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Luther for the Busy Man
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Luther for the Busy Man is a new project brought to you by the Free Lutheran Bible College and Seminary, in cooperation with Ambassador Publications, the publishing arm of the Association of Free Lutheran Congregations. Listen to daily meditations by Martin Luther himself, following the church calendar and read to you by Dave Ryerson.
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Week of Trinity VIII - Monday
2w ago00:03:14Tap to summarizeTHE WEEK OF TRINITY VIII - MONDAYLESSON: ROMANS 11:17-20“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” Matthew 7:15We should note very carefully that the Lord Jesus orders Christians and gives them authority to be judges over all doctrine, to pronounce judgement on whether it is correct or not. This authority was filched from us by false Christians for something like a thousand years, so that we had no authority to pronounce judgement on any doctrine but simply had to accept, without expressing any judgment, whatever the pope and the councils determined.This Gospel completely overthrows the papacy and all councils. We are not obliged to accept what the pope enjoins or what men set up. Therefore, I say once more, take careful note of this Gospel. Neither the pope nor the councils have received the command to set up and determine what faith is. Christ says here, “Beware of false prophets.” Either the Gospel must be lying, or the pope with the councils.Christ tells us that, as Christians, we have the right to judge all doctrine and what has been set up for us to hold or not to hold. Christ is not speaking only to the pope but to all Christians. Just as Christ’s former words are spoken to all, “Whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them” (verse 12), so also these words exclude no one, “Beware of false prophets.” From these words it is quite clear that I have the right and duty to judge doctrine.Hence, I am obliged to say here, “Pope, you and your councils have made decisions. I now have to judge whether I can accept these decisions or not, for you will not be at my side to answer for me when I have to die. So, I have to see to it where I stand, and I must be sure of my ground.”SL 11:1394 (3-5)PRAYER: Heavenly Father, Your Word is the truth, and You have given us full and ready access to this Word of truth. Grant us a sure and certain understanding of Your Word, that we may always stand fast in our faith and openly confess the truth of Your Word, through Jesus Christ our Lord. 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, 4:234-245.
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Week of Trinity VIII - Sunday
2w ago00:03:25Tap to summarizeTHE WEEK OF TRINITY VIII - SUNDAYLESSON: MATTHEW 7:15-23“Whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them; for this is the law and the prophets.” Matthew 7:12After explaining the commandments of God as reported in Matthew, chapters five and six and in the earlier part of chapter seven, the Lord concludes His discussion with the words, “Whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them; for this is the law and the prophets.” This is a Christian doctrine and a neat summary of the whole of Christianity.Following on this, we have the present Gospel (Matthew 7:15-23), in which the Lord performs the office of a godly shepherd and teacher and warns us to beware of false teachers. It is as though He meant to say, “There you have your doctrine; from now on, beware of other doctrines. For it is certain that wicked teachers and false prophets will arise wherever this Word is preached.”This we must consider very carefully that there are two brands of doctrine: correct and good doctrine and false, misleading doctrine. There are two brands of doctrine, one always to be found alongside the other. This is how matters have stood from the beginning, and this is how it will be until the end of the world. We achieve nothing at all by withdrawing in silence and seeking security without trouble and annoyances. The wicked doctrine of men, the devil’s doctrine, and all our foes will oppose us unceasingly. We must never imagine that all our battles are over. We are not yet “out of the woods.” Hence, the Lord gives us a very serious warning and says, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”SL 11:1394 (1-2)PRAYER: Lord Jesus, You have given us very clear, precise teaching and instruction on what we are to believe as Your disciples. Implant Your Word in our hearts in such a way that we understand and keep it, for Your truth’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, 4:234-245.
