Catechism Lockdown
Friday, March 5, 2021
Saturday, September 19, 2020
The Second Petition of the Lord's Prayer
The Second Petition of the Lord's Prayer
The Small CatechismThe Second Petition
Thy kingdom come.
What does this mean?
The kingdom of God certainly comes by itself without our prayer, but we pray in
this petition that it may come to us also.
How does God's kingdom come?
God's kingdom comes when our heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit, so that
by His grace we believe His holy Word and lead godly lives here in time and
there in eternity.
The Large Catechism
The Second Petition.
Thy kingdom come.
49] As we prayed in the First Petition concerning the honor
and name of God that He would prevent the world from adorning its lies and wickedness
with it, but cause it to be esteemed sublime and holy both in doctrine and
life, so that He may be praised and magnified in us, so here we pray that His
kingdom also may come. 50] But just as the name of God is in itself holy, and
we pray nevertheless that it be holy among us, so also His kingdom comes of
itself, without our prayer, yet we pray nevertheless that it may come to us,
that is, prevail among us and with us, so that we may be a part of those among
whom His name is hallowed and His kingdom prospers.
51] But what is the kingdom of God? Answer: Nothing else
than what we learned in the Creed, that God sent His Son Jesus Christ, our
Lord, into the world to redeem and deliver us from the power of the devil, and
to bring us to Himself, and to govern us as a King of righteousness, life, and
salvation against sin, death, and an evil conscience, for which end He has also
bestowed His Holy Ghost, who is to bring these things home to us by His holy
Word, and to illumine and strengthen us in the faith by His power.
52] Therefore we pray here in the first place that this may
become effective with us, and that His name be so praised through the holy Word
of God and a Christian life that both we who have accepted it may abide and
daily grow therein, and that it may gain approbation and adherence among other
people and proceed with power throughout the world, that many may find entrance
into the Kingdom of Grace, be made partakers of redemption, being led thereto
by the Holy Ghost, in order that thus we may all together remain forever in the
one kingdom now begun.
53] For the coming of God's Kingdom to us occurs in two
ways; first, here in time through the Word and faith; and secondly, in eternity
forever through revelation. Now we pray for both these things, that it may come
to those who are not yet in it, and, by daily increase, to us who have received
the same, and hereafter in eternal life. 54] All this is nothing else than
saying: Dear Father, we pray, give us first Thy Word, that the Gospel be
preached properly throughout the world; and secondly, that it be received in
faith, and work and live in us, so that through the Word and the power of the
Holy Ghost Thy kingdom may prevail among us, and the kingdom of the devil be
put down, that he may have no right or power over us, until at last it shall be
utterly destroyed, and sin, death, and hell shall be exterminated, that we may
live forever in perfect righteousness and blessedness.
55] From this you perceive that we pray here not for a crust
of bread or a temporal, perishable good, but for an eternal inestimable
treasure and everything that God Himself possesses; which is far too great for
any human heart to think of desiring if He had not Himself commanded us to pray
for the same. 56] But because He is God, He also claims the honor of giving
much more and more abundantly than any one can comprehend,-like an eternal,
unfailing fountain, which, the more it pours forth and overflows, the more it
continues to give,-and He desires nothing more earnestly of us than that we ask
much and great things of Him, and again is angry if we do not ask and pray
confidently.
57] For just as when the richest and most mighty emperor
would bid a poor beggar ask whatever he might desire, and were ready to give
great imperial presents, and the fool would beg only for a dish of gruel, he
would be rightly considered a rogue and a scoundrel, who treated the command of
his imperial majesty as a jest and sport, and was not worthy of coming into his
presence: so also it is a great reproach and dishonor to God if we, to whom He
offers and pledges so many unspeakable treasures, despise the same, or have not
the confidence to receive them, but scarcely venture to pray for a piece of
bread.
58] All this is the fault of the shameful unbelief which
does not look to God for as much good as will satisfy the stomach, much less
expects without doubt such eternal treasures of God. Therefore we must
strengthen ourselves against it, and let this be our first prayer; then,
indeed, we shall have all else in abundance, as Christ teaches [ Matt. 6:33 ]:
Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things
shall be added unto you. For how could He allow us to suffer want and to be
straitened in temporal things when He promises that which is eternal and
imperishable?
Thy kingdom come.
What does this mean?
The kingdom of God certainly comes by itself without our prayer, but we pray in this petition that it may come to us also.
How does God's kingdom come?
God's kingdom comes when our heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit, so that by His grace we believe His holy Word and lead godly lives here in time and there in eternity.
The Large Catechism
Thy kingdom come.
Sunday, September 13, 2020
The First Petition of the Lord's Prayer
The First Petition of the Lord's Prayer
YouTube Link
Hallowed be Thy name. What does this mean? God's name is certainly holy in itself, but we pray in this petition that it may be kept holy among us also.
How is God's name kept holy? God's name is kept holy when the Word of God is taught in its truth and purity,
and we, as the children of God, also lead holy lives according to it. Help us
to do this, dear Father in heaven! But anyone who teaches or lives contrary to
God's Word profanes the name of God among us. Protect us from this, heavenly
Father!
Large Catechism
The First Petition.
35] Hallowed be Thy name.
