Sermon 16: 1 Samuel 4:1-4

so that we may be fully persuaded that his truth will never fail to be set before us. Therefore, since he teaches us the way by which we may come to him, let us believe his words. For this reason God is said to appear, and indeed in the word—not at all as though some external vision were added, or he himself were to descend in visible form to address us, but because he makes himself visible in the word. Therefore let us hold that no excuse can be brought forward by us if we have not believed the ministers raised up by God who teach us the truth, and have not steadfastly adhered to their doctrine. Here no pretext of ignorance avails; no excuse, however plausible, will be admitted—because we have willingly darkened our own eyes and heard with deaf ears. For the majesty of God is sufficiently manifest in his word. Finally, there is no room for the evasion of the many who complain about the variety and uncertainty of opinions: for the truth reveals itself, and makes its despisers guilty before the Lord, so that no room is left for excuse before the Lord, who will severely punish the despisers of his word.

Now then, brothers, come, etc.

And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. 1. And it came to pass in those days that the Philistines gathered for battle. For Israel went out to meet the Philistines in battle, and encamped beside the stone of help. 2. Moreover the Philistines came to Aphek, and drew up their battle line against Israel. And when the battle was joined, Israel turned its back to the Philistines; and there were slain in that battle throughout the fields about four thousand men. 3. And the people returned to the camp; and the elders of Israel said: Why has the Lord struck us today before the Philistines? Let us bring to us from Shiloh the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and let it come into our midst, that it may save us from the hand of our enemies. 4. So the people sent to Shiloh, and they brought from there the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts who sits upon the Cherubim; and the two sons of Eli were with the ark of the covenant of the Lord, Hophni and Phinehas.

In yesterday's sermon we heard that, when mention is made here of the word of Samuel, it does not follow that there was a special command given by him to the Israelites about mustering an army against the Philistines; but rather that the fulfillment of predictions against the whole people is indicated—not only against the family of Eli, which felt the effect of what Samuel had predicted—so that he might be proved faithful to the Lord and a true prophet. This indeed became especially evident to the whole people in that disaster of which we shall speak next. As for the cause of the war stirred up against the Philistines—whether the Israelites attacked the Philistines or the latter attacked the Israelites—is uncertain. But this is certain: that the Philistines contended against the Israelites with perpetual hatred, and harassed them with continual wars, and often treated them most cruelly and tyrannically. And so it is uncertain whether the Israelites went out to meet them voluntarily; although it is not likely that the Philistines were provoked to war by the Israelites, since the latter seem to have been most eager to cultivate peace. But it was necessary for those who were going to repel the violence brought by the enemy to encamp at Eben-ezer to block the roads. Moreover, it appears from what follows that this was not yet the name of that place, and therefore it is used by prolepsis. For later we shall see that Samuel was the author of this name, and had given it as a memorial and monument of the singular help that God had brought to the people in their most desperate situation. But this is the custom of Scripture: when it is about to designate a certain place, it names it from the event that took place there.

Next, the Philistines are said to have been superior in battle, and the Israelites were put to flight by them, of whom about four thousand men fell. See how God began to fulfill what he had predicted—namely, that he would punish the sins of both the priests and the people. Moreover, the sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, did not take part in this battle, although their office required it. For it was provided by the law of God that the priests should be present with the silver trumpets that were in the sanctuary when the people went out to war against their enemies, so that with the trumpets brought from the sanctuary the war would appear to be waged under God's own auspices, as the Lord's own war, as it were. Nor should it be thought that the trumpets had such power in themselves as to bring terror to the enemy; rather, God used such instruments to restrain his people, lest they wage war rashly and without God's permission, or contrary to his will. And so the people could truly testify by the witness of their conscience that the war was not stirred up by them, and that they were by no means eager or guilty of shedding blood, but rather that God, exacting punishments from the enemies for their tyranny and violent deeds, was the author of it. Moreover, beyond the fact that the people was taught not to undertake any war rashly, there was also a special promise of God that when the trumpets sounded, victory would belong to the people, because it was heavenly and spiritual, and everything was conducted under his direction and authority and auspices. Therefore the trumpets had to be in the camp with the priests, as Moses specifically commands, both to teach the people what was lawful and what was forbidden, and to make them certain of victory, provided that each of these things was administered by God's command and in fear of him. But Hophni and Phinehas kept themselves at home while the Israelites were fighting in battle against the enemies. In this matter they sinned grievously against God and his law. Therefore, when the Israelites are said to have been routed and slain, who would marvel, since not only the priests but also the Israelites were guilty of this insult against God, rushing into war like brute animals rather than as the people of God? For although the battle line was most expertly drawn up according to military discipline, nevertheless God had to be given his due dignity and the supreme rank in the army. But when this is consigned to oblivion, does he not come into contempt? And therefore the punishments for such great contempt are rightly exacted from them, and their impiety is chastised—because, setting aside divine aid, they attributed so much to their own strength that they rushed to arms like profane people.

Next, the elders are said to have complained why God had struck them before the enemy. This was a kind of murmuring, for, as we said before, the contempt for the divine majesty was very great in this people. Those complaints, then, were those of impious men who have profited little or nothing from the word of God, and who at the slightest afflictions vomit forth blasphemous words against God and gnash their teeth, as it were, against his majesty. Therefore these words of theirs can be explained as though they were complaining about God for not keeping his promises and not protecting those received under his guardianship against their enemies. Thus hypocrites want God bound to them, and although a hundred thousand times covenant-breakers, they still want God to keep his promises. But, I ask, what excuse for breaking the covenant will they bring when God calls them into judgment and complains of their treachery? Yet so great is the force of arrogance in hypocrites that they cannot bear to be chastised by God, but meanwhile, while they want to be considered sacrosanct and inviolable, they permit themselves every license against God. Finally, they also seem to have recognized that they were forsaken by God, and that his goodness was far from them; and therefore they begin to acknowledge that this divine chastisement was being sent upon them by him because of contempt for him, because they had stripped him of the honor due to him. Thus such people are accustomed to answer back to God and never willingly submit themselves to him unless they are driven to modesty and true humility by great force. Therefore, whatever the outcome may be, they conclude that the ark must be brought into the camp, a testimony of God's presence. A good plan indeed, if their mind had been right; but they fixate on the external symbol, as if some virtue resided in it, which they ought to have sought in the reality itself. For they seemed to think they held God shut up and captive with this ark together with the law, and that therefore, once it was brought into the camp, they would obtain from him that he would exert his power against the enemy. But the wretches were trampling his law underfoot, turning his worship upside down, polluting his sanctuary with crimes, fornications, and gluttony; in short, impiety reigned everywhere.

