NEW YEAR'S DAY
Text: Galatians 3: 23-29
Source from Back to Luther with German archive reference. Back to Walther's Epistle Sermons.
Oh God of grace, by your faithful guidance we today begin another year of grace. If we look back over the past year, lo and behold, our eyes see nothing but changes; we see changes in the kingdom of the world, changes in the thoughts of nations, changes in our country and city, changes in the aspect of your Church, changes in our congregation, changes in the destiny of our life, changes in the disposition of our heart; you alone, oh God, have not changed as all things did; even in the past year you alone have remained as you are and as you were from eternity, God from of old, a God who with almighty hands has preserved a world in convulsions, an all-wise God who turns everything to our good and carries out everything gloriously, a righteous God who has carried out his threats against the transgressors, a good God who has daily and richly provided for all his creatures who looked to him, a gracious God who searched for the sinner and bore him patiently, a faithful God who has kept all his promises, a merciful God who has heard the cries of the distressed, took care of their misery like a father, dried their tears, and delivered them from the pains of death.
Oh God, what shall we do today? What are to do after we have come here in your sanctuary? In Spirit we cast ourselves down before your throne and, deeply moved, cry: Praise, thanks, glory, and honor be to you, oh Most High! Heaven and earth must praise you; all the world must praise you; all nations must praise you; city and state must praise you; your whole Church must praise you; our congregation, its preacher and elders, its teachers and pupils, its parents and children, its young men and women, its poor and rich, its wretched and fortunate, our churches and schools, our homes and families must praise you. Today and always our heart and mouth must be full of your praise, the entire year a year of praise to you, and every day and hour of this new year a day and hour of glory to you. Oh Lord, help us, yes, help us to do that and may all
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things prosper. Amen! In Jesus' name, amen !
Dear friends in Christ Jesus!
If it were my task to get your hearts to sigh, your eyes to weep, and your lips to utter words of lamentation, today, the first day of the new year, would be the easiest day for me to do that. What sort of a year was the last year which with the sound of the last gong silently and quickly departed from us yesterday? Alas, we will never forget the year 1849, the year of misery and tears. As a sad reminder it has built entire rows of graves beneath which our dear ones sleep, thus wounding us it has chiseled its remembrance into our hearts. Here are parents from whom the past year has torn dear children; here are husbands from whom it tore their dear wife like a crown snatched from one’s head; here are widows who lie prostrate like the vine, from whom it robbed their dear husband who was their support; here are lonesome forsaken orphans, for father and mother have left them; here a brother mourns over a sister, there a sister over a brother; everywhere friends mourn over friends.
Even a year ago the outlook was gloomy. We saw then the severe storm of God’s wrath gather over the secure world and over our heads as well. Soon the forerunners of universal misery arrived in our new fatherland also. A deadly epidemic, God's angel of vengeance, with a bloody sword had already landed on our shores. Oh, how anxious we were because of the baptism of suffering with which we were to be baptized until it had run its course! Oh, how we then needed the comforting words: "Be not afraid!" in order that we might not despair!
And what happened? That of which we were afraid came to pass. Scarcely had the first buds of spring opened when death s the king of terrors, entered our city. No one had seen him enter but alas, he soon made us and all inhabitants of the city only too aware of his arrival. In short order we saw along all streets and alleys silent funeral processions going slowing toward the cemeteries; from now on each new day brought us new reports of affliction. Today we would greet a friend and brother who was the picture of health, and the next we would follow his coffin to God's acre. No matter where we went, we heard the cry of pain and the groans and death rattle of those wrestling with death. Soon the entire city was a huge mortuary and our congregation had become one large sorrowing family.
And it was not enough that death was striking right and left; scarcely had he begun to cut down the inhabitants of our city and congregation when fire took up the battle against our city, made a great number of poor and rich homeless in a few hours, destroyed all their earthly possessions, and sent an uncounted number to a fearful grave, some in the very flames, some amid the smoking ruins of collapsing buildings.
