a. Sermon on the Cross and Suffering of a True Christian.
Delivered in the Kaufmannskirche in Erfurt on Severi Day (October 22) 1522.
My dear friends, it would not have been necessary for me to preach to you here, but through the special great request of some devout lovers in Christ, whom I could not refuse such a thing, I have overcome that I do not greatly esteem the judgments of those who might say: I bring myself forth. Christ our Lord, when he sent out his disciples into all the world to preach, did not call them to preach anything else but the gospel, for this is how Marcus described it in chapter 16, v. 15, how the Lord says: "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." He did the same before he was crucified, as described in Matthew, chapter 10, v. 7, where he said, "Go ye, and preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand." So whoever he makes a preacher or apostle of his word, he also gives him words how he should speak, as he also graciously does to this day, that he does not teach and preach his own, but, like the apostles, the words of God.
2 Now it is necessary for a Christian man to know what the gospel is, and on the other hand what is to be heard and what is not to be heard, so that he does not hear much without distinction, and so take gimmickry and unnecessary things for truth and necessary things. Now there are many who boast how they preach the gospel, how they proclaim Christ's word, when they do not do it at all. From this it comes that many are deceived and believe things that are not to be believed. But these are not true preachers of Christ and the gospel, if they teach otherwise than Christ taught and commanded. Neither are they true Christians, who hear and receive things concerning the true doctrine of the faith and the gospel; for Christ says, John 10:27:
"My sheep hear my voice"; but if they follow a stranger, that is, if they hear and accept other doctrine which is not doctrine of faith, they are not true sheep of Christ.
3 The gospel is a speech and proclamation of the promised salvation and blessedness, of eternal life through the forgiveness of sin, which Christ has purchased for us. This we should be ready and willing to hear and preach, as St. Paul says of himself to the Romans and boasts of the title, as a testimony to his true doctrine; thus he speaks to the Romans in chapter 1, v. 1. 2.Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart to preach the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, of his Son, who was born to him of the seed of David; therefore I said that it was necessary for you to know what you should hear and what you should flee.
Whoever preaches and teaches Christ alone, like St. Paul, and does not seek his own glory, honor, or profit, and does not deceive from the gospel, he is certainly sent, and should be heard and his teaching followed. But he who teaches otherwise and pretends to seemingly pharisaical works of larvae, as is now very common; does not teach how to help and advise the poor and needy, but turns everything over to the cowardly and lazy priests and monks, so that only large churches and monasteries are built. Masses and anniversaries are founded, brotherhoods, letters of indulgence, and other gimmicks are solved and bought without number, fasting, calling on saints, and the like: such preachers' teachings are not to be heard, for they do not preach Christ, but themselves. Christ did not send them, but they sent themselves. So God says in the prophet Jeremiah,
Cap. 23, 21: "I did not send them, and they ran; I did not speak to them, and they spoke themselves. Here also the duty we owe to God demands that we preach nothing but Christ alone.
5 If you ask anyone why he is a Christian, will he not answer you that he believes in Christ, and that through him he hopes for justification and salvation? If then he alone is able and willing to save us without our works and without our merit, if we believe in him and in him, why should we rely on our works and not trust in our Christ? Let us examine and discuss all our works, which are in the whole world and may be done by men, but you will not find any of them, by which you may be called a Christian.
Fasting is a good work, which Christ practiced for forty days, Matthew 4:2, and Paul exhorts in many places that a servant of God practice fasting. But if you fast unto death and do not have faith in Christ, you are no more a Christian than the devil himself, who always eats or drinks too much. You are no more a Christian than a Jew, who also fasts from time to time.
(7) Likewise praying is also a good work, which Christ taught, Matt. 6:6 and following; but if you pray day and night, you are not a Christian. For much praying with the mouth does not make a Christian, if it is done with much babbling and shouting. Many heretics and unbelievers, even the Turk, pray much with their mouths and yet are not Christians.
(8) No cap or plate makes a Christian, therefore the Christian name is above all that is in man. No one can or may come to the name except through Christ.
(9) From this it follows that the doctrine and works which are to be called Christian must not be human at all, nor of human origin; for all that springs from men is human, is inconstant, is not a good work, much less a divine work. Therefore, our fasting, our prayers, our caps, nor this nor that, do not contribute to a Christian life.
The life of Christ is not a life of his own or of his own invention, but rather he who does not have Christ does not have a good work, and all his other works are nothing.
