This sermon, together with that of Michael Cölius, was published in a single edition in Wittenberg in 1546. In the collections: in Hallischer Theil, p. 549; in the Leipzig edition, vol. XXI, p. 707 and in Walch, vol. XXI, 362*. In addition, in Hofmann, I. c. p. 118 and in Joh. Mich. Koch, "Christliches Ehrengedächtniß in drei Leichpredigten Justi Jonä, Mich. Cölii und Joh. Bugenhagens, nebst Parentation und Leichenrede von Melanchthone und kurzer Beschreibung des Lebens und Todes Lutheri". Eisleben 1714.
Nachlese, No. XXXI.
W. XXI, 363*-366*.
1 Thessal. 4, 13-18.
But we do not want to keep you, brethren, from those who are asleep, so that you will not be sad like the others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, God will also take with him those who have fallen asleep through Jesus. For this we say unto you, as the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the future of the Lord shall not appear unto them which sleep. For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a shout and the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the air to meet the will of the Lord, and so shall always be with the Lord. So comfort yourselves with these words among yourselves.
Dear friends! We have Christian cause to preach this sermon on the death and passing away of our dear father, D. Martin Luther, who with all his earnestness and all his faithfulness was of the highest comfort to all of Christendom and to all the churches of the entire German nation, and who loved you here in Halle and granted you good things, through whom a very large part of the whole world was converted. Today it is seven weeks since the dear man, D. Martin Luther, at Eisleben, in his fatherland, shortly before three o'clock after midnight, blessedly fell asleep in Christ. I preached a sermon the next day after his departure from this world in St. Andrew's Church in Eisleben, when the corpse was placed in the middle of the church, truly with hot tears, and therefore I am also preaching this present sermon to remind pious Christian hearts what a great treasure they had for a time in this excellent, noble man, and what they lost in him. This sermon is divided into three parts:
2. first, about the person of D. Martin Luther, and about his great gifts and high intellect in spiritual matters, which he had; item, how he had prepared himself for death and sleep for a whole year and longer.
3) On the other hand, I said at that time from the text of Paul about the resurrection of the dead, and how we have known the man D. Lutherum, who for the last twenty-nine years has been opposing the diabolical lies of the
Pabst and the unholy monks who wrote, fought and struggled against the devil's kingdom, will certainly see and hear again in eternal joy and bliss on the last day.
4. thirdly, an admonition was given, indicating that the death of D. Martin Luther, like the death of all prophets, would certainly have a special power and subsequent effect against the godless, stubborn, blinded papists.
Of the first part, of the person and the glorious gifts of the blessed Luther, and how he so finely and neatly prepared himself for death, which is comforting to all God-fearing people to know, I would heartily wish, and would be worth wishing, that all of you who are now here in the church would have read freshly and anew the first book of Moses, which the dear father D. Martinus has interpreted so richly and beautifully. Item, in the New Testament, the 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th chapters of John; as I hope that there are many of you here who have read it, and have it all in good fresh memory, then you would see all the more what a man and treasure you have lost in D. Martin Luther. Item, the Epistle to Galatians, the Psalter, Proverbs of Solomon, Ecclesiastes, which he translated, which now no doctor in Paris, Louvain, nor any other famous place could or would be able (indeed, if one melted all the papists together) to German. These and other books show what a man D. Martinus was, and what a rich spirit he had, how faithfully and diligently he worked in the Scriptures; then we would say what a man we lost in him.
We would have a lot to say about the person, but we cannot say it all; therefore, we will remain silent about his sharp ingenuity and excellent, sharp, high intellect, which the dear father D. Martin Luther, of blessed and Christian memory, had from his youth on, in his 18th and 20th years. I heard from many people who had been around him from his youth, who testified that they had neither seen nor experienced more excellent ingenuity than in D. Martino. Among them were D. Lange and D. Staupitz at Erfurt; they have experienced it because they have been with him daily. Item, so also D. Mellerstadt, who was Rector at the time when the University of Wittenberg was founded, said: "Take care of the young monk M. Martin Luther, he has such an excellent, perceptive mind, the likes of which do not occur to me all my life; he will certainly become an excellent man. As is also the case.
