THE WEEK OF TRINITY XXV - SATURDAY

LESSON: MATTHEW 24:36‒44

“For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of man.” Matthew 24:27

Christ means to say here: “Do not believe it if some attempt is made to make you believe that Christ is limited to this place or that place and someone tries to lead you from faith to works. I warn you not to fall away from pure faith. You do not know at what hour I will come again. When no one is really expecting it, I will suddenly be here again as quickly as a flash of lightning lights up the heavens. Those who have not kept the faith will then be lost. See to it that the day does not come upon you unawares. Be strong in faith so that you do not become lazy and sleepy and the devil tears you away from faith.”

These words are simply written down here one after the other, without order. Matthew heaps up everything here without order. So the following words do not really fit in very well here: “Wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together” (Matthew 24:28).

What He means is that we should not ask for the exact place where Christ will come again. “No matter where I am, we shall probably find each other, as we say, ‘Wherever there is a body, there the eagles will gather together.’ Eagles do not fly to some particular spot that they have selected for themselves; but wherever there is a body they gather together. Hence those who are Mine will doubtless find Me. Where I am, My chosen ones will also be.”

This text speaks of the end of the Jews and of the world. Matthew mingles this with the signs of the last day. Luke writes of these matters quite clearly.

SL.XI.1883,29‒30
AE. 79:324-336

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, You have taught us clearly in Your Word that this world will end, and that Your Son Jesus Christ is coming again to judge the living and the dead. Keep us strong in faith so that we are always prepared to meet Christ when He comes again, trusting in His merits and clothes in His righteousness, for Your mercy and truth’s sake. Amen.

THE WEEK OF TRINITY XXV - FRIDAY

LESSON: LUKE 17:22‒37

“If they say to you, ‘Lo, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out; if they say, ‘Lo, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.” Matthew 24:26

At the time of the holy fathers, like Anthony and others, shortly after the time of the apostles, the error of which Christ spoke here had already arisen, although strongly opposed by Anthony. Everybody became interested in the wilderness, and many thousands of saints made their homes there. This kind of devotion soon gained such repute and publicity that Jerome and Augustine became its adoring devotees and could not praise it highly enough.

If we look at this business without blinkers on, however, we see that Christ’s words here in the text are absolutely opposed to it, and that among all these thousands there were many heretics who must have been damned. Although there were also holy people in the deserts who escaped being seduced, the example they set was certainly dangerous and not to be held up for emulation.

The Christian life must not simply be linked with the desert but must be allowed freedom to develop everywhere. Christ lived His life here on earth in the midst of the world, and so also did His apostles. It is Christ’s will that we should step out into the world even today to preach publicly and exhort men to come to Christ.

Those who went out into the wilderness simply forsook their fellowmen and refused to stay in the world because they thought that they were being called upon to suffer too much in this world. They chose their own ascetic way of life because they wanted to be higher-ranking Christians than the others who remained in the world.

SL.XI.1882,28
AE. 79:324-336

PRAYER: Lord God, heavenly Father, it is Your will that we should spend our lives in the midst of our fellowmen here in this world. Give us at all times the insights and the love to really serve our fellowmen in a way that will bring them, together with us, to the enjoyment of the blessings You have prepared for us, through Christ our Savior. Amen.

THE WEEK OF TRINITY XXV - THURSDAY

LESSON: JOHN 6:66‒69

Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12

Christ’s words lie before us plain and clear. We must believe them and let them stand. We cannot get over them, even though the holy angels in heaven opposed them. Is not Christ holier than they are, and should not His Word have as much authority as theirs? He does not speak of many, nor of the large body who always make up the majority, but of the smallest group made up from the elect. These are going to stumble to such an extent that there is every likelihood that they could be misled. He warns us not to cling to them when we see them clinging to mere externals. If they never err, then Christ cannot be quite truthful in making this announcement. Hence, even if all the saints were to come forward and tell me to believe in the pope, I will still not do so, saying, “Even though you are the elect, Christ has said that there will be such terrible and dangerous times that even you will err.”

We must cling alone to Scripture and God’s Word which declares that He is not here or there. I must be where He is. He is not necessarily where my work or particular rank is. Anyone who teaches me otherwise deceives me. Hence, I repeat, there is no point in raising the objection that the holy fathers and teachers held such and such a view, and lived such and such a life, and therefore we must hold the same views and live the same lives.

