“As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth.” Daniel 9:13 (Read Daniel 9)
Have you ever known a church or a church body to admit and confess its sin and seek the Lord’s mercy and forgiveness? Even though they may not claim it to be so, the attitudes and actions of church bodies often give the appearance that they count themselves infallible in their official actions.
Consider what happened to the visible church in the Old Testament — to God’s people Israel. They turned aside from following after the LORD God and from His Word and commandments. Again and again, God warned them and called upon them to repent, but did they heed God’s Word spoken to them by the prophets? Finally, God’s judgments spoken of by Moses in Deuteronomy (see Deut. 28:15ff.) and by the prophets came true and the land was made desolate, the temple and Jerusalem destroyed and the people scattered among the nations.
Daniel recognized from the Scriptures that God was righteous and that it was his own people who had sinned and brought all this evil upon themselves. Thus, He prayed that God would have mercy and forgive the sins of his people and that, according to the prophecy of Jeremiah (Jer. 25:11-12; 29:10; 2 Chron. 36:21f.), God would restore them to their land and to true worship and service of God.
How true this is today as well! Not only have we and God’s people sinned as individuals, but we have also sinned as churches and church bodies in departing from the Word of the Lord and from true worship and service to the LORD God who has both created and redeemed us!
Instead of faithfully proclaiming God’s Word and calling all to repentance and faith in Christ Jesus and His blood shed upon the cross for the sins of the world, we have failed to preach God’s Law in all its severity and His Gospel in all its sweetness, leaving people with the false belief that God is satisfied with our own righteousnesses rather than directing people to the only righteousness which avails before God — that which is imputed to us through faith in Jesus Christ (cf. Tit. 3:3-7; Phil. 3:8-9; Rom. 3:19-26).
And, when it comes to teaching all that Christ has commanded us (Matt. 28:19-20), we have often neglected to hold fast to every article of Christian doctrine, conforming to the world and popular opinion rather than following Christ our head and holding fast to His Word (cf. Eph. 5:22ff.; Rom. 12:1-2).
In Daniel, we have a beautiful example — an example for us to follow in regard to our prayers and petitions to the Lord God. We pray, acknowledging not only our sins as individuals but our corporate sins as a congregation, as Lutherans, as members of Christ’s visible church in this world, even as a nation. We confess our sins and pray that God would pardon our sins and turn us from our iniquities and to a right understanding of His truth (cf. 2 Chron. 7:14). We pray for His mercy in Christ Jesus!
O LORD God, have mercy upon us, upon our churches and upon our nation. We have sinned in turning aside from Your Word and from Your salvation in Christ Jesus. You are righteous; we have gone astray. Pardon our sin and restore us to a right understanding of Your truth, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
St. Paul warned Timothy: “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (1 Tim. 3:12); and Jesus warned His disciples: “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me” (John 15:18-21).
And it’s true, the world is becoming more and more evil. Though many churches are accepted by the world because they no longer preach and teach all that the Bible teaches, believers who hold fast to Christ and His Word are suffering rejection and persecution and may even face death in this world.
And the true preaching of the Gospel? It’s seldom heard in churches any more. The number of faithful preachers has become fewer and fewer so that, in most places, a gospel of “God loves and accepts everybody as they are” is being preached, and the people feel good about their version of Christianity even though they continue on in mortal sin and stand condemned by God! And when the truth about our sinfulness and the condemnation of the Law is preached, and when the Gospel of a righteousness and forgiveness which become ours through faith alone in Jesus Christ is preached, who listens, who cares to hear?
And to those who continue to hold fast to salvation through repentance and faith alone in Christ Jesus and His atoning sacrifice on the cross, to those who continue to preach the Word of God in its truth and purity and rightly administer the Sacraments, this world has become a pretty discouraging place. We might even be tempted to think all is lost, the Church in this place has been stamped out, all our efforts to preach the truth are for naught.
Now think about what Jesus had just told His disciples. In Matthew 16:21 and 24, we read: “From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day … If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.”
Jesus had promised eternal life and the glories of heaven to all who placed their faith in Him and now He tells His disciples that He would suffer many things, be killed and be raised from the dead on the third day! And He tells them that they too would be persecuted and suffer as His followers.
