the religious, against whom no human being dares to testify; who endowed churches and schools; spent days in praying and singing; on whom one can hardly discover a speck, so cautious and careful were they-Away with these religious! I am displeased with their righteousness; away! into eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels !-Oh, dreadful, horrible! the hard rocks might well crumble into dust and ashes in dismay. Behold, how the whole atmosphere is full of nothing but howling and gnashing of teeth; and the arrows of wrath fly by thousands, enough to obscure the light of heaven. And there a man rushes boldly and rapidly through all the din; presents himself at the bar of the tribunal; lifts up his head, and cries aloud, so that the whole court rings with the sound: "Who-who is he that condemneth ?" Who is the presumptuous one? who, that is guilty of such perilous adventure? Ha! we know him: he has already given a universal challenge; and now he goes to the utmost extreme: he places himself in the light of those eyes which search heart and reins, that they may try to find something against him. Arise! who dares? who is he that condemneth,' he cries, and there is no condemner! The devils curse, the damned cry out at the injustice: from hell the voices cry, 'He was more ungodly than we.' But what do they effect? This ungodly one passes through in peace, and is condemned of none. II. Ha! what an excellent state is that, to know of ourselves that we are irreproachable and justified before God and the whole creation; and, in the face of heaven and earth, of God and man, of angels and devil, to cry out assured: "Who is he that condemneth?" and, behold, heaven and earth must be dumb!-But who is able to do so? Thou, perhaps-and thou? Now, then, make a trial and cry, "Who is he that condemneth?" Behold! instead of one, a thousand sentences of condemnation will rattle down upon thy head, and curses will overwhelm thee, as with a torrentuous shower. Thou art known, friend; thy hurt is manifest; thou dwellest among sleeping lions; wo to thee when they awake; they will devour and tear thee in pieces! These lions are thy conscience—the Law-and the accuser in hell-the inmates of thine house-and others, too many to name. Only wait until the hearing of the witnesses, and they will all condemn thee. Ha! the sins of thy youth alone would destroy thee, and though no one should condemn thee-we, who only know thee a little, are able to hurl thee down headlong, and by our testimony against thee to draw down the sentence of death upon thy head. Thou, therefore, be quiet, and rejoice that hell has not yet swallowed thee! Well, then, who dare say, with Paul, "Who is he that condemneth ?" Answer. None but he who can say, with Paul, "Christ is here."* This it is that qualifies. That is easily seen-is it not? But, hold; rejoice not too soon. All depends upon the little word "here," in what sense it is to be understood. You think, for example, that if one can only say "Christ is here "-in the head-that is enough. But if so, then, beloved brethren, all the devils might cry, "Who is he that condemneth?" for in this sense, they too can say "Christ is here." I tell you that that Christ, who dwells nowhere else, you may take to hell with you. 'What! take all those clear views, and all that lovely knowledge to hell? Yes, beloved brethren; innumerable is the crowd who with mere head-knowledge wander on to hell. But how is it, then, if Christ be here?' In the mouth, do you mean? Why, if that were sufficient, the case would not be so hard; we preachers should then have a peculiar advantage, and might dispense with repentance, regeneration, and all such bitter and hateful things; but the Christ that is here, and nowhere else, will not intercede for us in our time of need. When Paul says "Christ is here," he lays his * Instead of the words, "It is Christ who died," Luther has, "Christ is here who died;" thus inserting the word "here," for which there is no authority in the original. It is truly astonishing that Krummacher should build so much of his sermon upon a translation unwarranted by the Apostle's words. hand upon his heart. Can you do that too? If so, blessed are ye! "Who is he that condemneth?” only make a trial-the hand on the heart! Now, then, I ask you before God, what is beneath? Christ, or Belial, and the world? Here the two parties divide. They who cannot say, "I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me ;" they go to the left hand— they are cursed. The others shout with joy, "Who is he that condemneth ?" and may do so, for Christ is here! But now you are desirous to know how we can ascertain whether Christ is here or not? The answer is found in the words "a good tree brings forth its fruit in its season." Hear these words, Every fruit in its season. One must not puzzle one's-self, looking for all the fruits of the new man altogether, and at once: by so doing we unnecessarily destroy our peace. There are Christians who think, any hour that they set themselves down to seek for the signs of a state of grace in themselves, that they must find them, one and all—from number one on-together, and plainly marked. And because this is very seldom the case, they never attain to internal peace, and this is a misunderstanding. "Every fruit in its season;" this is the rule according to which you must search. For example, when you stumble, then is the season for the fruit of repentance; see, then, whether it is hanging on the tree. When the conscience rages, then is the season when the fruit of longing after the blood of the Sacrifice must show itself: be careful, then, that it appear. When a child of God is in want, then must the sweet grapes of love redden into ripeness. When you are cast amongst the children of this world, then a certain sense of discomfort, a feeling of not being at home, a longing after our native land, is the fruit which ought to be found; according to the saying, "In the world ye shall have tribulation," &c. He, then, who observes that the tree of his inner man sends forth such heavenly fruits, each in its season, let him not be uneasy that they are not all, always, to be found; but rejoice, and say, to the honour of Christ, "Christ is here." It is true, that Christ may often retire so far into the depths of the soul, that scarce a trace of his existence there can be perceived: but if he be there once, he is there for ever. regenerate person should again become a natural man, another regeneration by God's almighty power would be necessary; but to think such a thing possible would be nonsense. But never did Christian fall so far, as that a time should not come for the leafless tree again to put forth its fruit, and when one could not say, "Christ is here." storm often restores an apparently dead tree to all the lovely bloom of spring. And even should it last until death, in this state of decay and saplessness, when this general alarm is sounded, the old If a A |