But how do they act to get the gold into their own hands? _With

feigned words_, says Peter, _shall they make merchandise of you_. For

they have selected the word by which they make money of the people,

for this very purpose, as when they say, "If you give the dear

Virgin, or this or that saint so many hundred florins, you do a most

excellent good work, and merit so much indulgence and forgiving of

sin, and ransom as many souls from purgatory."

This and the like are just carefully feigned words, to the end that

they may shave us of our gold; for in all this there is really no

desert, nor grace, nor blotting out of sin. Still they explain the

noble words of Scripture all of them in such a way, that they may

traffic with them for gold. So, also, there has come of the holy,

gracious Sacrament, nothing else but a traffic, for they do nothing

with it but smear the people's mouth, and scrape their gold from

them. Observe, then, whether St. Peter has not drawn and painted our

clergy to the life.

_Whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation

slumbereth not._ They shall not drive this on at length, nor carry it

out, (he would say); for when they urge it most strongly, their

sentence and condemnation shall fall upon them. Even now it goes

forth; they shall not escape it,--as St. Paul also says, II. Tim.

iii.: "Their folly shall be revealed to all, so that they shall be

put to shame;" God grant that they may be converted and come out from

their dangerous state, when they hear and understand it, for though

there are some who have not been seduced into this state, yet is it

in itself nothing but a mere pernicious sect.

Thus St. Peter has attempted to describe the shameful, godless life

that should succeed to the genuine doctrines of the Gospel, which the

Apostles preached. Now he goes further, and sets before us three

terrible examples--of the angels, of the whole world, and of Sodom,

how God condemned them,--and speaks thus:

V. 4. _For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but has thrust

them down to hell in chains of darkness, and given them over to be

reserved for judgment._ By these words St. Peter terrifies those who

live so gay and secure as we see those do who cleave to that which

the Pope has enacted, in that they are so confident and shameless

that they would tread every one under foot. Therefore he would say

this much: Is it not great presumption on their part that they go on

so eagerly, and would bring every thing to pass by their own head, as

though God should yield to them, and spare them, who yet spared not

the angels? As though he had said, these examples should justly

terrify even the saints, when they see such a severe sentence in that

God has not spared those high spirits and noble beings who are far

more learned and wise than we, but has thrust them into chains of

darkness;--such is the severe sentence and condemnation whereto He

has ordained them, in which they are held bound and imprisoned, so

that they cannot flee away out of the hands of God, since they have

been cast into outer darkness, as Christ says in the Gospel.

And here St. Peter shows that the devils have not yet their final

punishment, but still go about in a hardened, desperate state, and

look every moment for their judgment, just as a man that is condemned

to death is perfectly desperate, hardened, and more and more wicked.

But their punishment has not yet overtaken them, but they are now

only bound and reserved for it. This is the first example.--Now

follows the second:

V. 5. _And spared not the old world, but saved Noah, the eighth

person, a preacher of righteousness, and brought the flood upon the

world of the ungodly._ This is, moreover, a fearful example, such

indeed that there is not a more bitter one in the Scripture. One

might almost despair in view of it, who was even strong in faith. For

when such language and such a sentence go to a man's heart, and he

thinks of it, that so he too ought to die, he must tremble and

despond, if he is not well prepared, since among so many in the whole

world, no one but these eight only were saved. But how have they

deserved it, that God by such a severe sentence should have drowned

all, one with another, in one mass, husband and wife, master and

servant, young and old, beast and bird? Because they led such a

wicked life. Noah was a pious man and a preacher of righteousness,

and had already lived five hundred years, before the flood, when God

commanded him to build an ark,--on which he wrought a hundred years

thereafter; and he led throughout a uniformly godly life. Whence you

may judge what a cross he had to bear, and in what care and anxiety

the pious man stood, when he must needs show, by words and works,

that he was a Christian. For it cannot be allowed that faith should

conceal itself, and not break out before men by words and well-doing.

So this man, alone, perhaps, long before God bade him build the ark,

exercised the preacher's office, and spread the word of God not in

one place, but, beyond doubt, through many lands. So that he must

thus have suffered much and great persecution even, inasmuch as he is

specially (as Peter says) sustained and kept by God, or he would soon

have been overwhelmed and slain; for he must thus needs bear upon

himself much envy and hate, and make even many high, wise and holy

people his enemies. Had the matter not been helped, then the world

would have despised the word of God, and been ever growing more

wicked. When they had now driven on their wickedness to great length,

God said, "My Spirit shall not always strive with men, since they are

flesh; yet will I give them the term of an hundred and twenty years."

Besides, "I will destroy from the earth the men whom I have created,

from man even to the reptile, (I will destroy them)." These words he

preached and enforced daily, and began to build the ark as had been

commanded him; and he labors on it a hundred years. But the people

laughed at him, and were only so much the more obstinate and foolish.

But what the sin was for which God destroyed the world, the text of

Gen. vi. tells us, that the children of God,--that is, those who came

of holy parents, and were instructed and brought up in the faith and

in the knowledge of God, sought after the daughters of men, since

they were fair, and took for their wives whom they would. Thereafter

they came from this to be powerful tyrants, who did everything that

they chose after their own caprice; wherefore God punished the world

and destroyed it by the flood.

V. 6. _And reduced the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes,

overthrowing and condemning them._ This is the third example drawn

from the destruction of those five cities, Gen. xix. Whereof also the

prophet Ezekiel speaks, in chap. xvi., addressing the city of

Jerusalem: "this was the sin of Sodom thy sister,--pride, fullness of

bread, luxury and idleness, and that to the poor they did not reach

out the hand, and have lifted themselves up, and have wrought such

shameful cruelty before me that I have even destroyed them." For

Sodom was a land, like the garden of the Lord, as Moses says, and a

rich mine of costly oil and wine and all things, so that every one

would think, here dwells God. For this they were secure, and led such

a shameful life as Moses has written of. Such sin breaks out only

where there is an assurance that they have enough to eat and drink

and to spare, and idleness is joined therewith; just as we still see,

the richer cities are the more shamefully do men live in them; but

where there is hunger and cumber there the sins are so much the

fewer. Therefore God permits, in regard to those that are His, that

their education should be severe, that they may remain pure.

These are the three fearful examples whereby St. Peter threatens

those that are godless. And as he insists upon it so, we must hold

that this is its import. And it is spoken especially of the spiritual

order--pope, cardinals, bishops, priests, monks and nuns, and all who

hang upon them. These are, as it were, angels in the Apostles' stead,

appointed to this very end, that they should preach and make known

God's word; for an angel is a messenger, or one sent, who discharges

his message by word of mouth, for which reason preachers are called

in Scripture angels,--that is, messengers of God. Such angels should

our clergy be. But as these angels of old fell off from God, and set

themselves above God, and wished to be their own masters, so these do

also, and have nothing but just the name of messengers, as those have

the name alone of angels. So these also, as they have gone off from

God, shall be held in chains of darkness and reserved to

condemnation; as he has said above, that their sentence does not

linger, nor their damnation slumber, although punishment has not as

yet overtaken them.

Beside, they are like that former world, who, although they heard the

prophets and the word of God, yet blasphemed and reviled them; and as

Moses writes, took to themselves wives according to their pleasure,

whomsoever they would, and became great and powerful tyrants.

Observe, then, whether all that which Moses wrote of those is not now

taking place. These are the great scamps that live in revelry,

oppress the world by their tyranny, and no one must ask of them why

they play the fool. Whomsoever they will they take for wife or

daughter, in spite of any one's complaining; for if any one finds

fault with it they are themselves judges, and there is no one who can

win their cause of them. Therefore whatever they can devise to bring

into their hands by oppression or fines, that also they execute. And

if any one should seize upon it, they then say, "it is the spiritual

possession of the churches; it is exempt, and no one must lay hands

on it." And as to those who preach God's word, they punish them to

the taking away their life, and declare God's sentence on those that

laugh at them; they will not hear the word, and they persecute the

very preachers of righteousness, and, remaining great and mighty

lords, would retain their title, so that they may be called

spiritual, like those that are God's children, yet rule with full

power in all obstinacy; but they must at last be subdued and

destroyed. But the others who preach God's word shall be kept and

sustained.

