Luther for the Busy Man

THE WEEK OF ASCENSION - FRIDAY LESSON: 1 PETER 2:7-10 “He will bear witness to me.” John 15:26 If the Holy Spirit is in your hearts, He will speak through you and make you sure and certain that the Gospel is the truth. From this conviction will also flow your witness to the Gospel. What is the Gospel? It is the testimony concerning Christ, that He is the Son of God and the Savior, besides whom the...

THE WEEK OF ASCENSION - THURSDAY LESSON: EPHESIANS 1:15-23 “Even the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father … will bear witness to me.” John 15:26 This amounts to saying: He who will comfort you is almighty and Lord over all things. What can any creature do against us when the Creator is at our side? Behold, how great is the comfort of the Holy Spirit! Let all the enemies come on in full ar...

THE WEEK OF ASCENSION - WEDNESDAY LESSON: ROMANS 15:13-21 “When the Counsellor comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father …” John 15:26 So that we do not become despondent and lose heart, Christ here assures us that He will send us a Counsellor or Comforter, and a very unique one at that, one who is almighty. He here calls the Holy Spirit a Counsellor or Comforter. Although our sins and the f...

ASCENSION WEEK 1 - TUESDAY LESSON: MATTHEW 10:24-33 I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping. My eye wastes away because of grief, it grows weak because of all my foes. Psalm 6:6-7 The chief requisite for a consistent confession of faith is a firm faith, and it is almost certain that the cross will follow upon a consistent confession of f...

THE FIRST WEEK AFTER ASCENSION - MONDAY LESSON: MATTHEW 16:24-28 “They will put you out of the synagogues; indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God.” John 16:2 The cross is pictured here in its true colors. To lie at home sick in bed is nothing compared to this, even though it is often regarded as suffering a cross. Christ is referring here to a ve...

THE FIRST WEEK AFTER ASCENSION - SUNDAY LESSON: JOHN 15:26-16:4 The genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold which though perishable is tested by fire, may redound to praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1:7 You have heard me say a great deal about faith. Now you will hear about witnessing to the faith about the cross which accompanies faith. Paul reminde...

ASCENSION - SATURDAY LESSON: PSALM 47 Thou didst ascend the high mount, leading captives in thy train, and receiving gifts among men, even among the rebellious, that the Lord God may dwell there. Psalm 68:18 All the prophets were very careful to describe the ascension of Christ and His kingdom. As His dying and death are deeply embedded in Scripture, so also is His kingdom, resurrection, and ascen...

ASCENSION – FRIDAY LESSON: COLOSSIANS 3:1-4 When he ascended on high, he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men. Ephesians 4:8 Christ’s ascension is a mighty act which should bring us real comfort and assurance. Those who believe in the ascended Lord should be joyful and courageous, take confidence from this act and say, “My Lord Jesus Christ is Lord over death, the devil, sin, righteous...

THE ASCENSION OF OUR LORD - THURSDAY LESSON: MARK 16:14-20 Then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. Mark 16:19 We must regard the ascension of Christ as an efficacious, powerful act which is in continuous and ceaseless operation. We must not just imagine that Christ has ascended into heaven and left us here on earth to be ru...

EASTER - WEEK 5 - WEDNESDAY LESSON: MATTHEW 7:7-12 “If you ask anything in my name, I will do it.” John 14:14 An important factor in our prayers is that we must pray to our heavenly Father in the name of Jesus. This is nothing else but to come to God with faith in Christ and to console ourselves with the confidence that He is our Mediator through whom all things are given to us. Without such faith...

EASTER - WEEK 5 - TUESDAY LESSON: LUKE 19:1-6 Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words. Romans 8:26 In our prayers, we must earnestly desire or wish that what we pray for should come to pass. This is what is meant by the word “ask” which Jesus uses in the Gospel. Some have descr...

EASTER - WEEK 5 - MONDAY LESSON: JAMES 1:5-8 “Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” John 16:24 In our prayers, we should firmly believe that God’s promise to us is always sure and certain and have no doubt that He will give us what He promises. Words of promise from God always call for faith on our part. Faith is a firm, undoubted confidence in the truth of God’s promise. He who p...

