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On Coming To The House, They (the Magi), Saw The Child With His Mother Mary, And They Bowed Down And Worshiped Him. (matthew 2:11) [this] Adoration, Too, Was Not The Same As The Worship Of God. In My Opinion They Did Not Yet Recognize Him As God, But They Acted In Keeping With The Custom Mentioned In Scripture, According To Which Kings And Important People Were Worshiped; This Did Not Mean More Than Falling Down Before Them At Their Feet And Honoring Them.

-Martin Luther

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On Coming To The

Martin Luther

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On Coming To The House, They (the Magi), Saw The Child With His Mother Mary, And They Bowed Down And Worshiped Him. (matthew 2:11) [this] Adoration, Too, Was Not The Same As The Worship Of God. In My Opinion They Did Not Yet Recognize Him As God, But They Acted In Keeping With The Custom Mentioned In Scripture, According To Which Kings And Important People Were Worshiped; This Did Not Mean More Than Falling Down Before Them At Their Feet And Honoring Them.

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We Cannot Attain To The Understanding Of Scripture Either By Study Or By The Intellect. Your First Duty Is To Begin By Prayer. Entreat The Lord To Grant You, Of His Great Mercy, The True Understanding Of His Word. There Is No Other Interpreter Of The Word Of God Than The Author Of This Word, As He Himself Has Said, "they Shall Be All Taught Of God" (john 6:45). Hope For Nothing From Your Own Labors, From Your Own Understanding: Trust Solely In God, And In The Influence Of His Spirit. Believe This On The Word Of A Man Who Has Experience.

I Believe That The Devil Has Destroyed Many Good Books Of The Church, As, Aforetime, He Killed And Crushed Many Holy Persons, The Memory Of Whom Has Now Passed Away; But The Bible He Was Fain To Leave Subsisting.

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

Not Only The Adoration Of Images Is Idolatry, But Also Trust In One's Own Righteousness, Works And Merits, And Putting Confidence In Riches And Power. As The Latter Is The Commonest, So It Also Is The Most Noxious.

In Short, I Will Preach It [the Word], Teach It, Write It, But I Will Constrain No Man By Force, For Faith Must Come Freely Without Compulsion. Take Myself As An Example. I Opposed Indulgences And All The Papists, But Never With Force. I Simply Taught, Preached, And Wrote God's Word; Otherwise I Did Nothing. And While I Slept, Or Drank Wittenberg Beer With My Friends Philip And Amsdorf, The Word So Greatly Weakened The Papacy That No Prince Or Emperor Ever Inflicted Such Losses Upon It. I Did Nothing; The Word Did Everything.

Many Sweat To Reconcile St Paul And St James, But In Vain. 'faith Justifies' And 'faith Does Not Justify' Contradict Each Other Flatly. If Any One Can Harmonize Them I Will Give Him My Doctor's Hood And Let Him Call Me A Fool.

Daily There Have To Be Many Troubles And Trials In Every House, City, And Country. No Station In Life Is Free Of Suffering And Pain, Both From Your Own, Like Your Wife Or Children Or Household Help Or Subjects, And From The Outside, From Your Neighbors And All Sorts Of Accidental Trouble.

I Cannot Neglect Prayer For A Single Day.

Faith Is A Living, Daring Confidence In God's Grace, So Sure And Certain That A Man Would Stake His Life On It One Thousand Times. This Confidence In God's Grace And Knowledge Of It Makes Men Glad And Bold And Happy In Dealing With God And With All Creatures; And This Is The Work Of The Holy Ghost In Faith.

If I Could Believe That God Was Not Angry With Me, I Would Stand On My Head For Joy.

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

The Great Event On Calvary . . . Is An Eternal Reminder To A Power Drunk Generation That Love Is The Most Durable Power In The World, And That It Is At Bottom The Heartbeat Of The Moral Cosmos. Only Through Achieving This Love Can You Expect To Matriculate Into The University Of Eternal Life.

The Devil Flees Before The Sound Of Music Almost As Much As Before The Word Of God.

