|
Difference between Anabaptists and Evangelicals Mysteries of the Kingdom of God Anabaptist Sermons by Eli Hofer The Writings of Ulrich Stadler |
Concerning
Heavenly Wisdom and Grace Dear brothers and sisters, we have come together in the name of the Lord under His shield and protection to be comforted, strengthened, and challenged by the word of the Lord. All the devout and all the saints encourage those who want to please God to strive for wisdom and understanding. Sirach says: “If you long for wisdom, keep the commandments, and the Lord will give it you in plenty. For the fear of the Lord is wisdom and discipline; fidelity and gentleness are his delight.” (Sir.l:27) The Lord wants us to call upon Him. “At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, ‘Ask what I shall give you.’ And Solomon said, ‘Thou hast shown great and steadfast love to thy servant David my father, because he walked before thee in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward thee; and thou hast kept for him this great and steadfast love, and hast given him a son to sit on his throne this day. And now, Oh Lord my God, thou hast made thy servant king in place of David my father, although I am but a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. And thy servant is in the midst of thy people whom thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered or counted for multitude. Give thy servant therefore an understanding mind to govern thy people, that I may discern between good and evil; for who is able to govern this thy great people?’ It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. And God said to him, ‘Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, behold, I now do according to your word. Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you.” (I Kings 3:5-12) God gave wisdom to Solomon because he asked God in diligent prayer. He did not get it from the Pharisees, scribes, nor from the priests of Israel. “My son, if you take my words to heart and lay up my command in your mind, giving your attention to wisdom and your mind to understanding, if you summon discernment to your aid and your heart to understanding, if you seek her out like silver and dig for her like buried treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord.” (Prov. 2:1-5) “If you conform to my statutes, if you observe my commandments and carry them out, I will give you rain at the proper time; the land shall yield its produce and the trees of the countryside, their fruit, threshing will last till vintage and vintage till sowing; you shall eat your fill, and live secure in your land. I will give peace in the land and you will lie down to sleep with no one to terrify you. I will rid your land of dangerous beasts and it shall not be ravaged by war.” (Lev. 26:3-6) “If you will obey the Lord your God by diligently observing all his commandments which I lay upon you this day, then the Lord your God will raise you high about all nations of the earth, and all these blessings shall come to you and light upon you, because you obey the Lord your God. A blessing on you in the city; a blessing on you in the country. A blessing on the fruit of your body, the fruit of your land and of your cattle, the offspring of your herds; and of your lambing flocks. A blessing on your basket and your kneading-trough, a blessing on you as you come in; and a blessing on you as you go out. For the Lord will deliver up the enemies who attack you, and let them be put to shame before you.” (Deut. 28:1-7) Now James speaks of life which is of God, through which one attains eternal life: “If any of you falls short in wisdom, he should ask God for it and it will be given him, for God is a generous giver who neither refuses nor reproaches anyone. But he must ask in faith, without a doubt in his mind.” (James 1:5-6). Where is a man among Jews or heathen who does not want to share gladly in eternal joy and all the heavenly goods after this miserable and troublesome life? Holy Scripture reports that there will be no more suffering, wailing, pain nor death. Nothing good will be lacking to those who live without blemish. There is such joy as no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no human heart has felt. Neither your body nor your soul will suffer any harm if your tongue is restrained from all evil and frivolous talk. For the tongue was given to man to glorify and praise his Creator and Father, and thank Him for all the good received, as the believers have always done. David speaks of this in the Thirty-fourth Psalm: “I will bless the Lord continually; his praise shall be always on my lips. In the Lord I will glory; the humble shall hear and be glad. 0 glorify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord’s help and he answered me and set me free from all my terrors.” Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in His great mercy gave us new birth into a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead! The inheritance to which we are born is one that nothing can destroy. Therefore the apostles of the Lord warned all believers diligently as Paul warns Timothy: “Avoid empty and worldly chatter,” (2 Tim. 2:16) and again: “No bad language must pass your lips.” (Eph. 4:29) Only say what is good and helpful to the occasion, so that it brings a blessing to those who hear it. Then we can say with Paul: “We concern ourselves with godly matters.” (Rom.15) Paul further admonishes us: “And now my friends, all that is true, all that is holy, all that is just and pure, all that is loveable and gracious, whatever is excellent and admirable-—fill all your thoughts with these things.” (Phil. 4:8) If we would do this, we would stand well before God. “Happy is the man who does not take the wicked for his guide, nor walk the road that sinners tread.” (Ps.1:1.2) One should not be concerned day and night with teaching and preaching without intermission and with the letter only. The believer should talk with God and consider His word, at all times in his heart. “When I call thee to mind upon my bed, I think of thee in the watches of the night.” (Ps.63:6) A believer will guard his tongue from slander, gossip and scandal-mongering, and from bringing disgrace and shame on his neighbor. As Jesus son of Sirach says: “Do not get a name for being a gossip and lay traps with your tongue.” (Sir.5:14-15) Christ and His apostles do not want such talkers among God’s people. Christ speaks through David when he says: “I will silence those who spread tales behind men’s backs. I will not sit at table with proud, pompous men. I will choose the most loyal for my companions.” (Ps.101:5-6) “Do not speak evil against one another, brothers and sisters. Whoever speaks evil against another or judges another, speaks evil against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is one lawgiver and judge who is able to save and to destroy. So who, then are you to judge your neighbor?” (James 4:11) A believer should also guard his vocation by avoiding useless idle talk and fussing, for Christ was not a brawler or quarrelsome; He does not want to dwell among those who brawl. Seeing that the Lord has no joy or pleasure in this, we should also make efforts to guard ourselves against it, for where there is a tongue talking too much, death follows. Therefore James says, “The tongue is a small member, but it can make huge claims. What a huge forest can be set ablaze by the tiniest spark, and the tongue is a fire.. a world with all its wickedness, the tongue among our members pollutes our whole being, it keeps the wheel of our existence red-hot, and its flames are fed by hell.” (James 3:5.7) In the same epistle James writes further: “If we put bits into horses’ mouths to make them obey our will, we can direct their whole body or think of ships: large they may be yet even when driven by strong gale they can be directed by a tiny rudder on whatever course the helmsman chooses” (James 3:3-4). Animals, birds, snakes, even the animals of the sea, can be tamed by mankind but no man can tame the tongue, that turbulent evil, full of deadly poison. Sirach, the wise man, says that hell would be better than such a tongue. For speaking can bring shame, as well as honor, and the tongue is the cause of man’s fall. In another passage the Bible says: “The tongue has power over life and death. Make friends with it, and enjoy its fruits.” (Pr. 18:21) For where there are too many words, one hears the fool, and sin is never far away. The Scriptures say that the wise man has his mouth in his heart, and the fool has his heart in his mouth. (Pr. 10:19) The mouth is the interpreter of the heart. The mouth overflows with what fills the heart; wicked thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, perjury, slander—these all proceed from the heart; and these are the things that defile a man. (Mt. 15:19) This is why, in works and in words, we always have to remember the saying of our Lord Jesus Christ: “I tell you this: there is not a thoughtless word that comes from men’s lips but they will have to account for it on the day of judgment” (Mt. 12:36-37) On this account the devout should watch their words, and consider whether they serve for blessedness or damnation, for whoever does not check his tongue knows neither discipline nor shame. They shall fall with a great crash, fall among the fallen. Such people would do well to join the wise man Sirach when he requests: “Oh, for a wish to guard my mouth and a seal of discretion to seal my lips, to keep them from being my downfall.” (Sir. 22:23-27) Paul reprimands the Ephesians in the same way saying: “No bad language must pass your lips, but only what is good and helpful to the occasion. We must control our mouths and bridle our tongues, so that no unprofitable and useless talk or prattle can be heard from us, which does neither improve us nor others, yes, which is even much more annoying and destructive to them, and hindering their blessedness.” (Eph. 4:29) It would be good for those among the pious who engage in
this kind of idle talk for a large part of their time, to consider it well, for
it is nothing but rotten talk, which should not exist among the believers.
Although we constantly speak and teach against it, reminding believers that it
is not pleasing to God and will be punished, such talk is still to be heard
among us. Just like a weed, which nourishes itself without being planted, it
should be rooted out. Psalm 133: "For there [in brotherly community] the Lord has commanded the blessing, life for evermore." Hutterite Sermon Prefaces: #1-1:
Concerning the Great Profit and Blessing of the Word of
God (This page was last updated on 06/20/2008.) |