THE WEEK OF TRINITY VIII - WEDNESDAY

LESSON: PSALM 119:89-96

We also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers. 1 Thessalonians 2:13

God makes His Word known to us through men, and He proclaimed it and had it written down especially through the apostles. St. Peter and St. Paul did not speak their own words, but God’s Word, as St. Paul also assures the Thessalonians when he says to them, “We also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.”

The Word may well be preached to me, but no one can implant it in my heart except God alone. God must speak His Word to my heart, otherwise nothing comes of it. If God keeps silent, the Word is not really spoken to my heart. Hence, no one will ever force me to give up the Word which God Himself has taught me. This I must know as certainly as I know that two and three make five. This remains true even if all councils say otherwise. If they say otherwise, I know that they are lying. Likewise, one yard is more than half a yard; this is certain. Even if the whole world says otherwise, I know that this does not change such facts. Who forces me to this conclusion? No one but the truth alone, which is so complete and so certain that no one can deny it.

This is also the case with the truth which God has implanted in our hearts. I am not so concerned about the opinion of Augustine, Jerome, St. Peter, St. Paul, or even of the archangel Gabriel from heaven—I want to have God’s Word and what God Himself says.

SL 11:1396 (8-10)

PRAYER: Lord God, heavenly Father, we praise and thank You for the sure and certain truth which You have set forth in Your Word. Make us steadfast and immovable in this truth, in and through our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Editor’s note: No American Edition (AE) equivalent for today’s sermon excerpt exists at the time of this publication. For an alternate English translation of this sermon, see Lenker, Church Postil—Gospels, 4:234-245.