Wicked Life Bad; False Doctrine Worse

Preachers should be angels, that is, God’s messengers, and should lead a heavenly life; they should be constantly engaged with the Word of God. Then they are sure not to preach the doctrine of men. It is a very preposterous thing to be God’s messenger and not to deliver His message. . . . And indeed, more depends on the preacher’s message than on his life. If he leads a wicked life, he hates himself; but if he delivers a false message and presents it as God’s message, he misleads and harms everyone who listens to him and creates idolatry among the people. Then they honor lies instead of the truth, men instead of God; then they worship the devil in the place of God.

This is why there is no more terrible plague, calamity, and misfortune on earth than a preacher who does not preach God’s Word. Unfortunately, the world is now full of such preachers. Yet they imagine that they are doing well and are pious. However, they are doing nothing but murdering souls, blaspheming God, and establishing idolatry. It would be far better for them to be robbers, murderers, and the worst rogues; then they would at least know that they are doing wrong.

Martin Luther

What Luther Says, p. 1124

Compiled by Ewald M. Plass

The Heresy of Healing Cults

In his exposition of John 16:13 (1538) the Reformer [Martin Luther] uses words which, in the light of modern developments, seem prophetic. He is speaking of possible future perversions.

If seduction and darkness were again to begin through the wrath and decree of God (as will happen after our days, it is to be feared- if the world is destined to stand longer), and the devil were to begin to perform signs through some false saint and perhaps were to cure a sick person, you would no doubt see the mob press to espouse the cause in such a way that no preaching or warning would be of any avail. Come now, they would assert (as they have hitherto done in the case if the deceased saints), say whatever you please, I have nonetheless seen and found that a certain man who devoted himself to this preacher and accepted him was thereby helped.

For in those who have no love for the truth the devil will be powerful and strong. Accordingly, they are misled by all sorts of his deceptive tricks and are not wise enough to guard against them. This is why I have said: The Holy Spirit must be present with His revelation, so that we observe the Word of Christ and His message and judge all teachings and signs, life and doing, in accordance with them. If, then, these contradict the chief doctrine and article of Christ (by which, Christ here says, the Holy Spirit is to glorify Him), we should accord them neither attention nor acceptance though it were to snow miracles daily. For whatever contradicts this teaching is certainly a pack of lies and trumped up by the devil in order to seduce souls. If you want to see and find miracles and signs, then look for them here; for this doctrine was certainly proved by miracles from heaven and by all kinds of true, divine, genuine signs, and to date it has been sustained by not a few signs against the devil and his bogus signs.

Martin Luther

What Luther Says, p. 632

Compiled by Ewald M. Plass

 

“My Doctrine Is... His That Sent Me”

[Since material and secular things] do not pertain to the soul and the future life and are subject to reason, a man may speak of them at home in whatever way he pleases and may say: This is mine. But in the ministry, where God’s Word is concerned, what Christ says here must obtain: that no one should preach a doctrine unless he has the confidence and conviction that he is not preaching doctrine which is his own...

Well, then, let everybody see  to it that he is sure when he is called on to speak of matters pertaining, not to matters secular but to conscience and salvation, that one may know where to leave his soul when he departs for another life and that every preacher and hearer then can say: I have not invented this doctrine; it is no explanation, interpretation, or teaching of my own; it is His who has sent me.

Everybody in Christendom should be convinced that the ministers, preachers, and teachers, yea, all who deliver the Word, are certain that their message is not their own but are sure that it is God’s Word, or that if they doubt that it is God’s Word, they will be quiet and not open their mouths until they are sure that it is indeed the Word of God. A man is a man and soon dies; his words and all his thoughts die with him, as is written in Ps. 146:4... The word of a mortal man is also mortal. If a man cannot have life eternal through his message and teaching, he should be quiet and hear nothing but the Word of God; for without God’s Word there is no life... for only the Word of God remains forever.

...Therefore a Christian, whether he is preacher or hearer, must be sure that he is speaking or hearing, not his own word but God’s Word; otherwise it would be better if he had never been born, and preacher and hearer together must go to the devil.

Martin Luther

What Luther Says, pp. 1111-1112

Praying with an "If"

Whatever pertains to our salvation and directly to the glory of God we should ask for in prayer without any doubt, for it is clear that God wants to have His glory and our salvation unimpaired. But when temporal affairs are concerned, God's will is not so clear. A person may be poor, sick, miserable, and despised and yet be saved, as happens to all Christians. Since, then, salvation is not affected by the lack of such temporal things but this lack may often produce something good, he who prays for aid and help should certainly believe that God helps and will help. Yet he should make his will depend on the will of God; if the desired help does not serve God's glory, or disadvantageous to our salvation, we should be glad to bear the cross still longer.

This is praying aright in such matters, namely, believing that God can help and yet not prescribing time, degree, or end to God, how and when He is to help to us. For we usually lack the knowledge to discern what we should ask for  and how we should ask for it, as St. Paul says Rom. 8:26. Conversely, we must confess that God knows well what would be most conducive to His glory and our salvation. Therefore we should make our will depend on His and not doubt in the least that He will certainly grant our petition if it redounds to His glory and to our salvation.

