yet there is no one who is not partly guilty of it, because we have no zeal. And
CHAPTER 4: The Pure in Heart Peacemakers and the PersecuteD
yet there is no one who is not partly guilty of it, because we have no zeal. And yet, let this word of justice always ring in our ears, knowing that we must hold fast for this: and above all, when it is a question that the name of God be glorified, and the testimony that we must give to our Lord Jesus Christ be engraved in our hearts, never to depart from it. All the more therefore we must think carefully about all these things, so that from now on we show that we are better advanced than before, that is to say, that we know how our Lord Jesus Christ wants to govern his church, namely, by the preaching of his word, and that it is in such reverence to us as it should: and that it is not only to pretend to humiliate us under it: but that in all our life we know that we have truly aspired to this incomprehensible treasure, leaving behind all our affections, which otherwise keep us too wrapped up.
Now let us bow before the majesty of our good God, etc.
C H A P T E R 5 PERSECUTION REPROACH AND THE
WORLDS PRAISE
Matthew 5:11-12. Blessed are you when they reproach and persecute you, and falsely speak every kind of evil against you for my sake. 12. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven; for so they persecuted the prophets who came before you.
Luke 6:22-26. Blessed are you when men hate you, exclude you, reproach you, and reject your name as evil on account of the Son of Man. 23. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; their fathers did the same to the prophets. 24. But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. 25. Woe to you who are full, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. 26. Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers did the same to the false prophets.
We saw last Sunday that it is very difficult for the faithful man to live here peacefully when he wants to fulfill his duty towards God and towards his neighbors. For the malice of men is so great that we must often enter into combat to maintain the good and innocent people who are afflicted: and to take charge of good and just causes. For God requires this of us: and it is not enough for each to abstain from evil and violence, but we must procure good, as far as we are. Now (as I said) on all sides we are surrounded by many evil ones, and the devil not without cause is called prince of the world. Not only will it be difficult for us to serve God, and to be in peace and at rest: but we must reckon upon this, that when we maintain the good, we will have many attacks and alarms, and that the wicked will be against us. And above all, this is practiced in doctrine: for the truth of God is hidden from men, until they are fully changed, because he who does evil does not ask for clarity, but hates it, as our Lord Jesus Christ says, and so it is that all men are evil, and if they do not show it, the filth is