19TH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY
Text: Ephesians 4:22-28
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.
Dear friends in Christ Jesus.
According to the testimony of Scriptures, when God saw everything which he had made, it was very good; however, the most glorious of all his visible works was man. True, God had created all creatures out of love and clearly impressed upon them the marks of his goodness; but it pleased God to shower on man above all the fullness and riches of his love and goodness. Therefore, when God intended to create light and the firmament of the heavens with their beauty, he merely said: "Let there be!" and they came in existence; and when God intended to create the plants and animals upon earth, he merely said: "Let the waters bring forth, let the earth bring forth!" and they sprang up. But when he intended to call man into existence, the heavenly Father consulted with his only Son and the Holy Spirit concerning the greatness and glory of the work which was to surpass all the rest, and said: "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." And then, as Moses testifies, "God created man in his own image, after his own likeness."
My friends, in these words is described particularly the inexpressible, glorious state in which man once was when he came from the hand of the Triune God. Oh, what a state that must have been when man still bore the image of the great, glorious God in himself! It would be impossible for human reason to discover of what this image of God in man consisted had not God revealed it to us in his Holy Word. Even the unbelievers of our day eagerly accept the teaching that man is of divine race and created according to God's image; they say that this high nobility consisted in things by which man even now lifts himself above the other visible creatures; God's image still shines in the spiritual essence of our soul, in the light of our reason, in the freedom of our will, and in the attitude of our body which is directed toward heaven. But all these things are
merely shadows of our past glory which is gone, footprints remaining in the sand after the foot itself has hurried away.
According to God's Word the image of God consisted in things which one no longer brings along to earth. It was a reflection of divine glory. Man's reason was filled and saturated with a pure light, in which man without any error clearly perceived his Creator and his will, the essence of all nations and himself and, as the child Jesus, could grow in wisdom without any wearisome research or instruction; and that was the image of divine wisdom. In his will man reflected God's holiness and righteousness; in his disposition God's goodness, patience, and forbearance; in his inclinations and desires God's love and mercy; in his attitudes and words God's truth, cordiality, gentleness, and friendliness. There was nothing in man which would have resisted the good; neither in body or soul was there an evil incitement, a sinful lust and desire. That glorious knowledge in his reason and this pure righteousness in his will were the chief elements of the divine image.
However, many other glorious things were connected with it. God is almighty, a Lord of heaven and earth; this was portrayed in man in the fact that he exercised a perfect dominion over all visible creatures; then the lion just as well as the lamb obeyed his word and nod. God is eternal; this was reflected in the immortality of man in body and soul; for as long as man still bore the image of God death could not destroy his body, which was a pure unspotted temple of the Holy Ghost. God is blessed; in his presence is fullness of joy and at his right hand pleasures forevermore; this was reflected in man's happiness which he enjoyed even here; in his conscience was rest and peace; no anxieties or worries troubled the boundless joy of his heart; work was a pleasure and produced no tiredness in his spirit and members; no pain or sickness could touch him; heat and cold neither injured nor harmed him; even the earth was full only of the goodness of the Lord; it produced no thorns and thistles but extended its hand to man with only the gifts of joy; and paradise in which man dwelt was the image of God's heavenly mansions where he reveals his divine majesty. The world still was an annex of heaven in which man ruled as a visible copy of the invisible God; man's soul was a quiet scene of divine glory in which was found pure light, pure love, pure joy, pure holiness and righteousness.
Where is this blessed state now ? It has disappeared. Man, who at his creation once bore the image of God in himself now bears, when he comes into the world, the image of Satan, namely error, sin, misery, and death. By nature our reason is now darkened, our will turned away from God, our heart estranged from the life which is of God, our body full of unclean lusts and desires; our conscience full of unrest, doubt, anxiety, and mistrust of God; our life surrounded by misery and death. Sadly Moses related the birth of Seth, the son of Adam, and does not say: Adam begat a son in God's but "in his own likeness, after his image." Sadly Solomon exclaims: "God hath made man upright, but they have sought out many inventions." Eccl 7:29. Sadly Paul testifies: "There is no difference, for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God," that is, the old glory. Rom 3:23.24. Vainly does proud man now boast of being created in God's image; this image is lost. Through the seduction of Satan man has fallen into sin and through sin destroyed and undid God's glorious work. Oh, how deeply man has fallen! how much he has lost! how poor he is who once was so rich! how miserable he who once was so glorious!
