Words of Encourgament for January 20, 2011

Meditations in Genesis

“And Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field unto his flock, and said unto them, I see your father’s countenance, that it is not toward me as before; but the God of my father hath been with me. And ye know that with all my power I have served your father. And your father hath deceived me, and changed my wages ten times; but God suffered him not to hurt me.” Genesis 31:4-7 (Read Genesis 30:25 – 31:16)

Deceitfulness and backstabbing in the workplace is not uncommon. People strive to get ahead and are willing to use and abuse others to attain their goals and ambitions. When some work hard and are prosperous, others become envious and jealous and sometimes even seek a way to take away what a hard worker has gained.

Jacob agreed to work for Laban for a certain portion of the flocks and herds (Genesis 30:25-36) – a deal which Laban thought would certainly work in his own favor – but the LORD God watched out for Jacob and blessed his labors, making him a wealthy man, in spite of the fact that Laban changed his wages 10 times in an effort to gain the wealth of Jacob’s labors for himself.

As a result, Laban’s countenance toward Jacob was not as it had once been – instead of looking upon Jacob with favor, he viewed him in envy and jealousy. This too happens in the workplace today. Employers and co-workers become envious and jealous of the work of others and look upon them with disfavor.

The believer, who serves with all his might and does his best because he is serving not only an employer but the Lord Jesus who died for him and rose again, may become discouraged when an employer takes advantage of his labors or is unwilling to pay a just wage, but the LORD God watches over His own and will bless his honest labors, if not in this world, in that which is to come!

St. Paul wrote to the believers in Colosse: “Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as men pleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God: and whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ” (Colossians 3:22-24).

David, by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, wrote these words: “Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and whither as the green herb. Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the LORD; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart…” (Psalm 37:1ff.).

Rather than fretting over others who are prospering through their wicked works, or being disgruntled when we are ill treated by others, the Word of God encourages us to “rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him” (Psalm 37:7). The same psalm goes on to say: “A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked. For the arms of the wicked shall be broken: but the LORD upholdeth the righteous” (Psalm 37:16-17).

The LORD upheld and blessed Jacob and taught him to trust. This was not because Jacob was righteous of himself. Rather it was because Jacob was chosen of God and righteous through faith in the promised Messiah and Savior Jesus. We too have come far short of God’s righteousness, but He teaches us to trust Him in all things and counts us to be righteous through faith in His Son, Messiah Jesus, who fulfilled all righteousness for us and suffered and died upon the cross for our sins and rose again in victory!

The LORD God watches over His own. He guards and protects all who put their trust and confidence in Him. As God watched over His servant Jacob, He will watch over you and me!

Dear heavenly Father, thank You for graciously forgiving my sin and accepting me as Your own dear child for the sake of the innocent sufferings and death of the Son, Jesus Christ. Watch over me, teach me to rest in You, and bless my labors done for Your glory. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

How Must God’s Word Be Preached In Order to Produce Faith in the Hearts of the Hearers?

By Franz Pieper

Luther-Hour Lectures presented to the Seminary Students

(From Concordia Theological Monthly)

SEVENTH LECTURE

(C.T.M., December, 1933, pp. 904-908)

Faith is absolutely necessary unto salvation. Teachers have indeed arisen at all times in outward Christendom who have said that one could be saved also without faith in Christ. Even among the Christian Apologists in the Second Century not all were free from this error. But that is an exceedingly great error, which basically does away with the whole Christian religion as it is revealed in Holy Scripture, if one says that men can be saved without faith. The Scripture says very plainly and clearly: “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”

Our old dogmaticians speak in special sections of the necessitas fidei ad salutem consequendam. And to this necessity we must firmly hold. There is no other hope for us men than to be justified and saved by faith in the Gospel. This necessary faith Holy Scripture expresses by conditional clauses. Rom. 10:9: “If thou shalt believe in thine heart.” And still more often this necessary faith is expressed through participial clauses, which can be construed as grammatically conditional. John 3:36: “He that believeth… hath everlasting life”, i.e., if anyone believes, etc.

And now I ask for your undivided attention. These conditional clauses are, alas, used by incompetent teachers to hinder men from coming to faith. How does this come about? In this way. A person says that the grace of God in Christ Jesus is at hand for all men, but then he talks as though men could first refer the grace of God to themselves, to their own person, when they have previously become certain of their faith, when they have come to the knowledge that they have the right faith The consequence is that the poor sinner who is looking for God’s grace institutes a search for faith in his head. If he supposes that he has the right faith, then he will be sure of the grace of God; if he supposes that he does not have the right faith, then he will doubt the grace of God. Wherein lies the fault? The fault lies in this, that faith, instead of being based upon its proper object, that is, upon the objective promise of grace, is based upon faith itself. Here there is a whole nest of perversities. One labors with the supposition that God should first be fully gracious to us men when we have come to faith. One has the idea that God is gracious to us for the sake of our faith. Without so intending, one makes faith a virtue and a good work whereby God’s grace is fully turned toward us.

