About the previous text.
(1) Yesterday, my friends, we heard how the apostle Paul consoles Christians concerning those who die Christian deaths; that the consolation is to close the eyes, and not to look where the body falls, but to open the heart and see where it goes, that it may be raptured out of our sight for a little while, and that the treasure may be collected, so that at the last day it may come forth more glorious and beautiful than it was before. But they that are Gentiles, and without the knowledge of Christ, have no consolation; for they have no hope: when they die, they die so as not to be comforted.
(2) Now, to further emphasize this comfort, he holds out to us and paints before our eyes how it will be, which is now taken away from us by death, how it will be at the last day, which no one describes so clearly as this apostle, as he continues to speak:
For this we say unto you, as the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the future of the Lord shall not appear unto them which sleep.
3 As if he should say: "We tell you this as a word that the Lord himself speaks"; it is something hidden and secret that I tell you. As he also does to the Corinthians (1 Ep. 15, 51.): "Behold, a secret thing will I tell you, that we may not
all will die, but all must be transformed." And it is certain and certain that he does not speak this word, but God uses the way of speaking, as the prophets use to say, that God spoke the word, not he from his head: so that he may strengthen them the more and make them more certain of what he wants to say; for everything that man speaks is a lie, nothing comes of it; but what God speaks, that must happen.
4 Therefore he makes hearts sure that they will not waver, and that it will come to pass that those who are then alive, who are left, not yet dead, will not precede those who have fallen asleep, nor they us, nor we them. This occurrence he interprets as we believe a Christian church, forgiveness of sin, resurrection of the flesh, and from then on he is future to judge the living and the dead etc. It is added that Christ will burst forth in a moment and cast his future upon the living and the dead, so that those who are then alive will see him, but will not be there sooner. For they that are dead shall be there also, and in a moment shall be in a heap. It is not to be understood that those who are alive will see him first and be moved to him; but as they are burned, turned to powder, and destroyed in the world, that will be in
a Hui stand here and come out of the earth, so that the living and the dead will all live at the same time.
005 From this you have it that the last day shall find living men in the world, and these living shall not sleep, nor die; as he saith then, We that are left, that is, we that sleep not. So he separates them from the rest that are alive, that these shall not come last, nor first; but in one hui shall he come, and take with him them that slept. And this he calls to the Corinthians (1 Ep. 15, 51.) a secret little thing, which is hid from the world, which no man knoweth, but to whom God revealeth it. As the words read: "Behold, I tell you a mystery, we shall not all sleep; but we shall all be changed; and that suddenly and in a moment, at the time of the last trumpet. For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall rise incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on the incorruptible, and this mortal must put on immortality etc. This is the mystery of which the world knows nothing, and no one but he who has the Holy Spirit. It is a great thing to believe that this is true.
(6) O how many of them have died from the beginning of the world, and flown away, and perished, and turned to powder, and been burned to ashes, and poured into the water, and perished in diverse and strange ways: this one was eaten by the fish, that one by the wolf (2c). It seems strange to reason that the whole world should live in a moment, and before they sleep and are buried, but how they walk and stand and are found: these will lie in bed and sleep; some will eat and drink and be merry; others will be found at their work. As the sun riseth in the morning land rather than in the midnight; here in the rising, when the sun shineth, it is early morning, but in the going down it is night. Thus, this day will invent all classes and beings, and suddenly transform them into immortal men.
7. then he will prove his authority
and majesty. As he did in the creation of the world, so in that day all things will move, shake and tremble, and all things will be full of fire; this will prove his majesty and divine power, so that now he will handle neatly and demonstrate with leisure, not so with public power; although now he also feeds, waters and governs everything, but the faithful alone grasp this. But then this power will be revealed, which both the wicked and the pious will feel at the same time, as the Lord Christ himself says (Matth. 24, 27. and Luc. 17, 24.): that this day will come like lightning, just like lightning when it goes out, so it is in a hui when it comes out and goes down etc. To those he speaks who dwell under one heaven, as far as they see the sky, so also this day will strike.
