Matth. 24, 15-28.
When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, that it shall stand in the holy place, then let him that is in the land of Judah flee unto the mountains. And he that is on the housetop, let him not go down to fetch anything out of his house; and he that is in the field, let him not turn back to fetch his garments. But woe to the pregnant women and suckling mammals at that time. But take heed that your flight be not in winter, or on the sabbath day. For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the world began, neither ever shall be. And if these days were not shortened, no man would be saved; but for the elect's sake the days are shortened. If then any man shall say unto you, Behold, here is Christ, or there, believe it not. For false Christs and false prophets shall arise, and shall shew great signs and wonders, to deceive (where it is possible) even the elect. Behold, I have told you before. Therefore, when they shall say unto you: Behold, he is in the wilderness, go not out; behold, he is in the chamber, believe it not. For as the lightning goeth forth from the going forth, and shineth even unto the going down; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. But where there is carrion, there the eagles gather.
The summa of today's gospel is that our dear Lord Jesus Christ proclaims the desolation of the city of Jerusalem and the Jewish land, and the end of the whole world. St. Lucas Cap. 17. and 21. describes this prophecy a little more clearly and distinctly, and puts each piece especially in its place. But St. Matthew
*) Held publicly in the parish church, 1537.
The end of Judaism and the end of the whole world. That is why he is not as light and clear as St. Lucas. St. Matthew and Marcus press more for the end of the world than for the destruction of the Jews, therefore they combine both. But in order to understand them better, they must be separated from each other and see which one speaks of the end of the Jewish kingdom and which one of the end of the world.
When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, that it standeth in the holy place (let him that hath seen it take heed).
2 Then he speaks of the desolation of the Jewish people, and introduces the prophet Daniel, who prophesied and proclaimed this before. For the 9th of Daniel is thus written, v. 27: "By the wings shall stand abominations of desolation; and it is determined that unto the end there shall be a dripping of desolation." That Daniel said: The abomination shall stand by the wings; but Christ says: The abomination shall stand in the holy place, that is, it shall stand in the temple where the cherubim stand, in the innermost choir of the temple, where the ark of God stands. In the same holy place, says Christ, you will see an abomination standing, and such an abomination as will be an abomination of desolation, that is, which will be a sure sign that Jerusalem and the Jewish kingdom shall be desolate, and shall remain so.
This happened in the time of the emperor Caji Caligula; he sent his images to and fro in all the countries of his empire, and had himself worshipped as a god; yes, he not only wanted to be worshipped in Rome in the midst of the pagan gods and in other places of the heathen, but also had his image set up in Jerusalem in the temple, where the holy city and the service of God was, and also wanted to be worshipped as a god by God's people. This was vehemently opposed by the Jews, for they were hostile to all images: but they had to suffer it. When they had already taken away the images, Pilate, the governor, put them back in, so that he had the emperor's image carried into the city in the night and set up in secret, which caused a great commotion among the people.
4 Christ therefore saith, When ye shall see it, know that it is an abomination of desolation. He calls it an abomination according to the scriptural way. For that which we call an idol or an abomination, the Scripture calls an abomination, because such an idol or abomination is not only an abomination in the sight of God, but also an abominable, horrible thing in the sight of men.
spiritual eyes of all pious hearts, to whom it is an abomination to see the devil being worshipped in God's stead. If then such an idol, says Christ, or image of poor, miserable people who want to be worshipped in God's place, stands in the holy place, notice it. He speaks very truly and clearly, and calls it an abomination of desolation, that not only will the final destruction of the city of Jerusalem follow, but also that God, who dwelt there before, will no longer dwell there, but will then hand over the city and the temple to the devil and his members, who are an abomination in the sight of God and all the saints.
