Continued from II. Rules of the Service

Faith.

FAITH is nothing else but the truth of the heart; that is to say, a true and right opinion of the heart as touching God.

FAITH is the divinity of works, and is so spread throughout the works of the faithful as is the divinity throughout the humanity of Christ.

Through faith we do good works. Through good works faith is made visible and comprehensible. As the Godhead cannot be seen nor comprehended, but when Christ became incarnate He was seen and handled.

In all our doings, spiritual and bodily, faith must rule and reign, and the heart hold it sure and firm, that God is looking on us, holds us dear, will help us, and not forsake us.

CHRISTIAN faith is not an idle quality or empty husk in the heart, until charity come and quicken it, but if it be true faith, it is a sure trust and confidence in the heart, and a firm consent whereby Christ is apprehended, so that Christ is the object of faith, yea, rather, even in faith Christ himself is present.

Faith, therefore, is a certain obscure knowledge, or rather darkness which seeth nothing, and yet Christ apprehended by faith sitteth in the darkness.

The school divines do dream that faith is a quality cleaving in the heart, without Christ. But Christ should be so set forth that thou shouldst see nothing besides him, and shouldst think that nothing can be more unto thee, or more present with thy heart than He is. For he sitteth not idly in Heaven, but is present with us, working and living in us,

Faith, therefore, is a certain steadfast beholding, which looketh upon nothing else but Christ, the conqueror of sin and death, and the giver of righteousness, salvation, and eternal life.

FOR he that is a Christian hath Christ the Lord of the law present and enclosed in his heart, even as a ring hath a jewel or precious stone enclosed in it.

He that hath faith in the heart hath such a treasure, that though it seemeth to be but little, is greater than heaven and earth, because Christ “the unspeakable gift” is greater.

THE believing man hath the Holy Ghost, and where the Holy Ghost dwelleth, He will not suffer a man to be idle, but stirreth him up to all exercises of piety and godliness, and of true religion, to the love of God, to the patient suffering of afflictions to prayer, to thanksgiving, and to the exercise of charity towards all men.

BECAUSE thou hast laid hold on Christ by faith, through whom thou art made righteousness, begin now to work well. Love God and thy neighbor, call upon God, praise Him, and confess Him. These are good works indeed, which flow out of this faith and this cheerfulness conceived in the heart, for that we have remission of sins freely by Christ.

The Reflex Action of Faith.

BUT weigh diligently every word of Paul, and especially mark well this pronoun “our;” for the effect altogether consisteth in the well-applying of pronouns, which we find very often in the Scriptures; wherein also there is ever some vehemency and power.

Therefore, generally, it is an easy matter to magnify and amplify the benefit of Christ, namely that Christ was given for sins, but for other men’s sins, which are worthy. But when it cometh to the putting to of this pronoun ‘our,’ there our weak nature and reason starteth back, and dare not come nigh unto God, nor promise to herself that so great a treasure shall be freely given unto her.

WHEREFORE these words, “Which loveth Me,” are full of faith, And he who can utter this word “me,” and apply it unto himself with a true and constant faith as Paul did, shall be a good disputer with Paul against the law.

For He delivered neither sheep, ox, gold nor silver, but even God Himself entirely and wholly “for me,” even “for me,” I say, a miserable and wretched sinner.

HUMAN wit treats these words, “Who gave Himself for our sins,” as if the sins were not real, true sins; as if the words were said lightly, and not, as they are, in true, bitter earnest.

Faith Lifting us to God’s Horizon.

PSALM XXXVII. “For they shall soon be cut down like the grass.” He lifts us from our horizon to God’s. In our sight the wicked flourish and increase and cover the whole earth. But in God’s sight what are they? Hay! The higher the grass is, the nearer the hay-fork.

PSALM XXXVII. “But the Lord shall laugh at him, for He seeth that his day cometh.”

Not that God laughs, like a man; but that in truth it is a laughable thing to see foolish men raging (against the truth), and undertaking great things which they cannot really advance one hair’s breadth.

Just as a fool would be ridiculous, who with a long spear and a short dagger were to seek to smite the Sun out of the heavens, and with this prospect were to shout and glorify himself as if he had accomplished a grand feat.

Faith and Hope.

FAITH is a teacher and a judge, fighting against errors and heresies, judging spirits and doctrines.

But Hope is, as it were, the general and captain of the field, fighting against temptation, the cross, impatience, heaviness of spirit, desperation and blaspheming, and it waiteth for good things, even in the midst of all evils.

FAITH and hope are in many ways distinguished. Faith is in the understanding of man; hope in the will; and yet these two can no more be severed than the cherubim above the mercy seat.

According to their offices; faith dictates, distinguishes, teaches, and is knowledge and science. But hope exhorts, awakens, listens, waits, and patiently endures.

Faith looks to the word and the promise, that is, the truth. But hope looks to that which the Word has promised, to the gifts.

Faith exists at the beginning of life, before all tribulations and adversities. But hope follows afterwards and grows out of adversities.

Faith strives against error and heresy. But hope strives against tribulation and temptation.

As foresight and understanding are useless, and effect nothing without manhood and cheerfulness, so is faith nothing without hope; for hope endures and overcomes misfortune and evil. And as a joyful heart without foresight and understanding is foolhardiness, so is hope without faith.

Faith and hope are thus distinguished. Faith says, I believe in a resurrection of the dead at the Last Day. To this hope adds, “Then, if this is true, let us give up what we have, and suffer what we can, if hereafter we are to be such great princes.”

