Sermon 128
SERMO 128
OF THE WORDS OF THE GOSPEL OF JOHN (5, 31-35):
"If I bear witness concerning myself," etc.
CONCERNING THE WORDS OF THE APOSTLE (GAL 5, 14-17):
"Walk by the Spirit, and you will not fulfil the desires of the flesh."
"For the flesh desires," etc.
The testimony of Christ, even about himself, how true it is.
We have heard the words of the Holy Gospel: and this may move someone, what the Lord Jesus says: If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. How then is the witness of truth not true? Is he not the one who said: I am the way, and the truth, and the life? Who then should be believed, if truth is not to be believed? Surely, he does not wish to believe anything but falsehood, who does not choose to believe in the truth. Therefore, this was said according to them, so that you may understand it this way, and from these words derive this sense: If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true, that is, as you think. For he knew that his witness about himself was true; but on account of the weak, on account of the unbelievers, on account of those who do not understand, the sun was seeking lamps. For the frailness of their eyesight could not bear the brightness of the sun.
Why was the testimony of John sought?
Therefore, John was sought, who might bear witness to the truth; and you heard what he said: You came to John. He was a burning and shining lamp, and you wished to rejoice for a while in his light. This lamp was prepared for their confusion, because it was said long ago in the Psalms: I have prepared a lamp for my Christ. Why a lamp for the sun? I will clothe his enemies with confusion: but upon him my sanctification will flourish. Indeed, they are confounded in some place by John himself, when the Jews said to the Lord: By what authority do you do these things? Tell us. To whom he answered: Tell me also: Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men? They heard, and were silent. For they quickly thought among themselves: If we say: From men, the people will stone us; because they regard John as a prophet. If we say: From heaven, he will say to us: Why then did you not believe him? Because John bore witness to Christ. Confined in their hearts by their own questions, and entangled in their own snares, they answered: We do not know. What other voice could there be of darkness? It is indeed proper for a man, when he does not know, to say: I do not know. But when he knows, and says: I do not know, he is a witness against himself. Surely they knew John's excellence, and that his baptism was from heaven; but they did not want to yield to the one to whom John bore witness. But when they said: We do not know, Jesus responded to them: Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. And they were confounded, and it was fulfilled: I have prepared a lamp for my Christ; I will clothe his enemies with confusion.
In the martyrs Christ himself bears witness to himself.
Are not the martyrs witnesses of Christ and do they not bear testimony to the truth? But if we think more diligently, when those martyrs bear testimony, He Himself bears testimony to Himself. For He dwells in the martyrs, so that they may bear testimony to the truth. Hear one of the martyrs, the apostle Paul himself: Do you wish to receive proof of Christ, who speaks in me? Therefore, when John bears testimony, Christ bears testimony to Himself, who dwells in John. Let Peter bear testimony, let Paul bear testimony, let the other Apostles bear testimony, let Stephen bear testimony; He Himself bears testimony to Himself, who dwells in all. For He is God without them, what are they without Him?
Love from the Holy Spirit.
It is said of him: He ascended on high, he led captivity captive, he gave gifts to men. What does it mean: he led captivity captive? He conquered death. What does it mean: he led captivity captive? The devil orchestrated death, and the devil himself is captivated by the death of Christ. He ascended on high. What higher than heaven do we know? Clearly and in the sight of his disciples, he ascended into heaven. This we know, this we believe, this we confess. He gave gifts to men. What gifts? The Holy Spirit. What kind of gift does he give, who is like himself? For the mercy of God is great; he gives a gift equal to himself, since his gift is the Holy Spirit, and the whole Trinity is one God: the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. What has the Holy Spirit bestowed upon us? Listen to the Apostle: The love of God, he says, has been poured into our hearts. Whence to you, O beggar, is the love of God poured into your heart? How, or in whom, is the love of God poured into the human heart? We have, he says, this treasure in earthen vessels. Why in earthen vessels? So that the excellence of power may be of God. Finally, when he said: The love of God has been poured into our hearts, lest anyone think that what he loves God with is from himself, he immediately added: through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Therefore, so that you may love God, may God dwell in you, and love himself through you; that is, may he move you to his love, kindle you, enlighten you, and stir you up.
Struggle of the soul and flesh. The soul must be subjected to God, the flesh to the soul.