Well my friends, what should we do at the close of a year of sorrow and terror, and at the beginning of a new one during which the scenes of trouble through which we lived could very well be repeated? Shall we appear before God with an offering of tears and sighs?
If a year ago at the approach of the misery which now, came I said to you: "Be not afraid!" I today, now that this misery lies behind us, call to you: "Praise, oh praise God!" If only I could today turn your hearts into altars upon which you today and the entire year before us would day and night bring the sacrifice of praise to God! Let us pray for this in silent prayer as we, etc.
Quote the text here: Galatians 3, 23-29.
The last festival of the past year was a festival of praise and rightly so; and it is reasonable that the first one of the new year should also be a
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festival of praise. Of course, I can turn only to you who are Christians, for only you can praise God from your hearts; but perhaps God may graciously grant that, when all of you break forth in ardent prayer and praise to God, those who today still have a cold heart might also be incited to join you in praise. Permit me therefore to answer this question:
WHY CAN AND SHOULD CHRISTIANS BEGIN ALSO THE NEW YEAR WITH PRAISE TO GOD?
I answer:
1. Because in Looking Back Over the Past Year They Find Only Reasons to Praise God, and,
2. Because in Looking Forward to the Coming Year They Find Only Subjects to.Praise God.
I.
That those of us who do not have faith can not praise God for the past year, yes, that some of them certainly do not want to praise God even once, that dare not surprise us. The temporal blessings which they enjoyed every day they consider things which God owed them and which there therefore not worthy of
thanks. The spiritual blessings, which God would have given them gladly, they did not accept. They experienced only pain from the trouble which befell them, but of the blessings which God intended to give them through their troubles they know nothing.
Therefore many will today say in their hearts: I can not praise God for the past year; I went through a hard, difficult year, which brought me more suffering than joy, more tears than laughter. How can I praise God since my dear wife died? The joy of my life lies buried with her! How can I praise God since my dear husband died? I lost my provider. I can just manage to live as a poor forsaken widow! How can I praise God since my dearest child died? My hopes for this life have faded forever!
And now? Do you Christians also suppose that you have no cause for praising God, when you glance back over the past year? Oh, that is impossible! In retrospect you find only reasons for praising God.
You, of course, know that even you were not worthy of the smallest blessing. Do you therefore know where you should begin your praise and where to end, when you think only of the temporal blessings you have received? For every hour of health you enjoyed; for every bite of bread with which you satisfied your hunger; for every breath you have drawn; for every beat of your heart; for each garment you wear; for every sound member of your body which God has preserved for you; for every night's sleep which refreshed you; for every step you took without accident; for every ray of sunshine; for every sound; for every bit of strength to do your work; for every joy you experienced; for all the protection which your shelter afforded; for averting every evil which could have befallen you; for every deliverance from danger and distress — for all these blessings do you not owe God an eternal hymn of praise? But can you count up the blessings you enjoyed during only this past year? Oh, every day they were so many that they can not be reckoned, and at the end of the year they have been more than the hairs of your head, yes, more than the stars of the sky. Does it not therefore stand to reason that at the end of a year your heart should be full of praise to God?
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However my dear Christians, though these blessings which you have enjoyed in the past year are worthy subjects of praise, they are still the very least for which you have reason to praise God. The apostle Paul has written down the greatest in our today's Epistle. Listen to what he writes: " Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There Is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female; for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ ’s, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." Vv. 24-29.
In these words the apostle describes the Christians as having a glory at which even the angels must be amazed. To mention only one of them, he says that they no longer are under the discipline of the Law but under the Gospel of faith, that they are righteous before God, that they are God's children, that they have put on Christ, yes, that they are even God's heirs. And how can you thank God enough today that he permitted you to live through the past year as such a blessed person?
Think of the fact that in the past year millions have known of nothing but the doctrine of the Law. It plainly tells a man how he must be, but gives him no comfort when he sees that he is a sinner; it fills him with dread of God, the judgment, and eternity rather than hope for salvation.