5 St. Matthew speaks darkly and interprets the destruction of the Jewish kingdom by the word: "abomination of desolation". But St. Lucas speaks clearly that a desolation and an everlasting desolation will come upon Jerusalem (Cap. 21, 20.): "When you see Jerusalem besieged with an army, then realize that her desolation has come"; and soon after (v. 24.): "And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. And the prophet Daniel says: "There will be no end to the desolation. And experience bears witness to this. For the desolation of the Jewish kingdom has now lasted fifteen hundred years, and the Jews have often tried, even several emperors have helped them, that they might build the temple again. But they have achieved nothing. Because the holy scripture stands there, it does not permit it. Daniel saith, Let it drip upon Jerusalem unto the end: and Lucas saith, Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. Therefore Jerusalem shall not be rebuilt, but shall remain among the Gentiles until the Gentiles are converted to the faith, that is, until the end of the world. This is an opinion of which Christ speaks here. St. Matthew has indicated such in short words. But the prophet Daniel and the evangelist Lucas have spoken it more clearly.
Then let him who is in the land of Judah flee to the mountains, and let him who is on the housetop not come down to take anything from his house, and let him who is in the field not turn back to take his clothes.
(6) The houses of the Jews were not pointed on the top, as ours are, but were square on the top, and paved, that they might walk, and stand, and sit, and had stairs to go up and down. But this is what the Lord means by it: Whoever is then in the city of Jerusalem or in the land of the Jews, let him make haste, let him not tarry, and let nothing hinder him. For the time has come for Jerusalem and all the land of Judah to be destroyed.
But woe to the pregnant women and sucklings at that time. But pray that your flight be not in the winter, or on the sabbath day. For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the world began, neither ever shall be.
(7) This belongs to the foregoing. The Lord still sees that Jerusalem is to be destroyed and not rebuilt, for it is to be the last and final desolation. And this is the first part of today's Gospel, which we now want to leave pending. For what is to be learned from it we heard on the tenth Sunday after the Holy Trinity. Let us therefore take the other part before us, which is the most important, and which Christ also speaks of primarily in this place.
And if these days were not shortened, no man would be saved; but for the elect's sake the days are shortened.
(8) Matthew leaves off the end of Judaism and comes to the end of the world; therefore what follows goes to the end of the world. So shall it be, saith Christ, at the end of the world: if those days be not shortened, no man shall be saved. And declaring himself, and signifying what calamities shall be at the end of the world, saith:
If then any man shall say unto you, Behold, here is Christ, or there, believe it not. For false Christs and false prophets shall arise, and shall shew great signs and wonders, to deceive (where it is possible) even the elect into error. Behold, I have told you before.
(9) This does not concern the Jews alone, but the whole world, and especially the Christian church, which is enlightened with the light of the gospel. How will it fare at the end of the world? This is how it will be, says Christ: "When the light of the gospel shines into the world, the devil will come with so many cults and sects, false prophets and false teachers, that whoever looks into the world with spiritual eyes will think that no one will be saved. For the deception will be so great, and the false prophets will perform such great signs and wonders, that even the elect (if it were possible) will be deceived into error.
010 Of this the Lord diligently and faithfully warns, saying, Behold, I have told you before. As if to say, "There will be no excuse; for I tell you beforehand, they will perform such great signs and wonders, and lead such a holy life from without, that everyone will say: God must dwell here; otherwise, how could such signs and wonders be done? Therefore beware and beware, I have told you before, I have warned you enough. If you do, then no excuse will help.
(11) This is the great misery that we see before our eyes in the morning and in the evening, in the best and most beautiful part of the world; in which misery we have also been in part, and many of us are still in it today. Just look at the time since the Turkish tyrant and Mahomet, and after that the pope, began and continued to rise and increase, and you will find something of which Christ says here. In the whole Turkish empire (which is admittedly larger and more powerful than Hispania, France, England, Germany, Welsh, Bohemia) you will find something that Christ says here,
Hungary, Poland, Denmark, all together counted) is no knowledge of Christ, without what the poor captive Christians may have secretly, who have to be water carriers of the Turks. The other group thinks nothing of Christ, denies, blasphemes and defiles him, even annuls him, and says: The gospel of Christ has come to an end, since Mahomet has come with his Alkoran; and still consider themselves the closest, most pleasant friends and dearest children of God, as to whom God therefore gives so much happiness and victory against the Christians that they are the dearest children.
