Part Two
THE FALL OF CHRISTENDOM
John Regehr is Associate Professor of Practical Theology at Mennonite Brethren Bible College, Winnipeg, Canada. In 1970, he completed his doctorate at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary with a dissertation, The Preaching of Christoph Blumhardt. As source material for that study, Regehr translated thirty-one talks and sermons out of the collected works of the younger Blumhardt. Ultimately, Regehr's committee decided that the translations should not be incorporated as part of the dissertation itself; so they have not been published in any form.
We have selected sixteen of those pieces to constitute Part Two of this volume. With the idea of getting as much of Blumhardt into English as possible, first Regehr and subsequently we ourselves deliberately have chosen items that do not duplicate what is available from Plough Publishing House. With only minor editing, the translation that follows is Regehr's and is used with his permission.
In no way will these sermons serve as a substitute for what Ragaz accomplished in Part One. Nevertheless, they do carry a particular advantage of their own. Here, by reading complete presentations rather than excerpts, we can get a better "feel" for Blumhardt the teacher and preacher, for his style and the impact of his presence. Part One plus Part Two imparts to us much more of Blumhardt than either could do on its own.
Regehr arranged his selections in the chronological order of their original delivery; I have chosen, instead, to form them into a somewhat logical sequence. In the interest of including as much of Blumhardt's thought as possible, I also have taken the liberty to condense and to excerpt where that seemed helpful.
Regehr made his selections from the four-volume collection of the works of the younger Blumhardt, Christoph Blumhardt: Eine Auswahl aus seinen Predigten, Andachten und Schriften [CFBL], herausgegeben von R. Lejeune (Rotapfel Verlag, 1925-37). Each selection in Part 2 includes a reference that identifies each piece as to source and date and indicates what sort of editing has been done. -- V.E.
THE NAME JESUS
After eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise the child; and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. (Lk. 2:21)
He came as the little child over whom the angels sang jubilantly, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased." Upon being given the name Jesus, he stepped into the ranks of those that are called and known by name. And in this action God revealed himself in a particular way for the salvation of mankind.
This is not a name that men are inclined to give their children, but it is the name that the Father in heaven gives to a son of man. By that name the Father designates him as his Son and introduces him to us as our brother. It is a name by which the Father in heaven wants to say something to us and through which he wants to create something.
The name Jesus means Savior, Redeemer. The Father calls this, his Son, Savior, and makes him our brother in order that he might say to us, "You shall be saved!"
In every age, the greatest darkness among people has been that they have lost the light of their life and consequently have not been able to look to the future with prospects of life. Indeed, it has always been the torment of people not to know with certainty their ultimate destiny. But because the Father in heaven names the newborn child Jesus, every person knows whom he can count on concerning his life: "You shall be saved!" And now if you want to be a genuine person, you can be so if only, from the name Jesus, you read the announcement that the Father in heaven has made it his purpose to save you and all mankind. In the name of Jesus, the Savior, the Father wants to bring people into certainty regarding their salvation. And the name of Jesus not only proclaims this salvation, it creates it....
If the name Jesus is to communicate such an understanding to us, then each individual will have to make an effort to keep the understanding alive in himself. It is not wholesome for you to permit doubts about what God wants to do with you. It is a transgression against the name Jesus when you doubt that God wants to save you. Don't be misled, you who have heard the gospel and have been instructed in all that God has done through the Savior for the blotting out of your sins. Don't be misled when the world preaches something else or when your experience in the world seems an attempt to convince you that God is really not much concerned about your life. Assert the truth; you can know it and do know it, "I am being saved." This is the first sermon that comes from Jesus. You are being saved; be assured of that! ...
We must be firm in this--that, once the Lord Jesus has grasped us by his word, we understand him according to the word: "For God so loved the world ... that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life." If you have laid hold on that, and if you know that Jesus Christ was born, that he died for your sins; if you know that he was raised and is seated at the right hand of the Father--then know this, too, that you are being saved. The name Jesus proclaims this to you....
Though there be confusion in my life, "I am being saved nonetheless," Though sins still break into my life, "Nevertheless, I am being saved." Though hell assail me and the devil attack me, "Still I am being saved." We have a confidence; and we affirm it against the flesh, the world, the devil and hell, against everything that may be named: "We are being saved, because Jesus has come." This we know; it has been told us in the name Jesus by the Father in heaven himself. We don't merely suppose it; we know it. The truth that we are being saved is one of the fundamental facts laid into our understanding in the name of Jesus....
But more, beloved. Not concerning ourselves only are we to know that we are being saved—indicating, perhaps, to others, "We don't know about you." Not only are we forbidden to express condemnation regarding others, we must not even become indifferent regarding those who do not yet appear to have been seized by the gospel as we have been. We must not become uncertain in our thinking about the world, about the souls of people in general. The most certain truth in the Bible is that God wants to save all of mankind, indeed all of creation.
If Jesus is named Jesus, and if he thus is proclaimed to be sent by the Father and born a man and, at the same time, is proclaimed as the firstborn of all creation and the eternal word of God in whom all that lives has its life, then there must lie in this name Jesus--the name voiced by God, the name which is the Alpha and the Omega of creation--there must he in this name the proclamation that the whole of creation is being saved. Our loving God wants to carry the proclamation of salvation into the world; and in this "Jesus-age" in which we are living, we may regard every person with a view to his salvation and may instruct him concerning the same.
Once we have received into our spirits this proclamation of the name Jesus--I'd like to call it 'the Creation-Proclamation"--then we become even more full of light. We already have a certain measure of light when assured of our own salvation, we who have been laid hold of by the gospel. But we become much more resplendent and more powerful--in other words, more "apostolic"--when we accept the understanding that the name Jesus assures salvation for all creatures, regardless of who they are, regardless of what they do, regardless of what kind of life it is in which they find themselves. Jesus--named by God the Father--makes the proclamation of the gospel reliable, makes the announcing of salvation for all creation valid. And we may view the lost from this perspective....
It is my opinion that the further the times advance and the more we see the powers of sin and unbelief and of death and hell entangling people and seeking to draw them away from the proclamation of the gospel, so much the more must we establish in ourselves the conviction that God has set salvation as his goal. Just that much more must we gain courage to set ourselves against these devils of our time and contest the prey they already have taken....