You, on the other hand, have lived the past year not under the taskmaster of the Law but under the sound of the sweet Gospel of Christ, faith, and grace; daily have you drawn light, comfort, joy, power, rest, and peace from it; when the feeling of your misery oppressed you, it always cheered you; when the doubt of God's grace alarmed you, it always made you certain again; when you fell into error, it always called you back; every time God's loving heart was opened to you anew, every time heaven was opened anew, and every time your feeble, sick heart was refreshed anew with a foretaste of the heavenly eternal life. Tell me, can you praise God enough in eternity for that?
Bear in mind, also, that millions during the past year died burdened with unforgiven sins, God 1 s wrath, and displeasure; but you were righteous before God; your sins were forgiven daily and richly; your unfaithfulness God has covered. Oh what a host, what an army of sins were forgiven you!
Bear in mind, also, that in the past year millions took delight in the shadow of honor which they enjoyed among men because they knew of no greater honor; but you have enjoyed the greatest of all honor: You have lived as children of the Most High God; you could call him your Father who created heaven and earth and still preserves them; you were of a divine race; you were of heavenly nobility. Tell me, can you praise God enough in all eternity for that?
Bear in mind again that millions had only the wretched clothing which this world gave them for their body while their soul was naked in God's eyes; you, on the other hand, were clothed with the garment of the righteousness of God's Son, the drama of heaven, the amazement of angels, the pleasure of the heavenly Father. Oh, how will you praise God in eternity enough for that?
Finally, remember that during the past year millions have had no other goods but the wretched, perishable things of this world, which can fill no heart with peace, but which makes the poor yearning heart only the more empty the more a person wants to fill it with such things; but in the past year you have been God's heirs, heirs of his eternal riches, heirs of his incorruptible treasures,
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heirs of his salvation, heirs of his heaven. You lived as true kings and princes, and in comparison with you an unbelieving earthly king with all his purple, with all his glittering gold and silver, with all his sparkling jewels, with all his lands and kingdoms and thrones and crowns is a wretched beggar. Oh blessed the year during which a person lived as a pious Christian! It was a year of heavenly glory. Therefore praise God, praise him today you pious Christian, for he has done great things to you!
Yes, it is true that few of you have in the past year escaped receiving deep wounds through the loss of someone with whom you were related by the bonds of tender love. Though you may be moved today to lament the loss of your loved ones, dare these tears smother the praise which you today owe God?
When your loved ones died, has not death become an object of ridicule? Have they not left this arena in triumph? Did they not with dying lips confess and praise their Savior? Do we not therefore know that our loved ones, who have fallen asleep, have in the past year begun the eternal jubilee year in heaven?
Do we not know that with the choir of angels they are praising that eternal love which elected, redeemed, called, and finally took them up early into the kingdom of eternal glory?
Now they praise God in the church triumphant, and we, we want to bewail them in the church militant? Now they shout for joy and we want to grieve and lament? They sing "Hallelujah!"to the Lamb that he called them so soon to the heavenly wedding, to seeing God face to face, to perfect light, to full enjoyment, to complete glory, to perfect joy, to complete security, and we want to complain that they no longer live with us in the land of imperfection, sin, danger, misery, and distress?
No, no, that is the very reason why God fulfilled the promise in us, that thousands could fall at our side and ten thousand at our right hand, yet the arrows of the noisome pestilence would not strike us, in order that as living witnesses' of his faithfulness, as miracles of his preservation we might praise and glorify him in the vale of sorrow and tears. Come, then! Come! You pious Christians, stand still today and look back; survey once more the way you have traveled during the past year, and you will find only reasons to praise God. So then, do not remain silent, but praise, praise God with hearts and hands. Yes, say with me:
Praise, the Almighty, my soul, adore Him!
Yes, I will laud Him until death.
With songs and anthems I' ll come before Him
As long as He doth give me breath.
From him my life and all things came;
Bless, O my soul, His holy name.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! (26,1)
II.
