unfathomable grace and mercy hath called us out of darkness unto his
marvelous light, and still daily lets his face shine upon us, that we
may know his way on the earth, and his salvation among the Gentiles.
Yea, blessed, praised, and glorified be God our most blessed Lord and
most merciful Father, who, through his unspeakable goodness, and not
through the merits of our works, has chosen us, through Jesus Christ,
to be his children, that we should be heirs of his eternal kingdom,
and inherit all things as true children and heirs of God; children of
God and joint heirs with Christ, if we do the will of God our heavenly
Father, that we may be glorified with him, and enter into his glory.
Tit. 3:5; 2 Tim. 1:9; Eph. 2:6; Rom. 8:17. For it is true what Christ
says: “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into
the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is
in heaven.” Matt. 7:21. Now it is the will of our heavenly Father, that
we deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Jesus Christ.
In the first place, we must deny ourselves; that is, we must forsake
our own will, and surrender ourselves wholly to Jesus Christ, so that
according, to the words of the apostle, we live no more unto ourselves,
but unto Jesus Christ, who died for us, that he may be Lord both of the
dead and living, and that no one shall live unto himself, but unto him
who died for him, and rose again. O Lord God, how few there are who are
willing thus to deny themselves, and desire only to do the will of God;
yea, how many do not yet know which is the true will of God, but hold
to the doctrine and commandments of the Roman Pope and antichrist, and
are in such a condition, that they do not know Jesus Christ. To these,
the Almighty God, according to the pleasure of his will, must open the
eyes of their understanding, with the radiance of his grace, that they
may emerge from this blindness into the true light, and know with all
the saints, what is the delusion and sorcery of the Babylonian whore
(Rev. 18:2), and that the teachings and commandments of Christ Jesus
alone are to be kept, yea, that we must follow and preserve only the
teachings and commandments of Christ Jesus, and that we may in no wise
live according to our own will, but are to consider that Christ Jesus
himself did not his own will, but the will of his Father, who sent
him; which was done and written for our admonition and instruction,
that we should not fulfill our own will, which, because of the innate
wickedness of our cursed nature, is prone to evil; but the acceptable
and perfect will of God, so that we may pray aright, as Christ has
taught us, saying: Heavenly Father, thy will be done in earth, as it
is in heaven. Matt. 6:9,10. How many there are who do not say this
with a good heart, but with false lips, even as Judas said to Christ:
“Hail, Master” (Matt. 26:49; Mark 14:45; Luke 22:47), at the same time
betraying him; so they say with the mouth, that God’s will is to be
done; while at the same time all their thoughts and works are contrary
to the will of God. These are those real false Christians who say to
Christ Jesus: “Lord, Lord,” and yet do not what he has commanded them.
These are the true Pharisees, the hypocritical saints, who honor God
with their lips, while their heart is far from him. These are the true
unbelievers of whom St. Paul says that with their words they profess
to know God, but in works deny him, so that they are abominable to
the Lord, because they are disobedient to him, and reprobate unto
every good work. Yea, these are the true hypocrites, the disciples of
deceitful Satan, who have learned from their master, to disguise their
inward craftiness, and outwardly to adorn themselves with a beautiful
appearance. Such hypocrites the Lord will forever curse and cast out,
and say to them: “Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity; I know you
not.” Matt. 7:23; Ps. 6:8. But he will bless the pious Christians and
bless and glorify the good and true disciples of Jesus Christ, who deny
themselves, and have surrendered themselves unto the will of God, which
is the true beginning of the Christian life, and without which life can
not be begun.
In the second place, we must take up our cross, namely prepare
ourselves for suffering, according to the teaching of Jesus Syrach,
who says: “My son, if thou come to serve the Lord, prepare thy soul
for temptation. Set thy heart aright, and constantly endure, and make
not haste in time of trouble. Cleave unto him, and depart not away,
that thou mayest be increased at thy last end. Whatsoever is brought
upon thee, take cheerfully, and be patient when thou art changed to a
low estate. For gold is tried in the fire, and acceptable men in the
furnace of adversity.” Sir. 2:1–5; Wis. 3:6. With this accords also
what Paul says: “All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer
persecution.” 2 Tim. 3:12. Yea Christ himself says to his apostles: “Ye
shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake.” Mark 13:13. From all
these words it must incontrovertibly follow, that all servants of God,
all godly men, all disciples of Jesus Christ, must suffer persecution
for his name’s sake; and be tried through manifold temptations.
