The Eighth Sunday after Trinity

 The Eighth Sunday after Trinity – August 10, 2025

Psalm 48; Jeremiah 23:16-29; Romans 8:12-17

St. Matthew 7:15-23

In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord, thy God, in vain.” The Second Commandment consists of two parts: the Name of God and the proper use of His Name. The Name of God of course refers to the many ways He has given to us to address Him: God, Lord, Almighty, Father, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, etc. His name also refers to every statement that He has made about Himself. Another way we could think of this is pure doctrine. The teachings of the Scriptures are God’s own Words, and they reveal Him to you. As such, everything we belief, teach, and confess is a statement concerning God’s Name, and is governed by the Second Commandment.

The act of believing, teaching, and confessing regards the proper use of His Name and everything that He has revealed about Himself – including His will for the salvation of man and our conduct in accordance with His Word. In the Small Catechism, we state that this commandment means “we should fear and love God that we may not curse, swear, use witchcraft, lie, or deceive by His name, but call upon it in every trouble, pray, praise, and give thanks.” To curse, swear, use witchcraft, lie, and deceive in God’s name is to confess a false doctrine. The false prophets of whom Christ speaks preach false doctrine in the name of the Lord. In this, they violate the Second Commandment on top of whichever other commandments they violate with the wicked fruits of their actions.

Wolves in sheep’s clothing have plagued the church from the very beginning, when Satan donned the robes of a serpent to tempt Eve.[1] Aaron, appointed high priest by God, led the people of Israel in the false worship of the golden calf.[2] Many kings of both Israel and Judah led the people in the worship idols, doing evil in the eyes of the Lord. During Christ’s ministry, the Pharisees and Sadducees claimed to teach the word of God but, in reality, they taught the doctrines of man.[3] St. Paul taught against the Judaizers and St. John against the Gnostics. There were the heretics of the Early Church, teaching such blasphemies as denying the Trinity, that the Son of God was a creation of the Father, or that the Holy Spirit was nothing more than an emanation of power from the Father and not a Person of the Holy Trinity.

During the Middle Ages, prior to the Reformation, there were many false prophets who claimed the Name of God. The Paulicians, Bogomils, and Cathars (covering the 7^th through 13^th centuries) each preached some form of dualism in which the material world was evil and only the spiritual world was good, denying that the Almighty God was Lord of heaven and earth. Of course, there were the false teachings of the pope, including the invocation of the saints, indulgences, monasticism, and a form of Semi-Pelagianism in which man must add his righteous deeds to the work of Christ in order to receive salvation.

During and after the Reformation, we see the multiplication of false teachers, each with his own agenda and method of blaspheming God’s Name. Many of these begin with the denial of the Holy Sacraments and eventually lead to the errors so rampant today: salvation by an act of man’s choosing God, the “prosperity gospel,” salvation by equality or social justice, dispensationalism, Zionism, the denial of the orders of creation, and the denial that Scripture is the very Word of God.

Not all false teachings are equal. It is entirely possible for a person to go through life believing that Holy Baptism is an act of obedience telling God that he has accepted Him into his heart and still be saved. But to believe that Jesus Christ is not truly God or that God does not exist as three distinct Persons in One Divine Godhead, closes the door to salvation. Every false teaching is like adding some number of dead bugs to your soup. Can you eat a bowl of soup with one bug in it? Sure. But every bug, including the first, carries the possibility of adding a deadly toxin to your food. Likewise, every false teaching adds a little leaven to your faith, such that at some point, the whole lump of your soul will be leavened.

Now, we don’t have the time to describe, define, and refute every false teaching in the world. However, you likely already think of the various false prophets as falling into either doctrinal error or moral error. This morning it is important to realize that this distinction doesn’t matter. Christ says, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.”[4] False morality is false doctrine, and false doctrine will show itself in false morality.

After warning His disciples to beware false prophets, Christ tells them that these false prophets will be known by their fruits. These fruits are both the teachings that come out of their mouths and the actions of their lives. A good tree bears good fruit because the tree itself is good. Yet we, as humans, cannot see the inner quality of the tree. We cannot read the hearts of man. We must judge the quality, the character, of the tree by what we can see and hear, that is, the fruits which the tree produces.

And when our Lord speaks of the last day, when many will say, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?” He speaks of everyone who claims the Name of Christ without holding the purity of His doctrine. They have persisted against the Second Commandment and yet claim to have done mighty wonders in Christ’s Name.

