Monday, June 20, 2011

Martin Luther On Galatians 3:13

We went to church with Mary K and Daniel yesterday and the pastor taught from Galatians 3:10-14. While commenting on v 13 he offered a quote from Martin Luther on the verse. That quote is in bold below but the rest of the commentary was excellent as well so I also included that. Amen! This is good news!

3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree. 

Paul does not say that Christ was made a curse for Himself. The accent is on the two words "for us." Christ is personally innocent. Personally, He did not deserve to be hanged for any crime of His own doing. But because Christ took the place of others who were sinners, He was hanged like any other transgressor. The Law of Moses leaves no loopholes. It says that a transgressor should be hanged. Who are the other sinners? We are. The sentence of death and everlasting damnation had long been pronounced over us. But Christ took all our sins and died for them on the Cross. "He was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors." (Isaiah 53:12.)

All the prophets of old said that Christ should be the greatest transgressor, murderer, adulterer, thief, blasphemer that ever was or ever could be on earth. When He took the sins of the whole world upon Himself, Christ was no longer an innocent person. He was a sinner burdened with the sins of a Paul who was a blasphemer; burdened with the sins of a Peter who denied Christ; burdened with the sins of a David who committed adultery and murder, and gave the heathen occasion to laugh at the Lord. In short, Christ was charged with the sins of all men, that He should pay for them with His own blood. The curse struck Him. The Law found Him among sinners. He was not only in the company of sinners. He had gone so far as to invest Himself with the flesh and blood of sinners. So the Law judged and hanged Him for a sinner.

John the Baptist called Him "the lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." Being the unspotted Lamb of God, Christ was personally innocent. But because He took the sins of the world His sinlessness was defiled with the sinfulness of the world. Whatever sins I, you, all of us have committed or shall commit, they are Christ's sins as if He had committed them Himself. Our sins have to be Christ's sins or we shall perish forever.

Isaiah declares of Christ: "The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." We have no right to minimize the force of this declaration. God does not amuse Himself with words. What a relief for a Christian to know that Christ is covered all over with my sins, your sins, and the sins of the whole world.

Our merciful Father in heaven saw how the Law oppressed us and how impossible it was for us to get out from under the curse of the Law. He therefore sent His only Son into the world and said to Him: "You are now Peter, the liar; Paul, the persecutor; David, the adulterer; Adam, the disobedient; the thief on the cross. You, My Son, must pay the world's iniquity." The Law growls: "All right. If Your Son is taking the sin of the world, I see no sins anywhere else but in Him. He shall die on the Cross." And the Law kills Christ. But we go free.

The argument of the Apostle against the righteousness of the Law is impregnable. If Christ bears our sins, we do not bear them. But if Christ is innocent of our sins and does not bear them, we must bear them, and we shall die in our sins. "But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Let us see how Christ was able to gain the victory over our enemies. The sins of the whole world, past, present, and future, fastened themselves upon Christ and condemned Him. But because Christ is God He had an everlasting and unconquerable righteousness. These two, the sin of the world and the righteousness of God, met in a death struggle. Furiously the sin of the world assailed the righteousness of God. Righteousness is immortal and invincible. On the other hand, sin is a mighty tyrant who subdues all men. This tyrant pounces on Christ. But Christ's righteousness is unconquerable. The result is inevitable. Sin is defeated and righteousness triumphs and reigns forever.

In the same manner was death defeated. Death is emperor of the world. He strikes down kings, princes, all men. He has an idea to destroy all life. But Christ has immortal life, and life immortal gained the victory over death. Through Christ death has lost her sting. Christ is the Death of death.

The curse of God waged a similar battle with the eternal mercy of God in Christ. The curse meant to condemn God's mercy. But it could not do it because the mercy of God is everlasting. The curse had to give way. If the mercy of God in Christ had lost out, God Himself would have lost out, which, of course, is impossible.

"Christ," says Paul, "spoiled principalities and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it." (Col. 2:15.) They cannot harm those who hide in Christ. Sin, death, the wrath of God, hell, the devil are mortified in Christ. Where Christ is near the powers of evil must keep their distance. St. John says: "And this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." (I John 5:4.)

