This sermon, preached in the parish church in Wittenberg, is preserved in two texts, one by Georg Rörer,

When we have Christ by true faith, then he causes us to live in such a way that we are strengthened in faith, in such a way that I do these works which I do for the benefit and the good of my neighbor. For my

Christian name would not be sufficient, despite my baptism and my faith, if I did not help my neighbor and draw him to faith through my works in order that he may follow me. Then a person, after he has given all glory to Christ, is always remembering to do to his neighbor as Christ has done to him, in order that he may help him and everyone else. Thus Christ lives in him and he lives for the betterment of his neighbor, giving to everyone a good example of doing all things in love. So princes and officials should also perform their office in love. If he rules well, he should not boast that he is gracious and good to his people.

God will not forget to reward him. No, he should commit the matter of reward to God. So the monk should direct his whole life to his neighbor in love. He should not say: Oh, I have made the vow to my

God in order to be saved. If he does this, he is denying Christ, for this is not helping his neighbor. And even if he brought with him to Christ a whole cloakful of rosaries, it would not save him. Even if he took with him all the fish he ate when he was fasting, and the bones too, they would not help him at all.

Without faith you will not be saved. That's why Peter says we should desire the gospel and faith as a child longs for milk [I Pet. 2:2]. The child drinks milk in order to become strong. It does not drink it in order to become a human being; it is a human being before it drinks. Thus, if I have faith, I am already saved, without any works or merit. It follows that it is faith alone that does it and not works. For God's work, the love which he teaches today in the gospel, goes on. And so, if somebody charges that we are forbidding good works, you say to them: We do not forbid them; we are only pointing out the abuse of them and showing that they should be done for the inspiration and good of our neighbor and that we should not put our trust in them.

So, when I help my neighbor, I prove my name as a Christian. God does not want our work. Guide yourself strictly by that. It follows from this that to us believers Christ is salvation and consolation, but to the monks he is foolishness, for the gospel does not bring anything into their kitchens, cellars, or closets, as their laws did before. That's why they are the ones who are persecuting us now. But patiently take the cross of Christ upon you in order to be able to suffer this patiently, if you want to be Christians. Take your faith and your Christian name to heart, for it is highly necessary for you and for me. In the whole gospel nothing is more clearly emphasized than faith and love, as I said this morning. This sinks very slowly into the heads of the lazy monks and sleepers; therefore you should pray to God for them constantly.

As for us, we shall call upon God. Amen.

This sermon, preached in the parish church in Wittenberg, is preserved in two texts, one by Georg Rörer, who dated it Dominica post purificationis and wrongly attributed it to Bugenhagen, and the other by Stephan Roth, who included it in his festival postils of 1528 as a sermon on St. Matthias' Day (Feb. 24).

Both texts are printed in the Weimar edition and Rörer's text is printed with excellent critical apparatus in CL 7, 398–403. The text chosen here is that of Roth, in this case more dependable than most of his postils since it was worked up from his own notes. The sermon appears in a sixteenth-century English translation as "A Sermon of D. Martin Luther, upon the Gospell on Sainct Matthias Day" in Special and Chosen

Sermons of D. Martin Luther, Collected of his writings and preachings for the necessary instruction and edification of such, as hunger and seek after the perfect knowledge and inestimable glorie which is in Christ Iesu, to the comfort and salvation of their soules. Englished by W. Gace (London, 1578). On W.

Gace, see H. E. Jacobs, The Lutheran Movement in England (Philadelphia, 1891), p. 356, and Gordon Rupp, The Righteousness of God: Luther Studies (London, 1953), p. 42. Emanuel Hirsch says of this

Text in German; WA 17I, 38–46, compared with Rörer's macaronic text in CL 7, 398–403 and Roth's postil in WA 17II, 388–397.

- 51 This Gospel2 is one of the really genuine Gospels. Other Gospels in which the miracles of Christ are described are not so comforting as those which contain the sermons of Christ in which he so lovingly teaches and entices us. I am not so certain of the grace which I see in miracles shown to others as when I have before me plain, clear words.

To me it is also more comforting to hear such loving admonitions and allurements than to hear preaching on the miracles, although they too strengthen my faith and are examples of the fact that as he helped these people so he will help me also. Now this Gospel is nothing else but a knowledge of God the Father and Christ his Son, and the power of this Gospel lies in these two words, "the wise" and "babes."

But lest when we hear this we say that it has nothing to do with us, that it is addressed to others, as the Jews did with the prophets, interpreting everything they said as meaning the heathen, the preceding words make it clear to whom these words are addressed or of whom they are spoken by Christ. For earlier he says of those who despised the gospel and would not accept it—though they should have been the first to accept it and were also the people who wanted to be considered the only ones who were dealing with God's Word and belonged to the people of God—of these people he says, "To what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market places and calling to their playmates, 'We piped to you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn' " [Matt. 11:16–17]; which the Lord then applied to himself and to John the Baptist. It is as if he were saying: We have preached the gospel to you,

John with sternness and severity, but I with graciousness and gentleness; but you despised it and would not accept it, and you will come to no good end. It is also true that no matter how one preaches to the people, sweetly or sourly, kindly or unkindly, they are still not satisfied.

These the Lord here calls the wise and understanding, from whom the gospel is hid. Here he does not call wise men those who are really and truly wise in divine things. For it is a great favor to be called wise or understanding. True wisdom is nothing else than the knowledge of God, that is, when I know what I am to think of God and know his divine will. But understanding means that I am able to judge worldly things and what is right and wrong, as St. Paul frequently links these two words together, especially in Ephesians and Colossians [Eph. 1:18; Col. 1:9]. Christ is not speaking of this kind of wisdom here, but rather of worldly wisdom, which puffs people up and will not admit the true, divine wisdom. This kind of fellow we all are by nature; we rebel against God's wisdom.

By worldly wisdom you call good what brings pleasure, honor, and profit, but what is contrary to these, such as affliction, dishonor, and loss, you call bad; for human nature cannot do anything else but seek its own [cf. I Cor. 13:5]; what it likes and thinks is good, it considers the best. But what it does not like, it considers the worst, no matter how good it may be. So I say that the Lord is speaking here about the wise and understanding who set their wisdom against God's wisdom. For worldly wisdom is so constituted that it not only wants to rule temporal, worldly things, but also the things which are God's. It is always hatching out and devising something new, even in spiritual and divine things.

Thus, out of their own wisdom, they invented cowls and tonsures and almost everything that is practiced in the whole papacy: There each one chose his Own work; one invented this and another that, and when one thing died down or failed to please they soon invented something else, as we, unfortunately, have seen and still see to this day. There is no end to it, and it all comes from the fact that we will not let

God's Word and the truth have the right of way, but are always thinking up something new.

For it is certain that when we contrive a new service of God which is contrary to God's Word we become blinded and fall ever deeper from one error into another, which then turns out to be the worst of plagues and punishments. That is why Paul says to the Thessalonians, "Therefore God sends upon them a strong delusion, to make them believe what is false, so that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness" [II Thess. 2:11–12]. Indeed, they finally come to the place where they know nothing about God, as the psalm says, "The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God' "

[Ps. 14:1]. For it is impossible for the natural man, who is made of flesh and blood and has not been instructed by God's Spirit, to judge and understand the things that belong to God, as Paul says to the Corinthians, "The natural man does not receive the gifts of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned" [I Cor. 2:14].

Anybody who wants to read more about this should look at the first chapter of Paul's letter to the Romans; there he will find what blindness does and what punishment ensues when we neglect the Word of God and follow our own inventions and ideas, all of which we see and, unfortunately, experience as true

- 52 in our spirituals, monks, nuns, and priests. God grant that the day may come when they will repent and let St. Paul says [Rom. 1:23] of the Gentiles that they have changed the glory of the immortal God into an image which is like that of mortal man and birds and fourfooted animals and creeping things.3 This is what our papists do too, but even more foolishly and stupidly. They make of him a God who goes about with cowl, tonsure, and hempen rope, concerned with eating meat and eating fish. Therefore God has abandoned them also to the lusts and impurity of their hearts, like the heathen, so shameful that we can hardly speak of it. For if this kind of thing happened among the heathen, who, after all, possessed many wives and whores, why should it be lacking among the spirituals, to whom women were forbidden? In short, this is just what happens wherever the devil is and wherever God's Word does not hold sway. This any man can certainly see for himself. In fact, it is so obvious that the children in the streets sing and talk about it.

Now this is not to be understood as applying only to the spirituals; it also applies to the common man, when he does not accept the Word of God. We see citizens dealing in counterfeit wares and merchants who are swindlers, and there is so much trickery and deceit, so much usury and taking of advantage that it is hardly possible to enumerate it all. And yet they go on doing it while having masses said and providing candles, thinking that God will allow himself to be propitiated in this way, concerned only that their reputation before the world remain untouched and unsullied, no matter what it is in the sight of God.

It is of these wise and understanding men that the Lord Christ is speaking here in the gospel, men who hear the gospel and see the miracles, but it does them no good for it does not enter their hearts. He says, therefore:

"I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes; yea, Father, for such was thy gracious will" [Matt. 11:25–26].

Christ here calls foolish, simple people "babes"; he is not speaking of actual infant children, nor of people who are childish in the eyes of the world. It could be a great doctor whom he here calls a babe, and on the other hand it could be a peasant whom he here calls wise and understanding. In the Psalter, David also calls them babes and children when he says, "By the mouth of babes and infants, thou hast founded a bulwark because of thy foes" [Ps. 8:2]. These surely were not actually infant children by whom God established a power against his enemies and who were to praise and extol his glory in all the earth.

Here the Lord calls "babes" the people who count their own works as nothing, who attribute nothing to their own wisdom, and make nothing whatsoever of themselves, but consider only God to be wise and prudent. That is why they keep quiet and submit themselves completely to God and let themselves be taught by him alone. The others are too wise, they do not want to learn anything from God, indeed, they even presume to cavil at God's doctrine and works. You can read about this in the first and second chapter of St. Paul's first letter to the Corinthians [cf. I Cor. 1:19–31; 2:6–9].

Therefore Christ says in Luke [16:8], "The sons of this world are wiser in their own generation than the sons of light." But the foolish sons of light are more esteemed in the sight of God than the wise sons of the world. Concerning the babes the Lord says here in this Gospel: Now the wise must be foolish and the foolish wise. For this is just what was said: Father, thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding, but thou hast revealed them to babes, for the wise and understanding do not know them, but the babes and the fools do know them. Why is it that the wise do not know them? Thou hast hidden them from them. But why do the babes know? Thou hast revealed them to them.

But what he means by this saying must be understood in the light of what he has said previously, namely, that he had proclaimed the gospel of the kingdom of God in many places in Judea, such as Chorazin, Bethsaida, and in his own city Capernaum [Matt. 11:20–24], and they had not accepted it because of their great wisdom, which prevented them from accepting the foolish, silly message of the gospel.

The gospel is a good, joyful message which teaches me how to know God, through which knowledge I obtain the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. As Christ says to his Father in John [17:3], "This is eternal life, that they know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." He says the same things here in this Gospel: "No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him" [Matt. 11:27]. He is speaking here of the knowledge of both the Father and of the Son. Now the one to whom this is revealed knows it, and he has

- 53 eternal life. But this the Father has hidden from the wise and understanding, that they should know neither the Father nor the Son, and has revealed it to babes, that they might know the Father and the Son and thus have eternal life.

Now, if this is true, as it most certainly is true, then what becomes of free will? When you see that such shameful things are done in the body as are spoken of in the first chapter of Romans [1:24], well, go ahead and boast about your free will. I too would say: What a fine kind of a free will that is, to live in such a horrible, inhuman way, which is unheard of even among the animals which have no reason. It's all very well to boast about free will; we see very well what it accomplishes. But this is just what happens when we are forsaken by God. No sooner are we forsaken by God than immediately the devil is in us with his government. And such is life in that kingdom that nothing else can happen except vice and shame, and yet the devil is able to cover it up so masterfully with such fine shine and simulation that it is even looked upon as the holiest, indeed, an angelic, life. What can be accomplished here by human strength, by which some think they can do many things, even to gaining heaven, if they only put their minds to it.

But here you hear Christ saying that the Father "reveals" it, and again, that it is the Father's "gracious will"; and thus he actually nullifies all human merit. Here no satisfactions can help, here no works have any validity whatsoever. It is done only by the will and good pleasure of the Father. He does not look upon the person as it appears before the world; he neither disdains nor rejects the sinner, no matter how laden with sins he may be. So in Luke also Christ says to his disciples, "Fear not, little flock, for it is your

Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom" [Luke 12:32]. This the hypocrites and work-saints cannot stand; in fact it makes them furious, raving mad that the foolish and simple, the publicans and open sinners should go into the kingdom of God before them [cf. Matt. 21:31], and they, with all their holiness and beautiful, fine, glittering works, be excluded. After all, it is enough to make a person mad. But what can we do for him? This is God's good pleasure; the one to whom He reveals it, has it, and the one from whom He hides it, it is hidden from him. There is nothing to be done about it.

And note here especially that Christ says, "Yea, Father, for so it was well-pleasing before thee."4

"Before thee," yes, before the world was created, as St. Paul says in Eph. [1:4–6], "Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. He destined us in love to be his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved." This excludes all merit; so don't let it enter your mind that you can earn anything here or brag about your works or your wisdom or your merits.

Here all glorying is taken away, so that, as Paul says to the Corinthians, "Let him who boasts, boast of the Lord" [I Cor. 1:31]. Now let us go on in the Gospel:

"All things have been delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him" [Matt.

Here you see the security which is in the kingdom of Christ, through whom we have knowledge and light. Now, if Christ has all things in his hand [cf. John 3:35] and has power over all things just as the Father himself has, then no one can snatch anything from his hand, as he himself says in John [10:28–30],

"I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one." Therefore every Christian, if he has accepted the gospel, may well rejoice that he is in the hands of this Christ and need not be troubled by his sins, if he has accepted the gospel, for Christ, under whom he lives, will carry on from there. It is true, the devil will go on tempting him with this or that vice, with adultery, fornication, theft, slaughter, envy, hatred, anger, and whatever other sins there are, but there is no need to be troubled, for he has a strong, mighty King; he will defend him well. It will be hard for you, it will be bitter; therefore prayer will be needed and others too will have to pray for you, that you may have strong courage and a brave heart to withstand the devil. But one thing is certain; you will not be forsaken. Christ will surely save you. There is no need to worry, but only do not fall from his kingdom.

So now you see here in this Gospel that Christ is God and man; man in that he praises and thanks God, and God in that all things have been delivered to him by the Father.