We do not want to regard as gospel that which we can mutter sleepily, as Eli did, "May the Lord do what pleases him." No, we want to oppose such spiritlessness and stand in the gap as Moses did. If Moses, that servant of God, could wrest from the name of God mercy and grace, patience and faithfulness, for the entire people of Israel--then we can have the same courage (with the same repentance, of course) to announce the gospel, which is the will of God for salvation. This is the message we want to proclaim against the devil, against all the powers of hell, against all the evil in the world that accuses and condemns mankind: "You will not win out! This we know because we know Jesus. You must vacate the world." Mankind belongs to God and to Jesus Christ; and salvation will not be denied to this groaning world.
Jesus is the firstborn of all creation; he is the firstborn from the dead; and it has pleased God that in him all the fullness of God should dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross [a paraphrase of Col. 1:15-20). The incarnation of Christ is his union with all flesh, with all humanity; and if God calls this one who is united with all flesh "Jesus," then salvation is thereby proclaimed to all flesh. And we must avail ourselves of this truth if the name Jesus is to bear full weight on our understanding....
Be serious about "condemnation" for a moment. If those sitting next to you are to be deprived of salvation because of their present condition, then how much of your own being would have to go down into hell as well? Or do you suppose that exceptions will be made for certain people? Such a procedure would never even occur to God; he is righteous. Therefore, for our own sake we must hold fast to the proclamation of salvation for all.
In this, I do not wish to say that, at the end of time, God cannot and may not make a separation. What decisions must be made at the last judgment and what will happen to those who up to that time have not been saved--all that is his business. I say only this: Now, in our time, as long as God has not passed down his ultimate decision, the task has been given us to carry into the consciousness of all people the name Jesus, the name that is significant because it promises salvation. And we are to anticipate that salvation with sympathetic, priestly seriousness.
Now we want to touch on a further truth which the name Jesus proclaims. We have in him not only the concept of salvation but also the power of Godfor salvation. Not only does the name of Jesus proclaimsalvation, but also it is Jesus who createsit. Consequently, the gospel is called a power of salvation to all that believe it, who really want to be saved by Jesus. We must not despair even though the world continues long under the proclamation of salvation without actually attaining it. We must not despair even though we ourselves, often in the face of intense salvation-preaching, see no instant redemption from sin and death. We must not despair because of the delay of the thoroughgoing redemption that is proclaimed in Jesus. In the name of Jesus, the world has been brought into safety by the Father in heaven--initially through the announcementof all-encompassing redemption but ultimately through the promised entry of salvation in the second coming of Jesus Christ....
Our community would long since have ceased to exist if we did not know and affirm Jesus as the power of God, as the victor. We would long since have been lost if, likewise, we did not see this Jesus invade our lives against ourselves, against the malicious trickery of our hearts, against the half-commitment of our faith, against the sluggishness of our being, and against our worldlinessthat persistently keeps surfacing.
Often we have had to wait for years to see any improvement in something in which destruction had already taken root. We could then have done what many do in view of destruction. They say, "We must simply let it take its course; that's the way human life is." No! No! We let nothing "run its course." We must know Jesus as the power of God which is able to rescue in any situation--and not only according to some intellectualized concept but in truth, so that one can grasp it with the hands....
Only the person who knows Jesus to be the Conqueror who liberates us, who knows him as the Captain of our salvation leading us up out of all destruction--only he comes under the proclamation of salvation in a truly humble spirit.... When, for example, an habitual liar is attracted to the gospel, when the truth dawns that he is being saved and he believes it, what about his lying now? Shall he let his lies continue because he believes? What is the dynamic behind his lying? Behind his lying is the power of hell that binds him to the sin. And if no change takes place and the lying retains its hold, do you suppose such a person is being saved or redeemed?
If a redemption does not break into our lives through the power of God in Jesus Christ, then, although we call ourselves Christian and even consider ourselves among the believers, we will not enter heaven. No, the cords of sin, death, and hell must be cut off. We must become new; something that originates essentially in the power of Christ must set our life upon a new course. In short, we must have Jesus, the Conquering One, in small as well as in great matters. Only in this way will the assured hope of eternal life become firm within us....
We come now to a final proclamation that lies in the name Jesus. If we lay hold upon Jesus as the Redeemer of our own lives, then we can also believe him to be the power of God leading the life of all creation to the light. The power of Jesus Christ, too, we can relate to the whole of mankind, just as the understanding of salvation has been related to the entire world. When I know Jesus, who he is and what divine powers are manifested in him, then I have courage not only for myself but for others as well.
Even though many people nowadays accept nothing of their own salvation because they understand nothing of it, this does not discourage me. I think to myself, "Just wait until you have been rescued out of the claws of death, until your eyes have been opened; then you will believe!" It is such an attitude, I am convinced, which the name Jesus must create in the hearts of believers. Then these believers will become the first fruits, the light and salt, the front-line fighters in behalf of others. And herein lies the significance of the church of Christ on earth, the body of Christ that is to fill all things with its glory....
The life of man can no longer be an idle tale, since Jesus lives. Rather, the life of man is to come under the power of eternal life; and the Savior wants to help us in this. Indeed, as the great Lord of heaven and earth, he wants to fight at our side. For the world's sake, he wants us to lay hold of him who is the power of God on earth. It is this power that blesses what is cursed, that rescues what is lost, and that finally wins the victory against all powers that are in heaven and that carry their anti-God activity down as far as hell.
This Jesus we have come to know; this Jesus we preach; this Jesus we want to take with us through each day of the year. And though one generation after another apostatize, one society after another is destroyed, let them fall away, let them go where they will! You lay hold on Jesus!
With him, we hold the victory in our hands; with him we will yet bring the world back in. Even if the whole world should mock him, if only our little flock remains steadfast in hoping for his power, we will yet see the whole world become our reward.
The whole of creation must come under the church of Jesus Christ, who is the head of all things. This purpose cannot fail; its expression is the word of God, the Father's child given to us as Jesus--and such a word of God cannot fail....