36] This is, indeed, somewhat obscure, and not expressed in good German, for in our mother-tongue we would say: Heavenly Father, help that by all means Thy name may be holy. 37] But what is it to pray that His name may be holy? Is it not holy already? Answer: Yes, it is always holy in its nature, but in our use it is not holy. For God's name was given us when we became Christians and were baptized, so that we are called children of God and have the Sacraments, by which He so incorporates us in Himself that everything which is God's must serve for our use.
38] Here now the great need exists for which we ought to be most concerned, that this name have its proper honor, be esteemed holy and sublime as the greatest treasure and sanctuary that we have; and that as godly children we pray that the name of God, which is already holy in heaven, may also be and remain holy with us upon earth and in all the world.
39] But how does it become holy among us? Answer, as plainly as it can be said: When both our doctrine and life are godly and Christian. For since in this prayer we call God our Father, it is our duty always to deport and demean ourselves as godly children, that He may not receive shame, but honor and praise from us.
40] Now the name of God is profaned by us either in words or in works. (For whatever we do upon the earth must be either words or works, speech or act.) 41] In the first place, then, it is profaned when men preach, teach, and speak in the name of God what is false and misleading, so that His name must serve to adorn and to find a market for falsehood. That is, indeed, the greatest profanation and dishonor of the divine name. Furthermore, also when men, by swearing, cursing, conjuring, etc., grossly abuse the holy name as a cloak for their shame. In the second place, also by an openly wicked life and works, when those who are called Christians and the people of God are adulterers, drunkards, misers, envious, and slanderers. 42] Here again must the name of God come to shame and be profaned because of us. 43] For just as it is a shame and disgrace to a natural father to have a bad, perverse child that opposes him in words and deeds, so that on its account he suffers contempt and reproach, 44] so also it brings dishonor upon God if we who are called by His name and have all manner of goods from Him teach, speak, and live in any other manner except as godly and heavenly children, so that people say of us that we must be not God's, but the devil's children.
45] Thus you see that in this petition we pray just for that which God demands in the Second Commandment; namely, that His name be not taken in vain to swear, curse, lie, deceive, etc., but be usefully employed to the praise and honor of God. For whoever employs the name of God for any sort of wrong profanes and desecrates this holy name, as aforetime a church was considered desecrated when a murder or any other crime had been committed in it, or when a pyx or relic was desecrated, as being holy in themselves, yet become unholy in use. 46] Thus this point is easy and clear if only the language is understood, that to hallow is the same as in our idiom to praise, magnify, and honor both in word and deed.
47] Here, now, learn how great need there is of such prayer. For because we see how full the world is of sects and false teachers, who all wear the holy name as a cover and sham for their doctrines of devils, we ought by all means to pray without ceasing, and to cry and call upon God against all such as preach and believe falsely and whatever opposes and persecutes our Gospel and pure doctrine, and would suppress it, as bishops, tyrants, enthusiasts, etc. Likewise also for ourselves who have the Word of God, but are not thankful for it, nor live as we ought according to the same. 48] If now you pray for this with your heart, you can be sure that it pleases God; for He will not hear anything more dear to Him than that His honor and praise is exalted above everything else, and His Word is taught in its purity and is esteemed precious and dear.
Sunday, September 6, 2020
Introduction to the Lord's Prayer - Part 2
Introduction to the Lord's Prayer (Part 2)
YouTube Link
Large Catechism
We have now heard what we must do and believe, in which things the best and happiest life consists. Now follows the third part, how we ought to pray. 2] For since we are so situated that no man can perfectly keep the Ten Commandments, even though he have begun to believe, and since the devil with all his power, together with the world and our own flesh, resists our endeavors, nothing is so necessary as that we should continually resort to the ear of God, call upon Him, and pray to Him, that He would give, preserve, and increase in us faith and the fulfilment of the Ten Commandments, and that He would remove everything that is in our way and opposes us therein. 3] But that we might know what and how to pray, our Lord Christ has Himself taught us both the mode and the words, as we shall see.
4] But before we explain the Lord's Prayer part by part, it is most necessary first to exhort and incite people to prayer, as Christ and the apostles also have done. 5] And the first matter is to know that it is our duty to pray because of God's commandment. For thus we heard in the Second Commandment: Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord, thy God, in vain, that we are there required to praise that holy name, and call upon it in every need, or to pray. For to call upon the name of God is nothing else than to pray. 6] Prayer is therefore as strictly and earnestly commanded as all other commandments: to have no other God, not to kill, not to steal, etc. Let no one think that it is all the same whether he pray or not, as vulgar people do, who grope in such delusion and ask, Why should I pray? Who knows whether God heeds or will hear my prayer? If I do not pray, some one else will. And thus they fall into the habit of never praying, and frame a pretext, as though we taught that there is no duty or need of prayer, because we reject false and hypocritical prayers.
7] But this is true indeed that such prayers as have been offered hitherto when men were babbling and bawling in the churches were no prayers. For such external matters, when they are properly observed, may be a good exercise for young children, scholars, and simple persons, and may be called singing or reading, but not really praying. 8] But praying, as the Second Commandment teaches, is to call upon God in every need. This He requires of us, and has not left it to our choice. But it is our duty and obligation to pray if we would be Christians, as much as it is our duty and obligation to obey our parents and the government; for by calling upon it and praying the name of God is honored and profitably employed. 9] This you must note above all things, that thereby you may silence and repel such thoughts as would keep and deter us from prayer. For just as it would be idle for a son to say to his father, "Of what advantage is my obedience? I will go and do what I can; it is all the same;" but there stands the commandment, Thou shalt and must do it, so also here it is not left to my will to do it or leave it undone, but prayer shall and must be offered at the risk of God's wrath and displeasure.
