Day by Day with Martin Luther

Read: 2nd Kings 15:1-16:20 Acts 19:13-41 Proverbs 18:4-5

“No Other Word Than This”

“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
[James 4:7]

When you hear the Word of Christ, therefore, you must listen to it as nothing else than the Word of God, and look at it as though there were no other word in heaven and earth than this Word. The sweet and delightful Word that is pronounced over me on earth is spoken over me also in heaven. Therefore, I must not suppose that God is angry with me. For here I hear His Word, which speaks of nothing but grace, love, consolation, help, and bliss, to preserve me from despair and fear. This enables me to resist the devil when he tempts me, and tries to fill me with terror and sorrow. Then, I can tell him to shut his lying and blasphemous mouth, and I can say; “here I have the Word of God that speaks in heaven before all the angels and on earth before all creation; and I will hold to it. This conviction, by God’s grace, gives me cheerfulness, boldness, and courage over and against all sorts of trials as well as against the devil and the world.”