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Week of Trinity VII - Saturday
2w ago00:03:19Tap to summarizeTHE WEEK OF TRINITY VII - SATURDAYLESSON: COLOSSIANS 1:15-20He [Christ] is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Colossians 1:17This Gospel (Mark 8:1-9) sets Christ before us as a rich, powerful lord and steward. To be sure, He is a rich miller and baker in one, better than any other that the world has ever seen, and He has learnt His trade very well. He really draws on a number of trades at once and without any human help at all. He ploughs and harvests, threshes, grinds and bakes, almost all in the twinkling of an eye.It is a miracle and incomprehensible to human reason how He could feed so many thousand men, without counting women and children, so that they were satisfied, and much more was taken up in broken pieces than they had at the outset. And He did it all on the instant with a word. He merely touches the bread and hands it out for distribution, and enough has been ground baked and prepared for four thousand or more people.The five thousand whom He fed on another occasion wanted to take Him by force and make Him their King (John 6:15). They thought that a man who simply had to put his hand into one basket or one pocket to provide all their needs could prove himself an excellent leader for them. He could actually do this and become such a king. Remember also the coin which Peter found in the mouth of the fish (Matthew 17:27).He can certainly perform His wonders when, where, and how He wills. He could bring enough bread and water out of a stone to feed the world. He actually does perform such miracles daily for the whole world. All that the world has is provided by His miracles, which are no less, as St. Augustine also has shown, than His feeding of the four thousand.SL 11:1379 (15-16)AE 78:257-258PRAYER: Lord Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, in whom all things in this world hold together, provide us with all that we need for our faith and lives now and always, in Your name and for Your mercy’s sake. Amen.
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Week of Trinity VII - Friday
2w ago00:03:40Tap to summarizeTHE WEEK OF TRINITY VII - FRIDAYLESSON: ROMANS 12:1-8Christ ... suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. 1 Peter 2:21In the Gospels, we are taught both faith and love. Christ is portrayed to us from two viewpoints: from the viewpoint of faith, that we should repose our whole faith and trust in Him and not indulge in anxious care and worry; and from the viewpoint of love. Just as He does to us in His concern for us, feeding us, giving us drink, and clothing us out of free love alone—and not just to be useful to us or as a reward for our merits—so also, we should do good freely to our neighbors, so that, just as He is Christ for us, we should also be Christ for them.Here we see that many of the works performed in times past by the religious are vain and even damned. For they were not performed in the interests of the neighbor, but for the sole reason of piling up personal merits before God.True Christian works must never be done with any ulterior motive; they must always be quite free, so that they redound to our neighbor’s welfare and are a completely free gift to him. They are, so to say, thrown into a common pool from which anyone can draw.This is what Christ Himself did. He threw all His benefits into a common pool. He gave His doctrine, Word, and life to the congregation as His free gift to them. Blessed are those who accept this gift of Christ with thanksgiving.SL 11:1372 (15-16)PRAYER: Shine in our darkened hearts and lives with Your Holy Spirit, Lord Jesus, that we may learn to love others as You have loved us, and that, as You are Christ for us, we may also be Christ for them. Grant us this for Your mercy, truth, and love’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, 4:202-210.
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Week of Trinity VII - Thursday
2w ago00:03:56Tap to summarizeTHE WEEK OF TRINITY VII - THURSDAYLESSON: PSALM 33:8-22“I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat; and if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way; and some of them have come a long way.” Mark 8:2-3What a friend we have in Jesus! He is even concerned about the welfare of those despicable stomachs of ours. Our hopes must be aroused, and we must certainly find comfort in Christ’s words regarding the multitude on this occasion. They have been waiting upon Him for three days with nothing to eat, and Christ is determined to meet their needs. Here you see that all those who cling steadfastly to God’s Word are fed by God Himself. Here we have an example of the true nature and power of faith; it flows solely from God’s Word.Hence, my dear friends, let us really make a beginning of believing. Unbelief is the overall reason for all the sin and vice which has gained the upper hand in all social ranks in our day. How does it come about that there are so many silly women and rogues everywhere, so many traitors, thieves, robbers, usurers, murderers, and those who have ecclesiastical livings for sale? All this results from unbelief. All these people form their judgements on human reason alone. Reason follows nothing but what it can see, and what it cannot see it cannot comprehend. And so, reason cannot comprehend how ultimately, by refusing to place its trust in God through faith, it must end in self-despair in the presence of so many rascals and scoundrels. This is what results where men allow reasons to assume all controls and shut out faith in God.SL 11:1371 (13-14)PRAYER: Lord of all power and might, the author and giver of all good things, graft in our hearts true love of Your name. Increase in us true religion, nourish us with true goodness, and, of Your great mercy, ever keep us in the same, through Jesus Christ our Lord. 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, 4:202-210.