Martin Luther

What Luther Says, pp. 1098-1099

Compiled by Ewald M. Plass

Bible Reading a Personal Responsibility and Necessary

"But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:" 1 Peter 3:15

We shall have to acknowledge here that St. Peter addressed these words to all Christians, clergy and laity, male and female, young and old, of whatever state or condition they may have been. It follows that every Christian should know the ground of, and reason for, his faith and be able to maintain and defend it if necessary. But up to this time reading the Scripture has been forbidden the laity. For the devil hit upon a fine trick when he schemed to tear people away from Scripture. He thought: If I can keep the laity from reading the Scripture, I shall then bring the priests from the Bible into Aristotle so that, gossip what they will, the laity must hear whatever they preach to them. Otherwise, if the laity were to read Scripture, the priests would also have to study it in order not to be rebuked and refuted. But look now at what St. Peter here tells us all: We should give answer and show reason for our faith. When you are about to die, I shall not be with you; neither will the pope. If you then do not know the ground of your hope but merely say; I believe as the councils, the pope, and the fathers have believed, the devil will answer: Yes, but what if they were in error? Then he has won and  will drag you down to hell. Therefore we must know what we believe, namely, what the holy fathers believe or say. For you must place no confidence whatever in any person, but in the bare Word of God.

Martin Luther

What Luther Says, p. 79

Christ to Be Confessed at All Costs

 

You should be ready not only to sell your goods but also to leave father and mother, life and limb, goods and honor. Rather than let go of God, I should disregard wife and child and everything. That is what the martyrs did. Rather than deny their God, husband and wife separated; and husbands strengthened their wives in prison, and wives their husbands. Otherwise they are to remain together. But were it to happen that your wife, child, goods, and honor must be left for Christ's sake, then the call is: Follow Me. Oh, they say, I cannot do that; it is too difficult for me. But one must come to the point of doing it. Nevertheless, when it happens that someone for God's sake leaves whatever he has, it is not done with joy and gladness but with sorrow and trembling. But because Christians are under the cover and shadow of the Lord Jesus Christ, this is not held against them.


Martin Luther
What Luther Says, p. 205
Compiled by Ewald M. Plass

The Indirect Benefits of Heresies

Error and heresy must come into the world so that the elect may become approved and manifest. Their coming is in the best interests of Christians if they take the proper attitude toward it. St. Augustine, who certainly was sufficiently annoyed by wretched sectaries, says that when heresy and offense come, they produce much benefit in Christendom; for they cause Christians industriously to read Holy Scripture and with diligence to pursue it and persevere in its study. Otherwise they might let it lie on the shelf, become very secure, and say: Why, God's Word and the text of Scripture are current in our midst; it is not necessary for us to read Holy Scripture. But now we are made vigilant and watchful by the heretics and their offense, and because of the conflicts and controversies we understand God's Word better than we did before.

Martin Luther

*Heresies, therefore, are a schooling for the children of God. Luther touches on this thought in the sermon on Matt. 18.8-9, to which we have referred a number of times.*

Source:
What Luther Says, p. 639
Compiled by Ewald M. Plass

Heretics Hard to Convert

The conversion of an inventor of false doctrine has never yet been heard of; for a sin such as this is too great, because it blasphemes God's Word and sins against the Holy Ghost. This is why God lets inventors of false doctrine become hardened. Accordingly, the word of Is. 6:9 is fulfilled: With seeing eyes you shall not see, and with hearing ears you shall not hear; for the heart of this people is hardened.

Christ converted no high priest; but their disciples were converted, men such as Nicodemus, Joseph, Paul, and the like. The prophets of old converted no false prophet. Neither could Paul convert any false prophet; but he gave the direction: After a person has been admonished twice or three times, he is to be avoided and let go, as a perverted one (Titus 3:10). Thus even the holy doctors have never yet converted a master of heresy, not because none of them ever sufficiently combated their error and refuted it with the truth but because their heart was obsessed with their own notion. They fared like a man who looks through a colored glass. Put before such a man whatever color than that of the glass. The fault is not that the right color is not put before him but that his glass is colored differently, as the word of Is. 6:9 puts it: You will see, he says, and yet you will not see it. This means: It will be put before your eyes sufficiently and clearly, so that you may see it; and others will actually see it, but you will not see it. What else could it mean? This is the reason why one cannot convert such people (says John 12:40). The truth presented to them does not do it. God must remove the colored glass. This is something we cannot do.

Martin Luther 

Source:

What Luther Says, p. 644

Compiled By Ewald M. Plass

The Christ of the Gospel an Offense

 

Before the coming of Christ the world was as full of all sorts of idolatries as a dog is full of fleas on St. John's Day (June 24). Every place swarmed and teemed with idols. Yet no devil then cast out the other; no idol placed his foot on the other's head; nor did any one of them bite the other's heel. They could well tolerate and bear one another's company, so much so that the Romans even gathered the idols from all the world and built a church, calling it the Pantheon, the church of all the gods; for the worldly-wise lords wanted to have all the gods in their city. But when the true God, Jesus Christ, came, they would not tolerate Him. Is it not a remarkable thing to welcome all the other gods but to exclude and persecute only this One? All the others are quiet and keep peace among themselves, but with the coming of this One the sport and discord begin. Then all the gods threaten to become frantic, together with their servants, the Romans; they club to death apostles, martyrs, and all who dare call upon the name of Christ. Servants of the other gods they do not injure but give them all honor and homage.

But if Christ had also been a devil, as the other gods, how gladly and gloriously would the devils have permitted Him to be welcomed and worshiped by their side! But now that they all rant and rave against Him, they confess thereby that He is the one true God, who bruises their heads and storms their palaces, conquers them and confiscates their holdings. So they scream and bite His heel. They accuse Him of disturbing the peace of Rome and of the whole world and imagine that they are rendering God a great service by persecuting Him so violently and shedding so much blood. Yes indeed, if we do the devil's bidding and let go of Christ, we shall have a solid peace from the devil. He can afford to let us enjoy all sorts of idolatry and falsehood, but this Bruiser of his head he cannot tolerate.

Martin Luther 

Source: 

What Luther Says, pp. 203-204