For there is a struggle in this body: as long as we live, we fight; as long as we fight, we are in danger; but in all these things we conquer, through Him who loved us. You have heard of our struggle, as the Apostle was just read: "The whole Law is fulfilled in one statement, in this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself." This love is from the Holy Spirit. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. First, see if you already know how to love yourself; and I commend to you your neighbor, whom you should love as yourself. But if you do not yet know how to love yourself; I fear that you might deceive your neighbor as yourself. For if you love iniquity, you do not love yourself. The Psalm bears witness: "But whoever loves iniquity, hates his own soul." But if you hate your soul, what good is it that you love your flesh? If you hate your soul, and love your flesh, your flesh will rise; but so that your soul may be tormented. Therefore the soul must first be loved, which must be subjected to God, so that this service keeps its order: the soul to God, the flesh to the soul. Do you want your flesh to serve your soul? Let your soul serve God. You must be ruled, in order to be able to rule. For this struggle is so dangerous, that if the ruler abandons it, a fall will follow.
The Apostle on the struggle between flesh and spirit.
What struggle? But if you bite and devour each other, beware lest you be consumed by one another. But I say, walk by the Spirit. I speak the words of the Apostle, which were just read from his Epistle: But I say, walk by the Spirit and do not fulfill the desires of the flesh. But I say, walk by the Spirit, and the desires of the flesh; he did not say: Do not have them; nor did he say: Do not do them; but: do not fulfill them. What this means, assisted by the Lord, I will say as I can; be present, that you may understand, if you walk by the Spirit. But I say, walk by the Spirit, and do not fulfill the desires of the flesh. Let it follow: lest by any chance something, so that what is obscure here, can be more easily understood in his following words. For I said, it was not in vain that the Apostle avoided saying: Do not have the desires of the flesh; nor even wished to say: Do not do the desires of the flesh; but said: Do not fulfill the desires of the flesh. He proposed to us the very struggle. We are engaged in this conflict if we serve God. What then follows? For the flesh desires against the spirit, but the spirit against the flesh. For thesea n q f If this is not understood, it is most dangerously heard. Therefore, being anxious that people should not perish through misunderstanding, I have undertaken to explain these words of the Apostle, with the Lord helping, to your Charity. We have free time, we began in the morning, the hour of lunch does not press; on this day, that is the Sabbath, those who hunger for the Word of God are especially accustomed to gather. Listen and attend; I will speak as carefully as I can.
The apostle poorly understood. It is the duty of the shepherd to explain the difficult passages of Scripture.
What then is this that I said: It is dangerously heard if it is not understood? Many, overcome by carnal and damnable desires, commit various crimes and scandals, and wallow in such wicked impurities, which are shameful even to speak of; and they say to themselves these words of the Apostle. See what the Apostle said: So that you do not do the things that you want. I do not want to do it, I am forced, compelled, conquered, I do the things I do not want, just as the Apostle says: Because the flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, so that you do not do the things that you want. You see how dangerously it is heard if it is not understood. You see how it pertains to the duty of the shepherd, to open covered springs and to provide pure, harmless water to the thirsty sheep.
The inner battle must be waged in such a way that the spirit is not conquered by the flesh.
Therefore, do not be overcome when you fight. See what kind of war he proposed, what kind of battle, what kind of strife, within, within yourself. The flesh lusts against the spirit. If the spirit does not lust against the flesh, commit adultery. But if the spirit lusts against the flesh, I see a struggle, I do not see a victor, it is a fight. The flesh lusts against the spirit: adultery delights. I confess that it delights. But the spirit lusts against the flesh: chastity also delights. Therefore, let the spirit conquer the flesh: or at least not be conquered by the flesh. Adultery seeks darkness, chastity desires light. Live as you wish to be known; just as you wish to be known by men, live even beyond the eyes of men; because he who made you, also sees you in darkness. Why is chastity praised publicly by men? Why do they not praise adultery, not even adulterers? Therefore, he who seeks the truth comes to the light.
But adultery is pleasing. Let it be opposed, resisted, combated. For you indeed have the means by which to fight. Your God is within you, a good Spirit has been given to you. And yet the flesh itself is allowed to desire against the spirit, with perverse suggestions and genuine delights. Let what the Apostle says be done: Let not sin reign in your mortal body. He did not say: Let it not be. It is already there. Because it is called sin, it has happened by the merit of sin. For in paradise the flesh did not desire against the spirit, and there was no such struggle where there was only peace; but transgression having been committed, after man did not want to serve God, and was given over to himself; neither thus given over to himself that he could at least possess himself; but possessed by him who deceived him; the flesh began to desire against the spirit. And this too desires against the spirit in good people: for in wicked people it has no one against whom to desire. For there it desires against the spirit, where the spirit is.
