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It Is Not Necessary For A Preacher To Express All His Thoughts In One Sermon. A Preacher Should Have Three Principles: First, To Make A Good Beginning, And Not Spend Time With Many Words Before Coming To The Point; Secondly, To Say That Which Belongs To The Subject In Chief, And Avoid Strange And Foreign Thoughts; Thirdly, To Stop At The Proper Time.

-Martin Luther

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It Is Not Necessary

Martin Luther

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It Is Not Necessary For A Preacher To Express All His Thoughts In One Sermon. A Preacher Should Have Three Principles: First, To Make A Good Beginning, And Not Spend Time With Many Words Before Coming To The Point; Secondly, To Say That Which Belongs To The Subject In Chief, And Avoid Strange And Foreign Thoughts; Thirdly, To Stop At The Proper Time.

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This Grace Of God Is A Very Great, Strong, Mighty And Active Thing. It Does Not Lie Asleep In The Soul. Grace Hears, Leads, Drives, Draws, Changes, Works All In Man, And Lets Itself Be Distinctly Felt And Experienced. It Is Hidden, But Its Works Are Evident.

I Am More Afraid Of My Own Heart Than Of The Pope And All His Cardinals. I Have Within Me The Great Pope, Self.

I Feel Much Freer Now That I Am Certain The Pope Is The Antichrist.

The Conscience Is Eternal And Never Dies. Peace If Possible, But Truth At Any Rate.

Christians Are To Be Taught That The Pope Would And Should Wish To Give Of His Own Money, Even Though He Had To Sell The Basilica Of St. Peter, To Many Of Those From Whom Certain Hawkers Of Indulgences Cajole Money.

Hereby We May Understand That God, Of His Special Grace, Maketh The Teachers Of The Gospel Subject To The Cross, And To All Kinds Of Afflicitons, For The Salvation Of Themselves And Of The People; For Otherwise They Could By No Means Beat Down This Beast Which Is Called Vain-glory.

The Heart Of Religion Lies In Its Personal Pronouns.

But Then Eject Them Forever From This Country. For, As We Have Heard, God's Anger With Them Is So Intense That Gentle Mercy Will Only Tend To Make Them Worse And Worse, While Sharp Mercy Will Reform Them But Little. Therefore, In Any Case, Away With Them!

God's Mark Is On Everything That Obeys Him.

The Kingdom Of God Does Not Consist In Talk, But In Power, That Is, In Works And Practice. God Loves The 'doers Of The Word' In Faith And Love, And Not The 'mere Hearers,' Who, Like Parrots, Have Learned To Utter Certain Expressions With Readiness.

Rest In The Lord; Wait Patiently For Him. In Hebrew, "be Silent In God, And Let Him Mould Thee." Keep Still, And He Will Mould Thee To The Right Shape.

The Article Of Justification Is Fragile. Not In Itself, Of Course, But In Us. I Know How Quickly A Person Can Forfeit The Joy Of The Gospel.

By Faith We Began, By Hope We Continue, And By Revelation We Shall Obtain The Whole.

If Any Earthly Institution Or Custom Conflicts With God's Will, It Is Your Christian Duty To Oppose It. You Must Never Allow The Transitory, Evanescent Demands Of Man-made Institutions To Take Precedence Over The Eternal Demands Of The Almighty God.

Thus My Learning Is Not My Own; It Belongs To The Unlearned And Is The Debt I Owe Themmy Wisdom Belongs To The Foolish, My Power To The Oppressed. Thus My Wealth Belongs To The Poor, My Righteousness To The Sinners.

The Human Heart Is Like A Millstone In A Mill: When You Put Wheat Under It, It Turns And Grinds And Bruises The Wheat To Flour; If You Put No Wheat, It Still Grinds On, But Then 'tis Itself It Grinds And Wears Away.

Let Christ's Righteousness And Grace, Not Yours, Be Your Refuge.

One Thing, And Only One Thing, Is Necessary For Christian Life, Righteousness, And Freedom. That One Thing Is The Most Holy Word Of God, The Gospel Of Christ.

Nothing Is More Unbecoming To A Teacher Of The Word Than Flippancy. He Must Be Serious And Should Not Act Like A Clown.

The Bible Is A Remarkable Fountain: The More One Draws And Drinks Of It, The More It Stimulates Thirst.

There Are Only Two Days On My Calendar... Today And The Day Of Judgment

It Is Neither Safe Nor Prudent To Do Anything Against Conscience.