Therefore it is an awful blindness, that men boast of the Gospel and
Christianity, and know what belongs to a Christian life, but, alas!
they have the least thought of suffering anything for the name of
Christ Jesus; yea, though they know and confess that all the works
which take place in papal desolation are evil, and nothing but
blasphemy against God, yet have they fellowship therewith, and commit
the most shameful idolatry, in order that they may avoid and escape the
cross,--in which cross all pious Christians may glory (Gal. 6:14)--and
still they want to be considered good Christians. O what wicked
servants! O what wicked disciples! Wicked servants we say, because they
would be above their Lord Jesus Christ; wicked disciples we say, since
they reject and contemn the doctrine of their Master Jesus Christ. O
people, people, mockers of the living God! who think to deceive God
with your dissimulation, and to pay him with words, unmindful of the
words of Paul, namely: that the kingdom of God is not in word, but in
power! 1 Cor. 4:20. O people true hypocrites! who fancy that they serve
Christ, but how far are they from glorying with Paul, the pious and
faithful minister of Christ, only in the cross of Christ! Gal. 6:14.
O miserable people, who would rather now live for a little season in
peace and voluptuousness with the Babylonian whore, and afterwards be
tormented with her in everlasting pain, than suffer with Christ Jesus
for a little while, and thus enter into eternal glory!
Ah! the true saints and servants of God did differently; they would
rather suffer death, than transgress the commandment of God. Pious
Joseph would rather go to prison; yea, into death, than offend the Lord
his God, and commit adultery with the adulterous woman. Gen. 39:8.
Moses, the ardent and jealous lover of God, through his faith, chose
rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to live in
carnal and worldly lusts with the Egyptians; esteeming the reproach
of Christ greater riches than all the treasures of Egypt; for he had
respect unto the recompense of the reward. Ex. 2:11; Heb. 11:25.
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego feared God the Lord more than all the
torments of the tyrannous King, and would rather die a temporal death,
and adhere to their God, than deny him. Dan. 3:16. Daniel who was rich
in spirit and strong in faith, did not shrink from the den of lions, in
which he would rather be cast, than worship any strange God. Dan. 6.
The pious Tobit would rather transgress the commandment of the King at
the peril of his life, than to forsake God his Lord; wherefore he also
commanded his son, to fear God all his life, and never to let his will
be set to sin, or to transgress the commandments of God his Lord. Tobit
1:18; 4:5. Eleazar, the pious Israelite would rather die for the law of
God, than act contrary to it; yea, than to dissimulate once, and thus
cause offense in Israel. The mother and her seven sons were so ardent
in the love of God, that they were not afraid of all the tyranny of the
wicked King, nor would they act contrary to the law of God, but much
rather suffer a severe death for it. 2 Mac. 7. Yea, how many saints
and witnesses of Jesus Christ are still hated, persecuted and slain by
the Babylonian whore, because they will not drink of the wine of her
fornication, or have fellowship with her idolatrous works.
Therefore all hypocritical saints, all wicked hypocrites, who boast of
being called Christians, yet will not suffer for the name of Christ,
may well be ashamed. Christ may justly say to them: If I be your Lord,
why do you not keep my commandments? if I be your Master, why do you
not hear and believe my words? Mal. 1:6; Luke 6:46. Well then, let
all hypocrites, and falsely prudent, unfaithful servants, and falsely
wise disciples of Jesus Christ, depart from their Lord and Master, we
nevertheless, through the grace of God, intend to adhere to Christ,
and are ready to suffer for his sake, even as he suffered for our
sakes. But he suffered as Lord, and we as disciples; hence we servants
and disciples must not bear the cross reluctantly seeing our Lord and
Master himself bore it.