But the situation is quite otherwise. The true situation is-this: God is fully gracious to all men for Christ’s sake before faith. And now through faith we refer the grace of God, which is at hand for all men, to ourselves. All who guide people first to become sure whether they have the right faith, and only then to trust in the grace of God, indeed mean it well. They want to guard their fellow-men from a dead faith of the head and mouth. Therefore they insist: “See to it that you have the right faith!” But they are not competent to deal with this matter. They are bunglers. They are like physicians who free the patient from pain by killing him. By this perverse method, namely, that one shall first become certain of his faith before he believes in the grace of God, faith is made entirely impossible, inasmuch as its object, the objective grace, the proclamation of the Gospel and the Sacraments, whereby alone it comes into being and continues, are taken away. That is not justifying faith which believes in itself, but the faith in Christ extra nos, outside of ourselves, which bases itself upon the objective grace which Christ has gained for us, which God proclaims to the whole world through the Gospel and distributes through the Sacraments. I beg you to beware of that terrible mistake of basing faith upon faith instead of upon the objective means of grace! I should like to make this still clearer to you by bringing to your attention a few crude examples.

You have all surely read Muenchhausen. Muenchhausen performed many wonderful feats. Among his wonderful feats he reports also this one, that once he pulled himself out of a morass by his own hair. Now we do not take Muenchhausen with his great deeds seriously. But we take a very serious attitude toward another Muenchhausen saga when we want to make a man sure of God’s grace, to bring him to faith in the grace of God, by sending him forth on a quest for faith in order that he may thereafter believe that God is gracious to him. This simply will not work. In that way objective grace is completely denied and man is made dependent upon himself, the attempt is made to bring about man’s rescue through himself.

I should like to place before you one more example. Please understand me correctly. If you attempt to make a man sure of God’s grace by the method of first assuring him of his own true faith, then you are doing the same thing as though you should invite some one to sit down with the words: “Please be seated,” but in the same moment, as he is about to sit down, pull away the chair, so that instead of sitting upon the chair he would sit upon himself. That would be a painful experience. It is an equally painful experience spiritually when you summon a man who is longing for the forgiveness of his sin to base his faith upon faith instead of directing him to the attestation of the grace of God in Word and Sacrament. God’s promise of grace, God’s Gospel and Sacraments, are the chair which God in His grace has placed for the whole world, that all who come to the knowledge of their sins may seat themselves upon this chair. There they sit rightly, there they sit firmly. God wills to be gracious to all men for Christ’s sake; He is reconciled to all men. And this fact God communicates to us in the Gospel and in the Sacraments, and of this we should take hold with our faith when we ask: How is God minded toward me? Is God still angry with me?

How then are the if-clauses, the conditional clauses, to be understood: “If thou shalt believe in thine heart, thou shalt be saved’; “if thou believest, thou shalt be justified”? Thereby we are not summoned to seek anything in or with ourselves, but we are summoned to believe in the Christ for us, in the promise of grace. The if-clauses are exhortations to believe in the objectively attested grace. Should we then not examine ourselves, with regard to our faith, whether our faith is of the right kind or a mere fabrication, a faith of the head only? Most certainly we should; for the apostle writes in 2 Cor. 13:5: “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith!” That must remain in force. But let us look at the passage in its context. There the Gospel is not preached for the awakening or strengthening of faith, but the law for the driving out of carnal security. The apostle is here not dealing with people who are asking for God’s grace, who are longing for the forgiveness of their sins. He wants to drive out carnal security, not to awaken and strengthen faith. But that end must be achieved with the law.

Now let us hear something on this subject from our old dogmaticians. They all concerned themselves with the question of how the conditional clauses in the Scriptures are to be understood, namely, when we read: “If thou doest it, thou shalt live,” and in another place: “If thou believest, thou shalt be saved.” In these sentences the “if” is very differently used; namely, in all sentences which contain Law the “if’ signifies, so far as we are concerned: Something must first be performed by us, and then only will God give us eternal life; for we read “If thou doest it, thou shalt be saved.” According to the context the keeping of the whole Law of God is demanded of us; then only is it to be expected that we shall obtain the promise of eternal life. But when we read: “If thou believest, thou shalt be saved,” that does not mean: “You must first perform the act of faith, and then God will save you,” but rather: “You need perform nothing; by way of faith, inasmuch as you believe the grace attested, you will be saved.” So is it also in everyday life. We say: “If you pay a thousand dollars, you will receive this house.” The conditional clause signifies a performance, the payment of one thousand dollars. But if we say, “If you eat, you will be satisfied,” we do not thereby want to say: “through performance of the act of eating you will be satisfied, but rather, “in this way.” Thus all if-clauses in Holy Scripture are to be understood when in them the Gospel attested: “By way of faith you will be saved, through holding fast in your heart to the grace of God, with entire confidence in the grace of God.” In short, through the if-clauses a performance is not demanded of us, but we are summoned to desist from all performances and to look only and alone to the grace of God which is proclaimed in the Gospel. I hope that you in the ministry will not use the if-clause to hinder faith but to further it.