But since he says, "No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him" [Matt. 11:27], this is all spoken against the free

- 54 will, which wants to know God and Christ whenever and however it pleases. Here it is clear whence the knowledge of God and Christ comes. The Father, he says, knows the Son and the Son the Father. How then do we get to know it? Through this or some other preacher? No, they are only instruments; but "any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him." Just before this he said that the Father reveals it; now he says here that the Son does it. Yes, both the Father and the Son reveal it. And as the Father reveals it, so the Son reveals it also, as Christ also says in John [14:26], "The Holy Spirit … will teach you all things."

Therefore as the Father teaches, so the Son teaches, and so also the Holy Spirit teaches. And where the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit do not teach, then doubtless there is no teaching or knowledge.

Now proceed further in the Gospel:

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light" [Matt. 11:28–30].

Up to this point we have heard how God deals with the wise and understanding, namely, that he blinds them and hides the gospel from them, and likewise how he deals with the babes and the simple, namely, that he gives them a real understanding and reveals the gospel to them. Now somebody may say: "If that's the way it is, then I must necessarily be in great peril of conscience until I hear and know that the gospel applies to me also. I am a sinner and maybe the gospel does not apply to me; I am unworthy of it." That's why Christ goes on and says, in order to comfort such timid, dismayed, troubled consciences, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." Here we are called to come to this consolation, to the gospel. Here you must not think about your worthiness; for this is just what he has been saying, You "who labor and are heavy-laden," that is, with the law, with sin, with anxiety and affliction, and with whatever else may burden the conscience. That's why he does not give it any special name. He does not say, with this or that difficulty, but simply says, "all who labor and are heavy-laden." Nor will he have any one excluded, for he says "all"; which is an excellent and mighty comfort in temptation, no matter what temptation it may be. So whoever feels his sinfulness and knows his inability to fulfil the law of God, let him come confidently and boldly; he will surely be helped. "I will give you rest," he says to those who are oppressed, as it were, with hard labor and toil. But see to it only that you believe this friendly bidding and assurance.

So Christ cried out on another occasion in the temple at a feast in Jerusalem: "If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.' Now this he said about the Spirit, which those who believed in him were to receive"

[John 7:37–39]. This is the way this happens: first he causes the gospel to be preached to us, then I believe this preaching, and as soon as I believe and accept this preaching the Holy Spirit is present, and when the Holy Spirit is present my sins are forgiven. But you feel that the Holy Spirit is present when you believe and are certain that your sins are forgiven. Truly, this is really to give rest to those whose consciences are burdened, for them to feel that their sins are forgiven and that they have become heirs of the kingdom of heaven. Moreover, he not only refreshes us in the anxiety and assaults of sin, but he will be with us in all other troubles; in hunger, war, famine, and whatever other tribulations which may come, he will not leave us, as God never left the dear patriarch Joseph, even in a strange country, but was always with him in prosperity as well as adversity. It is a heavy burden when a man is weighed down by sins, and no one will be relieved of this except those whom the Son of God, Christ Jesus, delivers through the Holy Spirit, whom he secured for us from the Father. He then makes our hearts joyful, steady, and ready to do all that But what does he mean by saying, "Take my yoke upon you"? Is it rest for me to take one burden from a man's neck and lay another upon him? This is what we have often said; at first the gospel terrifies and is contrary to the flesh, for it says that all our efforts are nil, our holiness and goodness count for nothing, everything that is in us is condemned, we are children of wrath and indignation. And this is hard on the flesh, an intolerable burden; this is why he calls it a burden or yoke.

But lest anyone should be terrified of this Man and think him so great, high, and mighty that he could not abide poor sinners and ordinary people or would deal unkindly with them, he goes on to say, "Learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart." What St. Augustine says here, namely, that we should learn gentleness and humility from Christ,5 is well spoken, but it does not fit in well at this point. Here Christ's intention is to lure us lovingly to his teaching concerning knowledge of the Father. It is as if he were

- 55 saying: Flesh and timid natures look upon me as if I were cruel, stern, and severe, but I am not so; I am gentle and lowly in heart. I do not terrify people, as Moses did. I do not preach: do this, do that; I preach the forgiveness of sins. I preach only that you should receive, not that you should give anything. I am not like the Pharisees, who wanted to be magnified; rather I am altogether kind and lowly in heart and ready to receive sinners. And even though they fall right back into sin, I still do not cast them away from me, if only they come to me and accept comfort and help from me. I do not put people under the ban, like the Pharisees, who put people under the ban even on account of their own ordinances and human inventions, and would sooner have all the commandments of God broken than see one of their statutes and ordinances go unobserved. Just as we have seen in the papacy, that it was a far greater sin to eat meat on Friday or for a priest to marry than to commit twenty adulteries or even ten murders. But here you hear that God even abrogates his own law in order to draw sinners to himself.

And Christ makes a special point of saying here that he is gentle. It is as though he were saying: I know how to deal with sinners. I myself have experienced what it is to have a timid, terrified conscience

(as the letter to the Hebrews [4:15] says, he "in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sinning"). Therefore let no one be afraid of me; I will deal kindly and gently with him. I will not jump on him or frighten him. Let him come boldly to me, in me he will find rest for his soul. "His soul," he says, as if he were saying: It may well be that there will be outward tribulation and physical persecution and calamity may befall you, but all this you should bear easily and quietly (as he also says to his disciples in John [16:33]: In me you have peace, but in the world tribulation). Therefore, even though outwardly everything seems to be against us, as if it would crush and devour us, there is no need to be troubled; for inwardly, in our conscience, we have peace. And this peace of conscience is the first and most immediate fruit of faith, as Paul says in Rom. [5:1], "Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." And when our conscience is free and at peace with God, then nothing can move us nor hurt us, no matter how evil it may be.

But in order that no man may think and say: It doesn't solve the problem simply to take one burden from a man's neck and lay upon him another (as we said above), he goes on to say, "My yoke is easy, and my yoke is light." It is as if he were saying: Don't be afraid of my yoke. The yoke of the law, under which you have been living up to now, was heavy; but my yoke is not so heavy. It is a light and easy yoke, you can easily carry it. The wise fellows are still saying that Christ's yoke is heavier than the yoke of the law and they cite the fifth chapter of Matthew [cf. Matt. 5:22]. But there Christ is explaining how the law is to be understood, not making laws, but rather saying that murder comes from an evil heart and adultery issues from an impure heart [Matt. 15:19]. Therefore he is only interpreting the Law of Moses, not making laws.

But the yoke of Christ is easy and his burden light, not only because he takes away ceremonies and human ordinances, but also the whole law, the curse, the sin, the death, and everything that can happen to us on account of the law. All this Christ takes from me and gives me the Spirit, through whom I cheerfully, willingly, and gladly do everything I should do. And it is called gentle, sweet, and easy because he himself helps us carry it, and when it grows too heavy for us he shoulders the burden along with us. The world looks upon it as heavy and intolerable, but it is not, for then one has a good companion and, as the saying goes: With a good companion the singing is good. Two can carry a burden easily, though one alone may not carry it well.

TEN SERMONS ON THE CATECHISM The Last of Three Series of Sermons on the Catechism Before the Publication of the Large and Small Catechisms, November 30 to December 18, 1528

In 1528 Luther preached three series of sermons on the Catechism: the first series, consisting of eleven sermons, from May 18 to May 30, the second series of ten sermons from September 14 to September 25, and a third from November 30 to December 18. (The text of all three series may be found in WA 30I, 1–

122.) It is apparent that Luther is here forming the vocabulary into which he cast both his Large and Small Catechisms and that the Large Catechism particularly is a reworking of this catechetical preaching.

In his sermon on the Sunday preceding the first sermon of the series (First Sunday in Advent, Nov. 29), he made the following remarks, which are given here, not only to provide the setting of his catechetical

- 56 instruction, but also as an example of the "announcements" which were a typical part of his congregational preaching.

"It has hitherto been our custom to teach the elements and fundamentals of Christian knowledge and life four times each year and we have therefore arranged to preach on these things for two weeks in each quarter, four days a week at two o'clock in the afternoon. Because these matters are highly necessary, I faithfully admonish you to assemble at the designated time with your families. Do not allow yourself to be kept away by your work or trade and do not complain that you will suffer loss if for once you interrupt your work for an hour. Remember how much freedom the gospel has given to you, so that now you are not obliged to observe innumerable holy days and can pursue your work. And besides, how much time do you spend drinking and swilling! You don't count that, but when you are asked to spend time on God's Word you are disgusted. Woe to you who scorn this treasure on account of your greed and will not give your servants a free hour to hear God's Word. Give them an hour off that they may come to know themselves and Christ more fully.

"But you fathers who have given your children, servants, and maidservants time off and then found that they did not want to come to church, I give you the liberty to compel them to come. Don't think, you fathers, that you have fulfilled your responsibility for your households when you say, 'Oh, if they don't want to go, how can I compel them? I dare not do it.' Oh, no, this isn't so. You have been appointed their bishop and pastor; take heed that you do not neglect your office over them. If you neglect this office in your homes, we shall fall into public disgrace, as we have seen this happen already. For you will have to answer for your children and servants whom you have neglected. If you have neglected their education inwardly or outwardly, see to it that this is corrected! See to it, then, that they come to hear this preaching. I hold the office of pastor and I will preach these sermons; I will do my part and even more than we are obliged to do."

The text of the third series of sermons has been chosen here because the sermons bring us closer to Luther's final crystallization of his thought in the Large and Small Catechisms. Their relation to the findings of the visitation of the churches in Saxony in the summer of 1527 becomes apparent in Instructions to the Visitors of Parish Pastors in Electoral Saxony (1528), LW 40, 263–320, and the revised "Church Ordinance" of 1528, for which see Emil Sehling, Die evangelischen Kirchenordnungen des XVI Jahrhunderts (1902–1957), pp. 142–174.

Text in macaronic Latin and German; WA 30I, 57–121, compared with Buchwald, Predigten D.

Martin Luthers, op. cit., I, 72–145. The translation, like Buchwald's German version, is a conflation of text "R" (Rörer) and text "N" (God. Solger 13).

Introduction. The First Commandment These portions, which you have heard me recite, were called by the ancient fathers the catechism, that is, an instruction for children, which the children and all who want to be Christians should know. And one who does not know them should not be counted among the number of Christians. For when a person does not know this, it is a sign that he has no regard for God and Christ. Therefore I have admonished you adults to hold your children and servants and yourselves to this; otherwise we shall not admit you to holy communion. For if you parents and masters do not help, we shall accomplish little with our preaching, and if I preach all year long and the crowd only comes in and looks at the walls and windows of the church, it is of no use. A person who wants to be a good citizen owes it to his family to urge them to learn these portions of the catechism, and if they will not, do not give them any bread to eat. If the servants grumble, then throw them out of the house. If you have children, train them to learn the Ten Commandments, the Creed, and the Lord's Prayer. If you urge them diligently to do this, they will learn much in a year's time.

But when they have learned this, there are many excellent passages scattered throughout the Scriptures; these they should learn afterwards; if not all, at least some of them. God has appointed you a master and a wife in order that you should hold your family to this. And you can do this easily enough by praying in the morning when you rise, in the evening when you go to bed, and before and after meals. Thus they will be brought up in the fear of the Lord. I am not saying this for nothing; I am determined that you shall not cast it to the winds. I should never have believed that you were such ignorant people if I did not learn it every day. Every father of a family is a bishop in his house and the wife a bishopess. Therefore remember that - 57 you in your homes are to help us early on the ministry as we do in the church. If we do this we shall have a gracious God, who will defend us from all evil and in all evil.

In the Ps. [78:5–8] it is written: "He appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments; and that they should not be like their fathers." Note that well—that they learn to fear

God and not become like their fathers!

In these sermons there will be five parts.1 These we call the catechism, which must be taught for the sake of the simple, that they may first learn to recite it word for word but then afterwards learn to understand it. But one who does not know it should not call himself a Christian, but belongs body and soul to the devil, and it will never go well with him here and hereafter. First are the Ten Commandments, which forbid and teach what one must do and not do.

[The First Commandment] "You shall have no other gods before me." This is a commandment which gives all the doctors trouble to understand. But it should be taught to the children just as it stands in the words, "I am your God," or,

"You shall have no other gods before me." Anybody can learn this, no matter how ignorant he may be.

But if you won't learn it, then you shall be of the devil. But what does this mean: not to have any other gods or "I am your God"? To have God is to fear God and trust him. I will say it as crudely as I can: He who fears God and trusts him is keeping this commandment, but he who fears something else and trusts it is transgressing. This is the way the prophets preached and explained the first commandment. And, taking it all in all, there is nothing to be found in it except that we must fear God and trust him. The Psalm

[147:11] sums up the first commandment in one verse: "The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love." "Those who fear him" are those who keep the first commandment, which is to fear God and trust him. For he who fears God and trusts him has no other god.

From this there follows the greatest wisdom. One who fears something else and trusts it makes of it a god. That is why all sorcerers transgress this first commandment; they neither trust God nor fear him. You see, then, what faith is and what idolatry is. If you fear the prince more than God, then the prince is your god. If you trust your wife or money more than God, then these are your god. But God is held not in the hand but in the heart. If you fear him and trust him then you need fear no one and trust no one except God.

Therefore the first commandment claims the two parts of your heart: fear God and trust him. You learn from this that to fear God is not merely to fall upon your knees. Even a godless man and a robber can do that. Likewise, when a monk trusts in his cowl and rule, this is idolatry.

This you will learn when you have matured; you will be more learned than the whole world. You will know this: I should fear and trust none but God. If I do this I have the one God. My dear child, if you have learned only this first commandment, you have learned enough. Then in time you will also learn to put it into practice. But when you do not hear your God speaking you should not trust or fear him. But if you really hear him, then fear and trust him! When you hear a bishop preaching the Word of your God, then fear and trust! But if he is preaching not the Word of God but of the devil, let him pound, stamp, and curse and say: I do not fear you and I do not trust in you. So the princes these days are attempting to scare the devout away from the Word and faith. Then you must say: My God says that he wills to be gracious to me; him alone must I fear and trust. If they want to give you riches, you already have another treasure, which is trust in God alone. Fear is on the left side,2 trust is on the right.3

Thus the first commandment requires that you fear no one and trust no one except God alone, who says: If you fear me and trust me, I will protect you and supply you with nourishment and all that you need and you shall have what is sufficient. Therefore fear nobody but me, for I can smite you, and put your trust in none but me, for I can help you. No prince will give you either good or evil, for both are in my hand. Therefore fear me and trust in me! This too is what Moses bade his Jews to do in Deut. 6 [:8–9], commanding them to write the commandments upon the walls and bind them upon their hands and keep them before their eyes. But we shall not do as the Jews did, who sewed the commandments on their hats and let it go at that; rather the Lord wills that we should practice them in all affairs of the household, so that when a servant does wrong the master may say: Don't fear me, fear God! You are not my servant but God's servant. You can very well do me an injury without my knowing it. If you will not obey me, then

- 58 fear God and be obedient for his sake. It is of no account that you be obedient for my sake, but trust God and obey his commandment!