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Week of Trinity VII - Wednesday
2w ago00:03:15Tap to summarizeTHE WEEK OF TRINITY VII - WEDNESDAYLESSON: PSALM 145:14-21He has filled the hungry with good things. Luke 1:53In the discussion on this Gospel of the feeding of the four thousand, we have said quite a lot about entrusting our bodily welfare to God and God’s assurances to us that we will never lack the temporal blessings we need.We also want to say something about the spiritual blessings which we need, more particularly in the face of death. When we have death before our eyes, we will find that we would rather continue to live; we will see hell before us and would much rather have heaven; we will be conscious of God’s judgement and would much rather have His grace. In short, we will see nothing of what we would like to have before our eyes.Against death, hell, and God’s judgement no creature can come to our help, but, if I have faith, I say to myself, “Faith is a basis on which I obtain what I do not see; if I believe, nothing can harm me. Even though I see nothing before me but death, hell, and God’s judgement, I must pay attention to none of these, but wholly believe that God, by virtue of this assurance and not through my own merits, will give me grace, salvation, and life.”This is what it means to cling to God in true faith. This is pictured in the living example of the four thousand people who clung to God with this faith alone. They were sure that God would feed them and refused to be side-tracked by any sophistries of human reason.SL 11:1370 (11-12)PRAYER: Comfort us with Your gracious promises and assurances, heavenly Father, in the days of our pilgrimage here on earth, but especially also when death comes upon us. Let us depart this life without any of the uncertain props of human reason, trusting only and solely in Your grace, through Jesus Christ our Lord. 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, 4:202-210.
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Week of Trinity VII - Tuesday
2w ago00:03:26Tap to summarizeTHE WEEK OF TRINITY VII - TUESDAYLESSON: PSALM 37:16-26With God nothing will be impossible. Luke 1:37Faith is the firm foundation upon which I wait for that which I do not see. Hence, I must always have enough. Before faith would ever experience dire need, the angels would come from heaven and dig bread out of the earth so that a believer with such faith should be fed. Heaven and earth would have to pass away before God allowed such a person to suffer want in clothing or any other necessity. The comforting, powerful words of God’s assurances and promises call for such certainty and conviction on our part.But if one took counsel with human reason, one would soon get the reply, “It is not possible. You will have to wait a long time before roast ducks fly into your mouth.” Reason sees nothing and grasps nothing. There is nothing there.This was also the reaction of the apostles with their questions, “How can one feed these men with bread here in the desert?” They thought, of course, that it would be quite impossible. Had they seen a big heap of money, butchers’ stalls and bakers’ shops ready at hand, they would have found it easy to offer advice and to afford some comfort here. This would have provided them with a good, rational solution to their problems. But when they saw nothing, they could offer no useful advice. They regarded the feeding of these people as an impossibility in the absence of the wherewithal to do this.SL 11:1370 (9-10)PRAYER: Your mercy and goodness towards us, heavenly Father, are unending and beyond all our powers of telling. We praise and thank You for all this goodness which we experience in body and soul, in the name of Jesus 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, 4:202-210.
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Week of Trinity VII - Monday
3w ago00:03:34Tap to summarizeTHE WEEK OF TRINITY VII - MONDAYLESSON: EPHESIANS 3:14-21Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1Here the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews reminds us that faith is the basis on which we rely for blessings which we do not yet see, or, in other words, I must wait for a blessing that I can neither see nor hear but can only hope for.This was also the situation in the Gospel (for this week, Mark 8:1-9). Here we have a large group of men, almost four thousand of them, who with their wives and children have been with Jesus and His disciples for three days with nothing to eat. This was real fasting—I would have you understand. They are now hungry, far from home, and without the necessary provisions to sustain themselves. The writer of Hebrews says that faith is an assurance whereby I hope for blessings that I cannot see. This is the kind of faith that we find here in this multitude: they see no food at all, but they still hope that God will sustain them.What does Jesus do here? What attitude does He take in this business? It would almost seem that He has no clues at all, for He goes to the apostles and asks them what to do about the problem of feeding these people. Their reply is characteristic enough, “How can one feed these men with bread here in the desert?” Here we see how human reason and faith not infrequently walk along together. We see that the smarter human reason is, the less it is in line with the works of God.Jesus put His question to the disciples so that each of them should learn and recognize from the way his own reason reacted, that there is really no way in which reason and faith can be brought together. Here we learn that, as soon as faith begins, reason must be shut out from that time or granted “leave of absence.”SL 11:1368 (6-7)PRAYER: Loving Father, on whose bountiful providence we wholly depend, give us at Your pleasure whatever necessities this life requires. Above all, continue to feed our souls with spiritual food, the bread of life from heaven, through Jesus Christ our Lord. 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, 4:202-210.