EASTER - WEEK 5 - SUNDAY LESSON: JOHN 16:23-30 “Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask anything of the Father, he will give it to you in my name.” John 16:23 The Gospel for Rogate speaks to us about Christian prayer and what makes a prayer truly Christian. The first thing of importance here is God’s promise. This is the real basis of Christian prayer and the source from which it derives its power....

EASTER - WEEK 4 - SATURDAY LESSON: EPHESIANS 1:11-14 It is God who establishes us with you in Christ and has commissioned us; he has put his seal upon us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 If I am to be accounted righteous before God, it is not enough for me to do good works externally; I must do them from the bottom of my heart with delight and in love, so...

EASTER - WEEK 4 - FRIDAY LESSON: 1 CORINTHIANS 1:26-31 “[The Holy Spirit] will convince the world … of righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more.” John 16:8-10 Righteousness means piety, a good and honest life before God. Jesus says here that He will convince the world of righteousness, “because I go to the Father.” We have often stated that Christ’s resurrection did n...

EASTER - WEEK 4 - THURSDAY LESSON: PSALM 32 [Christ] is able for all time to save those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. Hebrews 7:25 God makes it quite clear to us that, if we want to get rid of our sins, we must be able to pay the price with quite different works from those which we perform for ourselves. For even our very best works are stil...

EASTER - WEEK 4 - WEDNESDAY LESSON: 1 CORINTHIANS 1:18-25 What no eyes have seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him, God has revealed to us through the Spirit. 1 Corinthians 2:9-10 Putting it in other words, Christ says, “If they had believed in me, everything would have been bestowed upon them as a free gift; for I know that there is no ot...

EASTER - WEEK 4 - TUESDAY LESSON: HEBREWS 10:26-31 Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12 Christ has come and proclaimed the truth that everything we do apart from the Holy Spirit, no matter how great it is and how lovely it appears to be, is sin. We cannot do anything good gladly and willi...

EASTER - WEEK 4 - MONDAY LESSON: JOHN 14:12-24 “When he [the Holy Spirit] comes, he will convince the world of sin … because they do not believe in me.” John 16:8-9 The world is in a wretched plight. Not only is it ignorant of sin, of righteousness, and of judgement, but it cannot recognize this fact, not to mention the utter impossibility of getting rid of this ignorance. Here you see also how al...

EASTER - WEEK 4 - SUNDAY LESSON: JOHN 16:5-15 When he comes, he will convince the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgement. John 16:8 When the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, comes, He will convince the world of blindness and ignorance. All men who have not been enlightened by the Holy Spirit, no matter how clever they may be thought to be by prevailing external circumstances, rules, or deal...

EASTER - WEEK 3 - SATURDAY LESSON: PSALM 145:1-13 “I go to the Father.” John 16:10 Christ wanted His disciples to come to a clear understanding of His statement, “I go to the Father.” The meaning of this statement was hidden; not even the disciples knew what Jesus meant. Put into other words, Christ, instead of speaking about going to the Father, could simply have stated, “I must die, and you must...

EASTER - WEEK 3- FRIDAY LESSON: EPHESIANS 1:3-11 There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Acts 4:12 We can never form a correct estimate of persecutions, trials, and other troubles, or understand them correctly, unless Christ Himself awakens and enlightens us, and His resurrection becomes a power in us. All our own pretentious doings must be shattered and acco...

EASTER - WEEK 3 - THURSDAY LESSON: PSALM 33:13-22 “You have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.” John 16:22 These words are spoken to all Christians. A Christian must face temptation, fear, distress, opposition, and sorrow in whatever manner they may arise. Jesus makes no mention here of suffering on a cross; He simply mentions...

EASTER - WEEK 3 - WEDNESDAY LESSON: 1 CORINTHIANS 15:12-19 If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith is in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:14 Like the disciples of old, we are not slow in choosing crosses and sufferings for ourselves in the belief that we shall endure them without much difficulty. Peter declared boldly that he would rather die than deny Christ, and all th...

EASTER - WEEK 3 - TUESDAY LESSON: HABAKKUK 2:2-4 You have need of endurance, so that you may do the will of God and receive what is promised. “For yet a little while, and the coming one shall come and shall not tarry.” Hebrews 10:36-37 The first “little while” which Jesus mentioned when He said, “A little while, and you will see me no more,” the disciples understood very soon after this when they...