In the Place of aConclusion: APrayer in Time of Sickness

Preface

To my most venerable and renowned friends, surpassing all in piety, erudition, and reputation; lord and master Johann Schroeder, outstanding theologian, most worthy bishop of the church of Nuremberg; lord Martin Gnüge and most worthy lord Johann Aldenburg, court preachers at Saxe-Coburg; most faithful lords and colleagues of the church at Coburg; all especially held as friends and brothers in Christ Himself.

My very venerable and renowned friends, colleagues, and brothers in Christ whom I dearly regard, if you would permit me to apply that definition of Platonic philosophy, namely, that it is the contemplation of death, to the true divine wisdom of Christianity, I would not, in my opinion, go against the truth, seeing that its beginning and end consists of a contemplation of death.1 By the word death, I understand both Christ’s death and our own. Indeed, the death of Christ and His suffering is the essence of Christianity, which is why the Apostle Paul resolved to know nothing among the Corinthians but Christ crucified and dead (1 Cor 2:2).2 By Christ’s death our sins have been expiated, Satan’s power destroyed, the New Covenant confirmed, and the fears we associate with our own death lessened. Contemplation of the death of Christ, therefore, ought never to recede from our memory. Nor should our own death be forgotten at any time during our own life. As death awaits us every day, let us likewise expect it every day. As Jerome says, “He who daily remembers that he will die is one who easily despises all worldly things.”3 Indeed, he, who prepares himself for a happy death by a true and serious conversion, labors after sincere godliness, patiently endures adversity, and with heartfelt feeling burns with an ardent desire for eternal life. Moses prays, Teach us, O Lord, to number our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom (Ps 90:12). A great part, therefore, of Christian wisdom consists of the constant contemplation of death.

It is in the interest of our eternal salvation that we should take time to study something that, properly speaking, we shall make use of only once. It is appointed for all to die; but to die with piety, to die in Christ, to die happily is not for everyone. Therefore, the soul must be prepared for that blessed ability to die well and must be armed with the shield of the Word and prayer. For if, at any time, our clever enemy conspires against our salvation and tries to rob us of it with all his might, it will certainly be at the last hour of our life. It is for this reason that some of the ancients say that the infernal serpent bites the heel, for he knows that if he is overcome by us in that final conflict all is well on our part; it will be our eternal disgrace and doom, however, if the balance of our life, like a play, is well acted in parts, but in that final climatic moment, we conduct ourselves in a dishonorable and cowardly manner. For this reason, he assaults our heart with various trials, as with battering rams, in times of sickness and in our struggle with death; for this reason, he throws those flaming darts at us with all his might; and for this reason we feel so deeply that horror and suffocating anxiety as we approach the gates of death. Blessed is the one who prevails at this point. Blessed is the one who remains faithful unto death for he shall be a partaker of all the good things promised in the book of Revelation to the resolute soldiers of Christ.

What is life? It is death, for into death our old age slowly gives way,

and though in that moment life and death appear conjoined,yet Christ is our Captain and door of Life,

who renders dead our death by His very own.The one whose hope reclines in Him alone

will be free from the wound of eternal death.Though this hope of ours be pressed by many a storm,

when the struggle of life touches the threshold of death,the work and task is this—to win that final battle,

lest life should fail us on the threshold of Life.

Since I not long ago published An Explanation of the History of the Suffering and Death of Christ in an effort to encourage the minds of the godly with a proper meditation of Christ’s death, I thought it would be of some value if I also offered them a meditation on our own death.4 It is for this purpose that I have written this Handbook of Consolations for the Fears and Trials of Death That Oppress Us in the Struggle with Death. Yet this Handbook is also for my own private use as I too bear a sickly body and frail vessel. Moreover, death recently made a very grievous visit to my house, and there are many other reasons why I should fear that my own life will not be long.5 Therefore, it is an appropriate time for me to strengthen and prepare my soul for that final contest. Since I am surrounded by so many domestic evils, I devoted a few days to the pious contemplation of this little book, and when I saw that my meditations could perhaps be of some value to others, I did not oppose making them available to the public.

It is proper, however, that I should state at the beginning of this treatise that I have written not for the complacent, the unrepentant, and the hard of heart, but for those with a contrite, broken, and troubled conscience. Exhortations to true piety belong elsewhere. This work is devoted exclusively to consolations for death and for the trials of death. Therefore, if anyone desires to receive the oil of consolation, let him bring the vessel of a contrite heart. Indeed what comfort can be offered to those who are not yet contrite or despondent?

To you whom I particularly esteem as my very venerable and renowned friends, colleagues, and brothers in Christ do I desire to dedicate this Handbook in order to offer a public testimony of our very close friendship and brotherhood, which we have each cherished to this day. Know that I regard you all as especially dear in this world and have witnessed the abundance of your piety, kindness, faithfulness, and many other virtues in the course of our conversations during the past five years. Since you yourselves also carry about you a body subject to disease, the reminder of death will daily be before your minds. Although your faith does not need these encouragements, which I have collected in this little book for the use of others and myself, I nevertheless think that your reading of this Handbook will not prove unprofitable to you; especially since it proceeds from a friendly and sincere mind. May the Lord Jesus everywhere bless us and the labors of our ministry by His grace and Spirit. Dated at Coburg on the first of May 1611.

Most Fondly,

Johann Gerhard, Doctor

1

The Forerunner of Death

Tempted. I am oppressed with a sickness, the forerunner and precursor of death, and have received the sentence of death on myself (2 Cor 1:9). I see I must relinquish this life, though nothing is more pleasant to me; I must leave this world, though nothing is more splendid to me; and I must abandon the residence of my body, though nothing is more dear to me.

Comforter. Not for this miserable and momentary life but for a blessed and eternal life were you created by God. For this reason, God formed the first parent of our race without corruption for immortality (Wis 2:23). Not for this transient and toilsome life but for that everlasting and most felicitous one which we await in heaven were you redeemed by Christ. Indeed, the saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners (1 Tim 1:15). Not for a very brief use of this world’s light but that you might pass from the Kingdom of Grace to the Kingdom of Glory, from the Church Militant to the Church Triumphant, from a valley of tears to a field of joy, were you called by the Holy Spirit through the Word to the Kingdom of Christ. Indeed, if in this life only we have believed and hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied (1 Cor 15:19). Therefore, know that you must pass through the door of death to that life for which you were created by the Father, redeemed by the Son, and sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Reject not, I ask you, the benevolent council of God (Luke 7:30) but readily obey and submit to God who calls you.

2

The Three Prongs of Death

Tempted. The thought of death frightens me. The terrible appearance of that enemy disturbs my mind. It shows me its sting, which is sin. It threatens me with its cruel three prongs as it casts before my eyes and heart the wrath of God, the accusation of the Law, and the wickedness of my sins. The wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23), and by my sin death has entered me, as it has the whole world.

Comforter. I urge you with all sincerity that when you are truly contrite in your inmost heart for the sins you have committed, look to Him, who died for you on the altar of the Cross. He did this so that you would not be subject to eternal death. Turn your eyes from the outward appearance of death and place them on Christ who by His death has destroyed him who had the power of death, that is, the devil; And has delivered us who, through fear of death, were all our lifetime subject to bondage (Heb 2:14–15). He is the death of our death (Hos 13:14); He is the sting to the Hell we deserved; He is the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Him, though he die, shall live; and everyone who lives and believes in Him shall never die (John 11:25–26). So that as in Adam—that is, because of the sin in us derived from Adam and because of our own actual sins added to this—we are all liable to death and eventually forced to die. Despite this, in Christ, the Captain of Life and Victor of Death, we are all made alive through faith. Our Captain of Life confirms this by a solemn and serious oath: Truly, truly I say to you, he that hears My word and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and shall not come into judgment but shall pass from death to life (John 5:24). And again, Truly, Truly I say to you, if any one keeps My word, he shall never see death (John 8:51). Therefore believe in Christ, who is the Truth (John 14:6); believe Him promising, believe Him swearing, Heaven and Earth shall pass away, but the words of Christ shall not pass away (Luke 21:33).

3

The Anguish of Sin

Tempted. The recollection of my sins burdens my soul. Not only was I conceived and born in sin (Ps 51:5) but also have I added a great many and terrible sins throughout my life to the total of this original and inherited debt. How, therefore, can I hope God will be merciful to me when I have so often offended Him? How shall I find any comfort in death when I know that death is the due reward for my sins and the beginning of a second and eternal death for those who are not reconciled to God?

Comforter. Look to Christ hanging on the altar of the Cross and pouring out His precious blood for your sins (1 John 1:7). The blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, cleanses you from all sin: He is the propitiation for your sins and for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2). For He did not come into the world to be ministered to but to minister and to give His life as a ransom and price for the sins of many (Matt 20:28). And lest any doubt arise or remain for you in this matter, from heaven, the throne of Truth, that most sweet and consoling name of Jesus, was brought by an angel, the spirit of Truth, proclaiming to us before He was conceived that He is our Mediator.

Indeed, is Jesus anything other than a Savior? It is for this reason that He was given the name of Christ because He saves His people from their sins (Matt 1:21). This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29). This is Jesus Christ who came into the world to save sinners (1 Tim 1:15). This is the High Priest of the New Testament, who has given Himself up for our sins as a sweet smelling offering and sacrifice to God (Eph 5:2). It was Christ who shed His own blood for the remission of sins (Matt 26:28), who bore our sins in His own body on the Cross (1 Pet 2:24), who was wounded for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities (Isa 53:5). The Lord laid on Him, as a stream made to rush headlong onto Him, the sins of us all. God made Him who knew no sin to become sin for us (2 Cor 5:21). That is, He imputed to Him our sins. He placed on Him the punishment of our sins. He made Him a sacrifice for our sins. Nor did Christ oppose this counsel and decree of the heavenly Father but carried out His will with the readiest mind imaginable. He gave Himself for our sins (Gal 1:4). He loved us and gave Himself for us (Gal 2:20). There is a certain Baptism I wish to be baptized with, he said, and how great is My distress until it be accomplished (Luke 12:50). This was the Baptism of His Cross and distress in which our most kind Savior was wholly immersed for no other reason than His immeasurable and ineffable love toward us. It was this that so distressed Him.

No matter how great the outward pain in His suffering, nevertheless, you must know that His inward love for us was greater and more ardent. Indeed, He was prepared to suffer more for our sins if the price He paid for our redemption did not seem sufficient. But we should not doubt the sufficiency of that price, a redemption that is absolutely complete with Him. As Bernard says, “for not a drop but a stream of blood flowed abundantly from the five wounds of His body.”6 Indeed, Christ called out that all things were finished on the Cross and by the Cross. Therefore He made through Himself a full and perfect purification for our sins (Heb 1:3) and by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified (Heb 10:14). By His blood He cleanses us from our sins (1 John 1:7). Therefore, believe such plain, clear, and carefully expressed words of the Holy Spirit and firmly know that the suffering and death of Christ made a complete and sufficient satisfaction for your sins.

4

The Remembrance of Actual Sins

Tempted. Maybe Christ took upon Himself only original sin, so that I myself must either make satisfaction for my actual sins or burn in hell. Although I firmly believe that Christ has made atonement for original guilt, nevertheless, those actual sins, which I have committed so many times throughout the course of my life, distress and overwhelm me greatly. Their weight is so heavy and their merit so damnable. Adam is opposed to Christ (Rom 5:18); therefore, the benefit of Christ will not extend beyond the guilt passed on to us from Adam. Another’s fault may be corrected by another’s satisfaction but one’s own fault requires his own satisfaction.

Comforter. Absolutely not! The blood of Jesus Christ, the very Son of God, cleanses you thoroughly and completely from all sins (1 John 1:7). Not only those that you inherit from Adam but also those that you have added yourself. God put forward Christ as a propitiation by His blood to be received by faith (Rom 3:25). Let us approach Him with a true faith and, obtaining the remission of sins, be reconciled to God as often as the weight and burden of our sins oppresses us. Let us with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Heb 4:16). And what sort of redemption or reconciliation would this be if Christ made satisfaction for only one kind of sin? Would we not be bound and under obligation to make satisfaction for all the rest which are greater and more numerous? Christ’s redemption is not so weak, imperfect, and incomplete. But offering one sacrifice for sins (Heb 10:12), by that one sacrifice He has perfected them forever who are sanctified (Heb 10:14), and He has obtained such remission of sins that no more offering for sin is necessary (Heb 10:18). If anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: He is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:1–2).

Therefore, when we fall into sin through the weakness of our flesh and we heartily repent, we have an established refuge in Christ’s intercession. The foundation of that intercession consists in Christ’s merit and satisfaction. Indeed, there can be no doubt that the intercession of Christ for us is effective because He Himself made a complete and perfect satisfaction for our sins. From the moment of His crucifixion and for all eternity the force of divine justice and the severe judgment against our sins falls not on us because Christ covers our sins with His cloak of mercy, obtained and paid by the price of His redemption. Therefore, let this be firmly fixed in your mind: Christ has purged, abolished, and extinguished by His death and one true sacrifice whatever sins the principalities and powers might justly hold against us for punishment.7 Therefore in Him and by Him we obtain the remission not only of original sin but also of all the other sins we have added.8 He gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from all iniquity (Titus 2:14). Since He is an infinitely great person who has made satisfaction for us, shall not His suffering be of infinite merit? What is so deadly that could not be healed by the death of the Son of God who is Life Himself? What is so bloody and defiled that could not be cleansed by the precious blood of the Son of God?

5

Doubt Concerning the Application of the Benefits of Christ

Tempted. But how is it possible that I can be a partaker of that most precious treasure? Although it is true that Christ died for all, the fruit of Christ’s death is not reckoned to all. How, then, can I be certain that the benefits of Christ extend to me as well? How can I be sure and know most truly and certainly that I am a partaker of all those things that Christ by His passion and death has merited for us?

Comforter. God offers to you the Word of the Gospel and in it all the benefits of His Son. He stretches forth His hand all day long (Isa 65:2). He calls all and invites all. Therefore He also calls, invites, and gently draws you. What God offers to you with His hand of mercy, you should clasp with the hand of a steady faith. Bernard puts it this way, “As far as you step forth with trust into the good things of the Lord, so far shall you possess them.”9 And, again, he says, “God puts the oil of His mercy in no other place than in the vessel of faith.”10 You shall possess many good things of the Lord when you gather by the vessel of faith. For faith clings to Christ, and in Christ there is a merciful God, the remission of sins, and eternal life. Hear these words of eternal and immovable truth as they tell about these things: God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son that whoever believes in Him may not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). He that believes in Him is not condemned but has eternal life (John 3:18); for to as many as received Him, who believed in His name, He gave power to become the sons of God (John 1:12).

This sonship or adoption lays hold of all things that are necessary for our eternal salvation. If we are sons of God, then we are born from God. Indeed, as sons of God, we have not a carnal generation but a spiritual regeneration.11 If we are sons of God, then God is merciful to us. Is it not true that a father is merciful to his children (Ps 103:13)? If we are sons of God, then He has given His Spirit to us. The Apostle says, Those who are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For you have not received the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear; but you have received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ (Rom 8:14–15). And again: Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ (Gal 4:6). Finally, if we are the sons of God, then heirs, heirs of God, and co-heirs with Christ (Rom 8:17).

Since you are not a true son if you have no inheritance, know that all of these benefits, which are so precious, so abundant, and so diverse, come to us in Christ and by Christ, who dwells in our hearts (Eph 3:17) and who is born in us spiritually by faith, which the Scriptures so often declare and commend to us. As Christ Himself says, Truly, truly I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has eternal life and comes not into judgment but passes from death to life (John 5:24). He who believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whosoever lives and believes in me, shall never die (John 11:25–26). He who believes in Me, out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water (John 7:38), which our Savior said about the Spirit, which those who believed in Him were to receive (John 7:39). Whoever believes in me, remains not in darkness (John 12:46), which is to say, remains not in the darkness of ignorance, the darkness of sin, or the darkness of eternal death, but by the light of faith is brought to the light of saving knowledge, to the light of true righteousness, and to the light of eternal life. Moreover, the Apostle expressly testifies that all things recorded in the books of the Gospels concerning the words, deeds, and sufferings of Christ were written that we might have life through His name (John 20:31). That God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life (1 John 5:11–12). Thereupon, we know that we have eternal life because we believe in the name of the Son of God (1 John 5:13).

Not only the Apostles and Evangelists but also all the Prophets bear witness to Christ, that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name (Acts 10:43). Therefore, what Paul and Silas once said to the Philippian jailer, so too I say to you, Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved (Acts 16:31).

6

The False Notion of Faith

Tempted. But I have seen many people surround themselves with an empty notion of faith and deceive themselves by falsely boasting in that faith. What if I myself should be numbered among such people? How might I be certain that my faith is not only true but also saving faith and not rather an empty and dead image of faith?

Comforter. Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you (2 Cor 13:5)? There is no lack of firm and infallible instructions by which true and saving faith may be tested and distinguished from a vain boasting of faith. First, the nature of true faith is that it purifies the heart (Acts 15:9) and desires to be cleansed from the filth of sins. Since faith anxiously seeks and desires the remission of sins, he who truly believes will also experience a sober grief for the sins he has committed. The Gospel is preached to the poor (Matt 11:5), that is to say, those who are poor in Spirit (Matt 5:3), who hunger and thirst for righteousness (Matt 5:6), who bring and offer to God a contrite heart and humble spirit (cf. Ps 51:17). Look at the mirror of the Law and it will reveal the deformity of your sins. Look at the radiance of Moses’ face and it will blind you because you endlessly pursue works of darkness and are not able to endure such light. Look at yourself and how severely your sickness has weakened and crushed you. This is the just punishment for your sins, the scourge of a delivering God, the appropriate reward for a life spent in transgression.

He who sins against His maker falls into the hands of the Physician (Sir 38:15). As Augustine writes, “We have lost our health because we have offended our Creator by sinning.”12 Or as Bernard puts it, “They who follow the flesh are scourged in the flesh.”13 That is to say, they complain by means of the very flesh used to sin. Therefore, the sentence of punishment rests upon that which was the source of sin. In how many thoughts, words, and deeds have you offended God? How weak have you been in the fear and love of God above all things? How casual have you been in prayers and other exercises of piety? How barren of good works? How often have you followed the persuasion of Satan, the seduction of the flesh, and the deception of the world? Indeed, those very members which you have often put forward as instruments of iniquity and unrighteousness are now by the righteous judgment of God afflicted with pain and weakness. Confess this and be sorry; for indeed if there is a true and serious acknowledgment of sin in your heart, the anguish of conscience, and hatred of sin will immediately follow.

God is with all seriousness angry at your sins. Therefore, with that same seriousness, consider the wrath of God and weep over your sin. God severely punishes sin. Therefore with a just grief punish in yourself that which you see you have committed against God. Confess the judgment of God to be just and humble yourself under His mighty hand (1 Pet 5:6). Consider not only your external sins, but also confess the fountain of all evils, the contagion of original sin, which is hidden indeed, but God sets it in the light of His presence (Ps 90:8), and by it all the powers of your soul and body are so weakened, such that from you and by you nothing that is good, much less perfect, proceeds. Indeed, by it you are made liable to death and all of those calamities, miseries, and diseases which precede death.

7

An Inadequate Sorrow

Tempted. I acknowledge and understand that not only was I born and conceived in sin, but also I have offended God by my diverse, manifold, and great transgressions. I understand this and am heartily sorry. But what if that sorrow is inadequate? What if it does not correspond to the faults committed or is not equivalent to the price of my sins?