Think now, what kind of being will become, when they will be safe in the same way. As if it were now bright and fair, and lightning were to strike, how our hearts would fail us; what then shall happen, when they shall all be safe, going to and fro, acting, sleeping, and leading an idle life? So he has pictured for us that we, who will be left, will not precede them, but will suddenly be placed in another immortal being.
9. yea, saith he, all men must die once, as the epistle saith unto the Hebrews (Cap. 9, 27.), and all men that are born of woman are subject to death. To this you should answer: That this transformation will be each one's own death; therefore he also uses the word "sleep" (that we will not all fall asleep, but will all be transformed), does not say: We will not all die. For he separates these two, dying and sleeping, far from each other. He calls those who are dead and lie here asleep, but those who are changed from a mortal being into an immortal one are not dead, for it will happen in a moment. He does not call them dead, but the overflowers, who are then mortal, will eat and drink, and in a moment will be transformed into an immortal being.
The lightning will set another being, so that in an instant there will be death and life. Just as now, when lightning strikes a man, in an instant he is dead; so also then they will suddenly be dead and in death will come into another being.
Now of this matter no one writes so clearly as St. Paul, and the article remains true, that Christ will come to judge the living and the dead; that is, his future will find the living and the dead, and in the future and voice of the trumpet the living will be dead and the dead will live. So it remains true that all men must die once, that is, leave this life and come into another. Wherever they are, they will have comfort, but those who have no faith and are godless will be so terrified that the world will be too small for them. For if they now eat, drink, and are without sorrow, in a hui they shall see the terrible judge, and heaven full of fire; then shall their torment be lifted up for ever. Just as the pious who fear God, who do not see this now, when they are awakened, in a moment they will see this judge, Christ, joyful and sure over the living and the dead. This resurrection will happen in a moment, so that Adam will not precede Abraham, nor we Adam or Abraham.
(11) So certainly and so actually he describes how it will happen, as if it were before our eyes. As it is fitting that Christians should have it before their eyes, so that they do not pay any attention to this death that they see, that the man thus falls away; but when the Lord of this day falls in, today or tomorrow, we will have nothing first, not even they who have died before, but will burst together at the same time and see one another.
(12) To him who believes this, it is a comforting sermon; to a Christian heart, it is a sweet, sweet song; to an unbelieving heart, it is not a terrible thing. To a Christian this day will be quite sweet. For the devil never rests here; so the flesh also wills his will.
The world hates him, does not grant him a morsel of bread, the devil wants to rob him of body, honor and soul. If he looks at honor or good, he has enough torture: if he has honor, the world does not rest until it puts him to shame; if he has good, if he has a healthy body, the world wants to kill him for it; if he has the word of God, the devil first becomes senseless and kills him for it; as is also happening now. Nothing is more pleasing to a Christian than to think that he lives in God and wants to work here; but when the day comes, no matter what hour it may be, he is my Lord, and I shall be saved. But this comfort belongs to the Christians alone.
(13) This judge, who will come with such power that he will also raise the devil and all the dead, will be a brother, father and patron of Christians. O! it will be a very happy thing when he will call us his friends and brothers, and look upon his gift and Holy Spirit in us; and to the dead it will again be a happy thing. Although nature must be horrified at such divine majesty, the spirit will look upon this majesty with joy. Whoever does not have this consolation will be tormented with the devil, and he will be judged. No one will be able to hide himself; he must come forth, even if he were a thousand fathoms in the sea, or in the earth, or in the abyss of hells; if he is the judge, then everything must come forth in the daytime.
For he himself, the Lord, will come down from heaven with a shout and the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God etc.
14. above in the first chapter he also says about this future, how he will burst from heaven and bring fire with him; how he will fall in a fiery cloud: heaven will rain and give fire, and swallow up the wicked in the abyss of hell. He says: "He will come, the Lord himself", will not send an apostle or angel, but will come in his own person. Although he is now in all places, reigning in all creatures, but he will come in his own person.
But then He will show Himself strangely in His saints, as He says to Timothy (1 Ep. 6:15, 16), and in the Revelation of John (Cap. 1:7), "Every eye shall see Him." He himself will come down publicly and visibly in clouds, riding along with fire, and will not run without a harbinger and trotters, as before kings; they will make the shout, the voice of the archangel and the trumpet etc.
