Daily Devotion for 05 September 2026 (15th Saturday after Pentecost)

0:00Welcome to the Daily Devotions Podcast from Confident Faith. I am Corey J. Moller, a contributor here at Confident Faith. I will be your reader today. This 15th Saturday after Pentecost, the 5th of September. In the year of our Lord, 2026, in the time of the Church. Today we commemorate Zacharias and Elizabeth. Remembered as examples of faithfulness and piety, Zacharias and Elizabeth became the parents of John the Baptist despite their old age. Initially, disbelieving the promise, Zacharias was struck mute by the angel who announced that Zacharias and Elizabeth would have a son.

1:04Upon confirming his wife's chosen name for their son, John, Zacharias was restored to his ability to speak. Upon regaining his speech, Zacharias sang the benedictus, a summary of the promises in the Old Testament, and a prophecy of John the Baptist ministry as a forerunner of Christ. Our readings for today are Psalm 56. 2nd Kings 2.19-25 and chapter 4.1-7. Ephesians starting with chapter 4.25 and reading through chapter 5.14. And paragraphs 249.256 of Article 5 of the apology of the Augsburg confession. We will close as always. With the Lord's Prayer. Today's reading from the Psalter is the 56th Psalm.

2:04Have mercy on me, O Lord, because a man has trampled me down. The whole day warring he has pressed me. My enemies have trampled me down the whole day, from the height of day, because the many who are warring against me shall be made to fear, but I shall hope upon you. In God I shall praise my words the whole day. In God I have hoped. I shall not be afraid of what flesh will do to me. The whole day they were loathing my words against me all their deliberations are for evil. They shall sojourn beside me and hide themselves down. They themselves shall watch my heel. Even as I have endured in my soul, for nothing you will save them, in wrath you will bring peoples down. O God, I have declared my life out to you. You have set my tears before you, as also in your announcement. My enemies shall turn back into the rear, in whichever day I call upon you. Look, I have come to know that you are my God. Upon God I shall praise a saying.

3:11Upon God I shall praise a word. Upon God I have hoped. I shall not be afraid of what a man will do to me. In me, O God, are the vows which I shall pay of praise, because you have drawn my soul out of death and my feet out of a slip, so as to be well pleasing before God in the light of the living. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever more. Amen. Today's Old Testament reading comes from the book of Second Kings, and we will be reading the second chapter, verses 19-25, and the fourth chapter, verses 1-7. And the man of the city said to Elisha, behold the location of the city is good as our Lord sees, but the waters are bad, and the land is deprived of children. And Elisha said,

4:16bring me a new bowl and put salt there. And they brought it to him. And Elisha went out to the outlet of the waters, and through the salt there and said, this is what the Lord says, I have healed these waters. No longer shall there be death nor a lack of children from there. And the waters have been healed to this day, according to the word of Elisha that he spoke. And he went up from there to Bithel, and while he was going up on the way, small children also came out to the city and jeered at him and said to him, go up, bolt head, go up. And he turned aside after them, and saw them and cursed them in the name of the Lord, and behold two bears came out of the wood, and tore open 42 children of them. And he went on from there to the Carmelite mountain, and from there returned to Samaria. And one woman from the sons of the prophets cried to Elisha saying, your slave my husband died, and you knew that he was a slave who feared the Lord, and the credit her came to take my two sons for himself as slaves. And

5:20Elisha said, what shall I do for you? Tell me what do you have in the house? And she said, your slave has nothing in the house, but for oil with which I shall anoint myself. And he said to her, come on, ask for yourself vessels outside from all your neighbors. Empty vessels do not make them few, and you shall enter and shut the door upon you and upon your sons, and you shall pour out into these vessels, and that which has been filled you shall remove. And she departed from him and did so and shut the door upon her and upon her sons. They kept coming near to her, and she kept pouring in until the vessels were filled, and she said to her sons, bring yet to me a vessel, and they said to her, there is no longer a vessel, and the oil stopped. And she came and told the man of God, and Elisha said, come on and sell the oil, and you shall pay your interests, and you and your sons shall live by the remaining oil. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

