Held in the parish church on Sunday Vocem Jucunditatis [May 10] 1545.
1 Cor. 15, v. 51-53. Behold, I tell you a mystery: we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, and that suddenly in a moment, at the time of the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will rise incorruptible, and we will be changed. For this corruptible must put on the incorruptible, and this mortal must put on immortality.
This is too much for one sermon; for the text is too rich, and the matter too great and high, of which the apostle speaks in this place, that we cannot reach it, nor at once act upon it with dignity. But because the time demands it, we must speak of it as much as we are able and have time.
(2) It is proper that at this time, after the feast of Easter, the article of the resurrection should be preached and acted upon; not only of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, who rose from the dead for all our sakes, even as he died for all our sakes; but also of our resurrection, that we may be well grounded in the faith, and be fully assured that our bodies shall come forth again, and live. For the resurrection of Christ is of no use to us if we, for whose sake Christ rose from the dead, do not follow him, and
just as he, so also we will rise from the dead. But now we will not be able to follow him and rise with him to life, because we believe that his resurrection has happened for our benefit. We will not believe either, but we always preach about it, and do this article without ceasing, so that it may remain in our hearts.
The resurrection of Christ concerns us, as we sing at Easter: "Christ is risen from the dead, let us all rejoice, let Christ be our consolation. So it is: Christ's resurrection shall be our consolation. If it is to be our consolation, we must believe it. If we do not believe it, it is of no use to us. For for his sake Christ was not allowed to rise again, just as for his sake he was not allowed to die. For our sake he died and rose from the dead, so we must accept his death and resurrection, rejoicing in them with all our hearts, singing and believing that all these things are our salvation and comfort, and that we too will surely rise from the dead just as he rose from the dead.
4 In this epistle, St. Paul violently pushes the same article against all reason. Shortly before this text he answered those who ask how the resurrection will take place. For our body will be buried, stinking, rotting and decaying, so that no evil carrion will be left.
on earth than the body of man when he is dead. Reason then says, "How can a new body, more beautiful and glorious than the sun, rise from such a wretched, stinking corpse, which decays and is eaten by maggots and worms? Well then, says St. Paul, if our corpse does not rise again, then Christ died in vain, and rose again from the dead in vain. But if Christ died and rose again for our sake, then our body must also rise again. There is no doubt about it.
(5) So also we say, If it be not that we rise from the dead, what shall we do to sing? Christ is risen, let us all rejoice, let Christ be our consolation? If Christ is to be our joy and comfort, as we sing, then our body must rise again from the grave, decaying, rotting and stinking, however horrible it may be. And what we sing is certain, and has no doubt; for the holy scriptures bear witness, God has spoken it, that our body will be more beautiful, more glorious and clearer than the bright sun.
6 We preach these things forever, if God would have us believe them as firmly and surely as they are so abundantly preached to us. But because of our unbelief, this text will not become false, nor will God, who has spoken such things, become a liar. With our weakness, God could have patience; but that we become tired, weary and weary of hearing God's word, that is terrible. I have often said that one should hear God's word with all seriousness and diligence, because it is due to us; 1) the time would come that we would like to hear it, if it could be due to us. Whoever does not want to hear it, let him always go, and he will know who will be sorry. I do not preach to you, but it is the Holy Spirit who speaks through St. Paul; he wants to be unnoticed by you. If the pope would now give his triple crown, and the Turkish emperor all his kingdoms, to hear such a sermon, they must do so.
1) "gebühren" is used here in the meaning of "zutheil werden".
yet they do not hear it. They did not want to hear it when they could have heard it; therefore, even if they wanted to hear it, they should not hear it.
(7) When God speaks and gives His word, He gives it abundantly, pours out His treasure abundantly, opens the heavens wide, cries out and says, "All to heaven, all to heaven! Then it is time to open one's ears and listen. But if one does not want to hear his word, he is silent and takes his word away purely. Thus it is: If we did not want to hear God when he spoke to us, we may hear the devil when God is silent. If we did not want to go to heaven, because it was open, God can close heaven and open hell; then we can see where we will stay. It happened to the Pope and the Turk that God took His word from them; they did not want it any other way; they were justified, as the saying goes: Volenti non fit injuria, he who wants it that way is not wronged; arbitrariness breaks the law of the land.