Whoever Has Skill In Music Is Of Good Temperament And Fitted For All Things. We Must Teach Music In Schools.

Prayer Is Climbing Up Into The Heart Of God.

Dearest Jesus, Holy Child, Make Thee A Bed, Soft, Undefiled, Within My Heart, That It May Be A Quiet Chamber Kept For Thee.

It Would Be A Good Thing If Young People Were Wise And Old People Were Strong, But God Has Arranged Things Better.

So Great Are The Effectiveness And Power Of The Word Of God That The More It Is Persecuted The More It Flourishes And Grows.

Thought Provoking

A Good Servant Is A Real Godsend, But Truly This Is A Rare Bird In The Land.

Music Must Be Supported By The King And The Princes, For The Maintenance Of The Arts Is Their Duty No Less Than The Maintenance Of The Laws.

Do Not Suppose That Abuses Are Eliminated By Destroying The Object Which Is Abused. Men Can Go Wrong With Wine And Women. Shall We Then Prohibit And Abolish Women?

Always Preach In Such A Way That If The People Listening Do Not Come To Hate Their Sin, They Will Instead Hate You

We Conclude, Therefore, That A Christian Lives Not In Himself, But In Christ And In His Neighbor. Otherwise He Is Not A Christian. He Lives In Christ Through Faith, In His Neighbor Through Love. By Faith He Is Caught Up Beyond Himself Into God. By Love He Descends Beneath Himself Into His Neighbor.

Let Us Not Flutter Too High, But Remain By The Manger And The Swaddling Clothes Of Christ, 'in Whom Dwelleth All The Fullness Of The Godhead Bodily.'

We Need To Pledge Ourselves Anew To The Cause Of Christ. We Must Capture The Spirit Of The Early Church. Wherever The Early Christians Went, They Made A Triumphant Witness For Christ. Whether On The Village Streets Or In The City Jails, They Daringly Proclaimed The Good News Of The Gospel.

It Cannot, Indeed, Be Denied, That A Good Man Is More Worthy Of Love Than A Bad One.

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.

The Forces Of Good And Evil Are Working Within And Around Me, I Must Choose, And In A Free Will Universe I Do Have A Choice.

In His Life Christ Is An Example Showing Us How To Live In His Death He Is A Sacrifice Satisfying Our Sins In His Resurrection A Conqueror In His Ascension A King In His Intercession A High Priest.

...hope Endures And Overcomes Misfortune And Evil.

Either Sin Is With You, Lying On Your Shoulders, Or It Is Lying On Christ, The Lamb Of God.

A Large Number Of Deaf, Crippled And Blind People Are Afflicted Solely Through The Malice Of The Demon. And One Must In No Wise Doubt That Plagues, Fevers And Every Sort Of Evil Come From Him.

As Long As We Live There Is Never Enough Singing.

I Have Done Nothing; The Word Has Done And Accomplished Everything.... I Let The Word Do Its Work!

In Romans 7, St. Paul Says, "the Law Is Spiritual." What Does That Mean? If The Law Were Physical, Then It Could Be Satisfied By Works, But Since It Is Spiritual, No One Can Satisfy It Unless Everything He Does Springs From The Depths Of The Heart. But No One Can Give Such A Heart Except The Spirit Of God, Who Makes The Person Be Like The Law, So That He Actually Conceives A Heartfelt Longing For The Law And Henceforward Does Everything, Not Through Fear Or Coercion, But From A Free Heart.

The Devil And Temptations Also Do Give Occasion Unto Us Somewhat To Learn And Understand The Scriptures, By Experience And Practice. Without Trials And Temptations We Should Never Understand Anything Thereof; No, Not Although We Diligently Read And Heard The Same.

Grace Was Not Given To Heal The Spiritually Sick But To Decorate Spiritual Heroes!

If You Could Understand A Single Grain Of Wheat You Would Die Of Wonder.

Everything Is From God Himself, Both Commandment And Fulfillment. He Alone Commands; He Alone Fulfills.

