394. Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity. I.
Blessed is he
whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
Gospel Lesson, Matthew 9, 1-8. And he entered into a ship, and passed over, and came into his own city. And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith, said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee. And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth. And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house. And he arose, and departed to his house. But when the multitudes saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men.
❦
“Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.” This declaration Christ has not taken with him away from the earth; in that case we were undone. What did I say? taken with him from the earth? As though Christ had left us! No; as these are living words, which never pass away, even so our Lord Jesus himself is here among us with these his words unto the end of time. When we preach in his name repentance and forgiveness of sins, so that the penitent soul believes and finds peace in the blood of Jesus, it is the Lord himself who declares: “Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.” If he were not present to let his divine voice be heard through us, our preaching would not have power to drive sin and the devil out of the hearts of our hearers. Let every minister of the gospel bear in mind that the Lord is with him when he rises to preach; that he may “speak as the oracles of God.” In like manner the Lord is with the words of forgiveness of sins in baptism and the Lord’s supper; — while to them who feel themselves weighed down by their sins, and are unable to apply to their hearts the comfort offered them when they hear or read the gospel addressed to all, he has given the rite of absolution; through which we give the anxious soul which confesses its sin, and prays for mercy, assurance of full forgiveness by the word of God. When David confessed his sin, Nathan said: “The Lord also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.” This was the own word of God; and who can doubt that it came true? When Jesus said to the man sick of the palsy, “Thy sins be forgiven thee,” were they not in truth forgiven? And the word is equally true when spoken to you in absolution; for it is the very word which Jesus spoke, God’s own word, which he has given his church the office of proclaiming to poor sinners; and in which himself is present, though unseen; — unseen, because we are to be saved by faith. Or is it not true that he gave his disciples this commission: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature”? And again: “Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained”? Do all, then, who receive absolution come into possession of forgiveness of sins? We say that it all depends on faith. He that does not believe is condemned already; for he makes God a liar. They who in their hearts despise the grace of God, and covet the world only; and they whose hearts refuse the gift, and who with the scribes in our text declare absolution by men to be blasphemy; — these certainly do not come into possession of the forgiveness which the words of absolution contain. For the very reason that faith alone can accept the grace of God, and that it is a most dangerous thing to refuse this great gift from the Lord, and deny this divine truth unto salvation; therefore we are vitally interested in giving one another instruction on this point, and by the revelation of the truth encourage one another to believe. If you do not as yet feel your sin with regret and pain, I beseech and exhort you by the love of Jesus to repent, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For he who does not know his sin with at least that degree of godly sorrow which impels him to go to Jesus and seek mercy, such a one has no life at all, but belongs to either the Pharisees or the Sadducees or the thoughtless multitude. If, on the other hand, you are sensible of your sin, and pray for mercy, you must not look about you in the domain of your own works or feelings in order to become a believer and find peace; but let yourself be brought to Jesus like the man sick of the palsy, and receive the comfort of forgiveness in the word which he has spoken, and which is preached to you by his servants. You do not believe that the word which we preach is the word which was spoken by his lips? Whence comes, then, this word of forgiveness which has been, and is, and will be heard in his church unto the end? From whom does it proceed? “Well,” say you, “the message may come from him; but it may not be addressed to me.’’ Let me ask you one question: “Who is the author of your soul’s prayer for mercy? Dare you say that it is any other than he? And yet you dare assert that he may have forgotten you, or that he may refuse to hear your prayer of which he is himself the author! Such unbelief surely is the height of foolishness and falsehood. Let me ask you another question: Of the many who came to Jesus with their burden of sin can you mention one who was turned away? Why, then, should he refuse to help you? Himself declares: “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” Yet you dare think that he may cast you out? Away, terrible unbelief, which contradicts the very words of truth itself! — Thank God, the truth shall remain the truth; our Lord Jesus is present in his own word with forgiveness of sins for every needy soul; and on this word we will take our stand, and bid defiance to sin and death and the kingdom of Satan. In the word of Jesus, and in nothing else whatever, will we put our trust, and let him be in the right in all things.