They do not know that the Christians will be punished here on earth for their sins and that the innocent will be made martyrs; as the prophet Daniel, chapter 7, had previously proclaimed that the Turks would fight against the saints and retain the victory. Therefore, because they are fortunate in warfare against the Christians and generally prevail and win, they become proud, obdurate and secure in their faith, so that they do not doubt that their faith is right and the Christians' faith is wrong. Thinking thus: Because God gives us so many victories, lets us conquer so many kingdoms, and in turn leaves the Christians like this, it cannot be missing: we are God's people and have the right faith; the Christians, however, are not God's people, but are wrong. Thus the Mahometan seduction sweeps away so many kingdoms and countries like a deluge that it cannot be seen otherwise than that even the elect, as Christ says here, are seduced into error (where it would be possible).
What kind of reputation did it have in the papacy? Not other than that no man was saved. For the world has been filled with all kinds of orders and sects, and with them people have made such a pretense that emperors, kings and the best people on earth have poured money into heaps: not only to the preaching chair and the priesthood, to promote false doctrine and lies (as the first did in the beginning of the papacy); but also to monasteries and foundations (as the others did afterwards), that the dear holy fathers, monks and priests should pray for them, and communicate their good works to them. Therefore are listed
come the great bishoprics of Würzburg, Bamberg, Cologne etc., and so many monasteries and convents everywhere. If you look at such beings in the papacy, what is different than that Christ says here: "False Christs and false prophets will arise and say: Behold, here or there is Christ"? For thus says the pope: He who is obedient to the Roman church, and so fasts, feasts, eats, and so dresses, is blessed.
14 Thus we see that this text is abundantly fulfilled in the Pabstium. For there is no other way to heaven and no other name to salvation than Christ alone, through whose death and blood we are redeemed from sin and death; as the Lord Himself says, John 14:6: "I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me". 4:12: "There is salvation in no other, neither is there any other name given unto men, whereby we must be saved." He who does not see this light walks in darkness, is deceived into error and is deceived. Now we in the papacy have not only not seen this light, but have also extinguished it ourselves and helped to extinguish it. I myself had no other knowledge of Christ, except that I placed him with my thoughts on a rainbow and took him for my strict judge. We knew nothing about holy baptism. When someone became a monk, he was said to be born again, and monasticism was elevated far above holy baptism; so that baptism was not only silenced in the papacy, but also completely obscured. Because there was no true knowledge of Christ, we fell from Christ to the saints; we called upon them to be our patrons and mediators. In particular, we took refuge in Mary, whom we prayed to and said: O holy Virgin Mary, show your breasts to your Son Jesus Christ, and obtain grace from him; until the people finally ran to the monasteries to the monks, so that they should pray for them, and went on pilgrimages now and then to the saints to obtain grace and indulgence. This is what Christ says here: "They will say to you, 'Behold, here is Christ!
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stus, or there. For as people have been directed from time to time to this and that saint, to this and that pilgrimage; so they have run to the oak, to Trier, to Rome, to St. James. And the world has become so full of sects and orders that whoever looks into the darkness and abomination of the papacy must say that no man has become blessed there.
(15) Therefore, these are foolish people, who even today say, "Where my grandfather and my father went, there I will also go. Do you think that God should let the whole world sink so that it should not know the way to salvation? But, dear man, if you do not pay attention to the words that Christ speaks here, it is done with you. He thus says: "False Christs and false prophets shall arise, and shall shew great signs and wonders, that they may deceive into error (where it is possible) even the elect"; item: "Except these days should be shortened, no man should be saved". Therefore you must not look at the great multitude, nor at the wise men and scholars of this world, but at these words that Christ says here: "The days will come when these days will not be shortened, and no man will be saved. The papists think that they have a delicious rule and are not in error, for they rely on it, as they also say: The church cannot err, the church must remain. But they do not see, nor do they want to see, that this prophecy of Christ must also remain.