He Who Knoweth And Understandeth Christ's Life, Knoweth And Understandeth Christ Himself; And In Like Manner, He Who Understandeth Not His Life, Doth Not Understand Christ Himself. And He Who Believeth On Christ, Believeth That His Life Is The Best And Noblest Life That Can Be, And If A Man Believe Not This, Neither Doth He Believe On Christ Himself.

True Humility Does Not Know That It Is Humble. If It Did, It Would Be Proud From The Contemplation Of So Fine A Virtue.

The Defects Of A Preacher Are Soon Spied.

In Human Affairs We Accomplish Everything Through Prayer. What Has Been Properly Arranged We Keep In Order, What Has Gone Amiss We Change And Improve, What Cannot Be Changed And Improved We Bear, Overcoming All The Trouble And Sustaining All The Good By Prayer. Against Force There Is No Help But Prayer Alone.

Is It Not Wonderful News To Believe That Salvation Lies Outside Ourselves?

In This Revolution No Plans Have Been Written For Retreat.

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

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.

Christ Desires Nothing More Of Us Than That We Speak Of Him.

The Devil, It Is True, Is Not Exactly A Doctor Who Has Taken Degrees, But He Is Very Learned, Very Expert For All That. He Has Not Been Carrying On His Business During Thousands Of Years For Nothing.

The Curses Of The Ungodly Are More Pleasing To God's Ears Than The Hallelujahs Of The Pious

Christianity Can Be Summed Up In The Two Terms Faith And Love...receiving From Above [faith] And Giving Out Below [love].

For Some Years Now I Have Read Through The Bible Twice Every Year. If You Picture The Bible To Be A Mighty Tree And Every Word A Little Branch, I Have Shaken Every One Of These Branches Because I Wanted To Know What It Was And What It Meant.

A Dairymaid Can Milk Cows To The Glory Of God

War Is The Greatest Plague That Can Afflict Humanity, It Destroys Religion, It Destroys States, It Destroys Families. Any Scourge Is Preferable To It.

Every Man Must Do Two Things Alone; He Must Do His Own Believing And His Own Dying.

A Man Must Be Able To Affirm, I Know For Certain, That What I Teach Is The Only Word Of The High Majesty Of God In Heaven, His Final Conclusion And Everlasting, Unchangeable Truth, And Whatsoever Concurs And Agrees Not With This Doctrine, Is Altogether False, And Spun By The Devil.

Where The Battle Rages, There The Loyalty Of The Soldier Is Proved.

Count It One Of The Highest Virtues Upon Earth To Educate Faithfully The Children Of Others, Which So Few, And Scarcely Any, Do By Their Own.

God Is Entirely And Personally Present In The Wilderness, In The Garden, In The Field.

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

When We Are Inclined To Boast Of Our Position [as Christians] We Should Remember That We Are But Gentiles, While The Jews Are Of The Lineage Of Christ. We Are Aliens And In-laws; They Are Blood Relatives, Cousins, And Brothers Of Our Lord. Therefore, If One Is To Boast Of Flesh And Blood The Jews Are Actually Nearer To Christ Than We Are.

[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.

Music Is The 5th Gospel.

Thoughts Are Not Subject To Duty.

At Sussen, The Devil Carried Off, Last Good Friday, Three Grooms Who Had Devoted Themselves To Him.

He That Will Maintain That Man's Free Will Is Able To Do Or Work Anything In Spiritual Cases, Be They Never So Small, Denies Christ.

From The Beginning Of My Reformation I Have Asked God To Send Me Neither Dreams, Nor Visions, Nor Angels, But To Give Me The Right Understanding Of His Word, The Holy Scriptures; For As Long As I Have God's Word, I Know That I Am Walking In His Way And That I Shall Not Fall Into Any Error Or Delusion.

My Counsel Is, That We Draw Water From The True Source And Fountain, That Is, That We Diligently Search The Scriptures. He Who Wholly Possesses The Text Of The Bible, Is A Consummate Divine.