Our Loving God Wills That We Eat, Drink And Be Merry.

Lord Jesus, You Are My Righteousness, I Am Your Sin. You Took On You What Was Mine; Yet Set On Me What Was Yours. You Became What You Were Not, That I Might Become What I Was Not.

Without Armaments Peace Cannot Be Kept; Wars Are Waged Not Only To Repel Injustice But Also To Establish A Firm Peace.

Two Devils Rose From The Water, And Flew Off Through The Air, Crying, 'oh, Oh, Oh!' And Turning One Over Another, In Sportive Mockery.

When God Works In Us, The Will, Being Changed And Sweetly Breathed Upon By The Spirit Of God, Desires And Acts, Not From Compulsion, But Responsively.

Put Thou Thy Trust In God; In Duty's Path Go On; Fix On His Word Thy Steadfast Eye; So Shall Thy Work Be Done.

When Jesus Christ Utters A Word, He Opens His Mouth So Wide That It Embraces All Heaven And Earth, Even Though That Word Be But In A Whisper.

However, They Have Not Acquired A Perfect Mastery Of The Art Of Lying; They Lie So Clumsily And Ineptly That Anyone Who Is Just A Little Observant Can Easily Detect It. But For Us Christians They Stand As A Terrifying Example Of God's Wrath.

God Has Set The Type Of Marriage Through Creation. Each Creature Seeks Its Perfection In Another.

It Is False That The Will, Left To Itself, Can Do Good As Well As Evil, For It Is Not Free, But In Bondage...on The Side Of Man There Is Nothing That Goes Before Grace, Unless It Be Impotency And Even Rebellion.

For What God Gives I Thank Indeed; What He Withholds I Do Not Need

Drive Them [jews] Like Mad Dogs From Our Land... Let Not One Of Them Live.

It Is A Good Thing To Let Prayer Be The First Business Of The Morning And The Last Of The Evening.

The Worship Of God....should Be Free At Table, In Private Rooms, Downstairs, Upstairs, At Home, Abroad, In All Places, By All Peoples, At All Times

Music Is One Of The Fairest And Most Glorious Gifts Of God.

Riches, Understanding, Beauty, Are Fair Gifts Of God.

A Fiery Shield Is God's Word; Of More Substance And Purer Than Gold, Which, Tried In The Fire, Loses Nought Of Its Substance, But Resists And Overcomes All The Fury Of The Fiery Heat; Even So, He That Believes God's Word Overcomes All, And Remains Secure Everlastingly, Against All Misfortunes; For This Shield Fears Nothing, Neither Hell Nor The Devil.

As For The Demented, I Hold It Certain That All Beings Deprived Of Reason Are Thus Afflicted Only By The Devil.

I Must Remain A Child And Pupil Of The Catechism, And Am Glad So To Remain.

Some People Need A Fig-leaf On Their Mouths.

If I Profess With Loudest Voice And Clearest Exposition Every Portion Of The Truth Of God Except That Little Point Which The World And The Devil Are At That Moment Attacking, I Am Not Confessing Christ, However Boldly I May Be Professing Christ. Where The Battle Rages, There The Loyalty Of The Soldier Is Proved, And To Be Steady On All The Battlefield Besides, Is Mere Flight And Disgrace If He Flinches At That Point.

All Our Experience With History Should Teach Us, When We Look Back, How Badly Human Wisdom Is Betrayed When It Relies On Itself

Christ Designed That The Day Of His Coming Should Be Hid From Us, That Being In Suspense, We Might Be As It Were Upon The Watch.

Nothing In The World Causes So Much Misery As Uncertainty.

Nothing On Earth Is So Well-suited To Make The Sad Merry, The Merry Sad, To Give Courage To The Despairing, To Make The Proud Humble, To Lessen Envy And Hate, As Music.

Whenever The True Message Of The Cross Is Abolished, The Anger Of Hypocrites And Heretics Ceases.. And All Things Are In Peace. This Is A Sure Token That The Devil Is Guarding The Entry To The House, And That The Pure Doctrine Of God's Word Has Been Taken Away. The Church Then, Is In The Best State When Satan Assaileth It On Every Sideboth With Subtle Sleights, And Outright Violence. And Likewise, It Is In The Worst State When It Is Most At Peace!