In the third place, we must follow Jesus, but not as did many Jews, who
followed him, because they had eaten of the loaves; which, alas! many
false Christians still do, who join the Christian church, not because
they truly seek Christ Jesus, not because they love the truth, but that
they may be aided and fed by the Christian church (whom they perceive
to be the most charitable). But to follow Christ in this manner is
nothing but a mockery of God, and Christ will not have such followers,
as we may clearly understand from the case of the scribe whom Christ
condemned, because he wanted to follow him from covetousness; for the
Lord beheld the heart of the scribe, and therefore did not answer him
according to his words, but according to his thoughts, saying: “The
foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of
man hath not where to lay his head.” Matt. 8:20; Luke 9:58. Just as
if Jesus had intended to say: If you will follow me, follow me in the
manner in which I go before you. For Christ well knew his intention,
namely, that he wanted to follow him for gain, and thought that Christ
should give him power to perform wonderful signs and miracles, as he
had given to his apostles, by which he might have sought gain. But such
designs are not good, and cannot succeed; for the Lord himself was poor
(Zech. 9:9), as he declares: If I the Lord and Master am poor, it is
evident that my servants are poor, and that my disciples do not seek or
desire riches. As though the good Lord had meant to say: He that would
follow me, must follow me in the poverty in which I walk before him.
But, alas! many people at the present day think that gain is godliness,
as Paul says (1 Tim. 6:5), and, under the semblance of the Gospel and
the Christian name, seek their own profit. O what perverted men! who
will not go in the right way, but follow the way of the traitor and
thief Judas, who loved the wages of unrighteousness, when he received
the awful punishment of his wickedness, as every one knows. Matt. 27:6;
Mark 14:18; John 12:4. O what blinded men, who can not take to heart
that Ananias and Sapphira were put to such great shame, and punished,
for their equivocation, by which the Almighty Lord God has undoubtedly
given us an example, that all hypocritical and double minded men shall
be thus put to shame and punished; as we find in Jesus Sirach: Woe unto
those that are of a double heart, to those of wicked lips that enter
the land by two ways. Therefore the wise man also teaches us, that our
hearts should be without any deceit and dissimulation, saying: “Be not
obstinate, and distrust not the fear of the Lord ... and come not unto
him with a double heart. Be not a hypocrite in the sight of men, and
take good heed what thou speakest. Exalt not thyself, lest thou fall,
and bring dishonor upon thy soul, and so God discover thy secrets, and
cast thee down in the midst of the congregation, because thou camest
not in truth to the fear of the Lord, but thy heart is full of deceit.”
Sir. 1:28–30.
O that all hypocrites would earnestly consider the words of Jesus
Sirach, and reform, before they be confounded and punished by God,
which shall be done to all the double minded, if not now, yet in the
day of judgment, when the ungodly shall not stand, nor sinners remain
in the congregation of the righteous. Ps. 1:5. Then Christ will bring
to light what is now in darkness, and make manifest the counsels of
the hearts; yea, he will take the fan into his hand, and purge his
floor, and gather the wheat into the garner, but the chaff will he burn
up with unquenchable fire. Matt. 3:12; Luke 3:17. Hence, let every
one beware of hypocrisy, and let him truly follow Christ Jesus, as is
proper, not with the Jews, for the sake of the loaves, nor with the
scribe, from covetousness. But, O ye Christians, follow Christ, your
Lord and Master with a pure heart, a clean conscience, unfeigned faith,
and ardent love, without turning to the right or to the left. But those
who follow Christ Jesus differently, are among good Christians what
chaff is among the wheat, and their end will be everlasting fire, from
which the Almighty Father preserve us through Jesus Christ.
Moreover, we must, from ardent love, follow Jesus Christ even unto
the end, and not do as did some of his disciples, who forsook him,
and became offended at his words, saying: “This is a hard saying; who
can hear it?” John 6:60. O how many are unwilling to hear the divine
words of our Lord Jesus Christ, yea, rave, when told that Christ Jesus
promises tribulation and suffering to all his servants and disciples.
