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THE KING’S BUSINESS
give thy will to righteousness; then will, thy hard-heartedness end, and God will bestow on thee the gift of faith. What wilt thou? Why standest thou so uncertain and irresolute? Why dost thou not hasten to Him, and see how He leaves thy life, how He goes into the1 heavens, to which He bids thee come up. Leave at length thy sensual life and enter' the pathway of Christ. Hesitate no longer, begin today, put it not off until tomorrow. If thou hast faith, thou canst not delay longer, and if thy heart is right before God, He will give thee the, light of faith which will enable thee to distinguish the false from the true faith, and so when on the right road not to fall into error. Then wilt thou know for •thyself that the Gospel makes good men out of those who truly believe, and thine experience will tell thee that thou hast no occasion to doubt. STORY OF BALAK A story from the Old Testament might perhaps serve as a parable and make clearer what I mean. , When Balak heard to Israel’s march, he was afraid and serft to call Balaam to curse ^Israel for him. Balaam set out on his way with his ass, accompanied by an evil intention. The beast sought in vain to turn into the. field, and finally fell down between two walls, and suffered under blows and curses, until the prophet saw the angel and perceived his sin. Balak. is the devil who would ruin the people of God; by Balaam we can understand the nobles, the prelates, the preachers, the learned, who are held captive by their arrogance. The' two ser vants are those who follow the proud, serve them, and flatter them, especially the lazy ^clergy and monks, who so far as out ward show goes live a virtuous life, but who live for ceremonies and take care not to speak the truth. To these belong many citizens who live apparently virtuously and hide their pride. Because they commit no sins of the flesh which can be noticed, they are full of arrogance. These are the members of the devil, for the devil neither eats, drinks, nor sleeps, he is neither a
ascension He punished the unbelief of His apostles. Because I have explained to thee this morning this Gospel, I must punish the hardness and unthankfulness of thy heart. Thou hast refused the service of the Lord, who has ascended to prepare for thee the highest glory. I call upon all men and women, all whose lives are ruined in sorrows and troubles. What do ye fear? He who believes that Christ is above no longer fears anything. Come then all ye into His service. Jesus reproved the unbelief and the hard-heart edness of His disciples, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. Without faith it is impos sible to please God. No doubt the apostles said: How can we believe these women? But these women were of pure heart before God, and therefore the Saviour reproved His disciples. Ye deserve still sharper rep rimands. To the disciples a few women announced the news that He had risen. Ye hear all this, and in addition all the glor ious revelations in which the Lord mani fested Himself on earth. Why do ye not come to serve Christ? Ye do not truly believe, because ye are so full of sin, and despise God’s commandments. Ye do not deserve the gift of faith. DEEDS SHOW FAITH He who has faith should show it in his deeds, that he may have what he says he has, and may know what he has: namely, the certainty of the divine word which can not err, the goodness of God, and His guidance into all goodness. On account of thy sins, thou hast not the true light which would have enabled thee to see all goodness. Thou art sunk in vice, drunken with greed 'and luxury, and all the words of this world. Thou seekest only power and glory. And wherefore? If thou hadst faith, thou wouldst not seek such things, for thou wouldst know that faith would give thee a much higher crown. From these sins have come thy unbelief and thy hardness of heart. Therefore the words of faith do not touch thy heart: it is a heart of stone and iron. Throw off thy load of sin and
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