If The Devil Were Wise Enough And Would Stand By In Silence And Let The Gospel Be Preached, He Would Suffer Less Harm. For When There Is No Battle For The Gospel It Rusts And It Finds No Cause And No Occasion To Show Its Vigor And Power. Therefore, Nothing Better Can Befall The Gospel Than That The World Should Fight It With Force And Cunning.

Peter Erred In Life And In Doctrine. Paul Might Have Dismissed Peter's Error As A Matter Of No Consequence. But Paul Saw That Peter's Error Would Lead To The Damage Of The Whole Church Unless It Were Corrected. Therefore He Withstood Peter To His Face. The Church, Peter, The Apostles, Angels From Heaven, Are Not To Be Heard Unless They Teach The Genuine Word Of God.

He Who Hears This Name [god] From A Jew Must Inform The Authorities, Or Else Throw Sow Dung At Him When He Sees Him And Chase Him Away.

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.

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.

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

Christ Is The Master; The Scriptures Are Only The Servant.

Faith Cannot Be Inherited Or Gained By Being Baptized Into A Church. Faith Is A Matter Between The Individual And God.

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

The Will Of Man Without Grace Is Not Free, But Is Enslaved, And That Too With Its Own Consent.

When Our Lord And Master Jesus Christ Said, 'repent,' He Willed The Entire Life Of Believers To Be One Of Repentance.

War For The Sake Of War Is Sin, But War For The Sake Of Defense Is Duty.

For God Does Not Want To Save Us By Our Own But By An Extraneous Righteousness, One That Does Not Originate In Ourselves But Comes To Us From Beyond Ourselves, Which Does Not Arise On Earth But Comes From Heaven.

Each Betrayal Begins With Trust.

Betraying Friends

Demons Live In Many Lands, But Particularly In Prussia.

Is It Not A Thing Most Abominable, That God Who Feeds So Many Mouths, Should Be Held In Such Low Esteem By Me, That I Will Not Trust Him To Feed Me? Yea, That A Guilder, Thirty-eight Cents, Should Be Valued More Highly Than God, Who Pours Out His Treasures Everywhere In Rich Profusion. For The World Is Full Of God And His Works. He Is Everywhere Present With His Gifts, And Yet We Will Not Trust In Him, Nor Accept His Visitation.

Mary Was Not Only Holy. She Was Also The Mother Of The Lord.

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.

Let Us Not Lose The Bible, But With Diligence, In Fear And Invocation Of God, Read And Preach It. While That Remains And Flourishes, All Prospers With The State; 'tis Head And Empress Of All Arts And Faculties. Let But Divinity Fall, And I Would Not Give A Straw For The Rest.

It Seems To Me That The Most Delightful Walk Of Life Is To Be Found In A Household Of Moderate Means, To Live There With An Obliging Spouse And To Be Satisfied With Little.

God Himself Will Milk The Cows Through Him Whose Vocation That Is.

No One Would Be Happier Than Luther To Be Commended By The Testimony Of The Time That He Had Been Neither Slack Nor Deceitful In Maintaining The Course Of Truth, But Had Shown Quite Enough And Even Too Much Vehemence.

The Fact That The Biblical Book Hebrews Is Not An Epistle Of St Paul, Or Of Any Other Apostle, Is Proved By What It Says In Chapter Two.

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

I Pray That God Would Open The Mouth In Me And The Heart In You And That He Would Be The Teacher In The Midst Of Us Who May In Us Speak And Hear.

I Have To Hurry All Day To Get Time To Pray.

The Gospel Cannot Be Truly Preached Without Offense And Tumult.

Whenever The Word Is Rightly Preached, And Attentively Heard, It Never Fails To Bring Forth Fruit.

A Woman Has No Control Over Herself.

First I Shake The Whole Apple Tree, That The Ripest Might Fall. Then I Climb The Tree And Shake Each Limb, And Then Each Branch And Then Each Twig, And Then I Look Under Each Leaf.

