Confessional Lutheran Ministerium

Psalm 146:1-10 NKJV

Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord, O my soul!
² While I live I will praise the Lord;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

³ Do not put your trust in princes,
Nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help.
⁴ His spirit departs, he returns to his earth;
In that very day his plans perish.

⁵ Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help,
Whose hope is in the Lord his God,
⁶ Who made heaven and earth,
The sea, and all that is in them;
Who keeps truth forever,
⁷ Who executes justice for the oppressed,
Who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord gives freedom to the prisoners.

⁸ The Lord opens the eyes of the blind;
The Lord raises those who are bowed down;
The Lord loves the righteous.
⁹ The Lord watches over the strangers;
He relieves the fatherless and widow;
But the way of the wicked He turns upside down.

¹⁰ The Lord shall reign forever—
Your God, O Zion, to all generations.

Praise the Lord!

The 146th Psalm is also a psalm of thanks. Especially in this day and age, people are prone to put all of their trust in the leadership running the country. While it may be understandable to desire leadership that is conservative and aims more toward godly values, it still doesn’t mean that all a person’s trust should be poured into that leader. That’s called idolatry. The 3rd verse of Psalm 146 puts a proper understanding in the mind of the reader/prayer: “Put not your trust in princes [leaders], in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.”

Here’s how the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther put it: “This is a Psalm of thanksgiving; and it contains a blessed doctrine; namely, that we ought to trust in God, who alone can defend; and who does defend faithfully all those who trust in him, and all those whom the world hates and casts out. And the Psalm shows, that we ought not to trust in any man, not even in kings or princes, nor in the mighty, nor in the rich, as the world do. For (as the Psalmist saith) “it is God alone that can mightily and gloriously deliver out of affliction,” and all trust in man is deceitful and vain; for (to say nothing about the vanity of such trust in all other particulars) no man knoweth anything certain respecting his own life!”  (Luther’s Manual on the Psalms, pgs. 400-401)

 The psalm prophecies Jesus’ miracles in verses 4-6 — “the blind see; the lame walk; lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the Gospel preached to them” (see Matt. 11:5). Through His Word and Sacraments Christ continues to come and be the healer, the restorer, the anointed One through whom alone is salvation. It is He, says Psalm 146, “who made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in the, standing guard over truth forever, doing judgment for the oppressed, giving food to the hungry.” Who else would we, believing/baptized Children of God want to turn or trust in?

Let us pray: O Lord, thanks be to You for bringing us to abandon all trust in man and trust alone in the only One through whom salvation comes, Christ Jesus. Amen.

1 John 2:18-29 NKJV

¹⁸ Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. ¹⁹ They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.

²⁰ But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. ²¹ I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth.

²² Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. ²³ Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

²⁴ Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. ²⁵ And this is the promise that He has promised us—eternal life.

²⁶ These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. ²⁷ But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.

²⁸ And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. ²⁹ If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.

Adding to the trouble we’ve already considered (the tugging of the world, sinful flesh and the devil)—mockers, plus the apostate who appear as if they were the Church and lead many astray—St. John now tells of the Antichrist, and that many like him had already come! He warns briefly, but thoroughly enough for us to recognize them.

      What reveals and characterizes the Antichrist, and the antichrists, is that they are deniers of God the Son and His saving work. There are those who, John says, went out from the Church, looking like the Church, but not being the Church. Among these are those who deny that Jesus is God the Son, a distinct Person from God the Father, but of the same Substance. The Athanasian Creed was traditionally confessed on all major festivals of the Church Year to prevent us from falling into the ways of these ancient heretics or their modern counterparts who so blatantly deny the deity of Christ.

More pernicious, though, are those antichrists who are not so blatant, outwardly confessing Jesus to be true God, but confounding His work. These cloaked evil-doers tempt us to look to something other than His atonement for the world’s sins as our salvation—whether directing our faith to our experience of His blessings or miraculous power, to our feelings of holiness or closeness to Him and the Church, or seeking assurance of our election through our works or service. The great Antichrist who enthrones himself over God, though, demands our faith to be in our works (or those of the saints) as supplementing Jesus’ payment for our salvation. He demands allegiance to himself, and condemns salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone (2 Thess. 2:3-4,7-10).