Comforter. No doubt about it. The sorrow and distress of conscience that arises from an acknowledgement of sin is never able to correspond to the gravity and deformity of sins. Indeed, if God, who is offended by sin, is infinitely good, then the sin committed against Him is infinitely evil. Moreover, if the punishment of hell prepared for sinners corresponds to this infinity, how then are you able by your contrition to satisfy the infinite righteousness of God and to propitiate His infinite wrath? You cannot. It is Christ who has accomplished what you are unable to do by yourself and your own strength. He Himself paid the infinite price that is equivalent to your sins. If you were able to make satisfaction by yourself, if by your contrition and sorrow you were able to absolve sins, then for what purpose did Christ descend from heaven and labor for so long under the weight of the Cross? You have burdened Him with your sins and have wearied Him with your iniquities (Isa 43:24); He has trodden the winepress alone, and from the people there was no one with Him (Isa 63:3).

Beware, my friend, lest you think the grief of your contrition can be or ought to be so great that it might correspond to the gravity and deformity of your sins. Indeed, it is for this reason that God asks for a true acknowledgement of sins and a sincere contrition of heart so that the gratuitous remission of sins, which you received through Christ and apprehended by faith, may take place. Christ preaches to the meek, that is, those humbled by the Spirit, and He heals those with a contrite heart (Isa 61:1; Luke 4:18). For those who are well have no need of a physician (Matt 9:12); that is, those that think they are well. He preaches remission of sins to the captive; that is, those who acknowledge their spiritual captivity to sin. For those who reckon that they are free in all things do not desire to be freed from slavery. He preaches sight to the blind; that is, to those who lament the spiritual blindness of their heart. Those who say they see, their sin remains (John 9:41). Those who say they are rich and completely self-sufficient require nothing and know not that they are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. He preaches forgiveness to the broken and contrite of heart. The Lord kills and brings to life; He brings down to hell and raises up (1 Sam 2:6). He kills by contrition and makes alive by consolation. He brings us down to hell by the hammer of the Law so that He might raise us up by the comfort of the Gospel.

8

The Weight of Sorrow

Tempted. Anguish surrounds me. My heart is broken and disturbed. My sins continually appear before me. They severely torment my conscience and take me down to hell. There is no peace in my bones from fear of the Lord (Ps 32:3). My soul refuses to be consoled (Ps 77:2–3). I am troubled and my spirit is afflicted. I see no place where I may flee and find a remedy for my sins.

Comforter. If you wish to flee, flee to Christ. He lovingly invites all who labor under the weight of sin and who are pressed with the yoke of that evil mistress, iniquity. Hide yourself in His wounds and the tempest of divine wrath will pass over you. Christ is the propitiator (Rom 3:25), to whom you are able to flee with a true faith and find rest in the shadow of His wings (Ps 17:8). As the deer pants for flowing streams, so your soul, exhausted by the raging of your sins and the wrath of God, thirsts for Christ (Ps 42:1–2), the spring of living water welling up to eternal life (John 4:14). If you come to Him, you will not be rejected. He will not spurn you. Indeed, we have His most certain promise: Let the one who is thirsty come and let the one who desires take the water of life without price (Rev 22:17). Therefore, to the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment (Rev 21:6). Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest (Matt 11:28). In me and through me, you shall find rest for your souls. Whoever comes to me I will never cast out (John 6:37). Embrace these words of Christ, which are words of eternal and immovable truth, with a faithful heart. Let your heart always put before itself these promises of Christ, and seek the face of God (Ps 27:8). Put Christ as mediator between you, a sinner, and God, the judge. From the throne of God’s strict justice appeal to the throne of mercy prepared for you in and by Christ.

The infernal hawk presses hard and pursues your soul. Therefore, let it flee like a fearful and terrified dove to the cliffs of the rock, which are the wounds of Christ (Song 2:14). When Moses accuses you, sigh deeply so that Christ may intercede for you. As Bernard says, “Your conscience is troubled, but let it not be deprived of hope and trust, but remember the wounds of Christ.”14 Likewise Augustine writes, “Let the certainty of all your trust be in the wounds of Christ, which flow with the streams of mercy and possess no holes or cracks whereby they may flow out.”15 Again, Bernard writes, “Let the Passion of our Savior Jesus Christ be your final refuge and only remedy of your sins. It is able to help you when your wisdom fails, your righteousness proves insufficient, and the merits of your holiness give way.”16 Indeed there is yet another essential property of true faith: you must gaze with the eye of the heart upon Christ hanging on the Cross; you must hope for and draw out the medicine for your wounds from His wounds; you must recline upon Him with a true and faithful heart; and you must, as it were, wrap yourself in His most holy merit. This is the voice of true faith:

Look upon me, You who hang on a wooden Cross for me,

and may all my sins lie hid in Your side.My troubled mind longs for You; forgive my guilt:

By my sin I die, but by Your blood I live.

Bernard writes, “Therefore, if pricked by your sins, hunger and thirst after righteousness. Believe in Him who justifies the ungodly; and being justified by faith alone, you will have peace with God.”17 Bernard also says, “Confess that you are not worthy and cannot obtain the kingdom of heaven by your own merits. Let this be your confidence that Christ your Lord obtained it on two accounts: by being the heir of the Father and by the merit of His Passion. He is content with the first account and gives the second to you. Claim this gift for yourself and you will not be confounded.”18

9

The Temptation of Despair

Tempted. But the devil urges me to despair.

Comforter. I wish you would despair of yourself and in yourself because you are a sinner, but do not despair in God whose grace abounds over your sin (Rom 5:20). As John Chrysostom says, “For no greater is the malice of man to the mercy of God than a spark of fire held to the sea. Even if the sea is great, yet it succumbs to measurement. The mercy of God, however, has no measure.”19 Never despair of Christ or in Christ, who came into the world to save sinners (1 Tim 1:15), whose blood avails more for our atonement before God than the sins of the whole world offend Him. Although your sins are great, diverse, and many times repeated, they are not so great and serious that you cannot obtain pardon and forgiveness for them. Accordingly, the goodness of God is greater than the iniquity of all men.

Where sins are in decline in the west, there the grace of God is on the rise in the east. Sins are the work of the devil and men. To have compassion and mercy, to forgive, these are works of God. As far as the power of God exceeds the devil and man, so far is His mercy above our wickedness. The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will He keep His anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us (Ps 103:8–12). Heaven is incomparably greater than the earth, which resembles a minute point in comparison to our heavenly dwelling. So, too, the steadfast love of the heavenly Father is incomparably greater than all sins. God forbid, therefore, God forbid, that you ever say, “Greater is my iniquity than the pity of our merciful God.” You will discover, as Bernard puts it, that “God’s loving mercy is greater than your iniquity.”20 Such is the mercy of God that if you had all the sins of the entire world upon you and were sorry that you had so proudly offended the Lord your God and firmly proposed to refrain from such sins in the future, God would never condemn you.

Have you so forgotten the satisfaction accomplished by Christ that you would prefer your sins over the merit of Christ? That is to say, you would prefer yourself before God? Augustine writes, “You see the gravity of the disease, but do you not thereby see the power of the Physician?”21 Your sins are indeed great, but Christ, who made satisfaction for your sins, is far greater. Your sins are diverse, but Christ suffered diverse things for you. God is an infinite good whom you have offended by your sins, but Christ is an infinite person who has reconciled you to God. Sigh, therefore, to the heavenly Father, and pray in the name of the Son, your Savior: “If you, eternal God, despise me for my iniquity, as I deserve, for love of your dear Son look upon me with pity. Consider your Son that you may deal favorably with your servant. Behold the sacrament of His flesh and forgive the guilt of mine; recall what Your good Son has suffered and forget what your wicked servant has done.”22

10

The Temptation of Blasphemy

Tempted. I am compelled to confess that I am not only encouraged to despair, but also tempted at times with the spirit of blasphemy. There arise such thoughts in my heart that are offensive to God, my Creator and Savior. A thousand deaths I would choose to be freed from this temptation.

Comforter. These thoughts are not the actions of your heart but rather its most bitter passions as is evident from your lack of delight in them. Indeed, your sorrow for them is more bitter than death itself. They are the blows of Satan by which he afflicts and torments you. They will not be reckoned as sin by God. Although you have the greatest impatience of heart because of the weakness of your flesh, the Lord is aware of your groans and sighs. Indeed, even the weight of trials forced harsh words from Job and Jeremiah, but our most beneficent God forgave them in a fatherly way. You must learn from these temptations how you have absolutely no power in yourself to do what is good, so you might cleave completely to God alone with a faithful heart. This is the highest and greatest battle in your fight against Satan. Beware lest your soul despair at this point.

The greatest of all champions is present with you and He will not leave you without help. Wait patiently and humbly until you are freed from these flaming darts of Satan (Eph 6:16). In the meantime, let the grace of God be sufficient for you (2 Cor 12:9). It is the flesh that struggles against the spirit and is so ready and willing to receive the darts of Satan. The sin that dwells in your flesh will not be imputed to you if, through the spirit, you mortify the deeds of the flesh and do not assent to those blasphemous thoughts. When you put before him the shield of faith, Satan’s flaming darts will be extinguished by the blood of Christ. As soon as you sense blasphemous thoughts arising, turn yourself immediately to prayer, by which you might trample down those thoughts as easily as the foot does the grass.

11

The Particularity of the Gospel Promise

Tempted. I feel some comfort of the Spirit in my heart and am aware of a measure of trust in my mind. These keep me from despair when I consider the mercy of God pouring out over my sins and the merit of Christ, which is of infinite price and value. But I am uncertain whether that Gospel promise of God’s mercy and Christ’s merit pertain also to me. Indeed, God is not only merciful, but also a most just and severe punisher of sins. Alas, my distress! The evidence shows that not all become partakers of the benefits of Christ.

Comforter. Be very careful lest you succumb to these devilish thoughts that the Gospel promise is only for some. God calls all people to Him and desires that they will come to Him. He offers the Word of the Gospel to all and in that offer is the benefit of Christ. He does not do this deceitfully, but sincerely, not hypocritically, but with the purpose of giving what is offered. As I live, says the Lord, I desire not the death of a sinner, but that he should turn and live (Ezek 18:32; 33:11). Hear this solemn oath of divine truth. Hear that the conversion of all, who by their own fault die in their sins, is hoped for and desired by God. Hear this most earnest supplication repeated twice: Come to me all, says our Savior, the Interpreter and Messenger of the heavenly Father, Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest (Matt 11:28). Do you not hear that the way to Christ lies open to all who labor under the yoke of sin and that refreshment and solace of soul is promised to them? God desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim 2:4), says the Apostle who was taught this in the third heaven (2 Cor 12:2). He has consigned all to disobedience that He might have mercy on all (Rom 11:32). Do you not hear that the salvation of all is desired by God and that for all people the mercy of God lies before them? No one is excluded, lest he exclude himself.

There is one God of all. Therefore He desires that all whom He has made be saved. There is one who has offered Himself as the price of redemption for all. Therefore, God wills that all become partakers of that redemption. God does not wish that any should perish, says Peter, who was taught by his own example, but that all should come to repentance (2 Pet 3:9). Hear that the long suffering and goodness of God invites all to repentance and that God desires not the death of a single person. Beware lest you contradict such a clear and plainly expressed truth. These words of the Holy Spirit are written as a brilliant beam of sunlight. Let these many consolations of the scriptures comfort you. Trust in them rather than the thoughts of your own heart. Scripture is the Word of the living God, which never deceives, as our own lying and cheating heart does.

12

The Absolute Decree of Reprobation

Tempted. Granted, the promise is offered outwardly to all, but God has made an absolute and certain decree for the reprobation of certain men. God has rejected them because of their complete hostility toward Him and has appointed them for eternal punishment. To these, the reprobate, He offers His Word outwardly, but not with the intention of communicating the good things promised by His Word. Perhaps I myself am among the number of the reprobate.

Comforter. The absolute decree of reprobation is a false teaching of certain men and is a figment of the imagination that has led many into error. Indeed, if the scriptures testify by words, Christ by tears, and God by oath that He desires none to perish, that He wishes the death of no sinner, but on the contrary truly and heartily wants all to come to repentance, acknowledge the truth, and be saved, then by what appearance of truth, I ask, are you able to say that those who possess an absolute hostility toward God are excluded from salvation and the saving work of the Mediator? Insofar as God has revealed Himself outwardly to us through His Word, so far, if I may so speak, is His heart inwardly disposed toward us. Insofar as He has shown Himself to us in Christ, His Son (Col 1:15), such a mind He bears toward us. Christ is the image of the Father (Heb 1:3), not only in terms of essence but also of will. We must never think that God shows Himself to us outwardly as merciful and benevolent but inwardly burns with flames of hatred. Remove from your mind such thoughts about God, who is Truth itself and for whom all hypocrisy is utterly detested. We ought never to speak of Him in such a manner when we see that His own commandments prohibit and threaten punishment for such things. That anyone is saved is a gift from God alone. That many perish is the due reward for their own destruction. As the divine prophesy states: O Israel you have destroyed yourself but in Me is your help (Hos 13:9). Scripture everywhere locates the cause of human destruction in us and nowhere presents to us any absolute decree of God. As Fulgentius says, “Because God in His foreknowledge saw the sins of men—especially unbelief, which when it remains, so too do all other sins—for that reason He ordered the sentence of damnation and reprobation.”23

By what craftiness may it be asserted that in the Word of the Gospel God does not earnestly bestow the benefits of His Son upon all, since Christ Himself, truly and really, neither in show nor appearance, died for all and made satisfaction for the sins of all? The inclusive terms used here confirm the universality of the satisfaction made by Christ. The prophet says, God has laid on Christ the iniquities of us all (Isa 53:6); just as all the sins of the people, who as lost sheep had strayed from the path of an upright life, were laid upon the goat by the priest and sent out into the wilderness (Lev 16:21). The Apostle Paul says this twice in the same place that one died for all (2 Cor 5:14–15). It was God’s good pleasure to recapitulate and gather together in Christ, as under one head, all things that are in heaven and earth (Eph 1:9–10). Indeed, it pleased the Father to reconcile to Himself all things by Christ, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His Cross (Col 1:20). Christ gave Himself as a ransom for the redemption of all (1 Tim 2:6), whether on earth or in heaven. The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, for which purpose He gave His Son for us to redeem us from iniquities (Titus 2:11, 14). Christ by the grace of God has tasted death for every man (Heb 2:9).

The collective term “world” used in the following verses demonstrates the same universal satisfaction. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son; whom He did not send into the world to condemn it but in order that the world might be saved by Him (John 3:16–17). For which reason He is most deservedly called the Savior of the world (John 4:42, 1 John 4:14). He is the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29); who gave His flesh for the life of the world (John 6:51); by whom the world is reconciled to God (2 Cor 5:19); who is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2).

The same universal satisfaction is proved by the opposition of the first and second Adam, that is, of Christ, as the Apostle so skillfully expresses. If through the offense of one many have died, how much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for many. If by the offense of one man, condemnations came upon all men, so too by the righteousness of one, the gift of justification for life came upon all men. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one many shall be made righteous. Therefore, where sin abounds, there grace abounds all the more (Rom 5:15–20). Let us never say, therefore, never, that the guilt passed on to us from Adam amounts to more than the benefit that Christ, our Savior, won for us. Let us never say, as those who limit Christ’s universal satisfaction, that the disobedience of Adam is of greater power than the obedience of Christ.

Finally, the universal extent of the satisfaction made by Christ is clearly demonstrated by those scriptures where it is said that He died for those who sin. Do not destroy the one for whom Christ died by what you eat (Rom 14:15). By the inconsiderate abuse of Christian freedom, the weak brother perishes for whom Christ died and therefore by sinning against such a person, you sin against Christ Himself (1 Cor 8:11–12). False teachers who deny the Lord bring upon themselves swift destruction (2 Pet 2:1). These are evangelical, apostolic, and divine sayings, which, to contradict, is to deny Christ Himself and to deprive yourself of the fruit of the merit of Christ. As it is written, “Therefore believe without any doubt that the only-begotten Son of God descended from heaven, clothed Himself in these latter times with an earthly body from the Virgin, and has wiped away and cleansed the corruption, uncleanness, and rottenness of the whole world by bearing the sins of all, by whose stripes all are healed.”24

13

Doubt concerning the Application of the Merit of Christ

Tempted. Yes, of course, it is stated plainly that the merit of Christ is universal, but, at the same time, I do not see that the benefit of Christ has been offered and applied to me in particular or individually. Many things are offered universally that nevertheless do not extend to the individual.

Comforter. No! The species is rightly taken from the genus; it rightly proceeds from the universal to the particular. As such, because God desires all to be saved, you may rightly and most firmly believe that He wants you to be saved. Because it is said that Christ died for all, you may rightly and most firmly believe that He died on the Cross for you and He wants to cleanse you from all your sins by His own blood. Moreover, what is offered by the Word of the Gospel for all in general is offered, presented, and applied by the Word of absolution to you in particular. Indeed, when the pastor of your church announces the remission of your sins in the name of God, you are to be certain that it is so established in heaven before God. This is how Christ arranged the matter: whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven (Matt 18:18) and anyone’s sins you forgive, they are forgiven for that person (John 20:23). This is that salutary ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor 5:18) that God has entrusted to the pastors of the Church. These are the salutary keys that He committed to them in good faith. This is the salutary office of ambassadors that they perform in the name of Christ and by which God exhorts us and, as it were, implores us through them. What therefore is offered to you in particular, you must not doubt that it pertains to you in particular.

When your heart is gravely distressed and you hear the voice of the pastor announcing the remission of sins in the name of Christ, know that you have heard Christ Himself. Whatever the pastor does in the name of Christ before you, Christ Himself does. It is Christ who announces the remission of sins to you. The pastor, in his own voice, speaks on behalf of Christ. If uncertainty wants to creep into your heart concerning this, listen carefully to the words of Christ saying to the Apostles and their successors, He that hears you, hears me (Luke 10:16). It is not you that speak, but the Spirit of my Father (Matt 10:20). Listen to the words of John the Baptist, I am the voice of one crying (John 1:23). Truly I tell you, it is another that preaches and cries by me. The office is mine but the force and benefit of the office depends on another. Listen to the words of the Apostle, We are ambassadors for Christ (2 Cor 5:20). That is, in Christ’s name and stead, as though God exhorts you by us. We pray on behalf of Christ that you be reconciled to God (2 Cor 5:20). Therefore he who despises this, despises not man but God, who gives to us His Holy Spirit (1 Thess 4:8).

Believe, therefore, that even now, indeed today, Christ says to you as He did once to the paralytic and to the woman who was a sinner, Your sins are forgiven (Matt 9:2; Luke 7:48). There is, of course, no difference between these words of absolution and those uttered by the pastor; it matters not that one is spoken by man and the other by Christ. Therefore, when you hear the pastor announce to you the remission of sins, do not think that it is the voice of the pastor you hear but know that it is the voice of Christ.

14

The Insubstantiality of the Words of Absolution

Tempted. I confess that there is a great deal of consolation in the words of absolution offered to me. At the same time, my faith still wavers and does not so firmly cling to the promise of the Gospel as to prevent all temptations. For my flesh grumbles, “They are only words that you hear with your ears but you do not see the good things promised with your eyes.”