The Recognition Of Sin Is The Beginning Of Salvation

There Can Be No Be No Better Instruction... Than That Every Man Who Is To Deal With His Neighbor To Follow These Commandments. 'whatsoever Ye Would That Others Should Do Unto You, Do Ye Also Unto Them,' And 'love Thy Neighbor As Thyself.' If These Were Always Followed, Then Everything Would Instruct And Arrange Itself; Then No Law Books Nor Courts Nor Judicial Actions Would Be Required. All Things Would Quietly And Simply Be Set To Rights, For Everyone's Heart And Conscience Would Guide Them.

I Do Not Deny That Medicine Is A Gift Of God, Nor Do I Refuse To Acknowledge Science In The Skill Of Many Physicians; But, Take The Best Of Them, How Far Are They From Perfection? A Sound Regimen Produces Excellent Effects. When I Feel Indisposed, By Observing A Strict Diet And Going To Bed Early, I Generally Manage To Get Round Again, That Is, If I Can Keep My Mind Tolerably At Rest. I Have No Objection To The Doctors Acting Upon Certain Theories, But, At The Same Time, They Must Not Expect Us To Be The Slaves Of Their Fancies.

The Devil Won't Stay Where There Is Music.

Christians Are Rare People On Earth.

Maternity Is A Glorious Thing, Since All Mankind Has Been Conceived, Born, And Nourished Of Women. All Human Laws Should Encourage The Multiplication Of Families.

So Tenaciously Should We Cling To The World Revealed By The Gospel, That Were I To See All The Angels Of Heaven Coming Down To Me To Tell Me Something Different, Not Only Would I Not Be Tempted To Doubt A Single Syllable, But I Would Shut My Eyes And Stop My Ears, For They Would Not Deserve To Be Either Seen Or Heard.

People Go Through Three Conversions: The Conversion Of Their Head, Their Heart, And Their Pocketbook. Unfortunately, Not All At The Same Time.

There Is No Rustic So Rude But That, If He Dreams Or Fancies Anything, It Must Be The Whisper Of The Holy Ghost, And He Himself A Prophet.

Faith, Like Light, Should Always Be Simple And Unbending; While Love, Like Warmth, Should Beam Forth On Every Side, And Bend To Every Necessity Of Our Brethren.

A Christian Has No Need Of Any Law In Order To Be Saved, Since Through Faith We Are Free From Every Law. Thus All The Acts Of A Christian Are Done Spontaneously, Out Of A Sense Of Pure Liberty.

Our Faith Is An Astounding Thing-astounding That I Should Believe Him To Be The Son Of God Who Is Suspended On The Cross, Whom I Have Never Seen, With Whom I Have Never Become Acquainted.

Christ Wants To Slay Reason And Subdue The Arrogance Of The Jews.

The Deceiver Can Magnify A Little Sin For The Purpose Of Causing One To Worry, Torture, And Kill Oneself With It. This Is Why A Christian Should Learn Not To Let Anyone Easily Create An Evil Conscience In Him. Rather Let Him Say, "this Error And This Failing Pass Away With My Other Imperfections And Sins, Which I Must Include In The Article Of Faith: I Believe In The Forgiveness Of Sins.

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

It Is The Most Ungodly And Dangerous Business To Abandon The Certain And Revealed Will Of God In Order To Search In To The Hidden Mysteries Of God.

For Where God Built A Church, There The Devil Would Also Build A Chapel.

What Shall We Do With...the Jews?...set Fire To Their Synagogues Or Schools And Bury And Cover With Dirt Whatever Will Not Burn, So That No Man Will Ever Again See A Stone Or Cinder Of Them.

The World Doesn't Want To Be Punished. It Wants To Remain In Darkness. It Doesn't Want To Be Told That What It Believes Is False. If You Also Don't Want To Be Corrected, Then You Might As Well Leave The Church And Spend Your Time At The Bar And Brothel. But If You Want To Be Saved-and Remember That There's Another Life After This One-you Must Accept Correction.

