48. So many, therefore, daily in secret are the martyrs of Christ, who confess the Lord Jesus! This is known by the Apostle as a faithful testimony of Christ, who said: For this is our glory, the testimony of our conscience (II Cor. I, 12). How many have confessed outwardly and denied inwardly! For the sake of marrying a wife, which was denied by a pagan husband from Christian parents, many pretended for a time to have faith, were revealed to have confessed outwardly, and denied inwardly. We think that the Lord our God was only so severely angered for the sake of fornication, that twenty-three thousand were killed from the people, because they mixed in sexual relations with the women of the Midianite nation: and not because they were forced by them to apostatize from the faith, to deny the Lord.
Do not believe every spirit, he says, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. And this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming; and now it is already in the world. He is approved by man, but condemned by the judge. How much more tolerable it would have been for him to deny it to man, and confess it to God! Although this is also reprehensible; for a perfect confession seeks both the devotion of the soul and the profession of the voice. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation (Rom. X, 10).
Therefore, be faithful and strong in internal persecutions, so that you may also be approved in these external persecutions. And in the most intimate persecutions, there are kings and governors, terrible judges with power. You will give an example in the temptation of the Lord which he endured; all the kingdoms were shown to him, and it was said to him: I will give you all these if you fall down and worship me (Matthew IV, 9). Also, it is written elsewhere: Sin should not reign in your mortal body (Romans VI, 12). Do you see before whom you stand, O man, before whom the rulers of sins, if guilt reigns? How many sins, how many vices, so many kings. And before these we are led, and before these we stand. These rulers also have a tribunal in the minds of many; but if anyone confesses Christ, immediately he makes that king captive, he casts him down from the throne of his mind. For how can the tribunal of the devil remain in him to whom the tribunal of Christ arises?
51. Therefore, those who pursue and afflict me. And perhaps Christ says this, and he says it in the voices of individuals; for the adversary himself pursues us. If you turn away from the pursuer, you reject Christ, who allows himself to be tempted in order to overcome. Wherever the devil sees him, there he prepares snares, there he sets up machines of temptations, there he weaves plots; in order to exclude him if he can. But where the devil fights, there Christ assists. Where the devil besieges, there Christ is enclosed, there he defends the ramparts of spiritual walls. Therefore, whoever flees from the persecutor also rejects the defender. But when you hear: Many are persecuting and troubling me, do not be afraid, for you can say: If God is for us, who can be against us (Rom. VIII, 31)? However, this is said by the one who deviates from the testimonies of the Lord with no crookedness of vices.
Verse 52 (Version 158): The sixth verse follows: I saw those who did not keep the covenant, and I grew weak; because your words did not keep. Blessed is the man who weakens in the love of God; for he sees those who do not keep the covenant. Another person weakens because of vicious loves, who wastes away while delayed in his beloved's love: and while the effect of burning desire is prolonged, the mind fails, the strength of the body is diminished by a certain deformity of paleness, and the limbs grow weak from wasting. Another person who desires money, until he obtains it, wastes away with a miserly and wretched affection. Another person, impatient to pursue excessive honors, if he longs for prolonged desires, is consumed with a great decay of the mind. Not such a person who says: How far removed is my flesh in a deserted land, in a pathless place, and without water! (Psalm 62:2-3) For he was chastising his own flesh and causing it to waste away, while being intent on uninterrupted desire for divine contemplation and anticipating the light of day with eager expectation, he eagerly desired to offer the pre-dawn service to the Lord with songs and hymns.
53. Therefore, a peaceful man wastes away when he sees others breaking agreements, abolishing agreements, destroying harmony, repairing disputes about peace, and returning to chaos out of ingratitude. He certainly does not do this, who keeps the commandments of the Lord; he does not do this who hears the one saying: My peace I give to you, my peace I leave with you (John 14:27). Therefore, he who keeps the agreement, obeys the commands of Christ; but he who does not keep it, despises the commandments of Christ; and what is worse, he despises what has been discovered and neglects it.
