# Der Lutheraner_St. Louis Missouri_1846 02 07_S46
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

of the old man still remains in a Christian, which must daily be drowned, and for which continual admonition is necessary. Christians should especially take care not to let themselves be led by their own reason into unbelief against God's Word, as all false teachers have done; for reason, by wanting to master God's Word, causes far greater misfortune in the world than gross sin does, and whoever follows its supposed wisdom commits that great sin of spiritual whoredom, which the prophets so often rebuked. Luther then shows, using a few chief articles of Christian doctrine — the Trinity, Baptism, and the Lord's Supper of Christ — how we are to keep reason on a tight rein and by no means follow its attractive notions, but instead remain firm and steadfast on the letter of Holy Scripture; he bases this chiefly on the saying in Matthew 17:5: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear him!" By this saying, he says, he had by God's grace been preserved until now; otherwise he would have had to adopt thirty different faiths, since just as many factious spirits had wanted to teach him one. Thereupon he admonishes with great earnestness that in the future too, since much seduction was yet to come, one should not depart a hair's breadth from this mouth that says: Hear this one! The hearers should also call upon God for pure doctrine, and should by no means yield the least bit in divine matters for love's sake, and should guard themselves not only against gross lusts but also against the lofty, hidden lusts of reason and human wisdom, since through these the unity of faith is torn apart and whoredom — that is, idolatry — is brought about. (Luther's Works, XII, 1526ff.)

Thus, in his last sermon, Luther testified once more to his Wittenbergers — as though he sensed that they would not see his face again — everything that St. Paul had testified in his farewell sermon in Acts 20.

Concerning Luther's departure from Wittenberg, one further circumstance should be mentioned, insignificant in itself but important in its consequences. Some years earlier, on the advice of his physician, Dr. Ratzeberger, he had had a seton placed in his left thigh, in order to relieve his severe headaches, dizziness, and other ailments; and indeed, after some time he was again able to go to the pulpit and to his lectures unassisted, without being led as had often happened before. But upon his departure, in his haste, he forgot to take with him the remedies needed to keep the seton open, and amid the many affairs that awaited him in Eisleben and detained him far longer than he had at first believed, he entirely neglected the care of the seton and did not consider what ill consequences this might have; for as the wound at the seton in this way closed up and healed, the continual discharge of the morbid matter was thereby prevented, which now

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receded inward and, in Ratzeberger's judgment, brought about his end so quickly — yet according to God's gracious will.

On Saturday, January 23, Luther departed from Wittenberg accompanied by his three sons, and arrived in Halle on January 25, the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, as he reports to his wife in a letter. He lodged with his old friend Dr. Jonas, and at table he handed him a glass to drink from, making Latin verses on the occasion which, according to an old translation, ran thus:

To old Dr. Jonas
Dr. Luther brings a fine glass;
It teaches them both well
That they are fragile glasses.

Mathesius relates this and remarks on it: "What the heart is full of, the mouth overflows with; the man carries thoughts of death within him and begins from day to day to die and to long for rest; therefore not only God's Word but also every creature must comfort and preach to him." Would that this might also be taken to heart by those who, without any shame, charge Luther with a strong inclination to drink, or who appeal to Luther in support of such a charge!

In Halle Luther preached on the epistle for the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, Acts 9:1–19.*) He deals there with Paul's call to the apostolic office, and shows how much more glorious it was than the call of the other apostles, and how we especially, whose fathers were heathen, should thank God for this, since Paul calls himself a teacher of the Gentiles. Therefore we should not so much ask after the supposed heads of Peter and Paul, which were shown carved in wood at Rome to deceive people, but should rather diligently study the true sanctuary, namely Holy Scripture itself, and especially the epistles of Paul; for in them he still speaks to us today, telling how we may become free from sin through faith in Christ and attain eternal life. Luther further shows how Paul had formerly shed Christian blood, indeed had even blasphemed the name of the Lord and incited others to do so, but how mercy was nevertheless shown to him, as an example of grace for us and for all the world, that we should not despair when we are assailed by our sins, but should, like him, believe in Christ. Although Paul's sin had been great, he had done it in ignorance, whereas the pope sins against the Holy Spirit, because he knows very well that he is in the wrong. Nor was Paul so unlearned in Holy Scripture as the pope; on the contrary, he knew it well and held Moses in high regard, but since the pope had not been better instructed, he had sought in Moses only the law and not Christ, of whom Moses nevertheless clearly testifies, for example in Deuteronomy 18:15. Moreover, Paul had lived, even before his conversion, a holier and more blameless life than all the monks. Nor had he been disobedient to the heavenly vision and voice, and once convinced of his error, had abandoned it — the very opposite of what is seen in the papists. Luther further sets forth what a glorious sermon Christ preached before Paul, how he called and ordained him to the apostolic office and commanded him to preach nothing other than what he, Luther, also preaches — namely, that we are freed from sin and made blessed solely through faith in Christ as the Son of God, and by nothing else, neither indulgences nor good works. (L. W. XII, 1498ff.)

*) This sermon, together with another which Luther preached in the same year at the Feast of the Epiphany (January 6) there, was published by the then preacher at St. Moritz, Matthäus Wankel. The latter sermon was without doubt delivered on an earlier journey that Luther, in Aurifaber's company and according to his account, made to Mansfeld around Christmas. (See Grosch, Defense of the Lutheran Religion, p. 4.) The sermon mentioned above, however, was probably not delivered by Luther on the day of the Conversion of St. Paul (January 25), since he did not arrive in Halle until that very day.

On Thursday, January 26, Luther departed from Halle with his three sons and Dr. Jonas, and had to cross the swollen Saale in a boat at the risk of his life, whereupon he said: "Dear Dr. Jonas, would that not be a fine delight to the devil, if he should drown Dr. Martinus along with his three sons and you in the water!" At the border of Mansfeld territory, Luther was received with the greatest honor by the counts and their retinue, who formed a procession of 113 men on horseback. But not far from Eisleben, a sudden and severe weakness overcame him in his carriage, so great that fears were raised for his life, whereupon Luther said: "The devil always does this to me when I have something great in mind and am to carry it out — that he first tempts me in this way and attacks me with such a temptation (trial)." When he was brought to the lodging prepared for him and rubbed with cloths, he recovered so well that he was still able to take part in the evening meal.

Already on the day after his arrival, the settlement negotiations began, in which Luther took part personally and regularly, indeed right up until the day before his death (from January 29 to February 17), together with Prince Wolfgang of Anhalt — who, it is said, had read all of Luther's writings very eagerly (L. W. XXII, 1824) — Count Heinrich of Schwarzburg, and Dr. Jonas. On the side of the Counts of Mansfeld, their councillors attended these negotiations. One of these, Dr. Melchior Klinge, was chiefly to blame for the fact that the pending disputes had for years been dragged out ever longer, and that every Christian proposal for settlement that Luther made was rejected; Luther therefore insisted that this Klinge no longer be permitted to appear at the negotiations, and that he be required to return to Wittenberg, where he was a professor of law.

Luther repeatedly prophesied to the counts that their ill-fated disputes would in the end bring ruin upon themselves and upon the entire county, and this indeed came to pass, already twenty-four years after Luther's death; for as the counts incurred ever more