The Second Sunday in Advent - Apologetics

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The Hymn # 56           Jesus Came the Heavens Adoring

The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16

Introit

Stir up our hearts, O Lord, to make ready the way of Thine only-begotten Son, so that by His coming we may be enabled to serve Thee with pure minds; through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth, etc.

The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation 

Collect

Stir up our hearts, O Lord, to make ready the way of Thine only-begotten Son, so that by His coming we may be enabled to serve Thee with pure minds; through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth, etc.

The Epistle                          Romans 15:4-13

Gradual

Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined: our God shall come.

V. Gather My saints together unto Me: 

those that have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

V. The powers of heaven shall be shaken: 

and then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud 

with power and great glory. Hallelujah!

The Gospel                           Luke 21:25-36 

Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #59      Hail to the God's Anointed

Be Ready Always 

The Hymn #314          Lord Jesus Christ, We Humbly Pray  - Henry E. Jacobs

The Preface p. 24
The Sanctus p. 26
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn # 47                             Savior Again to Thy Dear Name We Raise

Prayers and Announcements

• Prayers -  Pastor Jim Shrader and Chris Shrader, Sarah Buck, Doc Lito, Kermit Way, Alicia Meyer. 
• Those suffering from emotional and metabolic stress.
• Midweek Advent Service - 7 PM Wednesday

Second Sunday In Advent

Lord God, heavenly Father, who by Thy Son hast revealed to us that heaven and earth shall pass away, that our bodies shall rise again, and that we all shall appear before the judgment seat: We beseech Thee, keep us by Thy Holy Spirit in Thy word; establish us in the true faith, graciously defend us from sin and preserve us in all temptations, that our hearts may not be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and cares of this life, but that we may ever watch and pray and, trusting fully in Thy grace, await with joy the glorious coming of Thy Son, and at last obtain eternal salvation, through Thy beloved Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.

KJV Romans 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. 5 Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: 6 That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God. 8 Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers: 9 And that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy; as it is written, For this cause I will confess to thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto thy name. 10 And again he saith, Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people. 11 And again, Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles; and laud him, all ye people. 12 And again, Esaias saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust. 13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

KJV Luke 21:25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; 26 Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. 27 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. 29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; 30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. 31 So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand. 32 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled. 33 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. 34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. 35 For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

Be Ready Always 

Introduction

KJV 1 Timothy 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

Apologetics may be too difficult for our upcoming generations, because the New Testament word is Greek and means - a defense or an answer. Therefore, the almost completely forgotten topic is the Apology of the Augsburg Confession. The  Augsburg Confession is the bedrock of Lutherans all over the world, so they say - even in America. The Apology is an extension of Melanchthon's work in answering the Bible, especially Justification by Faith. 

    What is the answer today? Defending one synod after all others, one seminary against another, one Bible phrase after another, one hymnal the best until they sell another one. Printing in volume is a money machine, and they cling to it, though our little church has no parking lot, no baby cry-room, no hymnal more recent than 1941.

    Most will slowly realize that material gains are more pleasing in this world and completely worthless in the age to come.

KJV Luke 21:25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; 26 Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

The best stance we should take is 

a. Realizing this could come upon us, always being ready.

b. Emphasizing the spiritual - the power of the Word of God.

Only one thing stands between us and the Father Below, aka Satan. The Son of God became incarnate, born of the Virgin Mary, so we could see and hear Him, with countless miracles taking place to this day. Satan wants all his real estate back, but the Good Shepherd knows who is a believer and who is not.

Faith in Jesus Christ stands between us - weak, fragile, and easily spooked - and the material world with its ruler, who tempted Jesus three times. We cannot battle on our own, so we have Jesus and His legions of angels helping us. He attached Himself to us when we were born from above by the Holy Spirit. Whether from infant baptism or the Gospel Word under different circumstance.

27 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power (dynamis, dynamite) and great glory. 28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.

When this happens, everyone will know, whether on one side or the own. We are not to know until it is final, which is why various small groups have decided on their own. Jesus taught them and teaches us to let Him give the ultimate sign, which will be without any delusion or bewilderment.

28 Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; 30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. 31 So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.

These words from Jesus are perplexing because the various statements have them as a short term sign or the very end.

32 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled. 33 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. 34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. 35 For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

When I was in the grocery business, I got to experience the 8 hour shifts of dealing with customers in a rush. One University of Arkansas athlete was walking around anxiously trying to get those things needed for Thanksgiving. He was totally wound up and said he was getting a migraine for sure. He was about 6 feet 5 inches, but the various products made him helpless. I told him, "I will be your personal shopper," which I did a number of times for others.