So what then of the noble pagan, the unbeliever who does objectively good things in this world. Don’t their fruits point to a righteous heart? From our point of view, the fruits of such a noble pagan look delicious. So did the apple offered to Snow White yet it was filled with poison. “Anything done apart from faith is sin.”[5] Apart from faith, all the noble works of the unbeliever are sin and a disgrace to the Name of God. If a work is done without thanks, praise, and in service and obedience to God, then it is sin before Him. So though our eyes are dulled by the sin which clings to us still, even such an appealing fruit reveals the rot within.

There is not much on the surface of this text in the way of comfort. It is a text of warning; warning against the false teachers of this world, against false belief, and the consequences of believing false doctrine.

At the same time, the circumstances of the text provide nothing but comfort. Why does a father require his teenage daughter to be home by 10pm? Because he loves her and because he knows the dangers of the world. What comes across to the daughter as strict warning and even unfair limitation is in fact an act of love. Christ warns you concerning false doctrine and the breaking of the Second Commandment because He loves you.

It is Christ who wept at the fall of Adam and Eve and death of Abel. It is Christ who longed for His people to delivered from the hand of wicked Pharaoh. And it is Christ who shoulders the great weight of your sin and carries it to Calvary. That weight was so great, He stumbled twice on His journey to death. Then, after defeating death by His own glorious crucifixion, He descended into hell to proclaim His victory over the grave. This is the victory He has won for you. He nailed your guilt and shame to the cross that it would forever be left behind in the tomb.

And having done all this for you, He wants you to receive the eternal rewards that are your inheritance through Holy Baptism. This, this great love for you is why He is warning you against false doctrine, false prophets, and sinful living. He has given you His Name as a sign and seal of your salvation when He put it on you in Holy Baptism. You have been given His Name to use it, to honor it, and to glorify it. You sons and daughters of God, who have received the Spirit of adoption and are heirs of heaven with Christ, flee every false way and seek the will of the Father.

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] Genesis 3:1.

[2] Exodus 32.

[3] St. Matthew 15:9; cf. Isaiah 29:13.

[4] St. Matthew 7:21.

[5] Romans 14:23.

The Eighth Sunday after Trinity

The Eighth Sunday after Trinity – July 21, 2024

Psalm 48; Jeremiah 23:16-29; Romans 8:12-17

St. Matthew 7:15-23

In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The phrase, “a wolf in sheep’s clothing” is often used to describe someone or something that outwardly appears good, helpful, pleasant, or beneficial, but turns out to be harmful, dangerous, painful, or evil. Such a common use of the phrase is good. It reminds us that Western society is founded on the words of Scripture. But the common use of this phrase is lacking the intensity with which our Lord first spoke it. The result of listening to these false prophets is not bad feelings, sadness, or even death. It is eternal death, condemnation in hell.

Pure doctrine is a matter of eternal life and eternal death. Just before the Gospel text for today, our Lord says, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”[1] This sets the stakes for dealing with wolves in sheep’s clothing.

When you stand before Jesus Christ on the final day, it will be your doctrine that is judged. You cannot blame your misunderstandings or false doctrines on your parents or pastors.[2] Those given the office of preacher will be judged more harshly for they are responsible for communicating the Word of God but that does not excuse the hearer.[3] You must stand and confess your faith on your own.[4] It is your responsibility to maintain the true faith once delivered to the saints.[5]

Pure doctrine is not just facts or words to be memorized. Pure doctrine is to come to know the God who created, redeemed, and sanctified you most intimately. Learning pure doctrine is drawing near to the God who took on your flesh to die for your sins. Knowing the Word of God is knowing that Word that is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

For this reason, it is necessary that all Christians know the doctrines of Scripture. It is necessary that all Christians be able to evaluate, or judge, the doctrine of your preacher. How do you do that? By comparing his doctrine and life to the Word of God. The fruits of the good tree and the evil tree are both the teachings and actions of the prophets. Does he teach the Word of God? Are his teachings in line with the teachings of Scripture? Or does he tell you what you want to hear?[6] Does he tell you what is comfortable instead of what God has stated? Does he let sin go unjudged or does he call you to repentance? Does he lead a life that brings honor to the office of Christ? Is he pious and living outwardly such that he is above reproach? Or does he preach against adultery while committing sexual acts with someone other than his wife?

Now, none of this is to be judged by how you think or feel, what is comfortable or novel. It is to be judged by the Word of God.[7] For this reason, it is necessary that the sheep know the voice of the Good Shepherd; that you know the Scriptures for it is they that testify of Christ.[8] Do you rely on “what you’ve always thought,” or “what you’ve always been told”? Or do you search the Scriptures, seeking wisdom and strength?[9]

This is a difficult task. It is an essential task, but it is a difficult one. It is made even more difficult because the false prophets, the wolves, wear sheep’s clothing.[10] These wolves do not wear undershepherd’s clothing, but they hide among the sheep. What does that mean? It means that the false prophet will often hide his false teachings and his wicked life as being common, being “just the way things are done.” He might claim, “well, the Scriptures say that only men are to teach in the church, but that isn’t true here; we’ve always had women read the lessons.”

