to pray the Lord’s Prayer; and to know what it signifies for me to call God my Father, and for me most truly and fully to regard and consider myself his dear child and the brother of Christ the Lord, who has shared with me everything that he has and placed me in possession of his eternal treasures. Here examine and ask your own heart, whether without doubt and wavering you can thus say from the bottom of your heart: “Our Father;” whether you are firmly grounded upon and can be assured before God: I consider myself thy dear child, and thee my dear Father, not because I have merited it, or could ever merit it, but because my dear Lord wants to be my Brother, and of his own accord has proclaimed it and invited me to regard him as my Brother, and has said that he would also regard me as such.

Only begin this, I say, and see how you will succeed in the task; and you will soon discover what an unbelieving knave is hidden in your bosom, and that your heart is too dull to believe it. O, I am such a poor sinner, nature exclaims, how dare I exalt myself so highly, seat myself in heaven and boast that Christ is mine, and I am his brother! For this greatness and glory is so exceedingly high, beyond all human sense, heart and thought, that we cannot comprehend it; even as Paul himself also confesses in Philippians 3:12, that he is pressing on to. lay hold of it, but has not yet attained it.

Yea, man is astounded and terrified at himself for presuming to receive and boast of such honor and glory.

19. But, what shall we do? We must indeed say, and it is true, that we are poor sinners, and with St. Peter, we have denied our Lord (I especially above others). But what shall we do about it? It is enough and more than enough that which I did against him in falling away from him and making myself a knave. Should I, in addition, make him a liar and a knave, and deny this comforting proclamation, and blaspheme? God forbid!

20. Yea, says the devil, through my flesh thou art not worthy of this. Alas, it is true; but if I would not believe and accept it, I would have to, make my Lord a liar, and declare that it is not true when he tells me that he is my Brother. God forbid that I should do this, for that would be rejecting my God and all my salvation and eternal blessedness, and to trample it under foot.

21. This, therefore, will I say: I know very well that I am an unworthy being, worthy to be the brother of the devil, not of Christ and his saints; but now Christ has said that I, for whom he died and rose again, as well as for St. Peter, who like myself was a sinner, am his brother; and he earnestly would have me to believe him, without doubt and wavering, and would not have me consider that I am unworthy and full of sin, because he himself will not so consider nor remember it, as indeed he well might do, having abundant cause to repay his followers and visit upon them what they committed against him. But it is all forgotten and blotted out of his heart; yea, he has slain, covered and buried it; and he knows nothing to say of them now but that which is kind and good, and he greets them and addresses them affectionately as his faithful, dearest friends and pious children, as though they had not done any wrong, nor grieved him, but had done only good to him; so that their hearts may not be uneasy or worried with the thought that he would remember it and charge it against or visit it upon them. Since then he does not want it remembered, but wants it slain and buried, why ,should not I leave it at that, and thank, praise and love my dear Lord with my whole heart, for being so gracious and merciful? Even though I am laden with sin, why should I go on and brand as a falsehood this gracious Word, which I hear himself speak; and willfully reject the proffered brotherhood? If I do not believe it, I will not receive its benefits; but that neither renders it false nor proves that anything is lacking in Christ.

22. If anyone now desires to load himself down with new sins, and does not want forgotten what he has forgotten, let him then so sin that it never will be forgotten, and he never can be helped; as we read in the Epistle to the Hebrews, Hebrews 4:4-6, and Hebrews 10:26, concerning those who have sinned by falling away from God’s Word and rebuking it as a lie.

This is the sin against the Holy Ghost and is described as crucifying the Son of God afresh and putting the Spirit of grace to an open shame. From this may God protect all who desire to be Christians!

Alas, there is too much of the old blindness and folly, in which we have been enveloped hitherto. This ought to perish and be forgotten, now that we have become his brethren, if we only accept it. If we cannot believe as firmly as we ought, let us begin, like young children, to drink at least a little spoonful of this milk, until we become stronger, and not thrust it from us altogether.