A Man Who Has No Part In The Grace Of God, Cannot Keep The Commandments Of God, Or Prepare Himself, Either Wholly Or In Part, To Receive Grace; But He Rests Of Necessity Under The Power Of Sin.

We Are But The Instruments Or Assistants, By Whom God Works.

Next To Theology I Give To Music The Highest Place And Honor. And We See How David And All The Saints Have Wrought Their Godly Thoughts Into Verse, Rhyme, And Song.

I Am Much Afraid That The Schools Will Prove The Very Gates Of Hell, Unless They Diligently Labour In Explaining The Holy Scriptures, And Engraving Them In The Hearts Of Youth. I Advise No One To Place His Child Where The Scriptures Do Not Reign Paramount. Every Institution In Which Means Are Not Unceasingly Occupied With The Word Of God Must Be Corrupt.

Nothing Is More Beautiful In The Eyes Of God Than A Soul That Loves To Hear His Word.

Prayer Is Not Overcoming God's Reluctance. It Is Laying Hold Of His Willingness.

Therefore We Christians, In Turn, Are Obliged Not To Tolerate Their Wanton And Conscious Blasphemy.

Lord God...use Me As Your Instrument -- But Do Not Forsake Me, For If Ever I Should Be On My Own, I Would Easily Wreck It All.

Undoubtedly They Do More And Viler Things Than Those Which We Know And Discover

At The Center Of The Christian Faith Is The Affirmation That There Is A God In The Universe Who Is The Ground And Essence Of All Reality. A Being Of Infinite Love And Boundless Power, God Is The Creator, Sustainer, And Conserver Of Values....in Contrast To The Ethical Relativism Of [totalitarianism], Christianity Sets Forth A System Of Absolute Moral Values And Affirms That God Has Placed Within The Very Structure Of This Universe Certain Moral Principles That Are Fixed And Immutable.

If The Peasants Are In Open Rebellion, Then They Are Outside The Law Of God. Therefore Let All Who Are Able Slash, Strike Down, And Kill (those Who Rebel) Openly And Secretly, Remembering That There Can Be Nothing More Venomous, Harmful, Or Devilish Than A Rebel. It Is Exactly Like Killing A Mad Dog.

Heaven And Earth, All The Emperors, Kings, And Princes Of The World, Could Not Raise A Fit Dwelling-place For God; Yet, In A Weak Human Soul, That Keeps His Word, He Willingly Resides.

Not Only The Words (vocabula) Which The Holy Spirit And Scripture Use Are Divine, But Also The Phrasing

Religion Is Not 'doctrinal Knowledge,' But Wisdom Born Of Personal Experience.

Personal Experiences

In Truth You Cannot Read Too Much In Scripture; And What You Read You Cannot Read Too Carefully, And What You Read Carefully You Cannot Understand Too Well, And What You Understand Well You Cannot Teach Too Well, And What You Teach Well You Cannot Live Too Well.

Divinity Consists In Use And Practice, Not In Speculation.

I Maintain That Some Jew Wrote It Who Probably Heard About Christian People But Never Encountered Any.

Reason Is The Enemy Of Faith.

The Lord Commonly Gives Riches To Foolish People, To Whom He Gives Nothing Else.

The Multitude Of Books Is A Great Evil. There Is No Limit To This Fever For Writing.

I Cannot Choose But Adhere To The Word Of God, Which Has Possession Of My Conscience; Nor Can I Possibly, Nor Will I Even Make Any Recantation, Since It Is Neither Safe Nor Honest To Act Contrary To Conscience! Here I Stand; I Cannot Do Otherwise, So Help Me God! Amen.

God Does Not Give Grace Freely In The Sense That He Will Demand No Satisfaction, But He Gave Christ To Be The Satisfaction For Us.

We May Well Lie With What Seems To Be A Woman Of Flesh And Blood, And Yet All The Time It Is Only A Devil In The Shape Of A Woman.

You May As Well Quit Reading And Hearing The Word Of God, And Give It To The Devil, If You Do Not Desire To Live According To It.

In This Revolution No Plans Have Been Written For Retreat.

He Who Is Well Acquainted With The Text Of Scripture, Is A Distinguished Theologian. For A Bible Passage Or Text Is Of More Value Than The Comments Of Four Authors.

Our Works Do Not Generate Righteousness, Rather Our Righteousness In Christ Generates Works.

A Wicked Tyrant Is Better Than A Wicked War.

How Can A Reason Which Hates God Be Called Sound?

