The Thief and The Candle

"A thief is always desirous to have the candles put out."

His trade is best carried on in the dark. This is the reason why Satan is so dead set against faithful preachers and teachers: he can rob the church, and plunder souls so much better when the light of the gospel is withdrawn. How much better could the Pope pick our purses with his purgatory, indulgences, and relics, if the gospel light were quenched among us! The old-fashioned doctrines of grace are the candles of the Lord, and we must keep these well alight among the people, or we shall soon find the Romish thieves busy among us. 

This is one reason why creeds and catechisms are so much detested by men of the modern school: these candles are not to their mind, for they prevent their robbing us of the treasures of divine truth.

Lord, I bless Thee for the light, and I pray that I may not quench even the tiniest taper by which Thou dost enlighten me.

Charles H. Spurgeon

Flowers From A Puritan's Garden, pp. 66-67

The Money-Madness of Popes

The pope is a shepherd – yes, as long as you have money, and no longer. And yet they are not ashamed of their knavery; they lead us to and fro with their bulls. They are concerned only about the accursed money and about nothing besides. Therefore I offer the advice: If this tom-foolery is not abolished, every pious Christian should open his eyes and not let himself be misled by Romish bulls, seals, and hypocrisy. Let him stay at home in his own church and be content with his Baptism, his Gospel, his faith, his Christ, and his God, who is the same everywhere; and let the pope remain a blind leader of the blind (Matt. 15:4). Neither angel nor pope can give you as much as God gives you in your parish church. Nay, the pope leads you away from the gifts of God, which you have without paying for them, to his gifts, which you must buy. He gives you lead for gold, hide for meat, the string for the purse, wax for honey, words for goods, and the letter for the spirit. You see this before your very eyes, but you are unwilling to notice it. If you are to ride to heaven on his parchment and wax, your chariot will soon go to pieces, and you will fall into hell – not in God’s name.

Let this be your fixed rule: What you must buy from the pope is neither good nor of God; for what comes from God is not only given free of charge, but all the world is punished and damned because it has not been willing to receive it for nothing.

Martin Luther

What Luther Says, pp. 1063-1064

Compiled by Ewa;d M. Plass