Rom. 8:18-23.
For I believe that this time of suffering is not worthy of the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious waiting of the creature awaits the revelation of the children of God. Because the creature is subjected to vanity without its will, but for the sake of Him who subjected it to hope. For the creature also will be set free from the service of the perishable being to the glorious freedom of the children of God. For we know that all creatures long with us, and still fear. Not only they, but also we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the spirit, long for the adoption as children, and wait for the redemption of our bodies.
1. St. Paul here speaks in a peculiar way before all the other apostles, and his words, which come at first, are equally strange and weird: therefore they want to be studied with diligence and recognized with one's own experience; for a Christian life is entirely in the practice and experience of the things that one hears and reads daily from God's Word. Therefore, whoever does not have such experience will have little taste or smell of such words of St. Paul, they will be un-German to him.
2 Now St. Paul has preached thus far in this epistle that through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ we have come so far that we may call God our Father, and that the Holy Spirit in our hearts may bear us witness of the same, and make us so bold that in such faith of the Mediator of Christ we may joyfully stand before God and open our hearts and mouths to God. From this he concludes
The two following sermons appeared in a single print, titled: "Ein Christlicher schöner tröst jnn allerley leidm vnd trübsal, aus dem Echten Cap. zun Römern, sampt der auslegung des Euangelron auff den Vierden Sontag nach Trinitatis, gepredigt durch D. Mart. Luth. Anno. 1535. Wittemberg." - Cf. Erl. A. 9, 94.
D. Red.
first, that we are children of God; and then, "If we are His children, then we are also heirs, namely, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ"; so that one follows from the other. First, because we have the courage and the spirit to call God our Father, and because we do so earnestly and believe it to be true, we are not only children, but also heirs, that is, heirs of God, and brothers and fellow heirs of our Lord Christ. All this, says St. Paul, v. 17, must be true, but if we suffer otherwise with Christ.
(3) He diligently adds to this that whoever wants to be Christ's brother and joint heir should think that he is also a fellow martyr and fellow sufferer, as if to say, "There are many Christians who would gladly be joint heirs and sit in joint fief with the Lord Christ, but they do not want to suffer with him, but divide themselves from him in this matter, so that they do not want to share in his sufferings. But this will not happen, he says, the inheritance will not follow, unless the suffering comes first; for Christ, our dear Lord and Savior, himself had to suffer first before he came to glory; so only fellow martyrs have to be, and together with the Lord Christ they have to be mocked, martyred, and mocked again.
We will be reviled, spit upon, crowned with thorns and killed by the whole world before we come to the inheritance. For faith and doctrine bring it about that there should be equality, namely, that whoever wants to be a brother and co-heir of Christ must also suffer with him; whoever wants to live with him must first die with him; just as in a house many brothers must suffer not only good but also evil with one another, and as it is said, "Whoever wants to eat with us must also work with us.
4 With this, St. Paul earnestly admonishes us not to become false Christians who seek in our Lord Christ only that which is pleasant and gentle; but if we want to be partakers of the glory that is eternal and above all things, to bear the tribulation that is only temporal and light, 2 Cor. 4:17. Therefore, when he says: "If we suffer with others," his opinion is that we should not only have compassion on others, that we should be sorry when they are unwell; although such compassion should also be among Christians, and is a work of mercy and a fine Christian virtue; But we ourselves should also suffer, non solum affectu, sed etiam effectu, that is, we should also be in the same suffering, so that just as our Lord Christ was persecuted, so we also are persecuted, and just as the devil tormented and afflicted him, so we also are tormented and afflicted by him day and night; just as he does to Christians, and that is, if our Lord God did not help him, he would never let us have peace. This means not only a heartfelt, but a real compassion, of which it is written to the Hebrews in the 10th chapter. V. 32. 33. it is written: "You have endured a great struggle of suffering, and in part have become a spectacle even through shame and tribulation.
5 And of such compassion St. Paul also says here that just as our inheritance and joy, that we are Christ's brethren and fellow heirs, is not only in the heart or hope, but should become an actual and real inheritance: so also our compassion should be an actual and real suffering, which we also take upon us in inheritance.
should. Now he lifts up and comforts the Christians in such suffering, and speaks as one who is experienced and quite sure of the matter; and in addition in such a way, as if he looked at this life with a squint or through a painted glass, but that with clear eyes. And speaks:
I believe that the suffering of this time is not worthy of the glory that is to be revealed to us.