Here belong Articles V and XIII of the Augsburg Confession. The Fifth Article treats of the ministry. There it said: “That we may obtain this faith, the Ministry of Teaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments was instituted. For through the Word and Sacraments, as through instruments, the Holy Ghost is given, who works faith, where and when it pleases God, in them that hear the Gospel, to wit, that God, not for our own merits, but for Christ’s sake, justifies those who believe that they are received into grace for Christ’s sake” (Conc. Trigl., 45). Here is an exhortation to believe which does not place the matter in us, in our merit, but bases it only and alone upon the merit of Christ.

We are acquainted with the fanatics’ way of speaking. “First you must have the Spirit, and only then can you take comfort in the grace of God.” That is entirely wrong. The Spirit is necessary; that we know. But the Spirit comes through the means of grace, through Word and Sacrament. There are many people, perhaps also among us, who say: “You must have faith,” and speak in such a way concerning faith that the poor sinner does not at all dare to grasp it when the grace of God is proclaimed. He is always seeking in himself for his faith. To this we say: “Faith you must have; that is right. But see to it that you do not deny the means whereby faith is awakened and strengthened. The means is the attestation of objective grace, that God is gracious to us men before faith, or, theologically expressed, that there is an objective reconciliation. If there were no objective reconciliation, if God were not gracious to us, then we could obtain no grace through our faith.

The Thirteenth Article says of the Sacraments: “Of the Use of the Sacraments they teach that the Sacraments were ordained, not only to be marks of profession among men, but rather to be signs and testimonies of the will of God toward us, instituted to awaken and confirm faith in those who use them. Wherefore we must so use the Sacraments that faith be added to believe the promises which are offered and set forth through the Sacraments” (Conc. Trigl., 49). Yes Indeed, faith is awakened and confirmed by the presence of an objective attestation of the gracious will of God toward us in Christ, whether it be in the preaching of the Gospel or whether it be in the Sacraments. That is the significance of the Word of God and the Sacraments as means of grace, that through the Word and the Sacraments the forgiveness of sins is offered to faith, in order that it may be believed. When we hear the Gospel then that is the signum gratiae voluntatis Dei erga nos (sign of God’s will of grace toward us); there we see God’s gracious countenance, and when you preach: “In the Gospel you see God’s gracious countenance,” that awakens faith.

When we speak of Baptism in this manner, “Through Baptism remission of sins is imparted to us, we are baptized into remission of sins just as surely as the heaven is this day stretched out over the earth; even as you testify to this, faith is awakened and confirmed; and whenever you say of the Holy Supper: “Behold, here you receive the body of the Lord which was given into death for you, whereby God has become gracious to you,” the poor sinner sees God’s gracious countenance beaming upon him.

Preach Christ as the foundation of faith, not faith itself, or whatever else may be in man, as the foundation of faith. Draw a word-picture before the eyes of your hearers of the blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, which was shed for us, the blood which flowed from His head when He was crowned with a crown of thorns, the blood which trickled down from the cross upon the earth out of His pierced hands and feet; and then add: “The blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanseth us from all sin.” That is the way you will awaken and confirm faith in the hearts of the hearers.

Translated by W H. McLaughlin

Translator’s Note: Thus we conclude this most edifying work which was a distinct joy to translate for our English readers. May our humble efforts bear rich fruit.

Bible Study in Preparation for Sunday

Scripture Readings appointed for Sunday are: Psalm 27; Isaiah 9:1-4; Acts 23:10-35; 1 Corinthians 1:10-18; Matthew 4:12-25. Please read them in their context as you prepare for worship on Sunday. The Adult Bible Class will continue in the Gospel of John at chapter 15:16ff.

Remember to Pray

Remember to pray for our church and for all our members, that none be lost to Christ’s kingdom but that all continue in repentance and be strengthened and built up in the true and saving faith in Christ Jesus through the hearing and study of His Word. We pray for God’s healing and strengthening of our congregation, as well as for God’s help with our church’s financial needs. We continue to pray for all who have been sick or who are suffering among us – for Harley Woods who was scheduled to receive a pacemaker this week; for Sam Rusch, who has had repeated stays in the hospital; and for Regina Wood (the sister of Lonnie Moll), who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy – for those who have been absent from us, for our extended families and for Christians who are alone and have no congregation. Continue to pray for Lutheran congregations which desire to remain faithful to Christ and His Word, for the Lutheran churches in the Philippines, for Christians in Nigeria, Haiti and Chile, and for believers around the world who are persecuted or suffering for their faith in Christ Jesus.

Events and Announcements

The next congregational evening Bible study is tentatively planned for 7 p.m. on Feb. 16. We will take up what the Scriptures teach concerning man.

The choir continues to practice after church services on Sundays. More voices are welcome.

The Church Council will next meet at 7 p.m. on Feb. 9.

On-line video of worship services can be found at: http://goodshepherdrogers.org/blog/worship-service-video/

Information for bulletins or newsletters may be sent to Pastor Moll by calling him at 479-233-0081 or by e-mail at goodshepherdrogers@yahoo.com.

“The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” Psalm 27:1

[Scripture in this Newsletter is taken from the King James Version of the Bible.]