The name Jesus will not find its glory in his allowing mankind to sink to ruin, in billions dying away in hell. Rather, the glory of that name will come in his being surrounded by countless multitudes, all, all of whom he has wrested from the power of death and sin, so that not one an say that he was saved apart from the right hand of God, the Father's might who is named Jesus.
CFBL 1:50-63 (#12). Sermon preached New Year's Day, 1883; published in Briefblaetter aus bad Boll, highly abridged.
ALL THINGS NEW
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
"See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them as their God;
They will be his peoples,
And God himself will be with them;
He will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
Morning and crying and pain will be no more,
For the first things have passed away." And the one who was seated on the throne said, "See I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true." Then he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life. Those who conquer will inherit these things, and I will be their God and they will be my children. (Rev. 21:3-7)
These words express the warmest, most intimate possible relationship to the will of God. And this will of God has become so deeply rooted in mankind through Jesus Christ that it can never again be disregarded. And although the whole of human society temporarily should be unmindful of it, and though Christendom itself should be moving on a track very different from that which this will of God prescribes, there always will arise out of this root which has penetrated humanity people who will be as intimately bound up with the will of God as were the apostles and the prophets. These are people who will know that everything else derives from this unswerving, relentless will of God to make all things new--everything both for our own personal lives with all their woes and obstacles, storms and defeats, and also for a human race which has been forced to pass through so much trouble, so many defeats, and so many disappointments.
In Christ people can know and experience that we stand in an on-going process, a progressive development, that is leading to a consummation, to an end of which it will be said: "See, the home of God is among mortals ... see, I am making all things new." All sorrow will have ceased, even the blackness of death. The death of man will have been transcended through a creative act of God, so that the struggles in which we still stand today will have come to their end.
The Lord Jesus, so to speak, always stands at the far borders of the present. Consequently, it is understandable that, for him and for his first disciples, it seemed that at one blow things could all be different tomorrow. We may think that they were deluded; but if so, it was a glorious delusion and the greatest of truths. If Jesus had hesitated to step out to the remotest boundary and say, "The present may come to an end tomorrow," then be would not have been that powerful personality who again and again calls into being people who, in view of present things approaching their end, derive strength to overcome that which still needs to be overcome today. We want to be such people; we would step out to the border, too. A part of our being has terminated its dealings with the present; we stand out there at the border, at the boundary of the present world, the boundary that signifies the beginning of a new humanity.
To be sure, it did not happen when the apostles expected it to and their expectations may have been rather crass--as though all things could change overnight, as though all the evils in the world could be removed in one fell swoop. The day, of course, has lengthened; and now we know that the first day that Jesus introduced involves an extended period of development. The day is in the process of becoming; it is not completed.
But what are a thousand years in the development of mankind? What are two thousand years? As we think of it today, what are the two thousand years that lie behind us? What is time? We need not be concerned about the length of time, if only we are involved in the cause, if only we are standing where we ourselves can grow in the will of God along with this larger development. And when the consummation does take place, when all things will have been fulfilled, then we will look back on what seems a brief span of years and say, rejoicing, "It has indeed come quickly."
Therefore, I would like to direct a request to all of us: "let us take our stand at the end of things." That is a loaded request. When we stand at the border, we already begin to experience many things in a different way. We discover that the incurable illness in us and about us actually comes to an end; a new thing begins. When we focus on the time to come, as Jesus does, then we already have drawn something of the time to come into our present life.
This age of tedium, emptiness, and restlessness that torments us cannot conquer us. Those evils which find expression in sorrow and crying and death and darkness, they will discover in us a power which will overcome them. This is what our scripture means by "he who conquers"; we who stand in this will of God for the age to come already conquer indescribably much now, even though we do not play leading roles. We cannot proudly say, "I will conquer, don't worry; nothing can harm me. With my faith I can get through." Although we personally do and should feel ourselves to be weak and poor, it is something of the power of the Lord Jesus that does the conquering, a power that can overcome all things because it is the power of God.
This power overcomes everything evil in us already in this present time, to the point that we cannot even say that anything is proving truly difficult for us. And even though we may be confronted by something extremely disagreeable, even if we are forced to renounce all we have come to love, we will still retain the consciousness that the power of God will overcome the difficult in us; we will not be destroyed by the pitiful stuff that surrounds us....
"I am making all things new!" This was the main source of power for Jesus as long as he was on earth. This is the source of power and might which arises in man again and again through the Spirit of Christ, so that he may not keep on working foolishly with externals but may be inspired to hope that all things will indeed become new. What to us is the world with all its evils if we have become strong in the Spirit of God? Who can name anything that could make us afraid if we are strong in the Spirit of God? When we have become new, then we conquer all things.
CFBL 4:71-76 (#9). Evening worship of September 18, 1909, abridged.
IN THE RETURN OF JESUS CHRIST
Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, 'Grant me justice against my opponent.' For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, 'Thought I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.'" And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" (Lk. 18:1-8)
In this parable on prayer there is something of a history of the coming of Jesus Christ. Today all our life of faith in the Savior, all our praying, even as individuals, all we do and experience--everything takes place under the portent of the return of the Lord Jesus.
The Savior comes into a dreadful world; although he is the Coming One, the world into which he comes is one of terrible unrighteousness. This is the characteristic of world history. World history always crushes a great number--an infinitely great number--of people under its brutal, violent tread. The history of the world may take what course it will--even in the eras of greatness for some nations, in the zenith of their culture, as they say--one thing cannot change, do what you like: history tramples people to the earth; behind it rises the cry of the destitute and the poor, whom the world is utterly unable to help. All worldly wisdom is confounded; it has nothing of value to offer. Even the good that is attempted leads to unrighteousness again and leaves behind it a moraine, an evil track in which lies the rubble of broken bones. And it is into this city that the Savior comes....
But because the Savior has come, we do not see only here and there a widow or a destitute person given a bit of help by the unrighteous judge, the civic authority. No, we see much help streaming forth from the coming of Jesus Christ. Then we rejoice; yes, then we rejoice. The return of Jesus Christ, our Savior, is truly happening within the world--even though it now is known only quietly in a few individuals, the elect. The Savior looks to his elect within this sorry world. And perhaps with a bit of anxiety as the last line of our text indicates--he clings, as it were, to these elect ones, seeking a base, a beachhead, for his coming....