Nachlese, No. XXXI.
W. XXI, 366*-369*.
7 So also D. Martin Luther had many other rich gifts and was an excellent, powerful speaker. Item, an extremely powerful interpreter of the whole Bible. The clerical offices also learned from him how to write and speak German properly. For he has brought forth the German language again, so that one can now speak and write German again, as many high people must testify and confess. But what an eloquent man and high writer D. Martinus had been, one has often experienced in minor matters, when he wrote bad letters. His books and writings, of which there is a great deal, testify to this sufficiently. The work praises the master. Of the same natural and high gifts I will say nothing, but direct all God-fearing hearts and Christians to his books, postils and commentaries etc., there they will find that they have had an excellent orator, preacher and right bishop in the man. If God wanted Germany to have so many people and bishops, they would certainly be well served.
(8) There was also in Luther's D. Martin an abundant grace and great light of the Holy Spirit, right true knowledge of God and Christ, which he did not diminish, but rather increased by daily diligent work in the holy divine Scriptures, with study and reading of the same, for forty whole years, so that the holy Scriptures were well known to him. He has read the Bible many, many times, so that it has been in his life. He did this from his 24th year until his 63rd year, when he died, the noble man.
(9) I must remember here two special words which indicate his heart, as Christ said, "When the heart is full, the mouth overflows. The first, that he said: "I wish with all my heart that I understood the first article of our Christian faith of creation: "I believe in God the Father, Creator of heaven and earth". But I would like to remain a student of Abc in this article, and I think that few people, even the high ones, have understood it, unless Adam, Noah, Abraham, David. But Esaias, Jeremias, and other prophets, they also understood something of it, but they all studied it in such a way that they professed to be disciples."
The other word is that he said that he wanted the article of redemption (that God sent His Son into the world for the redemption of the whole human race) to be respected as the highest theology, as Paul respects it and all the apostles. He has well seen and understood how a high, excellent article
This is: "God sent His Son into the world", that one has to study and learn enough about this article as long as one lives, and yet one will not unlearn it, although many famous theological schools, such as Paris and Cologne, have done the least, but have taught humanity against this article. More about this at another time.
(11) Now let us talk about how D. Martin Luther prepared and sent himself for death a whole year before his end. Now that he was in his 63rd year When he came to his 63rd year, he often said such high and precious words, which could have been compared to the sermons and words of Noäh, who also lived in a very evil time, and said with pain: "The world loves lies more than the pope's, monks', and other people's fables, and in the great, bright light of the Gospel, the world has come to the point that now and henceforth many are no longer found in common sin or infirmity, but in vain blasphemy, abuses, defiance, and deliberate persistence in gross vices; no one wants to be a sinner anymore, no one wants to humble himself before God; certain punishment will follow."
It was also a special grace and knowledge of God from the man that he prepared himself for his farewell and death a whole year before, wrote more than twenty comforting sayings in his psaltery and prayer booklet, which he always took with him, as if he wanted to say: I will one day, with God's help, take hold of one of the sayings in my last hour of death, and thus be prepared against Satan and all the gates of hell. And now these sayings, written in his prayer booklet, indicate that this man was not only a bad disciple, but also an excellent master in spiritual battles.
13 The first saying he wrote out for his treasure and comfort is 1 Peter 5:7: "Cast all your care upon him, and he will take care of you. As if he wanted to say, "Gather all your cares and concerns into one bundle, take the greatest of your worries in one piece 2) (as the Greek word xxxxxxxxxx implies), and cast them on him, handing them over to Christ, who cares for you. According to the noble and comforting saying, the pious and holy man Doctor Martinus also cast all his cares on the Lord Christ at the hour of his death, and did not ask or worry where he would stay, but rather
1) "the" put by us instead of: "for".
2 s "Kleuen" == Kleuel, tangle. Cf. St. Louis edition, vol. III, 1642, 8 4.
Nachlese, No. XXXI. w. xxi, 369*-372*. 3441
Let God care for his soul, which he commanded him, as he would care for and preserve it. For all people have the worry, when they die, where they should stay. But here we hear how God cares for us all the time of our lives, even in the highest and greatest distresses, namely in the hour of death and in our last moments. I certainly could not have used Peter's saying as a consolation for the last hour of death. There you can see what kind of man D. Martinus was, and how diligently he moved the apostle's word.