(8) Now God is also closing heaven and closing hell, pouring out his word abundantly through the preaching of the gospel, and speaking confidently, but no one wants to hear it almost anymore. So it will also happen that God will close heaven and open hell, so that people will have to go in with heaps, because they do not want to go to heaven now, because it is open. Therefore let us listen diligently, because God is speaking to us, lest He take away His word and be silent. If he takes away his word and is silent, we are finished. If we lose God's word once, we will not get it over again. I have been a monk for fifteen years, and I would have liked to hear some righteous preaching, but it could not come to me so well. Now we have God's word in abundance, but we oppose it as if it were none of our business. Well then, if we are to lose God's word, we may find out what we have done. It would be advisable for us to listen, because God speaks to us and calls us so faithfully and entices us kindly. But enough of that now, let us turn to the text.
1322 Erl. (2.) 2vd, Slö-Sis. Interpretations on the 1st epistle to the Corinthians. W. vm, I468-I47I. 1323
So far, St. Paul has given a powerful proof of the article of the resurrection, that the wretched, miserable, human flesh, which dies, rots and decays in the earth, will come forth again from the earth and rise again; besides, he also indicates with what kind of body the dead will come. Now he says how it will be on the last day, in the resurrection from the dead, and puts a special piece, the like of which is not found elsewhere in the holy scriptures. "Behold," he says, "I tell you a mystery."
(10) Mystery means a secret thing done out of sight, set apart from sense and reason, and hidden from all the world, a hidden thing that cannot be obtained by any reason but by faith alone. So now he says, "I will tell you something secret and hidden, as it were, in one ear. Not so that no one will hear it or know about it except you alone (because I am an apostle and teacher of the Gentiles, and my word goes out publicly to all the world, so that everyone to whom my word comes will hear it), but so that they will not all believe it. I write it publicly, that it may be preached publicly, and that all the world may hear it, but it will not go to the hearts of all. Therefore it is a secret, and remains a secret, so that everyone may hear it; but many will not pay attention to it; to them it will also remain hidden, whether they already hear and know it. It is obvious, and yet secret. It is manifest that it is preached openly, and set upon the candlestick, that it shineth more brightly than the sun. It is hidden and secret, so that the world will not believe it or respect it, especially the epicureans and scoffers, 1 Pet 3:20.
(11) What then is the mystery? This is it," answers St. Paul: "You may ask, 'If the dead rise again, how will it be on the last day? Who will bury the other? 2c. This is how it will be: "We will not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed." The last day will come in such a way that it will be a joyful day for the faithful and true Christians, but a terrible day for the unbelievers, the wicked, the miserly, the usurers and false Christians. For this is how it will be: We will not be
to offer the sacrament to all on the bed, to place it in the coffin and to carry it to the grave. For this is what he calls "falling asleep", when one lies on the little bed of rest, gives up the spirit, is carried out and buried in the earth. This will not be needed, he says, on the last day. Then it will not be said: Come, hear confession, absolve him of sins, give him the sacrament, bury him, but when you will sit over the table and eat, stand over the box and count the thalers, lie in bed and sleep, sit at the tavern and drink, be at the dance and jump, soon in a moment you will be changed, that is, dead and alive again.
12) "To be changed" means to be changed to a new life, to come out of the nature and life of this world into another, new nature and life, since one no longer needs food and drink, clothes and shoes, money and goods, sleep, work, marriage and the like, which belong to this life. Those whom the last day shall strike, saith he, shall not be buried, but shall in a moment and suddenly be changed. We shall not all fall asleep; but all, both they that lie in the graves, and they that dwell on the earth apart from the graves, must be changed. For there shall be another being and another body, which neither eateth nor drinketh, neither worketh nor sleepeth, neither marrieth nor begetteth children, neither handleeth money nor counteth thalers, and in sum, which needeth no more of the things that pertain unto corruptible life. This is the transformation, that those who have fallen asleep and lie under the earth, at the same time with us who are still alive, and we with them, will be changed to a new life.