My friends, today faithful Christians can and should begin the new year with praising God, because looking into the coming year they again can find nothing but reasons to praise God.
The godless are amazed when they are told to praise God for a year already gone by, since they are happy that they have conquered it with its cares and disappointed hopes; but they are amazed even more, yes, they consider it foolishness, when asked to praise God in advance for a year that is still to come. They say: How can I praise God, since I can not know what I am going to meet up with? Who knows whether in the n ew year I will be more sick or more
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healthy, whether I will become richer or poorer, whether I will experience more good or more evil, whether I will have more pain or more joy, whether I will live or die.
That shows you how unhappy that man is who has no faith. Amid hie outward well-being he is like that man who sat at a banquet table, but over whose head hung a naked sword suspended by a single hair. He goes through this world like a blindfolded man and never knows from one second to the next whether his next step will plunge him into a pit of temporal or eternal misery. During the new year he is happy to enjoy the moment he has,for his heart tells him that the next is not his. The creed of such an unhappy person goes as follows:
I live and know not how long,
I die and know not when,
I depart and know not whither:
'I'm amazed I'm as g lad as I am.
On the other hand, how blessed you faithful Christians are! You can reverse this motto and say:
I live and know well how long,
I die and know well when,
I depart and, praise God, I know well whither:
I'm amazed that I'm as sad as I am.
For all the wonderful things which our new year’s text promises pious Christians, and what you have already experienced in the old year as divine truth, all that is the precious unshakable foundation of your hope for the new year as well.
Yes, you faithful Christians can look into the future as little as the children of this world; but look into God's Word and with this telescope you look into the heart of your heavenly Father; there you also read your future. And what do you read? Nothing but things which invite you to praise God.
Yes, you do not know whether in the new year you will become poorer or richer; but this you know, that you will not lack the necessitates of life; for God says in his Word: "Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek;) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." Mt 6,31-33.
Moreover, you do not know whether in the new year you will experience more suffering than joy; yet you know that you have a God, who is your Father, without whose will nothing can happen; even from eternity he has carefully considered all your suffering and joy; he is the Leader who holds you in his right hand and will lead you according to his counsel; he is the Keeper of faithful Israel, who does not slumber nor sleep when you sleep and whose eyes remain open when you have closed your; and the best thing is that your God is at the same time your merciful Savior, who wants to save you.
No matter what you will therefore experience in the new year, God will have thoughts of peace toward you in everything; God will never intend to do you evil; everything will be a way upon which God wants to lead you to salvation; everything, health or sickness, honor or disgrace, pain or joy, everything, everything will work together for your good, and though the burden which God will lay upon you will be great, he will help you bear it.
Nor do you know what temptations and tests of faith await you; but
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this you do know, that although your faith is weak, God will not extinguish the smoking flax nor break the bruised reed. Although your heart is fickle, God's covenant of grace stands eternally firm, for he has said: "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." Is 54,10.
Yes, although looking to yourself you must completely despair of your perseverance, you nevertheless know that God will complete the good work in you, which he has begun until that day; and your Savior says; "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." Jn 10,27.28.
And finally, you do not know whether you will through the new year as you did the past one, or whether you will die; but you do know: "None of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord; whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's" Rom 14,7.8. If you live, you will live in faith and see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living; if you die, you will die reconciled with God and your death will be the end of all misery and the beginning of eternal glory.
Now my dear Christians, can you say: How can we praise God when we look into the future, because who will tell us what it will bring? Oh no! You do not face the future as you would an unknown world, about which you do not know whether you will find good or evil in it. You know which way God will lead you; whether it be. uphill or down, strewn with flowers or thorns, smooth or stony, through darkness or light, long or short, the kingdom through which he leads you is the kingdom of grace; its end is salvation.
So, confidently begin the journey with hymns of praise; and may those songs never cease until you finally with pure hearts and glorified lips praise, extol, and glorify your God and Savior with all the angels and elect from eternity to eternity. Amen.