He is looking about among us, too, and is asking: "Are any of the elect here? Is there someone here who takes delight in the history which God is effecting on earth for the sake of his kingdom, for the redemption which is coming to pass?" And if you, dear child, have a love for the coming Savior, and if your heart persistently says, "Lord Jesus, our cause is nothing; Lord Jesus, come! Yea, come, Lord Jesus," then the Savior says to you: "Pray without ceasing! Do not let up! Do not become foolish, and do not be without understanding! Pray!"
Through prayer we must set ourselves into the return of Jesus Christ, into the history of his coming to the world. And I give you the advice, I would almost say the command: If you pray regarding any matter, even concerning material needs, then place yourselves within the coming of the Savior....
And even when we individually experience help (and I receive so much help that often I am embarrassed in the presence of other people), then we must always ask uneasily: "Does this come from the return of my Lord Jesus Christ?" And if it does come from this return, then it is a sign that the Savior is coming. Then I shout for joy; then I rejoice; then I am exultant; then I am comforted! A sign of the coming Savior! I do not know what else can give me joy on earth. Today there is something of the return of Jesus Christ....
How is it today? Does our praying stand fully under this portent? Does the Savior here and now have people who believe in him as the Coming One, so that he can find a base of operations on earth? There certainly is much praying: you pray; your neighbor prays; your enemy prays; your adversary prays; everybody prays. But you pray in your sin, in your pride, in your passion. You pray, and the world remains as it was. The adversary laughs us to scorn for our praying. He is kept from laughing only if we stand within the return of Jesus Christ! "When the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?" No, he will not find faith unless we pray within the coming of the kingdom of God in the person of the Lord Jesus....
Granted, the world does not believe all this; but the Savior is coming in any case. Granted, too, the elect no longer believe; but the Savior is coming even so. And perhaps even the elect, by and large, must fall into a form of unbelief so that the word, the great word, can be fulfilled: "For God has consigned all men to disobedience, that he may have mercy upon all."
But what then, Christendom, have you to claim in superiority over the pagans? Of what is it you want to boast against the unbelievers? How dare you insult others when in the main point, the point about which the Lord Jesus is primarily concerned, you also are lacking, when you are not standing in the return of God in Jesus Christ, when you are not standing firm in this coming?
For ourselves, we renounce everything--all being pious, all acting as though we were holy upon earth, all boasting. We forget all this, and as little children we slip in under the cloak of the great and mighty Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He is coming; and even if you do not believe, redemption from the adversary will finally break into your own personal life. The Lord Jesus will come despite all unbelief! May he help us; may God help us that we might pray in the coming of Jesus Christ!
CFBL 4:230-238 (#28). Sermon preached October 28, 1911, very highly condensed.
WAIT FOR THE LORD
Our soul waits for the LORD; he is our help and shield.
We want to be those who in truth wait for the Lord. But for what purpose do we wait? Do you suppose that our waiting is simply a kind of religiosity, by virtue of which we are perhaps differently tuned religiously than other Christians? Is this to be only a particular religious coloring that signifies nothing further?
Such may be the attitude of some that say they wait for the Lord, but in whose lives nothing is changed in consequence. Our waiting for the Lord is to lead to deeds of the Lord; consequently, our opinion is: If I wait for the Lord, the Lord will soon come.
We cannot understand those who say, "I wait for the Lord, but it will be a long time before he comes." If a person says this and believes it, why does be wait at all? He had better leave it be altogether. This I say: He who does not in all things expect God soon is not waiting. Even if he affirms ten thousand times that he is waiting for the Lord, I do not believe it. If, for example, you come into severe illness, and in it you wait for the Lord, can you postpone the expectation of his answer twenty or thirty years or even longer? Impossible! If it is to be real waiting, you must expect God to do something at once. In consequence, perhaps tomorrow even will bring his decisive help.
For the person who waits for the Lord, everything he awaits in hope already comes into view. I think of this waiting as something alive in me; and obviously that which is alive is sustained with food; What, then, is the bread of waiting? The bread of waiting is the deeds of God. Without the deeds of God, the waiting of the heart dies.
Yet we must not expect too much from our hearts alone. Surely we do not consider ourselves strong enough that we can say, "I wait for the Lord, but for the time being I don't need him. I'll manage somehow." Yes, you will manage all right; but how?
In an ungodly way, just as the world manages. Where God is permitted to be nothing but a spectator. It ought not to be so. Rather, when I wait, my waiting should be grounded in the acts of the Lord. My waiting acquires its durability because the Lord performs his actions. And my waiting will find its goal in a great action of God performed upon me and upon all creation.
We have experienced that the Lord is our help and shield, and that is why we can wait. Also, we have experienced that the Lord can become our help and shield suddenly, surprisingly. Thus, we always wait for the Lord in such a way as to expect an early manifestation from him; we cannot imagine that there will be boredom when dealing with the Lord.
"He is our help." that is, he snatches us out of the evils into which we have come--body, soul, and spirit. It is not necessary, of course, that there be impressive, outwardly visible miracles. If only in the secret places, quietly, things are set right again and we are not left tangled in evil, then we are helped. Those who wait for the Lord already see his help, while others see only misfortune and ruin. Those who wait notice that the Lord sets to work immediately to remove the evil; and thus they are assured of near and complete salvation.
How easy it is then to remain patient, even when burden and threat persist. But it is unbearable when one is caught in some evil and then must admit, "The Savior is not at work here." Of course, I know very well that there are many people in the world who see in themselves and in others the most unhappy of conditions. These people put up with the worst sort of evil in themselves with the evasion, "That's simply the way I am.... It does not matter to them whether the Savior sets to work with them or not. And they view the misery of the world the same way. It is a matter of perfect indifference to them whether or not the Savior puts his hand to the problem. They may be a little sorry that things are the way they are, but even that does not trouble them for long.
