must learn to extenuate and lessen as much as vve can because Christ liveth and vve have his vvord This consolation is able to svvallovv up all terrors and maketh us able to say that all these things are in very deed but one thing But vvhen vve consider these things vvithout the Word and Christ in respect of our selves and of our ovvn strength then are they indeed not grass but such high and mighty mountains as cannot be passed over Where fore vvhen vve fight against our enemies vve must fight not as men consisting of Body and Soul but as Christians baptized in the name of Christ having the gift of the Spirit and the Word Novv therefore vvhen the Devil Death Hell it self the World and Cruel Princes are compared to a Christian they are but grass upon the house tops or if any thing can be said to be more vile and contemptible For he hath the Word vvhich is almighty and moreover he hath Christ himself Christians therefore are invincible 2 Cor. 12.9 yea even then when they are overcome and troden under foot For the Power of Christ is made perfect through weakness Thus did the holy Prophets and Martyrs comfort themselves against the World and the Kingdom of Satan and therefore they did so valiantly suffer all kinds of afflictions being persvvaded not that the grass vvhich vvithereth avvay of it sclf vvithout mans endeavour but the Word of God should have the victory For true it is that Basilius vvriteth vvhen he comforteth the people of Alexandria against the fury of Arius that through the Persecutions of the Enemies the Church doth more and more increase and multiply Which thing vve also have proved and God grant that yve and our Posterity may still so do THE Duty of a Good Shepherd BY Dr. MARTIN LVTHER Being his COMMENTARY Upon 1 Pet. 4.11 and 1 Pet. 5.1 2 3 4. 1 PET. 4.11 If any mnn minister let him do it as of the ability which God ministreth WHosoever executeth any function in the Church or hath the cure of Souls committed unto him may not deal as he list himself or to over-rule matters according to his own sensual Will Neither shall he say Tush I am a Prelate the people must all listen to that which I say and observe my Laws Ordinances and Injunctions without gainsaying For God requireth this that no man minister or do any thing contrary or repugnant to that which he commandeth and appointeth A Prelate or Bishop I say ought to do nothing in the Church unless he be certain and sure of the warrantise thereof by Gods Word For God cannot abide to have his service jumbled and mingled at pleasure with every foolish Guegaw and light trumpery And therefore he ought to have an assurance and certainty in his mind and Conscience that even God both speaketh and worketh in him and to stand upon so sure a ground for the verity thereof that his Faith dare boldly witness with him and say Whatsoever I have spoken and whatsoever I have done or dealt herein I am so out of doubt that the same in each respect is consonant to the Word and Will of God that I am ready and dare to seal the same with my blood and to confirm it with my Death For otherwise if I waver and totter this way and that way not knowing whose cause and business I have in hand my Faith is builded upon the Sand so that the Devil mine Adversary is able to shake and tumble it which way he list And therefore we are here straightly forbidden not to rely unto nor to allow whatsoever Decree or Constitution these Bishops list to obtrude and enjoyn unless they stand upon a sure ground that the things which they do are allowed of God yea done of God himself and unless they be able to say Do this for it is the Will and Commandment of God and we have his express Word and Commandment for our Warrant If they be not able to say thus they ought to be accounted as Lyars and Deceivers much less ought any Christian to yield unto them therein any Obedience or Subscription For the Lord hath so appointed that our Consciences should not elsewhere be stayed but upon the most sure and infallible Rock And thus much for publick functions wherein it is not lawful for us at any hand to follow our own wilful Devices and sensual Conceipts nor to prescribe any rule or order to be embraced unless we be undoubtedly assured that it standeth with the Will and Word of God Wherein we evidently see how clean against the Kingdom of the Pope his mitred Bishops as things therein are now handled Saint Peters mind and Judgment was long before any Popes were known in the World to rule the roste in such Pontificality as since they have done 1 PET. V. 1 2 3 4. 