013 These secret things I tell you, saith he, because they will not all believe it, but will think it foolishness and a mockery: to them also it shall be a secret secret: but see that ye hear it, and believe it. For it will surely come to pass. Though we be not all buried, yet must we all be changed at the same time: for this body is not fit with its nature and use as it is now; it is too foul, full of sin, full of mortality, full of filth and filthiness. What good can come out of it
become? Therefore he must become different, must be cleansed and purified, so that he no longer sins, does not drink wine, does not fill himself, does not drink, nor does he need these temporal goods and beings anymore.
14 Now this is the secret of which St. Paul says here, that is, a secret, hidden little piece, which only those who are true Christians respect and take to heart. Popes, cardinals, bishops, great lords of this world, item, usurers, adulterers, drunkards and silent men do not believe it, nor do they respect it, because it is incredible to reason that everything should change in a moment. Should God completely clean up the whole world, says reason, in a moment? How can he, who died 5000 years ago, and has lain in the grave and decayed for such a long time, suddenly be changed with me, who am still alive? Ei, how foolish thing do you pretend? It is not believable. Well, says St. Paul, I tell you in one ear, on the last day it will be so admitted: They that are under the earth, and are not yet risen, shall rise again, and with them that are yet on the earth shall be quickly and effectually changed. Believe this for sure. But if thou wilt not believe it, let it be: for thine unbelief it shall not fail; it shall surely come to pass.
Momentum, ictus oculi, means a moment when the eye opens and closes; this happens quickly and nimbly. That is why it is called thunder and lightning, because before the eye is opened and closed, the lightning has happened. So also in the last day it will happen quickly and nimbly, as the lightning travels. He who now has the candelabra in his mouth and drinks, he who lies in bed and sleeps, he who stands at his work, he who counts his money, shall not be left room for, but before an eye is opened and closed, he shall be changed. If Adam, Eve, Abraham, Sarah, and other fathers, have not been raised with Christ, 1) as the Gospel of Matthew [Cap. 27, 53] says, and I believe it to be true, then they and all who have been raised with Christ will be changed.
1) This sentence is to be understood according to the house postilion (Walch, St. Louis edition, vol. XIII, 449, § 15) in such a way: If Adam 2c. has not already risen with Christ and gone to heaven with him, they will be changed together with all.... will be changed. Cf. 16 of the following, fourth sermon.
We are in the graves, and together with us, while we are still alive on earth, we will be transformed into another being in one breath. This is how it will be, I tell you in one ear, I mean it faithfully and well. If you believe it and take it to heart, good for you! If you do not believe it and despise it, woe to you! It will come to pass, and for your sake it will not cease.
16 And this will happen, he says, "at the time of the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will rise incorruptible, and we will be changed". He speaks of the last day, as he speaks of it in 1 Thess. 4, 16. 17. when he says: "He himself, the Lord, will come down from heaven with a shout and the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the cloud to meet the Lord in the air". 2c. He tells three things, so Christ will have with him in his last future: the shout, the voice of the archangel, and the trumpet of God. And speaks after the manner, as it happens in the field in the battle. For the shouting in the field, keleusma, means when the men of war in the army exhort and urge one another to fight chivalrously: Add to it, add to it, add to it, add to it, add to it! Trumpets are the trumpets used in battle.
When the battle begins and the enemy attacks, the trumpets or trumpets are blown, the drums are beaten, and the taratantara is played, and a battle cry is made: "Come, come, come! The chief lieutenant or captain, to whom the warlord has given command of the field, exhorts the people of war to attack the enemy in a chivalrous manner: Hui, hui, hui! And the warriors shout: Fresh at them, fresh at them, fresh at them! strike dead, strike dead, strike dead! That's why, when one part has won, they say: "Change part has become small sound. When the Turks go to battle, their slogan is, and the whole army shouts: Allah, Allah, Allahu, Mahomet Regil Allah! It is not God, because God, Mahomet is God's servant. So did
1326 Eri. (2.) 20d, 320-S22. interpretations on the 1st epistle to the Corinthians. W. VIII, 1171-1478. 1327
The Greeks were also in conflict, had their slogans and shouts, their trumpets and trumpets.