World, Death, Devil, Hell, Away And Leave Me In Peace! You Have No Hold On Me. If You Will Not Let Me Live, Then I Will Die. But You Won't Succeed In That. Chop My Head Off, And It Won't Harm Me. I Have A God Who Will Give Me A New One.

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

Idiots, The Lame, The Blind, The Dumb, Are Men In Whom The Devils Have Established Themselves: And All The Physicians Who Heal These Infirmities, As Though They Proceeded From Natural Causes, Are Ignorant Blockheads.

Who Waits Until Circumstances Completely Favor His Undertaking, Will Never Accomplish Anything.

Procrastination

If I Could Today Become King Or Emperor, I Would Not Give Up My Office As Preacher.

Whenever The True Message Of The Cross Is Abolished, The Anger Of Hypocrites And Heretics Eases And All Things Seem To Be At Peace.

It Is Not I That Smite, Stab, And Slay, But God And My Prince, For My Hand And My Body Are Now Their Servants.

The Devil...clutched Hold Of The Miserable Young Man...and Flew Off With Him Through The Ceiling, Since Which Time Nothing Has Been Heard Of Him.

[the Papists] Ought To Have Sympathy With Us Weak, Poor Christians, And Not Condemn Us Or Make Fun Of Us Because We Are Learning So Childishly To Toddle Along The Benches, Nay, To Creep In The Mire, And Cannot Skip And Dance, On Such Light Feet And Legs, Over And Outside Of God's Commandments, As They Do, The Strong Heroes And Giants ... God Forbid That We Should!

Music Is A Fair And Glorious Gift Of God. I Am Strongly Persuaded That After Theology, There Is No Art Which Can Be Placed On The Level With Music.

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

Dear Rulers ... I Maintain That The Civil Authorities Are Under Obligation To Compel The People To Send Their Children To School. ... If The Government Can Compel Such Citizens As Are Fit For Military Service To Bear Spear And Rifle, To Mount Ramparts, And Perform Other Martial Duties In Time Of War, How Much More Has It A Right To Compel The People To Send Their Children To School, Because In This Case We Are Warring With The Devil, Whose Object It Is Secretly To Exhaust Our Cities And Principalities Of Their Strong Men.

I See A Word That Hates Evil More Than It Loves Good.

We Refuse To Believe That There Are Insufficient Funds In The Great Vaults Of Opportunity Of This Nation.

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

If God Had Not Permitted The People Of Jerusalem To Be Torn Asunder And Driven Them From The Land, But Had Let Them Keep It After Before, No One Could Convince Them That They Are Not God`s Chosen People.

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!"

Grant That I May Not Pray Alone With The Mouth; Help Me That I May Pray From The Depths Of My Heart.

This Is The Most Dangerous Trial Of All, When There Is No Trial And Every Thing Goes Well; For Then A Man Is Tempted To Forget God, To Become Too Bold And To Misuse Times Of Prosperity.

God Is A Blank Sheet Upon Which Nothing Is Found But What You Yourself Have Written.

Christian Life Consists Of Faith And Charity

In A Word, The Holy Scripture Is The Highest And Best Of Books, Abounding In Comfort Under All Afflictions And Trials. It Teaches Us To See, To Feel, To Grasp, And To Comprehend Faith, Hope, And Charity, Far Otherwise Than Mere Human Reason Can; And While Evil Oppresses Us, It Teaches How These Virtues Throw Light Upon The Darkness, And How, After This Poor, Miserable Existence Of Ours On Earth, There Is Another And An Eternal Life.

What Do We Older Folks Live For If Not For The Care Of The Young, To Teach And Train Them?

Whatever Man Loves, That Is His God. For He Carries It In His Heart; He Goes About With It Night And Day; He Sleeps And Wakes With It, Be It What It May - Wealth Or Self, Pleasure Or Renown.

Temptations, Of Course, Cannot Be Avoided, But Because We Cannot Prevent The Birds From Flying Over Our Heads, There Is No Need That We Should Let Them Nest In Our Hair.

It Is The Duty Of Every Christian To Be Christ To His Neighbor.

