Monday, October 10, 2011
Holy Spirit gives us Enough (Large Cat.)
Therefore every Christian has enough in Baptism to learn and to practise all his life; for he has always enough to do to believe firmly what it promises and brings: victory over death and the devil, forgiveness of sin, the grace of God, the entire Christ, and the Holy Ghost with His gifts. 42] In short, it is so transcendent that if timid nature could realize it, it might well doubt whether it could be true. 43] For consider, if there were somewhere a physician who understood the art of saving men from dying, or, even though they died, of restoring them speedily to life, so that they would thereafter live forever, how the world would pour in money like snow and rain, so that because of the throng of the rich no one could find access! But here in Baptism there is brought free to every one's door such a treasure and medicine as utterly destroys death and preserves all men alive.
44] Thus we must regard Baptism and make it profitable to ourselves, that when our sins and conscience oppress us, we strengthen ourselves and take comfort and say: Nevertheless I am baptized; but if I am baptized, it is promised me that I shall be saved and have eternal life, both in soul and body. 45] For that is the reason why these two things are done in Baptism, namely, that the body, which can apprehend nothing but the water, is sprinkled, and, in addition, the word is spoken for the soul to apprehend. 46] Now, since both, the water and the Word, are one Baptism, therefore body and soul must be saved and live forever: the soul through the Word which it believes, but the body because it is united with the soul and also apprehends Baptism as it is able to apprehend it. We have, therefore, no greater jewel in body and soul, for by it we are made holy and are saved, which no other kind of life, no work upon earth, can attain.
Let this suffice respecting the nature, blessing, and use of Baptism, for it answers the present purpose.
Monday, October 3, 2011
What to look for in the Church. (Bryan Wolfmueller)
It happens that sometimes in this life we find ourselves looking for a church. What, exactly, are we looking for? What do we base our search upon?
To begin, let’s make a distinction between what is nice and what is necessary. There are a lot of nice things to find at a church: an active youth group, friendly and welcoming people, a spacious and updated facility, a pastor who keeps everyone awake through the sermon, fantastic musicians, and people who don’t sin. All of these things are nice, but they are not necessary.
The things that are necessary are very few, but very important. The necessary things are the Gospel rightly preached and the Sacraments rightly administered. These two very humbly and easily overlooked things are the most important things in the church. In fact, these two things are the most important things in the entire world.
We need a committee to investigate the usefulness of a revolving door.
In the Gospel rightly preach and the sacraments rightly administered the Holy Spirit is present forgiving sins (Mark 16:16; John 20:23; Matthew 26:28), creating faith (Romans 1:16; 10:17), giving out victory over sin, death and the devil (1 John 5:4), and bringing people to the joys of everlasting life (John 3:16).
Our Augsburg Confession says this with marvelous simplicity:
Also they teach that one holy Church is to continue forever. The Church is the congregation of saints, in which the Gospel is rightly taught and the Sacraments are rightly administered. (AC VII.1)
There are things that are nice to have, but only the Gospel and the Sacraments are necessary, necessary for the Lord’s church, necessary for our families, necessary for our salvation.
May the Lord Jesus continue to see that His Gospel is rightly preached, that His sacraments are administered according to His institution, and that we, His people, are found in congregations and churches that are marked with the same. Amen.
Bryan Wolfmueller blog-site is very good.
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