18 In the same Greek manner St. Paul speaks here, saying: "On the last day, when Christ comes down from heaven, there will be a shout: Hui, hui, hui! the great angel will beat the drum, be it the angel Gabriel, or another angel. For Gabriel is the highest power among the angels, the highest commander in heaven, who wields the sword, who is the king's marshal, who has the emperor's greatest power in the field, as the name implies: Gabriel, God's power, God's might. When he wants to exercise his power, he strikes everything dead that lives on earth. Such an archangel or chosen angel before other angels, who is God's power, will beat the army drum and make his voice heard, and God will blow his trumpet. But there will not be such a weak shout, nor such a small voice, nor such a trumpet made of brass or copper, as on earth, or of silver, as the trumpets of Moses were, Numbers 10:2, but there will be a strong, powerful, heavenly and divine shout, voice and trumpet.
This is how it will be: Christ the Lord will descend from heaven with his shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God. A black cloud will rise. This will be followed by such lightning and thunder that the whole earth will shake, and all the people on earth will be terrified and tremble. This will be the trumpet and drum, that a thunderclap will go into each other, until the last thunderclap will come, which will throw heaven and earth and everything into one heap. Then you will be dead and alive again in an instant; that is when the transformation will take place.
20. I understand by the voice of the archangel and trumpet of God lightning and thunder. For this is the voice of the divine majesty, as the77. Psalm,v. 18.,says: Vocem dederunt nubes, "the clouds thundered, and the beams went forth"; item, v. 19.: Vox tonitrui tui in rota, "it thundered in the heavens, your lightnings shone on the ground, the earth stirred, and prayed of it." And Ps. 68, 34.: Dabit voci suae vocem virtutis, "he.
will give power to his thunder." This is the voice of the Majesty, when God speaks in the language of His Majesty, no man can hear it and live. Christ, as a human being, speaks tolerably, and his voice is friendly and sweet. But God's voice, in his majesty, is another trumpet and trumpet; it blows down a house in an instant, so that all the dust comes out, and shatters a tree to pieces; therefore, when it kirrets, it comes in an instant; what it strikes, that lies down.
(21) So it shall come to pass, when Christ shall come down from heaven in his glory to do battle with his enemies, that is, to take vengeance upon the wicked, that the archangel, whether it be the angel Gabriel, who is the power of God, or another angel, shall cause lightning and thunder to go forth, and God shall blow his trumpet and taratantara, shall beat his drum, that it shall shake in the air with all power. Then the shouting will take place, and not only the angels, but also all creatures together 1) will shout: Whoo, whoo, whoo! Fresh to them, fresh to them! Lord, the enemies have blasphemed your name long enough, have shed enough of your saints blood, Ps. 79, 3. it is time for you to take revenge on them and they will be judged. Strike dead, strike dead, strike dead! Then heaven and earth will fall in a heap with a great crash, "the elements will melt with heat, the earth and the works that are in it will burn up", 2 Petr. 3, 10.
22 Thus we read in the prophet Isaiah, Cap. 37:36, when Sanherib, king of Assyria, lay before the city of Jerusalem, the angel of the Lord went forth, and made his voice heard, and beat a drum, and cried with his taratantara. Then there was such lightning and thunder, and the thunderclaps were joined together with power, that the whole Assyrian camp lay full of dead bodies, and those who could flee fled. Then was the voice of the Majesty, and the trumpet; and when it sounded, the whole land trembled, and in a moment lay there-
1) Walch: the.
down a hundred and five and eighty thousand men. For God had previously proclaimed that He would strike Sanherib from Jerusalem from heaven, Isaiah 30:30, 31, 32: "The LORD will sound His glorious voice, and His outstretched arm will be seen, with wrathful anger, and with flames of devouring fire, and with rays, and with heavy rain, and with hail. For Assyria shall be terrified at the voice of the LORD, which smiteth him with the rod: For it shall pierce the rod utterly, and shall be well struck, when the LORD shall bring it upon him with timbrels and with harps, and shall fight against it every where."
