16TH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY
Text: Ephesians 3:13-21
Source from Back to Luther with German archive reference. Back to Walther's Epistle Sermons.
Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
In our Savior, dearly beloved hearers.
If a child receives the sacrament of Holy Baptism, a great miracle of divine grace is worked in him. Christ says: "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." Jn 3:5. Through Baptism, therefore, a child is born once again. In the moment that this mysterious act is completed, a new spiritual person in him comes into the world and this pardoned child from this time on consists of two persons. He still has the Old Man, or the old nature inherited from his parents, according to which the child is a sinful human being who has sin and lusts after sin; but then he also has within himself the New Man or a new nature worked in him by the Holy Spirit
according to which the child is a holy person who strives against sin and wants only divine things.
If all people would remain in the state into which they were placed by Holy Baptism, how blessed they would be! But as a rule what happens? Children forget their Baptism and the inexpressible grace which they received, imagine that the world and its vain treasures and joys is their highest good, fall into all kinds of sins against their conscience, and thus lose again what had been worked in them by Holy Baptism; the New Man born in them and the new nature engendered in them dies as it were, and the Old Man who no longer has an opponent regains control. That is why there are millions of baptized Christians, but alas, only a small flock of reborn Christians.
My friends, blessed are they, however, who are concerned about this truth; for the miracle which takes place in a person in Holy Baptism can occur again, even if it has been lost; the New Man which was created in him and died again can be born again. However, this takes place not by being rebaptized but by repenting, that is, perceiving his sin and his fall with terror and in faith turning again to Christ. The moment he comes to a living faith, the New Man is also reborn in him and a new spiritual life, a new spiritual power, a new spiritual will, a new heavenly mind, a new pure heart which resists sin and seeks divine things is recreated in him. Oh, blessed is the man, who in true repentance returns to his Baptism ! He again finds all the things which he had forsaken and lost by his fall; for the baptismal covenant is a covenant of grace, which we indeed can break, but which as far as God is concerned stands eternally firm. Even in the prophets we read: "For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee." Is 54:10.
But if a person has returned to his Baptism through repentance, he a gain has faith; the new, spiritual, inner man is indeed again engendered in him, but he has not thus conquered everything; he has not yet reached his goal. The New Man is still as weak as a newborn child, still as tender as a young plant, still as small as a hidden spark. Therefore, in order that this spark may not die soon, nor this young plant wilt, nor this newborn child die again, it must be strengthened.
Alas, only too many who often hear God's Word preached in its purity, cannot resist its awakening power, pass indeed from the death of sin to a spiritual life, and a new man is born in them; but then they again become secure and careless and do not try to grow in grace; thus they waste away that which God worked in their heart s, and the treasure which holds before them their heavenly calling in Christ Jesus is lost.
That this would some day happen to the zealous Christians of Ephesus was Paul's concern. For that reason, as he writes to them, he often bowed his knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus to grant them strength by his Spirit in the inner man. Now if this prayer and the exhortation contained in it was necessary even for these zealous Ephesian Christians, should it not be doubly necessary for us? Therefore, permit me to speak to you today about this necessary strengthening in the inner man.
The test. Ephesians 3:13-21.
St. Paul wrote the Letter to the Ephesians, from which the Epistle of this Sunday is taken, when he languished in chains and bonds in Rome as a prisoner for the sake of the Gospel. The only concern which lay upon the heart of the
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apostle did not concern his own fate; he was completely unconcerned about that and joyfully submissive to the will of his God; the only thing which concerned him was the weakness of the members of the congregations planted by him. He was afraid that many of the weak members would be offended at his bonds and suffer shipwreck of their faith because of the disgrace connected with it. Therefore, in our text the apostle writes not only: " Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory:" but he adds: " For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man." Vv. 13-16. The strengthening of the inner man, that above all was what Paul sought in prayer for his beloved Ephesians. Wherein this consists, he himself tells us in the following verses. Therefore, permit me to speak to you on:
THE CHRISTIAN'S STRENGTHENING IN THE INNER MAN
According to our text it consists of three things:
1. That The Christian Grows Constantly Stronger In The Faith;
2. That He Becomes Ever More Zealous In Love, and finally,
3. That He Constantly Increases In Knowledge And Experience.
Oh Lord God, you now want to instruct us in how a weak Christian can become strong in the inner man. You know how we especially in these last calamitous times need to be strong in you and in the power of your might. Oh, therefore, give all weak Christiane among us--and who of us can call himself strong-- the grace to become firmer in the faith, more zealous in love, and richer in knowledge and experience, so that even in these time of the strongest temptations they may remain faithful to you, faithful, Lord, until death. Awaken all those who have not even begun to walk as Christians, who make love with the world and sin, and show them the terrible danger in which they are. For if the righteous scarcely be saved, where will the sinner be? Grant us all, therefore, one blessing; strengthen the one in faith and grant it to another; then we will some day love you for it and praise you forever and ever. Amen.
I.