16 Now it is written that they will perform great signs and wonders, and yet they will be false Christs and false prophets. This has been abundantly fulfilled in the papacy. So many miraculous signs have taken place at the Oak, at Grimmethal and elsewhere, that the churches have hung full of crutches and wax. Yes, I will tell you more: Pabst's teaching is confirmed with so many and great miraculous signs that it is not easy to say. In Hesse, a child fell through a mill wheel and was miserably broken, and lay dead in the water for three days. When it was pulled out of the water, it was buried in St. Anne's church.
praise, it has become healthy again. There are many books full of such signs, and people have often gone and believed the lie. How? they said, should I not believe? I see before my eyes that St. Bastian, St. Anna, St. Benno etc. have helped this and that sick person who vowed himself there. Christ says this beforehand, so that it may be noted when it happens. False Christs and false prophets will come," he says, "bearing my name, prophesying in my name, casting out devils in my name, doing many deeds in my name, so that even the saints, who are full of the Holy Spirit, and the elect, may be led astray, if it were possible.
17 What is to be done about it? Listen to what Christ continues to say. "Behold," saith he, "I have told you before. If they say unto you, Behold, here is Christ; believe it not." This is what you are to do: beware, do not believe false Christs and false prophets, even though they prophesy in the name of Christ, cast out devils, and do many deeds. Therefore learn that after the revelation of Christ and his gospel, you should not believe any sign or miracle, and if a dead man is raised who has been dead for ten days. If I now saw that a priest or monk raised a dead person in St. Anne's name, I would say that it was done by the devil. For St. Anne shall not be my advocate and mediator, but Christ alone shall be my advocate and mediator, 1 Tim. 2, 5. 1 Joh. 2, 1. One is warned enough who wants to be warned otherwise. Christ says here: "There shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall do great signs and wonders." And St. Paul says in 2 Thess. 2, 9-12, that the future of the Antichrist will be "according to the working of Satan, with all kinds of lying powers and signs and wonders, and with all kinds of seduction to unrighteousness, among those who are perishing, because they have not received the love of the truth, that they might be saved. Therefore, God will give them powerful errors.
that they may believe the lie. That all may be judged who do not believe the truth, but delight in unrighteousness."
18) That is to say, warned; and St. Paul clearly says that God will send powerful errors to the unthankful and unbelieving, that is, such errors that will violently overthrow people and take them captive, so that people will be powerfully seduced into error and cannot resist the lie; as I have now said about the miracle that St. Anne in Hesse helped a child who had been lying in the water for three days. That was a powerful seduction, imposed by God as punishment for ingratitude, that people had God's word, and yet did not accept the truth; therefore they had to believe such lies. So it also had an opinion with Mary of Loretta. This is such a gross, impudent lie, as they say that the same Mary sailed across the sea in a stone ship. In particular, the lie agenda of the miraculous signs of Francisci has a sack full of exquisite, great, shameful lies.
(19) Therefore, I say, do not believe any sign after the gospel has gone out to all the world and has been sufficiently confirmed by miracles and signs. And if one already sees that the dead are raised, still one should not believe; for because God has threatened the wager that he will cause false, lying signs to be done by the devil and his messengers, for the punishment of those who have not believed the truth: so one should not believe, but be wise and hear Christ, who faithfully warned us, saying, "If they say to you, Behold, here is Christ, or there, do not believe. Behold, I have told you before." If any man say, Yet they are holy men, and mighty prophets, and great signs; say thou, It is called unsigned, unsurprised, unprophesied, unchristened; but it is called, as Christ saith, If they say unto you, Behold, here is Christ, or there, believe it not."