So, was all lost? Would there be no heaven and no glory? Was the faith they were preaching without hope!
That’s where Jesus’ transfiguration comes in (Matthew 17:1-9; cf. Mark 9:1-9; Luke 9:28-36): “Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’ While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!’ And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid. But Jesus came and touched them and said, ‘Arise, and do not be afraid.’ When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only. Now as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, ‘Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead.’”
Jesus took Peter, James and John, His inner circle of disciples — perhaps so that “by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established” (Deut. 19:15) — with Him on a high mountain alone. And there, Jesus’ appearance changed. Instead of seeing Jesus in His humble state in which He did not always or fully use the divine power and glory which were His as the eternal Son of God, Jesus appeared in His divine glory. Mark describes it this way: “He was transfigured before them. His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them” (Mark 9:2,3).
Though Jesus’ disciples had seen glimpses of His divine glory through His miracles, they had not yet seen Him in the glory He possesses as the eternal Son of God — the glory in which we will see Him when He returns on the Last day!
And Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus in glory and talked with Jesus about the sufferings and death to atone for the sins of the world which He would accomplish in Jerusalem (cf. Luke 9:29-31).
Moses, through whom God gave the Law (also the human author of the Torah, the first five books of the Bible), led the children of Israel out of Egypt and through the wilderness. And because of their unbelief and rebellion against God, Moses saw a generation of them die in the wilderness, and he too was prohibited from entering into the land of promise because of his anger against the unbelief of the people (cf. Num. 20:1ff.). He was only allowed to see from across the Jordan, and then he died and was buried in the land of Moab by God (Deut. 34:1ff.).
Elijah, a prophet of God, lived in a time in Israel’s history when most had turned away from following the true God. He challenged the prophets of Baal and proved Jehovah God to be the true God and then had to flee for his life because of wicked queen Jezebel (cf. 1 Kings 18 and 19). Elijah despaired and thought he was the last true believer in Israel until God told him He still had 7,000 in Israel who had not bowed the knee to Baal (1 Kings 19:18). Elijah was taken alive to heaven in a fiery chariot (cf. 2 Kings 2:1ff.).
Moses and Elijah, who called upon God’s people to repent of their sinful ways and directed them to look in faith to the coming Messiah and Savior for forgiveness and life, did not receive glory during their earthly lives and ministries, but on the Mount of Transfiguration, they appeared with Jesus and shared in His glory.
And when “Peter answered and said to Jesus, ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah’ … a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!’”
God the Father testified of Jesus that He is none other than the eternal, beloved Son of God! He exhorted Jesus’ disciples and all of us to hear Him — to listen to His Word of truth and to place our hope and confidence in Him, for He alone is our Savior!
What’s the point of the account? And why do we revisit it each year on Transfiguration Sunday?
1. First of all, it reveals to us who Jesus really is. Though He is true man, born of the Virgin Mary, He is also true God, conceived by the miraculous working of the Holy Ghost. Here on the mount, through the eyewitness account of Peter, James and John which we have recorded for us in the words of Scripture, we see Jesus for who He truly is: Jehovah God in the flesh. His miracles and His revealed glory on the mount prove it!
2. Secondly, lest we become overwhelmed with doubts about ever receiving glory, we see Jesus in glory and we see Moses and Elijah in glory. In this world, they endured suffering and tribulation, but in the world and kingdom to come, glory! It is as St. Paul writes (2 Tim. 4:6-8): “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.” (Cf. John 16:33; also Rev. 7:9-17 for a similar revelation of the saints in glory.)
3. Thirdly, we have the assurance that our faith rests upon God’s truth — the Holy Scriptures are true. Peter writes in 2 Peter 1:16-21: “For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’ And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”
4. Fourthly, God the Father testifies to the identity of Jesus — His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased — and urges and commands us to listen to and hear Jesus’ words. And, it is through Jesus’ Word and His Sacraments that we are brought to faith and preserved in the faith in Christ Jesus (cf. John 6:63; 8:31-32). Thus, we are to “hear Him” and heed His Word, because only in Him and in the truth of the Gospel is there salvation for sinful human beings like you and like me.