Thirdly: as the land where the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were was

a mine of fat, and all had enough of what the earth could bear,

thereby the people became indolent, glutted themselves with food and

drink, and to none of the poor did they reach out the hand. Such is

the case also with our Spiritual Estate, who possess generally the

best land, the best castles and cities, and the greatest rents and

tribute, while they have enough also to eat and drink. Besides, there

is not a more indolent class of people on earth, that lives without

anything of care or labor, and is fed by the sweat of the poor. But

what indolence brings along we may see before our eyes. The Pope

forbids them to take a married wife, so that if they then keep their

concubines and have children they must give gold to the bishop for

every child, whereby they will smooth the thing over and cancel the

sin. I will not here speak of other secret sins which one dare not

lightly stir up.

Finally, you here see that St. Peter accounts of the Spiritual Estate

no otherwise than as of Sodom and Gomorrah, for they are all such

people as no one can be benefited by who lend none a helping hand,

but seize to themselves all they can, under the pretence, which they

put forth, that what is given to them is given to God, and they let

no one be helped though he suffer want. Wherefore just as those were

overthrown and turned to ashes, so shall these also be destroyed at

the last day.

V. 7. _And rescued righteous Lot who was troubled greatly by the

libertine course of the wicked._ Was it not a great aggravation that

they not only rushed publicly and shamelessly into whoredom and

adultery, but into such sins as may not be mentioned,--insomuch that

they did not even spare the angels who came to Lot, and they rushed

on thus in their course, both young and old, in all the corners of

the city! Against this, righteous Lot had daily preached and warned

them, but all in vain, except that he is vexed by them, since he must

stand still yet cannot smooth over the evil, just as is the case with

us now, for there is no more hope to reform or help this grievous

course of life that the world leads.

V. 8. _For while that righteous man dwelt among them, since he must

see and hear it all, they vexed his righteous soul from day to day,

by their ungodly deeds._ Here Peter describes the cross which this

holy man must have borne, while he preached to the people and brought

up his daughters in faith; and so it is accounted toward him by God.

Now St. Peter decides how the godless shall be kept for punishment at

the last day.

V. 9, 10. _The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of

temptation, but to reserve the unjust to the day of judgment to be

punished, but especially those that walk after the flesh in the lust

of uncleanness._ This is certainly deep passion and earnestness in

the Apostle. If God spared not (says he) the young new world, how

much more severely and fearfully will he now punish those to whom the

Gospel has been revealed and preached, and before which no such great

light has arisen; as Christ also declares, Matt. xi., "Woe to thee,

Capernaum, who art exalted even to heaven! thou shalt be thrust down

to hell; for if the deeds that have been done in thee had been done

in Sodom, it had been standing at this day; for I say unto you, it

shall be more tolerable for Sodom in that day than for you." But such

threatening is in vain. The godless do not turn themselves for it.

To live in the lust of uncleanness is to live just like an

unreasoning beast--according to mere sense and every kind of lust. So

everything is ordered by the Pope, ordered as it has pleased him, and

all must subserve their wilfulness and tyranny; and they have warped

and explained all just as it has pleased them, and thereupon said,

"the holy See at Rome cannot err," while there is not one who has

preached anything of faith or love; but they have taught nothing

except what they have themselves imagined.

V. 10, 11. _And those who despise governments, presumptuous,

self-conceited, tremble not to revile dignities, whereas the angels,

who are greater in power and might, bring not a railing accusation

against them before the Lord._ He calls kings, princes and lords, and

all civil magistracy, governments; and not the Pope and bishops, for

these are not to be lords at all; since Christ, in the New Testament,

is represented only as a servant--so that one Christian is to serve

another, and hold him in honor. Wherefore _this_ is St. Peter's

meaning: that they should be subject and obedient to civil

magistracy; as the sword is introduced by God's ordinance, stand thou

in fear. Yet they do the very reverse of this. They have excepted

themselves, and say they are not subject to the civil magistracy;

yea, they have not only excepted themselves, but have even subjected

those to themselves, and trampled on them with their feet, and permit

themselves shamelessly to be called lords, even by kings and princes,

just as the Pope writes of himself that he is a lord of heaven and

earth, and has in his hand both the civil and spiritual sword, and

that every one must fall at his feet.

Besides, St. Peter says that they do not tremble to blaspheme

dignities; for it has become to the Pope a small and slight thing to

put kings and princes under ban, to curse them, and depose them, and

moreover excite mischief among them, and stir them up one against

another. And as to those who have opposed themselves, these he has

quickly overthrown and trodden on, not because they have done

anything against faith or love, but only because they have not been

willing to be subject to the Romish See, or kiss the Pope's foot,

because, forsooth, his power was as much greater than that of secular

princes as the sun is than the moon, or as the heaven is high above

the earth; so they lyingly blasphemed, while yet they are bound to be

subject and obedient to them, and should bless them and pray for

them, as Christ our Lord subjected Himself to Pilate, and gave to the

Emperor the penny tribute. They ought, therefore, to tremble at

reviling against dignities; yet are they unaffrighted and

presumptuous in regard to it, and they revile with all zeal and

recklessness, while yet if even the strongest angels cannot endure

judgment against themselves from the Lord, and besides are struck

dumb from cursing and reviling the very One from whom they cannot

escape, how then will these wretched people endure it?

V. 12, 13. _But these are like unreasoning brutes, that are born, in

accordance with their nature, to be taken and destroyed; they speak

evil of that which they do not know, and in their own ruin shall they

perish, and receive therefrom the reward of their unrighteousness._

_Unreasonable brutes_, Peter calls them, as though they had within

them not a spark of anything that smacked of spirit, performed no

spiritual duty that they should do, but lived like the fool, and

became effeminate through a carnal life. But in that he says they are

naturally born to be taken and destroyed, it may be understood in a

two-fold manner: first, as of those that take and destroy, such as

the wolf, lion, bear, the sparrow-hawk and eagle,--so these grasp to

themselves, and tear away from others all they can, goods and honor.

Secondly, of those that shall be taken, crushed and destroyed at the

judgment of the last day.

_They count temporal enjoyment as the fullness of pleasure._ See how

indignant St. Peter is! I must not chide the young gentlemen so

grievously. They think if they only live well, and have good times,

then they have enough of all things, and are right well off; this one

can easily trace in their spiritual claim, when they say that whoever

touches them as to their property or their belly, is of the devil.

They themselves cannot deny this, that their whole system is framed

to this end, that they may have lazy and idle times, and all that can

suffice them. They will lade themselves with no trouble or labor, but

every one must make and devote enough for them. They must go to the

choir and pray. God has commanded all men that they should eat their

bread by the sweat of their brow, and He has imposed trial and

anxiety upon all. Meanwhile, these young masters would slip their

heads out of this noose, and busy themselves with kisses. But this is

the greatest blindness, that they are so dumb, and therefore hold

that such a shameful life is right and lovely.

_Spots are they, and blemishes._ They know not but that they adorn

Christianity, as the sun and moon do heaven, and are the noblest and

most precious jewels, like gold and precious stones; yet St. Peter

calls them spots of shame and blemishes. The true christian life

develops from faith, serves every one in love, bears the holy cross,

which is the true badge, ornament, jewel and honor of the Christian

Church;--but these have, in place of the cross, lust and luxury;

instead of love to their neighbor, they seek their own interest,

snatch all to themselves, and let nothing go from themselves to

another for his advantage. Thus they know of faith just nothing at

all. For they are nothing but the spots and stains which Christianity

must have as its shame and derision. That is chiding enough,

certainly, for our spiritual lords.

_They lead an effeminate life through your charity, feast richly on

your goods._ What was given at first out of christian love, to

procure a common fund for widows and worthy persons, and also for the

poor, so that no one among the Christians need suffer want or

beg,--property of this kind is now all devoted to monasteries and

cloisters, from which our ecclesiastics fill their bellies, living

upon it most luxuriously, and revelling in it; and to this end they

say it belongs to them, and no one shall restrain them for it. The

Holy Spirit will not permit that the servants of the church should

lead an effeminate life from other people's labor; but to the

laboring class, and to man, woman and child generally, was it

properly devoted of old.

V. 14. _They have eyes full of adultery._ Such must always follow

when the body is crammed with food and drink, and loiters indolent,

as was said above. Wherefore does St. Peter say,--not, they are

adulterers,--but, _they have eyes full of adultery_? It is as much as

though he should say, They think ever on nothing but fornication, and

can never restrain their roguery, nor be satisfied and quiet. This is

the cause of their continual gluttony and revel, so far as they can

push it, and thus they are suffered to live at large and unpunished,

just as they like,--as follows:

_Their sin is not to be interfered with._ The Pope has forbidden any

prince or secular magistrate to punish ecclesiastics, and where they

maintain their own authority he puts them under bann. But this matter

is committed to the bishops; yet, since they are knaves themselves,

they look through their fingers. Thus they have excepted themselves

from subjection to civil government and the sword, so that no one

shall dare to restrain them in their caprice, and they all live

according to their own lusts, like those of old before the deluge.

