Third Sunday after Trinity — Sermons of Martin Luther

THIRD SUNDAY A F T E R T R I N I T Y . who were over head and ears in sins. These, therefore, were despised by those shining saints, and were not considered worthy of their society.

Here, however, Christ intervenes with his judgment and says that those saints are to stoop down and take the sinners upon their shoulders, and are to bear in mind that, with their righteousness and piety, they are help to others out of their sins.

That they will not do. And this is indeed the way it goes.

7. A truly Christian work is it that we descend and get mixed up in the mire of the sinner as deeply as he sticks there himself, taking his sin upon ourselves and flounder¬ ing out of it with him, not acting otherwise than as if his sin were our own. We should rebuke and deal with him in earnest; yet we are not to despise but sincerely to love him. If you are proud toward the sinner and despise him, you are utterly damned.

8. These, then, are great and good works in which we should exercise ourselves.

But no man pays attention to them.

Such works have entirely faded away and become extinct. In the meantime, one resorts, in the name of the devil, to Saint James, another proceeds to build a church, a third provides for the saying of masses,—this one does this, the other does that, and no one thinks of praying for the sinner. It is therefore to be feared that the holiest are in the deepest hell, and that the sinners are mostly in heaven.

But it would be a truly Christian work, if you received sinners, if you entered into your closet and there said, in earnest prayer to the Lord: "011, my God! of such a person

I hear so and so, he lieth in his sins, he hath fallen. Oh, Lord, help him to rise again," etc.

This is just the way in which to receive and serve the sinner.

9. Moses acted thus when the Israelites worshipped the moulten calf. He mingled freely with the people in their" sins.

Yet he punished them severely, and caused three thousand men to be slain from gate to gate. Ex. 32. After that he went up and bowed down before God, and prayed that he would forgive the people their sin, or blot him out of the Book of Life.

Behold, here we have a man Still Waters Revival Books - All Rights Reserved - www.PuritanDownloads.com who knew that God loved him and had written his name in' the book of the blessed; and yet he says:

"Lord, I would rather that thou shouldest damn me and save the people."

10. Paul, too, acted thus.

A t times he rebuked the Jews severely, calling them dogs and other names. Yet he knelt down and said: " I could wish that I myself were anathema from Christ for my brethren's sake." Rom. 9:3.

It is as if he had said: " I would willingly be anathema, if only the mass of the people might be helped." Such a course as this is much too lofty for reason, and passes beyond its conception. It is thus that we, too, must act, and thus that we must serve our neighbor.

11. Again, we have an incident in the first Book of Samuel.

When the people demanded a king, and would not be ruled by God's Word alone, but lost faith in the Lord, and said that they w

Tanted a temporal king to go out before them and fight their battles, like all the nations, 1 Sam. 8:20.

Then God came and punished them for the sin of having despised him, and spake thus to the prophet Samuel : "They have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me." After that the people came to Samuel and besought him to pray for them, saying: "Pray for thy servants unto Jehovah thy

God, that we die not; for we have added unto all our sins this evil, to ask a king." Then Samuel, among other things, said unto them:

"Far be it from me that I should sin against Jehovah in ceasing to pray for you; but I will in¬ struct you in the good and right way. Only fear Jehovah, and serve him in truth with all your heart, for consider how great things he hath done for you." 1 Sam. 12:19-24.

12. David also acted thus.

When the Lord inflicted the plagues upon Israel he spake unto the Lord and said: "Lo, I have sinned, and I have done perversely; but these sheep, what have they done?

Let thy hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father's house."

13.Such should be your bearing toward sinners; inwardly the heart in service, outwardly the tongue in earnest. God requires this of us; and this is what Christ, our Captain, has manifested in himself, as Paul says to the Philippians,

2:4-9: "Not looking each of you to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others.

Haye this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus; who, existing in th« form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in likeness of men; and be¬ ing found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, be¬ coming obedient unto death, yea, the death of the cross."

14. Christ was filled with all righteousness, and might justly have condemned us all as sinners. But he did not do so.

What did he do, then? He gave himself to be our Servant.

His righteousness has served for our sins, his fulness for our feebleness, his life for our death.

This we find illus¬ trated, for our example, in the Gospel before us, where he bears himself with such friendliness toward sinners that the Pharisees murmur. The Lord therefore sets before them the following parables in order to teach how they are to receive sinners and be of service to them, saying:

"What man of you, having a hundred sheep, and having lost one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that whieh is lost, until Tie find it, etc.

Or what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a lamp, and sweep the house, and seek diligently until she find it?"

15. Christ is both the shepherd and the woman; for he has lighted the lamp, that is, the Gospel, and he goes about in the desert, that is, the world. He sweeps the huuse, and seeks the lost sheep and lost piece of silver, when he comes with his Word and proclaims to us, first our sins, and then his grace and mercy.

Christ's declaration, that he is the shepherd and has laid our sins upon his back or shoulders, makes us trust in him fully, and makes publicans and other sinners run after him. These would not have come unto him thus, had they regarded him as a hard and wrathful judge; for they had previously acknowledged themselves to be sinners and in need of his grace.

L U T H E R ' S CHURCH comes the sheep out of the wilderness, and here the lost piece of silver is found.

16. Learn from this, then, that our neighbor is to be sought as a lost sheep, that his shame is to be covered with our honor, that our piety is to be a cover for his sins.

But nowadays, when men come together they backbite one another; and thus they would show how zealous they are against sin. Therefore, ye men, whenever ye come together, do not backbite your neighbors.

Make not one face at one person and another at some one else.

Do not cut off one man's foot and another man's hand; make no such traffic of living flesh. Likewise, ye women, when you come together, conceal the shame of others, and do not cause wounds which you cannot heal.

Should you meet with anything like this in some one's house, then throw your mantle over shame and wounds, and close the door.

A very good reason for doing this is, that you would have others do the same to you.

Then, if you have kept the matter secret, bring the parties before you afterwards, and read them a good lecture; and let it remain with you as a secret.

17. Christ, too, acts thus.

He keeps silent and covers our sins.

He could, indeed, expose us to shame, and could tread us under foot, as our text shows that the Pharisees did.

But he does not do so.

All will be brought; to light, however, at the final judgment.

Then everything hidden must be revealed.

Then the virgin must place her crown upon the harlot, the pious woman must throw her veil over! the adulteress, and everything we have must serve as a garment to cover the sins of others.

For every man shall have his sheep, and every woman shall have her piece of silver.

All our gifts must be the gifts of others.

18. Hence there is, in God's judgment, no greater sin on earth than that pious men and women and virgins commit when they despise those who lie in their sin and would appropriate to themselves their natural gifts, puffing them¬ selves up and despising their neighbor.

TH1KD SUNDAY A F T E R TRINITY. to Pharisees. Had this Gospel been nothing more than a good counsel, it would not have been so comforting; but now that it has been commanded I can recognize the mind of God in Christ, since he will have it so, and enjoins that we are to cover the sins of others. Yea, what is still more,

Christ himself does this, and to this end was he sent; for no man fulfills the law of God as perfectly as he. We are scarcely a spark amid the divine fire and light.

He is the fire of which heaven and earth are full.

20. The Gospel is spoken to those only who acknowledge their sins, and their sins they acknowledge when they re¬ pent of them. But this Gospel is of no use to the Pharisees, for they do not acknowledge their sins. To those, however, who do acknowledge them, and are about to despair, the Gospel must be brought. But at this point the devil sets up a game, and suggests to the consciences of those who acknowledge their sins and long to be freed from them, that this one should resort to Saint James, that one to Rome, this one should take refuge in prayers, the other in confession.

And then they are told:

"Give six pounds of wax, have so many masses said, do this, do that, and thus you will be freed from your sins." Thereby they are led farther and farther from the Gospel, and are brought to the standpoint of works. In this way they must certainly despair at last.

21. Therefore, when you feel your sins gnawing at you, and feel your heart trembling and agitated, place yourself be¬ side the publicans where they are standing. These are the very ones who shall receive the Gospel. Do so joyously, and say: "Oh, God! it is thy word that says there shall be joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine righteous persons, who need no re¬ pentance, and that all the righteous and angels are to in¬ terpose and cover up sins. Now, Oh, God! I have come to this that I feel my sins. I am already judged. I need but the one Shepherd who seeketh me; and I will therefore freely venture on thy Gospel."

You are the piece of silver in the hand. You are the one over whom is joy in heaven in the presence of all the angels.

We are not to worry, if we do not experi¬ ence or feel this at once.

Sin will daily decrease, and its sting will drive you to seek God. You must struggle against this feeling by faith, and say:

"Oh, God! I know thou hast said this, and I lean upon thy Word.

I am the sheep and the piece of silver; thou the shepherd and the woman."

Yes, this I will gladly do; but I can¬ not atone for my sins.

I can render no satisfaction for them.

Consider then the publicans and sinners. What good have they done?

They came to God, heard his Word and believed it.

Do the same. His are living words.

The Gospel is too deep to be fathomed by human words.

Conscientious men who tried it readily understand this.

24. The learned and idle may determine the meaning of the ninety-nine in the desert.

It is enough for us to learn the main thought of this Gospel.

T H I R D S U N D A Y A F T E R T R I N I T Y .

Second Sermon—Luke 15:1-10.

This sermon appeared first in pamphlet form entitled: "A sermon on the Lost Sheep, by Dr. M. Luther, delivered at Wittenberg in the presence of the Elector of Saxony, Duke John Fredrick, etc., 1533."

THE DOCTRINE OF CHRISTIAN GRACE AND THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS.

I. THIS DOCTRINE IN GENERAL.

1. This Is the chief doctrine of the Christian religion. 1.

2. The occasion given to Christ to present this doctrine. 2-8.

Of publicans and sinners. a. What Is to he understood hy them. 3-4. b. How and why they held to Why the Pharisees were enemies to Christ. 6-7.

II. THIS DOCTRINE IN DETAIL.

A. The doctrine of Christian liberty, as Christ teaches hy his example.

1. The example In itself. 8-10.

Christ 18 the firmest and kind¬ est of all men. 10.

2. The use and the application of this example. a. How It teaches what a true b. How It t e a c h e s that a Christian should n o t let

Still Waters Revival Books - All Rights Reserved - www.PuritanDownloads.com THIRD SUNDAY A F T E R himself he bound by the law. 13. c. How and why the use and application of this example are so difficult. 14-15. d. Objections and answers. 16¬ e. In what way this example is rightly to be used and ap¬ plied. 22-25. f. The art of the true Chris¬ tian consists in the right use of this liberty. 26-27. g. Those who rightly under¬ stand this use are perfect.

