Martin Luther on the Work of the Holy Spirit

But how does [the Holy Spirit] do this, and what is the trick He uses to change the heart and make it new? He does it by proclaiming and preaching the Lord Jesus Christ, as Christ Himself says, “When the Comforter comes whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me” [John 15:26]. Now, we have often heard that it is the Gospel which God sends to be preached in the world and to be spoken to everyone, because no one can be made righteous through the Law; rather, he only becomes worse. That is why He sent down His dear Son to die and shed His blood for our sins; we were unable to get free of them by our powers and works.

However, it is necessary that what is preached also be believed. God gives the Holy Spirit to push that preaching into the heart so that it remains and lives there. It is surely true that Christ has done everything, taken away sins, and conquered everything, so that through Him we are to be lords over all things. The treasure lies there in a heap, not yet distributed or applied everywhere. Therefore, if we are to have that treasure, the Holy Spirit must come and put it into our hearts, so that we believe and say, “I also am one of those who are to have this treasure.” Then this grace is offered through the Gospel to each one who hears it, and he is invited to take it, as He says, “Come to Me, all you who are burdened” (Matthew 11:28), etc

Church Postil for The Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-13). AE 77:327-328

It’s A Hard Road, But Jesus Walked It First

Pastor David Kind of University Lutheran Chapel in Minneapolis, MN has produced a Lutheran breviary: Oremus. The daily readings from the church fathers or from Lutheran fathers are worth the price of the book. Here’s today’s reading from Martin Luther’s series on sermons on The Sermon on the Mount. It brought me a lot of comfort this morning. Perhaps it will do the same for you.

It is really a hard and tough life to be a Christian or a pious man, and it will not taste sweet to us. As that good girl said: “It takes a lot to be honorable.” Indeed it does, and it takes a great deal more to lead a Christian life. Our dear Lord has in mind here that people may find it appealing and think to themselves: “I would like to live that way, but it takes a great deal.” Christ says: “That is what I am saying, too. Therefore I am warning you to be on the lookout and not to let yourself be turned aside if it is a little sour and difficult, for it cannot be and will not be any other way in the world.” A Christian has to know this and be armed against it, so that he does not let it trouble him or hinder him if the whole world lives otherwise. On no account dare he imitate the great mob, something Moses forbade already in Exodus 23:2: “You shall not follow the multitude to do evil”; as though he were saying: “You will always see the continuous activity of offense in the world.” As Christ says here: “The way to destruction is broad, and those who walk upon it are many; the gate is very wide, to let the crowd pass through it.”…

Christ wants to point this out and to warn His followers that in the world everyone should live as though he were alone and should consider His Word and preaching as the very greatest thing on earth, thinking this way to himself: “I see my neighbor and the whole city, yes, the whole world, living differently. All those who are great or noble or rich, the princes and the lords, are allied with it. Nevertheless I have an ally who is greater than all of them, namely, Christ and His Word. When I am all alone, therefore, I am still not alone. Because I have the Word of God, I have Christ with me, together with all the dear angels and all the saints since the beginning of the world. Actually there is a bigger crowd and a more glorious procession surrounding me than there could be in the whole world now. Only I cannot see it with my eyes, and I have to watch and bear the offense of having so many people forsake me or live and act in opposition to me.” You must hold on to this if you want to endure. Otherwise this offense will overwhelm you when you see how other people live and believe.

AE 21:241-242

Martin Luther with Call Day Advice

‘Tis the season for call day in The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod! Dr. Luther has something to say from his House Postil for the Fourth Sunday of Easter to our candidates, and to experienced preachers, too.

“The devil and the world will never stop assailing [preachers]. If you speak the truth, the world rages madly; it begins to curse, condemn, persecute, and you’ll have to endure scorn and mockery. And if the world can whip out its sword against you, it will surely do that too, with master devil joining the fray, driving such poisonous, fiery darts into your heart that you will almost literally suffer a meltdown! When you experience this kind of tribulation – the world cursing and persecuting, deriding and laughing, and the devil also plaguing you – what will you do? Become impatient, give up the ministry, walk away from it all, even cursing? Not at all! Instead, have patience, wait it out, take courage and say, So what? Didn’t my Lord Christ predict, ‘Ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice.’ But, He added, your sorrow will turn into joy after ‘a little while.’ Because He’s always trustworthy, never having lied to me about the ‘little’, namely, that I do not now see Him and therefore weep and lament, so He will also not deceive me in regard to the other ‘little’, namely, that I will see Him again and my heart will rejoice! And that’s why we need seriously to ponder His Words when He describes this alternating between not seeing and then seeing Christ, being sorrowful and then rejoicing, weeping and then being cheerful!”