See how he turns his back on the world and turns his face to the future revelation, as if he sees neither misfortune nor sorrow anywhere on earth, but only joy. Truly, if we are already in misery, he says, what is our suffering compared to the unspeakable joy and glory that will be revealed in us? It is not worthy to be compared with it or to be called a suffering. But it is lacking, that we do not see with our bodily eyes the great and glorious glory, which we are to wait for, and that we do not grope tangibly, that we may never die, and above that still get such a body, which may not suffer nor become sick etc. Whoever could bring this to his heart would have to say: Even if he were burned and drowned ten times, if it were possible, it would be nothing compared to the future glorious life; for what is suffering in time, it would be, as long as it wants, compared to eternal life? It is not worthy to be praised or called merit for suffering.
(7) Thus I hold, says St. Paul, and you Christians should also learn to hold, that the infinite is not at all comparable to the finite; for what is a single penny compared to the whole world full of gold? Even though such a comparison does not rhyme here, because both are transient. Therefore, all the sufferings of the world are nothing compared to the glorious eternal being, which we shall see and possess forever; therefore I beg you, dear brothers, do not shrink from any suffering, even if you are already strangled. For if you are right fellow heirs, it shall be so with you that this is a part of your inheritance, that you also suffer with it; but what is this suffering, if it is to be counted against the
Eternal glory, which has been prepared for you and already obtained through your Savior, Jesus Christ? It is not worthy to be held against one another. Thus St. Paul makes of all suffering on earth a droplet and a little spark; but of that glory, which we are to hope for, an endless sea and a great fire.
(8) But what is lacking that we cannot regard such suffering as small and the glory as great, as St. Paul does here? For you can see how we are: if you say one hard word to someone, they want to overthrow mountains and uproot trees. Those who are so insufferable do not understand a word of this glorious consolation of St. Paul: Christians should not act like this; it is bad for a Christian to complain and cry out about injustice. Yes, say you, yet I am wronged? Well then, let it be so; but how is it that thou dost make such a fuss about thy suffering, and dost not even think up to heaven what thou hast to wait for there? why dost thou not make a fuss about it? If you want to be a Christian, you really don't have to put yourself that way; if you want to carry out your cause, you can do it in a right and proper way.
(9) But here it must be otherwise; for if thou wilt be a joint-heir with the Lord Jesus Christ, and suffer not with him, and be his brother, and be not like him, he shall surely know thee at the last day to be no brother and joint-heir, but shall ask thee where thou hast thy crown of thorns, and thy cross, and thy nails, and thy scourge, whether thou hast been an abomination to the whole world, as he and all his members have been from the foundation of the world. If you cannot prove this, he will not be able to consider you as his brother. Summa, it must be suffered with, and all must be conformed to the Son of God, as it says hereafter, or we will not be exalted to glory with.
10 In this way St. Paul also speaks to the Galatians Cap. 6, 17: "Let me henceforth not be sworn to, and only do not tell me of the doctrine that deserves friendship on earth; for I bear the name of my Lord Jesus.
Christ's mark on my body. There he speaks of such marks, as one painted the Lord Christ in the old paintings, that he has his cross lying on the armpit and next to it nails, crown of thorns, scourge etc. The signs, he says, I and all Christians must also have, not painted on the wall, but pressed into our flesh and blood. This is what happens when the devil comes upon you and torments you inwardly with all kinds of terror and heartache; and then the world blasphemes you outwardly as a heretic, and where it can, grabs you by the neck and strangles you. These scars of Christ's Lord are what St. Paul exhorts every Christian to bear. Comfort the Christians, then, so that they will not be frightened by the fact that they are already being afflicted, as was done to our brethren from time to time some years ago. But it will be even better when the hour of our enemies and the power of darkness comes. Now they torment us with poisonous words and blasphemous books; but then we will have to pay with our skin. But let it go, it must be suffered, if we are to come to glory in any other way. But what benefit they will have when they have murdered us, they will well know.