ALL which happens in the whole world happens through hope. No husbandman would sow a grain of corn, if he did not hope it would spring up and bring forth the ear. How much more are we helped on by hope in the way to eternal life.

Faith and Charity.

CHARITY giveth place, for it “suffereth all things.” But faith giveth no place; yea, it can suffer nothing. As concerning faith, we ought to be invincible and more hard, if it might be, than the adamant stone. But as touching charity we ought to be soft, and more flexible than the reed or leaf that is shaken by the wind, and ready to yield to everything.

SEE the sun! It brings us two things—light and heat. The rays of light beam directly onus. No king is powerful enough to intercept those keen, direct and swift rays. But heat is radiated back to us from every side. Thus, like the light, faith should ever be direct and inflexible; but love, like the heat, should radiate on all sides, and meekly adapt itself to the wants of all.

The Trial of Faith.

THE trial of faith is the greatest and heaviest of all trials. For faith it is which must conquer in all trials. Therefore, if faith gives way, then the smallest and most trifling temptations can overcome a man. But when faith is sound and true, then all other temptations must yield, and be overcome.

“ALAS! that we believe God so little,” he said. “I can trust my wife, and all of you, my friends, more than I can trust Him. Yet none of you would do and suffer for me what He did; would suffer yourselves to be crucified for me.”

SECURE, easy spirits, like all false Christians, when they have glanced over the Bible and heard a few sermons, soon persuade themselves they have the Holy Ghost, and that they understand and know all things.

Ah! true hearts find it far otherwise; these pray every day, yea, every moment: “Lord, strengthen our faith.”

REAL believers are always thinking they believe not, therefore they are fighting, wrestling, striving, and toiling without ceasing, to preserve and increase their faith. Just as good and skillful masters of any art are always seeing and observing that something is lacking in their work, whilst bunglers and pretenders persuade themselves that they lack nothing, but that all they make and do is quite perfect.

OUR faith is weak, and yet it is a rock; for it is the corner-stone of the heart.

Martin Luther’s own Faith in Trial.

AS to my affairs, my gracious lord, I answer thus: Your Electoral Grace knows (or if your Electoral Grace does not know, I hereby make it known), I have not received the Gospel from man, but from heaven, only through our Lord Jesus Christ, so that I might well esteem and subscribe myself (as henceforth I will) His servant and evangelist. That I have at any time submitted myself to human hearing and judgment was not because I doubted this, but from humility, to win others.

Now, however, that I see how my too great humility will lead to the degrading of the Gospel, and that if I yield the devil a hand’s breadth, he will take the whole place, by constraint of my conscience I must act otherwise. I have yielded enough this year, in deference to your Electoral Grace; for the devil knows well it was no faint-heartedness that made me yield. He saw my heart well, when I came into Worms; that if I had known that as many devils would set upon me as there are tiles on the roofs, I would have leapt down among them with joy.

After all, Duke George is far from being equal to one single devil. And since the Father of unfathomable mercy has, through the Gospel, made us joyful lords over all the devils, and over death, and has given us such wealth of trust that we can say to Him, “most dear Father,” it would indeed be the most shameful slight to such a Father that we could not trust Him to make us lords over Duke George’s wrath.

This, at least, I know well of myself; if needful I would ride into Leipzig, if it rained Duke Georges nine days, and each Duke George were ninefold more furious than this one.

They hold my Lord Christ to be a man twisted of straw! This may my Lord, and I, for a while, indeed, endure.

It is another than Duke George with whom I have to do, who knows me pretty well, and I know Him not ill.

Your Electoral Grace is only lord over goods and bodies. But Christ is Lord also over souls, to whom He has sent me, and to that end has awakened me. These souls I dare not forsake. I hope my Lord Christ will overcome our foes, and will be well able to shield me from them, if He so will. If so he will not, His dear will be done.

Letter to Melanchthon during the Diet of Augsburg.

THE end and event of the cause troubles thee, that thou canst not order it. But if thou couldst comprehend it, then would I be no partaker in such a cause, much less the author of it.

God has placed this cause in a certain common place, which thou hast not in thy rhetoric, nor in thy philosophy. It is called Faith, in which place are set all things invisible, and that do not appear, which things, if any one seeks to render visible, apparent and comprehensible, as thou art doing, he shall reap cares and tears as the reward of his labor, which in truth thou art reaping, all of us meanwhile warning thee in vain.

God dwelleth in the clouds, and has set this darkness as His curtain. Let him who will, change this.

If Moses had insisted on knowing the end, and how he was to escape the hosts of Pharaoh, Israel would probably have been in Egypt to this day.

To Brentins on Melanchthon’s Fears.

AFTER us, God will be the Creator, as He was before us, and is to-day, with us. He will not die with us, nor cease to be God, ruling even men’s thoughts.

It seemed to Eli, the priest, that the kingdom of Israel was perishing, the ark being taken by the Philistines; but Eli perished first, and the kingdom afterwards began to flourish most.

Philip designs to be head-ruler of the world, that is to crucify himself. But I know that He will be, in the future, who said, “Where is Abel, thy brother?”

If God exists, not here only do we live; but wherever He lives we shall live. If these things are true, what, I ask, are these furious threats of idols, not merely dying, but wholly lifeless? He who created me will be the Father of my son, a Husband to my wife, the Ruler of my country, the Preacher to my parish, and better than all that (when I am gone).

To Shalatin.

PHILIP thinks to accomplish his own counsel. Sic fecissem ego. No! it must not be “Sic ego Philippus.” The “ego” is too small. The word is, “I am that I am.”