23 Pugnabit contra eos Tnuphah, as the Hebrew text says, which we have interpreted, he will fight against them everywhere. Tnuphah means ventilatio, motio, a weaving, when one weaves something back and forth. Therefore the weaver has the name in the Old Testament [2 Mos. 29, 24. 3 Mos. 9, 21.] and is also called Tnuphah, therefore that one pulled it back and forth in much Oerter, against morning, evening, noon and midnight. The priests in the papacy imitate Mosi (but without command, yes, against Christ's command); when they stand before the altar and say mass, they do cross-strokes. So I will say that Tnuphah here is called a cross stroke: He will fight against them Tnuphah, that is, he will strike them with thunder and lightning, from all four places of the world, he will beat Assyria right, thunder, lightning and fire shall be the kettledrums and whistles; as it happened. For when the angel of the LORD went forth, there was a sound: a sound of going forth, a sound of coming down, a sound of noon, a sound of midnight. So shall it be in the last day, when Christ shall come to judgment: there shall be lightning and thunder one into another, and there shall be a right bellum tnuphah, lightning and thunder and fire everywhere: tnuphah of the morning, tnuphah of the evening, tnuphah of the noon, tnuphah of the midnight.
24. when Sodom and Gomorrah perished, Gen. 19, 23. 24. there was, I think, God's voice and trumpet; as soon as the pious Lot came with his two daughters to the little town Zoar, and the sun had risen on earth,
In a moment the whole land was turned back and destroyed, and all the inhabitants of the cities, man and woman, child and child's body, were dead and sunk into the abyss of hell. There was no time to count money, nor to leap about with the mace, but in a moment all that lived was dead and sunk. That was God's trumpet and drommete, there it went: Pummerle pum, plitz, platz, schnür, schnür.
025 And it came to pass, when the people of Israel passed through the Red Sea, and Pharaoh the king followed with his army [Exodus 14:19]. When the children of Israel had gone out of Egypt, and Pharaoh was pursuing them with his horses, chariots and horsemen, the angel of God arose and sat down between the army of Egypt and the army of Israel, and a dark cloud shone all night so that no part could come to the other. When the sea was divided as a wall on the right hand and on the left, and the children of Israel had passed through on dry land, and the Egyptians followed them into the sea, the Lord looked on the Egyptians in the morning, v. 24.And the weather, which the angel had kept the night before, went again, and made a terror in the army of Egypt, and cast down the wheels of their chariots, 1) and overthrew them with violence, and caused the waters to return, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the power of Pharaoh, which followed the children of Israel into the sea, and smote Pharaoh and all his people to the ground, that there remained not one of them.
This is now the kettledrum of our Lord God, or as St. Paul calls it here, the voice of the archangel and trumpet of God. For when God thunders, it sounds like a kettledrum, pummerle pum, and the thunderclaps do not jest. St. Paul calls it the voice of the archangel; for God in His majesty speaks through the thunder, so that the whole earth trembles, and all the world is terrified and soon dead. When such a voice and the last trumpet of God will sound, then the sun will shine,
1) Erlanger: and.
Moon and all creatures cry out: Strike dead, dear Lord God, strike dead! There are the wicked, who do not know you, and the false Christians, who have not been obedient to the Gospel of Christ, who have all blasphemed your name, persecuted your saints on earth and killed them; strike dead, it is high time, make an end of the being. That shall be the shouting of the field, and the taratantara of God, that all the heavens, and all the air shall go: Kir, kir, pummerle pum. For there will be a terrible, unheard-of weather, the like of which has not been seen since the beginning of the world, and all creatures will stand in such a way that the end will be there.