5. Fifthly, even though Peter and his fellow eyewitnesses desired to stay on the mountain and see Jesus in His glory, God had them go down from the mountain into the dark and sinful world below — they were not even allowed to speak of what they had seen until after Jesus’ resurrection. And so, we must live our lives in this dark and sinful world and bear witness to Christ Jesus and the glory that He has prepared for all who trust in Him. Christ still sends His ministers of the Gospel not to mountaintop monasteries but to the nations and peoples below to disciple the nations by proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom and baptizing in His name.
It was on a mountain in Galilee, after Jesus’ death and resurrection and just before His ascension, that Jesus said to His chosen disciples: “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:18-20).
We live in the valley now, in a dark and sinful world that knows little of Jesus and His glory, and that knows little of the salvation He won for all by His atoning sacrifice on the cross. As His Church, we have the command to call and send men to preach the Gospel and administer the Sacraments in Jesus’ name that the Holy Spirit might bring people to repent of their sinful ways and look to Jesus and His cross in faith for God’s mercy, forgiveness and the everlasting joys of heaven.
In this life, in this world, we can expect no glory — only suffering and persecution from the enemies of the truth. But glory will come when Jesus is revealed again in glory. It will come to all who trust in Jesus’ name, as it came to Moses and Elijah!
God grant that we hold fast to Christ Jesus, trusting in Him alone for pardon, forgiveness and the eternal glories of heaven. And though, in this world, we know no glory, all who trust in Christ Jesus will be glorified with Him when He comes again in all His glory!
O God of all glory, we thank You for revealing to us on the Mount of Transfiguration Jesus in His divine glory, and Moses and Elijah with Him in glory. Grant that we hear Him and His Word and bear witness to Him in this dark and sinful world until we too, join Him in glory. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
“For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.” 1 Corinthians 11:19
Why does God allow heresies and controversies over doctrine to arise in Christian congregations? We might wonder what good could come of such things — especially when they result in divisions in a congregation or church body and some even leave.
First of all, we shouldn’t be surprised when such things happen. When Jesus, in John 6, referred to Himself as the bread which came down from heaven and said that to have life and be saved it was necessary to partake of Him in faith, “many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him” (v. 66).
So also today, because the true doctrine of God’s Word is contrary to the popular and appealing opinions of the world and our own sinful flesh, people murmur against the truth and turn away from it, often leading others away with them by their failure to submit to God’s Word.
But what good can come of controversies and heresies arising among us? The Bible answers that for us when it says: “There must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.”
God allows heresies and doctrinal controversies to arise among us because they force His children back into His Word in search of the truth, and it becomes apparent who is holding to the teaching of God’s Word and who is rejecting it in favor of the ways and opinions of this world.
In this way, God purifies His visible church, revealing its laxity, its sins and its errors and calling His people to repentance and a return to the truth. And God also purifies His church by separating from it those who would compromise His Word and reject it. As Jesus did in His letters to the churches in Asia (Revelations 2-3), He also calls upon us to repent or our sins and errors and hold fast to Him and His Word.
And, will we join those who turn aside and go back? When we consider that it is only through faith in Jesus Christ and His redemptive work that we can be saved and receive eternal life instead of the everlasting torments of hell, we respond with Simon Peter (and Jesus’ true disciples): “Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life” (John 6:68).
Oh, for a faith that will not shrink tho’ pressed by many a foe; that will not tremble on the brink of poverty or woe … that bears unmoved the world’s dread frown nor heeds its scornful smile; that sin’s wild ocean cannot drown nor Satan’s arts beguile … Lord, give us such a faith as this; and then, whate’er may come, we’ll taste e’en now the hallowed bliss of an eternal home. Amen. — William H. Bathurst “Oh, for a Faith That Will Not Shrink,” TLH #396
[Scripture quotations are from the King James Version of the Bible.]
“Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults. Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me.” Psalm 19:12-13
So many times, we do not even see or understand that we have sinned. We don’t recognize our faults and don’t realize that we are unclean before our holy God and deserving of nothing but His eternal wrath and punishment.