In this physical life, my friends, there is as you know a time when a person ceases growing; it is not so in the spiritual life. If he has become a Christian, that·is, if a new spiritual or, as we read in our text, an " inner man " is created by God in him through faith, the growth of this man dare never cease until death. In Christianity there should and can be no standing still. He who does not go ahead goes backwards. The Christian is not in the state of being but in the process of becoming; he has such a distant and high goal, that he can never say: Now I have reached it, now I can stop in my efforts, now I can rest from my struggles. Even a Paul says: "Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect, but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended; but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those which are before, I press for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." Phil 3:12-14.
Where does the growth and progress of the Christian in spiritual things, or as we read in our text, " the strengthening oftketaner man ", consist? The apostle indicates this when, first of all, he continues in our text: " That Christ
may dwell in your hearts by faith." V.17. Above all, becoming more and more firm and strong in the faith is part of the strengthening of the inner man by which Christ dwells in our hearts.
It is faith by which a person becomes a Christian. For if a person once perceives that he is a sinner, if it becomes clear to him that with his righteousness he cannot stand before God nor erase his own sins, that he needs a Reconciler, a Redeemer, a Savior; if along with this knowledge he becomes anxious because of his hopeless state and in this anxiety he turns to Christ who offers grace, forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation to all sinners in the Gospel, then through this faith he becomes a Christian. When this happens a new young Christian usually thinks that he has a great, strong, firm faith. He feels so blessed in the new experiences which he now makes; he is so happy that his worry about sin has disappeared; a huge burden has been lifted from him; his conscience which previously accused him is silenced; he therefore cries loudly and joyfully: Oh, what a blessed man I am; I have found that for which I searched! Oh, how happy I am! I have God, I have his grace, I have found heaven. The Lord hath done great things for me for which I am glad. Hallelujah!
As strong as the faith of such young Christians, such novices and beginners in Christianity seems to be, just so weak is it. And this weakness of faith shows itself especially in the fact that they are so confident, so certain, and so full of joy because they feel the grace they received in their hearts, because they find a joy which they had never experienced. But if such novices lose this sweet feeling of grace, if they lose this inner joy, or if they have a rough time, then they also frequently lose their faith. They think: Alas, I have deceived myself; I have comforted myself by mistake; I still have not found grape; Jesus was not yet mine. They think: How can Jesus dwell in me, since I feel nothing but sin and sorrow in me? How can God be my Father and I his child since everything is going wrong? You see, the faith of a Christian is at first like a weak reed which the wind blows hither and yon; he is like a young child which laughs one minute and weeps the next.
If a person remains so weak in the faith, nothing else is possible but that his faith is finally overthrown and extinguished. If he is to remain a Christian, his faith must constantly grow in strength. Wherein this consists can be easily stated on the basis of what has been said. A Christian must arrive at the point where he builds his faith alone on the Word, that is, comforting himself with the written Word alone, even if he detects no. joy in his heart; believing in the forgiveness of sins preached to him even if he feels that sin still dwells in him; comforting himself in God's grace preached to him even if he is sensible of God’s wrath; considering God his gracious Father and himself as his child even if it seems as though He has forsaken him; even in bitterest want relying upon God to provide for him, in great misery and danger relying upon God's help and deliverance, yes, in the midst of death relying upon God's assured redemption. That, that is what it means to become firm in the faith and in this way a Christian becomes strong in the inner man.
A beautiful example is the nobleman. He came to Christ with a weak faith and said to him: "Sir, come down ere my child die." Jn 4:49. He still thought that if Christ would not personally come to his house, he could not help his son. Yet when Christ said to him: "Go thy way, thy son liveth," behold, the faith of the nobleman suddenly became strong, for we read: "And the man be lieved the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and went his way." Strengthened by Christ's word, he no longer believed in Christ's help only under the condition that Christ would go with him to his home; now he relied entirely upon his word; and thus equipped he returned to his house an invincible hero of faith who at first was so weak and faint-hearted.
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We have another example in Peter. When he was a novice in the faith, it seems as though he wanted to remove mountains with his faith. Feeling strong because of Christ's presence, he boldly promised to go with Christ into death. But behold, scarcely did he see Christ in chains when the weakness of his faith became manifest; he fell away and in one night denied Christ three times. But what an entirely different view we have of him when his faith had become strong! Though he might be threatened even with bonds and the pains of death, he frankly confessed the crucified and risen Christ.
II.
Not only is the constant growth in faith necessary for the strengthening of a Christian in the inner man, but becoming ever more zealous in love is also. Permit me to speak to you on this as the second point.
When the apostle says in our text that he often prayed God that he would make the Ephesians strong, he not only says by way of explanation: " That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith." but also, " that ye being rooted and grounded in love." V.17.
We see from this that also through love Christianity becomes like a firmly rooted tree, or like a house on immovable foundations.
Can this actually be ascribed to love? According to Scripture is it not faith alone which makes one righteous before God and saved? Is it not faith alone which gives life, light, comfort, and power? Hence, is it not really faith alone through which a Christian is truly rooted and grounded? This is true, my friends; but bear in mind that Holy Writ says that faith without works is dead, hence merely an empty picture of faith; however true living faith is active through love. As certainly as light and warmth is noticed where there is fire, so certainly will the person in whose heart the sun of faith has risen let it shine through the warm and bright rays of love and good works, As the tree is known by its fruit,so is faith by love.
