Emmanuel Lutheran Church

Hebrews 11:17–40 (NKJV)

¹⁷ By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, ¹⁸ of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,” ¹⁹ concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense. ²⁰ By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. ²¹ By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff. ²² By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones. ²³ By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s command. ²⁴ By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, ²⁵ choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, ²⁶ esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward. ²⁷ By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible. ²⁸ By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them. ²⁹ By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned. ³⁰ By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days. ³¹ By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace. ³² And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: ³³ who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, ³⁴ quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. ³⁵ Women received their dead raised to life again. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. ³⁶ Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. ³⁷ They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented—³⁸ of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. ³⁹ And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, ⁴⁰ God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.

The words “by faith” appear in this reading 11 times, and “through faith” once.  Faith is vitally important. It is only by God-given faith that anyone listed in this reading was able to withstand a test, believe in a promise from God, overcome impossible odds, endure torture, be kept safe from hungry lions, remain strong even when weak, march through enemy territory, withstand temptation, defeat attackers who outnumbered them greatly, avoid certain death, offer up one’s own son, and not deny God’s promises even while being killed. To be sure, only faith in God’s promises can do these utterly miraculous things, for ultimately it is God Himself doing it.

Each week we recite these words in the Divine Liturgy: “I, a poor, miserable sinner…”  It is good that we do, for not only is the statement true, but to recite and believe these words about ourselves places us in the right position before God—the position of understanding that we are, in and of ourselves, hopeless, hapless, and helpless either to save ourselves or have anything at all to do with our salvation, forgiveness, or deliverance from any kind of evil or hardship.  All those in today’s reading understood this, and the only thing they had to survive spiritually was God-given faith in His promises of deliverance; that was all they needed.

We do well to remember that even the faith we have is God’s gift to us; Eph 2:8-9, “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves, it (faith) is a gift of God, not by works lest any man should boast.”  We boast in God’s work for us in and through Christ.

By faith in Christ’s suffering, death, and resurrection for you, you also will be able to withstand everything the devil, the world, and your sinful flesh throw at you.

Let us pray: Lord Jesus, thank You for paying for my sins and giving me Your promises that You never break. Strengthen me in the one true faith so that I may live, die, and rise again in You. Amen.

Jude 17–25 (NKJV)

¹⁷ But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: ¹⁸ how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. ¹⁹ These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit. ²⁰ But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹ keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. ²² And on some have compassion, making a distinction; ²³ but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh. ²⁴ Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, ²⁵ To God our Savior, Who alone is wise, Be glory and majesty, Dominion and power, Both now and forever. Amen.

We are most definitely in the end times. The unbelieving world is getting more and more violent. Toleration for Christians is decreasing daily. Churches and pro-life centers are being vandalized and burned. The Christian faith is being mocked nearly everywhere you look. Ungodly marriages—those not between one man and one woman—are becoming more and more popular. Talk of chastity and purity is ridiculed as not only outdated but irrelevant. This sinful and unbelieving world hates you, God, and faithful Christians everywhere.

None of this should be news to us nor come as a surprise.  The devil has been trying to usurp, upset, vilify, and corrupt God’s Word, His people, and His Church ever since Genesis 3; he is nothing if not consistent.  Therefore, we need to take seriously Jude’s words in this reading both as a warning as well as comfort.

“Remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ” (v.17). The apostles taught what Jesus taught them, that there is forgiveness and eternal life only in Him; that is our strength and comfort. They also taught from Jesus that end times mockers would be walking “according to their own lusts” (v.18). These, says Jude, do not have the true Spirit of God. And in our day they manifest themselves in all the ways mentioned in the opening paragraph above.

But dear fellow redeemed, “Build yourselves up in the most holy faith…” and keep “looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life” (vv. 20-21). Christ paid for all your sins; therefore, remember your Baptism wherein God made you His own child, run to the Sacrament of Jesus’ real and true body and blood for forgiveness and strength, and cling by God-given faith to Christ’s work for you.  He alone is “able to keep you from stumbling” and He will “present you faultless” before His Father for Christ’s sake.

Let us pray: Lord Jesus, keep us in the one true faith, protect us in our vocations, and bring us, by Your mercy and grace alone, to everlasting life with you in heaven.  Amen.