Thus there is always occasion for observing the commandment and practicing it daily in the home. If this is done, you will see the fruits which will come of it when the servants hear God's commandment set forth to them and learn that God has commanded that servants should be faithful to their master. It would be only a clod and a villain who would not be moved by this and worthy of being instructed by Jack

Ketch.4 We probably think that the Ten Commandments are there only to be preached from the pulpit, but they need rather to be applied to use. For God has commanded you to fear and trust him. So the young can be well brought up in the discipline of the Lord [Eph. 6:4]. For they must fear God if they are to cease from doing evil for his sake and [they must trust God if they are to do the good for his sake]. It is small wages when I give you three or four guldens, but God gives you a happy life here and, after that, eternal life. The fault lies with us householders. Necessity has forced us to engage teachers because the parents have not assumed this responsibility. But every master and mistress should remember that they are bishops and bishopesses for Gretel and Hans.5

All the wisdom which is in the Scriptures follows from the first commandment. David boasts in Ps.

[119:100], "I understand more than the aged, for I keep thy precepts." Thus one becomes greatly learned through this [commandment]; for when the family fears and trusts God you will be able to deal well with every external situation. If my neighbor tries to alienate my servant or maid from me, I immediately say, why do you trust this rascal more than God, who has given you to me to be my servant? In all of life such wisdom proceeds from a knowledge of the first commandment. No matter how many people teach you to go contrary to the first commandment, dismiss them and say, I must fear and trust God more than you.

Then they will become fine people; otherwise they will grow up to be blockheads. The chief part of all wisdom and knowledge is the first commandment, namely, that you should fear and trust no one but God alone. He will richly reward you. In the course of time you will learn to apply it well in every situation and action.

The Second and Third Commandments Yesterday, dear children, you heard that you should be able to recite these words [the first commandment] word for word. Any of you who cannot do this must learn them as you have heard me recite them; for this is the beginning. But when you are able to recite them then this must be followed by understanding. Yesterday we dealt with the first commandment. First you must know the words and then what the meaning of the words is, namely, that nobody should fear or put his trust in any other thing except God. I have stated this very clearly and not without purpose, for this commandment is the sum of all the commandments and the light that goes out into all the commandments and shines in all the others.

Therefore learn that it means that you should neither fear nor mast anybody, neither man nor devil, except [The Second Commandment]

The second commandment also requires, beyond its recitation, the understanding of it. And here you will find that the first commandment, fearing and trusting God, is mixed in with it. First, [this commandment teaches that you do not fear and trust God] if you swear and curse by his name or misuse it for wickedness, spite, and deception, as the pope did with his bulls, and those among the Brotherhood of St. Valentine who sold [indulgences], and the sectarians who say they teach God's Word, and the sorcerers who employ good words. But if you fear God, you do not misuse his name and you will not curse and practice sorcery, because you know the first commandment, which says you should fear and trust God.

Secondly, it is to be understood in this commandment that you should use the name of God well, to the honor and praise of God. This is done when you call upon his name in time of need, as he has commanded: "Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me" [Ps. 50:15].

Likewise, the name of God is honored when an oath is required in court. There too the first commandment is intermixed. For he who does not trust God does not call upon God. Therefore the whole sum of this commandment is this: You should not curse, swear, or conjure by his name, but rather call upon him in trust in every need and praise and honor him.

- 59 The first point is that you should not swear, curse, conjure, lie, and deceive. To this the first commandment, which requires that you fear God, impels you. The second is that you should call upon God. And to this too the first commandment impels you, for it says that one should trust God, and he who trusts him calls upon him in every need and praises and thanks him. Therefore, if a person lives in God's fear and trust, he does not curse, but rather calls upon him. The true child of God is one who does not use

God's name falsely but rightly. This commandment could be explained further as it is in the Scriptures, but I confine myself now to the short, compact form in order that you may grasp it. Otherwise I could also say that every head of a house should write this commandment on the walls, as is commanded in Deut. 6

[:9]. For when something evil happens, what do people say? Devil take it! [Then the head of the house should say,] why don't you say instead, may God forbid? So instead of cursing one should say, Come, help, O God! God forfend, God counsel me! Then the curses will disappear. The Lord's Prayer and the Creed will be easier when the Ten Commandments are understood. The first commandment says, Fear and trust God. The second says, You should not swear, curse, conjure, slander, lie, deceive, or teach falsely in my name, but on the contrary, you should fear and trust God, call upon him in every need, and praise and honor him.

This anybody can grasp. If you can learn a song of twenty stanzas, you can also learn this. God help met God bless me! Aye, God save me! This means that a person is in need. But then we shall also call upon God when we are in the greatest of danger. I knew a fellow who whenever he struck against a stone would say, Yo-ho, in the name of a hundred thousand devils! When anybody warned him to stop it, lest he use the same words when he was in need or even dying, he would say, When I am in danger I will call upon the Lord. It so happened that one time he stumbled on a bridge, fell into the river, and was drowned.

But as he was falling he cried out his customary invocation: Yo-ho, in the name of a hundred thousand devils. If he had been accustomed to call upon the Lord, however, he would have been helped. It is certain that this name does help as soon as it is uttered in time of need, for Satan is terrified of this name.

Otherwise, if one has not called upon the name of God, the devil will have inflicted an even greater evil. It certainly does happen; anybody who immediately cries out, God help me! will not sustain such a dangerous injury as he would otherwise. These are things that happen suddenly to the children and things belonging to the household. For you have Satan in your houses, where he lies in wait for you with every kind of peril, he lurks upon stairs and stiles. Oppose him there with the name of God! I shall not at this time speak of the fact that we also misuse God's name in preaching.

[The Third Commandment] God has appointed a day of rest and on that day our bodies are to rest from physical labor, likewise also the beasts of burden. It is not enough, however, that you only rest; you are also to keep this rest holy.

The commandment does not say: You shall be idle or get into mischief on the day of rest; but rather, you shall keep it holy. What is the intent of this commandment? The answer is: I should live holily on this day; for this day is given to us in order that we may use it for the exercise of holiness. Exercise in the fields is not holy if the person himself is not holy beforehand. In the day of rest, however, you have an exercise through which you become holy. That is, you should concern yourself with the Word of God, devote yourself to it at home and especially in church, for the place, the person, and the time have been appointed for you.

Here again you have the first commandment in this third commandment. Fear God, in order that you may do no evil on the day of rest nor despise God's Word and say, What do I care about the sermon? The commandment therefore requires first that you fear God and second, that you trust God and hear his Word.

If you do this, you perform for him a pleasing, precious work, nay, a godly, holy, Christian work, which God himself will deem holy. Therefore, earnestly and reverently hear God's Word! But if you do not do this, then you profane the place, the persons who teach there, and the time, for you are despising God's

Therefore, the meaning of this third commandment is this: Take heed that you do not despise the preaching and neglect the Word of God! Secondly, see to it that you speak of it seriously, hear it, sing it, read it, use it, and learn it! Even though this is to be done every day, especially by me and those like me, since God has committed this work to us, God has nevertheless appointed this day especially in order that we may hear God's Word, his Commandments, the Lord's Prayer, and the Creed. Be sure, therefore, that you do not misuse the day! What you lose in work on this day you will recover in the other six. If masters

- 60 and mistresses do not compel the servants to go during the week, they should compel them to go on Sunday, that they may hear, read, and sing God's Word for at least an hour. The preacher has his [work] in the church.

That is the sum of these first three commandments. The first requires a heart that fears and trusts God.

This must run through all commandments because it is the sum and the light of all the others, for all of the commandments prohibit for the sake of the fear of God and command for the sake of trust in God. The third commandment says this: You shall not despise God's Word but rather go and learn it with all earnestness and humility.

There is one thing more, however. Formerly Sunday was observed in such a way that it was enough if one had heard mass. Now that the mass has been put away, we now put in its place the abuse of thinking that the ministry of the Word was instituted merely to permit people to go in and come out again. They come out no wiser than when they went in; they snore and sleep in church. This is not to keep the sabbath holy. But the ministry of the Word was instituted in order that people might learn the Word of God. For God will surely require that you give an account of what you have learned from the preaching. It is therefore necessary that you not only hear it but also receive it, for this commandment says, "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy"; do something holy on this day. But if you have learned nothing, then you have done nothing holy on the sabbath day. Secondly, hear the Word of God with humility and learn it!

The fear [of God] constrains you not to despise it; trust [in God] constrains you to hear and learn it.

These first three commandments cover the works toward God; the first, that the heart should trust God; the second, that we should outwardly use his name well; the third, that we should not despise his Word, but on the contrary [hear it]. They are not mere idle talk, but commandments; therefore observe them! If we do this, we do enough so far as God is concerned.

The Fourth Commandment We have now heard the first three commandments. Remember that you are to learn them and retain them in order that you may also live in accord with them. The first commandment was: "You shall have no other gods before me." That is, fear and trust God! That is saying it briefly and plainly enough. The second: "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain." That is, you should call upon the name of God in every need and honor and praise it. The third: "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy." That is, you should so fear God as not to despise his Word, but rather hear and learn it; so you will have a gracious God. These are the first commandments of God, which refer to God himself. They are not mere talk but the commandments of God. Highly as you are commanded to fear God and not despise him, so highly you are also commanded to trust him. Therefore, you should not swear by the name of God; this is the fear of God; you must refrain for his sake. But likewise it is also commanded that you should call upon him in every need. This you do by reason of the first commandment that you should trust him.

Likewise it is commanded that you should not remain idle at home and thus despise the Word, but go to church to hear it. If you do this, he will give you more than you have dared to ask him. So far we have preached on the first three commandments. Now comes the fourth.

[The Fourth Commandment] Here he uses not the words "love," "obey," or "do good to," but rather the noble word "honor." He has put father and mother next to himself and uses the word with which one honors him. Therefore neither the pope nor the higher schools have understood this commandment, nor did I understand or was ever taught what you are being taught now. When you learn the Ten Commandments you are learning more than the pope and all the schools. But honor is paid not merely with the body, with bows and doffing the hat, but rather by respecting them, by honoring them [i.e., parents] with the heart. For God is well aware that the world does not respect parents, especially when they perform their office, that is, when they discipline their children and keep them from evil. Then the old Adam curses under his breath. God knows that there lurks in the children a poisonous resentment against the parents and therefore he commands not only that they should obey them but also honor them; that is, that the children think highly of them, not because they are strong or beautiful or well clothed, but because of the first commandment, which commands that we fear God and trust him. So when God speaks these words about your parents he knows what he is talking about. Therefore, for the sake of the Word of God, which he himself speaks, you should honor them. Even if your parents treat you unjustly, so long as it is not contrary to God, you should stop and - 61 consider: I must fear God and trust him who said, Honor your father and mother. The Jews and their

Pharisees taught disobedience to parents as being in accord with the command of God, as in Matt. 15 [:5].6

But when you hold your parents in honor, this honor will teach you not to let them suffer want, to lack food, and perish with hunger, but you will rather give them the best you have in the house, the most precious treasure, which God has given to you in order that you may honor them. Since the first commandment casts light upon the fourth commandment, it is for the sake of fearing him that God wills that you let your parents be your treasure.

The meaning of the commandment is this: Fear God and trust God in this commandment. This is done when, for the sake of the fear of God, you do not despise, defame, or contradict your parents, but rather when you show them honor, are helpful and obedient to them, and regard them so highly in your heart that there is nothing better in your heart than your parents. If you fear me, says God, you will honor your parents. Therefore God has also added the promise: "that your days may be long." If you honor them and serve them, then you have this promise that he will give you a long life. That is, I will give you a wife, a husband, I will supply you with food, house, and home; you will be a fine citizen; here in time you shall have sufficient and hereafter eternal life. Ah, should I not then be obedient? Especially since God promises eternal life and besides a long life here, which cannot endure if you do not have a wife, husband, house, and home; and he will take care of you. This the children especially should learn in order that they may honor their parents. Then they will be blessed children, saints; this is what he promises them.

This is why so few marriages turn out well, because they have not deserved to turn out well in the sight of God. They have not shown due honor to their parents, but rather have scorned their commandments and not feared them. This is not mere junk or talk, but a commandment of God, who demands it of you. Therefore, a mother should say to her daughter: My dear daughter, do not regard me, but take heed of him who commands you to honor your father and mother. If you despise me, you will come to no good end, but if not, you will have a gracious God who will give you long life.

Furthermore, everything which is called "father" belongs under this commandment, as the pope has quite rightly called bishops and preachers fathers. In the Scriptures the masters of the household are called patres familias, as the word indicates. The word is used of Naaman in II Kings 5 [:13]. In Greek and Latin they are also called patres familias. If you are a servant, then honor your master like a father; the commandment applies to you. If you are a maid, remember to let your mistress be your mother. It would not be a bad thing at all if servants called their masters and mistresses father and mother, especially the minors and orphans. This would please the father of a household.

The whole world these days is complaining about the wickedness of servants. The reason for it is that they consider the commandment a joke and think it does not apply to them. But if you are a servant or a maid, you owe to your master the honor which a son or a daughter owes to a father, which means that you will not only serve him but show him honor. God knows when a servant is unfaithful to his master. And the same goes for the maid; when she is given many things to do, she does nothing. Look out, you servants, and heed the first commandment: Fear God and trust in him! So a father of a household should speak to his servants: Don't look to me; I'll get along all right, but God has commanded you to fear him. If you show disrespect to God, it will not mean much to you if you despise me also. But if you are devout, you will have your consolation here. If you serve faithfully and pay honor to our Lord God, God will see to it that he will give you, servant, a fine maid for a wife and you, maid, a good husband. The terrible conditions in the world today are surely to be attributed to the disobedience of servants. They do not stay in one place; they are nothing but beggars, clods. Today husband and wife come together, after two months they separate. When a maid is careless, she thinks to herself: Oh, my master won't see it. The mistress is sick. If I don't milk the cow today, I'll do it tomorrow. And she thinks she is committing no sin. But there is one above who sees and says, Honor your master! I command this to you. If you do not, you shall die of pestilence, fever, or bloody flux, or remain a beggar all your life. But if you do, then you make of your master a father and of your mistress a mother, and besides you will have a gracious God.

Note well that master and mistress are called fathers and mothers in the Scriptures!

This applies also to the government. The Romans called the princes patres patriae. We should be ashamed that we do not call our princes fathers or do not consider them as such. Our prince is our father.