Luther on Luke 5:1-11

Martin Luther is prolific with great quotes for the Fifth Sunday after Trinity. Here are a few:

When we experience what Peter did, that is, toil all night catching nothing, we tend to become anxious, start to grumble, and become so discouraged that we’re ready to run away from it all. We must not give way to such temptation but persist, no matter what, remain at our post, and let God do the worrying.

True enough, we should indeed truly repent, confess our sins, and improve our lives, but let’s not depend upon our own repentance, worthiness, and merits, but solely upon the pure grace of God, promised us in Christ. Apart from Christ and His Word, there is no forgiveness of sin.

Always our heart says: “I’d love to pray and trust God fully, but I’m a sinner! How can I possibly be truly God pleasing? Our God is so majestic that I don’t dare approach Him in prayer.” It is for such faintheartedness, fear, and hesitation that Christ has rich comfort in this Gospel. Don’t be afraid, He says, just trust My Word and come to Me confidently and joyfully.

If you are a pastor engaged in preaching and teaching your people, and the response hasn’t been all that great, don’t be dismayed and diverted. Say to yourself: God has ordered me to proclaim His Word, and that’s what I’ll continue to do. If it doesn’t always prosper, God knows why; if my work does thrive, it pleases both Him and me.

God will forsake no one, each must have what he needs, if he trusts in God alone; as Psalm 37:35 says: “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.” There is no lack of provisions, only a lack of faith; before that should take place the angels would come and minister unto us. Therefore the fact that the people suffer now such need is caused only by unbelief.

Luther on the Habitus of Studying Holy Scripture

Therefore the Bible is a book that must not only be read and preached, but it also requires the true interpreter, that is, the revelation of the Holy Spirit; as we learn from our own experience nowadays that it is of no avail to prove most clearly from Scripture the articles of the true doctrine to our opponents and to point out their errors. Not a single article of faith has ever been preached that was not more than once attacked and denied by heretics, though they read the same Scriptures that we have.

But this revelation also requires pupils of the right kind, who are willing to learn and to be instructed, like these pious and simple-minded disciples, not wise and puffed up minds and self-made masters who reach beyond the very heavens with their knowledge. For this is a doctrine that makes our wisdom foolishness and blinds our own reason, before it can be believed and understood; for it is not born of man’s wisdom, like other sciences and arts on earth, which have sprung from reason and can be grasped by means of reason. Hence it is impossible to attain to it by reason, and if you undertake to measure and reckon how far it agrees with reason, you will not succeed. All heresies from the beginning have had their origin here, and both Jews and Gentiles, and the Turks at present, grow foolishly violent in regard to our doctrine because it does not agree with reason and human wisdom. Only the pious, simple-minded people can grasp and understand it, who are true to this rule, and say: “God hath said it, therefore will I believe it;” as Christ himself declares in Matthew 11:25 and thanks the Father with a joyful heart that he hides these things from the wise and understanding and reveals them unto babes.

• Second Church Postil for Easter Monday (Luke 24:13-35)