Rejoice, dear confessional Lutherans! Thanks to God working through Luther you have God’s preserved truth and are free from the Antichrist and the antichrists! Let us pray: O Holy Spirit, sanctify and keep us in the true faith, transforming us by and conforming us to Your holy Word!

1 John 2:11-17 NKJV

¹¹ But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

¹² I write to you, little children,
Because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake.
¹³ I write to you, fathers,
Because you have known Him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
Because you have overcome the wicked one.
I write to you, little children,
Because you have known the Father.
¹⁴ I have written to you, fathers,
Because you have known Him who is from the beginning.
I have written to you, young men,
Because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you,
And you have overcome the wicked one.

¹⁵ Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. ¹⁷ And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

While much in the world has changed with the passage of time, much remains now than it was then. As Holy Scripture proclaims: “There’s nothing new under the sun.” (Ecc. 1:9) As it did then, much threatens now to deceive and destroy. Therefore, much of John’s response to his circumstances back then speaks just as well now as it did then. The blessings, the challenges, the exhortation, all are as timely now as ever.

While St. John frames his message in terms that are natural enough, there is at the same time no real difference in what he offers as assurances to all who abide. In no way does he differentiate between the blessings of some verses those of others. Not some but all are strong in the power of Christ’s victory over evil, which makes us “more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Rom. 8:37).

In our day Christians still need to beware of the temptation to accommodate their faith to current cultural viewpoints and practices. We must not be taken in by the temptation to adjust biblical teaching ti fit the value systems of the pest world; to rationalize a materialistic lifestyle; to adjust moral standards subtly so they are not radically out of step with the times; to revamp our statement of theology so it will be more widely accepted; to employ methods of biblical critics in order to make conservative scholarship respected in the scholarly circles.

The temptations are many, and the urge to cave in is immense — all for the sake of comfort for the self. But Scripture calls it ‘worldliness.’  Any attitude that or action that makes the individual—and not God—the center and measure of the universe smacks of worldliness. Through faith in Christ’s fully atoning merits for you for the forgiveness of your sins, God brings you to do His will — namely, live and love sacrificially for the sake of your neighbor.

Let us pray: Thanks be to You, O Lord, for bringing us to forego the way of selfish worldliness and live sacrificially because of the sacrifice of Christ Jesus for us. Amen.

1 John 2:1-10 NKJV

2 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. ² And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.

³ Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. ⁴ He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. ⁵ But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. ⁶ He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.

⁷ Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning. ⁸ Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining.

⁹ He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. ¹⁰ He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.

People, mistakenly, think that there’s freedom in vagueness. But in reality freedom comes when stark contrasts are drawn  out and a firm conviction is taken. Within these few verses of John’s Epistle, he is fighting against the philosophies of his day, so he is inspired to take on the validity of one’s religion — that is, knowing that your belief is the true belief.

Who is to say, after all, that ours is a certainty superior to that of others? Meaning, are we Christians merely because we are born into Christian families? If we had been born Jews or Mohammedans, would we not feel just as certain and believe that we are just as right in feeling that we know God? Is the whole of the religious confession an entirely subjective consideration, unproved, unprovable, especially to those of a more objective “scientific” persuasion?

We may feel that ours is an awareness of, a connectedness to, God. But how are we to know whether feeling corresponds to reality? Feelings, after all, are fleeting and untrustworthy! No amount of clearness or strength in the experience itself can guarantee its validity, any more than the extreme vividness of a dream leads us to suppose that it is anything but a dream.

No experience of God is valid apart from what we know from the light of His Word, from His love, which becomes our love. John crushes those who made a specialty of knowledge, as men today in a different way boast of their ‘science.’ There are no shades of gray. There is only light or darkness, love or hatred. Some may find this absolutism discomforting; but it, at least, has the virtue of putting the issues in the most basic and starkest possible terms — and it brings one to actually be free through faith in Christ’s fully atoning merits for them.

When we confess that God makes Himself known in the person and work of Christ, then we have known and know Him according to His revelation. God, through His Word, is the One who gives the certainty — and He gets all of the glory!

Let us pray: Lord, thank you for the certainty from Your Word. Amen.

