“God’s Gospel Is Eternal and All-Inclusive”
In the name of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit.
[Amen.]
Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our
Lord. [Amen.]
“Through the intervening ages
Round the world the Gospel spread:
Faithful heralds took the message,
Guided where the Spirit led;
So the body grew in stature,
Serving Christ, the living bread.
“To each coming generation
Tell the truth, persuade, explain,
Till the time when time is ended,
Till the Savior comes again—
Till the saints are all united
Under Christ’s eternal reign.”
(Lutheran Service Book, © 2006 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO.
828:3 & 5)
First
Reading...........................................................................
Revelation 14:6-7 (esp. 6)
6Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel
to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and
language and people.
Prologue: The Reverend Doctor Martin Luther wrote about the Book
of Revelation that “We can profit by this book and make good use of it.
First, for our comfort! We can rest assured that neither force nor lies,
neither wisdom nor holiness, neither tribulation nor suffering shall
suppress Christendom, but it will gain the victory and conquer at last.
“Second, for our warning! [We can be on guard] against the great,
perilous, and manifold offense that inflicts itself upon Christendom.
Because these mighty and imposing powers are to fight against Christendom,
and it is to be deprived of outward shape and concealed under so many
tribulations and heresies and other faults, [it] is impossible for the
natural reason to recognize Christendom. On the contrary, natural reason
falls away and takes offense. It calls that ‘the Christian Church’ which is
really the worst enemy of the Christian Church. Similarly, it calls those
persons damned heretics who are really the true Christian Church. This has
happened before, under the papacy, under Mohammed, indeed with all the
heretics. Thus they lose this article [of the Creed], ‘I believe in the
holy Christian Church.’ …
“In a word, our holiness is in heaven, where Christ is; and not in the
world, before men’s eyes, like goods in the market place. Therefore let
there be offenses, divisions, heresies, and faults; let them do what they
can! If only the word of the gospel remains pure among us, and we love and
cherish it, we shall not doubt that Christ is with us, even when things are
at their worst. As we see here in this book, that through and beyond all
plagues, beasts, and evil angels Christ is nonetheless with his saints, and
wins the final victory.” (AE Luther, Martin. Luther’s Works. American
Edition. General editors Jaroslav Pelikan and Helmut T. Lehmann. 56 vols.
St. Louis: Concordia, and Philadelphia: Muhlenberg and Fortress, 1955–86)
(Engelbrecht, Edward A.: The Lutheran Study Bible. St. Louis, MO: Concordia
Publishing House, 2009, S. 2196.)
In a succinct nutshell he said simply that …
“God’s Gospel Is Eternal and All-Inclusive.”
That’s the message Rev. Luther desired to return to the church of
his day—a message that had become lost amidst circumstances and situations
that prevailed in the church at that time. So it is that today, October 31,
2013, we are gathered together in the presence of our almighty holy God to
receive from Him what Dr. Luther rediscovered through His personal reading
and studying of God’s Holy Word, namely, divine mercy and grace that God
gives us in the proclaimed Word, at the blessed Baptismal font, through the
soothing declaration of absolution, and at the table of the Lord’s Supper.
And just what is it that God gives us through those blessed means
of grace? He freely and generously showers upon us forgiveness of our sins,
spiritual healing and strength, and certain assurance of eternal life with
Himself in the glorious mansions of heaven. Sadly, Dr. Luther’s great
energies and efforts to reform mother church failed due to papal
stubbornness and cardinal self-righteousness. Nevertheless, his action of
publicly posting the 95 Theses—statements of concern regarding teachings in
God’s Holy Word that conflicted with what the church leaders were
proclaiming—ignited the Reformation fire 496 years ago that’s still flaming
today.
His intense focus was on the eternal Good News about Jesus Christ
and His atoning self-sacrifice for the sins of all people of all time. It
was and continues to be a Gospel that never changes and is to be preached to
all people throughout the whole world. That precious message is the
reminder that we are sinful and unclean; spiritually blind, dead, and
enemies of God from the time of our conception; and would be condemned to
everlasting torment, separated from God in the forever-fires of hell, were
it not for Immanuel, who came into our sin-infected world to rescue and
redeem us from our sin, from death, and from the devil himself.
So it’s certainly good, right, and salutary that we’re here
together this evening to give all glory to God alone for having raised up
His servant, the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther, to begin the reformation of
His Church that had become corrupted. For that we worship the one true
triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—with songs of praise and
thanksgiving. We do so recognizing that we are to …
I. Fear and Glorify the Judge of All Things. (7a)
7And he said with a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the
hour of his judgment has come … .”
