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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.

-Martin Luther

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There Can Be No

Martin Luther

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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.

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Twas A Special Gift Of God That Speech Was Given To Mankind; For Through The Word, And Not By Force, Wisdom Governs.

An Angel Is A Spiritual Creature Created By God Without A Body, For The Service Of Christendom And Of The Church.

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.

No Man Understands The Scriptures, Unless He Be Acquainted With The Cross.

Men Are Not Made Religious By Performing Certain Actions Which Are Externally Good, But They Must First Have Righteous Principles, And Then They Will Not Fail To Perform Virtuous Actions.

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

Next To The Word Of God, Music Deserves The Highest Praise.

Forgiveness Is God's Command.

Whatever Your Heart Clings To And Confides In, That Is Really Your God, Your Functional Savior.

If You See Yourself As A "little Sinner" You Will Inevitably See Jesus As A "little Savior".

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.

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.

Peace Is More Important Than All Justice; And Peace Was Not Made For The Sake Of Justice, But Justice For The Sake Of Peace.

The Devil Doesn't Stay Where There Is Music.

Obedience Is The Crown And Honour Of All Virtue.

I Have Undertaken To Translate The Bible Into German. This Was Good For Me; Otherwise I Might Have Died In The Mistaken Notion That I Was A Learned Fellow.

The Jews Are The Most Miserable People On Earth. They Are Plagued Everywhere, And Scattered About All Countries, Having No Certain Resting Place. They Sit As On A Wheelbarrow, Without A Country, People Or Government... But They Are Rightly Served, For Seeing They Refused Have Christ And His Gospel, Instead Of Freedom They Must Have Servitude.

Night And Day I Pondered Until I Saw The Connection Between The Justice Of God And The Statement That 'the Just Shall Live By His Faith.' Then I Grasped That The Justice Of God Is That Righteousness By Which Through Grace And Sheer Mercy God Justifies Us Through Faith. Thereupon I Felt Myself To Be Reborn And To Have Gone Through Open Doors Into Paradise.

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

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.

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

To Be A Christian Without Prayer Is No More Possible Than To Be Alive Without Breathing.

You Are Not Only Responsible For What You Say, But Also For What You Do Not Say

Inspirational Kindness

It Is Impossible For One Man Both To Labor Day And Night To Get A Living, And At The Same Time Give Himself To The Study Of Sacred Learning As The Preaching Office Requires.

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.

No One Can Believe How Powerful Prayer Is And What It Can Effect, Except Those Who Have Learned It By Experience. Whenever I Have Prayed Earnestly, I Have Been Heard And Have Obtained More Than I Prayed For. God Sometimes Delays, But He Always Comes.

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.

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.

God Does Not Need Your Good Works, But Your Neighbor Does.

We Find No Rest For Our Weary Bones Unless We Cling To The Word Of Grace.

The Heart Of Religion Lies In Its Personal Pronouns.

No Man Should Be Alone When He Opposes Satan. The Church And The Ministry Of The Word Were Instituted For This Purpose, That Hands May Be Joined Together And One May Help Another.

Of Whom Shall I Be Afraid? One With God Is A Majority.

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.

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

Father And Mother Are Apostles, Bishops And Priests To Their Children, For It Is They Who Make Them Acquainted With The Gospel.

God Uses Lust To Impel Men To Marry, Ambition To Office, Avarice To Earning, And Fear To Faith. God Led Me Like An Old Blind Goat.

Thoughts Are Not Subject To Duty.

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.

We Will Win Our Freedom Because The Sacred Heritage Of Our Nation And The Eternal Will Of God Are Embodied In Our Echoing Demands.

Nothing Is Easier Than Sinning.

The True Despisers Of The World Are The People Who Accept What God Sends Them, Gratefully Use All Things When They Have Them, And Gladly Do Without Them If God Takes Them Away

Pray Like It All Depends On God, Then When You Are Done, Go Work Like It All Depends On You.

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

So It Is With Human Reason, Which Strives Not Against Faith, When Enlightened, But Rather Furthers And Advances It.

All Which Happens Through 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 We Are Helped On By Hope In The Eternal Life.

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

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.

The Dog Is The Most Faithful Of Animals And Would Be Much Esteemed Were It Not So Common. Our Lord God Has Made His Greatest Gifts The Commonest.