23. Therefore, though your own unworthiness rebukes you, when you engage in prayer, and though you think: Alas, my sins are too many, and I am afraid that I cannot be Christ’s brother, strike out about you and defend yourself as best you can, that such thoughts may find no room in your mind. For here you are in great danger of committing the sin against the Holy Ghost. With all confidence and boldness reply to such thoughts of the devil: I know very well what I am, and you need not tell nor teach me, for it is not your business to judge this case; therefore, away, thou lying spirit!

I will not and must not listen to thee. Here is my Lord Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, who died for me and rose again from the dead; he tells me that all my sins are forgotten, and that he will be my Brother, and that I likewise am to be his brother; and it is his will that I should believe this from my heart without wavering.

24. A knave and a villain, yea, a brother of the wretched devil himself must he be who would not accept this. Though I be not worthy of it, yet am I in great need of it; and even if that were not so, God at least is worthy that I should honor him and judge him to be the true God. But should I not believe, I would, in addition to all other sins, in this worst possible way heap dishonor upon him in violation of the first commandment, in making him a liar and a vain God. What greater wickedness and blasphemy has any man ever heard or proclaimed?

Much rather do thus: When you feel that it is too hard for you to believe, fall down upon your knees and complain to God of your inability; and say with the apostles: “O, Lord, increase our faith.” Luke 17:57. I would at heart gladly count thee my dearest Father, and Christ my Brother, but my flesh, alas, will not submit; therefore help my unbelief that I may honor thy name and hold thy Word to be true.

25. See, in this way you will yourself experience what a great conflict it requires to believe God’s Word and to pray the Lord’s Prayer aright; not as though this Word in itself were not sure, steadfast and strong enough, but that we are so weak, yea, so much like wretched, unstable mercury that we cannot hold fast that which is well worthy of being held with hands and hearts of steel and adamant.

26. Formerly, when we were led astray and cheated with lies and false worship, we could hold fast and comfort ourselves with firm, though false, faith in all the saints and the brotherhoods of the monks; and joyfully said:

Help, dear lord St. George, or St. Anthony, and St. Francis, and let me enjoy the benefit of thy intercessions! There was no doubting or opposition then; this occupation was agreeable to us, and we had fists and strength of iron to believe. But here where Christ, the Truth itself, offers us his fellowship, even invites and urges us in the most affectionate manner, saying: Beloved, receive me as your Brother, he cannot succeed in leading us to believe and accept it. So mightily do the flesh and the devil resist and oppose it.

27. Therefore, I say, it is best for each one, when he goes into his closet and begins to pray, to make an effort to understand what he is saying, and properly to weigh two words, “Our Father.” For example: My friend, what are you praying? How does your heart respond? Do you truly regard God as your Father, and yourself as his dear child? No, indeed, says the heart, I do not know; how can I presume to ascribe a thing so great and glorious to myself? Then why do you not refrain from prayer, when with your lips you call God your Father, while your heart gives the lie to yourself and to him as he has revealed himself in his Word? Rather, confess your weakness and say: I indeed call thee my Father, and ought to call thee so, according to thy Word and command; but I am afraid that my heart is lying like a knave.

And the worst of it is, not that I myself alone am lying; but that I accuse thee also of falsehood. Help me, dear Lord and Father, that I may not make thee a liar; for I can not become a liar myself without first having made thee one.

28. Therefore, though I realize and experience, alas, that I cannot say “Our Father” with my whole heart, as indeed no man on earth fully can, else we would already be in heavenly blessedness, yet will I make an attempt and begin, as a little child begins to nurse at its mother’s breast. If I cannot believe it fully, yet will not I count it a falsehood, nor say, nay. Though I cannot play the game as is proper, I will beware lest I play in opposition as the monks and the despairing hearts do, who fail to regard Christ as their Brother, but as an enemy and a taskmaster; for that would be turning him into the very devil. But I would daily spell at the letters, until I am able to repeat “Our Father” and this Sermon of Christ as well or as poorly as I may. God grant that though I stammer and stutter or lisp, I may to some degree at least accomplish it.

