REFORMATION DAY-2
Text: Deuteronomy 4:7-8
Source from Back to Luther with German archive reference. Back to Walther's Epistle Sermons.
Oh Lord, our God, how can we today truly thank and praise and extol you that 350 years ago, when darkness had come over your Christian Church, you not only caused the morning star of your saving Gospel to arise in the land of our fathers through your servant Luther, but that you also caused this sweet heavenly light to be kindled also among us in this our new homeland and up to the present time has let it shine in bright rays!
Lord, what a r e we that you have done such great things to us? how have we deserved this that you preferred us before millions of others?
Ah, this is nothing but grace, your undeserved, free grace!
Oh, therefore, help us that, as we today commemorate the rise of the sun of grace which now shines upon us, we may truly perceive what blessed people you have made us, bring you the pure sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, and let us be awakened to hold fast to what we have so that no one may take our crown.
However, oh Lord, you know our frame; you know how easily our weak hands can lose again what you have given us. Oh, therefore, receive us in grace, do thou make us faithful until death, do thou preserve unto us and our children and our children's children your Word until the end of days so that when your Son will come in his glory we will be ready to receive him with joy, triumphantly enter with him into glory, and then praise and extol you from eternity to eternity with lips cleansed from sin. Amen.
The text. Deuteronomy 4:7.8.
In the Lord, dear fellow believers.
No church is now, especially in the land of our fathers, so despised as the Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Church of the Reformation, whose founding we today celebrate. Indeed, there was a time when it stood in high regard in all Christendom; then it was the state church of large kingdoms; then mighty kings and lords swore allegiance to her from their heart, ready to sacrifice everything for it; then hosts of great learned men defended the doctrine of their confession to the last letter; then the writings of its theologians were accounted the richest treasure chambers of true divine learnedness; then thousands of holy martyrs sealed the faith of our Church with their blood; then they counted its members by the millions.
But what has happened? In the very land of her birth she lies in the dust. Those large state churches still calling themselves Lutheran now have almost nothing of her but the name. Our Church which once stood as a great, strict, compact army, the dread and terror of all who falsified the Scriptures, is now merely a few, small, scattered flocks. Contemptuously they are now, especially in the old world, looked on as a sect definitely facing extinction.
True, our Evangelical Lutheran Church as a tree transplanted in our new homeland 30 years ago has again taken root and joyously burst into bloom. What was predicted by enlightened men many years ago, that America would once more be the refuge of our Church has been already fulfilled before our eyes. Here a Church has actually arisen which has again from its heart and not merely for the sake of appearance gathered about the glorious confessions of the old Evangelical Lutheran Church as its banner. From more than 3,000 pulpits the
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pure doctrine of our Church is again preached and joyfully heard by hundreds of thousands. Hot only have many old Lutheran writings for church, school, and home appeared in a new dress and eagerly read by thousands upon thousands, but new writings are constantly appearing which again contain, present, and defend the old teaching. The same prayers which our pious fathers prayed, again arise as sweet incense to God and the same old hymns which are so full of faith which our pious fathers sang again pour forth in the old sweet way in church, school, and home from young and old. The newly flowering tree of our Church again bears its old fruits, the fruits of universal love and love toward the brethren. In brief, in this country our Church again commemorates a joyful Easter, the festival of its resurrection and as at one time in Germany lets its testimony to the truth go forth into all lands.
However, my friends do also all who now again profess and cling to our Evangelical Lutheran Church with its old teachings, or do at least all of us perceive what great grace has been granted us in having led us to the fellowship of the true Evangelical Lutheran Church? Is not frequently the opposite the case? When we compare our Church with other great, rich, and respected churches of this country, which at the same time often show great zeal and have a great appearance of holiness, and when we see, on the other hand, the wretched condition amongst us and what great lukewarmness and indolence we find amongst us, yes, what terrible sins and great offences arise amongst us, what do we do? Do we not often let ourselves be moved to despise our own Church?
