11TH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY-1

11th SUNDAY after TRINITY -1 Luke 18:9-14

Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

In this same cherished Savior, dearly beloved hearers.

No person can seriously deny that he also is a sinner. If he will not let himself be convinced of this through God's Law revealed in Holy Scripture, then whether he wishes it or not, his own inner judge, his conscience, will convince him of this. Most people, therefore, admit that they are sinners. However, in the face of the guilt which they have over against God, their Creator and Lord, most take comfort in themselves. They suppose that the testimony of no one sent by God, no Bible, no special revelation is first necessary to do this. They think that reason tells everyone what he has to do in order to receive forgiveness of sins from God. Some comfort themselves with the thought that God is too gracious, that without further ado he will forgive all their missteps; others hope to be reconciled through their remorse; still others believe that by their improvement in later life or through all kinds of good works they will be able to atone for their former life spotted with sin.

Without mentioning that reason is sufficient to teach a person that in regard to the points mentioned his own ideas are at least very doubtful, what insolence it is particularly when we men want to determine the very conditions under which God will and must forgive the insults which have been caused by us! Who without a special revelation can state with certainty God's thoughts? "Who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?" Rom 11:34. Who has climbed into God's secret courtroom, who has already read in his book, in the book of forgiveness, or who has been witness of how God is accustomed to judge the sins of men? Or dare we perhaps conclude: Our reason regards this as an established cause for the forgiveness of our sins, hence, God must also accept it? Should not God's thoughts be different, be higher than the thoughts of men?

However, if we do not want to challenge this, I then ask you: If we have insulted only one human being, would we then as the offender dare to prescribe to the offended the conditions of the reconciliation? Rather, would we not expect that he would tell us what he demands of us for satisfaction? If it is regarded as inexcusable impudence if the offender of man wants to dictate to the offended the terms of reconciliation, and if the offended would be moved by just such conduct to refuse to be reconciled with the offender, how much less dare we intend to propose to the most high God, whom we have insulted, the conditions of the reconciliation and how much more would God be moved by such conduct to refuse us forgiveness and reconciliation!

Beyond a doubt, my dear hearers, those who themselves want to decide how God must forgive them their sins, who in order to become certain of this do not want to consult God himself and as they think need no special revelation from God, who, therefore, want to hear or know nothing of the Gospel of the Bible, they are very impudent and foolish. Their comfort is self-made and, therefore, a false, vain comfort; on the day of judgment they will with terror see themselves deceived.

Alas! If only the comfort of those would be a false, vain comfort who, building upon their reason, want to know nothing of any special revelation of God, and, therefore, expressly reject the Bible with its comfort! Sad to say, depressing daily experience teaches that thousands upon thousands regard highly the Bible and the Gospel it contains and have taken from this nothing but a

false, vain comfort. As spiders suck poison from the same flowers from which the bees draw sweet honey, so many take spiritual death for themselves from the comfort of the Gospel which awakens others to life. As the bitter salty ocean water does not become sweet from all the sweet water of all the rivers but turns all this into bitter, salty water, so the sin-loving heart of man is not cleansed by the teaching about Christ but rather they turn Christ with his grace into a servant of sin and a cover for malice. It is terrible to say it and it is only too true: Many have only the appearance of Christianity, remain hypocrites their whole life, are never converted from their whole heart because they believe that God's Word demands no more of them, that according to God's Word they need be no different, that God's Word comforts them in their present state. Unhappy people! The preaching of the Gospel is lost to them, yes, the Scripture says that it will become a savor of death unto death, and Christ, who is preached to them for their rising again becomes the occasion of their fall and damnation. Today we again have a glorious Gospel from which many have drawn a false comfort ruinous to their souls. Permit me, therefore, to show you this false comfort today and warn you against it.

The text. Luke 18:9-14.

Great is the comfort, my friends, which lies in the precious Gospel just read; there is, nevertheless, a comfort which many suppose they find in it but which is only an imagined, self-righteous, false, empty comfort. Permit me to speak to you today on:

THE FALSE COMFORT MANY FIND IN THE PARABLE OF THE PHARISEE

AND THE PUBLICAN

It is a false comfort if one would conclude from it

I. That not so Much Depends Upon Whether one Lives a Pious or a Godless Life, Since Everything is Grace, and

II. That Conversion is an Easy and Minor Matter, Since Only the Sigh. "God be Merciful to Me a Sinner" is Required.

I.

