“The need of a more adequate exegetical-homiletical treatment of the ancient gospel and epistle selections has long been felt. The manager of the Lutheran Book Concern has commissioned the writer of these lines to meet this need.
“What the Catholic Church is hoping and working for… is the reestablishment… of the ‘Real State,’ a rigid hierarchical system wherein inferiors are subject to superiors. In this system each individual, like a cell in a body, must humbly submit to his fate and occupy his “natural place” which is allotted to him from birth and have no desire to get away from it.
“The conception of the Evangelical Lutheran church proceeds from the inward spiritual essence of the church, as a communion of faith, love, the Holy Ghost, knit together by means of the word of God and the sacraments, but which also forms itself into a body in an outward manifestation.
“The Church needs to restudy, to re-accept, to reaffirm, to re-experience justification by faith… Has not a large part of the Protestant Church practically lost this Reformation doctrine? …Is she not unconsciously drifting back into the old Romish heresy of justification by works, by service, by doing?
“This little volume of sermons has been prepared in response to repeated appeals from the people who heard them from the pulpit… they have been chosen from a cabinet of upwards of two thousand discourses.
“Another quality that strikes us… is Luther’s unfailing sense of humor. Reformers are usually deficient in humor. Their earnestness seldom permits them to laugh. Luther was the most earnest man of his century, and lived in more earnest times than any Europe had witnessed since the close of the first century.
“There has always been a secret prejudice against miracles…there is still a reluctance in many minds to admit these departures from the order of nature predicated in miracles… A modified form of this feeling may be seen in many honest believers in their disposition to overlook the miracles as the wonders of a distant age, answering an important purpose in the first introduction of Christianity, but of little use now as evidences of their religion.
“The aim of the author is to present a clear, concise, and yet as comprehensive a view as possible, of the way of salvation as taught in the Scriptures, and held by the Lutheran Church.
“Lutheranism clings to God’s Written Word. Her motto is the Word of God, the whole Word of God, and nothing but the Word of God, not as a prescriptive letter, but as the power of God unto salvation.
“Suffice it to say that faith is faith, and not obedience, or love or delight in God, or any other distinct grace or virtue. Nor does the Bible say being justified by obedience, or love, or delight, or good works, but ‘being justified by faith, we have peace with God.
“I received my first call into the largest mission field of the Northwest, in the State of South Dakota, far away from good old home. In September, 1892, I left home for my long journey.
Timothy East’s practical book is intended to, “disturb the false peace of the criminally indifferent… impart consolation to the conscientiously fearful, (and to) excite to higher degrees of gratitude the comparatively few, who know that they are safe for eternity.
“…A good selection of Scripture passages well suited for reading at family worship…chosen to furnish a reading for every day and to complete the bible in a year.
Level of Difficulty: Primer: No subject matter knowledge needed.
“The Lutheran minister has three special activities. He is, first of all, a preacher of the Word, the whole Word, its Law and its Gospel. He is always and everywhere a seelsorger, a pastor, an under-shepherd, seeking the lost, feeding and caring for those in the fold, knowing them by name, carrying on his heart their woes, their wants and their welfare, looking after them individually and collectively.
By request, here is a text only version of the public domain hymns in The Lutheran Hymnal. The hardback version which includes the music is available from Concordia Publishing House. May this ebook be a blessing to you in your personal devotions.
Luther considered his Church Postil “The Best of all His Books”. This is the Biblical, expository, evangelical, Christ-centered preaching for which Luther should be remembered. Read these sermons and be blessed.
“The peril… lies not in any apparent ability to gain a large number of adherents… but in the fact that where it is received… it undermines belief in the existence of the soul and in eternal retribution for sin.
“The need of a more adequate exegetical-homiletical treatment of the ancient gospel and epistle selections has long been felt. The manager of the Lutheran Book Concern has commissioned the writer of these lines to meet this need.
“Since Tischendorf lied so many times about Codex Sinaiticus, what does that suggest about his earlier work with Codex Ephraim Rescriptus - and his later work embracing Codex Vaticanus?” “How does anyone explain Sinaiticus having white, supple pages after resting unknown for 15 centuries?
Martin Luther’s House Postils are Christ-centered devotional sermons which Luther delivered to his family and students. This newly typeset edition contains the complete collection, originally published by Matthias Loy in three volumes.