The Heart Overflows With Gladness, And Leaps And Dances For The Joy It Has Found In God. In This Experience The Holy Spirit Is Active, And Has Taught Us In The Flash Of A Moment The Deep Secret Of Joy. You Will Have As Much Joy And Laughter In Life As You Have Faith In God.

I Did Nothing. The Word Did It All.

Even Though They (women) Grow Weary And Wear Themselves Out With Child-bearing, It Does Not Matter; Let Them Go On Bearing Children Till They Die, That Is What They Are There For.

If I Did Not See That The Lord Kept Watch Over The Ship, I Should Long Since Have Abandoned The Helm. But I See Him! - Through The Storm, Strengthening The Tackling, Handling The Yards, Spreading The Sails - Yes More, Commanding The Very Winds! Should I Not Be A Coward If I Abandoned My Post? Let Him Govern, Let Him Carry Us Forward, Let Him Hasten Or Delay; We Will Fear Nothing!

My Dear Pope, I Will Kiss Your Feet And Acknowledge You As Supreme Bishop If You Will Worship My Christ And Grant That Through His Death And Resurrection, Not Through Keeping Your Traditions, We Have Forgiveness Of Sins And Life Eternal.

Acknowledge You

I Have Held Many Things In My Hands, And I Have Lost Them All; But Whatever I Have Placed In God's Hands, That I Still Possess.

The Quest For Glory Can Never Be Satisfied, It Must Be Extinguished.

Demons Live In Many Lands, But Particularly In Prussia.

Be A Sinner, And Let Your Sins Be Strong, But Let Your Trust In Christ Be Stronger, And Rejoice In Christ Who Is The Victor Over Sin, Death, And The World.

While We Contemplate In All Creatures, As In A Mirror, Those Immense Riches Of His Wisdom, Justice, Goodness And Power, We Should Not Meerly Run Them Over Cursorily, And, So To Speak, With A Fleeting Glance, But We Should Ponder Them At Length, Turn Them Over In Our Mind Seriously And Faithfully And Recollect Them Repeatedly.

He Who Loses Sight Of The Word Of God, Falls Into Despair; The Voice Of Heaven No Longer Sustains Him; He Follows Only The Disorderly Tendency Of His Heart.

Over Against The Devil And His Missionaries, The Authors Of False Doctrines And Sects, We Ought To Be Like The Apostle, Impatient, And Rigorously Condemnatory, As Parents Are With The Dog That Bites Their Little One, But The Weeping Child Itself They Soothe.

Every Book Is A Great Action And Every Great Action Is A Book!

A Unjust Law, Is No Law At All.

This Letter [to The Romans] Is Truly The Most Important Piece In The New Testament. It Is Purest Gospel. It Is Well Worth A Christian's While Not Only To Memorize It Word For Word But Also To Occupy Himself With It Daily, As Though It Were The Daily Bread Of The Soul. It Is Impossible To Read Or To Meditate On This Letter Too Much Or Too Well. The More One Deals With It, The More Precious It Becomes, And The Better It Tastes.

The Irony Is I Stopped Going To Church A Few Weeks Later.

Going To Church

Be A Sinner And Sin Strongly, But More Strongly Have Faith And Rejoice In Christ.

[the Psalms Are] A Little Bible, Wherein Everything Contained In The Entire Bible Is Beautifully And Briefly Comprehended.

Let Whatsoever Will Or Can Befall Me, I Will Surely Cleave By My Sweet Savior Christ Jesus, For In Him Am I Baptized; I Can Neither Do Nor Know Anything But Only What He Has Taught Me.

Forgive Us Our Trespasses As We Forgive Them That Trespass Against Us.

When Schools Flourish, All Flourishes.

Your Work Is A Very Sacred Matter. God Delights In It, And Through It, He Wants To Best His Blessings On You. This Praise Of Work Should Be Inscribed On All Tools, On The Forehead And The Faces That Sweat From Toiling.

If I Had Power Over The Jews, As Our Princes And Cities Have, I Would Deal Severely With Their Lying Mouth

A Lie Is Like A Snowball: The Further You Roll It The Bigger It Becomes.

The Kingdom Is To Be In The Midst Of Your Enemies. And He Who Will Not Suffer This Does Not Want To Be Of The Kingdom Of Christ; He Wants To Be Among Friends, To Sit Among Roses And Lilies, Not With The Bad People But The Devout People. O You Blasphemers And Betrayers Of Christ! If Christ Had Done What You Are Doing, Who Would Ever Have Been Spared?

