22ND SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY
Text: Philippians 1:3-11.
Source from Back to Luther with German archive reference. Back to Walther's Epistle Sermons.
Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love. Amen.
Dear friends in Christ Jesus.
The Reformation, the commemoration of which we celebrated the past week, was a work of such universal salutary results, that at the present time one can scarcely point to one land or nation of Christendom where one cannot clearly detect traces of its mighty influence. Through the Reformation the entire Christian Church received a new form; yes, with it a new period in the history of mankind begins. Even many notable members of the Roman Church had had to admit that their church as well has to thank the Reformation not a little. Of course, the so-called Protestants above all are the ones who have reaped and enjoyed the precious fruits of that work, and there is hardly a Protestant who possesses only a bit of the knowledge of history who will not grant that the blessings of the Reformation are incalculable, and that a Protestant is surrounded by them until this hour as he is by the air.
However, what is usually prized today as the glorious fruit of the Reformation? Most eulogies which today deal with this work point to this, that by it the night of superstition lasting more than a thousand years was driven away, the church service which in the past consisted only of external ceremonies and observed in a foreign language abolished, the disgraceful domination of the pope and priests and the spiritual regimentation of the laity ended, the intolerable compulsion in matters of faith set aside, and the bloody abomination of the inquisition, that is, the secret court for heretics and especially the spirit of all religious persecution stopped; on the other hand, enlightenment in every regard was demanded, the right of one's own search for acceptance, and art and learning flourished, and thus freedom of religion and conscience and religious tolerance toward those who believe differently became the accepted rule.
To be sure, these are all the fruits of the Reformation, and indeed such glorious fruits for which we cannot thank God sufficiently; however, the most precious, yes, the true, the real fruit of this work has not yet been mentioned. First of all, one would err greatly if one were to think that Luther was drawn into the work of the Reformation because he had yearned for freedom from the oppressive yoke of papal dominion and things directly connected with it. No, the real cause was this: Luther was eager to be certain of God's grace and be saved, but he still did not know how he could receive God's grace and salvation. He had tormented himself for a long time, and tried to obtain rest and certainty for himself through his own works, through strict living in the monastery, through constant prayer, fasting, vigils, and other mortifications and expiations, but he had found no peace in his own works and sufferings; rather, by them he had often been led to the brink of despair; finally, by the reading of the Bible, which through God's amazing dispensation had come into his hands, it gradually became clearer and clearer to him that according to the Gospel not by his own works but through faith given him by God, not through his worthiness but
alone by grace, not through his own righteousness but through the righteousness of another, not through his efforts and suffering but through the work and suffering of Jesus Christ the Son of God and Savior of sinners, is man to become righteous before God and be saved.
This discovery made Luther not only happy toward God (he himself writes that it has been as though the gates of paradise suddenly opened to a hopeless person), but this also made him so happy and bold over against men that he also had to preach the saving Gospel which had given him such great comfort, such heavenly refreshment, such living hope and rock-firm certainty, to the whole world; he did not let himself be frightened from this task even though the pope, emperor, and empire rose up against him, a weaponless monk, and threatened him with excommunication, the bann of empire, fire, and sword.
As the real understanding of the Gospel of God's grace in Christ was the real treasure which Luther had first found only for himself, so it was also the most precious, the true, the real fruit which the entire work of the Reformation brought to Christendom. Therefore, all who extol only freedom of religion and conscience which was returned to us through the Reformation rejoice only over the shells and forget the kernel it held; they find delight in the beautiful glittering frame and overlook the valuable picture mounted in it. Only he knows and enjoys the fruits of the Reformation who has, knows, enjoys, and thanks God for the pure doctrine of the Gospel. My friends, of this, that we are the very ones who owe God this thanks our today's Epistle bids me speak to you.
The text. Philippians 1:3-11.
This fellowship in the Gospel in which the Philippians once stood and for which the apostle in the words of our text thanks God is a blessing which we also enjoy as a fruit of the Reformation. Therefore, let me now speak to you on:
THE THANKS WHICH WE OWE GOD THAT HE LETS US ENJOY FELLOWSHIP IN THE GOSPEL AS A FRUIT OF THE REFORMATION
Let me show you:
1. Why We Are Obligated To Express Ardent Thanks To God For It. and
2. How We Should Show God Our Thanks For it.
I.
St. Paul begins our today's Epistle with the words: " I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, for your fellowship in the Gospel from the first day until now." Vv.3-5.
We dare not suppose that the apostle tells the Christians at Philippi how he from the beginning and even now in his imprisonment at Rome thanks God that they came to the fellowship of the Gospel in order to praise himself. No, he did this in order to convince the Philippians how worthy of thanks the blessing of enjoying the fellowship in the Gospel is, that is, to have the Gospel and to have come to the right knowledge of it.
The correct application of the apostolic prayer of thanks in our Epis-
466 22nd Sunday after Trinity
tle is, therefore, also for us that we are to let ourselves be awakened to ponder why also we are obligated to thank God ardently for the fellowship in the Gospel which we enjoy as a fruit of the Reformation.
