Daily Luther Sermon Quote - Trinity 8 - "But You Will Find, That They Are Very Friendly Among Themselves And Call Each Other Brethren; But This Is Nothing But Poison And the Devil Within Them."

 

"In the first place you will certainly not find any true fruits of faith or works of love among them. But you will find, that they are very friendly among themselves and call each other brethren; but this is nothing but poison and the devil within them. For whatever does not belong to their faction they have no mercy, no patience or friendliness; but if they could, they would destroy them body and soul in an hour or a moment."

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25. Therefore learn well to be on your guard, and thoroughly examine all doctrines, whether they rightly teach and apply this chief and fundamental doctrine, that is, whether they preach Christ correctly and purely. For you will certainly find among all factions and sects, that they always either omit this article entirely, or bring something with it to which they lead the people as though that were particularly necessary to salvation. Thus our fanatics and image-breakers also at first drew the crowd with them by the pretense that nothing was more necessary than to break images. Whoever breaks an image or destroys a table does a good work, and proves that he is a Christian Soon the people as a mass rushed in crowds and all wanted to be Christians; just as though the Jews, Gentiles and Turks and the worst rogues could not do the same thing.

26. Such fanatics do not shake our confidence in works, but rather strengthen it and rest in them. Where there are true teachers their preaching agrees with faith. If it be in the proportion of faith, then Christ will not be neglected or divided, but will remain entire in his knowledge as he is. And although the devil pretends to preach Christ through his apostles, do not believe him, for he would entrap you with his cunning and deceive you. Indeed this is warning enough, but it is in vain for those who will not hear. Yet it assists those who are to be changed for the better.

Now follow the third test and way to know the spirits, which reads thus: “By their fruits ye shall know them.”

27. All our outward behavior and works are fruits. But in order to learn to know thoroughly the truly good works, one must have spiritual eyes. St. Paul mentions such works to the Galatians 5:22: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control.” These are the true fruits of the Spirit. But the works of the flesh are: “fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousies, wraths, factions, divisions, parties, envyings, drunkenness, revelings and such like.” Galatians 2:19-21.

28. When you carefully distinguish the works of the flesh from the works of the Spirit, you will not find in all the works of the false prophets a single spark of the Spirit. In the first place you will certainly not find any true fruits of faith or works of love among them. But you will find, that they are very friendly among themselves and call each other brethren; but this is nothing but poison and the devil within them. For whatever does not belong to their faction they have no mercy, no patience or friendliness; but if they could, they would destroy them body and soul in an hour or a moment. Flesh and blood do not see the fruits, hence in the meantime they of course wear their gray frocks, are a quiet order and observe the same customs and principles.

29. These are not works of love. On the contrary, works of love are those we do in behalf of the suffering and toward our enemies, also in showing mercy to sinners, in instructing and teaching the ignorant, and in serving the poor with our own body, goods and honor, as Christ relates in Matthew 25:25f. You will not find these works in any false prophet. He may indeed conduct himself like a Christian in his extraordinary behavior, like the bare-footed friars and Carthusians; but what benefit is that to me?

Likewise, what benefit is it to a neighbor that others destroy monasteries and pictures. This is only a show and appears as if it were something, but there is no benefit in it whatever. Love, however, requires works that are beneficial to your fellow men.

30. Again, you will further note how proud and impudent these spirits are, who only desire to be honored and worshipped; and are full of greed and know nothing of mercy. They not only refuse to give to anyone and to help the poor; but they also rejoice and are pleased to see that their neighbors do not prosper. If a person be found in disgrace they will not help with their own honor to rescue him from his disgrace; but plunge him still deeper into it and publish it abroad, sing a song about him and laugh at him in their glee. And when one falls into sin, their hearts have no sympathy for him; but they harden their hearts and are only tickled over their neighbor’s downfall and adorn themselves by it. And what more shall we say? These are rude, bitter hearts, full of poison, which have only a black, baneful tongue, and can hew everyone to pieces upon the slaughter block. They must turn men into demons, leave no one uncensored, judge, condemn and despise everyone, and regard everyone’s disgrace with scorn. Christ therefore says of them: “Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but the corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit,” etc.

31. Here note, he says: “By their fruits ye shall know them.” He does not say: By their fruits they become good or evil. For when was there ever a pear tree made out of a pear; or a cherry tree out of a cherry? However, it is natural, that the tree bears the fruit, an apple tree bears apples, and so on. The tree of course is known by its fruits, but it is not made by its fruits.

Like Abraham when he offered his son Isaac was already God’s worshiper.

And yet God said to him, Genesis 22:12: “For now I know that thou fearest God.” He does not say: Now you have become godfearing. On the contrary, by your work it becomes known and public, that you fear God.

32. Hence these are two different things; to be or become something, and that something be known or be made public. There are many things that are known to God alone; but when he makes them manifest, they become known also to men. And Christ says, the fruits serve to the end, that by them men may know the tree whether it be good or evil, as Abraham was known by his works that he feared God, and was good and righteous.

Consequently, before the fruit becomes manifest it must grow out of the tree, that it may also thus become known what kind of a tree it is.

However, to make a thing known is quite different from the existence of the thing itself. Consequently, the work I do, does not serve to the end that I may become good and just before God, but it only makes known and manifests the treasure and the heart, in which it is concealed. For this treasure hidden in the heart, God does not desire to leave neglected, but to make it known.