Comforter. These are words, to be sure, but they are the words of God, who is most true and who lives forever. They are words indeed but words of the Spirit and life (John 6:63). They are words indeed but these words are more certain and more durable than the sky you behold with your eyes and the earth you stand upon with your feet. Heaven and earth shall pass away but My words shall not pass away, says the Truth (Luke 21:33). The Word of the Lord our God abides forever, says the Prophet (Isa 40:8). He who locks away this Word and clings to it with a true faith shall be saved forever.

God has given you not only His Word but also has added sacraments by His Word, which are, in a sense, the Word made visible—the visible signs of an invisible grace, and seals of divine promises, instituted to confirm and nourish your faith.25 By Baptism you were received into the covenant of divine grace, made a child and heir of God, washed from your sins by the blood of Christ, regenerated and renewed by the Holy Spirit, and, in short, truthfully made a partaker of heavenly good. For Christ designates Baptism as the means of regeneration. Unless you be born again of water and of the Spirit, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven (John 3:5). Therefore, whoever is born again by the waters of Baptism and the Spirit is recorded an heir of eternal life because it is the means of salvation. He that believes and is baptized shall be saved (Mark 16:16). The Apostles attributed to Baptism the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5–6), since we are baptized for the remission of sins (Mark 1:4). Let everyone of you be baptized, says Peter, in the name of Christ for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38). Baptism saves us, he says elsewhere, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Pet 3:21). Be baptized and wash away your sins, says Ananias (Acts 22:16). For all of you who were baptized into Christ have put on Christ and are all sons of God by faith, says Paul (Gal 3:26–27). Christ sanctifies His Church having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word (Eph 5:26).

From all these testimonies you may firmly conclude that Baptism is, as Basil the Great puts it, “a ransom for captives, a remission of debts, a death of sin, a regeneration, a bright garment of the soul, an inviolable seal, a chariot to heaven, the Inn of the Kingdom, and the gift of adoption.”26 Similarly, Gregory of Nazianzus writes,

Baptism is illumination and such illumination is the splendor of souls, the conversion of life, the answer of the conscience toward God, a help for our weakness; it is renunciation of the flesh, following of the Spirit, communion of the Word; it is amendment of the creature, overwhelming of sin, participation in light, dissolution of darkness; it is a chariot to God, a journeying together with Christ, a support for faith, a perfection of the mind, a glory for the kingdom of heaven, a change of life, a taking away of slavery, a loosing of chains, a remaking of the whole person.27

Tertullian writes, “It is the source of true life and true righteousness.”28 Although it is an abbreviated washing, yet it is the sacrament of life and eternal salvation.29 Paulinus of Nola writes the following verses: “The Holy Spirit into running water descends and, uniting this sacred water with its heavenly spring, God bears from the sacred and nourishing waters, a child from eternal seed.”30

What the divine grace works in our Baptism invisibly was demonstrated in the Baptism of Christ by visible signs. The water of Baptism was sanctified by the touch of the Lord’s body. Whatever Christ merited and obtained in the body of His flesh, He deposited it, as it were, in His Baptism.31 He received Baptism with us who are sinners in order to testify that we by Baptism are made His members. As in the Baptism of Christ the eternal Father declared with His voice, This is my beloved Son (Matt 3:17), so too today He adopts as sons all who believe and are baptized. As in the Baptism of Christ heaven was opened, so too today by the sacrament of Baptism the gates of that heavenly paradise are opened to us. As in the likeness of a dove the Holy Spirit descended upon Christ in His Baptism, so too in our Baptism the Holy Spirit is present and powerfully works in it our regeneration and renewal. For this reason, the grace of the Father adopting, the merit of the Son cleansing, and the power of the Holy Spirit regenerating all coincide in our Baptism. Therefore, if you are baptized, you can by no means doubt that you have the grace of God, remission of sins, and the promise of eternal life. Baptism is the washing of regeneration. Where there is regeneration, there is remission of sins, the grace of God, perfect righteousness, renewal, the gift of the Holy Spirit, adoption, and the inheritance of eternal life.

15

Falling from the Covenant of Baptism

Tempted. I believe indeed that I was received into the covenant of divine grace through the sacrament of Baptism, that I obtained the remission of sins, and that I was written into the Book of Life. But I have been cut off from the grace of that covenant by my falling again into sin. By returning to sin, I have made void the forgiveness and have deserved to be erased from the Book of Life.

Comforter. No! The covenant of God is an eternal covenant that always stands open for you to return and retreat to through true and hearty repentance. Just as God pronounced that the sacrament of circumcision is an eternal covenant (Gen 17:13), so too let us not doubt that in Baptism, which has taken the place of circumcision (Col 2:11), God enters into and establishes with us an eternal covenant. I will betroth you to me forever, God says through the prophet, I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in judgment, in steadfast love and in mercies. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness (Hos 2:19). The mountains may depart and the hills be removed but my steadfast love shall not depart from you and my covenant of peace shall not be removed, says the Lord who has compassion on you (Isa 54:10). God forbid, therefore, God forbid, that we should ever say that the faithfulness of God is nullified by the faithlessness of men (Rom 3:3). If we remove our faith as far as we are able from His words, or if we depart from Him, He remains faithful, always the same, true, and constant. He cannot deny Himself (2 Tim 2:13). Therefore, by the sins of your natural, human weakness, you are not cut off from the gratuitous covenant of God. By the sins committed against your conscience, however, you do indeed fall from the grace of God and the covenant of grace, but through true repentance it is open for you to return to that eternal covenant of God.

The ship of Baptism does not break apart even if we jump overboard into the sea of sins. By repentance, which, in this case, is to acknowledge our shipwreck, we may return again to that same ship of Baptism and be brought in it to the port of eternal salvation.32 Tertullian writes, “Therefore, cling to repentance, as a shipwrecked person takes hold of a plank, and this will prevent you from drowning in the waves of your sins and carry you back to the port of divine mercy.”33 Peter denied his Teacher but, returning to faith, he still sought the promise of salvation in Baptism (1 Pet 3:21). The Galatians and the Corinthians severely fell, yet when they were raised again through repentance, the Apostle put before them the comfort drawn from Baptism. He announced that however many of them had been baptized, they had put on Christ (Gal 3:27). He plainly asserted that they were washed (1 Cor 6:11) and by one Spirit were baptized into one body (1 Cor 12:13), that is, the mystical body. From such testimonies it is clear that the efficacy of the baptismal covenant is extended to the future and is plainly not weakened or abolished by a person’s fall. Indeed, from God’s perspective, it remains forever a firm and certain covenant.

When Paul says that Christ has cleansed the Church by the washing of water with the Word (Eph 5:26), it is to be understood that absolutely all the evils of regenerate men are cleansed and healed by that washing of regeneration and sanctification by the Word; not only those sins of the past, which were all remitted in Baptism, but also those committed in the future by human ignorance or weakness. Not that Baptism ought to be repeated as often as men sin, but because by it, which is given only once, the faithful obtain the pardon of all their sins, whether committed before or after.34 Acknowledge, therefore, and lament your sins, but never deny or forget the covenant of grace entered with you at your Baptism. Even if you fall a thousand times, go back and return. Return to me, you rebellious soul, declares the Lord; and I will not turn away My face from you, for I am merciful, declares the Lord, and I will not be angry forever (Jer 3:12). Let your heart put this Word before God and He will have mercy on you and remember His promise, for He cannot deny Himself or His Word (2 Tim 2:13).

16

The Uncertain Reception into the Covenant of Baptism

Tempted. How can I be certain that by my true repentance God receives me again into the baptismal covenant? If only there were some reliable guarantee that would be able to reassure my heart or some sacrament that I could participate in and receive confirmation about that promise of grace.

Comforter. Yes, such an excellent and most holy sacrament does exist. It is the Lord’s Supper. Here you receive the body that Christ gave into death for you and the cup of blood that Christ poured out on the altar of the Cross for your sins. Since you receive in that Holy Supper the most holy price of your redemption, the body and blood of Christ, you may be certain that you truly partake of all those things that Christ has merited on the altar of the Cross when He surrendered His body and shed His blood. That is to say, you truly have the grace of God, the remission of sins, righteousness, life, and eternal salvation.

When you drink that blood which was shed for the establishment and confirmation of that covenant of grace, how can you doubt whether you are truly received again into that covenant? Who is more dear to God than His only-begotten Son, who is at His side (John 1:18), who is in the Father and the Father in Him (John 14:10), who is one with the Father (John 10:30)? Again, I ask, what is more dear to the Son of God than His body and blood or the assumed human nature, which is united to Him in a personal and indissoluble union? Therefore by eating the body of Christ and drinking His blood you are most closely joined to God. Hilary of Poitiers explains, “These things are received and consumed that Christ might dwell in you and you in Christ.”35

What is more important to us than what we eat and drink? Such food is either transformed into the substance of our own bodies as natural and basic sustenance for us, or it transforms and changes us into itself. The latter happens with that spiritual sustenance of the body and blood of the Lord which we truly eat. We do not, however, change Him into what we are, rather He changes us into what He is. Therefore, by eating the life-giving body of Christ, you receive spiritual life from it, and by drinking the precious blood of Christ, you come to the spring of life. Christ assumed a human nature from us and in it He condemned sin, destroyed death, revived life, and replenished it with the fullness of grace and heavenly goods. That very same human nature assumed from us and renewed in Himself, sanctified and filled with heavenly treasures, He offers to you now in the Holy Supper. You should be certain that these things truly pertain to you, which He has deposited, as it were, in a rich storehouse.

Christ joins His most holy and life-giving body to your miserable and depraved nature that you might draw from Him the drink of life and the antidote for that spiritual poison that lies hidden in your flesh. He is the vine, we are the branches; whoever abides in Him and He in them, that one bears much fruit (John 15:5). The impurity of your nature is overshadowed and covered by that most holy body of Christ, which you receive, and that most precious blood, which you drink, such that it does not appear before the judgment seat and sight of God. Therefore, the body and blood of Christ are received by you for the purpose of an acceptable defense and pledge of eternal life, for the confirmation and preservation of the soul and body, and for the remission of sins and eternal life.36

Indeed, in the Holy Supper, you are offered salutary provision for your journey, which is called a viaticum. You are presented a creedal symbol of the future resurrection in which the right of friendship and hospitality in that heavenly homeland is confirmed for you. Christ says, Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day (John 6:54). Accordingly, it cannot be, I say, it cannot be, that your body would remain in the grave when, as Irenaeus says, “it has been nourished with the body and blood of our Lord.”37 Without doubt, when we feed on this—which Ignatius calls the medicine of immortality, the antidote against death, and the purification of evil—we live in God through Christ.38 Through this food, your weakness will be so strengthened that you may arrive at the mountain of the Lord with Elijah himself. Moreover, if the dead bones of Elisha were able to revive a dead man (2 Kings 13:21), how much more will the living and life-giving body of Christ, which you receive by faith, raise you to eternal life?

17

The Unworthy Use of the Holy Supper

Tempted. I confess that the godly are made partakers of these benefits of Christ by their true and salutary use of the Holy Supper. It troubles me not a little, however, that the Apostle Paul states that whoever eats the bread and drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord (1 Cor 11:27). I fear, therefore, that I approach that heavenly banquet as an unworthy guest.

Comforter. By acknowledging and lamenting your unworthiness, you will avoid the stain of being an unworthy guest. The Apostle does not call those who are weak in faith unworthy. Indeed, the Sacrament was instituted for the encouragement of faith and the comforting of the weak. The unworthy are those who do not examine themselves nor discern the Lord’s body (1 Cor 11:28–29). That is to say, those who, without true repentance and living faith, without a hatred of sin and an earnest intention to improve their lives, receive the Holy Supper as if it were ordinary food, who make no distinction between this heavenly banquet and any other common meal, and who fail to acknowledge its true excellence and to approach it with an appropriate preparation of the heart. Such unworthy guests at this banquet sin no less by their unworthy eating and drinking of the body and blood of Christ than the Jews did by crucifying Christ. Let it be far removed from your piety, far removed, I say, that you would be reckoned among them. Indeed, you confess the filth of your sins, you deplore the foulness of your nature, and you sigh to Christ the Physician of your soul that He would prepare Himself a worthy habitation in your heart. You weigh carefully the greatness of those things that are present and offered in the Holy Supper, and you closely consider the importance of this heavenly gift. You hunger and thirst after righteousness, and therefore shall be satisfied (Matt 5:6), for the sins that do not please you will not harm you.

Hasten to the Heavenly Father with tears, weep for your sins, and long to satisfy the hunger of your soul with this heavenly food. Do not doubt that the most kind Father will run to meet you, kiss you, and embrace you with joy. He will give you the best robe of innocence, He will clothe you with the garment of salvation, He will put a ring on your hand, He will seal you with the Holy Spirit, He will place shoes on your feet, He will guide you in the way of peace and righteousness, He will fill you with the flesh of that victim who was sacrificed on the altar of the Cross and was offered as a sweet odor to Him (Luke 15:20–23). Therefore, put aside all fear of eating in an unworthy manner. He who is most unworthy in his own eyes is accepted before God. He who displeases himself pleases God. He who crushes himself by a true contrition of the heart is raised up again by the most kind hand of God.39

18

The Weakness of Faith

Tempted. Faith is altogether required for the salutary use of the Lord’s Supper and enjoyment of the promises of the Gospel. It is not sufficient for the sharing of alms to have only the hand of the giver but you must also have the hand of the receiver. But truly my faith, which is to receive these gifts, is weak. The tiny ship of my heart wavers greatly as it is tossed violently by the different storms of temptations and the firmness of my faith is overthrown.

Comforter. Weak faith is still faith. Faith does not apprehend Christ and in Christ the grace of God, the forgiveness of sins, and eternal life, because it is strong but because it is faith. Yes, strong faith clings firmly to Christ. You must not think, however, that a weak faith is rejected by Christ, for it too clings beneficially to Him. The faithful servant of God, Christ your savior, breaks not the bruised reed nor quenches the burning wick (Isa 42:3), but receives the weak in faith most cheerfully (Rom 14:3). The smallest spark of faith is the work of the Holy Spirit because by ourselves and from ourselves we are not able to think even something good. Indeed, to will and to do is from God (Phil 2:13). God will not refuse His own work, which He began in your heart by the Holy Spirit, but will perfect and strengthen it. As a mother comforts her children, so God comforts us (Isa 66:13). Now a mother treats an infant far more tenderly and offers greater care to it than she does to those who have matured in age. Similarly, God does not turn away from the one who is weak in faith but devotes Himself to heal and strengthen the one languishing. If you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move and nothing will be impossible for you, says the Truth (Matt 17:20). If so miraculous a faith is able to move mountains, though it barely is equal to a mustard seed, why cannot saving faith do the same, indeed even move the mountains of temptations and doubts, though it be especially weak and delicate? God’s strength is perfected in our weakness (2 Cor 12:9). Do not be dejected in spirits because of your weak faith. Cast your gaze on the strength of God. He is able to water what is dry, to cure what is ill, to bend what is rigid, to warm what is cold, and to recover what is straying. Acknowledge the weakness of your faith and lean on the divine Word as your staff. The Word is the seed of faith and its nourishment (Luke 8:11). Pray with Christ’s disciples, Lord, increase our faith (Luke 17:5), and with the father of the boy with an unclean spirit, Lord I believe, help my unbelief (Mark 9:24).

19

Questioning the Presence of Faith

Tempted. Not only is my faith weak, but there are times when I feel no faith in my heart at all. Nor do I call upon God with the intensity of spirit that is able to penetrate the clouds. I fear, therefore, that my faith has indeed perished and is utterly extinct. If my faith is extinct, what hope or salvation shall remain for me? I examine myself (2 Cor 13:5) and, behold, I feel no faith in my heart. Among the reprobate, therefore, shall I be numbered.

Comforter. At such times as these, the Spirit helps us in our weakness and places His hand, as it were, under us, for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words (Rom 8:26). There are times when we know not what or how we believe, but the Spirit fosters and preserves faith in our heart. Just as a spark may lie hidden under the still ashes and not appear to us outwardly, so too faith may at times dwell in the inmost recesses of the heart and, like that spark, not be perceived by us. Although you feel no faith, do not conclude that your faith is wholly dead and extinct when you yearn, groan, and will to believe. That yearning, groaning, and willing proceeds from faith.

Moreover, it is one thing not to feel faith and another to be altogether unwilling to believe. The former is a sign of lament and the latter of stubborn pride. Truly, Christ dwells in your heart through faith, even if you do not clearly feel that indwelling of grace (Eph 3:17). Likewise the Holy Spirit, that internal comforter, has a holy habitation in your heart, even though there are times when it feels that He has withdrawn such consolation from you. As Abraham, the father of those who believe, believed in hope against hope (Rom 4:18), so you ought to trust in the Word rather than your feelings. Just as we must take every thought captive in the obedience of faith (2 Cor 10:5), so also you must take captive that unconscious faith by faith. That is to say, receive the Word into your heart and steadfastly cling to it.

The seed lies hidden and concealed under the sod of the earth, even though it does not as yet protrude with even the smallest evidence of growth. Similarly, the seed of faith lies hidden in the heart, even when its fruit does not as yet appear plainly and abundantly. When you sleep, you do not feel your faith. But who would argue that faith has perished at such times? So in this temptation our soul is oppressed, as it were, with a certain sleep. Although you feel little movement of your faith, do not, for this reason, think the faith you so long for is extinct.

20

An Inability to Believe

Tempted. I sigh, indeed, to my Savior but I feel and grieve that I am unable to believe. Indeed, I have longed to be made a partaker of the benefits of Christ, but I think that I am unable to apprehend these by faith.

Comforter. By your own power you are unable, but through Christ who strengthens, you are able to do all things (Phil 4:13). God truly and earnestly wills that you believe. Toward that end, He offers you His Word so that through it, by the power of the Holy Spirit, He might arouse faith in your heart. Do not rebuff the Word or resist the working of the Holy Spirit, and you shall in a short time experience the abundant fruit of the Word. For if God earnestly wills that you believe, He will, by all means, work that belief in you, unless you resist His will through deliberate stubbornness.

You say that you are unable to believe and yet you are compelled to admit that you sigh for Christ and long for His benefits. That very sighing and longing is the beginning of faith. The Holy Spirit will truly complete, truly complete, I say, that work of faith which He has begun in you. Take heed, however, that you not overturn His salutary work. You should by no means think that you must first wait for some feeling or movement kindled in your heart before you will hear, reflect on, and receive the Word of the Gospel. This is a perverse opinion that you must never drink in or dress yourself with. This is a perverse order that you must never follow. A beginning will be made by hearing and contemplating the Word in the school of the Holy Spirit. In this place you will be brought to faith and through that faith to a feeling of faith.

You say that you are unable to believe. You must therefore hear, reflect on, and receive in your heart the Word and you will be able to believe. God gives His Holy Spirit to them that ask Him (Luke 11:13), and yet, without the grace of the Holy Spirit, we are not able to ask. God gives faith to those who sigh, and yet, without the beginnings of faith, we are not able to sigh. To be sure, faith begins in the heart with a certain amount of mourning. When the mourning in the heart is brought about and when it is completed, then what we were unable to do by our own power we are able to do by the gift of the one who said, No one comes to me unless the Father draw him. Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father come to me. He that comes to me, I will not cast out (John 6:44–45, 6:37). If you are not yet drawn, pray that you be drawn. Hear and learn that you may come to Christ.