B. The doctrine of grace and of the forgiveness of sins as Christ pre¬ sents It in a beautiful sermon.

1. How Christ here successful¬ ly meets h i s adversaries.

2. This sermon is not for the se¬ cure souls but for the terrified ones. 35.

3. How grace and the forgiveness of sin are here beautifully painted forth. 36-64.

4. Christ could not set forth his grace in a more attractive form than he does here. 65.

5. How a Christian draws conso¬ lation from this sermon. 66-68.

1. This Gospel contains the teaching we hold and boast of as our chief doctrine, which is called the true Christian teaching, namely, the doctrine of grace and forgiveness of sins, and Christian liberty from the law.

It is a very lov¬ ing and friendly admonition to repentance and the knowl¬ edge of Christ.

And it is ever a pity, that a godless, im¬ pudent person should be permitted to hear such an excel¬ lent, comforting and joyful sermon.

And yet it is more sad, that every one graduates so soon in it and masters it so that he thinks he knows it so well that he can learn nothing more from it.

Yet God, our Lord, does not permit himself to become vexed or weary in repeating it yearly, yea, every day, and enforces it as though he knew nothing else to preach, and as though he had no other skill or art.

While we poor, wretched people immediately become so overlearned, so satisfied, tired of it and disgusted besides, that we have no longer a desire or love for it.

2. But before we take up the subject taught in this Gospel, let us first examine what St. Luke gives as an introduction to show what prompted Christ to preach the following sermon, when he says:

"Now all the publicans and sinners were drawing near unto him to hear him," because they wanted to be near him to hear his word, and he expresses freely and plainly what kind of people he had about him, namely, those who openly lived as they should not live, and were called downright sinners and wicked people.

L U Ï H E H ' S CHUECH to blame him, because he, who pretended to be a pious and holy man kept company with such low characters.

3. For at that time the men scattered hither and thither through the land were called publicans, to whom the Komans gave charge of a city, or of the revenue, or other duties or offices, and required of them a certain amount of reve¬ nue; just as the Turks or Venetians now assign a city or office to a certain person from which he must give many thousands of dollars a year, and whatever he extorts over and above that amount is his own.

In this manner they proceeded.

Those who collected such revenue and tax proceeded so that they had a profit from it.

And as this sum thus appointed was large for each city or office, the officers extorted without let or hindrance, so that they might enjoy more as their own; for their masters were so close with them that they could not gain much for them¬ selves, if they desired to act justly and take advantage of no one.

Hence they were reported in all lands as being great extortioners in whom little good or honesty could be found.

4. Thus the other great crowds in general were called "sinners," who otherwise w yere worse people and publicly lived in a shameful and wild way, in covetousness, adultery and the like.

Such drew near to Christ in order to hear him, since they had heard, that in the light of his doctrine and his many miracles he was an excellent man.

5. Now, after all, there was a spark or two of virtue and honesty in them, that they had a desire for Christ and gladly heard his doctrine, and see what he did. Inasmuch as they well knew that he was a good man, and heard noth¬ ing but good of him, both in w

T0rds and deeds, so that their doings did neither agree nor harmonize with his life; and yet they feel no enmity against him, nor flee from him, but go to him, not to seek anything evil in him, but to see and hear something good, and to hope that they might become better.

THIRD SUNDAY A F T E R poisonous reptiles, that they were not only enemies of Christ, and could not bear to see or hear him, nor suffer poor sinners to come to him and hear him that they might be made better, yet they even murmured and blamed him for harboring and receiving them, and said:

Behold, is this that excellent and holy man? Who will now say that he is of God, as he associates with such rogues and wicked people?

Yes, he is a "wine-bibber and a glutton," and they say in another place, "a friend of publicans and sinners."

7. Such names he must bear from these holy peox>le, not because he was riotous or given to gluttony and drunken¬ ness, but only because he permitted them to come to him, and did not thrust them from him nor despise them. For they thought he should have done so, and should have gone forth in a gray frock with a sour countenance and remained secluded from common people, and when he saw such pub¬ licans and sinners, he should have held his nose and looked the other way, so that he would not become polluted by them, as they themselves like holy people were accustomed to do.

As Isaiah, 05:5, writes of them : that they kept them¬ selves so pure that they would not dare to touch a sinner; as may also be seen in the example of Luke 7:39, where the Pharisees so bitterly opposed Christ, because he allowed himself to be touched by a woman who was a sinner.

Now, these were they who at all times desired to be his master, and to prescribe to him and give him rules how he should conduct himself and live holy.

Hence they murmur here, because he does not hold to them and avoid such publie sinners as they do.

8. N0W Christ is also a little self-willed and shows here that he is simply not to be dictated to by any one, and that he will be free in all things, as we see also everyhere in the Gospel, that a peculiar firmness or self-will is found in this man, who is nevertheless at other times so mild a man, willing and ready to help, the like of whom was never found on earth. But when they came to him with laws and wanted to be his teachers, then all friendship was at an end, he starts and bounds back, as when you strike on Still Waters Revival Books - All Rights Reserved - www.PuritanDownloads.com

LUTHEu'ö CHÜUC1I POSTIL. an anvil, and he speaks and does just the contrary they demand of him, although they even say rightly and weli, and have God's word for it, as they do here where they come and say:

You should do thus, you should hold to the society of good people and not to sinners.

This is a precious doctrine taken out of the Scriptures; for Moses himself writes that they should avoid the wicked, and put away evil from among them.

They have the text on their side, and come trolling with their Moses, and want to bind him and rule him by their laws.

9.But, whether it be God's law or the law of man, he will in short be unbound, like the unicorn, of which it is said, that it cannot be taken alive, it matters not how you at¬ tempt it.

It will suffer itself to be pierced, shot and killed, but it will never submit to be taken.

Thus Christ also acts, although you approach him with laws to throw them over him, he will not endure it, but he bursts through them as through a spider's web, and gives to them besides a good lecture.

As in Mat. 12:3, where they blamed his disciples because they plucked the ears of corn on the Sabbath day, citing the divine command to keep the Sabbath day holy; he turns it around altogether and bursts through the com¬ mandment and proves besides, both by Scriptures and ex¬ amples, just the contrary. Again, in Mat. 16:22-23, where he tells his Apostles how he shall suffer and be crucified, and when Peter with good intentions comes forth with the law of love and sets before him God's commandment and says:

"Be it far from thee, Lord; this shall never be unto thee."

In this connection he also gives him a good strong reply, and handles him roughly and unfriendly, and says:

"Get thee behind me, Satan; for thou mindest not the things of God, but the things of men."10.In short, wherever they begin to deal with him only according to laws, he resents it and will be free from all laws, and be the Lord of them all, by which he thrusts them from him, and will observe no law at all, as though he were bound to keep it.

And yet, on the contrary, when it springs from himself no law is so trifling, but that he will gladly keep it, yea, even much more

Still Waters Revival Books - All Rights Reserved - www.PuritanDownloads.com THIRD SUNDAY A F T E R than the law could demand, so that a more willing servant could not be found, when he is left free without a master.

Yea, he even humbles himself as lowly as to wash and kiss the feet of Judas, his betrayer, and even protects his dis¬ ciples at night, as history relates of him, and we may well believe, as he says himself, Mat. 20:28:

"Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister."

There, of course, belong the works of the law, but not as springing out of the law nor compelled by the law.

As also may be seen by his life in that he always goes about hither and thither in the land, sleeps at night on the bare earth, fasts forty days without rest, and performs so many labors that they feared he might lose his mind, Mark 3:21, or harm his body.

He does whatever he should and can, but he will be free and unbound, and will have no laws prescribed to him, and wherever one attempts it, there he halts and defends himself most determinedly.

Thus he is both the most obstinate and the most kind of all men, and at the same time he is neither stubborn nor slavish, who will do nothing to which he is driven by the law, and yet he does all things in abundance like a flood of good works, when he is only permitted to work of his own free will, without being mastered and taught.

11. This has been written for us as an example, that we may learn what a true Christian man he is according to the Spirit, and that we should not judge him according to the law, nor master him according to our own shrewdness; for this reason also Christ is our Lord, that he may make out of us such people as he is himself.

And as he will not suffer himself to be bound by any laws, but is Lord over the law and all things, thus also the faith of a Christian church should not suffer it. For through Christ and his baptism we are to be so highly exalted and liberated that our con¬ science according to faith may know no law, but simply remain unmastered and unjudged by the same, that nothing else may be so cheerful to us according to the internal ex¬ perience of conscience, than as though no law had ever appeared on earth, neither ten nor one commandment, either

I know no law, and do not desire to know any.

12. Ρ0Γ in this state and nature by virtue of which we became Christians, all human works cease, and hence all law. For where there is no work, there can be no law to demand work and to say: do this, leave that; but we are through baptism and through the blood of Christ simply free from all works, and justified by mere grace and mercy, and even live before This is, I say, our treasure, according to which we are Christians and live and stand before God.

For how we should live according to the outward life in our flesh and blood before the world, has nothing whatever to do here.

13. Therefore a Christian must so learn to rule his conscience before God as not to permit himself to be ensnared by any law, but whenever his faith is attacked by the law, let him defend himself against it, and act as Christ does here and in other places, where he shows himself so firm, excep¬ tional and odd, that neither Moses nor any legal exacter can do anything with him, although he is otherwise the most humble, the most gentle and friendly of men.

14. H0wever, this is an excellent and sublime art, which no one knows but he alone who was the master of it, who was able to defy all laws and teachers of law.

But we cannot attain to this high degree, for the devil sports with our flesh and blood, when he attacks a man in his conscience and makes him tell what he has done and not done, and dis¬ putes with him both concerning his sins and piety.

Here a man is drawn into a pit of clay and deep mire, so that he cannot extricate himself, but only sinks deeper and deeper.

For it rests upon him as a heavy load and presses him down, so that he is not able to rise above it, under which he goes on and consumes himself with it, and can not obtain peace.

As I also feel in my own experience, when with my labor I can not extricate myself, although I labor incessantly, and though I strangle myself to get out of the pit, that I might rise above the law, and accomplish enough to compel it to Still Waters Revival Books - All Rights Reserved - www.PuritanDownloads.com

THIRD SUNDAY A F T E R Well, you have done sufficient, now I am satisfied with thee! But it amounts to nothing, for it is such a deep pit and mire, out of which no one can emerge, even if he take the whole world to his assistance, as all can bear me witness who have tried it, and still daily experience.