You may now perceive why it is imperative to believe and confess the divinity of Christ. To overcome the sin of a whole world, and death, and the wrath of God was no work for any creature. The power of sin and death could be broken only by a greater power. God alone could abolish sin, destroy death, and take away the curse of the Law. God alone could bring righteousness, life, and mercy to light. In attributing these achievements to Christ the Scriptures pronounce Christ to be God forever. The article of justification is indeed fundamental. If we remain sound in this one article, we remain sound in all the other articles of the Christian faith. When we teach justification by faith in Christ we confess at the same time that Christ is God.

from Martin Luther’s commentary on the epistle of St Paul to the Galatians

Friday, June 17, 2011

Praise Team vs Prayer Time – A Lament

I write this with a deep sigh and a careful tread. I don’t want to be misunderstood and yet I hope to be heard. Let me begin….

Paul left Timothy in Ephesus in order to get the work established there. And he wrote 1 Timothy so that if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. 1 Timothy 3:15

And part of this instruction on how to behave in church is:
I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;  For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;  Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:1-4

The key word is first of all. This means either “first” in order of things done or "first of all" as in the most important thing. No matter how you look at it, one of the chief purposes for the assembling of the saints, church, is prayer.

My lament? The contemporary church has forsaken prayer. I’m sure the leaders pray, but prayer is not part of the public service. There may be an opening prayer, but that’s it. They have a praise team, fine tuned and well groomed. The musical style is well thought out, the songs are carefully chosen and arranged and practiced. I’m also sure that the praise team prays. But not the congregation.

I have nothing against the praise team. We had a praise team, possibly the finest ever assembled. And we had our own music philosophy: “If the praise team can do it then let’s sing it!” What I am lamenting is the lack of public prayer.

We can see how the early believers understood this by reading the two earliest descriptions of church services written by Christians.
Justin Martyr (114-165 AD) wrote:
And on the day called Sunday…the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things. Then we all rise together and pray…we may offer hearty prayers in common for ourselves, and for all others in every place…Having ended the prayers, we salute one another with a kiss. There is then brought to the president of the brethren bread and a cup of wine mixed with water; and he taking them, gives praise and glory…and offers thanks at considerable length…

And Tertullian (145-220 AD) wrote: “We meet together…that, offering up prayer to God as with united force, we may wrestle with Him in our supplications. This violence God delights in. We pray, too, for the emperors, for their ministers and for all in authority, for the welfare of the world, for the prevalence of peace, for the delay of the final consummation. We assemble to read our sacred writings…In the same place also exhortations are made, rebukes and sacred censures are administered.”

It is interesting that both men mention reading of Scripture and prayer but not singing.

The earliest liturgies also have much time devoted to prayer. They prayed for:

“peace; the salvation of our souls; the unity of all the holy churches of God; deliverance from all tribulation, wrath, danger, distress, from captivity, bitter death, and from our iniquities; the king, army, magistrates, councils, peoples, and neighborhoods; let no deadly sin prevail against us, or against all Your people; heal the sick among Your people; raise up those who have been long afflicted, and heal those who are vexed with unclean spirits; have mercy on all who are in prison, or in mines, or on trial, or condemned, or in exile, or crushed by cruel bondage or tribute; our brethren who have gone or who are about to go abroad. send down rich and copious showers on the dry and thirsty lands; make the waters of the river flow in full stream; the harvest; the widow, the orphan, and the stranger etc “

When I discovered this we changed the way we prayed on Sunday mornings to include those things listed above. I had skate boarders tell me, “We hate it when you pray for rain ‘cause we know we’re gonna get rained out.” Amen!

I know this kind of praying (in the liturgies) was a little different than what most evangelicals are used to. It is called a Litany. A leader makes the request, Lord we pray for those who are sick and afflicted and the people respond, Lord have mercy or God hear our prayer etc. Evangelicals have the “Pastoral prayer”. Charles Spurgeon suggested 10-15 minutes for this! Paul Yonggi Cho, pastor of an Assemblies of God in Korea had a plan – they would ring a bell and everyone present would begin to pray; and after some time the bell would ring again signaling the end of the prayer time! While the bell is unusual, prayer time was not. We have a clear command for the church to pray and a rich heritage of time spent in prayer in the Sunday morning service.

Here is a challenging question, Is there a single verse in the New Testament instructing, guiding or exhorting anything about a praise team? (Hint, No.) Yet we devote time, energy and money to them and give them priority. We ignore “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men” – is it because that makes the service too much like church? – while we have books and seminars on how to build and use a praise team. Something is wrong with this picture.

Therefore my lament: “My brethren, these things ought not so to be.” And I repeat, this is not a criticism of the praise team. I don’t believe it is an either / or issue. We had a praise team AND public reading of the Scriptures AND prayer time. My lament springs out of the question, If God says we are to do something, shouldn’t we be doing it?