The only argument we admit runs as follows: “Christ taught and held such and such views, and therefore we must also hold these views.” Christ has more authority for us than all the saints.

SL.XI.1881,27
AE. 79:324-336

PRAYER: As Your beloved children, heavenly Father, we must always believe and obey You rather than men. Fill our hearts with such trust and confidence that we always obey Your Word, in and through our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

THE WEEK OF TRINITY XXV - WEDNESDAY

LESSON: MARK 13:14‒23

“False Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.” Matthew 24:24

These are choice, earnest, but also terrible words that these preachers of works will push such teaching into the people with such outward glitter and emphasis that even the saints who stand fast in the faith will not be able to guard themselves against it, but will join in error with the rest. This is indeed what happened. The dear fathers, Augustine, Jerome, together with St. Bernard, Gregory, Francis, Dominic, and many others, although they were holy, nevertheless all fell at times into error, as I have often demonstrated elsewhere.

Their error was the error of their time. Together with their contemporaries, they tied Christianity to certain external practices, and they pushed matters so far that they adopted such practices outwardly in their lives. We see this in the books of St. Bernard. He writes very poorly in reply to questions on the monastic vocation. But when he writes freely out of his inner Christian spirit, he is a fine preacher whom it is a pleasure to hear. This is also the case with Augustine, Jerome, and Cyprian, the fine Christian martyrs. When they were asked a question about the Law or external ordinances, whether one should observe them this way or that, they flopped right into things so that they came very close to being misled.

This is still one of the chief objections we hear from our opponents. “Could so many holy men and teachers have erred, and could God have forsaken the world to such an extent?” they ask us. They do not see how this passage really turns them topsy-turvy.

SL.XI.1880,26
AE. 79:324-336

PRAYER: We know how easy it is, heavenly Father, for even outstanding believers and teachers to fall into error. Guide us by Your Holy Spirit into the truth and keep us in it, through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

THE WEEK OF TRINITY XXV - TUESDAY

LESSON: GALATIANS 3:10‒14

“If anyone says to you, ‘Lo, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it.” Matthew 24:23

We should know and understand this passage and similar ones very well. There have always been those who have tried to gain currency for their ideas of the kingdom of Christ by attaching the Christian Church to external, visible features and circumstances, or even by identifying it with certain prominent leaders, claiming that the kingdom of Christ is wherever a certain leader is to be found. Their chief objective is that we should find them and be influenced by personal relationships and particular styles in our religious persuasions. In other words, everything is decided by external factors. Monasteries and ecclesiastical institutions have often been influenced in this way. “If you accept our way of life,” they say, “eat as we do, dress according to our direction, pray and fast as we do, you will atone for your sins and be saved.”

Christ gives us a good description of this kind of thing here. He is aiming His remarks especially at all the monasteries, religious ranks, and all the special works with which they try to help the souls of men. He warns us to be on our guard and not to allow ourselves to be torn from the foundation on which we stand; namely, that we do not become Christians by any of these institutions, ranks, or works, but are saved from all evil and brought into His kingdom through His blood alone, if we believe in Him.

He removes from our sight everything temporal and external, and with one word strikes down all doctrine which does not preach faith purely, and all living which is not governed by the correct doctrine of faith. He says here in brief, “If anyone says to you, ‘Lo, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it.” He means to say, “Be on your guard against everything that leads you to works; for it will deceive you and tear you away from Me.”

SL.XI.1879,25
AE. 79:324-336

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, protect us at all times against all false doctrine and misunderstandings which would modify our faith and trust in You alone and direct us to our own vain works and merits, for Your mercy and truth’s sake. Amen.

THE WEEK OF TRINITY XXV - MONDAY

LESSON: LUKE 19:41‒44

Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and that temple you are. 1 Corinthians 3:16‒17

When Christ ascended into heaven, He did not lock up His kingdom in the land of the Jews; He spread it out into the whole world through the Gospel which was preached and heard everywhere. But, like the Jews, we deny and persecute God’s Word and put to death the Christians who confess and preach it. The Romans were the first to do this, but their example has been continued by the pope, the bishops, princes, monks, and priests right up to our day. For five hundred years or more, no one was permitted to preach God’s Word without, at least for appearance sake, reciting the text of the Gospel from the pulpit. But these preachers mostly extracted the doctrine of men from these texts or dragged it into these texts. Whenever anyone raised objections to this, he was silenced with fire and sword.