Oh, we are fools! We Lutherans are truly richer than we ourselves know, with greater grace shown us than we ourselves believe, and our Church, the Only firstborn true daughter of the Reformation,is more glorious than we ourselves suspect. What Moses tells the Israelitish Church in our text is true of our Church for all times to this very day: " What nation is there so great, who hath
God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for? And what nation is there as great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as ail this Law, which I set before you this day ?"
Today, on the day commemorating the Lutheran Reformation, permit me to apply these words to our Church, and from them for our awakening and encouragement answer the question:
WHY DO WE HAVE GREAT REASON FOR PRAISING AND EXTOLLING GOD THAT WE ARE MEMBERS OF THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH?
Upon the basis of our text, I answer, because:
1. In Our Evangelical Lutheran Church We Have Direct Access To Salvation, and
2. In Our Evangelical Lutheran Church Only God's Laws Are Enjoined Without The Addition Of Human Laws With Their Self-Chosen Works.
I.
My friends, the further a Church removes God from people, the more difficult it makes it for its members to come to God, the greater are the things it demands of those who wish to receive God's grace; usually it also considers itself a better church by that much. Thus, for example, the papal church boasts that according to its teachings a person cannot enter heaven so easily, but he must himself make satisfaction for his own sins and of himself earn eternal life by many good works, by many prayers, by many fasts, by many vigils, by giving
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many alms, by church going, by hearing the mass, by confessing sin, by remission through indulgences, by pilgrimages, by honoring Mary and the saints, and the like. So also the enthusiastic sects boast that according to their teachings a person cannot receive God's grace and the forgiveness of his sins so easily but only after a difficult penitential struggle, after ardent prayers, sighs, tears, and wrestlings.
True, my friends, this indeed seems to be great piety by which also countless numbers actually let themselves be blinded; far be it, however, that this should point out the excellence of a church; rather, it is merely great error garbed in the appearance of piety, not Christianity but fundamentally nothing else than a new heathenism. For what is the essence of all heathen religions? Chiefly, the doctrine that God is far removed from man and that by his own good works, by his sacrifices, briefly, by his own efforts and struggles he must himself approach the Godhead first, hence, must earn his salvation himself, labor for it himself, merit it by himself. Reason can decide no differently. Every person comes upon earth with the religion: Be good and do good and you will enter heaven.
Only the religion revealed in the Holy Writing of the Old and New Testaments teaches the very opposite. That whereby the religion of the Bible differs from all other religions in the whole world is the amazing teaching: True, man by his sins has forsaken and withdrawn from God; however, God did not forsake and withdraw from man but has stayed close to him, yes, not until the fall did he become very close and that not so much according to his essence as to his grace and blessedness. This was already the teaching of the Church of the Old Testament; that is why Moses calls to the Israelitish Church in our text: " What nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for ?" V.7
A church of which this cannot be said even today is, therefore, not God's true Church on earth. However, to God be eternal praise and glory! our Evangelical Lutheran Church has this sign. She also teaches a God who is not far removed but is close to all men.
First of all, our Church teaches that in Christ God himself came down to man, yes, even became a man, hence the brother and blood relative of all men and became so close to all men that he could not be closer. Our Church also teaches that the incarnate God again ascended into heaven; however, that did not mean that thus he again withdrew from man and is now enclosed in heaven but that even though invisible he is truly in the world, and whenever and wherever his Church gathers in his name there he is as God and man in her midst in his grace. Furthermore, our Church teaches, that the body and blood of the incarnate Son of God is actually and essentially present in the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, yes, is also actually and truly received, eaten, and drunk as heavenly food and drink. However, my friends, and this is the chief point, upon the basis of Holy Writ our Church teaches that in Christ God is present also in the Word of the Gospel which is preached and read, not only according to his person but also with his grace, with his merit, with his forgiveness of sins, with his reconciliation, with his redemption, in short, with his blessedness and eternal life.