Therefore, when they flee to God, is it not openly evident that he is treated as a laughingstock by them? For they do not follow the right way of obtaining divine help. And so they want the ark brought to the camp, at whose arrival they exult, and testify their joy with frequent shouts, so that heaven is filled with clamors on every side and the earth resounds with the voices of Israelites promising themselves victory. Meanwhile, the Philistines are terrified at first, and recall to memory the devastated regions and the most powerful nations routed and slaughtered by the hand and power of God at the Israelites' arrival in those lands; and so they despair of victory. But that fear was not long-lasting, for gradually recovering their courage, they steel themselves for battle, and attempt to face whatever outcome, and deliberate to join battle even against God himself, as though in desperation.

And these things must be considered by us at present; we shall defer the slaughter and disaster of the Israelites until tomorrow. In the first place, worthy of notice are those words: And the word of Samuel came to all Israel, by which we are admonished that whenever God has afflicted us by sending plagues, we must have recourse to his threats which are contained in the law, because by nature we are too dull to examine our sins, to condemn them, and too slow to repent. And so the word of God must be consulted and joined to those plagues, from which we may learn that God rightly punishes us, so that we may think seriously about repentance and returning to a better mind. For sacred Scripture not only teaches that afflictions are testimonies of divine vengeance and curse, but leads us to the very source from which we may learn the cause of that divine wrath against sinners. Therefore, if we desire the punishments sent upon us to be fruitful, let us know that we must flee to the sacred Scriptures, in which we may contemplate ourselves as in a mirror and weigh the sins by which we have provoked the divine wrath against us according to the standard of his law. For otherwise it is certain to happen that, thinking everything occurs by chance, God will accomplish nothing in chastising us—just as we see the Lord complaining in the prophet Isaiah that he had struck the people in vain, because they had become hardened to the blows. Moreover, when the Israelites are here said to have complained about their disaster and to have asked each other why the Lord had struck them before the Philistines, we are taught that mortals never rise up to God unless they are drawn forth by some greater force. For, by way of example, in prosperous times the Israelites never thought seriously about God, nor allowed themselves to be governed by his commands. For just as a drunkard, with his mind buried in wine through intemperance, does not think about tomorrow, does not distinguish good from evil, nor food from drink, so men in prosperous times are accustomed to become intoxicated, casting away all care and reverence for God. and cast away his favor and benevolence, counting them of no value. But truly, if they have apprehended him as judge, then—no differently than a drunkard awakened from wine with fear and more vehemently disturbed—these despisers of God are struck with the greatest terror when God stretches out his avenging hand for the crimes committed by them, and they begin to think about God and to inquire into the causes of the evils and punishments they are suffering.

Moreover, the Israelites are specifically said to have acknowledged that they were being punished by God. For they would have made little progress if, terrified only by their misfortunes, they had merely complained that they had suffered a great disaster. But when they freely confess that they were delivered by God into the hands of the enemy, then they recognize themselves as guilty according to the teaching of the Mosaic law. For so Moses himself addresses the people in his song: How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight? Is it not because their God sold them, and the Lord shut them up? Therefore the Israelites come very close to this doctrine when they acknowledge that they were delivered into the hands of the Philistines and recognize God as judge. And this indeed is the beginning of repentance: to feel one's own misery and to recognize the divine wrath stirred up against oneself. But it is only the smallest part of repentance. For how many who feel God opposing them do you see murmuring against him and gnashing their teeth, as it were? But those who recognize him as judge, and indeed as just, must then acknowledge their own sin and pass sentence upon themselves, diligently examining their former life so as to hate their inborn vice and abominate their iniquities; and on the other hand, retain their love for God, so that they may draw nearer to him and, having obtained pardon, be reconciled. What follows is also worthy of notice: namely, that the Israelites, feeling the avenging hand of God, knew that they could not resist their enemies unless aided by divine help, and therefore sought divine assistance. But there is no mention among them of serious conversion to God; and therefore, that they desire to reconcile God to themselves and have him as their champion is not from the heart but done perfunctorily and with pretense. For faith cannot be separated from repentance; therefore, whoever confesses that his salvation depends on God alone and implores his help must necessarily be touched by a serious recognition of sins, so that, overcome with shame and affected by the sense of sins, he may acknowledge that the justice of God presses upon all sinners until they have learned to be displeased with themselves. Since, therefore, there is no conversion of the Israelites to God, no repentance, it is evident that their faith was nonexistent, and therefore that their plan was vain and empty when they deliberated about bringing the ark of the covenant into the camp.

From this let us learn that it is not enough for those who feel God's avenging hand merely to think that we are rightly chastised by the Lord, whatever plague strikes us, but we must also be truly touched by the desire to return to him and come to a better way of life. Nor must he be sought with pretense or perfunctorily, but sincerely and from the heart, so that, renouncing ourselves, we may desire to be stripped of all our corruption and turn away from the vices by which we have been torn from him—firmly persuaded that his help will never be lacking to us when we return to a better way of life, and that he will never allow our hope to be vain and futile. But what a great stupor, I beseech you to consider, had seized the Israelites, who desired the ark of the Lord for their help! I am well aware that the ark served the Israelite people as a most certain pledge, by which they were made certain of God's presence and favor, and of present help whenever he was invoked. But that God had to be invoked with faith and repentance is beyond dispute. But such great stupor had seized the Israelites that they thought only of the visible and external sign, and supposed God was so bound to them by that external appearance that he was necessarily obliged to keep faith even with a covenant-breaking people. Notice the gross superstition joined with hypocrisy, when they think that the virtue and grace of God cannot be separated and torn away from external signs by their own crimes. Certainly it is true and immovable that God is unchangeable, and that when he instituted that sacrament for the Israelite people, he commanded that ark of the covenant to be a testimony of his presence and majesty, and revealed himself in it. But who would therefore subject God to the will of that people, so that he depends on their nod, when they implore help from the sign alone, not from God himself? For it was from their own treachery that this divorce of truth from figure originated, and therefore they render themselves unworthy of the fruit they expected from it. This is a doctrine necessary for these times, because men are by nature inclined to this vice: to adhere more to external and earthly things than to divine things—that is, relying on external things, they think God will never fail them but will be perpetually propitious.