10] This is therefore to be understood and noted before everything else, in order that thereby we may silence and repel the thoughts which would keep and deter us from praying, as though it were not of much consequence if we do not pray, or as though it were commanded those who are holier and in better favor with God than we; as, indeed, the human heart is by nature so despondent that it always flees from God and imagines that He does not wish or desire our prayer, because we are sinners and have merited nothing but wrath. 11] Against such thoughts (I say) we should regard this commandment and turn to God, that we may not by such disobedience excite His anger still more. For by this commandment He gives us plainly to understand that He will not cast us from Him nor chase us away, although we are sinners, but rather draw us to Himself, so that we might humble ourselves before Him, bewail this misery and plight of ours, and pray for grace and help. Therefore we read in the Scriptures that He is angry also with those who were smitten for their sin, because they did not return to Him and by their prayers assuage His wrath and seek His grace.
12] Now, from the fact that it is so solemnly commanded to pray, you are to conclude and think, that no one should by any means despise his prayer, but rather set great store by it, 13] and always seek an illustration from the other commandments. A child should by no means despise his obedience to father and mother, but should always think: This work is a work of obedience, and what I do I do with no other intention than that I may walk in the obedience and commandment of God, on which I can settle and stand firm, and esteem it a great thing, not on account of my worthiness, but on account of the commandment. So here also, what and for what we pray we should regard as demanded by God and done in obedience to Him, and should reflect thus: On my account it would amount to nothing; but it shall avail, for the reason that God has commanded it. Therefore everybody, no matter what he has to say in prayer, should always come before God in obedience to this commandment.
14] We pray, therefore, and exhort every one most diligently to take this to heart and by no means to despise our prayer. For hitherto it has been taught thus in the devil's name that no one regarded these things, and men supposed it to be sufficient to have done the work, whether God would hear it or not. But that is staking prayer on a risk, and murmuring it at a venture; and therefore it is a lost prayer. 15] For we allow such thoughts as these to lead us astray and deter us: I am not holy or worthy enough; if I were as godly and holy as St. Peter or St. Paul, then I would pray. But put such thoughts far away, for just the same commandment which applied to St. Paul applies also to me; and the Second Commandment is given as much on my account as on his account, so that he can boast of no better or holier commandment.
16] Therefore you should say: My prayer is as precious, holy, and pleasing to God as that of St. Paul or of the most holy saints. This is the reason: For I will gladly grant that he is holier in his person, but not on account of the commandment; since God does not regard prayer on account of the person, but on account of His word and obedience thereto. For on the commandment on which all the saints rest their prayer I, too, rest mine. Moreover, I pray for the same thing for which they all pray and ever have prayed; besides, I have just as great a need of it as those great saints, yea, even a greater one than they.
17] Let this be the first and most important point, that all our prayers must be based and rest upon obedience to God, irrespective of our person, whether we be sinners or saints, worthy or unworthy. 18] And we must know that God will not have it treated as a jest, but be angry, and punish all who do not pray, as surely as He punishes all other disobedience; next, that He will not suffer our prayers to be in vain or lost. For if He did not intend to answer your prayer, He would not bid you pray and add such a severe commandment to it.
19] In the second place, we should be the more urged and incited to pray because God has also added a promise, and declared that it shall surely be done to us as we pray, as He says Ps. 50:15: Call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee. And Christ in the Gospel of St. Matthew 7:7: Ask, and it shall be given you. For every one that asketh receiveth. 20] Such promises ought certainly to encourage and kindle our hearts to pray with pleasure and delight, since He testifies with His [own] word that our prayer is heartily pleasing to Him, moreover, that it shall assuredly be heard and granted, in order that we may not despise it or think lightly of it, and pray at a venture.
21] This you can hold up to Him and say: Here I come, dear Father, and pray, not of my own purpose nor upon my own worthiness, but at Thy commandment and promise, which cannot fail or deceive me. Whoever, therefore, does not believe this promise must know again that he excites God to anger as a person who most highly dishonors Him and reproaches Him with falsehood.
22] Besides this, we should be incited and drawn to prayer because in addition to this commandment and promise God anticipates us, and Himself arranges the words and form of prayer for us, and places them upon our lips as to how and what we should pray, that we may see how heartily He pities us in our distress, and may never doubt that such prayer is pleasing to Him and shall certainly be answered; which [the Lord's Prayer] is a great advantage indeed over all other prayers that we might compose ourselves. 23] For in them the conscience would ever be in doubt and say: I have prayed, but who knows how it pleases Him, or whether I have hit upon the right proportions and form? Hence there is no nobler prayer to be found upon earth than the Lord's Prayer which we daily pray, because it has this excellent testimony, that God loves to hear it, which we ought not to surrender for all the riches of the world.
24] And it has been prescribed also for this reason that we should see and consider the distress which ought to urge and compel us to pray without ceasing. For whoever would pray must have something to present, state, and name which he desires; if not, it cannot be called a prayer.
