In your Baptism your Lord Jesus today calls you His friends and His brothers and sisters. He gives you the new birth of water and the Spirit, and makes you heirs with Him of the heavenly glory. Most of all, Jesus brings to you the victory of His cross, the victory of His death over death and the devil, that is, the forgiveness of all of your sins. He has brought these things to you freely as gifts of His love, His mercy and His kindness.

Paul writes in Romans 6, “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:4) The death and resurrection of Jesus, that is what the Lord delivers to us, with all of it benefits, in your baptism. And all of us, the Lord’s baptized, participate in these same gifts.

This is a wonder, the gift of baptism, and the gift of the death and resurrection of Jesus. The Prophets, says the apostle Peter, longed to look into these things, to see how it was that the Lord would rescue us from their sins. They knew that the Lord would send a Messiah, that He would come to redeem and rescue us, that He would even die, but how all of this would unfold, the details of the Lord’s death and resurrection, these are things were waiting to be revealed.

The Prophets and the Heavenly Council

In fact, in the Old Testament (and understand that this is all background for our Gospel reading, Jesus prophesying His death and resurrection, and the healing of the blind man), in the Old Testament, the prophets are the ones who were take into the “council of God.” Jeremiah 23 says of the false prophets of his day:

Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. 17 They say continually to those who despise the word of the LORD, ‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.’” 18 For who among them has stood in the council of the LORD to see and to hear his word, or who has paid attention to his word and listened? (Jeremiah 23:16-18)

The false prophets have not stood in the council of the Lord, the true prophets have. Now, how are we to think of this council? Here is the Lord’s throne, the Father sits there. Then, the Son in on the right hand, the Spirit all around, the four living creatures with eyes all around surround the throne, and the angels are gathered together, and the elders. This is the Lord’s council, and there is conversation there.

Moses stood in the council of the Lord, and he takes what he sees there and designs the tabernacle and the earthly sanctuary. Isaiah stood in this council and saw the virgin birth (Isaiah 7). David stood in this council and saw the Lord pierced (Psalm 22). In fact, all the promises of Jesus, all of the comforting promises of the Old Testament come from the prophets standing in this council, and hearing the conversation between the Father and the Son. Conversation is what happens in a council, and the conversation here is about the salvation of the world, it is the conversation of the cross.

The Heavenly Council on Earth

Wonderful! Now, back to the Gospel reading, Luke 18. Jesus has descended from that council to bring it to the earth. He has gathered His disciples around to that council so that they would know the mysteries of the kingdom of God. He is telling them, now, about His death and resurrection for a third time. 

And taking the twelve, he said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. 32 For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. 33 And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.” 34 But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said. (Luke 18:31-34)

These twelve disciples are brought into the council of the Lord, and they are here given to know the details of the world’s salvation like no one else before them, but still they do not understand. Luke, in fact, is emphatic to the point of absurdity in pointing out the disciples lack of understanding, “But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.”

There is nothing confusing or unclear about the Words that Jesus is speaking, they are plain words, but they are words so profound that they are only had by faith, understood by the Holy Spirit.

It is not until these things happen, and then, fifty days later when the Holy Spirit is poured out, that they understand these words, and believe these words, and have life and salvation in these words.

Church: Hearing the Voice of the Heavenly Council

That’s Pentecost, and something very significant happens on that day. The apostle’s have tongues of fire over their heads, and they are preaching in the native tongues of all those gathered in Jerusalem for the feast, and the people think that they are drunk, and Peter stands up to preach, and quotes the prophet Joel.

For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 16 But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: 17 “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; 18 even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. (Acts 2:15-18)

And here’s the point, in the New Testament, everyone will know the council of God. Everyone will see God’s plan and His heart unfolded. Everyone, even the children, even the babies, the youngest among us, will have the full blessing of the Gospel and the Lord’s mercy. Why? Because, dear saints, to us is given the vision of the cross, the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Do you remember the text when Jesus was talking about John the Baptist, and He calls him the greatest prophet ever, but then says that the least in the kingdom of heaven will be greater than John? That’s because John died before Jesus; John died before the cross. John never knew that Jesus was condemned by Pilate, that He was crowned with thorns, that He was scourged by the Romans, nailed to a cross. John never knew that Jesus hung on the cross for six hours, that there were three hours of darkness, that He spoke seven dying words. That He was buried by Joseph of Aramathea in a new tomb, and that He came out of the grave three days later. John, the greatest of the prophets, never knew this.