Therefore, according to the teaching of our Church, the moment a person is terrified at God's wrath, death, hell, and judgment because of his sins, he is not first required to awaken a perfect regret within himself; nor is he required to pray, struggle, and wrestle until he feels God's grace in his heart; nor must he first improve himself and become a different person before he dare take comfort in the forgiveness of his sins; no, according to the teaching of
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our Church her servants are to preach only the Gospel to frightened sinners and cry to him: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." Our Church believes, teaches, and confesses that Christ has already atoned for the sine of all sinners; God is already reconciled with, all and has already won righteousness, life, and salvation for all, so that on man's part there is nothing more to suffer or do but believe in his reconciliation and redemption, that is, consider this fact as true, appropriate it to himself, and against all the accusations of his heart and conscience, against all the threats of the divine Law, and against all the terrors of death, the judgment, and hell take comfort in it.
You see, in this way our Church points the way straight to salvation without a single detour. For it is this which our children learn every day in our Lutheran schools, it is this which we adults hear every Sunday in our Lutheran Churches; it is this which we pray to God from our Lutheran prayer books, sing from our Lutheran hymnals, read in our Lutheran periodicals. Are not we Lutherans, therefore, inexpressibly fortunate, yes, blessed people who are taught that every hour, no matter where they may be, even in the hour of death, God is near them with all his grace and that, therefore, heaven is everywhere always open to them? Hence, must not we of our Church say with Moses: " What nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for ?" V,7. Yes, this is true, my friends! And, therefore, we also have urgent reasons to praise and glor i fy God today and every day with heart, mouth, and hands !
II.
And, my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we have great reason for doing this because only God's laws without a single one of man's laws with their self-elected works are enjoined in our Evangelical Lutheran Church. Secondly, permit me to speak to you of this.
All heathen religions are alike in this, that particularly a difficult work is the most acceptable to the gods when without being commanded to do it a person has chosen it himself. This, for example, the Canaanites thought they were doing a very good work, when they laid their children in the fiery arms of the idol Moloch and thus burned them. Even today the heathen of India think they are doing a special good work when they hurl themselves before the broad wheels of the giant wagon of their idol Juggernaut and let themselves be crushed. But, sad to say, even in the Christian Church difficult, self-chosen works were very early considered most meritorious. In the fifth century and later the so- called pillar-saints thought to earn for themselves great merit when in spite of cold, heat, winds, and weather they lived day and night upon a tall pillar for ten, twenty, thirty years at a time.
However, in no church has zeal in self-chosen works reached such heights as in the church of the papacy. The most frightful thing in the papacy was this, that those who did no self-chosen works but faithfully carried out only the works of their earthly calling were called a worldling and a sinner, who would have to purchase the supernumerary works of the so-called saints. No one, therefore, had a good conscience in his earthly calling. We have an example of this in Luther. While he was still stuck in the darkness of the papacy, how Luther tortured himself in self-chosen works because he was earnest about pleasing God! It was not enough that he became a monk and adhered strictly to the threefold vow of the monk of obedience, celibacy, and poverty; in addition, he also fasted and kept the vigils so much, that he denied himself every attention to and care of his body so completely, and on a hard bed he exposed himself to the bitterest
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cold so long that he finally, so to speak, was turned into a walking corpse and still he did not find peace.
But the religion revealed in Holy Scripture teaches the very opposite of also this. Christ clearly says: "In vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." Mt 15:9. Clearly the Apostle Paul says to those who hold any respectable calling: "Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called." 1 Cor 7:20. In these words, far from praising or confirming self-chosen works, Christ and Paul have rejected and condemned even the most difficult of such works. And it is our Evangelical Lutheran Church which alone preserves this teaching as a precious treasure and which holds firmly to the freedom from all human laws gotten again for Christians through the Reformation. Therefore, the second point which Moses called to the Israelitish Church in our text applies to our Evangelical Lutheran Church: " What nation is there so great, that hath statutes, and judgments so righteous as all this Law, which I set before you this day ?" V.6. In our Church also only that avails as a God-pleasing work which man himself has not chosen but which in his Word God has commanded all people according to their station and calling. Though a person may deny himself ever so much in order to serve God and if he should even want to burn himself in order to become a sacrifice to God, since this has not been commanded by God, our Church rejects this as something idolatrous. On the other hand, if a Christian does something in his earthly calling because it is God's command, and though it be the smallest and most contemptible and easiest labor of love, yes, if it were resting and sleeping, according to the teaching of our Church it is a work acceptable to God which he will reveal as such on Judgment Day.