Who is now so hard and unfeeling in whom a longing for our former blessed condition does not arise when he ponders it, and who should not groan with David: "My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God, and awake with thy likeness?" Ps 42:2; 17:15. Happy may we be! God himself assumed the form of sinful flesh in order that we could be renewed to the lost image of God. God has not altered his eternal will of love of letting
us partake of his blessedness, but is ready for the sake of Christ his dear Son through his Holy Spirit to re-establish in us his destroyed work, here as a beginning and there in perfection. Our today's Epistle speak of man's renewing to the image of God.
The text. Ephesians 4:22-28.
This Epistle, my dear hearers, contains one of the chief passages for the doctrine of God's image which man once bore in himself, but lost through sin. The apostle exhorts Christians to be renewed as man once was created after God in righteousness and true holiness. Oh, that this glorious Epistle would to day become truly glorious also among us ! oh that everyone would be enlightened by its light and draw and move him by its power!
Under its direction we today study:
THE DAILY RENEWING OF THE CHRISTIAN TO THE IMAGE OF GOD
1. What This Really Is According To Its Inner Nature, and
2. How It Is Revealed Outwardly In One's Life.
Renew us, O eternal Light,
And let our heart and soul be bright
Illumined with the light of grace
That issues from Thy holy face.
Destroy in me the lust of sin
From all impureness make me clean.
Oh, grant me power and strength, my God,
To strive against my flesh and blood! (398,1.2) Amen.
I.
" Be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put ye on the new man. which, after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." Vv.23. 24. is the way the apostle spoke to the Christians at Ephesus. We see from this; The doctrine of the renewal is a doctrine of God's Word just as well as the doctrine of faith and the forgiveness of sins; also, this doctrine is a link in the chain of the divine plan of salvation; it cannot be omitted if we do not want to break and nullify it; also, renewal is a step on which everyone of us must tread if we want to go the narrow way to heaven.
However, the renewal is not the first step in true Christianity; we are not to become Christians through it but when we are Christians we can be told, as were the Ephesians in our text: " Be renewed in the spirit of your mind." The preaching of the renewal is, therefore, really a preaching only for true Christians. Its basis is the rebirth in which the person through faith receives life from God. Vainly,therefore, do they say to one of unchanged mind: Be renewed; this person has no power to do this. It would be as if one stood at the casket of a dead person and called to him: Arise and walk! As little as the dead person can obey our words, so little is he capable of practising the work of renewal who still lacks the Spirit and faith.
If you want to become a Christian, this is my brief advice: Read, hear and study God's Law, the holy Ten Commandments, first of all; learn from them
434 19th Sunday after Trinity
to know your sins, your fall from God, your lost condition, and become frightened at God's wrath over your sins which the Law announces to all who transgress it. But then also listen to the friendly voice of the Gospel of Christ, which promisee and offers grace to all sinners without exception, and accept this promise in firm faith. Only be certain: If you do this, God absolves you in his judgment and declares: This sinner is to be accepted for the sake of my dear Son in whom I am well pleased. If you feel your distress, do not be frightened away from Christ because of the greatness and host of your sins or the depths of your corruption; do not ask: Alas, dare I also believe? For behold, you not only dare but you should believe as certainly as God is true and you dare not call him a liar.
Oh blessed is he who thus has come to faith in Christ! He has become a Christian; the heavy burden of his sins has been taken from his shoulders; sin's dominion in him has been broken, and his heart has been renewed and changed by the Holy Spirit.
However, my dear hearers, if a person has obeyed God's call: Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, then the divine call also is issued to this person: " That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." Vv.22-24. In justification through faith Satan was indeed hurled from his throne in our heart, but he has not been completely killed; he watches and tries day and night, as Luther says, to see if he can gain a little space where he can again place a claw and gradually force his way in completely; and he does not cease until he has sunk us in the former old damnable way of unbelief, contempt of God, and disobedience; therefore, the daily renewal is needed.
In justification our sins are indeed forgiven; however, they still retain their roots in our heart; if the Christian, therefore, does not renew himself daily, his heart must again degenerate like a tree which is not pruned, or like a garden in which the weeds are not rooted out. In justification and regeneration we are indeed born as God's children and thus the beginning according to God's image is again brought about in us; but at first one is just like a weak child to which daily nourishment and strength must be given in the renewal, if it is not to die again and be lost.
In justification we are like the one who fell among murderers; Christ indeed took pity on us, bound our deep wounds of sin with the balm of his gracious Gospel; but in the daily renewal we must also remain under the treatment of his Holy Spirit until we are completely cured; this happens when he returns and has called us from the hospital of this world to himself by a blessed death. In j ustification and the rebirth the spiritual creation, the daily renewal of the Christian is the work of spiritual preservation. However, as the created world would long ago have disappeared except for God's preservation and government, so except for daily renewal a Christian cannot remain regenerated. It is indeed well if faith has been planted into the heart, but then he needs, as Paul says, daily watering; thus the Lord grants also the final success when one finally receives and enjoys eternal life.
