One of those remarkable letters by which Luther tried to cheer his friend.
Grace and peace in Christ In Christ,I say, and not in the world.
Apologiabeing the cause of your silence, of that I shall speak again,dear From the bottom of my heart I am inimical to those worrying cares which are takingthe very heart out of you and gainingthe upper hand.
It is not the magnitude of the cause, but the weakness of our faith which is at fault ; for thingswere much worse in John Huss's days than in ours.
And even were the gospel in as great dangernow as then, is not He who has begun the good work greater than the work itself, for it is not our affair?
Why then make a martyr of yourself .f* If the cause be not a righteousone, then let us repudiateit ; but if it be, why make
God a liar in not believingHis wonderful promises,when He commands us to be of good cheer and cast all our care upon Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon He throws such words to the winds
It is your philosophy, not your theology, which is such a torment to you, and it torments your friend Joachim in the very same way, just as if by your useless forebodings you could achieve anything.What more can the devil do than slayus
I pleadwith you, for God*s sake, to fightagainstyourself,for you are your own greatestenemy, and furnish the devil with weapons against yourself.
Christ has died for sin once for all,but for righteousness and truth He will not die,but will live and reign.
Why then worry, seeingHe is at the helm Father will also be the Father of our children.
I pray earnestly for you, but am only sorry that you should court sorrow as eagerly as the leech does blood, thus nullifying my prayers.
(whether it proceed from Spirit or from stRpidity, my Jesus knows) I do not torment myselfabout such matters.
God can raise the dead, and His cause, althoughit looks ready to fall; and He can even raise it up againif it has fallen.
If we do not lend our assistance towards its maintenance, others will ; and if we do not console ourselves with the promises,who then can giveus consolation in the world
More of this again,although I may only be carryingwater to the sea.
Christ comfort,strengthen, and teach you by His If I hear you are still despondingI shall scarcelybe able to prevent myselfhurryingto you to see how dreadful it is to be in the fangsof the devil,as the Scripture says,
*' Wilt thou playwith him as with a bird ?
Luther tries to cheer his friend after hearingthe joyful news of the publicreadingof Melanchthon's Grace and peace, dear
I have read the beautiful speechin which you apologisefor your silence, and meanwhile I have sent two letterssatisfactorily explaining my not writing.To-day your letter came, full of unmerited reproaches, as if by my silence I had increased your work, danger,and tears.
Do you reallyimagine that I am sitting in a gardenof roses and not sharingyour cares.?
I could indulgein tears.
Had your lettersnot come the eveningtheydid, I would have sent a messenger at my own expense to find out whether you were dead or alive.
Veit can testify to this.
Apology^and wonder at your askinghow far one may yieldto the Papists. For my part I think too much has been conceded.
If theydo not accept it,what more can we do .?
I ponder this business nightand day,looking at it from all sides,searching the Scriptures, and the longerI contemplateit the more
I am convinced of the sure