# Der Lutheraner_St. Louis Missouri_1846 09 29_S18
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

We could cite a long series of commendations from the most esteemed orthodox theologians of our Church, by which they have borne witness to the Church Postil; for brevity's sake we recall only that Luther himself, in the writing published against the Fanatics under the title "That the Words of Christ, 'This is my Body,' still stand firm," calls it his "very best book, the best he ever wrote." The Church Postil has therefore always stood in high esteem in the Lutheran Church as well, has been printed almost innumerable times both before and after Luther's death, and has even been translated into Low German and into Latin; and in the Electorate of Saxony the parish ministers were once instructed by their highest church authority "that they should take care to possess Dr. Luther's writings, and above all his Church and House Postils." We should think these summons enough for the Lutherans of our own time — ministers and lay Christians alike — to seize with both hands this opportunity offered them of obtaining such a treasure.

We further ask all who are knowledgeable in the matter, especially the reverend ministers, to share their views with us as to whether the time might not also have come to undertake a new edition of Dr. Luther's greater commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians, to which we would gladly lend a hand.

May the Lord our God be gracious to us, and prosper the work of our hands among us; yes, may He prosper the work of our hands!

Heinrich Ludwig,
No. 70 and 72 Vesey Street.
New York, Easter 1846.

[The publisher hereby announces that he is now also ready to accept subscriptions for the Church Postil.]

"But when they saw it, they fled, and stood afar off, and said to Moses: Speak thou with us, and we will obey; but let not God speak with us, lest we die."

Exodus 20:18–19.

In this text we see a fine example, which God sets before our eyes as a mirror, of how ill-equipped man is to come before God or to deal with Him when he has only the commandments, reason, human wisdom, cleverness, understanding and wit, and free will . . . . The Jews were not so holy, strong, and mighty that they could bear to hear God speak; rather, as soon as God begins to speak, fear overtakes them, they are altogether sunk in despair and mortal anguish; they flee from God, in whom alone they should have sought comfort, and run instead to a poor sinner who, like themselves, is flesh and blood; they seek more friendship, comfort, and love from a man than from God . . . Here our nature is painted for us as it stands condemned and flees from God. Where now is free will and human strength? Where now are man-made laws and preachers of works, who say to man: "Do what you can; we too must surely do our part; make yourself ready for God's grace, and you will become a child of blessedness"? — Yes indeed, our own powers are unready and unfit for the task; when it comes to the actual test, they do not hold up. From this we conclude: where the Holy Spirit does not first impress upon the heart the gospel promise, there man takes God for a devil, an executioner, a jailer, and a judge, and trusts himself to expect more good from the worst scoundrel than from God . . . . Moses writes here that even the holiest of the holy did this . . . Therefore this is an excellent comfort, one that levels all holiness to the ground. It is thereby shown that we are rogues under the skin precisely where we are at our best and holiest . . . Let us take St. Bernard as an example here, whom I gladly hold up before other monks. For if ever there was a devout monk, it was St. Bernard. Once, when he lay so gravely ill and expected to die — he who all his days had kept his virginity (remained unmarried), who tormented himself with fasting and vigils until his very breath stank, so that his brothers could not bear to be near him, who led a beautiful life and preached beautiful sermons, who was full of good works — when he then saw the judgment of God, he said: "O Lord, I have spent my life ill, and used my time shamefully!"

What have you done, dear Bernard? Have you not been a monk, preached beautiful sermons, never committed adultery, never taken what belonged to another? Who then tears away Bernard's good works from him? — The judgment of God. For when this is revealed to man, all human righteousness has no standing and cannot endure; as David desires in Psalm 143:2, that God would not enter into judgment with him, for before Him no living man could stand or be found righteous.

Now if St. Bernard could not stand before the judgment of God, how shall other monks and priests stand? I hold St. Bernard higher than all the monks and priests on earth; I have neither heard nor read of his equal. Therefore God intends by this to show that all works are lost before His eyes, namely when they are done with the intention that one thereby means to stand before God.

So too must St. John the Baptist, with all his holiness, stand to the shame of all who trust in works; for he testifies that he has it all from above, and points to Christ, who takes away sin (John 1:29; 3:27), not to his own holy life. I do not speak against the works that are done for the good of one's neighbor and flow out of faith; but only against wanting to come before God's judgment with such works, seeking thereby to reconcile God and make Him a friend — as the work-saints, the arrogant, bring along their works, hung about with them as with great sacks of hops, and dare to say to God: Pay me! — as though He were a peddler selling His kingdom of heaven.

But this is not written of the Jews alone, that they were not permitted to go up (to God on Sinai), but of all who trust in works, however well-equipped they may be with works; they too grow fainthearted when God's judgment draws near. How much less may those approach who are burdened with sins! It is a weighty saying: whoever has nothing more than good works may run toward hell all he likes, he will attain nothing; there must be something greater than our holy life. — Do you know this greater thing, dear reader, and do you possess it?
(Luther's Works, Halle edition, vol. III, p. 1505 ff.)

Can Man by Nature Will the Good?

Christ gives the reason for the judgments breaking in upon Jerusalem in the words: "Ye would not." (Matthew 23:37.) Is willing, then, in some sense a work of human power — being able to assent to the preaching of Christ and to surrender oneself wholly to Him? It is well known how often this saying of Christ has been invoked by those who believe that man possesses a free will even in spiritual matters. But one must distinguish between two kinds of willing. The one is an outward and preparatory willing (paedagogicum), for which man still has power by nature. To this belongs the fact that a man, even without being born again, can go to church and hear the preaching of the Word of God, or close his ear to it; indeed, that he can even willingly hear it, as Mark ascribes to Herod (Mark 6:20) and Amos to the hardened Jews (Amos 8:11–12; 5:21–23), just as Paul likewise ascribes to them a zeal for God (Romans 10:2). The other willing, however, is an inward and spiritual one, consisting in the assent of the heart and in faith. And this latter willing lies by no means within the free will of a person not yet born again, but depends on the working of the Holy Spirit. In those words to the Jews, Christ therefore does not rebuke that natural not-willing, or the innate powerlessness by which all men, after the Fall, are unable to will or to assent to anything in spiritual matters and in things immediately concerning man's salvation. Rather, Christ rebukes that not-willing and that willful contempt by which they did not even think it worth the trouble to make outward use of the means of faith and conversion and to hear Christ without those prejudices, but instead clung to their preconceived errors and, in stubborn malice, thrust Christ and His Gospel away from themselves. See Hunnius's Commentary.

A Good Answer.

A Christian preacher was asked by a prince who was a scoffer what he thought of Christ. His answer was: "What does Your Majesty think of the destruction of Jerusalem?" — The king blushed — and fell silent.

[Luther's House Postil, the first American edition, handsomely produced, is bound for $2.00, in paper covers for $1.50, and may be had:

From H. Ludwig and Wm. Radde in New York.
C. L. Rademacher in Philadelphia, Pa.
F. W. Weiß in Cleveland, O.
The Rev. Spielmann, Columbus, O.
Pastor Wyneken in Baltimore, Md.
Pastor Walther, St. Louis, Mo.
Dr. Sihler, Fort Wayne, Ind.
P. Beyer, Buffalo, N.Y.
P. George & Co., Detroit, Mich.
P. George & Co., Milwaukie, Wisc.]

Printed by Weber and Olshausen.