Greetings all,
If you would like to hear "Only One Name-and It Is Given to You," the sermon
preached at Trinity Lutheran Church in Layton, Utah this past Sunday (Easter
4), go to:
http://tinyurl.com/c4hqee
Have a blessed week as live in, with and under the One name by which all men
must be saved.
Your servant of the Word,
Pastor Hering
Here is the preaching manuscript:
"Only One Name-and It Is Given to You"
Dear Baptized and beloved of God,
You are not saved because you are Christians.
Quite a statement to start a sermon, isn't it?
But let me say it again, you are not saved because you are a Christian.
You are saved because Jesus suffered, died and rose for you. You believe
this because you have been born again of water and the Word BB you have been
baptized into His death and resurrection, you have been forgiven all your
sins in His name. That is, you have been given the One and only Name under
heaven by which you are saved.
This [one in whose name your sins are forgiven] is the 'stone which was
rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.' Nor is
there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given
among men by which we must be saved." Acts 4:8-12
And because you believe and confess this name to the world by your words and
by your lives, you are called Christian. It was the same with the disciples:
". . . the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch." Acts 11:26
So, like the disciples in Antioch, you are not saved because you are
Christians, but you are called Christians because you are saved and bring
that salvation to the world in which you live.
Since I have been in Utah, and I suppose even before, I have often heard and
gotten embroiled in conversations BB often sidebars during Bible studies BB
about exactly who is a Christian and who isn't, who is saved and who isn't.
The fact is only God knows that for certain. Other than our own selves, we
are not given to know who precisely is saved and who is not, that is who we
will see in heaven and who not on the last day.
And yet at the same time we are.
"Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man also
will confess before the angels of God. But he who denies Me before men will
be denied before the angels of God." Luke 12:8-9
These conversations about who is saved and who is not are fueled by the
desire to sort out the various religions and denominations of the world, and
more to the point the people who we know who belong to them.
Today's lesson from Acts tells us: Nor is there salvation in any other [than
the crucified and risen son of God, Jesus Christ], for there is no other
name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."
Now the tendency for the sinner BB and that includes us Christians BB is to
focus on the negative. "So you mean so and so, who happens to be a real nice
person and my close relative or good friend but doesn't go to church or goes
to a church that teaches differently, is going to hell?"
No, I am not saying that at all. "In all these [churches where false
teaching about Baptism or the Lord's Supper, etc. exists, if] it is still
confessed that Christ is God's Son, and that He died for the redemption of
[sinners], . . . souls can still come to faith" and be saved. However, in
every false teaching, "erring churches are, to the extent that they err,
also unbelieving"-and thus are divisive spirits that do great harm. [Dr.
Franz Pieper, The Distinction Between orthodox & Heterodox Churches, Thesis
III]
Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has
righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?
And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an
unbeliever? . . . Therefore " Come out from among them And be separate, says
the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean,
And I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons
and daughters, Says the LORD Almighty." 2 Corinthians 6:14-15, 17-18
"But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble,
it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he
were thrown into the sea. Mark 9:42
So what I am saying is what the Lord has said, and continues to say: ". . .
there [is no] salvation in any other [than the crucified and risen son of
God, Jesus Christ], for there is no other name under heaven given among men
by which we must be saved." And that name should be plainly given in every
single teaching and practice of His church for the salvation of souls and
the protection of the faithful.
Of course, if anyone wants to dwell on the negative, law side of that
passage, I cannot keep them from doing so BB For [as we are told by the
words of the Holy Spirit in Heb 4:12] "the word of God is living and
powerful, and sharper than any two_edged sword, piercing even to the
division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of
the thoughts and intents of the heart." And by the Apostle Peter: Therefore,
to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, "The
stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone," and "A
stone of stumbling and a rock of offense." They stumble, being disobedient
to the word, to which they also were appointed. 1 Pet 2:7-8
But to you who believe, then, the positive of that is the message of the
prophets (Joel 2:32 in particular), the apostles (Peter in Acts 2:21 and
Paul below in Romans 10), and the whole Christian Church until the Last Day:
For "whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved."
But this begs the question as Paul continues in Romans 10:
How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how
shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they
hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent?
So before He departs from His disciples and ascends to the right hand of the
Father, Jesus answers this as well telling His disciples: "As the Father has
sent Me, I also send you." And when He had said this, He breathed on them,
and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any,
they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."