I [i.e., God] Have Given You Baptism As A Gift For The Forgiveness Of Sins, And Preach To You Unceasingly By Word Of Mouth Concerning This Treasure, Sealing It With The Sacrament Of My Body And Blood, So That You Need Never Doubt. True, It Seems Little And Insignificant That By The Washing Of Water, The Word, And The Sacrament This Should All Be Effected. But Don't Let Your Eyes Deceive You.

I Know That A Christian Should Be Humble, But Against The Pope I Am Going To Be Proud And Say To Him: "you, Pope, I Will Not Have You For My Boss, For I Am Sure That My Doctrine Is Divine.

Your God Is Altogether Too Human.

What Are The Things We Should Pray For? First, Our Personal Troubles...the Greatest Trouble We Can Ever Know Is Thinking That We Have No Trouble For We Can Become Hard-hearted And Insensible To What Is Inside Of Us.

We Are At Fault For Not Slaying The Jews.

Truly, If Faith Is There, The Believer Cannot Hold Back... He Breaks Out Into Good Works.

When We Hear That Christ Was Made A Curse For Us, Let Us Believe It With Joy And Assurance. By Faith Christ Changes Places With Us. He Gets Our Sins, We Get His Holiness.

When God Wants To Speak And Deal With Us, He Does Not Avail Himself Of An Angel But Of Parents, Or The Pastor, Or Of Our Neighbor.

We Know, On The Authority Of Moses, That Longer Than Six Thousand Years The World Did Not Exist.

The Bible Is The Cradle That Holds The Christ, Without Him It Is Nothing More Than Wood And Straw.

To Turn One's Eyes Away From Jesus Means To Turn Them To The Law.

Sheep, Cattle, Men-servants Were All Possessions To Be Sold As It Pleased Their Masters. It Were A Good Thing Were It Still So. For Else No Man May Compel Nor Tame The Servile Folk.

The Saved Are Singled Out Not By Their Own Merits, But By The Grace Of The Mediator.

When Asked What He Would Do If He Knew The World Would End Tomorrow, Martin Luther Said, "i Would Plant A Tree."

The Pope Is A Mere Tormentor Of Conscience. The Assembly Of His Greased And Religious Crew In Praying Was Altogether Like The Croaking Of Frogs, Which Edified Nothing At All.

It Is The Part Of A Christian To Take Care Of His Own Body For The Very Purpose That, By Its Soundness And Wellbeing, He May Be Enabled To Labour, And To Acquire And Preserve Property, For The Aid Of Those Who Are In Want, That Thus The Stronger Member May Serve The Weaker Member, And We May Be Children Of God, And Busy For One Another, Bearing One Another's Burdens, And So Fulfiling The Law Of Christ.

Faith Is A Living, Bold Trust In God's Grace, So Certain Of God's Favour That It Would Risk Death A Thousand Times Trusting In It. Such Confidence And Knowledge Of God's Grace Makes You Happy, Joyful And Bold In Your Relationship To God And All Creatures. The Holy Spirit Makes This Happen Through Faith. Because Of It, You Freely, Willingly And Joyfully Do Good To Everyone, Serve Everyone, Suffer All Kinds Of Things, Love And Praise The God Who Has Shown You Such Grace.

It Is Cheering To Note That [martin] Luther (1524) Did Not See Why Schools Should Not Be Fun As Well: "now Since The Young Must Leap And Jump, Or Have Something To Do, Because They Have A Natural Desire For It Which Should Not Be Restrained (for It Is Not Well To Check Them In Everything) Why Should We Not Provide For Them Such Schools, And Lay Before Them Such Studies?

If Then, Moses So Distinctly Announces That There Is In Us Not Only A Faculty, But Also A Facility For Keeping All Commandments, Why Are We Sweating So Much? ... What Need Is There Now Of Christ Or Of Spirit? We Have Found A Passage That Asserts Freedom Of Choice, But Also Distinctly Teaches That The Keeping Of The Commandments Is Easy.

Of All Deadly Sins, This Is The Most Deadly, Namely, That Any One Should Think He Is Not Guilty Of A Damnable And Deadly Sin Before God.

To Comfort A Sorrowful Conscience Is Much Better Than To Possess Many Kngdoms; Yet The World Regards It Not; Nay, Condemns It, Calling Us Rebels, Dissturbers Of The Peace.

