18TH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY-2
Text: 1 Corinthians 1:4-9
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 this same faithful Savior, dearly beloved hearers.
In all ages the unbelieving world has cherished the hope that the world is getting better and better, that from century to century it develops more and more and is achieving perfection with hurried step. This hope has attained its greatest heights particularly today. First, it is thought that man is constantly learning more of the forces of nature and is making them serve him; even now this is making man's hard toil less and less necessary and finally will make it completely unnecessary. Secondly, it is thought that if man would become increasingly more conscious of human worth, it would become clear to him that all men are born equal, have also equal claim to all rights and treasures; thus every chain of human authority and inequality would at last dawn. Thirdly, it is supposed that if man would see ever more clearly that hitherto it has been chiefly religion which has held him back from full happiness on earth, that religion has been the unholy cause for man seeking his happiness in a future other-worldly heaven instead of on earth during this life, but as man has become more enlightened, he is no longer concerned about these empty bugbears: God, eternity, judgment, and hell, pays no more attention to the burdensome voice of conscience which is nothing else but a result of incorrect education, and lets all his striving be directed to happiness in this life. Thus the world hopes that if those three alleged hindrances to perfect happiness would be removed, then the golden age would finally enter and the world would be turned into a heaven.
Though this hope is insane in the land where sin, sickness, and death remain, and where also imperfection, misery, and distress must also remain, yet this insanity has become so universal, that now even Christians have begun to join the world in order to pursue the phantasy of an ultimate perfect world system; even Christians greedily swallow the new gospel being praised in worldly papers; and the more they become roused for this, the colder and more indifferent they become toward the kingdom of God.
Nevertheless, there are other Christians who are not occupied with that hope but an entirely different one, one just as vain. They hope for better times for the Church. They hope that Christ will appear once more on earth, bind Satan, overthrow the kingdom of the antichrist, convert the Jews and the heathen by the millions, awaken all the saints from the dead, particularly the martyrs, and found a great, glorious thousand-year kingdom on earth; not only will Christ himself rule visibly but also his believers with him. They would rule over the remainder of the unconverted world. Then the Church, which hitherto was oppressed and persecuted by the godless, would become the ruler of the world and celebrate a thousand-year festival of victory on earth. Then things
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would be turned about: The non-Christian would be suppressed and the Christian on; and not only would the members of all confessions be at peace among themselves but mainly a universal peace would rule as far as Christ's new kingdom would extend. Even nature would be transformed in a most glorious way and would produce and offer Christians the fullness of its gifts without hard labor.
These hopes which nowadays are shared by many Christians in all or at least one or the other point smile at the flesh of all Christians in a most endearing and enticing manner, particularly today when the Church, burdened with disgrace and contempt, lies in the dust and the individual Christian who is not completely blind is pressed almost to the ground by the misery of these times; however, as the hope of the world for a golden age of civil freedom and equality and domestic happiness, so is also the hope of certain Christians for a glorious thousand-year kingdom of peace for the Church nothing but an empty delusion; it has no foundation in a single syllable of God's Word. The only thing which Christians can expect is something entirely different. The apostle tells us this in our today' s Epistle. Permit me to present this to you today for your devotion.
The text. 1 Corinthians 1:4-9.
What the apostle says to the Christians at Corinth in the Epistle just read in sum and substance is contained in the words: You " wait for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ." V.7b. In these words the apostle presents the entire life of the New Testament Christians as a continual waiting only for the revelation of Jesus Christ on Judgment Day; for that he means the revelation of Judgment Day follows from what He adds: " Who shall also confirm you UNTO THE END, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ." V.8. Therefore on the basis of our text I present to you:
CHRISTIANS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT TIMES NEED WAIT ONLY FOR THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST ON JUDGMENT DAY
and this because
1. They Already Have Everything Which They Need For This Life And The Life To Come, and
2. They Are Certain That God's Faithfulness Will Preserve Them Until The End.
Lord Jesus, you have withdrawn your visible presence from your believers on earth, ascended into heaven, and seated yourself at the right hand of majesty on high. But you do not want to let your followers orphans forever, nor allow your congregation here below to fight and struggle forever; you intend to return and lead your own into your Father's mansions of peace so that they may see your
glory; for where you are, there shall also your servants be. Oh, therefore, grant us your grace, so that we do not seek those things which are on earth but what is above, where you are; that our eyes may be steadily directed toward the place where you are,from whence you will come to fetch us home; that day and night we wait only for your glorious appearance in the clouds of heaven and for your revelation in the eternal kingdom of your Father. Preserve us in your grace and fellowship so that we may reach that place; then with all who loved your appearance we will sing praises to you and glorify you forever and ever. Amen.