_They allure to themselves light-minded souls._ With such great show

as they exhibit in their knavish life, as going through with mass,

begging, singing, &c., do they allure and draw light-minded and

unstable souls, who are without faith, to imagine that everything is

spiritual; and all is shaped to this end, that men may think that in

that estate every one shall have enough, and good times besides, and,

moreover, that he shall reach heaven; and yet it is all done only to

this end, that they may fill their bellies and their dirt-bag.

_They have a heart penetrated with covetousness._ This vice is so

gross and open among the ecclesiastics, that even the common people

have complained of it. Yet he says not, they are covetous, but, they

have a heart penetrated with covetousness, and especially exercised

therein. This may be seen in the fact that they have invented so many

swindling and cunning stories that it is impossible to count them, by

which they bring all the world's wealth to themselves.

All that this class practices and pursues is simple, pure

covetousness, and must all be worth money enough. They show it also

most plainly of all, as they are equipped and prepared on all sides

to call on men for their gold; so that St. Peter was certainly not a

liar.

_They are children of cursing._ That is, in the Hebrew, as much as to

say, they are cursed children, subject to the curse of God, so that

before God they have no favor or salvation, and only become more

wicked from day to day, and continually, also, greater blasphemers of

God; so that they surely lade themselves full enough with the wrath

and terrible judgment of God. That is surely spoken severely and

fearfully enough; while it is high time that whoever can flee and

run, should flee and run forth from this cursed state. Should we bear

such a _title_, _that_ is certainly pitiful; but if the High Majesty

also arraigns, curses, and condemns,--who will endure it?

V. 15. _They have forsaken the right way, and gone in error._ They

should have taught the right way,--how we must cleave to Christ, and

come to God by faith, and through love to our neighbor; and

thereafter bear the holy cross, and endure whatever meets us

therefor. But they preach no more than this, "go hither and

thither,--be monk and priest,--found churches, masses, &c., &c.;" and

they lead away the people from faith to their own works, which yet

are such as are of no use to their neighbor.

V. 15, 16. _And have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Bosor,

who loved the reward of unrighteousness, but had a rebuke for his

transgression, the dumb beast of burden speaking with man's voice and

reproving the folly of the prophet._ Here he brings in an

illustration from the fourth book of Moses, xxii.-xxiv. When the

children of Israel had journeyed out of Egypt and had come into the

land of the Moabites, king Balak sent to a prophet in Syria, by the

name of Balaam, and besought him that he would come and curse the

Jewish people, that they might become weak and that he might slay

them. Then God appeared to Balaam, and forbade him to curse the

people; therefore the prophet declines to comply with Balak.

Thereupon the king sent to him once more, and promised to give him

large wealth. Then God permits him to go to him, yet he shall say

nothing but what He shall direct him to say.

Upon this, he rose up and mounted upon an ass. The angel of God came

and walked in the way, and stood before him with a drawn sword. The

ass saw it, and turned aside out of the way, at which the prophet

struck her, that she should go in the way. Then the angel went to a

narrow place where the ass could not turn aside, and when she presses

herself against the wall and bruises the prophet's foot, she is

forced to fall under him upon her knee, while he is angered so as in

his rage to strike the ass with his staff. Then God opens the mouth

of the beast to speak with the voice of a man, and she said, "What

have I done to you that you should strike me so?" And he said, "Ah!

if I had now a sword in my hand, I would slay you." Then the ass

answered and said, "Am I yet the ass upon which thou hast ridden

continually even to this day, and have I done it for no more than

this?" Then were the eyes of the prophet opened, so that he saw the

angel with the drawn sword, at which he was affrighted and would have

turned back; but the angel of the Lord bade him go on, but thereupon

forbade him to speak anything else than what He should say to him.

When now the prophet was come to the king, he takes him up to a

height from which he could see the whole people of Israel. Then the

prophet bade him erect seven altars, and on each offer a sacrifice;

and then went aside and asked the Lord what he should say. And God

gave him his word in his mouth. And he rose up to bless and glorify

the people of Israel with fair words; and this he did three times,

one after another. Then was the king filled with wrath, and said,

"Did I not call thee that thou shouldst curse mine enemies? and yet

thou hast blest them now these three times. I had thought that I

should have honored thee, but the Lord hath turned thee away from

honor." Balaam answered and said, "Yet I told thee at first, that

though thou shouldst give me thine house full of silver and gold,

still I could speak nothing else but what God should say to me."

Yet did the prophet afterward give the king counsel how he should

manage with the people, although he might not curse them and overcome

them by power,--so that they sinned against God. Then the king sets

up an idol, by name Baal-Peor, and causes that the Moabite women,

daughters of lords and princes, should ensnare the people to

themselves to sacrifice to their gods; and when they had brought them

to themselves, they made supplication to the idol with meats and

drinks, and committed sin with the women. Then was God angry, and

commanded the chief of the people to be hung upon the gallows, and

permitted four and twenty thousand men to be overcome in one day.

Such was this prophet Balaam's advice, for the sake of gold.

Of this St. Peter here speaks, and would say that our ecclesiastics

are specially Balaam's children and scholars; for just as he gave

evil counsel to set up an idol so that the children of Israel should

be brought to sin and provoke God that they should be slain, so have

our bishops also set up an idol, in God's name,--to wit, their human

doctrine of their own works; and they let faith go, and they lure to

themselves christian souls whom they injure, and thereby provoke God

to anger, so that he has punished the world with blindness and

stupidity. For all this we may thank our spiritual masters.

Thus Peter compares especially these false teachers to the prophet

Balaam, since they even, like Balaam, purely for the sake of gold,

set up such idolatry and ruin souls.

Besides, he mentions his right name, for Bileaam or Balaam is he

called in Hebrew, a swallower or swiller, like one who gapes his

throat open, and swallows and devours all. This shameful name must he

bear, because he has brought so many people into sin, insomuch that

they are destroyed and overcome.

Such Balaamites are our bishops and ecclesiastics, who are the throat

of the devil, by which he draws so many souls to himself, and

swallows them down. But the surname of this prophet is, the son of

Bosor,--that is to say, flesh,--or, as Moses says, son of Beor, that

is, of a fool. A fool is his father. So are these, also, blind, dull

and foolish people, who must yet needs rule; such a people as the

flesh bears, for the spirit makes men of another stamp. So God has

given these in the Scripture their own name, and therein they are so

painted to the life, that we may know in what account they are to be

held.

Now the dumb beast of burden, the ass, signifies the people that lets

itself be bridled and ridden, and goes as it is led, like the ass,

who was forced and beaten cruelly when he went out of the way into

the ditch, and must neither give place before the angel in the way so

long as it could help, nor turn aside, and so must fall down. For in

the same way have these seducers also urged on the people, until

these last have become sensible that it is a thing not to be endured,

and that they deal unfairly with them, and have wished to turn them

aside from the way. But the harshness has been so gross whereby they

have troubled the people, that at length God has opened our lips and

given words into our mouths, so that even the children speak of it;

whereby their folly is made plain, so that they must be ashamed. In

this way we ought to meet them when they go about, and give out that

it belongs not to the laity to read the Scripture, and therefore say,

we must hear what the Councils determine. For then you may answer,

Has not God spoken even by an ass? Be content with our knowing that

ye, in times past, preached the word of God; but now ye have become

fools, and are possessed by avarice, what wonder is it that now the

common people have been roused and impelled by God to speak the

truth, though it has been so burdened and oppressed like a dumb beast

of burden. This is their likeness, taken from the prophet Balaam. Now

St. Peter says further of these false teachers:

V. 17. _They are wells without water, and clouds driven about by the

whirlwind._ In like manner Solomon presents us a comparison, in Prov.

xxv., and says, "As when a great cloud and strong wind go forth, and

yet no rain follows, so is a man who makes high boastings of himself,

and does not make good his words." So Peter says here, also, _they

are wells without water, and clouds driven about by the whirlwind_;

that is, they make great show, and have nothing beside. They are like

the dry, false and exhausted wells, although they have the fame and

title of being true wells. For Scripture calls those who teach,

wells, as the ones from whom should flow that wholesome doctrine by

which souls are to be quickened. To this office are they anointed and

set apart. But what do they do? Nothing, as a general thing; for they

have nothing else but just the bare name, just as they are called

shepherds, and yet are wolves.