My friends, two people are presented in our today's Gospel, first a Pharisee who certainly could boast of being pious and righteous, and second a publican who could speak of no good works which he had done and of no pious life which he had led; he had to admit before God and man that he was a sinner, and a great abominable sinner at that. What is Christ's opinion of both? Of the first, of the honorable Pharisee he says that he was not accepted by God but was rejected; on the other hand,of the second, the godless publican, he says that he went justified, that is, declared righteous by God, down to his house rather than the other.

And all of Holy Writ has the very same conception in word and example. In another place Christ says to the Pharisees, "Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and harlots go into the kingdom of God before you" Mt 21:31; and Paul testifies, "To him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness" Rom 4:5. Therefore whilst Christ immediately denied heaven and salvation to that honorable Nicodemus when he came to him, he, on the other hand, says to the woman who was a great sinner,"Thy sins are forgiven. Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace." Lk 7:48,50.

What conclusion do many draw from this? Many conclude: the Pharisee was

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very careful in regard to his piety, he was not guilty of robbery, unrighteousness, adultery, and other gross sins, he also prayed diligently, even fasted twice a week, and gave the tenth of everything which he had; what good did all this do him? God paid no attention to it; God did not ask about his piety and his good works; yet God rejected him.

On the other hand, the publican was not so careful; yes, he had robbed where he could do it with a show of right; his only thoughts day and night were how he would acquire money; so he took no time to pray and fast; but what happened to him? The moment he begged for grace God still accepted him, still declared him righteous. It is clear from this, they conclude: a pious life is not so necessary; evidently sin does not make such a great difference as is usually thought; God asks little about the works of men; no person, ever becomes perfect; and though in this weakness one cannot free himself of this or that sin, God evidently is not so exact. Everything depends on grace; Christ alone has done everything for us and must do everything for us.

See, that is the comfort which only too many draw from our parable of the Pharisee and publican. And oh! if only those would comfort themselves thus who had never experienced a bit of the power of Christ, his Gospel, and his grace! Alas, it happens not seldom, that a person who was converted to God from his heart does this; he awakens from his sleep of sin and was greatly concerned and worried about his soul's salvation, and finally he found not only comfort, peace, and rest in Christ, but he also received the joy and power, to resist sin, to deny the world, and to walk in a new, truly holy life; but he did not earnestly watch, he did not pray diligently nor use God's Word faithfully and thus he lost his first love again; the fire of his first zeal is extinguished; he becomes more and more indolent, powerless, and weak; he makes room for sin again; he again acts like the world. At first his conscience often reprimanded him; at first his apostasy gave him much concern; at times he indeed bemoaned the misery into which he had again fallen with many tears. But finally this restlessness was lost, and what happened? Now he began to comfort himself falsely from the Gospel; his heart said: Why do you want to worry yourself so much? what would be the purpose of Christ's merit if one would have to be so careful about piety? Why has God revealed his forgiveness in Christ if one must be so worried about his sins? No, I will not be a selfrighteous Pharisee, I will remain a publican, a poor sinner; I will not do good works; everything is grace anyhow; I will comfort myself with that.

My friends, does Christ with his parable of the Pharisee and the publican actually want to give such a comfort? Absolutely not! Christ did not come to give mankind thru his work and his Gospel the permission to sin and to reassure them, if they do not want to live a holy life; rather Christ has come in order to help all men from their sins, to convert them into new, holy people, and lead them back again into communion with God. It is true: Christ rejects the Pharisee in spite of a life blameless in the eyes of the world, in spite of his praying, fasting, and giving; however, Christ does not do this because a pious life was not necessary but because the piety of the Pharisee was merely an external one, having an aura of holiness, a hypocritical piety. By the example of the Pharisee Christ does not want to give those comfort who do not follow sanctification but rather frighten those who rely merely upon an external honorableness of which the world approves. Moreover it is true: Christ, declares that the publican was justified before God even though he had been a great sinner and prefers him to the Pharisee. However, Christ does this not be cause a sinful like makes little difference but because the publican repented from his heart and honestly turned to God. Therefore, Christ does not prefer the publican to the Pharisee because of his sins. Christ does not intend to comfort those who remain in sin but only to give courage to those who want to turn from their heart.