(10) So the gospel or teaching of Christ is above all the powers of all men, as Paul also teaches, 1 Cor. 2:9, who says: "We preach to you that which no eye has seen, no ear has heard, nor has it entered the heart of man," Isa. 64:4. Now although this is a mighty thing above all human understanding, powers and abilities, yet God has revealed it to us through His Spirit, as Peter says in 1 Epistle 1:8-12, Cap. 1, 8-12, where he says: "But for faith's sake you will rejoice, and bring about the end of your faith, that is, the blessedness of souls. For which blessedness the prophets sought and searched, who prophesied of the grace that was to come upon you; for they presented it not unto themselves, but unto us; which is now preached unto you by them that preached the gospel unto you, sent down from heaven by the Holy Ghost; which also the angels longed to behold."
(11) Thus a mighty and gracious thing is given and taught by the gospel, which alone, being of surpassing greatness, Christians must and should hear and grasp. For the gospel teaches nothing but the one Christ. Now someone might ask, what is Christ? Answer: Christ is God and man, and is therefore God and man, that he is not Christ to himself, but to us; as the prophet Isaiah testifies, Cap. 9, 6: "A child is born to us, and to us the Son is given."
(12) So that we may know and believe without doubt that Christ was given to us and born to us, by whom alone we are called Christians, as by our one captain or prince, Acts 11:26; for of him we have and take all things, even as a man is called rich by reason of his riches and treasures, or as a woman possessing her husband's goods keeps the name of her husband. 11:26; for of him we have and take all things, even as a man is called rich by reason of his riches and treasures; or, even as a woman possessing her husband's goods keeps her husband's name; and a prince by reason of his principality; a citizen by reason of his citizenship, and not by reason of his fasting, his pilgrimage, his prayer, his peculiar
whose adopted order, whether he has been a Carthusian, a preacher, an Augustinian or a Barefoot.
013 When therefore the tender lords, who alone boast of the title of wisdom and experience of all things, hear these things, they say, O! was not Christ also preached before, or the gospel? Do you think that we do not also know what is the gospel, Christ or faith? Verily, they say, we have known all these things sooner than we have heard thee or seen thee. How is faith such a great thing, which is not enough for salvation? For why? the simple peasants and the maidens in the stable know how to speak of faith; therefore faith is not enough, but one must also fast, pray, build churches, endow monasteries, establish monasticism and nunnery, and do such works.
14 Behold, such blind shepherds and deceivers are our wise men now, and all preachers of the gospel, as they think. Therefore they boast that they are the only ones who know and recognize Christ or the gospel, and still want to introduce other works besides Christ, Rom. 16, 17. 2 Petr. 2, 1. which Christ neither can nor wants. For this reason they are thrown before the head, so that they recoil and are overcome, so that they know nothing less than what is Christ, the gospel, faith or good works. For thus a Christian preacher should teach that he neither knows nor teaches anything else than Christ with his own righteousness and goodness, 1 Cor. 2:2, so that man alone seeks his glory in the right treasures of all the perfections of Christ For all that is in Christ is ours.
(15) In such faith, if a man is confirmed, he may easily overcome, and has already overcome the devil, hell, and all sorrow of heart, and after that he finally finds in truth what Christ is; namely, that he is the one who was made for us by God for wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption; so that, as it is written, he who boasts may boast of the Lord. So St. Paul writes to the Corinthians in the 1st Ep. on the 1st, v. 30. 31...,
Jer. 9:24, from which it clearly follows that anyone who preaches Christ as our righteousness must, by reason of necessity, violently repel the righteousness of all men. So also that we may not become righteous nor just by our works. Otherwise Paul would be smitten in the mouth and called a liar, and Christ would be denied with all his righteousness, wisdom, sanctification, or redemption.
(16) Therefore flee far from such dream preachers, who teach you no more than righteousness of works and of men. For when they preach that man may become righteous or godly before God by his works, they preach no other way than to say, "Behold, your Christ is not enough for salvation or righteousness; you must also set up your works, your fasting, your praying, your religious garments, which is a miserable thing to think, let alone to speak, and especially to preach to the Christian people. For thou shalt not be called a Christian, nor esteemed in the sight of God, because of thy fastings, prayers, caps, this or that order, or that thou hast worn a small or large plate. But then you are called a Christian and respected before God, if you believe that Christ is wisdom, righteousness, godliness, blessedness and all goodness to you, If you thus believe, you may stand before God; but if not, you will not stand with any work of any creature. This is the main sum: Whoever believes in Christ, that he is righteousness and all good things to him, shall be saved and blessed. But he that putteth righteousness in his own works perisheth in the righteousness of his own works.