Monday, June 13, 2011

Pentecost

And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:1-4)

I became a Christian in 1973 (I know, right after the last apostle passed away). There was a debate and discussion going on in the Church then about the Holy Spirit. Modern Pentecostalism began in 1901, spread rapidly and crystallized into “Pentecostal” denominations. In 1960 the Charismatic Renewal began and spread through the traditional church, causing quite a stir. There were books and sermons for and against the renewal and the baptism with the Holy Spirit. Almost everyone felt it necessary to speak or write about the Holy Spirit.

I was impacted by this as well. I was a member of First Baptist Church of Donelson, TN. One Sunday night Bro. Harris mentioned and recommended a book, The Holy Spirit: Who He Is and What He Does by R.A. Torrey (following up on his recommendation eventually got me chased out of the Baptist church!). And when I went off to college (University of Tennessee at Martin) I ran smack into the Charismatic Renewal (Maranatha Ministries) and I had to choose sides.

I don’t want to write a history of the Pentecostal movement or the Charismatic Renewal. Or about my own experiences. Not even a defense of or presentation of a particular doctrine or experience related to Pentecost. But I do wonder at the lack of emphasis on the Holy Spirit today. I don’t hear much on the power of the Spirit, or the love of God being poured out into our hearts, or the witness of the Spirit. And forget about the gifts of the Spirit. What about praying in the Spirit? The fruit of the Spirit is mentioned from time to time. But what about walking in the Spirit, being filled and so much more?

The gospel has two fundamental promises: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ [justification]; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. (Gal 3:14) And this gift of the Holy Spirit produces a dynamic life in the Spirit. Sadly, Pentecost seems to be ignored today and the Christian life is reduced to saying and doing to right things.

Watchman Nee wrote The Normal Christian Life. Great book. Chapter 8 is, The Holy Spirit and in this chapter he speaks of Pentecost then and now. He picks up on a statement the apostle Peter made on the day of Pentecost. Peter, in his explanation of what was happening, said, This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel. Watchman Nee points out that our this needs to be and can be that. I think it is fair to ask, Is our this that? What?? Yes, Is our this - our Christian experience – that which Joel spoke of and the apostles experienced? In other words, Are we experiencing all that the Gospel promises? If not, we need to get alone with the Lord and seek Him until our hearts are full and we can answer, Yes!

What will it be like or feel like when we are filled? How will we know? We have all heard about speaking in tongues and I am all for it. After all, it is mentioned in the New Testament! And of course there are all the evidences of the Spirit mentioned above. But here is a story from F.B. Meyer that really speaks to the point:

A woman came to her pastor and asked if she could use the church building for the day. He asked her why and she replied, “I’m going to seek God and wait on Him until He fills me with the Holy Spirit.” So he gave her permission and she went to an upstairs room and locked herself in. About supper time she came down.

“How did it go, sister? Did God meet you? Have you been filled with the Spirit?”

With much sorrow she replied, “Alas, no. I was not filled with the Spirit.”

The pastor then asked, “Tell me, sister, how is it with you and Jesus?

Her face lit up and she answered, “Oh pastor, it has never been better. He is so sweet to my soul!”

The pastor told her, “Sister, THAT is the Holy Spirit!”

Is my this THAT?

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Roller coaster ride at church

We went to church this morning and it was a roller coaster ride.

This church is in Tega Cay. Of course, if you don’t live here you have no idea where that is. But it was further than I remembered. And I was thinking, “This is not a local church (for us). Bummer. Where is the turn off?!” I was almost ready to turn around when we saw it.

Not such a good start.

But we found it and managed to find our way in and find a seat. We were just a minute or so late and the service had already begun. That’s good, teach us to arrive on time. The first half of the service was really wonderful! The music was great and singable. There was such excitement. And there were times of free worship. And prayer. It did not take long to discover this was a church that emphasized prayer. I was starting to think, “Yes!” Excitement was beginning to build and I was really comfortable with what we were seeing.

Then the Pastor stepped forward and began his part. And the longer he spoke the more discouraged I became. He spent nearly the entire teaching time on his introduction to the new series. He did have an occasional good thing to say, but I wanted to stand up and say, “Stop with the introduction and give us the Word.” And when he did finally get to a text it was ok. He said some really questionable things like – “Heaven, the New Jerusalem, is already occupied; people are living there and working there; they have jobs. There is government there with laws (just like here, mayors, alderman etc).” He said some good things, “When believers die young their life is not cut short, they just got an early promotion.” And funny things, “In a recent staff meeting, a staff member mentioned that I had been talking about the second coming a lot. Maybe too much… I’m gonna miss him.”