14. Item, so also the dear father has these thoughts about the saying: "Our dear faithful God, who has placed me in the high office of preaching, will certainly take care of me and keep my soul well; I will only confidently and cheerfully entrust my spirit into his hands, for the Lord will well know where my soul should remain, who has so loved it and cared for it that he gave his life, even his own soul, to redeem my soul; he is the noblest and best shepherd and bishop of all souls who believe in him, blessed forever. So he does not begin to learn from me how to care for the souls of believers in Christ; I know I will not be the first one on whom God will learn how to preserve and keep the souls of believers in Christ. St. Lawrence commanded his soul to Christ on a red-hot grate and said: Christ has taken care of it, he will preserve it. Similarly, St. Stephen, Apost. 7, 58. commanded his soul to Christ in the midst of the stones, saying: Lord Jesus, receive my spirit; and it is delivered from him and preserved to eternal life; and other martyrs more, so that I am not the first to command myself to Christ and to have my soul preserved. I would not willingly (he has often said) that my soul should be in my hand; for if it were in my hand, the devil would have snatched it away long ago, even in a moment, as a vulture snatches a young fowl or a bird; but out of the hand of Christ, to whom I have committed my soul, neither the devil nor anyone will snatch it; for Christ says John 10:27, 28: 'The sheep that hear my voice, and follow me, no man shall pluck them out of my Father's hand, or out of mine/ "
(15) The dear father also wrote the words of St. Ambrose in his little psalter, saying to his brothers: "I do not hope that I have lived with you in such a way that I would be afraid to live longer among you, for we have a good and faithful Lord. Neither do I know of any friend who would have cared for me more than he.
Lord, therefore I am not afraid to die. With this saying of St. Ambrose, he, dear D. Luther, wanted to indicate that he was not afraid to live here longer; for he had lived here in the world in such a way that he should not be ashamed of his life and life. So he is not at all afraid to die, if it were God's will; for he knows that the shelter in heaven has been purchased and appointed for him through Christ.
16 Furthermore, he also wrote in his psalter the word of a very spiritual bishop, who might well be like Ambrosio, to whom the wickedness of the world was very grievous, and he could not suffer it etc. Christ answered him in the last hour of his death, saying: "Thou weepest and wailest: hath the world done so well unto thee, that thou wilt not suffer it? You do not want to suffer the wickedness of the world; and yet you do not want to depart from the world." Doctor Luther will not have written this saying in vain. Oh how much tribulation and cross he has had from his enemies, yes it has hurt him from the heart that the world lives so ungodly in avarice, usury, contempt and ingratitude of the word, drowned in envy, hatred and satanic poison of the papists; item, that there have also been so many false brothers who have fallen away from the pure doctrine; therefore he wanted to testify herewith that he would gladly die and lie down in the grave.
17. item, he loved the saying: "Why are you afraid to be with Christ, who proved and showed you the highest faithfulness, that is, he gave his soul for you for a redemption and died for you; do you think the devil or the world will do for you what Christ did? How does the world prove such faithfulness? It does not, what do you want to be here? It has not given its body and soul for you, but God's Son, Jesus Christ. So now you cannot come to any place where you are better than with Christ the Lord, the Son of God, who suffered and died for you etc." O what a beautiful and excellent saying this is, well worth remembering!
18 This saying was also written in his prayer booklet. Matth. 19,17. It is written: "If you want to enter into life, keep the commandment of God", that is: "die". For it is decreed that all men shall and must die; therefore if thou wilt keep this saying, and enter into life, die, and thou shalt have kept the commandment of God, and shalt live; for this life is a life of sin and punishment, cast upon sin; so we cease not from sinning until we die. Now whoever is Christian and
Nachlese, No. XXXI.
W. XXI, 372*-375*.
has died well, he is freed from sin and may no longer fear punishment, but is free and free from all the sorrow, grief and misery of this fleeting life. So now the sentence is also well interpreted and well spoken. Who would have interpreted the saying so masterfully that to keep the commandments of God means to die?