25] Therefore we have rightly rejected the prayers of monks and priests, who howl and growl day and night like fiends; but none of them think of praying for a hair's breadth of anything. And if we would assemble all the churches, together with all ecclesiastics, they would be obliged to confess that they have never from the heart prayed for even a drop of wine. For none of them has ever purposed to pray from obedience to God and faith in His promise, nor has any one regarded any distress, but (when they had done their best) they thought no further than this, to do a good work, whereby they might repay God, as being unwilling to take anything from Him, but wishing only to give Him something.
26] But where there is to be a true prayer, there must be earnestness. Men must feel their distress, and such distress as presses them and compels them to call and cry out; then prayer will be made spontaneously, as it ought to be, and men will require no teaching how to prepare for it and to attain to the proper devotion. 27] But the distress which ought to concern us most, both as regards ourselves and every one, you will find abundantly set forth in the Lord's Prayer. Therefore it is to serve also to remind us of the same, that we contemplate it and lay it to heart, lest we become remiss in prayer. For we all have enough that we lack, but the great want is that we do not feel nor see it. Therefore God also requires that you lament and plead such necessities and wants, not because He does not know them, but that you may kindle your heart to stronger and greater desires, and make wide and open your cloak to receive much.
28] Therefore, every one of us should accustom himself from his youth daily to pray for all his wants, whenever he is sensible of anything affecting his interests or that of other people among whom he may live, as for preachers, the government, neighbors, domestics, and always (as we have said) to hold up to God His commandment and promise, knowing that He will not have them disregarded. 29] This I say because I would like to see these things brought home again to the people that they might learn to pray truly, and not go about coldly and indifferently, whereby they become daily more unfit for prayer; which is just what the devil desires, and for what he works with all his powers. For he is well aware what damage and harm it does him when prayer is in proper practise.
30] For this we must know, that all our shelter and protection rest in prayer alone. For we are far too feeble to cope with the devil and all his power and adherents that set themselves against us, and they might easily crush us under their feet. Therefore we must consider and take up those weapons with which 31] Christians must be armed in order to stand against the devil. For what do you think has hitherto accomplished such great things, has checked or quelled the counsels, purposes, murder, and riot of our enemies, whereby the devil thought to crush us, together with the Gospel, except that the prayer of a few godly men intervened like a wall of iron on our side? They should else have witnessed a far different tragedy, namely, how the devil would have destroyed all Germany in its own blood. But now they may confidently deride it and make a mock of it; however, we shall nevertheless be a match both for themselves and the devil by prayer alone, if we only persevere diligently and not become slack. 32] For whenever a godly Christian prays: Dear Father, let Thy will be done, God speaks from on high and says: Yes, dear child, it shall be so, in spite of the devil and all the world.
33] Let this be said as an exhortation, that men may learn, first of all, to esteem prayer as something great and precious, and to make a proper distinction between babbling and praying for something. For we by no means reject prayer, but the bare, useless howling and murmuring we reject, as Christ Himself also rejects and prohibits long palavers. 34] Now we shall most briefly and clearly treat of the Lord's Prayer. Here there is comprehended in seven successive articles, or petitions, every need which never ceases to relate to us, and each so great that it ought to constrain us to keep praying it all our lives.
Saturday, August 29, 2020
Introduction to the Lord's Prayer - Part 1
Introduction to the Lord's Prayer (Part 1)
YouTube Link
Large Catechism
We have now heard what we must do and believe, in which
things the best and happiest life consists. Now follows the third part, how we
ought to pray. 2] For since we are so situated that no man can perfectly keep
the Ten Commandments, even though he have begun to believe, and since the devil
with all his power, together with the world and our own flesh, resists our
endeavors, nothing is so necessary as that we should continually resort to the
ear of God, call upon Him, and pray to Him, that He would give, preserve, and
increase in us faith and the fulfilment of the Ten Commandments, and that He
would remove everything that is in our way and opposes us therein. 3] But that
we might know what and how to pray, our Lord Christ has Himself taught us both
the mode and the words, as we shall see.
4] But before we explain the Lord's Prayer part by part, it
is most necessary first to exhort and incite people to prayer, as Christ and
the apostles also have done. 5] And the first matter is to know that it is our
duty to pray because of God's commandment. For thus we heard in the Second
Commandment: Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord, thy God, in vain, that
we are there required to praise that holy name, and call upon it in every need,
or to pray. For to call upon the name of God is nothing else than to pray. 6]
Prayer is therefore as strictly and earnestly commanded as all other
commandments: to have no other God, not to kill, not to steal, etc. Let no one
think that it is all the same whether he pray or not, as vulgar people do, who
grope in such delusion and ask, Why should I pray? Who knows whether God heeds
or will hear my prayer? If I do not pray, some one else will. And thus they
fall into the habit of never praying, and frame a pretext, as though we taught
that there is no duty or need of prayer, because we reject false and
hypocritical prayers.
7] But this is true indeed that such prayers as have been
offered hitherto when men were babbling and bawling in the churches were no
prayers. For such external matters, when they are properly observed, may be a
good exercise for young children, scholars, and simple persons, and may be
called singing or reading, but not really praying. 8] But praying, as the
Second Commandment teaches, is to call upon God in every need. This He requires
of us, and has not left it to our choice. But it is our duty and obligation to
pray if we would be Christians, as much as it is our duty and obligation to
obey our parents and the government; for by calling upon it and praying the
name of God is honored and profitably employed. 9] This you must note above all
things, that thereby you may silence and repel such thoughts as would keep and
deter us from prayer. For just as it would be idle for a son to say to his
father, "Of what advantage is my obedience? I will go and do what I can;
it is all the same;" but there stands the commandment, Thou shalt and must
do it, so also here it is not left to my will to do it or leave it undone, but
prayer shall and must be offered at the risk of God's wrath and displeasure.