Oh my friends, perceive from this, what blessed people we Lutheran are! Whilst in other churches people at the very best are led upon many dangerous and useless detours to salvation, in our Lutheran Church, on the other hand, the way straight to salvation without a single detour is shown people. "The just shall live by his faith. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved," is the message which resounds between the thunder of the Law in all Lutheran sermons from beginning to end. And whilst in other churches people are burdened with human ordinances, so that they never know whether their works are acceptable to God and, therefore, labor to carry out all kinds of vain, self-chosen works and still have a bad conscience, in our churches, on the other hand, people are told: Do what God has commanded you to do in your calling; oh, seek no more holy work and God will be pleased with all your deeds. Is this not great grace for which we can never thank and praise and glorify God enough?
Sad to say, experience nevertheless teaches that most Lutherans just because the teaching of our Church shows such a simple way to salvation and a life pleasing to God, I say, that when they hear this simple teaching year-in and year-out, they do not look on this as such a great blessing and think that they have quickly mastered it. How many Lutherans have not really perceived and experienced until the hour of their death what great grace it is that they have been members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church! What? is it proper to postpone praising and glorifying God for this until we lie on our deathbed ?
No, no my dear Lutheran, but thank, oh thank, God, extol and praise him as long as you live that he has done such great things to you. Praise God with your mouth, by your deeds, and chiefly by being concerned about knowing the precious doctrine of your Church ever more clearly; leave no opportunity unused, be it by hearing, be it by reading, to become well-grounded in it, so that even in this time of apostasy you are not ashamed of this teaching before the world and the heterodox, but freely confess it and firmly cling to it and rather
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endure all disgrace, all tribulation, yes, death itself, than fall from it or depart from it merely the width of a finger; but above all, thank God for his grace by also going faithfully and joyfully the way to salvation and a God-pleasing life pointed out in our Church.
Oh, blessed will you be then! Though sin and the distress of this life may cause you anxiety, you always have rich comfort. Though the temptation to be slack in doctrine may approach you, you are equipped and you will then shy away from every false doctrine as the poison of eternal death. Finally, though death may come upon you and wants to frighten you, you will easily conquer all its terrors; yes, in death you will truly how how good, how joyful, how full of blessed hope it is to die in the doctrines of our Church. Then with pallid lips but joyful heart you will join in the swan song of old Simeon: "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes," my eyes of faith, "have seen thy salvation." Hallelujah! May Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Mary, praised in time and eternity, grant us all such a blessed end. Amen!
ST. MICHAEL'S Revelation 12:7-12. ()
Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
In this Savior, dearly beloved hearers.
Every person in the world is seeking rest; yes, everything which they undertake during their entire life on earth has the one purpose of finding that perfect rest for which their heart yearns. However, the ways by which they seek to attain this goal are almost as many as there are people. Why do people torment and trouble themselves with their labors from the grey of dawn until the black of night without having to? They seek rest in acquiring sufficient wealth so that they hope they can live some day without a care. Why do the learned sit over their books and rack their brains and search and brood and write by the light of the midnight lamp and sacrifice their health? They are seeking rest in acquiring the reputation of outstanding learnedness. Why does a merchant plunge into a whirl of business activities and in so doing into a sea of sorrows? He is searching for rest in the pursuit of a large business enterprise and the gain of great riches. Why do entire armies hurry to the battlefield with flags flying? They are looking for rest in the glory with which they hope they will be surrounded as victors. In short, all men seek rest, seek untroubled well-being. That is the goal toward which everyone eagerly hurries and runs, that is the treasure for which all struggle, that is the prize for which they risk everything, on which they stake everything.
Do all find what they seek? Alas no; only a few do. All who seek rest in the good things of this world, or in the joys of the world, or in honor among men seek it in vain; their hour of death strikes and they are still seeking it; their first place of rest, at least for their body, is the grave. But we may be happy! If we want to find rest, there is, may eternal love be praised! there is this side of the grave a place of rest for us which God himself has prepared, a place of rest where our heart finds that peace which the world could never give us; and this place of rest is the Church, namely, that kingdom of
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heaven, that kingdom of faith, grace, and forgiveness of sins which God's Son brought to this world by his incarnation. Yes, yes, there is yet rest, there is yet peace to be found for us poor, restless, wandering human beings, as we read in that beautiful hymn: "One Thing's Needful
Wilt thou find this one thing needful,
Turn from all created things
Unto Jesus and be heedful
Of the blessed joy He brings.