“To fear God alone, that was the message which Luther brought back
once more, and not to [cower] before the power of him that [grabbed] the
throne of God; to give honor to the Lord only, and not to him that has taken
His place with idolatrous ambition.” (Paul E. Kretzmann in Popular
Commentary of the Bible: The New Testament Volume II. Copyright © Unknown,
Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO. Page 631.) It’s an explicit
reflection of The First Commandment about which ML explained that “We should
fear, love, and trust in God above all things.”
That explanation provides the words that begin the explanations of
all the other commandments, namely, “We should fear and love God.” Of
course, “We fear God above all things when we revere Him alone as the
highest being, honor Him with our lives, and avoid what displeases Him.” At
the same time, “We love God above all things when we cling to Him alone as
our God and gladly devote our lives to His service.” (Luther’s Small
Catechism with Explanation. Copyright © 1986 & 1991 Concordia Publishing
House, St. Louis, MO. Page 59.)
It’s actually sort of a simple reality with extremely massive
significance. “The proper fear of God is true reverence.” In fact,
“[Whoever] properly fears God will also give Him glory.” (Luther Poellet in
Concordia Classic Commentary Series: Revelation. Copyright © 1962 Concordia
Publishing House, St. Louis, MO. Page 186.)
Now let’s understand that correctly. You see, the unknown author
of Psalm 105 wrote, “Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make
known his deeds among the peoples! Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell
of all his wondrous works! Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those
who seek the Lord rejoice!” (Ps 105:1-3 ESV) In addition, Moses declared,
“For I will proclaim the name of the Lord; ascribe greatness to our God!”
(Deut 32:3 ESV) At the same time Yahweh Himself said, “I am the Lord; that
is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.”
(Isa 42:8 ESV) And the weeping prophet Jeremiah called God’s children to
repentance when he said, “Give glory to the Lord your God before he brings
darkness, before your feet stumble on the twilight mountains, and while you
look for light he turns it into gloom and makes it deep darkness. But if
you will not listen, my soul will weep in secret for your pride; my eyes
will weep bitterly and run down with tears, because the Lord’s flock has
been taken captive.” (Jer 13:16-17 ESV)
It all boils down to singing and saying a prominent Reformation
theme, “All glory be to God alone!” (Luther Poellet. Page 186.) Of course,
there’s good reason for giving God all the glory. After all, it’s most
proper to …
II. Worship the
Creator of All Things. (7b)
7“… and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of
water.”
It’s interesting to note that “This passage has been understood by
Lutheran commentators, and undoubtedly correctly, to apply to Doctor Martin
Luther and the Reformation. For he, as the angel [remember that the word
means “messenger”] of the Lord, different from the other angels spoken of in
the previous chapters, brought back and preached the eternal Gospel of the
justification of a poor sinner through the merits of Jesus Christ alone, by
faith. In the very midst of the kingdom of the Antichrist he preached this
Gospel, and with such divine zeal and power that many thousands of captives
were filled with joy over the deliverance here proclaimed.” In fact, “To
worship God in Christ alone, that was the content of the proclamation of
Luther, to address Him in spirit and in truth through the merits of Jesus
Christ. And therefore the true believers should adore, give divine honor,
only to the almighty Creator of the world and of all it contains.” As I
said earlier, “The very words of the [prophet] contain one of the mottoes of
the Reformation: To God alone be the glory!”
So it was that “Luther, called by God through His Word in a most
singular manner, preached publicly, cheerfully, and loudly, in the midst of
the dark kingdom of Antichrist, the pure, unadulterated Gospel of the Lord.
With great power he testified that the faith of the Christians could and
should rest, not on the word of the Pope or of any man, not on the
resolutions of church assemblies and councils, but solely and alone on the
Word of Christ as it is written in the Scriptures of the Old and New
Testaments.
“With great power he testified that a man is justified and saved
in no way and in no part by his own work and merit, but wholly and only
through the work of Christ, which is imputed to the believer by
[Spirit-given] faith. And with great power he testified that the works of
the Christians that please the Lord are not such as they choose for
themselves, but such as are performed by justified children of God, by
faith, through the Holy [Spirit], for love of God and their neighbor, and to
the honor of the Lord. This Gospel, as preached by Luther, was
[transmitted] as though the angels themselves were carrying it forth from
the little town of Wittenberg [Germany, that is, not Perry County Missouri]
to all tongues and peoples; and the Church of the Reformation is still
continuing its victorious course [throughout the world today].” (Paul E.