(19) Therefore, from these and other many comforting sayings that he wrote, it is well to be noted how a high, excellent and spiritual man the dear father D. Martinus was, who prepared and prepared himself for death for a whole year and longer, as if he had indicated with it: I want to leave, I want to keep the commandments of God, I want to go from this life and evil world to a better and different life and world. etc. That is why he said the evening before, on Wednesday 1) (before he passed away): "When I have tolerated my dear countrymen, the Counts of Mansfeld, here in Eisleben, then I will go home and lie down in my coffin, and give my body to the worms to eat. These words indicate that he dealt with death and the hour of death, and that he did not shy away from parting with this life. These sayings all give enough to understand how rich, high, great God's spirit the man had, and was even a noble man, the like of which the world has not had in a long time. This I have briefly said about the first piece, about the person of D. Martini. Now we will deal with the other piece as well.
The other part of this sermon is about the resurrection of the dead, because we will see our dear father, the venerable Lord D. Martinum Lutherum, who has now departed from us from the world, again on the last day. For St. Paul clearly tells the Thessalonians that Christ will lead with him those who have fallen asleep in him. A Christian takes comfort in words. He who does not take comfort in words, let him not think that he is a Christian; for this is such a rich comforting text, which cannot be paid for with gold. A Christian holds on to this, sets his comfort on the words of Paul, and firmly believes that he will rise again on the last day with all Christians. A godless man, an Epicurean sow, does not put his comfort on the words of Paul, but on money and goods, on his usury, avarice etc., because he neither knows nor believes that he will rise again at the last day, and those who lived before with and after him will see again etc. Paul
1) That is, February 17.
but says: "The HErr will come with a field cry" etc. The Lord is great, so also his triumph and glory must be great. But an Epicurean (as now said) asks nothing of the words, nor does he take them up. But to a Christian heart they are pearls and precious jewels. So Paul also considers these words a special and high secret, that here he tells the Christians (since the world knows nothing about it) about the resurrection of the dead, and says:
So now comfort yourselves with these words among yourselves.
21. as if to say, Behold, I will reveal to you a heavenly mystery, namely, that the world and all men whom you see here, young and old, rich and poor, will have to go down to the earth, that is, die and be buried, both Christians and unbelievers, and finally rise again at the last day with their bodies, flesh and blood (regardless of the fact that they are eaten by worms in the earth, rotting and decaying) in great glory, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, v. 42, 43. am 15, v. 42. 43. which also testifies, "It is sown corruptible, and shall rise incorruptible; it is sown in dishonor, and shall rise in glory."
22 Therefore, even if a good friend dies, we should have the comfort that we will see him again at the last day. Thus Paul consoles himself that even if he is strangled and killed by the bloodthirsty tyrant Nerone in Rome, he will rise again at the last day together with all men. Item, so also all children who have been born and are yet to be born (for this life means to be born, to live and to die) will rise with their bodies. Then a happy and blessed day will come, yes, "the day of redemption," as Christ calls it in the Gospel of Luke 21:28, after the vicissitudes of life and death, the happy day will come, and on that day one will no longer be free, nor let oneself be free, nor beget children; then one will no longer be lame, blind and sick, item, no longer die, mortality will cease, and immortal eternal life will begin. So now Saint Paul continues:
The Lord will come down from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first, then we who are alive and remain etc.
Nachlese, No. XXXI.
W. XXI, 375*-378*.
This is a beautiful golden text and comfort for Christians, which we should keep all our lives, and comfort ourselves with it, of which St. Paul says here, namely, that the Lord will come with a shout, and that we will rise again and be with the Lord forever, of which the world knows nothing. It neither comforts nor rejoices in this text, but only in its thalers, money and goods, and now wants to say this much to St. Paul: Dear Christians, even if you lose me, who am your bishop, preacher, pastor and shepherd in Christ, nevertheless I will rise again, and you, as my parishioners, will certainly see me again in this world, just as you will see me in eternity.