(17) Now, you say, what shall we do? Shall we not do good works? Should we not pray more, fast more, endow monasteries, become monks or nuns, or do such things? Answer:. There are two kinds of good works: some that are considered good by outward appearances, and yet are not so good in themselves as they seem, for all works of one's own devising, set up or adopted by men; as then are one's own fasts, one's own special prayers, adoption of special garments, or
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The Lord has not commanded any of these works, but they serve no one except the one who does them, not for salvation. Therefore Christ must be and is for you, who redeems you from death, the devil and hell, as it is written to the Hebrews in chapter 1, v. 3: "Christ is the cleansing of sin through Himself," and not you. Therefore your intention is nothing, that you think, I will do this or another work, that I may blot out my sin, or that I may become pious and blessed. For if you can accomplish this by your works, Christ would have been the most foolish and foolish man who ever came to earth, so that he would have suffered so much, and you would have been able to make amends for your sins or become righteous and holy by your works.
(18) Therefore, all those who rely so much on good works, ways, counsels, or pretensions are mistaken, for if they want to establish their own righteousness through their own imaginary works, they are soon not subject to the righteousness of God. Here all letters of indulgence must fall, for otherwise all our faith would be mixed up. For a Christian faith looks at nothing but Christ alone. Therefore, if our own works were so powerful and mighty as to make us righteous or godly, Christ with his righteousness would be in vain and nothing, Galatians 5:5, 6. For this reason we are Christians only if we take hold of Christ, which happens when we cling to him alone through strong faith, not to the creature or creature's help.
(19) If then we have taken hold of Christ through faith, the righteous good and Christian works also follow and are taken hold of, as then are those which God has commanded, and which man does not for his own benefit, but for the service of his neighbor: as when he clothes the naked, feeds the hungry, and gives drink to the thirsty etc., as Christ enumerates these works, Matth. 25, 35. ff. And yet do these righteous works without all reliance on any righteousness, but purely for God's sake and for the service of his neighbor etc.
20 How then does man become righteous or
pious before God? Paul answers: We are counted righteous before God only through Christ, who was made for us for righteousness and salvation. Therefore it is through faith in Christ that we are made righteous, which faith all Christian preachers are to preach to the people, as the chief thing of our salvation. This happens when the gospel is preached, which is called by Paul 1 Cor. 1, 18, the speech or word of the cross. Against this word of the cross all those fight who build on their works and not on the righteousness of Christ and say: Have all the scholars and high schools been nothing before? Have all the monks and priests been fools who started such life and being? Should all those be lost or damned who have built such honorable monasteries and convents? That need not be; how could they have been so inexperienced that they should not have recognized that such good works must ever be conducive to blessedness? That need never be.
(21) Against such blind protectors Christ stands again and wants man to be justified before God through him, not through himself; this is not at all pleasing to the worldly wise and to their own master craftsmen. For if you ask a monk why he has become a monk, he answers that he wants to be blessed in the accepted order and garment. So must all answer who build on works, from which answer they are overcome, that they are ungodly, Matth. 12, 37. For what they should expect from God and from the righteousness of Christ, that they seek in their own works and pretensions, which does not at all serve salvation or godliness.
22 Therefore it follows that all those who want to be Christians must bear the cross; of which cross all monks and priests and all those who practice only their own exquisite works do not understand or know anything. For if you touch one with a word, you see how impatient and full of bitterness they are. Because they do not know what the gospel is, which, as I said before, Paul calls the word of the cross.
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They are attached only to their worship, as they call it, and to outward ceremonies, therefore they cannot come to the knowledge of the real truth of the gospel or cross of Christ. But do not be deterred from the gospel and cross of Christ by such worldly wise men.
(23) By the cross of Christ, that I speak plainly of it, ye shall not understand this or that wood whereon Christ hung; but the cross of Christ is the reproach and great shame which Christ innocently suffered. If I lie in bed and am sick, or if one is put to death by fire, water, or sword for his iniquity, is not the cross of Christ; but the shame and persecution for righteousness' sake is the cross of Christ. Therefore the true Christians must be scolded for heretics, for evildoers, they must be condemned, despised and judged by everyone, so also that everyone has a wipe on them; as the prophet says, Ps. 40:18: "I am a few and all poor"; as if he wanted to say: The whole world has forsaken me, and I stand here all alone, respected by no one, but rather despised and scorned by everyone.
