The New Living Way Prepared by Christ

and trials, all your defilements of the flesh and of the spirit, both gross and subtle, all clingings, idolatries, and spiritual adulteries are set forth and brought to light, to judge them in you.

Since most people, as well the wicked as the pious, look upon these holy circumstances of time and place superficially, yes, even entirely perverted according to their reason, as if such were highly harmful and damnable to them, the dear Savior rebukes this in v. 54-57 quite earnestly:

You hypocrites; you can test the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why do you not test this time? Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?

Why do you, upright pious one, not go simply to GOD at such a time, under such circumstances, and pray to Him for the spirit of testing? Then you would recognize quite clearly in His light that He has hidden the greatest wisdom under these ways and guidances, which are foolish and perverted to reason, and that GOD has no better means to make you free and actually redeem you from the impure, own, and world-love, from clingings, idolatries, from fleshly trust, help, and comfort; than when He stirs up your blood-relatives, the priests, authorities, and all creatures, and to a certain extent even the brothers in Christ themselves, against you and sets you into discord, so that they must act and do against your will: They must mock you, scoff, persecute you, speak all kinds of evil and lies about you, judge everything you do in the name of JESUS as own-working and spiritual pride, consider you a fool, a fanatic, and a madman. All their sins and abominations, in which the godless and hypocrites still live securely, they must lay upon you, and accuse you with them. [They say] you are an adulterer, a thief, an unjust person, a murderer, a proud, headstrong person. As much own will and own love as is still in you, so much unrest this causes you; so much hell, fear, and pain you will and must feel in the own-life that is not yet fully dead. So much will this own-love and impurity also darken your reason. So that you cannot rightly see this time of visitation, these holy ways of GOD and wonderful guidance. Then guard yourself well against your own reason, that you do not judge these circumstances according to the flesh. Take them captive, do not murmur against such sufferings and trials. Do not go out of the way of such things either. Do not think that the one from outside is the cause of your unrest, that he brings you to such wrath that you must sin; No, the abomination and the cause of your wrath and unrest is in you; the LORD only lets it be revealed so that you can feel your misery, and judge and kill such [things] in yourself.