The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1880, Page 27

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

The Lutheran Pioneer.

27

The Life of Dr. Martin Luther.

XVII.
THE EVENING OF LIFE.

As the evening of Luther's life came on, he
greatly felt the. infirmities of old age and often
suffered severe pains from bodily sickness. He,
however, joyfully continued the work of the
Reformation by preaching, writing, and pray-
ing. God often heard his prayers in a wonder-
ful manner. Thus, in the year 1540, his dear
friend Melanchthon became dangerously ill in
the city of Weimar. Luther was sent for, and
when he came, Melanchthon was lying at the
point of death. It was a terrible shock to
Luther, but he knew his refuge. He turned
to the window, clasped his hands, lifted up his
eyes to heaven, and earnestly prayed to God
to spare the life of his dear learned friend, who
was so necessary for the work of Reformation.
He prayed with the holy boldness of a true be-
liever, appealing to all the promises of God in
the Bible concerning the hearing of prayer.
He then took Melanchthon’s hand and said,
“My dear Philip, be of good cheer; you shall
not die.’’ Holding his cold hand in his, he
continued to speak words of comfort to him.
Melanchthon began to revive and soon regained
his strength. He himself said, ‘‘I would have
died if Luther had not come.”’

In the ‘autumn of the same year Melanch-
thon had so far recovered that he went with
several theologians to attend at Worms a con-
ference with the papists. Luther did not go
with them, but said, ‘‘God has given us many
good learned men who understand His word
and can defend it against the opponents.’’
When he took leave of them, he blessed them
and spoke to them many words of power. He
said, ‘‘Go in the name of the Lord, as ambass-
adors of Jesus Christ; cling firmly to the
simple word of God, and yield nothing that is
Christ’s, as ye have no authority to yield.”

The last years brought days of joy and sor-
row to the noble heart of the great Reformer.
It was a great joy to him to receive letters from
brethren in distant lands, who had been led to
the knowledge of truth by his writings. He,
on the other hand, was deeply grieved to see
the so-called Reformed hold on to their false
doctrine in regard to the Sacraments in spite
of all his powerful arguments from the Word
of God. Great was his sorrow, too, when he
saw some of his own people so very unthankful
for the blessed Gospel and leading godless lives.
This pained him so that he, in 1545, left Wit-
tenberg. By a gracious letter of the Elector,
however, he was induced to come back and
continue his labors at the University and in the
congregation.

: The evening of Luther's life was drawing to
its close, and his heart was filled more and more
with a holy desire for rest in heaven. He
earnestly prayed for a happy end and heartily
wished to be with Jesus. ‘In one of his last
Sermons he told his hearers that when they

should hear of his being sick, they should not
pray that his life might be prolonged, but that
a happy end might be granted him. ‘Iam
weary of the world,” he said, “and the world
is weary of me; it is therefore. easy to part, as
when a guest quits his lodgings.’’ In his last
sermon delivered in Wittenberg, Luther also
foretold the troubles which came upon the
Lutheran Church shortly after his death.
‘Pray earnestly to God,” he said, ‘‘that ye
may keep His word, for dangerous times are
coming.”

Luther’s last sermon was delivered in Eis-
leben, his native city. He went to that city
upon the invitation of the Counts of Mansfeld
for the purpose of settling some disputes which
had arisen between those noblemen and their
subjects in regard to the mines of the district.
Luther started on his journey January 23rd,
1546, accompanied by his three sons. On his
arrival on the borders of the Mansfeld territory,
the Counts received him with an escort of more
than a hundred horsemen. <A short distance
from the city he became so unwell that his life
was considered in danger. But he became
better and tarried three weeks in Lisleben, tak-
ing part in the negotiations until the day he-
fore his death. During his stay at Eisleben he
ordained two ministers and twice received ab-
solution and the Holy Supper and wrote letters
of comfort to his dear wife, who was in great
anxiety about his health. He also preached
four sermons, as he was always very diligent in
preaching, making the statement himself that
he often delivered four sermons in one day and
did this for twenty-five years. In his last ser-
mon he said: ‘‘As I have now been here some
time and preached to you, and must now re-
turn home and perhaps shall preach no more,
I would now bless you and entreat you to ad-
here steadfastly to the Word which your min-
isters by the grace of God faithfully teach you,
and to cultivate the habit of praying that God
would protect you against all the wise and pru-
dent who despise the doctrine of the Gospel,
since they have done much injury and might
do more.’’ He then closed his last sermon with
the words: ‘‘May God grant us his grace that
we may with gratitude receive His word, in-
crease in the knowledge and faith of His Son,
our Lord Jesus Christ, and firmly abide in the
confession of His blessed word to the end.
Amen.’’? These were his last words from the
pulpit. The evening of his life was soon to
close. ‘The time of his departure was at hand.

—_—=——- ot

Men have been great, as the world calls it,

in spite of their infidelity, but no one was ever
great by reason of his infidelity, while thou-

sands have been truly great by their personal

devotion to Jesus.
—> oo - oa _

Tyre Bible has been woven into the life of all
that is best and noblest in the history of every
nation that has known the great value of an

open Bible. “

His paternal arms.

(For the “Lutheran Pioneer.)

Something for Parents!

Near the City of

there lived a pious

mother, who had the happiness of seeing her
children, in very early life, brought to the
knowledge of truth—all walking in the fear of
the Lord, and looked upon as ornaments of
the Christian Church.
travelling, having heard this circumstance,
wished very much to see her, thinking that
there might be something peculiar in her mode
of giving religious instruction which rendered
it so effectual. He accordingly visited her, and
inquired concerning the manner in which she
discharged the duties in educating her children.
The mother replied that she did not know that
she had been more faithful than any other
Christian mother would be in the instruction
of her children.
she said: ‘‘While my children were infants on
my lap, as I washed them, I raised my heart
to God, that he would wash them in that blood
that cleanseth from all sin; as I clothed them
in the morning, I asked my heavenly Father
to clothe them in the robe of Christ’s righteous-
ness; as I provided them with food, I prayed
that God would feed their souls with the bread
of heaven, and give them to drink the-water
of life.
of God, I prayed that their bodies might be
fit temples for the Holy Spirit to dwell in;
when they left me for the week-day parish
school, I followed their infant footsteps with a
prayer, that their path through life might be
like that of the just, which shineth more and

A clergyman, who was

After a little conversation,

When I prepared them for the house

more unto the perfect day; and as I committed
them to rest at night, the silent breathing of
my soul was that their heavenly Father would
take them to His embrace, and fold them in
I have committed their
way, and taught them to commit their way, to
the Lord, and the Lord has cared for them. It
is His doing, not mine; and what He has done
for me and my children He is willing, and has
promised to do, for all who seek His face.—
Oh! dear parents, dear fathers and mothers,
who read this, learn from this pious mother
and follow her example, God will then bless
you and your children, they will, by the grace
of God, walk in the fear of the Lord and be-
come ornaments of the Christian Church.—
“Provoke not your children to wrath: but
bring them up in the nurture and admonition
of the Lord.””? Eph. 6, 4.

———_~2—+ 9-4 0 -—e
ConTENTMENT consists not in persuading our-
selves that our things are the very best in the
world, but in believing they are the best for
us, and giving God thanks for them.
——— - o<a eo
TROUBLE drives us to prayer, and prayer
drives away trouble. :
9 a
WHERE you die—when you die—is scarcely
worth a thought, if you do but die in Christ.