Kretzmann. Pages 631f.)
In the light of all that, we reflect the angel’s message that
echoes what Jesus Himself said after the third and last of the wilderness
temptations that Satan threw at Him (and which, by the way, was simply a
quote from Deuteronomy [10:20], Joshua [24:14], and 1 Samuel [7:3]), “You
shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.” (Sts. Matt
4:10 & Luke 4:8 ESV) After all, “Worship is essentially an expression of
the proper attitude of the heart toward God, in which He is regarded and
approached as the pre-eminently Worthy One.” (Luther Poellet. Pages 186f.)
In conclusion, therefore, in this annual Reformation celebration
let’s recognize the divine comfort and encouragement offered in today’s
Introit, “The Lord redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take
refuge in him will be condemned.” (Ps 34:22 ESV) as well as today’s Psalm
antiphon, “The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.”
(Ps 46:7 ESV) Let them ever remind and reassure us that …
“God’s Gospel Is Eternal and All-Inclusive.”
So, as we joyfully commemorate this 496th anniversary of the
Reformation let’s pull all this together by hearing words from today’s
Epistle and Gospel Readings. First, Saint Paul explained that “the
righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the
Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through
faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for
all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his
grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God
put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.” (Rom
3:21-25a ESV) And second, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ declared that
“If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the
truth, and the truth will set you free. So if the Son sets you free, you
will be free indeed.” (St John 8:31b-32, 36 ESV)
Keeping those thoughts in mind let’s always and faithfully …
I. Fear and Glorify the Judge of All Things. (7a)
and
II. Worship the Creator of All Things. (7b)
Let’s do so ever begging God in the words of today’s Collect to
“Keep us steadfast in Your grace and truth, protect and deliver us in times
of temptation, defend us against all enemies, and grant to Your Church Your
saving peace … .”
God grant it all for the sake of Jesus Christ, His humble Son, our
holy Savior. [Amen.]
In the name of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit.
[Amen.]
Revelation 14:6-7 (6)
[Romans 3:19-28; St. John 8:31-36]
Reformation Day
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Sermon
.......................................................................................................
Revelation 14:6
“God’s Gospel Is Eternal and All-Inclusive”
In the name of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit.
[Amen.]
Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our
Lord. [Amen.]
“Through the intervening ages
Round the world the Gospel spread:
Faithful heralds took the message,
Guided where the Spirit led;
So the body grew in stature,
Serving Christ, the living bread.
“To each coming generation
Tell the truth, persuade, explain,
Till the time when time is ended,
Till the Savior comes again—
Till the saints are all united
Under Christ’s eternal reign.”
(Lutheran Service Book, © 2006 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO.
828:3 & 5)
First
Reading...........................................................................
Revelation 14:6-7 (esp. 6)
6Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel
to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and
language and people.
Prologue: The Reverend Doctor Martin Luther wrote about the Book
of Revelation that “We can profit by this book and make good use of it.
First, for our comfort! We can rest assured that neither force nor lies,
neither wisdom nor holiness, neither tribulation nor suffering shall
suppress Christendom, but it will gain the victory and conquer at last.
“Second, for our warning! [We can be on guard] against the great,
perilous, and manifold offense that inflicts itself upon Christendom.
Because these mighty and imposing powers are to fight against Christendom,
and it is to be deprived of outward shape and concealed under so many
tribulations and heresies and other faults, [it] is impossible for the
natural reason to recognize Christendom. On the contrary, natural reason
falls away and takes offense. It calls that ‘the Christian Church’ which is
really the worst enemy of the Christian Church. Similarly, it calls those
persons damned heretics who are really the true Christian Church. This has
happened before, under the papacy, under Mohammed, indeed with all the
heretics. Thus they lose this article [of the Creed], ‘I believe in the
holy Christian Church.’ …
“In a word, our holiness is in heaven, where Christ is; and not in the
world, before men’s eyes, like goods in the market place. Therefore let
there be offenses, divisions, heresies, and faults; let them do what they
can! If only the word of the gospel remains pure among us, and we love and
cherish it, we shall not doubt that Christ is with us, even when things are
at their worst. As we see here in this book, that through and beyond all
plagues, beasts, and evil angels Christ is nonetheless with his saints, and
wins the final victory.” (AE Luther, Martin. Luther’s Works. American
Edition. General editors Jaroslav Pelikan and Helmut T. Lehmann. 56 vols.