Therefore Isaiah of old vehemently rebuked the Israelite people because they seemed to want to keep God shut up and captive in his temple. Thus he censured their stupor combined with foolish and vain religion, and the excessively rash arrogance to which they were too much inclined, when he says: Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool—in a few words expressing the incomprehensible majesty of God, by which we should be deterred from every vain imagination of him. For since God is incorporeal, he has no need of a seat; but by such words he is signified to fill all things with his majesty. Therefore he adds to the foregoing: What is this house that you will build for me? Since my immense and incomprehensible power is contained neither by the heavens nor the earth. Have not all these things been made by my hand? By these words he strongly teaches that the Jews are greatly deceived if, under the pretext of the temple, they persuade themselves that God will be a near helper to them, and that because they worship him with many sacrifices they have him bound. With this agrees the prophet Jeremiah, rebuking the Jews thus: Do not trust in lying words, saying: The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord. Has this house, in which my name has been invoked before your eyes, been made a den of robbers? Go now, and be covered by those things. Moreover, this vice was not peculiar to one age, place, or region, but belonged to all ages, places, and persons—inasmuch as it is by nature implanted in all. For, I ask, with how many continually new forms of worship and idolatrous practices do men strive to win God over to themselves, and obstinately persist in them? Meanwhile they indulge their vices and strive to soothe and appease God with empty things—namely, with outward gestures and signs that strike the eyes—because they do not contemplate in their minds that God is a spirit, and therefore his worship must also be spiritual, as John says: God is a spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. Let the papist superstition and idol-mania serve as an example. For what the Jews felt about that visible ark, the papists today attribute the same to their idols. And indeed, alas, the papist idolatrous practices are far worse, and joined with greater superstition, than the rites and ceremonies of the Jews of old. For God had commanded his law to be enclosed in that ark, which was therefore called the ark of the covenant. Indeed there was also added a divine promise concerning those who would pray at it being heard. But the papists cannot show even a syllable in all of Scripture by which their worship is approved—and specifically that notable blasphemy by which they proclaim and defend with great clamors that the presence of God is contained in a morsel of bread, indeed that God is made from that bread. I acknowledge that they defend themselves with the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, but which they adulterate and corrupt. But come, let us pass over that gross error about the presence of God enclosed in bread. What is their view in general about the sacraments, or visible signs? For they say that God's grace is so contained in external signs that it cannot be separated and torn away from them, unless a mortal sin has brought an impediment. Do they not by this reasoning bind God to themselves and tie him to external rites, and become guilty of the ancient superstition? Let no one say they do not bind God, because they acknowledge he is the author and dispenser of his grace. But if we ask whether he dispenses it through sacraments as instruments—is that not binding God to external rites and subjecting him to obedience to human justice?

Therefore, since for many centuries men have been swollen with vain arrogance and superstition, and today this vice has grown far worse, let us learn to give visible and external signs their legitimate use—namely, that guided by them we may come to our Lord Jesus Christ, and led by Christ to God the Father. For by these steps we ought to be led to the truth. Otherwise the sacraments are transformed into idols, which is what the papists do; and therefore Christ becomes cheap and of no account, and so God is worshiped by them in such a way that they seek themselves, not God. Who now does not see how blasphemous is that doctrine by which the sacraments are regarded as something other than instruments through which God works in us by the Holy Spirit—as if there were some nature inherent in the signs themselves and an innate power of working in us? As if, for example, the water in baptism washed away our filth and iniquities, and therefore the blood of Christ were useless. Therefore we see that the papists, first, are ignorant that Jesus Christ is the true matter and substance of the sacrament, and that he works in us through the Holy Spirit, and that all praise ought to be attributed to him. For God offers us his grace in them. Second, they do not acknowledge that the sacraments are useless to all the reprobate. For the grace of God, acquired for us by the blood of Christ, can also be poured out upon stones—but they are not therefore watered to fertility. Therefore we ought, fleeing that vice of the papists, to approach the Lord with open mouths, and first of all to acknowledge that God accommodates himself to our dullness through the sacraments and, as it were, descends to us. For if by faith we could penetrate even to the heavens and, having attained angelic perfection, could apprehend the grace of God, the sacraments would be useless and would be more of a hindrance than a help. Therefore, when he extends his hand to us through the sacraments, he does not want us to stop at them as at a boundary, but to rise through them to himself; and since we cannot do this, he himself descends to us. Therefore, since we acknowledge the sacraments as aids given to us by which we may be led to our Lord Jesus Christ, let us embrace him by true faith, and whatever good things we have, let us ascribe to him alone, who offers them to us through his sacraments. And let us know that the water of baptism, being an earthly element, cannot wash away the stains of the soul. Since therefore water cannot renew us into a new and holy life, let us hold that it is the blood of Christ that accomplishes this: and that by his death and resurrection we are made partakers of this renewal of life, so that we may consecrate ourselves wholly to the justice of God. See how we ought to be led through the sacraments to Jesus Christ our Lord—otherwise they would be not only useless but even an obstacle and hindrance to our reaching Christ, or by which we might be torn away from him. Moreover, when we have come to Christ, we ought to be led by him to the Father, and so united to this fountain of life that we may know by experience that God has signified nothing in these signs that he will not ultimately fulfill in reality. If these things happen to us, then those signs will be most certain testimonies of divine goodness toward us, and we shall experience and perceive his power, so that by them, as by steps, we may be raised up to be joined to God himself.

Thus often in sacred Scripture, and especially in the Psalms, God is said to sit among the Cherubim, who are also elsewhere said to have covered the ark with their wings. And those Cherubim represented angels, but placed above the cover of the ark, they looked at each other with wings spread out, to declare that God was there present with his power. For angels are the ministers of God, for procuring our salvation and distributing God's benefits to us, as the whole of Scripture proclaims. God, therefore, by these words commends the power of his promises, so as to teach that he did not establish this order among his people in vain—but in such a way, however, that they would not be carried into the superstition of the pagans, who had invented many superstitious ways of evoking the divine presence. For it was always the concern of all peoples to draw the gods to their side, to use them as defenders and protectors; but they then evoked the divine presence by many ridiculous inventions. But in the divine law God is said to be carried upon the Cherubim, so that the Israelites might be made certain of the divine presence and sure answer to prayer, if they prayed at the ark of the covenant, in which the Lord promised his presence—provided they did not abuse this external sign, but rose by faith to God himself, using the visible and external signs as instruments for confirming their faith. Thus, to commend more highly the grace of God offered to us in baptism, baptism is called the washing of regeneration, so that we may be firmly persuaded that our regeneration is accomplished in baptism—but through our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the word of life and the true substance and fulfillment of this sign. And therefore let us not think we are deceived when it is promised in the sacraments that God will be our father and savior, because by this sign of water he testifies that he wishes to purge us from all sins innate in us by nature. Indeed, by these modes of speaking we are, as it were, raised up into heaven itself, so that we may become members of his body and be united to his substance, from which we may draw eternal life.