21

The Small Number of Good Works

Tempted. True and living faith is always effective through love and conversely that faith which has no works is in itself dead (Gal 5:6). As the body apart from the Spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead (Jas 2:26). Now truly I see no great number of good works which might offer a clear testimony of my faith. When I want to do what is good, evil lies at hand; to will is within me, but to bring about what is good I find not within myself (cf. Rom 7:15–21).

Comforter. You do well, indeed, to reckon the light of faith by the rays of good works. As the works that are not done by faith are not truly good works, so, too, a faith without works is not true faith but a vain persuasion and empty image of faith. Let your light shine before men so that they may see your good works, says our Savior (Matt 5:16). Be diligent, says Peter, to make your calling and election sure (2 Pet 1:10). Therefore, from works we must make a judgment concerning faith. There are three characteristics of faith: It begins with contrition as its forerunner, is followed by a real trust in Christ, which is its essential form, and thereafter always has new obedience as its companion. Therefore, as I said, you do well to reckon the light of faith by the rays of good works. At the same time, do not make the mistake of thinking that only those works are good which, in the eyes of men, have the outward appearance of being great and are reckoned to be free from any stain of sin cleaving to them. By the name “good works” is to be understood principally the internal renewal of the heart and the stirring of those spiritual movements in the hearts of those regenerated by the Holy Spirit. Consequently holy thoughts, good purpose, a true fear of God, sincere love, and ardent prayer are truly good works, even though they are not perceived or seen by men.

The daughter of the King is glorious within for the outward works bear witness of the internal glory of her renewal (Ps 45:13–14). With this in mind, if you have nothing else to offer God, offer a good will and a holy intention to live piously. Offer to God your heart and you have offered all things. Submit completely to His divine will, cling to it, resign your will to it, and you shall become one spirit with Him (1 Cor 6:17). If you will do this, outward works will promptly follow because the Spirit of God dwelling in you will arouse all sorts of good works for you. Where there is no opportunity before you to perform works, there a good will within will suffice for God. You ought not to hope that you will be free from the stain of every weakness in this life. Our works please God not because they are perfect in every way but because they proceed from a true faith in Christ and are offered by His beloved children in the place of a thank offering. Acknowledge, therefore, that witness which good works bear concerning your faith. And lest you fall into despair or exalt too much in yourself, confess their imperfections and the stain of sin that cleaves to them.

22

The Lack of Merits

Tempted. God is just and His judgments are just (Ps 119:137). Therefore, He will give the reward of eternal life to no one who does not abound with the merit of good works. What, therefore, is my hope, what my trust, when my works are imperfect, unclean, in many ways polluted, and in no manner meritorious?

Comforter. No! Eternal life is not the reward earned for a certain number of our merits but is the free gift of God in Christ and for the sake of Christ (Rom 6:23). As Bernard of Clairvaux writes, “The merits of man are not such that because of them eternal life is owed by law and God would in some way wrong man if He did not grant it. Indeed, to pass over the fact that all merits are the gifts of God and that man is far more indebted because of them to God than God to man, what, I ask, are all merits to such Glory?”40 All the saints confess that before God no one is innocent, that all our righteous deeds are as filthy rags before God (Isa 64:6), that no one is able to stand before the judgment seat of God if He will mark iniquities (Ps 130:3), that when they have done all that God has commanded, they are, nevertheless, less than unworthy servants (Luke 17:10). Therefore, what place can there be for merits before God? As Bernard puts it, “Who would presume that his wisdom, or righteousness, or holiness suffices for salvation?”41 Jean Gerson asks, “Who would glory in his own righteousness before God any more than an unclean woman before a man?”42 Neither our works or sufferings are worthy or befitting the future glory that is to be revealed to us (Rom 8:18).

We cannot by our own obedience merit a mere crumb of bread to eat but rather are compelled in our daily prayers to beseech even this from God (Matt 6:11). If we cannot merit something so incomparably small, how will we be able to obtain the reward of eternal life by our merits? If you wish to fall from grace, then boast of your merits. By all means, God gives freely and He saves freely because He finds little that He ought to save and much that He ought to damn.43 Fulgentius writes, “From grace is given not only a good life to the justified but also eternal life to the glorified.”44 For this reason, death is called wages but eternal life is called grace because the former is paid but the latter is given (Rom 6:23). As Bernard puts it, “If any merit is sought, you should seek to come upon grace.45 Your merit will be the mercy of the Lord. Truly you will not be in need of merit as long as He is not in need of mercy.”46 Again he says, “There is no place for grace where merit has taken up residence. Whatever place is claimed by merit, there grace is lacking.”47 Again he says, “It is enough for merit to know that merit is not enough.”48 Put all of your trust in God alone and cling to His mercy. In the wounds of Christ seek your merit and you will not be undeserving of it.

23

The Accusation of the Law

Tempted. I confess that our works are not meritorious or pleasing to God, but He is pleased by those things which proceed from our faith. But, yet, how are they not displeasing to Him when they do not perfectly conform to His divine Law? The Law is an eternal and immoveable rule of righteousness, condemning all who are not conformed to it. Therefore, the Law waves its weapon of damnation at me and my works. Show me what shield I am to use to oppose that weapon.

Comforter. Christ redeemed you from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse for you, for it is written, ‘Cursed is every one that hangs on a tree’ (Gal 3:13). When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son born from a woman, born under the Law, to redeem those that were under the Law, so that we might receive the adoption of sons (Gal 4:4–5). For Christ is the end and fulfilling of the Law for righteousness to everyone that believes (Rom 10:4). There is therefore no condemnation to be feared from the Law for you and all others who are in Christ by faith and walk not according to the flesh. The law of the Spirit of life has freed you in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and of death. For God has done what the Law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh in order that the righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit (Rom 8:1–4). For this reason, if you apply the benefits of Christ to yourself by true faith, you need not fear the condemnation of the Law. The sting of death is sin, the power of sin is the Law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor 15:55–56). He has defeated our death by His death. He has made satisfaction for our sins by His suffering. He has most perfectly fulfilled the Law in our place by His most holy obedience. Nevertheless, He has not abolished the Law but rather transferred it (Matt 5:17). The Law and Gospel do not mutually destroy one another because the Law is not contrary to the promises of God (Gal 3:21) but is upheld by faith (Rom 3:31).

For what the Law requires from us, the Gospel announces is fulfilled by Christ in our place. What the Law commands (imperat), Christ obtains (impetrat).49 The Law condemns sin and us because of sin. Christ makes satisfaction for sins and bestows on us His righteousness. Therefore, Christ satisfies the Law through His obedience because it is perfect. Moreover, this satisfaction of the Law made by Christ is to our advantage because He owed nothing. David Chytraeus explains,

Therefore you ought not to behold death in your own body but in the risen Christ, the conqueror of death and the giver of life and eternal salvation. You ought not to behold sin in your conscience but in Christ, the Lamb of God, who bears and takes away your sins and the sins of the whole world. You ought not to bear hell and the temptations of eternal rejection in yourself and the innumerable multitude of the damned, but in Christ enduring on the Cross and conquering the temptation of rejection for you. Thus, you ought to behold the Law not as it is written on your heart but as it was fulfilled by Christ and affixed to the Cross with Him.50

24

The Accusing Conscience

Tempted. My conscience bears witness to the accusation of the Law. It rises against me as an uncorrupted judge. Although no one charges me or presents anything against me, it is my accuser.51 I am not able to flee from that private tribunal. I see a large volume and am thoroughly terrified to find written with the pen of truth all of my sins. I am wretched. Who will deliver me from this court of justice in which the plaintiff, attorney, witness, judge, executioner, flogger, prosecutor, and hangman are all the same?

Comforter. If your heart condemns you, nevertheless, God is greater than your heart. If the memory of your past sins accuses you, nevertheless, Christ the Redeemer, who has made satisfaction for sins, is more powerful. He absolves, liberates, and saves you. Indeed, He blotted out the handwriting that was written against us and was contrary to us; He set it aside and nailed it to His Cross (Col 2:14). That handwriting accusing your conscience is fastened to the nails of Christ crucified so that it is rendered void and invalid before God. Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God (Rom 5:1), peace of conscience, a restful heart, and a blessed tranquility of soul which Christ the Victor over sin, death, and the devil brought with Him from the grave and bestowed on His disciples. Bernard writes, “Therefore, if you feel the worm of conscience in this present life, you ought to suffocate it and not keep it forever before your memory because it will rot your conscience and give birth to a host of never dying worms.”52 Therefore, suffocate the worm of conscience through serious repentance. Pray to God for a restful heart and the remission of sins. Be careful not to wound your conscience further for it is far worse to fall back into sin. In this life, there is time for pardon, grace, and a peaceful conscience. In this life, the book of conscience is able to be corrected for the Book of Life. At the last judgment the books will be opened (Rev 20:12), and among them the book of conscience. Disclosed for the whole world to see, written in the largest of letters, will be every single sin of man that has not yet been blotted out or deleted in this world by true contrition, faith, and amendment of life. Before this judgment day comes and the time of grace passes, you have a very clear hope and sure trust that the blood of Jesus Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, will purify your conscience from dead works to serve the living God (Heb 9:14).

25

Late Repentance

Tempted. I am earnestly sorry for having inflicted so many wounds on my conscience. I earnestly desire remedy for my wounds. I have an earnest desire to keep a good conscience from this day forward but I fear that my repentance is far too late. I am afraid that the divine grace so often rejected by me will in turn reject and abandon me. Augustine warns, “Late repentance is accustomed to deceive many people. The repentance which proceeds from a dying man ought to be feared lest it die too.”53

Comforter. No! Nothing is too late that is true and sincere. Cyprian writes, “As long as a man remains in this world, repentance is never too late.”54 Some who are called arrive in the vineyard of the Lord at the end of the day, at the eleventh hour (Matt 20:9), and obtain the reward of grace. No delay of time prejudices God’s justice or piety. Fulgentius explains, “Repentance is never too late with God in whose eyes all things past and future are always seen as present.”55 Consider the example of the thief on the cross. His soul stood ready to depart at the very edge of his lips, as it were, as he confessed Christ with his own mouth and obtained the remission of sins and the free promise of heavenly paradise. As long as it is called “today” (Heb 3:13), so long does God zealously await our conversion. As long as the heavenly bridegroom delays His coming (Matt 25:5), so long does the gate of grace and forgiveness lie open. A person’s whole life, even that final hour, is granted as an opportunity for repentance. The Lord stretches out His hand all the day long (Isa 65:2) and does not cast out any who come to Him (John 6:37), no matter what time they come. Take care, therefore, that your repentance be true and sincere and you have no need to fear that it be too late.

At the same time, if the hour of death draws near and you repent, because you are deprived of the opportunity to sin, your repentance is false since you have not really abandoned your plan to sin as much as the occasion for sin has abandoned you. If, therefore, you repent because you see the punishment of your sins quickly approaching, this too is false repentance since it proceeds from love of self and not from a sincere love of God. Such repentance proceeds not from a hatred of sin but from a hatred of a most just punishment. Therefore, that your repentance may be true and sincere grieve for the sins you have so often committed and for that reason grieve because you have so seriously and so many times offended our supremely good God by these sins. Seek the forgiveness of sins in Christ and earnestly resolve to devote whatever remains of your life completely to the service of God. Submit yourself to God and be humbled to the deepest recesses of your heart. Entrust to His will whatever and however great punishments, a thousand times deserved, He chooses to impose on you, so that it is clear that you repent because of hatred for your sins and not from a hatred for punishment. Such a contrite and humble heart will be a most pleasing sacrifice to God (Ps 51:16–17). Indeed, God says through the Prophet, To whom shall I look but to the one who is humble and contrite in spirit and who trembles at My Word (Isa 66:2).

26

Lingering Doubt about God’s Grace

Tempted. I do feel a sincere contrition and grief in my heart for my sins and I do not completely despair of the mercy of God. At the same time, my heart is tossed by waves of doubt as I am not certain of the free forgiveness of my sins. While I rightly hope for such forgiveness, I humbly doubt. While the consideration of divine mercy lifts me up, the thought of my unworthiness weighs me down. I have been converted to God and for that reason I rightly hope; but I have been converted at such a late hour that I in part still doubt.

Comforter. Yes, but I will put under your wavering faith a firm foundation and sturdy support on which you may rest against all the storms of doubt. Indeed, that doubt is not a humble confession of our unworthiness but a dangerous assault on the faith we owe to the divine promises. To be sure, there is no reason strong enough that we should ever doubt late conversion and repentance. Divine mercy offers to everyone who is truly converted the most certain promise of the remission of sins. Therefore, apply yourself chiefly to the immovable truth of all the divine promises. For whoever acknowledges and deplores his sins, seeks the remission of sins in Christ, and firmly resolves to change his life, God promises His grace, the forgiveness of sins, and eternal life. Whoever believes in the Son shall not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16). He that believes in Him is not condemned. He that has the Son, has eternal life (1 John 5:12). He that believes and is baptized, will be saved (Mark 16:16). He who promises these things is God, whose Word is more certain than heaven and earth, who is Truth itself, who is faithful and cannot deny Himself or His Word (2 Tim 2:13). Therefore, what God offers with certain promises must be accepted by you with a certain faith. You must not claim that it is a weakness of your nature that prevents you from clinging to the divine promises with great assurance. This defect of your nature will be corrected by the power of the Holy Spirit. Indeed, you do not believe in Christ by your own power but by the working of the Holy Spirit. By the grace of that same Spirit you must be certain of the heavenly Father’s mercy over against all doubt that continues to cling to your corrupt nature. Whoever does not believe God has made Him a liar (1 John 5:10).

To the extent that you doubt you depart from faith. Resist, therefore, this doubting, and do not present it under the false name of humility, which ought to arise from a consideration of our unworthiness, as a firmness of faith ought to arise from our meditation of the divine promises. For this reason, God has come forth from the secret dwelling of His majesty and manifested His will in His Word that we might be certain concerning it. For this reason, God has promulgated not only promises of the Law, which require the condition of perfect obedience and are therefore rendered useless for us, but also Gospel promises, which are free so that we might rest on them with a most certain trust in our heart. For this reason it depends on faith, says the Apostle, in order that the promise may rest on grace (Rom 4:16). Human promises are uncertain and doubtful because all men are liars (Ps 116:11). But God’s promises are certain and immovable because God is Truth itself. As God is truthful in speaking threats, so too He is truthful in speaking promises. Just as outside of Christ (extra Christum) certain damnation hangs over all unbelievers and impenitent persons, so too in Christ (in Christo) certain salvation is promised to all who are converted to God and believe.

Cyprian asks, “Do you really doubt the future things promised by God, who is Truth and whose Word is eternal and unchangeable for believers? If an important and praiseworthy man should promise you something, you would by all means have faith in his promise. You would not believe that you would be cheated and deceived by him whom you know stands by his words and deeds. Now God speaks with you and you faithlessly waver with a doubting mind?”56 Listen carefully to this most stable oath of God: As I live, declares the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of a sinner but that he be converted and live (Ezek 33:11). Truly, truly, I say to you, says Christ, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has eternal life and comes not into judgment but passes from death to life (John 5:24). Truly, truly, I say to you, if any one keeps My word, he will never see death (John 8:51). Augustine writes, “God has said this, promised this, and if that is not enough, He has sworn it.”57 Tertullian writes, “Blessed are we for whose sake God swears but pitied are we if we do not believe what God swears.”58 Acknowledge, therefore, the marvelous and not often enough praised mercy of God. When He desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable and immoveable character of His purpose, He guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two immoveable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us (Heb 6:17–18).

27

Lack of Necessary Preparation

Tempted. All of these things easily persuade me not to doubt the certainty of the divine promises in themselves. At the same time, it is uncertain whether they are true and immoveable for me and whether I am among those whom God promises and offers such things.

Comforter. No! God truly offers these things to everyone who earnestly repents and takes refuge in Christ by faith. Indeed, He has promised these things to you since you too believe in Christ. Listen to that inward witness of the Holy Spirit. For the Spirit testifies not only outwardly through the Word, but also inwardly in your heart. The Spirit Himself bears witness to your spirit that you are a child and heir of God (Rom 8:16–17). You have received the Spirit who is from God that you may know the things given to you by God (1 Cor 2:12). It is God who confirms and strengthens you with all that is truly pious in Christ and who has anointed you. It is He who stamped you with a seal and confirmed and gave to you, as it were, a guarantee of the Spirit in your heart. Since you are a son of God, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into your heart, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ (Gal 4:6). When you believed the Word of Truth and the Gospel of salvation, you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of your inheritance until you acquire possession of it (Eph 1:13–14). For this reason you were sealed for the day of redemption (Eph 4:30). Just as the bridegroom gives his spouse a promise of marriage by imparting to her some guarantee, which is the pledge of that future marriage, so too God has betrothed Himself to you in faithfulness and mercy (Hos 2:19–20). Since the marriage of the Lamb has not yet arrived (Rev 19:7), He gives to you the guarantee of the Holy Spirit, which ensures the fulfillment of the promise and anticipates that future heavenly marriage. This is the Spirit of adoption who bears witness that you are to be adopted as a son of God. He is the stamp by which the promises of God are sealed on your heart. He is the guarantee by which the Word of Truth is confirmed for you. By this you know that you dwell in God and God in you because He gives to you His Spirit (1 John 4:13).

28

Doubt Concerning the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit

Tempted. I agree with you, but how may I be certain that my heart is the temple and dwelling place of the Holy Spirit? The stains of sin cling to me and I feel no good dwelling in my flesh. How, then, will the Holy Spirit who is holiness and purity itself dwell in me?

Comforter. We receive in this life only the first-fruits of the Spirit (Rom 8:23) and await the full measure and complete offering only in the life to come. There remains in this life a striving of the flesh and Spirit (Gal 5:17) and we remain in part carnal and sold under sin (Rom 7:14). Yet, because of the blessing of regeneration and the beginning of renewal (Titus 3:5–6), we are no less temples of the Holy Spirit. From this you know that you must deplore and detest your sins, for the Spirit of God who dwells in you will not dwell in a body enslaved to sins. As you believe in Christ and love Him, for truly He is the Spirit of faith (2 Cor 4:13), as you with earnest sighs call upon God (Zech 13:9), the most kind Father, for truly He is the Spirit of grace and prayers, who cries in the hearts of the godly, ‘Abba! Father!’ (Gal 4:6), as you are led with a desire for all good things, for they who are temples of the Holy Spirit are urged by Him to the good (Rom 8:4), and as you often feel deeply a foretaste of eternal life in your heart, know that it is because the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but a matter of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom 14:17). Bernard writes, “Therefore, if your soul at certain times perceives deep within its heart the Spirit of the Son crying, ‘Abba, Father’, let your soul know that when it is moved by the same Spirit as the Son, it is loved by the Father. In the Spirit of the Son, let such a soul recognize herself as a daughter of the Father, a bride or even sister of the Son.”59 Whenever these weak and sluggish thoughts enter you soul, do not despair but ask for an increase of the Spirit. Indeed, the Father will give the Spirit to those who ask (Luke 11:13). Stir up the special gift of the Holy Spirit that is in you by praying, seeking, knocking, meditating on the Word, and resisting perverse desires.