But where should I begin, where end, if I wanted to present to you the greatness of this blessing? The doctrine of the Gospel is that certain, true, and precious word that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came into the world to make sinners righteous and save them, and that every sinner is righteous and is saved who believes in this Son of God and Savior of the world from his heart. This doctrine of the Gospel is the heart and center of all the teachings of Christendom. This doctrine separates the Christian religion from all other religions in the world. This doctrine alone makes a person a Christian. Without this doctrine all the other teachings of Holy Scripture help us not at all. Without it, it does not help to know that God is Triune, God created the world, God is love, God wants to lead all men to salvation, God became a man and this incarnate God is Christ, he lived on earth and suffered and died on the cross, on the third day he arose again and finally ascended into heaven. All these glorious doctrines with their blessed mysteries, as was said, help us not at all, if in addition we did not have the doctrine that all this took place for us and that through faith in it we are saved by grace. With this we would lose the key to all the others and they would be a useless treasure lying the depths of the sea. With the doctrine, as we might say, the precious diamond is taken out of the golden ring of Christian doctrine and the latter is thus of little or no value. With this doctrine the whole body of divine revelation loses its heart so that its other dead members cannot help us. Yes, nothing else is possible but that all other important doctrines of revelation can not only not help us in the least but must even be gradually lost, if the pure doctrine of the Gospel of the justification of the sinner through faith is lost. Therefore, if the Reformation has brought us nothing but freedom of religion and conscience, if it had even as many now claim brought us the new enlightenment which really is nothing but unbelief, rejection of the Gospel, renouncing all the bonds of the Word and commandments of God, and the idolization of man, then the Reformation would not have brought us out of ship of the piratical papacy safe to shore but cast us into the sea.
But blessed are we! It brought us to fellowship in the Gospel, as once the Philippians had it. In all eternity we will never be able to thank, praise, and extol God sufficiently for it. For he who has the Gospel and the true knowledge of it has the greatest treasure which a person can possess in this world. He need not despair in his sins; for the Gospel tells him that they are and will remain forgiven if he believes in it. He need not be terrified at the demands and threats of the Law; for the pure doctrine of the Gospel tells him that if he believes in it, God looks on him as though he had never transgressed the Law but kept it perfectly. He need not despair if his own heart and conscience accuse and condemn him and he sees nothing in himself and feels nothing in himself but sin and unrighteousness; for the pure doctrine of the Gospel tells him that if he believes in it the righteousness which he has and which avails before God is not in him but outside of him, not his own which he produced but another's, that is, Christ's righteousness. He need not be frightened at death; for the Gospel tells him that if he believes in it, and thus clings to Christ's Word, he shall never see death, since Christ tasted death for him and brought life and immortality to light. Finally, he need never be afraid of the final judgment, hell, and damnation; for the Gospel tells him that if he believes in it, he will not enter into judgment and will not be lost but shall have eternal life.
He who has the Gospel and the correct understanding of it lives, as it were, under the open heavens, into which he can enter any moment; he has the key to all of God's grace, to all comfort, and to all the treasures of salvation; he can unlock it for himself every time he needs it. And what is the most won-
derful, he who has the comfort of the Gospel, need never fret with doubt even though he remains in this blessed state and reaches his goal; for the Gospel gives him the gracious assurance which the apostle gives the Philippians in our text when he continues: " Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." V.6. Accordingly, who is able to describe the greatness of the blessing which they enjoy who possess the pure doctrine and the correct knowledge of the Gospel! They know the way to heaven on which even fools could not possibly go astray. They have in the pure doctrine of the Gospel of grace a touchstone, so that no glimmer of false doctrine, and if it would shine as the light of angels, can mislead them. In no distress can they despair, by no temptation be conquered; even in the hell of the anguish of sin and death they have heavenly comfort. Rightly, therefore, Luther writes: "If we understand this article correctly and rightly we have the true sun of heaven; but if we lose it, we also have nothing but pure hellish darkness."
What thanks we would, therefore, owe God if now the whole world enjoyed this blessing of possessing the pure doctrine of the Gospel, and if we only were not excluded! But God has done infinitely more for us. Many hundreds of millions of people next to us still sit in darkness and in the shadow of death and are without God and without hope in this world; and in the midst of Christendom countless numbers suppose they have the Gospel, they use it, they speak of faith, of justification, of grace, and the like; but having eyes to see they do not see, and having ears to hear they do not hear nor do they understand, and without noticing it, by their teaching of repentance, of the rebirth, of the signs of the state of grace, and of sanctification they make so many unevangelical principles, that because of them they have lost the purity of the Gospel and with it the true, unshakable comfort for poor sinners. On the other hand, among us God has let the light to shine forth out of darkness and has shined into our hearts with the brightness of God in the face of Jesus Christ, so that we can well distinguish Law and Gospel, justification and sanctification, grace and merit, so that every hour we know the source from which we can draw light, grace, comfort, and hope in all the distresses and sickness of our soul.
