THE KING’S BUSINESS
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also I say: If you believe, where are.your wopks? Your faith is something every one knows, for every one knows that Christ was put to death by the Jews,, and that everywhere men pray to Him- The whole world knows that His glory has not been spread by force and weapons,, but by poor fishermen. O wise man, do you think the poor fishermen were not clever enough for this? Where they worked, there they made hearts better; where they coul4 not work, there men remained bad; and therefore was thè faith true and from God. The signs which the Lord had promised followed their teaching: in His name they drove out the devil ; they spoke in new tongues; if they drank any deadly drink, they received therefrom no harm. Even if these wonders had not ,occurred/ there would have been the wonder of won ders, that poor fishermen without any miracle could accomplish so great a work as the faith. It came from God, and so is Christ true and Christ is thy Gòd, who is in heaven and awaits thee. You say you believe the Gospel, but you do not believe me. But the purer any thing is, so much the nearer it stands to its end and purpose. The Christian life purifies the heart, and places it very near to the truth. To the Christian life will I lead you, if you have the knowledge of the truth. If I had wished to deceive you, why should I have given you as the chief of my gifts the means of discov ering my fraud? I would be verily a fool to try to impose upon you with a fàlsehood which you would soon detect; only because I offered you the truth, did I call you. Come here, I fear you not; the closer you examine, the clearer the truth will become to you. ASHAMED OF THE CROSS I There are some, however, who are ashamed of the cross of Jesus Christ, and say: If we should believe,that, we should be despised everywhere, especially by'the wisest. But if you would know the truth, look only on the lives of those who would
when the angel said to him : “Had it not been for thine ass, I would have slain thee.” So I say to you ye captives: Had it not been for the good and their preach ing, it would have been woe unto you. Balaam said: “If this way is not good, I will return.” You say likewise, you would turn back to God, if your way is not good. And to the angel you say as Balaam said: “WJiat wilt thou that we should do?” The angel answers thee as he answered Balaam: “Thou shalt not curse this people, but shalt say what 1 put in thy mouth.” * But in thy mouth he puts the warning that thou shouldst do gOod, convince one another of the divine truth, and bear evil manfully.. For it is the life of a Christian to do good and to bear wrong and to continue steadfast unto death, and this is the Gospel, which we, according to the text of the -Gospel for .today, shall preach in all the world. SERVE WITH ZEAL What wilt thou have-of us, brother? you ask. I desire that you serve Christ with zeal, and not with sloth and indifference. I desire that you do not mourn, but in thankfulness raise your hands to heaven, whenever your brother or your son enters the service of Christ. The time is come when Christ will work not only in you but through you and in others; whoever hears, let him say : “Come, brother.” Le't one draw the other. Turn about, thou that thinkest thou art of a superior mind and therefore canst not accept the faith.” If I could only explain this whole Gospel to thee word for word, I would then scourge thy forehead and prove to thee that the faith could not be false and that Christ is thy God who is enthroned' in heaven, and waits for thee. Or dost thou believe? Where are thy works? Why dost thou delay about them ? Hear this: There was once a monk who spoke to a distinguished man about the faith, and got him to answer why he did not believe. He answered thus: “You yourself do not believe, for if you believed you would show other works.” Therefore, to •you
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