In this life there is no perfection but rather a continuous path to perfection. Besides, this inward sealing and testimony of the Holy Spirit was given to you by God in the sacraments, which are the seals of divine promises, the vehicles of the benefits of Christ, and the means by which your faith was brought about and continues to be nourished and strengthened. You are to be certain that the benefits of Christ pertain to you in particular. In Baptism you were received into the covenant of divine grace; in the Holy Supper you are fed with the body and blood of Christ; and in private absolution you are pronounced free from the bonds of sin. Since you have been confirmed with these seals, believe with all certainty and without any doubt the Word of the Gospel. Why do you doubt and waver? As Cyprian puts it, “This is not to know God at all. This is to offend Christ, the Teacher of all believers, with the sin of unbelief. This is to be in the Church, the house of faith, without faith itself!”60

Attend, moreover, to the infallible promises of prayer. God has promised by a sworn oath that He will hear our prayers and give to us whatever we ask according to His will. Truly, truly I say to you, says Christ, whatever you ask of the Father in My name, He will give to you (John 16:23). If two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven (Matt 18:19). This is the confidence we have in God that if we ask anything according to His will, it will be granted (1 John 5:14). He who has promised to hear our prayers has told us to ask for the remission of sins. Therefore, what place remains for doubt concerning the remission of sins? Why would Christ have directed us to end our prayers with the word, Amen, if He would wish us to doubt who hears our prayers?61

Attend, finally, to the special character of true faith. It is by such faith that we have access to that grace in which we stand and boast of the hope of the glory promised by God. It is by such faith that we approach the throne of grace with confidence (Heb 4:16) to acquire mercy and come upon grace. It is by such faith that God’s power keeps us for salvation (1 Pet 1:5) and that we pass from death to life (1 John 3:14). It is by such faith that we are most certainly convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing is able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom 8:38–39). Augustine writes, “Let your weakness be encouraged amidst these things weighing you down. Let it not despair, let it not strike against itself, let it not turn away from itself.”62

Christ has promised that you will be where He is. What has God promised you, mortal man, but that you will live eternally? Do you not believe this? Believe, believe, for He has already done more than He has promised. What has He done? He died for you. What has He promised? That you will live with Him. Indeed, it is more incredible that He who is eternal should die than that you who are mortal should live eternally. If you believe what is more incredible, how could you doubt the other? God has promised you heaven. He has given you His Son who is a greater gift than heaven and earth!

29

Doubt concerning Perseverance

Tempted. I truly have no doubt that through Christ my Mediator I have access to God. I believe that I am in God’s grace. At the same time, I am compelled to doubt my perseverance. I know that perseverance alone is crowned. I hear that only those who persevere to the end will be saved (Matt 10:22). It is not virtue to begin but to finish.63 As Jerome says, “Not a beginning but an ending is demanded of a Christian: Judas began well but ended badly; Paul began badly but ended well.”64 It has also been said, “Without perseverance neither he who fights has victory nor he who conquers the victor’s palm.”65 I hear our Master of the games crying out, Hold fast to what you have, lest another receive your crown (Rev 3:11). I hear and I fear; I fear and I doubt; I doubt and I cast aside the trust in my heart.

Comforter. Bernard writes, “There are three considerations in which all your hope consists: the affection of adoption, the truth of the promise, and the power of deliverance. Now how great are your foolish thoughts that would murmur, saying, ‘who are you, how great is that glory, and with what merits do you hope to obtain it?’ Respond boldly, ‘I know in whom I have believed and I am certain that He has adopted me with great affection. I know that He is true in His promises and mighty in His deeds.’ This is a triple knot that is with difficulty broken. It is being lowered to you in this prison of ours from our homeland. Firmly take hold of it, I beg you, that it may lift you up and draw your gaze to the glory of our great God.” 66 This is a most firm anchor of your hope.

There are three columns against which you must seek refuge during the waves and storms of doubt: the good will of an adopting God, the certain trustworthiness of His promises, and the infinite power to fulfill His promises. Our good God has promised good things; therefore, He who begins a good work in you will perfect it for His good pleasure (Phil 1:6, 2:13). Our good God has promised good things; therefore, He who promises is faithful and true and will not allow you to be tempted beyond your strength, but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it (1 Cor 10:13). Our good God has promised good things; therefore, He who promises is able to fulfill His promises (2 Tim 1:12).

Be confident that He will keep His pledge until the Day of Judgment. No one will snatch Christ’s sheep out of His hands (John 10:28). The heavenly Father who has given them to the Son is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them from the Father’s hand (John 10:29). Christ, the only High Priest of the New Testament, has prayed for all who would believe in Him through the Word to be with Him and behold His glory which the Father has given Him (John 17:20–25). Therefore, since you yourself believe in Christ and have the testimony of God in yourself (1 John 5:10), how can you doubt that Christ prayed for you or that the prayer was heard by the heavenly Father? Will the Son who is in the bosom of the Father (John 1:18) not be heard by the Father? Will the prayers of the Son in whom the Father is well pleased (Matt 3:17) be rejected? God forbid such thoughts! God forbid! Rather it is written, In the days of His flesh, He offered up prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to His Father and was heard because of His reverence (Heb 5:7). Therefore, Christ prayed for you; He prayed for you and purchased you that you might live with Him and share in His heavenly glory.

30

Satan’s Wiles and Power

Tempted. I truly hope that I will be kept as a faithful sheep in the hand of my Shepherd. At the same time, I fear the wiles of Satan who prowls around as a roaring lion seeking someone to devour (1 Pet 5:8). I fear his power because he is an enemy with an eager recklessness, robust strength, and cunning tricks. He is attentive, quick, and unwearied. He is bursting with schemes and most skillful in combat. How am I able to avoid his treachery and flee his power? As Bernard writes, “He attacks and persecutes me, sometimes openly and violently, sometimes secretly and falsely, but always wickedly and cruelly.”67

Comforter. Christ says, No one will snatch My sheep out of My hand (John 10:28). Therefore that infernal wolf will never be able to harm you no matter how skilled his wiles and power. The ruler of this world is coming and has no hold whatsoever on Christ (John 14:30). Therefore, he will have no power over those who are in Christ by faith and in whose hearts Christ dwells by faith (Eph 3:17). It is Christ who fights for you and in you. Believe, believe, that the devil is not more powerful than Christ. He was tempted by the devil (Matt 4:2) and mightily conquered him. The victory of the Lord is a triumph for his servants. Through death Christ destroyed him who held the power of death, that is, the devil (Heb 2:14). He plundered principalities and powers and put them to shame by triumphing over them in Himself (Col 2:15). By the sword of the Cross, He defeated this infernal Goliath as a heavenly David. This fight, this victory of Christ, is salvation for the whole Church, for whom this is the song of victory: Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony (Rev 12:10–11).

Therefore, the whole certainty of your faithfulness and the boasting of your hope are in this victory of Christ. By the power of Christ, resist the devil and he will flee from you (Jas 4:7). As Bernard writes, “As often as you resist, you overcome the devil, bring joy to the Angels, and glorify God. For He exhorts you to fight, helps you to conquer, watches you contending in the fight, lifts you up when you fail, and crowns you when you succeed.”68 As Gregory of Nyssa puts it, “He is the president and governor of the competitors and the crown of the conquerors.”69 St. Paul writes,

Therefore, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His power. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand, therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the devil, and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God (Eph 6:10–17).

In this armor present yourself for battle and you will most certainly return a victor. Christ fought and conquered for you. He will fight and conquer in you and put upon you the crown of glory.

31

The Apostasy of Many

Tempted. Yes, but how many soldiers of Christ could I name who, assailed by the tricks of the devil, have returned from battle not as victors but victims? How many could I number who began well but have since fallen from the grace of God and the reward of eternal life? Therefore, I fear the hidden counsels of God. When I consider His secret judgments, I tremble throughout my body and soul.

Comforter. You do well to work out your salvation with fear and trembling (Phil 2:12). You do well to acknowledge the weakness of your flesh and the power of Satan’s treachery by carefully considering the example of those who have fallen into sin and lost their salvation. Yet take heed that you not try to place the cause of their apostasy on some absolute decree of God’s reprobation. God does not move Himself by any absolute decree or hatred. He does not abandon or allow to perish anyone endowed with a true faith. For the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable (Rom 11:29). However many there are who, once endowed with a true faith, have afterwards fallen from the grace of God and eternal salvation are themselves to blame. They perish not by the necessity of some absolute decree of reprobation. They turn away from God by their own free will.70

These things are forever and intimately joined together: faith, Christ, the grace of God, the Holy Spirit, the pursuit of piety, and eternal life. As long as anyone born again remains in faith, so long does he remain in Christ. Whoever remains in Christ remains also in the grace of God. Whoever remains in the grace of God, the Holy Spirit dwells in him. Where the Holy Spirit is, there also follow the fruits of the Spirit. But whoever abandons the pursuit of piety and begins to indulge sins against their conscience casts out the Holy Spirit, loses faith, and renders himself unworthy of eternal life. Therefore, without making yourself carnally secure, be certain in the Spirit of the gift of perseverance and the reward of eternal life. Let the infallible promises of God free you from doubt and let the exhortations and threats of God free you from carnal security. Augustine writes, “There is no security in this life outside of hope alone in the promises of God.”71 Again Augustine writes, “In this life, which is full of temptation on the earth, he who thinks he stands must take heed lest he fall (1 Cor 10:12). As you see, those who will not persevere are by the providential will of God mixed with those who will persevere, so that we may learn not to soar too high in our wisdom but join the humble and work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Phil 2:12).”72 Therefore with one eye of the heart look upon the mercy of God and with the other the justice of God. From a faithful consideration of divine mercy, let there arise in your heart a trust of perseverance. From the fear of divine justice, let there arise an avoidance of carnal security. Let a godly fear strike down your flesh, lest the love of sinful flesh deceive you. The Lord takes pleasure in those that fear Him and hope in His mercy (Ps 147:11). Let the inner man hope and trust and the outer man fear and tremble.

32

Doubt about being included in the Book of Life

Tempted. Those alone persevere and receive the crown of perseverance who are written in the Book of Life. How am I able to know that I am written in that Book?

Comforter. That Book of Life is Christ, which is why it is called the Book of Life of the Lamb (Rev 13:8). To be written in this Book of Life is nothing other than the election of believers in Christ for eternal life. As the faithful are said to be elect in Christ before the foundation of the world (Eph 1:4), so their names are said to be written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world (Rev 17:8). Accordingly, we make our judgment concerning election and the writing in the Book of Life not a priori but a posteriori. Bernard writes, “There are clear signs and proofs of salvation given such that a person is not able to doubt whether he is among the number of the elect in whom these signs remain.”73 Those people, who from eternity are elected for life, will hear in time the Word of salvation, believe in Christ, bear the fruits of the Spirit, and persevere in faith. Therefore, whoever believes in the Son has the testimony of God in himself (1 John 5:10). Indeed, the Holy Spirit testifies in the heart of believers that they are children of God and written in the Book of Life (Rom 8:16). Those whom God has predestined from eternity and whose names He has written in heaven (Luke 10:20), He calls in time by the Word and justifies by true faith in Christ. Such faith reveals itself by truly calling on God, bearing patiently under the cross, and pursuing holiness.

Therefore, let your holy and salutary reflections on election and the Book of Life begin with the wounds of Christ hanging on the Cross. Whoever believes in Him and perseveres in faith is justified and written in the Book of the living. Were you not received by Baptism into the covenant of grace, washed from your sins by the blood of Christ, regenerated and renewed by the Holy Spirit? This is a clear sign that you are written in the Book of Life. For we are all sons of God by faith and however many have been baptized have put on Christ (Gal 3:26–27). Savonarola writes, “After your Baptism when you fell into sins because of your weakness, were you not contrite? Who placed His hand under you, who received you again into grace, if not the Lord? This is a great sign of your election. When an elect person falls, he will not be completely crushed.”74

God did not write the Tables of the Fates or the Decrees of Rhadamanthus but the Book of Life.75 He did this when He elected us in Christ before the foundation of the world (Eph 1:3–14). Therefore, ask your questions about election to life and whether you are written in the Book of Life by faith in Christ. Walk by faith that you might arrive at predestination. Peter Lombard writes, “Those who search the depths of God rashly and beyond the limits of the Word will in the end be overwhelmed by those depths.”76

33

The Fear of Death

Tempted. It is good for me to cling to Christ. I will not let Him go from my heart until He blesses me. I have determined to persevere by a true faith in Christ that it might come to pass for me to reign with Him. At the same time, I confess that I am not wholly free from the fear of death. I do not feel the power and help of the Spirit such that I am able ardently to desire death as the Apostle Paul did (Phil 1:23).

Comforter. Without doubt, it is a weakness of our flesh and a peculiarity of our corrupt nature that we are more desirous of this momentary life than the everlasting one to come. It is from such a nature that our fear and terror of death arises. In order that you might conquer these thoughts by the power of the Spirit and might increase the resolve of the inner man, weigh carefully these things that I am about to put before you from the storehouse of heavenly truth. First, it is certain that even the hairs of our heard are numbered by God (Matt 10:30) and the number of our months are established by Him (Job 14:5). He has placed limits for us that we are by no means able to pass over (cf. Ps 139:5). Indeed, all of our days were written in His book before we lived even one of them. Therefore, you should rightly submit to the Father’s will. He gave you life by grace. He wonderfully brought you out of the confines of your mother’s womb. He has preserved your life from a thousand dangers and kept you safe and alive. That soul which He once gave, He now demands back. To be sure, He takes not what is yours but claims what is His. What legal action or suit will be granted against a person who seeks a return of his precarium?77

Moreover, He conveys the joys of heavenly paradise to this soul that He seeks from you and will restore it to the body again, adorned with greater glory and nobler qualities. That body which rests in the grave will again be restored as a far more glorious, becoming, and precious dwelling place for your soul. What is sown in corruption will be raised in incorruption. What is sown in dishonor will be raised in glory. What is sown in weakness will be raised in power. What is sown a natural body will be raised a spiritual body (1 Cor 15:42–44). Therefore, as a certain guarantee,78 humbly and willingly entrust your soul created by the Father, delivered by the Son, and inhabited by the Holy Spirit into the faithful hands of God. With David and Stephen, indeed with Christ as your head, say, Into your hands I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, God of Truth (Luke 23:46; Ps 31:5; Acts 7:59). Are you not able to hold forth to yourself the most certain presence and help of God amidst the very agony of death? Indeed, since you have embraced Christ the Mediator by a true faith, be most truly convinced that by His death He has conquered your death and by His resurrection He has restored righteousness and immortal life to you. Therefore, having been justified by this faith you have peace with God (Rom 5:1). In the midst of death, you are able to lift yourself up by the help of the heavenly Father and say with Job, Although the Lord slay me, yet I will hope in Him (Job 13:15). I will be with him in trouble, says the Lord, I will rescue him and glorify him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him My salvation (Ps 91:15–16). Neither life nor death, nor any creature can separate or tear us away from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus, our eternal King and Savior forever (Rom 8:38–39).

The accusation of the Law, the deformity of sin, and the temptation of eternal rejection makes the appearance of death terrible. The sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law (1 Cor 15:56). Call to mind the consolation offered above that was opposed to this monster, and the outward appearance of death, so terrible to behold, will vanish and be changed into a most peaceful sleep.79

34

The Sting of Death

Tempted. By sin death entered the world and is the due wages of sin (Rom 5:12; 6:23). Therefore, how should I not be terrified of death?

Comforter. Yes, in and of itself, the wages of sin is death and the scourge of a wrathful God. But to those who believe in Christ, death is changed into a most pleasant sleep. Although those who are reborn and believe in Christ still bear the remnants of sin in their flesh, their body is dead. Although they are guilty of death because of the sin dwelling in them, the Spirit is life because of righteousness (Rom 8:10). Because they are justified from sin by true faith in Christ and because they resist the desires of the flesh by the Spirit, the sin that remains in the flesh is not imputed to them but covered by the umbrella of divine grace. Therefore, the true and spiritual life of the soul does not cease with death but rather begins. Death is forced to play the part of the midwife, as it were.80 Thereupon flow forth those most sweet names by which the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of Truth, describes the death of the godly. Those people who in the eyes of the untrained seem to die are said by the Holy Spirit to be gathered together or congregated among their own people (Gen 25:8; 35:29; 49:33). That is to say, they are brought into the company of the blessed and triumphant Church in heaven to be with those who in true faith preceded them in death. Tertullian writes, “What we call death is a departure.”81 Cyprian says, “It is not an end but a crossing.”82 It is not an emigration but transmigration from worse to better.83 Hilary writes, “It is an ablation of the soul (and to a certain most blessed place), not an abolition.”84 Ambrose adds, “the soul is demanded back (and transported to a place of rest), not destroyed.”85 It is a passing over (metabasis) and ascending (anabasis) to true life. It is an exodus because by it the godly pass from bondage to sin to true liberty as the Israelites were once brought from bondage in Egypt to the Promised Land.

By death, the godly are said to enter into peace and to rest in their beds (Isa 57:2). This is no doubt true because they come from the unremitting warfare on earth to a place of peace, from the most turbulent sea of life to a place of refuge, from the most painstaking labors of this world to a place of tranquility. They are said to depart and to come to Christ (Phil 1:23) because they are brought out of the lodging of this present life to a heavenly home; indeed, from the companionship of wicked men to the most blessed company of Christ in heaven. By death they are freed from their bodily bonds. As oxen who labor all day are freed from their yoke at night and as prisoners are freed from their shackles, so too the godly are freed by death from the miserable yoke of the toil and pains of this life and from the foul prison of sin. By a most agreeable change, they are brought to a more pleasant life. They are said to emigrate from the land of their pilgrimage by the dissolution of their earthly tabernacle (2 Cor 5:1) in order to be at home with the Lord (2 Cor 5:8). This is true because they come from the ruinous dwelling of the world to a heavenly palace, from a house of clay to an eternal home in the heavens not made with hands (2 Cor 5:1), from the tabernacle of an earthly body to the heavenly Jerusalem and the blessed company of Christ dwelling in it. Cyprian writes, “Therefore, he who fears death is unwilling to go to Christ. He who is unwilling to go to Christ does not believe that he is about to reign with Christ.”86 They are said to rest from their labors (Rev 14:13) for it is not the godly man but the wretched man who is said to die. Ambrose writes, “If this life be full of burden, certainly its end is relief. If relief is good and death is the end, then death is good.”87 They are by death and the grave said to be sown in the earth or the field of the Lord but the bodies of the godly, as a precious grain of wheat, will sprout forth again to life (1 Cor 15:36–37).

These wheat fields tell of the immortal glory of the godly,

as they bring forth living fruit from a lifeless body.As under clods of earth the dry seeds lay,

of which you would think them nothing and cast away,Yet by a mysterious movement these seeds begin to grow,

and with an unnoticed power forth do go;Even so our dead bodies below entombed,

are raised alive and glorified.First plunged in the river Lethe, next rising with the true signs of life,

and in due season will dwell in the presence of God’s eternal light.88

The bones of the godly shall flourish like the grass (Isa 66:14) when the spring of eternal life shall dawn. Finally, they are said to be lulled to sleep in a pleasant way. Just as we rest from our labors in sleep, lying down to regain our strength, all the while the soul exercising its duties, so too in death we are brought from all the toil and pains of this life to rest. We promptly and perfectly gather renewed strength for our body and soul to carry out those tasks for which we were created in the beginning and redeemed by Christ. All the while the soul is living and rejoicing in heaven. Just as in sleep we are not troubled by what is done around us, nor are we disturbed by the commotion of human activity, so too the godly who die in the Lord rest from all care and anxiety and are no longer subject to the further evils of this life. Just as we awaken again from sleep, so too death is not a continual sleep but the hour will come in which we will hear the voice of Christ calling us from the grave and we shall arise again to life. Augustine writes, “No one so easily rouses someone from bed as does Christ the dead from the grave.”89 From all of this, it is very clear why the blessed Apostle properly called the death of the godly gain (Phil 1:21). Indeed, as Ambrose says, “It is gain to escape an increase of sin. It is gain to flee what is worse and to arrive at what is better.”90 Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of the godly (Ps 116:15). For them it is good because of rest, better because of security, and best because of blessedness.