54. (Verse 159.) The seventh verse follows: See that I have loved your precepts, O Lord: in your mercy, give me life. Here too, it invites the Lord to look upon the fulness of his charity. No one says, See, unless they judge themselves, if they appear, to be pleasing. And it says beautifully, See, and according to the Law it says; for the Law commands that each person should present themselves in the presence of the Lord three times a year (Exodus 23:17). Every day he offers himself holy, every day he appears, and he does not appear empty: for he is not empty, who has received from his fullness. David was not empty, who said: Our mouth is filled with joy (Ps. CXXV, 2); because joy is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. And just as we have all received from the fullness of the Word, as John said (John I, 16): so also the Holy Spirit has filled the whole world from his fullness. Zacharias was not empty, but was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied the coming of the Lord Jesus (Luke 1:67). Paul was not empty, but preached in abundance and was filled, receiving the fragrance of a pleasant offering from the Ephesians, pleasing to God (Ephesians 5:2). The Corinthians were not empty, but filled with the grace of God, according to the testimony of the Apostle (1 Corinthians 1:7).
55. Therefore, David offered himself daily to God, and he did not offer in vain, who could say: I have opened my mouth, and I have drawn in my spirit (Sup., v. 131). Therefore, he said: See that I have loved your commandments. Listen to where you should offer yourself to Christ. Not in those things that are seen, but in the hidden and concealed; so that your Father, who sees in secret, may reward you and give back your faithful affection. I have loved your commandments, he says. He did not say, 'I preserved'; he did not say, 'I kept'; for the foolish did not keep the commandments of the Lord. Some manuscripts have 'ἀσυνετοῦντας', that is, the unintelligent, the non-understanding ones. Therefore, those who do not understand, do not have wisdom; they do not keep. But the one who is perfect in understanding, perfect in wisdom, loves: which is more than keeping; for keeping is often of necessity and fear, but loving is of charity. The one who proclaims the Gospel is kept safe, but the one who willingly proclaims it receives a reward; how much more is the one who loves given a reward! For we can desire what we love; we cannot refuse what we love. But even though he expects the reward of perfect charity and seeks the support of divine mercy to live in it from the Lord, he is not an arrogant demander of the deserved reward, but a humble suppliant of divine mercy.
56. (Verse 160.) The eighth verse follows: The beginning of your words is truth: all the judgments of your justice are eternal. Since the beginning of God's words is truth, truth is surely the foundation of faith. First of all, we must believe that the things we read in the divine scriptures, the oracles, are true, the oracles of the highest God. Secondly, we must learn the power of those things through a fuller knowledge. For just as the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Psalm 110:9), and love is the fullness of wisdom, for wisdom is the law, and the fullness of the law is love, so the fullness of God's words is wisdom, and the knowledge of justice. For just as a certain progression comes from the fear of the Lord to the grace of charity, so it seems that a certain progression comes from truth to the judgment of divine justice.
57. You came to the Church: you heard that there is one God, from whom the Law begins, as it is written: Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is one (Deut. VI, 4): believe that there is one God, not multiple gods. But when you begin to read that the Lord Jesus, the Son of God, came in the flesh for the redemption of the whole world, skillfully distinguish that there is one God the Father, from whom all things, and we in Him: and one Lord Jesus, through whom all things, and we through Him. Know that he came for this reason, so that our emotions may be informed by the paths of virtue, so that we may learn the gentleness of his behavior as an example of good conduct, so that guilt may be eradicated through grace: and then you proceeded from confessing the truth to knowledge of justice. Faith is the beginning of the Christian, but righteousness is the fullness of the Christian. Faith is in the confession of peoples, righteousness is in the passion of martyrs.