Anyone Who Can Be Proved To Be A Seditious Person Is An Outlaw Before God And The Emperor; And Whoever Is The First To Put Him To Death Does Right And Well. Therefore Let Everyone Who Can, Smite, Slay And Stab, Secretly Or Openly, Remembering That Nothing Can Be More Poisonous, Hurtful, Or Devilish Than A Rebel.

This Is True Faith, A Living Confidence In The Goodness Of God.

What Is Our Death But A Night's Sleep? For As Through Sleep All Weariness And Faintness Pass Away And Cease, And The Powers Of The Spirit Come Back Again, So That In The Morning We Arise Fresh And Strong And Joyous; So At The Last Day We Shall Rise Again As If We Had Only Slept A Night, And Shall Be Fresh And Strong.

We Must Make A Great Difference Between God's Word And The Word Of Man. A Man's Word Is A Little Sound, That Flies Into The Air, And Soon Vanishes; But The Word Of God Is Greater Than Heaven And Earth, Yea, Greater Than Death And Hell, For It Forms Part Of The Power Of God, And Endures Everlastingly.

Good Works Do Not Make A Good Man, But A Good Man Does Good Works.

Let Him Who Wants A True Church Cling To The Word By Which Everything Is Upheld.

A Dairymaid Can Milk Cows To The Glory Of God

Faith Does Not Inquire Whether There Are Good Works To Be Done, But Even Before Asking Questions, Faith Has Done The Works Already.

Asking Questions

It Is With All These Qualities That We Must Stand Before God And Intervene On Behalf Of Those Who Do Not Have Them, As Though Clothed With Someone Else's Garmentbut Even Before Men We Must, With The Same Love, Render Them Service Against Their Detractors And Those Who Are Violent Toward Them; For This Is What Christ Did For Us.

Someone Asked Luther, "do You Feel That You've Been Forgiven?" He Answered, "no, But I'm As Sure As There's A God In Heaven!"

To Pray Diligently Is More Than Half The Task.

Every Country Must Have Its Own Devil. Welshland Its Own, And France Its Own. Our German Devil Will Be A Good Wind-pipe, And Must Be Called Drinking, Being So Thirsty And Hell-like That No Guzzling Of Wine And Beer, However Large, Will Cool It Off, And I Fear That Such Will Ever Remain Germany's Plague, Until The Day Of Judgment.

God Is Not A God Of Sadness, Death, Etc., But The Devil Is. Christ Is A God Of Joy, And So The Scriptures Often Say That We Should Rejoice ... A Christian Should And Must Be A Cheerful Person.

Sin Cannot Tear You Away From Him [christ] Even Though You Commit Adultery A Hundred Times A Day And Commit As Many Murders.

People Must Have Righteous Principals In The First, And Then They Will Not Fail To Perform Virtuous Actions.

Faith Is A Living, Daring, Confidence In God's Grace.

How Great, Therefore, The Wickedness Of Human Nature Is! How Many Girls There Are Who Prevent Conception And Kill And Expel Tender Fetuses, Although Procreation Is The Work Of God.

The Prosperity Of A Country Depends, Not On The Abundance Of Its Revenues, Nor On The Strength Of Its Fortifications, Nor On The Beauty Of Its Public Buildings; But It Consists In The Number Of Its Cultivated Citizens, In Its Men Of Education, Enlightenment And Character.

And Though This World With Devils Filled, Should Threaten To Undo Us, We Will Not Fear, For God Hath Willed His Truth To Triumph Through Us.

Why Do You Rant And Brag With Such A Spate Of Words, As If You Wanted To Overwhelm Me With A Sort Of Tempest And Deluge Of Oratory-which Nevertheless Falls With The Greater Force On Your Own Head, While My Ark Rides Aloft In Safety?

This Is The Good And Happy News, That Christ Has Paid For Our Sin, And Through His Suffering Has Redeemed Us From Eternal Death. It Is His Kingdom And His Ministry, To Preach The Gospel To The Poor; That Is His Purpose. For To The Great And Holy He Cannot Come. They Do Not Wish To Be Counted Sinners, And Therefore Do Not Need His Gospel.

I Have So Much To Do Today, I'll Need To Spend Another Hour On My Knees.

