Epistle Sermons Volume III Part 14

MEANING OF "LED BY THE SPIRIT OF G.o.d."

13. To be "led by the Spirit of G.o.d" means, then, to be given a heart which gladly hears G.o.d's Word and believes that in Christ it has grace and the forgiveness of sins; a heart which confesses and proves its faith before the world; a heart which seeks, above all things, the glory of G.o.d, and endeavors to live without giving offense, to serve others and to be obedient, patient, pure and chaste, mild and gentle; a heart which, though at times overtaken in a fault and it stumble, soon rises again by repentance, and ceases to sin. All these things the Holy Spirit teaches one if he hears and receives the Word, and does not wilfully resist the Spirit.

14. On the other hand, the devil, who also is a spirit, persuades the hearts of the worldlings. But it soon becomes evident that his work is not that of a good spirit or a divine spirit. For he only leads men to do the reverse of that which the Spirit of G.o.d leads them to do; then they find no pleasure in hearing and obeying G.o.d's Word, but despise G.o.d, and become proud and haughty, avaricious, unmerciful.

15. Let every one therefore take heed that he do not deceive himself.

For there are many who claim to be Christians and yet are not. We perceive this from the fact that not all are led by the Spirit of G.o.d. Some spirit there must be by which men are led. If it is not the Spirit of G.o.d leading them to oppose the flesh, then it must be the other and evil spirit leading them to give way to the flesh and its l.u.s.ts and to oppose the Spirit of G.o.d. They must, therefore, either be G.o.d's own, his dear children, his sons and his daughters, called to eternal life and glory; or they must be rejected and abandoned, children of the devil, and with him heirs of eternal fire.

16. Paul takes occasion to speak more at length on the words "sons of G.o.d," and proceeds in beautiful and comforting words to describe the nature and glory of this sonship. He only begins the subject, however, in today's text. He says:

"For ye received not the spirit of bondage again unto fear; but ye received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father."

17. This is a n.o.ble and comforting text, worthy of being written in letters of gold. Because ye now through faith, he means to say, have the Holy Spirit and are led by him, ye are no longer in bondage as ye were when under the Law; ye need no longer be afraid of its terrors and its demands, as if G.o.d would condemn and reject you on account of your unworthiness and the remaining infirmity of your flesh. On the contrary, ye have the consolation that, through faith, ye have the a.s.surance of G.o.d's grace, and may consider G.o.d your Father and call upon him as his children.

TWO KINDS OF PREACHING AND OF WORKS.

18. Thus he contrasts the two kinds of works which spring from the two kinds of preaching and doctrine--of the Law and of the Gospel--and which const.i.tute the difference between the Christians and those still without faith and the knowledge of Christ. They who have nothing and know nothing but the Law, can never attain to true, heartfelt trust and confidence in G.o.d, though they do ever so much and exercise themselves ever so earnestly in the Law. For when the Law shines upon them in real clearness and they see what it demands of them and how far they come short of its fulfilment, when it thus discloses to them G.o.d's wrath, it produces in them only a terror, a fear and dread, of G.o.d under which they must at last perish if they be not rescued by the Gospel. This is what Paul here terms "the spirit of bondage," one that produces only fear and dread of G.o.d.

But, on the other hand, if the heart grasps the preaching of the Gospel, which declares that, without any merit or worthiness on our part, G.o.d forgives us our sins, for Christ's sake, if we believe in him--then it finds in G.o.d's grace comfort against the terrors of the Law; then the Holy Spirit enables it to abide in that confidence, to hold fast to that comfort, and to call upon G.o.d sincerely in that faith, even though it feels and confesses to be still weak and sinful. This is what is meant by receiving "the spirit of adoption."

19. Paul speaks of the "spirit of bondage" and the "spirit of adoption" according to the customs of his times. In those days men-servants and maid-servants were the property of the master of the house in the same sense that a cow was his property. He bought them with his money; he did with them as he pleased, just as with his cattle. They were afraid of their master and had to expect stripes, imprisonment and punishment even unto death. They could not say, So much of my master's property belongs to me, and he must give it to me. But they had always to reflect: Here I serve for my bread only; I have nothing to expect but stripes, and must be content to have my master cast me out or sell me to someone else whenever he chooses.

They could never have a well-grounded hope of release from such fear and bondage and coercion.