Another guy was angry because he came for the giant cans of peanut oil, which always appeared for Thanksgiving. They were all gone for the season. He was not ready. "We have one-gallon cans. Get three of those." He said, "But they cost more that way!" And he was like so many, as Christmas got closer and semi-trucks could not fill the empty spaces.

32 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled. 33 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.

The clever ones see proof that all these passages about the end-time were fanciful and more proof of Jesus being a man, a rabbi, and nothing more. Only 40 years after Jesus rose from the dead, the Roman army arrived to end the revolt. No one was safe. The survivors were shipped far away because the value of slavery had gone down from all the survivors. And soon enough Israel was forsaken and the Roman Empire collapsed, roughly 400 AD. 

In other news, Pope Francis, Jesuit, is complaining about his bankruptcy. 

1. Everything must be fulfilled

2. There will be no mistake.

3. The Word of God will last forever, because the Son of God is the Word, the Good Shepherd, the Savior, the Redeemer, the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings.

Every year our abode has listened to Handel's Messiah. I use that music to awaken the students who have never read much of the prophets - Isaiah, Jeremiah, etc - and the Minor Prophets - Habakkuk, Daniel, Micah.

Micah 5:

[a]Marshal your troops now, city of troops,
    for a siege is laid against us.
They will strike Israel’s ruler
    on the cheek with a rod.

2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
    though you are small among the clans[b] of Judah,
out of you will come for me
    one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,
    from ancient times.”

KJV Micah 7

18 Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.

19 He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.

Tom Fisher

 

Dear Pastor Jackson,

I want to ask my readers to earnestly pray for Constitutional Attorney Robert Barnes. He is 70% recovered from a very near brush with death during 10 day hospitalization for very rare infection. Doctors wondering if he may have been poisoned.

Attorney Robert Barnes is defending Amish Farmer Amos Miller from unjust and STUPID jail sentence for producing superior food products. They wrongfully destroyed $100,000 worth of his superior food products. To learn more just type in Amos Miller Amish Farmer lawsuits.

He is also defending whistleblower Brook Jackson.

In Christ,

Tom Fisher

Daily Luther Sermon Quote - Advent 2 - "Aristotle clearly teaches that these are but natural phenomena.” Let us pass these by and know that God’s Word and tokens are despised by the wisdom of the gods. Do you hold fast to the Gospel — this teaches you to believe that storms and detonations in the sea are signs and tokens. And however many times such signals have been given in other days, they shall nevertheless become more numerous and terrible as the day of doom approaches."

 

Second Sunday in Advent, Luke 21:25-36. Christ’s Second Coming: or the Signs of the Day of Judgment; and the Comfort Christians Have from Them

19. It is indeed true that the masses do not become so afflicted, but only the few and generally the most sensible, scrupulous, and good-hearted individuals who have no desire to harm any one and would live honorable lives. It may be they foster some secret sin, as for example unchastity. This burdens them day and night so that they never are truly happy. But this is game for the monks and priests, for here they can practice extortion, especially with women; here people confess, are taught, absolved, and go whithersoever the confessor directs. Meanwhile the people are the Lord’s token of the last day. To such the Gospel is light and comfort while it condemns the others.

20. Neither can anyone deny this sign, for it has been so common these hundreds of years that many have become insane over it, as Gerson informs us. Although at all times there have been people so distressed and perplexed, it was formerly not so common as now. From the beginning of the world no human doctrine exercised, the tenth part or even the hundreth part of the influence, or tortured and seared so many consciences as the doctrines of the pope and his disciples, the monks and priests. Such perplexed hearts will necessarily grow out of the papal doctrine of confession which has never been so earnestly promulgated as now.

Therefore this has never been a token of the judgment until now. There must be many and great signs, therefore, and they be despised by most men. “For the roaring of the sea and the billows.”

21. This will take place through the winds, for all roaring of the waters comes by means of the storm. Therefore the Lord would say by these words that many and great storms will arise. By sea, however, is not to be understood simply the ocean, but all gathered waters, according to the language of Scripture, Genesis 1:10: “And the gathering together of the waters called he seas,” be they oceans, seas or lakes. Rivers on the other hand are changeable flowing waters.

22. It is not to be supposed that all waters, streams, lakes, seas, oceans, will, at the same time and in the same way, be come stormy and boisterous.

