Death: “But
the departed soul does not sleep in this manner; it is, more properly speaking,
awake and has visions and conversations with the angels of God. Therefore the sleep of the future life is
deeper than that of this life, and yet the soul lives before God.” [W 43, 360]
Gen. 25:7-10
Delay: “Because of our neglect, matters will ultimately take the turn they took with the Jews and other ungrateful and disdainful people…
[There’s an old]
story about crickets and grasshoppers.
During the winter, when these had nothing more to eat, they went to the
ants and besought them to give them something of what they had gathered; and
when the ants asked: What did you do in
the summer that you did not lay in a supply against the winter? the crickets replied: We sang.
Then they had to hear this answer:
if you sang away the summer, you must now dance in the winter—in this
way the fools who are unwilling to learn or understand the will of God should
be answered [cf. Prov. 1:24-26].” [W 22,
331] Eph. 5:12-15
Devil: “Is it
not a plague that that wretch, the devil, wants to accuse and judge us and is
himself worse than all human beings?
What business of his is it that I have sinned? I have not sinned against him but against
God. The devil has given me no
Law.” [W-T 2, NO. 1600] Psalm 51:4
Devil: “The
devil, too, can quote Scripture and deceive men with it. But his use of Scripture is defective. He does not quote it completely but only so
much of it as serves his purpose. The
rest he silently omits.” [W 52,
175] Matt. 4:6
Devil: “Satan cannot but tempt us. And he has a great advantage and bulwark, that is, our flesh, which makes common cause with him.” [W-T 2, No. 2387b]
Doctrine: “Therefore it should be known that Scripture, without any comment, is the sun and the sole light from which all teachers receive their light, and not vice versa.” [W 7, 638f.]
Doctrine: “In
matters concerning faith we must be invincible, unbending, and very stubborn;
indeed, if possible, harder than adamant.
But in matters concerning love we should be softer and more pliant than
any reed and leaf and should gladly accommodate ourselves to everything.” [W 40 I, 188]
Gal. 2:8, 14
Doctrine: “A
branch may perchance be torn or broken or sustain some other injury, but as
long as it stays on the vine and does not sever itself from it, it can be
healed. Just so it is with a
Christian.” [W 45, 676f.] John 15:6
March 9
Doctrine: “It
is a great thing to be sure that you have and teach the Word of God. In this conviction alone lies our
power.” [W 25, 319] Isaiah 51:16
Doubt: “If we
could firmly and indubitably believe these promises, our hearts would be imbued
with a strength far too great to be frightened by the world or the devil or all
the gates of hell.” [W 43, 242] Gen. 22:16
Drink: “If we
consider this matter in the right way, we shall hold that drunkenness is the
worst of sins, one that draws countless other sins in its train… For is it not
a shame that while brutes drink no more than their nature calls for, man does
not know moderation in this matter? … About this sin Holy Writ teaches us
truths which the heathen could not see… Drunkenness enervates the soul no less
than the body.” [E op ex 25, 152f.]
Economics: “To be full and idle is the greatest plague on earth; it is the trouble whence all other plagues come.” [W 2, 178f.]
Economics: “For
indeed where God Himself walks, things must really grow.” [W 37, 449f.]
Psalm 65
Education: “When Christ wished to attract and instruct men, He had to become a man. If we are to attract and instruct children, we must become children with them.” [W 19, 78]
Education: “For if studying is to be good, you must not have empty cloisters and deserted monasteries and endowed churches, but a city, in which many people come together and practice on one another. Solitary studies do not achieve this end; but association does, where many are together and one gives the other an incentive and example.” [W-Br 5, 120]
Election: “After all, you must let God be God and grant that He knows more about you than you yourself know…
Behold, in this picture [of Christ, forsaken by God when hanging from the cross] you see your hell overcome and your uncertain election made certain. For if you concern yourself with this alone and believe that it happened for your sake, you will certainly be preserved in this faith.” [W 2, 690]
Election: “In these [temptations] let us persist and constantly say: I am baptized. I believe in Jesus. I care nothing about the disputation concerning predestination. God gave us a foundation on which we may plant our feet. Jesus Christ is it, through whom we enter into the kingdom of heaven. He is the Way to the Father.—But we, ignoring this foundation, want to begin building at the roof, in the devil’s name. Therefore we must come tumbling down.” [W-T 1, No. 1009]
Enemies: “When a man is genuinely meek, his heart is pained at every evil that happens to his enemy. Such people are the true children and heirs of God and brethren of Christ, whose heart was pained for all of us on the holy cross.” [W 6, 266f.]