Therefore, all of you who in the past have not regarded an upright pious life as necessary, and viewed your life in this or that sin as not so damnable, and have comforted yourselves with the story of the Pharisee and the publican, or mainly with the doctrine of the Gospel of grace, know from this: your comfort is a false, a vain comfort. Oh, therefore, reject this comfort quickly as you would a glittering serpent. Indeed, it gives you a little comfort now, but at the last it will lead you into eternal unrest; true, it gives you some hope of grace and salvation, but at the last it will of necessity hurl you into hell and damnation. Do not think that some day you will be able to appeal before God to his Word; this very Word of God in which you falsely comfort yourselves will some day accuse and condemn you. God will say to you: If you heard that even the Pharisee with all his righteousness was rejected, why did you not seek a better righteousness? And if you heard that even a sinful publican was righteous and blessed when he repented, why were not you also converted from all your sins?

Ah, let no one deceive himself! True, no person is saved through his pious life but only by faith in Christ; however, this pious life must show whether a person has the saving faith. "Follow holiness," therefore says the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews, "without which no man shall see the Lord" Heb. 12:14.

Moreover, no one should be lost because of his sins; the gates of grace stand open for even the most deeply fallen publican; however, his conversion must at some time .show whether a sinner has sought and found grace. Therefore, do not comfort ourselves only with the word, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved," but also think of the verse, "We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad" 2 Cor 5:10. Do not comfort yourselves only with the word, "By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast" Eph 2:8,9, but remember also that verse, "The hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation" Jn 5:28,29.

You see that false, vain, yes, harmful and; ruinous is, therefore, the comfort that not so much depends on whether one lives a pious,or godless life, since everything is grace.

Now there is another false comfort which many draw from the story of the Pharisee and the publican, and it is this: conversion is an easy and insignificant matter, since it consist only of the sigh of the publican, "God be merciful to me a sinner." Permit me, secondly, to speak to you about this.

II.

That every person who wants to be saved must be heartily pious, and absolutely dare not remain under the dominion of sin, in a word, that every person must be converted, this many still admit;; and yet they do not prepare for their conversion but postpone from one time to the next this work, recognized even by them as absolutely necessary. And why? They find comfort in the example of the publican in our Gospel. They think that they clearly see in the publican the "how" of conversion. That is, if a person perceives that he is a poor sinner; all he need do is sigh to God, "God be merciful to me a sinner!" and this important work is accomplished. God is so gracious that he will immediately hear such a brief prayer. Consequently, many then suppose that there clearly is no hurry with such a conversion; one could be converted and be saved at any time, and if it were in one's last hour. They think that the; publican is not, the only example; one

can indeed discover this in, many other poor sinners; when the prodigal son called, "Father, I have sinned," the father immediately embraced him; when that great sinner came merely weeping to Jesus, he immediately assured her of the forgiveness of also her sins; when David, the adulterer and murderer, cried out, "I have sinned against the Lord," the prophet immediately replied, "The Lord also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die" 2 Sam 12:13.

There you have it; many comfort themselves in this way by the example of the publican and other sinners who received grace. Is this indeed the real, true comfort? Absolutely not! When Christ describes the repentance and conversion of the publican in our Gospel in those few words, he does not want to awaken in us the thought that conversion is such an easy insignificant matter, and that it is concluded with a few gestures of humility and the sigh, "God be merciful to me a sinner!" Oh no! Everyone will admit that Christ did not describe the gestures of the publican in order to indicate that he was a hypocrite; everyone will admit that his gestures were the true expressions of his attitude, of the state of his heart, and as such they should be regarded by us.

First of all, we read of him, "The publican, standing afar off;" why did this poor sinner do that? why did he remain, as is most likely, in the court of the gentiles? He did not consider himself worthy of using the privilege of a believing Israelite; he regarded himself as a covenant-breaker and, therefore, did not think himself better than a heathen who could lay no claim to the very least grace from God.

We read further, "Would not lift up so much as his eves to heaven;" why did he not want to? He was ashamed before God and men. He knew that he had angered God, and he felt how God's just wrath lay upon him.

We read further, "But smote upon his breast;" by this gesture he wanted to show how deeply he felt that not only his entire life and all his works were abominable in God's eyes, but that also his whole heart was corrupt, that this was a foul spring from which nothing good could come.