Do thou exhort Philip in my name not to make himself God, but to fight against that innate ambition of divinity implanted in us by the Devil in Paradise. This cast Adam out of Paradise, and this only disquiets us, and casts us out of peace.

We are to be men, and not God. This is the sum of the whole matter. Otherwise eternal unrest and heart-sorrow is our portion.

To Fustus Fonas.

CHRIST has come; and He sitteth at the right hand, not of Caesar, but of God. This may be very incredible. I nevertheless delight in this incredible thing; and therein I will dare to die. Why, then, should I not live therein?

I would that Philip would take this my faith, if he has none beside.

“On the right hand,” is indeed a little thing; but the “My,” “My right hand;” where has that an end?

The pronoun does it. The name Adonai, which follows the “I have said,” will take good care of the precious “Sit Thou,” until “Thy foes Thy footstool” shall also come. What recks it, (what difference does it make) if David falls?

Farewell in Christ, and believe us, as thou dost, that Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords. If He lose this title at Augsburg, He will have lost it in heaven and on earth. Amen.

To the Chancellor Bruck, at Augsburg, from “the Wilderness” (Coburg).

I HAVE lately seen two miracles. The first, I as I was looking out of the window, and saw the stars in heaven, and the whole fair vault of God, yet saw nowhere any pillars whereon the Master had raised this vault. Nevertheless the heavens fell not, and that fair vault stands firm.

Now, there are some who search for the pillars, and would fain grasp and feel them. And because they cannot do this they totter and tremble as if the heavens must surely fall, from no other cause save that they cannot grasp these pillars, nor see them. If they could grasp these pillars, then (no doubt) the heavens would stand firm!

The second miracle is this. I saw also vast, thick clouds lowering over us, with such a weight that they might be compared to a great ocean. Yet saw I no floor whereon they were based, nor any shore whereby they were bound. Nevertheless they fell not on us, but saluted us with a frowning countenance and fled away.

When they had passed by, then shone forth their floor, whereon they were based, and also our roof, the rainbow. Yet that was indeed a feeble, slight, insignificant floor and roof; so slight that it faded away into the clouds, and was more like a prism, such as is wont to stream through painted glass, than such a mighty floor; so that one might well have despaired on account of the feebleness of the floor, as much as on account of the great weight of the waters.

Nevertheless it was found, in fact, that this feeble prism bore up the weight of waters and shielded us.

Yet there are some who look at the mass and weight of the clouds, and consider these more than this slight, subtle, narrow prism. They would fain feel the power of the prism, and because they cannot do this, they fear that the clouds will pour down an eternal deluge.

The Sea Restrained by a Rope of Sand.

LET the adversaries rage and storm as long as they can. God has set it bound to the sea. He suffers it to rage and swell, and to rush on with its waves in vehement assaults, as if it would cover and overwhelm all things. But nevertheless it does not pass the shore, although God binds it not with bands of iron, but of sand.

THROUGH what inner conflict this faith of Luther’s was maintained, I have and know nothing of Jesus Christ (since I have not seen him with my bodily eyes, nor heard with my bodily ears), save only His name. Yet have I, thank God, learned so much of Him from the Scriptures that I am well contented therewith, and desire not to see or hear Him in the flesh. Moreover, in my deepest weakness, in ter- rors and pressure of the burden of sin, in fear and trembling before death, in persecution from the false, cruel world, often have I experienced and felt the divine power of this name in me, abandoned as I was by all creatures. I have proved its power to snatch me from death, to make me live again, to comfort me in the greatest despair, especially during the Diet of Augsburg in the year 1530.

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AS a shoemaker makes shoes, and a tailor coats, so should a Christian pray. Prayer is the Christian’s business, Let us pray and strive; for the word of faith and the prayer of the just are the mightiest weapons.

A COMPLAINT was once made to Doctor Martin Luther, “Dear Herr Doctor, things are issuing and happening nowhere as we would have them.” “Well,” he said, “that is precisely right. Have you not given up your will to our Lord God, praying every day, “Thy will be done on earth as it ts in heaven?”

OH, it is a great and mighty thing, the prayer of the just. But God knows best how and when to grant our prayers, for if He did always as we would, He would be our captive. I prayed once for the life of a suffering woman, with great anguish and wrestling of heart. But God knew best. He did indeed hear our prayer in such a way that in the life to come that good woman will thank me for it.

WE should commit all to God. He will make it all well. “Even to hoar hairs I will carry you; I have made, and I will bear. I will carry and deliver you. Therefore lay it all on me, my beloved; commit it to me.”

So Saint Peter: “Casting all your care upon Him.” That is a choice, consoling saying. And “Cast thy burden on the Lord, and He will sustain thee.”

Ah, these are beautiful, comforting sayings! But we want to do and order all ourselves, although we are not able, yea it is impossible. We want to lift and carry all ourselves, and forget our Lord God, and so we sink, and make the evil worse.

Indeed, sayest thou, I have committed all to Him, but He will not come, He delays too long. Oh, wait on the Lord—we must wait and hold on; for at last he will surely come.

ALL who call on God in true faith, earnestly, from the heart, will certainly be heard, and will receive what they have asked and desired, although not in the hour or in the measure, or the very thing which they ask; yet they will obtain something greater and more glorious than they had dared to ask.

THE cry and sigh of the heart raises a clamor that not only God but all the angels in heaven must hear. Thus, Moses was dismayed when he came to the Red Sea. He cried with trembling, shuddering, and dismay, and nevertheless did not open his mouth. “O Lord God,” he said, “ what shall I do now? How can I find my way out? I am the cause that all this people will be here miserably murdered. There is no help nor counsel. Before us is the sea; behind us are our foes, the Egyptians; on both sides high mountains. It is all over with us.” Then God answered, “Wherefore criest thou unto me.” —Exodus xiv, 13, 14, 15.