Some seas are thus to be moved and this is to be the sign unto us. For as not all stars fall and not all nations are distressed in perplexity, so shall not all waters roar nor all places be visited by the storm.

23. Here heathen art will sit in the schools and with wide open mouth will say, “Did you see the storm or hear the sea and the waves roaring?

Aristotle clearly teaches that these are but natural phenomena.” Let us pass these by and know that God’s Word and tokens are despised by the wisdom of the gods. Do you hold fast to the Gospel — this teaches you to believe that storms and detonations in the sea are signs and tokens. And however many times such signals have been given in other days, they shall nevertheless become more numerous and terrible as the day of doom approaches.

24. It seems to me that within the space of ten or twelve years, there have been such storms and tempests and waters roaring as have never before been seen or heard. We are to consider, therefore, that although in former times these signs came singly and at less frequent intervals, now they appear many and frequent. In our time both sun and moon are darkened, stars fall, distress of nations is present, winds and waves are roaring, and many other signs are being fulfilled. They are all coming in a heap. 

CFW Walther was always a Pietist and he learned Universal Objective Justification from his syphilitic mentor, Martin Stephan, whom he deposed by creating a riot that made Walther into the leader.

25. We have lately also seen so many comets and so many calamities have fallen from the skies and there has arisen the hitherto unknown disease, syphilis. Also how many signs and wonders have been seen in the heavens, as suns, moons, stars, rainbows, and many other strange sights. Dear hearer, let them be signs, great signs, tokens that mean much; so that neither the astronomers nor heathen astrologers can say they simply follow the ordinary course of nature, for they knew nothing of them before nor did they prophesy of them.

The self-appointed bishops - Stephan, DeJaynes, Heiser.

DeJaynes was an LCA pastor. Do they wear home-plate hats in the Lutheran Confessional Synod?  Jay Webber and Kincaid Smith brought DeJaynes into the Evangelical Lutheran Synod, with the blessings of ELS Bishop John Molstad. They even prayed together.

Pearl Harbor Attack, December 7, 1941

 

All the Nutrition And Weight Loss Books Distilled in One Post

 

These Are the Bad Categories - Easy To Remember To Avoid

Dairy 

Milk products - milk, cream, ice cream, cheeses, cottage cheese, yogurt. The fat content is high and the protein is over-done, except for baby cows.

Eggs

Eggs are very satisfying but loaded with fat.  They attract salt the way milk attracts sugar, which is not good.

Prepared And Fast-Food Meals, Often Frozen

Swanson TV Dinners bequeathed the Swanson House in Fayetteville to M/M Bill Clinton  (not my fault). The Jacksons ate those salted up frozen dinners while watching TV in the 1950s. Lots of salt and a tiny dessert. 

Frozen pizza - easy to microwave, loaded with cheese, salt, and fat.

Fast-food joints - the product is delivered to the little restaurants, thawed and often soaked in grease to make them delicious (ha!). Lots of salt is used in them and on them, with the addition of mustard (salt) and ketchup (salt) etc. Anything made in a real restaurant is far worse in fast-foods. Sugar and sweeteners add to the disaster.

Candy and Treats - Heavy with Sugar, Salt, and Fat

Candy and treats are mostly sugar and oil, often stale but who cares when the cravings crave and no one is watching? The main advantage in retail is their high volume, high cost, and long shelf life, or rather, stale life. The instant jolt of sugar is enhanced with fat and some salt. Added nuts make sweets look more like food. 

The candy aisle at Walmart is simply gigantic, competing with only small areas of various frozen vegetables and fruits, tip-toing into ready made versions (seasoned? you mean salted!). A dash of salt vastly increases frozen food prices and profits.

Stop! Lots of Nutrition Below in Simple Categories

Fresh Produce - Paradise Forgotten

The best part of a grocery store is filled with apples, oranges, peaches, berries of all types, pineapples, bananas, vegetables, and more. The juices are merely colorful delicious sugar water but not nutrition.

Note that cashiers are appalled that a septuagenarian is filling his cart first with fruit, especially apples, bananas, blueberries, and oranges. Fresh fruit makes up two out of three meals each day, which means an enormous amount of God's Medicine is being consumed. 

The pharmacy knows - most of their products are very expensive but seldom heal, and only treat symptoms. Cough syrup is a sweet potion that can make matters worse not better. Apples help - a lot. 

Enormous jars of powdered protein (milk) are sold in pharmacy, without doubting the long-term effects. Numerous over-the-counter meds and magic formulae make much more money to the store than fresh produce. 