(11) And with this word, that it is called a glory that is to be revealed, he shows what is lacking, that one suffers so reluctantly, namely, that faith is still weak, and does not want to see into the hidden glory that is yet to be revealed to us. For if it were a glory that one could see before one's eyes, ei, how should we be such fine patient martyrs. If someone stood on the other side of the Elbe with a chest full of florins and said, "If anyone dares to swim across, let him be the chest with the florins; how should anyone swim for the sake of the florins that are seen before his eyes?
What does a daredevil, a lansquenet, do? he takes four guilders a month and sits down against spear and guns to certain death. So a merchant, who runs and runs through the world and back again for the sake of money and goods, dares to-
over life and limb, God grant that the stump remains there or not. What must a man suffer at court before he comes there, if he thinks differently? So in the world one can do and suffer anything for the sake of honor, good and power; for it is before one's eyes and obvious. But here, because it is not obvious, it is hard for the old Adam to believe that God will give me such a beautiful body, cheerful spirit and pure soul on the last day, and that I will become a greater lord than any king on earth. I can see the contradiction, that now this one is condemned as a heretic, now that one is burned or otherwise killed, so that neither glory, good nor honor remains there; that is why it is so hard for us before we surrender into suffering and wait for the hidden redemption and glory. Again, no toil and labor is too great for the world; do and suffer what comes before it, for the sake of the shameful mammon, which moths and rust devour and thieves steal.
(13) Therefore saith St. Paul, I know assuredly that great glory is set before us, whereas all the afflictions of the earth are nothing: but they are not yet manifest. Therefore, when a rough wind blows under our eyes, or a small calamity passes over, we begin to cry out and howl, making it so high that the heavens are filled with our cries. But if there were faith, it would be a small matter to us if such suffering lasted thirty, forty, or even more years; indeed, we would consider it too small to be included in the reckoning; only that our Lord God would also keep His reckoning, which He has with us because of our sins, inside. Ah, what can one say about great suffering or the merit of suffering? How unworthy we are of such great grace and unspeakable glory, that through Christ we become children and heirs of God, brothers and fellow heirs of Christ! Therefore we may well say: I will gladly keep silent about my suffering, not boast much about it, nor cry out; but patiently bear all that my dear God sends me and lays out for me, and to Him still
I thank him with all my heart that he has called me to such great abundant goodness and grace. But, as I have said, it will not come for the sake of our wretched weak flesh, which is more moved by the present than the future; therefore the Holy Spirit must be the schoolmaster here and bring such comfort to the heart.
(14) But it is especially to be noted here that he speaks with express words: that such glory shall be revealed to us; so that he indicates that not only, as we think, St. Peter or St. Paul etc. St. Peter or St. Paul etc. will be made partakers of the same glory, but we and all Christians belong to the "us"; yes, even the least little child that is baptized and dies receives through its death, as its fellow-suffering, this unspeakable glory, which the Lord Jesus Christ, into whose death it is baptized, has acquired and bestowed upon it. And although one saint will be more glorious than the other in that life, it will still be the same eternal life; without such a difference as now here on earth, where one is stronger, more beautiful, more eloquent than the other, and yet all walk alike in one bodily life; so also in that life there will be many differences of clarity or glory, as St. Paul teaches 1 Cor. 15. Paul teaches in 1 Corinthians 15:40, and yet all will be equal in one eternal blessedness and joy, and all will be called One Glory, for we will all be God's children.
15 This is the first consolation, that we should turn our backs on all suffering and say, "What is my suffering, if it were ten times as great and heavy as it is, compared to the eternal life to which I was baptized and called? It is not worthy to be counted as a suffering, compared to such great glory that is yet to be revealed in me. So St. Paul makes the future glory great, so that this temporal suffering may seem small and insignificant in comparison. Now follows the other consolation:
For the finite waiting of the creature awaits the revelation of the children of God, sinte-.
times the creature is subjected to vanity without its will, but for the sake of Him who subjected it, in hope.
16) This is the other consolation, that he sets before us the whole creature as an example, and exhorts us that we also, like them, should patiently suffer all the violence and injustice done to us by the devil and the world, and take comfort in the redemption to come. And truly this is a strange sermon, the like of which is not found elsewhere in Scripture; that heaven and earth, sun, moon, and stars, foliage and grass, and all that grows, wait with great groaning and longing for the revelation of our glory.