But we read their examples as if they were a dead letter.

Moses must have heaved a great sigh, that he filled therewith the ears of God. It is contrary to all which reason could have expected that they went through the Red Sea. For their way through the Red Sea is as broad as from Wittenburg to Coburg, or at least from Wittenburg to Magdeburg. In the night, moreover, they must have rested and eaten. For six hundred thou- sand men, not including women and children, even if they went three hundred and fifty, or even five hundred abreast, must have taken time.

Thus the cry of Moses seemed to Moses indeed little, but to God great.

WE think this groaning which we make in these terrors, and this weakness, scarcely to be a groaning, far less a cry. For our faith, which in temptation thus groaneth unto Christ, is very weak if we consider our own sense and feeling, and therefore we hear not this cry.

But to the searcher of hearts this small and feeble groaning (as it seemeth unto us), is a loud and mighty cry, in comparison whereof the great and horrible roarings of the law, of sin, of death, of the devil, and of hell, are as nothing, neither can they even be heard. It filleth heaven, so that the angels think they hear nothing but this cry.

These feeble cries were our guns and artillery wherewith we have, so many years, scattered the counsels and enterprises of our adversaries.

NO one believes how mighty and strong prayer is, and how much it can do, save he who has learned by experience and tried it. But it is a great thing, when any one feels great need pressing on him, if he can grasp prayer.

FOR I know, as often as I have earnestly prayed, when it has been real earnest with me I have indeed been richly heard, and have obtained more than I have prayed for. God has for a time delayed, but nevertheless the help has come.

Ah, how truly grand a thing is the honest prayer of a true Christian! How mighty it is with God; that a poor human creature can so speak with the High Majesty in Heaven, and not dread him, but know that God is kindly smiling on him, for Jesus Christ’s sake, His dear Son, our Lord and Saviour! To this end, the heart and conscience must not look back, must not doubt or fear on account of unworthiness.

THE ancients have well described prayer as the lifting up of the heart to God. It was well said. But I and many others in olden times did not understand the definition aright. We spoke and boasted of “the lifting up of the heart,” the “ascensus mentis;” but our syntax failed, for we could not add the “Deum,” the word God.

DEAR brethren, pray with the heart, sometimes also with the lips; for prayer sustains the world: without prayer things would be far otherwise.

THE prayer of the Church works great miracles. In our own days it has raised three from the dead; myself, who have often lain sick to death; my wife Kathe, who was also sick to death; and Philip Melanchthon, who, in 1540, lay sick to death at Weimar.

Yet these are poor miracles, to be observed on account of those who are weak in faith.

Far greater miracles to me are these: that our Lord God every day in the Church baptizes, gives the Sacrament of the Altar, absolves, and delivers from sin, from death, and eternal damnation. These are to me the great miracles.

What a strong wall and fortification to the Church, and what a weapon for Christians is prayer!

Ah, what an excellent Master composed the Lord’s Prayer! What an endless rhetoric and eloquence lies hidden in those words, wherein all things, all necessities, are comprehended.

The first three petitions embrace such great, excellent, and heavenly things, that no heart can ever fathom them.

The fourth petition gathers together all policy and economy, national and domestic government, and all which is bodily and temporal, and needful for this life.

The fifth contends against the devil of a bad conscience; against inborn and actual sins, which burden the conscience.

Truly One who is wise made this prayer, whom no man can rival.

AH, we have cried and prayed so long, and Thou wilt not give us rain! Surely, if Thou givest not rain, Thou wilt give something better—a still and quiet life.

THE prayer of the heart, and the complaints of the poor, raise such a cry that all the angels in heaven must hear it. Our Lord God hears, with quick, delicate hearing, the faintest breath.

THOSE deep sighs, in deep necessities, are the true great clamor and fervent cry before which the heavens are rent.

THE causa efficiens (efficient cause) of prayer is simply faith itself. Causa per accidens (cause by accident), which drives us to prayer, is necessity. The forma (form), is to grasp the mercy so freely given. Materia circa quam (the material about which) is the promise, and the command of God to pray, to which prayer holds and cleaves, and on which it is based. Finis (The end) is the hearing and deliverance.

I have not yet prayed the whole Psalter through. The Lord’s Prayer is my prayer.

GOD gives not according to the measure, manner, and time that we would prescribe. He will be unfettered. But He gives good measure, pressed down and running over, as Christ says.

Thus did St. Augustine’s mother. She asked that her son might be converted. But it came not to pass. She went to all the learned men, that they might persuade him. At last she entreated him to marry a Christian maiden, that she might bring him to the faith. But nothing succeeded.

But when at last our Lord God comes, He comes indeed, and makes such an Augustine of him, that to this day he is called a light of the Church.

SOME have vehemently prayed for temptation, that they might not grow careless without the cross. I, however, will never more pray for temptation, but only, “Lead me not into temptation.”

Every sigh of a Christian is a prayer; when he sighs he prays.

THIS saying, “ Ask, and ye shall receive,” means nothing less than ask, call, cry, knock, knock vehemently. And this we must do, on and on, without ceasing.

Intercession for those in Authority.

PRINCES and lords are poor people, especially when they are good and God-fearing; therefore our Lord God has not vainly commanded us to honor and pray for them.

I did not so well understand this command until I learned it with reference to my two Electors and lords, Duke John and Duke John Frederic. Often they cannot help if they would. Therefore they sorely need the prayer of Christians.