I have a picture in my mind about this, maybe someday an artist will give this a try, Isaiah the prophet, aged, with all of the marks of his prophetic office, sitting on the ground with one of our young confirmands, furiously and with wonder writing down all the things they know, as they simply recite the Apostle’s Creed.

Dear saints, dear baptized, to you has been given the greatest treasure in the universe: Jesus, and His death, and His resurrection, and His life. Today we have stood in His council, and we have heard His voice. You are His. Amen.

 Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller

Here’s Luther on Galatians 1:5 (Greater Galatians Commentary, 1535):

“Here Paul lives up to his own rule, which he gives later on in the sixth chapter (Galatians 6:1): “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual, etc.”  We, too, should follow this example. We should show that toward those poor disciples who have been led astray we feel as parents feel toward their children, so that they may see our paternal zeal and maternal feelings toward them and may see that we seek their salvation. But when it comes to sectarianism, we should follow the example of the apostles. We should be impatient, proud, sharp, and bitter, despising and condemning their sham as sharply and harshly as we can. When a child has been bitten by a dog, the parents chase the dog but console and soothe the weeping child with the sweetest of words.”

False Prophets have Visions

God hates visionary dreaming; it makes the dreamer proud and pretentious. The man who fashions a visionary ideal of community demands that it be realized by God, by others, and by himself. He enters the community of Christians with his demands, sets up his own law, and judges the brethren and God Himself accordingly. He stands adamant, a living reproach to all others in the circle of brethren. He acts as if he is the creator of the Christian community, as if his dream binds men together. When things do not go his way, he calls the effort a failure. When his ideal picture is destroyed, he sees the community going to smash. So he becomes, first an accuser of his brethren, then an accuser of God, and finally the despairing accuser of himself.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together

I would only add: If this is what happens when things don’t go the visionaries way, it is even worse when things do!

We all have multiple vocations. I am a Christian, a son, a husband, a father, a pastor, a citizen, etc. Every vocation defines who my neighbor is. As a Christian I am a neighbor to all people with on obligation to love all. As a son I have my father and mother to honor. As a husband I have Keri to love and cherish. As father I have Hannah, Andrew, Daniel and Isaac to love and provide for. As a Pastor I have you, the members of Hope Lutheran to love and care for with the Word of God and the Sacraments.

Your vocation puts a name on the neighbor that Jesus commands to love as yourself. And God is at work in our vocation. When we ask our Father in Heaven to provide us daily bread, we are praying for those who have the vocation of farmer and miller and baker and grocery store manager, etc. God is behind all these various vocations answering our prayers.

We do well to consider our various vocations in light of the Scriptures to see how the Lord has ordered this world and put is in it. The Table of Duties in the Small Catechism is a good place to start; it outlines the various different callings in life and provides Scriptures for each one.

The Vocation of Friend
There is, though, a vocation that I have never seen discussed: the vocation of friend. Our vocation of friend is a wonderful gift from God. We all have a friend, and this is pleasing in the eyes of God. It is good, then, for us to consider the Scriptures instruction regarding friendship.

Consider, then, a few of the Bible’s insight regarding being a friend:
A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity (Proverbs 17:17).

A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a .
brother (Proverbs 18:24, See also Proverbs 27:6-10).

Friends are acquainted with good council. A friend is close enough to say what needs to be said. A friend is a trusted advisor. A friend sticks with you, even when the world begins to fall apart.

Our friends are the biggest influence on our behavior. Our peers are the biggest influence on our conscience. St Paul gives this marvelous instruction to the Corinthians: ‘Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals,’” (1 Corinthians 15:33). Good friends speak the Gospel to us, help keep us in the faith, and encourage us toward love and good works. Other friendships tempt us away from the Scriptures, away from the Church, away from the Lord’s joy and comfort. We pray for good friends, and that we might be good to our friends.