For where God and man both in one are united,
With God's perfect fulness the heart is delighted;
There, there, is the worthiest lot and the best,
My One, and my All, and my Joy and my Rest. (366,2)
The dove which Noah let out of the ark was a beautiful picture of this: Upon the entire flooded earth it found no place where it could rest its feet; it, therefore, returned to the ship. Likewise, no heart finds a place of rest in the whole world until it returns to the ark of the holy Christian Church, which floats high above the misery and cares of this world.
But, you will say, is not the Church itself really a place of conflict? Does not the member of Christ's Church have less rest than anyone else? Do not those who confess the Gospel have less peace than anyone else? Is not being a Christian and being in a constant struggle one and the same?
It is true, my friends, but that is the amazing thing; the Church is a place of conflict and at the same time a place of rest. As the Christians' strength is hidden by their weakness, their righteousness by their sine, their greatest wisdom by folly in the eyes of the world, glory by the cross, tribulation, and distress, true joy by groans and tears, true honor by disgrace and contempt, so also true peace, the true rest of Christians is hidden by their struggles and conflicts. That the Church is both, a place of conflict and a place of rest, that it is about which I ask you to permit me to speak to you.
The text. Revelation 12:7-12.
Today we celebrate the festival of the angels, the Day of St. Michael's and All Angels. It is, therefore, reasonable that today we should talk about the angels. Indeed, our text speaks of a Michael and angels but not of those heavenly spirits who are around God's throne, but of other angels who are upon earth. A twofold scene is presented to us, one of war and one of peace; first we read: " And there was war in heaven. " and then: " And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven. Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ." Vv.7a.10a. No detailed proof is needed that our text speaks not of the heaven of the saints but of the kingdom of heaven on earth, namely the Church; for in heaven peace is no longer broken and disturbed by war nor that rest by conflict; this occurs only in the kingdom of heaven on earth. In addition, the Revelation of St. John, from which our text is taken, is simply a revelation of the fate of the Church at all times until the end of days. Therefore, permit me to present to you:
THE CHURCH, A PLACE OF CONFLICT YET A PLACE OF REST
Hear:
1. That Is Is A Place Of Conflict, and
2. Yet In How Far It Also Is A Place Of Rest.
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Lord Jesus Christ, you have called us to the struggle by the Gospel; yet in the midst of this conflict you let us enjoy the most blessed rest and thus finally intend to lead us to eternal rest in heaven; awaken us all so that we are not afraid of the conflict to which we are appointed nor become tired during the struggle so that we will some day be called from the place of battle by a blessed death and enter into your eternal rest. Hear us for the sake of your conflict of suffering and death. Amen.
I.
My friends, we are not only told in general that the Church is a place of conflict, but a vivid and complete picture is sketched of the conflict which is carried on in the Church. We are told four things; first, by whom the conflict is carried on in the Church; secondly, against whom; thirdly, for what; and fourthly, with what weapons.
First, as to who is carrying on the struggle in the Church: Our text replied: " Michael and his angels fought." Who might be meant? Undoubtedly, no one else than Jesus Christ and his Christians. We must bear in mind that here the Church is compared with heaven. Since the inhabitants of heaven consist of angels and archangels, here the leader of the Christians is called by the name of the angel Michael and the Christians by the name of angels.
We see from this: Christendom is not only a flock which Christ as its only Shepherd pastures, but it is at the same time a spiritual army which Christ leads as its General. When a person is called out of the world into the kingdom or into the Church of Christ by the Gospel, that is an enlistment for the duration of the war, for one's entire life, under the standing army of the King of truth. In Baptism the Christian swears allegiance to Christ's banners, enters into the camp of the separate congregations, chooses a preacher of the Gospel as his lieutenant, and then joins the battle; he does not leave the place of conflict until the last foe is conquered; however, the last foe according to Holy Writ is death.