1. The Elders which are among you I beseech which am also an Elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ HEre Saint Peter teacheth those that have any charge of feeding the Flock of Christ how they ought to behave themselves In the Chapter afore he told that none should presume to teach or preach any thing unless he were certain and assured that the same was the sincere and pure Word of God upon which as upon a firm and strong Rock our Consciences may boldly stay For this in Duty is required of us Christians that we should be certain and know throughly what thing is allowed of Christ and what is not for they that waver in uncertainty of this knowledge are not to be taken as Christians He addeth also thus much that whosoever entreth into any Office or Function should so behave himself therein in each respect as that he should not doubt but that God was the Author thereof But what he here saith peculiarly belongeth to Bishops and Ecclesiastical Pastors wherein he teacheth them how they are to demean themselves in the Administration of their duties and charges and what manner of persons they ought to be We must here further be acquainted with the Phrase and Propriety of the Tongue wherein this Epistle was written that we be not deceived through ignorance of the signification and force of the Word For this Greek name Presbuteros which St. Peter here useth doth signfiy An Elder by which Word they also are called that be Senators that is men excelling in Age Gravity Vertue Wisdom and Experience After the same sort doth Christ call his Disciples Ministers and Senate to whose Office it belongeth to oversee and govern his spiritual Empire that is to preach and to take care of the Christian Congregation by the name of Elders And therefore marvail not a whit neither let any thing move thee though they which be Elders be now a days called by other Titles or Names whereof the Scripture maketh no mention at all But not respecting the order wherein things presently stand weigh and conceive the matter thus When St. Peter or any other
also is stretched out for the defence of his that albeit never so great a tempest or violent rage of water should invade the poorest and simplest cottage that can be it forceth not Let this be then our assured trust let this be the rock of our safety help and succour that God will be our defender and keeper that the great floods and mighty waters carry us not away This sure defence and mighty protection of our God the wicked neither know nor believe for they attribute all their success and welfare to their own strength wisdom and riches But Solomon albeit he was a King abundantly endued with all these things yet saith he Except the Lord build the house the builders labour in vain Except the Lord keep the City they watch in vain that keep it Verse 5. Then had the swelling waters gone over our soul He setteth out yet more lively and as it were before their eyes the great danger from the which God had delivered them And this vehement kind of speech which he useth here had as great force to make the faithful to feel from what terrible destruction they were delivered by the mighty hand of God as if their danger had been present before their eyes and so to become more thankful to God for the same Note who are most thankfull For he is thankful to God indeed for his deliverance and safety which doth acknowledge that before his deliverance he saw nothing else but utter destruction Thus David setteth out the afflictions and calamities of the Church and of the godly whom the world doth not only hate but cruelly Persecute Whereby we may see that it hath not only a greedy desire but also power to hurt murder and destroy Satan likewise goeth about like a raging Lyon seeking whom he may devour Besides these there are great and horrible sins sticking in our flesh That we fall not therefore every moment into desperation or otherwise perish it is because he is greater which is in us then he which is in the world or the whole world besides as David saith If God had not been with us our enemies had swallowed us up alive Now he addeth a notable similitude wherewith he amplifieth the danger of the godly and power of the wicked Verse 6. Praised be the Lord which hath not given us as a Prey unto their Teeth He exhorteth the faithsul to be thankful for their deliverance and expresseth unto them how and as it were with what words they should declare this thankfullness Wherein he setteth forth yet further by another similitude that it could not be but they must utterly have perished if God had not miraculously defended them For they were saith he no otherwise preserved then as if a man should violently take a Prey out of the jaws of a raging and cruel beast As if he said We were indeed like silly sheep and as a Prey ready to be devoured of cruel beasts but praised be the Lord our God which would not suffer us so to perish He saith not which hath delivered us albeit he did indeed mightily deliver them but which hath not given us as a Prey c. For this is it which specially the Holy Ghost here setteth forth that the wicked cannot hurt the godly be they never so many mighty furious cruell and terrible like to raging and violent waters like to cruel and outragious beasts falling upon them with open mouth except the Lord give them into their hands Let us therefore with David