Besides, they are the clouds which the wind drives about--not like

the thick, black and lowering clouds which are wont to give us rain,

but like those fleecy ones which move about and fly in the air, and

are very light, which the wind drives wherever it will, after which

no rain can follow. So our teachers also sweep about and move high in

Christendom, like the clouds in heaven, but let themselves be driven

about wherever the devil chooses, to whom they are ready to yield in

all kinds of lusts. But yet they preach not a word of God, like true

teachers and preachers, who are called clouds in Scripture (as Is.

v.),--as also by all that gives forth water, preachers are typified

in Scripture.

_For whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever._ They live

now at their ease, and things go with them just as they themselves

would have them. But there shall come an eternal darkness upon them,

although they do not believe nor apprehend it.

V. 18. _For they speak in swelling words, which have nothing back of

them._ If you ask how they may be called wells without water, and

clouds without rain, while they yet preach throughout the whole

world, St. Peter answers: they rain and preach, alas! altogether too

much; but they are only vain, swollen and puffed-up words, by which

they blow the poor people's ears full, so that men think it is

something fine; and yet it is nothing but show. Just as the monks,

with high, bold words, set forth their obedience, poverty and

chastity, so that men think they are a holy people, while yet it is

nothing but mere trickery, and certainly no faith nor love can be

found among it. Like this, also, is their pretence that the estate of

bishops is a more perfect estate, while these yet do nothing else but

ride about pompously on their fine horses, and now and then

consecrate churches and altars, and baptise bells. Such puffed-up and

swollen words are the whole spiritual law of the Pope, throughout.

_And they allure, through guile, to the lust of the flesh, those who

had well-nigh escaped, and now they walk in error._ This is what

these wells and teachers do, so that they who were almost escaped

must fall into the snare of wickedness, and for the first time be

truly captured. A child that has been baptised, rescued from all

sins, snatched from the devil and set out from Adam into Christ, when

he comes to reason is soon entangled and led away into error. Men

should be taught of faith, and love, and the holy cross, while our

clergy go their own way, throw up their work whereby these persons

fall back again into error, even though they had escaped it. But how

does this come to pass? Thus: in that by guile they allure the people

to the lust of the flesh. Their strongest persuasion is in their

saying that priests, monks and nuns should not be married, and should

bind themselves to maintain chastity, by which they do no more than

allure to unchastity, forasmuch as the wretched people must perish in

their wicked lusts, and there is nothing to help them.

But here you clearly see that Peter speaks of none other than

teachers who bear rule in Christendom, where men are baptised and

believers,--for among the Turks and heathen, no one has so escaped;

it is only among Christians, where they have the chance to lead souls

astray, and bring them into the snare of the devil.

V. 19. _And they promise them freedom, while they themselves are the

servants of corruption, for of whom any one is overcome, his servant

has he become._ They set up Orders by which a man is to be saved,--as

Thomas, the monk preacher, has shamelessly written, that when a man

shall enter into one of these Orders, be it as vile as it may, it is

as though he had but just come forth from his baptism; and then they

promise him freedom and forgiving of sins by works of his own. Such

blasphemy must we hear, while they set their human fancies and

ludicrous conceits, destitute of faith, on a level with faith and

baptism which God has established, and which are peculiarly his work.

Who is to endure this and still keep silent? Such stories have the

monks gotten up, and they cram them into the young; and such teachers

as these men have set up for saints. But the other saints, truly

such, they have burnt to ashes.

V. 20. _For if they have escaped the pollution of the world through

the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, but shall be

again entangled and overcome in the same, their last end is worse for

them than the first._ There Peter shows why they are the servant of

corruption. To confess Christ is to know what he is, even our

Saviour, who forgives us our sins from pure grace. By this confession

we escape the vice and come out from the pollution of the world. But

though they should already have been delivered from sin in baptism,

they shall afterwards be plunged therein, for that they have again

gone from faith to their own works. For where there is no faith, the

Spirit is absent; but where the Spirit is absent, there is nothing

but flesh, so that there can be nothing at all that is pure. So has

it come to pass hitherto in regard to Christianity. Rome first heard

the pure Gospel, but afterward went back and fell away to human

doctrines, until even upon herself all abominations have come up; so

that her last end has become worse than her first, in that she is now

far more hopeless in her heathenism than she ever was before she

heard the word of God.

V. 21. _For it had been far better for them that they had never known

the way of righteousness, than that they should know it, and turn

themselves away from the holy command that has been given them. For

it has happened to them according to the proverb, The dog turns to

his own vomit again, and the sow after her washing wallows in the

mire._ This proverb St. Peter has taken out of the book of Prov.

xxvi., where Solomon says, "A man who repeats his folly is like the

dog who turns again to his vomit." By baptism they have thrown off

unbelief, and have been washed from their polluted life, and have

entered upon a pure life of faith and love, while they fall off from

it again to unbelief and their own works, and defile themselves again

in the dirt. So that we are not to make this proverb bear on works;

for little is accomplished by one's saying and directing at

confession, "Thou shalt henceforth be chaste, meek, and patient," &c.

But if you will be pious, pray God that he will give you a real

faith, and see to it that you forsake your unbelief. When you shall

then have attained faith, good works shall afterwards take care of

themselves, so that you will live purely and chastely, even though

you should secure yourself by no other means; and though, again, you

might awhile conceal the mischief in your heart, yet at last it comes

out.

This is the second chapter of this Epistle, wherein Peter speaks

specially of our teachers, how shamefully we have been treated by

them. We have indeed had warning enough, but we have not minded it,

so that the fault is ours that we have not laid hold on the Gospel,

and that we have by our lives deserved such anger of God. We hear it

generally, all of us, with gladness, when some one assaults and

upbraids the Pope along with his priests and monks; but yet, no one

will draw advantage to himself from it. It is not such a trifling

matter of sport that one must laugh at it, but of such seriousness

that the heart should fear and tremble on account of it. Therefore

should we lay hold upon it with seriousness, and pray that God would

turn away from us his anger and such plagues. For this calamity has

not come upon us unforeseen, but it is sent upon us by God as a

punishment,--as Paul says, II. Thes. ii.: "Since they have not

received the love of the truth, that they might be saved, therefore

shall God send upon them strong delusion so that they shall believe a

lie," &c., &c. For had the punishment gone but so far that the false

teachers only were lost, it would have been yet a little thing

against the fact that they have had the rule, and carried all the

world with them to hell. Therefore, in regard to the evil, we are to

take no counsel except to apprehend the matter in Godly fear and

humility, confess our guilt, and pray God to turn away the punishment

from us. By prayer must one contend against the false teachers,

although the devil do not let him win.--Now follows, next:

CHAPTER III.

V. 1, 2. _This is the second Epistle which I write to you, beloved,

in which I stir up your pure minds to remembrance, that ye may think

upon the word which was said to you before by the holy prophets, and

upon our command, who are Apostles of the Lord and Saviour._ Here St.

Peter comes to us again, and warns us in this chapter to be prepared,

and look every moment for the last day. And so he says in the first

of it, that he has written this Epistle, not in order to lay down a

ground of faith, which he had done before, but to awaken, remind,

arrest, and urge them not to forget the same, and to abide in the

clear view and understanding which they have of a true christian

life. For it is the preacher's office, as we have said often, not

only to teach, but also continually to admonish and restrain. For

since our flesh and blood ever clings to us, God's word must be

stronger in us, that we may not give room to the flesh, but strive

against it, and gain the upper hand of it.

V. 3, 4. _And know, first of all, that in the last days there shall

come scoffers who walk after their own lusts, and say, Where is the

promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things

remain as from the beginning of creation._ Yet are men swayed hither

and thither by a book concerning Antichrist, wherein it is written

that the people before the last day shall fall into such error that

they shall say, there is no God, and shall scoff at all that is

preached of Christ and the last day. That is true, whencesoever it

has been taken. But we are not so to understand it as that the whole

world shall say and hold such things, but the greater part. For that

time is even now at hand, and shall prevail yet more when the Gospel

shall come down among the people, when the proud ones shall lift

themselves up, and the secrets of many hearts break forth, which are

now hidden and unknown. There have even already been many who have

altogether rejected the idea of the coming of the last day.