Jesus, A Friend
One of the most stunning things the Bible teaches about friendship is the God Himself is pleased to be called our friend. Abraham is esteemed in the Scriptures as the “friend of God” (see 2 Chronicles 20:7, James 4:4). Moses is given the highest gift of speaking to God “face-to-face as one speaks to a friend,” (Exodus 33:11).

This gift of being a friend of God is extended to us in the New Testament. Jesus was reviled by His enemies as a “friend of sinners” (see Matthew 11:19), but Jesus rejoices in this title, in this vocation. This is exactly why He came to this world, to be our friend.

Consider these words of Jesus:
Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you, (John 15:13-15).

Jesus calls us His friend, and this is the most wonderful gift, the most wonderful vocation of all. Amen.

Lord’s Blessings,
Pastor Wolfmueller

For ages and ages Calvinist Bloggers have been clamoring for a seal that links to Table Talk Radio. Here it is. You’re welcome.

We know that Jesus will return to judge the quick and the dead for only one reason: He told us He would, and Jesus doesn’t lie.

Summer then fall, winter, spring and then summer again, morning then evening, then morning again: yesterday seems to be a lot like today. We think that tomorrow will be like today. Last year was a lot like this year, so we think that next year will be a lot like this year.

I suspect that we have to think like this, to live, to have a home, to bring up our children in the faith, to rejoice in God’s gifts of creation. The Lord is the one, after all, who gave us the sun and the moon and the stars for days and seasons.

But the day is coming when the sun will fail, the moon will turn to blood, and stars will fall from the sky. There is coming a day when there will be no “tomorrow”. Into our expected will come the unexpected, in to this normal will come the very not-normal.

Jesus says, “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” (Luke 21:25-27)

Pow. That day will be a day of destruction, a day of undoing, the earth melting with fire, the old things passing away. That day will be a day of judgment. This is why the Lord constantly rouses us from sleep and commands us to be ready. “”But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. But stay awake at all times…” (Luke 21:34-36)

This is what Jesus is always saying when He teaches about His second coming: “Watch! Beware! Rise! Be ready! Stay Awake!” We had this same command, this same warning from Jesus in the text two week ago, the last Sunday of the church year. And, remember, being ready for the second coming is faith, trust in His word, trust in the promise that all our sins are covered by the blood of Jesus.

What Should We Do Then?

But the text before us is different. It does not just have commands for us as we wait in expectation, it also tells us what we are to do when Jesus returns. We have it in two places in the text. First, verse 28:

“Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

When you see the earth falling apart, sit up straight, and lift up your head. This is simply beautiful. Jesus doesn’t say, “Fall on the earth with your face in the dirt. Cover yourself in ashes. Run for the hills.” “Chin up,” He says, because His coming, like everything else, is for you.

“Your redemption is drawing near,” Jesus says. That is the sweetest name given to the second coming of Jesus, our Redemption drawing near, and that is why we are standing with our head and eyes up. The second coming of Jesus is not our destruction drawing near, or our judgment drawing near, our punishment drawing near. No. Our Redemption drawing near, the one who gave up everything for us, the one who bled and died on the cross for us, for you, that is who is coming.

Oh do you see how the devil has worked so hard to convince you that Jesus hates you and that he is the one who loves you? The devil would scare you with the last day; Jesus would rescue you, from sin, from death, from temptation, from this deceiving devil.

The second command for us on that day is just like the first, in the last verse of the text, verse 36:

“But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

You will escape all of this trouble, and in the end you will stand.

Imagine a huge tornado sweeping through Aurora, miles wide, raging, and every thing in it’s path is flattened to the ground. But there is a tornado-proof house, and you live in it. After this tornado, your home is still standing.

You, dear saints, live in a judgment proof-home. The foundation is the word of God. That was also in our text, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” With your heart established in the Lord’s Word, you will stand.

You are covered with the blood of Jesus. Like the Israelites in Egypt, with nothing but the lamb’s blood on their door-post for protection against the destroying angel, we too have nothing but the blood of Jesus standing between us and hell, but this is enough. more than enough. Your judgment has already occurred, on the cross. The punishment for your sins has already taken place in the forsaken-ness of Jesus. The righteousness of God has already been put to your name. You are already adopted into the family of God. The Father already smiles upon you.

