Faith and Duty: Sermons on Free Texts, with Reference to the Church-YearBuchheimer, L. B. (Louis Balthaser)
Religion
Faith and Duty: Sermons on Free Texts, with Reference to the Church-Year
Buchheimer, L. B. (Louis Balthaser)
Church year sermons; Lutheran Church -- Sermons; Sermons, American
From away back in the past comes to us a voice, the voice of a young
man who, when tempted by the dark-eyed adulteress in Egypt, said:
"How, then, can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?"
Oh, that the young and the old would let these words of Joseph
incessantly ring in their ears! A positive attachment, devotion to
God will prompt us to be and to do what He wants you to be and to
do, and as it inspires you to do what is right, it keeps you from
doing that which is wrong.
And here again, to conclude, in our combat against this enemy of our
soul we cannot stand upright unless we have some mightier power to
sustain us. We know as Lenten Christians whence this power flows.
How can any one who has looked up to that divine Sufferer in faith
crucify Him anew by unholy living? The thought of what He has done
for us, the love that prompted Him to shed His holy, precious
blood for our sins, will restrain us from falling a victim to this
insidious and wicked enemy. The Lord grant us repentance over past
falls, gracious forgiveness, and strength!
Plenteous grace with Thee is found,
Grace to cover all my sin;
Let the healing streams abound,
Make and keep me pure within.
Amen.
FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT.
Woe unto the world because of offenses! For it must needs be
that offenses come; but woe to that man by whom the offense
cometh!--_Matt. 18, 7._
It has grown a custom with us to regard on this particular Sunday
some particular phase of sin. Now there is a sin which very many
people think little about; that is the sin of making others sin.
They feel that they are accountable for their own sins, the sins
of their hands, tongues, and thoughts, but as to responsibility for
what others have done, they feel no guilt that belongs exclusively
to them. And yet, when one reflects on the matter; when we consider
how we are all bound up with one another, what influence we exert,
what our words and deeds cause others to do, how, without our
knowing it, others have taken our example to encourage themselves
in what is wrong, thinking they could not go wrong if following in
our steps; when we reflect that the first sin committed in the world
was the sin of making others sin, that of the devil tempting Eve to
disobey God, and that the first evil consequence of man's fall was
that Eve, when she had sinned herself, was to make her husband sin
also,--we begin to realize that it is a real sin, and a common sin,
the sin of making others do wrong; nor can there be any doubt or
mistake as to our Lord's judgment concerning it.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account