17 I have not heard such groaning and groaning of the creature, neither have you; but St. Paul says here: I hear and see it, not in one creature alone, but in all your creatures that God has made. What then is such groaning and longing of the creatures? It is not that the leaves wither every year, and the fruit falls off and decays; for this is the creature and order of our Lord God, that new fruit should grow every year; or that a tree cracks when it is cut down etc.: but it is that the creature is so powerfully unwilling to be subject to the ungodly, or, as St. Paul calls it, subject to vanity. As the dear sun, the most beautiful and lovely creature, serves the less part of the pious; where it shines on one pious person, it must shine on a thousand and a thousand peelers; as there are enemies of God, blasphemers, persecutors, of whom the world is full; item, murderers, robbers, thieves, adulterers: To them it must shine all their ungodly nature and wickedness, and thus let its most beautiful and pure service go against the most unworthy, most shameful, loosest boys. -This hurts the sun, says St. Paul, heartily; and if it were a rational creature, and should go according to its will, not according to our Lord God's creation, who subjected it to vanity without its will, it would suffer that all wicked boys would not get a shine from it; but that it must shine for them, that is its suffering and cross, for which it groans and groans. Therefore, just as we Christians suffer many injustices, and
Therefore sigh and cry for help and salvation in the Lord's Prayer; so does the creature. Although it does not have such a tongue and language as we do, it does have a language that God and the Holy Spirit hear and understand, as it sighs over the injustice that it must suffer from the wicked who abuse it so.
18) This kind of speech is not found anywhere else in the holy Scriptures, as here St. Paul speaks of the final waiting and waiting of the creatures for the revelation of the children of God; which he calls not only sighing with great longing and desire for their redemption, but also makes them like a woman in childbirth. For thus he speaks afterwards, that the creature anguishes and cries out as a woman in childbearing; since sun and moon, stars, heaven and earth, the grain we eat, the water or wine we drink, oxen, cows, sheep, and summa, everything that is needed, cries out against the world, that it is subject to vanity, and must, together with Christ and all his brethren, suffer with it. This clamor is not possible for a man to utter; for who will tell all creatures? That is why it was rightly said in the pulpit a long time ago that on the last day all creatures will cry out against the wicked, that they have abused them here on earth, and will accuse them as tyrants, to whom they had to be subjected against all right and justice.
(19) St. Paul uses this example of the creature here to comfort Christians, as if to say, "Do not be so sad about your suffering, which is so small compared to the exuberant glory that will follow. It is not you alone who cry out over injustice and suffer affliction: all creation suffers with you, and cries out over the fact that it must be subjected to the evil world. No cow, no calf, no sheep etc., when it bleats or cries out, cries out over all the wicked, as over God's enemies, who are not worthy that they should use their benefit, even that they should eat a few morsels of bread, or drink a drink of water. St. Augustine also speaks in this way. A stingy stomach, he says, is not worthy of bread.
that he eats, because he is an enemy of God. Thus St. Paul says that the whole creature longs and fears with us, as it would gladly be free from torture, for it suffers like a woman in childish distress. As, the sky, the sun, moon and stars would like to be free from their service; yes, would like to be dark and gloomy before great suffering, the earth barren, the sea and all waters would like to dry up and dry up, so that only the evil world could not enjoy them. Likewise, a sheep would rather bear thorns than wool, a cow would rather give poison than milk to the evil world; but that they must do it, says St. Paul, they do it "for the sake of Him who subjected them to hope. Therefore, God will finally hear this cry of the creature, because he has already decided that he wants to give this world its end after these six thousand years, which it has now almost stood.
20. If our parents had not sinned in paradise, the world would never have passed away; but after they fell into sin, and we all after them, the whole creature must also repay us, and for our sin is also subject to vanity and destruction, and the same six thousand years, which are nothing compared to eternal life, remain subject to the damned world, and serve it with all their use, until they push God into a heap, and for the sake of the elect also purify the creature again (as St. Peter 2 Ep. Peter 2. Ep. 3, 13. also teaches).