24. Since he now says, "Christ will come with a shout." The shout will be great, with the trumpet of God's archangel. Even those who are dead will awake, and first of all those who have fallen asleep in Christ in the right, pure faith will rise from the dead before and after, and after that, together with those who are still alive, they will be drawn to meet Christ in the air, as Christ also says John 5:28, 29: "Truly, I say to you, this is what will happen. 5:28, 29: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment." At the same time, our dear father D. Martin Luther, of Christian memory, will also rise from the dead with the body, face, hands, and feet that he had, and as we have seen [him] here, with the blessed mouth, since he has now preached God's word purely to the German land for 29 whole years, but with a brightly clarified body, which will shine like the sun, of which Christ says Matth. 13, 43. and Daniel the prophet in chapter 12, v. 3: "The teachers shall shine like the brightness of heaven, and they that teach righteousness like the stars for ever and ever." Now because O. Martinus has been a great teacher, and has shown them much to righteousness, he will also have a beautiful bright shine before others, as we will see, if God wills it.
Job, in the 19th chapter, v. 25, 26, says of the resurrection: "I know that my Redeemer lives, and he will raise me from the earth, and afterward I shall be clothed with this skin of mine, and in my flesh I shall see God. Knowing this is a great comfort for Christians, that they will be resurrected with their bodies and see God in their flesh. Job speaks completely and
even the same as Paul says here. In the same resurrection on the last day we shall see the high and dear man whom we have now lost, D. Luther; indeed, not only will we see him, but he will also speak kindly again to us, whom he knew here in the world, to whom he preached, whom he converted through the Word of God, not only to us, but to the whole heavenly host of dear patriarchs and prophets, about the hard battles and disputes against the kingdom of the troublesome devil, which he had much of here in the world, about the great and high tentationibus, which he suffered and endured from the devil during the 29 years. For Martin Luther has had many hard battles with the devil, especially in great affairs, as in Carolstadt; item, over the great important affairs at Augsburg on the Imperial Diet; item, over the great cause of the Sacrament, the Anabaptists, Antinomians, and others etc. That also D. Martinus himself has often said: "What I have suffered and endured for the sake of the teaching of the dear Gospel, which God has now revealed to the world, no man shall know of me here in this world, but on that day it will be revealed. Now on the last day he will tell us, and we will hear, what he did not want to tell or reveal to any man here in this world, about the great victories of the Son of God, which he accomplished through him, against sin, devils, papists, false brothers etc. He will tell us all this together with what glorious revelation he had when he began to preach the Gospel, so that we will marvel at it, and praise God for such victories as he received, as also the 84th Psalm, v. 8, says: "They receive one victory after another." But no satanic monk, or other stiff-necked pope, knows a word about it; and even if they read it in the Scriptures, they do not believe it.
26 And now the resurrection of the dead shall come quickly. Those who have fallen asleep in Christ first, and then those who are still alive, will be twitched and taken up to meet the Lord in the clouds, and so will always be with the Lord. Would to God that such a day of the Lord would come soon, and that we would be twitched and taken to meet the Lord before we sit down at the table, and yet deliver us from the sorrow and misery that we must suffer here in this evil world, and made us free from the great unfaithfulness of the world, item, the insatiable usury, avarice, envy, backbiting, ostentation, arrogance and other vices, item, also from the abominable blasphemy and reviling, persecution, murder and bloodshed, idolatry, and the evil of the world.
Nachlese, No. XXXI.
W. XXI, 378*-382*.
The end of the desperate godless papists, priests, monks, nuns, etc., they do it too much and too roughly.
We should always pray for such a blessed day. Oh, how blessed, comforting and joyful the next day will be, when everyone will know each other better than here in this miserable life, the wife the husband, the husband the wife, the children the parents, the preachers their listeners, and so they will talk to each other without interruption, be with each other, praise and glorify God with each other in the great General Synod, in the eternal church, together with the dear angels, forever and ever.