Then the last trumpet of God will come, that is, the last thunderclap, which will suddenly strike heaven and earth, and everything in them, into one heap. There we will also be transformed, that is, changed from this mortal being into an immortal being, when heaven and earth will dissolve. All this will happen suddenly and in a moment, and the last trumpet, that is, the last thunderclap, will do this; for it will be a real outburst of thunderclaps, will be good, great, powerful and almighty, and will penetrate completely and strike well. The thunderclaps that are happening now are only a prelude and prelude to that last thunderclap; but that, the last thunderclap, will be the right trumpet of God that will end the whole world. We often see that a thunderclap breaks a large, two- or three-bladed oak in two in an instant, and often crushes it into small pieces, which four carpenters would not be able to do in a whole day. So now a thunderclap at this time, which is only a prelude and prelude to that last thunderclap, is able to do this: what should not the last thunderclap be able to do, which will be great and almighty, and the end? God will then speak in His majesty and glory; not as Christ speaks on the cross, saying [Luc. 23, 34.]: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do"; which voice quiets God's wrath, and preserves the world to this day, but will speak in His divine majesty and insufferable language, with thunder and lightning: "Pummerle", "Pummerle", "Pummerle", "Pummerle", "Pummerle", "Pummerle", "Pummerle", "Pummerle", "Pummerle", "Pummerle", "Pummerle", "Pummerle", "Pummerle", "Pummerle".
pum, kir, kir, schlag todt; to this all creatures will cry out: Amen and yes.
For it will be the right war and the right battle, which Christ will wage in his glory against all the devils in hell and the wicked on earth, in which battle he will crush all his enemies with thunder and lightning. Then the word will be fulfilled that He says John 5:27, 28, 29: "God has given the Son authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. Marvel not at this: for the hour cometh, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment."
St. Jerome has his thoughts, as he writes: Sive comedam, sive bibam, sive aliquid aliud faciam, semper vox illa videtur sonare in auribus meis: Surgite mortui, et venite ad judicium, I eat or drink, sleep or wake, or do something else, the voice always hums in my ears: Arise, ye dead, come to judgment. Not that it will take so long until the voice resounds in the air, and these very words are expressed with all syllables, but the last thunderclap will indicate as much as the words give. For God will accomplish everything in a moment, so that it will not take so much time. And St. Jerome continues: Quoties diem judicii cogito, totus corde et corpore contremisco. Si qua praesentis vitae est laetitia, ita agenda est, ut nunquam amaritudo futuri judicii recedat a memoria, [that is:j as often as I think of the day of judgment, my heart and whole body are frightened. If there is any joy in this present life, let it be used so that the seriousness of the judgment to come may not pass out of our mind nor fall from our memory.
(30) And it is certainly true that he who believes with all his heart, and believes that he must die and come to judgment, will not be tickled, and will not do much mischief or evil. As also Sirach says Cap. 7, 40: "What you do, then consider
the end, you will never again do evil". If a human heart is frightened when it hears the terrible stories and horrible examples of the great and serious wrath of God, that God has destroyed the world of the wicked with the flood of sin [Gen. 7, 23], and has turned back and condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah with brimstone and fire from heaven [Gen. 19, 25.], how then should it not be terrified when it hears that God will require the last world with lightning, thunder and fire for the last judgment, when the heavens, as St. Peter says [2 Ep. 3, 12.], will be melted by fire, and the elements will melt with heat. For those stories are only examples of the future wrath and judgment of God, as also the apostle Peter says, 2 Ep. 2, 6, that God has set an example for the wicked who will come after.
Now the merciful God did not want us to be suddenly attacked with the day of judgment, so He gives us grace and honor, warns us faithfully, lets His word be preached to us, calls us to repentance, offers us forgiveness of all our sins in Christ, promises us that guilt and punishment shall be lifted if we believe in His Son, tells us to wait for our calling, and to do our commanded work. If we do this, he grants us to eat, drink, be of good cheer and joy. For we must eat and drink if we are to live otherwise on earth; but we must not forget God and the life to come. Is this not a kind, pious God, who means it faithfully and completely fatherly with us? He speaks to us no differently than a father speaks to his children, and says: Dear children, repent, believe in my Son whom I have sent to you, be pious and obedient, and do your appointed work; then eat and drink, and use the temporal goods that I have given you; but see to it that you use this world and the temporal goods in such a way that you wait for the last trumpet, so that when it will sound and the last thunderclap will rise, you will be ready and skilled in holy conduct and godly behavior. If you do this, there will be no need for you.