sing praises unto the Lord our God which keepeth and defendeth us that the raging and cruel beasts which have sharpened their teeth to devour us cannot hurt us Without this merciful protection of our God there is no way to stand against Satan and his cruell members the space of one moment Verse 7. Our Soul is escaped even as a bird out of the snare of the Fouler The snare is broken and we are delivered He amplifieth yet further by a third similitude the great perills and dangers of the faithful being in the hands of their enemies as a bird that is taken in the snare is in the hands of the fouler and yet notwithstanding they escaped by the mighty power of God no otherwise then the bird that is delivered out of the snare of the fouler By the snare is here to be understood as well the fraud and subtilty of the enemies whereby the Israelites were brought into thraldom and captivity as also the strength and power wherewith they were long oppressed So that they had not onely to do with Bloody and Cruel Enemies but also were entrapped and snared by fraud and subtilty and with might and power miserably oppressed Thus being unable both in Strength and Policy to withstand their Enemies they were every way in danger of Death and Destruction whereby it appeareth that they were miraculously delivered And here have we an Image of our spiritual Thraldom and Captivity under Satan in whose snares we were once most miserably wrapped Now therefore that we are delivered by the inestimable benefit of Christ let us acknowlege both our former Calamity and the Liberty of this Grace wherein we stand and let us beware that we cast not our selves into the snares of servile Bondage any more For Satan sleepeth not but lyeth continually in wait for us ready to draw us into those snares again out of the which by the great mercy of God we were delivered yea and sometimes is suffered to hurt either our Bodies or Souls not only to shew us that he is able likewise to destroy both Body and Soul if God did so permit but also to stir us up to Faith and Prayer that we should call upon him for Aid and Succour against these perillous Snares and being delivered should give him thanks and praise for the same Moreover every Tentation is a Snare whether it be of the Flesh or Spirit Persecution Torments Imprisonment Slander diseases and infirmities of the Body be snares which as they are permitted of God to exercise and strengthen our Faith so by the malice of Satan they are wrought to afflict and to vex men that he may bring them to infidelity and desperation and so into the Snares of eternal Death From the which Snares but by the special Grace of God there is no way to escape Thus our life lyeth always open to the Snares of Satan The Snares of Satan and we as silly Birds are like at every moment to be carried away Notwithstanding the Lord maketh a way for us to escape Yea when Satan seemeth to be most sure of us by the mighty Power of God the Snares are broken and we are delivered Experience hereof we have in those which are inwardly afflicted and with heaviness of Spirit grievously oppressed that when they seem to be in utter Despair and ready as you would say now to perish yet even at the last pinch and in the uttermost Extremity cometh the sweet Comfort of Gods
do enter seven Spirits much more wicked then the first We must therefore patiently suffer and persevere in all tentations and rather abide all Extremities then once shrink from the Word of Life least we be possessed with seven Spirits more wicked then the first And moreover we must assuredly trust as we are taught it this verse that so long as we have a desire and purpose so to do the Lord will never for sake us or suffer us to fall into this impiety For here have we a manifest promise and a lively description of the Lords singular care and providence over us namely that he is mindful of the end of our tentations and afflictions so that we only continue constant and patient unto the end And if the Heathen Poet said Endure and reserve your selves for more happy things how much more should Christians diligently stir up themselves with mutual Exhortations to Patience and Perseverance whether they outwardly suffer in things pertaining to the Body and to this present life or inwardly in Conscience For we have a God which even in Death in Hell and in the midst of all our Sins can save and deliver us Verse 4. Do well O Lord unto them that be good and true of heart The Prophet saith not here Do well Lord to the perfect and such as offend in nothing but to the good and true of Heart The good and true of Heart are they which are of a single sincere and upright Heart For these are they which are most accepted of God altho they also through infirmity do sometimes offend Now where he prayeth that God will do well to the good and godly he meaneth also and secretly complaineth that the godly are in misery and affliction and that the ungodly do abound with all worldly