Hebrews 11:1–7 (NKJV)

¹ Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. ² For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. ³ By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. ⁴ By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks. ⁵ By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him”; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. ⁶ But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. ⁷ By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

“Just have faith,” people say. What they usually mean is, “Convince yourself that the thing you hope for will come true.” What an empty thing such a faith is! As if your hopes and desires had any power to make something happen, or as if God were bound to give you whatever you hope for.

The faith of which the Bible speaks, however, is a sure and certain thing, because it isn’t based on our hopes but on God’s sure and steady Word. When God tells us of things we can’t see in the past or present, or when He promises things in the future, faith latches onto God’s Word and rests on it securely.

God tells us, for example, that He created the universe, and how He created it. We were not there to see it. But faith latches onto God’s Word and confidently says, “Yes, God did make all things, just as He says He did.” Abel and Enoch latched onto God’s Word, telling them He was a good and gracious God who had promised salvation to Adam and Eve and their children after they fell into sin. They didn’t live to see the promised Savior, but they lived as men who believed God’s Word. Noah was so certain of the word God had spoken about the impending flood that he got right to work building the ark when all he could see were sunny skies.

These Old Testament believers were rewarded for their faith, one way or another, either in this life or in the next. But the greatest reward of faith is that God, in His grace, counts it for righteousness, according to His promise. He has invited all sinners to come to His Son, promising that in Him we will find the forgiveness of sins. The Holy Spirit works through His promise to make us sure that He is telling the truth, and so we believe it, come to Christ, and, through that faith, receive the promised forgiveness.

Let us pray: Lord God, You have given us Your Word and have promised us so many things. Help us by Your Spirit always to believe what You have said and to live by every word that proceeds from Your mouth. Amen.

Hebrews 10:1–34 (NKJV)

¹ For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. ² For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. ³ But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. ⁴ For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins. ⁵ Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me. ⁶ In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. ⁷ Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come— In the volume of the book it is written of Me— To do Your will, O God.’ ” ⁸ Previously saying, “Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the law), ⁹ then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.” He takes away the first that He may establish the second. ¹⁰ By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. ¹¹ And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. ¹² But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, ¹³ from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. ¹⁴ For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. ¹⁵ But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before, ¹⁶ “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,” ¹⁷ then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” ¹⁸ Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin. ¹⁹ Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰ by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, ²¹ and having a High Priest over the house of God, ²² let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. ²³ Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. ²⁴ And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, ²⁵ not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. ²⁶ For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, ²⁷ but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. ²⁸ Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. ²⁹ Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? ³⁰ For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” ³¹ It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. ³² But recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings: ³³ partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated; ³⁴ for you had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven.

The Law of Moses required the Israelites to bring the same sacrifices year after year. What were they to learn from that? That the sins they committed throughout the year kept piling up until they needed to be atoned for again eventually? No, the many sacrifices were to teach the Israelites that the blood of animals can never make atonement for human sins, and yet, atonement had to be made if they were to be God’s people. All the sacrifices they brought were to be little shadows and reminders that the Lord Himself would one day provide the true atoning sacrifice for their sins.

By the one sacrifice of Christ, God has “perfected forever those who are being sanctified.” In other words, on account of the atoning sacrifice of Christ, God has justified believers in Christ. Our sanctification began when we were converted and baptized. It continues as the Holy Spirit renews believers in love each day. Through faith, we stand righteous before God all the time. No more sacrifices for sin ever need to be made. We can approach God the Father boldly and confidently for the sake of Christ and His one sacrifice.

But we must “hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering.” We stand righteous before God through faith, not apart from faith, and God will faithfully sustain our faith through Word and Sacrament. But if we fail to gather with other Christians around Word and Sacrament, then we jeopardize both our faith and theirs. And if we turn back to sin, knowingly and willfully sinning against God, then we separate ourselves from Christ’s sacrifice; we drive out the Holy Spirit and the faith by which we have access to God. So let us take great care to live each day in repentance and to encourage one another to remain faithful until Christ comes.

Let us pray: Holy Father, we dare to approach You only for the sake of Your beloved Son and the blood He willingly shed for us. Be gracious to us and deliver us from evil, especially the evil of falling into willful sin. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.