I now ask you: Can he be a strong, solid Christian who lacks love or whose love is very weak? Certainly not. His heart will constantly say: You call yourself a Christian; you brag about the Savior; you say: I believe ! But where is the proof that you have faith? Where are the rays and warmth of
your light of faith? You have no love; then you certainly have no faith, and your boast is false! Oh, woe to a Christian when in the hour of death he must admit that he boasts of faith but showed no love! He will then have a difficult time comforting himself in Christ and not despairing.
Therefore, even though faith alone avails before God, we not only owe our neighbor love we also need love for ourselves so that we become strong.
So, i f you want to become strong in the inner man, you must grow ever more zealous in love. Your love must include more and more, so that you never say: How does this concern me? he is a stranger to me, he is not worthy of my love. No, you must think about every person who needs your love: He is also Christ's possession, God's Son spent his blood for him as well; one God created him and me; one God redeemed him and me; one God called him and me to eternal life and even though he were my enemy; I therefore love him and all men as my brothers and sisters.
You must also grow purer and more unselfish in your love; you must not ask when you are to do good: What will I get out of it? You must not do
good just to be thanked, or to be repaid, or to build a reputation; your left hand must not know what your right hand does. You must learn to put up even with thanklessness and not let your love grow cold because of it. You must keep a heart full of love even toward those who have offended, insulted, yes, done you a flagrant wrong, hated, and persecuted you.
You must become more and more gentle, holy, and divine in your love. You must be patient with your neighbor’s weaknesses, sins, and failings. You must also not be ashamed of the greatest sinner but have pity on him. Above all, you must see about the salvation of his soul; out of love you must reprimand him even if you would lose his favor, even if your love would be explained as hatred and you would be despised and rejected as a malicious person because of your love.
You must rejoice at the good fortune of your neighbor as over your own and be sorrowful over your neighbor's misfortune as over your own. To have depressed or offended a brother must cut your heart in two. In a word, you must come to the point where you are concerned about letting your whole life be a service of love to your neighbor, ready to surrender property and goods, yes, your life for your brethren.
Oh, blessed, blessed are such loving Christians! They as we read in our text have become truly " rooted and grounded in love." No matter if temptation may assail them, they do not despair; for they can say with faithful John, the disciple of love: "We know that we have passed from death unto life, be cause we love the brethren." 1 Jn 3:14. Yes, even in death these Christians will not despair; when Satan wants to accuse them because of their life, they will be able to say to God: Lord, you know that I was no hypocrite; by your grace I have been faithful to you, served you with an honest heart; oh, let me find grace also in my last distress for the sake of my Savior in whom I believed and whom I served in love.
III.
My friends, the apostle mentions one more thing in our Epistle which also is part of this needed strengthening of a Christian in the inner man, and that is increasing in knowledge and experience. Permit me to add a few words on this final point.
The apostle closes his request with the words: " That ye be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height, and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God." Vv.18.19. The last words according to the original say as much as: "Know the love of Christ, which surpasses all knowledge." You see from this: In this entire concluding sentence the apostle does not speak of a constantly greater knowledge of Christian doctrine and its truths, for knowledge often merely inflates a person; no, the apostles speaks of the knowledge and experience of the love of Christ. And it is true, my friends, the knowledge and experience of this love is a chief thing for the needed strengthening of a Christian. He who does not know Christ's love has gained nothing, even if otherwise he knows everything; but he who knows Christ's love knows enough whether otherwise he would know nothing else.
Hence, my dear Christian, if you want to become strong in the inner man, then learn to know more and more of Christ's love. Learn to know its " breadth." that is, that is is broader than the whole world; for it surrounds all sinners, everything which lives in heaven and on earth. Learn to know its " length." that is, that this love is of longer duration than the world; it is
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from eternity and stretches into eternity. Learn to know its " height;" for this love is higher than all the mountains of the world, it reaches up to heaven. Learn to know its " depth;"for this love is deeper than the foundation of the earth; it is a deep, inexhaustible, bottomless well, it flows from the depths of God's own heart. Paul goes even further: You should learn and experience that Christ's love surpasses all knowledge, that you can never finish learning, searching, or studying it, that it is as great, as glorious, as boundless as God himself is.
Oh my friends, would, therefore, that you would daily and hourly open the book of Christ's love and read and above all study in this book with prayer and meditation! Oh what you would then experience! how often you would have a foretaste of eternal life! how strong you would become in the inner man! In this way you would, as the apostle says, " be filled with the fulness of God."
Oh, blessed Christians, who daily try to become stronger in faith, daily more zealous in love, dally richer in the knowledge and experience of Christ's love!
Well, then, all of you who have begun to believe: Try to become such Christians; in addition, hear and read God's Word, pray, watch, carry on the conflict; thus you will also some day see what you believe and some day enjoy what you hope.
" Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that worketh in us. unto him be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen." Vv.20. 21.