15. Now the cause of this is that our entire nature is so that it is in short inclined to be occupied with works and laws and hear what they dictate and follow those who say:

Why does he eat with publicans and sinners? If he would eat and drink with us, then he would do right. Again: Why do your disciples pluck the ears of corn and do what one ought not to do on the Sabbath day? And they always act and dispute with the law until it says: Now you are good. For it can not rise higher nor understand anything better than that the doctrine of the law is the highest doc¬ trine, and its righteousness is the best life before God.

Thus human nature remains in the law, forever captive and bound. And as it lays hold and makes the attempt, it can never quiet the law, so that it has nothing to demand or to punish, but is compelled to remain captive under the law as in a perpetual prison.

And the longer human nature struggles and afflicts itself with the law, the worse it becomes until entirely overcome.

16. What then am I to do when the law attacks me and oppresses my conscience, because I am conscious of not having done what it requires? I answer:

Christ does here, he sets his head against it, and grows firm, and allows no law to be forced upon him, even though it be taken from the law of God. Thus you must learn to do, and flatly say to it: My dear law, let your contention cease, and go your own way, for I have nothing to do with thee; yes, just because you come to dispute with me and in¬ quire how good I am, I will not hear thee; for nothing avails before this judge, with whom we now dispute, nothing what

I am and shall do or not do ; but only what Christ is, gives and does. For we are now in the bridal chamber, where the bride and the bridegroom should be alone, you have no right to enter there, or speak on this subject.

Yes, nevertheless you must do good works, keep God's commandment, if you want to be saved. Here answer again: Do you not clearly hear, that it avails noth¬ ing now to consider this.

For I have already my righteous¬ ness and the sum of all salvation in Christ my Lord without any works, and I was already saved long before thou earnest, so that I have no need whatever of thee. For as I said, where works are of no avail, the law also amounts to noth¬ ing, and where no law is there is also no sin. Therefore nothing shall rule here except the bride alone in the bridal chamber with Christ, in whom she possesses all things to¬ gether, and lacks nothing that is necessary unto salvation, and the law must remain excluded with drums and trum¬ pets, and courageously despised and banished when it would attack the conscience.

For it does not belong here, it comes out of season, and wants to make a great ado where it should not intrude, for here we are in the sphere of the article of faith; I believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, who suffered for me, died and was buried, rose again from the dead, etc.

Before him must give place the law of Moses, of the emperor and of God, and I am to repel everything that would dispute with me about sin, right or wrong, and every¬ thing I may do.

18.Behold, Christ would here present to us such liberty, so that we as Christians according to our faith may tolerate no other master, but only hold that we are baptized and called unto Christ, and through him have become justified and sanctified, and say:

This is my righteousness, my treasure, my work and everything against sin and wrong, which the law can do and bring against me.

If you want another righteousness, work, law, sin, then take them where you may, you will not find them in me.

In this way a man may defend himself and withstand the suggestions and temptations of the devil, either referring to past or present sins; so that these two may be kept wide apart, Moses and Christ, works and faith, conscience and the outward life; so that when the law attacks me and would terrify my heart, then it is time to give the good law a furlough, and if Still Waters Revival Books - All Rights Reserved - www.PuritanDownloads.com

T H I E D SUNDAY A F T E R TRINITY. it will not go, bravely drive it away, and say:

Gladly would I do and promote good works where I can at the proper time, when among the people; but here where my conscience must stand before God, I will know nothing of them, in this only let me alone, and do not speak to me of what I do or fail to do.

Here I will not listen either to Moses or the Pharisees, but my baptism and Christ only shall reign here in full sway, and I will like Mary sit at his feet and hear his Word.

But Martha must stay out and go about in the kitchen and do her housework, and in short, leave the conscience alone.

19. But how is it, if I still continually have sin in me, that is certainly not right? I answer: It is true, I am a sinner and do wrong; but I am not going to despair on that ac¬ count nor run straight to hell, or flee from the law; for I have still a righteousness and work far above Moses, by which I apprehend him who has apprehended me, and I cleave to him who has embraced me in baptism and laid me in his bosom, and by his Gospel has promoted me to the fellowship of all his benefits, and commands me to believe in him. Where he is, there I command the Pharisees, and Moses with his tables, all lawyers with their · books, all men with their works, immediately to be silent and depart.

For here no law has any right to accuse or demand, al¬ though I have not done it nor can I do it, for in Christ I have all things in abundance, whatever I need or lack.

20. Such, I say, is the Christian's doctrine and skill, and it belongs only where Christ reigns, and the conscience acts as in God's presence.

But this is not preached to rough, impudent and light-minded people, who understand nothing of it, and who as St. Peter says in his second Epistle, 3:6, only confuse and pervert such doctrine to their own con¬ demnation, from which they take license to live as they please, and say: Ho! why shall I do good works? What harm is it if I am a sinner? Has not Christ abolished the law?

Now, this too will not avail, for here you must view Christ from another point, and observe what he further does. For here he himself says that he is the man who Still Waters Revival Books - All Rights Reserved - www.PuritanDownloads.com seeks the poor lost sheep, and besides proves it by his prèsent deed, in that he receives publicans and sinners, and preaches to them. Here you will see that he does a great deal more than what the law has commanded, and by his example also teaches thee to do likewise.

He is so proud that he will not be under the law ; and again he is so willing that he desires to do much more than the law can require.

Do thou also likewise, and wait not first until you are driven and tormented with the law, but do what you should of your own accord without the law, as St Peter admon¬ ishes, 1 Pet. 2:16

"As free, and not using your freedom for a cloak of wickedness, but as bond servants of God;" and in Rom. 6:18 says: "And being made free from sin, ye be¬ came servants of righteousness."

These are they who do all things with a free conscience without the coercing of the law.

21. Por where the Gospel is truly in the heart, it creates a new man who does not wait until the law comes, but, being so full of joy in Christ, and of desire and love for that \vhich is good, he gladly helps and does good to every one wherever he can, from a free heart, before he ever once thinks of the law.

He wholly risks his body and life, with¬ out asking what he must suffer on account of it, and thus abounds in good works which flow forth of themselves.

Just like Christ will not be compelled to pick up a straw, but without compulsion he permits himself to be nailed to the cross for me and the whole world, and dies for the lost sheep.

This may indeed be called work above work.

22. Therefore learn now carefully to discriminate, both rightly to place and to divide these things, when it comes to the test, and when the law and sin would dispute with the conscience, that you courageously take the word out of the mouth of Moses and tell him to be still, and order him out to your old man, whom you are to lead into the school of Moses, that he may dispute with him and say:

Listen, you are both lazy and slow to do good, and to serve your neighbor.

THIRD SUNDAY A F T E R sake, you prefer to rob and cheat your neighbor wherever you can. For the same lazy scoundrel who will not move? whose hands will not work, whose feet will not go where they should, whose eyes are not chaste, here you may take stones and smite the old Adam until he does move.

23. Therefore, when Moses attacks me where it is right, I am to say to him, I will gladly hear and follow thee, namely with my hands and life, aside from the faith and righteousness of my conscience before God, there thou mayest reign like a schoolmaster amid the servants of the family, and order me to be obedient, chaste and patient, to do good to my neighbor, to help the poor, to praise and honor God, besides allow myself to be disgraced and slan¬ dered for the sake of his Word, and suffer the world to bring upon me all its torments.

In all this I am well pleased, and am willing to do even more than I am able as to the outward man. For Christ says the spirit is will¬ ing, and more than willing, but the flesh is weak.

For thus he permits himself to be circumcised, to offer in the temple, to be scourged and crucified, none of which was necessary for him, nor could the law demand them from him.

But should Moses go further, where he has no right, that is, into my heart and conscience, there I will neither hear nor see him. For there I have another great and un¬ speakable treasure, called Christ, with his baptism and G 0 8 pel.

In a word, what concerns the outer man, there Moses cannot burden nor urge too much, but he dare not in the least burden the conscience.

For where the Spirit is who brings us Christ, he is above all law, as St. Paul says, 1 "That law is not made for a righteous man," and yet he at the same time does more than he is able to accomplish according to the flesh. For after the flesh we are nothing but sinners, and as to our person we would of course have to remain condemned under the law; but by virtue of Christ and baptism we rise high above all law.

24. Thus let Moses carry cn his rough work, aside from Christ to urge those who are not Christians, or ever spur the old Adam.

For Christians he cannot thereby Still Waters Revival Books - All Rights Reserved - www.PuritanDownloads.com make either pions or righteous; but of course he does this, namely, he shows them their duty, which according to the Spirit they gladly do, and much more besides, except that the flesh does not willingly follow nor obey the Spirit, so that on this account they still need not be admonished and urged.

But at the same time the conscience must remain free, for the law has no right here before God to accuse and condemn.

Wherefore in Christianity such doc¬ trine and admonition must be upheld, as even the Apostles did, whereby every one is admonished and reminded of the duty of his calling.

25.But Moses must be allowed to have absolute rule over those who are not Christians, and burden them both out• wardly and inwardly, so that he may force and torment them to do what is right and omit what is wrong, although they do it not gladly, like the licentious multitude and stiffnecked people, who neither esteem nor understand the lib¬ erty of Christ, although they can prate and boast of the Gospel, and yet they only misuse it for their licentiousness.

They should remember that they belong under Moses.

For they are not people who can grasp our doctrine.

They go along so securely and think they have no need of the Gospel, or that they know it well enough; but it is only for those who thus dispute with the law because of their sins and the wrath of God, and are frightened by it and feel their hearts say to them:

Woe is me! how have I lived? How shall I stand before God? And thus they go about too timid and bashful, whereas others are too hard and presumptious, so that they neither feel nor care for any law nor for their sins and distress.

Hence to both it is unequally distributed, so that those who ought to have nothing to do with the law are the only ones to feel it and they have too much of it; but the others, who only ought to feel it, do not concern themselves about it at all; yes, the more you try to terrify them with the law and the wrath of God, the harder they become.

Therefore they need another master, namely, the hangman and the sheriff to teach them; if they will not do good in God's name, that Still Waters Revival Books - All Rights Reserved - www.PuritanDownloads.com

THIRD SUNDAY A F T E R they may be obliged to do it in the name of some one efàe, and have no thanks for it, but receive hell-fire and all tor¬ ments as their reward.

