59. Saturday after Epiphany.
Lord, lay bare to our soul
the glorious mysteries of thy word. Amen.
Romans 10, 4-10. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them. But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
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Yesterday we impressed on one another that portion of this text which teaches that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believes. Closely connected with this truth is the one which we will particularly consider today; namely this, that Christ, by means of the word, is in the mouth and the heart of the believers. The righteousness which is of the law has its scriptural text: “This do, and thou shalt live.” The righteousness which is of faith has its scripture text also: “Say not, Who shall ascend into heaven, and bring Christ down? or, descend into the deep, and bring him up? The word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth and in thy heart.” This passage is taken from Deuteronomy 30, 11-14. Paul here teaches us to find Christ everywhere in the scriptures, even in the passages in which we might least expect to discover him. Truly, this is a wonderful lesson in the proper manner of reading the Old Testament. In the word Christ is nearer to us than tongue can tell. You shall not trouble yourself to ascend and descend, or to go hither and thither, in order to be justified. The law places upon us the burdensome duty of doing the deeds commanded; but here, in the gospel, there is no room for any deeds as a means of obtaining righteousness. Do not attempt the irksome task of bringing Christ up from below, or down from above; he came to us long ago, is risen from the dead, has obtained victory over the kingdom of death, has taken away the curse of the law, has torn down the walls of our prison, and has been glorified, so that his power and his presence have no limit. Such he is in the word, in that word which his church preaches. When you have this word in your mouth and in your heart, then are you righteous; for then Christ, who became man for you, and died and is risen for you, is with you and in you, and every demand of the law has been satisfied. The glorified Savior is in the word; the very Christ, not merely his teaching and spirit and power; himself is in the word, and thereby he is in me, and I in him. I have long enough imagined that I must rise up to heaven on the wings of the spirit and of devotion in order to find him, or bury myself deep in the anguish of hell in order to become worthy of him. My soul flitted hither and thither. I knew the teaching of the gospel concerning justification of grace by faith alone, and my heart hungered after peace with God, but I thought that Christ must reveal himself to me from on high or from the deep; until, at last, the Spirit of God in the word succeeded in teaching me that Christ is there, there in the word. And now I want to say to you, my honest reader: Christ is near to you in the word. Do you not believe the word of God? Do you not credit the testimony of Paul? May the Spirit make this clear to you; else you will grope about in the dark, trying to find him who is with you already, in your mouth and in your heart. — Confess him in word and deed, as far as your knowledge reaches, and call upon his name; then shall affliction, sin, and distress teach you to find him in the word.
Do, dear God, let the scales fall from our eyes. Amen.*
Abiding, steadfast, firm, and sure,
The teachings of the word endure:
Blest he who trusts this steadfast word,
His anchor holds in Christ, the Lord.
We have a sure, prophetic word,
By inspiration of the Lord;
And though assailed on every hand,
Jehovah’s word shall ever stand.
[TLH 290, ELH 234; listen here]
* 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.