(Continued)  All the powers of my soul, all the members of my body, are Your gifts. I should have been prepared to offer You the holy service I owed to You with all the powers of my soul, and with all the members of my body. But I have made them—O! what cause for sorrow!—I have made them tools for unrighteousness and evil. Yours is the breath which I draw. Yours is the air which I breathe. Yours is the sun, whose light I behold every day. All these should have been for me aids and tools for a holy life. But I have turned them—what sorrow!—into servants of sin. Creation was to be used for the glory of the Creator, but unfortunately, I have misused it for His dishonor. The armor of light was to be put on in the light of the sun, but in the sun’s light I have committed works of darkness [Rom. 13:12]. Whatever time is added to my life is given to me out of Your kindness. Therefore my whole life should have been devoted to You, from Whom all of it comes. But not even the smallest part of my life has been devoted to You in holy service. As often as I have sensed what is good and right to do, just as often have I failed to follow through and turned away from service to You. By these impulses I was most kindly invited to return to You through repentance. But O!, how often have I harshly shunned their most loving encouragement!

Receive the one who now at last returns to You with groaning and a contrite heart. Sprinkle me with the blood of Your Son, so that I may be cleansed whiter than snow [Psa. 51:7] from all the filthiness of my flesh and spirit [2 Cor. 7:1], and may praise You eternally with all the elect, Amen. (The Daily Exercise of Piety by Johann Gerhard, Repristination Press, p.26-27)

#3 Part I, Chapter IX. All God’s Deeds of Kindness Testify to the Gravity of Our Sins.

O holy God, just Judge, the more deeds of kindness You have bestowed upon me, the more I am grieved that I have so often offended You, such a benevolent Father. Every gift you have bestowed upon me is like a bond of love. You have willed that I be bound to You, but I heaped up the number of sins, having forgotten You and Your kindness. I have sinned Father, against heaven and before You. I am not worthy to be called Your son. Make me as one of Your hired servants [Luke 15:19]. I am totally dissatisfied with myself. Grant that I be totally pleasing to You. The riches of Your goodness and Your extraordinary patience [Rom. 2:4] have for a long time called me to repentance, but so far I have declined to come. O most benevolent Father, again and again You have called me to repentance through the preaching of the Word, through the admonition of creation, through the reproof shown on Christ on the cross, through the internal working of the Holy Spirit. But I have completely closed my ears to this calling. (Text continues with Advent Four)  (from The Daily Exercise of Piety by Johann Gerhard, Repristination Press, p.26-27)

O holy God, just Judge, I know that I am conceived and born in sin (Psa. 51:7). I know that I was formed from unclean seed (Job 14:4) in the womb of my mother. The poison of sin has so corrupted and spoiled my entire nature that no powers of my soul are free from its infection. The holy gift of the divine image entrusted to me in the first parent of our race has perished in me. I now have no powers for initiating a saving recognition, fear, trust, and love of You. I have no capability to obediently perform Your commandments. My will is turned away from the law, and the law of sin in my members is opposed to the law of my mind [Rom. 7:23], so that my entire nature is corrupt and perverted. I am wretched and miserable and feel the assault of sin tenaciously clinging to every part of me. I feel the yoke of perverse desire weighing heavily upon me. I have been regenerated and renewed in the washing of baptism through the Spirit of grace [Tit. 3:5]. But I am not totally free from the yoke and captivity of sin, since that bitter root lurking in me always strives to shoot forth [Heb. 12:15]. The law of sin raging in my flesh fights to capture me. I am full of doubts, distrust, and the desire for my own honor. Depraved thoughts come forth from the heart [Mat. 15:19], which totally defile me in Your sight. From a poisoned spring flow forth poison streams.