But unbelievers have always corrupted God's design with false and imaginary interpretations, which is made clear to us from this passage. For the Israelites [unclear: garbled text about the Cherubim and the ark's history]. The seat of God among the Cherubim is said to have departed, and an empty and profane place to have been left behind—namely, because the Jews had profaned it with their pollutions, so that no traces of true religion remained. Therefore, when they promise themselves that God, sitting among the Cherubim, will be their helper, they are far deceived in their opinion, because they have driven him far away by their crimes and have retained only the external and visible signs, of which they did not even yet know the legitimate use, from where it happened that God, being rightly indignant, withdrew from them. They, content with the external presence of that ark, in the manner of hypocrites do not rise up to God while clinging to earthly things—and from them today's hypocrites, retaining a brutish opinion about the sacraments and their external rites, do not differ much. Therefore, the grosser the ignorance and stupor of men in this regard, the more the mind must be raised to higher things, and we must consider that God does not thereby yield his place and authority to the sacraments because he uses them for our salvation, and consulting the weakness of our faith, wishes them to be for us like ladders by which we may ascend even to him, since we otherwise lack the wings by which we might reach him. And on this matter, enough for now.

It follows that they commanded the ark to be brought into the camp and rejoiced greatly at its presence, as though they were certain of present victory. Truly, if they had desired to enjoy the presence of the ark of the covenant out of true repentance, it would have gone well with them. But since they are held fast by the lethargy of their sins and fixate only on external signs, their joy is empty. For the true joy of the faithful rests on true faith alone, of which it is the fruit. But they lack all faith; they do not recognize in vain that they cannot rejoice without the Lord, or rather, contrary to his will. And if they rejoice in any way, the wretches do not notice that their joy will be brief and will at last end in a curse. For who does not know what the Lord himself openly declared: Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep—threatening, namely, that because they had not found rest in God, their laughter would be turned into gnashing of teeth. But if in their joy they had diligently sought God, that desire for the ark was indeed a testimony of weakness, but one which God would easily have pardoned. On the contrary, David, though a fugitive, did not want the ark moved from its place, thus testifying to his faith. For even though he had a command from the Lord about not moving it, he knew well that although he was bodily separated from the ark of the covenant, he would never be deprived of God's help and aid, and he hoped that he would be restored to the church and would worship God in it. Nor should it be thought on that account that David was a despiser of that external sign, for he well knew the purpose for which it had been given to the people by the Lord. For well known are his complaints, well known his lamentations on account of his absence from the tabernacle: My soul thirsts for God, for the living God (saying): When shall I enter and appear before the face of God? And David laments vehemently that, far from the sight of the Lord's tabernacle and the company of godly men, he wanders as an exile, and cannot join his prayers with theirs. Therefore it is evident that the sacraments which God had instituted were not neglected by him; nor, on the other hand, were they worshiped superstitiously, so that he might place his trust in them in the manner of hypocrites. On the contrary, we see that the Israelites did not think about God, but placed all their trust and hope in the presence of the ark, as though God would never fail them while it was present, but would bring certain victory—even though they had fallen away from him and had so often provoked his wrath against themselves by their crimes.

From this we must learn that our joy in God can never be excessive, nor our confidence empty; but great care must be taken lest we cover arrogance with the name of confidence. Far be it from us, then, that stupor which belongs to drunkards, who substitute their own inventions for that true joy through the Holy Spirit in which the kingdom of God consists—as Paul beautifully admonishes, that the faithful should carefully beware lest they substitute arrogance for faith. For the faithful are nourished and sustained by that faith which rests on God's promises, not rashly imagining anything for themselves, but firmly conceiving and grasping in their minds the life promised to them, so that this is their sole foundation and sole salvation. This indeed cannot happen without their looking wholly to God and acknowledging him as Father. But where does this knowledge flow from, if not from the sense of free adoption? But who can consider God's love toward us and his fatherly affection attentively enough, except one who has thoroughly known his own misery, and to whom the divine will has been revealed? Faith alone, therefore, purges all immoderate affections in us; and first it accomplishes this: that we are not ungrateful toward God—but in such a way that we need the Spirit of God, who works in us and daily confirms us. Therefore in Acts 15, God is said to have purified the hearts of the faithful by faith. And so, to embrace the whole matter briefly: where there is no faith, there is also no purity, no rectitude, but on the contrary the utmost anxiety and distress. But by faith we draw nearest to God, inasmuch as he communicates himself to us through his word. This is far removed from the arrogance with which most people swell and boast. For what else does faith teach but modesty and humility? And who is a more fitting teacher of modesty and humility than the word of God, from which we learn that whatever good things come to men flow from God? See by what steps we ascend to God himself. But by arrogance we are carried above the clouds, not having been first cast down, as should have happened. Therefore let us flee foolish arrogance as a most deadly plague, and place all our trust in God alone and his promises. If we have embraced them purely and sincerely from the heart, let us not fear the accusation of arrogance, as though we had exceeded the bounds of modesty—which the papists today charge against us. Why? Because we believe God's promises and, having been made certain of them, glory in them. But we glory by faith, certain of divine help against the frauds and assaults of Satan, since we are immersed in the very blood of Jesus Christ. The papists cannot have this confidence, who have never tasted the divine goodness. But our faith, firmly grounded on the certain word of God, will never waver though shaken by any storms. But what can you do with those wretches who are ignorant that God must be prayed to with a certain confidence of being heard, and who accuse this confidence of arrogance? Truly, as I said, they deserve it, because they have no taste of God's goodness and love, which is offered to us by his word. Therefore, whatever people may imagine and promise themselves, all their dreams will be futile, since God alone is true and faithful, but every man is vain and false. Therefore let us trust in God alone and enjoy true joy, because we have attained that peace of which Paul speaks in Romans 5 in these words: Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; and with all confidence we can call upon him. Moreover, that peace brings us true joy through the Holy Spirit, as we have taught above from the same Paul. Let us look upon the punishment of the Israelites, which we shall treat next, which is set before our eyes as a mirror, so that from it we may learn that all who abuse the grace of God are ultimately found to have nourished empty hopes. Why? Because they adhered only to their own imaginations and vain speculations.