(28) Now this (says St. Paul) you Thessalonians will hardly and weakly believe; for it is a high article of faith that we who are rotten and burned etc. will rise again, know one another, talk with one another, and praise God forever. Reason is annoyed and offended by this article, for it cannot comprehend how the body, which the worms eat, item, is turned to powder and ashes by fire, should rise again and become alive. Now when one preaches about the article of the resurrection of the dead, the world laughs at it and thinks it is just a fool's hoax, as we see in Acts 17:18. 17:18 When Paul preached in Athens about the article of the resurrection of the dead, some began to say, "What does the fool want to say?" Item, when Paul preached before the king Agrippa about the resurrection of the dead, Festus said with a loud voice: "Paule, you are raving, the great art makes you raving", Apost. 26, 24.
29) See what the world thinks of the article; it is nothing; the article's preachers are called fools and foolish people; just as the Pope of Rome, the bishops and cardinals also call us Germans fools and foolish people, because we preach, believe and think that we will rise with our bodies on the last day and see God. etc.
(30) The mystery of the resurrection of the dead has been revealed to us by our dear faithful God through His holy divine Word and Gospel, which mystery the world laughs at, but the true church and poor Christianity have eternal living consolation in it. A Christian should remember this revealed mystery every morning when he gets up, and say to himself: "Well, I know that a day will come when God will raise again all those who have fallen asleep in Christ, and that all our bodies will rise again who have done good and believed in Christ, to eternal, imperishable life. etc.
So a Christian should always remember and speak to himself of the same day and future of Christ, so he would be more patient in all kinds of sufferings, crosses and temptations.
The obdurate, blind, wretched papists do not have a single thought about it, yes, they blaspheme, persecute the holy gospel, which reveals to us the great mystery of the resurrection of the dead and shows that our soul's salvation depends on it (for he who does not believe the article of the resurrection of the dead hears preaching in vain, believes in vain, remains in sin, and is lost, as Paul says, 1 Cor. 15:17). With such people, who blaspheme, do not want to accept, hear or believe the gospel, one should neither send nor have anything to do with them, one should flee and avoid them, but the devil himself; for a hardened, hardened papist is the devil himself; they have no faith, and believe in the window and out the door again.
32 Therefore St. Paul will say to the Thessalonians in these words, "I have taught you the mystery of the resurrection of the dead at the last day; but I, Paul, who have diligently shewed you these things in the Word and Spirit of God, will not remain here forever to be your preacher. Nero will be able to do a trick and have me killed, so that I will have to stop preaching. Even though the world will kill me out of great wrath, I will rise again on the last day with all of you, and you with me. This is what the Thessalonians consoled and rejoiced with St. Paul. Our dear father Doctor Martin Luther, German prophet and preacher, consoled and rejoiced over this, and had the same thoughts as Paul, that even though he would die and be buried, and be carried away by us, as his dear parishioners and listeners, into another and better life, he would nevertheless rise again on the last day, and see us all in eternal joy forever. We should also take comfort and rejoice that we will see and hear our dear father and preacher again in the eternal life to come. God help us all through Christ, amen. That is enough said from the other piece this time.
Thirdly, we should note in this sermon that the death of the high prophet D. Martini will certainly have something great behind it. For before two years have passed, we shall know it, and before other papists, canons, priests, monks and nuns, who, whether they are aware of the death and passing away of D. Martin, or not, will know it.
Nachlese, No. XXXI.
W. XXI, 382*--385°
tini Lutheri, he will leave great power behind him, they will wish after some years that D. Luther was still alive, they would like to obey him now, and if they could, they would dig him out of the earth again, but it will take too long. If they had followed his warning and faithful advice in his time, during his life, it would have been useful and good for them in body and soul.
34 We read in the holy scriptures and chronicles, that ever and anon, when the times were evil, swift, dangerous, and worst, the highest and greatest prophets and men of God lived, as, before the flood of sin Noah, before the burning and destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah Lot; after that Elias, Elisaeus etc. But soon after the death of every high prophet and great man, a great and terrible punishment always followed. Thus we read in the book of Judges that when Gideon died, the Jews became godless, as it is written in the book of Judges, chapter 8, v. 33: when Gideon died, the children of Israel turned back, whored after Baalim, and made Baal their god, and set up idolatrous Baalite worship services; so God's punishment and ruth soon followed. Thus, after the death of the man D. Martini, a terrible punishment will certainly follow over Germany, where it does not improve; and that especially over the godless, stubborn, desperate papists, monks, priests and nuns before, without any doubt.