Daniel’s word about the “desolating sacrilege” is certainly important also for us. This “desolating sacrilege” is the false doctrine current in the Church, that men must save themselves by performing all the works imposed on them by the Church and its hierarchy, and by falling in line with all the machinery that has been set up in the Church to force men into obedience to this “desolating sacrilege.”

The pure doctrine of the Word is the doctrine which we proclaim—that we are saved from sin, death, the devil, and all misfortune through Christ and established in God’s kingdom through the Word and faith.

Where this is preached and believed, Christ dwells and reigns in the hearts spiritually without means. There the Holy Spirit also dwells with all the blessings and fullness of God’s riches.

SL.XI.1875,17‒19
AE. 79:324-336

PRAYER: O Lord our God, You have warned us in no uncertain manner that false doctrine can be sacrilege. May we never fall into the sacrilege which sets aside the clear truth of Your Word and substitutes for it the doctrine of men, ending in spiritual sin. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

THE WEEK OF TRINITY XXV - SUNDAY

LESSON: MATTHEW 24:15‒28

“When you see the desolating sacrilege spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains; let him who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house; and let him who is in the field not turn back to take his mantle.” Matthew 24:15‒18

In this chapter we have a description of the conclusion and end of two kingdoms—the kingdom of the Jews as well as the end of the whole world. These two the evangelists Matthew and Mark toss together without observing any due order as the Gospel of Luke does. All that these evangelists want to do is to give and to relate the words of Christ; they do not trouble themselves with what He spoke first or subsequently. But Luke takes special care to write more clearly and with more order, and reports this whole discussion twice. First, briefly in chapter nineteen he speaks of the destruction of the Jews at Jerusalem, and then in chapter twenty-one he reports these two matters in succession.

You must know, then, that Matthew here wraps together and takes up at the same time the end of both the Jewish people and the end of the world, and cooks this up into one broth. If you want to understand it, you have to separate and draw out each part to its end, that which is spoken of the Jews and that which is spoken of the whole world.

SL.XI.1870,1‒2
AE. 79:324-336

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, guide and direct us by Your Holy Spirit so that we may always accept Your Word given us through men and in human form as the Word of truth and salvation, for Your name’s sake. Amen.

Editor’s note: No American Edition (AE) equivalent for today’s sermon excerpt exists at the time of this publication. For an alternate English translation of this sermon, see Lenker, Church Postil–Gospels, 5:326-343.

LESSON: TITUS 2:11‒14

He saved us, not because of deeds done by us in righteousness, but in virtue of His own mercy, . . . through Jesus Christ our Savior. Titus 3:5‒6

He who wants to have a cheerful conscience which does not fear sin, death, hell, or God’s wrath must not push this Mediator, Christ, out of the way. He is the fountain overflowing with grace who imparts temporal and eternal life. Open your heart and accept Him as your Mediator and you will have all you need. He gushes and flows forth and can do nothing else but give, flow forth, and gush, if only you can believe it. You have the right to the name Christian only when you are a Christian in receiving; otherwise, if you want to give much, you are no Christian. This is the rich, precious Word which Paul praises so highly and can never praise enough, that God intermingles His Son so graciously among us that He pours out His grace over all who accept it.

From all this it follows that if a Christian does good works and manifests love to his neighbor, he does not become a Christian or acquire a godly status thereby, but he must first be a Christian and have acquired a godly status, and then good works result. He certainly does good works, but his good works do not make him a Christian. The tree brings forth or produces good fruits; the fruits do not make the tree. So here also, no one becomes a Christian by good works, but through Christ alone.

From all this you should understand what kind of people Christians are and what their kingdom is. As a group, they cling to Christ, and with Him they all have the one spirit and like gifts. On this basis Christians are all equal; the one does not have more in Christ than the other.

SL.XI.1839,11‒12

PRAYER: Lord God, our heavenly Father, give us a faith that is ever active in works of love to or neighbor, in and through Christ our Savior. Amen.

Editor’s note: No American Edition (AE) equivalent for today’s sermon excerpt exists at the time of this publication. For an alternate English translation of this sermon, see Lenker, Church Postil–Gospels, 5:326-343.