When he therefore said, "God be merciful to me a sinner!" his anguish, the feeling of his sin and God's wrath had reached its highest degree; he felt like a criminal who had already arrived at the place of execution, whc merely waited for the execution of the verdict of condemnation pronounced upon him, but who, convinced of the goodness of his judge, hurled himself once more in the greatest anguish at his feet and begged for pardon.

Now tell me: should it be something easy to place oneself into such a state in which we see the publican in our text? Yes, to copy his words, "God be merciful to me a sinner." and to imitate his gestures is, of course, an easy matter; but such a deep knowledge of his sins, such a living feeling of God's wrath, such an intense longing and sighing for grace from the very depths of his heart, that no man can work in himself; that reveals a state which only the Holy Spirit can produce in a person with the thundering hammerblows of the Law and with the dew of the Gospel.

Oh, how false and vain that comfort, therefore, is which you make for yourselves who think that the whole of conversion consists only in that sigh; who, therefore, suppose that if you now should sin you would quickly pray your sins away again. Ah, know: and if you should repeat the prayer, "God be merciful to me a sinner," even thousands and thousands of time, you could not with that prayer pray away even the most insignificant of sins, if you also would not have a heart which the publican had which is crushed, bruised by remorse, repentant, and believing.

Now then, be admonished, all of you who either with a prayer from a pair of cold lips, with devout gestures, and with your miserable intentions think you have already completed your conversion, or have hitherto postponed it because you think that there is always still time for that, be admonished and

warned! Do not misuse the precious Word of God any longer for such a false comfort, and bear in mind: the work of conversion is a great, difficult work produced alone by God. Therefore, do not wait a moment longer to turn to God so that he can complete it in you. Above all, use God's Word from which to recognize your sins and receive the true heart of a publican. Do not say that you have no time for this, but remember: your conversion is the most important and most necessary act which you must do in this world; remember: one of these days it must take place if you do not wish to lose your soul forever; one of these days you must go through these narrow gates if you do not want to meet your eternal ruin upon the broad way; one of these days you must learn to cry out with fear and trembling not alone with your lips but from the bottom of your heart. "God be merciful to me a: sinner!" otherwise you will some day call woe upon yourself forever.

However, if you will travel the way which has been shown, oh blessed are you! Then it will be said also of you: Be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven you; you have found grace; you are justified; go in peace, "for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." V. 14.

If you have already squeezed through the narrow gate of repentance and conversion, then remember: you still have not reached the goal; you are first on the narrow way to heaven from which you can turn off unnoticed by you, if you halt between two opinions, want to serve God and the world, yes, which you could quickly and suddenly leave again by one false step, namely by one sin. Therefore guard yourself against security and false comfort, "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling," and do not rest until you have arrived at the beautiful goal. Oh blessed, yes, forever blessed are you then when you have arrived! For "blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth. Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, and their works do follow them." Amen.

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11th SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY-2 Luke 18:9-14

Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

In this same Savior, dearly beloved hearers.

Every person who is to be saved must first become righteous before God. That is an undeniable truth. To be righteous before God is to have such a nature that God's law cannot accuse and condemn us, but that in the eyes of this law we are guiltless and as we should be before God. However, God is holy and righteous According to his holiness he loves only the good; on the other hand; he hates all evil, and according to his righteousness he can reward only the good and he must punish everything evil. As little as the holy and righteous God can love and reward the evil, so little can he save, bestow eternal life, and receive him after death into the heaven of glory who is not first righteous before him.

Why, even reason perceives this truth. The heathen who otherwise are so blind have, therefore, known it very well. Else why have even the heathen pictured, vice as something horrible and virtue as something so necessary and lovely? Why have so many heathen most earnestly shunned vice and so painstakingly tried

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to pursue virtue? And finally, when the heathen had fallen into sin and vice, why have they often brought so many great sacrifices as atonement? All this was done because even among the heathen the truth was a positive fact that he whom the gods were to save must first be righteous before them. That one could receive eternal rewards for sin and unrighteousness is a principle which has never been established in any religion on the whole world.