29. For, as already stated, this is the sin of all sins, that when God is gracious and wants all our sins forgiven, man by his unbelief rejects God’s truth and grace, and casts it away from him, and will not let the death and resurrection of Christ the Lord avail. For, indeed, I cannot say that this brotherhood, which brings us forgiveness of sins and every blessing, is my work and doings, or that of any man, or that anybody labored or sought for it. For this resurrection occurred and was accomplished before any man knew aught about it; and that it is proclaimed and preached to us is likewise not done through the word of man but by that of God; wherefore it cannot fail or lie. Since then it is solely the truth and work of God, it behooves us, under penalty of God’s extreme wrath and displeasure, to accept it as coming from God, and to hold it fast by faith, so that we may not fall into the sin that is unpardonable.

30. For whatever other sins there are, contrary to God’s command and Law, which consist of all that we are to do and that God demands of us, these are all covered by forgiveness, since we are never entirely free from them during our whole life; and if God were to reckon with us according to our life and conduct, we could never be saved. But he who will not believe the Word of Christ nor accept his work, sins a hundred thousand times more; for he strives against grace, and robs himself of forgiveness. For it is grace that saith: The law shall not hurt nor condemn thee, although thou hast sinned against it exceedingly, but these sins shall all be forgiven and taken away by Christ; since that is why he (lied for thee and rose again, and now presents all this to thee, through this proclamation of his brotherhood.

Now if you will not believe nor accept this, but stubbornly set your head against it, and say: I want no grace, what will then help you? Or what will you seek further, to obtain forgiveness and be saved? Yea, I will be a Carthusian friar, go barefooted to Rome and buy an indulgence, etc. Very well, go ahead as you will, not in God’s, but in the wretched devil’s name; for by this you have denied not only grace, but also the law, and are fallen from God completely, inasmuch as you seek such works and holiness as are not commanded by God, yea, are even forbidden.

31. Should not God be angry and punish us for daily babbling, singing and reading the Lord’s Prayer and the Creed without understanding, faith and heart, and for thinking nothing not only of Christ, but also of God’s Law; boasting instead and bringing before God only our own efforts and false spirituality, over and above and opposed to his grace and command, expecting thereby to reconcile him and earn heaven from him? This is what we deserve for despising God’s Word and this glorious, comforting proclamation of Christ; to. be shamefully blinded and cheated by the devil, and punished and plagued by the pope; as though God thereby said: Very well, if you will not have my Son as your Brother, and me for your dear Father, then take the pope with his monks, who point you away from the Gospel, the Creed and the Ten Commandments, to their shabby, stinking cowls and the devil’s brotherhood.

32. For since they did not want Christ to be and remain our Brother without our merit and worthiness, and to bring us God’s grace and forgiveness of sin; what is this but really and actually denying faith in God and his Son, as St. Paul says, Titus 1:16, even though they confess him with their lips? Just as I too did in my former blindness, when I helped to sing and read these words with others, and yet thought far more highly of my monkery and my own works.

For if I had accepted as true and certain what St. Paul says in Romans 4:25 that Christ died for our sins and was raised again for our justification, in order that we might become his brethren, then I would thereby have learned that my own works and my monk’s hood could not obtain this for me. Otherwise what need would there have been for Christ to go and take my sins and the wrath of God upon himself in his cross and death, and by his resurrection to place me into the inheritance of the forgiveness of sins, of eternal salvation and glory?

33. But now, inasmuch as they cling to their monkery, and seek God’s grace by their own merits, desiring thereby to get rid of and atone for their sins, they bear witness against themselves that they do not believe what they say with their lips: I believe in Jesus Christ who died for me and rose again, etc.; but they believe, on the contrary, in the cowl and cord of the barefooted monks, in St. Ann, St. Anthony, and in the devil (pardon me), in his rump. Because it is impossible for one who knows Christ in this brotherhood to be engaged in such follies as are taught and observed no.t only without faith and contrary to it, but also contrary to the commandments, and which are real diabolical sins, the sins of all sins.

34. Therefore, in opposition to all this, a Christian ought to acquire the custom of praying the Lord’s Prayer, firmly crossing himself and saying in thought: Keep me, dear Lord, from the sin against the Holy Ghost, that I may no.t fall from faith and thy Word, and may not become a Turk, a Jew or a monk and a papal saint, who believe and live contrary to this brotherhood; but that I may hold fast to a little fringe of the garment of this brotherhood. Let it be sufficient that we have believed and lived contrary to it so long; now it is time to pray God to make this faith sure and steadfast in us.