Praying and Waiting.

LET us pray and call on God in all tribulations, and wait.

Let us keep to Christ, and cling to Him, and hang on Him, so that no power can sever us. Then soon we shall see Him with joy, at that Day.

Thanksgiving.

THANKSGIVING makes our prayers bold and strong, easy, moreover, pleasant and sweet; feeds and enkindles them as with coals of fire.

Intercession.

CHRIST suffers not that one should pray for himself alone, but for the whole community of all men. For He teaches us not to say “My Father,” but “Our Father.” Prayer is a spiritual, common possession; therefore we must despoil no one of it, not even our enemies. For as He is the Father of us all, He wills that we shall be brothers amongst each other, and pray for one another, as for ourselves.

Prayer of Luther, Overheard during the Diet of Worms.

ALMIGHTY, everlasting God, how terrible this world is! How it would open its jaws to devour me. And how weak is my trust in Thee! The flesh is weak, and the devil is strong! O Thou my God, help me against all the wisdom of this world. Do Thou the work. It is for Thee alone to do it; for the work is Thine, not mine. I have nothing to bring me here. I have no controversy to maintain—not I—with the great ones of the earth, I, too, would fain that my days should glide along, happy and calm. But the cause is Thine. It is righteous; it is eternal. O Lord, help me! Thou that art faithful, Thou that art unchangeable! It is not in any man I trust. That were vain indeed. All that is in man gives way; all that comes from man faileth, O God, my God, dost Thou not hear me? Art Thou dead? No; Thou canst not die. Thou art hiding Thyself.

Thou hast chosen me for this work. I know it. Oh, then, arise and work! Be Thou on my side, for the sake of Thy beloved Son, Jesus Christ, who is my defense, my shield, and my fortress.

O Lord my God, where art Thou? Come; come! I am ready—ready to forsake life for Thy truth; patient as a lamb. For it is a righteous cause, and it is Thine own. I will not depart from Thee now, nor through eternity. And although the world should be full of demons; although my body (which, nevertheless, is the work of Thy hands) should be doomed to bite the dust, to be stretched on the rack, cut into pieces, consumed to ashes, the soul is Thine. Yes; for this I have the assurance of Thy Word. My soul is Thine. It will abide near Thee throughout the endless ages. Amen. O God, help Thou me! Amen.

Amen, amen—that means Yes, yes; that shall be done.

THE Word of God is a fiery shield, for this reason, that it is more enduring and purer than gold tried in the fire; which gold loses nothing in the fire, but it stands the fire, endures, and overcomes all trial. So, he who believes in the Word of God, overcomes all, and continues eternally secure against all misfortune. This shield shrinks not from the gates of hell, but the gates of hell tremble before it.

THE words of the Lord Christ are the most powerful; they have hands and feet, and overcome all attacks, all subtleties and devices of the wise. Thus we see in the Gospel how Christ, with quite simple, common words, brought to shame the wisdom of the Pharisees, so that they could find no escape from them.

It is a very acute and conclusive syllogism, when the Lord says, “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s:” for He neither bids nor forbids to pay the tribute, but answers them with their own arguments; as if He had said, “If, indeed, you have suffered Caesar to make such inroads that you have,and use his coinage, then give him what you owe him.”

THERE is no greater grace or possession than to believe that God speaks to us, If we believed that, we should be already blessed.

Commentaries.

THROUGH so many commentaries and books the dear Bible is buried, so that people do not look at the text itself. It is far better to see with our own eyes than with other people’s eyes. For which reason I could wish that all my own books were buried nine ells deep in the earth, on account of the bad example they may give to others to follow me in writing multitudes of books.

The Second Psalm.

THIS is a right lofty psalm against the enemies of God. It begins softly and simply, but it goes out with magnificence. It is a lofty, noble psalm. It says, Come and see what the Lord doeth. He has been now six thousand years in the Council, ruling and making all laws. Habitator caeli (inhabitant of heaven), He that dwelleth in the heavens takes our cause in hand.

MANY foes, Egyptian; Babylonian, Persian, Greek, and Roman, have raged against the Bible, endeavoring to extirpate it; but they have been able to accomplish nothing. They are all gone, but the book remains for ever perfect. Who then has preserved it, and defended it with such great power? No one surely but God Himself, who is the Master. And it is a great miracle that God has preserved the book so long, for the devil and the world hate it bitterly.

THE resurrection of the Lord Christ through the Word does not take place without an earthquake, as Christ Himself also did not come forth from the grave without an earthquake.

But such an earthquake is pleasanter to true hearts, than that Christ should lie in the grave and rest. When there is peace and rest in Christendom it is a bad sign.

WHEN the devil finds me idle and unarmed, not heeding God’s Word, he works on my conscience that I have taught wrong, and stirred up by my doctrine much offense and division compared with the former state of the Church, which was still and peaceful.

I cannot deny I am often in depression and anguish on this account; but when I grasp the Word of God, I have won the battle.

WE see, and experience teaches us, how powerful and strong Divine Truth is; it presses through all the obstacles by which it is hemmed in; the more we read it, the more it moves us; it takes the heart captive, and creates other good thoughts.

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Holy Baptism.

DOCTOR MARTIN LUTHER asked Doctor Hieronymus Weller “ How it went with him?” “Sadly and mournfully,” said he; “I know not how it is.”. Whereon Dr, Martin Luther replied, “Have you, then, not been baptized?” What a great gift of God is baptism! What a great gift also is the Word of God; we should thank God from our hearts that we have His Word. For it is God who comforts and strengthens us, and who has given us His Holy Spirit for a pledge and a foretaste.