Likewise the burgomaster. For God gives us sustenance and guards our homes through the princes as through a father. Therefore one should so honor them, obey them, and love them that a subject should

- 62 consider his prince his greatest treasure and guard against rebellion. The same applies to the citizen with respect to the burgomaster. This is the fourth commandment. But we say, What do I care about the prince and the burgomaster? But look who has commanded you to honor parents and what he says to you! It is easy to have contempt for persons, but look here: Fear and trust God! God has commanded that you should honor the government; even if you despise them for other reasons, you dare not do so any longer because of the Word of God. If you do not despise them, then you have the promise that he will be your

God and will give you long life. Then we can have decent people on earth and we shall have peace. But if we do not do what God commands in the Ten Commandments, we shall see everything full of war.

Thus there are three kinds of fathers: [fathers by birth, in the household, and] fathers of the land. The fourth kind are the bishops, these one should dishonor.7 But for those who are true Christians, it is right that they should honor their bishops, because they watch over their souls and administer the sacraments to them. I shall not preach much about this, for I too am one of these. In short, if you honor your parents, masters, princes, and bishops, [says God,] you must not worry about where you are going to get a wife, husband, house and home. Let Me take care of that. If you honor your prince, burgomaster, and preacher, let Me take care of how you will get enough to live on. The God who says, "that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God gives you" will not deceive you. He is not talking about five guldens; it includes everything: house and home, wife and children. This should make us melt with love and lift up our hands in gratitude that we have a master, a mistress, a prince, burgomaster, preacher in whom we honor only God. You see in the Ten Commandments the orders so gloriously established with such glorious benefits and promises. Nothing is more precious than long life. Emperor Charles and the Turks are not able to lengthen your life by even one hour or give you a good wife.

Anybody whom this does not move is not worthy to hear a single word [of God]. Therefore, honor all who can be called father—father and mother, master and mistress, prince, burgomaster, and preacher! If you honor them, God will richly reward you even here on earth. This is a bull which one could not write on twenty-four cowhides.8 Therefore do it, in order that you may fear God. Always relate it to the first commandment!

The Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Commandments We have heard four commandments. The first three relate to God himself, the fourth to parents. The first is, "You shall have no other gods before me," which means: Fear and trust God and no one else. The second: Do not curse or swear, but rather call upon God, pray, praise, and give thanks. The third: Do not despise and neglect the Word, but rather go gladly to hear and learn it. The fourth is that you should not only obey your parents but also, because of the fear of God, think highly of them and share with them all that you have. Then you are promised a long life.

You parents, on the other hand, must remember to show yourselves to be parents toward your children! For the fourth commandment calls you fathers and mothers, not tyrants, rascals, and scoundrels.

Therefore, if you are a father or a mother, this commandment means you. If you are a burgomaster, or anyone who bears the name of father, see to it that you carry out your paternal office. You father, instruct your son, that he may fear God; you master, your servants; you burgomaster, your townsmen; you prince, your subjects. You too have been commanded. Your maids do not exist merely to wash the pots for you.

Listen! this Commandment is for you. If you are not diligently concerned that your children and servants learn piety, then it serves you right if your children are disobedient and your servants unfaithful. For God does not give you your children to play with, nor does he give you servants for you to use them like asses for work. As you learn from me, so children and servants should learn from you parents and masters.

Remember and help to raise up good people, that you, father, may raise up a devout son, you, mother, a devout daughter, who in turn will raise up their children in piety. Thus the servants will also be well trained. A prince and the cities need good people. The prince needs councilors, the cities need pastors and learned men. Therefore, do not say, as some people are saying these days: Priestcraft doesn't count any more. If you note that your child can become an able boy, send him to school.9 If you do not do this, you will have to give an account, and you are a rogue who is against the prince and the city and disobedient to your God. Hitherto scholars have been educated in order to become canons. Now we must devote far more care to educating the children in order that we may find people who are capable of serving a country in its secular government and the cities in spiritual government as preachers and lectors. You see what

- 63 murderous harm you do to the sovereign prince and the fatherland when you keep gifted boys away from study. The same applies to you, the mother of a family, if you train your daughter or your maid badly. It is a commandment which is laid upon you, not something which is merely given to you. For if you are able to rear your daughter well and do not do so, you are the one who has ruined her. Conditions are such in Christendom that unfortunately no estate [Stand] knows what it is any more. It is no small thing when a young woman is well reared and becomes a good mother, who is then able to bring up her children in piety. Therefore you parents should learn that you are not excluded from this fourth commandment. There is no lack of learned men now, for at the present time you have learned men, such as the world has never seen before.

[The Fifth Commandment] The following commandments refer to our neighbor, who is our equal. The first four refer to those who are over us. The first [of these] is: "You shall not kill." "Not to kill" means not to kill either with the tongue or the hand, or with a sign or in one's heart. This commandment is clearly explained by Christ himself, as you read in Matt. 5 [:21–26]. The greatest treasure your neighbor has on earth is his life and body. This God would have secured from all violence and assault and with this commandment he builds a wall around him and says, "You shall not kill." Thus the Lord cares for us by providing us with a protection. He says, Do him no harm, but rather show him all good; do not injure him physically, either with words or deeds or in your heart. For to have rancor in one's heart toward a neighbor, or to laugh in one's sleeve when he dies or has bad luck, is also to kill one's neighbor. If all the murderers were to be stoned, the streets would be flowing with blood. It means, therefore, that we must neither do him any evil or wish him any evil, but rather the contrary. If we do not do this, it is the same as if you had done harm to him. Therefore, in these commandments are contained the six works of mercy. If he is hungry, feed him, if he is naked, clothe him, if he is in prison, visit him, and so on [Matt. 25:35–36]; otherwise you are guilty of his death. If you can avert his danger, do so; if not, you become guilty. Therefore, mark these words well: You shall not do him any harm or injury, but rather do good to him and help him. The six commandments of mercy are quite plainly included here.

The fifth commandment therefore requires a heart that is gentle, friendly, and sweet toward everybody, ready to do good to everyone. Anger is forbidden to everybody; it is permitted only to those who stand in God's stead, such as parents, princes, and preachers. Those who are not acting in God's stead, must not be angry with their neighbor. If you want to be a knight, cutting and slashing, then attack yourself first, your own pride and all offenses against your neighbor's body and goods. But see to it that you are not found to be a murderer by neglecting your neighbor whom you are well able to help. How many there are, however, who laugh at their neighbor's misfortune! Here it stands: "You shall not kill." When evil thoughts come into your mind, remember this: God has commanded me to fear him and he bids me not to kill anyone, not to harm anyone. I must fear him who is above and not do this for his sake. You must look upon the fifth commandment as a wall which God has built against my anger. You see how hard this commandment is. Though many transgress it, they still go on wanting to be pious, though their hearts, mouths, and eyes are full of poison. Therefore, see to it that you fear God; and then afterwards, when you should give to the poor people and help them, see to it that you are not slothful. Feed the hungry; if you have not fed them, you have killed them.10 So also in Matt. 25 [:42–45]. The tyrants who hound people and despoil them of their goods are well skilled in this. Help your neighbor with hand, mouth, and heart for the sake of God, who has commanded you to do this. Therefore, fear God and give to the needy in whatever he is lacking, as Moses says: "If there is among you a poor man, one of your brethren, in any of your towns within your land which the Lord your God gives you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, but you shall open your hand to him, and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be" (Deut. 15:7–8). Don't say, I don't have it. Here Moses himself is taking the fear of God from the first commandment and applying it in all ten of them. If we remembered God's Word in everything, we would often leave some things undone which we would otherwise do. Then you would again have a gracious God, as you have heard and will continue to hear.

[The Sixth Commandment] Adultery includes all unchastity. Adultery is mentioned most frequently because it was the most common unchastity. The Jews were all married, for at that time there was no priesthood. God did not create man and woman in order that villainy should be perpetrated through celibacy, but rather gave to the - 64 body its nature of being able to be fruitful and multiply. It is a great and excellent blessing, which no human heart would ever have conceived. The Lord therefore wills that the body of the man and of the woman, which he has given, should be kept under discipline. He therefore also appointed that each should have his wife or her husband and remain faithful to each other.

Married life is not a subject for jest, but an excellent estate. God bestowed upon it all the goods of the earth, as is written in Gen. 1 [:28]. He honored it so highly that he reposed everything in it; for what he is concerned with here is that people should be raised up. Therefore, let each one see to it that he remains with his wife and vice versa, and that both keep their bodies pure, not only outwardly but also that you may not set your heart upon another. They shall "become one flesh," it is said [Gen. 2:24; Matt. 19:6], and this they do on account of the first commandment: Fear God! What you must say is: Even though I do have chances to kick over the traces, nevertheless, since God says, Fear me! I will not do it. Even though the emperor will not find it out, God who is above me will. Therefore say, O my God, grant me grace that I may not fall and that I may keep my marriage pure. This means that you are to live chastely in your marriage, in body, words, gestures, and heart. That's why God gave to each his wife.

The other filthy sins, such as the violation and defloration of virgins, I shall not mention, for by God's grace, I think that we have succeeded to the point where this estate, which is the best and highest estate, is again being held in honor. For if bishops and emperor desire to lead their lives in piety, they must become married, just as they also come but of this estate.

But let each one look to his own house and neither permit nor counsel fornication, but rather prevent it, because God's Word commands it: "Because of the temptation to immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband" (I Cor. 7:2). Therefore, if you cannot be continent, take a wife. Then you will have the promise that God will not forsake you. Blessed be he who holds to this, that public prostitution may not take hold.

"You shall not kill." That is, you shall not do your neighbor any harm or wish him any evil, either in your heart or by signs, words, or deeds, but rather benefit and counsel him, no matter whether he is your friend or your enemy. At this point all the works of mercy flow together. The sixth commandment is this:

You shall be chaste in words and deeds and keep to your wife and love her, and you shall honor your husband. If you avoid unchastity with another's wife and child and keep only to your own, you will have a gracious God; for he says, "I show steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments" [Exod. 20:6]. This applies to all the commandments.

The Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Commandments You have recently heard the sixth commandment. In general, you should be admonished first to learn the words and then what they mean. The first commandment reads: "You shall have no other gods before me." That is, you should so fear God and trust in him that you neither despise him nor despair of him. The second is: You shall not curse, swear, or conjure, but call upon him in every need. The third: You shall not despise the Word of God on Sunday, or any other day for that matter, but rather willingly hear and learn it.

The fourth is: Whoever bears the name of parent should not only not be dishonored, but served, honored, and highly esteemed. The fifth is: Do no harm to your neighbor, but rather help and advance him according to his need. The sixth is: Fear God and live chastely, and you shall not commit adultery but rather love your wife and honor your husband. Add to each and every one of the commandments: Fear and trust God!

[The Seventh Commandment] The seventh commandment is one which was not given by a prince or burgomaster, but by your God, who holds your life and everything else in his hand, who can destroy you. The word "steal" includes every kind of advantage and this commandment applies in every trade and profession. One can commit a theft in these trades just as well as if you climbed in through a back window. It is as much as stealing for you to charge too much for the meat. It is stealing whenever I get my neighbor's goods into my possession by any means whatsoever. That's why there is no more common trade or larger craft on earth than thievery.

And usually we hang the petty thieves; the big ones, however, go walking around in the highest esteem.

But when you steal something from me or do me the slightest injury, you are not attacking me, but rather God. Therefore every artisan, butcher, and the like should write this commandment on his scales, the miller on his sacks, the baker on his bread, the shoemaker on his last. For He who will punish theft is great

- 65 and is angry unto the third and fourth generation. On the other hand, if you carry on your trade fairly and do not steal, hear the God who says: You shall be rich and blessed. Otherwise he will scatter it all as dust.

There is a complaint that things are not just. I have warned you. To the rich you do no wrong; but here is the great mass of poor people; these are the ones you cheat and afflict. These are the ones who go out of the butcher's with weeping eyes and cry out to heaven. These are the ones to fear, the multitude of the poor does it, and God regards their tears. If you are successful, then may all the devils take me if you are not detestable. Beware of the neighbor who cannot endure your insolence, [when you say:] I won't give it to you cheaper; take it or leave it! If you despise God, he will despise you, so that neither you nor your descendants will be able to use your ill-gotten gains. You farmers and townsmen are, almost all of you, thieves and skinflints! Paul says in Eph. 4 [:28], "Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his hands, so that he may be able to give to those in need." You should not skin him, but give to him. But you turn it around. When a poor woman comes to you with two pennies to buy a half a pound of meat, you dare not drive her away; you must give it to her or you will have an angry God.

The same applies to tailors, brewers, and others. Don't think that God established the market to be a den of thieves. It is a market, not a skin-game. There are no more dangerous men in your market or butcher's stall than the wretched poor people. They will carry to heaven a complaint against you which will prove to be all too grievous for you, your house, and your children. Therefore, learn this commandment, that you may not commit any theft! If Jack Ketch11 doesn't hang you, the devil will.

You servants and workers are also thieves. Your master gives you wages, food, bed, and protection, which means that here the master himself is the servant and the servant master. But you take the wages your master gives you in order to defend him from loss and do the opposite. Likewise, a maid should remember that she should preserve her mistress from harm. If she does not, she is a thief. It is just as much stealing if she lets a sow go to ruin as if she stole from the purse. But God says to her; Fear me! If you do not, then I am a jealous God. If one does not prevent the other from suffering damage, it is all as good as stolen.

Thievery, as I have said, is a great and powerful trade. This is what war and famine come from—to take away what has been ill-gained; for the Lord punishes the wicked. So the workers never bamboozle themselves more than when they sit around guzzling half the day and even brag about it. Such fellows are called thieves, and they are thieves, and they are worthy of being hanged. They lie when they say they work and get nothing for it. If you say a word to them, they let the work lie undone. Thieves, thieves, that's what you are! Just as if it were in your power whether you worked or not, as if there were no God who punishes! You must do it and not let it lie; for God says, "You shall not steal." That's why there is no prosperity, but rather war and pestilence. They think they have a right to work or not to work. Therefore, let every artisan, every carpenter write upon his adze: "You shall not steal." You must work as you have contracted to work. If you don't want to work, then don't hire yourself out to work, but stay home behind the stove and cook pears.12 The Turk builds this way; he says, Come and get it done in three days! And see to it that the stable stands up, if not, off with your head! Their work is laid out for them, as much as a man can do. So the Romans did too. But we are nothing but beer guzzlers. "You shall not steal," says God.

Don't scorn it; if you work faithfully and sell your things [fairly], you will have a gracious God; he will reward you richly. Anyone may sell what he has for the highest price he can get, so long as he cheats no one. Solomon says, "A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is his delight" [Prov.

11:1]. That is, God cannot and will not abide it; but on the other hand he is heartily pleased when it is just.