020 But how shall a man do, that he may remain unconvinced? For it will be difficult before
that one may have strong errors before him, and yet not be led into error. Answer: There is an art to it, and such an art, which alone is the art of the right Christians. First of all, it should be known that the devil is such a cunning spirit and great, powerful lord (that is why he is also called a prince, yes, a god of bets), that where our dear Lord God does not control and resist his cunning, wisdom and power, there is no man on earth so wise, no one so strong, no one so holy, that he could resist the devil and stand before him. In sum, the devil, with his wisdom, cleverness and power, is far superior to all human reason and wit, so that where God removes his hand, he soon makes a spectre before our eyes, so that we are deceived before we know it.
21 We see this in Job, whom the devil made to curse the day in which he was born, and to blaspheme God. David was a great and excellent man, but when God withdrew his hand, he fell and became an adulterer and a murderer. One should be afraid of such great cunning and power of the devil, and know that no man is safe from him. If God decrees him, he can deceive not only Franciscum, but also all the others through Franciscum. Therefore, one should not be safe, but live in the fear of God and humility, and ask God not to lead us into temptation, nor to let us fall into temptation. With the same cunning and power the devil blinds and hardens people, so that they do not believe the truth; again he deceives and fools people, and makes them believe, so that they fall for the lie, believe it, and swear on it that it is the truth of God, when it is really the devil's deception and lie; item, he also blinds the outward senses, so that people do not believe otherwise than that they see, hear, and grasp something, which they do not see, nor hear, nor grasp. And this is no art to him. For he can blind the reason and the inner senses, so that a man thinks he has God's word, when he has the devil's lies; thinks that there is the right Christ and a righteous prophet, when there is a false Christ and a false prophet:
Much more can he blind the outward senses, so that you think something is happening before your eyes, when nothing is happening. As he did in Hesse with the child, who was not dead, and yet the devil blinded the eyes of the people so that they all thought that the child was dead. The devil held his breath (as he can do) so that everyone took him for a dead child.
22 Thus it is said that the devil once adorned a brother in a king's garment, so that he and the other brothers around him thought it was a royal garment. When they looked at it, touched it, and felt it, it was velvet and silk, and exquisitely wrought. So the devil had bewitched their eyes, ears and fingers, that they were all distraught and mad. But when they approached and said to the brother, "Dear, go to the bishop St. Martino, so that he may also see the beautiful dress," the devil took note. Certainly not, said the enchanted brother with the royal dress, I will not go to St. Martino; for the angels who put the dress on me have forbidden me to do so. When the others insisted that he should go, and wanted to lead him there by force, the royal dress disappeared before their eyes. The devil still knows the art.
(23) It is written in Vitis Patrum that pious people, both husband and wife, had a beautiful daughter; the devil so bewitched them that they thought their daughter had become a cow; their eyes were so blinded by the devil that they could see nothing but a natural cow before them, and feel nothing but the natural horns, neck, legs and skin of a cow. Is this not a great power of the devil, who can thus charm people so that they can see and grasp nothing else but a cow, and yet is not a cow but their daughter? They go to the holy man Macarius, and complain to him with great grief that their daughter, whom they are leading, has become a cow. Then Macarius spoke (for his eyes were not so filled with grief).
fel blinded, like the parents' eyes): Dear people, I do not see a cow, but a fine virgin. But the parents stopped and said that it was a cow. Then Macarius asked our Lord God to open the eyes of the parents, and God heard the prayer of the pious man and opened the eyes of the parents; then they saw that it was their daughter, fashioned as before.