2e.On the contrary, Christ, here and everywhere, as I have said, teaches us, who feel our sins and the burden of the law, and would gladly be Christians, both by his example and his sermons, to accustom ourselves to contend against it, and directs us from ourselves to himself, and not to give place to the devil, who by the law would invade the bride chamber of Christ, and sit in his place, that is, rob the conscience of its joy and comfort, in order that he may force man into despair, so as not to be able to lift up his head or heart to For this is called the Christian's art, who should learn and know more than the vulgar, profane crowd can know and understand, namely, that they are able to contend against and withstand the devil, when he attacks us and desires to dispute with us with the aid of Moses; so that we simply allow him no argument or conversation, but direct him from Moses to Christ and stay with the latter; for he only goes about cunningly to bring us from Christ under Moses; for he knows when he accomplishes this, he has the victory.

27. Wherefore be on your guard that you be not led from the way or be tempted out of your sphere; but, although he already sets forth many things from the law, which is also

God's Word, which you are in duty bound to obey, you can answer him and say: Dost thou indeed not understand that I will now neither.know nor hear of any law?

For we are now within a sphere and on ground, where there is no ques¬ tion as to what I shall do or leave undone.

I already know well enough, that I have not done, nor do I do, what the law requires; but here is the question, how may I acquire a gracious God and the forgiveness of sins, and how shall

I learn the article of faith concerning Christ?

Here I will abide in the arms of Christ and hang about his neck, and creep into his baptism, God grant it, and let the law say and my heart feel what they may.

I will gladly do and suffer externally as much as is laid upon me.

28. Behold, whoever learns this art well is a truly perfect man, as Christ was, so far above all law that he might also call

St. Peter a devil, the Pharisees fools and blind leaders, and stop the mouth of Moses and order him to keep quiet, and thus live entirely without any law, and yet fulfill all laws and be proud and firm against everything that would bind and lead him captive, and yet also of his own free self be serviceable and subject unto all men.

29. But here we are always deficient, that we can never properly learn this, for the devil lies in our path and leads us so far that we pervert it and are only too willing and modest to hear everything the law says and become fright¬ ened at it, when we should raise our head and neither hear nor follow it.

Again, in external matters, we are only too liable to fall into license, when we should courageously keep down the body and exercise it with the law, that it may be compelled to suffer everything that causes it pain, be¬ cause it still continually commits sin; yet, so that sin here remain without, w rhere it should remain, and have its Moses to lay upon its back and oppress it.

But internally no sin or law ought to reign, but Christ alone with pure grace, joy and consolation.

Then all things would go right, and man would be prepared for every good work, both to do and suffer all things with joy, with a glad and willing heart, out of good, honest faith in the grace of God through Christ,

[so that the conscience remain a master over all laws, and the flesh be subject to all laws.] 30. N0W, whoever can do such things, let him thank God, and see to it, that he be able to do it only not too well or loudly boast that he has great skill.

For I, and those like me, can not yet accomplish it as we should, although we have indeed tried it most and practiced it the longest; for it is, as I have said, a skill that no one possesses but Christians, all of whom must remain scholars and learn it all their lives; ex¬ cept only those other secure spirits, who pretend that they alone know everything, and yet with such pretended skill

Still Waters Revival Books - All Rights Reserved - www.PuritanDownloads.com THIRD SUNDAY A F T E R TRINITY. they know nothing at all, and thereby have departed farthest from it. There is not a more vexatious thing, nor a greater affliction or harm that can happen to Christendom than that everything becomes full of factions and sects through such sophists; while they are only people who serve neither

God nor the world, and hear rightly neither the law nor the Gospel, but securely despise the former and become dis¬ gusted with the latter, and are always seeking some other doctrine. But we do not preach in their behalf, for they are unworthy of it, and are punished by God so that they can never learn it or derive any benefit from it, although they hear it; also, that we nevertheless only retain it and that they take nothing of it from us, except that they hear only an empty sound and noise of it.

This is the first part which Christ here teaches by his own example ; [how we should keep our conscience free from all disputations of the law and from all the terrors of the wrath of God and of sin]. Now let us examine this beauti¬ ful sermon of the Lord, where he begins and says :

"What man of you, having a hundred sheep, and having lost one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the unldemess, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?"

31. Christ the Lord is not only firm, in that he refuses to obey their doctrine and despotism, but also shows good reasons for doing so, and with great and fine skill over¬ throws their objections and stops their mouths, so that they have nothing to say against it, yes, he circumvents them by their own actions and example, and forces them in their very hearts to be ashamed of themselves, that they demanded such things of him and blame him in such weighty matters, which they themselves do in much more trifling things, and wish to do them even with honor.

32. Ρ0Γ how could he answer them better than to say: You great masters and dear sophists, would you order and teach me that I should thrust from me poor sinners who desire me

Still Waters Revival Books - All Rights Reserved - www.PuritanDownloads.com and come unto me to hear my words? While even you yourselves for the sake of one lost sheep do much more, when among a hundred you miss a single one, you leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, that is, in the field with the shepherds, standing all alone, and run after the one of the hundred and have no rest until you find it, and this you call a good and praiseworthy deed, and if any one would reprove you for it, you would consider him mad and foolish.

And should not I , the Saviour of souls, do the same for men as you do for a sheep, although there is no comparison whatever between a soul and everything else that lives and moves of all the creatures on the earth.

Then should you not in your hearts be ashamed of your¬ selves, to boss and reprove me in a work which is infinitely better than the work you yourselves praise and are com¬ pelled to praise? So, if you reprove me, you must first condemn yourselves.33.This is called giving a good answer, and in all honor putting them to silence, while he gives sufficient reasons why he does not at all need their great authority, yea, he will not, neither should he, endure it.

And so they run on as is their nature, for they obtain thus nothing but their own sins and shame.

For it is truly a shame to all masters, and an insufferable outrage, for them to attempt to dictate to him, who is appointed of God

Lord over all. But it ought to be as I said, whoever desires to direct and judge a Christian, and lead him away from his baptism and the article of faith in Christ, and to govern him by his wisdom and laws, does not only make a fool of himself, but also causes abomination and murder; for he defiles God's temple and sanctuary, and with a devilish outrage invades his kingdom, where he alone should reign through his Holy Spirit.

Therefore he fairly and justly deserves that God should also put him to sin and shame before all the world, because he wants to be a master in the devil's name, whereas Christ alone is master, and with his head he runs against him who is too high and wise for him.

THIRD SUNDAY A F T E R for they are living saints, who are undisturbed before all the world only because of their man whose name is Christ; for men gain nothing in him at any rate, as he will not suffer others to teach and rule him. So also a Christian can and should not suffer it, for if he suffers it and gives place and yields to suggestions of this kind, where one would blame and master Christ in him, or attack his faith with the law and doctrine of works, then he is lost and fallen from Christ.

Therefore let us only hold firmly to him, and care not if the whole world outwits and masters us.

For when we abide in him and hold fast to the true sense of this article of faith, we will easily overcome all such fanatics and put them to shame.

For this Christ shall and will remain uncorrected and without a master, but he alone will rule and reform the whole world, so that they shall either by grace acknowledge him as their Lord and Master, and themselves as fcols, or without grace be ex¬ posed to shame and utterly j>erish.

35. But, as I have said, this sermon is much too good, sweet and comforting for the coarse, rough crowd, and the mad, knotty mob, and so we do not preach it to them that they may know it; but only to those who are in the terrors and anxiety of conscience, or in the danger and toils of death, and when the devil disputes with them about their sins, to drive them into melancholy and despair. To those this lovely picture must be presented, that they may become comforted and joyful. But the rest, who already live in drunkenness and know but very little of melancholy and spiritual sorrow, are to be diverted to Moses and mister hangman and his servants, and afterwards to the devil.

For it is painted so very friendly and much better than any man can paint it, and no one is so eloquent as to outline it or equal it with words, but as much as possible it must be grasped by faith in the heart. However, we must notice a little of it, so as to give an occasion to meditate upon it.

36. Christ says I have a hundred sheep, that is, the little flock of entire Christendom, from which number one is lost and fallen from the communion of Christians.

37. For while the shepherd is merely a man and tends the dumb animals, created to be slaughtered and killed, yet he has such a sympathetic heart for his lost sheep, that he is in as great anxiety to find the sheep as it is to find its shepherd.

For as soon as the sheep knows, as it does by instinct, that he is its shepherd, it is not at all afraid, but runs up to him with all confidence, and walks along before him in perfect trust. Yes, as soon as it only hears his voice, it bleats and runs after.him, and has no rest until it comes to him. And thus there is of course the purest friendship and love between them both, and they have to¬ ward each other only one heart and one mind; so that if the lamb could speak and pour out its heart, it would de¬ sire nothing but its shepherd. Again, the shepherd has no other cares and anxieties than how he may again find his precious pet, that has gone from him and strayed away.

He makes haste, and sends out servants wherever he thinks it may be found, and never ceases until he has found it and brought it home.

For he knows well enough what a poor animal it is, as it can live only by the help and under the protection of its shepherd, and can not at all care for itself, but is wholly lost and must perish, if deprived of its shep¬ herd, and besides it is naturally fearful and inclined to stray; and as soon as it leaves the way and loses the shep¬ herd, it is at once discomfited and can not rest, although it comes among other shepherds and sheep, and the stranger calls it; yet it runs in its fright through briers and water and everything before it until it falls a prey to the wolf or otherwise perishes.

38. But still it has in it the virtue and good nature, that it holds with all diligence to its shepherd and knows his voice so well, and when it hears it, it runs immediately to him, and will not permit itself to be taken from him, though all the world may call and coax.

And though it be already lost or gone astray, still it has the hope as much as instinct gives it, if it can only once again hear its shepherd, it

Thus the shepherd is not for the purpose, when he finds it again, to be angry at it and thrust it away, or to cast it into the jaws of the wolf; but all his cares and thoughts are, only to allure it in the most friendly manner and treat it in the tenderest way, he takes it upon his shoulders, holds and carries it, until he again brings it home.

39. The picture painted before us by this creature of God is, how Christ shows his disposition toward us, what he will do for us and what we may expect from him. For, as all this is true in nature, much more is it true in the kingdom of Christ, which is a kingdom of grace, pure love and conso¬ lation.

Wherefore keep in mind this sheep that belongs to the shepherd, then you will also find, with how much more and greater aifection he takes it to himself and how friendly and perfectly and heartily he cares for it, to bring it back.

By this he would set forth and indeed pour out his inex¬ haustible love and ardent desire toward poor, sinful, fright¬ ened and weak consciences, which are his true sheep.

40. For when a man has lost this shepherd and does not hear his voice, it is with him exactly as with the lost sheep, which always wanders ever farther and farther from him.

And though he even be allured and called by strange doc¬ trines to run over to them and think it is coming to its shep¬ herd, yet it does not find him, but always runs from one corner to another, and the longer it runs the farther it goes astray, and it has no comfort nor help, until it again hears the voice of its true Shepherd ringing in its ears.