Of such scoffers St. Peter here warns us, and tells us of them

beforehand, that they must come, and rush into this hazard and live

as they list. At Rome and in Italy this word is now at length

fulfilled, and they who come thence, bring such errors also forth

with them; for just as they have a long time perplexed themselves

therein, so, also, must they perplex the people by the same means.

And even though the last day were now before the door, such people

must come abroad. So shall be fulfilled that which Christ says, Mat.

xxiv.: "Just as it was in the time of Noah, so shall it also be at

the coming of the Son of Man; for as they were in the days before the

deluge, they ate, they drank, they married and were given in

marriage, even to the day when Noah entered into the ark, and they

knew it not till the flood came and swallowed them all; so, also,

shall the coming of the Son of Man be." Also, "The Son of Man shall

come at an hour when ye think not." Also, Luke xxi.: "This day shall

come as a snare, upon all that dwell upon the earth." And once more,

Luke xvii.: "As the lightning lightens over us from heaven, and

shines upon all that is under the heaven, so shall the Son of Man be

in His day,"--that is, so quick and unforeseen and sudden shall He

break in upon it, while the world shall be living above all, for

itself first, and shall throw God's word to the winds.

Therefore this shall be a sign of the last day that it is near, when

the people shall live as they list, according to all their lusts, and

such talk goes about among them as this: "Where is the promise of his

coming? the world has stood so long and continued to abide, is it now

for the first time to be otherwise?" Thus Peter warns us that we

should not be surprised, and that we have a sure sign that the day

will soon come.--It follows, further:

V. 5, 6. _But this in their obstinacy they will not know, that the

heavens of old, besides the earth standing out of the water and in

the water, were (made) by God's word, yet through the same, was the

world in its time destroyed by the flood._ Such people they are, he

says, as show not so much diligence as to read the Scripture, but

obstinately refuse to think and be aware that so also it was of old,

when Noah built the ark; the world which stood and was made through

the water and in the water, was destroyed by water, and the people

were yet so safe and secure that they thought, surely there is no

danger,--yet they were all alike destroyed by water. As though he

should say,--if God has for once destroyed the world by water, and

shown by an example that he can sink it, how much more will he do it

now that he has promised to do it.

But here St. Peter speaks somewhat particularly of the creation. The

heaven and the earth stood fast aforetime; they were made of water

and stood in the water, by the word of God. Heaven and earth have a

beginning; they have not been forever; the heaven was made from the

water, and there was water above and beneath,--but the earth is made

and stands in the water, as Moses writes, whom St. Peter here quotes.

All is sustained by God's word, as it also was made by the same, for

it is not their nature so to stand. Therefore if God did not sustain

it, it must all soon fall down and sink into the water. For God spoke

a word of power when he said, "let the waters under the heavens

gather themselves into a separate place, that the dry land may be

seen;" that is, let the water put itself aside and give room for the

earth to come forth, whereon man might dwell,--yet naturally the

waters should spread themselves over the earth. Therefore this is, at

the present day, one of the greatest miracles that God works.

Now St. Peter would say this: so obstinate and stupid are these

scoffers, that they will not do honor to the Holy Spirit, though they

read how God holds up the earth in the water, whence they should be

convinced that all stands in the hands of God. Therefore, since God

at that time drowned the earth, so he will deal with us even yet

again. For that example should certainly convince us that, as in that

very case he has not lied, so again he will not lie.

V. 7. _But the heaven which yet is, and the earth, are by his word

sustained, that they be reserved for fire in the day of Judgment and

condemnation of ungodly men._ At that time, when God destroyed the

world by a flood, the water pressed down from above, up from beneath

and from all sides, so that nothing could be seen but water only;

because the earth, as its nature was, must be swallowed up in the

water. But now he has promised, and given the rainbow for a sign in

heaven, that he will no more destroy the world by water. Therefore he

will destroy it and let it perish by fire, so that here it shall be

fire only, as there it was water only. Of which St. Paul, II. Thes.

i., says: "When now the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven,

together with the angels of his power, and with flaming fire," etc.

So I. Cor. iii.: "Every one's work shall be revealed; the day of the

Lord shall make it clear, which shall be revealed with fire." So when

the last day breaks and bursts in on the world, it will in a moment

be fire only; what is in heaven and in earth shall be turned to dust

and ashes, and all things must be changed by fire, as that change

took place by water. This shall be a sign that God will not lie so

long as He has left that for a sign.

V. 8-10. _But of this one thing, beloved, be ye not ignorant; that

one day with the Lord is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as

one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise as some men

count slackness, but he is long-suffering toward you, and wills not

that any one should perish, but that all should come to repentance;

but the Day of the Lord shall come as a thief in the night, in which

the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, but the elements

shall be melted with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that

are therein shall be burned up._ With these words St. Peter meets

those of whom he has just spoken, who say: "The Apostles have said

much about the Last Day coming quickly,--and yet so long a time is

past, and still all continues as heretofore." And he has quoted this

passage from Moses, in the lxxxix. Ps., where he says: "A thousand

years are in thine eyes as yesterday, when it is past." This is the

scope of it.

There are two ways of viewing things,--one for God, the other for the

world. So also this present life and that to come, are twofold. This

life cannot be that, since none can reach that but by death,--that

is, by ceasing from _this_ life. This life is just to eat, drink,

sleep, endure, bring up children, etc., in which all moves on

successively, hours, day, year, one after another: if you wish now to

apprehend that life, you must banish out of your mind the course of

this present life; you must not think that you can so apprehend it,

where it will all be one day, one hour, one moment.

Since then in God's sight there is no reckoning of time, a thousand

years must be before him, as it were, a day. Therefore the first man,

Adam, is just as near to him as he who shall be last born before the

last day. For God sees not time lengthwise but obliquely, just as

when you look at right-angles to a long tree which lies before you,

you can fix in your view both place and parts at once,--a thing you

cannot do if you only look at it lengthwise. We can, by our reason,

look at time only according to its duration; we must begin to count

from Adam, one year after another, even to the last day. But before

God it is all in one heap; what is long with us is short with

him,--and again, here there is neither measure nor number. So when

man dies, the body is buried and wastes away, lies in the earth and

knows nothing; but when the first man rises up at the last day, he

will think he has lain there scarcely an hour, while he will look

about himself and become assured that so many people were born of him

and have come after him, of whom he had no knowledge at all.

This, then, is St. Peter's meaning: the Lord does not delay his

promise as some scoffers let themselves imagine, but is

long-suffering; therefore should ye be prepared for the last

day,--for it will come soon enough to every one after his death, in

that he will say, "lo! I have but just now died!" But it comes upon

the world all too soon: when the people shall say, "there is peace,

no danger threatens," it shall break forth and come upon them, as St.

Paul says, I. Thess. v. And with so great a noise shall the day tear

its way and burst forth like a great storm, that in a moment must all

be wasted.

V. 11, 12. _Since then all this must pass away, how careful should ye

be in all holy conduct and a Godly life, that ye wait for and hasten

to the coming of the day of the Lord._ Since ye know this, that all

must pass away, both heaven and earth,--think how ye shall be

prepared to meet this day, by a holy and godly life and conversation.

For Peter describes this day as one that is to come even now, so that

men should be prepared for it, to hope for it with joy, and even

hasten to run to meet it, as that which sets us free from death, sin

and hell.

V. 12, 13. _In which the heavens shall pass away by fire, and the

elements shall be melted with fervent heat; but we look for a new

heaven and a new earth, according to his promise, in which dwelleth

righteousness._ God has promised by the prophets, here and there,

that he would create a new heaven and a new earth,--as in Is. lxv.,

"Behold, I will create a new heaven and a new earth, wherein ye shall

be happy, and shout and leap for joy." So in xxx. "The appearance of

the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the splendor of the

sun shall be seven times as bright, as though seven days were joined

one into another;" and Christ says, Matt. xiii., "The righteous shall

shine like the sun, in their Father's kingdom." How that is to pass

away we cannot know, except that the promise is, that such a heaven

and earth are to be, wherein no sin, but righteousness only, and the

children of God shall dwell; as also St. Paul says, Rom. viii., there

shall be pure love, pure joy, and nothing but God's kingdom.

Here some may disquiet themselves as to whether the saints shall have

their station in heaven or on earth. The text seems to imply that man

shall dwell upon the earth,--yet so that all heaven and earth shall

be a paradise wherein God dwells, for God dwells not alone in heaven,

but in all places, wherefore the elect shall be also even where He

is.