This, then, is certain: He who is not constantly at war is not a Christian, he has long since broken his oath sworn at his Baptism, is a runaway, and as a faithless deserter has gone over to the enemies of Christ, his true King. There is no middle ground; either a person is in conflict under Christ's banner against Christ's foes, or he has let himself be conquered by Christ's foes and taken captive, and is now at war with them against Christ and his kingdom. However, as he who no longer carries on the war on Christ's side does not belong to Christ, so the crown of victory, that is, the crown of life, will also not be given to him but he will receive the reward of a disloyal deserter.
Now let us learn to know those against whom the Church is carrying on the struggle. Our text says: " Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon fought, and his angels." V.7. We see from this: As the Christians compose an entire army under one leader, so their enemies compose an entire army with a leader also at their head. And who are the dragon and his angels? As it is explained in the following words of our text itself, the dragon is " that old serpent called the Devil and Satan:" and his angels are none other than the children of this world, for in other passages of Holy Scripture Satan is called the prince and god of this world. Of a truth, a great, severe, and difficult conflict it must be which Christians have to carry on. For how zealous, how powerful, how cunning Satan, this fallen angel, is! Burning with hatred against Christ, his kingdom, and his believers, he plots day and night to bring on disaster and ruin; because of the power which was given him as a former prince of
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heaven, he can do tremendous things, and as a spirit he cannot only hurry from place to place in one second and lead and encourage his soldiers in every struggle, but an experience of almost 6,000 years has also made him so wise, crafty, and cunning, that he is never hindered for the suitable means for his plans. Our Luther sings the truth about him at his time and for all times:
Deep guile and great might,
Are his dread arms in fight,
On earth is not his equal. (262)
In addition, Satan has the entire world on his side. All the children of the world, that is, all who do not have the true faith, are his angels, that is, his messengers, his servants, his accomplices; they are at his beck and call, and he rules them in such a way that they must unceasingly attack the small flock of Christians. So who can doubt that Christians must be under attack day and night? Woe to those who become secure! then they have already been outwitted and felled by their foe.
But we ask more: What are these two armies fighting about in the camp of the Church? This is also indicated in our text, when we read of Satan: " Which deceiveth the whole world." V.9. This is what the conflict deals with: Satan and the world want to seduce Christians, seduce them to fall from God's Word, fall from their faith in Christ, fall from the pure saving doctrine, and fall from piety; they should no longer believe God in his Word; nor should they consider Christ as their Savior and find comfort in him; they should accept false doctrine, they should wilfully transgress God's holy commandments and join the world securely and carelessly in an imagined faith or in unbelief despair of their salvation. Hence, in a word it concerns the conflict which must be carried on day and night in the Church by Christians for nothing less than their soul's salvation. Satan wants to take this from them and again hurl them into sin, unbelief, God's disfavor, death, hell, and damnation.
In order to attain his frightful goal and this hellish plan, Satan uses countless means and ways. Sometimes, he openly gives Christians great battle in manifest temptations, sometimes, by crafty capitulations he tries to entice them out of the fortress of faith; sometimes, he awakens false teachers who by a good air try to lead the Christians from the pure Word of God; sometimes, he stirs up in their hearts all kinds of doubting thoughts or thoughts of spiritual pride; sometimes, he awakens the children of the world, so that they in a friendly way should entice Christians to follow them, and if that does not help move them to fall from their faith and pious life by threats, mockeries, and persecution; sometimes, he uses good days or prospects of great advantage in urging Christians to forsake Christ; sometimes, he uses great, wearisome earthly misery for the purpose of tearing trust in God from their hearts. However, who can mention all the snares which Satan and the world use in order to make the poor Christians their prisoners again? They are without number. It is, therefore, true that with every step the Christian must be alert, never let his weapons out of his hands, and bravely continue the struggle until he has cut his way through and successfully reached Zion, the heavenly fortress.
