Page:The letters of Martin Luther.djvu/198

 with, and then slowly gathers strength, till at last it bursts forth in flame.

God grant this people may resemble that son who at the beginning refused to go into the vineyard, and afterwards repented and went. He will be preferred to him who at first promised to go and afterwards did not.

So go on your way unweariedly, and the Lord will be with you, and do not be afraid of those highly enlightened spirits (in their own eyes). Nothing is more foolish in God’s sight than such self — deception. May the Lord Christ ever be with you. Write as often as you can. Your letters will always be welcome, partly because they testify to the uprightness of your heart, which is so much needed by your people as well as ours, and partly because they contain so much information calculated to satisfy our curiosity. I herewith commit you to God. MARTIN LUTHER.

1527
This was the year of the first church visitation in Electoral Saxony. Plague in Wittenberg. Sack of Rome

CXLII
TO JOHANN AGRICOLA

January 1, 1527.

Grace and peace! Kathie, my wife and commander, ordered me to thank you for the cloth you sent, but such a costly gift is not seemly for poor people like us. It is just as it should be, that Elizabeth should enter your Elizabeth’s service. God grant that she may be truly obedient. We are all well, and amusing ourselves by beautifying Wittenberg, so that it may have a uniform appearance, while we are becoming lamentably indifferent to the Word of God. I am at present preparing to attack the fanatics abroad.

Pray to God for me that He may crush Satan. Otherwise there is nothing new here. May you and yours prosper. All here greet you. MARTIN LUTHER.