Do thou help us to do this, Lord Jesus; thou knowest the unbelief of our hearts. Hold us fast; draw us to thee; give us the grace of thy Holy Spirit to believe in thee, and to find rest in thy word of truth. Amen.*
By servant thine thou say’st to me:
“My child, thy sin’s forgiven thee!
Depart in peace, and sin no more,
And e’er my pard’ning grace adore.”
Yea, Lord, we bless the wondrous grace
That granteth us this joyful peace;
It is through Jesus’ precious blood
That we enjoy the heavenly good.
395. Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity. II.
Lord God, give us today by the word
new zeal and new strength. Amen.
Epistle Lesson, Ephesians 4, 22-28. That ye put off, concerning the former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor: for we are members one of another. Be ye angry, and sin not; let not the sun go down upon your wrath: neither give place to the devil. Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
❦
Paul writes this exhortation to believers who are sealed with the Holy Ghost. Even they, then, still have such sins as these. Let no wicked man, however, comfort himself with this reflection. For the wicked will not put away that which is evil. When they rejoice at the sins of the saints it is the devil’s joy, springing out of their love of sin. To the children of God, on the other hand, who grieve by reason of the evil still remaining in their flesh, and who fear that they may not be true Christians, it shall be a source of comfort that Paul finds it necessary to write thus to the holy church at Ephesus.
Let us also, then, obey the admonition of the apostle to put off the old man, and put on the new. No garment is so thoroughly moth-eaten and so full of filth and vermin as is the old man here spoken of. In these foul rags the unconverted are clothed; but without knowing it, because their lusts make them blind. You Christian, however, have put off the hideous garment; yet you must continue still to drag it with you; and the devil wants to make you put it on; but do you stamp it under foot, and put down the promptings of the flesh! If the soul stricken with palsy be healed by the grace of forgiveness, it must arise, and walk in newness of life; when the prodigal son has been received into the house of the father, and the best robe has been put on him, he must stay there, and wear it, and keep it clean, and consort no more with harlots. O with what zeal the regenerated children of God should follow after holiness! And the pure conversation proceeds from within. They have received a new mind, which, being born of God, is altogether holy; but in this they must be continually renewed. As there is a constant renewal of matter in a living body, some of the old being all the time replaced by the new; so it is also in the case of a living Christian. Of the Spirit of God he is ever receiving new light and new strength, and is being purged of the sin which still dwells in him; thus he has every day a new desire after that which is good. Many who at one time were filled with holy fire became cold, because they neglected this renewal of the mind. It gives the bounding freshness of youth to young and old; so that “they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” — Out of this renewal of mind proceeds holiness of life. Let the devil and his people do all the lying; for love and lying can by no possibility be yoked together. And let them have all the bitterness; for love and bitterness will not intermix. When you are overcome by the temptation to anger, and persist in it, you grieve the Spirit of God; can neither pray nor give thanks, but are palsied of both heart and hand. Is it not solemnly impressive that the apostle combines these two things: “Let not the sun go down upon your wrath,” and “Neither give place to the devil”? In Cain and Saul the devil found lodgment by their wrath; in Absolom and Ahithophel, by their greed of power; in Judas, by his covetousness; in you he must never find a place by any means whatever! The Lord shall keep you. “Of him, and through him, and to him, are all things.” — Merciful and faithful God, work in us to will and to do; and sanctify us wholly in spirit and soul and body. Amen.*
Cleanse our hearts from sinful folly,
In the stream thy love supplied,
Mingled stream of blood and water,
Flowing from thy wounded side;
And to heavenly pastures lead us,
Where thine own still waters glide.
[TLH 627 (listen here), or ELH 367]
* Here the head of the family says a short morning or evening prayer in his own words, and closes with the Lord’s Prayer and the Benediction. This is to be done every day. If the stanzas are not sung, they may be read in their proper place before the impromptu petition and the Lord’s Prayer.