1 John 1:1-10 NKJV

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life— ² the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us— ³ that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. ⁴ And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.

⁵ This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. ⁶ If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. ⁷ But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

⁸ If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.

In the culture of John’s day, which was oriented toward the reciting and hearing of texts, opening words were everything. When one pauses to reflect upon the phrasing of John’s opening, then a discerned hearing would reveal a single sentence, four verses long and full of repetition, yielding a  distinctive mixture of profound, compelling affirmations.               

The prologues patterning accomplishes well the three functions of a literary introduction: (1) capturing the attention and interest of the listener; (2) stating the purpose of the writing; and (3) divulging the essential plan or scheme of the writing. The prologue begins with an attention-grabbing, comprehensive reference to faith’s object, to a who and a what that has existed from the beginning. In other words, John plunges into the heart of his subject with an introduction much like the one in his Gospel — fixing eyes of faith on Christ.

Verses 5-10 reveal how there’s no fence-riding with God. A believing/baptized child of God cannot dwell in both the darkness and the light. Dwelling would indicate a purposeful continuance in darkness (or sin). Yet  John is quick to point out that walking in the light does not mean that those who do so never sin, but that they do not seek to hide that fact from God.”

Oh, how we confessional Lutherans can rejoice that our liturgy — every single week — brings us to directly confess the truth of God’s Holy Scripture! We confess that we have sin; that we are not deceived; and that God’s truth is in us! We confess God’s faithfulness and justness to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness! Which, then, also means that we are confessing that we’re not already declared righteous with the rest of the world at Christ’s resurrection — this is an anti-scriptural teaching, very sadly, held by the other major Lutheran church bodies. Through our confession, we do not make Him a liar!  Why? Because His Word is in us!

Let us pray: Lord, keep us steadfast in Your Word.  Amen.

2 Peter 3:11-18 NKJV

¹¹ Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, ¹² looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? ¹³ Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

¹⁴ Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; ¹⁵ and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, ¹⁶ as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.

¹⁷ You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; ¹⁸ but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.

The reading for today continues off of the heels of the preceding verses that speak about the events that will take place when nearing the Last Day — namely, that this world is being “reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.” (vs. 8)  That judgment, undoubtedly, coming at any time (“as a thief in the night”, vs. 9) begs the question within verse 11: “what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness…?”

Attaining such holy conduct and godliness can be thought of as living perfectly — crossing every “t” and dotting every “i” — just shiny and without any errors in life. As confessional Lutherans, does anyone seriously believe that they live in such a way? There’s actually danger in such thinking.

Luther, in his Heidelberg Disputation of 1518 wrote in thesis 7: “The good works of the righteous [believers] would be mortal sins if they [the good works] would not be feared as mortal sins by the righteous themselves out of pious fear of God.” In other words, fear, even, your good works! Give the glory back to God. This keeps the old Adam from taking credit and stealing God’s glory (which would be a moral sin).

Rather than drum up man-made guesses at the meaning of “holy conduct and godliness” that our flesh may try to cling to— God’s Holy Scripture reveals Scripture. As it proclaims in Titus 2:11-14: “For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,” The Christian life is one of constantly dying (old man) and rising (New man) through faith in Christ.

Let us pray: O Lord, keep us ever-fixed on Your grace through Christ — for it brings about good works for Your glory. And as the Last Day approaches, also bring us to hasten it though the words You have given “Thy kingdom come” and “Come Lord Jesus!”  Amen.

Psalm 145:10-21 NKJV Psalm

¹⁰ All Your works shall praise You, O Lord,
And Your saints shall bless You.
¹¹ They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom,
And talk of Your power,
¹² To make known to the sons of men His mighty acts,
And the glorious majesty of His kingdom.
¹³ Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
And Your dominion endures throughout all generations.

¹⁴ The Lord upholds all who fall,
And raises up all who are bowed down.
¹⁵ The eyes of all look expectantly to You,
And You give them their food in due season.
¹⁶ You open Your hand
And satisfy the desire of every living thing.