35

The Pains of Death

Tempted. I fear not death but the pains of death. I have often seen the eyes of the dying fading, their ears failing, and their voice faltering. I have seen the fatigue and anxiety, the trembling and vulnerability of the dying. I have often heard the soul’s wailing and complaining as it is forced from the dwelling of its body.

Comforter. Those who believe in Christ are protected from those pains of death or, at the very least, those pains are lightened. Christ took upon himself what was most bitter about our death, namely, the experience of God’s wrath. We should cast our death against the tree of the Cross on which Christ died for us and, behold, it will become a pleasing sleep for us. Truly, truly, I say to you, says Christ, if any one keeps My word, he will not see everlasting death (John 8:51). That is to say, not only will he not see everlasting death but also not that ferocious and horrible appearance of temporal death. And if the slightest amount of bitterness be in the cup of death we are to drink, what is that, indeed, how little is that compared to the rushing stream from which Christ drank in the way of this life for us (Ps 110:7)? How slight a sip is it compared to that cup which the heavenly Father presented to Christ to be drunk entirely in our place (Matt 26:42)?

Methodius says, “Our death is like a medicine that cleanses our soul and body.”91 By it the poison of sin is purged from our bodies. What wonder is it if some aloes are mixed in with this purge? Our death is the midwife to eternal life.92 What wonder is it if the same happens to us as to an infant born into the world through the narrow passage of the mother’s womb and to a woman who endures her birth pains (cf. John 16:21)? There is no birth free of all pain. That bodily pain, though, will last only a brief moment. And so, the day of our death will be the birthday of our eternal life. Narrow is the gate that leads us to life (Matt 7:14). What wonder is it if we feel some of that narrowness in our passing through. Christ is our captain and gate-breaker (Mic 2:13). He clears the path before us and we must cling to Him with a true faith in order to pass through that gate of death with Him. In so doing this we will come upon the path of eternal life known only to Him (Ps 16:11).

And yet sin still dwells in our flesh. What wonder is it if we should feel some of the narrowness of that gate as we are brought through it because of the sin that remains in us? At the same time, our conscience has peace in Christ (Rom 5:1) who is our true peace (Eph 2:14) and who rising from the dead brought to us the gift of peace (Heb 13:20). Death has no sting remaining by which it is able to wound our soul. It fastens its fangs into our heel but its poison is removed by Christ. For when we are united to Christ, death is not able to fasten its fangs into us and inject us with its poison.

36

Premature Death

Tempted. I seem to be called out of this life far too prematurely. God is taking me in the middle of my life. Therefore, I fear that this is a sign of God’s anger. As it is written, men of blood and treachery shall not live out half their days (Ps 55:23).

Comforter. Nothing is premature that God has brought to maturity. While it is true that long life is a gift from God, short life is not always an indication of God’s anger. Indeed, at times, God even commands the godly and those beloved by Him to depart the habitation of this world so that, having been freed from the dangers of sinning, they may be brought to a place of security and may be freed from enduring those everyday misfortunes that are often more sorrowful than death itself. God’s people go, enter their chambers, and shut their doors behind them. They hide themselves for a little while until the fury passes by (Isa 26:20). The righteous perish and no one reflects on it in his heart; merciful men are gathered up and no one understands. The righteous man is taken away from calamity. He will come to peace. He who walks in uprightness will rest in his bed (Isa 57:1–2). Although the righteous man die early, he will be at rest. For old age is not honored because of length of time nor is it measured by the number of years. But understanding is a man’s gray hair and a blameless life his old age. There was one who pleased God and was loved by Him. While living among sinners, he was taken up. He was snatched away lest wickedness change his understanding and falsehood deceive his soul. For the fascination of trifling things obscures what is good and ever-present desires pervert the innocent mind. Being perfected in a short time, he completed many years. Since his soul pleased God, He hastened to take him from the midst of wickedness (Wis 4:7–14).

A tree that is shriveled and unproductive, which under no circumstances bears fruit, is cut down and its fruitless and inactive branches condemned. To do so is useful. But, the law in heaven works in a different way. The godly die most happily whether in good old age or the flower of youth. What is life (bios) but violence (bia)? What is the corpse (sōma) but a grave (sēma)?93 What is the living body (demas) but a prison (desmos)? What is our birth (genesis) but a passing into the earth (eis tēn gēn ōsis)? Will you become sorrowful to be freed prematurely from these evils and bonds? The earlier the heavenly Ruler calls you from this station of life, the sooner He puts you in a place of rest, peace, and victory.

37

The Services still owed to the Church

Tempted. What if I am able to further benefit the Church of God by my continued labors in this life? I could do this if I were granted a longer life.

Comforter. However long God wishes you to remain alive and in service to His Church must be entrusted to His divine arrangement. Therefore, say with that ancient Doctor of the Church and most deserving Bishop, Ambrose of Milan, “I have not so lived as to be ashamed to live among you, nor do I fear to die because we have a good Lord.”94 The one who has prepared you with the gifts of teaching for the benefit of the Church is also able to prepare others with the same gifts. Therefore, if you are hard pressed with the Apostle and do not know which of these two to choose, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, as that is far better for you, or remaining in the flesh, which is more useful for the Church, then know that to die is gain for you and to live is benefit to the Church (Phil 1:23–24). For none of us lives to himself and none of us dies to himself. For whether we live, we live to the Lord—namely that we might gain for Him more souls in the Church—or whether we die, we die to the Lord—that we might obey His fatherly will calling us from our present station—so whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s (Rom 14:7–8)—that most gracious and powerful Lord from whose love neither death nor life is able to separate us (Rom 8:38–39). To this point, you have obeyed the will of God by faithfully devoting yourself to the service of the Church. Obey Him also by unhesitatingly embracing His will, which calls you to the fellowship of the Church Triumphant. You are rightly concerned for the increase of the Church out of love. At the same time, you must faithfully commit the task of governing and preserving the Church to God. Nothing is more salutary here, nothing better, nothing more becoming of piety than to resign oneself wholly to God’s will and to commend to Him through pious prayers the complete power to determine our life or death. As Bernard writes, “We may without doubt hope for one of two things: Either He will grant to us what we ask or whatever is better.”95 Commend to the Lord your way and trust in Him and He will do it (Ps 37:5).

38

Shortness of Life brought upon oneself

Tempted. I fear that I have rendered my own life shorter by my own sins. Therefore, how am I able to hope for the presence and help of God in death? Those guilty of their own death receive not a better life after death.

Comforter. Yes, but that is to be understood only of those who by impatience bring violence upon themselves and force their soul from its bodily home against the will of God. Let such an idea be far from your piety. Augustine writes,

For no man ought to inflict death upon himself by his own will only to flee from temporal troubles by falling into eternal ones. No one ought to do this because of another’s sins, lest he who would not have been defiled by another’s sin bring upon himself the gravest of his own. Again, no one ought to do this because of his past sins, for he has a greater need of this life so that these sins might be healed by repentance. No one ought to do this because of a desire for the better life hoped for after death, for that better life after death is not received by those guilty of their own death.96

But if your mind is disturbed by these thoughts and you think you have shortened your own life by immoderate use of food and drink or by some other disorder, grieve over this with earnest groans, place all of your trust in the merit of Christ, firmly resolve to better your way of life, and God, who has promised the forgiveness of sins to those who truly repent, will pardon your iniquities. Manasseh, a man of blood, had himself cut the thread of life and yet heartily repented and obtained the glory of eternal life (2 Kings 21:16). The thief on the cross received the due reward for his deeds (Luke 23:41) but earnestly converting to God, entered paradise with Christ. Indeed, our first parents brought death on themselves and all of their posterity, yet clinging to that little Gospel promise that He would crush the serpent’s head (Gen 3:15), they were raised again by that life-giving consolation. Therefore, if you have followed these in their sins, follow them also with tears in their repentance.97 God’s hand is not yet withdrawn nor has His mercy waned because of so many years. The gate of pardon is not closed as long as He permits time for repentance.

39

Love of this Life

Tempted. But I still want to enjoy the pleasures and benefits of this life for a little longer. I still want to possess for a little longer the blessings that God has bestowed on me in this life.

Comforter. Take care that you do not obscure your love for the highest good by an inordinate love of this life. As our whole heart must be given over to the love of God, whatever is given to another person or thing is subtracted from God.98 Indeed, whoever loves something because of the thing itself and not because of his love for God, loves God less. Your heart is a vessel that is full of the love for this world and the true love of God has no place in it. Pour out the inordinate love of this world so that the love of God may fill it. Do you really love this present life, which is full of dangerous and harsh battles, that much? What does it mean to live longer but to be tormented longer and sin longer? As Cyprian writes,

If in your dwelling the walls were shaking because of old age, the roof above you were trembling, and the house, now wearied and worn out, were threatening to fall into ruin at any moment, would you not with all haste depart? If, when sailing, a turbulent and stormy tempest should announce your impending shipwreck by its waves and strong winds, would you not quickly make for the shore? Behold, the world is changing and passing away. Witness its ruin not because of old age but because of the end of things. Do you not give thanks to God? Do you not rejoice that your timely departure means you escape its imminent ruin, shipwrecks, and plagues?99

Ambrosiaster writes,

As the sea, stirred up by crosswinds, attacks and makes a tempest for sailors, so also the faithless of our age, by a conspiring commotion, disturb the minds of the faithful. Likewise our evil foe works with such perversity that a person does not know which to avoid first. For if the powers cease to be against us, the evil foe stirs up the intentions of private persons against us. If these be checked, he kindles a fire among family members. If this be put out, he causes discord among siblings, so that our home, agitated at all four corners, is made to collapse in part. For this reason, Christians must by the same consent flee. Indeed, they ought to follow the example of that sainted man who, knowing that war is waged here against the faithless, asked that he might depart in peace (Luke 2:29).100

To be sure, this life appears as a precious nut outwardly, but if it is opened with the knife of truth, nothing will be found within but vanity and emptiness. If there is any good in this life, it is eminently better, no, incomparably better, in the next. Augustine explains these two lives as follows:

One is by faith, the other by sight; one a pilgrimage in time, the other a dwelling for eternity; one a labor, the other rest; one a journey, the other our destination; one the active life of work, the other the contemplative life of reward; one dodges evil, the other reposes in good (for it has no evil to avoid but only a great good to enjoy); one fights with the enemy, the other reigns without enemy; one is steadfast in adversity, the other experiences no adversity; one restrains carnal desires, the other attends to spiritual delights; one is anxious about conquering, the other calm in the peace of victory; one is helped in temptations, the other without any temptations rejoices in the Helper Himself; one serves the poor, the other finds none in need; one forgives the sins of others that its own sins may be forgiven, the other neither endures anything that needs to be forgiven nor does anything for which forgiveness should be asked; one is stricken with evil lest it be exalted as good, the other is without evil and full of grace so that without any temptation of pride it clings to the highest good; the one distinguishes between good and evil, the other beholds only what is good.101

Choose which of these two lives is preferable. Put away that inordinate desire for this fleeting life, lest you lose the inheritance of a permanent one. Hold the things of this life in such a way that you are not held by them. Earthly things should be possessed by you, not possess you. Whatever you have, keep it under the control of your mind, lest, conquered by a love of earthly things, your mind becomes instead possessed by these things. Why do you not hasten to better things? As Cyprian puts it, “heavenly things follow earthly, great things little, and eternal things perishable.”102

40

Separation from Wife, Children, and Relatives

Tempted. My very sweet children, my most faithful wife, and my very agreeable relatives will all be left behind. Who will provide for my wife and children? Who will be their protector and patron?

Comforter. God is the one who calls himself a Father of the fatherless and protector of widows (Ps 68:5). Commend them to His protection and guardianship. God who is your God will also be the God of your offspring (Gen 17:7). Strictly speaking, your children are not yours only but also God’s. Indeed, they belong more to Him than you, since He has bestowed more on them. Surely you cannot doubt God’s paternal care for them? The prophet of the Lord says that he had been young and now was old, yet neither saw the righteous forsaken nor his children begging for bread (Ps 37:25). The generation of the upright will be blessed (Ps 112:2). God has promised your children heavenly treasures. He will not allow those who believe in Him to die from hunger. He has given them life and He will not deny them the sustenance of life. He has given them a body which He Himself wonderfully formed and will kindly sustain.

Take caution that you not be so concerned about the physical well-being of your wife and children that in the meantime you neglect the care of your soul. Christ says, if anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, indeed even his own life, he cannot be my disciple (Luke 14:26). Elsewhere He puts it this way, whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me (Matt 10:37). Take caution, therefore, lest when God calls you by death, your love for wife and children be so great that you refuse to follow the call of God with a ready heart. The love of the heavenly Father is to be placed before the love of children and the love of Christ, the Bridegroom, before the love of wife. The gift is not to be loved more than the Giver.103

What am I to say about your relatives? If you love them dearly, you will receive them more dearly in the life to come. We trust in a most true promise; namely, that we, who will also someday depart from this life, have not lost those dear to us who have already departed but have sent them ahead into that life which is to come. In that life we will know each other even better than we do now. Indeed, our relatives will be even dearer to us in that life to come, as there will be no fear of amiable disagreement. If your relatives are dear to you, let Christ, your brother, be dearer to you. If it be agreeable here for you to converse with your relatives, let it be more agreeable for you to come to Mount Zion and the city of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem and company of innumerable angels, and to the Church of the first-born who are written in heaven, to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect (Heb 12:22–23).

41

Silencing of the Ears in Death

Tempted. I fear that in my struggle with death my hearing will fail and I will be without all consolation of heart and very much throttled by the terrors of Satan.

Comforter. The inward consolation of the Holy Spirit is more powerful than all outward consolations. The Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God (Rom 8:16). The same Spirit, who is our true and highest Comforter (John 15:26), lifts our spirit when we begin to struggle with death and are afflicted in our heart. When the eyes fade in death, the Holy Spirit will give true illumination to your heart. When the ears fail in death, He will bestow on you living-giving consolation for the soul. Where human consolations leave off, there divine consolations begin. Consider the examples of the martyrs and how willing and prepared they were for the most excruciating punishments. The torture wheels (rotae) were seen by them as roses (rosae), the fiery embers (favillae) as spiritual bracelets (armillae), the iron chains (catenae) as golden crowns (coronae), the torture devices (tormenta) as ornaments (ornamenta), and the double-edged swords (gladii) as rods (radii) of heavenly light. Who worked this in their hearts, who consoled them in their sorrow, but the Holy Spirit? His consolation is more powerful than the accusation of the whole world, indeed, even more than the prince of this world.

Surely you do not think that the Holy Spirit only encourages our heart in the course of this life and is idly resting when we are in the struggle with death? Surely you do not think that the dwelling of the Holy Spirit is destroyed when the tabernacle of our body is destroyed? Christ lives in you (Gal 2:20) and dwells in your heart by faith (Eph 3:17). His grace has been poured upon your lips (Ps 45:2) and the perfume of this grace will gladden your heart (Prov 27:9). If your hearing fades in the least or if the channels of your ears be closed, His words will penetrate your heart. The Spirit of the Lord is upon Him because the Lord has anointed Him to preach the Gospel to the afflicted, He has sent Him to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and to open the prison for those who are bound (Isa 61:1; Luke 4:18). The Lord has given to him the tongue of the learned that He would know how to console and sustain the afflicted at the right time (Isa 50:4). Cling to Him with a firm trust of heart. Entrust yourself to Him by godly prayers. He will console you at such times. He will encourage your heart with the Word of the Gospel when the sting of death strikes it. He will bind up your heart when the wounds of death inflict it. He will preach liberty to your heart when you are led captive and plundered by death. He will preach freedom to your heart when you are confined to the prison of death.

42

The Apparent Uselessness of Redemption

Tempted. If Christ redeemed us from death, why must I still die? How has death been conquered by Christ when it daily displays its trophies of prey as a sign of victory?

Comforter. To say that Christ saved His people from their sins means that He does not condemn forever those who are reborn and believe, not that sin no longer dwells in their flesh. As long as they are in this life, they remain sold as a slave to sin (Rom 7:14). Accordingly, He has redeemed us from death that we might be free from the bonds of eternal death, not that we are no longer subject to a temporal death. Our body is dead, or subject to death, because of sin (Rom 8:10). True death is the death of the soul. From this Christ redeemed us by sustaining those infernal torments in His own soul. Our sweet Jesus also made our temporal death sweet so that it is death in name only. It is truly only a sleep; no, to be more precise, the end of death is the beginning of true life.104 Those who are truly godly die every day because of those unremitting calamities by which they are oppressed in this life (1 Cor 15:31). Therefore, that death of theirs is the end of death. Through the gate of death they pass to a quiet and eternal life. In this way, their death is the beginning of true life.

The death of Christ is the poison that destroys our death. Although this poison has not yet thoroughly killed our death, as it yet slithers and fastens its fangs in our heel, nevertheless, this poison has attacked the heart of death and it will shortly die from that blow.105 Death is the last enemy (1 Cor 15:26), which Christ will thoroughly destroy at the last day, for, as it is written, a stronger one will come upon this strong man and powerfully take away all his spoils (Luke 11:22). Death is to be considered with spiritual eyes and in this way its wrath will be seen as empty and without power since it has been conquered and taken captive by Christ. It lies in wait for the lives of the godly and, behold, it leads them to true life. It attempts to kill the soul and body with its sting and, behold, it wounds only the body, which itself will be rescued from the jaws of death, as the soul is immune to all wounds of death. It tries to hand over the godly to eternal death and, behold, it delivers them to eternal life.

43

The Dread of Dust

Tempted. That being said, I see that I must be placed in the ground and reduced to dust. A bed will be spread out for my body in the grave and therefore I say to that place of rottenness, ‘You are my father’ and to the worms, ‘You are my mother and sister’ (Job 17:14).

Comforter. Do not consider the ashes and dust in which you are placed, but consider your future resurrection from the ashes and dust which we await by faith. If, with Job, you say to that place of rottenness, ‘You are my parents,’ say also with him that your Redeemer lives, who at that last day will raise you again from the earth. He will clothe you with skin so that in your flesh you will see God (Job 19:25–26). The words of scripture, the weight of the arguments, and the examples of those resurrected all prove the blessed resurrection of our bodies.

The words of scripture in the Old and New Testament are numerous and readily at hand that are in weight the most important and in clarity the brightest. The blood of Abel cries out to the Lord, in whose eyes he yet lives (Gen 4:10). The Patriarchs are gathered to their people; therefore, by death they do not stop being the living people of the living God (Gen 25:8, 35:29, 49:33). God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Exod 3:6). Since God is not the God of the dead but of the living, it necessarily follows that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob live before God (Matt 22:32). They live, I say, in their better part and their bodies will be revived in the life to come. In fact, they have already been revived since when Christ rose they rose with Him (Matt 27:53). Job says, I know that my Redeemer lives and at the last day I will be raised from the earth (Job 19:25). Isaiah says, your dead will live and their bodies will arise. Awake and sing for joy, you who dwell in the dust, for your dew is the dew of green grass and your bones will flourish like the grass (Isa 26:19, 66:14). Thus says the Lord to these dry bones, ‘Behold, I will send the Spirit into you and you will live. I will bestow sinews upon you and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin. I will bestow on you the Spirit and you will live. You will know that I am the Lord (Ezek 37:5–6). Daniel says, many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to eternal life and some to everlasting disgrace (Dan 12:2). The seven Maccabean martyrs said, the Great King of the world will raise us up who die for the joy of eternal life and from God we hope to recover our members (2 Macc 7:9, 11).

