In the name of Christ Jesus, dear fellow redeemed people of God,

Many churches are departing from Biblical doctrines and practices. Many no longer care about doctrine. They think that the really important thing is that we all form one big union. Others claim that churches cannot grow or be successful unless they give up their doctrines. So some no longer want to talk about sin or about the shedding of blood on the cross. But what is the real mission of the Church? Is it to grow outwardly at the expense of any doctrine? No! Rather, we want to be authentic disciples of Jesus Christ. Sure, we will want to reach out to people, but if we lose the gospel, what are we going to reach out with? We must keep the message straight BEFORE we get the message out. We need to be disciples of Jesus Christ before we can reach out at all. And notice what Jesus says about who are and aren't disciples! Our Savior said, "If you continue in My Word, then are you My disciples indeed!" This is what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. This is what it means to be a real Lutheran:

1. KNOW THE TRUTH!

Pilate asked the question, "What is truth?" Many skeptics and "theologians" after him have asked the very same question, "What is truth?" Many so-called theologians today are agnostics. They claim that no one can really be sure of what is true. But, we can be certain. The Bible makes us certain. You can know the truth! God's Word is truth! The Bible is the truth. If you know your Bible, you will know the truth.

How well do you know your Bible? If someone handed you a Bible and said, "Show me where the Ten Commandments are" could you do it? If a friend was grieving and asked you for some comforting Bible passages, could you come up with some? If someone said, "I'm not sure about the way to heaven," could you take the Bible in hand and help them? How well do you know your Bible? If you think, "Not very well," then, what are you doing about it? God wants us to know the truth!

Our Savior said, "If you continue in My Word, then are you My disciples indeed!" Continue in Christ's Word! Don't stop and settle for what you know! Aim higher! Learn more. Be more sure of what the Bible says. God has blessed us so that we are able to do that. Young Martin Luther could not just tell people to read their Bibles. They couldn't! Most didn't even have Bibles. Most Bibles were in Latin. But, Luther didn't just say, "Oh, well" and give up. He translated the whole Bible into language that the average person could read. One of the greatest blessings of the Reformation was Luther's translation of the Bible. Publishers began cranking them off the presses as fast as they could. Today, we have Bibles that are easy to read. Today, we can say, "Read your Bible!" Today, we can say, "Continue in Christ's Word" by studying and learning what the Bible says. That's what it means to be a genuine disciple of Jesus Christ. That's what it means to be a true Lutheran.

In the Bible we learn "the truth" just as Luther did. The simple truth is that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. The simple truth is that no one can earn heaven by good works. No one can earn God's favor by trying to obey the Law. Instead, the Law shows that we all have sinned. The Law not only says that it's wrong to commit adultery, it says it's sinful to have lustful thoughts. God's Law not only declares it a sin to murder, as that sniper has done, but it's also sinful to hate and hold grudges in your heart. God's Law not only declares that it is wrong to bow down and worship an idol, but it also says that it's wrong to love your money or yourself too much. When Luther was a monk, he tried to keep God's commandments because he was trying to earn God's approval by his own works. He was trying to earn heaven by works. But he realized that we keep falling into sin. The Bible taught him that no one will be declared righteous in God's sight by observing the Law! That's the simple truth!

But God's Word also reveals the gospel. It tells us that Jesus Christ redeemed us from sin, death, and the power of the devil. Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, so that he could obey God's commandments for us, and then pay for our sins by dying on the cross. On that cross of Calvary, Jesus suffered and died as the one great sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. Because he satisfied God's justice, Jesus rose from the dead, declaring forgiveness in the gospel. In fact, he has sent out preachers like Paul and Luther and others to proclaim that Christ won forgiveness for all. Today, we celebrate the Reformation, when the Bible truth that we are saved by grace, through faith, in Jesus Christ alone was discovered again! Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved! For, whoever believes and is baptized shall be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

That's the simple truth! We are all sinners, but Jesus is this world's one and only Savior. Whoever believes in him as Savior will inherit eternal life. KNOW the truth, and then...