But the person who waits for the Lord cannot feel this way; he wants to see God's action everywhere. When there is something amiss or distorted, something sinful or pitiful in the world, he wises day and night that God might set to work. He prays that God will remember his name, "merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness" (Ex. 34:6).
And then God puts his hand to the task; he is ready to grasp the whole world and, through Jesus Christ, switch it onto another track, pleasing to himself. It is those who wait who know how much in earnest God is about this; and they see, already in our time, how much has taken place. If we wait for the Lord, we are not waiting to see the beginning of our redemption. If those who believe that the consummation of the kingdom of God has been postponed indefinitely would consider how much God has been at work until now, they would be surprised. Truly, we are no longer waiting for the beginning; we are waiting for the end. We stand in the midst of the acts of God which are purposed for the end.
If anyone ridicules us because we wait for the Lord, expecting the end to come soon, it is simply because he does not know what waiting people experience. Those who wait for the Lord experience so much of the intervention of God that they have no time to make calculations for the distant future. Today, tomorrow, and always, they are in a state of readiness for the experience of new things; and each day they are prepared for the greatest event of all, the coming of the Lord....
But the Lord is also our shield. Innumerable dangers come upon the one who waits, particularly when he is moving forward. The last times, judged outwardly, are the most evil of times. This will be our own experience as well. Yet, in this, God also permits us the daily experience that we are protected children. Often we can see this only in retrospect. When suddenly some terrible evil breaks in on us, frightening and scattering all the people, we are tempted to think, "How can God permit such a thing?" But soon we come to realize that, in the midst of the greatest danger, we have experienced the greatest protection. God was showing us in what great danger we stand, how everything in the world is set toward destruction, and how much on guard we must be.
If things were otherwise, we would become too secure. If we were not subject to these sudden storms (which are, of course, only a small fraction of the distress in which the world lies), who knows but that we might become lax in our waiting? But to those who wait for the Lord, God is a shield. We can experience this; and it is an encouragement for the remainder of the time of our waiting....
Yet how few wait on the Lord in this way! Many Christians are surprised when they hear of some extraordinary thing happening to those who wait for the Lord! They wait and expect nothing; they believe but anticipate no change; and because nothing happens with them, they don't believe it happens with others either. But all of you who even now have found the Lord to be a help and a shield, you can learn of such things more and more!
However, if I wait for the Lord, I also wait on behalf of the whole world to which I belong. The Chinese are as much on my heart as is my own person. Yet here we are waiting, and others are not waiting with us, and that is hard. Yet ultimately those who wait for the Lord must succeed. Suddenly it will become bright over the whole earth--to the praise of God and of our Savior, Jesus Christ. May he send joyful hope and victorious confidence into our hearts even in the darkest days so we may wait through to the end and be saved at last.
The Savior's being with us has reference to the end of the world, not to its continuance. All the days of the disciples of Jesus are workdays looking forward to the consummation of the kingdom of God, with which event the present futile world will come to an end.
In the special sense of our text, Jesus is not witha person who spends his days for the sole purpose of sustaining earthly life. The Lord does not wish to spend too much effort on the continuance of the world. After all, it is corruptible; there is nothing left to be done but to await the wearing out of the decaying structure and the creating of a new one.
For the time being, we must do the best we can with what we have, not being too frightened when at times things collapse under our feet. We are only being loosed from everything earthly. Never again will the disciples of Jesus be really comfortable; but in view of the end coming upon the world, we can bear that which is inconvenient. Even the last great tribulation can be borne easily in view of that end.
In all our work, then, let us be careful to fix our eyes, not on the continuance of the world, but on its end. Then the Lord will be with us always, and he will see us through our current needs as well.
CFBL 1:32-38 (#9). First part preached January 22, 1882, the second on January 3, 1882. Appeared as a unit in Briefblaetter aus Bad Boll, February 15, 1882, abridged.
STANDING BEFORE THE SON OF MAN
"There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see 'the Son of Man coming in a cloud' with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."
>Then he told them a parable; "Look at the fig tree and all the trees; as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near." (Lk. 21:25-31)
Nothing is more important than that we prepare ourselves to stand before the Son of Man. In answer to the question, "What should be a person's prime concern in this life?" we say, "that he has a sure hope of eternal life." Yet we interpret that answer to mean that, in this life, he has an attitude enabling him to stand before the Son of Man....
There is a question that strikes fear into our hearts; and every honest person will feel with me. It is this: Will I be able to stand before God? Will I be able to stand before the Savior? Many people who feel quite reassured because they attend church every Sunday and participate in religious activities--who pray even be reckoned among the most devout--would nevertheless be terrified if suddenly they should hear the thunder of the last judgment and witness the arrival of our God. They would then come to see their Christian cloak as a filthy garment. In order to stand before God, they would be forced to look to something very different from what they could muster in the way of piety and spirituality, even in the best sense of those words.
But, beloved, we should not let ourselves come to this terror, We who are disciples of Jesus are to take care of that terror beforehand, It is our responsibility to consider ourselves always as standing before the Son of Man, to examine ourselves as though now, in the next hour, heaven would open and the time of the end come. This should be our attitude; and in such an attitude we can experience in advance something of the appearance of Jesus Christ and the coming of God into the world....
In the midst of earthly existence, we are surrounded by the heavenly and the eternal, that which gives movement and life to our hearts and sets us, as it were, already halfway into heaven. While we carry on our earthly activities quite naturally and normally, our hearts can still be in the heavenly and have experiences there where our eternal home is. Such a time we would very much like to experience. We would particularly like to have it now as we observe Christendom deteriorating and becoming bound up in the temporal....
All we have had up to this point is on its last run downwards. Our theology is moving down with the rapidity of a lowering storm. Our ecclesiastical perceptions are rapidly becoming political perceptions. Our worship services are being accommodated to the world. And thus it is necessary that all that has been should cease, should come to its end, making room again for something new, namely, the kingdom of God.
And we have a certain right to expect this in our time. At least I would like to stand before you as a witness of the truth that we are living in a day when we can expect the end of that which has been and can hope for the new.... Together with those who belong to me and all those who wish to understand me, my one aim shall be to permit that which has been to die, to cease. Of course, this is to take place in spirit, not outwardly. God wants to introduce some new thing; and the Savior will be better able to live in us when we ourselves no longer want to amount to so much--when we acknowledge that in what has been until now there is much that is detrimental, much that his of the flesh, much human activity, although the intentions were good.
