Giving into our temptations always seem reasonable at the time, but they actually make things far worse than better.
God is with us in Word and Sacrament
God is with us in Word and Sacrament
Sermons on Matthew (Page 13)
What sort of man is this? He is the Lord. And what sort of God is this? The only true God. For He rebukes us if He must. He sends the waves over the sides of the boat to make us desperate, full of fear, and even angry, that we learn to pray. And then, He gives us peace according to His Word. He gives us the faith we lack. He gives us the Holy Spirit, and He will bring us home. For He remembers His Word and Promises, while we wait for the Resurrection to come and the consummation of all our hope. What sort of man is this? He is Jesus, the God who saves.
So we cling to what the Word of God, as revealed in the Holy Scriptures, says—not just about forgiveness but about everything. When he speaks, we take it to heart, believe it, hold fast to it, and seek to conform our thoughts, words, and deeds to it.
Do not be afraid of what shall be. Rather, rejoice. For the Lord is at hand. Your king is coming to you, just as He promised. For the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the good news preached to them. So also, is the Christ, the promised coming one, raised from the dead.
And as you continue to struggle against your flesh and this world, remember that your King is coming to you. For He did not just come once in the past. He is coming for you in the future, even as He continually comes to you now in His Word and Sacrament. He rides into your presence every Lord’s Day upon humble means to forgive you sins, to speak you righteous, to give you strength for today and courage and hope for tomorrow. He is your king. A new day is dawned.
Those wise virgins fell asleep, the same as the fools. They were not saved because they were good or better than the others. They were not good. They were not better. But they believed and trusted, nonetheless, that the Bridegroom was coming for them. They believed and trusted that He was good and merciful, that His Word was true, and He would bring them in. So He did. So He will also for you – whether you are awake or asleep, He has not destined you for wrath but for Himself. He has set a bound to everything – nations, earthquakes, family squabbles. Come home to the Altar – to your Lord and your God. Here find nourishment for the wait and a foretaste of the Feast to come.
Ours is a faith built upon history, the historic fact of Christ crucified, the innocent and pure desolated as an abomination for the vile offenders and sinners who deserved what He endured. Let us gather around that reality like vultures around a corpse. Let it draw us like cream draws kittens. The cross is the source of our Life in Christ. Look the cross. Leave everything else behind. And don’t look back.
God’s Word is sure and certain. It endures forever. God’s promises are irrevocable. He doesn’t take them back. And he has promised you, that in Christ Jesus your sins are no more. Believe it of yourselves. Believe it of your brother. It is the truth.
“Many are called, but few are chosen.” Not everyone goes to heaven. The Lord has atoned for the sins of the whole world. All are invited. No one need pay for his own sins, go unclothed or hungry, but some choose to anyway. They refuse the invitation and they stay out of heaven.
The Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity Matthew 22:34–46 Audio only.