EPIPHANY SUNDAY (1) Isa i ah 60: 1-6. ()
Lord Jesus, it is your will that all men be helped and that all come to the knowledge of the truth. Therefore you not only graciously and enticingly call out: "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest....And ye shall find rest unto your souls," Mt 11,28.29c; not only have you given the precious promise: "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me," Jn 12,32 but you also proved all this by your deeds. In order to redeem all men, you even became a man yourself, offered yourself on the cross for all, and after completing the redemption of all, you commanded your disciples: "Go into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature." Mk 16,15. By your command you reveal that through men, your disciples, through believers, you want to call the lost world sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death; and that means through us. He therefore beseech you, give us a heart which ardently longs for the salvation of all men. Remove all indifference toward the spiritual distress in which unnumbered millions lie without knowing it, and kindle in us the fire of your Savior's love which seeks all
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sinners. To that end bless your Word in this hour for the sake of your eternal Savior's love. Amen.
Quote the text here: Isaiah 60, 1-6.
Mission work ha s always experienced m uch opposition.
As you know, the first and most bitter foes of mission work were the Jews. We see from the Book of Acts, that whenever the apostles wanted to preach the Gospel of Christ crucified to the heathen of any city, it was mostly the Jews who not only opposed it but who even tried to stir up bloody persecutions against the apostles. For that reason Paul writes to the Thessalonians: "For bidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sins alway." 1 Thess 2,16.
Sad to say, even great numbers of heathen have shown themselves bitter foes of missions. Rather than opening wide their doors to the messengers of peace, many of the heathen rather received them as intruders. There always was only a small group which received in faith the Gospel preached to them. Either the majority of the heathen listeners spoke just like those Athenians after Paul's sermon: "What will this babbler say? He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods," Acts 17,18; or, they did not rest until they had removed those from the earth who had come to bring them salvation. And not only the apostles and the disciples of the apostles but also great numbers of those missionaries who later on followed in their footsteps had to seal their preaching of the blood of the reconciliation with their own blood. 1100 years ago even our German ancestors in East Frisia basely thanked the English missionary Winifred, also called Boniface, by clubbing him to death for the love with which he sought them out.
If only the last of the foes of missions had died centuries ago! If only they were found only among the Jews and heathen! Would to God that we did not have enemies of mission work today and, of all things, have them even among Christians! When the fallen Christians of our day see how much is gathered for this cause, they cry out loudly, I say, they cry loudly: "What folly! Would this money not be used more wisely if it were given to the poor? But like Judas they say this hypocritically; rather than giving to the poor what they withhold from missions, these fallen Christians use this money to satisfy the lusts of their flesh. It is not pity to the poor which makes them foes of missions but their hatred toward Christ, against whom they cry out: "We don't want him to rule over us!"
So to be a Christian and not be a friend of missions, yes, even be an enemy of missions, is impossible. Our text for today shows us this. Since we today celebrate our yearly mission festival, permit me on the basis of our text to speak to you on
THE JOY TRUE BELIEVERS GET FROM MISSION WORK
We will ponder two points:
1. How This Joy in the Work of Missions Lives in the Heart of Every Believer, and
2. How This Joy Shows Itself in Deeds.
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I.
" Arise, shine ! With these words Isaiah in our text speaks to believing Zion of his time. He calls upon them to rejoice. For by the cry, " Arise, shine !" he wants to say this: Come, Zion, rejoice! For as darkness is a picture of sorrow, so light is a picture of joy.
At the time of Isaiah the Church of the Old Covenant had a most miserable prospect for the future. We see this from Isaiah's first chapter, where the prophet even says: "The daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city. Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah." Is 1,8.9.
How does Isaiah try to kindle the light of joy in the hearts of the smitten believers of his times? It is the prophecy that a time would soon come in which great numbers of heathen would be converted; in brief, the work of missions.
So according to our text, joy in mission work lives in every true believer.