The Sin Underneath All Our Sins Is To Trust The Lie Of The Serpent That We Cannot Trust The Love And Grace Of Christ And Must Take Matters Into Our Own Hands

Snakes And Monkeys Are Subjected To The Demon More Than Other Animals. Satan Lives In Them And Possesses Them. He Uses Them To Deceive Men And To Injure Them.

If Men Only Believe Enough In Christ They Can Commit Adultery And Murder A Thousand Times A Day Without Periling Their Salvation.

I Did Not Learn My Theology All At Once, But Had To Search Constantly Deeper And Deeper For It. My Temptations Did That For Me, For No One Can Understand Holy Scripture Without Practice And Temptations...i T Is Not By Reading, Writing, Or Speculation That One Becomes A Theologian. Nay, Rather, It Is Living, Dying, And Being Damned That Makes One A Theologian.

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.

Christ And His Word Can Hardly Be Recognized Because Of The Great Vermin Of Human Ordinances. However, Let This Suffice For The Time Being On Their Lies Against Doctrine Or Faith.

It Is Certainly True That Reason Is The Most Important And The Highest Rank Among All Things And, In Comparison With Other Things Of This Life, The Best And Something Divine. It Is The Inventor And Mentor Of All The Arts, Medicines, Laws, And Of Whatever Wisdom, Power, Virtue, And Glory Men Possess In This Life.

There Are Some Of Us Who Think To Ourselves, 'if I Had Only Been There! How Quick I Would Have Been To Help The Baby. I Would Have Washed His Linen. How Happy I Would Have Been To Go With The Shepherds To See The Lord Lying In The Manger!' Why Don't We Do It Now? We Have Christ In Our Neighbor.

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.

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

He That Has But One Word Of God Before Him, And Out Of That Word Cannot Make A Sermon, Can Never Be A Preacher.

Prayer Is A Very Precious Medicine, One That Certainly Helps And Never Fails, If You Will Only Use It.

Many Demons Are In Woods, In Waters, In Wildernesses, And In Dark Poolly Places Ready To Hurt And Prejudice People; Some Are Also In The Thick Black Clouds, Which Cause Hail, Lightning And Thunder, And Poison The Air, The Pastures And Grounds.

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.

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 Does Not Know God Hidden In Suffering Does Not Know God At All.

When I Am Assailed With Heavy Tribulations, I Rush Out Among My Pigs Rather Than Remain Alone By Myself. 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. So The Human Heart, Unless It Be Occupied With Some Employment, Leaves Space For The Devil, Who Wriggles Himself In And Brings With Him A Whole Host Of Evil Thoughts, Temptations, And Tribulations, Which Grind Out The Heart.

In A Delightful Garden, Sowing, Planting Or Digging Are Not Hardship But Are Done With A Zeal And A Certain Pleasure.

When Questioned Whether The Blessed Will Not Be Saddened By Seeing Their Nearest And Dearest Tortured Answers, "not In The Least."

You Must Learn That If You Are A Christian, You Will Without A Doubt Experience All Kinds Of Opposition And Evil Inclinations In The Flesh. For When You Have Faith, There Will Be A Hundred More Evil Thoughts And A Hundred More Temptations Than Before.

Christ Ought To Be Preached With This Goal In Mind--that We Might Be Moved To Faith In Him So That He Is Not Just A Distant Historical Figure But Actually Christ For You And Me.

So Preach That Those Who Do Not Fall Out With Their Sins May Fall Out With Thee.

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

Let Us Keep To Christ, And Cling To Him, And Hang On Him, So That No Power Can Remove Us.

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

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.

God May Delay, But He Always Comes.

What Shall We Do With...the Jews?...i Advise That Safe-conduct On The Highways Be Abolished Completely For The Jews.

It Is Impossible To Separate Works From Faith- Yea, Just As Impossible As To Separate Burning And Shining From Fire.

In The Church, Great Wonders Daily Occur, Such As The Forgiveness Of Sins, Triumph Over Death . . . The Gift Of Righteousness And Eternal Life.

Music Is The Art Of The Prophets And The Gift Of God.

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

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.

Jesus Christ Never Died For Our Good Works. They Were Not Worth Dying For. But He Gave Himself For Our Sins, According To The Scriptures.

...hope Endures And Overcomes Misfortune And Evil.