I.
My friends, as long as the Savior promised to the first people had not appeared, so long the believers could only yearn and wait for the better condition
of the Church which was to be brought by the Messiah. We, therefore, notice that the entire Old Testament is full of utterances of such hope for a better time. Even when Noah was born, during those fearful times before the Deluge,his father Lamech exclaimed in joyful hope, that this child would be the Messiah: "This same shall comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed." Gen 5:29. When Jacob lay on his deathbed in Egypt far from the Land of Promise, he comforted himself at his departure from this world with the hope of that better time and so broke forth in the words: "I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord." Gen 49:18. Even as Israel lived under David's happy reign as a free, victorious people, David still sighed: "Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! when the Lord bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad." Ps 14:7. Even Isaiah sighed with intense longing: "Oh that thou wouldst rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence, as when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil, to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence!" Is 64:1.2. When the darkness was gathering about God's people Zechariah gave the wonderful comfort which still lay in the future: "At evening time it shall be light." Zech 14:6. Finally, Malachi, the last Old Testament prophet, joyfully exclaimed, certain of the nearness of the fulfilment of his hope: "The Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in; behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts," Ma l 3:1
The case is quite different with the believers of the New Covenant. The New Testament no longer preaches of a glorious kingdom of God on earth which is still to come, but that he has already come. Now we read:
What the fathers most desired,
What the prophets' heart inspired,
What they longed for many a year,
Stand fulfilled in glory here. (91,2)
Even at his very first public appearance Christ says: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand." Mk 1:15. And later on Christ expressly stated: "The Law and the prophets were until John; since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it." Lk 16:16. Therefore,what must the Church of the New Testament still expect? The apostle states that in our text in the words: " You wait for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ," namely on Judgment Day. V.7b.
Not only does the apostle maintain this but he also proves it by saying: " I thank God always on vour behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ, that in everything ye are enriched by him, in all utterance. and in all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you; so that ye come behind in no gift." and he adds, " waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." Vv.4-7. The first reason which the apostle gives is,therefore, this, because through Christ New Testament Christians are " enriched in EVERYTHING " and therefore already have everything which they need for this life and that to come.
And as the apostle says, they first of all are rich " in all utterance and in all knowledge." True, the believers of the Old Testament also had enough doctrine and knowledge so that they could be saved by it. But as day is different from night, the light of the sun from the light of the stars, the noonday from the dawn, so is the New Testament different from the Old. During the time before Christ most of the truth was still veiled in the dark shadows of types;
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however, with Christ's coming all these shadows disappeared and the Person which these things prefigured, the body itself, appeared. Today, as the apostle says in another place, the glory of the Lord is reflected with open face in all believers. True, the believers of the Old Covenant also caught sight of God's essence and counsels in the words of prophecy, the work of redemption, and its blessed goal but in the way a wanderer sees from a hazy blue distance the mountain town toward which he is going. The believers of the New Covenant, however, have already arrived within the city, are walking its streets and alleys, and see all things clearly before their eyes. Now there are no questions concerning God, his essence, his will, his works; no questions concerning good and evil angels; no questions concerning man, whence he is, his nature, and whither he goes; no question concerning the true way of man through this world to heaven; no question concerning the destiny of the Church; no question concerning death, concerning the nature of the world to come, concerning heaven and hell, concerning the resurrection and the judgment, concerning damnation and salvation; in short, there is no question whose answer is profitable to man for true faith, for a God-pleasing life, for complete comfort in all distress, and for a joyous death which is not plainly answered believers in "unfigurative" language. In the times of the New Testament, every child who knows his Catechism well possesses such riches in doctrine and knowledge that in comparison to such a Christian child not only all the wise of this world sit in deepest darkness, but even Abraham, David, Isaiah would be merely weak pupils in clarity of perception. In a word, New Testament Christians are, as our text says, rich " in all utterance, and in all knowledge."