Greens and the Incredible Creation Factory 

As far as I know, lettuce is worthless, except for decoration on a plate.

In contrast, leafy greens are ignored, shunned, and ridiculed. Whether fresh or frozen, leafy greens are the Mayo Clinic of genuine healing and strength.

Let's be frank, even when Frank is not frank anymore, but calls himself Franklin.  God has given us the miraculous system of turning delicious foods into effective medicines of all types.

Without asking, the body starts the use of foods by chewing, swallowing, and mixing in the stomach. Shamelessly, the body shifts the food into the small and large intestines. This slow process allows the bacteria and other helpers take apart food, to combine what is needed at the right point. Fiber and resistant starch slow down the action that turns food into healing and support for the body.

My blood results were horrible in 2022. Worst was blood sugar in the diabetic range, with cholesterol and blood pressure high. I was eating walnuts to reduce cholesterol, but I always enjoyed them on vanilla ice cream, sometimes taking second helpings. The doctor saw great results later, and his successor was equally astonished - 40 pounds of fat storage gone from a menu of greens, beans, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and some meat.

Dr. Joel Fuhrman's book convinced me about leafy greens and the enormous internal factory provided by all the foods I used to ignore in favor of fast-food joints, ice cream, candy, donuts, pizza, colas, and similar low nutrition foods. The medicinal value of  greens, beans, vegetables, and nuts is difficult to comprehend in variety and power. Best of all, eating valuable foods changes the craving to modest amounts of all those things generously given by the Creator for our benefit.

Lutheran Library - Alec Satin

 

Lutheran Library Publishing Ministry Weekly Updates May God bless you now and always. From your Lutheran Librarian, 📅 NEW PUBLICATIONS AND UPDATES Life's Golden Lamp: A Treasury of Texts from the Words of Christ by Robert Offord This daily devotional is made up of short messages based on Scriptural texts. Each has been written by a different minister of the Gospel. ‘May the Lord whose words are the vital portion of the book grant that as these are read from day to day… they may not return to him void!’ - from the Preface Level of Difficulty: Primer: No prior subject matter knowledge needed. Contents About the Lutheran Library Titlepage Preface These Sayings of ... Read more An Easy Guide to Scripture Animals by Vernon Morwood “An Easy Guide to Scripture Animals, being a description of all the animals mentioned in the Bible, with the Scripture References, numerous anecdotes, etc. For home use and for day and Sunday schools.” Level of Difficulty: Primer: No prior subject matter knowledge needed. Contents About the Lutheran Library Original Cover Titlepage Presented to Frontispiece Preface Contents Vocabulary Scripture ... Read more How I Found the True Faith by Samuel McGerald “The story of a remarkable conversion from Roman Catholicism, with additional chapters on subjects vital and fundamental.” Level of Difficulty: Primer: No prior subject matter knowledge needed. Contents About the Lutheran Library Titlepage What’s said about the book by Distinguished Men of Both Continents Autograph Frontispiece Epigraph Contents Foreword 1 My Early Years 2 Boyhood Experiences 3 Coming to America 4 A Turning Point in My Life 5 Reading the Sealed Book 6 The Word Winning Its ... Read more Reasons Why I Cannot Return to the Church of Rome by Samuel McGerald “In view of the persistent and unflagging efforts of my friends to win or force me back to the Roman faith, I am led to give the following reaosns why I cannot return to the church I broke away from sixty-five years ago…” -From the Foreword Level of Difficulty: Primer: No prior subject matter knowledge needed. Contents About the Lutheran Library Titlepage Frontispiece Contents Introduction Epigraph Foreword 1 The Glories of Mary 2 Rome an Apostate Church 3 The Roman Church Founded on ... Read more Handbook to the Controversy with Rome by Karl von Hase “This Handbook… has been fitly called indispensable for a knowledge of the Roman controversy, and a masterpiece of Protestant theology, both in form and contents, unrefuted and irrefutable.” - The Translator Level of Difficulty: Intermediate: Some prior subject matter knowledge helpful. Contents About the Lutheran Library Titlepage Contents of Volume 1 Note Analysis of the Argument Translator’s Preface Prefaces Book 1. The Church 1 Catholicism A Unity B Infallibility C The Sole Means of ... Read more The Doctrine of Justification by Matthias Loy “Human reason and inclination are always in their natural state averse to the doctrine of Justification by Faith. Hence it is no wonder that earth and hell combine in persistent efforts to banish it from the Church and from the world.” — Matthias Loy Level of Difficulty: Primer: No subject matter knowledge needed. The Great Doctrine of Christianity “This great doctrine of the sinner’s justification by faith in the Redeemer of the world, who lived and suffered and died to save our lost ... Read more 🚀 SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS Liked this week's issue? Don't forget to spread it out!