20. Such a slavish spirit, such a captive, fearful and uncertain spirit, ye do not have, says the apostle. Ye are not compelled to live continually in fear of wrath and condemnation as are the followers of Moses and all who are under the Law. On the contrary, ye have a delightful, free spirit, one confident and contented, such as a child entertains toward its father, and ye need not fear that G.o.d is angry with you or will cast you off and condemn you. For ye have the Spirit of his Son (as he says above and in Galatians 4, 6) in your heart and know that ye shall remain in his house and receive the inheritance, and that ye may comfort yourselves with it and boast of it as being your own.

CHILDREN OF G.o.d.

21. On this "spirit of adoption," that is on what the apostle means when he says "whereby we cry, Abba, Father," I have spoken at some length in my sermon on the text Galatians 4, 6, where the same words are used. In short, Paul describes here the power of the kingdom of Christ, the real work and the true exalted worship the Holy Spirit effects in believers: the comfort by which the heart is freed from the terror and fear of sin and given peace, and the heartfelt supplication which in faith expects of G.o.d an answer and his help.

These blessings cannot be secured through the Law or our own holiness. By such means man could never obtain the comfort of G.o.d's grace and love to him; he would always remain in fear and dread of wrath and condemnation, and, because of such doubt, would flee from G.o.d, not daring to call upon him. But where there is faith in Christ, there the Holy Spirit brings the comfort spoken of, and a childlike trust which does not doubt that G.o.d is gracious and will answer prayer, because he has promised all these--grace and help, comfort, and answer to prayer--not for the sake of our worthiness, but for the sake of the name and merit of Christ, his Son.

22. Of these two works of the Holy Spirit, comfort and supplication, the prophet Zechariah (ch. 12, 10) said that G.o.d would establish a new dispensation in the kingdom of Christ when he should pour out "the spirit of grace and of supplication." The spirit he speaks of is the same who a.s.sures us that we are G.o.d's children, and desires us to cry to him with heartfelt supplications.

23. The Hebrew word "Abba"--which, as the apostle himself interprets it, means "Father"--is the word which the tiny heir lisps in childlike confidence to its father, calling him "Ab, Ab"; for it is the easiest word the child can learn to speak: or, as the old German language has it, almost easier still, "Etha, Etha." Such simple, childlike words faith uses toward G.o.d through the Holy Spirit, but they proceed out of the depth of the heart and, as afterwards stated, "with groanings which cannot be uttered." Rom 8, 26. Especially is this the case when the doubtings of the flesh and the terrors and torments of the devil bring conflict and distress. Man must defend himself against these and cries out: O dear Father! Thou art, indeed, my Father, for thou hast given thine only and beloved Son for me.

Thou wilt not be angry with me or disown me. Or: Thou seest my distress and my weakness; do thou help and save me.

"The Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are children of G.o.d."

24. That we are children of G.o.d and may confidently regard ourselves as such, we do not learn from ourselves nor from the Law. We learn it from the witness of the Spirit, who, in spite of the Law and of our unworthiness, testifies to it in our weakness and a.s.sures us of it.

This witness is the experience within ourselves of the power of the Holy Spirit working through the Word, and the knowledge that our experience accords with the Word and the preaching of the Gospel. For thou art surely aware whether or no, when thou art in fear and distress, thou dost obtain comfort from the Gospel, and art able to overcome thy doubts and terror; to so overcome that thy heart is a.s.sured of G.o.d's graciousness, and thou no longer fleest from him, but canst cheerfully call upon him in faith, expecting help. Where such a faith exists, consciousness of help must follow. So Saint Paul says, Rom 5, 4-5: "Stedfastness worketh approvedness; and approvedness, hope: and hope putteth not to shame."

25. This is the true inward witness by which thou mayest perceive that the Holy Spirit is at work in thee. In addition to this, thou hast also external witnesses and signs: for instance, it is a witness of the Holy Spirit in thee that he gives thee special gifts, acute spiritual understanding, grace and success in thy calling; that thou hast pleasure and delight in G.o.d's Word, confessing it before the world at the peril of life and limb; that thou hatest and resistest unG.o.dliness and sin. Those who have not the Holy Spirit are neither willing nor able to do these things. It is true, that even in the Christian, these things are accomplished in great weakness; but the Holy Spirit governs them in their weakness, and strengthens in them this witness, as Paul says again: "The Spirit also helpeth our infirmity." Rom 8, 26.