10] This is therefore to be understood and noted before
everything else, in order that thereby we may silence and repel the thoughts
which would keep and deter us from praying, as though it were not of much
consequence if we do not pray, or as though it were commanded those who are
holier and in better favor with God than we; as, indeed, the human heart is by
nature so despondent that it always flees from God and imagines that He does
not wish or desire our prayer, because we are sinners and have merited nothing
but wrath. 11] Against such thoughts (I say) we should regard this commandment and
turn to God, that we may not by such disobedience excite His anger still more.
For by this commandment He gives us plainly to understand that He will not cast
us from Him nor chase us away, although we are sinners, but rather draw us to
Himself, so that we might humble ourselves before Him, bewail this misery and
plight of ours, and pray for grace and help. Therefore we read in the
Scriptures that He is angry also with those who were smitten for their sin,
because they did not return to Him and by their prayers assuage His wrath and
seek His grace.
12] Now, from the fact that it is so solemnly commanded to
pray, you are to conclude and think, that no one should by any means despise
his prayer, but rather set great store by it, 13] and always seek an illustration
from the other commandments. A child should by no means despise his obedience
to father and mother, but should always think: This work is a work of
obedience, and what I do I do with no other intention than that I may walk in
the obedience and commandment of God, on which I can settle and stand firm, and
esteem it a great thing, not on account of my worthiness, but on account of the
commandment. So here also, what and for what we pray we should regard as
demanded by God and done in obedience to Him, and should reflect thus: On my
account it would amount to nothing; but it shall avail, for the reason that God
has commanded it. Therefore everybody, no matter what he has to say in prayer,
should always come before God in obedience to this commandment.
14] We pray, therefore, and exhort every one most diligently
to take this to heart and by no means to despise our prayer. For hitherto it
has been taught thus in the devil's name that no one regarded these things, and
men supposed it to be sufficient to have done the work, whether God would hear
it or not. But that is staking prayer on a risk, and murmuring it at a venture;
and therefore it is a lost prayer. 15] For we allow such thoughts as these to
lead us astray and deter us: I am not holy or worthy enough; if I were as godly
and holy as St. Peter or St. Paul, then I would pray. But put such thoughts far
away, for just the same commandment which applied to St. Paul applies also to
me; and the Second Commandment is given as much on my account as on his account,
so that he can boast of no better or holier commandment.
16] Therefore you should say: My prayer is as precious,
holy, and pleasing to God as that of St. Paul or of the most holy saints. This
is the reason: For I will gladly grant that he is holier in his person, but not
on account of the commandment; since God does not regard prayer on account of
the person, but on account of His word and obedience thereto. For on the
commandment on which all the saints rest their prayer I, too, rest mine.
Moreover, I pray for the same thing for which they all pray and ever have
prayed; besides, I have just as great a need of it as those great saints, yea,
even a greater one than they.
17] Let this be the first and most important point, that all
our prayers must be based and rest upon obedience to God, irrespective of our
person, whether we be sinners or saints, worthy or unworthy. 18] And we must
know that God will not have it treated as a jest, but be angry, and punish all
who do not pray, as surely as He punishes all other disobedience; next, that He
will not suffer our prayers to be in vain or lost. For if He did not intend to
answer your prayer, He would not bid you pray and add such a severe commandment
to it.
19] In the second place, we should be the more urged and
incited to pray because God has also added a promise, and declared that it
shall surely be done to us as we pray, as He says Ps. 50:15: Call upon Me in
the day of trouble: I will deliver thee. And Christ in the Gospel of St.
Matthew 7:7: Ask, and it shall be given you. For every one that asketh
receiveth. 20] Such promises ought certainly to encourage and kindle our hearts
to pray with pleasure and delight, since He testifies with His [own] word that
our prayer is heartily pleasing to Him, moreover, that it shall assuredly be
heard and granted, in order that we may not despise it or think lightly of it,
and pray at a venture.
21] This you can hold up to Him and say: Here I come, dear
Father, and pray, not of my own purpose nor upon my own worthiness, but at Thy
commandment and promise, which cannot fail or deceive me. Whoever, therefore,
does not believe this promise must know again that he excites God to anger as a
person who most highly dishonors Him and reproaches Him with falsehood.
22] Besides this, we should be incited and drawn to prayer
because in addition to this commandment and promise God anticipates us, and
Himself arranges the words and form of prayer for us, and places them upon our
lips as to how and what we should pray, that we may see how heartily He pities
us in our distress, and may never doubt that such prayer is pleasing to Him and
shall certainly be answered; which [the Lord's Prayer] is a great advantage
indeed over all other prayers that we might compose ourselves. 23] For in them
the conscience would ever be in doubt and say: I have prayed, but who knows how
it pleases Him, or whether I have hit upon the right proportions and form?