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Week of Trinity VII - Sunday
3w ago00:03:35Tap to summarizeTHE WEEK OF TRINITY VII - SUNDAYLESSON: MARK 8:1-9The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. John 1:17Scripture holds up a twofold picture before us: a picture of fear, that is, a picture of the boundless and strict wrath of God before which no one can stand the test, a picture which would mean utter despair for every one of us if we did not have faith. Over against this, the picture of grace is held up before us, so that faith should regard it very closely and draw from it a friendly, comforting confidence, with the hope that we can never overestimate God’s goodness towards us. There is always still much more with Him.You have often heard that there are two kinds of blessings: spiritual and bodily. This Gospel (Mark 8:1-9) deals with temporal and bodily blessings. It teaches us children’s faith; it is a Gospel for the weak.In this Gospel, we are taught to look to God as the source of all good and to learn to trust Him. From our experience of God’s blessings in the temporal sphere we should also learn to trust Him in regard to spiritual blessings. This Gospel reminds us of the fact that Christ does look after our bodily needs. From this we may well infer that He also wants to nourish our soul with spiritual blessings.If I am not prepared to entrust the sustenance of my body to Him, I will be much less disposed to entrust the eternal welfare of my soul to Him. If I cannot trust a man to give me one florin, how can I trust him to give me ten? If I cannot look to someone for a piece of bread, much less can I entertain any hope that he will give me house and home and a whole estate.SL 11:1367 (2-3)PRAYER: Heavenly Father, source of everything that is good for our bodies and souls, continue to pour Your good blessings upon us in accordance with the promises and assurances You have given us 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, 4:202-210.
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Week of Trinity VI - Saturday
3w ago00:03:44Tap to summarizeTHE WEEK OF TRINITY VI - SATURDAYLESSON: ROMANS 8:1-9“Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them.” Matthew 5:17What are we to learn from Christ’s interpretation of the Law in His Sermon on the Mount? First, you should learn that if you were to be judged by your obedience to the Law, you would have to be condemned as a child of sin and the devil. From this lost condition you cannot possibly rescue yourself by your own resources. You have no alternative but to seek refuge in God and beseech Him to change you. Otherwise, all is lost, and you are ruined.Therefore, take hold of God’s Word and promises that He is willing to change you, and this will prove itself a source of great help to you. Say to God, “See here, my God, you have set up Christ, your beloved Son, as an example for me. You want me to live as He did. I cannot do this. Change me, dear God, and grant me your peace.”God comes to our assistance and says, “Because you acknowledge your need of help and seek grace from Me, I will change you and make a new man of you. And though you are not perfect like Christ, as you should be, My Son’s life and perfection shall come to your assistance.” There must always be something to humble us and inspire us with healthy fear.This is real comfort—depending not on our own ability but on the fact that we have a gracious God who forgives us and on our faith in Christ, not on our own “worthiness.” This also purifies us from day to day, and, wherever there is something still lacking, we trust in Christ to provide us with adequate consolation. This is also the chief thrust of this particular Gospel (Matthew 5:20-26).SL 11:1350 (11-12)PRAYER: Thanks be to you, Lord Jesus Christ, for the hope of salvation which You have provided in the perfect fulfillment of Your heavenly Father’s Law for us, which you offer us in Your Gospel of salvation, for Your mercy and truth’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, 4:179-187.
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