"Thus
too, if our confidence is to begin, and we become strengthened and comforted,
we must well learn the voice of our Shepherd, and let all other voices
go, who only lead us astray, and chase and drive us hither and thither. We must
hear and grasp only that article which presents Christ to us in the most friendly
and comforting manner possible. So that
we can say with all confidence: My Lord Jesus Christ is truly the only
Shepherd, and I, alas, the lost
sheep, which has strayed into the wilderness, and I am anxious and fearful, and
would gladly be good, and have a gracious God and peace of conscience, but here I
am told that He is as anxious for me as I am for Him."
Sermons
of Martin Luther, Lenker ed., IV, p. 86. Trinity 3, Second Sermon. Luke 15:1-10.