Hence there is no nobler prayer to be found upon earth than the Lord's Prayer
which we daily pray, because it has this excellent testimony, that God loves to
hear it, which we ought not to surrender for all the riches of the world.
24] And it has been prescribed also for this reason that we
should see and consider the distress which ought to urge and compel us to pray
without ceasing. For whoever would pray must have something to present, state,
and name which he desires; if not, it cannot be called a prayer.
25] Therefore we have rightly rejected the prayers of monks
and priests, who howl and growl day and night like fiends; but none of them
think of praying for a hair's breadth of anything. And if we would assemble all
the churches, together with all ecclesiastics, they would be obliged to confess
that they have never from the heart prayed for even a drop of wine. For none of
them has ever purposed to pray from obedience to God and faith in His promise,
nor has any one regarded any distress, but (when they had done their best) they
thought no further than this, to do a good work, whereby they might repay God,
as being unwilling to take anything from Him, but wishing only to give Him
something.
26] But where there is to be a true prayer, there must be
earnestness. Men must feel their distress, and such distress as presses them
and compels them to call and cry out; then prayer will be made spontaneously,
as it ought to be, and men will require no teaching how to prepare for it and
to attain to the proper devotion. 27] But the distress which ought to concern
us most, both as regards ourselves and every one, you will find abundantly set
forth in the Lord's Prayer. Therefore it is to serve also to remind us of the
same, that we contemplate it and lay it to heart, lest we become remiss in
prayer. For we all have enough that we lack, but the great want is that we do
not feel nor see it. Therefore God also requires that you lament and plead such
necessities and wants, not because He does not know them, but that you may
kindle your heart to stronger and greater desires, and make wide and open your
cloak to receive much.
28] Therefore, every one of us should accustom himself from
his youth daily to pray for all his wants, whenever he is sensible of anything
affecting his interests or that of other people among whom he may live, as for
preachers, the government, neighbors, domestics, and always (as we have said)
to hold up to God His commandment and promise, knowing that He will not have
them disregarded. 29] This I say because I would like to see these things
brought home again to the people that they might learn to pray truly, and not
go about coldly and indifferently, whereby they become daily more unfit for
prayer; which is just what the devil desires, and for what he works with all
his powers. For he is well aware what damage and harm it does him when prayer
is in proper practise.
30] For this we must know, that all our shelter and
protection rest in prayer alone. For we are far too feeble to cope with the
devil and all his power and adherents that set themselves against us, and they
might easily crush us under their feet. Therefore we must consider and take up
those weapons with which 31] Christians must be armed in order to stand against
the devil. For what do you think has hitherto accomplished such great things,
has checked or quelled the counsels, purposes, murder, and riot of our enemies,
whereby the devil thought to crush us, together with the Gospel, except that
the prayer of a few godly men intervened like a wall of iron on our side? They
should else have witnessed a far different tragedy, namely, how the devil would
have destroyed all Germany in its own blood. But now they may confidently
deride it and make a mock of it; however, we shall nevertheless be a match both
for themselves and the devil by prayer alone, if we only persevere diligently
and not become slack. 32] For whenever a godly Christian prays: Dear Father,
let Thy will be done, God speaks from on high and says: Yes, dear child, it
shall be so, in spite of the devil and all the world.
33] Let this be said as an exhortation, that men may learn,
first of all, to esteem prayer as something great and precious, and to make a
proper distinction between babbling and praying for something. For we by no
means reject prayer, but the bare, useless howling and murmuring we reject, as
Christ Himself also rejects and prohibits long palavers. 34] Now we shall most
briefly and clearly treat of the Lord's Prayer. Here there is comprehended in
seven successive articles, or petitions, every need which never ceases to
relate to us, and each so great that it ought to constrain us to keep praying
it all our lives.
Saturday, August 22, 2020
3rd Article of the Creed - part 2
The Third Article of the Creed (part 2)
YouTube Link
The Large Catechism
We further believe that in this Christian Church we have forgiveness of sin, which is wrought through the holy Sacraments and Absolution, moreover, through all manner of consolatory promises of the entire Gospel. Therefore, whatever is to be preached concerning the Sacraments belongs here, and, in short, the whole Gospel and all the offices of Christianity, which also must be preached and taught without ceasing. For although the grace of God is secured through Christ, and sanctification is wrought by the Holy Ghost through the Word of God in the unity of the Christian Church, yet on account of our flesh which we bear about with us we are never without sin.
55] Everything, therefore, in the Christian Church is ordered to the end that we shall daily obtain there nothing but the forgiveness of sin through the Word and signs, to comfort and encourage our consciences as long as we live here. Thus, although we have sins, the [grace of the] Holy Ghost does not allow them to injure us, because we are in the Christian Church, where there is nothing but [continuous, uninterrupted] forgiveness of sin, both in that God forgives us, and in that we forgive, bear with, and help each other.
56] But outside of this Christian Church, where the Gospel is not, there is no forgiveness, as also there can be no holiness [sanctification]. Therefore all who seek and wish to merit holiness [sanctification], not through the Gospel and forgiveness of sin, but by their works, have expelled and severed themselves [from this Church].