Such false doctrine is most obvious in the mainline denominations today.[11] Look at how quickly denominations have capitulated not only to women’s ordination, but to accepting, blessing, and upholding homosexuality. A hundred years ago, very few in the church would’ve dreamed of talking about such degeneracy, let alone blessing it. A hundred years before that, and it would be common for preachers to speak of strict legal punishment for such sins because they harm our society, our families, and our children, even if we, ourselves, don’t participate.

“But pastor,” you might say, “are you saying that only Lutherans go to heaven?” By no means! There are Christians in every denomination who confesses the doctrines of Scripture.[12] The Church is not constituted by human organizations. The Church is wherever Christians gather to hear the Word of God taught in its truth and purity and to receive the Holy Sacraments rightly administered.[13] However, every false doctrine they believe is like a dead bug in your soup. Can you survive eating one dead bug? Probably. What about two? Three? Each false doctrine believed by a denomination adds to the filth of their teaching until the whole soup is ruined. Jesus said, “a little leaven leavens the whole lump.”[14]

“But pastor,” you might say again, “what if you are in one of those denominations (let’s say, the Methodists) but you don’t believe that false stuff. What then?” Thanks be to God you do not believe the false doctrines of the Methodists, but I would ask why you are still in fellowship with them? To be a member of a congregation is like being married to it.[15] If you are publicly married to one congregation but claim to believe differently, then you are secretly in bed with someone else, some other church. Make it right by joining yourself to the Church which teaching the purity of God’s Word.

What then are you to do, or what is a congregation to do, should you find yourself being led by a wolf in sheep’s clothing, a false prophet who is teaching evil doctrine or living a wicked life? The first thing to do is talk to him.[16] Call him to repentance. Make sure that in doing so, you are able to show him from the Scriptures where his error lies. Make sure it isn’t something that you just don’t like or are unhappy with. Which commandments is he breaking? Which doctrine is he violating? Where in Scripture is he wrong?

If he repents of his false doctrine, thanks be to God! You have won your brother from the fires of hell. Depending on the severity of the false doctrine or the manner in which it was taught, it is then incumbent upon him to publicly repent and teach the proper doctrine.

If he repents of wicked living, the matter is a bit more difficult. Was his sin something that disqualifies him from the Office of the Holy Ministry? If so, then the fruits of his repentance is to resign. If his sin was not to that degree, then again, rejoice for you have won your brother’s soul from hellfire.

If you show your pastor where he has clearly erred – in doctrine or life – and he refuses to repent, then take it to the elders of the congregation and possibly involve the Circuit Visitor. If he still refuses to repent, then it is necessary that the congregation remove him from the Office. This should never be taken lightly, nor should it be the goal of calling the pastor to repentance. Just as the goal of excommunication is the salvation of souls, so too the removal of pastors is for the repentance of sins.

How do you arm yourself to judge the doctrine of your pastor? Immerse yourself in the teachings of Scripture. Too daunting? Begin with the Small Catechism. It is the summary of all doctrine necessary for salvation. Begin there and with reading God’s Word. Read the Bible from beginning to end. Start with the Gospels, then the histories of the Old Testament, then the Epistles, and finally the prophets. Pray the Psalms and the Proverbs. Do this over and over again and you will be equipped with everything to need to judge doctrine.

“We have thought on Your steadfast love, O God, in the midst of Your temple. As Your name, O God, so Your praise reaches to the ends of the earth. Your right hand is filed with righteousness.”[17]

In T Jesus’ name. Amen.

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[1] St. Matthew 7:13-14.

[2] Ezekiel 33:1-11.

[3] James 3:1.

[4] Galatians 1:8.

[5] Jude 1:3.

[6] 2 Timothy 4:3.

[7] 2 Timothy 3:16-17.

[8] St. John 5:39.

[9] St. Matthew 22:29.

[10] St. Matthew 7:15.

[11] Ephesians 4:14.

[12] St. Luke 9:50.

[13] Ephesians 4:5-6; AC VII; SA XII.

[14] 1 Corinthians 5:6; Galatians 5:9; St. Matthew 16:5-12.

[15] 2 Corinthians 6:14.

[16] St. Matthew 18:15-20. What follows is an outline of the teachings of this passage. It should be noted, though it was outside the scope of this sermon, that public sin (such as public teaching) does not always require private admonition. What is contained in this sermon assumes an existing relationship between the pastor and the parishioner.

[17] Psalm 48:9-10 (the antiphon to today’s introit).