Internationale Martin Luther Stiftung

The daily Luther

26th April

And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.

Interpretation of Martin Luther ...

The daily Luther

26th April

And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.

Genesis 28 (xvii)

Learn from this that God's house does not mean a splendid great building, as we have them. God does not ask if the house is big, vaulted or consecrated. He does indeed live there, even though He has never ever built a house. What does this mean, then, for God to live in a house? It means only this: that God is there with his Word. Where the Word is, there God will certainly live, and where the Word is not, there God will not live, even if a house were to be built for Him that was as big as it possibly could be. Where His Word is preached, there God will certainly be found. Where the Word is not preached, then it is not His house, even if we built church after church after church. A church can only have value if God's Word is preached in it.

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