Therefore, knowing that all judgments of God's justice will endure forever, let us be cautious not to displease God with our actions and let us begin to undergo eternal judgment. And let us not be deceived, even if we have done something good, that we will be exempt from judgment. We all must stand before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what he has done, whether good or evil (2 Corinthians 5:10). You see that even Paul will stand, as he himself recalls. Beware of wood, beware of straw; lest you bring with you to God's judgment what the fire will consume. Beware that when you have something that needs to be proven, do not put it off in the works of many where it may cause offense. If someone's work is burned, they will suffer loss; however, they can still be saved through the fire (1 Corinthians 3:15). From this it can be inferred that the same person is both saved in part and condemned in part. Therefore, knowing that there are many judgments, let us examine all our works. It is a serious loss for a righteous person, a serious fire for a certain work: for the wicked, it is a pitiful punishment. May all judgments be filled with grace, filled with flourishing garlands, lest perhaps while our actions are being weighed, fault may prevail.
Sermon 21. Schin.
The twenty-first letter begins, which in Latin is called 'On the wound.' What is 'On the wound' but a medicine by which the severity of a wound is mitigated? On the wound, oil is poured, so that all roughness of the wound is softened. On the wound, a plaster, on the wound a bandage, by which every wound is nurtured. Therefore, where there is hope of restoring health, there are remedies applied to wounds. But where every head is in pain, and every heart in melancholy, there is no wound, no scar, no wound with fervor (Isaiah 1:5-6): that is, where not a part, but the whole is in danger, and a certain corruption of the whole body is consumed with decay: there it is not to put on a plaster, or oil, or a bandage. Therefore, it is much more advantageous to have a wound that you can nurture and bind, than to have death creep inward without a wound.
But there is not only a wound of the body, but also of the mind, which is softened by a certain oil of gentler speech and the sweetness of peaceful conversation. There are remedies of words, there are medicines of heavenly teachings, by which every poison of wickedness is wiped away. There are the bonds of the law which do not burn, but rather free those who are bound: there is a spiritual balm, by which certain parts of the soul that have been crushed are made whole.
3. Therefore, let us consider what a wound is, what is above the wound. The leaders have persecuted me without cause, that is the wound. I rejoice in your words, like one who has found great spoils, that is above the wound; for with the words of the Lord, the harshness of the wound is healed.
In Lamentations also, you have written under this letter: You have heard their reproach, O Lord, all their schemes against me, the lips of those who rise up against me, and their meditations against me all day long, their sitting down and their rising up (Lam. 3:61-63), it is a wound. But he added: Look into their eyes: give them retribution, O Lord, according to the work of their hands (ibid., 64), it is an even greater wound; for vengeance often tends to mitigate the pain of a wound. And within the same [book], Jeremiah says: Rejoice and be glad, daughter of Edom, who dwells in Gath; and indeed, to you the cup shall pass: you shall drink and be even more intoxicated. (Lam. 4:21) It is upon the wound; for the cup of the Lord is the forgiveness of sins, in which blood is poured out, which redeemed the sins of the whole world. This cup has intoxicated the nations; so that they would not remember the pain of their own, but would forget the old error. Therefore, spiritual intoxication is a good thing, which knows how to disturb the forward motion of the body, and knows how to lighten the mark of the mind. Good intoxication of a salutary cup, which banishes the sadness of the sinner's conscience, infuses the joy of eternal life. Therefore, Scripture says: And how glorious is your intoxicating cup!
Therefore, the medicine is placed on the wound; because the Lord Jesus Himself is the physician, who healed our wounds, pouring wine and oil, and binding up the wounds of Adam, who, descending from Jerusalem, was wounded by robbers. Therefore, let each one beware that he does not descend from Jerusalem; for everyone descends by his own sins, and ascends by his own merits. Or because we are fragile; let him who descends hasten to that Samaritan, the guardian of his work, the guardian of the Law and of grace; so that he may find a remedy for his wound: let him place the binding of heavenly words upon the wound, saying: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has drawn near (Matthew 3:2). Good binding, which connects the bones of your soul and restores them to their former strength, and without any offense to itself, restores the torn limbs.