Reason Must Be Deluded, Blinded, And Destroyed. Faith Must Trample Underfoot All Reason, Sense, And Understanding, And Whatever It Sees Must Be Put Out Of Sight And ... Know Nothing But The Word Of God.

What Is Sought By Means Of Free Choice Is To Make Room For Merits.

I've Got So Much Work To Do Today, I'd Better Spend Two Hours In Prayer Instead Of One.

Our Office...subjects Us To Great Burdens And Labors, Dangers And Temptations, With Little Reward Or Gratitude From The World. But Christ Himself Will Be Our Reward If We Labor Faithfully.

The Cross Alone Is Our Theology.

Animals Are Footprints Of God.

What Is It To Serve God And To Do His Will? Nothing Else Than To Show Mercy To Our Neighbor. For It Is Our Own Neighbor Who Needs Our Service; God In Heaven Needs It Not.

Jews And Papists Are Ungodly Wretches; They Are Two Stockings Made Of One Piece Of Cloth.

If Ever The Church Is To Flourish Again, One Must Begin By Instructing The Young.

What Man, If He Were God, Would Humble Himself To Lie In The Feedbox Of A Donkey Or To Hang Upon A Cross?

Yes, I See The Church As The Body Of Christ. But, Oh! How We Have Blemished And Scarred That Body Through Social Neglect And Through Fear Of Being Nonconformists.

Unless I Am Convicted By Scripture And Plain Reason-i Do Not Accept The Authority Of Popes And Councils, For They Have Contradicted Each Other-my Conscience Is Captive To The Word Of God. I Cannot And Will Not Recant Anything, For To Go Against Conscience Is Neither Right Nor Safe. Here I Stand, I Cannot Do Otherwise. God Help Me. Amen.

They Gave Our Master A Crown Of Thorns, Why Do We Hope For A Crown Of Roses?

I Greatly Fear That The Universities, Unless They Teach The Holy Scriptures Diligently And Impress Them On The Young Students, Are Wide Gates To Hell.

God Creates Out Of Nothing. Therefore, Until A Man Is Nothing, God Can Make Nothing Out Of Him.

If The Heart Has Been Reformed By The Spirit, It Makes Use Of Both The Useful And Delightful Things Created And Given By God In A Holy Manner And With Thanksgiving.

No One May Forsake Their Neighbors When They Are In Trouble. Everybody Is Under Obligation To Help And Support Their Neighbors As They Would Themselves Like To Be Helped.

Help And Support

Be A Sinner And Sin Boldly, But Believe And Rejoice In Christ Even More Boldly.

A Happy Fart Never Comes From A Miserable Ass.

As Long As We Live There Is Never Enough Singing.

We Should Throw The Epistle Of James Out Of This School.

When God Contemplates Some Great Work, He Begins It By The Hand Of Some Poor, Weak, Human Creature, To Whom He Afterwards Gives Aid.

The Best Way To Get Rid Of The Devil, If You Cannot Kill It With The Words Of Holy Scripture, Is To Rail At And Mock Him. Music, Too, Is Very Good; Music Is Hateful To Him, And Drives Him Far Away.

Everything That Is Done In This World Is Done By Hope.

[our] Plan Is To Follow The Example Of The Prophets And The Ancient Fathers Of The Church, And To Compose Psalms...so That The Word Of God May Be Among The People Also In The Form Of Music.

The Mad Mob Does Not Ask How It Could Be Better, Only That It Be Different. And When It Then Becomes Worse, It Must Change Again. Thus They Get Bees For Flies, And At Last Hornets For Bees.

Nothing Is Easier Than Sinning.

Ah, If I Could Only Pray The Way That Dog Looks At Meat.

The Heart Of The Giver Makes The Gift Dear And Precious.

I Think These Things [firearms] Were Invented By Satan Himself, For They Can't Be Defended Against With (ordinary) Weapons And Fists. All Human Strength Vanishes When Confronted With Firearms. A Man Is Dead Before He Sees What's Coming.

Our Most Merciful Father, Seeing Us To Be Oppressed And Overwhelmed With The Curse Of The Law . . . Sent His Only Son Into The World And Laid Upon Him All The Sins Of All Men, Saying, 'you Be Peter That Denier, Paul That Persecutor, Blasphemer And Cruel Oppressor, David That Adulterer, That Sinner Who Ate The Apple In Paradise, That Thief Who Hung Upon The Cross, And Briefly, You Be The Person Who Has Committed The Sins Of All Men. See Therefore That You Pay And Satisfy For Them.'