¹⁷ The Lord is righteous in all His ways,
Gracious in all His works.
¹⁸ The Lord is near to all who call upon Him,
To all who call upon Him in truth.
¹⁹ He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;
He also will hear their cry and save them.
²⁰ The Lord preserves all who love Him,
But all the wicked He will destroy.
²¹ My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord,
And all flesh shall bless His holy name
Forever and ever.

As many other psalms, this is a psalm of thanksgiving as well. This one gives thanks for the kingdom of Christ, which was to come. God works through paradoxes that defy human reason and keep faith reliant upon God creating it through the power of His Word — not the strength or smartness of man!

One of the paradoxes that God works through is how He reveals Himself through hidden things. Fallen man, according to his finite reason expects God to reveal Himself through mighty powerful acts, so if He is going to save man, then it’s going to be in an impressive way. Yet, God works through the weak, unimpressive way of Christ’s cross reveal His love!

Luther writes this about Psalm 145: “The power and kingdom of Christ lies hidden under the outward appearance of the cross and of weakness; and the word of the gospel is a contemptible doctrine with the wise and powerful of the world; for “the gospel,” as Paul saith, “is the wisdom of God hidden in a mystery.” And again, saith he, “Christ crucified, is, unto the Jews, a stumbling-block, unto the Greeks foolishness.” But when this kingdom is, by the preaching of the word, and by the teaching and confession of the saints, made known before the world, it is proved to be the kingdom of God and the power of God.” (Luther’s Manual on the Psalms, pg. 399)

To reveal a Christian’s reliance upon and confession of God’s providential care, Luther pulled verses 16 and 17 into his ‘Ask a Blessing’ meal time prayer: “The eyes of all look to You, O Lord, and You give them their food in the proper time.  You open Your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.” Praying according to God’s Word, and acknowledging such a reliance upon God, the remainder of the mealtime prayer is practically answered already as it continues: “Lord, God, heavenly Father, bless us and these Your gifts which we receive from Your bountiful goodness.” And He does!

Let us pray: O Lord, as You create and sustain faith through Your Christ-crucified-focused Word and Sacraments, keep us rejoicing in Your eternal, and temporal, hidden works.  Amen.

Psalm 142:1-7 NKJV

A Contemplation of David. A Prayer when he was in the cave.

142 I cry out to the Lord with my voice;
With my voice to the Lord I make my supplication.
² I pour out my complaint before Him;
I declare before Him my trouble.

³ When my spirit was overwhelmed within me,
Then You knew my path.
In the way in which I walk
They have secretly set a snare for me.
⁴ Look on my right hand and see,
For there is no one who acknowledges me;
Refuge has failed me;
No one cares for my soul.

⁵ I cried out to You, O Lord:
I said, “You are my refuge,
My portion in the land of the living.
⁶ Attend to my cry,
For I am brought very low;
Deliver me from my persecutors,
For they are stronger than I.
⁷ Bring my soul out of prison,
That I may praise Your name;
The righteous shall surround me,
For You shall deal bountifully with me.”

In Reading the Psalms with Luther, the blessed Doctor writes of this psalm, “The psalmist prays for grace and forgiveness of sins in the terror of his conscience. He is nearly pressed to despair by the enemies of faith, that is, the promoters of the Law. These especially plague the distressed and timid conscience and drive it into darkness…  But here the psalm shows that grace provides deliverance, not the judgment before which no one alive can stand… For all of the holy patriarchs of old placed their hope on God’s love and grace, and not on judgment” (p. 339).

Like David, we also are privileged to cry out to the Lord and plead for His mercy, for we, too, in and of our sinful nature, have our consciences terrorized by the constant accusations of the devil through the unbelieving world around us. We are tempted at times to give up when illness or tragedy or difficulty strike and wonder out loud, “Where are You, God?”

Not if, but when that happens, we are privileged to call upon our good and gracious God in faith and trust that He has promised to hear our prayers and answer them for our good as He sees fit. For He is our refuge and our portion and, as David says, “will deal bountifully” with us in His grace and mercy.

As you complete this week and look forward to the Divine Service tomorrow, know that God has demonstrated His love and care for You by giving up His one and only Son to suffer in your place, die for your sins in your place, and rise victoriously from the dead for you. All your sins are paid for, and through that wondrous message the Holy Spirit works faith in the heart and gives you the strength to call upon God for all things, knowing that He loves and cares for you and delivers Himself to you in His preached Word and His Sacramental gifts of Holy Absolution, Holy Baptism, and Holy Supper.