V. 14. _Therefore, my beloved, since ye look for such things, be

diligent, that ye may be found of him without spot, and blameless, in

peace._ Since ye have escaped, he says, such misery, and come to so

great joy, ye should suffer yourselves to be persuaded to despise

willingly all that is upon the earth, and suffer cheerfully whatever

duty requires. Therefore should ye be diligent, that ye may live a

peaceful and blameless life.

V. 15. _And the long-suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ account for

your salvation._ In that He so spares, and delays, and does not come

to speedy judgment, take account of this as designed for your

benefit. He had good reason to be angry and to punish, yet out of His

grace He does it not.

V. 15, 16. _As also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom

that has been given unto him has written, as he also in all his

letters speaks thereof, in which are some things hard to be

understood, which the unlearned and unstable wrest, as they also do

other Scriptures, to their own destruction._ There St. Peter bears

testimony for the Apostle Paul in respect to his doctrine, which

shows plainly enough that this Epistle was written long after St.

Paul's Epistles. And this is one of the passages which might be

adduced to maintain that this Epistle is not St. Peter's, as also

there was one before this in this chapter--namely, where he says,

"the Lord wills not that any should be lost, but that every one

should give himself to repentance." For it falls some little below

the Apostolic spirit; still it is credible that it is none the less

the Apostle's, for since herein, he is writing not of faith but of

love, he lets himself down somewhat, as the manner of love is,

inasmuch as it humbles itself toward its neighbor, just as faith

rises above itself.

But he has yet seen that many unstable spirits wrested and perverted

St. Paul in his words and doctrines, inasmuch as some things in his

Epistles are hard to be understood,--as when he speaks in this way,

"that no one is justified by works, but by faith alone;" so, too,

"the law is given to make sin more gross;" so, too, "where sin

abounded, there grace much more abounds," and more passages of the

same sort. For when men hear such, then they say, if that is true, we

will go on indolently, and do no good work, and so be righteous, as

men even now say, that we forbid good works; for if one so perverts

St. Paul's own words, what wonder is it that they should, in like

manner, pervert ours?

V. 17, 18. _But ye, my beloved, since ye know this beforehand, beware

for yourselves that ye be not led away by the error of the wicked

likewise, and fall from your own steadfastness. But grow in grace,

and in knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, to whom be

praise, now and forever. Amen._ Since ye know, he says, all that has

been said above, and see that many false teachers must come, who lead

the world astray, and such scoffers as pervert the Scripture and will

not understand it, take care of yourselves; guard against them with

diligence, that ye fall not from the faith by doctrines of error; and

grow, so as to become stronger from day to day by the steadfast

practice and preaching of the word of God. Here observe how great

care the Apostle shows for those who have come to believe, which

urged him even to write these two Epistles, wherein is richly

comprehended what a Christian should know, besides also that which is

yet to come. May God give his grace, that we also may seize hold upon

and retain it. Amen.

THE EPISTLE OF SAINT JUDE.

V. 1, 2. _Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ, but a brother of James, to

those that are called to be holy in God the Father, and preserved in

Jesus Christ, mercy unto you and peace and love be multiplied._ This

Epistle is ascribed to the holy Apostle, St. Jude, brother of the two

Apostles, James the Less and Simon, by the sister of the mother of

Christ, who is called Mary (wife) of James or Cleopas, as we read in

Mark vi. But this Epistle cannot be looked upon as being that of one

who was truly an Apostle, for the author speaks in it of the

Apostles, as being much their junior. It has even nothing peculiar

about it, except that it refers to the second Epistle of St. Peter,

from which it has taken nearly all its words, and is scarcely

anything else than an Epistle against our clergy, bishops, priests

and monks.[1]

[Footnote 1: It is well known that at an early period the book of

Jude was reckoned among the _antilegomena_. This was mainly in

consequence of its references to the Apocryphal books of Enoch and of

the Ascension of Christ. Yet De Wette, than whom none would be more

disposed to sift it thoroughly, says, "no important objection to the

genuineness of the Epistle can be made good; neither the use of the

Apocryphal book of Enoch, nor the resemblance of v. 24 to Rom. xvi.

25, nor a style of writing which betrays a certain familiarity with

the Greek tongue. The Epistle is less open to suspicion, as the

author does not distinctly claim to be an Apostle, nor can a pretext

for forgery be discovered." Again, he says: "they who regard the Son

of Alpheus and the brother of the Lord as one and the same person,

are quite consistent in regarding our Jude likewise as an Apostle."

To this view De Wette himself does not accede, and thus agrees

substantially with Luther.]

V. 3. _Beloved, since I gave all diligence to write unto you of the

common salvation, I am necessitated to write to you, and admonish

you, that ye should contend earnestly for the faith which was once

delivered to the saints._ That is as much as to say,--I am

necessitated to write to you, so that I may remind and admonish you

how ye should go forward and persevere in the faith which has

already, before this, been once preached to you; or as though he

should say, It is necessary that I should admonish you that ye be on

your guard and remain in the right way; but as to why this is needed,

he gives the reason, and says:

V. 4. _For there are some men who have secretly come in, who were

ordained of old to this condemnation._ For this cause will I remind

you that ye should abide in the faith which ye have heard, because

there is even now a wavering, and already there have come preachers,

who set up other doctrines besides faith, by which people are led

away gently and unsuspectingly from the true way. So St. Peter also

said, in his Epistle, "there shall be false teachers among you, who

shall secretly bring in destructive heresies, &c." These, he says,

"are long ago appointed to such a sentence of condemnation." This we

now well understand, since we know that no one is righteous and

justified by works of his own, but only through faith in Christ,

insomuch that he must rely on the work of Christ as his chief good.

Then where there is faith, whatever is done as works is all done for

the good of our neighbor, and thus we guard ourselves against all

works which are not performed with the intent that they shall be of

service to our neighbor, as is now the estate of priests and monks.

Therefore wherever any one now secretly introduces anything else than

this doctrine of faith, in regard to such orders and works, he leads

the people astray, so that they shall be condemned along with him.

_Who are godless, and turn the grace of God into wantonness._ That

Gospel which is given us concerning the grace of God, and which sets

Christ before us, as he is offered to and bestowed upon us, with all

that he has, that we may be freed from sin, death and all evil, such

grace and blessing offered to us by the Gospel, they use merely to

indulge their wantonness,--that is, they call themselves Christians,

indeed, and praise the Gospel, but they bring in such an order, as

therein to work their own caprice, in eating and drinking and wanton

life, while they make their boast and say we are not in a secular but

a spiritual estate, and under such names and pretence they have

grasped all enjoyment, honor and pleasure. This, already, says Jude,

begins. For we read that it had already begun a thousand years ago;

that the bishops then wished to be Lords and to be more highly

exalted than common christians, as we also see in St. Jerome's

Epistles.

_And they deny God, that he alone is Lord, and our Lord Jesus

Christ._ This is what St. Peter said also in his Epistle; but this

they deny (as we have heard). It is not done by their _mouth_, for

with this they confess that God is one Lord, but they deny that

Christ is Lord in fact, and by their works; they hold, not Him, but

themselves as their Lord,--for while they preach that fasts,

pilgrimages, church ordinances, chastity, obedience, poverty, etc.,

are the way to salvation, they lead the people astray to their own

works, and yet are silent about Christ; and it is just as much as if

they said, Christ is of no avail to you, His works noway help you,

but you must by your own works merit salvation. Thus they deny the

Lord who has bought us with his blood, as Peter says.

V. 5, 6, 7. _I will therefore remind you that ye once knew this, that

the Lord, when he saved the people out of Egypt, afterward destroyed

those that believed not. Also, the angels, who kept not their first

estate, but left their own habitation, he has reserved to the

judgment of the great day, in everlasting chains, under darkness. As

also Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities lying about them, which in

like manner as these, rioted in fornication, and went after strange

flesh, are set forth for an example, and bear the pain of eternal

fire._ Here he adduces, also, three examples, as St. Peter does in

his Epistle; but the first which he presents is to this effect: that

God permitted the children of Israel whom he had brought out of Egypt

by many wonderful works, when they did not believe, to be overthrown

and defeated, so that of them all not more than two survived, when

there were numbered, of all that went forth from twenty years of age

and above, more than six hundred thousand men. This example he sets

forth as a warning and a terror; as though he should say, those who

are now called Christians, and under this name turn the grace of God

into wantonness, are to beware to themselves that it do not come to

pass with them as it came to pass with those. And true enough, these

are the times when the Popedom is exalted and the Gospel kept secret

through the whole world; when, too, there comes continually one

plague after another, by which God has punished the unbelieving and

thrown them into the throat of the Devil.