There is this myth floating around that the Christian will face judgment when they die, or on the last day. No. The unbeliever certainly will, a judgment of their works stained with unbelief. But listen to the words of Jesus, (John 5:24):

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

Dear Christian, on the last day you have a command from your Jesus, you have something that you are to do. When the mountains are shaking and falling into the sea (Psalm 46:2), when the sun is turned dark and the moon is turned into blood (Joel 2:31), when the stars are falling from the sky (Mark 13:22), when the powers of heaven are being shaken (Luke 21:26), and the elements are dissolving in fire (2 Peter 3:7, 10-12), Jesus tells you to straighten up, to lift up your head, to stand.

By God’s goodness and grace you are forgiven, you are righteous and holy, you are His. By God’s grace, on the last day, by God’s grace and Christ’s blood, you will stand.

This is how things will be at the end for you. While everything else in the world is crumbling and falling and coming undone, you will “stand before the Son of Man.”
“But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. Amen.

1. If God is mad at my sin, He must be happy with my good works.
2. I’m pretty good.
3. God is pretty nice.
4. Conviction is manifest in the creation of new rules.

Feel free to add more below.

Thanks.

What is the Reformation about? We know that 494 years and one day ago, All Saint’s Eve of 1517, a monk and professor of theology walked down the street of Wittenberg, Germany and nailed a list of grievances to the door of the castle church. We know that that was a spark that set on fire the European continent with a massive theological debate, a debate that is still raging, even today.

But what is that debate? What was it that Luther was teaching? What do we say when someone asks us, “What is it that you Lutheran’s believe anyhow?”

The Three Solas

There are different ways to answer these question. One way is to talk of the three Solas of the Reformation: Sola Gratia, Sola Fide, Sola Scriptura, Grace Alone, Faith Alone and Scripture alone. The church at the time had grace and faith and the Scriptures, but they were not alone. It was grace and acts of love, faith and works, Scripture and tradition and the voice of the church. “No, no,” said the Lutheran teachers, “We are justified, declared forgiven, imputed with God’s righteousness, by God’s grace alone apart from our preparation and ability, by faith alone apart from our works and merit, through the Scripture alone and not by the words and teaching of men.” It was these solas, these ‘alones’ that really got the Lutherans in trouble.

Law and Gospel, Very Distinguished

Another way to teach the Lutheran distinctive is with the distinction of the law and the Gospel. God speaks two words, the word of law which tells us how to live a holy life and shows us that we have not lived a holy life, and the word of the Gospel which promises us forgiveness because our Lord Jesus lived a holy life for us, and died in our place. The distinction of law and Gospel let the law burn forth in its full severity, and the Gospel shine in its full sweetness. We are truly poor and miserable sinners, but we are sinners who are forgiven with the blood of Jesus.

Luther Discovers the Gospel

Another way we might speak of the Reformation is by recounting Luther’s discovery of the Gospel. As he records it himself in the introduction to the collection of his Latin Writings, it must have been in the winter of 1518-1519, and he was meditating on Romans 1:16-17, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’” That word righteousness drove Luther nuts. Isn’t it enough that the Lord demands righteousness in the Ten Commandments, and now He heaps even more demands and requirements on us in the Gospel? By his own confession Luther says, “I hated that word ‘the righteousness of God.’” But then, paying attention to the words, he sees the context, that this righteousness is a righteousness of faith, not of works, of believing, not doing. And now the insight hits him, “This is not my own righteousness, this is the very righteousness of God, given to me as a gift!” (I printed out Luther telling his own story. It’s on the green insert.)

“Oh yeah, Jesus died.”

Crux sola est nostra theologia, that is, "Oh yeah, Jesus died."

All of this is good, and there are more, but I would like to propose an explanation of the Reformation this morning that gets right do to it, and it is this: “Oh yeah, Jesus died.” It’s that simple. “Oh yeah, Jesus died.” If God is going to go through the trouble of becoming a man, and being tempted in every way by the devil, and tasting the weakness and sorrow of humanity, and taking upon Himself our sin and suffering the wrath of God that we deserve and dying in agony, abandoned and naked, hanging on a cross, and then be laid in the ground, if God is going to do all that, then maybe, just maybe, that should be reflected in our theology.