Hence, what is this daily renewal? It is the continuation of the work of grace, which the Holy Spirit has begun in our soul in justification through faith. It is the heartfelt diligence of a Christian to lay aside every day more of the old man, that is, being more and more freed from all error and constantly weaken, smother, and kill sin in oneself. It is the daily earnest concern of a child of God to put on the new man more and more, that is, to grow in all doctrine and knowledge and spiritual wisdom and experience, and become more and more like the image of Jesus Christ in thoughts, words, attitudes, and works and become happy in it.
True, the Christian's daily renewal takes place in this life in great weakness, for even reborn Christians must still struggle with great corruption in themselves, but they struggle against it and do not let it gain control in themselves. Faithless people and hypocritical hearts also say that they are concerned about becoming better and more pious every day, but they still let sin rule over them. Such miserable, hypocritical pretence is not the daily renewal of the true Christian. When they awaken in the morning their first earnest and heartfelt concern which they carry to God in prayer actually is: Oh that I would be 100% faithful today! This concern accompanies them to their work, this concern accompanies them to social engagements and in times of solitude; and when evening comes, they look back on the past day, with broken heart apologize for all their missteps, and beseech and implore for grace and forgiveness through Christ until they can confidently go to sleep.
Indeed, there are many hypocrites who comfort themselves with the fact that they had a living experience of divine grace, even though now they practice piety with a dead heart as though it were a business; in true Christians Jesus Christ, the Sun of righteousness, has not risen only once in their heart;neither has it again set completely, but it shines every day in their souls with its heavenly shining and warming rays. Not only do true Christians have new experiences daily of their sins but also new experiences every day of the friendliness of God and the power of his grace. Daily they repent anew, believe anew, love anew, struggle and conquer anew.
Examine yourselves, my dear hearers, in the light of these things. You will see: He who wants to pass for a Christian must not only be able to tell of a one-time conversion, but also, how the work of God's grace was daily continued in his heart. Do you try to lay aside the old man every day and put on the new man? Let me ask you: To which sins can you point, against which you have struggled in the past week and which by the power of your faith you have conquered? To which virtue, which commendation can you point which you have pondered upon and which you have won through the help of the Spirit of grace?
Whoever of us has put up absolutely no fight but has lived on lazily, securely, and carelessly, has also not been renewed; in him the old man still rules which ruins itself in error through lusts. Let him return through true repentance to his Baptism, which is a washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost. Let him remember that he who does not want to be renewed to the image of God here on earth will also some day not awaken in his image.
Perhaps there are many of us who truly wrestle but most weakly, who are more often conquered than conquerors. Oh, you beloved soul, who must confess this of yourself, do not let this cause you to despair; remember what God's Word says: "If a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned except he strive lawfully." 2 Tim 2:5. Therefore, let yourselves be kindled by the Word of the Lord to a new and greater zeal which today calls to you: " Put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. "
Zion, rise, Zion rise,
Zion, wake, arise, and shine!
Let thy lamp be brightly burning.
Never let thy love decline,
Forward still with hopeful y e arning.
Zion, yonder waits the heave n ly prize;
Zion rise! Zion, rise!
Run thy race, run thy race,
Zion,swiftly run thy race!
Let no languor ever find thee
Idle in the market-place.
436 19th Sunday after Trinity
Look not to the things behind thee.
Zion, daily strengthened by His grace,
Run thy race, run thy race! (479,1.4)
II.
My dear hearers, not only does the apostle tell us what in the main the daily renewal of the Christian is like, but secondly, how it must reveal itself outwardly in daily life.
The first thing which the apostle tells us is: " Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor; for we are members one of another." V.25. Not without reason does the apostle place this exhortation first; he means to show: The first thing which must be seen in a renewed Christian is love for the truth and a horror of all lying, false, and hypocritical ways Satan is the father of lies; therefore, he who loves lies and still takes refuge in lies, lives under the authority of darkness and divine displeasure. God is eternal truth and faithfulness; we read that he destroys liars and abhors what is false. Therefore, he who knowingly lies and says things which he does Intend to keep is not a child of the faithful and truthful God. Jesus Christ testified before Pilate that he is a King of truth; therefore, he who does not love the truth above all things is not a subject in the kingdom of the Savior. The Holy Spirit is a Spirit of truth who guides all into all truth; therefore, whoever does not walk in the truth but in falsehood of the heart is not driven by God's Spirit but by his own spirit and the spirit of lies. Excuses and extenuations are of no avail; the apostle says clearly: " Wherefore putting away lying. speak every man truth with his neighbor; for we are members one of another."