V. 8. _Like them also are these dreamers, who defile the flesh._

These teachers he calls dreamers; for just as when a man lies in a

dream he deals with images, and thinks he has something real, but

when he wakes up it is nothing at all,--but he sees then that it was

a dream, and counts it of no importance,--so, too, what these say is

nothing else than a mere dream; for when once their eyes shall be

opened, they shall see that it is nothing at all. As when they go

about pretending that their tonsure and cowl, obedience, poverty and

chastity are well-pleasing to God, they have this before their eyes;

yet, in God's sight it is nothing but a mere dream. So he has given

them a truly fitting name, inasmuch as they deal with dreams, by

which they cheat themselves and the world.

But especially do the Apostles ascribe to the clerical order the vice

of leading an unchaste life; and God long ago foretold that they

should have no wives. Now it is scarcely possible that God should

work as many miracles as there are persons in the order, so that it

cannot be that they are chaste. So, likewise, has the prophet Daniel

spoken, chap. xi., of the Pope's rule: "He shall not regard women (in

marriage)." This is the external characteristic, as the inward is

that they are dreamers.

_Who despise government, and speak evil of dignities._ Their third

characteristic is, that they will not be subject to civil authority.

Yet we have been taught, while we live on earth, that we are all

under obligation; that we are to be subject and obedient to the

sovereignty; for the Christian faith does not do away with civil

rule,--therefore no one can except himself from it, because the

Pope's decree concerning the Church's freedom is a mere devil's law.

V. 9. _But Michael the archangel, when he contended with the devil,

and disputed about the body of Moses, durst not let drop against him

a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee._ This is one of

the reasons why this Epistle was formerly rejected, because here an

example is adduced which is not found in Scripture, to the effect

that the angel Michael and the devil contended with one another about

the body of Moses. But this should have been found there, since so

much is written about Moses in the last of Deuteronomy, of God's

burial of him, and yet no one knew his grave. Besides, Scripture

testifies in regard to him, that no other prophet has arisen in

Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, &c. But it has

been said, in reference to the same text also, that his body was left

concealed, so that the Jews might not regard it with idolatrous

veneration, and for this reason the angel Michael must needs oppose

the devil, who wished that the body should be discovered, that the

Jews might pray to it; and although Michael was an archangel (says

Jude), yet was he not so bold as to curse even the devil,--and yet

these scoffers trample under foot the authority that has been

ordained of God; they curse in seven, eight and nine ways, though

they are men merely; while this archangel dared not curse the worst

devil that was ever condemned, but said no more than, the Lord

restrain and punish thee.

V. 10. _But these scoff at what they know nothing of, for what they

know naturally as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt

themselves._ Such scoffers are they, that they can do nothing else

but anathematize and curse, and give over to the devil for his own

not only kings and dignities, but God also and the saints, as may be

seen in the bull, _C[oe]na Domini_. They know not that our salvation

stands on the foundation of faith and love; they cannot endure that

their works should be rejected and condemned, and that it should be

preached that Christ alone must help us by His works. Therefore they

curse and scoff at all Christian doctrine which they are ignorant of.

But what they know, through natural perception,--as the founding of

masses and the like,--will bring in gold and treasures; to this they

devote themselves with energy, and thereby corrupt themselves and

every one else.

V. 11. _Woe unto them, for they have gone in the way of Cain._ Cain

struck his brother dead, simply because he was more pious than

himself. For his brother's offering was acceptable before God, but

his own was not. So now the way of Cain is, to rely on one's own

works, and scoff at those works which are good and true, and

circumvent and slay those who go in the right way, just as these very

ones also are doing.

_And have hurried for reward into the error of Balaam._ They should

be fixed inwardly in the hope of Divine grace; yet they go forth and

put their trust in various outward works, of this kind and that, and

they do them only for the sake of gold, that they may fill their

bellies, like the prophet Balaam, as we have heard in Peter's

Epistle.

_And perished in the rebellion of Korah._ Of the rebellion of Korah,

and how he was destroyed, with his house, we have an account in the

fourth book of Moses, xvi. Moses was summoned and called for this

purpose, that he should lead the people out of Egypt; and his brother

Aaron likewise was appointed of God as High Priest. Now Korah was

also of the same tribe, and their friendship should have been

enduring, and something more than common: yet he attaches to himself

two hundred and fifty men of the foremost and most distinguished

among the people, and excites such a commotion and tumult, that Moses

and Aaron are forced to flee. And Moses fell upon his face, and

prayed that God might not accept their sacrifice; and he bade the

congregation of the people draw back from them, and said to them:

"Hereby shall ye surely know if the Lord hath sent me; if these men

die and disappear as all men disappear, then the Lord hath not sent

me; but if the Lord shall do some new thing, so that the earth shall

open her mouth and swallow them up, and they go down alive into hell,

then shall ye know that these men have reviled the Lord." When he had

spoken these words, the earth quaked and opened, and swallowed up

Korah, together with the other leaders of the rebellion, with all

that they had, so that they went down alive into hell; and the fire

consumed the other two hundred and fifty men who had joined

themselves to him.

This example Jude sets forth for these scoffers who blame us for

making a commotion, while we preach against them, for they are the

real ones who make all the trouble. For Christ is our Aaron and

chief-priest, whom we should allow to rule alone; but this the Pope

and bishops have been unwilling to endure. They have set themselves

up, and have wished to have the power to rule along with the

authority, and so have arrayed themselves against Christ; but God has

punished them, in that the earth has swallowed them up and covered

them, since they are absorbed and swallowed up in an earthly life and

pleasure, and are nothing but pure worldliness.

V. 12, 13. _These live on your charities, and are vileness itself,

while they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear; clouds

they are without water, driven about by the wind; barren, fruitless

trees, twice dead and plucked up by the roots; wild waves of the sea,

which foam out their own shame; wandering stars, for whom is reserved

the blackness of darkness forever._ Of this we have heard enough in

St. Peter's Epistle. All the world have brought up their children to

be ecclesiastics, and to have an easy life of it, and not to support

themselves by their own hands and labor; nor must they even preach,

but only live without care in their luxury, and keep up good spirits

by feeding on the wealth that poor people earn by their sweat. So men

think they must be the best part, and the jewel, as it were, of

Christendom, while they are merely shame-spots and an abomination,

and live well, as we say, on the wealth that belongs to them as

priests. They are without care or fear; they think the devil may not

overthrow them; they feed not the sheep, but are themselves the

wolves that devour the sheep; they are clouds that hang over us in

the air, sit up high in the churches, as those that should preach,

and yet they do not preach at all, but let themselves be driven by

the devil this way and the other.

So, too, he says, they are leafless, fruitless trees, like the trees

of autumn; they have neither fruit nor leaf; they stand there only

like other trees; let themselves be looked upon as Christian bishops,

but there is with them neither word nor work, but all is dead to the

root. Moreover, they are like wild waves of the sea; that is, as the

wind tosses and throws up waves and billows upon the water, so these,

too, go just as the devil leads them. And they foam out their own

shame; like a heated pot, they are so full of pollution that they run

over, and cannot retain command of themselves, but all must out. They

are wandering stars, planets as they are called, that go backward,

and not in a steady, straight course, so that they make no true

progress; their life and doctrine is mere error, in which they lead

themselves astray, and all that follow after them. Therefore for them

is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.

Thus Jude has appraised and painted our spiritual masters, who, under

the name of Christ and Christianity, introduce all sorts of

profligacy, and snatch to themselves all the wealth of the world, and

authoritatively subject all men to themselves.

There follows now, further:

V. 14. _Enoch, also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of such, and

said, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousand of His saints, to

execute judgment upon all._ This language of Enoch is nowhere to be

found in Scripture. For this reason some of the Fathers did not

receive this Epistle, although there is not a sufficient reason for

rejecting a book on this account. For St. Paul, also, in II. Tim.

iii., makes mention of two that opposed Moses, Jannes and Jambres,

names that are not even to be found in the Scriptures. But be this as

it will, we let it pass. Still this is true, that God, from the

beginning of the world, has left it to some to make His word known

(the word that promises His favor and salvation to believers, but

threatens the unbelieving with judgment and condemnation), even till

Christ's coming down from heaven, when it is openly preached to the

whole world. But before the birth of Christ God took to Himself for

this purpose only a single line, from Adam to Abraham, and thence to

David, down to Mary the mother of Christ, who possessed His word.