Do not, O Lord, enter into judgment with Your servant [Psa. 143:2], rather be gracious to me according to Your great mercy [Psa. 51:3]. The depth of my wretchedness [Psa. 42:8] calls out for help to the depth of Your mercy. For this foulness of my unclean nature I place before You the most holy conception of Your Son. For me, He was born [Isa. 9:6], and so He was also conceived for me. For me, He was made sanctification and righteousness [1 Cor. 1:30], and so He also was made my purification and purity. Through and on account of this Your Son, have mercy upon me, O Most High, and do not place the hidden evil corruption of my nature in the light of Your face [Psa. 90:8]. Look to Your beloved Son, my Mediator! May His most holy and unpolluted conception be the remedy for my miserable conception. Amen. (The Daily Exercise of Piety by Johann Gerhard, Repristination Press, p.14-15)

Meditation on sins comprises these two parts, namely that we recognize the seriousness of original and actual sin. Actual sins are committed by thought, word, and deed. They are committed by the commission of evil and by the omission of good. They are committed against God, neighbor, and self. There are sins of youth and daily weaknesses. Every day we are tempted by the flesh and we will often succumb to these temptations. At times we participate in the sins of others, and fall into many of these same sins ourselves. And indeed, we are convicted guilty of our sins by all creation, and we contemplate the severity of divine wrath against our sins in the suffering and death of Christ. (The Daily Exercise of Piety by Johann Gerhard, Repristination Press, p.14)

When these doctrines are properly lodged within the heart, they will, first of all, induce people to glory in the goodness and grace of God, to love Him with all their heart, and also to live to the honor of this merciful God. They will begin, in true earnest to do all that they know to be pleasing to God; and to avoid all that they know to have been forbidden by Him. They are then pious and holy Christians, because they enjoy forgiveness of sins by faith and live in the fear of God and in obedience to Him. Therefore Christ so earnestly admonishes us to adhere to these doctrines and not listen to any thing contrary. He promises too, on His part, that He will not suffer Himself to be confined to any other place, but that He will be with us in His Word and grace, always and everywhere. And though it sounds terrible, that great heresy, darkness and seduction shall come upon the world, yet we are comforted when He says: “Wherever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together;” that is, my Christian Church shall remain with me. And though the devil, the Turk, and the pope, be ever so powerful, they shall not harm my Christians who adhere to my Word. May our merciful God in heaven, through the Holy Ghost, for the sake of His Son Jesus Christ, our dear Lord, grant this to all of us. Amen (Luther’s House Postil, Sermon for the Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Trinity, Volume 3, p. 901)

From this you may perceive the foundation of the true doctrine, from which you should not deviate in the least. Note well that the true doctrine points you to Christ and presents Him, in order that you may be truly comforted against sin and death. This is done by teaching that we should believe Christ to be true, eternal and almighty God, one with the Father and the Holy Ghost, who has come to us on earth, conceived by the Holy Ghost and born of the Virgin Mary. He finally died on the cross, not for His own sins, but for our sins; in order that God might be reconciled and our debt might be canceled, and that we might arise from the dead and come to the enjoyment of everlasting life. In our behalf, Christ has conquered sin and death, so that these no more can harm us; now Christ sitteth at the right hand of God, protecting us against the devil, bestowing upon us the gifts of the Holy Ghost, and answering all our prayer, offered in His name for all we need for body and soul. This is the true doctrine concerning Christ and agrees throughout with the Word, which alone will enable us to resist Antichrist and his lies.

(Luther’s House Postil, Sermon for the Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Trinity, Volume 3, p. 900-901)

Therefore we are indeed unhappy people, because we are so well provided with the Word of God and yet are so very slow to believe. This is the fault of the devil and of our shameful old Adam. For if we had an earnest desire for righteousness and salvation and all that we need, we would believe in the Lord Jesus and hope for everything through Him. For faith, as you have heard, can never be put to shame. Therefore the Lord extols faith very highly, saying: “Thy faith hath made thee whole.” The same faith in Christ will also help us, raise us from death unto life, conquer the devil, dispel our sins, and give us eternal life; all of which, though it is done by Christ, is nevertheless ascribed to faith. For it can never be obtained without faith. Even Christ, the holy sacraments, and the Word of God, or the preaching of the Gospel, cannot help or benefit us without faith. Faith must do it, else it will never be done. So much concerning the first miracle. (Luther’s House Postil, Sermon for the Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Trinity, Volume 3, p. 884-885)