From a stony heart and an embittered mind they say: Must one always
suffer? Must one always be persecuted? This is a hard saying; who
can hear it? O God, how is the sweet honey changed into gall, and
the clear wine into bitter water! Alas! how have they come to loathe
that precious, heavenly bread, and how has the eternal medicine, by
which every soul must be healed, become a deadly poison to them! And
how do men who will not believe the word of God, nor receive the holy
doctrine of our Lord Jesus Christ, contemn the comforting Gospel,
which has been sent us from heaven through the Holy Ghost, and sealed
by Christ with his own precious blood; but if a lying prophet comes,
a messenger prophesying of temporal peace and happiness, though it
never comes to pass, he is heard, while the good Lord Jesus Christ,
who has promised us the eternal peace of his heavenly kingdom, can not
obtain a hearing; so that it is as Christ said to the Pharisees: “I
am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall
come in his own name, him ye will receive.” John 5:43. Yea, many now
do as did the rebellious and unbelieving Israelites, who forsook God
the Lord, who had delivered them out of Egypt, and desired other gods
for leaders and protectors. Num. 14:2; Ex. 32:1; Acts 7:39. Thus also
now many Christians forsake Jesus, who has freed them from the power
and tyranny of Satan, and delivered them from the jaws of the lions,
who devoured them, yea, had hastened with them in the way to eternal
damnation, utterly to destroy them.--Then Christ delivered them, and
placed them again in the way of eternal salvation. John 1:29. Many
now forsake the good Shepherd, who spared not his life for our sakes,
but delivered it unto death, because of the great love which he had to
us; and trust in men, of whom the prophet says that their assistance
availeth not, and they cannot help; for their breath must go forth and
return to the earth, and the thoughts of all them that put their trust
in men and follow false prophets, who delight in unrighteousness shall
perish. Hence all pious Christians must follow no other than Christ
Jesus, who, as Peter says, suffered for us, leaving us an example, that
we should follow his steps, 1 Peter 2:21. The same is declared also by
Paul, with these words: “Let us lay aside all guile and hypocrisy, and
the besetting sin, and let us run with patience the race that is set
before us, looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith; who
for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the
shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Heb.
12:1,2; Mark 16:19. In these words of the apostles we may perceive,
that we are to follow Jesus Christ, and look to him as the Captain of
the faith, the Bishop and Shepherd of our souls, yea, the good Lord and
Master, who has given an example to all his servants and disciples,
that they must suffer even as he suffered. Heb. 2:10; John 10:11; 1
Peter 2:25. But, O God, how much Christ had to suffer! he who was Lord
of heaven and earth became so poor for our sakes, that he had not where
to rest or lay his head: when he was in the form of God, he humbled
himself, and took upon him the form of a servant (Phil. 2:6,7; John
13:5), that he might serve us, and gave his life for our redemption;
yea, though he was the eternal wisdom of the Father, who upholds all
things by the word of his power, he had nevertheless to hear the
Pharisees call him a flatterer and deceiver of the people, a sinner,
yea, a demoniac and madman, and many other abominable blasphemies,
reproaches and mockeries; in short, though he was the only begotten Son
of God, the Almighty Father, yet he was counted a malefactor, and had
to die the most bitter death, so that Isaiah could well say of him: “He
hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no
beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men;
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our
faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he
hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him
stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our
transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities.” Is. 53:2–5. Hence
he could justly say: “I restored that which I took not away. For, for
my friends’ sake I have suffered pain; shame hath covered my face. I
am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother’s
children. And I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and
for comforters, but I found none. They gave me also gall for my meat;
and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. All they that see me,
laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head. They
gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and roaring lion. I am
poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart
is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is
dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou
hast brought me into the dust of death. For dogs have compassed me:
the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me: they pierced my hands
and my feet. I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.
They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.” Ps.
69:4,7,8,20,21; 22:7,13–18; Matthew 27:34; Matt. 15:23; John 19:23.