The apostle mentions a second thing about them; he continues: " Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that ye come behind in no GIFT." Vv.6.7a. But how would I be able to finish speaking about what is contained in these words? How would I be able to enumerate every gift of New Testament Christians, since according to these words they do not lack a single gift, hence have all gifts? Let us cast only a brief glance at their riches. First of all, they have all the gifts of grace. They have the Gospel and by faith in it God's grace, the forgiveness of their sins, that righteousness which avails before God, divine adoption, the peace of God, power to do everything which serves for a divine life and walk, the hope of a blessed resurrection and eternal life; and that they may indeed be absolutely, positively certain of these things, God, so to say, has stated it in writing in his Word.
But even this was not enough for God; in order to strengthen their certainty and seal all this to them he also gave them Baptism or his covenant of grace, the Keys of the kingdom of heaven on earth or absolution, and the Lord's Supper or the Communion of the body and blood of Jesus Christ, which are simply God's pledges of the spiritual and heavenly treasures already promised and given them. And still more. God has also instituted & holy office for Christians, the office of reconciliation; he has earnestly commanded the holders of this office to preach his grace and reconciliation day and night to Christians and to pour into their laps all the treasures of his grace.
And still more. God has also given Christians that prayer in which they can receive everything, everything which they think they still lack. And still more. God has also made the holy angels, yes, all creatures, the servants of Christians; for even the world with its temptations and distresses, even the devil with his assaults and fiery arrows, yes, even their own sins with their humiliations, briefly, everything must work together for their good. And finally, God, the Giver of all these gifts, has even given himself to Christians, made them temples of the Holy Spirit, yes, dwellings of the Most Holy Trinity.
Not only are these gifts of grace part of these gifts which Christians have but also the gifts of their office, the gift of the dignity of priests, kings, and prophets, the gift of wisdom and great knowledge, the gift of prophecy
or exposition, the gift to teach, to warn, to reprimand and comfort, the gift of languages and speech, the gift of government, the gift to heal and do miracles. For even though God does not adorn all the individual Christians with these gifts for their person, they nevertheless are "for the common good," hence, given for all Christians; therefore, in order to have them all share in all the treasures of his house he has united them in a Church and congregation, a communion of saints, Christ's mysterious spiritual body. Paul must, therefore, soon after our text exclaim to New Testament Christians: "All things are yours, whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours, and ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's." 1 Cor 3:21-23.
According to these words, who is able to enumerate the riches of New Testament Christians? If a king or an emperor is not a Christian, what is he in comparison to a Christian, even though he would have all the riches of the world under his control? A poor miserable beggar! Christians are so wealthy that they could not even see it all in one glance and count its value. That is why the apostle, who had cast a particularly deep glance at these riches, expresses thanks for them in behalf of the Corinthians and begins in our text in the words: " I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ, that in everything ye are enriched by him." Vv.4.5a.
Now you yourself tell me: What should we say about those who still are not satisfied with these riches, which Christians have, and so wait for a thousand-year kingdom in which first Christians should assume their true glory? Since according to our text Christians have already been made rich in all doctrine and in all knowledge, what new doctrine and knowledge could they still hope for? And since they lack no gift and are rich in everything, what gifts could they still hope for? Hence, this is as clear as day: Those who still hope for a different glory of God's kingdom can hope only for physical, temporal, earthly things, for freedom from the cross and temptation, for riches, dominion, and honor in this world. Their hope is nothing else but this home-sickness of the flesh for the fleshpots of the Egypt of this world. Oh wretched hope, oh unholy yearning! Woe to Christians, if they must comfort themselves in the fact that a period of earthly glory awaits them, for this only would be to their misfortune and mean their fall back to the world and the loss of their salvation.
No, no, there is only one thing for New Testament Christians to hope for in this world, that they may see what they have believed and perfectly enjoy what they already have. This the apostle indicates in our text in the words: " Waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." namely, for Judgment Day, hence not for glory in the world but for deliverance from this world, not for a thousand-year kingdom on the old world but for an eternal kingdom upon the new earth and in the new heavens where dwelleth righteousness.
II.