If There Is Anything In Us, It Is Not Our Own; It Is A Gift Of God. But If It Is A Gift Of God, Then It Is Entirely A Debt One Owes To Love, That Is, To The Law Of Christ. And If It Is A Debt Owed To Love, Then I Must Serve Others With It, Not Myself.

Each Day Of The Holidays Comes Bringing Its Own Gifts. Open Your Heart, Untie The Ribbons, And Enjoy The Contents! Were Earth A Thousand Times As Fair Beset With Gold And Jewels Rare She Yet Were Far Too Poor To Be A Narrow Cradle, Lord, For Thee.

It Is The Nature Of All Hypocrites And False Prophets To Create A Conscience Where There Is None, And To Cause Conscience To Disappear Where It Does Exist.

[it Is] Essentially Wholesome And Necessary, For A Christian To Know, Whether Or Not The Will Does Any Thing In Those Things Which Pertain Unto Salvation. Nay, Let Me Tell You, This Is The Very Hinge Upon Which Our Discussion Turns. It Is The Very Heart Of The Subject

For They Who Think They Make An End Of Temptation By Yeilding To It, Only Set Themselves On Fire The More.

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.

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.

I Have Lived To See The Greatest Plague On Earth -- The Condemning Of God's Word, A Fearful Thing, Surpassing All Other Plagues In The World; For Thereupon Most Surely Follow All Manner Of Punishments, Eternal And Corporal.

In Many Countries There Are Particular Places To Which Devils More Especially Resort. In Prussia There Is An Infinite Number Of Evil Spirits.

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

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.

A Simple Layman Armed With Scripture Is Greater Than The Mightiest Pope Without It

Animals Are Footprints Of God.

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.

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

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 Is The Duty Of A Prudent Minister Of God To Hold His Ministry In Honor And To See To It That It Is Respected By Those Who Are In His Charge. Moreoever, It Is The Duty Of A Faithful Minister Not To Exceed His Powers And Not To Abuse His Office In Pride, But, Rather, To Administer It For The Benefit Of His Subjects.

The Fool Will Upset The Whole Science Of Astronomy.

Christian Life Consists Of Faith And Charity

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.

Those Speak Foolishly Who Ascribe Their Anger Or Their Impatience To Such As Offend Them Or To Tribulation. Tribulation Does Not Make People Impatient, But Proves That They Are Impatient. So Everyone May Learn From Tribulation How His Heart Is Constituted.

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.

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

Whoso Hearkens Not To God's Voice, Is An Idolator, Though He Perform The Highest And Most Heavy Service Of God.

Love Is An Image Of God, And Not A Lifeless Image, But The Living Essence Of The Divine Nature Which Beams Full Of All Goodness.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

The Heavenly Blessing Is To Be Delivered From The Law, Sin And Death; To Be Justified And Quickened To Life: To Have Peace With God; To Have A Faithful Heart, A Joyful Conscience, A Spiritual Consolation; To Have The Knowledge Of Jesus Christ; To Have The Gift Of Prophecy, And The Revelation Of The Scriptures; To Have The Gift Of The Holy Ghost, And To Rejoice In God.

I Cannot And Will Not Recant Anything, For To Go Against Conscience Is Neither Right Nor Safe. Here I Stand, I Can Do No Other, So Help Me God. Amen.

Music Is To Be Praised As Second Only To The Word Of God Because By Her All The Emotions Are Swayed. That Is Why There Are So Many Songs And Psalms. This Precious Gift Has Been Bestowed On Men Alone To Remind Them That They Are Created To Praise And Magnify The Lord.

Either God Must Be Unjust, Or You, Jews, Wicked And Ungodly. You Have Been, About Fifteen Hundred Years, A Race Rejected Of God.

We Come To The New Testament, Where Again A Host Of Imperative Verbs Is Mustered In Support Of That Miserable Bondage Of Free-choice, And The Aid Of Carnal Reason With Her Inferences And Similes Is Called In, Just As In A Picture Or A Dream You Might See The King Of The Flies With His Lances Of Straw And Shields Of Hay Arrayed Against A Real And Regular Army Of Seasoned Human Troops. That Is How The Human Dreams Of Diatribe Go To War With The Battalions Of Divine Words.

Lord, Grant That Anger Or Other Bitterness Does Not Reign Over Us, But That Your Grace, Genuine Kindness, Loyalty, And Every Kind Of Friendliness, Generosity, And Gentleness May Reign In Us. Amen

As When My Little Son John Offendeth: If Then I Should Not Whip Him, But Call Him To The Table Unto Me, And Give Him Sugar And Plums, Thereby, I Should Make Him Worse, Yea Should Quite Spoil Him.