(24) Therefore the cross of Christ is our entire innocence, for which innocence all heartache comes to us, and even if all this comes, it is still the motherly ruth, for all is not yet eternal, but lasts for a time. Isa. 27,8. Cap. 28, 24. ff. But when such fear comes in the last hour of death, that the world leaves him, friends and all inner comfort that should flow from God, to whom he is not attached by faith, then there is real fear and distress, Isa. 38, 17. For to suffer something of shame before men is not great; but God's wrath and hand, when it is stretched out over us with earnestness, that is an unbearable cross for man and to be greatly feared.
(25) From this it follows that it belongs to a Christian to know what Christ has taught, and what is the cross of Christ, and to keep the gospel by its title, as being the speech or word of the cross which we are to bear.
The wise men of the world call the carrying of the cross, when a piece of the holy cross is put into a golden cross or monstrance, and when the priest puts on a choir robe, puts a stole around his neck, and then carries the same silver or golden cross around the church, giving it to the people to kiss, so that they offer pennies. O foolishness! For the sake of avoiding such jugglery and idolatrous folly, I would burn the holy cross to powder if I had a piece of it. For Christ has borne his cross and wants you also to bear your cross. Therefore he said, Matth. 10, 38: "Whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. He does not say, take up my cross, but your cross, and bear it; leave my cross, on which I have suffered much shame. See that thou also suffer in thine own what is laid up for thee.
27 Therefore it is nothing that we build great churches, compose and erect great silver images with precious stones, but we leave other better works, which are more necessary and commanded by God. Thus, a special feast and horrible game has been played with the skirt of Christ at Trier. But let the skirt be a skirt, the cross a cross. Christ alone calls us to follow his footsteps in patiently carrying our cross, as he carried his own, 1 Petr. 2, 21. ff.
Moreover, there are two feasts of the Holy Cross in the year; one is called the Finding of the Holy Cross, which is held after Easter. The other is called the Raising of the Holy Cross, which is held in the fall. But it would be much better if the cross were lost than found; lowered than raised. Not that I reject this, but for the sake of the abuse that we have set up with it, it would be much better that the holy cross had never been found nor raised. For that would be good, if you raise in yourself the holy cross by patiently accepting all adversity and misfortune, which cross, if you see that it is in front of you, let it in, do not close it up, and you will have found the holy cross. And when you have found it, then raise it.
Then also in you with joy, as the holy apostles did when they departed, as the Scripture says, Acts 5:41, "with joy from the presence of the council, because they were worthy to suffer reproach for the name of Jesus. 5:41, "departed from the presence of the council with joy, because they were worthy to suffer reproach for the name of Jesus.
(29) So you have what it is to bear your cross, to raise the cross of Christ, or to find it; which is not in offering, kissing, or visiting the holy cross, but in patience everywhere receiving and suffering iniquity. From this you can easily see why almost all monks and priests now fight and cry out against the gospel and truth. For they are the most impatient in all matters, especially when their practices are attacked, which they have done fraudulently all over the world. Therefore they forbid that the preachers who preach Christ with his righteousness, unmixed with their own piety, should not be heard, pretending that they are young lickspittles, that they do not understand, that they should be heard because of their gray hairs and age; which does not help the matter.
30 Therefore, no matter how old they are, how many red, black or brown berets they wear, or other pointed hats, if they do not preach Christ, but their works and righteousness, they should be let go with their preaching, and their preaching should be stopped.
with all their dreams, Matth. 15, 14, and accept only those who preach Christ, who alone are to be heard; not considering whether these preachers are persecuted, driven out, condemned, killed, or how they are dealt with according to the gospel and truth. Just as, on the other hand, one must not consider how mighty, how high, how learned, according to the world's appearance, those are esteemed who are most contrary to the gospel. But one should not despise them, even if they do not recognize Christ, but have patience with them until God enlightens them by His grace, which is what God must be asked for. Isa. 29, 24.
31 Therefore the whole Christian state and nature is that you firmly adhere to the gospel, which alone instructs and teaches Christ, not human speech or works. But let go of the colored title in which you boast of being a Christian; for it is certain that if anyone besides Christ pretends to you something necessary for salvation, you should flee him as the devil, for this is not a black, horrible or colored devil, but a white devil, who, under a beautiful guise of life, sinks into you the poison of eternal death. Be warned and boldly armed against such seeming enemies, who lay for you the snares of eternal death, from which Christ preserves us, Amen.