We may well need to go again to get a better feel for this fellowship. But as I sat there I realized something once again: There must be a school somewhere where they teach these things: no pulpit, just a little table like at a night club, elaborate visual aids on the platform corresponding to the message/series, and they don’t have pastors and pastors’ meetings, they have Staff and Staff Meetings. This church was a mix of ‘old-time excited’ and ‘new program.’ Who is the guy or where is the school all these pastors go to? Why do all these churches want to look like a night club instead of preaching the gospel and teaching the Word in a simple and straight-forward manner??

He used a lot of different versions. I have never liked that. It makes you feel like he picks a version that says what he wants to say rather than let the Scripture speak and then explain it. But he did finally get to a passage and go through it. And he did use a Bible – I’ve been to churches where the Pastor didn’t even hold a Bible, just loose leaf notes on his little night club table. (One church where the worship leader was rebuked for bringing a Bible to the platform and reading from it). This pastor did ask us to turn to Psalm 1 but he sort of discouraged us from turning in our Bibles to follow him, as every verse he used was on the screen.

As I said, a roller coaster ride this morning. Probably have to go back to make sure of some things. Over all: good worship and his message, when reduced to a sentence (which he did) was good – The grass really is greener in heaven!

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

In the hope of eternal life

The first funeral I presided over was for my best friend, Gray Conrad. He was 26 and married. They had just recently moved into their first house and their first child was due pretty much any day. He died in an accident at work. What a terrible shock. Since he and his wife were from Raleigh (and we were living in Macon, GA), part of the planning included getting information to all those folks in Raleigh. When the plans were finalized I drafted a letter with information and directions. I signed it, In the hope of eternal life… Someone saw this and was taken aback – “Why did you only say ‘in the hope of?’ Don’t you think you should offer more certainty?”

This illustrates the difficulty English speakers often have with a wonderful and powerful biblical concept, Hope. My Merriam-Webster dictionary defines hope as “desire accompanied by expectation of or belief in fulfillment;  also: expectation of fulfillment or success.” But that is still too strong when compared to everyday usage. The American Heritage dictionary says, “Hope is the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best.” That is closer to the way we use it today. As in, “I hope it rains this afternoon” or “I hope the weather is nice when we go to the beach.” Or, “I hope they are still open, I’m hungry.” In other words, we use hope for what we would like to see but are not sure of, or have no confidence in. Hope is contrasted with certainty: We are not sure, we have no way of knowing, so we hope it is so.

This immediately explains why the average Christian has a hard time with the phrase, in the hope of eternal life. It seems to express a complete lack of certainty and assurance, merely a hope, a strong wish. But this is not what the Bible means when it speaks of hope. Actually, the English word contains a much stronger meaning, “desire accompanied by expectation of.” And, this is cool, the very first definition is “archaic   : TRUST, RELIANCE.” This means it used to have a much stronger meaning. And this is how we find it used in the Bible. The Greek word for hope means: “to make to hope, trust; that in which one confides or to which he flees for refuge; expectation; and in the Christian sense, joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation.” Sometimes it is even translated trust as in And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.

This is why we can say in the hope of eternal life. This speaks not of uncertainty but of our joyful and confident expectation of it. And this is explained in Romans 8

22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.  
23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. 
24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?  
25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

In 22-23 he speaks of the effects of the fall (the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now…even we groan) and of the resurrection of the body. In 24 he says we were saved in this hope. Then, in 24 and 25, he explains hope and how it works:

hope that is seen is not hope – this is the nature of hope: I’m sure and certain of a thing, but I don’t yet see it or possess it, so I hope for it; for why does one still hope for what he sees?

But if we hope for what we do not see, then do we with patience wait for it. We don’t see it yet, but we know it is coming so we wait for it. Patiently.

As I mentioned earlier, in common English usage hope is contrasted with certainty - We are not sure, we have no way of knowing, so we hope it is so. But in the Bible hope is contrasted with sight. We are confident of it we just don’t see it. Yet. So we patiently wait for it.