My friends, if the proposition is true that whoever wants to be saved must first be righteous before God, there certainly can be nothing more important and necessary for any person than to be righteous before God. That is really the one thing which is necessary for all men. What does it profit a person if he is indeed rich, happy, and honored in this world, but if he is not righteous before God? Such a person is like a criminal to whom one still gives all kinds of refreshment before his execution. Moreover, what does it profit a man if he is perhaps righteous and blameless before men, but if he is not righteous before God? Such a person is like a criminal whom his comrades in guilt absolve, but upon whom the judge upon whose sentence alone all depends announces the verdict of guilty. Oh, woe, woe to that person who has taken care of everything else needful, only has not seen to it that he is righteous before God!

As important and necessary as it is for every person to be righteous before God, just so. blessed and glorious a thing is it when a person can truly say: I am righteous before God. He can join St. Paul in adding, "If God be for us, who can be against us?" Rom 8:31. Though the entire world may condemn and reject him, he pays no attention and says:

If Christ, my Head and Master,

Befriend me from above,

What foe or what disaster

Can drive me from His love? (528,1)

Though all misfortune may constantly, overwhelm such a person, that cannot cause him to go astray, that cannot destroy his happiness; he knows that, since he is righteous before God, God can never mean to do him evil, and that, therefore, everything which comes to him are nothing but signs of grace, nothing but blessing. Yes, even death cannot frighten him, for since he is righteous before God, death can only be a gate to heaven. Therefore when our Luther, after long and fruitless search for the certainty that he was righteous before God, finally received this certainty, he said, "Here I immediately felt that I was completely born anew and as it were had found a wide open door to enter paradise itself."

My friends, if being righteous before God is something important and necessary as well as blessed and glorious, who of us, yes, who in the whole world could not wish to possess this most important indispensable and precious of all treasures? Who would not wish that he were able to say: I am as God wants me to be? His Law cannot accuse and condemn me? God is my Friend? I live under his grace? In short, I am righteous before God?

Certainly all of you carry the wish in your heart of being able to say this truly. But perhaps you say: Is it actually possible to progress this far? Is there a way by which one can attain this most wished-for goal? How and by what means is one righteous before God? To God be praise! With great joy and confidence I can answer you: Yes, my friends, every person can be righteous before God. Even he who has lived on for a long time in sin and godlessness and who therefore has perhaps already begun to doubt, his salvation can still be so righteous before God, that the Lord considers him as though he had never sinned. How and by what means this takes place, let me show you from

God's Word. God grant us all open ears and eager hearts to hear this sweetest of all teachings.

The text. Luke 18:9-14.

This precious Gospel, rich in doctrine and comfort, deals with the greatest and most important article of the entire Christian faith, that is, with the justification of a person before God. On the basis of this Gospel permit me to answer the question;

HOW AND BY WHAT MEANS DOES A PERSON BECOME RIGHTEOUS BEFORE GOD?

The answer of our text is twofold:

I. Not by One's Own Work, but by God's Grace, and

II. Not by God's Grace Mainly, but Through God's Grace in Christ Seized in Faith.

Holy and righteous God! In your eyes no living person is righteous; all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; who can bring a clean thing from an unclean? Behold among your saints none are without blame, among, your angels you find folly, and the heavens are not pure before you; how much more, a man who is an abomination and contemptible, who drinks unrighteousness like water! Oh, have mercy on all the blind among us who want to establish their own righteousness before you. Anoint their eyes with eyesalve that they may recognize the vanity of all their own works and ways, with crushed heart take their refuge in your grace in Christ Jesus as lost sinners, seize him in firm faith, persevere in it until the end and thus be righteous before you and are saved. Hear us, oh gracious, merciful God for the sake of your grace and mercy in Christ Jesus. Amen! Amen!

My friends, the usual meaning of justification is that a person must seek to become righteous before God by his good works. It is thought and said: How else could man become acceptable to God than by keeping God's commandments, being pious, and doing good works? It is also entirely natural that men think thus. Man's reason left to itself simply cannot think otherwise. For without God's Word and revelation man knows of no other way.

But now, what does God's Word say of this? Let us consult our today's Gospel on this point. In it two men are presented. The one is a Pharisee, the other a publican. Of the last man we read at the close of the Gospel. "This man went down to his house justified rather than the other." Hence the publican was righteous before God, the Pharisee not. In the example of both we can and should recognize how and by what means one becomes righteous before God and how and by what means not.