Thus the Gospel has always been preached in the world, but never so

generally as now in these last times.

Thus, also, this father, Enoch, insisted on that word of God which he

received from his father, Adam, and which he had of the Holy Spirit.

For the Scripture says also of him, Gen. v., that he led a godly

life, and therefore he was taken of God, so that he was seen no more.

Hence, also, has been derived the notion that He will come again

before the last day; but it is not to be supposed that men would

understand it of a spiritual advent, as that his preaching was based

upon the last day, as this passage is, wherein that day is spoken of

with as much assurance as though it were in full view. _The Lord is

coming already_, he says, _with many thousand saints_; that is, with

such a multitude as cannot be numbered. For this can only be said of

the last day, on which He will come with all His saints, to execute

judgment. For before this, He has not come with many thousand saints,

but alone, into the world; and this, not to judge, but to bestow

grace.

V. 15. _And to punish all the ungodly among them, for all their

godless life, wherein they have been ungodly._ This passage Jude does

not inappropriately quote, inasmuch as he is speaking of false

teachers, who are to come before the last day; and the conclusion is

thence to be drawn, that the Lord by his coming will overthrow the

Pope and his government; since there is no other help for it; for as

long as the world stands, there will be no (voluntary) ending or

reformation of it. The passage, moreover, cannot be understood of any

others, but of our clergy, who have shamefully led all the world

astray. Their system cannot be worse, and even though it were worse,

it must yet hold on to the name of Christ, and under the same

introduce all kinds of mischiefs. Thus he refers this passage to the

last judgment, and names those who shall suffer judgment. Whence we

infer what our young clerical gentlemen shall expect at the last day,

be the time long or short.

_And for all the hard speeches which Godless sinners have uttered

against Him._ There he at once strikes upon their life and preaching,

and would say this much:--They speak fiercely and harshly against the

Lord who is to come; they are shameless and proud; they deride and

revile him, as St. Peter has said. He speaks not of their sinful,

shameful life, but of their godless state. But the godless is he who

lives without faith, although he leads a passable life outwardly.

Outwardly wicked works are indeed the fruits of unbelief, but we

speak more particularly of that as a godless state, where the heart

is full of unbelief. These very godless ones the Lord will punish, he

says, because their preaching is shameless and presumptuous, for they

stick ever to their own wilfulness; do not permit themselves to be

swayed at all, and are as hard as an anvil, to condemn and revile

continually. Thus has Enoch struck in this passage at the very estate

which before the last day should be in the world, as we now see it

before our eyes. Jude says, further:

V. 16. _There are murmurers and complainers who walk after their own

lusts, and their mouth speaketh swelling words._ When men will not

let their own circumstances be fair and favorable, then there is

nothing but murmuring and complaining. So when one does not give a

Bishop the title he claims, then they cry out against disobedience.

Besides, they are such a class of people as we cannot guard against,

for they give out that they have a right over soul and body; they

have grasped in their own hands both the civil and spiritual sword,

so that they cannot be controlled, since no one must preach against

them; they have got rid of all tax, tribute, and rent, so that no one

dares to touch their wealth, besides, none dares preach a word

without first asking them about it. And even though one should attack

them with Scripture, yet they say that none but they only must be

suffered to explain Scripture. Thus they live in all respects as they

will, according to their lusts. For they cannot explain that to us,

as they would be glad to, since we have subjected ourselves both to

the Gospel and to the civil sword, but they would be free and

uncontrolled of both. And, moreover, their whole law and claim is

nothing but the fullness of mere high, proud, puffed-up words, which

have nothing to back them.

_And they hold themselves up for respect, for advantage sake._ This

is their way of judging all, according to the person; in all the

Pope's laws, through and through, you do not once find that a bishop

is to humble himself below a priest, or aim at anything, as the fruit

of a christian walk,--but all is merely of this sort: the curate is

to be subject to the priest, the priest subject to the bishop, the

bishop to the archbishop, but he to the patriarch, the patriarch to

the Pope, and after this, how each is to wear the robe, the tonsure

and the cowl, possess so many churches and benefices.

Thus they have reduced it all to an outward matter, and such is the

child's play and fool's work, they are driving at; and they have

accounted it gross sin, if any one does not hold to such views. So

that Jude says well, that they put a mask upon everything, and have

this only before their eyes. Thus no one knows anything of faith, of

love, nor of the Cross; whence the people generally are content to

eat and play the fool, and devote all their property in the manner

they do, as if to the true service of God; it is thus that they hold

themselves up to respect for advantage sake.

V. 17, 18. _But, my beloved, remember ye the words that were said

before by the Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, when they said to

you that in the last times there should come scoffers who should walk

after their own lusts, in a godless state._ This passage shows also

clearly, that this epistle is not by St. Jude the Apostle, for he

does not count nor reckon himself among the other Apostles, but

speaks of them as of those who preached long before him; so that it

is reasonable to suppose that another pious man wrote the epistle,

one who had read St. Peter's epistles and had drawn this from that

source. Who these scoffers are, we have said above: they walk,

moreover, after their own lusts,--not merely their fleshly lusts, but

those of that godless life which they lead, and they shape all as it

pleases them; they care neither for worldly authority, nor the word

of God; they are neither under external nor internal government,

whether divine or human; they float about between heaven and earth in

their lust, just as the devil leads them.

V. 19. _These are they who make sects, sensual, who have not the

Spirit._ There he has touched on what Peter speaks of, their secretly

bringing in of pestilent sects, for these are they that have

separated themselves; they divide the unity that is in faith, will

not let the ordinary estate of a Christian answer,--namely, that

wherein one serves another,--but they set up other estates, and

pretend to serve God by these. Besides they are sensual or brutish

men, who have no more understanding and spirit than an ox or an ass;

they walk according to their natural reason and fleshly mind. They

have no God's-word by which they judge themselves, or by which they

can live.

V. 20, 21. _But, ye beloved, build yourselves up on your most holy

faith, through the Holy Spirit, and pray, and keep yourselves in the

love of God._ There he defines, in few words, that in which a

thoroughly Christian life consists. Faith is laid for the foundation

on which we are to build; but to build is to grow from day to day in

the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ, and this takes place

through the working of the Holy Spirit. When we are thus built up, we

shall do no work to merit anything or to be saved by it, but all to

the service of our neighbor. Thus we are to watch, that we abide in

love, and not fall from it, like these fools who set up particular

works and a peculiar life, and so draw people away from love.

_And look for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life._

That is the hope, toward which the Holy Cross moves. Therefore should

our life be so shaped as to be nothing else than a steady longing and

waiting for that life to come; yet so that that waiting be grounded

on the mercy of Christ, so that we shall call upon Him with such an

understanding as that he is to help us from this to that life out of

pure mercy, and not for any work or merit of ours.

V. 22, 23. _And of these take pity, and distinguish them; but as to

those, save them and draw them out of the fire._ That is not well

expressed in Dutch, but Jude would say this much: on some take pity,

some save; that is, let your life be so shaped that it shall allow

you to have compassion on these who are wretched, blind and dumb;

have no joy or pleasure over them, but let them go, keep from them

and have nothing to do with them. But as to those others, whom ye can

draw forth, save them by fear,--deal kindly and gently with them, as

God has dealt with you; treat them not harshly or rudely, but feel

toward them as toward those that lie in the fire, whom you are to

draw forth and rescue with all care, consideration and diligence; if

they will not suffer themselves to be drawn out, we should let them

go and weep over them,--but not like the Pope and his inquisitors,

burn and destroy them by fire.

_And hate the garment spotted by the flesh._ We have indeed received

the Holy Spirit by faith, and have been made clean; but as long as we

live here, the old garment of our flesh and blood clings to us still

and will not relax its hold. This is the spotted garment that we

should lay off and draw away from as long as we live.

V. 24, 25. _Now unto Him that is able to keep you from stumbling, and

present you faultless before the presence of His glory with joy; to

God who alone is wise, our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion

and power, now and forever. Amen._ This is the close of this Epistle.

Thus the Apostles do when they have written, taught, admonished and

prophesied; thus they pray, express their wishes, and give thanks.

Thus we have seen in the Epistles both what is true christian and

false unchristian doctrine, as well as life.

PRINTED AT WITTEMBERG BY HANS LUFFT, 1524.