All of this must die; therefore, we now say: "Die, then Jesus will live." As up to this point we have said, "Jesus is victor against the devil, against hell, and against death," we now leave it all off to one side and say: "Enough of that; now another conflict must begin: Jesus is victor against the flesh." So you may no longer expect me to grapple with the devil; it is no longer necessary, and I shall leave him aside....
It is more important that the Savior overcome us than that he continue to attack the devil. The devil is not so significant: we ourselves are much more truly the opposition to the kingdom of God. We who are in the flesh offer much more resistance to the kingdom of God than the devil does. Human self-will, earthly-mindedness, and greed; the will to power and the love of fame; human heroism which does not need God but in the strength of youth accomplishes what it chooses without consulting God--these overleap the commandments of God and prove more dangerous than the devil. If in our day we wish to fight as we ought, then we must turn against these foes.
You will understand, of course, that in this conflict one does not advance heroically, as one does in fighting the devil. Here one becomes weak. And here I need to become the weakest among you. Only in dying do I want to become the strongest among you--in self-accusation, in gladly taking the guilt of others upon myself, in willingly suffering in myself all the pain and the cares of others. In this, I want to be the strongest among you. But, beloved, I do not wish to do it alone.... Follow me into this much more difficult struggle in which we turn the sword upon ourselves.... We want to be those who are dying, because we know that very soon we must give account to the Lord for everything we have done....
Our joy shall be in God alone; his honor alone we wish to seek. Indeed, we seek. Indeed, we shall willingly be those who bear burdens, who suffer, who are feeble, if only through this we can serve God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Our heart burns regarding the misery of the world, because, although God has given so much help, he has received very little more honor than if he had not helped at all. People have honored him very little more because of his wonders and signs, even though these have become so great that they are spoken of everywhere. Wherever you go in the world you can hear people talking about them; but God is not honored more now because of them than he was before he performed them.... Consequently, our heart burns for God's honor, not for our flesh; for God's health, not for our health; for the welfare of Christ in his church, not for our earthly well being; for the experiences of the Holy Spirit, not for the coziness of our Christian spirit....
We need to die to our own cause as well. There is to be no "Boll Christianity"; God preserve us from that! Insofar as such already has come to be, I declare it, too, to be flesh--and flesh is of no value. Indeed, it is precisely to the flesh that we want to die; we want to be nothing special. No Christian pride is to emerge, but rather a Christian nothingness. We want to become nothing. We as Christians do not amount to anything; only Jesus does. What greatness we have achieved to this point, and what prominence we have attained beyond others, may God take from us....
The times of the end are upon us. Our text says: "When these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near." And later it says: "Truly, I tell you, this generation will not pass away till all things have taken place."
While, on the one hand, we are encouraged to die, we are exhorted, on the other hand, to raise our heads, because the end is already drawing near. Already the signs are noticeable in sun, moon, and stars. Already, although quietly and unobtrusively, the anxious fear of men and the collapse of human power is beginning. Already the powers of the heavens are trembling, and the coming of the Son of Man is being revealed in the clouds with great power and glory.
Of course, you are free to follow or not to follow me in this matter, but I owe it to you to say that, in recent times, the progress has been much more rapid than you perhaps suspect. I stand in the greatest expectation of things to come. Not to me only but to others as well, many signs are being revealed....
No one considers that God, too, should be in a position to do something occasionally; natural science so long since has come to understand everything! And yet science knows nothing, because in these matters it can explain nothing. Therefore, take note: no signs will ever be given except such as also have a natural appearance. The coming of the Savior in the clouds, even when it is visible, will be explained as a natural phenomenon. These signs, even when they are very near at hand, will not be revealed to the world as readily recognizable to everyone. Only when the trumpet sounds (which will be audible in the world) and quite extraordinary voices are heard, will men become aware; and then they will say: "Alas, why did we not pay attention earlier? We could have taken notice. The times have been changing. Human structures and national histories have altered. Things move so rapidly that one is hardly able to follow events. And now we finally recognize that, truly, God has done this. If we had only paid attention earlier!" That is how it will be, beloved!
Yet, by that time, the terrors of the end will have set in; only those who prepared themselves earlier will remain without fear. However, it is of great significance--even for those who enter into the terrors--that there exists a people which is not terrified; a people to whom the Savior can come quietly; people, although they are scattered over the world, through whom the Savior can open a door by which even the terrified nations can enter in, so far as they repent.
Believe it, friends, that "summer" is coming for everyone, not just for you. When these things take place, then great terror must come upon the whole earth, otherwise everything would continue in the self-same course. But, through the terror, the blossoming of the earth will occur, so that the world may take on a new character, tending toward summer, and so bear fruit for God the Creator. Thus the coming of the Savior unto those circles where his Coming is expected will be the beginning of the redemption of the world, the beginning of the salvation of a new people who will at that time repent in the last judgment. Ultimately, the purpose of Zion on earth is that all nations might enter into it.
Dear friends, accept this quite simply and as children, for many misconceptions regarding the last times are in circulation--and these can keep you from regarding the time as being near. It is precisely in Christian circles that there is much error regarding expectations of the end. Some people wait for the conversion of the Jews. By the time that takes place, the end will have long since come! Some wait for the Antichrist. When that occurs, God will long since have come. You reed not fear the Antichrist; you don't have to stand before him; you must stand before God, and he may come sooner than you think. All these secondary matters, produced by human thinking, become obstructions for many Christians--to the point that they never honor God, never honor Christ, never honor the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, do not ponder so long upon these things; accept them simply as the Savior uttered them--because all will transpire differently from what we imagine. Those only are wise who prepare themselves to stand before the Son of Man. All other matters will take care of themselves; nothing can harm us. All the storms and all the devils may approach us--even the Antichrist may come as often as he will--nothing can harm us if we are in the Savior, if we are a Zion of God, if we have hearts that are capable of experience, if Christ lives in our hearts.