First of all, how is the Pharisee described who was not righteous before God? Does Christ perhaps picture him as a godless, dissolute man in the eyes of men? Anything but this. Rather, Christ presents him as a most pious, righteous, blameless, and virtuous man in the eyes of the world. According to Christ's presentation, he was a friend of God's house where God's Word was preached; he did not go there, as many, merely from habit but in order to pray there. Nor does he pray until a special need forces prayers and groans from him, but he prays to God even if he had no special petition lying heavily upon him. And what did he pray? He said, "God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week. I give tithes of all that I possess" Vv. 11,12. His prayer did not consist only of

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petitions, but contained also thanks and praise to God, yes, he thanked God even for the good which he himself had done and saw in himself. He was "not as other men are," who ask nothing about conscience, about God, about God's commands, about religion, about heaven and hell. He excelled thousands by his respectability and integrity. He was not an "extortioner" or "unjust" but conscientiously gave and allowed to each his due; he was not an "adulterer" in or outside, of marriage but remained chaste. He even did more than God had commanded. God had commanded fasting only once a week and paying the tenth only of part of his income; but he fasted "twice" a week and gave the tithe "of all" that he had. Clearly he was no ordinary hypocrite as many other Pharisees were but was greatly in earnest about his piety. See, thus is that man pictured of whom Christ says that he left the temple not justified.

On the other hand, what is told us of the publican who according to our text went down to his house justified? Is perhaps his life praised still more? Again, anything but this. Of his early life Christ tells us absolutely nothing; everything which Christ wants to let us know about this he indicates by calling him a "publican," that is, a person who had lived his entire life in lies and deceit without asking about God and his conscience; all that Christ says about him outside, of this is that finally after a long life of sin and shame his conscience awakened, that he finally perceived that he was worthy of damnation, and that he, therefore, full of the fear of hell and damnation, also entered into the temple, had smote upon his breast and sighed, "God be merciful to me a sinner!"

See, my friends, Christ presents the one äs a man who excelled through all kinds of good works and a blameless life before men, and who still was not righteous before God; on the other hand, he pictures the other as a person who had made himself an abomination before God and men by an entire life full of unrighteousness and yet the moment he prayed for grace he was righteous before God. According to Christ's teaching, how and by what means does such a person become righteous before God? More clearly than the rays of the noonday sun it is written in our Gospel: not by his own works but by God's grace.

Yes, it may seem to be unbelievable to many that according to Christ's teaching a virtuous person could displease God, whilst a godless person could be acceptable to God and be righteous before him. However, if one studies the matter somewhat more closely, astonishment and surprise must soon disappear.

It is indeed true: when God created man, he was so made that he not only should be righteous before God by his own works but he also could be righteous. But ye men have fallen and now all by birth bring an evil heart into the world, a mind,displeasing to God. If after the fall of the human race there were now no other way by which one could be righteous before God than by our own works, not one person could become righteous before God.

Before God graciously takes pity on a person he can do nothing, absolutely nothing truly good. The natural man can indeed so live that no person can find any fault in him, that every person must praise him as an honest, upright, righteous man; however, before God who sees into the heart all shining good works of one who still has not been changed by his grace are nothing but fruits beautiful on the outside yet worm-eaten inside, hence nothing but glittering vices.

Just examine the good works of the Pharisee somewhat more closely and you will soon notice this. It is true: in the eyes of men the Pharisee with his outward piety presented a truly virtuous picture; however, what lived in his heart and what was the source of all his so-called good works? Nothing else but

abominable pride. True, he thanked God for the good which he thought he saw in himself; however, his thanks was nothing but hypocrisy, for he does not say, "God, I thank thee," that you have made me pious, but: "that I am not as other men are;" he exalts himself above all other people; yes, pointing to the publican he. says later on., "or even as this publican;" hence, he is filled by the spirit of judging; he regards all other people as unworthy and himself as worthy.