HEAVEN is given to me freely, and is my (royal) gift, and I have letters and seals for it; that is, I am baptized and go to the sacrament. Therefore I take care of the letter, that the devil may not tear it in pieces; that is, I live and abide in the fear of God, and pray the Lord’s Prayer.

God could not have given me salvation and the gospel save through the death, the suffering, and dying of His dear Son. And when I believe that He has overcome death, and has died for me, and I look at the promise of the Father, then I have the letter complete, and the seal of baptism and of the sacrament of the altar (the true essential body and blood of our Lord Christ) affixed to it; thus I am well provided for.

We should hold it certain that baptism is God’s ordinance, which He has appointed, that we may know where we may surely find Him. He seeks us; He comes to us; we cannot come to Him of ourselves.

The Sacrament of the Altar.

“THE true cause of this sacrament,” said Dr. Martin Luther, “is the word and appointment of Christ, who has instituted and established it. The materia is bread and wine; the form is the true body and blood of Christ; the final cause whereto it is ordained is the use and fruit, that we may strengthen our faith, and not doubt that the body of Christ is given for us, and His blood poured out for us, and that our sins are surely forgiven us through the death of Christ.”

THIS sacrament can only be received and embraced by the heart; for it is not with the hand that we receive such a gift and eternal treasure.

THIS benefit and grace have we now received, that Christ is our Saviour, not our severe Judge; our Redeemer and Deliverer, not our accuser and jailer who takes us captive. For we are all sinners in Adam, guilty of eternal death, and condemned; but we are all now justified, redeemed, and consecrated by the blood of Christ. Let us grasp this with faith.

The Vow of Baptism the True and Highest Vow.

A CARNAL man does not understand why Paul so often boasts that he is an apostle of Jesus Christ according to the will of God. This boasting was as necessary to him in heavy temptation as an article of the faith. Satan had gained far more advantage over me, also, if I had not been a doctor by vocation.

It is not a little thing to change the whole religion and doctrine of the Papacy. How hard it was to me, will be seen in that Day; now no one believes it.

Gladly, at first, would I have subjected myself to the Pope and his clergy; they, however, would not receive such humility and obedience from me, but insisted, as to-day, that I should give the lie to God, deny Christ, call His gospel heresy. Before I do that, I would, if God willed, and if it were possible, rather be burned ten times over.

In my baptism I promised my Lord Christ I would believe on Him, and cleave fast to Him. This, by His grace, working, and help, I will do. To this I keep in all my temptations (namely, to the vow which I made in baptism, which is the true and highest vow, that I would be faithful to Him), whereon He, on His part, promised He would be my God. If I had not had this consolation, I had long before fainted for great anguish in my heavy temptations. The dear Lord help further, Amen!

GOD speaks to me in His word through His ministers (as Christ says, “ He who heareth you heareth Me”), and says to me, “I have baptized thee and received thee for my child, for Christ’s sake, my beloved Son, who counted not His life dear unto Him to redeem thee. In him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and these I give to thee to be thine own.” This only comforts. If Christ is lost, all is lost in heaven and on earth.

IT is far too long a delay, if we wait to learn to know Christ until the last conflict. He came to us in baptism, and has been with us always, and has already made the bridge for us on which we pass from this life through death into the life beyond.

CHRIST was offered once for all; now He requires nothing but that we should give Him thanks forever.

HE who receives a sacrament does not perform a good work; he receives a benefit. In the mass we give Christ nothing; we only receive from Him.

IT is not the external eating which makes the Christian. It is the internal and spiritual cating which is the work of faith, and without which all external things are mere empty shows and vain grimaces.

This spiritual bread is the consolation of the afflicted, the cure of the sick, the life of the dying, food to the hungry, the treasure of the poor,

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Preparation for Preaching.

DOCTOR MARTIN said to a pastor, “When you are about to preach, speak to God, and say, ‘My Lord God, I wish to preach to Thine honor, to speak of Thee, to praise Thee, to glorify thy name.’”

Think not of me, nor of Philip, nor any of the learned, but remember you are then most learned in the pulpit when you speak of God. I have never been troubled because I could not preach well; but often, because I had to speak, before the face of God, of His great Majesty and Divine Being.

ONCE, when Dr. Martin sat under the pear tree in his garden, he asked Magister Anthony Lauterbach how he prospered with his preaching? When he complained of his temptations, difficulties, and weakness, Dr. Martin said, “Ah, my friend, so it has been with me. I have dreaded the pulpit quite as much as you can; yet I had to go on.

“But you want to be a master all at once. Perhaps you are seeking honor, and are therefore tempted. You should preach for our Lord God, and not regard how men think and judge. If any one can do better, let him; do you preach Christ and the Catechism. Such wisdom will lift you above the judgments of all men, their praise or blame; for this wisdom is God’s, wiser than men.

“You need not expect praise from me; if I hear you, I shall be sure to find fault; for you young (journeymen) preachers must be set down, lest you become ambitious and proud. But this thou shouldst ascertain; that thou art called to this, that Christ hath need of thee to help praise Him. On this stand firm; let who will praise or blame, that is not thy concern.”

DR. MARTIN exhorted the clergy that they should not torture and detain their hearers with long sermons, “For,” said he, “the pleasure of listening passes away from them; and the preachers do them hurt and violence with long preaching.” “Some,” said Dr. Martin, “plague the people with too long sermons; for the faculty of listening is a tender thing, and soon becomes weary and satiated.”