But if you do the opposite, you are not attacking a poor man or woman, but God himself. Just look at these words! But the other way pleases God and you will have a good trade. You should always be more pleased with a penny and God's approval than with a whole city full of guldens and his abomination. Then one drink of wine is as much as a whole big cellar full of Malvoisie. That is, you shall do no harm to his possessions, but rather promote them and help him to do so wherever and however you can. And you do this for the sake of God. Thus [a maid] will consider: I will do no harm to my mistress, not for her sake, but for the sake of him who said, "You shall not steal." So too the laborer and every man, let him apply the Ten Commandments in his life. Then he will have a gracious God, who gives him a hundred times more than he now has and, besides, a good conscience. For if you keep on scrimping and skinning for long, the time will come when you will lay your head [on the executioner's block] or the Junker's trooper will come and pay you a visit and take what you have unjustly amassed.

[The Eighth Commandment] In the first place [we take the plain meaning of the commandment as pertaining to] when a person gives false testimony in court out of hatred and envy, accepts money and gives false witness, so that his neighbor is punished in body, property, or honor. And this happens often to the poor man. The fanatics

[Schwärmer] also bear false witness; but this we will leave, since it pertains to the second commandment.

The sum of this commandment is this: You shall bear true witness and speak the truth, and furthermore, you shall not judge your neighbor, not speak evil of him, as is the nature of women who cannot keep quiet about the weaknesses of a neighbor. Rather you shall speak the best about your neighbor, in the market, in conversation, and elsewhere, and likewise in court. If he is to be put to shame, cover up and bury his fault.

Paul says in I Cor. 12 [:22–24], that we do not cover up noses and eyes, for they have their honor, but the dishonorable members we cover up and veil most carefully; for one attaches far more importance to eyes, hands, and all the honorable members than to the others. One who likes to hear about the shame and disgrace of others is a person who likes to look at others' backsides. In court speak the truth, outside of court speak the best, that is, do not speak evil of your neighbor, but the best! So you will guard your tongue in order not to sin against this commandment. But if you speak evil of him, God threatens not to forgive you. In the other case, however, he will be your gracious God and will reward you.

But in this matter the secular government, preachers, fathers, and mothers are excepted. For this commandment is meant to be kept in such a way that evil is not left unpunished; therefore, though it is commanded that you should do no physical harm to your neighbor, the government is nevertheless excepted. Thus parents likewise apply physical force to their children. The commandment is not laid upon them, because God bids them to correct their children; just as God also commands the government to wield the sword, since he does not wield it himself. God rejected Saul, because he spared the Amalekites.13 You have not been commanded to take another man's wife. But if you were commanded from heaven to do so, you would have to do it, just as the government has the commandment, and therefore it proceeds to take a man's wife who has committed a crime and kills her. Thus nobody is permitted to speak evil of a neighbor except those to whom this has been committed, as a judge and his assessor are obliged to examine and call witnesses in order to correct faults. Therefore God has ordained the government to do this; it is its office to speak of the sins of others. So father and mother speak of their children; a sister may complain to the mother about a sister and a brother to the father about a brother. If one takes it to the ones who are authorized to punish, one does well. Therefore, if your neighbor does evil, tell it to the burgomaster or the judge. [Christ speaks of this in] Matt. 18 [:15–17]. Nobody should say: I will punish no one. But if you are not willing to declare your neighbors evil publicly to the government, then keep it to yourself, for if you carry it into all the houses with your scandalous, poisonous tongue, you do not improve it, but only make it worse. Therefore, declare it where you should declare it.

Besides [the government and parents], the preachers, who are to declare to the world its condemnation, are also excepted, save that they are not to expose anybody by name. It would not be proper for me to do this apart from my office. In summary: You shall declare the truth in court and speak no evil or falsehood concerning your neighbor, but the best. If you do this, you have a gracious God in heaven.

[The Ninth and Tenth Commandments] These last two commandments were, strictly speaking, given especially to the Jews, although they also concern us. Above, in the seventh commandment, it is said, "You shall not steal" and not take anything from your neighbor by force. This has to do with a more subtle kind of fraud; therefore he says, "You shall not covet." When a person sees that his neighbor has a fine house, he does not steal it, of course; but he employs dodges and devices in order to get possession of it. For example, if a prince wanted to be the elector of Saxony, he might make a cunning deal with the emperor, procure letters from the emperor, and then pretend that he had not acted deceitfully. Cunning appears to have been very much the rule among the Jews. It is possible to deprive a man of his possessions with a fine title and a false law in such a way that the deceiver cannot be accused of fraud. So it was with wives also, for in the Old Testament a bill of divorce was given. So some rascal would begin to think: My neighbor has a beautiful wife, what can I do to get her? Therefore, it is here commanded that none shall thus shrewdly entice away another man's wife under the pretext of right. In the sixth commandment something else is said. Such a one was Herod, at first, when his brother Philip was living, and later, after his death. Among us this is not the way it is done; when a man wants to get another man's wife, he kills him. David likewise committed this sin. The same

- 67 thing happens with servants. If a man has a good servant or maid, the neighbor's servants do not favor the master and they say, Why do you serve this master? He doesn't give you enough wages. But at that time the servants were bondsmen. With us, however, it often happens that a man will alienate another's servants or maid and think he is doing well! But this is contrary to the commandment. Always remember:

You shall not covet another's servant and desire to have him as your servant. The same applies to his ass, his field, his garden, as in the case of Naboth's vineyard [I Kings 21:1–16]; that is, you shall not alienate his horse or his garden or anything else by guile or law, but rather assist him in order that he may keep them.

Now, tell me whether we do not have enough good works to perform! But contempt of the Ten Commandments has caused men to invent other orders.14 Now let us weave all the commandments into a garland, the last into the first. In all of them you find these two things: you should fear God and trust God.

If you fear God, you will not mistrust him, you will not blaspheme, you will not be disobedient to your parents, you will not kill anybody or do him physical harm, but rather help him; and so with all the rest of the commandments.

To the conclusion of the commandments add the threat and the promise of the first commandment.

The reason why the generations and nations are going to ruin is because this, word [i.e., God's threat] is not observed. On the other hand, however, it says: "showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments." There is set forth life and death, wrath and grace, blessing and curse, benefit and evil. These two, threat and promise, are the cord with which one binds the garland together.15

You have heard the first part of Christian doctrine, namely, the Ten Commandments. And I have carefully admonished you to exhort your household to learn them word for word, that they should then obey God and you as their masters, and that you too should obey God. For if you teach and urge your families, things will go forward. There has never yet been a [perfect] learned man; the more he has studied the more learned he has become. (Here he recited the Ten Commandments in order.)16

Now we shall take up the second part. In former times you heard preaching on twelve articles of the Creed. If anybody wants to divide it up, he could find even more. You, however, should divide the Creed into the main parts indicated by the fact that there are three persons: God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; since I believe in God the Father, I believe in God the Son, and I believe in God the Holy Spirit, who are one God. Thus you can divide each separate article into its parts. The first article teaches creation, the second redemption, the third sanctification. The first, how we are created together with all creatures; the second, how we are redeemed; the third, how we are to become holy and pure and live and continue to be pure. The children and uneducated people should learn this in the simplest fashion: the Creed has three articles, the first concerning the Father, the second concerning the Son, the third concerning the Holy

Spirit. What do you believe about the Father? Answer: He is the creator. About the Son? He is the redeemer. About the Holy Spirit? He is the sanctifier. For educated people one could divide the articles into as many parts as there are words in it. But now I want to teach the uneducated and the children.

The first article teaches that God is the Father, the creator of heaven and earth. What is this? What do these words mean? The meaning is that I should believe that I am God's creature, that he has given to me body, soul, good eyes, reason, a good wife, children, fields, meadows, pigs, and cows, and besides this, he has given to me the four elements, water, fire, air, and earth. Thus this article teaches that you do not have your life of yourself, not even a hair. I would not even have a pig's ear, if God had not created it for me.

Everything that exists is comprehended in that little word "creator." Here we could go on preaching at length about how the world, which also says, I believe in God, believes this. Therefore, everything you have, however small it may be, remember this when you say "creator," even if you set great store by it. Do not let us think that we have created ourselves, as the proud princes do.

At this time I speak only of these things, for the creator, the Father almighty, has still more in store [than I enumerate here].17 I believe that he has given to me my life, my five senses, reason, wife, and children. None of these do I have of myself. God is the "creator," that is, God has given everything, body and soul, including every member of the body. But if everything is the gift of God, then you owe it to him to serve him with all these things and praise and thank him, since he has given them and still preserves

- 68 them. But, I ask you, how many are there in the world who understand this word "creator"? For nobody serves him. We sin against God with all our members, one after another, with wife, children, house, home.

Therefore, this first article might well humble and terrify us, since we do not believe it. Note that I am basing [everything] on the word "creator," that is, I believe that God has given to me body and soul, the five senses, clothing, food, shelter, wife, child, cattle, land. It follows from this that I should serve, obey, praise and thank him. A man who believes this article and looks at his cow says: This the Lord gave to me; and he says the same with regard to wife and children.

In short, the first article teaches creation, the second redemption, the third sanctification. The creation, it teaches, means that I believe that God has given to me body, life, reason, and all that I possess. These things I have not of myself, that I may not become proud. I cannot either give them to myself or keep them by myself. But why has he given them to you and what do you think he gave them to you for? In order to found monasteries? No, in order that you should praise him and thank him. There are many who say these words, "I believe in God the Father," but do not understand what these words mean.

"And in Jesus Christ"

You have heard that for the simple and the children we divide the Creed into three articles. The first part deals with the Father, the second with the Son, the third with the Holy Spirit. The first teaches creation, the second redemption, the third sanctification, in order that each may know what he is saying when he says the Creed. I have emphasized the word "creator" in order that, when you are asked, you may answer: I believe that God is the creator, who has given to me my body and soul, all members, all physical goods, all possessions. Therefore I owe it to him to serve, thank, and praise him. This first article requires that you believe. This is most certainly true.

Now follows the second article. This too we want to treat for the children and I shall emphasize only the words "our Lord." If you are asked, What do you mean when you say, "I believe in Jesus Christ"? answer: I mean by this that I believe that Jesus Christ, the true Son of God, has become my Lord. How?

By freeing me from death, sin, hell, and all evil. For before I had no king and lord; the devil was our lord and king; blindness, death, sin, the flesh, and the world were our lords whom we served. Now they have all been driven out and in their stead there has been given to us the Lord Christ, who is the Lord of righteousness, salvation, and all good. And this article you hear preached constantly, especially on Sundays, as for example, "Behold, your king is coming to you."18 Therefore, you must believe in Jesus, that he has become your Lord, that is, that he has redeemed you from death and sin and received you into his bosom. Therefore I have rightly said that the first article teaches the creation and the second redemption. For after we had been created, the devil deceived us and became our Lord. But now Christ frees us from death, the devil, and sin and gives us righteousness, life, faith, power, salvation, and wisdom.

It is because of this article that we are called Christians, for those who acknowledge and call upon Christ are called Christians. But the words which follow, "conceived by file Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary," etc., are points which emphasize and show what Christ became, what he did as our Lord in order to redeem us, what it cost him, what he risked. This is what happened: He was conceived by the Holy Spirit without any sin whatsoever in order that he might become my Lord and redeem me. He did it all in order to become my Lord, for he must be so holy that the devil could have no claim upon him. These points show what kind of a God he is and what he paid in order that I might come under his lordship, namely, his own body, with which he established his kingdom. The whole gospel is contained in this article, for the gospel is nothing else but the preaching of Christ, who was conceived, born, [raised again, ascended, and so on].

Therefore learn to understand these words "our Lord." I should believe and I do believe that Christ is my Lord, that is, the one who has redeemed me, for the second article says that he has conquered death and sin and liberated me from them. At first, when I was created, I had all kinds of goods, body, [soul, etc.]; but I served sin, death, and the devil. Then came Christ, who suffered death in order that I might be free from death and become his child and be led to righteousness and to life. Thus the word "Lord" here is equivalent to the word "Redeemer."

The other points show what it was by which he accomplished this and what a price he paid for it, namely, not with gold, silver, or an army of knights, but with his own self, that is, with his own body. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, and so on. I shall not say any more about this

- 69 article because I do not want to overwhelm you. It is true Christian article, which neither the Jews nor the papists nor the sectarians believe. For he who believes that he will be saved by his own works and not through Christ [does not believe that Christ is his Lord]. This belongs to the regular preaching.19

In these two parts we have heard what we have received from the Father and from the Son, namely, from the Father creation, from the Son redemption.

"I believe in the Holy Ghost"

The third article is about the Holy Spirit, who is one God with the Father and the Son. His office is to make holy or to vivify. Here again one must understand the words, "Holy Spirit," what "Holy Spirit" means, for there is the human spirit, evil spirits, and the Holy Spirit. Here he is called the "Holy Spirit."

Why is he so called? Because he sanctifies. And therefore I believe in the Holy Spirit, because he has sanctified me and still sanctifies me. How does this happen? In this way; just as the Son accepts and receives his lordship through his death, so the Holy Spirit sanctifies through the following parts. In the first place he has led you into the holy, catholic church and placed you in the bosom of the church. But in that church he preserves [you] and through it he preaches and brings you [to Christ] through the Word.

Christ gained his lordship through death; but how do I come to it? If [his] work remains hidden, then it is lost. So, in order that Christ's death and resurrection may not remain hidden, the Holy Spirit comes and preaches, that is, the Holy Spirit leads you to the Lord, who redeems you. So if I ask you. What does this article mean? answer: I believe that the Holy Spirit sanctifies me. So, as the Father is my creator and Christ is my Lord, so the Holy Spirit is my sanctifier. For he sanctifies me through the following works: through "the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting."

The Christian church is your mother, who gives birth to you and bears you through the Word. And this is done by the Holy Spirit who bears witness concerning Christ. Under the papacy nobody preached that Christ is my Lord in the sense that I would be saved without my works. There it was an evil and human spirit that was preaching. That spirit preaches Christ, it is true, but along with it, preaches works, that through them a man is saved. The Holy Spirit, however, sanctifies by leading you into the holy church and proclaiming to you the Word which the Christian church proclaims.

"The communion of saints." This is of one piece with the preceding. Formerly it was not in the Creed.20 When you hear the word "church" understand that it means group [Haufe], as we say in German, the Wittenberg group or congregation [Gemeine], that is, a holy, Christian group, assembly, or, in German, the holy, common church,21 and it is a word which should not be called "communion"

[Gemeinschaft], but rather "a congregation" [eine Gemeine]. Someone wanted to explain the first term, "catholic church" [and added the words] communio sanctorum, which in German means a congregation of saints, that is, a congregation made up only of saints. "Christian church" and "congregation of saints" are one and the same thing. In other words: I believe that there is a holy group and a congregation made up only of saints. And you too are in this church; the Holy Spirit leads you into it through the preaching of the gospel. Formerly you knew nothing of Christ, but the Christian church proclaimed Christ to you. That is, I believe that there is a holy church [sanctam Christianitatem], which is a congregation in which there are nothing but saints. Through the Christian church, that is, through its ministry [officium], you were sanctified; for the Holy Spirit uses its ministry in order to sanctify you. Otherwise you would never know and hear Christ.