Not the good works of only that Pharisees were of this nature; all the seemingly, good works which those do on whom God has not yet taken pity and whom he could not graciously give a changed, new heart are of like nature. Before God only that is good which the person does out of pure love to God and to his honor and what he does out of pure love to his neighbor and for his benefit. By nature, that is, from his birth on, every person has a heart full of selfishness and love of self, full of ambition and boasting. From this poisonous spring flows forth everything which the natural man thinks, speaks, and does. Though the natural man may like the Pharisee go into the temple and there zealously hear God's Word and zealously pray and sing, the more zealous he is in his worship, so much the more will he please himself in doing this and exalt himself over othersin his heart and thus in spite of all his worship be an abomination to God. The natural man cannot give any poor person a gift without sinning; either he does it out of shame because before other people he is ashamed of greed and hardheartedness, or out of ambition because he wants to be respected by the people, or out of impatience because he wants to be rid of the beggar who is pressing him, or finally out of hope of reward because he hopes that God will reward his kindness tenfold with eternal treasures.

Usually the natural man does not suspect this malice, deceit, and impurity with which all his good works are corrupted; and though he may notice this deceit and malice in his seemingly good works and have the ever so good intention of becoming better, more upright, purer, all these good intentions remain unexecuted if God does not take pity on him. Yes, though the natural man may labor and toil ever so greatly to conquer the dishonesty of his heart and to do good only from the pure motives of love of God and his neighbor, all his efforts are fruitless. The natural man can indeed choke off the poisonous spring of his heart so that it does not overflow in manifestly evil works, but he cannot cleanse the fountain of his heart; it remains poisonous, full of love of self and. boasting, and. corrupts everything which the natural man thinks, desires, speaks and does.

As long as the natural man disregards his false, impure heart, so long he can indeed think that he can keep God's commandments by his own powers and, therefore, become righteous before God by his own works; however, if the eyes of a person regarding his heart, his inner being, his secret drives finally open, he sees with terror that by his own powers he can do nothing really good, nothing which was good also in God's eyes. Therefore, whoever wants to be acceptable to God by his own works and be righteous before him is like a person who wants to pay small old debts with new greater debts, like a person who, having fallen into a swamp, wants to pull himself out by his own hair but in spite of his labors sinks only the deeper. Usually, those who think of becoming righteous before God by their own works are not in earnest; but when a person comes to the point where he really wants to be earnest, he must of necessity fall into despair, and in the end instead of receiving the perfect love of God in his heart, hatred and enmity arise in it against God who demands of man what he cannot produce, as happened, for example, to many under the papacy and among others to Luther in the cloister. Luther, therefore, also sings:

Fast bound in Satan's chains I lay,

Death brooded darkly o'er me,

Sin was my torment night and day,

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In sin my mother bore me;

Yea, deep and deeper still I fell,

Life had become a living hell,

So firmly sin possessed me.

My own good works availed me naught,

No merit they attaining;

Free will against God's judgment fought,

Dead to all good remaining.

My fears increased till sheer despair

Left naught but death to be my share;

The pangs of hell I suffered. (387,2,3)

So there is no doubt: man will not be righteous before God by his own works, but if he will become righteous, it must happen by God's grace, not by God's grace chiefly but through God's grace in Christ Jesus seized in faith. And in the second place, let me speak to you of this.

II.

My friends, as great as is the number of those who are deluded into thinking that they could become righteous before God by their own works, there nevertheless are also not a small number of those who are not so blinded; who perceive that their own righteousness is too imperfect, too spotted to stand in them before the holy God who sees the heart; but who rely on the general love, forbearance, and grace of God. They think: If God would want to deal with me according to his stern righteousness, he must indeed reject me, for in spite of all of my striving for virtue and piety I still remain weak, full of failures, blemishes, and frailties. Therefore, I will have to rely on the fact that God is much too good; he will overlook some things and let grace pass for right as long as I do as much as my weak powers let me. Many who think thus often comfort themselves with the example of the publican who also slipped many a time and yet was received by God because he said from his heart, "God be merciful to me a sinner."

But, my friends, all who think thus meet eternity on a false way, have a false comfort, and nourish a false hope, and if they remain on this foundation of sand, they at death plunge into eternal death and damnation.

No, no, my dear hearers, God is not as most people imagine him to be. He is not like, a weak old father who overlooks the wicked deeds of his wicked children and out of weak love does not punish them. God is righteousness and holiness itself; of that which his holiness and righteousness demands in his Law he cannot omit one letter, not one iota; yes, he is and remains a consuming fire of wrath against sin which burns into the deepest abyss of hell. Therefore, if a person cannot show a completely perfect righteousness in which there is not the least spot, God must certainly eternally reject that man and condemn him as certainly as he is God. As great as God's love is, it cannot abolish his holiness and righteousness.