Pure Christian Love Is Not Derived From The Merit Of The Object.

God's Entire Divine Nature Is Wholly And Entirely In All Creatures, More Deeply, More Inwardly, More Present Than The Creature Is To Itself.

When Eve Was Brought Unto Adam, He Became Filled With The Holy Spirit, And Gave Her The Most Sanctified, The Most Glorious Of Appellations. He Called, Her Eva--that Is To Say, The Mother Of All. He Did Not Style Her Wife, But Simply Mother--mother Of All Living Creatures. In This Consists The Glory And The Most Precious Ornament Of Woman.

No Gown Worse Becomes A Woman Than The Desire To Be Wise.

For The Devil Is Better Pleased With Coarse Blockheads And With Folks Who Are Useful To Nobody; Because Where Such Characters Abound, Then Things Do Not Go On Prosperously Here On Earth.

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.

One Is Not Righteous Who Does Much, But The One Who, Without Work, Believes Much In Christ. The Law Says, 'do This,' And It Is Never Done. Grace Says, 'believe In This,' And Everything Is Already Done.

Sinners Are Attractive Because They Are Loved; They Are Not Loved Because They Are Attractive.

It's Not What I Don't Know That Bothers Me - It's What I Do Know And Don't Do!

We Old Folks Have To Find Our Cushions And Pillows In Our Tankards. Strong Beer Is The Milk Of The Old.

All Of A Christian's Life Is One Of Repentance.

None Can Believe How Powerful Prayer Is, And What It Is Able To Effect, But Those Who Have Learned It By Experience.

Christian Living Does Not Mean To Be Good But To Become Good; Not To Be Well, But To Get Well; Not Being But Becoming; Nor Rest But Training. We Are Not Yet, But We Shall Be. It Has Not Yet Happened, But It Is The Way. Not Everything Shines And Sparkles As Yet, But Everything Is Getting Better.

I Should Have No Compassion On These Witches; I Should Burn Them All.

Heretics Are Not To Be Disputed With, But To Be Condemned Unheard, And Whilst They Perish By Fire, The Faithful Ought To Pursue The Evil To Its Source, And Bathe Their Heads In The Blood Of The Catholic Bishops, And Of The Pope, Who Is The Devil In Disguise.

Without Images We Can Neither Think Nor Understand Anything.

Beer Is Made By Men, Wine By God.

The Law Is For The Proud And The Gospel For The Brokenhearted.

It Is Pleasing To The Dear God Whenever Thou Rejoicest Or Laughest From The Bottom Of Thy Heart.

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

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

Strange, Though I Am Saved From Sin, I Am Not Saved From Sinning.

People Gave Ear To An Upstart Astrologer Who Strove To Show That The Earth Revolves, Not The Heavens Or The Firmament, The Sun And The Moon....this Fool Wishes To Reverse The Entire Science Of Astronomy; But Sacred Scripture Tells Us [joshua 10:13]that Joshua Commanded The Sun To Stand Still, And Not The Earth.

All Our Work In The Field, In The Garden, In The City, In The Home, In Struggle, In Government-to What Does It All Amount Before God Except Child's Play, By Means Of Which God Is Pleased To Give His Gifts In The Field, At Home, And Everywhere? These Are The Masks Of Our Lord God, Behind Which He Wants To Be Hidden And To Do All Things.

True Faith Will No More Fail To Produce [good Works] Than The Sun Can Cease To Give Light.

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

Going To Church

The Spiritual Rest, Which God Particularly Intends In This Commandment, Is This: That We Not Only Cease From Our Labor And Trade, But Much More, That We Let God Alone Work In Us And That We Do Nothing Of Our Own With All Our Powers.

For From The Error Of Not Knowing, Or Understanding, What Sin Is, There Necessarily Arises Another Error, That People Cannot Know Or Understand What Grace Is.

Whoever Teaches Differently From What I Have Taught, Or Whoever Condemns Me Therein, He Condemns God And Must Remain A Child Of Hell.

