sure in one. Those men are chosen of God
and well-pleasing to Him who diligently hear the Gospel, believe in
Christ, prove their faith by good fruits, and suffer on that account
what they are called to suffer."

"This is the true sense, which can offend no one, but makes men better,
so that they think: Very well, if I am to please God and be elected, I
cannot afford to live so as to have an evil conscience, sin against
God's commandments, and be unwilling to resist sin; but I must go to
church, and pray God for His Holy Spirit; nor must I permit the Word to
be taken out of my heart, but resist the devil and his suggestions, and
pray for protection, patience, and help. This makes good Christians,
whereas those who think that God begrudges salvation to any one either
become reckless or secure, wicked people, who live like brutes,
thinking: It has already been ordained whether I am to be saved or not;
why, then, should I stint myself anything? To think thus is wrong; for
you are commanded to hear God's Word and to believe Christ to be your
Savior, who has paid for your sin. Remember this command and obey it. If
you notice that you are lacking faith, or that your faith is weak, pray
God to grant you His Holy Ghost, and do not doubt that Christ is your
Savior, and that if you believe in Him, _i.e._, if you take comfort in
Him, you shall by Him be saved. Dear Lord Jesus Christ, grant this unto
us all! Amen." (E. 1, 204; St. L. 13, 199.)

249. Statements Made by Luther in 1538 and 1545.

In his remarks of 1538 on Matt. 11, 25. 26, Luther says: "Christ speaks
especially against those who would be wise and judge in religious
matters, because they have on their side the Law and human reason, which
is overwise, exalting itself against the true religion both by teaching
and by judging. Hence Christ here praises God as doing right when He
conceals His secrets from the wise and prudent, because they want to be
over and not under God. Not as though He hid it in fact or desired to
hide it (for He commands it to be preached publicly under the entire
heaven and in all lands), but that He has chosen that kind of preaching
which the wise and prudent abhor by nature, and which is hidden from
them through their own fault, since they do not want to have it--as is
written Is. 6, 9: 'See ye indeed, but perceive not,' Lo, they see,
_i.e._, they have the doctrine which is preached both plainly and
publicly. Still they do not perceive, for they