As also experience plainly shows us, and every one can experience it in his own heart.

For if the second article of the creed concerning Christ be taken away or not taught, then here comes a factious spirit, there a fanatic, where one perverts the sacrament of the altar, the other baptism, and one preaches this, the other that, concerning strange holiness of life, and each one entices the poor sheep to him¬ self, and pretends to be the Shepherd, by which the sheep strays more and more, until it loses the way altogether.

41. Moreover, the devil also joins in with his own thoughts, Still Waters Revival Books - All Rights Reserved - www.PuritanDownloads.com which he shoots into the heart: Ah, if you had done this and that, or not done it! by which the heart becomes only more fickle and erring, that it does not know whitner to go.

This certainly takes place when Christ is removed out of sight, and the article of faith concerning him is not taught.

It matters not how they teach, advise and admonish, it will only be worse and approach nearer destruction, unless the true Shepherd with his own voice comes again to him.

42. Therefore we should now learn rightly to know and recognize Christ our Lord, that we may not regard him as a tyrant or an angry judge, as hitherto he has been preached to us, and as the devil always presents him to the heart, as one standing behind us with a sword. But as the little lamb naturally beholds its shepherd, not at all as one who would frighten, hunt and strike it down, but as soon as it first sees him, it becomes happy and obtains a hope as though it received help already, and needs no more to fear or care, and runs straight up to him with all confidence.

Thus too, if our confidence is to begin, and we be¬ come strengthened and comforted, we must well learn the voice of our Shepherd, and let all other voices go, who only lead us astray, and chase and drive us hither and thither.

We must hear and grasp only that article which presents Christ to us in the most friendly and comforting manner possible.

So that we can say with all confidence:

Jesus Christ is truly the only Shepherd, and I, alas, the lost sheep, which has strayed into the wilderness, and I am anxious and fearful, and would gladly be good, and have a gracious God and peace of conscience, but here I am told that He is as anxious for me as I am for him.

I am anxious and in pain about how I shall come to him to secure help, But he is in anxiety and worry and desires nothing else than to bring me again to himself.

44. Behold, if we could thus portray his heart, aud press it into our own heart, that he has such a gushing desire, anxiety and longing for us, then we could not dread or fear him, but would joyfully run up to him and abide with Still Waters Revival Books - All Rights Reserved - www.PuritanDownloads.com

THIRD SUNDAY A F T E R TRINITY. him alone, and hear no other doctrine or teacher. For wherever a different doctrine comes, be it of Moses or others, it will certainly accomplish nothing, except only to hunt us down and torment us, so that we can find neither rest nor peace.

Wherefore Christ also says, Mat. 11:28-29:

"Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest for your souls." As though he would say: Runabout and seek wherever you will, hear and learn everything that man can preach, yet you will find no rest nor peace of heart except in me alone.

45. We will gladly permit the preaching of good works, the ten commandments and all other moral teaching; but to preach to the conscience bound in torment and terror on account of its sins, there shall positively be no other word preached except the Word of Christ.

For this is that poor lost sheep, which neither shall nor can have and suffer any master, except this its only Shepherd, who does not deal with it by compulsions and the requirements of the law, but in the sweetest and tenderest manner, and takes upon himself the dear sheep with all its distress, sins and anxiety, and himself does what the sheep should do, as we shall hear further.

46. But, as I have sufficiently said before, we must well dis¬ tinguish here between two kinds of preaching, or the voice of Moses and the voice of Christ, that by no means you may permit any Moses to come to the lost sheep, though his preaching be ever so excellent.

For if these things be con¬ fused and we attempt to comfort the troubled conscience with the law thus: Be of good cheer, you have not com¬ mitted murder nor adultery and done any other outrage, or you have indeed meant it all good! This also is comfort, but it will not last long nor hold out against the cuffs of the devil. For this is nothing more nor less than a con¬ solation with yourself, by which the poor sheep is not benefited, for it remains astray and lost in spite of this, and it can not help itself or come to its Shepherd.

Still Waters Revival Books - All Rights Reserved - www.PuritanDownloads.com 47. H0wever, if be is to be helped, he must be shown the true Shepherd, who comes and seeks him to bring him home, and let his voice be heard, then he can receive true comfort, so that he dare answer Moses and say:

I now no longer care either for thy comfort or terror, and you may make me just as bad as you can, you may make me a mur¬ derer time and again, and say I have hanged my father and mother; but now, because I am in anxiety and terror before the wrath of God and eternal condemnation, I will neither hear nor obey thee.

For I myself feel and confess, that I am, alas, a poor lost sheep; but this is my salvation and comfort in which I triumph, that I have the Shepherd who himself seeks me, his lost sheep, and carries me on his shoulders.

Let us now discuss this, and not how good or bad I am, but, how I am to come to Christ.

48. Therefore, all preaching must be adapted to the capacity of the hearers. For I have said that this doctrine is not suited to a carnal and hardened man, even as it does not profit to give a hardy thresher sugar and costly delicacies, which are inteijded for the sick, but give him a good piece of hard bread and cheese and a drink of water.

But other soft and delicate food reserve for the sick and young chil¬ dren, who cannot digest anything hard. Thus you must also observe here how rightly to divide and give each one his proper portion, like a prudent householder.

Likewise, that you hold fast to the preaching of Moses and the law, until you find hard and vicious people, who live secure and with¬ out fear.

These you must permit to eat only the coarse food of common laborers, that is, to hear the angry Moses, who thunders and flashes from Mount Sinai, who destroys the children of Israel and slays them in the desert, and drowns King Pharaoh in the lied Sea.

49. But wherever there are troubled, weak hearts and con¬ sciences, which have now become lost sheep, there keep silent about Moses and all the works of God, done under the law, and speak only of the works done by Christ in the time of grace, and well impress the poor conscience how he shows himself toward the lost sheep; namely, that he is

Still Waters Revival Books - All Rights Reserved - www.PuritanDownloads.com THIRD SUNDAY A F T E R TRINITY. the dear, good Shepherd, who is so anxious and concerned about the sheep that he drops everything and leaves all lay, only that he may find it again, and never ceases until he brings it home. For it grieves him that a man should re¬ main in sin, fear and tremble ; and he cannot endure it, that he remains there and perishes.

But he calls to thee with his Gospel in the most friendly manner, that you should only come to him, and be taken up and carried on his shoulders, and remain his dear sheep.

50. But that multitude must not be called the lost sheep, which lives securely and riotously, and do not concern them¬ selves whether God above is angry or laughs, for it is a wild goat that will not be either led or protected.

But those are called the stray, lost sheep, whose sins oppress them and who struggle in the conflict of faith, where there is no danger of losing Moses but Christ and his chief article of faith, that is, where the conscience is in anxiety and worry as to whether God is merciful to him? This is the true sheep which sighs and cries for its Shepherd, and would be glad for help, as David says, Ps. 119:17G:

"I am gone astray like a lost sheep, seek thy servant," etc.

To those the sugar and this friendly sweet refreshment tastes good, by which the heart is revived that it may not despair, but that it may raise itself up again by such consolation, not through Moses but in Christ; not in order to make Moses his friend or be able to quiet his voice, but because he has a gracious God in his Lord and Christ.

Moses abide with his comfort where he can.

51. AIthough it is also a fine thing and should be so, that a man should not live contrary to the law, rob, steal, murder, or do his neighbor wFong and cause him pain; yet such a life does not give the heart true comfort, but only tickles the skin, which does not enter the heart nor lasts.

For when the devil comes and seizes the heart, he takes away all such comfort, and although YOU have even done right, yet he of course prefers tenfold against it, where you did the contrary. Yea, in the very best works he can easily find much uncleanness, and turn everything to s;n.

Still Waters Revival Books - All Rights Reserved - www.PuritanDownloads.com Therefore nothing can be built on such comfort, but only courageously cast it away, and say: God grant, whether I be good or not, this I will reserve for its proper place, when we come to teach and treat of works; but in this circle in which I now stand, it avails nothing to treat of my works and goodness, but of Christ and his works which he has done for me as his lost sheep. If now you ask whether I am good, I will simply answer : No, and I do not want to be in this circle of good people.

52. But if you ask whether Christ is good, then without hesi¬ tation I can say yes, and present him as my righteousness, and defiantly appeal to him. For in him I have been bap¬ tized, and I have the seal and document here in the Gospel, that I am his dear sheep, and he is my good and pious Shep¬ herd who seeks his lost sheep, and deals with it entirely with¬ out the law, demands nothing of me, neither drives, threats nor frightens, but shows me pure sweet grace, and humbles himself beneath me and takes me upon himself, that I may only lie on his back and be carried. Why should I then fear the terrors and thunderings of Moses, or the devil besides, because I am in the protection of that man who gives me his holiness and everything he has, to possess it as my own, and who carries and holds me so that I cannot be lost, because I remain a sheep and do not deny the Shepherd or maliciously fall from him.

53. Thus you have this picture presented in the most lovely manner it is Tjossible to present it.

But all this is done only on account of faith.

For the picture is indeed fine and full of comfort, and is the truth itself.

But it is want¬ ing in this, that it is not felt in experience as it should be.

For while the sheep runs astray, that is, when man feels his sins and they oppress him, and he does not know where to stand, and the devil terrifies him; then only the contrary takes place, and he cannot grasp that it is true, for all that he has here heard entirely departs through his present feel¬ ings and experience.

For the devil has so perverted his vision that he sees nothing but God's wrath and indigna¬ tion, by which his heart is so burdened that he cannot raise

Still Waters Revival Books - All Rights Reserved - www.PuritanDownloads.com THIRD SUNDAY A F T E R TRINITY. himself above it or turn his eyes from it, for he has so deeply sunk into it that he sees nothing else even in Christ than an angry Judge, as he has been hitherto described and forced into all hearts by the scandalous Papists as sitting alone on the rainbow with a sword in his mouth.

54. F0r the real art and roguery of the devil, which he prac¬ tices on the poor wandering sheep, are that he perverts this picture and makes a continual bawling in his presence, that he can no more recognize his Shepherd, so that in Christ's name he might lead the man subject to Moses, as he dis¬ putes about Christ just as he did before about Moses, so that he indeed needs a strong faith that it is true, and a man first of all must contend against himself on this ac¬ count. For his cwn feeling is powerful in itself, and the devil magnifies sin and terror so greatly, that nerve and bone, and the heart in the body, could fail.

