# Lehre und Wehre_St. Louis Missouri_M rz 1859_S93
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

Bibliographical Appendix.	93

in his flesh, and that, alas, many hundred Christians who had received the word of life with great joy let themselves be so overcome by this trial that they deny Christ together with the Gospel on that account. For many preachers, seeing that with the divine Word they anger great lords, draw upon themselves the displeasure and hatred of great people, and thereby fall into contempt and mockery and are persecuted, let their confession drop and accommodate themselves to the matter so that they may be freed from danger and keep the favor of great lords. Many hearers, too, when they see that great lords turn away from the Gospel, and that they themselves come into danger together with wife and child, having to expect persecution every day, begin to doubt the Gospel, conform themselves to the great crowd, and believe whatever lets them keep good peace. All this comes about because we have an aversion to the ugly form of the kingdom of Christ and all together flee the cross. We would all gladly have such a Messiah as was adorned with worldly splendor, agreed with our reason, and whom we could enjoy in honor and temporal prosperity. We would all gladly have such a Gospel as would satisfy great lords, over which no strife or quarrel would arise, and which would be accepted by everyone. But in this, thinking has gone astray; God will ordain for us no other Messiah than the one who rides in poor and lowly upon a donkey. God will let no other Gospel be revealed to us than the one he has caused to be proclaimed through his Son, which is contrary to the whole world. Therefore we should accommodate ourselves to this and not take offense at the poor, ugly form of this entry; nor should we likewise be offended at the contempt and poverty of his servants and of his word: the more the divine Word and its servants are despised, mocked, hated, and slandered on earth, the brighter it shines, the further it penetrates, the greater power it gives to people; the harder God's servants are persecuted, the greater the gifts the Spirit of God gives them, and the more mightily God plants and spreads his kingdom through them .... The more Christ's Church on earth is oppressed and persecuted, the more gloriously its confession shines forth and the greater the wonders it accomplishes. When one seeks honor, power, money, and goods by means of God's Word, it comes to ruin and is falsified, as happened in the papacy. When one wants thus to master and outwit God's Word, so as to have nothing but ease and peace by it, and to be relieved of all contention and strife, then it slips from our hands and we retain human dreams in place of God's Word. It grieves the flesh that one must thus, without ceasing, quarrel and contend with the world over God's Word; yet it cannot and will not be otherwise; therefore one must consider this well and come to know well the nature of Christ's kingdom." So thinks and so speaks Tilemann Heshusius. To introduce him speaking at greater length the space does not allow; but whoever has come to know even a small part of his Postil on the Gospels is easily convinced that nothing further is needed "to recommend this precious book, since every single sermon speaks for the whole." For this reason I do not doubt that the new edition will at the same time be a brilliant vindication of his honor: the orthodoxy of this much-maligned man will surely be set in the clearest light by this Postil" — for only heretics have ever accused him of heresy! So may the honest old Heshusius, who in his life never was ashamed to bear the reproach of Christ, find, among all who are of like mind, a welcome and richly blessed reception! God rule it! (K. Ströbel.)