# Der Lutheraner_St. Louis Missouri_1846 12 22_S106
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

...sigh to God, that he would let some word, some saying, some comfort, some admonition, or some rebuke go to our hearts, and bless us; then we shall never go away empty. When the public worship service has ended, let us faithfully spend the time still remaining — either alone or with Christian brothers — in further reflection on and discussion of what we have heard, together with heartfelt prayer; then we shall surely close each Sunday evening strengthened and edified, and begin the new week with all the more comforted courage.

Consider, my brothers, that our Christian forefathers knew Christian freedom well — better, indeed, than we do — and yet how carefully they kept their observance of Sunday! If we wish now to be Lutherans, let us return to their zeal, and the more we recognize ourselves as free, the more willingly let us keep the good Christian order.

Let us further consider that the government of our land has given strict laws concerning the observance of Sunday; here we must obey not merely out of necessity, but for conscience's sake — not as members of the Church, but as subjects. The Word of God tells us this: "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers that have authority over him, for there is no power but of God; the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God; and they that resist shall receive to themselves judgment." Here no Christian freedom applies. Whoever, even in the smallest matter, does on Sunday what the government has forbidden resists God, and let him expect his judgment.

So let us join hands with one another, that the Lord's Day may be kept among us in a Christian manner by young and old; let us ask God for the preservation of his Word and Sacrament, that we may hold it sacred, gladly hear and learn it, so that we shall not be shut out when the eternal Sabbath begins in heaven. To this end may Jesus Christ help us all. Amen.

Some Remarkable Facts concerning the Final Hours of So-Called Strong Spirits, or Freethinkers.

The great philosopher Kant died under the delusion that he was a goose, and could be calmed only by barley scattered before him.

Plattner persisted in his unbelief to the very end, and yet he passed away in the most dreadful fear of the devil, whom he had always denied from the lecture podium.

The skeptic (doubter) Condorcet poisoned himself in order to escape the scaffold, to which his former republican friends had wanted to bring him.

After Charles Blount had written much against Christianity, he composed a treatise in which he sought to prove that even a Christian might marry his brother's widow without incest, since he himself had fallen in love with his own brother's widow. When he despaired of obtaining the English Church's permission for this marriage, he put an end to his life by suicide.

After the atheist Thomas Hobbes had throughout his life always portrayed Christianity merely as a bogeyman with which shrewd statesmen had sought to frighten the people and keep them in check, this otherwise very sharp-witted man at last fell into so childish a fear of ghosts that he dared not be alone anywhere.

The well-known satirist Swift, who during his life assailed not only men but religion itself with the most biting mockery, designated in his will the greater part of his estate for a hospital for lunatics and the feeble-minded, "in order," as he himself said, "to demonstrate with a satirical touch that no country needed such a thing so badly." God, however, let it come to pass that Swift himself at last died insane.

The famous Rousseau believed, for the last twenty years of his life, that all mankind had conspired against him, and he was so thoroughly convinced, in his suspicious madness, of this universal conspiracy, that he wept at the death of King Louis the Fifteenth, because the king had until then shared with him the general hatred, which now, he thought, was united in himself alone.

John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester, had received a Christian upbringing; nevertheless he allowed himself to be swept into the most dreadful sins and vices, and thereby became an atheist. At last, however, an illness became the occasion of his rescue; he wept over and abhorred, most profoundly, his former life. But in order to undo, as far as possible, the offense he had given to the world, he left behind a written declaration, which he signed and sealed shortly before his death, and which, at his express wish, had to be publicly read at his funeral sermon. — It reads as follows: "For the good of all those whom I may have incited to sin by the example of my life, I leave behind this my declaration, which is hereby made before the countenance of the great God, who knows the inmost of all hearts, and before whose judgment I am now to appear. I curse and abhor my entire former course of life. I cannot marvel enough at the goodness of God, that He has let me see and recognize my shameful opinions and wicked life; for hitherto I have walked in the world without God, and have been a despiser of the Spirit of grace. The most important testimony of my love for God shall be to admonish others, in God's name, to consider the welfare of their immortal soul, not to deny His existence or His providence, not to despise His goodness, not to trifle with sin, and not to mock the pure and glorious faith of my blessed Redeemer, through whose merit I, as one of the very greatest of sinners, hope to obtain grace and forgiveness. — Sealed in the presence of John Rochester, Anna Rochester, Robert Parson, the 19th of June, 1680."

The Use and Need of the Sacrament.

Emperor Maximilian once lay before a fortress and intended to take it by storm the following day; the evening before, therefore, he held a banquet with his chief officers of war. All were merry, but one sat there sad and gloomy. The Emperor said to him: Why so sad, Captain? He answered: Most gracious lord, I have great cause for my heaviness of heart. Maximilian said: Can something be done about it? The captain answered: Yes, Your Imperial Majesty could indeed help me. The Emperor urged him to say what was weighing on him. The captain said: Yes, if only Your Majesty would not become angry and turn against me. Maximilian replied: Rely on my imperial word, it shall be so. Only speak plainly. Then the captain said: "Most gracious lord, tomorrow we are to fight the enemy; now the sword devours this man and now that one, as David says, 2 Samuel 11 — anceps fortuna belli, that is, no one knows who will be the last to be buried. But I have an evil conscience and am troubled how I might be saved in time of need, for I have embezzled 30,000 ducats from the soldiers' pay; if Your Imperial Majesty would forgive and pardon me this, I would be glad and would conduct myself all the more valiantly tomorrow." Maximilian considered a moment, smiled a little, and said: It is indeed no small matter, but let it all be forgiven you, pardoned and forgotten; only be glad — tomorrow a bold act of heroism can make up for everything. The captain thanked him most heartily. But he was not satisfied with these words alone, and said: Let Your Majesty be so gracious as to drink a good draught to me on it, so that I too may know that it is forgiven and pardoned. This the Emperor did. — In just this way God also deals with us in grace: he first lets us know and hear his will through his Word, and then also lets us see his intention with our own eyes in the venerable Sacraments, so that our heart may free itself from all unbelief and doubt.

(Herberger's Postil.)

The Word Alone Gives Peace.

To the Lutheran preacher Gigas, Mathesius once wrote the following: "O mi Gigas, sis tenax verbi" — that is, O my Gigas, stay firm by the Word. When, some years ago, I lost sight of the four words, "This is my body," and looked at them with merely human eyes, I was terrified and fell into great spiritual assault, anguish, and distress. But I persisted in prayer, and again took hold of the mother's breast (Ps. 131), letting go, in this matter, of the great calculators Ptolemy and Euclid with their measuring and reckoning; then my conscience again became quiet and joyful. For this I thank God for all eternity.

Textus non fallit: multos speciosa fefellit Glossa; Dei verbo nitere — tutus eris.

That is:
The text of Scripture cannot deceive,
But the gloss that hangs upon it can;
Therefore trust in the Word alone,
So you will not be deceived.

Paid.

Volume 3: Messrs. Pastor Selle, Zühlsdorf, Pastor Ernst (5 copies), Pastor Bürger (2 copies), Pastor Winkler, Bließ, Pastor Schuster, Ohm.

Second half of Volume 3: Messrs. J. Heinke, F. Lange, Kauffung.

First half of Volume 4: Mr. F. Lange.

Printed by Arthur Olshausen.