At the same time, Isaiah also indicates the basis of this joy of the believer when he continues in our text; " For thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people; but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee." Vv. 1 b.2. The reason why true believers rejoice in the work of missions is according to our text the fact that they have experienced in themselves the enlightening and saving power of the Gospel.
And that is the way it is. A person who still does not have true faith is selfish; he rejoices only over the good things which he himself experiences. He asks nothing about his neighbor, least of all about his neighbor's salvation. At the most, a godless person is happy that he himself will be saved; he is indifferent as to whether others will be saved. An ' unbeliever speaks like Cain: "Am I my brother's keeper?"
But the moment a person comes to the true faith, a great change comes over him. From that moment on the rule of selfishness is broken and love for his neighbor is kindled in him; he wishes that all people might become as blessed as he is through faith.
For example, when David in true faith had come to the certainty of the forgiveness of his sins, he said to God: "Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee." Ps 51,13. In the first chapter of John's Gospel we read that when Andrew had found the Savior and had accepted him in’ faith, he immediately sought to bring to Christ his brother Simon, Peter; and when Philipp had known Jesus as the Messiah, he immediately led his friend Nathanael to him.
Whoever has come to the true faith faith can not possibly keep to himself the great treasure which he has found but must think: Oh, if only all other people would know how friendly Jesus is and how blessed the true Christian is! If a true believer must associate with one who is not in the faith, he is compelled to strike up a religious conversation with him, to awaken a concern for his soul in him, and to entice him to come to Christ; or, if he feels inadequate for that, he seeks to come him to go to church with him in order that he may learn how blessed he can be. He tries to give the unbeliever a Bible or other Christian literature. Above all, he who has come to faith tries to bring his own family to the faith, the believing man his unbelieving wife, and
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visa versa, the believing parents their children, the brothers their sisters, relatives their relatives, friends their friends, heads of a household their hired help, the teachers their pupils, one living in a home all the rest who live under the same roof, neighbors their neighbors.
But one who has come to faith does not stop with his neighbors; he wishes that his whole city, his entire country, yes, the whole world would be brought to Christ. He therefore gladly reads such periodicals from which he learns the times in God's kingdom, for whatever happens in God's kingdom he takes to heart. Those who have come to the true faith find it so difficult to be indifferent toward those who are still without God and die without their Savior; the newly converted can so very easily become obsessed with seeking the conversion of others that they forget about their own salvation. In short, the entire Christian Church is not only a congregation of people who have become happy people by true faith, but it is also a great mission institution founded by God himself; one might say that every congregation is a branch mission society instituted by God himself and every believer in its circle a missionary. Thus Peter says of all Christians: "Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that he should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light." 1 Pet 2,9. We see that when the Church is in its prime, it zealously carries on mission work, and when the Church is on the decline its zeal for this holy work grows cold; then private mission societies arise among the few Christians remaining, as for example in Germany in our days.
What are the friends of missions so happy about? Isaiah indicates this in our text in the words: " And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thines eyes round about, and see; a ll they gather themselves together, they come to thee; thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side. Then thou shalt see. and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee. The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah." Vv. 3-6a. That mentions the subject of the great joy of believers in the work of missions; through this work so many lost souls who were created by God to eternal life and dearly redeemed by Christ are delivered from damnation and become just as blessed as they are; they rejoice that Christ's kingdom is constantly growing and all lands are more and more full of his glory.
Well my dear hearers, how do you rate? Does it leave you cold when you hear that countless millions still sit in darkness and in the shadow of death? Are you undisturbed that even in our adopted land thousands upon thousands are still dying in heathen blindness without God, Without their Savior, and without hope? Does your heart remain unmoved, when you hear that hundreds of thousands of poor negroes in our country have been freed from bodily slavery but that the greatest portion of them live in a much more terrible slavery, the slavery of the devil? Are you unconcerned that many of our religion who have emigrated here are going to spiritual ruin without a church and without a school? that they with their children become the prey of enthusiastic sects or sink back into out and out heathenism ?