The devil can do the art. For if he can dazzle the inner senses, he can dazzle the outer senses much more. He is a true master and a thousandfold. If he can harden our hearts, he can much more hold our physical eyes so that they cannot see what they should see. How did he do to Thomas Muenzer? He had so deceived him that he neither saw nor heard, but stood there darkened as a rock. And this is the first thing we should know, namely, that many false signs can be done by the devil, when God removes his hand and gives it to him for the sake of the sin of the world. Then he can make the blind see, yes, even raise the dead, and yet they are not true signs, but only ghosts, so that the devil bewitches people. Just as he made that virgin into a cow, so he can make people blind and dead, and again see and live. Not that he is a creator, like God, but that he draws such a ghost over it that people think they are true signs.
(25) Secondly, diligently watch for the end of signs and wonders. For all false signs causa finalis, or final opinion, is that the devil wants to confirm his lies with them. Thus one reads that 'many miraculous signs were performed by Antonio and others, only in the opinion that the legends of the saints, monasticism, pilgrimages, saintly service, and in sum, that the people fell away from the right one way of Christ, and worshipped the creatures in Christ's place. This should be noted, so that those who praise miraculous signs so highly can be confronted and say: I know the devil, he can imitate God (because he is God's monkey), he can do all miraculous signs,
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without being false miraculous signs. People may think that they are true signs; even those who suffer them do not feel otherwise than as if they were blind, dead; as that virgin herself thought she was a cow. But they are false signs, which happen in the opinion that one falls away from God and vows to this or that saint. When people have pledged themselves to this or that saint, the devil removes the ghost. Then people say, "This or that saint has helped me," and are strengthened in their idolatry. Such false miraculous signs, which the devil did to strengthen his lies and errors, so that idolatry would become even greater in the world, the pope confirmed and confirmed with his indulgence.
026 Therefore let such false signs as are done among the saints be judged and judged according to the word which Christ saith here, If they say unto you, Behold, here is Christ, or there, believe it not. That it may be said, Yea, this is a fine prophet; Antony, Franciscus, are fine holy men; I see that they do great miraculous signs. Now let the same signs be done, whoever will, for now I do not care; but look at the end of such miraculous signs, and you will find that they all go to make one fall away from Christ. Now the Christian faith teaches me that I should put my heart's trust in Christ alone, and not in any idol, be it Franciscus, Anthony, or St. Anne. For even the dear saints themselves are not saved without Christ alone. But these miraculous signs want to make me believe that the work and merit of the saints help me to salvation; they want to make Christ out of Francisco, St. Anne etc. That is, they want to lead my heart away from Christ, who is the only cornerstone and rock in whom I should build and trust. Therefore, I will not go on pilgrimages, but stay at home and go to church instead, and worship and call upon my dear God in Christ, who can help me better than St. Anne or any other saint.
27. whoever does this will know the difference.
to recognize the difference between true and false miraculous signs. The apostles also performed many signs and wonders, but they were all intended to confirm the gospel and to make Jesus Christ known and accepted in all the world. But after that the devil came and wanted to do this, seeing that people were tired and weary of the right way to salvation, and God decreed that the devil should punish the world for its ingratitude and contempt. For God cannot suffer people to despise the treasure of His Gospel, in which He offers us His Son Christ. As soon as one despises him, he withdraws his hand and says: "If you are tired of me and weary of me, I will be tired of you again. Then the devil comes and performs miraculous signs, makes people blind and lame through his sorcerers and weathermen, and gives them advice again through them that they should call on the saints, pledge themselves to this or that saint with a pound of wax. And if then someone gets well, they think: This or that saint has helped me. Thus the devil has obtained what he sought with his false signs.
028 Therefore all the papacy is nothing else, but a world full of idolatry, saying, Behold, here, behold, there is Christ. But a righteous Christian does not call upon the saints, nor vow himself to them; but says, "I believe in Jesus Christ, who is my only helper, whom I call upon in all my troubles. When I am sick, I say, If thou wilt, O Lord, thou canst help me; but if thou wilt not, I will gladly suffer this cross and calamity for thy name's sake. This is what a Christian does. But an unchristian and unbeliever does not do so, for the devil tempts them to call upon the saints, to seek help from creatures, and to fall away from God and Christ.
