Today is Martin Luther's birthday. Here are a few of my favorite quotes, in honour of a man who was used by God to bless so many who came after him.
"It is pleasing to the dear God whenever thou rejoicest or laughest from the bottom of thy heart." --Martin Luther
"To be gloomy before God is not pleasing to him, although he would permit us to be depressed before the world. He does not with me to have a long face in his presence, as he says, 'I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked [Ezek. 33:11] and 'Rejoice in the Lord'. [Phil. 4:4] He desires not a servant who does not expect good things of him." --Luther, Table Talk #122
And lastly, a long quote from the only major work that I have read by Luther, The Bondage of the Will:
"...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 realises 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. ....he who is out of doubt that his destiny depends entirely on the will of God despairs entirely of himself, chooses nothing for himself, but waits for God to work in him; and such a man is very near to grace for his salvation."
2 comments:
My favourite quotes from Luther are
Medicine makes people ill, mathematics make them sad and theology makes them sinful.
and
I always loved music; whoso has skill in this art, is of a good temperament, fitted for all things. We must teach music in schools; a schoolmaster ought to have skill in music, or I would not regard him; neither should we ordain young men as preachers unless they have been well exercised in music.
Thanks for the quotes, John.
Mathematics certainly made me sad--quite often, in fact! I would much rather have been reading or playing outside.
And so have I always loved music. There's another quote somewhere about music making the devil mad...can't recall where I read it, though.
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