The New Testament speaks of the hope of the glory of God, the hope of his calling, the hope of the gospel and the hope of glory. I realize there may be different explanations of these, but the following are self-explanatory: the hope of the promise – resurrection of the flesh, as mentioned above. That’s why when we bury a believer we say, “In sure and certain hope of the resurrection, we commend to Almighty God our brother _______ and we commit his body to the ground, earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.” Also the hope of righteousness by faith, the hope of salvation, the hope of eternal life. Amen! To speak in these terms is not to express doubt or uncertainty, merely the lack of sight.

Finally, how does hope relate to faith? This is spoken of in Hebrews 11:1

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

While this is familiar, it is better understood this way: Faith is the confidence of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. They work together. God has made promises concerning eternal life, salvation and the resurrection from the dead. So I hope for them and wait for them. And because God cannot lie I have confidence and conviction!

On June 1st I ordered an item from Target. They told me it would arrive between the 7th and the 9th. I hoped it would arrive today, but alas it did not! So my hope, that is “the feeling that what is wanted can be had” was dented a little (there is still time, but I really wanted it today!). I do have confidence (faith) that Target really did send it to me and that the US Post Office will deliver as promised, but we know things can happen to delay this. The USPS is pretty good but still…. What about my friend Gray and our hope of eternal life? This is the assurance we have: Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness; In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began (Titus 1:1-2). So we can have confidence and conviction that what He has promised He will do. So we have this hope - the joyful and confident expectation - of eternal life! This is our blessed hope. Amen!

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Ascension Day

he ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty

Thursday, June 2, is Ascension Day. I wanted to write something about this article of our faith but I found this great sermon by Martin Luther. This is only half of the message he preached! This is wonderful and powerful stuff. I hope you are blessed by this message on the ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ.

This sermon appeared under the title: “A sermon by Dr. Martin Luther on the last chapter of St. Mark. While the eleven were sitting at meat Christ manifested himself and reproved them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, 1523.”  Text: Mark 16:14-20. 

II. CHRIST’S ASCENSION INTO HEAVEN.

23. Now we must consider the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the first place, it is easily said and understood that the Lord ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God. But they are dead words to the understanding if they are not grasped with the heart.

24. We must, therefore, conceive of his ascension and Lordship as something active, energetic and continuous, and must not imagine that he sits above while we hold the reins of government down here. Nay, he ascended up thither for the reason that there he can best do his work and exercise dominion. Had he remained upon earth in visible form, before the people, he could not have wrought so effectually, for all the people could not have been with him and heard him. Therefore, he inaugurated an expedient which made it possible for him to be in touch with all and reign in all, to preach to all and be heard by all, and to be with all. Therefore, beware lest you imagine within yourself that he has gone, and now is far away from us. The very opposite is true: While he was on earth, he was far away from us; now he is very near.

25. Reason cannot comprehend how this can be. Therefore it is an article of faith. Here one must close his eyes and not follow his reason, but lay hold of all by faith. For how can reason grasp the thought that there should be a being like ourselves, who is all-seeing and knows all hearts and gives all men faith and the Spirit; or that he sits above in heaven, and yet is present with us and in us and rules over us? Therefore, strive not to comprehend, but say: This is Scripture and this is God’s Word, which is immeasurably higher than all understanding and reason. Cease your reasoning and lay hold of the Scriptures, which testify of this being — how he ascended to heaven and sits at the right hand of God and exercises dominion. Let us examine some Scripture bearing upon this matter.

26. In the first place, Psalm 8:4-6 says of Christ: “What is man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him but little lower than God, and crownest him with glory and honor. Thou makest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet.” Here the prophet speaks to God concerning a man and marvels that God humbled, for a time, that man, when he suffered him to die, humbled him to the extent that it seemed as if God were not with him. But after a little while God exalted him, so that all things must obey him, both in heaven and on earth. To these words we must hold, to these words we must cling, in these words we must believe; for reason will not submit nor adapt itself to them, but says they are lies. Now, if all things are to be subject to this being and to fall at his feet, he must sit where he can look into the whole world, into heaven and hell and every heart; where he can see all sin and all righteousness, and can not only see all things, But can rule accordingly.