And thus far indeed concerning that matter. But as for what is said about Hophni and Phinehas, the Israelites should have been stirred to remove from themselves the stumbling blocks and pollutions by which they had been polluted up to now, and by which God's worship had been corrupted—namely, Hophni and Phinehas. For according to the law, the priesthood was owed to them; but since they were notorious for foul fornications, and had turned the sanctuary of the Lord into an abominable brothel, and indeed under the pretext of religion had violated women coming to the sanctuary to worship, and had filled everything with their gluttony, drinking bouts, robberies, and sacrileges—in short, since they were fornicators, gluttons, blasphemers, and infamous for every crime—how were they tolerated? How do they convey the ark of the Lord into the camp and profess the present power of God? From this, then, let us learn, as we have shown above, that so far from the external shadows of ceremonies without their substance being useful to us, they rather draw a greater condemnation upon our heads. And surely the condition before God would be far better for the profane people and despisers of the divine majesty who never professed the law of God, than to be cast out from the church of God. Nor indeed does baptism help them, behind which they shield themselves as behind a great buckler, since it is the figure and token of the blood of Christ shed for us and of his resurrection. For they obliterate their own baptism when they knowingly and willingly provoke God and renounce their baptism. Indeed, it is as though they were deliberately conspiring against the power of God and spitting upon the death and resurrection of Christ, polluting the blood of Jesus Christ with their pollutions and crimes. And so it will happen that baptism itself will bring a dreadful vengeance upon all despisers of the most holy divine majesty and upon all hypocrites. Let the same judgment apply to the Lord's Supper, against which, as against a reef, wicked and criminal men dash themselves, when they allow themselves a free rein for every crime, being blasphemous and contemptuous toward God. Do not those who receive the signs that our Lord Jesus Christ gave his disciples so that they might partake of his body and blood, and yet rush into every crime—do they not do the same as if they were trampling Christ himself underfoot? Although Christ is too high to be trampled by their feet, yet they are guilty of dreadful blasphemy. Therefore let us impress more deeply upon our minds that, so far from visible signs bringing any benefit or comfort to despisers of the divine word and to criminal men, they rather draw a heavier condemnation upon their heads—because, having abused them as a veil for their crimes, they have fallen into a sacrilege never to be forgiven. Therefore all the greater caution must be exercised by us when it concerns baptism, the Supper, prayers, and all other rites instituted by the Lord in the church, lest we fall into hypocrisy; but, looking upon them as exercises of faith and true religion, let us cultivate piety diligently and without pretense, aiming at this one and true goal, and let us not stop at those external and earthly things, and let us fully recognize that the figures alone, without their true body and substance, are empty and void. And therefore let us lift our senses and heart to Christ alone, from whom alone we should expect and entirely depend upon for our felicity.

We can be fully assured that His truth will never fail to be set before us. Since He teaches us the way to come to Him, let us believe His words. This is why God is said to appear — and indeed, in the Word — not because some external vision is added, or because He descends visibly to speak to us, but because He makes Himself visible through the Word. We have no excuse if we have refused to believe the ministers God raised up to teach us the truth, or failed to hold firmly to their doctrine. No claim of ignorance holds up here; no excuse, however reasonable it may seem, will be accepted — because we have willingly blinded ourselves and listened with deaf ears. The majesty of God is sufficiently clear in His Word. And there is no room for those who complain about the variety and uncertainty of opinions — for the truth reveals itself and makes its despisers guilty before the Lord, leaving no excuse for those who will face His severe judgment.

Now then, brothers, come, etc.

And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. 1. In those days the Philistines gathered for battle. Israel went out to meet them and camped beside the stone of help. 2. The Philistines came to Aphek and drew up their battle line against Israel. When the battle began, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, and about four thousand men fell in the fields. 3. The people returned to the camp, and the elders of Israel said: Why has the Lord struck us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord from Shiloh so that it may come into our midst and save us from the hand of our enemies. 4. So the people sent to Shiloh and brought from there the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, who sits enthroned above the cherubim; and Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of the Lord.

In yesterday's sermon we established that the mention of Samuel's word does not mean he gave the Israelites a specific command to muster an army against the Philistines. Rather, it refers to the fulfillment of predictions against the whole people — not only against Eli's family, which experienced what Samuel had foretold — proving that Samuel was faithful to the Lord and a true prophet. This became especially clear to the entire people in the disaster we are about to discuss. As for who started the war with the Philistines — whether the Israelites attacked them first or the Philistines attacked Israel — that is uncertain. What is certain is that the Philistines harbored a constant hatred for the Israelites, harassing them with ongoing wars and often treating them with great cruelty. It is unlikely that the Israelites provoked the Philistines, since they appear to have been eager for peace. But those who needed to repel the enemy's advance had to take a position at Eben-ezer to block the roads. It should be noted that this was not yet the name of that place at the time — it is used here as a forward reference. We will see later that Samuel gave it this name as a memorial and monument to the remarkable help God brought to the people in their most desperate hour. It is Scripture's custom to name a place after the event that occurred there.

The Philistines proved superior in battle, put the Israelites to flight, and killed about four thousand men. Here we see God beginning to fulfill what He had predicted — that He would punish the sins of both the priests and the people. Notably, Hophni and Phinehas, the sons of Eli, did not take part in this battle, even though their office required it. God's law required the priests to be present with the silver trumpets from the sanctuary when the people went to war, so that the war would visibly proceed under God's direction — as the Lord's own war. The trumpets had no power in themselves to terrify the enemy; rather, God used them as instruments to restrain His people, so they would not rush into war rashly or without His permission. By this means, the people could honestly testify that they had not stirred up the war themselves, that they were not eager for bloodshed, and that God — exacting justice on their enemies for their tyranny and violence — was the true author of the conflict. Beyond instructing the people not to wage war rashly, God also gave a special promise: when the trumpets sounded, victory would belong to the people, because the campaign was conducted under His direction and authority. The trumpets therefore had to be in the camp with the priests — both to teach the people what was permitted and what was forbidden, and to assure them of victory, so long as everything was done by God's command and in reverence for Him. But Hophni and Phinehas stayed home while the Israelites fought their enemies. In this they sinned gravely against God and His law. Is it any wonder the Israelites were routed and killed, when not only the priests but the people themselves had insulted God by rushing into war like brute animals rather than as God's people? They had drawn up their battle line with great military skill — but God had to be given His rightful place and supreme rank in the army. When that is forgotten, does He not come into contempt? The punishment for such deep contempt was therefore just — their impiety was chastised, because they had set aside divine aid and trusted in their own strength, going to war like people without God.

The elders are said to have complained that God had struck them before their enemies. This was a kind of murmuring — as we said before, contempt for God's majesty ran deep in this people. Their complaints were the words of impious people who had gained little or nothing from the Word of God, and who at the first hint of hardship spewed out blasphemous words against God and gnashed their teeth against His majesty. Their words amounted to a complaint that God had failed to keep His promises and protect those under His care from their enemies. Hypocrites want God bound to them — though they have broken the covenant a hundred times over, they still demand that God keep His promises. But what excuse will they give when God calls them into judgment and charges them with their own treachery? The arrogance of hypocrites is so great that they cannot bear to be disciplined by God, yet they allow themselves every license against Him while expecting to be treated as untouchable. Eventually, it seems they did acknowledge that they had been abandoned by God, that His goodness was far from them — and they began to recognize that this divine discipline had come upon them because they had stripped God of the honor due to Him. Such people always answer back to God and never willingly submit to Him unless they are forced into humility by great pressure. So they concluded that the ark — the sign of God's presence — must be brought into the camp. It would have been a good plan, if their hearts had been right; but they fixed on the outward symbol as though some power resided in it, when they should have sought that power in the reality it represented. They seemed to think they could keep God captive in the ark along with the law, and that once it was brought to camp, they could make Him exercise His power against the enemy. Yet these same people were trampling His law underfoot, overturning His worship, and polluting His sanctuary with crime, fornication, and greed — impiety was everywhere.