To fight against the concupiscences of the flesh is the task of the Holy Spirit in us. He acts well who is led by the Spirit of God.
For what he says, "The flesh desires against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh," do not think it only refers to the human spirit. It is the Spirit of God who fights within you against yourself, against that which is within you opposing you. For you did not wish to remain with the Lord; you fell, you were broken; like a vessel when it falls from a man's hand to the ground, you were broken. And because you are broken, therefore you are against yourself, therefore you are opposed to yourself. Let there be nothing within you that is against you, and you will stand whole.
For you to know that this duty pertains to the Holy Spirit, the Apostle says in another place: For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the flesh, you will live. In these words already man would exalt himself, as if by his own spirit he could put to death the deeds of the flesh. If you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the flesh, you will live. Explain to us, Apostle, by which spirit. For man too has a spirit pertaining to his own nature, by which he is man. For man consists of body and spirit. And it is said of the spirit of man itself: No one knows what is in man, except the spirit of man which is in him. Therefore I see that man himself has his own spirit pertaining to his nature, and I hear you saying: But if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the flesh, you will live. I ask by which spirit: mine, or God’s? For I hear your words, and am still moved by uncertainty. For when spirit is mentioned, it sometimes refers to the human spirit, and sometimes the spirit of a beast is spoken of; as it is written, during the flood, all flesh died, which had in it the breath of life. And thus the spirit of a beast is spoken of, and the spirit of man is spoken of. Sometimes even the wind is called the spirit; as it is held in the Psalm: Fire, hail, snow, ice, violent winds. Therefore, since the spirit is mentioned in many ways, by which spirit did you, Apostle, say the deeds of the flesh must be put to death? mine, or God’s? Hear what follows, and understand. The question is resolved by the following words. For when he had said: But if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the flesh, you will live; he immediately added: For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. You act, if you are led; and you act well, if you are led by what is good. Therefore, what he said to you: But if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the flesh, you will live; and it was ambiguous to you which spirit he meant, understand it by the following words, recognize the Redeemer. For indeed the Redeemer gave you the Spirit, by which you put to death the deeds of the flesh. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. They are not sons of God, if they are not led by the Spirit of God. But if they are led by the Spirit of God, they fight; because they have a great helper. For God does not watch us fighting thus, as people watch hunters. People can favor the hunter, but cannot help him in danger.
Saints here do not do what they want, how.
Thus it is here also: The flesh desires against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. And what does it mean: So that you do not do what you want? Here indeed is the danger of a poor understanding. Let it now be the duty of any kind of expositor. So that you do not do what you want. Pay attention, you saints who fight. I speak to those who are battling. Those who battle understand: he who does not battle does not understand me. For he who battles, I do not say understands me, but anticipates me. What does a chaste man want? That no desire at all arises in his members against chastity. He wants peace, but he does not yet have it. For when it comes to that point where no desire arises at all against chastity, there will be no enemy with whom we struggle; nor is victory awaited there, because we triumph over an already vanquished enemy. Listen to this victory, as the Apostle himself says: This corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. When this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality; then the saying that is written will come true: Death is swallowed up in victory. Listen to the voices of the triumphant: Where, O death, is your contempt? Where, O death, is your sting? You struck, you wounded, you cast down; but for me was wounded He who made me. O death, O death! He who made me was wounded for me, and with His death He conquered you. And then the triumphant will say: Where, O death, is your contempt? Where, O death, is your sting?
A man wishes not to have desires, yet he does not do what he wishes.
But now, when the flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, it is a contempt of death: for what we would, that we do not. Why? Because we would have no desires, but we cannot. Whether we will or not, we have them; whether we will or not, they tingle, they allure, they stimulate, they infest, they want to rise. They are suppressed, not yet extinguished; as long as the flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. Does this happen even when a man has died? Far from it. You put off the flesh, how do you drag along with you the desires of the flesh? But if you have fought well, you are received into rest. From which rest you are to be crowned, not condemned; so that afterwards you are brought to the kingdom. Therefore, as long as we live here, brothers, it is so; so even we who have grown old in this warfare, indeed have lesser enemies: but nevertheless we have them. Our enemies are somewhat fatigued now even through age; but nevertheless, though fatigued, they do not cease to infest the quiet of old age with whatever movements. The battle of the young is fiercer: we know it, we have gone through it. Therefore the flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh; so that you do not do what you would. For what do you wish, oh saints, oh good warriors, oh brave soldiers of Christ? What do you wish? That there may be no evil desires at all. But you cannot. Wage war, hope for triumph. For now, in the meantime, the fight is on. The flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh; so that you do not do what you would; that is, that there should be no desires of the flesh at all.