But if you will perhaps say, if that were really true, how Could anyone become righteous before God? Where is the one who could perfectly satisfy the strict righteousness and holiness of God? Where is the person who would not need grace, forgiveness? Have you not just proven, you will tell me, that man could not be righteous before God by his own works but alone by grace? Is it not a contradiction to maintain that God could relinquish nothing of his righteousness and that everyone must bring a perfect righteousness before God; if he wants to be righteous in his eyes?

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Indeed, this seems to be a contradiction. But know this, my dear friends, that God in his infinite wisdom has found a way by which he can receive and declare even the greatest sinner righteous without relinquishing even the very least of the demands of his righteousness and holiness. God has, oh wonder of divine wisdom and love! commanded his only begotten Son to become a man, and he as God and man has not only suffered all the punishment we deserve and paid all our debts, but also subjected himself to God's Law, even though for himself he was not obligated to it, fulfilled it perfectly, and thus earned a righteousness which he himself does not need. Whoever believes in this God-man, that is, whoever accepts, appropriates, and relies on the payment made by this man for the guilt of all men and the righteousness earned by him for all mankind, him God regards as though he himself had paid, suffered, and done what his dear Son paid, suffered, and did; all his sins are forgiven and his faith is charged to him for righteousness. To be sure, it is grace, grace alone through which man can and should become, righteous before God, but this is simply the grace of God in Christ Jesus, seized in faith, for only by virtue of this grace can God regard and declare a sinner righteous, and himself still remain righteous and holy.;

Nor should you think that the publican in our Gospel became righteous in a different way; for what Luther translated in the word, "God be MERCIFUL to me a sinner!" is literally according to the original text, "God be RECONCILED to me a sinner!" So it was not chiefly the love and grace of God in which the publican took his refuge, for the consciousness that also God is and must remain holy and righteous prevented him from doing that, but that grace from which he desired help and upon which he relied was that which according to the witness of the prophets the Messiah was to earn by his work of reconciliation.

Well, my dear hearers, you who have the longing in your hearts for being righteous before God, here you have the way by which you can obtain this most precious of all treasures. Know that you are lost and condemned sinners and then believe in Jesus Christ who makes the godless righteous, and the matter is settled. Then you do not have to be afraid of the threats of the Law against those who transgress it, but you can say: what I had to do has been fulfilled. Then you have nothing to fear from God's righteousness and holiness, but you can say: what you demand of me has been fulfilled. Then you do not have to fear death and the judgment which follows, but you can rejoice: God the Judge has not only absolved me from all my sins; he has also declared me holy and righteous in His eyes.

Ah, my friends, this teaching of the gracious justification of a poor sinner before God through faith in Christ is so simple that a child can grasp it, yet it is at the same time the greatest wisdom a person can receive which was hidden from eternity in God's heart but is revealed through the Holy Spirit in his holy prophets and apostles. This teaching is the true philosopher's stone, a mystery which no philosopher could conceive, no wise man of this world could search out. This teaching is the foundation upon which the whole Christian Church rests and by which it stands or falls, and at the same time the greatest treasure which she possesses and which cannot be found outside the Church. This teaching is quickly learned but never mastered, rather it must be studied, cultivated, and practised daily, if the person does not again want to forget it and keep the empty shell instead of the sweet kernel. Without this teaching nothing but hellish darkness is in the soul of every person; but to whomever this teaching becomes clear, the sun of truth arises in his soul which drives away the darkness of every ruinous error. This teaching that man is righteous before God not by his own works but by God's grace in Christ, grasped in faith indeed seems to make people lazy in doing good works but that is not so; he who lets this teaching really penetrate his heart is filled with the fire of love to God and his

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neighbor and makes him willing, yes, eager and happy to sacrifice himself completely for God and his neighbor in a new holy life and walk.

Therefore, let none of us tire himself trying to earn a righteousness which avails before God by his own works and ways; let everyone go the way of the publican and he will come in and go out justified before God even though he is in himself a sinner.

Help us, Lord Jesus Christ, for we

A Mediator have in Thee;

Our works cannot salvation gain;

They merit but endless pain.

Have mercy Lord! (287,12) Amen.

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