And now which are the weapons which a Christian must use in this conflict, if he does not want to be conquered? In the main three of them are mentioned in our text, when it says: " And they overcame him." that is, Satan and his angels, " by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto the death." V.11. Faith, the Word, and the denial of the good things of this life or suffering, these are the weapons with which above all Christians carry on the conflict. In firm faith they cling to
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the blood of the reconciliation which flowed for them; this faith preserves them not only from despair in all kinds of inner and outward distress, but is also fills them with spiritual life and divine power to resist, all; temptations of sin and all the incitements of the world. They continually hide themselves behind the Word as their shield and use it both for a weapon, of defence and attack against all who Intend to falsify the truth and cause them to lose the treasure of their salvation. Finally, in submission they give,up all claims to all the treasures, joys, and honor of this world and this life and serenely endure all the evil which the foe does them; therefore, even during the hottest conflict they do not ask for quarter; before they would deny Christ, their General, they would rather die under the murderous blows of the foe.
II.
Thus, my friends, we have seen how the Church is a place of conflict; let us in the second place ponder to what extent it still is also a place of rest.
Indeed, it seems that the children of this world have more rest than Christians; but it only seems so. Even though the children of this world have more rest outwardly, since no one assails them because of their belief, and since they do not hurl themselves into the struggle against unbelief and sin, nevertheless, they have something within them which never lets them have inner rest. They can never become certain how they stand with God, never know what the final results will be; and since it is the world in which they seek their happiness, the thought of death continually disturbs them in their false happiness. "The godless," says Scripture, "have no peace."
On the other hand, in the midst of external unrest the Christian enjoys the most blessed inner peace of mind, in the midst of outward conflict the sweetest peace of soul. And why? Our text tells us, in which we read: " Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not: neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and. Satan, which deceiveth the whole world; he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him." Vv.7-9. My friends, what was shown St. John in this story was not fulfilled only once at a definite time; no, that takes place every day in the life of Christians; daily they experience that God is on their side, that Christ is their General and Champion in their strife, that, therefore, nothing can conquer them, and all their struggles must finally result in the most glorious victory.
Now tell me: What rest, what peace, what joy must the Christian enjoy in spite of all the conflicts which he must endure, since he in the first place knows that even though the entire world is against him, God is not against him but is on his side, is his friend, and is pleased with everything which he does! Ah, this conviction is a heaven in his heart, a foretaste of salvation, which makes all the bitter things of this world so sweet that they can scarcely taste the bitterness. That is why the Old Testament Christian, Asaph, says: "Nevertheless I am continually with thee; thou hast holden me by my right hand. Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth; but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever." Ps 73:23-26, Paul in the midst of his conflicts and distresses also breaks forth into the same cry of joy; he says: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? -- I am persuaded, that neither death,
St. Michael's 498
nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Sinc e Christians not only know that God is their friend, but since under the leadership of their heavenly General they are assured of the victory in advance, what rest, what peace, what comfort this also gives them in their conflict! Tell my, with what joy, with what courage would soldiers enter into the battle against a harmful foe if they knew in advance that they definitely would leave the battle as victors! Their watchword would be a song of triumph. Such happy soldiers are also the Christians. They do not timidly hang their heads; they are not depressed that they must fight against sin, devil, and world; they fight against them not because they are compelled to but because they hate these foes, because they love their Lord who leads them into the field against these foes. In the very midst of their conflict they sing the joyous songs of victory, yes, even while dying they cry out: " Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ; for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. Therefore, rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them." Vv.10.12a. Hallelujah!
Oh, do not let yourselves be frightened away, my friends, by the conflict which is appointed for those who want to be members of the Church of Christ, or be Christians. Enter into this conflict; confidently follow Christ, the Lord of your salvation; completely renounce sin, the world, and the devil, and you will experience that it is good to be with Christ, the place of conflict in his Church is at the same time the place of the sweetest rest.
However, what is the most wonderful: Here the soldiers enjoy only a foretaste of the true rest; if they have faithfully carried on the conflict to the end, done everything well, and held the field, oh what joy then awaits them in eternity! What a day will the day of their crowning be! What rejoicing, what jubilation will then follow upon their groans! However, who can express their blessedness? Eye hath not seen, and ear hath not heard, neither hath it entered into any man's heart the things which God has prepared for those who love him. Amen.