21 For the sun is nowhere as beautiful, bright and clear as it was in the beginning when it was created, but for the sake of men it is half dark, rusty and defiled; but in that day God will again sweep it out and purify it with fire, 2 Pet 3:10, so that it will be brighter and clearer than it was in the beginning. But because it must suffer for our sins and shine as much, even more, for the worst of men as for the pious, it longs for that day when it will be cleansed again and serve only the blessed with its light. So also, the earth would not bear thistles nor thorns, if it were not for the sake of
You, therefore, together with all creatures, demand after that day that it be changed and renewed together with them.
This is the reason why St. Paul uses such strange words here, and calls it a finite waiting of the creature, that is, that the creature always thinks of its end, that it will become free from its service, which it must render to the ungodly here; which does not happen before the revelation of the children of God; that is why it waits so anxiously for the same, would gladly that it would not be long delayed, but would start at any moment. For before this revelation the world does not consider the godly as children of God, but as children of the devil; therefore it blasphemes, disgraces, persecutes and strangles the dear children of God so surely, and thinks that it is doing God a service by it; for this reason the whole creature cries out: "Alas, alas, will there not be an end to the misery and the glory of the children of God begin?
23) That this is the suffering and groaning of the creature is clearly understood by St. Paul in the words: "It is subject to vanity without its will. Make, then, of the whole creature, sun and moon, fire, air, weapons, heaven and earth, and of all that is within, vain poor captive servants. Whom do they serve? Not to our Lord God, nor especially to the children of our Lord God, for they have the least part in the creatures. To whom then? To vanity, that is, they do not walk in the right service, as they would like; as: the sun would rather shine on St. Paul, St. Petro and other pious people alone; again, to the wicked scoundrels, as, Judas, Pilate, Herod, Annas, Caiphas etc. she does not like to grant the smallest shine of her appearance, because it is a forgiven service, which is not applied to them: but there she would like to and would consider it a vain gain, if she should shine on St. Petro, St. Paul etc. For in such pious people her service would be well designed; but she must shine to the wicked as well as to the pious; indeed, where she serves one pious man, there are probably a thousand of them who abuse her service. Thus
It is the same with all other creatures, such as gold, silver, brass, wine, beer, grain, meat, fish, butter, wool, etc., who serve whom? desperate boys, who blaspheme and desecrate God, condemn His holy gospel, murder His Christians; therefore their service is lost.
(24) Therefore St. Paul says that the creature is subject to vanity, and it must do it, not that it consents to it; no, it has no pleasure in it at all. For the sun does not shine so that a highwayman should murder by its beautiful light, but it would much rather see him serve God and do good to the people; but because he does not do it, the service of the dear sun is lost and it does it heartily unwillingly. But what can she do about it? So an evil tyrant or a shameful whore wears a golden chain or golden rings; what can the dear gold do? It is our Lord God's good creature and would much rather serve pious people; but the noble creature must suffer such things and serves the evil world without its will. But "in hope" that their service will one day come to an end. And do this in obedience to God, who has laid this on her, so that He may be known as a merciful God and Father, who, as Christ teaches in Matth. 5, 45, makes His sun rise on the wicked and on the pious etc. For this reason the dear sun serves vanity and loses in vain.
their service and good deeds. But our Lord God will find such in His time who abuse the beautiful sun and other of His creatures, and repay the creatures abundantly for their service.
(25) Thus St. Paul draws the holy cross through all creatures, so that heaven, earth, and all that is within suffer with us. Therefore we should not mourn and weep when we are in trouble, but wait patiently for the redemption of our bodies and for the glory that will be revealed to us; Especially because we know that all creatures groan with great fear and longing, like a woman in childish distress, for the revelation of the children of God, since their redemption will also begin, so that they will no longer be subject to vanity and serve, but will only willingly serve the children of God with all joy. However, she bears her cross for the sake of God, who has subjected her to hope, so that one may be sure that it will not remain like this forever, but must one day have an end, when she will be eternally redeemed. So do you also, says St. Paul, dear Christians, and think: Just as the creature will rejoice with you at the last day, so it mourns with you now; therefore it is not you alone who must suffer, but the whole creature suffers with you, and also waits for your redemption, which will be so glorious and great that your suffering is not worth counting against it.