Despair Makes Priests And Friars.

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

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

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.

What Harm Would It Do, If A Man Told A Good Strong Lie For The Sake Of The Good.

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

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.

The Gospel Cannot Be Truly Preached Without Offense And Tumult.

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

Prayer, Study, And Suffering Make A Pastor.

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

It Hath Been Said, That There Is Of Nothing So Much In Hell As Of Self-will. The Which Is True, For There Is Nothing Else There Than Self-will, And If There Were No Self-will, There Would Be No Devil And No Hell. When It Is Said That Lucifer Fell From Heaven, And Turned Away From God And The Like, It Meaneth Nothing Else Than That He Would Have His Own Will, And Would Not Be At One With The Eternal Will. So Was It Likewise With Adam In Paradise. And When We Say Self-will, We Mean, To Will Otherwise Than As The One And Eternal Will Of God Willeth.

Even If All The World Were To Combine Forces, They Could Not Bring About The Conception Of A Single Child In Any Woman's Womb Nor Cause It To Be Born; That Is Wholly The Work Of God.

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?

The Law Works Fear And Wrath; Grace Works Hope And Mercy.

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.

Our God Is The God From Whom Cometh Salvation: God Is The Lord By Who Escape Death.

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

Grace Remits Sin, And Peace Quiets The Conscience. Sin And Conscience Torment Us, But Christ Has Overcome These Fiends Now And Forever.

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.

God Does Not Love Sinners Because They Are Attractive; Sinners Are Attractive To God Because He Loves Them.

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

The Cross Alone Is Our Theology.

Also When It Is A Case Of Only Upholding Some Spiritual Tenet, Such As Infant Baptism, Original Sin, And Unnecessary Separation, Then . . . We Conclude That . . . The Stubborn Sectaries Must Be Put To Death.

A Theologian Is Born By Living, Nay Dying And Being Damned, Not By Thinking, Reading, Or Speculating.

Against The Flying Ball No Valor Avails.

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.

I Frankly Confess That Even If It Were Possible I Should Not Wish To Have Free Choice Given To Me, Or To Have Anything Left In My Own Hands By Which I Might Strive For Salvation.

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

They [rulers] Must Act Like A Good Physician Who, When Gangrene Has Set In Proceeds Without Mercy To Cut, Saw, And Burn Flesh, Veins, Bone, And Marrow. Such A Procedure Must Also Be Followed In This Instance. Burn Down Their Synagogues, Forbid All That I Enumerated Earlier, Force Them To Work, And Deal Harshly With Them, As Moses Did... If This Does Not Help We Must Drive Them Out Like Mad Dogs.

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

Take Away The Mass, Destroy The Church.

I Cannot Forbid A Person To Marry Several Wives, For It Does Not Contradict Scripture.

A Unjust Law, Is No Law At All.

Our Bodies Are Always Exposed To Satan. The Maladies I Suffer Are Not Natural, But Devil's Spells.

In The Bonds Of Death He Lay Who For Our Offence Was Slain; But The Lord Is Risen To-day, Christ Hath Brought Us Life Again, Wherefore Let Us All Rejoice, Singing Loud, With Cheerful Voice, Hallelujah!

Our Suffering Is Not Worthy The Name Of Suffering. When I Consider My Crosses, Tribulations, And Temptations, I Shame Myself Almost To Death, Thinking What Are They In Comparison Of The Sufferings Of My Blessed Savior Christ Jesus.

Christians Fight Best On Their Knees. Whatever Good May Be Done Is Done And Brought About By Prayer.

But The Power Of God Cannot Be So Determined And Measured, For It Is Uncircumscribed And Immeasurable, Beyond And Above All That Is Or May Be. On The Other Hand, It Must Be Essentially Present At All Places, Even In The Tiniest Tree Leaf.

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.

A Great Variety Of Reading Confuses And Does Not Teach. It Makes The Student Like A Man Who Dwells Everywhere And, Therefore, Nowhere In Particular.

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.

It Is A Tremendously Hard Thing To Pray Aright, Yea, It Is Verily The Science Of All Sciences.

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.