57] Meanwhile, however, while sanctification has begun and
is growing daily, we expect that our flesh will be destroyed and buried with
all its uncleanness, and will come forth gloriously, and arise to entire and
perfect holiness in a new eternal life. 58] For now we are only half pure and
holy, so that the Holy Ghost has ever [some reason why] to continue His work in
us through the Word, and daily to dispense forgiveness, until we attain to that
life where there will be no more forgiveness, but only perfectly pure and holy
people, full of godliness and righteousness, removed and free from sin, death,
and all evil, in a new, immortal, and glorified body.
59] Behold, all this is to be the office and work of the Holy Ghost, that He begin and daily increase holiness upon earth by means of these two things, the Christian Church and the forgiveness of sin. But in our dissolution He will accomplish it altogether in an instant, and will forever preserve us therein by the last two parts.
60] But the term Auferstehung des Fleisches (resurrection of the flesh) here employed is not according to good German idiom. For when we Germans hear the word Fleisch (flesh), we think no farther than of the shambles. But in good German idiom we would say Auferstehung des Leibes, or Leichnams (resurrection of the body). However, it is not a matter of much moment, if we only understand the words aright.
61] This, now, is the article which must ever be and remain in operation. For creation we have received; redemption, too, is finished But the Holy Ghost carries on His work without ceasing to the last day. And for that purpose He has appointed a congregation upon earth by which He speaks and does everything. 62] For He has not yet brought together all His Christian Church nor dispensed forgiveness. Therefore we believe in Him who through the Word daily brings us into the fellowship of this Christian Church, and through the same Word and the forgiveness of sins bestows, increases, and strengthens faith, in order that when He has accomplished it all, and we abide therein, and die to the world and to all evil, He may finally make us perfectly and forever holy; which now we expect in faith through the Word.
63] Behold, here you have the entire divine essence, will, and work depicted most exquisitely in quite short and yet rich words, wherein consists all our wisdom, which surpasses and exceeds the wisdom, mind, and reason of all men. For although the whole world with all diligence has endeavored to ascertain what God is, what He has in mind and does, yet has she never been able to attain to [the knowledge and understanding of] any of these things. 64] But here we have everything in richest measure; for here in all three articles He has Himself revealed and opened the deepest abyss of his paternal heart and of His pure unutterable love. For He has created us for this very object, that He might redeem and sanctify us; and in addition to giving and imparting to us everything in heaven and upon earth, He has given to us even His Son and the Holy Ghost, by whom to bring us to Himself. 65] For (as explained above) we could never attain to the knowledge of the grace and favor of the Father except through the Lord Christ, who is a mirror of the paternal heart, outside of whom we see nothing but an angry and terrible Judge. But of Christ we could know nothing either, unless it had been revealed by the Holy Ghost.
66] These articles of the Creed, therefore, divide and separate us Christians from all other people upon earth. For all outside of Christianity, whether heathen, Turks, Jews, or false Christians and hypocrites, although they believe in, and worship, only one true God, yet know not what His mind towards them is, and cannot expect any love or blessing from Him; therefore they abide in eternal wrath and damnation. For they have not the Lord Christ, and, besides, are not illumined and favored by any gifts of the Holy Ghost.
67] From this you perceive that the Creed is a doctrine quite different from the Ten Commandments; for the latter teaches indeed what we ought to do, but the former tells what God does for us and gives to us. Moreover, apart from this, the Ten Commandments are written in the hearts of all men; the Creed, however, no human wisdom can comprehend, but it must be taught by the Holy Ghost alone. 68] The latter doctrine [of the Law], therefore, makes no Christian, for the wrath and displeasure of God abide upon us still, because we cannot keep what God demands of us; but this [namely, the doctrine of faith] brings pure grace, and makes us godly and acceptable to God. 69] For by this knowledge we obtain love and delight in all the commandments of God, because here we see that God gives Himself entire to us, with all that He has and is able to do, to aid and direct us in keeping the Ten Commandments-the Father, all creatures; the Son, His entire work; and the Holy Ghost, all His gifts.
70] Let this suffice concerning the Creed to lay a
foundation for the simple, that they may not be burdened, so that, if they
understand the substance of it, they themselves may afterwards strive to
acquire more, and to refer to these parts whatever they learn in the Scriptures,
and may ever grow and increase in richer understanding. For as long as we live
here, we shall daily have enough to do to preach and to learn this.
Friday, August 14, 2020
3rd Article of the Creed - part 1
The Third Article of the Creed (part 1)
Small Catechism
The
Third Article: Sanctification
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian church, the communion of
saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life
everlasting. Amen.
What does this mean?
I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ,
my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel,
enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. In the
same way He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian
church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. In this
Christian church He daily and richly forgives all my sins and the sins of all
believers. On the Last Day He will raise me and all the dead, and give eternal
life to me and all believers in Christ. This is most certainly true.
I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy Christian Church, the
communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and
the life everlasting. Amen.
35] This article (as I have said) I cannot relate better
than to Sanctification, that through the same the Holy Ghost, with His office,
is declared and depicted, namely, that He makes holy. Therefore we must take
our stand upon the word Holy Ghost, because it is so precise and comprehensive
that we cannot find another. 36] For there are, besides, many kinds of spirits
mentioned in the Holy Scriptures, as, the spirit of man, heavenly spirits, and
evil spirits. But the Spirit of God alone is called Holy Ghost, that is, He who
has sanctified and still sanctifies us. For as the Father is called Creator,
the Son Redeemer, so the Holy Ghost, from His work, must be called Sanctifier,
or One that makes holy. 37] But how is such sanctifying done? Answer: Just as
the Son obtains dominion, whereby He wins us, through His birth, death,
resurrection, etc., so also the Holy Ghost effects our sanctification by the
following parts, namely, by the communion of saints or the Christian Church,
the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting;
that is, He first leads us into His holy congregation, and places us in the
bosom of the Church, whereby He preaches to us and brings us to Christ.