Oh truly, my friends, to thank God properly that he without any merit or worthiness on our part has so richly endowed us in preference to millions of others, our life is not only too short, but even in endless eternity we will find no end in doing this.
II.
My friends, we can and should give God some thanks and love by his grace for his blessing; therefore, secondly permit me to show you how above all we are to show God our thanks for it.
Paul indicates this in our text when he writes to the Philippians: " And this I pray, that your love may abound vet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment, that ye may approve things that are excellent." Vv.9.10a. The apostle lets petition follow thanks; as he by thanks wanted to awaken the Philippians to thank God, so by the content of his prayer he wants to show them how they should show God their thanks for their fellowship in the Gospel. And accordingly, what is the first thing which they should do? They are to try to grow more and more in the knowledge and insight of the blessed Gospel. Far be it that this should be superfluous; rather they are to strive more and more zealously to try to enter every deeper into it and learn more and more of its divine power.
468 22nd Sunday after Trinity
With such thanks the Gospel was accepted 300 years ago by many thousands in Germany and other countries. When at the beginning of the Reformation a Venetian professor had received a copy of Luther's explanation of the Lord's Prayer in Italian and read it through, he exclaimed, delighted at the content of this little book: "Oh blessed hands which have written this most holy book! oh blessed eyes who will read it! oh blessed hearts who will pray it!" Again in the year 1539, shortly after Easter, one of the greatest foes of the Reformation, Duke George of Saxony, died and now the Lutheran Duke Henry ruled; Immediately throughout the entire dukedom the work of the Reformation was begun. Only a few weeks later, on Second Pentecost Day, Luther preached in the city of Leipzig, in which previously the Lutherans were severely oppressed by George, some executed, some exiled from the country. Great was the eagerness with which they heard the blessed Gospel of the justification of faith preached; the impression which Luther's sermon made was so deep that after he finished preaching, his hearers publicly in church sank to their knees and with hands lifted on high and tears streaming from their eyes loudly thanked God that he counted them worthy to hear this blessed, comforting teaching. But among them all, Luther himself was the one who by an untiring, sleepless zeal in reflection upon his Gospel thanked God for it. In the preface of his exposition of the Epistle to the Galatians he writes: "In my heart rules only and also should rule this one article, namely, faith in my dear Lord Christ, who is the only beginning, middle, and end of all my spiritual and divine thoughts which I may ever have day and night."
See here, my friends, how we are also to show our thanks for the Gospel which is given us; the Gospel is to become ever more dear, beloved, valuable, and precious to us; we should hear, read, and study it ever more eagerly, let it more and more fill end move our entire heart and mind, more and more enlighten our understanding, more and more change our will; in short, we are to walk in the light of the Gospel as the moon in the light of the sun.
Finally, the apostle adds: " That ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God." Vv.10b. 11. We see from this: Our love for the Gospel and our zeal, study, knowledge, and insight should then also prove fruitful by a pure, unblamable, holy walk before the world and by all manner of good works, namely, by faithfulness in our calling and its affairs, by patience under the cross, by works of love toward our suffering neighbor who needs our help, and by gifts for the spread of the blessed Gospel among those who do not yet enjoy this blessing.
If we examine ourselves as to how we have thanked God for his beloved Gospel, what must we say? Are there not many among us who by their wretched attendance at the Lord's house and by their laziness in reading and studying the Word of God in their homes show that they are already satiated with the Gospel, that they are already tired of it; that they are like the Israelites who at first greedily gathered up the sweet manna but in a short time exclaimed: "Our soul loatheth this light bread"? Num 21:5. Yes, must we not all reproach ourselves with indolence? And how do matters stand if we ask about the purity and unblamableness of our whole walk and about our fruitfulness in all good works? Do not very many of us show that they are a stone of offence in God's kingdom and unfruitful trees who indeed stand in the garden of the church but now encumber the ground? Yes, when the question is asked, must not all without exception smite our breast and cry: "Lord, enter not into judgment with your servants "?
Come, then, my dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, let us today awaken from the sleep of indolence into which the evil foe would gladly lull us, so that we would sleep away salvation on the bright day of grace and lose for us
and our children the treasure granted us! For there is no greater sin than unthankfulness for the blessings of the Gospel, for which punishment certainly will not be long in coming.
Look about you; on how many places the. light has once shown as now upon us; but they became indolent and lukewarm, sated and weary, and brought forth no fruit; thus they lost what they had before they were aware of it and now the night of false faith, yes, mostly of manifest unbelief has fallen upon them. The same thing we can also experience. God can take from us what we have and give it to other more thankful hearts, and without us being aware of it let us sit in darkness whilst the light of Goshen shines upon others.
Therefore, turn to us Lord Jesus; you have promised to complete the good work begun in us until your day. Have mercy upon us! Give us wakeful eyes which never slumber in the light of your Gospel, ardent hearts which are never lukewarm and cold, and strong hands and feet which never become weary and tired; bring your counsel to bless us and our children and through us also our fellow- redeemed to a glorious end. We beseech you to hear us for the sake of your grace and truth. Amen! Amen !