6:23Today's New Testament reading comes from the book of Ephesians, and we will be reading from verse 25 of the fourth chapter, through verse 14 of the fifth chapter. Therefore having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin, do not let the son go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear, and do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamour and slander be put away from you, along with all malice, be kind to one another, tender-hearted for giving one another, as God in Christ

7:28forgave you. Therefore be imitators of God as be loving children, and walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure or who is covetous that is an idolater, has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ in 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 become partners with them, for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light, for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true, and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of

8:34darkness, but instead expose them, for it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, O wake-o-sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. This is the word the Lord. Thanks be to God. Today's reading from the Book of Concord comes from the apology of the Augsburg confession, and we will be reading Article 5, Paragraphs 249 through 256. The Adversaries Other Arguments The adversaries insist that good works have the right to merit eternal life, because Paul says, he will render to each one according to his works, Romans 26. Glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, Romans 210. Those who have done good to the resurrection of life, John 529.

9:41I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me, Matthew 2535. In these and all similar passages in which works are praised in the scriptures, it is necessary to understand not only outward works, but also the faith of the heart. Scripture does not speak of hypocrisy, but of the righteousness of the heart with its fruit. Furthermore, whenever the law and works are mentioned, we must know that Christ cannot be excluded as mediator. He is the end of the law, and he himself says, apart from me you can do nothing, John 155. We have said above that all passages about works can be judged according to this rule. When eternal life is granted to works, it is granted to those who have been justified. Only justified people who are led by the spirit of Christ can do good works. Without faith and Christ as mediator, good works do not please, according to Hebrews 116. Without faith it is impossible

10:44to please God. When Paul says, he will render to each one according to his works, not only the outward work ought to be understood, but all righteousness or unrighteousness. So glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, namely to the righteous. You gave me food, Matthew 2535, is cited as the fruit and witness of the righteousness of the heart and of faith, and therefore eternal life is given to righteousness. In this way Scripture, at the same time with the fruit, embraces the righteousness of the heart. Scripture often names the fruit so that the inexperienced understand better. It also names them to show that a new life and rebirth are required and not hypocrisy. But rebirth happens through faith in repentance. No sane person can judge otherwise, neither do we needlessly attempt to make a fine distinction, trying to separate the fruit from the righteousness of the heart. If only the adversaries would have conceded that the fruit pleases because of faith and because of Christ's mediator, and that by

11:49themselves they are not worthy of grace and of eternal life. We condemn this failure in the doctrine of the adversaries. In some passages of Scripture understood either in a philosophical or a Jewish manner, they abolished the righteousness of faith and exclude Christ as mediator. From these passages they conclude that works merit grace, sometimes in a merely agreeable way, decongruo, and at other times in a wholly deserving way, decondigno, namely when love is added. They maintain that works justify and because they are righteousness they are worthy of eternal life. This error clearly abolishes the righteousness of faith, which believes that we have access to God for Christ's sake, not for the sake of our works. It also contradicts the truth that through Christ as priest and mediator we are led to the Father and have a reconciled Father, as has been said well enough before. This teaching about the righteousness of faith is not to be neglected in Christ's church

12:50because without it we cannot consider Christ's office. Then the doctrine of justification that is left is only a doctrine of the law. We should keep the gospel and the doctrine about the promise granted for Christ's sake. This concludes our reading from the book of Concord. I now invite all of you to join me in reciting the Lord's Prayer, one of the most ancient prayers of the church. I do encourage you to say it aloud if you are somewhere it would be reasonable to do so, but praying it silently is of course also fine. The Lord knows what is in your heart. Lord, remember us in your kingdom and teach us to pray. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallow it be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass

13:51against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever and ever. Amen. Go in peace and grace to serve our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in whatever calling has been given you or tasks that before you. Until tomorrow, God be with you.