Yea, as he says through the prophet: “I am a worm, and no man; a
reproach of men, and despised of the people.” Ps. 22:6. Yea, my beloved
brethren, God the heavenly Father laid the chastisement of our peace
upon him; for by his stripes we are healed. All we went astray, as
sheep that have no shepherd; we have turned every one to his own way;
but the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all. “He was oppressed, and
he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb
to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he
opened not his mouth.” 1 Peter 2:24,25; Isaiah 53:5–7; Acts 8:32.
Are you pious Christians? Then consider what Christ Jesus suffered
for us poor sinners; the Lord for his servants, the Master for his
disciples, the Shepherd for his sheep, yea, God for men. 1 Peter
4:1; John 10:11; Ezek. 34:23. O deep humility of the Master, that
he would serve his disciples, and give himself unto death for them!
John 13:5. O great grace of the Lord, that he would suffer so much
for his servants! O infinite righteousness of the Shepherd, who would
give his life for his sheep! John 10:11; 17:9. O unspeakable love of
God to us poor mortals, that he would redeem us by his own precious
blood! This every Christian should at all times remember, and feel
grateful to Jesus Christ for these benefits, not only with words but
also with works. But, alas! some have gone so far, that they can indeed
talk of Christ, that he suffered and atoned for us, and are desirous
also of partaking of the redemption purchased for us with the blood
of Christ; but they never once think of suffering with Christ Jesus,
though they nevertheless hope to be glorified with him. But it is a
faithful saying, says Paul, that if we are dead with Christ, we shall
also live with him; if we suffer with him, we shall also rejoice with
him forever; if we deny him, he also will deny us. 2 Tim. 2:11,12; Rom.
6:23; Luke 12:9. Let all apostate Christians, who return to the Roman
Babylon, from which they had separated, and make friendship with the
whore whom they had hated bear this in mind. What shall we say to such
unstable persons? How can men who once knew the truth be so blinded
as to depart from Christ Jesus their only Savior, and return to the
infamous accursed whore of Babylon, the mother of all unrighteousness,
and queen of all the children of unbelief and cursing, who has become
their comfort and protection, yea, their idol. Woe unto such perverse
men, who depart from righteousness, from light to darkness, from life
to death, and go from Jesus Christ to antichrist, seeking consolation
from Satan, and not in God. Woe unto such fearful ones, who fear those
who can kill only the body, more than God, the Almighty Lord, who can
cast both body and soul into eternal damnation. Revelation 21:8; Matt.
10:28; Luke 12:4,5. Woe unto such, that they were ever born unless they
remarkably amend their ways and go out of Babylon; for the Scripture
says not in vain: “Go ye out of the midst of Babylon, my people, and
touch not the unclean thing, that ye be not partakers of her plagues,
or sins.” Is. 52:11; 2 Cor. 6:17; Revelation 18:4. These are the clear
words of the Lord; Who can blot them out? Who can endure the stings of
a guilty conscience? Let him begin as he may, he will find it a hard
undertaking, and shall not be successful in it. Acts 9:5; 5:5.
Here also no excuse will avail, as is clearly shown in the parable of
the wicked servant, who, out of fear, had buried his Lord’s pound into
the earth, but was not heard when he wanted to excuse himself to his
lord. Matt. 25:26; Luke 19:22. By this wicked servant we understand
all the fearful, who are not fruitful in the knowledge of our Lord
Jesus Christ, and relish and seek all earthly things more than heavenly
things. They may excuse themselves as ever they will, their excuse
shall not avail, but eternal damnation will be their recompense; for
every tree which does not bring forth good fruit, shall be hewn down,
and cast into the fire. There must be fruits; leaves alone will not
avail. Matt. 21:19. Christ is our example; he practiced and taught.
He taught his disciples to suffer and endure, for he himself suffered
and endured; hence Paul teaches us to look unto Christ Jesus, saying:
“Consider him (Christ Jesus), ye Christians, that endured such
contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied, and faint
in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against
sin. And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as
unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord,
nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: for whom the Lord loveth he
chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure
chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom
the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof
all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we
have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them
reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of
spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after
their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers
of his holiness.” Heb. 12:3–10; Prov. 3:11; Revelation 3:19.