So the church wants to sell indulgences, that is, it wants to apply the merits of the saints to those suffering for their venial sins in purgatory. Sounds good, until you remember, “Oh yeah, Jesus died.” There is no more condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.

Or we might hear the teaching that through the infusion of sacramental merit we are able to do good works to please God. Sounds good, until you remember, “Oh yeah, Jesus died.” If He died for me, I must not be good enough to please Him.

In fact, any teaching that would mix in our own human effort with salvation, that would have us cooperate with God, or all the revivalistic shenanigans that we hear about in the so-called Evangelical churches: making a decision for Christ, inviting Jesus into your heart, praying the sinner’s prayer, walking down the aisle, whatever, all of these false theologies and false practices run into the wall when we remember, “Oh yeah, Jesus died.” You did not choose Me, says Jesus, I chose you. He died because we cannot save ourselves. He did it all, everything we need is found in Him.

There is, in the Roman Catholic Church, an affection for the Virgin Mary which continues to approach idolatry. Jesus is the judge, but Mary can pray for us and win His affection. Sounds good, until we remember, “Oh yeah, Jesus died.” No man has greater love than this, to lay down his life for a friend, and yet while we were His enemies, Christ died for the ungodly.

Whatever the teaching or practice in the church, it is run through this cruncher: the death of Jesus. “Oh yeah, Jesus died.” That is the teaching of Luther, the teaching of the Reformation, the simple teaching of the Scriptures.

Here’s Luther:

The first and chief article is this, That Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, “died for our sins, and was raised again for our justification,” Romans 4:25. And He alone is “the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world,” John 1:29; and “God has laid upon Him the iniquities of us all,” Isaiah 53:6. Likewise: “All have sinned and are justified without merit by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, in His blood,” Romans 3:23f. Now, since it is necessary to believe this, and it cannot be otherwise acquired or apprehended by any work, law, or merit, it is clear and certain that this faith alone justifies us as St. Paul says, Romans 3:28: “For we conclude that a man is justified by faith, without the deeds of the Law.” Likewise 3:26: “That He might be just, and the Justifier of him which believeth in Christ.”

Of this article nothing can be yielded or surrendered, even though heaven and earth, and whatever will not abide, should sink to ruin. For “there is none other name under heaven, given among men whereby we must be saved,” says Peter, Acts 4:12. And “with His stripes we are healed,” Isaiah 53:5. And upon this article all things depend which we teach and practice in opposition to the Pope, the devil, and the world. Therefore, we must be sure concerning this doctrine, and not doubt; for otherwise all is lost, and the Pope and devil and all things gain the victory and suit over us. (Smalcald Articles II.I)

Got it? Luther said it a bit more simply another time: “The cross alone is our theology.” “Oh yeah, Jesus died.”

And this is the teaching of the Scriptures.

Peter: “…you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.” (1 Peter 1:18-19)

John: “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 4:10)

Paul: “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.” (1 Timothy 1:15)

John the Baptist: “Behold the Lam of God who takes away the sin of the World.” (John 1:29)

Jesus: “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45)

“Oh yeah, Jesus died.” That is all, really, that we need to know. It tells us about ourselves, that we are sinners who are unable to save ourselves. Our salvation requires the blood of God. And it tells us all we need to know about our God. Oh yeah, Jesus died. God would not leave us in our sin, in our trouble, in our death and grave. He came to rescue and deliver us, to take away our sins, to bind up our devil, to break open our grave.

So any time the devil troubles you, with guilt over your sin, or with your utter lack of goodness, remember: Jesus died. Any time the troubles of this world pile up like a mountain and threaten to topple over and crush you: Jesus died. When the darkness of your own grave looms, and your death draws near: Jesus died. Jesus died for you.

Jesus died, there is no sin not forgiven.
Jesus died, God is not angry with you.
Jesus died, the devil’s reign is over.
Jesus died, you are His dear child, declared perfect and holy.
Jesus died, heaven’s door is opened. You have nothing to fear.

This is the brilliant light of the Reformation, of the Scriptures, of the Gospel: Jesus died for you.