Yet it seems singular language which the Lord here uses. He confesses that virtue is gone out of Him. As new the woman stands before Him and acknowledges the benefit bestowed by Him, He gives no indication that a virtue has gone out from Him, but ascribes all to the faith of the woman, although not she herself, but the Lord has helped her. But the Lord observes this manner in order to inform us thereby how well He is pleased if you expect from Him everything good and ask Him for help. It is as though He would say: See to it, and learn to believe confidently, no matter in what need you are, that I will indeed more readily help you than you are prepared to ask. I am much more ready to deliver you from death than you are to desire life. This He proves by the fact; it is easy to obtain from Him the healing power so much desired. This example should teach us to believe and to expect everything good from Christ, in every time of need and anxiety. But, the fact is, we hear it preached, we are told of it at home, and perceive the miracles which He continues to perform every day, and yet we are very slow to believe. Whoever sees his cellar and granary filled may believe, and yet doubts whether he will have enough to eat and to drink for a. year. Those who enjoy good health believe that God can help them. But when we are exposed to poverty and disease, then our faith is at an end. Then we do nothing but complain and cry, and imagine help to be found nowhere, though we are informed every day that God will be gracious unto us and help us through Christ. (Luther’s House Postil, Sermon for the Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Trinity, Volume 3, p. 884-885)

The Gospel lesson for today contains two parts. The first is a warning to those pious Christians who should live to see the destruction of Jerusalem, in order that they might know it beforehand and be enabled to escape from the calamity.

The other is a warning that pertains especially to these last times in which we live, inasmuch as terrible heresies will be introduced, in order that we may be prepared, may hold to the true doctrine, and beware of false prophets. Both of these warnings are necessary and in season, therefore we will study them with all diligence.

Though the first has reference to the time of the destruction of Jerusalem, fifteen hundred years ago, we may still derive from it the wholesome and comfortable doctrine that we should learn to love and honor the Word of God, and to live according to it, especially as God in such great wrath has punished the rejection of His Word in His own people. (Luther’s House Postil, Sermon for the Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Trinity, Volume 3, p. 892-893).

Hence we should be moderate in our complaints and be reasonable, and not merely look to our own rights over against others; but we should also remember our own wrongs over against God, and in all humility and patience lift up our hands unto God, saying: It is true, I have been wronged and have not deserved such treatment by this man; but I must look around and consider my own conduct towards God. If I do this, I will find and be convinced that I have sinned against God, ten, twenty, yea even a thousand times more than my neighbor has sinned against me. Therefore it becomes me to forget my complaints and to say: Forgive, O Lord; I will forgive also.

It would be wrong to defend our rights to the very last whilst we have been doing so much wrong against God. It is true, if one is able to defend his rights in a proper way and by fair means, he cannot be blamed. Law and justice have been instituted by God for the purpose of being used. But where our right cannot be maintained, let everyone abstain from litigation and from being impatient, but let him turn and say: I should have had my rights, and those offending me should have been condemned; but I must confess that before God I have deserved such wrong. Then we would not do like the Jews, who in their life and conduct set a bad example, and still insisted on their rights, though God did not have His rights at their hands. It 877is just as in the ease of the wicked peasants, who expect protection from the government, but will not pay tribute nor give anything. Such wantonness God has condemned by giving the sword into the hands of the powers that be. If these people will not pay their dues of their own account, they can be taken hold of and compelled.  (Luther’s House Postil, Sermon for the Twenty-Second Sunday after Trinity, Volume 3, p. 876-877)