The Historia of St. Augustine indicates that he was 70 years old, even close to ten years older, than D. Mart. Luther. He had been in his preaching ministry for forty years, so that he had also preached ten years longer than D. Luther. Since he was close to death and was to die, he saw that his fatherland Africa would suffer hardship and would go badly, which made him lament very much; as we now want to see that the German country will go badly after such a bright light. And even though St. Augustine worried that his fatherland would lose the Gospel after his death, God still sent it so that two hundred years later the pure Word of God was still preached in Africa; but this was done and obtained through prayer. Since we are now also concerned that we might lose the Word, let us also begin to live repentantly, and to pray earnestly that God would preserve His Word even longer after the death of D. Mart. Luther, as he did in the time of St. Augustine. May the merciful God grant this through Christ our Lord, Amen.
36 O, how often has the dear father, Doctor Martin Luther, so earnestly exhorted Germany to repentance, and has grieved them, as in the house postilion on the gospel of the destruction of Jerusalem, Luc. 19. item, in the 110. Psalm; in the book to the clergy at Augsburg; item, in the exhortation to his dear Germans, where they will not amend themselves and renounce idolatry, and avoid idolatrous people (as he then also preached here in Halle, faithfully and earnestly warned), one should avoid the godless papist monks, nuns and their like, nuns and their like, and flee, have nothing to do with them, or God will visit them, punish them, and take the word away again completely, and again send terrible errors, as before. Now one should take such a warning of the good man and prophet to heart, and put away idolatry, and sweep out the old leaven, and not make oneself a party to the papists' idolatry and sin, so that one does not lose the word again. But the papists should be especiallyware of others, as such urges will come home to them if they do not mend their ways. John Hus prophesied before he was burned that a swan would come after him, over a hundred years, which they would have to have and yet not fry. Now this man was our dear father D. Martin Luther, who preached the truth to the pope, bishops, cardinals, priests, monks etc. and to all the world, neither feared nor shied away from anyone, whom they did not like to roast or kill, as they often had in mind and would have liked to do. But they missed it, he died blessedly in his dear fatherland at Eisleben. Just as John Hus prophesied before his death (as we have heard) and the prophecy came true, so too did D. Martin Luther often said when talking about the papists and monks: Well, be satisfied, after my death ask where the monks and papists are; they will all die and perish, as the chaff is scattered by the wind, because they do not want to be instructed from God's word, and do not want to depart from their error, but remain badly in error, idolatry and godlessness; no punishment, teaching, admonition or pleading helps them, as David said in the 36th Psalm, v. 4. Psalm, v. 4, also complains, saying: "They also do not let themselves be instructed to do good. This is what the papists do, and that is why it will happen to them, as he further says in the 37th Psalm, v. 35: "I have seen an ungodly man who was defiant, and he was
and grew like a laurel tree; when one passed by, behold, he was gone; I asked for him, but he was nowhere to be found. So the papists are also defiant: when they have a little air, they are proud, pose as if they wanted to eat us, and now especially, after dear Luther's death, they are very happy. It would be better for them if they would let themselves be instructed and repent, then they would be helped and saved in body and soul. But if they do not, God's eternal judgment and punishment will come upon them, namely, hellish fire and damnation. For whoever does not repent must perish and die, as Christ Himself says in the Gospel, and if they think they stand firm, they are gone like the wicked.
37. the dear father, D. Martinus Luther, himself has made him an epitaph and prophecy of the papacy, which thus reads: Pestis eram vivens, moriens ero mors tua, Papa.
[In life I was your plague, in death I will be your death, O Pabst].
The papists may well see that they repent of having blasphemed, desecrated, persecuted, condemned the gospel as a doctrine of the devil and as heresy for 29 whole years, and of having chased away, murdered, drowned and hanged the Christians for this reason, that they now begin to believe and accept the gospel and to promote this. If Luther has not been a plague to them during his life, pushing and frightening them much with writing and preaching, then he will certainly be a death and final eradication of all monasticism and other idolatry and abominations after death. May God help them to follow and convert, and to believe and accept the Word of God with us, and finally to be saved, amen.