Daily Luther Sermon Quote - Advent 2 - "This sign is given in Matthew 24:29, to the effect that “the moon shall not give her light”; that is, it will lose its brightness. The same is to be said of this as of the signs in the sun, no matter how natural it may be. Is it not true that scarcely a year has passed of late in which sun or moon or both have been eclipsed, sometimes one of them twice a year? If these are not signs, then, what are signs? It may be that at other times more were seen than now, but surely not in more rapid succession. When Jerusalem was to be destroyed, some signs preceded which had occurred before, but they were still new tokens. “And in the stars,”

 

Second Sunday in Advent, Luke 21:25-36. Christ’s Second Coming: or the Signs of the Day of Judgment; and the Comfort Christians Have from Them

15. "This sign is given in Matthew 24:29, to the effect that “the moon shall not give her light”; that is, it will lose its brightness. The same is to be said of this as of the signs in the sun, no matter how natural it may be. Is it not true that scarcely a year has passed of late in which sun or moon or both have been eclipsed, sometimes one of them twice a year? If these are not signs, then, what are signs? It may be that at other times more were seen than now, but surely not in more rapid succession. When Jerusalem was to be destroyed, some signs preceded which had occurred before, but they were still new tokens. “And in the stars,”

16. According to Matthew 24:29, “the stars shall fall from heaven.”

This is seen almost daily. Whether it was seen as frequently in former days as now, I cannot say. Aristotle again talks about the nature of the thing; but the Gospel, which is the word and wisdom of God, pronounces the falling of the stars a sign and there let the matter rest. Wherefore if the stars fall or the sun and moon fail to give their light, be assured that these are signs of the last day; for the Gospel can not utter falsehood. While in these years there have been so many showers of stars, they are all harbingers of the last day, just as Christ says; for they must appear often in order that the great day may be abundantly pointed out and proclaimed. These signs appear and pass but no one considers them; so it shall be that they will wait for other signs just as the Jews are waiting for another Christ. “And upon the earth distress of nations, in perplexity.”

17. This is not to be understood that all nations and all people among these nations will so suffer; for you must note that these are to be signs. Stars do not fall from the heavens at all times; the sun does not lose its brightness for a whole year or a month, but for an hour or two; the moon does not refuse to give its light for a whole week or a whole night, but, like the sun, for an hour or two — that all these may be tokens without changing or perverting the order of things. Hence not many will suffer distress and anxiety, but only a few; and even with these it will be only at times that they be signs to those who despise the idea, and attribute all to the complexion or to the melancholy or to the influence of the planets or to any other natural cause. Meanwhile such clear harbingers of the day pass by unobserved, and there happens what Christ said of the Jews in Matthew 15:14, that though hearing and seeing they do not understand.

18. “Distress of nations in perplexity” does not refer to the body. For, as we have already heard, there will be peace and joy in abundance. People will eat and drink, build and plant, buy and sell, marry and be given in marriage, dance and play, and wrap themselves up in this present life as if they expected to abide here forever. I take it that it is the condition of agonized conscience. For since the Gospel, by which alone the troubled conscience can be comforted, is condemned, and in its stead there are set up doctrines of men, which teach us to lay aside sin and earn heaven by works; there must come a burdened and distressed conscience, a conscience that can find no rest, that would be pious, do good and be saved, that torments itself and yet does not know how to find satisfaction.

Sin and conscience oppress, and however much is done no rest is found.

By these the sinner becomes so distressed that he knows not what to do nor whither to flee. Hence arise so many vows and pilgrimages and worship of the saints and chapters for mass and vigils. Some castigate and torture themselves, some become monks, or that they may do more they become Carthusian monks.

These are all works of distressed and perplexed consciences, and are in reality the distress and perplexity of which Luke here speaks. He uses two words which suggest this meaning, a man gets into close quarters as though he were cast into a narrow snare or prison; he becomes anxious and does not know how he may extricate himself; he becomes bewildered and attempts this and that and yet finds no way of escape. Under such conditions he would be distressed and perplexed. In such a condition are these consciences; sin has taken them captive, they are in straits and are distressed. They want to escape but another grief overtakes them, they are perplexed for they know not where to begin — they try every expedient but find no help.