I Am Not Moved

In October 1520, in the wake of refusing the pope's order to retract his writings of gospel-recovery, Luther wrote to a pastor who was similarly facing heat, and considering quitting.

Our warfare is not with flesh and blood, but against spiritual wickedness. . . . Let us then stand firm and heed the trumpet of the Lord. Satan is fighting, not against us, but against Christ in us. We fight the battles of the Lord. Be strong therefore. If God is for us, who can be against us?

You are dismayed because Eck is publishing a most severe bull against Luther, his books, and his followers. Whatever may happen, I am not moved, because nothing can happen save in accord with the will of him who sits upon the heaven directing all. Let not your hearts be troubled. Your Father knows your need before you ask him. Not a leaf from a tree falls to the ground without his knowledge. How much less can any of us fall unless it be his will.

If you have the spirit, do not leave your post, lest another receive your crown. It is but a little thing that we should die with the Lord, who in our flesh laid down his life for us. We shall rise with him and abide with him in eternity. See then that you do not despise your holy calling. He will come, he will not tarry, who will deliver us from every ill. Farewell in the Lord Jesus, who comforts and sustains mind and spirit. Amen.

--quoted in Roland Bainton, Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther (Hendrickson, 1977), 140-41