When they flee to God in this way, is it not obvious that they are treating Him as a laughingstock? They are not pursuing the right path to receive God's help. They have the ark brought to the camp, and when it arrives they erupt in cheers, filling the air with shouts, the whole people proclaiming their confidence in victory. Meanwhile, the Philistines are initially terrified and recall how powerful nations had been routed and destroyed by God's hand when Israel entered the land — and they despair of victory. But that fear did not last long; gradually they recovered their courage, steeled themselves for battle, and resolved to fight regardless of the outcome — even, in a kind of desperation, to take on God Himself.

We will consider these things now and defer the Israelite slaughter and disaster until tomorrow. First, notice the phrase: And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. This reminds us that whenever God afflicts us with plagues, we must turn to His warnings contained in the law — because by nature we are too slow to examine our sins, condemn them, and repent. The Word of God must therefore be brought alongside those afflictions, so that we may understand that God is rightly punishing us, and so be moved to seriously consider repentance. Scripture does more than tell us that afflictions are signs of divine judgment — it leads us to the very source from which we can learn the cause of God's wrath against sinners. If we want the punishments sent upon us to bear fruit, we must turn to the Scriptures, where we can see ourselves as in a mirror and measure our sins — the sins that provoked God's wrath — against the standard of His law. Without this, we will assume everything happens by chance, and God will accomplish nothing through His discipline — just as we see the Lord complaining in Isaiah that He had struck the people in vain, because they had grown hardened to the blows. Further, when the Israelites are shown here complaining about their defeat and asking each other why the Lord had struck them before the Philistines, we are taught that people never turn to God unless driven by some overwhelming force. In times of prosperity, the Israelites never seriously thought about God or allowed themselves to be governed by His commands. A drunkard whose mind is buried in wine does not think about tomorrow, cannot distinguish good from evil or food from drink — and in the same way, people in prosperous times tend to become intoxicated with their blessings, throwing aside all reverence for God and dismissing His favor as worthless. But when they sense God as their judge — like a drunkard jolted awake in sudden fear — these despisers of God are struck with terror when His avenging hand moves against their crimes, and they begin to think about Him and to search for the cause of the evils and punishments they are suffering.

Notice that the Israelites specifically acknowledged they were being punished by God. Simply being terrified by the disaster and complaining about their great loss would have accomplished little. But when they freely confess that God had delivered them into their enemy's hands, they are recognizing their guilt — just as the Mosaic law teaches. Moses himself says in his song: How could one man chase a thousand, or two put ten thousand to flight — unless their God had sold them, and the Lord had given them up? The Israelites come close to this teaching when they acknowledge that God delivered them into the Philistines' hands and recognize Him as their judge. This is indeed the beginning of repentance: to feel your own misery and to recognize that God's wrath has been stirred up against you. But it is only the smallest part of repentance. How many people who sense God opposing them simply murmur against Him and gnash their teeth? Those who truly recognize Him as judge — and as a just judge — must go further: they must acknowledge their own sin, pass sentence on themselves, honestly examine their past life, and come to hate their inborn corruption and abhor their offenses. At the same time, they must hold onto their love for God, so that they may draw near to Him, receive pardon, and be reconciled. Also worth noting is what follows: the Israelites, feeling the avenging hand of God, knew they could not resist their enemies without His help — and so they sought it. But there is no mention of any serious turning back to God among them, so their desire to win God over and have Him fight for them was not from the heart — it was hollow and performed for show. Faith cannot be separated from repentance; therefore, whoever confesses that salvation depends on God alone and calls on His help must also be genuinely moved by the recognition of sin — overcome with shame, feeling the weight of their offenses, and acknowledging that God's justice presses upon all sinners until they learn to be displeased with themselves. Since the Israelites showed no real conversion, no repentance, it is clear their faith was empty — and their plan to bring the ark into the camp was therefore vain and useless.

From this, learn that it is not enough to simply acknowledge that God is rightly disciplining us when trouble comes — we must also be genuinely moved to return to Him and commit to a better way of life. This must not be done for show or halfheartedly, but sincerely and from the heart — so that, denying ourselves, we desire to be stripped of all corruption and turn away from the vices that have drawn us away from Him. We must be firmly persuaded that His help will never fail us when we return to Him, and that He will never let our hope be empty and useless. Consider what great spiritual blindness had seized the Israelites — they wanted the ark of the Lord for their protection. I grant that the ark served Israel as a sure pledge by which they were assured of God's presence and favor, and of His help whenever He was called upon. But it is beyond dispute that God had to be called upon with faith and repentance. Yet such blindness had seized the Israelites that they thought only about the visible and outward sign, supposing God was so bound to them by that outward symbol that He was obligated to keep faith even with a covenant-breaking people. Notice the gross superstition mixed with hypocrisy — they assumed that no amount of sin on their part could separate the grace of God from the outward sign. It is certainly true that God is unchangeable, and that when He established that sacrament for Israel, He appointed the ark of the covenant to be a sign of His presence and majesty and revealed Himself through it. But who would therefore make God subject to that people's will, as though He were at their command — when they are calling on the sign rather than on God Himself? It was their own treachery that caused this divorce of reality from symbol, and in doing so they made themselves unworthy of the blessing they expected to receive. This teaching is necessary for our own day, because people are by nature prone to this same fault — clinging to outward and earthly things rather than to God Himself, and assuming that as long as they have the external forms, God will never fail them and will always be favorable.