It Is A Good Thing To Let Prayer Be The First Business In The Morning And The Last In The Evening. Guard Yourself Against Such False And Deceitful Thoughts That Keep Whispering, "wait A While. In An Hour Or So I Will Pray. I Must First Finish This Or That." Thinking Such Thoughts We Get Away From Prayer Into Other Things That Will Hold Us And Involve Us Till The Prayer Of The Day Comes To Naught.

Peace If Possible, Truth At All Costs.

Godly People Are Waiting For The Lord; Therefore They Live, Therefore They Are Saved, Therefore They Receive What Has Been Promised.

Faith Must Trample Under Foot All Reason, Sense, And Understanding.

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.

Everything That Is Done In The World Is Done By Hope. No Merchant Or Tradesman Would Set Himself To Work If He Did Not Hope To Reap Benefit Thereby.

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.

How Often Have Not The Demons Called 'nix,' Drawn Women And Girls Into The Water, And There Had Commerce With Them, With Fearful Consequences.

But Satan, The God Of All Dissension, Stirreth Up Daily New Sects, And Last Of All (which Of All Other I Should Never Have Foreseen Or Once Suspected) He Hath Raised Up A Sect Of Such As Teach That The Ten Commandments Ought To Be Taken Out Of The Church, And That Men Should Not Be Terrified With The Law, But Gently Exerted By The Preaching Of The Grace Of Christ.

But What Will Happen Even If We Do Burn Down The Jews Synagogues And Forbid Them Publicly To Praise God, To Pray, To Teach, To Utter God's Name? They Will Still Keep Doing It In Secret. If We Know That They Are Doing This In Secret, It Is The Same As If They Were Doing It Publicly. For Our Knowledge Of Their Secret Doings And Our Toleration Of Them Implies That They Are Not Secret After All And Thus Our Conscience Is Encumbered With It Before God.

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.

We Need To Hear The Gospel Every Day, Because We Forget It Every Day.

The Bible Is The Cradle Wherein Christ Is Laid.

Christian Inspirational

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.

The Secret Of Contentment Is The Realization That Life Is A Gift, Not A Right. Next To Faith This Is The Highest Art - To Be Content With The Calling In Which God Has Placed You.

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

I Have No Pleasure In Any Man Who Despises Music. It Is No Invention Of Ours: It Is A Gift Of God. I Place It Next To Theology. Satan Hates Music: He Knows How It Drives The Evil Spirit Out Of Us.

Look To It That You Do Not Try To Do All Of It, Do Not Try To Do Too Much, Lest Your Spirit Grow Weary. Besides, A Good Prayer Mustn't Be Too Long. Do Not Draw It Out. Prayer Ought To Be Frequent And Fervent.

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

Angels Are Our True And Trusty Servants, Performing Offices And Works That One Poor Miserable Mendicant Would Be Ashamed To Do For Another.

Blessed Is The Man That Hath Not Walked In The Way Of The Sacramentarians, Nor Sat In The Seat Of The Zwinglians, Nor Followed The Council Of The Zurichers.

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

Christ Sayeth Not, Abstain From The Flesh, From Marrying, From Housekeeping, Etc., As The Papists Teach, For That Were Even To Invite The Devil And All His Fellows To A Feast.

Beautiful Music Is The Art Of The Prophets That Can Calm The Agitations Of The Soul; It Is One Of The Most Magnificent And Delightful Presents God Has Given Us.

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

Reason Is The Enemy Of Faith.

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

God Created Adam Master And Lord Of Living Creatures, But Eve Spoilt All, When She Persuaded Him To Set Himself Above God's Will. 'tis You Women, With Your Tricks And Artifices, That Lead Men Into Error.

I Hate Myself, That I Cannot Believe It So Constantly And Surely As I Should; But No Human Creature Can Rightly Know How Mercifully God Is Inclined Toward Those That Steadfastly Believe In Christ.

I Had Rather Be In Hell With Christ, Than Be In Heaven Without Him.

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

To Do So No More Is The Truest Repentance.

God Indeed Tempteth No Man; But Yet We Ask, In This Petition, That He Would Keep And Preserve Us, Lest The Devil, The World, And Our Own Flesh Delude And Draw Us Away From The True Faith, And Throw Us Into Superstition, Distrust, Despair, And Other Grievous Sins And Wickedness; And That, If We Should Be Tempted Therewith Even To The Highest Degree, We Still May Conquer, And At Last Triumph Over Them.

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.

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