A06521:342
Special and chosen sermons of D. Martin Luther collected out of his writings and…
Special and chosen sermons of D. Martin Luther collected out of his writings and preachings for the necessary instruction and edification of such, as hunger and seek after the perfect knowledge and inestimable glory which is in Christ Jesus, to the comfort and salvation of their souls. Englished by VV.G.Special and chosen sermons of D. Martin Luther collected out of his writings and preachings for the necessary instruction and edification of such, as hunger and seeke after the perfect knowledge and inestimable glorie which is in Christ Iesu, to the comfort and saluation of their soules. Englished by VV.G.
London: printed by Thomas Vautroullier, 1578
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
Be ye merciful as your Father is merciful. 1How therefore is our heavenly father merciful? after that sort, that he giveth us all good things, corporal and spiritual, transitory and eternal, freely and of his mercy. For if he should give unto us according to our desert, he should give unto us nothing but hell fire and eternal damnation. What soever therefore good things he bestoweth upon us, he bestoweth them of his mere mercy. He seeth us stick fast in death, therefore he hath mercy upon us and giveth us life: he seeth us to be the children of hell, therefore he taking pity upon us, giveth unto us heaven: He seeth us to be miserable and naked, hungry and thirsty, it pitying him hereof, he clotheth us, and refresheth us with meat & drink, & maketh us full of all good things: So what soever we have either in body or in spirit, he giveth it us of his mere mercy, without any merit or desert of ours. Whereupon Christ here saith: Imitate your father, & be ye merciful like unto him. This ⟨p. 174⟩is not simple mercy,2 such as reason teacheth, for that is greedy of her own commodity, which giveth only to great and learned men, and to them that deserve it: it loveth them that be fair and beautiful: it giveth unto them, of whom it looketh for profit and commodity again, which is a mercy divided, begging, and as it were torn and broken in pieces. For if I shall give to him that hath deserved, or if I shall regard fairness or friendship, it is a bargain or debt, and not mercy. Hereof Christ speaketh in the same chapter before this text in this wise:3 If ye love them which love you, what thank shall ye have? and if ye do good for them which do good for you, what thank shall ye have? for even the sinners do the same: and if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank shall ye have? for even the sinners lend to sinners to receive the like. But the mercy of Christians must not seek her own, but so behave it self, that it be indifferent, that it regard all alike with open eyes, both friends and foes, even as our heavenly father doth.
Be ye mercifull as your Father is mercifull. 1