felicity As we see at this day the Enemies of the Gospel to enjoy great Riches and Dignities whereby they vex and oppress the godly This is a great offence and stumbling-block to the godly and therefore the Church hath need of this Prayer That God would do well unto the godly which trust in him and seek his Glory with their whole Heart that they by stumbling at this offence do not fall away to impiety This Prayer containeth in it a Prophecy with a promise that like as he prayeth for the Blessing Welfare and Prosperity of the just so at the length it shall also come to pass Verse 5. But those that turn aside by their crooked ways the Lord shall lead with the workers of Iniquity but peace shall be upon Israel He saith not simply such as turn aside but such as turn aside by their own Wickedness For to give place to tentations by infirmity of the Flesh or weakness of Mind or else of Faith and so to decline from the right way which cometh to pass sometimes even in the Saints as the Example of Peter teacheth is one thing and to fall away through wickedness and perversness of Heart is another which cannot be in the children of God but properly belongeth to the wicked and godless This sort of men hath ever corrupted the Church from the Apostles time and with a shew of holiness hath deceived the simple which because God punisheth them not but spareth them and suffereth them to prosper in this World become so proud that they will be counted amongst the holiest and of the World are so commonly taken We see that not only the godly are mixed with the wicked in this World but in the Lords floore also the Wheat lyeth hidden under the Chasse We must pray therefore that God would bring these Hypocrites to light and give unto them their just Punishment with the workers of Iniquity Then shall peace ensue to the Church of God For whilst the Lord poureth forth his vengeance upon the wicked which vex and persecute his true members he gathered together the good and upright of Heart and openly declareth his fatherly good will and tender love towards them The Commentary of Dr. Martin Luther upon the CXXIX Psalm They have oftentimes afflicted c. THis Psalm consisteth of two parts The Argument of the Psalm In the former he giveth thanks to God for the defence and continual deliverance of the People of God In the latter part he maketh his Prayer against the Adversaries and in praying he prophesieth withal Both these serve for our instruction and also contain an Exhortation to patience under the Cross which pertaineth not to one age or time but as the continual History of the Church doth shew to all times and to the whole life of man Moreover we do here comprehend both Churches of the Jews and of the Gentiles as Paul also in a manner joyneth them both together when he saith First to the Jew and then to the Grecian For as touching the Church or People of the Jews it appeareth by the Histories that they were placed in the midst of their Enemies as a goodly Rose in the midst of Thornes On the East side the Ismaelites the Arabians and other cruel People vexed them On the South part the Egyptians the Ethiopians the Troglodites the Philistines and other like On the North side the Assyrians c. So the Church after the destruction of the Synagogue is compassed every way with Enemies and Christ according to the Psalm reigneth in the midst of his Enemies Thus were they oftentimes and many ways afflicted But herewithal God shewed this miracle that when they were so afflicted he always delivered them And thus was the Kingdom of Israel a miraculous Kingdom in that the Lord when he would correct and chastise them suffered the Philistines Edomites Moabites Assyrians and Babylonians to have victory over them Again when they seemed to be utterly oppressed they victoriously prevailed against their Enemies So continued this Kingdom in despite of the cruel Nations round about it and of Satan himself as is to be seen in the Books of the Kings and also of the Chronicles Now because this People had both threatnings and promises set before them as touching their afflictions and deliverance this was unto them a great Consolation even when they were afflicted and spoiled that they knew that all these things came to pass not by the Will or Power of their Enemies and much-less by their Righteousness or Deserts but only by the Will of God thus punishing and chastising his People yea threatning and forewarning them by the Prophets that he would so punish the disobedient This is no small Consolation that in thy Affliction and Calamity thou mayest be able to say This is the scourge of God thus correcting me and visiting my Sins It is not the Wrath of God or the merit and deserving of my Adversary These things must we apply unto our selves also to the end that when we be oppressed we may comfort our selves that we are not oppressed by the power of Death Sin Hell or any creature but by the will of God our Creator afflicting us