St. Louis: Concordia, and Philadelphia: Muhlenberg and Fortress, 1955–86)
(Engelbrecht, Edward A.: The Lutheran Study Bible. St. Louis, MO: Concordia
Publishing House, 2009, S. 2196.)
In a succinct nutshell he said simply that …
“God’s Gospel Is Eternal and All-Inclusive.”
That’s the message Rev. Luther desired to return to the church of
his day—a message that had become lost amidst circumstances and situations
that prevailed in the church at that time. So it is that today, October 31,
2013, we are gathered together in the presence of our almighty holy God to
receive from Him what Dr. Luther rediscovered through His personal reading
and studying of God’s Holy Word, namely, divine mercy and grace that God
gives us in the proclaimed Word, at the blessed Baptismal font, through the
soothing declaration of absolution, and at the table of the Lord’s Supper.
And just what is it that God gives us through those blessed means
of grace? He freely and generously showers upon us forgiveness of our sins,
spiritual healing and strength, and certain assurance of eternal life with
Himself in the glorious mansions of heaven. Sadly, Dr. Luther’s great
energies and efforts to reform mother church failed due to papal
stubbornness and cardinal self-righteousness. Nevertheless, his action of
publicly posting the 95 Theses—statements of concern regarding teachings in
God’s Holy Word that conflicted with what the church leaders were
proclaiming—ignited the Reformation fire 496 years ago that’s still flaming
today.
His intense focus was on the eternal Good News about Jesus Christ
and His atoning self-sacrifice for the sins of all people of all time. It
was and continues to be a Gospel that never changes and is to be preached to
all people throughout the whole world. That precious message is the
reminder that we are sinful and unclean; spiritually blind, dead, and
enemies of God from the time of our conception; and would be condemned to
everlasting torment, separated from God in the forever-fires of hell, were
it not for Immanuel, who came into our sin-infected world to rescue and
redeem us from our sin, from death, and from the devil himself.
So it’s certainly good, right, and salutary that we’re here
together this evening to give all glory to God alone for having raised up
His servant, the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther, to begin the reformation of
His Church that had become corrupted. For that we worship the one true
triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—with songs of praise and
thanksgiving. We do so recognizing that we are to …
I. Fear and Glorify the Judge of All Things. (7a)
7And he said with a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the
hour of his judgment has come … .”
“To fear God alone, that was the message which Luther brought back
once more, and not to [cower] before the power of him that [grabbed] the
throne of God; to give honor to the Lord only, and not to him that has taken
His place with idolatrous ambition.” (Paul E. Kretzmann in Popular
Commentary of the Bible: The New Testament Volume II. Copyright © Unknown,
Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO. Page 631.) It’s an explicit
reflection of The First Commandment about which ML explained that “We should
fear, love, and trust in God above all things.”
That explanation provides the words that begin the explanations of
all the other commandments, namely, “We should fear and love God.” Of
course, “We fear God above all things when we revere Him alone as the
highest being, honor Him with our lives, and avoid what displeases Him.” At
the same time, “We love God above all things when we cling to Him alone as
our God and gladly devote our lives to His service.” (Luther’s Small
Catechism with Explanation. Copyright © 1986 & 1991 Concordia Publishing
House, St. Louis, MO. Page 59.)
It’s actually sort of a simple reality with extremely massive
significance. “The proper fear of God is true reverence.” In fact,
“[Whoever] properly fears God will also give Him glory.” (Luther Poellet in
Concordia Classic Commentary Series: Revelation. Copyright © 1962 Concordia
Publishing House, St. Louis, MO. Page 186.)
Now let’s understand that correctly. You see, the unknown author
of Psalm 105 wrote, “Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make
known his deeds among the peoples! Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell
of all his wondrous works! Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those
who seek the Lord rejoice!” (Ps 105:1-3 ESV) In addition, Moses declared,
“For I will proclaim the name of the Lord; ascribe greatness to our God!”
(Deut 32:3 ESV) At the same time Yahweh Himself said, “I am the Lord; that
is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.”