6. (Verse 161.) On the interpretation of letters, we think we have said enough: let us now consider the verses of the holy Prophet, which he has set forth by the revelation of the Holy Spirit: Princes have persecuted me without cause, and my heart is in awe of your words. If we turn to the ancient history, both Saul and Absalom, and many alien princes, persecuted the holy David: but none of them could triumph over him. There are also princes of this world, rulers of darkness, who try to oppress you in your own heart, and carry out cruel persecutions within, promising kingdoms of the earth, honors and riches, if you were to succumb with a fragile mind and consider it necessary to obey their commands. These princes sometimes pursue for free, sometimes not for free. They pursue for free the one with whom they find nothing of their own and they strive to subjugate him. They pursue not for free the one who has given himself to their power and has entered completely into the possession of the world. For they claim rightful dominion over their own and demand payment for their injustice from them.
7. The martyr declares this well, because he endures unjust persecutions and torments, without having seized anything, oppressed anyone with violence, shed anyone's blood, or considered violating anyone's bed: who owes nothing to the laws, and is forced to endure the more severe punishments of robbers: who speaks justly and is not listened to: who speaks words of salvation and is attacked, so that he can say: When I spoke to them, they attacked me without reason (Psalm 119, 7). Therefore he suffers persecution for nothing, who is attacked without crime: he is attacked as guilty, when he is praiseworthy in such a confession: he is attacked as a sorcerer, because he glories in the name of the Lord; when piety is the foundation of all virtues. Truly he is in vain attacked, who is brought to impious and unbelieving people for impiety, since he is the teacher of faith.
8. But the one who is attacked without cause must be brave and steadfast. So how did he include: And my heart trembled at your words? To tremble is a sign of weakness, fear, and dread, but it is also a weakness for salvation: it is also the fear of the saints. Fear the Lord, you his saints (Psalm 34:9); and: Blessed is the man who fears the Lord (Psalm 112:1). How is he blessed? Because he greatly desires his commandments. Place the martyr, therefore, amidst the dangers; when, from one side, the savageness of wild beasts roars to instill terror: from another place, the clangor of heated blades resounds and the flame of a burning furnace blazes forth; on one side, let the sound of heavy chains ring out; on the other, let the bloody executioner stand by: place, I say, one who is considering all these things, full of punishment, then pondering the divine commandments, that eternal fire, that endless burning of the wicked, that torment of the reviving punishment; let him tremble in heart, lest while he yields to present afflictions, he subject himself to eternal destruction; let him be disturbed in mind, while he contemplates with a certain sight of himself that terrible sword of the future judgment. Will you not match this trembling of confidence of a steadfast man? Into the same effect converges the confidence of one desiring eternal and divine things, and the one trembling. However, let him be stronger who hopes; let him be stronger who presumes.
9. Oh, may I deserve to be such; that if perchance a persecutor attacks, I may not consider the severity of my punishments; I will not measure the tortures, nor the penalties; I will not think of any atrocity of pain; but I will consider all these things as light: but I will tremble; lest Christ denies me, lest Christ excludes me, lest he casts me out from the council of priests, if he judges me unworthy of that assembly; let him rather see me moved by the terror of bodily punishments, but still trembling more for the future judgment. And if he says to me: O you of little faith, why did you doubt? (Matt. XIV, 31) He will still stretch out his hand and with the steadfastness of a faithful mind, he will calm the troubled waves of this world in their tumultuous mass.
10. (Verse 162.) Here follows the second verse: I rejoice in your words, like one who finds abundant spoils. Therefore, trembling is good from the words of God, if it brings about rejoicing; for whoever trembles at the words of God will later rejoice in the words of God. Therefore, whoever possesses in his palace, that is, in his heart, the words of God, excludes the words of princes from his heart; he excludes fear from fear. For if someone enters a bath, he removes the heat of the sun, and warmth excludes warmth; how much more does the terror of divine judgment exclude this human terror; the fervor of worldly grace, the fervor of eternal grace!