(29) Therefore, if anyone wants to be unconvinced, let him remain steadfast in the right faith in Christ, continue in prayer, listen to and learn God's word diligently, thank God from the bottom of his heart, so that God may not be angry and remove his hand, and the devil may steal you away. For such a clever, powerful spirit, as I have said, is the devil that
If you were even one more learned and understanding and knew the whole Bible, and God does not hold over you, you would fall and be lost. That is certainly true, should the Turk continue as he has begun, then all the world would fall into the Mahometan faith. And if the pabstry should have remained so, the whole world would have become full of monasticism and superstition. For in the papacy, the legends of the saints were more traded and more diligently practiced than the gospel of Christ. Therefore, it would have finally come to the point that, as it says here, no man would have been saved.
(30) But the judgment should come one day and break in two the rod of which the Scripture says that the Antichrist should be revealed. By the grace of God, we have somewhat controlled the papal abominations, so that they have in part had to cease, and the Christian doctrine has been swept up and purified; otherwise we would all have remained in Pabstism and would have had to suffocate in it. See to it now that you do not forget such grace of God, nor become ungrateful to God. We preach about it all the time and warn you, because the devil is a powerful enemy who is always after our souls.
Therefore, when they shall say unto you: Behold, he is in the wilderness, go not forth; behold, he is in the chamber, believe it not. For as the lightning goeth forth from the going forth, and shineth even unto the going down: so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. But where there is a carcass, there the eagles gather.
31 "Deserts" are the pilgrimages and field foundations, as, to the oak etc.; "chambers" are the spiritual monasteries, as Carthusian monasteries etc. The Lord wants to say: "See that you do not deviate from the right way that I have preached and taught you; whoever wants to do miraculous signs, do not turn away from them. What you hear differently from what you have heard from me, whether it be the pope, the church, the fathers, or conciliation, do not inquire into. Remember that I have said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." I warn you faithfully and tell you
Before this, the devil will come through his prophets, and will perform false signs and wonders, so that he will lead you away from me. There will be such an abominable being in the church that almost no saint and chosen one will be able to remain and be saved. But God will preserve His own, according to the saying: "Where there is carrion, there the eagles gather.
32 Thus I also believe that our dear God has preserved many of our ancestors in the great darkness of the Pabst. For in the same blindness and darkness it nevertheless remained that the Crucifix was held up to the dying, and that some laymen said to him: Behold Jesus, who died for you on the cross. In this way, many a dying person turned back to Christ, even if he had previously believed in the false miraculous signs and adhered to idolatry. These were the chosen ones who were also led into the prison of error and would have remained there if it had been possible. Thus, we can take comfort in those who died in Pabstism, that God has finally given them grace, that they have passed away by remembering the Crucifix to Christ. They were also in error, but it was not possible that they should remain in it.
(33) I believe that Bernard was also saved. For when he was about to die, he said, "I have lived wickedly, and I confess that by my own merit I cannot attain the kingdom of heaven; but my Lord Jesus Christ has the kingdom of heaven by two rights: first, by the inheritance of the Father, that he is the only begotten Son of God, born of the Father for ever, and has inherited the kingdom of heaven; and secondly, by the merit of his suffering, that he is the son of virgins, and has acquired the kingdom of heaven by his holy, innocent suffering. The first right to the kingdom of heaven, that he is the natural, eternal heir to it, he keeps for himself. But the other right, that he has acquired through his suffering, he gives to me. I accept this gift and will not be disgraced. By this word Bernard has been preserved. For although he already
had led an austere life, and had attacked himself so hard with fasting and vigils that his breath stank, and he could no longer stand with his brothers in the choir because of weakness: nevertheless he did not die,
but on Christ, and took comfort in his suffering. This was also one of the elect who was deceived into error, but did not remain in it. And there have been many more like him.