The Truth says, an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear the voice of the Son of Man and come out; those who have done good to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment (John 5:28–29). This is the will of the Father who sent me that I should lose nothing of all that He has given me but should raise it up at the last day. This is the will of My Father who sent Me that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life and I will raise him at the last day (John 6:39). I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, although he die, yet he will live. Everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die (John 11:25–26). St. Paul says, I have hope in God and I await the future resurrection of both the just and unjust (Acts 24:15). It is necessary that the perishable put on the imperishable and the mortal put on immortality. Then shall the saying be brought to pass that is written, ‘Death is swallowed up in victory’ (1 Cor 15:54). We know that He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also by Jesus (2 Cor 4:14). Our citizenship is in heaven and from it we await our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transfigure our humble body that it might be rendered as His glorious body, according to the power that enables Him to subject all things to Himself (Phil 3:20–21). Since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, God will bring to Himself those who fall asleep in Jesus (1 Thess 4:14). Indeed, John saw the dead, great and small, standing before God and the books were opened. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up their dead (Rev 20:12–13).

These words of scripture written, as it were, by the rays of the Sun are added to by strong and immovable arguments of reason. For the Apostle Paul concludes, if Christ be raised, we also will be raised. Here he teaches that the resurrection of Christ is the key to our graves and the example of our hope.106 The Apostle says that Christ was made the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep (1 Cor 15:20). Accordingly, by God’s arrangement, the offering of the first-fruits followed the harvest. Similarly, the harvest of the universal resurrection follows the first-fruits of the Lord’s resurrection. Christ is our head and what goes before in the head will follow in the members.107 For this reason the Apostle confidently pronounces that we will be raised together with Christ and gathered into the glory of that heavenly paradise (Eph 2:6). Maximus writes, “For the flesh and blood and portion of each of us is in Christ, the God-man. Therefore, where our portion reigns, there we believe we reign; where our blood rules, there we know that we rule; and where our flesh is glorified, there we know that we are full of glory.”108

Moreover, as by one man came death—namely the first Adam—so too by one man came the resurrection—namely the second Adam. As in Adam we die, so in Christ we rise again (1 Cor 15:21–22). If the fall of Adam has the power to bring death, can it be that the resurrection of Christ does not have the power to gain the resurrection to life? Christ showed Himself to be the victor over all His enemies by His glorious resurrection; therefore also over death, which He will at the end thoroughly abolish. Christ is the Eternal King; therefore He will raise the citizens of His kingdom that they may live with Him for eternity. Christ freed not only our soul but also our body from the yoke of sin and appointed for it an inheritance of eternal life. Therefore, He will raise it out of the dust that it may take possession of this life merited by Christ. From all of this, it is plainly evident that Christ is, as it were, the surety and pledge of our resurrection.109 Moreover, our bodies are the temples and dwellings of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 3:16). He will not allow his temple to lie hidden in dust and ashes but will raise it again and render it far more brilliant than it was in this life. Likewise, the latter glory of the temple of Jerusalem will be greater than the former (Hag 2:9). In Solomon’s temple there were incorruptible palms (1 Kgs 6:32). Thus, the bodies of the godly will not be guilty of eternal corruption when they are the dwellings of the eternal Spirit.

But if our bodies are sanctified by the body and blood of Christ in the salutary use of the Holy Supper, how are they able to remain in the grave? Irenaeus asks, “How can they say that the body, which is nourished by the body and blood of the Lord, comes into corruption and does not partake of life? For as the bread that is produced from the earth is no longer common bread after God’s consecration but the Eucharist, consisting of two things, one earthly and the other heavenly, so, too, our bodies, when they receive the Eucharist, are no longer corruptible as they have the hope of the resurrection.”110 Without doubt, the flesh of Christ is life-giving food. Therefore, whoever eats of this flesh has eternal life and Christ will raise him at the last day (John 6:54).

Moreover, since the soul works in this life by the body and with the body for either what is good or evil, as long as it remains enfleshed, and divine justice requires that whatever is joined in the work be joined also in the reward or whatever is joined in blame be joined in punishment, we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil (2 Cor 5:10). Tertullian writes, “The soul does not merit without the body in all that it does.”111

Finally, in addition to these strong and immovable arguments, there are to be added the examples of those raised from the dead whom Christ by His own power and the Prophets and Apostles by divine power recalled to life as a testimony of the future resurrection. These individuals, as candidates for immortality and eternity, are presented to us, who, by faith and confession, are joined to them.

44

The Incomprehensibility of the Resurrection

Tempted. The article of the resurrection is very much opposed to our bodily nature and human reason. On account of this, the hope of the resurrection is very often shaken in my heart by the storms of various thoughts.

Comforter. The revelation of the Holy Spirit is the foundation of our faith, not the presuppositions of our reason. We believe in the resurrection of the dead and we ought to take every thought captive by the obedience of faith (2 Cor 10:5). God is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think (Eph 3:20). Therefore, consider His promises and you will find what He does, for that which God says are not only words but also deeds.112 Augustine writes, “Let us grant that God is able to do something which we confess that we are not able to understand. In such instances the whole reason of the work is to be attributed to the power of the one doing the work.”113 Bernard writes, “It will be easy for Him, by whom His mother herself lost not the incorruptibility of her flesh when giving birth, to take what is corruptible and clothe it with incorruptibility when it will be resurrected.”114

To be sure, in nature itself, there are many examples of the resurrection displayed for us. What you sow does not come to life unless it first dies. What you sow is not the body that is to be but a bare seed, namely of wheat or of some other grain. God gives to it a body as He will and to each kind of seed its own body (1 Cor 15:36–37). Augustine writes, “Therefore, if He gives life to dead and rotting seeds of grain that you might live in this life, how much more will He raise you that you might live in eternity?”115 Tertullian writes, “The light that daily fades and gives way to a descending darkness is in the morning renewed; the stars that go away return; the seasons, when they end, begin again; the fruits that are picked grow again. Certainly seeds do not grow abundantly unless they first rot and dissolve. All things are preserved by perishing; all things are restored by dying.”116 Tertullian continues:

Day dies into night and is everywhere buried in darkness. The beauty of the world is polluted and its whole substance covered in blackness. All things are sordid, silent, and stupid. There is everywhere a suspension of business and a rest of things. So light having been lost is mourned. And yet it comes alive again with its own beauty, dowry, and Sun, whole and entire, for all the world—destroying its own death, night; opening its own grave, darkness; and existing on its own until night revives itself with its own stage of actors. For the rays of the stars are rekindled, which the mere hint of morning had extinguished. The absent constellations, which had been banished for an interval of time, are again restored; the reflection of the moon, which had been diminished by the day of the month, is again readorned; winters and summers, springs and autumns return with their virtues, habits, and rewards. As you see, the earth has been taught by heaven to clothe the barren trees, color the flowers afresh, put forth grass again, reproduce the same seeds which had been consumed, and not to reproduce them until they were consumed.

An amazing plan: preserving by depriving. In order to restore, it takes away; in order to keep, it loses; in order to renew, it damages; and in order to increase, it lessens. Accordingly, it restores to us things far more abundant and cultivated than what was taken away. In fact, profit by destruction, interest by injury, gain by loss; in one word, I would say that all creation is renewal. Whatever you find already was. Whatever you lose will be again. All things return to their appointed place at the time of their departure. For that reason, they end in order to become again. Nothing perishes that is not also preserved.

Therefore, this whole revolving order of things testifies to the resurrection of the dead. Indeed, God taught by works before He taught by letters. He preached by His power before He preached by His voice. He first sent nature to be your teacher and then later the prophets so that you might more easily believe the prophets having been taught by nature and so that you might immediately receive what you heard since you have already seen everywhere. Do not doubt that God, whom you know is the restorer of all things, is also the reviver of the flesh.117

Are we to regard such examples as these put forward throughout the universe as useless? Is God to be judged as weaker than nature? Indeed, reflect upon yourself and you will find a testimony of the resurrection. Again, Tertullian writes,

Reflect on what you were before you were. Certainly the answer is nothing. For if you had been anything, you would have remembered. Therefore, if you were nothing before you existed and you will be nothing when you cease to be, why are you not able to be again from nothing by the will of the same author who willed you to be from nothing in the first place? Will it be anything new for you? You were not and then you were created. When you again are not, you will again be created. Give me a explanation, if you can, how you were first made and then ask how you will be made again. Since you were once made without difficulty when you had never existed, you will surely be made more easily after you have already existed.118

Again Tertullian writes, “If God molded all things out of nothing, He will be able to bring out of nothing the flesh led into nothing.”119 By all means, He who has made is able to make again. How much more difficult is it to make than remake, to give a beginning than to restore? You must believe that it is far easier to re-establish flesh than to establish it.

45

The Flames of Purgatory

Tempted. I fear the punishing flames of purgatory’s fire after death. I am surrounded by various infirmities of sins. I fear that God will assuredly enter into judgment with me (Ps 143:2) and most justly sentence me to the flames of purgatory.

Comforter. God enters into judgment with those who truly turn away from Him in this life and are not yet reconciled. He does not sentence anybody to the fire of purgatory to be tormented for only a fixed amount of time but to an infernal and unquenchable fire that burns forever. However, those who earnestly acknowledge their sins and truly believe in Christ have, as it were, a written contract (syngrapham) with Christ their Savior that no place of pain or torment shall be feared by them after death. For He says, Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and comes not into judgment but passes from death to life (John 5:24).

It is plain to see that the Book of Truth acknowledges only two types of people: good and bad, penitent and impenitent, believers and unbelievers. It recognizes only two places after death: one of consolation, the other of torment; one of reward, the other of punishment; one of heaven, the other of hell. As Augustine explains, “We are completely ignorant of and find nothing in scripture about a third class of person or place. There are only two habitations: one an eternal kingdom and the other an eternal fire. Therefore, no middle place exists for anyone where you are not punished and yet not admitted into the kingdom. If you are not with Christ, there is no other place to be than with the devil.”120 Christ says, He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned (Mark 16:16). He who believes in the Son will not be condemned but he who does not believe is already condemned because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God (John 3:18). He who believes in the Son has eternal life but he who does not believe in the Son will not see life but the wrath of God remains on him (John 3:36). They who have done what is good go to the resurrection of life and those who have done what is evil go to the resurrection of judgment (John 5:29).

The blessed shall go to eternal life and the wicked to the eternal fire (Matt 25:46). Not only is this immediate separation of the godly and ungodly made at the last day but also immediately after death. The example of the rich man teaches this to us (Luke 16:19–31). His soul was cast into hell and the soul of the godly Lazarus was carried by angels to paradise. The example of the converted thief teaches us also. Christ promises to him that he will enter paradise on the very day he was to die (Luke 23:43). The Spirit of Truth teaches the same, pronouncing, Blessed are they who die in the Lord from this day forward (Rev 14:13). There is no purgation of sins or any expiation except the blood of Christ which cleanses us completely from all of sins (1 John 1:7). Upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace so that He might be peace to us (Isa 53:5). Therefore, he who believes in Him is justified and has peace with God (Rom 5:1). He passes from death to life and need not fear any torment from Him after death.

46

The Severity of the Last Judgment

Tempted. I fear the severity and terror of the Last Judgment. Above will be a severe judge and below a wide-open hell; within a biting conscience and without a burning fire; to the right accusing sins and to the left terrifying demons; on all sides good angels to drive me to hell and evil ones drawing me to it. Satan will accuse me; my sins will accuse me; my conscience will accuse me. I greatly fear the face of my severe Judge, for whom nothing will lie hidden and by whom nothing will remain unpunished. No one will be able to escape His power, to deceive His wisdom, to soften His justice, or to retract His judgment.

Comforter. If you believe in the Son, you will not be condemned—which is to say, you will not know the severity or condemning rigor of such judgment (John 3:18). If you hear the Word of Christ and believe it, you will not come into judgment (John 5:24). Your case will not be pleaded by that severe group in the court of Justice because Christ has delivered all who believe in Him from the wrath to come (1 Thess 1:10). Augustine writes, “Judgment day will be dreaded by those who are evil on account of their punishment but will be loved by those who are good on account of their crown.”121 For the former it will be a day of wrath and punishment, but for the latter a day of grace and bountiful reward.

The Son says, Life up your heads and know that your redemption draws near (Luke 21:28; Ps 24:7). The bride does not tremble at the arrival of her bridegroom. Now by faith your soul is betrothed to Christ. He will appear at the Day of Judgment for the purpose of introducing you as His bride for that heavenly marriage. Therefore, what kind of fear or dread can there be in such a place? That day will be a day of deliverance because it will completely free us from our wretched sins and our captivity to death for perfect service to Christ. It is a day of deliverance because it will release us from every danger of evil and burden of loss. It is a day of deliverance because it will redeem us completely from the daily laments of the flesh and the dangers of such warfare. Indeed, it is a day of relief because it will draw us from the heat of calamities, thirsty and panting, to a place of rest and to a fountain of living water. Therefore, let Him come, let our bridegroom, the Christ, come. Let every soul that is the true bride of Christ, those sealed with the guarantee of the Spirit (Eph 1:13–14) and led by a true love for Christ, let them say, Come, Lord Jesus (Rev 22:20). Augustine writes:

If we truly love Christ, let us also long for His coming again. It is perverse to fear the coming of the one you love. When you pray, Thy kingdom come (Matt 6:10), do not fear that you might be heard. What is it that you fear? That the Judge will come? Do you think He is unjust? Do you think He is malevolent? Do you think He is spiteful? Do you think He is expecting to know about your case from another whom you have not properly instructed, or who would disappoint you by failing to make your case, or who would not be able to demonstrate your innocence with the right words either because of a lack of eloquence or deficient intellect? No, none of these are true.

Who, therefore, will come? Why do you not rejoice? Who is going to come to judge you but He who came to be judged for you? Do not fear the accuser of whom it is said, The Prince of this world is sent forth (John 12:31). Do not fear an evil advocate for He who is your future judge is now an advocate for you. He will both advocate for you and your case. He will be the defense for your case and the testimony of your conscience. Therefore, whoever you are who fear a future judge, correct your conscience only.122

There is no reason to fear your future Judge. He will be your Judge who is your Advocate. He will be your Judge who has given the promise to His saints and the world will be judged by their testimony and example. He will be your Judge in whom you have been elected from eternity for life. He will be your Judge who is your King—how shall a King ever abandon His people? He will be your Judge who has made you a true member by faith—how shall the Head ever abandon His own members? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies, who shall condemn? It is Christ who died, indeed, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, and who intercedes for us (Rom 8:33–34). How shall He abandon them whose legal defense He Himself has undertaken? Indeed, it is because of them that He came into the world that they would not be lost.

Christ will judge according to the Gospel (Rom 2:16). Now those who believe have not rejected the Gospel but have received it by a true faith. They have heard the voice of Christ calling them to conversion: Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest (Matt 11:28). Therefore, they will also hear the voice calling them to take possession of the heavenly kingdom: Come you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world (Matt 25:34). He will be your Judge, whose grace and truth precede His appearance. His grace has absolved the sins of those who believe and His truth has given promises of eternal life.

There is no reason to fear the terrible destruction of heaven and earth. Heaven and earth will pass away but the Word of Christ will not pass away (Luke 21:33). The Word of the Lord endures forever (Isa 40:8). If you cling by true faith to this Word, you too will endure forever. You have lost nothing when you possess nothing by an inordinate love. Your treasure is not riches of this world but the delights of the heavenly kingdom. Let the world burn for it is enough for you that Christ, your treasure, lives. Let the physical heaven and earth perish, vanish, and altogether cease to be. You have the most truthful promises of a new heaven and new earth. Behold I create new heavens and a new earth (Isa 65:17), says the Lord, in which will dwell righteousness (2 Pet 3:13). This will happen to such a degree that no one will remember the former any more (Rev 21:1). Let the lodging of your earthly sojourn fall into ruin for the residence of your heavenly home remains forever.

There is no reason for you to fear the accusation of Satan, the Law, or your sins. Your sins are cast into the depths of the sea; namely, in the abyss of divine mercy (Mic 7:19). God has cast them all behind His back (Isa 38:17) and will remember them no more (Jer 31:34). Believe me that Satan will not dig up your sins from that sea nor will he dare bring them before the Judge. Your sins are forgiven, they are covered, they are blotted out and they will not be brought again under judgment (Matt 9:2; Ps 32:1; 51:1). Vain is the devil’s threatening accusation of the godly because the handwriting against us has been canceled by the blood of Christ and will be directed against him (Col 2:14). Vain is his accusation of our sins because the free forgiveness of our sins through Christ will be directed against him. Vain is his accusation of the law because in this life we already have reconciliation with God by faith.

Finally, there is no reason for you to fear the sudden return of Christ for judgment. Although the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night, God has not appointed us for wrath but that we might obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we will always live with Him (1 Thess 5:2, 9–10). The Day of Judgment is not to be feared by those who were prepared for the heavenly kingdom from the beginning (Matt 25:34) and who were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world (Eph 1:4). Therefore, entrust the precious deposit of your soul into the faithful hands of God. He will watch over it in death and in judgment. He will bring it, united to its body, into the palatial palace of heaven for its eternal glory.

In the Place of a Conclusion:

A Prayer in Time of Sickness

Hear me, O God, giver and restorer of life, in whose hands life and death, health and sickness are held. Hear me not according to the desire of my will, but according to the good pleasure of Your own. If You desire, You are able to heal me. Say but only one word and I will be made well. You are the length of my days and in Your hands rests my life. But if now by way of death You call me to my heavenly home, remove from me first any immoderate love for this life. Grant me strength of spirit that I may overcome the anguish of death and in the midst of the darkness of my dim eyes, illumine and increase the light of my heart.

With You is the fountain of true life and in Your light shall I see light. Your death, O Good Jesus, is the cure of my death and the merit of my eternal life. I cling to Your Word with a faithful heart and therefore am certain that by faith You dwell in my heart. I will not let You go from my heart until You bless me and lift me up by Your life-giving consolation. You have said, “Whoever believes in me, shall never die.” My heart puts this Your Word before You and by faith I approach Your throne of grace, knowing that You will not refuse or reject those who come to You.

Let Your precious blood wash me from my sins. Let Your wounds hide me from the wrath of God and the severity of judgment. I will die in You and You shall live in me; I will abide in You and You shall abide in me; You will not abandon me to death and dust but will raise me to the resurrection of life. You have fought and conquered for me; now fight and conquer in me. Let Your strength be perfected in my weakness. My soul clings to You and I will not allow it to be separated from You. Let Your peace which passes all understanding keep my heart and senses.

Into your hands I commend my spirit. You have redeemed me, O God of Truth. Receive now my poor soul, which you have created and redeemed, which you have cleansed from sin by Your blood, sealed with the pledge of the Holy Spirit, and fed with Your body and blood. It is yours. You gave it to me, take what is yours, and remit the guilt of my sins with which I have polluted it. Let not the fruit of Your passion go to waste with me, nor let your precious blood be unfruitful in me. In You, O Lord, have I trusted, let me never be confounded.

Amen.