HE was asked, “Which was the greater, to controvert adversaries, or to exhort and hold up the weak?” He answered and said: “Both are good and needful, although to comfort the faint-hearted is something greater; and yet the weak themselves are edified and improved by hearing the faith contended for. Each is God’s gift.”

YOU should not attempt to judge or criticize yourself. It often happens to me that I am ashamed of my sermon when I have finished it, and think how cold it has been; yet others have afterwards commended the same sermon much to me.

The Best Teachers always Learners.

IT is a true word in theology, that those who think they know anything know really nothing. For he who truly hears and learns God’s Word, can never wonder at it enough, or learn it to the bottom. Let every one humble himself and remain a learner therein.

Dr. Luther’s Portrait of a good Preacher.

A GOOD preacher should have these virtues and qualities.

First, he should be able to teach plainly and in order.

Secondly, he should have a good head.

Thirdly, he should have good power of speech.

Fourthly, a good voice.

Fifthly, a good memory.

Sixthly, he should know when to stop.

Seventhly, he should be sure what he means to say, and should study diligently.

Eighthly, he should be ready to stake body and life, goods and glory, on its truth.

Ninthly, he must suffer himself to be vexed and criticized by everybody.

Keeping to the Point.

WHOEVER understands a subject thoroughly and intimately, can speak well about it.

“I endeavor in my sermons,” said Dr. Martin, “to take a text and keep to it; and so to show it to the people, and spread it out before them, that they may say, ‘This is what the sermon was about.’ Soldiers should not greet every one they meet. Dr. Pommer is too much given sometimes to take with him everything he meets on his way. See what the main point is, and keep to it.”

Simplicity.

LET all thy sermons be of the simplest. Look not to the princes, but to the simple, unwise, rude, and unlearned people; for the prince is made of the same stuff. If I in my sermons were to regard Philip Melanchthon and the other doctors, I should do no good; but I preach in the simplest way to the unlearned, and that pleases all. (I keep the Hebrew and Greek for the times when we learned men are alone together. Then we can talk such crabbed stuff they may well wonder at us in heaven.)

A PREACHER should have the skill to teach the unlearned, simply, roundly, and plainly; for teaching is of more importance than exhorting.

NO one should preach for me and Philip, however much we might learn from it. Preaching should not be magnificent with great, splendid, labored words, that men may see how learned we are. Ah, that is worth nothing. In the church every one should use the simple mother-tongue, such as every one can understand.

The doctors are present by forty, young people and unlearned by the thousand.

HE who has one word of God and cannot make a sermon out of it can never be a preacher.

TO preach simply is a high art. Christ does it himself. He speaks of husbandry, of sowing seed, and uses simple peasants’ similes.

“ALBRECHT DURER, the famous painter,” said Dr. Luther, “used to say he had no pleasure in pictures that were painted with many colors, but in those which were painted with a choice simplicity.” So it is with me as to sermons.

IF I had to preach only to Dr. Hieronymus, or to Philip, I would not make another sermon my life-long, for they understand well enough already. Children, men-servants, and maid-servants attend our churches; to these we must preach; these need our preaching, not the learned. It is the poor young people and the simple with whom we have to do; to these we must come down.

So did the Lord Christ; He speaks as if for His audience He had none other than my little Martin, Paul and Magdalene. When, indeed, He comes to the Pharisees, He gives them severe strokes.

We should preach to the little children; for the sake of such as these the office of preaching is instituted.

Dr. Martin said the best books of the Bible to preach from, were the Psalter, the Gospel of St. John, and St. Paul; but for the common people, and the young, the other Gospels.

WE must not teach the common people about high, difficult things, and with subtle words, for they cannot comprehend. Into the church come poor little children, maidens, old women and men, to whom such teaching is useless; and even if they say, “Ah, he said precious things; he made a fine discourse!” if one asks them further, “What did he say?” they often reply, “Ah, I do not know.” To poor people we must call white, white, and black, black, all in the simplest way.

Ah, what pains our Lord Christ took to teach simply. From vineyards, sheep, and trees He drew His similes; anything in order that the multitudes might understand, embrace, and retain it.

Earnestness.

THIS is not the time for jest, but for earnest. “Ye are the salt of the earth.” Salt bites and pains, but it cleanses and preserves from corruption.

Feeding and Guarding.

IN a true, good shepherd, feeding and guarding must be combined; for, if the guarding fails, the wolf will devour all the more readily the sheep which are well fed.

A preacher must be both a warrior and a shepherd. To feed is to teach, and that is the most difficult art; but it is needful also to be able to contend and defend.

The Best Kind of Controversy.

I COUNSEL those who preach in papal countries to teach the Gospel simply, without any snapping or biting. If they do this the Pope will fall, for he does not stand on the Gospel.

Religious Vanity, Gloria Religionists.

HE complained much of the vanity and self-sufficiency of the clergy, especially of the younger. “A new Jurist,” he said, “is in his first year a Justinian; that is, he thinks himself superior to all the doctors, and has nothing but law in his head; the second year he is a Doctor; the third, a Licentiate; the fourth, a Bachelor; the fifth, a Student.”

EVERY one should be content with his own gifts which God has given him; for we cannot all be Pauls and John Baptists; there must also be Tituses and Timothys. We need in any building more common stones than corner stones.

Excellence of the Office of the Preacher and Teacher.

HE who thinks lightly of preachers and of women will never come to good; as is commonly said. The office of the preacher, and women, the mothers of our children, must be held in all honor, that these be kept right and pure. The rule of the home and the State depends on them. Whosoever, therefore, despises these, and sets them at naught, despises God and man.

