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Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God

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our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.

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Amen.

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So Luther came home after meeting and Smalcald at the famous

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meetings, for which he had prepared, the Smalcald Articles.

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He was not feeling well, of course, he'd suffered numerous illnesses.

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Got home, but this time of the year and proceeded to preach on the

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lectionary from that period from Easter to Pentecost and he preached

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on this text.

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You're weary, aren't you?

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It's the end of the year.

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I'm weary to its District Convention season.

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And I went to Luther yesterday to pull a few thoughts for today's

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sermon.

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And against my better judgment

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I thought I'm just going to let Luther preach to you a bit just a

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couple of pages.

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It's good for your soul and it's even better from mine

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I think.

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I have many things to say to you, but you cannot hear them now.

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This is the plain and simple

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meaning of this text. Christ is speaking here

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about the future afflictions

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the apostles will encounter after his departure.

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He says, I have yet many things to say to you many things about what

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about much suffering, grief persecutions heartache, from the devil and

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the world.

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He has spoken exclusively about the suffering which they must

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experience for his sake and also of the consolation which they will

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find in their suffering.

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But he means that because they do not yet understand this and cannot

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grasp it

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now.

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It is still little when compared with what the Holy Spirit himself

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will teach them when they have to experience this suffering. Then they

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will be instructed and strengthened

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so well that no affliction will prove too burdensome for them.

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At this point they are far too timid and frightened a bear this but

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then

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then they will be able to endure and overcome all afflictions and will

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not only be put into one prison, but will go through 100 prisons and

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deaths.

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Who would ever have thought or believed that the precious precious

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message of the Gospel would fare as the apostles experienced and saw

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and as our own experience shows us today.

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Yes,

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who of us would have begun to preach

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if we had known in advance that so many, so much misery, sectarianism

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offense blasphemy, ingratitude and malice would ensue.

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But now that we are preaching, we must make the take the consequences

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and remember that this is not a human venture.

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And that it does not depend on human power.

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This is not a human venture

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and it does not depend on human power.

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But that the Holy Spirit himself must do and preserve it.

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Otherwise, we could not bear it or carry out the task.

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In First Corinthians 4 Saint Paul points, out that after preaching,

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a great deal

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and for a long time, he too had to learn and experience that the

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apostles must not only be a mockery and a spectacle to the whole world,

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but must be a curse in an off scouring and be regarded as the worst

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pestilence and plague on Earth.

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Christ says to Paul, dear Paul, in this way

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you have to become acquainted with my power.

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My power is made perfect in weakness.

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And to Ananias whom he sends to Paul. Christ

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says to Paul,

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I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.

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And so, it is that all Christendom is a small group that must submit

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to suffer and bear more than all other people, whatever, grief, the

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world in the world can inflict on it.

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How could we conclude with certainty by ourselves that we who believe

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in this crucified Christ and are condemned cursed and executed by the

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whole world as God's enemies and the devil's own are actually God's

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dear children and Saints.

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After all, we ourselves

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don't feel this.

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In fact, our hearts

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tell us something far different because we are still sinners, full of

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weakness.

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But this is the work of the Holy Spirit and his power.

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He confirms this in his heart in our hearts.

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We are his.

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Therefore, we can accept it as true and in accord with his word.

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He enables us to live and die by this truth.

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Or who could believe that we unfortunate people who are executed and

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die like the most miserable human beings on Earth who are buried in

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the ground consumed by maggots and worms or are burned alive and

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reduced to ashes and dust.

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We'll all emerge from this stench from the ashes and dust in the

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twinkling of an eye with whole clean, shining bodies more radiant than

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all Heaven than the Sun and the Moon, more beautiful, and precious

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than all gold and jewels pure and more fragrant than all Balsam,

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Gardens and Paradise.

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Of course, no one would ever get

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the bottom of this on the basis of reason.

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It's altogether, too, far-fetched and entirely too unreasonable to

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suppose that a being is poor and miserable should be destined to be

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eternal heirs of God in heaven, and shall live and be saved solely

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through faith and baptism.

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Even though we now still have sin and death in us.

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The dear apostles surely found out and their conduct toward their Lord

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Christ

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demonstrated adequately, how completely impossible, not only difficult

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but completely impossible

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it is to retain faith in trials

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if one does not have the help of the Holy Spirit.

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In his suffering and death, they shamefully deserted him.

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They denied him and the faith in their hearts was practically

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extinguished by the thoughts inspired by the devil.

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Behold,

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He said, where are where is your Christ,

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now?

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What a fine King

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he has become how well he has liberated Israel.

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How you have been put to shame, how miserably you have, let yourselves

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be deceived.

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True Christians always experience this truth.

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Faith which should hold firmly to the articles concerning Christ in

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his kingdom.

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Cannot be retained by human power.

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The Holy Spirit himself must accomplish this.

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And it is just sure sign of the presence of the Holy Spirit and of his

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power when faith is preserved and is victorious in a real battle and

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trial.

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Therefore let us cling to this truth, which the Holy Spirit teaches

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how we can retain faith in Christ tread the devil sin death, underfoot

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bear and overcome the world's wrath and raging builds

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God build God's kingdom and gain eternal life. Of these things

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we should treat in the Christian church, not of the setting up of laws

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and regulations pertaining to external physical things.

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Or if it ever comes to the point that we should treat of such matters.

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Let us at least first fight and work until we have the necessary

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things.

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The preservation of the pure doctrine and of faith, victory over sin

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death and devil.

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Also love and obedience to God's Commandments.

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When this has been accomplished, then we shall be glad to speak and

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decide about other matters.

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In the name of the Father and of the

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Son, and the Holy Spirit.

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Amen.