15 Here they were concerned about what the trumpet was, what the archangel was, and what the shout was? But we do not want to gloss over St. Paul's words, but leave them as they are. For as when a great and mighty king goes out to battle against his enemies, beating a drum, throwing up his hands, shouting, and making the field full of shouting, so also he describes the future of Christ, that all creatures will go before him, and the angels; but another angel, an archangel, will go before, bearing the banner.
The voice of the trumpet is thought to be this word: "Arise, you dead, and come to judgment" etc. But this belongs only to the dead; the world will be full of cries. But what the trumpet is, I know not. But that he says: "God's trumpet", that is much different than the world on earth has, but which the Lord will send down from heaven through the angels, not which the Lord will blow with his mouth; as he also says Joh. 5, 25: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, that the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live" etc. -
17 He says: "the voice of the Son of God"; you must not understand that Christ will call personally, but his forerunner, the voice of the archangel, will call. And is called "the voice of God"; for it is by the command of the Lord, and is sent beforehand. As it is now said, The word of God, the voice of God, the voice and word of the apostles, and as the Scripture says, Hear my word and my voice, not which soundeth from heaven, but which is among men. So the
When the voice of the archangel is called the voice of the Son of God, a great cry, a shouting and demanding will go out to the dead and the living so strongly and powerfully that even the dead will come forth and live in an instant. A divine power will be in the voice, and by the voice will raise up, although it will be the voice of an angel, that in the cry all that lives must be dead, and all that is dead will live. So we have to hope for this, as sure as we are that there is a God, who speaks this, not me. Follow on:
And the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so will be with the Lord always.
18. when this voice will go. He speaks this first, and does not set it that they should rise sooner than the others; for in a moment it will all come to pass. So it shall come to pass with the first, that the dead shall rise, and in a moment in the resurrection we also shall be changed, and both we that are dead find in graves, and we that are alive shall be changed into another being. First of all, the dead will be raised, that is, before they are taken up; and in a moment those who are Christ's will be taken up and float in the air, and the wicked will remain on earth and not be taken up. And when those are risen, at the same time we shall be changed, and shall go out to meet Christ with them; will not wait so long that he shall find us sitting here, but at the sound of the trumpet the dead and the living must be changed and transformed.
19Then we shall be free from all vice, there shall be no sin in our bodies, neither shall there be any stinking or sweating, but shall smell deliciously good, and shall become a marvelous thing; as it is said above in the first chapter, such things shall begin to take place as are marvelous to behold.
20. we may take care of this, and the
is our comfort, that in a moment we will be taken out of the ungodly crowd, also bodily, who are now spiritually taken out of the power of the devil. And he will say to us: Here is your patron, your father; there will be joy and gladness. Therefore he concludes:
So now comfort yourselves with these words among yourselves.
(21) If ye will comfort yourselves against them that are dead, and against your own death, and against all your temptations in this life, be put to shame, be evil spoken of: it is for a little season, and he shall destroy you. Yes, if we were Christians and had this formed in our hearts, who would make us fearful? If you believe in Christ, such things will happen to you, and are not far off. Let faith be throbbed against, defied, and condemned, and the body and goods taken away; for one will come to avenge us. So shall we stare *), and we shall be saved'.
(*) to stalk, that is, to set, to stiffen. D. Red.
But this day of salvation and joy we must expect, and so may Christians rejoice in hope that we hope we will surely be saved, and that Christ will come down from heaven to judge both the living and the dead.
So you have this article, how it will happen with the dead at the last day. Further, St. Matthew (Cap. 24, 30.) says of a sign that will appear in heaven. From this some think that it will be the holy cross; but as we do not know the trumpet, so we do not know the sign. But I reckon that such a sign will be, as a king in war has a trumpet and signs, so he will also have one with him. But how it will be, we will see then. So you have here the little piece that St. Paul commands when we die, that we cling to it with our hearts, and those who live to that day will be changed into a Hui. So that the Christians will see this day with joy and desire; but the wicked will be terrified, and no one will be able to comfort them.