For if we have this faith, then are we healed and delivered from sin, death and hell, and are able to try all other spirits, to discern and reject all error, deception, and false faith, and to pronounce the sentence: He who dons the cowl and shaves his head in order to become holy, or joins the brotherhood of monks, is a mad, senseless fool, yea, a blind, miserable, unhappy and despairing creature; he who tortures himself with much fasting and castigation, like the Carthusian friars or Turkish saints, is already separated from God and Christ and condemned to hell.

For all this is nothing but blasphemy and contradiction of the blessed heavenly brotherhood of Christ. They may indeed pray and read a great deal about it, as Isaiah 29:13 says: “This people draweth nigh to me with their lips,” cometh before my face in the churches: with singing and ringing, “but their hearts are far from me.” What pleasure, think you, can he have in such saints, who outwardly act as though they were real children of God, reading and singing the Gospel, employing the most beautiful words and celebrating a glorious Easter festival in processions, with banners and candles, and yet, do not try to understand or believe it, but rather oppose it by their doctrine and life ?

35. For if they understood and believed it, they would not cling to their mockery and vanities, but would forthwith trample their cowls and cords under foot, and say: Fie upon this shameful brotherhood! To the wretched devil with it, for opposing the brotherhood taught me by the Creed and the Lord’s Prayer! For it is not worthy of notice or attention.

Thus Paul in Philippians 3:5, pronounces judgment upon his own holy life in Judaism: I was, says he, a pious, blameless man, not only in my own vain estimation, but according to the law of Moses; but when I learned to know Christ, I counted all my righteousness under the law loss, yea, not only loss, but I counted it refuse and filth. I indeed thought I was a great saint, that I had kept the law strictly and with all diligence, and counted this my highest treasure and greatest gain; but when I heard of this brotherhood and inheritance of the Lord Jesus Christ, O how my pride and the boast of my own righteousness left me so completely that I now shudder at it, and do not even want to think of it.

36. See, he extols the righteousness this brotherhood brings us in such a way that he belittles and thoroughly despises the life and the holiness of all men even when it is at its best according to the law of God, which law must indeed be kept, and than which there is verily nothing more praiseworthy and better on earth. And yet, because it still is our own effort and life, it cannot and shall not have the honor and glory of making us God’s children, and of acquiring the forgiveness of sins and eternal life; but this is effected when you hear the word of Christ, saying: Good-morning, my dear brother; in me thy sin and death are overcome, for all I have done, I have done for thee, etc.



37. This is the ground of St. Paul’s defiance of sin and death: “O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?” 1 Corinthians 15:55 and Hosea 13:14. As though he wished to say: In times past you were mighty, terrible foes, before whom all men, no matter how holy and pious, had to tremble and despair; but where are you now? How did I lose you so completely? Why, he replies, everything is swallowed up and completely drowned in a victory. But where is the victory, or whose is the victory? “Thanks be to God”, he replies in verse 51, “who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

38. This indeed is glorious and great boldness, possible, however, for such faith alone as that of St. Paul; yet which, as he himself laments, was not as strong as he desired it to be; still, he certainly had it, and was able to maintain it against the wrath and power of the devil. That we are not able to do likewise and are still so fearful and terrified at death and hell, is an evidence that we still have too little faith. Therefore we have the more reason to impel us to call upon God and pray and also to ask the supplications of our brethren to that end, and daily to work the Word into our hearts, until we too, in some degree, obtain this assurance.

39. Let our adversaries laugh us to scorn and derisively say that we know how to teach nothing but faith, and let them cry that we must rise far higher and do far more. But if we only had faith enough, we would soon attend to everything else. For the chief and most necessary thing, of which they know nothing, is, how to get rid of the terror of sin, death and hell, and how to acquire a peaceful conscience before God, so that we may be able truly and heartily to pray “Our Father.” Where this has not been found everything else is in vain, though we should torture ourselves to death with our works. But since everybody comes short in this respect, we need not be ashamed of learning and being concerned about these things daily, as we are about our daily bread, and in addition we should ask God to give us power and strength. Amen.