Let us pray: Dear Jesus, thank You for paying for all my sins. Give me strength each day to cry out to You and know that You hear and will ultimately deliver me from this life to the life of the world to come. Amen.

2 Peter 3:1-10 NKJV

3 Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), ² that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, ³ knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, ⁴ and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” ⁵ For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, ⁶ by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. ⁷ But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

⁸ But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. ⁹ The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.

Pastor Peter delivers a strong and clear message in today’s reading. First, he reminds his hearers/readers to be mindful of the words of the prophets and the apostles who prophesied and preached about Christ, the Messiah, and how He came to pay for the world’s sins. As Christians we are thankful for all of God’s Word as, basically, it is all about Christ’s coming, His Incarnation, His life, death, resurrection, and His coming again in glory to take His Bride, the Church to Himself on the Last Day.

We are also reminded by Peter that “scoffers will come in the last days” and make a mockery of the predictions of Christ’s Second Coming. “Well, He hasn’t come yet after all these years, so He probably never will.” And that was the attitude in the first century! Think of how much more ridiculous the teaching and preaching of Christ’s second Advent sound to scoffers today! “Well, He hasn’t come for over 2,000 years, so why are you still talking about it?!?”

But we do not listen to those people. We are not to be taken in by their mockery of Christian truths. We know and believe by God-given faith that Christ will come again; we confess it boldly every week in the Creeds of the Church. We know and believe that “the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night…” It will be a terrible surprise to those who do not watch and wait for Christ, but it will be a joy to those who believe and who have been waiting patiently for the fruition of Christ’s promise.

Finally, we are comforted by Peter’s words when he says that the Lord “is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” God is waiting, but He will not wait forever. His Day will come and has been set. We pray that He would use us to speak this offer of Christ’s forgiveness to those around us so that they too may not perish but come to faith and the certainty of eternal life in heaven with our Lord. Let us pray: Lord Jesus, give me the courage and the words to speak of Your love to others. Amen.

2 Peter 2:12-22 NKJV

¹² But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption, ¹³ and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you, ¹⁴ having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children. ¹⁵ They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; ¹⁶ but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet.

¹⁷ These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.

¹⁸ For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. ¹⁹ While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. ²⁰ For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. ²¹ For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. ²² But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: “A dog returns to his own vomit,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.”

The initial words of today’s reading, “But these,” refer to the unjust from the latter part of yesterday’s reading. And Peter teaches us that they “speak evil of the things they do not understand and will utterly perish in their own corruption…” Also, “they have forsaken the right way and gone astray…” They are “wells without water” and for them is reserved “the blackness of darkness forever.” What a terrible indictment upon the unjust – those who do not believe in Christ and despise the message of His suffering and death for all.

We should never rejoice in the destruction of the unjust, and we rightly shudder at this condemnation. We should also pray for those in darkness that they, by the grace and mercy of God, come to faith and avoid eternal death and damnation. And we may do so because before God called us to faith in His Son, we deserved the same end.

It is no secret that this world is becoming more and more evil daily. Years ago it seems the devil was more subtle. The slow and incremental advance of evil has now sped up like a rocket and is blatantly obvious. Constant attacks on Christianity not only marginalize but delegitimize any good said or done by Christians at all. We are now threats to society, and some are calling for our removal from society.

So be it. There is nothing new here, for Jesus spoke of these things over 2,000 years ago What is new, it seems, is the level of ferocity and intensity of the world’s rejection and hatred of God and Christianity.

So, what do we do? This is also nothing new, for we continue to avail ourselves of God’s gifts of His Word and Sacraments. These are delivered to us in the context of the Divine Service by and through our faithful pastor who has been given to us for this very reason. He is Christ’s mouth, ears, and hands to us, and has been charged by Christ to feed His flock with the certainty of sins paid for by His suffering, death, and resurrection, and the continuous deliverance of forgiveness and strength that we may endure. Let us pray: Lord Jesus, keep me in the one true faith by Your good and gracious gifts. Amen.