11. Therefore, he who has the word of God rejoices; for he has many spoils which he took from the Jews; he has the spoils of a fallen enemy (1 Samuel 17:51). Just as David took Goliath's sword and cut off his head with it, so too the true David, humble and gentle Lord Jesus, cut off the head of Goliath, which is the understanding, with his own weapons. For the weapons of the devil were the nations; but by faith the head that he had, he lost. The spoils are taken away from the defeated, his vessels are seized; because the strong one is bound. The vessel of the devil was the flesh of the sinner; but after we believed in Christ, our flesh began to be a vessel of election; as you have from the Apostle Paul, who was sent to the Gentiles, a saying from the Lord Jesus to Ananias: Go, for he is a chosen vessel for me (Acts 9:15). Therefore, he is rightly called by the name of Christ: Quickly remove the spoils, divide swiftly; because before the child knows how to call father or mother, he will receive the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria against the king of Assyria (Isaiah 8:3-4). So the king of the Assyrians, that is, those whom their own treachery had made vain, lost the spoils that he held. And so that you may know again, that Christ avenged the spoils that the devil had seized in Adam; and the men of Sabae, high men, passed over to the Lord Jesus bound with chains, and began to adore Him, because He led captive captivity. That is why he took His head; so that He Himself might be the head of the slain body. Now rightly the nations carry the royal head around the whole world; for they are the members of Christ.
12. You have known about the nations: know also about the Jews, whom the Lord Jesus has stripped of spoils; that is, He has taken away the kingdom of heaven from them, and has given it to the nation that produces its fruit. He has taken away the power of bread, and the power of water, the prophet, and the wonderful counselor, and the wise architect, and the wise listener (Isaiah I and following). He has taken them away from them, and given them to us. I rejoice deservedly... like one who finds many spoils. Without my effort, I found spoils that I didn't have. I found the Heptateuch, I found the books of the Kings, I found the writings of the prophets, I found Ezra, I found the Psalms, I found Proverbs, I found Ecclesiastes, I found the Song of Songs, I found the wonderful counselor Christ, I found the prudent architect Paul: I found the wise listener Christian people, who know how to hear the things that are read; for he truly hears who understands the things that he hears. The spiritual law is. The Jew does not hear it, who hears physically; but he hears who hears in spirit. They have books, but they do not have the understanding of the books. They have prophets, but they do not have the ones whom those prophets prophesied about. How then do they have whom they did not receive? Therefore, it appeared to me with Moses and Elijah; because it departed from them. He who has the Word of God has many spoils. He has resurrection, he has justice, power, and wisdom, he has everything; because in him all things endure. The Hebrews plundered the Egyptians and took their vessels (Exod. XII, 36): The Christian people have the spoils of the Jews, and we have everything that they did not know how to possess. They took material gold and silver, but we have received the gold of the mind, we have acquired the silver of heavenly discourse.
13. (Verse 163.) The third verse follows: I hated injustice, and I abhorred it; but I loved your law. It is fitting for one who possesses the weapons of justice to hate injustice. When the Hebrew possessed these weapons, that is, the Law and the prophets, he abhorred the dead mouse; for the Law says: Whoever touches a dead body... will be unclean (Num. XIX, 11); and he denied the highest acts of humanity to the dead. But one who is just is not dead to the law. This is the filth of the righteous, which is injustice. For what is more unclean than the mind, by which nothing more precious has been given to man, to defile with shameful crimes and to bring forth atrocious designs? What use is it to them that they fear to visit a dead man? I wish their life did not defile the approaching one, whose death cannot contaminate anyone! Death harms no one, I wish life does not harm! For the contagion of a foul partnership is the fellowship of injustice. How, therefore, can one become contaminated, who can no longer be unjust; since even if one was, it has already ceased? Therefore, flee from injustice, lest it apprehend you. Flee from unrighteousness, which makes the living into the dead.