I WOULD wish that no one were suffered to be a preacher until he had first been a schoolmaster. Now, young men go at once from the school to the pulpit. But when any one has kept a school for ten years, he may leave it with a good conscience. The work is too heavy and too little esteemed. Yet a schoolmaster is as necessary in a town as a pastor. We might more easily do without burgomasters (mayors), princes, and nobles, than without schools, for these must govern the world.

No potentate or lord but needs to be guided by a jurist or theologian; and these come from schools.

If I were no preacher, I know no calling on earth that I should prefer to that of a schoolmaster. But we must not look at what the world rewards and esteems; we must consider what God esteems and will honor in that Day.

Trials and Burdens of the Preacher.

TO be a true pastor and preacher is a great thing; and if our Lord God Himself did not give strength, the thing could not be.

It needs a great soul to serve the people with body and soul, goods and honor, and to suffer for it the greatest peril and ingratitude.

Therefore it was that Christ said to Peter, “Peter, lovest thou Me?” and repeats it three times, and then says, “ Feed My sheep.” It is as if He said: “If thou wilt be a true shepherd and friend of souls, thou must be so from love to Me.” Otherwise it is impossible. For who will and can suffer ingratitude, spend his health and substance in study, and, for a reward, stand in the greatest peril? Therefore He says: “It is a necessity that thou shouldst love Me.”

I HAVE begun, and I will persevere. I would not take the whole world to begin again, so exceeding great and heavy are the cares and sorrows of this office. Dear sirs, it is no child’s play. Nevertheless, when I look at Him who has called me, I would not wish not to have undertaken it.

IF I were to write of the burdens which a preacher must bear, as I have experienced them, I should terrify every one from the office. A true God-fearing preacher must be so minded, that nothing is dearer to him than Christ his Lord and Saviour, and the future eternal life; so that when he has lost this life and all things, Christ may say to him, “Come hither to Me; thou hast been my good and faithful servant.”

IT was once asked, when two preachers at Nurnberg had died of the Plague, “if a preacher, whose office is only preaching, may, with a good conscience, refuse his services to the sick, and not visit them in times of pestilence.”

Thereupon Dr. Martin Luther answered and said:

“By all that is most sacred, No! The preachers must not flee too readily, lest they make the people fearful, and they should come to disregard the priests, seeing that at such a time none will come to them. It is not good, on the other hand, that all should stay.

“If the lot fell on me to stay, I would not shrink, nor fear. I have now survived three pestilences, and have been with many who have suffered; but, thank God, I took no harm. I came home and stroked my little Margarethe on the cheek, without washing my hands. But I had forgotten, or I would not have done it. It would have been tempting God.”

ST. JEROME has written about the Book of Job; but he wrote only thoughts, for he had not experienced the deepest temptations (i.e., spiritual, not fleshly). If I could have preached in my sickness, I could have made many a beautiful sermon on temptation; for then I learned to understand the Psalter and its consolations a little.

THE good Paul had to suffer and see many things, as God says of him: “I will show him how great things he must suffer for My name’s sake.” He soon lays on his neck the Pati,— the yoke of suffering; and he experienced it indeed. Such heart-sorrow as is far worse than death. It is called martyrum interpretativum, martyrdom without blood, wherein we are indeed burned and tortured.

Rewards of the Preachers.

IF we are found true to our calling we shall receive honor enough; not, however, in this life, but in the life to come.

There we shall be crowned with the unfading crown of glory, as St. Paul says, which is laid up for us in heaven. But here on earth, saith the Lord Christ, we shall not have glory, for it is written: “Woe unto you when all men speak well of you.” For we do not belong to this life, but are called to another, and a far better.

I will not be crowned on earth by men.

I choose to have my recompense from God, the just Judge, in heaven.

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Patience ts the best Virtue.

IF thou wilt learn to overcome the greatest, fiercest, and most spiteful enemies, who would fain crush thee, and do thee all possible harm in body and soul, purchase before all things one weapon, and give all thou hast to learn how to exercise it. And know that it is one sweet, lovely little herb, which serves this purpose best, which is called Patientia.

“Ah,” sayest thou, “how can I find this medicine?” The answer is, “ Take faith to thee, which says that no one can hurt thee unless God wills it. If evil comes to thee, it comes to thee from God’s kind and gracious will. So that thy foe does himself a thousandfold greater hurt than thee.”

For from this faith flows love, which says: “I will still render good for evil, heap coals of fire on his head.” This love is the Christian’s armor and coat of mail, wherewith he casts down his foes, though they seem like great mountains, and are not to be cast down by iron and steel. This same love teaches us patiently to suffer all things.

NO one does me hurt, but it will hurt him in the end; for he has to die. I sin not in suffering, but he who makes me suffer, sins.

Patience with the Misled, and Anger against those who Mislead.

ST. PAUL showeth towards the Galatians a fatherly and motherly affection, and speaketh them very fair, and yet in such a sort that he reproveth them.

Contrariwise, he is very hot and full of indignation against those false apostles their seducers; he bursteth into plain thunderings and lightnings against them.

This example must we also follow, that we may show ourselves to bear like affection toward such as are misled.

But as for the devil and his ministers, against them we ought to be impatient, proud, sharp and bitter, detesting and condemning their false jugglings and deceits with as much rigor and severity as may be. So parents, when their child is hurt with the biting of a dog, are wont to pursue the dog only; but the weeping child they bemoan, and speak fair unto it, comforting it with the most sweet words.

Continued in IV. The Armies of Heaven

All sections of Watchwords for the Warfare of Life