32. such faithful warning and friendly
We should take the admonition of our gracious God and dear Father to heart and say: "Well, dear God, because you want these things from me, and it is pleasing to you and blessed to me, then I will turn to you with all my heart, I will believe in your Son, I will carry out my ministry with all diligence, and I will eat and drink and use the temporal goods in this life in such a way that I do not forget the last trumpet, but remember your future without interruption. For why should I be afraid of the last day, because thou hast promised me grace, life, and salvation through the word? Come, dear Lord JEsu, and put an end to this life and being; I have eaten and drunk enough; I will gladly go with you all the hours when you come with your day. That would mean to prepare ourselves rightly and to use this life rightly, if we did our duty in faith and waited for the life to come.
But there are few people who take it to heart and put themselves into it. But what will become of them? How will such people finally stand when they come before the court? Peasants, citizens, nobility, princes, who now live in all security, do not hear God's word, do not let them be told, remain godless, proud, envious, hateful, malicious, drowned in avarice and usury, lie in gluttony and pleasure, practice shame and vice, and do all sorts of things as if they wanted to live forever here on earth. Oh how suddenly and unawares they will be hurried with the last day! Oh how the last thunderbolt will come far too early for them! Now they do not believe that it will happen. When they hear of the last day, they mock and laugh, and say: Ha! it is still a long time away, what do you tell me about the last day? If I had money to count until the last day comes, I would be a blessed, desired 1) man.
34. although the holy scripture has proclaimed it before, that the nearer this day will be, the less faith and love, and the greater security there will be in the world. Those of Sodom and Gomorrah were just such people, as the wicked, crude people are in our time; they did
1) desired --- that I have a desire for, as Phil.
1334 Erl. (s.) sob, SS8-ssa. Interpretations on the 1st epistle to the Corinthians. W. VUI, 1485-1487. 1335
They tormented, as St. Peter says [2 Ep. 2, 8], the righteous soul from day to day with their unrighteous deeds, made the good old man preach, warn and mourn; but in the meantime they sang of the slave, mocked him as a fool, and did not turn to any punishment. This is exactly what our noblemen, peasants, burghers, nobility 2c. are doing today. Ha! they say, let the last day come; if we still have such a long time until the last day comes, let us be stingy, usurious, fornicators, knaves, drunkards, devourers, and live in all kinds of pleasures; there is no need.
We must suffer such harmful people. Well, what they will gain with it, that they will experience all too soon. With such certainty they themselves bear witness that the last day must not be far off. And indeed, it is all to be expected that the last day will soon come. Lot preaches, shouts and cries, the sun rises, the gospel shines and shines; but not only the pope and the Turk, but also our false evangelicals do not ask anything about it. That is why it looks as if a morning weather is about to come; such weather is usually terrible and dangerous, and does not joke. Then it will happen as it happened in the days of Lot. When Lot had come to Zoar, and the sun had risen on earth, there arose thunder and lightning [Gen. 19:23, 24]. Those of Sodom at first took it for a mockery, and said: Ha! have you never seen more weather in the sky before? But soon, when the sun was black and the sky was dark, the LORD rained down brimstone and fire from heaven, and Sodom and its people lay on the ground.
Gomorrah with all inhabitants, young and old, in abyss of hell. So the last day and last thunderclap will also hit our safe, proud Junkers before they know it.
(36) Now let him who is to be advised look to it, repent, and improve himself, for the last day will not remain outside. The last trumpet of God will therefore sound, and the heavenly Taratantara will sing before we think. Then heaven and earth will fall in one heap, and all men will be dead and alive again in a moment, and changed to another life. This is how it will be on the last day, it will be a terrible and comforting day: terrible, to all unbelievers and godless; comforting, to all believers and godly.
37 "For the dead," continues St. Paul, "will rise incorruptible. For that which is corruptible must put on that which is incorruptible, and that which is mortal must put on immortality." The time must come when another life will begin, and such a life when sin and death will cease, and all plagues will end. It must one day be fulfilled what is written [v. 54]: "Death is swallowed up in victory." The time must come when death will cease completely, so that it can never again challenge us.
38) May our dear Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, grant us His Holy Spirit, that we may wait and hasten in right faith and godly living to the future of His day, so that in the resurrection of the dead we may be drawn together with the elect and blessed in the air toward the Lord, and be with the Lord always, amen.