Then, in this Christian church, you have "the forgiveness of sins." This term includes baptism, consolation upon a deathbed, the sacrament of the altar, absolution, and all the comforting passages [of the gospel]. In this term are included all the ministrations through which the church forgives sins, especially where the gospel, not laws or traditions, is preached. Outside of this church and these sacraments and [ministrations] there is no sanctification. The clerics22 are outside the church, because they want to be saved through their works. Here we would need to preach about these individually.

The third point is that the Holy Spirit will sanctify you through "the resurrection of the flesh."23 As long as we live here [on earth] we continue to pray, "Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us"; but after death sin will have completely passed away and then the Holy Spirit will complete his work and then my sanctification will be complete. Therefore it will also be life and nothing but life.

This is a brief explanation of the third article, but for you it is obscure, because you do not listen to it.

The third article, therefore, is that I believe in the Holy Spirit, that is, that the Holy Spirit will sanctify me - 70 and is sanctifying me. Therefore, from the Father I receive creation, from the Son redemption, from the Holy Spirit sanctification. How does he sanctify me? By causing me to believe that there is one, holy church through which he sanctifies me, through which the Holy Spirit speaks and causes the preachers to preach the gospel. The same he gives to you in your heart through the sacraments, that you may believe the Word and become a member of the church. He begins to sanctify now; when we have died, he will complete this sanctification through both "the resurrection of the body" and "the life everlasting." When we [Germans] hear the word "flesh," we immediately think that what is being spoken of is flesh in a meat market. What the Hebrews called "flesh," we call "body"; hence, I believe that our body will rise from death and thus live eternally. Then we will be interred and buried "in dishonor," as I Cor. 15 [:43] says, but will be raised "in glory."

These latter clauses show the ways in which he sanctifies me, for the Holy Spirit does not justify you outside of the church, as the fanatics, who creep into comers, think. Therefore immediately after the Holy

Spirit is placed the Christian church, in which all his gifts are to be found. Through it he preaches, calk you and makes Christ known to you, and breathes into you the faith that, through the sacraments and God's Word, you will be made free from sin and thus be totally free on earth. When you die, remaining in the church, then he will raise you up and sanctify you wholly. The apostles called him the Holy Spirit because he makes everything holy and does everything in Christendom and through the church. On the other hand, an evil spirit does the opposite. The creation we have had long since and Christ has fulfilled his office; but the Holy Spirit is still at work, because the forgiveness of sins is still not fully accomplished. We are not yet freed from death, but will be after the resurrection of the flesh.

I believe in God, that he is my creator, in Jesus Christ, that he is my Lord, in the Holy Spirit, that he is my sanctifier. God has created me and given me life, soul, body, and all goods; Christ has brought me into his lordship through his body; and the Holy Spirit sanctifies me through his Word and the sacraments, which are in the church, and will sanctify us wholly on the last day. This teaching is different from that of the commandments. The commandments teach what we should do, but the Creed teaches what we have received from God. The Creed, therefore, gives that which you need. This is the Christian faith: to know what you must do and what has been given to you.

On Prayer and the First Three Petitions of the Lord's Prayer You have heard the Ten Commandments explained in the most simple way as what you must do and not do, and the Creed as what you should expect and receive from God. The Father gives his gifts by creation, the Son by redemption, the Holy Spirit by sanctification, as you have heard.

Now we must also take up the Lord's Prayer. In the first place necessity itself requires that we not only admonish you to pray but also teach you to pray. You should pray and you should know that you are bound to pray by divine command. For the second commandment teaches that you shall not swear, curse, or conjure, but call upon the name of God in every time of need, pray, praise, and exalt him; hence that it is commanded that we pray. Let no one think: If I do not pray, someone else will. You have been commanded to give honor to God's Name, to call upon him, and pray to him, and this is just as much a command as the other commandments, "You shall not kill," and so on. But you say: My prayer is nothing, and we get into such habits that it is thought that we do not teach that men should pray. But this is true: the prayers in the Hortulus animae24 and other prayer books were not prayers. This [i.e., the recitation of prayers] is suitable for young children, in order that they may learn and become accustomed to read and pray from a script. Therefore this is not praying, but droning and howling. But praying is rather what the second commandment says: Do not curse, swear, conjure, but call upon my name in every time of need.

This is what God demands of you and it is not a matter of choice whether you do it or not; you must do it.

Therefore, my beloved, I point it out to you, that you may know that prayer is required in the second commandment. And here you must repel such thoughts as: What does my prayer matter? This is just the same as if a son were to say to his father: What does it matter whether I am obedient or not? No, indeed, you must obey. That's why we are so barbarous; it is because we do not pray. We preach, however, that we should pray. By no means do I reject prayer, but only the abuse of prayer. It is true that Christ in Matt.

6 [:5] rejects useless and heathenish prayers, but elsewhere he commands that we should pray without ceasing. So you must not say that Christ has rejected prayer. He did reject prayers, but only those stupid prayers; on the contrary, he taught the true prayers.

- 71 Therefore, since it is commanded that we pray, do not despise prayer and take refuge behind your own unworthiness. Take an example from other commands. A work which I do is a work of obedience.

Because my father, master, or prince has commanded it, I must do it, not because of my worthiness, but because it has been commanded. So it is also with prayer. So, when you pray for wife or children or parents or the magistrates, this is what you should think: This work I have been commanded to do and as an obedient person I must do it. On my account it would be nothing, but on account of the commandment it is a precious thing. So you should pray for the prince, the city, the burgomaster, and so on. Therefore I admonish you most faithfully, do not despise your prayers! But do not pray as the clerics do, who merely pray at a venture and think: I am not holy enough and fit enough to be heard. Or: If I were as holy as Peter and Paul I would pray too! You must rather say: The commandment which applied to St. Peter applies to me also, and Peter's prayer was no more holy than mine, for I have been given the same second commandment as he. Therefore my prayer is just as holy and precious as St. Peter's. Your prayer is not one cent less valuable than St. Peter's. And this is the reason: I will grant that he is holier as far as his person is concerned, but the commandment and obedience upon which St. Peter based his prayer I base my own also.

You have needs enough: You are lacking in faith, in love, in patience, in gentleness, in chastity; my wife, my children are sick. Then pray undauntedly and with sure confidence, because God has commanded you to pray. He did not command it in order to deceive you and make a fool, a monkey of you; he wants you to pray and to be confident that you will be heard; he wants you to open your bosom that he may give to you. So open up your coat and skirt wide and receive God's gifts for which you pray in your prayer. It would be a shame if he were to have to accept from you. The monks want to give something to God. Therefore, you should say: Lord, thou hast commanded that I should pray; if I do not pray and ask of thee what I need, I am damned. But do not pray the Lord's Prayer as the vulgar people do, as the vigils,25 the seven canonical hours,26 the Deus in adjutorium27 are prayed. This is nothing, and if all the monasteries and foundations were put together in one heap, they still would not pray for so much as a drop of wine. But you must present your need to God, not the need of which you are not aware, but in order that you may learn to know yourself, where you are lacking, and to receive more and more the longer you hold open your sack.

Therefore, children right from the cradle on should begin to pray for the princes, for their brethren and companions. For here you hear the command and the promise: "Ask, and it will be given you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you" [Matt. 7:7]. You have been commanded to pray and promised that what you pray for will be given, as in [Ps. 50:15], "Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me"; and [Ps. 91:15], "When he calls to me, I will answer him." So, go on that and say: Now I know that my prayer is not to be despised; for if I despise it, I despise the command and the promise of God. But God does not despise prayer, but rather has commanded it and promised that he will hear it. Why then should I despise it? But we live like the wild beasts who do not pray.

Let this be said as an introduction and admonition to prayer, for all our protection lies in prayer. We are too weak to withstand the princes, the kings, the world, and the devil; they are much greater and more powerful than we. Therefore we must resort to Christian weapons and say: "Hallowed be thy name." Then

Christ says: So shall it be! If the prayer of devout people had not accomplished it, Münzer28 would probably not have been put down and the princes would now be raging in a different way. It was two or three Christians who prayed in earnestness and faith: "Thy will be done!" And Christ said: So shall it be.

But if you do not know and you ask what or how you should pray, then listen to Christ, who enumerates seven successive petitions. Therefore, you must not plead that you feel no need. Look behind yourself for what makes you angry and remiss. Here he has combined all the needs which cause us to cry out to him.

Therefore it is not only commanded that we pray, but promised that we shall be heard. And then also what and how we are to pray is prescribed as in a table. Therefore there is no doubt that our prayer will please

God. The first need which ought to impel us to pray and call upon the name of God is [expressed in the words]:

"Hallowed be thy name"

This manner of speaking is unfamiliar to us [i.e., not in good German idiom], and it is the equivalent of: O dear Father, may thy name be holy! But what does this mean? Is it not already holy? It is holy in its

- 72 nature, but not in our use. God's name has been given to us. By what means? We have been baptized in his name, we have the Word which makes us God's children, we have his sacraments, which unite us with him. He has implanted his name, Word, and sacrament among us. Therefore it is of the highest necessity that we pray to our Father. I will gladly endure poverty and sickness if only the heavenly Father has his glory, and I will gladly suffer want if this were to be the result, namely, that the name of God, which is altogether holy in heaven, would also be precious and holy among us.

What, then, does it mean to hallow the name of God? This: when our teaching and life are Christian and godly. The purpose of the second commandment is to cause us not to curse, swear, and lead people astray, as the sectarians do, but rather to praise and call upon this name. Those who misuse the name of God for deceiving and lying profane and desecrate the name of God, just as it used to be said that churches were desecrated when a fight had taken place in them. God's name is hallowed, therefore, when one calls upon him, prays, praises, and magnifies him, preaches about the Lord, that he is merciful and helps us in peril and otherwise. Therefore the first petition in the Lord's Prayer is explained by the second commandment. In short, when one teaches and lives Christianly, that is, when one does not curse, swear, and so on.

This is the first need which ought to move us to prayer. For in the world there are so many sectarians, all of whom impose upon and deceive the people by using this name, preach the Word of God falsely and say that what they preach is the name and the Word of God. Therefore, in this petition you pray against all who preach, teach, and believe falsely, against the pope and all sectarians, against the tyrants who persecute the Word of God by violence, and against those who lie, deceive, revile, and curse against us, who so coolly listen [to the Word of God]. God's name is never sufficiently praised and preached.

Therefore, [we pray]: Let thy name become holy, that is, that the whole world may not curse and swear by thy name, but rather pray and call upon thee according to the second commandment. In short, grant that we may teach and live Christianly.

This is purely Hebrew speech; we are not accustomed to the language; but we must preach about it in order that you may learn it and become accustomed to it. The first petition is that God's name be honored, that his name never be put to shame by us either in teaching or in life.

The second need which drives us to prayer is that we pray that God's kingdom may come. This, too, is somewhat Hebraically expressed, but it is not so obscure as the first petition which means: Grant that the world may not lie and deceive by thy name, nor curse and conjure, which is shame and dishonor to thy name, but rather that we may proclaim and praise [thy name]. The second petition is: "thy kingdom come." You must learn to understand the word "kingdom," what is the Father's kingdom, God's kingdom, the kingdom of heaven. Just as the name of God is holy in itself and we still must pray that it may be holy among us, so the kingdom of God comes, whether we pray or not. But we should pray, in order that I too may be a part of those in whom the name of God is hallowed, that God's kingdom may come also to me and his will be done in me. Christ is the king of righteousness and life against the devil, sin, death, and all evil conscience. He has given us his holy Word, that it may be preached, in order that we might believe in him and live holy lives. Therefore we must pray that this may become effective and powerful, that the Word may go out into the world with power, that many may come into this kingdom and learn to believe and thus become partakers of redemption from death, sin, and hell. The first petition is that God's name be not blasphemed, but rather [honored]. The second is that this may also bear fruit, that his name be so hallowed that his kingdom will come in us and we become members of his kingdom. But God's kingdom comes to us in two ways: first, here, through the Word, and secondly, in that the future, eternal life is given to us. This is a strong petition when it is expressed in German: Dear Father, grant thy pure Word, that it may be purely preached throughout the world, and then grant grace and power that it may also be accepted and the people believe. The first concerns the Word and the second the fruit of the Word. For, if the Word is preached but not accepted, the kingdom of God does not come. It is an obscure prayer because it is so Hebraically expressed. These are the two greatest needs. Here on [earth] God's kingdom comes through the beginning of faith and there [in eternity] through the revelation of eternal life. These are the two greatest petitions of this prayer, both of which are comprehended [in Christ's saying:] "Seek first his kingdom" (Matt. 6:33). Here we pray that his name and kingdom may remain with us.

- 73 When you pray this petition you must look askance at a gang, which is called the devil and his mates, who would hinder the kingdom of God. For the father of a household should not only support his own but also defend them. And so it is here; even if we already prayed the first two greatest petitions, the devil nevertheless cannot endure that the Word should be preached and people accept it. Here he has his poisoned arrows: he has the opposing world and our flesh, which is lazy. The will of the pope, the emperor, the princes, the devil, and our flesh prevents the will of God from being done. What we pray is:

Dear Father, defend us from the devil and his cohorts and from our lazy flesh which would hinder thy will, and grant grace that thy gospel may go forth unhindered. Thus we are shown in these three petitions our need with regard to God, but in such a way that it redounds to our benefit. God's name is not only hallowed in itself, but in me. Likewise, God's kingdom not only comes of itself and his will is done not only of itself, but rather in order that God's kingdom may come in me, that God's will may be done in me, and his name be hallowed in me. In German, the first [petitions would be:] O Lord, grant grace that the gospel may be purely preached; let thy name be hallowed in us through thy Word; let thy Word be proclaimed to us. The second [petition:] Grant grace that we may diligently accept it, that it bring power to us, and that the people may sincerely adhere to it. The third: Restrain, O Father, all tyrants, devils, all those who would hinder and oppose it and let only thy will be done. In this petition the Christians are our wall and destroy all the counsels of the adversaries. This prayer demolishes the devices of all the tyrants who say, This is the way we will do it: our will must be done! We will shoot down Wittenberg, we will destroy the heretics! But we say one little petition: Dear Father, thy will be done! That is, Say to them, that not their, but thy will be done! Then whatever our enemies counsel will not prevail. But our will too must be broken; otherwise God's name will not be hallowed in us and his kingdom will not come to us.

Today we see the whole world raging against the gospel, and even many among us do not have the gospel. Therefore the name of the Father is constantly being profaned. This should move us Christians.