The Gospel Lesson Where Jesus Is Absent

Easter

"In spite of this opinion [GJ - about the Bible], Einstein had a high view of Jesus Christ as expressed in his comments to interviewer, George Sylvester Viereck: "I am enthralled by the luminous figure of the Nazarene.” You accept the historical existence of Jesus? “Unquestionably! No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life" (Isaacson 2007)."

Rev. Mike GeigerOdious PattersonNetwork

Annual Easter Eggstravaganza

Sat., March 19th, 

10am to 3pm
151 East County Rd. 42 in Burnsville

FREE Community Egg Hunt in Burnsville
All invited (Public event)…

Pilgrim Easter Services March 27, 2016 6:00 - 8:00 - 10:30 am This year Pilgrim will conduct three Easter services.  Pilgrim’s Easter Service 1, will take place in the Sanctuary at 6:00 am. followed by breakfast in the Fellowship Hall.  Pilgrim’s Easter Service 2, will take place in the Sanctuary at 8:00 am followed by breakfast in the Fellowship Hall.  Pilgrim’s Easter Service 3, will take place outdoors on Pilgrim’s back field at 10:30 am.  Invite your friends and neighbors.  The chairs that are placed will be reserved for guests. All members attending the outdoor service are asked to bring a lawn chair from home. Any member who is unable to bring a chair, please contact the church office and a chair will be reserved for you.

Pilgrim Lutheran Church Easter Egg Hunt March 27 - 9:30 am   All children are invited to come and hunt for Easter eggs on Sunday, March 27 at 9:30 am.  We have also been told that there will be an appearance by the Easter Bunny! Easter Bunny with a Drive-by D.Min.

Shepherd of the Hills
802 Maple Grove Road
Duluth, MN 55811
Church: (218) 722-4364
Little Lambs Preschool: (218) 591-5262

Divine Grace Lutheran Church and School 3000 S Lapeer Rd Lake Orion, MI 48359 Map it

Every year leading up to Easter Sunday, Garden Homes invites the children of the church and the community to search the Garden Homes campus for over 1800 hidden Easter eggs.  In addition to the egg hunt, children hear the Easter story, participate in games, make crafts to take home, and even get a chance to meet the Easter Bunny.  Check out the photo gallery for more pictures of this exciting event. For more information on Easter for Kids, please contact Mr. Paul Marquardt (414-444-9050 ext.105). http://www.gardenhomeslutheran.org/site/cpage.asp?cpage_id=16910&sec_id=2311

You've been waiting all weekend and it's finally here - MONDAY!  Let's celebrate our favorite day with big savings.  Enter code MONDAY25 at checkout and save 25% on all print books. This offer ends Monday, March 28th at midnight. Remember, coupon codes are CASE-SENSITIVE. The fine print: This offer is applicable to listed products only. It cannot be combined with other offers nor be applied to previous purchases.  Shop today and save. Your friends at Lulu.com *** GJ - This means you will get Thy Strong Word, delivered for $29.00. Otherwise, it is $38 delivered at the website price (which I cut back to encourage distribution). The same discount is true for all the Lulu printed books, evenafter my author's discount. If you want a number of Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant, ($14 shipped) or just one, or any other book, like Liberalism: Its Cause and Cure,  just email me what you want at bethanylutheranworship@gmail.com Include your total order and the address where it goes. I can tell you what the total price will be with shipping.  Since this is a limited time offer  and I have to place the order for the best discount, I will send it the order after your email request, and you can send me a check to cover it. I also have PayPal, for those who use it for such transactions. --- Meanwhile, proofing continues and so does writing. Creation Gardening is being written and Thy Strong Word is being reading for Create Space - Amazon - Kindle. Next will be Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant for Create Space - Amazon - Kindle. And The Lost Dutchman's Mine will be written as a booklet and produced for Create Space - Amazon - Kindle, but Creation Gardening comes first.