Psalm 100,1-3.4b-5; Isaiah 43,1b. 6. Trinity

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum

Psalm 100,1-3.4b-5; Isaiah 43,1b 11,7 3917

6. Trinitatis  051

Apollinaris, Bishop of Ravenna, Italy, Martyr 69 

23. Juli 2017 

1. O Jesus Christ, our Merciful Lord, dwell among us when we gather in Your Holy Name, so that we receive from You the reward of eternal life that is from everlasting to everlasting.  Amen. (Gradual). 

2. O Israel: „Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are Mine.“ Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Enter into His presence with singing! Know that the Lord, He is God! It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. Give thanks to Him; bless His Name! For the Lord is good; His steadfast love endures forever, and His faithfulness to all generations.

3. The pure and simple gospel preached by the Church is summarized by the Prophet Isaiah: »Fear not, for I the Lord have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are Mine.« This gospel is nothing new, for it has been proclaimed to mankind since Adam’s fall into sin. The Lord promised Adam and Eve a Savior who would descend from Eve, and that descendant was Jesus. St. Matthew tells us in his Gospel: »The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people dwelling in darkness have seen a Great Light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a Light has dawned [Isaiah 9,1-2]. From that time Jesus began to preach, saying: „Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!“« (Matthew 4,15-17). Then Jesus called His first disciples: Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John (Matthew 4,18-22). After performing a few miracles, teaching the crowds and instructing His disciples, Jesus sent The Twelve out to proclaim: »The kingdom of heaven is at hand.«, and He gave them the authority to heal the sick (Matthew 10,5-15). Before He ascended to heaven, Jesus gathered His disciples and told them: »All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore when you go, make disciples of all nations by baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and by teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age« (Matthew 28,16-20). Whoever receives the preaching of the disciples receives Jesus and His Father (Matthew 10,40). Those who receive Jesus will also receive a reward.

4. What is the prophet’s reward and the righteous man’s reward? Prophets are sent to call people to repentance and to turn their eyes unto the Lord. The righteous man trusts in the Lord and lives according to His will. Solomon tells us in his Proverbs: »Walk in the way of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous, for the upright will inhabit the land. Righteousness delivers from death. Blessings are on the head of the righteous. The wage of the righteous leads to life« (Proverbs 2,20-21; 10,2.6.16). St. Paul tells us: »The righteous will live by faith« (Romans 1,17). Those who put their faith and trust in Jesus will be given rest from their heavy burdens (Matthew 11,25-30). Jesus and His disciples preached the gospel with the very intent of lightening the crushing burden people bear from sin and guilt. 

5. Jesus became our Savior in order to redeem us from the burden of sin and guilt. He has paid the price and has set us free. He promises to be with us always, to the end of the age (Matthew 28,20). His promise is true today, for where Christians gather in His Name, there He is among them; and He is among us today, and every Sunday when we gather to worship and praise Him. 

6. »Our Lord makes such a grand promise because the gospel and its preaching is fraught with much grief and hardship. The journey may be light and easy, but more often than not the path is rocky and dangerous. All of Jesus’s apostles suffered for the gospel. The Church now exists in a society and culture that is more and more hostile toward her and the gospel. Jesus clearly taught: »I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; no one gets to the Father except through Me« (John 14,6). But the world wants many different paths to salvation, and any religion that makes exclusive truth claims is mocked, ridiculed and tormented. 

7. And yet there still remains the unshakeable and immoveable truth: »Jesus is the Cornerstone, and there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved« (Acts 4,11-12). 

8. The Bible gives us great comfort: »„Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are Mine.“ Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Enter into His presence with singing!« Jesus is our Savior, He is with us always and He watches over us from His heavenly throne.  Amen. 

9. Let us pray. O God, whose Name is proclaimed among the nations, bless the people who praise You, so that their names are preserved for all externality in Your heavenly fellowship.  Amen. 

To God alone be the Glory 

Soli Deo Gloria

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All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4^th Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27^th Edition © 1993 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.  

All quotations from the Book of Concord are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using Die Bekenntnisschriften der evangelisch-lutherischen Kirche, 12. Edition © 1998 by Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.