# Der Lutheraner_St. Louis Missouri_1848 05 24_S163
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

To be sure, however, a preacher must also bear in mind that he has been appointed by God as a "steward of the mysteries of God." 1 Cor. 4:1. But a steward cannot, without grave responsibility, do as he pleases with what has been entrusted to him; rather, he must be guided by the instructions he has received for the administration of his office. Such an instruction — indeed, the most precise instruction for the right administration of the Holy Sacrament — we preachers have in Holy Scripture. It is prescribed for us there in clear words who may be admitted to it and who may not. Among other things Christ says: "Do not give what is holy to the dogs, and do not cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them underfoot, and turn and tear you to pieces." Matt. 7:6. Christ further says: "If he refuses to hear the church, treat him as a heathen and a tax collector." Matt. 18:17. St. Paul further writes: "If anyone who is called a brother is a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner — with such a one you shall not even eat. Put away from yourselves that wicked person." 1 Cor. 5:11, 13. The same apostle further writes: "If anyone does not obey our word, note that person by letter, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed." 2 Thess. 3:14. Finally John writes in his second epistle: "If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house, nor greet him; for he who greets him takes part in his evil deeds." (vv. 10–11; compare 2 Thess. 3:6; Rom. 16:17; 1 Tim. 6:3–5; 2 Tim. 3:1–5; Tit. 3:10–11; 2 Cor. 6:14–18.) According to this, Christians are to deal with no manifest sinner, with no despiser of the Christian congregation, with no one who will not submit to correction, and with no unbeliever or false believer as though they stood with him in brotherly fellowship of faith. Herewith, then, every preacher has the precise instruction that God's Word gives him concerning the administration of the sacrament, for it is evident that all those with whom Christians are to hold no brotherly fellowship of faith, and whom they are to exclude from themselves, are, according to God's Word, likewise not to be admitted to the partaking of the Sacrament, by which the most intimate brotherly fellowship of faith is expressed and established. What, then, are those preachers doing who admit everyone without distinction? They show themselves to be unfaithful, irresponsible stewards over the mysteries of God; they encroach upon the office of the Lord God himself and set themselves up as lords over His holy Sacrament, of which they are only servants. Woe to them, if they do not come to themselves in time — woe forever and ever! A day will come when they will have to atone terribly for having squandered the Lord's goods and misused them for their own impure purposes. Then the Lord will call them before Him and cry out to them: "What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward." Luke 16.

But, some will perhaps now say, what is a preacher to do in order to save his conscience? On this matter I will, in conclusion, let our Luther speak. He writes, namely, in his treatise "The Christian Manner of Going to God's Table," of the year 1523, as follows: "In this matter one ought to keep the same manner or order that is kept at baptism, namely, that first it be made known to the bishop or pastor who those are who wish to receive the Sacrament, and that they themselves ask him to administer the Holy Sacrament to them, so that he may know their names, and may know what kind of life they lead. Thereafter, even though they so ask, he ought not admit them until they have given an answer concerning their faith, and in particular have given account in answer to the question: whether they understand what the Sacrament is, what use and benefit it gives, and to what purpose they wish to use it — namely, whether they can recite the words concerning the Sacrament, together with their meaning, by heart; and can show that they go to the Table of the Lord for this reason, that, being troubled on account of their sins, with a burdened conscience, or fear of death, or some other temptation of the flesh, the world, or the devil, they hunger and thirst after the word of grace and salvation, to receive it from the Lord himself through the office of his minister, that they may be comforted and strengthened; even as Christ, out of unspeakable love, gave and instituted this in this Supper, with these words: Take, eat, etc.

"I hold, however, that it is enough that whoever desires the Sacrament be questioned and examined in this manner once a year; indeed, such a person might be so well instructed that he need be questioned only once in his whole life, or not at all. For by this order we wish to prevent worthy and unworthy alike from running together to the Table of the Lord, as we have hitherto seen under the papacy, where nothing else was sought except merely to receive the Sacrament. But of faith, of comfort, and of the right use and benefit of the Sacrament there was neither talk nor thought; indeed, they even took great pains to hide the very words concerning the Sacrament, namely, the bread of life; indeed, they dealt with it with the utmost folly, as though those who received the Sacrament thereby performed a work that was good on account of their own worthiness, and not that thereby their faith should be preserved and strengthened through Christ's goodness. We, however, wish those who cannot give account of themselves as to the matters mentioned above to be altogether excluded and separated from the fellowship of this Sacrament, as those who lack the wedding garment. —

"After this, if the pastor or bishop sees that they understand all this, he should further take note whether their life and conduct give proof of this their faith and understanding — for Satan too understands all this, and can speak of it — that is, if he sees a fornicator, adulterer, drunkard, gambler, usurer, slanderer, or one otherwise notorious for some other public vice, he should by all means exclude him from the Supper, unless he prove by clear evidence that he has changed and amended his life. But those others, who now and then fall and turn back again, and who are grieved that they have fallen, one should not only not refuse the Sacrament, but should know that it was instituted chiefly for their sake, that they might thereby be refreshed and strengthened. For we all fail in many ways, James 3:2, and one rightly bears the burden of another, since one is a burden to another, Gal. 6:2. For here I am speaking of the despisers, who sin shamelessly and without fear, and yet boast nonetheless of great things concerning the Gospel.

"As for private confession before Communion, I still hold, as I have hitherto taught, namely, that it is neither necessary nor to be required, yet is useful and in no way to be despised." (See Luther's Works, Halle edition, vol. X, 276–67.)

The very same thing, moreover, that Luther here states privately we also find in our public confessional writings. Thus it is stated, for example, in Article 25 of the Augsburg Confession: "This custom is retained among us, of not administering the Sacrament to those who have not first been examined and absolved." Further, in the Apology, Article 15: "Among us the people use the Holy Sacrament willingly and without compulsion every Sunday, but only after they have first been examined as to whether they are instructed in Christian doctrine, and know or understand something of the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, and the Ten Commandments."

Dialogues Between Two Lutherans Concerning Methodism.

First Dialogue.
The Chief Seat of the Sickness.
(Conclusion.)

He now uses the very Word of God in that emotional and self-gratifying manner, and so, for example, in hearing or reading words of the Law he places great value on the particular feelings of being moved and shaken that he experiences inwardly on that occasion, and he gladly seeks to relive again those first powerful feelings of penitence from which he traces the beginning of his conversion; for it is in the stronger or weaker feeling of penitence, rather than in the stronger or weaker repenting of and confessing his sin, that he finds the greater or lesser degree of his repentance.

At most it is, in this connection, only those more serious souls, particularly guided by the Holy Spirit, who also find in the Law that testing-tablet for heart and conduct spoken of above, and who draw from it that same wholesome fruit for their entire inner and outer life;