Faith Ever Says, "if Thou Wilt," Not "if Thou Canst.

You Should Point To The Whole Man Jesus And Say, That Is God.

The Universities Only Ought To Turn Out Men Who Are Experts In The Holy Scriptures, Men Who Can Become Bishops And Priests, And Stand In The Front Line Against Heretics, The Devil, And All The World. But Where Do You Find That?

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.

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.

But The Jews Are So Hardened That They Listen To Nothing; Though Overcome By Testimonies They Yield Not An Inch. It Is A Pernicious Race, Oppressing All Men By Their Usury And Rapine. If They Give A Prince Or Magistrate A Thousand Florins, They Extort Twenty Thousand From The Subjects In Payment. We Must Ever Keep On Guard Against Them.

It Is An Unsufferable Blasphemy To Reject The Public Ministry Or To Say That People Can Become Holy Without Sermons And Church. This Involves A Destruction Of The Church And Rebellion Against Ecclesiastical Order; Such Upheavals Must Be Warded Off And Punished Like All Other Revolts.

Peace If Possible, Truth At All Costs.

The World Says Of Marriage: A Short Joy And A Long Displeasure. But He Who Understands It Finds In It Delight, Love, And Joy Without Ceasing.

Thus Every Matter, If It Is To Be Done Well, Calls For The Attention Of The Whole Person.

When The Gospel Flourishes In The Church, Everything Flourishes With It.

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

A Christian Is Free And Independent In Every Respect, A Bond Servant To None. A Christian Is A Dutiful Servant In Every Respect, Owing A Duty To Everyone.

The Christian Gospel Is A Two-way Road. On The One Hand, It Seeks To Change The Souls Of Men, And Thereby Unite Them With God; On The Other Hand, It Seeks To Change The Environmental Conditions Of Men So The Soul Will Have A Chance After It Is Changed.

Whoever Wishes To Be A Christian, Let Him Pluck Out The Eyes Of His Reason.

Great People And Champions Are Special Gifts Of God, Whom He Gives And Preserves; They Do Their Work, And Achieve Great Actions, Not With Vain Imaginations, Or Cold And Sleepy Cogitations, But By Motion Of God.

Unto Him Who Is Able To Keep Us From Falling, And Lift Us From The Dark To The Bright Mountain Of Hope, From The Midnight Of Desperation To The Daybreak Of Joy, To Him Be Power And Authority For Ever And Ever.

No Man Ought To Lay A Cross Upon Himself, Or To Adopt Tribulation, As Is Done In Popedom; But If A Cross Or Tribulation Come Upon Him, Then Let Him Suffer It Patiently, And Know That It Is Good And Profitable For Him.

I Would Not Have Preachers Torment Their Hearers, And Detain Them With Long And Tedious Preaching.

The More A Person Loves, The Closer He Approaches The Image Of God.

God Created The World Out Of Nothing, And So Long As We Are Nothing, He Can Make Something Out Of Us.

The Great Unthankfulness, Contempt Of God's Word, And Wilfulness Of The World, Make Me Fear That The Divine Light Will Soon Cease To Shine On Man, For God's Word Has Ever Had Its Certain Course.

I Refuse To Accept The Idea That Man Is Mere Flotsam And Jetsam In The River Of Life, Unable To Influence The Unfolding Events Which Surround Him. I Refuse To Accept The View That Mankind Is So Tragically Bound To The Starless Midnight Of Racism And War That The Bright Daybreak Of Peace And Brotherhood Can Never Become A Reality.

Music Is One Of The Fairest And Most Glorious Gifts Of God, To Which Satan Is A Bitter Enemy; For It Removes From The Heart The Weight Of Sorrow, And The Fascination Of Evil Thoughts.

Show Me Where A Man Spends His Time & Money, And I'll Show You His God.

What Shall We Do With...the Jews?...their Homes Also Should Be Razed And Destroyed.

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

A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, A Bulwark Never Failing: Our Helper He Amid The Flood Of Mortal Ills Prevailing.

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