Antichrist cannot subdue Christ; and he cannot subdue me either, if Christ lives in me. But if Christ is not living in me, then, although I may be the cleverest theologian or the greatest of Christians, every fool can throw me; it wouldn't take an Anti-Christ to accomplish that. Therefore, beloved, what is important is that we be able to stand before God. It is about this that we must concern ourselves; it is for this we must hope.... We should be able to observe how the day of the Lord makes its approach. The text says that, in observing it, it is as though you were to see summer coming. Just as, in the gardens and fields, one can observe the first blossoms opening, the trees beginning to bud, and the leaves emerging, so we are to be a people that experiences the summer of God--the rising of the Father, the light of the Savior, the radiance of the Holy Spirit, the glory of the Sabbath of God.
All this we are to experience; but we will have to be quiet so that the Savior can show it to us. There are plenty of inquisitive people who would like to know something very special; but God does not tell them anything. When we experience something, we must remain perfectly quiet and make no great commotion about it; we must not storm and shout and seek to convert everybody to it. Just let it all come into your heart!
God does not reveal anything to a person who will immediately shout it abroad. But if we become sensible and rate the kingdom of God higher than anything else, then a kingdom-year can come and we will experience it. Yet we must pray for it, too, standing before God quietly and unitedly; then it will come.
In the meantime, the signs are occurring, although much depends on our becoming persons who can sense the approach of summer. God can join himself to such people; they are utterly free from all that is in the world. You may be rich or poor, glad or sad; you may be in any situation you like; it is all secondary. Those who can observe and who are able to experience what they observe--they stand above the world. Of course, they live in the world and do business in the world; but the joy of their hearts is the experiences of the kingdom which are theirs. God is near, and the Spirit of God is near, and already the signs are present in which we can recognize the end. People may believe it or not; but the word must be said; and the Lord makes his word come true.
CFBL 2:74-86 (#6). From a stenographic copy; a sermon preached November 25, 1888, at the close of the church year. Highly condensed.
GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD
"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
"Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God." (Jn. 3:16-21)
Actually, it is impossible to preach on this text; one can only repeat it. It is already as complete as possible a sermon upon what God is in the world, what he was, and what he will be in the world forever.
We human beings usually see only our own neighborhood, the area in which we live; and what we see there is darkness. Thus the perspectives of God are lost, and everything seems beyond help. It looks as though all is lost. And then a great sadness comes over people; they see only themselves. The sadness becomes indifference, the indifference turns to insolence, and out of insolence grows thoughtlessness. And thus we move farther and farther from God. Finally, the mass of humanity despairs of God and is hardly capable of thinking of him at all; they do not know anymore who God is. Despite all their best efforts, this humanity does not achieve a satisfying existence. One can offer them what one will, lay treasure and fortune at their feet; they devour them and remain as they were. That is the darkness.
Do not imagine that people in darkness can be helped through any earthly treasure or fortune. One can only intoxicate them with money and excite them with innovations. There is tremendous activity and struggle for life in the darkness. There always appears to be progress; yet, things always remain as they were. Finally, all the aspirations of people and all their works die again; it all turns into a heap of rubble. What is left of all the Egyptians who wished to eternalize themselves even in death? What is left of all the ancient nations that had such a tremendous life in the darkness? There is nothing but ruin.
Yet into this darkness in which men perceive the world from their own perspective and in which they carry on their affairs, God sends his Son and suddenly introduces a very different light, a different way of looking at things. We give up everything as lost; he simply gives up nothing as lost. God loves the world; and the world is his. Just because we have run around in the world foolishly for a time, that does not mean the world is lost.
What then is the world? We are in the world; but we are not the world. The world is the creation of God, full of life. In this creation of God all things live--even the stones are alive. Nothing is dead, everything grows, everything develops; and in everything there is the power of life derived from God, a power demonstrating itself in a million ways, unseen and yet perceptible. A great portion of mankind is sighing; indeed, the whole world in which we live sighs for God, has its life only from God--and we are part and parcel of this world.
And now God sends his Son into the world as a man, so that mankind might recognize his love for the world and might love the world, too. In particular, we are to love the world as God's creation, not the world that the apostle speaks of when he says, "Do not love the world," the world of sin. But what God created is loved by God; and it certainly is not given up merely because people become foolish and can no longer help themselves in the darkness.
God does not give up on the people, either--indeed, on the people least of all. They are to be the children of the Father in heaven; and, as the first among the living creatures, they are to mediate the light of God to the world, for the world is wretched as long as man is not prepared to carry the light of God into it.
Therefore, in the beginning, when man still belonged to God, there was paradise. When man was no longer God's, paradise ceased. When Jesus, the Son of God, came into the world, there was paradise again. His coming constituted a new beginning; people drew life from the Creator again. In a very simple way, therefore, people who encountered Jesus could be filled with blessedness; they were revived inwardly and outwardly. He had words of life, so they were in paradise; for, where words of life are heard again, there is paradise. The world that is loved of God is our heaven--if we understand the love of God and receive it into ourselves.
Therefore, the first truth is this: The world, as God's world, is not hated by Jesus, nor is it discarded or condemned or cursed by him, No; precisely as the man under commission by God, he must love the world--because God loved the world. When God sent his Son, he gave him the charge: "Love my beloved world, no matter what you may experience, even if you are crucified. It is not the world that does this to you but the poor people who do not understand. Therefore, do not be misled; love my beloved world! I created it; I am the Father of all that lives in it, and this fatherhood I will not surrender. Every living creature, everything that has breath, is mine; I have enclosed all these things in my heart, and there they will remain. Go, love the world: do not judge it. How it came to be in darkness is none of your business. You are my Son; be my Son, the Son of the Father who loves the world!"
Thus, the light has arisen, and we are to enter this light; then we will be filled with life together with the Son. Consequently, the world suddenly becomes good. To believe in the Son means nothing other than giving up the evil which has engulfed us until now and whose adherents we have become. It means Coming to the place where God is with his love, where Jesus is, the Son who is bearer and executor of nothing other than the love of God with which he loves the world.