27. Hence, these are majestic and powerful words. They afford the heart great comfort, so that they who believe this are filled with joy and courage and defiantly say: My Lord Jesus Christ is Lord over death, Satan, sin, righteousness, body, life, foes and friends. What shall I fear? For while my enemies stand before my very door and plan to slay me, my faith reasons thus: Christ is ascended into heaven and become Lord over all creatures, hence my enemies, too, must be subject to him and thus it is not in their power to do me harm. I challenge them to raise a finger against me or to injure a hair of my head against the will of my Lord Jesus Christ. When faith grasps and stands upon this article, it stands firm and waxes bold and defiant, so as even to say: If my Lord so wills that they, mine enemies, slay me, blessed am I; I gladly depart. Thus you will see that he is ascended into heaven, not to remain in indifference, but to exercise dominion; and all for our good, to afford us comfort and joy. This is one passage.

28. Furthermore, in the second Psalm, verses 7 and 8, we read that God says to Christ: “Thou art my son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me and I will give thee the nations for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possessions.” Here you see again that Christ is appointed of God a Lord over all the earth. Now, if he is my friend and I am persuaded that he died for me and gave me all things and for my sake sits in heaven and watches over me, who then can do ought to me? Or if any man should do ought, what harm can come of it?

29. Furthermore, David says again in the 110th Psalm, “Jehovah saith unto my Lord, sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.” And further on, in the same Psalm: “The Lord at thy right hand will strike through kings in the day of his wrath. He will judge among the nations, he will fill the places with dead bodies; he will strike through the head in many countries. He will drink of the brook in the way; therefore will he lift up the head.”

30. Again, in still another Psalm, David says (Psalm 68:18): “Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led away captives; thou hast received gifts among men, yea among the rebellious also, that Jehovah God might dwell with them.” And all the prophets took great pains to describe Christ’s ascension and his kingdom. For, as his sufferings and death are deeply founded in the Scriptures, so are also his kingdom, his resurrection and ascension. In this manner we must view the ascension of Christ. Otherwise it will afford us neither pleasure nor profit. For what good will it do you if you merely preach that he ascended up to heaven and sits there with folded hands? This is what the prophet would say in the Psalm, Christ is ascended on high and has led captivity captive. That is to say, not only does he sit up there but he is also down here. And for this purpose did he ascend up thither, that he might be down here, that he might fill all things and be everywhere present; which thing he could not do had he remained on earth, for here in the body he could not have been present with all. He ascended to heaven, where all hearts can see him, where he can deal with all men, that he might fill all creation. He is present everywhere and all things are filled with his fullness. Nothing is so great, be it in heaven or on earth, but he has power over it, and it must be in perfect obedience to him. He not only governs and fills all creation (that would not help my faith any nor take away my sins), but also has led captivity captive.

31. This captivity some have interpreted to mean that he delivered the sainted patriarchs out of the stronghold of hell; but that interpretation does not benefit our faith any either, for it is not particularly edifying to faith.

Therefore, we must simply understand the matter thus: that he means that captivity which captures us and holds us captive. I am Adam’s child, full of sin and foully besmirched; therefore, the law has taken me captive, so that I am lettered in conscience and sentenced to death.

32. From this captivity no one can free himself, save only that one man Christ. What did he do? He made sin, death, and Satan his debtors. Sin fell upon him as though it would vanquish him, but it lost the day; he devoured sin. And Satan, death, and hell fared the same way. But we are unable to do this unless he be present to aid us. Alone, we must needs perish, But he, since he had done no sin and was full of righteousness, trod under foot Satan, death and hell, and devoured them, and took everything captive that fain would capture us, so that sin and death no longer can do harm.

33. This, then, is the power he causes to be preached, that all who believe in him are released from captivity. I believe in him by whom sin, death, and all things that afflict us, were led captive. It is a pleasing discourse, and full of comfort, when we are told that death is taken away and slain, so that it is no longer felt. However, it affords pleasure and comfort only to those who believe it. You will not find release from captivity in your works, fastings, prayers, castigations, tonsures, and gowns, and whatever more things you may do; but only in the place where Christ sits, whither he ascended and whither he led captivity with him. Hence, he who would be freed from sin and delivered from Satan and death, must come thither where Christ is. Now, where is he? He is here with us, and for this purpose did he sit down in heaven, that he might be near unto us. Thus, we are with him up there and he is with us down here. Through the word he comes down and through faith we ascend up.

34. So, we see everywhere in the Scriptures that faith is such an unspeakably great thing that we can never preach about it sufficiently nor reach it with words. It cannot be heard and seen, therefore it must be believed. Such is the nature of faith that it feels nothing at all, but merely follows the words which it hears, and clings to them. If you believe, you have; if you believe not, you have not. In this wise must we understand this article of faith, that Christ is ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God.


The complete sermon can be found at here