We must fight so that sin does not reign. Our weapons. Power given to us.
But do what you can; as the Apostle himself says in another place, which I had already begun to mention: Let not sin reign in your mortal body, to obey its desires. Look at what I do not want; evil desires arise, but do not obey. Arm yourself, take up the instruments of war. The commandments of God are your weapons. If you listen to me well, and arm yourself from what I say. He says, Let not sin reign in your mortal body. For as long as you carry the mortal body, sin fights against you; but let it not reign. What does it mean: Let it not reign? That is, unto obeying its desires. If you begin to obey, it reigns. And what is to obey, except to present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin? There is no teacher clearer than this. What do you now want me to explain to you? Do what you have heard. Do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin. God has given you the power through His Spirit to control your members. Lust arises, you hold your members; what will it do since it has arisen? You hold your members: do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin; do not arm your adversary against you. Hold your feet, so they do not go to illicit things. Lust has arisen, you hold your members; hold your hands from all crime; hold your eyes, that they may not look wrongly; hold your ears, that they may not gladly hear words of lust; hold your whole body, hold your sides, hold the top, hold the bottom. What does lust do? It knows how to rise, it does not know how to conquer. By rising constantly without cause, it learns not to rise.
What it is to hear and to fulfill desires.
Let us return therefore to the words which I had proposed as obscure from the Apostle, and now we shall see them to be plain. For this is what I proposed: the Apostle did not say, "Walk by the Spirit, and do not have the desires of the flesh;" for it is necessary that we have them. Why then did he not say: "Do not act on the desires of the flesh?" Because we do them; for we desire. Desire itself is to act. But the Apostle said: "It is no longer I who do it, but sin which dwells in me." Therefore, what must you beware of? This, without doubt: do not complete it. Damnable desire has arisen, it has arisen, it has suggested: let it not be heard. It burns, it does not restrain itself, and you would wish that it did not burn. And where is it: "That you may not do the things you wish?" Do not give your members. Let it burn without cause, and it consumes itself. Therefore, these desires happen in you. It must be admitted, they happen. Thus he said: "Do not complete them." But let them not be completed. You have resolved to act, you have completed. You have indeed completed, if you decide that adultery must be done, and therefore do not do it because a place is not found, because the opportunity is not given, because perhaps she who you seem to be moved by is chaste; behold, she is chaste, and you are an adulterer. Why? Because you have completed the desires. What does it mean: you have completed? In your mind, you have decided that adultery must be done. Already, heaven forbid, if even the members have worked, you have been cast down into death.
In the three dead raised by Christ, three degrees of sinners.
Christ raised a dead girl in the house, the daughter of the synagogue ruler. She was in the house, she had not yet been carried out. Such is a man who has resolved in his heart to commit a sin; he is dead, but he lies within. If, however, he has reached the stage of carrying out the act with his limbs, he is carried out. But the Lord also raised the young son of a widow when he was being carried out dead beyond the city's gate. Therefore, I dare to say something: If you have decided in your heart and you retract yourself from your act, you will be healed before you consummate it. For if you repent in your heart because you had resolved an evil, wicked, and condemnable sin; where you lay dead within, there within you have risen. But if you have completed it, you have already been carried outside, but you have someone who says to you: "Young man, I say to you, arise!" Even if you have committed it, let it bring you to repentance, return from it promptly; do not come to the grave. But here too I have a third dead person, who is also brought to the grave. He now has the weight of habit upon him, the earthly mass presses him greatly. For he has been much practiced in sins, burdened heavily by his excessive habit. Christ also cries out: "Lazarus, come forth!" For a man of the worst habit now stinks. Rightly did Christ cry out there; and not only did He cry out, but He cried out with a loud voice. For at Christ's cry, even such as these, though dead, though buried, though stinking, will still rise, and they themselves too will rise; they will rise. For none lying down should be despaired of under such a resurrector. Turned to the Lord...