Arise, then; be radiant and joyful; believe in his name; and then you are in the light and are saved. For this purpose the Son of God becomes mighty. In the love of God toward you as soon as you open your ears and say: "Praise and thanks be to God! God loves the world; now I too want to be filled with love toward all that lives. If Jesus, his Son, is only love, then I want to be only love as well. I am enabled to become a follower of this Son; therefore, together with him, I belong to God; I am loved and I love. And where love is, there is life; and where life is, there is the light of men."
In this way men are to come out from judgment. Before this, they are under judgment; now one need not judge them, because they already are unhappy and feel rejected. One need not add to that. Oh, dear friends, do not make any person more evil than he does is! There has been enough of judgment. Some day it will become evident to what extent many disciples of Jesus have hurt the world, which already could have become aware that the love of God has come. But no, we feel we have to wait until people become sensible. People who already believe in Jesus throw one stone after another upon the poor world! In doing so, they ultimately condemn themselves again; and then they themselves cease to believe in the love of God--and thus the darkness has become thicker than it was before!
Therefore, we must begin anew; we must understand the love of God anew. But don't waste time pondering it! Become children and accept it for what it is. Permit this love which has never yet been fully understood, permit this love with which God has loved the world, to dwell with you as the Holy Spirit. This is the Holy Spirit--the love of God for the world. This love is what flows from the Holy Spirit, this and nothing else. Do not believe that anything condemnatory is the Holy Spirit of God. God's Spirit is love. It is the same Spirit that spoke in the midst of the darkness, "Let there be light!" Sin was there, too. It is the same Spirit that said, "Let the darkness be separated from the light!" and the world became new.
In the same way, the world as it is now will become new in Jesus Christ. Nothing else need take place except that the love of God penetrate into all things. The hatred that has entered into man must finally be eradicated. Believe in Jesus Christ, and do not hate! To believe in him means to love; and, in so doing, you are relatives and friends of the only begotten Son. When you are rooted in him, all melancholy is a thing of the past. All sin is removed, because through the love of God one has entered upon a new way, one has become a totally new person. What concern now is that dead past?
Whoever does not experience this remains in misery. Many try in their wretchedness to create some kind of religion to assure their happiness after death. Be happy in love right now, from this day forward, Begin to love! Love one another! Boll would become a paradise in one year's time if everyone here had this love of God in his heart. This needs to be grasped. Receive the full love of God, and you will be separated from your sins. There is no longer anything that condemns, because you yourselves have left the old, have become new persons, new creatures. All things have become new!
We need not wait for some special event; there is enough of blessedness now, because the love of God is effective in creating blessedness. Much creative work takes place now, because the living word is present, reviving the person both inwardly and outwardly. Suddenly someone says, "I was dead and have become aliv again!" A sick person says, "I have become perfectly happy; I don't know where my sickness went to!" One lying at the point of death breathes again and does not die; an insane person is cured.
Oh, you have no inkling how many creative works take place simply because of this love of God! People are planted upon new foundations for living, foundations that have been present all along, though unused. Everything necessary is present already; but it becomes effective only where Jesus is and where one understands the love of God in Jesus. There, all things come to life; and the more people come to understand this love, the better. Indeed, even animal and plants will become new when finally people come to understand this love.
My friends, this is the signal that God has given the world. Until today it has not been understood, and that is what required such long development. This is the judgment that in the face of the love of God the terrible misery and woe of mankind really comes to the surface. Through the Jesus who came to save sinners, all blessedness and all life have been laid at the feet of humanity. And now people run away. This is the judgment--this is the misery--that people love their present situation more than the light, because they are afraid that their present evil will become manifest.
You have no idea what a terrible hindrance this is, this which keeps sinners from exposing themselves. If only I could say to all of the very worst of people, "Surrender what you are concealing; do not be afraid!" Their works have been evil; and now they are afraid to come to the light, because they fear that Jesus will condemn them all the more severely. So they run away from the light.
No; out with that which is hidden! Out with the evil you have done! To the light with it! The light will not harm you; do not be afraid of the Father in heaven! Do not suppose that you will be saved because you say, "I have been good." Our sins must be submitted to the love of God; we must become exposed for what we are. It is to this love that we reveal ourselves; and the love separates us from our sins.
Many people are robbed of their peace, because they are afraid that others will not like them anymore if all the evil comes out. But God likes you anyway, even if no human being does. People, of course, do get insulting when another person lets it all come out. Almost everybody steals and lies, but woe to the one in whom it is exposed! Everyone rails at him. But God does not behave in that way; he likes you anyway.
Our attitude toward people must change, my friends, or we will never experience the kingdom of God. With such hating and judging we frighten the noblest sinners away from the gates of the kingdom of God. Yes, there are actually the noblest of people among the sinners. Many a person is buried in the mud of sin and is yet the most brilliant gem. But God so loved that each person now may have the courage to say, "I am going to the Savior, too. I will take my lying to the Savior, and then I will become a new person. I want to become exposed so that all that is evil can be brought to the light. And there I will be loved; I will not be condemned."
You must proclaim it; say it to yourselves and to others, "God will not condemn us! Come, let us be honest before the Father in heaven. Let us go to Jesus, to the one man who can love us. Let us become a church that has nothing but love!" Yes, we can bring things to this very point; even the evil we have done will be seen in a new light, in our understanding of the God who says: "Be at peace, my child. Even the evil that occurred was under my control. There is no thought now of your earlier presence among the pigs. My son was dead, and has come to life again."
Now all is love, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. That Spirit is the very simplest expression of what God is. Other spirits have sought to mingle with this one; and men have structured philosophies of the Spirit and supposed they were clever. Finally, they have tossed the whole gospel out of the window; so instead of the Holy Spirit they have spirits, instead of the gospel they have an almost fear-inspiring proclamation, and instead of a heart full of joy and power in the Father they have a melancholy heart. Rather than people being joyful as partakers of the love of God, they are sad. Thus the world and sin become greater and greater; and God becomes very small. Yet, in truth, our God is much greater than all sin and all the world. But his life must truly be in our hearts; and then it will become evident that Jesus Christ is the love of God.
CFBL 3:33-40 (#5). Preached on Pentecost Sunday, June 7, 1897.
|
Copyright (c) 1968 |