When you feel that your own flesh, your slothfulness, avarice, fornication, and passion is hindering you, then say: "Thy will be done!"

Let this be sufficient for this time on these first three petitions.

The Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Petitions Thus far you have heard the first three petitions.29 This is Hebrew speech, to which we are not accustomed. The matters of which the petitions speak are hidden from reason. Christ therefore commanded that they be preached, because he knows that we do not know them. The first [petition is:]

God's name is holy in itself, but we pray that it may be hallowed in us and in the whole world and that the Word and the honor of God may be kept holy against all fanatics and blasphemers of his name. This is done when his name and his honor is in our teaching and life. The second: His kingdom comes when his

Word increases and is powerful among us. In short, when we have God's power, which begins here through the Word and then becomes an actuality when we are buried. The third: That all those be restrained who oppose the name and kingdom of God, for Satan assails all its members. Will of God, John

The fourth: "Give us this day our daily bread." This is beginning to be understood, though there are few who do understand it. When you pray this petition turn your eyes to everything that can prevent our bread from coming and the crops from prospering. Therefore extend your thoughts to all the fields and do not see only the baker's oven. You pray, therefore, against the devil and the world, who can hinder the grain by tempest and war. We pray also for temporal peace against war, because in times of war we cannot have bread. Likewise, you pray for government, for sustenance and peace, without which you cannot eat:

Grant, Lord, that the grain may prosper, that the princes may keep the peace, that war may not break out, that we may give thanks to thee in peace. Therefore it would be proper to stamp the emperor's or the princes' coat-of-arms upon bread as well as upon money or coins.30 Few know that this is included in the Lord's Prayer. Though the Lord gives bread in sufficient abundance even to the wicked and godless, it is nevertheless fitting that we Christians should know and acknowledge that it comes from God, that we realize that bread, hunger, and war are in God's hands. If he opens his hand, we have bread and all things in abundance; if he closes it, then it is the opposite. Therefore, do not think that peace is an accidental thing; it is the gift of God.

- 74 This petition, therefore, is directed against everything that hinders bread, including also base coinage.

It is not well with the man who has lost the common prayers.31 Beware of this, but even more if it32 is against you. It is the greatest of losses if you are cut off from the church and no longer a member, of it and besides, have the prayers of the church against you. Therefore, he who hinders bread and injures the people, let him be afraid of this petition. Thus it is a petition against tempest, war, false buyers and sellers; against all of these this prayer cries out. Do not be afraid of the rich people; Duke Hans gets enough to eat from them;33 but fear the groans and tears of those who pray: "Give us this day our daily bread," i.e., defend us from famine and evil men, that they may not deprive us of bread.

Bread cannot come to me if there is no peace, so that there are just prices in the market, so that there is no bloodshed. Defend us from skinners and usurers! [The explanation of] "daily" and "this day" belongs in the sharp sermons.34 The Lord does indeed give bread, but he also wants us to pray, in order that we acknowledge it as his gift. This again is a great need, which pertains to the body.

"Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors"

In the fourth petition you pray against that need which the poor body has for bread, which it cannot get along without. It includes every peril which may hinder bread from coming to us. Now comes our life, which we cannot lead without sinning. Here is the greatest need of all, and we pray: "Forgive us our debts." Not that he does not give it without our prayer, for he has given us baptism, and in his kingdom there is nothing but forgiveness of sins. But it is to be done in order that we may acknowledge it. For the flesh is anxious for the belly and has evil lusts and loves, hatred, anger, envy, and wicked whims, so that we sin daily in words, deeds, and thoughts, in what we do and fail to do. No one does what he should do.

So we get stuck in the mire of being proud and thinking that we are thoroughly holy people. Therefore he says here: None of you is good. All of you, no matter how holy and great you are, must say: "Forgive us our debts." Therefore one must pray God to give us a conscience unafraid, which is assured that its sins are forgiven.

Anyone, therefore, who has a burdened and sorrowful conscience prays here for grace and forgiveness of sins, that is, for the strength of the name, the kingdom, and the will of God. This petition therefore serves those who are conscious of their sins. May everyone acknowledge the need which he feels! I do not do enough in my office of preaching. You, burgomaster, captain, prince, husband, wife, you do not do enough in your office either. I do not do enough for my neighbor. Therefore we must pray daily for forgiveness of sins.

"As we also have forgiven our debtors." God has promised the forgiveness of sins. Of that you must be certain and sure, in so far as you [also forgive your neighbor]. If you have someone whom you do not forgive, you pray in vain. Therefore let each one look to his neighbor, if he has been offended by him, and forgive him from the heart; then he will be certain that his sin too has been forgiven. Not that you are forgiven on account of your forgiveness, but freely, without your forgiveness, your sins are forgiven. He, however, enjoins it upon you as a sign, that you may be assured that, if you forgive, you too will be forgiven.

There you have them both, the promise and the sign, that your heart may rejoice, if you can produce the sign and forgive your enemy. You must seek the sign. If you do not find it here, do you think you will find it in far-away St. James?35 What are all the letters of indulgence36 compared with this petition in the Lord's Prayer? Here is where indulgence should be preached. Here God promises forgiveness of sins and stamps the seal upon it. He does not say: Put five pennies in the poor-box, but only: Forgive the other person. If he will not accept it, let him go, as long as your heart is at peace. This is the way to look at all prayers. Don't mutter like the clerics, "Forgive us our sins," but pray with sure confidence, for he has added this seal in order that you may be certain.

"And lead us not into temptation"

"Into evil enticement."37 This is very fine old German.38 We say "trial," "temptation" [Anfechtung, Versuchung]. Here we need to know what these words mean. Sins cling [to us]. The first temptation is that of the flesh, which says: Go ahead and have illicit intercourse with another's wife, daughter, maid! That is

Master Flesh [Junker Fleisch]. Or he says: I'm going to sell the grain, beer, or goods as dearly as I can.

This is the temptation of the flesh. Here the greed of your flesh is seeking its own advantage. Then you should pray: Guard us, dear Lord, from temptation! Likewise, the flesh seeks to satisfy its lust in glutting, guzzling, and loafing.

- 75 Next is the world, which tempts you with envy, hatred, and pride. Your neighbor irritates you to anger when you are making a bargain and all of a sudden there is impatience, the nature of the world—up she goes, blow your top, and it's all off! Then one conforms to the world. These are worldly temptations.

Therefore pray: O Lord, bring it to pass that the flesh and the world shall not seduce me! Both of them, the flesh and the world, contribute much toward your feeling an inclination to spite and lechery and dislike for your neighbor. Against all this pray: "Lead us not into temptation." Dear Father, let me not fall into this or other temptations.

The third companion and tempter is Master Devil [Junker Teufel]. He tempts you by causing you to disregard God's Word: Oh, I have to look after the beer and malt, I can't go to hear a sermon; or if you do come to church to hear the sermon you go to sleep, you don't take it in, you have no delight, no love, no reverence for the Word. Then pray that you may not despise it! Then, too, it is Satan's temptation when you are assailed by unbelief, diffidence, by fanatics, superstition, witchcraft, and the like. When you feel such temptations, go running to the Lord's Prayer! You have the promise that God will deliver you from the temptation of the flesh, the world, and the devil. Our whole life is nothing but temptation by these three, the flesh, the world, the devil. Therefore pray: Father, let not our flesh seduce us, let not the world deceive us, let not the devil cast us down. Thus these six petitions deal with very great matters and needs.

Whatever needs are in the world, they are included in the Lord's Prayer. And all the prayers in the Psalms and all the prayers which could ever be devised are in the Lord's Prayer.

"But deliver us from evil"

In the Greek it is ponēros.39 We receive evil from everything which hurts us. It's whole meaning points to the devil. We can sum it up this way: Deliver us from the wicked devil, who hinders everything we have previously been talking about; from that wicked one, evil one, deliver us! Nevertheless, you must include in this "evil" everything on earth which is evil, such as sickness, poverty, death, whatever evil there is in the dominion of Satan, of which there is very much on earth. For who can count all the evils? A child becomes sick, and so forth. In short: Deliver us from the devil! Then the name of God will be hallowed, his kingdom come, and his will be done, and we shall be delivered from all things.

First, we are commanded to pray; second, the promise [is given]; third, there are so many and such great needs, which ought to drive us to prayer. And finally, a form and way to pray has been prescribed for us.

Prayer, then, requires first that one lay before God the needs or perils, all of which are included in the Lord's Prayer. The first three petitions deal with the most important matters of all. We do not pray the petitions like clods, who pay no heed to the magnitude of the things we pray for, who seek only food for the belly, gold, and so forth, not caring about how we may become good, how we may have the pure

Word and live holy lives, not caring that the will of God is hindered by the devil, who throws himself athwart to prevent its being done. We pray, therefore, that he trample the devil under foot and subject us to himself. Likewise there is great need to pray for the bread we eat, for grain, cattle, and the like, and for all that we have, in order that we may know that all this comes to us from God. But we are always falling down and hence we have a bad conscience; therefore we pray: "Forgive us our trespasses." In these seven petitions are found all our anxieties, needs, and perils, which we ought to bring to God. They are great petitions, indeed, but God, who wills to do great things, is greater. Therefore, let us learn to pray well since God wants us to do this. Then we shall experience the power of God, through which he is able to give us great things, to make us good, to keep the Word, to give us a holy life and all else. He allows such manifold perils to come upon us in order that we may learn to pray and experience his help in our great evils. This is our great consolation.

There you have, then, the three parts, which you children and you other simple folk should learn. First, the Ten Commandments, what I should do and what I should not do. Second, what kind of a God our God is, what is his name and his nature. Third, how we are to get it [his help]. These three parts the holy apostles and fathers put together in order that they should be known by all in common. And yet there is nothing in the Creed about the sacraments, nothing about secular power, about the office of bishops, and so on. It should be an institutio, that is, an instruction for the children and simple Christians. What is to be taught beyond this simple instruction, this is the responsibility of the preachers, who rule Christendom, in order that they may defend and uphold the church. When you know these three parts, you still do not have an adequate defense; for you do not know the reasons why this or another article is true. A preacher,

- 76 however, must be instructed in the Word of God in order that he may be able to defend the church.

Therefore, we do not say that everything that Christianity must know is included in these three parts. But there is enough there for the sucklings until they grow up. There are others in the state who educate children, others go off to war. Some have food and drink, others bear arms. So it is here, when these three parts are preached, we have only taught the catechism. Later, when they are grown up, we will preach to them on how to fight. A mother does not immediately give wine, bread, and meat to her child, but milk.

Next we shall deal with the two sacraments. The catechism was the teaching by which one prepared the people for receiving the sacrament [of the altar].

You have heard the three parts, which we call the catechism [Kinderlehre] or common Christian teaching, set forth as simply and plainly as I can. On the two following days we shall deal with the two sacraments, which also belong here. For every Christian ought also to know these two sacraments.

Baptism is recorded in the last chapter of Mark: "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned" (Mark 16:15–16). Even if a person is baptized but is without faith, he is lost. But we shall at this time omit discussion of that which serves us in disputation and controversy with the adversaries. In connection with baptism the words themselves, which are recorded here, must be understood. These every person must know. In the first place, note the command of God, which is very stern when he says: "He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned" (Mark

16:16). This is a strict command; if a person wants to be saved, let him be baptized; otherwise he is in God's disfavor. Therefore, these words are in the first place a strict, earnest divine command. Hence you cannot hold the opinion that baptism is a human invention or any kind of command or thing, such as putting a wreath on one's head; it is God's command. Consequently, you must esteem baptism as something high, glorious, and excellent; for here there is a divine word and command, which institutes and confirms baptism. If in former times you considered it a splendid and precious thing when the establishment of an altar was confirmed by a letter of the pope, then esteem baptism a thousand times more since it is instituted and ordained by God. If you look upon baptism as being only water, then you will consider it to be a paltry and ordinary thing.

Therefore, if you are asked what baptism is, you should not answer, as the fanatics do, that it is a handful of water, which is no good, that the Spirit, the Spirit must do it; the bathhouse servant, the minister, that is, effects nothing; therefore the Spirit should be present. But you should say: Baptism is water comprehended and sanctified in God's commandment and Word, that is, a divine and holy water because of God's commandment. The fanatics, the scoundrels rip off God's Word. If I skin a cow, it isn't worth much; but if I take the meat with the hide, it is worth four guldens. Therefore say that baptism is a living, saving water on account of the Word of God which is in it. The Word of God, however, is greater than heaven and earth, sun, moon, and all angels. Don't look at the water, and see that it is wet, but rather that it has with it the Word of God. It is a holy, living, heavenly, blessed water because of the Word and command of God, which is holy. You cannot sufficiently extol it; who can ever sufficiently extol God's

Word? And all this comes in baptism because God's Word is in baptism. This is the way I also speak of parents and neighbors. If I look at a father, seeing only that he has a nose, that he is flesh and blood, with bones, limbs, skin and hair, or likewise a mother, if I do not look upon her otherwise than that, I am not seeing her at all, but trampling her under foot. But when the fourth commandment is added, then I see them adorned with a glorious crown and golden chain, which is the Word of God. And that shows you why you should honor this flesh and blood of your parents for the sake of God's Word. This the fanatics do not consider, nor can they do it, because they abominate the Word. The round halo which is painted around the heads of saints is around the heads of parents too. The golden halo or diadem came from the heathen. Later it became a garland, then flowers were added, and now it has become the bishop's mitre.

This Word of power is painted around the heads of parents as a diadem, just as if the majesty and the Word of God were painted about their heads.

So it is with baptism. Certainly when the devil sees baptism and hears the Word sounding, to him it is like a bright sun and he will not stay there, and when a person is baptized for the sake of the Word of God, which is in it, there is a veritable oven glow. Do you think it was a joke that the heavens were opened at - 77 Christ's baptism? [Matt. 3:16]. Say, therefore, that baptism is water and God's Word comprehended in one. Take the Word away and it is the same water with which the maid waters the cow; but with the Word, it is a living, holy, divine water. He who considers the words: "will be saved" (Mark 16:16) will find it

[salvation]; for with his words, "will be saved," Christ puts salvation into baptism. Therefore it is impossible that this should be simple water when through it salvation, forgiveness of sins, and redemption from death and the devil is given.

But nobody believes what an excellent thing is in these words. The fanatics laugh at us and say: You neo-papists teach the people to trust in water. But when I ask them: What do you say about these words,

"He who believes and is baptized will be saved"? they flutter away. So you say to them: We do not teach that one should trust in water, but we do teach that the water, when it becomes one thing with God's

Word, is baptism. The water does not do it because of itself, but rather because of the Word, which is connected with it. But if you take away the Word, then don't go telling us that baptism is useless water.