2. HOLD THE TRUTH!

Once you know the truth, don't give it up! Hold it, no matter what the danger or the cost! That's what Paul did. That's what Luther did. Luther was called upon to recant the gospel we just declared. By that time, Luther knew the Bible too well to deny the gospel. He knew the truth. He knew that he was only teaching what God's Word said! How could he recant God's Word? So Luther said, "Here I stand!" His conscience was bound by the Word of God. Unless they could show him that he was wrong from the Bible passages, he could not and would not recant. Luther boldly said, "Here I stand." And then, it was open season on Luther. Anyone could have shot him like a deer in hunting season. He expected that he would die as a martyr. But his friends hid him in the Wartburg Castle. And there, in the safety of that castle, Luther translated the entire New Testament in only eleven weeks.

Sometimes we need to say, "here I stand" too! When false teachers try to lure us from God's Word, we should study the Scriptures, and say, "Here I stand," come what may. That is what it means to hold the truth. The attacks, tests, and threats may come from within the church or from outside. But, either way, we must hold the truth! We must hold fast against the assaults of legalism, an improper use of the Law. We don't earn heaven by works! We must hold the truth against the attacks of liberalism, which denies that God's Word is all true. We must not deny the truth of Scripture! Perhaps you don't feel the pressure, but most of our pastors do. There are clear and present dangers in the church today. May we pay attention to these words: Jesus said, "If you continue in My Word, then are you My disciples indeed." Continue in Christ's Word! Hold the truth!

If you watch football games, you will often hear announcers and coaches talk about fumbles. Sometimes a player will hold the ball out there like a loaf of bread, and it isn't long before someone knocks it out of his hands. Then the announcer or coach will say, "You have to protect that ball, and really tuck it away tight." Well, we do not want to fumble God's truth away. If we take the truth for granted, and major in minors in our churches, we could easily fumble the gospel away. If our members are thinking, "Well, the pastors know the truth. We don't have to" that is dangerous! That really makes it easy for a false-teacher to fool you. Christ wants YOU to know and hold the truth. That is why you have a Bible! It's not there to look nice on the shelf. It's there to be read and studied and searched! And once you know the truth, and hold the truth, then may the Holy Spirit work through that message so that you...

3. TRUST THE TRUTH!

Jesus said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father, except through me." Jesus is "the truth." His gospel is the truth. Trust the truth! The truth will set you free. You don't have to suffer under the stress of trying to earn your way into heaven by doing good works. Jesus earned our way into heaven nearly 2000 years ago when He died on the cross. Jesus won our ticket to heaven. Trust in Jesus! Believe the Gospel! Trust the truth.

Trusting the truth, believing God's promises, "will set you free!" If you happened to see the movie, Braveheart, you probably remember the ending, when William Wallace shouted, "FREEDOM!" Though he was tortured, and was being killed in the most horrible way, he was there because he was seeking freedom. We don't have to suffer for our freedom. We don't have to fight battles for spiritual and eternal freedom. Christ has given us freedom from the shackles of sin, death, and the power of the devil. Christ has given us true and lasting freedom.

Christ has set us free from a guilty conscience. Do you struggle with an accusing conscience? Jesus won your forgiveness! You are free! Christ set us free from the burden of sin. We don't have to pay the penalty of our sins. We don't have to work our way into God's favor. We can't! Jesus did! You are free! Christ set us from the fear of death. The people over in the Washington D.C. area were terrified, thinking about that sniper. But if a sniper shot a believer, that believer in Jesus would go straight to heaven. Believers don't need to fear death. You are free!

This meant much to Luther, because he knew what it was like to try to earn God's favor. His life as a monk was no picnic! But God worked faith in Luther's heart through Gospel so that Luther trusted the truth and found comfort.

Remember the key words of the Reformation. We know the truth from Scripture alone. The truth declares that we have been saved by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone! May we know the truth, hold the truth, and trust the truth. Dear disciples of Jesus Christ, continue in Christ's Word! Amen.