HEIRS OF G.o.d.

"And if children, then heirs; heirs of G.o.d, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified with him."

26. Here, then, thou hast the high boast, the honor and the glory of the Christian. Leave to the world its splendor, its pride and its honors, which mean nothing else--when it comes to the point--than that they are the children of the devil. But do thou consider the marvel of this, that a poor, miserable sinner should obtain such honor with G.o.d as to be called, not a slave nor a servant of G.o.d, but a son and an heir of G.o.d! Any man, yea the whole world, might well consider it privilege enough to be called one of G.o.d's lowest creatures, only so that they might have the honor of being G.o.d's property. For who would not wish to belong to such a Lord and Creator? But the apostle declares here that we who believe in Christ shall be not his servants, but his own sons and daughters, his heirs.

Who can sufficiently magnify or utter G.o.d's grace? It is beyond the power of our expression or comprehension.

27. Yet here our great human weakness discovers itself. If we fully and confidently believed this, then of what should we be afraid or who could do us harm? He who from the heart can say to G.o.d, Thou art my Father and I am thy child--he who can say this can surely bid defiance to all the devils in h.e.l.l, and joyfully despise the threatenings and ragings of the whole world. For he possesses, in his Father, a Lord before whom all creatures must tremble and without whose will they can do nothing; and he possesses a heritage which no creature can harm, a dominion which none can reduce.

28. But the apostle adds here the words, "if so be that we suffer with him," to teach us that while we are on earth we must so live as to approve ourselves good, obedient children, who do not obey the flesh, but who, for the sake of this dominion, endure whatever befalls them or causes pain to the flesh. If we do this, then we may well comfort ourselves and with reason rejoice and glory in the fact the apostle declares, that "as many as are led by the Spirit of G.o.d,"

and do not obey the promptings of the flesh, "these are the sons of G.o.d."

29. O how n.o.ble it is in a man not to obey his l.u.s.ts, but to resist them with a strong faith, even though he suffer for it! To be the child of a mighty and renowned king or emperor means to possess n.o.bility, honor and glory on earth. How much more glorious it would be, could a man truthfully boast that he is the son of one of the highest of the angels! Yet what would be all that compared with one who is named and chosen by G.o.d himself, and called his son, the heir of exalted divine majesty? Such sonship and heritage must a.s.suredly imply great and unspeakable glory and riches, and power and honor, above all else that is in heaven or in earth. This very honor, even though we had nothing but the name and fame of it, ought to move us to become the enemies of this sinful life on earth and to strive against it with all our powers, notwithstanding we should have to surrender all for its sake and suffer all things possible for a human being to suffer. But the human heart cannot grasp the greatness of the honor and glory to which we shall be exalted with Christ. It is altogether above our comprehension or imagination. This Paul declares in what follows, in verse 18, where he says: "I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us-ward," as we have heard in the text for the fifth Sunday after Trinity.

_Ninth Sunday After Trinity_

Text: 1 Corinthians 10, 6-13.

6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not l.u.s.t after evil things, as they also l.u.s.ted. 7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. 8 Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. 9 Neither let us make trial of the Lord, as some of them made trial, and perished by the serpents. 10 Neither murmur ye, as some of them murmured, and perished by the destroyer. 11 Now these things happened unto them by way of example; and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come. 12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as man can bear: but G.o.d is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation make also the way of escape, that ye may be able to endure it.

CARNAL SECURITY AND ITS VICES.

1. Here is a very earnest admonition, a message as severe as Paul ever indited, although he is writing to baptized Christians, who always compose the true Church of Christ. He confronts them with several awful examples selected from the very Church, from Israel the chosen people of G.o.d.

2. Paul's occasion and meaning in writing this epistle was the security of the Corinthians. Conscious of their privileged enjoyment of Christ, of baptism and the Sacrament, they thought they lacked nothing and fell to creating sects and schisms among themselves.

Forgetting charity, they despised one another. So far from reforming in life, and retrieving their works of iniquity, they became more and more secure, and followed their own inclinations, even allowing a man to have his father's wife. At the same time they desired to be regarded Christians, and boastfully prided themselves on having received the Gospel from the great apostles. So Paul was impelled to write them a stern letter, dealing them severity such as he nowhere else employs. In fact, it seems almost as if it were going too far to so address Christians; the rebuke might easily have struck weak and tender consciences with intolerable harshness. But, as in the second epistle, seeing how his sternness has startled the Corinthians, he modifies it to some extent, and deals tenderly with the repentant.