1. Plato, Phaedo, 67e (LCL, p. 234; Opera I, p. 104).

2. Cf. Athanasius’ consideration of this theme in Festal Letter 7 (NPNF, ii, vol. 4, pp. 523–27).

3. Jerome, Letter to Paulinus, 53.9 (NPNF, ii, vol. VI, p. 102; PL 22.549).

4. See, Johann Gerhard, Erklährung der Historien des Leidens vnnd Sterbens vnsers Herrn Christi Jesu nach den vier Evangelisten (1611), (Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt: Frommann-holzboog, 2002).

5. Gerhard is referring here to the death of his newborn son, Johannes Georg, who died seventeen days after birth. Soon thereafter, Gerhard’s young wife, Barbara Neumeier, became ill and died on May 30, 1611, just one month after he finished writing this handbook of consolations for death.

6. Bernard of Clairvaux, On the Song of Songs, Sermon 22, III.7 (CF 7, p. 19; PL 183.1336).

7. Cf. Augustine, The Trinity, 4.13 (WSA I/5, p. 162; CCSL 50, 183.52–55).

8. Cf. Augustine, The Punishment and Forgiveness of Sins, I.13 (WSA I/23, p. 42; CSEL 60, 16.16–20).

9. Bernard of Clairvaux, On the Song of Songs, Sermon 32, IV.8 (CF 7, p. 141; PL 183.1386).

10. Bernard of Clairvaux, In Festo Annuntiationis Beatae Mariae Virginis, Sermo 3.3 (PL 183.979).

11. Cf. Tertullian, Apology, 18 (ANF, vol. 3, p. 32; PL 1.378); Augustine, The Punishment and Forgiveness of Sins, III.8 (WSA I/23, p. 129; CSEL 60, 143.24).

12. Augustine, Sermon 153.8.10 (WSA III/5, p. 63; PL 38.831).

13. Ps-Bernard, Liber de modo bene vivendi, 43 (PL 184.1265).

14. Bernard of Clairvaux, On the Song of Songs, Sermon 61, II.3 (CF 31, p. 143; PL 183.1475).

15. Ps.-Augustine, Liber meditationum, 14 (PL 40.910).

16. Bernard of Clairvaux, On the Song of Songs, Sermon 22, III.8 (CF 7, p. 21; PL 183.1337).

17. Bernard of Clairvaux, On the Song of Songs, Sermon 22, III.8 (CF 7, p. 20; PL 183.1337).

18. Vita Bernardi, I.12.57 (PL 185.258).

19. John Chrysostom, On Repentance, Homily 8 (FC 96, p. 113; PG 49.337). Gerhard is paraphrasing Chrysostom.

20. Bernard of Clairvaux, On the Song of Songs, Sermon 11, I.2 (CF 4, p. 70; PL 183.1295).

21. Augustine, Exposition of Psalm 55, 12 (WSA III/17, p. 93; CCSL 39, 686.6).

22. Ps.-Anselm, De redemptionis generis humani (PL 158.864).

23. Fulgentius, To Monimus, I.23.6 (FC 95, p. 219; CCSL 91, 24.829–31).

24. Ps.-Origen, Anonymi in Job commentaries, 2 (PG 17.471).

25. Cf. Augustine, On the Gospel of John, 80.3 (NPNF, i, VII, p. 344; CCSL 36, 529.5–7).

26. Gerhard quotes Basil in Greek. Basil of Caesarea, Homily XIII exhortatoria ad sanctum Baptisma, 5 (PG 31.433); cf. Cyril of Jerusalem, Procatechesis 16 (PG 33.360). See, Cyril of Jerusalem, Lectures on the Christian Sacraments, ed. Frank L. Cross (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1986) p. 10 (Greek), p. 50 (English).

27. Gerhard quotes Gregory in Greek. Gregory of Nazianzus, Oratio 40, 3 (NPNF, ii, IX, p. 360; PG 36.361).

28. Tertullian, Against Marcion, IV.9.7 (ANF, vol. III, p. 356–57; CCSL 1, 560.1–5).

29. Cf. Augustine, To Cresconius, II.13 (WSA I/22; PL 43.476).

30. Paulinus of Nola, Letter 32 to Severus (PL 61.332); Letters of Paulinus of Nola, vol. 2, Ancient Christian Writers (Westminster, MD: The Newman Press, 1967), 138. Gerhard quotes only the first half of Paulinus’ text. The whole deserves to be quoted. It continues, “Wondrous is God’s fatherly love, for the sinner is plunged into the water and then comes forth from it justified. So man achieves a happy death and birth, dying to things earthly and being born to things eternal. His sin dies, but his life returns. The old Adam perishes and the new Adam is born for eternal sway.”

31. Cf. Martin Chemnitz, Harmonia evangelica, II.17.

32. Cf. Jerome, Commentarii in Esaiam, II.3 (CCSL 73, 51.19–23).

33. Tertullian, On Repentance, 4 (ANF, vol. III, p. 659; CCSL 1, 326.6–12).

34. Cf. Augustine, Marriage and Desire, 1.33 (WSA I/24, p. 51; CSEL 42, 249.19–21).

35. Hilary of Poitiers, On the Trinity, VIII.14 (FC 25, p. 286; CCSL 62A, 326.12–15).

36. Cf. John of Damascus, An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, 4.13 (NPNF, ii, vol. IX, p. 83; PG 94.1148).

37. Irenaeus of Lyon, Against Heresies, IV.18.5 (ANF, vol. 1, p. 486; PG 7.1027–29). For the full quote from Irenaeus, see Trial 43 below.

38. Ignatius of Antioch, To the Ephesians, 20 in The Apostolic Fathers: Greek Texts and English Translations, ed. Michael W. Holmes (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2002), 151.

39. Cf. Ps.-Bernard, Tractatus de interior domo, 15.24 (PL 184.520).

40. Bernard of Clairvaux, In Festo Annuntiationis Beatae Mariae Virginis, Sermo 1.2 (PL 183.972).

41. Bernard of Clairvaux, On the Song of Songs, Sermon 22, III.8 (CF 7, p. 21; PL 183.1337).

42. Jean Gerson, De Consolatione Theologiae, 4.1 (Opera 9, 228); The Consolation of Theology, trans. Clyde L. Millar (Norwalk, CT: Abaris Books, 1998), 221–23.

43. Cf. Augustine, Exposition 2 of Psalm 31 (32), 7 (WSA III/15, p. 370; CCSL 38, 230.12–15).

44. Fulgentius, To Monimus, 1.10.1 (FC 95, p. 200; CCSL 91, 10.283–285).

45. Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermo in nativitate B. V. Mariae, 8 (PL 183.1015).

46. Bernard of Clairvaux, On the Song of Songs, Sermon 61, II.5 (CF 31, p. 144; PL 183.1476).

47. Bernard of Clairvaux, On the Song of Songs, Sermon 67, VI.10 (CF 40, p. 14; PL 183.1503). Bernard continues, “whatever you impute to merit you steal from grace. I want nothing to do with the sort of merit which excludes grace. . . . Grace restores me to myself, freely justified, and thus sets me free from the bondage of sin. For where the Spirit is, there is liberty.”

48. Bernard of Clairvaux, On the Song of Songs, Sermon 68, III.6 (CF 40, p. 23; PL 183.1506). Bernard is not dismissing the value of merit in his sermon. He continues, “But as merit must not presume on merit, so lack of merit must bring judgment. . . . Henceforward, take care that you possess merit; when you possess it, you will know it as a gift. Hope for its fruit, the mercy of God, and you will escape all danger of poverty, ingratitude, and presumption.”

49. Cf. Martin Luther, Heidelberg Disputation, proof for Thesis 26 (LW 31.56; WA 1.364): “The law says, ‘do this’ and it is never done. Grace says, ‘believe in this,’ and everything is already done. The first part is clear from what has been stated by the Apostle and his interpreter, St. Augustine, in many places. And it has been stated often enough above that the law works wrath and keeps all men under the curse. The second part is clear from the same sources, for faith justifies. ‘And the law (says St. Augustine) commands what faith obtains.’ For through faith Christ is in us, indeed, one with us. Christ is just and has fulfilled all the commands of God, wherefore we also fulfill everything through him since he was made ours through faith.”

50. David Chytraeus, De morte et vita aeterna (1590), bk. 1, pp. 45–46.

51. Cf. John Chrysostom, Homily 64 on Genesis (FC 87, p. 228; PG 54.550).

52. Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermo de conversione ad clericos, V.7 (PL 182.481).

53. Ps.-Augustine, De vera et falsa poenitentia, 17 (PL 40.1128). This treatise is also discussed under the name Augustine at Apology of the Augsburg Confession, 148 (Tappert, 148).

54. Cyprian, An Address to Demetrianus, 25 (ANF, vol. 5, p. 465; CCSL 3A, 50.507).

55. Fulgentius, Ep. 7 to Venantia, 11 (FC 95, p. 359; CCSL 91, 249.173–175).

56. Cyprian, On Mortality, 6 (ANF, vol. 5, p. 470; CCSL 3A, 19.85–90).

57. Augustine, Exposition 1 of Psalm 88, 5 (WSA III/18, p. 277; CCSL 39, 1223.36).

58. Tertullian, On Repentance, 4 (ANF, vol. III, p. 660; CCSL 1, 327.31–33).

59. Bernard of Clairvaux, On the Song of Songs, Sermon 8, VII.9 (CF 4, p. 52; PL 183.1287). Gerhard leaves out Bernard’s explanation of the names, daughter, bride, or sister. He continues in the sermon, “you will find that the soul who enjoys this privilege is called by either of these names.” Bernard then quotes Song 5:1 and Ps 45:10.

60. Cyprian, On Mortality, 6 (ANF, vol. 5, p. 470; CCSL 3A, 20.91–94).

61. Martin Luther writes the following about the power of the Amen: “Finally, mark this, that you must always speak the Amen firmly. Never doubt that God in his mercy will surely hear you and say ‘yes’ to your prayers. Never think that you are kneeling or standing alone, rather think that the whole of Christendom, all devout Christians, are standing there beside you and you are standing among them in a common, united petition which God cannot disdain. Do not leave your prayer without having said or thought, ‘Very well, God has heard my prayer; this I know as a certainty and a truth.’ That is what Amen means.” See, Luther, “A Simply Way to Pray,” LW 43.198.

62. Augustine, Exposition of Psalm 148, 8 (WSA III/20, p. 482; CCSL 40, 2170.31–32). Gerhard’s thoughts in the next paragraph follow the same line of argument as Augustine’s homily.

63. Cf. Ps.-Augustine, Sermones ad fratres in eremo, sermon 8 (PL 40.1250).

64. Cf. Jerome, Letter 54.6 (NPNF, i, vol. 6, p. 104; CSEL 54.472.11).

65. Henricus Harphius, Theologia mystica, I.67 (Köln, 1538) 61v.

66. Bernard of Clairvaux, Dominica VI post Pentecosten, sermon 3.6 (PL 183.943).

67. Bernard of Clairvaux, Dominica VI post Pentecosten, sermon 3.5 (PL 183.943).

68. Ps-Bernard of Clairvaux, Meditationes devotissimae, 12 (PL 184.504).

69. Gregory of Nyssa, Homily 8 on the Beatitudes, 6 (PG 44.1302); Gregory of Nyssa, Homilies on the Beatitudes: an English version with supporting studies, eds. Hubertus R. Drobner and Albert Viciano (Leiden: Brill, 2000), 90.

70. See above “12. The Absolute Decree of Reprobation.”

71. Augustine, Exposition on Psalm 99, 11 (WSA III/19, p. 22; CCSL 39, 1400.27).

72. Augustine, On the Gift of Perseverance, 13.33 (WSA I/26, p. 212; PL 45.1012).

73. Bernard of Clairvaux, In Septuagesima, sermon 1.1 (PL 183.811).

74. Savonarola, Meditationes plenae pietatis (1563) 147.

75. In Roman mythology, the Parcae or the Fates controlled the destiny of every living creature from birth to death. In Greek mythology, Rhadamanthus was the son of Zeus and Europa and an ancient king of Crete. He was also believed to have been one of the judges of the dead. See, Virgil, The Aeneid, VI.762, trans. Robert Fitzgerald (Vintage, 1990), 179.

76. Peter Lombard, Sententiarum libri quatuor, Bk 1, dist. 41 (PL 192.634).

77. Precarium is a legal term with roots in antiquity. A precarium is when a person allows another to exercise ownership over the person’s property for an unspecified amount of time. The owner, by right, may demand a return of the property at any time. See, William Smith, A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (London, 1875) pp. 643–44.

78. On the language of “guarantee,” see Trial 27 above.

79. Gerhard’s reference seems to be to Trial 23.

80. Cf. Gregory of Nyssa, Oratio de mortuis (PG 46.515).

81. Tertullian, Of Patience, 9 (ANF, vol. III, p. 713; CCSL 1, 309.11).

82. Cyprian of Carthage, On Mortality, 22 (ANF, vol. 5, p. 474; CCSL 3A, 28.368).

83. Cf. John Chrysostom, Homily 67 on Genesis (FC 87, p. 275; PG 54.577). Chrysostom says that death is going from “a worse to a better, from a temporary to an eternal, from an earthly to a heavenly.”

84. Hilary of Poitiers, Tractatus in psalmum, 140.14 (CSEL 22, 798.11–13). The parenthetical words within the quote are from Gerhard, not Hilary.

85. Ambrose of Milan, Death as a Good, 10.43 (FC 65, p. 101; CSEL 32/1, 740.7). Again, the parenthetical words within the quote are from Gerhard, not Ambrose.

86. Cyprian of Carthage, On Mortality, 2 (ANF, vol. 5, p. 469 ; CCSL 3A, 18.35–37).

87. Ambrose of Milan, Death as a Good, 2.5 (FC 65, p. 72; CSEL 32/1, 705.22–
706.2).

88. Johannes Stigel, Poematum Ioannis Stigelii Liber Tertius (Jena, 1567) N4v/N5r. The river Lethe in ancient Greek mythology is the river of forgetfulness that runs through Hades. It was thought the dead must drink from this river to forget their earthly lives before being reincarnated. See, The New Century Classical Handbook, ed. Catherine B. Avery (New York, NY: Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., 1962), 637.

89. Augustine, Sermon 98, 2 (WSA III/4, p. 44; PL 38.592).

90. Ambrose of Milan, Death as a Good, 2.7 (FC 65, p. 74; PL 14. 542).

91. Methodius, On the Resurrection, 23 (PG 18.269).

92. See Trial 34 above. Cf. Gregory of Nyssa, Oratio de mortuis (PG 46.515).

93. Plato, Gorgias, 493.2–3 (Opera, III, Oxford, 1903).

94. Possidius, Vita Sancti Aurelii Augustini, 27 (PL 32.56); Possidius, The Life of Saint Augustine, trans. F. R. Hoare (London: Sheed and Ward, 1954), 227. These are the dying words of Ambrose.

95. Ps-Bernard, Meditationes devotissimae, 6 (PL 184.497).

96. Augustine, De Civitate Dei, I.26 (CCSL 47, 27.28–36); Augustine, The City of God Against the Pagans, trans. R. W. Dyson (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), 39–40.

97. Ambrose, Letter 51 to Emperor Theodosius (FC 26, p. 24; PL 16.1162).

98. Cf. Ps.-Anselm, De mensuratione crucis, 4 (PL 159.297).

99. Cyprian, On Mortality, 25 (ANF, vol. 5, p. 475; CCSL 3A, 30.420–429).

100. Ambrosiaster, On the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans, 8 (PL 17.125).

101. Augustine, Homilies on the Gospel of John, 124.5 (NPNF, i, vol. VII, p. 450; CCSL 36, 685.82–101).

102. Cyprian, On Mortality, 2 (ANF, vol. 5, p. 469; CCSL 3A, 18.32).

103. Cf. Ambrose, Expositio Evangelii Lucae, 7.136 [on Luke 12:51–53] (CSEL 32/4, 342.14–17); Ambrose, Exposition of the Holy Gospel According to St. Luke (Etna, CA: Center for Traditionalist Orthodox Studies, 2003).

104. Cf. Hilary of Poitiers, On the Trinity, I.14 (NPNF, ii, vol. IX, p. 44; PL 10.36A): “the interruption of death . . . seemed only a name for eternal life.”

105. Cf. Trial 35 above.

106. Cf. Tertullian, On the Flesh of Christ, 15 (ANF, vol. III, p. 535; CCSL 2, 901.28–30).

107. Cf. Augustine, The Trinity, 4.1.6 (WSA I/5, p. 157; CCSL 50, 169.103–105).

108. Ps-Maximus Taurinensis, Sermo 29 (PL 57.593).

109. Cf. Theodoret of Cyrus, Interpretatio primae epistolae ad Corinthios, [on 1 Cor 15:19] (PG 82.354); Theodoret of Cyrus, Commentary on First Letter to the Corinthians, trans. Robert Charles Hill (Brookline, MA: Holy Cross Orthodox Press, 2001), 227.

110. Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies, 4.18.5 (ANF, vol. 1, p. 486; PG 7.1027–1029).

111. Tertullian, Apology, 48 (ANF, vol. III, p. 53; CCSL 1, 166.35–39).

112. Cf. Bernard of Clairvaux, Homilies in Praise of the Blessed Virgin Mary, IV.7 (CF 18a, p. 52): “In God there is no difference between word and intention, for he is truth; nor is his act distinct from his word, for he is power; nor do means differ from deed, for he is wisdom.”

113. Augustine, Ep. 137.8 (NPNF, i, vol. 1, p. 476; CSEL 44, 107.11–13). This letter by Augustine to Volusianus is his most comprehensive discussion of Christology in his entire corpus.

114. Bernard of Clairvaux, In vigilia nativitatis domini, sermon 4.4 (PL 183.766).

115. Ps-Augustine, Sermo 109 (PL 39.1962).

116. Tertullian, Apology, 48 (ANF, vol. 3, p. 53; CCSL 1, 167.55–60).

117. Tertullian, On the Resurrection of the Flesh, 12 (ANF, vol. 3, pp. 553–54; CCSL 2, 934.38–935.34).

118. Tertullian, Apology, 48 (ANF, vol. 3, p. 53; CCSL I, 166.41–50). Throughout this excerpt, I have followed the punctuation in Tertullian’s text (CCSL 1, 166.41–50) as Gerhard’s text contains mistakes. See, for example, Enchiridion Consolatorium (1611), ed. Matthias Richter, (Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt: Frommann-holzboog, 2002), 1:110, lines 58.

119. Tertullian, On the Resurrection of the Flesh, 11 (ANF, vol. 3, p. 553; CCSL 2, 934.30–32).

120. Gerhard has conflated a number of texts by Augustine or associated with Augustine in this quote. They are in order: Ps.-Augustine, Hypomnesticon contra Pelagianos et Coelestianos, 5.5 (PL 45.1654); Augustine, Sermon 161.4 (WSA III/5, p. 137; PL 38.879); Augustine, On the City of God, 21.25 (NPNF, i, vol. 2, p. 472; CCSL 48, 794.15–18); and Augustine, Punishment and the Forgiveness of Sins, 1.28 (WSA I/23, p. 65; CSEL 60, 54.8).

121. Augustine, Exposition on Psalm 100, 2 (WSA III/19, p. 30; CCSL 39, 1406.24–27).

122. Augustine, Exposition of Psalm 147, 1 (WSA III/20, p. 441–42; CCSL 40, 2138.16–33).

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