Isaiah long ago sharply rebuked the Israelites for seeming to want to keep God shut up and confined in His temple. He exposed their spiritual blindness, their foolish and empty religion, and their reckless arrogance when he declared: Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool — words that express in brief God's incomprehensible majesty, and should shatter every vain imagination we form of Him. Since God has no body, He needs no seat — but these words signify that He fills all things with His majesty. He then adds: What kind of house could you build for Me? My immense and incomprehensible power is contained neither by the heavens nor the earth. Have not all these things been made by My hand? By these words He strongly rebukes the Jews for thinking that, because of the temple, God was bound to help them, and that their many sacrifices put Him in their debt. Jeremiah agrees, warning the Jews: Do not trust in lying words, saying: The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord. Has this house, where My name has been invoked, become a den of robbers? Go now — trust in those things and see what it gets you. This error was not unique to one age, place, or people — it belongs to every age and every person, because it is planted in human nature itself. With how many new forms of worship and idolatrous practices do people try to win God over, and persist in them stubbornly? All the while they indulge their vices and try to soothe God with empty things — outward gestures and visual displays — because they do not grasp that God is a spirit, and therefore His worship must also be spiritual, as John says: God is a spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. Papist superstition and idol-worship illustrate this perfectly. What the Jews believed about the visible ark, the papists today attribute to their idols. And indeed, the idolatrous practices of the papists are far worse than the rites and ceremonies of the ancient Jews, and are combined with far greater superstition. God had commanded His law to be placed in the ark — which is why it was called the ark of the covenant — and He added a divine promise that prayers offered there would be heard. But the papists cannot produce even a single word in all of Scripture that approves their worship — and certainly not that notorious blasphemy in which they loudly declare and defend that God's presence is enclosed in a piece of bread, that God is in fact made from that bread. I know they defend this with the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, but they twist and corrupt those words. But set aside even that gross error about God's presence being enclosed in bread. What is their general view about sacraments and visible signs? They claim that God's grace is so contained in outward signs that it cannot be separated from them unless a mortal sin creates an obstacle. Does this not bind God to themselves and tie Him to external rites — falling into the very same ancient superstition? Do not let anyone say they are not binding God merely because they acknowledge He is the author and distributor of His grace. If the claim is that He distributes grace through sacraments as instruments — is that not binding God to outward rites and making Him subject to the rules of human religious practice?

Since people have swelled with vain arrogance and superstition for many centuries — and this vice has grown far worse in our day — let us learn to give visible and outward signs their proper use: to guide us to our Lord Jesus Christ, and through Christ to God the Father. These are the steps by which we ought to be led to the truth. Otherwise the sacraments become idols — which is exactly what the papists make of them — and Christ becomes cheap and worthless, so that God is worshiped in a way that seeks self rather than God. Who cannot see the blasphemy in teaching that the sacraments are more than instruments through which God works in us by the Holy Spirit — as if power resided in the signs themselves, an innate ability to work within us? As if, for example, the water of baptism washed away our filth and sin on its own — making the blood of Christ unnecessary. We see that the papists, first, fail to understand that Jesus Christ is the true content and substance of the sacrament, that He works in us through the Holy Spirit, and that all praise belongs to Him alone — for it is through the sacraments that God offers us His grace. Second, they do not acknowledge that the sacraments are useless to all the reprobate. God's grace, won for us by the blood of Christ, could be poured out on stones — but stones are not thereby watered to fruitfulness. We must therefore flee this error and come to the Lord with open hearts, acknowledging first that God, through the sacraments, condescends to our weakness and, as it were, comes down to our level. If by faith we could already penetrate to heaven and, having attained something like angelic perfection, grasp God's grace directly, the sacraments would be unnecessary — more a hindrance than a help. When He reaches out to us through the sacraments, He does not want us to stop there as at a boundary, but to rise through them to Himself — and since we cannot do this on our own, He comes down to us. Since we acknowledge the sacraments as aids given to lead us to our Lord Jesus Christ, let us embrace Him by true faith and ascribe every good thing to Him alone, who offers those things to us through His sacraments. Let us understand that the water of baptism, being an earthly element, cannot wash away the stains of the soul. Since water cannot renew us into a new and holy life, it is the blood of Christ that does this — and through His death and resurrection we are made partakers of this renewed life, so that we consecrate ourselves entirely to God's righteousness. This is how we ought to be led through the sacraments to Jesus Christ our Lord — otherwise they would be not only useless but an obstacle that prevents us from reaching Christ, or even tears us away from Him. And having come to Christ, we ought to be led by Him to the Father, united with this fountain of life, knowing by experience that God has promised nothing in these signs that He will not ultimately fulfill in reality. When this happens, those signs become the surest testimonies of God's goodness toward us — we will experience and perceive His power, and through them, as through steps, we will be raised up to be joined to God Himself.

In Scripture, and especially in the Psalms, God is often said to sit enthroned among the cherubim, who elsewhere are said to have covered the ark with their wings. Those cherubim represented angels; placed above the cover of the ark, they faced each other with wings spread wide, declaring that God was present there in His power. For angels are God's ministers, sent to secure our salvation and distribute His blessings to us, as all of Scripture proclaims. God, through these words, affirms the power of His promises — to teach that He did not establish this order among His people in vain. But He did so in a way that would not lead them into the superstition of the pagans, who invented many ridiculous methods to summon the presence of the gods. All peoples have always wanted to draw the gods to their side as protectors and defenders, and they devised many foolish schemes to summon divine presence. But in God's law, He is said to be enthroned above the cherubim so that the Israelites could be certain of His presence and confident that their prayers would be answered when they prayed at the ark of the covenant, where the Lord had promised to dwell — provided they did not abuse that outward sign, but rose by faith to God Himself, using the visible signs as instruments to strengthen their faith. In the same way, to commend the grace offered to us in baptism, baptism is called the washing of regeneration — so that we may be firmly persuaded that our regeneration is accomplished in baptism, but through our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Word of life and the true substance and fulfillment of this sign. Let us not think we are deceived when the sacraments promise that God will be our Father and Savior — for through the sign of water He testifies that He intends to cleanse us from all the sins that are innate to us by nature. Through these forms of speaking we are, as it were, lifted into heaven itself, so that we may become members of His body and be united with His substance, from which we draw eternal life.

Unbelievers have always corrupted God's design with false and imaginary interpretations, and this passage makes that plain. The Israelites claimed God's presence among the cherubim, but God's throne among the cherubim was said to have departed, leaving an empty and profane place behind — because the Jews had defiled it with their corruption, leaving no trace of true religion. So when they promised themselves that God, enthroned among the cherubim, would be their helper, they were badly mistaken — they had driven Him far away by their crimes and retained only the outward and visible signs, not even understanding what those signs were for. That is why God, rightly indignant, withdrew from them. Content with the outward presence of the ark, they stayed clinging to earthly things in the manner of hypocrites, never rising to God Himself — and today's hypocrites, who hold a crude view of the sacraments and their outward rites, are not much different. The deeper people's ignorance and blindness on this matter, the more the mind must be lifted to higher things. We must understand that God does not surrender His place and authority to the sacraments just because He uses them for our salvation — rather, taking account of our weak faith, He intends them to be ladders by which we may climb up to Him, since we otherwise have no wings to reach Him. That is enough on this point for now.