3. However, in the striking Scripture examples of the text here, he sufficiently shows the need for such admonition to them who would, after having received grace, become carnally secure and abandon the repentant life.

4. The text should properly include the beginning of this tenth chapter, which is read in the pa.s.sage for Third Sunday before Lent.

He begins with: "I would not, brethren, have you ignorant, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all pa.s.sed through the sea; and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and did all eat the same spiritual food; and did all drink the same spiritual drink.... Howbeit with most of them G.o.d was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness." Then follows our text here--"Now these things were our examples."

5. As we said, the admonition is to those already Christians. Paul would have them know that although they are baptized unto Christ, and have received and still enjoy his blessing through grace alone, without their own merit, yet they are under obligation ever to obey him; they are not to be proud and boastful, nor to misuse his grace.

Christ desires obedience on our part, though obedience does not justify us in his sight nor merit his grace. For instance, a bride's fidelity to her husband cannot be the merit that purchased his favor when he chose her. She is the bridegroom's own because it pleased him to make her so, even had she been a harlot. But now that he has honored her, he would have her maintain that honor henceforth by her purity; if she fails therein, the bridegroom has the right and power to put her away.

Again, a poor, wretched orphan, a b.a.s.t.a.r.d, a foundling, may be adopted as a son by some G.o.dly man and made his heir, though not meriting the honor. Now, if in return for such kindness the child becomes disobedient and refractory, he justly may be cut off from the inheritance. Not by the merit of their devotion, as Moses often hinted, did the Jews become the people of G.o.d; they were ever stiff-necked and continually rebelled against him. G.o.d, having chosen them and led them out of Egypt, urgently commanded them to serve him and obey his Word. But when they failed to fulfil the commandments, they had to feel the terrific force of his punishment.

ISRAEL'S CARNAL SECURITY A WARNING TO US.

6. Their example Paul here, with great earnestness, holds up to the world as a warning against carnally and confidently presuming upon the grace and goodness of G.o.d because we have already received of them. In unmistakable colors the apostle portrays the teaching of this striking and important, this weighty and specific, example.

Rightly viewed, there certainly is no greater, more wonderful, story from the creation of the world down to the present time, nothing more marvelous to be found in any book--except that supremely wonderful work, the death and resurrection of the Son of G.o.d--than this history of a people led by G.o.d's power out of Egypt, through the wilderness and into the promised land. It is filled with the remarkably wonderful works of G.o.d, with striking examples of his anger and of his great kindness.

7. Referring to these examples, Paul goes on to imply: "As Christians and baptized, you should be familiar with them. If you are not, I would not fail to bring them before you for reflection on what befell other people of G.o.d, according to the Scripture record. They were our fathers, a n.o.ble, intelligent and great company and congregation of men, numbering over six hundred thousands, not counting wives and children."

They, Paul tells us, were termed, and rightly, the holy people of G.o.d. G.o.d designed their welfare; and through Moses, their bishop and pope, they had the Word of G.o.d, the promise and the Sacrament. Under Moses they were all baptized, when he led them through the sea, and by the cloud, under the shadow of which, sheltered from the heat, they daily pursued their journey. At night a beautiful pillar of fire, an intense lightning-like brilliance, protected them. In addition, their bread came daily from heaven and they drank water from the rock. These providences were their Sacrament, and their sign that G.o.d was with them to protect. They believed on the promised Christ, the Son of G.o.d, their guide in the wilderness. Thus they were a n.o.ble, highly-favored and holy people.

8. But with the great ma.s.s of the people, how long did faith last? No longer than until they came into the wilderness. There they began to despise G.o.d's Word, to murmur against Moses and against G.o.d and to fall into idolatry. Whereupon G.o.d vindicated himself among them; of all that great nation which came out from Egypt, of all the ill.u.s.trious ones who a.s.sisted Moses in leading and governing, only two individuals pa.s.sed from the wilderness into Canaan. Plainly, then, G.o.d had no pleasure in the great ma.s.s of that host. It did not avail them to be called the people of G.o.d, a holy people, a company to whom G.o.d had shown marvelous kindness and great wonders; because they refused to believe and obey the Word of G.o.d.