When we read and study God’s Word, it reveals our sinfulness. The Holy Spirit, who authored the Scriptures, shows us what God desires of us and reveals to us that we do not measure up and have garnered the wages of our sinfulness — eternal death and damnation!
That is why David, in Psalm 19, says, “Who can understand his errors?” and prays that God would cleanse him from his secret faults — faults that he does not even see in himself and recognize.
This is also what we do in our general confession when we ask God to forgive us all our sins of thought, word and deed, both sins of omission and sins of commission. We ask God to forgive us all our sins for Jesus’ sake: those we know and recognize as sin and even those sins we do not know and feel in our hearts.
And, we are assured that God, for the sake of Christ’s atoning sacrifice on the cross, forgives our sins and cleanses us from all unrighteousness (cf. 1 John 1:7 – 2:2).
Presumptuous Sins
David continues his prayer: “Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me.”
“What are presumptuous sins?” we might ask. These are those sins we know are wrong and contrary to God’s commandments and, yet, we willfully choose to go ahead and do them, presuming that God will deal with us in mercy and not condemn us for our wickedness.
John Bunyan (author of Pilgrim’s Progress) once referred to sin as “the dare of God’s justice, the rape of His mercy, the jeer of His patience, the slight of His power, and the contempt of His love.” And this is a fitting description of presumptuous sins. Those who commit them treat the blood of Christ, shed for the sins of all upon the cross, as a common and worthless thing to be used as a license to indulge in the sinful desires of our flesh (cf. Heb. 10:26-31). Presumptuous sins are, indeed, the “rape of His mercy” in Christ Jesus!
And, of course, the Scriptures warn against them, telling us that, if we go on sinning willfully after we have learned of Christ, we should not expect to receive pardon and forgiveness through Christ’s sacrifice (Heb. 10:26-27; 2 Pet. 2:18-22). Paul wrote to the Corinthian believers: “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor. 6:9-11). To the believers in Ephesus, he wrote: “For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them” (Eph. 5:5-7). To the churches of Galatia, he wrote: “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Gal. 5:19-21).
That is why David pays that the Lord would hold him back from following his own lusts and committing presumptuous sins. He recognized that His sinful flesh longed to plunge forward into sin and He needed God to hold him back from such sin and eternal ruin.
David adds, “Let them not have dominion over me.”
David knew well the dangers of presumptuous sin. Going against his knowledge of God’s commandments, he lusted after Bathsheba and committed adultery with her. Then, he tried to hide and cover up his sin and ended up murdering Bathsheba’s husband Uriah to do it. And, had God not sent Nathan the prophet to rebuke David and call him to repentance, he would have been lost forever! (Read 2 Samuel 11-12.)
Sin is deceitful and, once we give in to its desire, we easily become entangled and enslaved by it. We know it’s wrong to drink to excess or take mind-altering drugs but, once we give in, we find ourselves giving in again and again until we cannot stop. We know that sexual immorality, pornography and adultery are wrong but, once we give in just a little, we become addicted and enslaved. We know it is wrong to be dishonest in our dealings with others but one deception leads to another and another. We know we should take the time to hear God’s Word and worship and serve Him but, once we start neglecting to do so, it becomes easier and easier.
The apostle Paul wrote: “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?” (Rom. 6:15-16).
Thus, we pray with David, “Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults. Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me.”
We ask God to graciously forgive all our sins — both those we know and those which are unknown to us — for the sake of Christ’s atoning sacrifice on the cross, and God pardons our sins for Jesus’ sake. And we pray that God would keep us back from following our sinful desires into presumptuous sins which so easily entangle and ensnare us and lead us away from Christ Jesus our Savior to our eternal ruin!
O gracious and merciful God, we have sinned in our thoughts, desires, words and actions. Some of our sins we know and recognize and others are known only to You. Forgive all our sins for Jesus’ sake. Cleanse our hearts and souls and make us acceptable in Your sight through the shed blood of Christ Jesus. Keep us back from presumptuous sins and do not let them gain the upper hand and rule over us. Amen.