Apply God’s Grace to Yourself

The difficulty in practice arises from the fact that, feeling that we are completely unworthy, we fail to relate the divine message of grace to ourselves. We heard Luther report about himself that he only dared to apply the consolation of absolution to his person when he was “accidentally” reminded by his “Preceptor” that God not only allows us to consider Him gracious, but God expressly commands us to do so. We therefore hear from Luther’s mouth, based on his own experience, the following instruction and admonition that has already saved many from deep distress: “You say: Yes, I would gladly believe it if I were like St. Peter and St. Paul and others who are pious and holy; but I am too great a sinner, and who know whether I am predestinated? Answer: Look at these words! What do they say, and of whom do they speak? ‘For God so loved the world’; and ‘that whosoever believeth on him.’ Now, the world is not simply St. Peter and St. Paul, but the entire human race taken collectively, and here no one is excluded: God’s Son was given for all, are are asked to believe, and all who believe shall not be lost etc. Take hold of your nose, search in your bosom, whether you are not also a man (that is, a piece of the world) and belong to the number which the word “whosoever” embraces, as well as others? If you and I are not to take this comfort to ourselves, then these words must have been spoken falsely and in vain. And surely, this has not been preached to any other than to humanity. Therefore, beware lest you exclude yourself and give place to the thought: Who knows whether it has been given to me? For that would be accusing God of falsely speaking in his Word. But, on the contrary, make a cross for yourself with these words, and say: If I am not St. Peter or St. Paul, I am, nevertheless, a part of the world. Had he intended to give it to the worthy only, then he would have had it preached to the angels alone, for they are pure and without sin. He could then not have given it to St. Peter, to David, or to Paul, for they were sinners as well as I. No matter what I am, I know that God’s Word is true; and if I do not accept it, then I am committing, above all other sins, this sin also, that I blaspheme the Word of God and the truth, and charge God with lying.” (Second Church Postil for Pentecost Monday)

– Franz Pieper, How Does A Christian Become Certain of His Eternal Salvation?

Christ Is A Sign That Is Spoken Against

Christ is the mark which is noticed by everybody and all opposition is directed toward him. And although the opponents are at variance with each other, yet they become united when they oppose Christ. This is proved by Luke 23:12, where we read that Pilate and Herod became friends in their opposition against Christ, while before they were at enmity between themselves. The Pharisees and Sadducees could never agree, but in their opposition to Christ they were united. David speaks of this and expresses his astonishment in Psalm 2:1-2: “Why do the nations rage, and the people meditate a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together, against Jehovah, and against his anointed.” In the same manner the heretics, however strongly they differed with each other and opposed each other, were nevertheless united in their opposition against the one Christian Church…. Wickedness and falsehood are at variance with themselves, but they are united against truth and righteousness, every attack and opposition being directed toward this mark. They believe to have good reason for this…. Christ is very impolite and unreasonable, rebuking them all, Pilate being as much to him as Herod, and the Pharisees as much as the Sadducees, so that he does not take the part of any of them. Therefore, as he is against all of them, so they are all against him. Thus truth is opposed to all lies and falsehoods, and therefore all lies are united against the truth and make of it a sign which is spoken against. It must needs be so. For Christ and the truth find not a single man pious and pleasing to God…. Therefore Christ must rebuke them indiscriminately and reject their works, so that they all may feel the need of his grace and long for it. But only a few will believe and accept this…. From this we learn to be assured that we may comfort ourselves and cheerfully bear up when many people stumble at our Word and speak against our faith, especially the great, the learned, and the priests. This is a sign that our message and faith is right, for it receives the treatment foretold by Simeon and all the prophets. They must take offense at it, stumble over it, rise by it, and speak against it; it cannot be otherwise…. But we find still another consolation in our text. Simeon says that Christ is a sign which is spoken against, which however will not be overthrown or exterminated. The whole world may condemn my faith and my Word, call it heresy and misrepresent and pervert it in the most shameful manner, but they must let it remain and cannot take it from me. With all their rage and fury they will accomplish nothing, but can only speak against me, and I must be their mark and target. Yet they will fall and I shall stand.

– Martin Luther, Church Postil for the Sunday after Christmas (Luke 2:33-40)

God’s Providence Is Everywhere

It is God who creates, effects, and preserves all things through his almighty power and right hand, as our Creed confesses. For he dispatches no officials or angels when he creates or preserves something, but all this is the work of his divine power itself. If he is to create or preserve it, however, he must be present and must make and preserve his creation both in its innermost and outermost aspects.

Therefore, indeed, he himself must be present in every single creature in its innermost and outermost being, on all sides, through and through, below and above, before and behind, so that nothing can be more truly present and within all creatures than God himself with his power. For it is he who makes the skin and it is he who makes the bones; it is he who makes the hair on the skin, and it is he who makes the marrow in the bones; it is he who makes every bit of the hair, it is he who makes every bit of the marrow. Indeed, he must make everything, both the parts and the whole. Surely, then, his hand which makes all this must be present; that cannot be lacking.

