“The world must be considered carefully [Martin Luther said]. It’s governed by opinions, and therefore it’s ruled by sophistical hypocrisy and tyranny. True religion is compelled to serve them as a maidservant. One must therefore be careful and beware of sophistry, which consists not only of equivocation in words but flourishes under all circumstances, so that in religion it possesses a magnificent pretense under the guise of Holy Scripture. There’s more harm in sophistry than any man can perceive; our nature, which is prone to lying, can’t see the evil in sophistry at all. Plato offers a remarkable description of sophistry: People who can twist everything, repudiate the opinions of others, and draw conclusions on both sides after the manner of Carneades are not to be praised. These are sly tricks. It’s the glory of a good character [on the other hand] to seek the truth and to rejoice in guilelessness.” (Luther’s Works, v. 54, p.322)

“A Christian should and must be a cheerful person. If he isn’t, the devil is tempting him. I have sometimes been grievously tempted while bathing in my garden, and then I have sung the hymn, ‘Let us now praise Christ.’ Otherwise I would have been lost then and there. Accordingly, when you notice that you have some such thoughts, say, ‘This isn’t Christ.’ To be sure, he can hear the name of Christ, but it’s a lie because Christ says, ‘Let not your hearts be troubled [John 14:27]. Trust in me,’ etc. This is a command of God: ‘Rejoice!’  I now preach this, and I also write it, but I haven’t as yet learned it. But it happens that we learn as we’re tempted. If we were always glad, the devil would befoul us.  Christ knows that our hearts are troubled, and it is for this reason that he says and commands, ‘Let not your hearts be troubled.’ (Luther’s Works, v. 54, p.95)

I asked him [Martin Luther] about a certain man who, when he had a stomachache for several days and as a consequence had pain in his head and was confused in his thoughts, got the notion and was afraid that he was falling into a state of melancholy. He disclosed his anxiety to me and asked that I notify the doctor, whereupon he [Martin Luther] responded with these words: “When the devil can bring this about, it means that imagination has produced the effect. On this account his thoughts ought to be changed. He ought to think about Christ. You should say to him, ‘Christ lives. You have been baptized. God is not a God of sadness, death, etc., but the devil is. Christ is a God of joy, and so the Scriptures often say that we should rejoice, be glad, etc. This is Christ. Because you have a gracious God, he won’t take you by the throat.’

“A Christian should and must be a cheerful person. If he isn’t, the devil is tempting him. (Luther’s Works, v. 54, p.95)

“Thus we are like the holy fathers in our faith. The weaker we are than the fathers, the greater the victory Christ obtains for us. We are very inexperienced, very weak, and very proud over against the devil; he has a great advantage over us, for our wisdom, power, and holiness are not so great as our fathers’ were. But our Lord God wants to put an end to the devil’s extreme arrogance…. (Luther’s Works, v. 54, p.95)

“DEAR CHRISTIANS, LET US NOW REJOICE” (1523)

If the ballad describing the martyrs’ deaths of Johann Esch and Heinrich Voes was Luther’s first hymn, this ballad of the believer’s justification was most likely his second. With the former it shares a vivid, personal, dramatic style. But while in the martyrs’ hymn two individuals served to illustrate the joy and confidence of faith, here the same theme is depicted in the struggles and victories of every believer. And while the first hymn described a historical event, the second takes its material from Luther’s innermost experiences.

Stanza 1 Dear Christians, let us now rejoice, and dance in joyous measure:  Of what to us our God hath shown, and the sweet wonder he hath done Full dearly hath he wrought us.

Stanza 2: That of good cheer and with one voice We sing in love and pleasure.  Of what to us our God hath shown, and the sweet wonder he hath done Full dearly hath he wrought us.

“ALL PRAISE TO THEE, O JESUS CHRIST” (1523)

The first stanza of this hymn was known long before the Reformation and was frequently sung on Christmas Day as the people’s response to the sequence “Grates nunc omnes.”

Stanza 7 “All this for us did Jesus do, That his great love he might show. Let Christendom rejoice therefore, And give him thanks for evermore. Kyrie.  (Luther’s Works, v. 53, p.216, 239-240)