# Der Lutheraner_Frankfurt am Main_Mai 1949_S49
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

# Der Lutheraner

Number 5, Frankfurt am Main, May 1949, Volume 3

Der Lutheraner

NEWSLETTER FOR EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CONGREGATIONS
IN GERMANY

"If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;

and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

John 8:31–32.

"A Little While"

On the Gospel for the Sunday "Jubilate," John 16:16–23

[Image: A grave-monument with cross and inscriptions beneath trees, a preacher standing before it]

Read on page 52: "Rudolf Schäfer, a Preacher with Pen and Brush,"

Christian Death-Hymn

by Simon Dach
1605 – 1659

Death, thou rest of every care,
End of every labor,
Gently close my eyes for me,
Fold my hands together,
Take me from the vanity
Of this wretched earth,
I would from this evil age
Be called away.

My days are gone from me,
Gone are all my hours,
The purpose of my need and pain
Has already been found.
Like foam upon a raging flood
That the winds do raise,
Like the smoke from a fire,
So my life passes away.

Show thyself, O Eternity,
Reach me thy wings
And lead my spirit hence
Onto the hills of Heaven,
Into the joys that my refuge,
Christ, has won for me,
When through a mocked murder
He died for me.

Jesus, this glory is thine,
That, though I am dying,
I first truly inherit
The semblance of true life,
That from the earth's toil and need
I come to the rest
That knows neither labor nor death,
And shines without ceasing.

Let only steadfastness
Powerfully rule over me,
Keep the upper hand for me
In advance in every strife,
And with my little hour
Surround me contentedly.
For this I alone will
Exalt thee there eternally.

The Sighing of the Holy Spirit
in Christian Hearts

Romans 8:26–27: "The Spirit also helpeth
our infirmities: for we know not
what we should pray for as we ought:
but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with
groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that
searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind
of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints
according to the will of God."

Not only at Pentecost but at all times God's
promise applies to us Christians, Zechariah 12:
10: "I will pour out the spirit of grace
and of supplication." To all true Christians
God's Word says, Galatians 4:6: "Because ye
are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his
Son into your hearts, crying: Abba,
Father!" Praise God! that we too
can pray thus and know from experience this
so blessed mystery of all God's children:
The Sighing of the Holy Spirit in
Christian Hearts.

Only Christians can pray rightly. They have
received from God, out of grace, forgiveness of all
sins, and therefore their believing soul cries out
in childlike trust to God,
"as the hart crieth after the fresh water."
In their baptism the Holy Spirit was
poured out upon them abundantly through Jesus
Christ, our Savior, and through the word of the
Gospel he comes to them anew each day;
indeed, he remains in them, when they
hear God's Word, believe it, and diligently strive
to live accordingly. This Holy Spirit
is, according to Luther, "a restless spirit in the
highest rest, that is, in God's grace and
peace, so that he cannot be still or idle,
but always wrestles and strives with all his
strength, as one who lives for no other purpose
than to bring God's honor and praise further
among the people." Therefore he is the author
and giver of all our prayers at all times and
in all places.

Yet what weaknesses cling to our
prayer life! We often lack joy
in prayer, or true earnestness in
praying; we grow weary so quickly in this holy