“Every man draws the Christian liberty only to carnal excess, as if now they had free liberty and power to do what they list; therefore the kingdom of the devil and Pope is the best government for the world, for therewith they will be governed with strict laws and rights, with superstition, unbelief, etc.”
“For the Landgrave of Hesse (being then but a young Prince) desired that I might be heard, and he said openly unto me, “Sir, is your cause just and upright, then I beseech God to assist you.”
“From thence proceeded a confused sea-full of _Horas Canonicas_, the howling and babbling in cells and monasteries, where they read and sang the psalms and collects without all spiritual devotion, insomuch that they neither understood the words, sentences, nor the meaning.”
“God gave to Alexander the Great, _Sapientiam et fortunam_, Wisdom and good success; yet, notwithstanding, he calleth him, in the Prophet Jeremiah, _Juvenem_, a youth, where he saith, “_Quis excitabit juvenem_” (A young raw milksop boy shall perform it: he shall come and turn the city Tyrus upside-down).”
“God giveth sun and moon, said Luther, stars and elements, fire and water, air and earth, and all creatures; body and soul, and all manner of maintenance, of fruits, grain, corn, wine, and all that is profitable for the preserving of this temporal life; and, moreover, he giveth unto us his all-saving Word, yea, himself he giveth unto us.”
“God hath set the sea her bounds; he suffers the same to beat and rage with her waves, as if they would over-run, cover, and drown everything; yet, notwithstanding, they must not pass the shore and banks, although God keeps the waters in their compass, not with iron, but with weak walls of sand.”
“God, said Luther, is skilful in all occupations and trades, in a most perfect and excellent manner; for, like a skilful tailor, he makes such a coat for the stag, which he wears nine hundred years together, and of itself it is not torn; also, like a good shoemaker, he gives him shoes on his feet, that last longer than the stag himself, etc.”
“God will keep his Word, said Luther, through the writing-pen upon earth; the Divines are the heads or quills of the pens, but the Lawyers are the stumps.”
“He hath given unto us his only-begotten Son, and with him hath bestowed all things upon us, so that through him we are God’s children, and also heirs of his celestial treasure, and are co-heirs with Christ according to hope.”
“How then should we be able to comprehend or understand the secret counsel of God’s Majesty, or search it out with our sense, wit, reason, or understanding?”