55. Therefore it is not so easily learned as some imagine.

When all is peace it is easily believed that Christ is sweet and amiable, but when anxiety and terror break forth and overwhelm the heart, then man is blind and wandering, and will judge only according to his heart and feelings, to which he clings and confirms himself in his error, for he is held captive in it, and cannot think otherwise but that it is as he feels it, and yet it is not true.

56. N0W this would be an art, were he able to say to his own heart : If you acknowledge yourself to be a lost sheep, you speak the truth; but that you would on this account flee from Christ, and imagine him to be a man who would hunt you down and frighten you, this is the work of the sorry devil himself.

For if you rightly behold and confess him as your true Shepherd, you would neither be afraid nor frightened at him, but you would run up to him with joy and confidence. For he is not present here to condemn thee, but he comes to seek thee, to carry you on his back, to help and deliver you from sin, error, the power of the devil and every misfortune.

If you now feel that you are a sinner and have deserved the wrath of God, then you should just on this account the Still Waters Revival Books - All Rights Reserved - www.PuritanDownloads.com more earnestly cry and run to your dear Shepherd, that he might deliver you, and you should not imagine hiin to be anything else than the sheep does its shepherd, which can¬ not fear him, but is glad and happy as soon as it sees and hears him, although it has strayed away from him, and de¬ served on this account to fear him. But it knows full well that he bears no anger or indignation against such a sheep, and can expect nothing of him but love and every good thing.

57. Hence everything here depends only upon this, that you rightly learn to look upon Christ according to the Word, and not according to your own thoughts and feelings, for human thoughts are frauds and lies, but his Word is true and cannot lie. For he has even proved it by living deeds and examples, and daily proves it still throughout the whole of Christendom. W

Therefore we must only press the Word close to our hearts, and knit ourselves into it and learn the art to reprove our own heart with its lies, and set this article of faith against it. For this alone must remain true, and everything opposed to it, must be false and a pack of lies. But this is an art which I cannot master, and much less can other vain spirits, who boast so much of it, as though they knew it all, if they have only heard it but once, and yet they never taste or experience anything of it. For it is an easy matter to speak and preach about it; but how difficult it is to prove it in reality, which those thoroughly experience, who are earnestly concerned about it.

58. Now this is the first description of the lovely Christ, set forth by himself in this Gospel, that he pours out all his heart and is so anxious for the sheep, that he goes after it alone, leaving the ninety and nine ; not to frighten or strike it, but to help it and bring it home again, and to rejoice the wretched and sorrowful heart and conscience by his sweet and friendly voice, so that on both sides there is nothing but hearty love and joy for each other, that you can see what great love and pleasure you thereby afford him, when you cleave to him with the whole heart and look to him for every good thing.

59. You see in the second place how he pours out his joy and unspeakable goodness by external signs and gestures of every kind, and how, when he has found the sheep, he shows himself so friendly, for he does not deal with it at all ac¬ cording to his own law or force, to which indeed he has a right, to drive it before him like the other sheep, and leave it go alone. On the contrary he lays hold and puts it on his shoulders and carries it himself the whole way through the wilderness, takes all the labor and trouble upon him¬ self only in order that the sheep may have rest and a home, and he does it gladly and heartily, for he is full of pure joy, only because he once more has it in his care. And observe also how well it is with the sheep, how it lies in all peace and safety upon the shoulders of its Shepherd, and how well pleased it is that it lies so softly and does not need to travel, is safe and without care, both from dogs and wolves, that is, from all error and lies, danger and destruction.

This is indeed a friendly painting, excellent, lovely and re¬ freshing to behold.

60. For just so Christ our Lord does when he delivers us, which he once did bodily by his sufferings and death, but now he continually does in power and spirit by his Word.

In this way he lays us on his shoulders, carries and defends us, that we may be safe from all danger of sin, of death and the devil; although they even terrify us, and act as if they would tear us away and devour us. For being thus carried is our salvation, and we remain safe from every peril and need fear nothing; just like the precious lamb that'lays on the shoulders of the Shepherd will not let itself be dis¬ turbed, although the dogs already like fiends bark, and the wolf lurks about, while it hangs its head without any care and sweetly sleeps.

So we do also, if we stand and abide in this article of faith:

I believe in Jesus Christ, our Lord, who suffered, died and rose again for us, etc., then we need not worry about being lost, or that the devil can devour us, though he even opens his jaws ever so wide. For we are not then on our own way. nor do we walk with our own feet, but hang

For although sin, death and hell appear ever so wicked and terrible, they cannot devour him; otherwise we poor sheep would too soon be lost and destroyed. ei.For even as the sheep cannot protect or provide for itself that it go not astray, unless the shepherd continually directs and leads it in the way; and when it has strayed and is lost, it cannot of itself find the right way or come to its shepherd, but the shepherd himself must go after it, and seek it until he find it, and when he has found it, he holds and bears it upon his back, that it may no more be frightened away from him, hunted or seized by the wolf. So we too cannot either help or advise ourselves, that we may obtain rest and peace of conscience, and escape the devil, death and hell, unless

Christ himself brings us again and calls us to himself by his Word. And when we come to him and are in a state of faith, even then we are not able to keep ourselves in faith or־be steadfast, unless he himself by his Word and power holds and carries us, because the devil every way and with¬ out ceasing watches for us, and lurks round about us like a roaring lion, as St. Peter in 1 Pet. 5:8 says, to devour us.

So that here it avaHs nothing whatever to boast of our free will and strength, either to begin or continue our return to the Shepherd, and to abide with him, but Christ alGne, our Shepherd, must do everything.

62.But now we are certain of this, that as long as we lie around the neck of Christ, we shall be safe from all terror and misfortune.

For he will certainly not permit us to be torn from his neck, nor will he cast us off, because he is so happy and of good cheer that he once again has his sheep, and can bring it back to the rest of the flock. In short, there is nothing here of terror, driving and commanding, but a simple friendly carrying and a mere life of grace, by which he cares for his sheep in the tenderest manner. On the con¬ trary, Moses, not like a shepherd of poor, weak sheep, but of rough, strong cattle, with his staff and rod drives his herd before him a three days' journey into the wilderness,

63. Even we also, when we come under Moses, namely, ac¬ cording to the flesh and the external life, must then go ourselves and do what the law demands. But according to our faith we must not suffer any work to be forced upon us or required of us, but only permit ourselves to be car¬ ried and raised up most tenderly, not on horse and chariot, but on his own back and shoulders.

Which, as I said, is done, when he permits his Word to be preached unto us, that he died for us, and bore our sins in his own body on the cross, and put the devil with death and sin under his feet, and has led us unto eternal life, and always car¬ ries us as long as we live, so that we need not look to our life, how good and strong we are, but only lie upon his shoulders.

For in this circle or article of faith we need not be troubled about any sin, death or life, but we have all things in Christ who carries and defends us.

64. N0W he is not satisfied with the two parts, that he so lovingly seeks the lost sheep, and carries it so gently and with joy; but also when he brings it home he appoints a special feast and season of joy, and calls together his friends and neighbors that they may rejoice with him. Yea, he makes such a great jubilee, that God in heaven together with all the heavenly hosts and all creatures rejoice over one sinner that repenteth. By this he shows and explains who it is that is called a lost sheep, namely, the sinner who repents, that is, who feels his sins and is heartily sorry on account of them, and would gladly be free from them and come to Christ and amend his life, which is called having a miserable, sorrowful heart and an afflicted conscience, which the devil attacks, that it might perish with sorrov and sadness. For Christ is such a man who seeks and car¬ ries no sheep except that which is lost and knows no refuge or help of its own.

65. And now consider, how could he preach still more friend¬ ly and comfortingly, or what more should he do to make the heart joyful, and awaken a strong confidence in him? Since

Still Waters Revival Books - All Rights Reserved - www.PuritanDownloads.com we see such a Shepherd, we miserable sinners are painted forth by him, who so unwillingly loses his sheep and so anxiously seeks it, and when he has found it carries it with all joy, and spreads forth such joy that all the angels and saints in heaven, yea, and all creatures rejoice and smile over us so friendly, that even the sun must shine much more lovely. For as it is natural that when a man is sor¬ rowful, the sun and everything looks dark to him; and again when the heart is happy, then man appears twice as joyful, and everything looks to him lighter and brighter.

66.N0W he who can firmly believe this, shall also receive true consolation and joy in and through Christ the Lord, because he has here the certain promise, that if he cleave thus unto Christ, and permit himself to be carried on his shoulders, that he is a dear guest in the kingdom of heaven, and will be received with great joy. e7.But we have altogether a different feeling in the sorrow and melancholy of the conscience, when the heart cannot think otherwise than that every angel stands behind us with a drawn sword, so that we can have no good cheer either from God or angels, that even some cannot behold any creature with joy, and fear the friendly sun itself, yea, every leaf that stirs. All which arises from tormenting and consuming themselves with their own thoughts, from which they would gladly disentangle themselves, and labor so much and feel so good that they need not fear; but by this they only make the evil worse.

68.But if you desire to possess true comfort and joy in your soul, then only learn to impress this lovely picture and word of this Gospel in your heart, that you may seek it where it is to be found, namely, in Christ, and nowhere else.

For in this man you will find all things, if you only remain under his protection and lie still upon his shoulders. But whatever joy may be sought outside of him, never enters the heart, even if you took to your aid all creatures, and had in one place the joy and pleasure of the whole world.

This sermon appeared in separate pamphlet form iu 1523 under the titie: "A sermon preached by Martin Luther on the Gospel, Luke

VI. Be ye merciful, even as your Father is merciful. Wittenberg."

Luke 6:36J!2. Be ye merciful, even as your Father is merciful. And judge not, and ye shall not be judged: and con¬ demn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive; and ye shall be forgiven; givej and it shall be given unto you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, shall they give into your bosom. For with what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again.

And he spake also a parable unto them, Can the blind guide the blind? shall they not both fall into a pit?

The disciple is not above his teacher: but every one ichen he is perfected shall be as his teacher. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considcrest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me cast out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypoerite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote that is in thy brother's eye.

A LESSON IN MERCY. THE MOTE AND THE BEAM.

I. F A I T H AND WORKS. 1-9.

II. MERCY IN GENERAL. 10-22.

1. First Part. 25-30.

III. T H R E E PARTS OF MERCY.

2. Second Part. 31-32.

A. In General. 23-24.

3. Third Part. 33-35.

1 This Gospel describes the works of love to our neigh¬ bor in temporal things. The Lord here describes these in few words, for he had just said, we should love our enemies, do good to them that hate us, bless them that curse us, pray for them that despitefully use us; if they smite us on one cheek, we

Still Waters Revival Books - All Rights Reserved - www.PuritanDownloads.com L U T H E R ' S CHURCH should offer also the other; and from him that taketh away thy cloak withhold not thy coat also. All this he here con¬ demns in a short conclusion, and in summing up all, says:

"Be ye merciful, even as your Father is merciful." Here you see described as in a nutshell all the good works we are to do to one another, as our heavenly Father has done to us and still does without ceasing.