John 20:21-23
And again: "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go
therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to
observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always,
even to the end of the age." Matthew 28:19-20
Here, Jesus connects His Name-and that of the Father and the Holy Spirit as
well-and His everlasting presence to the teaching of everything He has
commanded, that is, everything He has revealed to us in His holy Word.
Clearly then, our Lord neither wants false teaching in His Church by pastors
or teachers deviating from His Word in any way or in any part, nor does He
want His baptized to hear and support, and thus be influenced by and such
teaching in the smallest degree. This is plain to see in the Good Shepherd
Gospel of John 10:
"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the
door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he
who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper
opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and
leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them;
and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means
follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of
strangers."
Because you believe Jesus died and rose for you to forgive you all your sin,
you are saved. And because you believe and confess this belief to the world,
you are called Christian.
As it is written: "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel
of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!" But they have not all
obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed our report?"
I do not know the answer to that, i.e. exactly who believes the report of
Jesus and forgiveness of sin in His name, and neither do you. It has not
been given us to know the answer. What we do know is that we have been given
the report to make here at Trinity, and there wherever the people of Trinity
are sent into their everyday world.
I cannot tell you if your close relative or dear friend, so-and-so believes,
whatever denomination he/she may be. All I can tell you is they need to hear
that they are sinners forgiven by God in Christ alone.
Do they hear that message? Has forgiveness of sins been delivered to them
through the water of baptism and the body and blood of the crucified and
risen Christ?
[Because] faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. But I say,
have they not heard? Yes indeed: "Their sound has gone out to all the earth,
and
their words to the ends of the world." . . . But Isaiah is very bold and
says: "I was found by those who did not seek Me; I was made manifest to
those who did not ask for Me." But to Israel he says: "All day long I have
stretched out My hands to a disobedient and contrary people."
I know that God stretches His hand out here at Trinity because the
"repentance and remission of sins [that] should be preached in His name" is
preached here -- that is what I have been called, equipped and given the
authority to do here among you. I know this because if I preached
otherwise--thanks be to God!-- there are Lutheran pastors and laymen out
there who would call me on the carpet if I did otherwise. I know this
because there are many who have left us precisely because I would not give
you, or them, anything else than the preaching, teaching, and practice of
the repentance and remission of sins in the only name given by which we must
be saved.
Hopefully that is why you have come today, to confess your sin in repentance
and to receive the remission of your sin -- in the Word proclaimed to you,
and in the very body and blood of our crucified and risen Lord you are given
to eat and to drink.
And now God would stretch out His hand to others, through you dear
Christian, as you proclaim the repentance and remission of sins that has
been given to you in Christ.
Neither you nor I can know for sure what people hear and receive elsewhere.
But we do know that there [is no] salvation in any other [than the crucified
and risen son of God, Jesus Christ], for there is no other name under heaven
given among men by which we must be saved. And we do know that name is given
here, and often. And you can know it is given to your loved ones when you
are the one who speaks it to them, or when you bring them along with you to
hear the Word of God here.
This is reason for you to confess that name in all your world, for the sake
of those who you know and live among but may not yet believe in that name --
whoever they may be.
And it is also reason for you to rejoice. For you have been saved to live
forever, your name has been written in the book of heaven because you have
been given that name by which men must be saved in your baptism, in which
baptism you live as God tells you again today BB all of your sins are
forgiven and you have eternal life in the only name under heaven by which
you must be saved-the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy
Spirit. Amen
____________________________________________________________
Get Organized! Latest in Closet Organizers. Click Now!
http://thirdpartyoffers.netzero.net/TGL2241/fc/BLSrjpYX79BvnrxU35aIjkaIQ7eJkSpY8d8ynr1IiVazOa2Bw2P5XNbo5EU/
___________________________________________________________________________
'CAT 41 Sermons & Devotions' consists of works that are, unless otherwise
noted, the copyrighted property of the various authors; posting of such
gives members of this list implied consent for redistribution _with_
_attribution_ unless otherwise specified by the author, as well as
for quoting or use in a congregational setting
_with_or_without_attribution_.
Note: This list's default reply is to the *poster*, NOT the list.
Do *not* reply to the list with your comments, but to the poster.
Subscribe? Send ANY note to: [email protected]
Unsubscribe? Send ANY note to: [email protected]
Archive? <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/>
For more information on this or other lists offered by Confess And Teach
For Unity, you can contact the CAT 41 list administrator at:
Rev. Fr. Eric J. Stefanski <[email protected]>