At this point the passage of Isaiah 66:1-2 applies…”Heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool.” He does not say, “A part of heaven is my throne, a part or spot of the earth is my footstool,” but, “Whatever and wherever heaven is, there is my throne, whether heaven is beneath, above, or beside the earth. And whatever and wherever earth is, whether at the bottom of the sea, in the grave of the dead, or at the middle of the earth, there is my footstool.” Come and tell me now, where are his head, arm, breast, body, if with his feet he fills the earth and with his legs he fills heaven? He reaches out ever so far over and beyond the world, above heaven and earth.

Martin Luther, “That These Words of Christ, ‘This Is My Body’ Etc., Still Stand Firm Against the Fanatics” (LW 37:58-59)

God’s Comfort Comes in the Preached Word

No one in need of comfort, therefore, should wait until the Holy Spirit in all his majesty speaks to him personally from heaven. For the Holy Spirit carries out his witness publicly in the sermon. That is where you must seek and await him, till the word which you hear with your ears witnesses inwardly of Christ in your heart. But such inward witness does not come about until the external, spoken witness of the Word is heard which tells that Christ became man, was crucified, died, and rose again for our sakes.

Martin Luther, House Postil for the Seventh Sunday of Easter (John 15:26-16:4)

The Management of Grace in the Medieval Church and Luther’s Antidote to the Management of Grace

The language of the gospel was the key to [Martin] Luther’s struggle from the very beginning. Paul Tillich has helpfully described medieval theology and practice as a “system of objective, quantitative, and relative relations between God and man for the sake of providing eternal happiness for man.” Grace was meted out to the common believer by the church, primarily through the means of the sacraments. It was done in such a way as to give the believer a sense of grace as an objective substance, something that one would do well to pile up a store of….

If grace seems to be objective, then it cannot very well be personal, it cannot be the living voice of Jesus. And if grace is objective, the believer is psychologically driven to store up a measure against that dark day which was never far away from the medieval person. Grace was not qualitative, like an embrace or loving word that changes things. It was more like banking spiritual certificates of deposit to be used when needed. That is what the indulgence practice was all about. Grace was relative, not absolute; there was never enough, so the conscience of many a medieval Christian was restless and without peace.

Behind this system was the persistent temptation for the medieval church to believe that God belongs to the church and that God’s love can be managed. That same temptation stands at the door of every church building to this very day – the temptation to control the gospel. In the medieval church, the results of that temptation had been fixed in dogma and public teaching.

An objective, quantitative, and relative sense of grace was devastating for a person’s conscience. Luther knew that very well, both from his own spiritual journey and from observing the Christians who lived around him. Luther knew that when a person can’t get enough of the assurance which he or she needs to live, that person gets anxious. He also knew that anxiety was not what Jesus promised; it was not the “peace that passes all understanding.” What set Luther on his road to reformation was his perception of the irony that the great medieval church system, which was ostensibly to bring people to certainty of their salvation, did just the opposite. Instead of blessed assurance, it meant an endless struggle to climb a ladder reaching toward a distant and holy God.

Just as the very practical problem of uneasy consciences started Luther on his struggle with the system that produced them, so also was his solution a very down-to-earth and practical one. Anxious people need the news of Jesus’ love and forgiveness, and the preeminent way to receive that news is through the clear and simple speaking of the gospel. Luther’s “linguistic innovation” was to disengage the gospel from the medieval machinery that controlled it and set it free by putting it on the lips of believers.

Luther knew that the freedom of God as spirit is truly honored when the gospel is conveyed in human speech. In the medieval system there was a sense of a certainty, a guarantee of grace, but always never enough. The spoken word has a certain freedom, a certain ambiguity at its center, but at the same time a certain completeness and finality, once it is heard, that is correlative with the gospel. When the gospel is spoken there is no guarantee that it will be heard as good news, or even that it is spoken out of a believing heart. It is up to God, in the freedom of the spirit, to bring the message home. Once heard as a personal word pro me, however, the gospel is enough. As Luther had learned so well from the baby Jesus – that which is common, ordinary, even despised, is often just the way that God comes to us. So it is with our ordinary words.

The word of the gospel is not the same as our everyday words, yet it is in our everyday words about Jesus that the gospel does come to us. Our faithful words, by the spirit of God, become words with the plus of revelation. Words are just the right vehicle, that vehicle which can and does become the very message of grace.

Sheldon A. Tostengard, The Spoken Word, pages 48-50