Our Faithful Shepherd
"No one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand."
JOHN 10:29
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Our Faithful Shepherd
Christ our dear Lord is such a faithful Guardian and true Bishop and Shepherd (for it is the same office and name). He has this name above all others, with all honor, for our eternal comfort, both at the right hand of God—where He unceasingly intercedes with the Father for us, prays for us, and shows His wounds—and then here below on earth, where through His Word, Sacraments, and the power of the Holy Spirit He rules, sustains, cares for, and protects the little flock that believe in Him. If He were not Himself present and watching, the devil would long ago have torn us all away and blotted us out, along with God's Word and Christ's name. That is how it happens when God is angry and turns away His eyes to punish the world and [its] ingratitude. Then immediately everything is in the devil's power. But wherever true doctrine, faith, confession, and the use of the Sacraments still remain, that is due only to the keeping and watching of this dear Shepherd and Bishop.
From the Church Postil, sermon for Easter 2 on 1 Peter 2f:20-25 (Luther's Works 77:171)
JOHN 10:29
+
Our Faithful Shepherd
Christ our dear Lord is such a faithful Guardian and true Bishop and Shepherd (for it is the same office and name). He has this name above all others, with all honor, for our eternal comfort, both at the right hand of God—where He unceasingly intercedes with the Father for us, prays for us, and shows His wounds—and then here below on earth, where through His Word, Sacraments, and the power of the Holy Spirit He rules, sustains, cares for, and protects the little flock that believe in Him. If He were not Himself present and watching, the devil would long ago have torn us all away and blotted us out, along with God's Word and Christ's name. That is how it happens when God is angry and turns away His eyes to punish the world and [its] ingratitude. Then immediately everything is in the devil's power. But wherever true doctrine, faith, confession, and the use of the Sacraments still remain, that is due only to the keeping and watching of this dear Shepherd and Bishop.
From the Church Postil, sermon for Easter 2 on 1 Peter 2f:20-25 (Luther's Works 77:171)
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