The people then commanded the ark to be brought into the camp and rejoiced greatly at its arrival, as though victory were certain. If they had sought the ark out of genuine repentance, things would have gone well for them. But since they were held fast in the sleep of their sins and fixed only on the outward sign, their joy was empty. True joy for the faithful rests on true faith alone — it is faith's fruit. They lacked all faith, yet did not realize in vain that they could not rejoice without the Lord — or rather, that they could not rejoice against His will. If they rejoiced anyway, the wretches failed to see that their joy would be short-lived and would end at last in a curse. For who does not know what the Lord Himself openly declared: Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep — warning that because they had not found their rest in God, their laughter would be turned into gnashing of teeth. But if in their joy they had sincerely sought God, then that desire for the ark would have been a sign of weakness — but one God would have readily forgiven. By contrast, David, though a fugitive, did not want the ark moved from its place — and in that, he showed his faith. Even though he had a command from the Lord about not moving it, he understood that even when physically separated from the ark of the covenant, he would never be cut off from God's help and support, and he trusted that he would be restored to the church and worship God within it. This does not mean David disregarded the outward sign — he knew well the purpose for which the Lord had given it to the people. His complaints and laments over being separated from the tabernacle are well known: My soul thirsts for God, for the living God — when shall I enter and appear before the face of God? David lamented bitterly that he wandered as an exile, far from the Lord's tabernacle and the fellowship of godly people, unable to join his prayers with theirs. It is clear, then, that David did not neglect the sacraments God had instituted; nor, on the other hand, did he worship them superstitiously or place his trust in them as hypocrites do. The Israelites, by contrast, gave no thought to God — they placed all their confidence and hope in the physical presence of the ark, as though God could never fail them as long as it was there and would guarantee victory, even though they had abandoned Him and repeatedly provoked His wrath by their crimes.

From this we learn that our joy in God can never be too great, nor our confidence empty — but we must be very careful not to disguise arrogance as confidence. Let us be nothing like the spiritual stupor of drunkards, who substitute their own inventions for the true joy through the Holy Spirit — the joy in which the kingdom of God consists, as Paul beautifully warns. The faithful are nourished and sustained by faith that rests on God's promises — not rashly imagining things for themselves, but firmly grasping in their minds the life promised to them, making this their sole foundation and sole salvation. This cannot happen without looking wholly to God and acknowledging Him as Father. And where does that knowledge come from, if not from the sense of our free adoption as His children? But who can truly consider God's love for us and His fatherly affection unless they have thoroughly known their own misery and had the divine will revealed to them? Faith alone purges all disordered desires within us — and it accomplishes this first: that we are not ungrateful toward God. But for this we need the Spirit of God, who works in us and strengthens us day by day. As Acts 15 says, God purified the hearts of the faithful by faith. To sum it up: where there is no faith, there is no purity, no uprightness — only the deepest anxiety and distress. But by faith we draw near to God, inasmuch as He communicates Himself to us through His Word. This is far removed from the arrogance with which most people swell and boast. For what else does faith teach but humility and modesty? And who is a more fitting teacher of humility than the Word of God, from which we learn that every good thing that comes to people flows from God? That is the path by which we ascend to God Himself. But by arrogance we are carried above the clouds without first being brought low, as we should have been. Let us therefore flee foolish arrogance as a deadly plague, and place all our trust in God alone and in His promises. If we have embraced those promises sincerely and from the heart, we need not fear being accused of arrogance — as the papists charge against us today. Why? Because we believe God's promises and, having been made certain of them, glory in them. We glory by faith, certain of God's help against the schemes and attacks of Satan, since we are covered by the very blood of Jesus Christ. The papists cannot have this confidence — they have never tasted divine goodness. But our faith, firmly grounded on the sure Word of God, will never waver, no matter what storms beat against it. What can you do with those wretches who do not know that God must be called upon with a confident expectation of being heard, and who call this confidence arrogance? As I said, they deserve it — because they have no taste of God's goodness and love, which is offered to us in His Word. Whatever people may imagine and promise themselves, all their dreams will come to nothing — for God alone is true and faithful, but every person is vain and false. Let us therefore trust in God alone and enjoy true joy — for we have attained the peace Paul describes in Romans 5: Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; and with full confidence we can call upon Him. That peace brings us true joy through the Holy Spirit, as we have taught above from the same Paul. The punishment of the Israelites, which we will treat next, is set before our eyes as a mirror — so that we may learn from it that all who abuse God's grace ultimately find they have nourished empty hopes. Why? Because they clung only to their own imaginations and vain ideas.

That is enough on the previous point. As for what is said about Hophni and Phinehas — the Israelites should have been moved to remove the stumbling blocks and pollutions that had corrupted God's worship, namely Hophni and Phinehas themselves. By law, the priesthood belonged to them. But they were notorious for vile sexual immorality. They had turned the Lord's sanctuary into an abominable brothel and, under cover of religion, had violated women who came to the sanctuary to worship. They had filled everything with their gluttony, drunkenness, robbery, and sacrilege. In short, they were fornicators, gluttons, blasphemers, and notorious for every kind of sin. How could they have been tolerated? How could they carry the ark of the Lord into the camp and claim the power of God's presence? From this let us learn, as we showed above, that outward religious forms without their substance not only fail to help us — they bring heavier condemnation down on our heads. The condition before God of a thoroughly ungodly people who have openly despised His majesty and never professed His law would actually be better than to be cast out from the church of God. Baptism does not help those who hide behind it like a great shield, since baptism is the sign and pledge of Christ's blood shed for us and of His resurrection. Those who knowingly and willingly provoke God and renounce their baptism by their lives — they erase their own baptism. It is as though they were deliberately conspiring against the power of God, spitting on the death and resurrection of Christ, and polluting the blood of Jesus Christ with their crimes. And so baptism itself will bring a fearful vengeance on all who despise God's most holy majesty and on all hypocrites. The same judgment applies to the Lord's Supper — against which wicked and criminal people crash like a ship against a reef, giving themselves free rein for every sin, being blasphemous and contemptuous toward God. Those who receive the signs our Lord Jesus Christ gave His disciples so that they might share in His body and blood — and then rush into every kind of sin — are they not doing the same as if they were trampling Christ Himself underfoot? Though Christ is far too exalted to be trampled by their feet, they are still guilty of dreadful blasphemy. Let us therefore press this more deeply into our minds: outward signs bring no benefit or comfort to those who despise God's Word and persist in crime. On the contrary, they bring heavier condemnation — because, having used them as a cover for their sins, these people have fallen into a sacrilege that will not be forgiven. All the more reason, then, for us to exercise the greatest care concerning baptism, the Supper, prayers, and all other rites the Lord has instituted in the church — so that we do not fall into hypocrisy. Let us treat these as exercises of genuine faith and true religion, cultivate godliness diligently and honestly, aiming at this one true goal. Let us not stop at outward and earthly things, but fully recognize that signs alone, without their true body and substance, are empty and hollow. Let us therefore lift our minds and hearts to Christ alone, in whom our happiness is found and on whom it entirely depends.