(Isa 42:8 ESV) And the weeping prophet Jeremiah called God’s children to
repentance when he said, “Give glory to the Lord your God before he brings
darkness, before your feet stumble on the twilight mountains, and while you
look for light he turns it into gloom and makes it deep darkness. But if
you will not listen, my soul will weep in secret for your pride; my eyes
will weep bitterly and run down with tears, because the Lord’s flock has
been taken captive.” (Jer 13:16-17 ESV)
It all boils down to singing and saying a prominent Reformation
theme, “All glory be to God alone!” (Luther Poellet. Page 186.) Of course,
there’s good reason for giving God all the glory. After all, it’s most
proper to …
II. Worship the
Creator of All Things. (7b)
7“… and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of
water.”
It’s interesting to note that “This passage has been understood by
Lutheran commentators, and undoubtedly correctly, to apply to Doctor Martin
Luther and the Reformation. For he, as the angel [remember that the word
means “messenger”] of the Lord, different from the other angels spoken of in
the previous chapters, brought back and preached the eternal Gospel of the
justification of a poor sinner through the merits of Jesus Christ alone, by
faith. In the very midst of the kingdom of the Antichrist he preached this
Gospel, and with such divine zeal and power that many thousands of captives
were filled with joy over the deliverance here proclaimed.” In fact, “To
worship God in Christ alone, that was the content of the proclamation of
Luther, to address Him in spirit and in truth through the merits of Jesus
Christ. And therefore the true believers should adore, give divine honor,
only to the almighty Creator of the world and of all it contains.” As I
said earlier, “The very words of the [prophet] contain one of the mottoes of
the Reformation: To God alone be the glory!”
So it was that “Luther, called by God through His Word in a most
singular manner, preached publicly, cheerfully, and loudly, in the midst of
the dark kingdom of Antichrist, the pure, unadulterated Gospel of the Lord.
With great power he testified that the faith of the Christians could and
should rest, not on the word of the Pope or of any man, not on the
resolutions of church assemblies and councils, but solely and alone on the
Word of Christ as it is written in the Scriptures of the Old and New
Testaments.
“With great power he testified that a man is justified and saved
in no way and in no part by his own work and merit, but wholly and only
through the work of Christ, which is imputed to the believer by
[Spirit-given] faith. And with great power he testified that the works of
the Christians that please the Lord are not such as they choose for
themselves, but such as are performed by justified children of God, by
faith, through the Holy [Spirit], for love of God and their neighbor, and to
the honor of the Lord. This Gospel, as preached by Luther, was
[transmitted] as though the angels themselves were carrying it forth from
the little town of Wittenberg [Germany, that is, not Perry County Missouri]
to all tongues and peoples; and the Church of the Reformation is still
continuing its victorious course [throughout the world today].” (Paul E.
Kretzmann. Pages 631f.)
In the light of all that, we reflect the angel’s message that
echoes what Jesus Himself said after the third and last of the wilderness
temptations that Satan threw at Him (and which, by the way, was simply a
quote from Deuteronomy [10:20], Joshua [24:14], and 1 Samuel [7:3]), “You
shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.” (Sts. Matt
4:10 & Luke 4:8 ESV) After all, “Worship is essentially an expression of
the proper attitude of the heart toward God, in which He is regarded and
approached as the pre-eminently Worthy One.” (Luther Poellet. Pages 186f.)
In conclusion, therefore, in this annual Reformation celebration
let’s recognize the divine comfort and encouragement offered in today’s
Introit, “The Lord redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take
refuge in him will be condemned.” (Ps 34:22 ESV) as well as today’s Psalm
antiphon, “The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.”
(Ps 46:7 ESV) Let them ever remind and reassure us that …
“God’s Gospel Is Eternal and All-Inclusive.”
So, as we joyfully commemorate this 496th anniversary of the
Reformation let’s pull all this together by hearing words from today’s
Epistle and Gospel Readings. First, Saint Paul explained that “the
righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the
Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through
faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for
all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his
grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God
put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.” (Rom
3:21-25a ESV) And second, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ declared that
“If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the
truth, and the truth will set you free. So if the Son sets you free, you
will be free indeed.” (St John 8:31b-32, 36 ESV)
Keeping those thoughts in mind let’s always and faithfully …
I. Fear and Glorify the Judge of All Things. (7a)
and
II. Worship the Creator of All Things. (7b)
Let’s do so ever begging God in the words of today’s Collect to
“Keep us steadfast in Your grace and truth, protect and deliver us in times
of temptation, defend us against all enemies, and grant to Your Church Your
saving peace … .”
God grant it all for the sake of Jesus Christ, His humble Son, our
holy Savior. [Amen.]
In the name of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit.
[Amen.]
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