If you are still indifferent, you yourselves are spiritually dead; you do not have the true faith; selfishness still rules you. Then you are still like those who calmly watch how the flames destroy their brothers who cry for help in a burning house, or like those who do not move a hand to rescue their brethren wrestling with death in the torrents of a river but joyfully continue their feasting and heartlessly watch how the deep swallows up those unfortunates. Woe to you in all eternity, if you continue in such terrible lovelessness!
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The joy in mission work which lives in the hearts of true believers shows itself also in deeds. And permit me to speak to you about that.
II.
Our text concludes with the words: "All they from Sheba shall come; they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall shew forth the praises of the Lord." V. 6b. According to these words there are two deeds by which believers show their joy in the work of missions: first, by offering the necessary means to do that work, and second, by prayer and intercession.
In an amazing way God has arranged that certain earthly means are necessary to preserve and spread the spiritual kingdom of the Church, this kingdom of heaven on earth. As in the realm of nature God could preserve mankind without means, so he could also preserve and spread the Church without means; but as God wisely and lovingly preserves mankind only by means of food and drink, so he also wants to preserve and extend his Church on earth by certain earthly means, which men must offer. If an individual congregation wants to continue, it must at much expense train preachers and teachers, employ and support them, help erect seminaries, and build churches and schools; and if the Church as a whole wants to carry on mission work, it must likewise train missionaries and support them, often at great expense. Even this God has so ordered in great wisdom and love; not as though God needs man or his gold and silver (God says: "The silver is mine, and the gold is mine," Hag 2,9) but because God wants to let believers share in the glorious work of saving the sinful world; nor does he want to lay a heavy burden upon the believers but in order to make them his co-workers, to show them the greatest and highest honor which can be shown a poor mortal and sinful human being.
When all true believers are asked to sacrifice what our text~ " gold and incense " for the holy work of missions they do not therefore consider it a burden, which is being laid upon them, but an honor which is being shown them and not shown unbelievers. And because they can not go out as missionaries themselves in order to call the lost sheep to Christ, they bring their offerings of money with even greater joy that others are able to carry out the glorious work in their place.
We must also add that God wants to repay this sacrifice with a reward of grace in eternity. For all the heathen converted by the work of missions will on the day of recompense step before God's judgment throne and testify of all those who have sacrificed something for the work of their conversion and salvation. Then most gloriously will the word of the Lord be fulfilled: "Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations." Lk 16,9. There even the smallest gift brought in faith will become shining pearls and gems in the crown of eternal life, which the generous friends of missions will wear.
Though earthly means are ever so important and necessary in order to push mission work forward, they are not the chief thing by which believers prove their joy in missions by their deeds. The chief thing is and remains prayer. An unbeliever who has no heart for missions can also cast gold into the mission treasury; but he can not pray for it. Only a true believer can do that, and this he also does. Every time he prays the Lord's Prayer he in saying the second and Third Petition: "Hallowed by thy name," and, "Thy kingdom come," is praying that God's pure Word and his blessed kingdom would come to the heathen as well. Whenever he gives an offering for missions, he prays: Lord, bless
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this gift. He bears missionaries and all the affairs of missions on a praying heart and at times, especially in the quiet of his chamber, is moved by the Holy Ghost to kneel for this work also, call upon God, and " show forth his praises."
Now, my friends, how is your giving to missions and above all your intercessions for missions? If it has never occurred to you to pray for the conversion of others, your soul is in a sorry state; your first need is for a missionary for yourself.
But if you have done that a few times, if you must reproach your indolence, then be encouraged to do that. " Arise, shine !" applies not only to the believers of the Old Covenant but also for us New Testament Christians. In these last times God is opening ever more doors to his pure Word, The Lord has already done great things and has blessed our small amount of mission word above our prayers and understanding. Let us today rejoice over that and praise and glorify the name of the lord And may God continue to establish the work of our hands; yes, the work of our hands establish thou it. Amen.