Whenever The Devil Harasses You, Seek The Company Of Men Or Drink More, Or Joke And Talk Nonsense, Or Do Some Other Merry Thing. Sometimes We Must Drink More, Sport, Recreate Ourselves, And Even Sin A Little To Spite The Devil, So That We Leave Him No Place For Troubling Our Consciences With Trifles. We Are Conquered If We Try Too Conscientiously Not To Sin At All. So When The Devil Says To You: Do Not Drink, Answer Him: I Will Drink, And Right Freely, Just Because You Tell Me Not To.

The Law Of God Cannot Be Fulfilled By External Obedience.

If We Wish To Wash Our Hands Of The Jews Blasphemy And Not Share In Their Guilt, We Have To Part Company With Them. They Must Be Driven From Our Country.

Our Lord Has Written The Promise Of Resurrection, Not In Books Alone, But In Every Leaf In Springtime.

All The Cunning Of The Devil Is Exercised In Trying To Tear Us Away From The Word.

Prayer Is A Strong Wall And Fortress Of The Church; It Is A Goodly Christian Weapon.

‎what You Do In Your House Is Worth As Much As If You Did It Up In Heaven For Our Lord God. We Should Accustom Ourselves To Think Of Our Position And Work As Sacred And Well-pleasing To God, Not On Account Of The Position And Work, But On Account Of The Word And Faith From Which The Obedience And Work Flow.

The Fruit Does Not Make The Tree Good Or Bad But The Tree Itself Is What Determines The Nature Of The Fruit. In The Same Way, A Person First Must Be Good Or Bad Before Doing A Good Or Bad Work.

The Best Way To Drive Out The Devil, If He Will Not Yield To Texts Of Scripture, Is To Jeer And Flout Him, For He Cannot Bear Scorn.

Faith Looks To The Word And The Promise; That Is, To The Truth. But Hope Looks To That Which The Word Has Promised, To The Gift .

Next To The Word Of God, The Noble Art Of Music Is The Greatest Treasure In The World.

Greatest Treasure

For That Purpose Christ Instituted Holy Baptism, Thereby To Clothe You With His Righteousness. It Is Tantamount To His Saying, My Righteousness Shall Be Your Righteousness; My Innocence, Your Innocence. Your Sins Indeed Are Great, But By Baptism I Bestow On You My Righteousness; I Strip Death From You And Clothe You With My Life.

I More Fear What Is Within Me Than What Comes From Without.

One Book Is Enough, But A Thousand Books Is Not Too Many!

The Gospel Cannot Be Truly Preached Without Offense And Tumult.

The Gospel Is Nothing Less Than Laughter And Joy.

Laughter And Joy

Good Works Are The Seals And Proofs Of Faith; For Even As A Letter Must Have A Seal To Strengthen The Same, Even So Faith Must Have Good Works.

It Is Better To Think Of Church In The Ale-house Than To Think Of The Ale-house In Church.

When I Was A Child There Were Many Witches, And They Bewitched Both Cattle And Men, Especially Children.

It Is Impossible For A Man To Be A Christian Without Having Christ; And If He Has Christ He Has At The Same Time All That Is In Christ.

Take A Look At Your Own Heart, And You Will Soon Find Out What Has Stuck To It And Where Your Treasure Is. It Is Easy To Determine Whether Hearing The Word Of God, Living According To It, And Achieving Such A Life Gives You As Much Enjoyment And Calls Forth As Much Diligence From You As Does Accumulating And Saving Money And Property.

Believest Thou? Then Thou Wilt Speak Boldly. Speakest Thou Boldy? Then Thou Must Suffer. Sufferest Thou? Then Thou Shalt Be Comforted. For Faith, The Confession Thereof, And The Cross Do Follow One Another.

When I Am Angry I Can Write, Pray, And Preach Well, For Then My Whole Temperament Is Quickened, My Understanding Sharpened, And All Mundane Vexations And Temptations Depart.

God Has Surely Promised His Grace To The Humbled: That Is, To Those Who Mourn Over And Despair Of Themselves. But A Man Cannot Be Thoroughly Humbled Till He Realizes That His Salvation Is Utterly Beyond His Own Powers, Counsels, Efforts, Will And Works, And Depends Absolutely On The Will, Counsel, Pleasure And Work Of Another -- God Alone.

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Shel Silverstein

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