Faith: “It is
the peculiar nature of faith to deal with, and to believe, that which is as yet
not present. For what is present need
not be believed; one feels and sees it.
When a rich man, who has money and possessions in great plenty, believes
that he will not die of hunger during the year, this is not called faith. But that man is really a believer who,
without anything on hand, nevertheless clings to God’s Word, convinced that as
a Father God will supply him with sustenance as long as he keeps himself in the
fear of God and attends to his calling.
And such a faith cannot fail; for it is based on the Word of God, which
is almighty and promises us that if we seek first the kingdom of God and then
continue to work, all these things shall be added unto us (Matt. 6:33).” [W 52, 517]
John 4:47-54
Faith: “If anyone were inclined to say: Indeed, I, too, would believe if an angel from heaven were to proclaim the Gospel to me, such talk would mean nothing. For whoever does not receive the Word for its own sake will never receive it for the sake of the preachers, although all the angels were to preach to him. Whoever accepts it for the sake of the preacher does not believe the Word, nor does he believe in God through the Word; but he believes the preacher and believes in the preacher. This is why his faith does not last long…
Another
thing. All who believed Christ for the
sake of His person and His miracles fell away when He was crucified. So it is now and always has been.” [W 10 I, 1, 129ff. – SL 11, 144ff.] Luke 2:15-20
Faith: “One
neither should nor can force and drive anyone to faith. God must draw man by His grace. To this end we should instruct, admonish, and
beseech; but we should not force.” [W
12, 125 – SL 8, 1065] 1 Cor. 7:15
Faith: [speaking of the marvel of faith overcoming the devil] “It is certainly an astounding victory, as though one wanted to extinguish a great fire with a drop of water or put to flight many wolves and lions with one miserable little sheep… In the greatest folly we are very wise, in the greatest weakness very strong, in the greatest unrighteousness very holy, in the greatest wrath the most lovable. Therefore this victory is completely beyond the grasp of human reason and is perceived only by faith, with closed eyes.” [W-T 4, NO. 4356]
Faith: “Where, do you think, lies the reason why we cannot believe the Word of God although everything up to the articles of the resurrection of the dead has happened as Scripture says? The reason is original sin.” [W-T 1, NO. 1151]
Faith: “Faith is like the center of a circle. If one strays from the center, it is impossible to keep the circle; one is bound to go wrong. The center is Christ.” [W-T 1, No. 327]
Faith: “Faith does not exist because of works, but works are done because of faith. Nor does faith expect to be justified by works, but works expect to be justified by faith.” [W-T2, No. 1887]
Faith: “For if the impression a man has of a woman and the love he bears her do not allow him to remain idle but move him to do more than is required, without injunction and instructor, why should not faith do the same thing to a far greater degree?” [SL 18, 858f.]
Faith: “Through
our union with God by faith we receive everything from God for nothing (gratis);
through love we give God everything for nothing.” [SL 3, 1423]
Deut. 6:5
Faithfulness: “Therefore
if you do not want to be misled (says he) and lose what you have, you must be
wide awake and not snore… For surely the devil will neither sleep nor snore but
will from every quarter assault you wherever you are… To this end it is
necessary for us constantly to be occupied with the Word of God… But if I and
others do not diligently preach and you do not hear or practice your religion,
fancying you are doing well enough, then we are not alert but slumbering and
dozing, yea, snoring, amidst the devil’s firearms and spears. Under such conditions he can easily and
safely break in and scale the castle.”
[SL 8, 1216f.] 1 Cor. 15:34
Fasting: “Scripture
places before us two kinds of fasting that are good. The first kind accepts willingly for the
purpose of checking the flesh by the spirit.
Concerning this Saint Paul says:
‘…in labors, in watchings, in fastings…’ (2 Cor. 6:5). The second is the kind one must endure and
yet accept willingly. Concerning this
Fear: “There
are those who know of no other fear of the Lord than the fear of punishment…
but they know nothing and will never learn to glory in the Lord; for the true
fear of the Lord consists in fearing to arrogate to ourselves anything that
belongs to the Lord, that is, His virtue and His name.” [SL 4, 193]
Psalm 5:11
Feeling: “[Great men famous for their virtues, piety, and great accomplishments] were not logs or stumps of folk swollen with conceit and unmoved either by joyful or by sad occurrences…
Therefore, as everybody else mourns at the
loss of his wife, so the saints, too, have wept at the death of dear ones. And such tears are honorable and pious.” [SL 1, 1615]
Gen. 23:1-2