2. You have often heard that we need not do good works to God, but to our neighbor. We cannot make God strong¬ er nor richer by our works, but we can make our neighbor stronger and richer with them; he is in need of them, and hence they should be directed to him and not to God. This you have often heard and you have it now in your ears; I would to God, that it might come also into your hands and feet.

3. Therefore observe here what a perversion it is for man to exercise himself in doing works to God, which should be done to his neighbor; and then centers his faith in men and saints, which he should center alone in God. Turn this around, and then it is right, thus: faith must belong alone to God, whoever receives the divine works, God alone does them, and the same works of God we receive alone through faith.

Then we should apply ourselves to our neighbor and arrrange all our affairs to the end that they serve our neigh¬ bor.

Before God all should be done in pure faith alone.

The reason of this is because no one can help us but God, and what we have in body and soul we have alone from God, and in him alone should we anchor our heart.

4. Now, they turn it around thus, so that they center faith, which is due to God, upon themselves and other people and they fall down before their own devised idols, and what the great masters have invented, and place their confidence in them. Is not that very satan and death? as God in Jer.

"My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water."

F O U R T H SUNDAY A F T E R hold, I will enter into judgment with thee, because thou sayest, I have not sinned."

5. First he says, that the bride has become a harlot and has turned from God; the living fountain from which flow life, salvation and all good, they have forsaken. Secondly, they turn to their own invention, and make their own fountain, in which there is no water. Thus also the Papists build upon their own inventions, saying mass, fasting, pray¬ ing and the like; they indeed appear very much as though they were a fountain, as though they would draw from it life and salvation, yet it cannot hold any water; and they forsake God, the living fountain.

6. In this manner God says : They boldly rise up against me; I shall not be angry with them, they insist their ways and doings are right and enter into judgment with me. Behold, this is their other sin, that they are determined to defend their own doings.

Therefore God says: I will enter into judgment with you and show you, how base you have be¬ come, in that you have continually gone your own way.

.דSee, thus faith belongs to God alone and it should acquire for us from God alone what we need in temporal and spirit¬ ual matters ; and it should acquire all in a way that it does not think it has merited it.

This same faith should later again flow forth from our heart's depths to our neighbor freely and unhindered in good works; not that we wish to rest our salvation in them; for God will not have that, but wishes the conscience to rest in himself alone. Just like a bride must cleave to the bridegroom alone, and to no one else, so does God require also from us that we confide only in him.

8. This Luke explains when he says : "Be ye merciful, even as your Father is merciful." Here my conscience must be disposed toward God as a gracious, merciful father, and in harmony with this, go out to my neighbor and be also mercifui to him. I must bring faith into my heart and up to God; and works out of my heart down to my neighbor.

Thus Abraham did, when he went up on Mount Moriah to God, he left his servants and ass down at the foot of the Still Waters Revival Books - All Rights Reserved - www.PuritanDownloads.com mountain and took Isaac alone with him, Gen. 22:5.

So should we also do: when we wish to ascend to God, we should come with Isaac alone, that is, with Christ through faith; the servants and ass, that is, our works, we should leave below.

0. Now this has been said of faith and works as an intro¬ duction to our Gospel lesson, namely, that the motion of faith is inward and upward, of works outward and down¬ ward. For thus are we righteous before God and men, in that we honor God and look direct to him and believe ac¬ cording to his Word, and in love do sufficient for our neigh¬ bor.

Let us now consider the words of today's Gospel in their order.

"Be ye merciful, even as your Father is merciful."

IO.NOW how is God our heavenly Father merciful? Thus, in that he gives us all things, natural and spiritual, ternporal and eternal, gratuitously and out of pure goodness.

For should he give unto us out of and according to our merits, he would have to give us only hell-fire and eternal condemnation.

Therefore what he gives us in our posses¬ sions and honor, is given out of pure mercy. He sees that we are captives of death; but he is merciful and gives us life.

He sees that we are the children of hell; but he is merciful and gives us heaven. He sees that we are poor, naked and exposed, hungry and thirsty; but he is merciful, and clothes, feeds and gives us to drink, and satisfies us with all good things. Thus, whatever we have for the body or spirit, he gives us out of mercy, and pours his blessings over us and into us. Therefore Christ says here: Imitate your Father and be also merciful, as he is merciful. n.Now this is not a common mercy, nor one that reason teaches. For that is selfish : it gives to the great and learned and those who merit it; loves those, who are beautiful; gives to those from whom it has some benefit or advantage.

That is a political, beggarly, shaggy, piece-meal mercy. For if I give to him, who merited it, or if I regard beauty and friendship, then it is duty and debt and not mercy.

F O U R T H SUNDAY A F T E R pel in Luke 6:32-34 says: "And if ye love them that love you, what thank have ye? for even sinners love those that love them. And if ye do good to them that do good to you, what thank have ye? for even sinners do the same. And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? even sinners lend to sinners, to receive again as much." However, Christian mercy should not seek its own; but it should be thus : it must be round, and open its eyes and look at all alike, friend and foe, as our heavenly Father does.

12. And where this mercy is not, there is also no faith. For if your heart is in the state of faith that you know your God has revealed himself to you to be so good and mercifui, without thy merit, and purely gratuitously, while you were still his enemy and a child of eternal wrath; if you believe this, you cannot refrain from showing yourself so to your neighbor; and do all out of love to God and for the welfare of your neighbor. Therefore, see to it that you make no distinction between friend and foe, the worthy and the unworthy; for you see that all who were here men¬ tioned, have merited from us something different than that we should love and do them good.

And the Lord also teaches this, when in Luke 6:35 he says: "But love your enemies, and do good unto them, and lend, never despair¬ ing; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be sons of the Most High: for he is kind toward the unthankful and evil." Thus we have considered the first part of this

13. Further one may say here: Have you not now taught that our works avail nothing before God in paying him for anything: how is it then that here the very contrary stands written, as Christ says: "Be ye merciful, even as your Father is merciful. And judge not, and ye shall not be judged: and condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven."

All these sayings sound as though we should appear before God with our works and merit by virtue of them God's mercy and forgiveness; al¬ though you have nevertheless heard that faith does all.

Still Waters Revival Books - All Rights Reserved - www.PuritanDownloads.com L U T H E R ' S CHURCH 14.N0W note well, St. Paul and the holy Scriptures here and there teach this; for they emphasize that man must believe and appear before God with pure faith alone.

Therefore the sayings, as they are here, are to be understood that works are only the test and confirmation of faith, so that if I believe, I must be merciful, not judge, not condemn, give and forgive my neighbor. Gen. 22:5f. is an example of this. What did Abraham, when he was called to offer his son? He was obedient to the commandment, and was about to sacrifice his son, and drew the sword to do it. What happened? The angel of Jehovah restrained him and said unto him: "Lay not thy hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him; for now I know that thou fearest

God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me."

15Thus here also; we must first receive before we give; before we can do acts of mercy, we must receive from God mercy.

We do not lay the first stone; the sheep does not seek the shepherd, but the shepherd the sheep; therefore it is also with our works, that we obtain nothing by them from God, but that we acquire all that we do acquire without any merit on our part. Thus in the prophet Isaiah 65:1, God says: "I am inquired of by them that asked not for me;

I am found of them that sought me not." And at the end of the same chapter he says: "And it shall come to pass that, before they call, I will answer, and while they are yet speaking, I will hear." For before we seek him, he finds us; before we ask for him, he has us.

The same Paul says to the Romans, 3:22-26:

"There is no distinction; for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God set forth to be a propitia¬ tion, through faith, in his blood, to show his righteousness because of the passing over of the sins done aforetime, in the forbearance of God; for the showing, I say, of his righteousness at this present season: that he might him¬ self be just, and the justifier of him that hath faith in Jesus." And in the following chapter, Rom. 4:4-5, he says:

Still Waters Revival Books - All Rights Reserved - www.PuritanDownloads.com F O U R T H SUNDAY A F T E R "Now to him that worketh, the reward is not reckoned as of grace, but as of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifleth the ungodly, his faith is reckoned for righteousness."

"For if it be by grace it is no more of works : otherwise grace is no more grace," as Paul writes later in Bom. 11:6. ιβ.Ιη the second place the works are a sure sign and like a seal stamped on a letter, by which I am assured that my faith is right. The reason is: Do I feel in my heart, that my works flow forth out of love, then I am assured that my faith is genuine.

If I forgive, then my forgiving assures me that my faith is genuine, and it seals and proves my faith, that God also has forgiven me and daily forgives me; but if I do not forgive, then may I at once conclude that I am lacking in faith.

So it was also with Abraham, his works made known to him his faith. God well knew that Abraham believed; but he had to know and prove it.

17. Therefore the works are only continual spontaneous fruits and proofs of such faith. For of what use were it to me, if I had already strong faith amd did not know it? As, if I had a chest full of gold and knew it not, it would be of no use to toe; but when someone makes it known to me, he then does me as great a service as if he donated it to me. Just so, if I have faith, and know it not, it is of no «se to me. Therefore faith must blossom forth and become known to me through the works following faith and these are then signs and seals that faith is present in my heart.

St. Peter also teaches the same when in 2 Pet. 1:10-11 he con¬ clusively says of the works of love and the virtues of faith:

"Wherefore, brethren, give the more diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never stumble: for thus shall be richly supplied unto you the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ."

He does not say, do good works that you may be called; but that you may make your calling and election sure, to your own satisfaction.

18. Therefore the Scriptures guard you well from blundering into them and fortifying your works by such passages. For Still Waters Revival Books - All Rights Reserved - www.PuritanDownloads.com works are rejected in Scripture, that we should not think of becoming righteous through them; but they are honored and praised in Scripture in that they are needed by our neighbor and are signs and fruits of our faith.

19. See, I had to make this explanation in order that I might not strengthen the interpretations of the Papists, all of whom err in their understanding of this Gospel.

Now, therefore God often places such passages against one an¬ other, as we and reason are apt to imagine, in order to ex¬ ercise us in reading the Scriptures, and that we may not think we know the whole Scriptures, when we hardly know a passage.

