Luther recommends an officemate sent there to him.
Handwritten in Aurifaber, Vol. III, p. 281. Printed in Schütze, Vol. III, p. I20and in De Wette, Vol. V, p. 230.
To Johann Spangenberg, the servant of Christ in Nordhausen.
Grace and peace in Christ! Instead of Doctor Oethen 1), D. Jonas sends this M. Nicolaus as a servant of the church, my dear Spangenberg, and this same D. Jonas has asked me to recommend him to you by my testimony. Since I believed that this would not be necessary, I will do it very briefly, since I am sure that you will do more than we desire, in accordance with your own favor, which you cherish toward the least members of Christ, in accordance with Christian brotherly love. Only may you cause your northern houses (Aquilonensibus == those living in the north) to hold their teachers, who preside over the word, in double honor, as St. Paul teaches, otherwise it will happen in a short time that they will have no people whom they could hold in half honor, if they then wanted to hold them in triple or even tenfold honor, for there is a shortage of workers in the harvest of the Lord. Therefore, those who have may hold on to this, so that they may not later have what they would like to hold on to, for this M. Nicolaus is sent against my will, since I wanted to use his work elsewhere; he is a very good man and at the same time learned. The Lord be with you, and pray for me. Sunday after Catharine [Nov. 30] 1539. Yours, Martin Luther.
I) D. Jakob Otto.
Letters from the year 1539. No. 2608 to 2611.
No. 2608.