Then it is a figment of the devil, who is seeking to sow bad seed among us. You hear your Savior say: If you believe and are baptized, then salvation follows, not because of the water, but because you believe the Word. It is not for nothing that I insist so emphatically that you say that baptism is natural, physical water connected with the Word of God. When these two come together, water and the Word of God, then it is a baptism.

But, you say, can water benefit me? No. What then? Baptism. But isn't it water? No; for it is water connected with the Word of God; therefore it must be something other than water. That's why we declare that the water amounts to nothing, but baptism does. Therefore baptism is water with the Word of God, and this is the essence and whole substance of baptism. When, therefore, water and God's Word are conjoined, it must necessarily be a holy and divine water, for as the Word is, so the water becomes also.

Furthermore, the benefit of baptism must also be learned. If baptism is water with the Word of God, what is its purpose, work, fruit, and benefit? It saves those who believe, as the words say. A child is baptized, not in order that it may become a prince; it is baptized in order that it may be saved, as the words say, that is, in order that it may be redeemed from sin, death, and the devil, that it may become a member of Christ, and that it may come into Christ's kingdom and Christ become its Lord. Accordingly, baptism is useful to the end that through it we may be saved. There you have the transcendent excellence of baptism.

The first honor is that it is a divine water, and when you see a baptism remember that the heavens are opened. The fruit is that it saves, redeems you from sin, liberates you from the devil, and leads you to Christ. The fanatics insist that one must first become holy. But I am not contending with them now, but teaching the simple.

Thirdly, that we may know the person who should be baptized: Who should receive baptism? The one who believes is the person to whom the blessed, divine water is to be imparted. If you believe that through this water you will be saved, it becomes a fact. The first point, therefore, is that baptism is water connected with God's Word. The second is the fruit, and the third is that the person who believes is the one who is worthy of baptism. Here some excellent things might be said; but you simple people, note these three points! The little word "believe" leaves no room for either works or monks' cowls. It does not say: he who obeys his parents, but: he who believes.

Here we meet the question whether children who are baptized believe? He who is simple, let him dismiss these questions and refer them to me or answer this way: I know that infant baptism pleases God; I know that I was baptized as a child; I know that I have the Holy Spirit, for this I have the interpretation of the Scriptures themselves. If the baptism of children were nothing, then certainly there would not be a single person on earth who would truly speak a single word about Christ [i.e., a Christian]. But since

Christ most certainly bestows the Holy Spirit [and thus confirms baptism], for Bernard, Bonaventura, Gerson, and John Huss had the Spirit, because this is God's work, believe therefore that infant baptism is true. How do you know this? I see the wonderful works of God, I see that he has sanctified many and given them the Holy Spirit. Therefore you tell [the adversaries] that children are truly baptized and say: I prove it by the works [of God]. It is known by its fruit; if there is fruit, there must be a tree. Furthermore, for me the Word of God weighs a thousand times more, etc.40 But this becomes a bit more learned.41

Note well, therefore, that baptism is water with the Word of God, not water and my faith. My faith does not make the baptism but rather receives the baptism, no matter whether the person being baptized believes or not; for baptism is not dependent upon my faith but upon God's Word. If today a Jew were to - 78 be baptized, who was seeking only the sponsor's christening gift,42 and we baptized him nevertheless, the baptism would be genuine, for it is God's Word with water. And even though the Jew did not believe, the baptism would nevertheless not be false. Likewise, if I administer the sacrament to someone who cherishes anger or the like, he nevertheless receives the true body [and the true blood of Christ]. Therefore it is false to say that infants do not believe and therefore should not be baptized. You have already heard that they do believe, because the fruits follow, namely, the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The sacrament [of the Lord's Supper] does not rest upon faith but upon the Word of God, who instituted it, and so it is with baptism also. Even if the children did not believe which, however, is false, the baptism is not to be repeated. Therefore you should say: The baptism was genuine, but I, unfortunately, did not believe it.

These are crude spirits [i.e., the Anabaptists]. I am a learned man and a preacher and I go to the sacrament in the faith of others and in my own faith.43 Nevertheless, I don't stand on that, I stand on [His words]: "Take; this is my body" [Mark 14:22]. Upon these words I go, and I know that Christ invites me, for he said, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest" [Matt. 11:28]; and this will not deceive me. Thus I certainly have the sacrament. Accordingly, I apply this to baptism and pray that faith may be given to it [the child]. But I do not baptize it upon its faith or someone else's faith, but upon God's Word and command. In my faith I may lie, but he who instituted baptism cannot lie.

Therefore say: The children must necessarily be baptized, and their baptism is true, because God grants grace to children who are baptized immediately after their birth, namely, an excelling grace. Otherwise, if baptism were false, it would not manifest this [grace]. Secondly, even if the children did not believe, they must nevertheless not be rebaptized. You fanatics, you say that the earlier baptism was not genuine. This we by no means concede, for baptism is definitive, water with the Word. Therefore Augustine says, "The Word comes to the element, and it becomes a sacrament."44

These two sacraments may be received also by an unbeliever. Thus the devil would secretly teach us to build upon our works, and in order to accomplish this more easily he makes a sham of faith and says: If you do not believe then you are not baptized. But it simply does not follow that, if I do not obey my parents, therefore I have no parents; if I do not obey the government, therefore, the government is nothing.

So it does not follow here: that person has not received baptism in faith, therefore, the baptism is nothing or is not genuine. Indeed, the baptism was genuine precisely because you did not rightly receive it. The abuse confirms the baptism; it does not deny it. If all of you here were to be baptized today and there were hardly three among you who were holy, the baptism would still not be false, but rather the contrary; for our work and misuse neither make nor unmake God's work. A prince remains a prince, whether you are obedient or not. This the fanatics do not know, for they are blinded; that's why they look at the sacrament without the Word. There is rebellion concealed in this mind, because it always wants to separate God's

Word from the person. It wants to teat down the Word; therefore it is a rebel, secretly.

In the first place, every one of you should know the words with which this sacrament was instituted— for one should not administer the sacrament to those who do not know these words and what they do and perform. Here we are not going to enter into controversy with the blasphemers of this sacrament. You must deal with this sacrament in the same way that you heard with regard to baptism, namely, that the chief point is God's Word and command, just as in the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, and the Ten

Commandments. Even though you never believe or keep the Ten Commandments, the Ten Commandments nevertheless exist and remain, and so baptism and the sacrament of the altar also remain baptism and the sacrament of the altar. Even though you never obey your parents, they still remain your patents.

Therefore, the primary thing in the sacrament is the Word: "Jesus took bread, etc." [Matt. 26:26–28].

If you believe it, blessed ate you; if not, Christ will still remain faithful. When we die and are snatched away, these errors will come. Nobody wants to look upon it as God's Word; if one does not have regard for it, then it is nothing. In the sacraments, the Ten Commandments, and the Creed, God's Word is the chief thing. Therefore, do not look only upon the water, the bread and wine, but rather connect with them the words, "Take, eat"; "Do this in remembrance of me," and "Drink of it, all of you." Learn these words; in them the sacrament is summed up; if you have lost these words, you have lost the sacrament. The fanatics rip these words out, and the same goes for the pope, because he has concealed them. The Word of - 79 God is the chief thing in the sacrament. He who does not know them [the words of institution], let him not come to the sacrament.

Secondly: What is the sacrament of the altar? As baptism is water and God's Word conjoined, so it is here. Here the bread is not the kind of bread the baker bakes, nor is the wine the kind the vintner sells; for he does not give you God's Word with it. But the minister binds God's Word to the bread and the Word is bound to the bread and likewise to the wine, for it is said, "The Word comes to the element, and it becomes a sacrament."45 In all his lifetime Augustine never said anything better. It is not the word of our prince or the emperor, but of God. Therefore, when you hear this word "is,"46 then do not doubt. Thus the sacrament is bread and body, wine and blood, as the words say and to which they are connected. If, therefore, God speaks these words, then don't search any higher, but take off your hat; and if a hundred thousand devils, learned men, and spirits47 were to come and say, How can this be?48 you answer that one single word of God is worth more than all of these. A hundred thousand learned men are not as wise as one little hair of our God. In the first place, therefore, learn that the sacrament is not simply bread and wine, but the body and blood of Christ, as the words say. If you take away the words, you have only bread and wine. Hence the command of God is the greatest thing in the sacrament, as in the Lord's Prayer. Take hold only of the words; they tell you what the sacrament is. If a fornicator comes [to the table], he receives the true sacrament, because it does not lose power on account of his impiety and infidelity. Our unbelief does not alter God's Word. This I have often said. When a whore decks herself with gold, it is still gold.

Misuse does not change God's Word. A robber abuses the light of day, the sun, and yet it remains the sun.

Christ does not found his sacrament upon our use of it. What he says or ordains remains, no matter whether one uses it rightly or wrongly. The sacrament is body and blood, as the words say, whether it is received by one who is worthy or unworthy.

What is the use or fruit of the sacrament? Listen to this: "given for you"; "shed." I go to the sacrament in order to take and use Christ's body and blood, given and shed for me. When the minister intones, "This cup is the New Testament in my blood," to whom is it sung? Not to my dog,49 but to those who are gathered to take the sacrament. These words must be apprehended by faith. Therefore I use the sacrament for the forgiveness of my sins; I say: I will go and take the body and the blood; it is a sure sign that it was instituted for me and against my death. "Which is given for you." There is the benefit.

Now follows: Who are those who lay hold of this benefit? He who believes has baptism and he who does not believe does not have it. Likewise, he who believes that the body, which he receives, is given for him, has the fruit of this sacrament. Therefore, he who believes takes his rightful place at this sacrament.

That's why I have said that these words are spoken, not to stones or a pillar, but to Christians. "For you."

Who does "for you" mean? The door or the window, perhaps? No, those who today hear the words "for you." I am to believe it. If you believe, then you take the sacrament on the strength of these words "for you." Mark only those words! because the words "for you" make the devil more hostile to us. He says to us, My dear fellow, you must not believe this "for you." What is it to you? Drink at home and enjoy yourself! The sacrament doesn't concern you. It is this "you" that makes it our concern, just as in baptism:

"He who believes and is baptized will be saved." So here it is: "for you." Therefore, note well and learn well these words! The benefit is: "given for you, shed for you." Why do you go to the sacrament? I go because it is a body and blood which is given and shed for me; that's why I go.

If the sacrament is rightly administered, one should preach, first, that the sacrament is the body and blood of the Lord under the bread and wine, as the words say. Secondly, the benefit: it effects the forgiveness of sins, as the words say, "which is shed for the remission of sins."

Beyond this I admonish you to prepare yourselves for it. Since it is the sacrament in which there is the forgiveness of sins, it is not to be despised. It is true that a large number of you come, and yet there are some among you who are so strong that they have not come once in five years. But you should go because you are the ones who need it most of all! And above all note these words, "for the remission of sins," as the pledge of the sacrament which assures us that we have the forgiveness of sins because it is proclaimed, not to a stone, but to you and to me. Otherwise the minister might as well keep silent. I remind you again of this small particle: "for you." Remember to include yourself in this "for you." Therefore let each one see to it that he comes to the sacrament himself and his family, if they want to be Christians. When you stay away so much, now that you have liberty to go to the sacrament, we see the attitude with which you came to it under the pope, when you came only by coercion. As only a few do good works, so only a few

- 80 go to the sacrament. Formerly we were forced to go because we were driven. But now that nobody compels us we neglect it. I do not compel you to come to the preaching. But God ought to move you to come; for he requires it of you that you should hear and learn his Word. If you don't want to obey him,

[then don't]. So neither do I compel you to come to the sacrament. What does it matter to me and the chaplains if you don't want to listen and receive the sacrament? You have four doors here—go on out! But he who is above says: If you want to be a Christian, if you want to have forgiveness of sins and eternal life, then come here! There stands your God; he offers you his body and blood, broken and shed for you. If you want to despise God and neglect the forgiveness of sins, then stay away. So I do not compel you, but Christ pleads with you lovingly. If you despise this, then you see to it! We are saying what your God is offering to you. Accordingly, I beg you to hold to the sacrament, for your sakes, not ours. There are now few boys and girls and women who come. I know that you are not holier than Peter. It really grieves me that you are so cold in your attitude toward it. If you will not do it for God's sake and my sake, then do it for the sake of your own necessity, which is exceedingly great, namely, your sins and death. There is the temptation of adultery, of fornication, avarice, hatred, pride, envy, of unbelief and despair, and you do not consider how you are ever going to get out of them, and you grow altogether cold in that ungodliness. But listen to what Christ says here: "for you." He did not give it to you as a poison; he did not say: Take and eat, this shall be your poison, or that this food should harm us, but rather free us from sin, devil, and death.

But that's the attitude we take; as if it were poison. Here you have medicine, not poison. When a person is sick he can soon find an apothecary, a doctor. But who seeks this physician, who has given his body? Do you still not see your sickness; don't you want forgiveness of sins? Why do you avoid it as if it were poison? It is true that it is poison to those who sin, as formerly the priests committed fornication. But in itself it is not a poison but an antidote, which means salvation, blessedness, life, forgiveness of sins.

Certainly you will find that you are full of envy, inclined to all kinds of villainy, to greed and the like. You fear death, you sense your unbelief. This certainly is lack enough. Then say: The sacrament is not given to those who are sick as a poison but as a remedy. See to it, then, that you seek the sacrament for your betterment when you find yourself in an hour of peril of life, when the flesh drives you, the world entices you, and Satan assails you. And beyond this it is of even greater benefit, etc.

Therefore, do not be so cold toward it. We are not forcing you, but you ought to come of your own free will. It is my duty to instruct you as to the reason why you should come, namely, your need, not a command, for you feel the infirmity of your faith and your propensity to all evil. These perils should move you without any command whatsoever. It is not the pope, not the emperor, not the duke who compels me, but my own need compels me. Therefore, take a better attitude now toward the sacrament and also keep your children to it when they come to understanding. For this is how we know which are Christians and which are not. If you will not go, then let the young people come; for us so much depends upon them. If you do not do it, we shall take action against you. For even if you adults want to go to the devil, we shall nevertheless seek after your children.

The need [which drives us to the sacrament] is that sin, devil, and death are always present. The benefit is that we receive forgiveness of sins and the Holy Spirit. Here, not poison, but a remedy and salvation is given, in so far as you acknowledge that you need it. Don't say: I am not fit today, I will wait a while. This is a trick of the devil. What will you do if you are not fit when death comes? Who will make you fit then? Say rather: Neither preacher, prince, pope, nor emperor compels me, but my great need and, beyond this, the benefit.

First, the sacrament is Christ's body and blood in bread and wine comprehended in the Word.

Secondly, the benefit is forgiveness of sins. This includes the need and the benefit. Thirdly, those who believe should come.