Some passages convey the spirit and teaching, how we are to appear in God's presence, with nothing but our faith; as the passage:

"Being justified freely (unde¬ servedly, without merit, gratuitously, Ed.) by his grace."

Then later in order that the body outwardly might not lie around lazy and become sluggish, we have also passages, which direct and exercise the body; as those above.

"For¬ give, and ye shall be forgiven; give, and it shall be given unto you;" and the passages in Mat. 25:42f., where our

Lord Christ says, he will require works of us on the day of judgment, when he will say to the condemned: " I was hungry, and ye did not give me to eat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me not in; naked, and ye clothed me not," and so on. These pas¬ sages the ignorant and fickle spirits wish to cram together and murder, and construe everything to refer to works; and that is wrong. But those who are spiritual refer them only to their body and stand before God also only in spirit : that is right and also necessary; for man is made up of two parts, spirit and flesh. Therefore some passages refer to naked faith in the spirit, others to naked works done to the body; for a passage of Scripture cannot refer at the same time to the spirit and also to the body.

20. Here we should also speak on the attitude we are to take to our neighbor with respect to our temporal posses¬ sions. With regard to his possessions one should act thus : he should part with some to others, should loan and give

And for doing this we have rigid commandments and not only words of advice, as they explain them who teach, that whoever wishes to be perfect should do them.

Consequently those wishing to live thus, have retired into monasteries and have desired to become perfect.

Hence all monasteries are founded upon the filth of the devil.

For there are no people more avaricious and less benevolent than just those in the monasteries.

Now, if one wishes to be a Christian, he should loan to others, to the extent of his ability, freely without any writing. Again, if we see one has nothing with which to pay us back, we should freely donate it to him and cancel the debt, as Nehemiah did, as is recorded in the fifth chapter of I I Esdras (Neh. 5). For God has given this to you, he can indeed give you more, if you believe different¬ ly.

Further, if one takes anything from us, we are not to demand it to be returned; but our neighbor is to intercede for us and help to restrain injustice and to enter a com¬ plaint against the authorities, in order that we may not suffer too much.

21. Now observe the monks and priests have entirely and completely twisted these works, that they should be only advisable.

And in this way they have drawn all other persons from them, who then, having done no Christian work during their whole lives, provide for the saying of masses or leave other legacies when they are about to die, by which all is fulfilled and accomplished.

But you hear now: If we wish to be Christians, we must loan, give and part with our possessions, or we will be deficient in our faith.

22. Therefore thoroughly ponder and grasp this Gospel, in order that you may not deal with God in any other way than through naked faith and let good works gush from such faith that they may serve only your neighbor.

This has been said of the first part of our Gospel text. let us see what follows further, since the Lord himself ex¬ plains what kind of mercy he means. He says:

"Judge not, and ye shall not he judged: and condemn not, and Still Waters Revival Books - All Rights Reserved - www.PuritanDownloads.com ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: give, and it shall be given unto you."

23. Here the Lord divides mercy into thee parts, that we may know what mercy is which we are to exercise toward our neighbor.

First, we are not to judge or condemn; second, we are to forgive our neighbor, if he has offended us; third, you are to come to the help of the needy: this is what the word "mercy" means, when used in the Scriptures.

24. And all this must flow out of an upright faith so that it be done without hypocrisy and without guile, and that we may have no respect of persons. For if you would wish them well, who wish you well; or benefit those, who benefit you; or harm those, who harm you, that would be a great error. But you should do to him as Christ here just pre¬ ceding our Gospel text says:

You should imitate your heavenly Father and love your enemies, do good to those who do harm to you, forgive bim who offends you, loan to him who is in need, and so on, as you have heard.

25. N0w, to speak of the first part, how we should not judge nor condemn, we remark that God has appointed the sword of the state to punish public crime, only that care must be taken that it be not used contrary to God's precept and command, for example, that we do not murder one when he is innocent.

For when the judge does injustice, he is at the same time as much a murderer as others.

Of this judgment the Lord here does not speak; he has in mind Luke 12:14, where he said to him who wished he should say to his brother that he should divide the inheritance with him:

"Who made me a judge or a divider over you." For Christ's kingdom is not concerned about outward matters.

26. But the Lord speaks here of another judgment, namely, that one esteems another good or bad because of that which one does not see on the outside, which judgment belongs to For it can happen that you see your neighbor sin to-day whom God receives to-morrow. You can indeed also be pious in your own eyes and not think of your own sins.

Such judging Christ has forbidden, for no love or unity can be where people thus judge and condemn.

Still Waters Revival Books - All Rights Reserved - www.PuritanDownloads.com F O U R T H SUNDAY A F T E R judge or condemn one another is nothing but to have a beam in your own eye ; as all hypocrites have in their eyes.

For those who regard themselves righteous, take offense at their brethren; whatever they do displeases them, and they will not behold their own sins.

But it so happens that you will not discover the beam in your own eye, if you behold continually the sins of others, and thus fall under the judgment of God. From this it follows then, that you, who judge another, art a greater sinner before God, then the lowest villain or the worst harlot, for God alone knows who shall be saved or con¬ demned; all sin is nothing compared to your judging.

27. The same hypocrites are adepts in rejoicing over and tak¬ ing pleasure in having an opportunity to gossip about the fall and crime of a neighbor, and to stir up his filth. And what other persons do, they always construe in the worst light, and no one can do• anything to please them; and although they themselves cannot at once do this, they never¬ theless gladly hear others speak of it. If you were a godly person you should cover up and help to quiet such things, as much as it may be possible for you. And it generally happens that the worst harlots, even according to the flesh, also judge and pass sentence; yea, they judge not only human beings, but also God himself.

28. Therefore, is thy brother a sinner, then cover his sin and pray for him. Dost thou publish his sins, then truly thou art not a child of your merciful Father; for otherwise thou wouldst be also as he, merciful. It is certainly true that we cannot show as great mercy to our neighbor, as God has to us; but it is the true work of the devil that we do the very opposite of mercy, which is a sure sign that there is not a grain of mercy in us. All this is the meaning of the text of this Gospel, when it says :

"Can the blind guide the blind? shall they not both fall into a pit?

The disciple is not above his teacher: but every one when he is perfected shall be as his teacher. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how canst thou say to thy brother,

Still Waters Revival Books - All Rights Reserved - www.PuritanDownloads.com Brother, let me cast out the mote that is in thy eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine oicn eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote that is in thy brother's eye."

29.A8 if the Lord would say: You think thy Brother is blind and will punish him, that is, you wish to guide others and you are blind yourself. You hold him as a sinner and think you are righteous. What difference is that than that your heart is so disposed as to think you are better than he?

This means nothing more nor less than that you wish to guide others, and yet you are blind yourself; and whoever follows you will fall into the ditch with you. Concerning characters who imagine they are better than others and would that the people followed them more than the Word of God, Paul says to the Romans, 2:17:23: "But if thou bearest the name of a Jew, and restest upon the law, and gloriest in God, and knowest his will, and approvest the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law, and art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them that are in darkness, a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having in the law the form of knowledge and of the truth; thou therefore that teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal? thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou rob temples? thou who gloriest in the law, through thy transgression of the law dishonorest thou God?"

Therefore he says also at the beginning of the same chapter to the hypocrites: "Wherefore thou art with¬ out excuse, Ο man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou cqndemnest thyself; for thou that judgest dost practice the same things. And we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against them that practice such things.

Aüd reckonest thou this, Ο man, who judgest them that practice such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judg¬ ment of God?"

Still Waters Revival Books - All Rights Reserved - www.PuritanDownloads.com F O U R T H SUNDAY A F T E R 30.1 call that telling the truth to the hypocrites who under¬ stand to show others the way, which they themselves do not know, and guide others along with themselves into the ditch. Therefore the Lord says : '"The disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is perfected shall be as his teacher." It is a common proverb to say:

I cannot learn more from my teacher, than he knows. Why did the Lord utter this saying? Because of two kinds of teachers: the first is blind; if I follow him, then I also will be blind; if he falls into the ditch, so will I . The other teacher is the merciful Father, from whom we should learn mercy; follow we him, then we also will be merciful, even as he is merciful; and if we were merciful all the time, then we would be perfect, even as he is perfect; but that does not fully take place while we are here in this life.

31. The second part of mercy is that we are to forgive those who offend us. A Christian can never be so greatly offend¬ ed, that he should not forgive, not only seven times, but seventy times seven, as the Lord spake to Peter in Mat.

18:22. Therefore God also forgives a Christian his sins or infirmities, so that he may forgive others their infirmities.

This Christ pictured just before in a beautiful parable, which he closed with the words: "So shall also my heaven¬ ly Father do unto you, if ye forgive not everyone his broth¬ er from your hearts."

32. And we pray for this also daily in the Lord's Prayer, when we pray the petition and say: Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

Is not that something great, when I a poor sinner forgive my neighbor his sins or fail¬ ings, that God will forgive me also my sins and infirmities?

Had one murdered my father, what would that be compared to my sin, with which I have offended and provoke God to anger.

33. The third element that belongs to mercy is, that we should give to the poor and needy and come to their help.

Concerning this John in his first Epistle, 3:17, says: "But whoso hath the world's goods, and beholdeth his brother in need, and shutteth up his compassion from him, doth the Still Waters Revival Books - All Rights Reserved - www.PuritanDownloads.com love of God abide in him?"

For where the love of God is, it must manifest itself.

To this the saying of Christ in Mat. 5:7 refers: "Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy." Therefore the Lord adds here in our Gos¬ pel a promise, and says: "Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, run¬ ning over, shall they give into your bosom." And he further says: "For with what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again."

34. This is sufficient for the present on the three parts of the mercy we are to show to our neighbor.

To this end should the saying of Christ in Mat. 7:12 especially stir us.

After he spoke so much about Christian love and how we should show our brother such love, he concludes and says:

"All things therefore whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, even so do ye also unto them: for this is the law and the prophets."

Now everyone is always so dis¬ posed, if he be sick, that he wishes the whole world would come to his help. Am I a poor sinner, steeped in shame, have I a heavy afflicted conscience: then I ought to wish for the whole world to comfort and help me, and cover my sins and my shame. Just such should my attitude be to my neighbor, not to judge and condemn, forgive his fail¬ ings, help him, counsel, loan and give to him as I would that others should do to me, if I were overwhelmed with anxiety and want, with misery and poverty.

35. And just in this way does the world take knowledge of Christians, how they live among themselves and show one another such acts of mercy.

This the Lord Christ also taught his disciples in the Lord's Supper when in John 13:34-35 he said: "A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; even as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." Such is the explanation of this Gospel ; let us pray to God for his grace.