Oh, how many in our days must therefore exclude themselves from God's kingdom, since nowadays nothing is more despised than the truth and nothing is more frequent than lies, deceit, and falsehood! You, who in these deceitful times claim to be Christians, do not offend the world more terribly so that they notice even in you lies, falsehood, unfaithfulness, flattery, slander, love of fame, boastfulness, and hypocrisy. He who wants to be a Christian must at all times so speak as his heart and conscience tell him to speak; one must be able to rely more confidently upon the word of a Christian than upon a thousand oaths of a worldling who does not fear God; yes must mean yes, and no must mean no. A Christian must not be friendly and courteous to one's face and hostile behind one's back; a Christian must not be friendly and loving in attitudes and countenance, and full of bitterness and hatred in his heart. Even in his conversation about his enemies a Christian must add nothing untrue. A Christian must try to speak and behave and do everything from the bottom of his heart so that he can say with David: "Search me, O God, and know ray heart; try me, and know my thought; and see if there be any wicked way in me,and lead me in the way everlasting." Ps 139:23.24.
The apostle continues in our text: " Be ye angry, and sin not; let not the sun go down upon your wrath; neither give place to the devil." V.26.27. With these words the apostle predicts that in this world the Christian will find cause and incitement enough to anger, hatred, and irreconcilableness; but at the same time he indicates that because of the weakness of their flesh even true Christians feel the sinful movements of wrath often indeed. However, he also indicates: He who wants to be and remain a true Christian and keep God's forgiveness must guard himself against remaining angry. Luther in the exposition of this passage writes: In sum, here is contained and stated an unusual utterance, that he who does not want to control his anger and can keep his anger longer than a day or overnight is not a Christian. What do they want to do who
keep their anger and hatred one, two, three, seven, ten years? That is no more human anger but the devil’s anger from hell." So far Luther. Let us all take this carefully to heart! This is not a sin to joke around with; one is enough to close the gates of grace to us. Is it not terrible to love a sin so much that one would rather lose his soul and salvation than fight against it and let go of it?
Nor let anyone deceive himself here perhaps by false appearances. Perhaps many a one is not outwardly angry with his neighbor, not in words, countenance, gestures, and deeds; but he is angry in his heart. Bear in mind, you irreconcilable, even if you do not let your anger break forth but conceal it in your heart from men, God sees your heart and according to your heart will he judge. Therefore, let go of your secret wrath, so that it does not hold your soul bound.
My dear Christian, if you are incited to anger, pray to God to give you a soft heart, so that you do not repay invective with invective, but bless those who curse you; and if you have been conquered by anger through the deceit of your flesh, oh, hurry, free yourself quickly from it, and remember the word of the apostle when you lay down to rest: " Let not the sun go down upon your wrath." The pious patriarch of Constantinople named John once had a heated exchange of words with an important nobleman named Nicetas, so that finally the later left the patriarch full of anger. Evening came, John sent a deacon to Nicetas and had him say only the words: "My lord, the sun is about to sink." Nice tas understood the patriarch's meaning, hurried quickly to him, and ashamed extended the hand of reconciliation to him. Let us go and do likewise.
In conclusion the apostle adds: " Let him that stole steal no more; but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth." V.28 Of a truth, my friends, this is a hard saying for our times; this verse lets few Christians remain in Christendom. He tells us: He who pilfers the property of another is clearly not a Christian and has no part in God's kingdom; secondly, he who keeps pilfered property is not a Christian, for his theft continues as long as he wants to keep the property of others among his own; thirdly, he who does not work, hence is not faithful in his earthly calling, is in God's eyes nothing but a thief, who eats the bread of others, is outside the kingdom of grace; fourthly, he who tries to obtain something not by the good labors of his hands, not in the sweat; of his face, is in God's eyes a wilful transgressor of the Seventh Commandment and, therefore, under his curse; and finally, he who gathers money in order to become rich and not that he may have to give to the needy is in God's eyes a greedy person, that is, an idolater who has no inheritance in the kingdom of Jesus Christ and God.
Therefore, let everyone be warned! If we want to be Christians, we must also decide to be renewed every day; we must also lay aside the old man according to the former walk of life, who is corrupt through deceitful lusts, and put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. May God grant that to all of us who are Christians for the sake of Jesus by the power and working of his Holy Spirit. Amen.