38] For neither you nor I could ever know anything of
Christ, or believe on Him, and obtain Him for our Lord, unless it were offered
to us and granted to our hearts by the Holy Ghost through the preaching of the
Gospel. The work is done and accomplished; for Christ has acquired and gained
the treasure for us by His suffering, death, resurrection, etc. But if the work
remained concealed so that no one knew of it, then it would be in vain and
lost. That this treasure, therefore, might not lie buried, but be appropriated
and enjoyed, God has caused the Word to go forth and be proclaimed, in which He
gives the Holy Ghost to bring this treasure home and appropriate it to us. 39]
Therefore sanctifying is nothing else than bringing us to Christ to receive
this good, to which we could not attain of ourselves.
40] Learn, then, to understand this article most clearly. If
you are asked: What do you mean by the words: I believe in the Holy Ghost? you
can answer: I believe that the Holy Ghost makes me holy, as His name implies.
41] But whereby does He accomplish this, or what are His method and means to
this end? Answer: By the Christian Church, the forgiveness of sins, the
resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. 42] For, in the first
place, He has a peculiar congregation in the world, which is the mother that
begets and bears every Christian through the Word of God, which He reveals and
preaches, [and through which] He illumines and enkindles hearts, that they
understand, accept it, cling to it, and persevere in it.
43] For where He does not cause it to be preached and made
alive in the heart, so that it is understood, it is lost, as was the case under
the Papacy, where faith was entirely put under the bench, and no one recognized
Christ as his Lord or the Holy Ghost as his Sanctifier, that is, no one
believed that Christ is our Lord in the sense that He has acquired this
treasure for us, without our works and merit, and made us acceptable to the
Father. What, then, was lacking? 44] This, that the Holy Ghost was not there to
reveal it and cause it to be preached; but men and evil spirits were there, who
taught us to obtain grace and be saved by our works. 45] Therefore it is not a
Christian Church either; for where Christ is not preached, there is no Holy
Ghost who creates, calls, and gathers the Christian Church, without which no
one can come to Christ the Lord. 46] Let this suffice concerning the sum of
this article. But because the parts which are here enumerated are not quite
clear to the simple, we shall run over them also.
47] The Creed denominates the holy Christian Church,
communionem sanctorum, a communion of saints; for both expressions, taken
together, are identical. But formerly the one [the second] expression was not
there, and it has been poorly and unintelligibly translated into German eine
Gemeinschaft der Heiligen, a communion of saints. If it is to be rendered
plainly, it must be expressed quite differently in the German idiom; for the
word ecclesia properly means in German eine Versammlung, an assembly. 48] But
we are accustomed to the word church, by which the simple do not understand an
assembled multitude, but the consecrated house or building, although the house
ought not to be called a church, except only for the reason that the multitude
assembles there. For we who assemble there make and choose for ourselves a
particular place, and give a name to the house according to the assembly.
Thus the word Kirche (church) means really nothing else than
a common assembly, and is not German by idiom, but Greek (as is also the word
ecclesia); for in their own language they call it kyria, as in Latin it is
called curia. Therefore in genuine German, in our mother-tongue, it ought to be
called a Christian congregation or assembly (eine christliche Gemeinde oder
Sammlung), or, best of all and most clearly, holy Christendom (eine heilige
Christenheit).
49] So also the word communio, which is added, ought not to
be rendered communion (Gemeinschaft), but congregation (Gemeinde). And it is
nothing else than an interpretation or explanation by which some one meant to
explain what the Christian Church is. This our people, who understood neither
Latin nor German, have rendered Gemeinschaft der Heiligen (communion of
saints), although no German language speaks thus, nor understands it thus. But
to speak correct German, it ought to be eine Gemeinde der Heiligen (a
congregation of saints), that is, a congregation made up purely of saints, or,
to speak yet more plainly, eine heilige Gemeinde, a holy congregation. 50] I
say this in order that the words Gemeinschaft der Heiligen (communion of
saints) may be understood, because the expression has become so established by
custom that it cannot well be eradicated, and it is treated almost as heresy if
one should attempt to change a word.
51] But this is the meaning and substance of this addition:
I believe that there is upon earth a little holy group and congregation of pure
saints, under one head, even Christ, called together by the Holy Ghost in one
faith, one mind, and understanding, with manifold gifts, yet agreeing in love,
without sects or schisms. 52] I am also a part and member of the same, a sharer
and joint owner of all the goods it possesses, brought to it and incorporated
into it by the Holy Ghost by having heard and continuing to hear the Word of
God, which is the beginning of entering it. For formerly, before we had
attained to this, we were altogether of the devil, knowing nothing of God and
of Christ. 53] Thus, until the last day, the Holy Ghost abides with the holy
congregation or Christendom, by means of which He fetches us to Christ and
which He employs to teach and preach to us the Word, whereby He works and
promotes sanctification, causing it [this community] daily to grow and become
strong in the faith and its fruits which He produces.