My friends, the apostle presents a second reason why Christians should wait only for this heavenly glory; it is because Christians are also certain that God's faithfulness will preserve them unto the end, for he continues thus: " Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord." Vv. 8.9.
One thing could easily cause Christians to become bitter while waiting for the revelation of Jesus Christ, the worry whether he would also preserve them
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unto the end. A Christian not only sees that so many made a good beginning and believed for a time but in the time of temptation fell away; he also experiences dally In himself the danger in which he lives, how cunning Satan still is, how alluring the world, how powerful his own flesh. That is also why even Christians at times are more afraid of Judgment Day than awaiting it with joy.
Now of course, it is true that God has given no Christian an unconditional guarantee that he would preserve him in all situations until the end, no matter what he may do. The Gospel gives no freedom for security but commands us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. God has promised no one that he would compel him by irresistible grace to believe and enter heaven, and save him even if he wilfully surrenders to sin and unbelief. But my friends, these warning truths apply only to those who wilfully want to abuse God's grace and sin against grace. On the other hand, whoever as an upright Christian is afraid of sin and unbelief; whoever when tempted to sin thinks with Paul: "How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" Rom 6:2, and whoever feeling his unbelief painfully sighs with that distressed prayer: "Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief," can and should without fear of apostasy joyfully wait for the revelation of Jesus Christ on Judgment Day.
Why? Because the promise of our text concerns him also: " Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord." Vv.8.9. This promise applies to everyone who believes; all that is necessary is that he seize this promise in faith.
Oh precious promise! For see, according to it the blessedness of a Christian does not depend upon his tottering faithfulness but on the unshakable faithfulness of his God. According to it his blessedness does not lie in his weak hands, for then it would soon be lost, but in the powerful hands of his God. So, though a Christian may be ever so weak, God himself wants to be and will be his strength. Though in weakness he may stumble and fall ever so often, God's faithfulness wants to and will cause him to stand, as he did Peter. Though in weakness he may wander away ever so far, God's faithfulness wants to and always will fetch him back as he did lost Thomas and set his feet on the way again. Though the battle which the Christian is called upon to fight may be ever so fierce, God's faithfulness wants to and will strengthen him as it did Jacob and even fight with him to victory. Though the devil and the world may ever so often and ever so cunningly seek his soul, God's faithfulness wants to and will see to it that, as with Paul, they always lose and be dashed into the ground. Though God may wonderfully lead the Christian on ever so dark a way, God wants to and will be his light and as with Job his faithfulness will finally carry all things out gloriously. Whatever a Christian might need and though it would be a mouth and wisdom before kings and princes, if it be a heroic faith, if it be the gift of performing miracles, God's faithfulness wants to and will give it to him, as once he gave it to the sainted martyrs. Though a Christian may ever so often besmirch himself in the dust of the earth, God wants to and will hold him blameless until the end as he did the Christians at Corinth, and perform the good work which he had begun in them until the day of Jesus Christ. A Christian can and should, therefore, believe that from eternity he is elected to salvation, and that, therefore, his salvation is so certain that the gates of hell cannot prevail against it. His salvation depends upon that golden chain whose unbreakable links the apostle forges together in the words: "Whom God did foreknow, he also did predestinate; whom he did predestinate, them he also called; and whom he called, them he also justified; and whom he justified, them he also glorified." Rom 8:30.
This, then, remains true: New Testament Christians have nothing more to wait for than the revelation of Jesus Christ on Judgment Day, for they not only have everything which they need for this life and the life to come, but they are also certain that God's faithfulness will not let them fall but will preserve them until the end.
Oh you Christians, do not have the false hope which directs your glance to this world instead of to heaven, to this life instead of the life to come. Your walk, your citizenship is in heaven from whence you also wait for the Savior Jesus Christ the Lord, who will glorify your vile body so that it will be fashioned like his glorified body, according to the working whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself. Recognize the unutterable riches which you already possess in Christ, and you will never wish for better times in this world; and believe from your heart that you are among the number of the elect, and you will without fear go to meet Judgment Day and, as Christ says, lift up your heads with joy because your redemption draws nigh. Though others may hope for earthly glory, let us with John at the close of the divine revelation wait only for the coming of the Bridegroom for the heavenly marriage and continually pray with him: "Come quickly, yes, come, Lord Jesus!" Amen.