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TWO 
 
 FUNERAL SERMONS 
 
 ON THE DEATH OF 
 
 DR. MARTIN LUTHER, 
 
 Delivered at Elsleben, February 19th and 20th, 1546, 
 
 DR. JUSTUS JONAS, 
 
 PASTOR MICHAEL CELIUS. 
 
 TRANSLATED BV 
 
 REV. E. GREENWALD, D. D., 
 
 PASTOR EVAN. LUTHERAN CHURCH OF THE HOLY TRINITY, LANCASTER, PA. 
 
 LANCASTER, PA. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY THE JUNIOR MISSIONARY SOCIETY 
 
 OF THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY TRINITY. 
 
 1883. 
 
53930B 
 
 The New Eka Book Print, 
 Ni3. 3 South Queen Street, 
 
 Lancaster, pa. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 A GENTLEMAN, a resident of Lancaster, of fine antiquarian 
 tastes, who lias accumulated a large library of valuable books, 
 dating far back in the history of the art of printing, kindly presented 
 to the Library of the Evan. Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity, 
 for the use of its pastors forever, among other books, a small volume 
 containing the two funeral sermons preached by Dr. Jonas and Pas- 
 tor Celius, at Eisleben, before the body of Luther was removed to 
 Wittenberg for burial. The young people of the Junior Missionary 
 Society of the Church, being made aware of the fact, and desirous of 
 properly commemorating the four hundreth anniversary of Luther, 
 conceived the idea of publishing an English translation of these ser- 
 mons. In accordance with their wishes the translation was under- 
 taken, and the book is herewith presented to the Church, as a suitable 
 contribution to the literature appropriate to this year of its history. 
 
 Dr. Jonas was a Professor at Wittenberg, an intimate friend of 
 Luther, and accompanied him to the Diet of Worms, was at the Con- 
 ference at Marburg, and at the Diet of Augsburg. He also went with 
 Luther to Eisleben, and was present at his death. He assisted Luther 
 in the translation of the Bible, and was eminent for his learning. 
 
 M. Michael Celius was pastor of the church at Mansfeld, was 
 very attentive to his beloved guest, and waited on him in his last hours. 
 His sermon is a noble tribute to a great man. 
 
 Some of the expressions in these sermons may sound harsh to our 
 ears, but these men were in earnest, and did not hesitate in the use of 
 terms to express their true sentiments. We must also consider that 
 they espoused the reformation at the hazard of their lives. Impris- 
 onment arid death stared them in the face, and they risked their all 
 
iv. PREFACE. 
 
 for their principles. Romanism was savage and blood-thirsty, and 
 Luther, and the adherents of the Reformation, would have been cru- 
 elly murdered, if. their protectors, the Electors of Saxony, had not 
 defended them from the malice of the papists. It is, perhaps, diffi- 
 cult for us to fully conceive the intense bitterness of the hate with 
 which Luther and the Reformation were pursued by their enemies. 
 These sermons describe their character in terms not stronger than 
 their character warranted. 
 
 These sermons, preached in the presence of the corpse of Luther, 
 and before large congregations of his deeply affected friends, furnish 
 very interesting and instructive reading. 
 
 E. G. 
 
 l.jVNCASTER, Pa., April i6, 1883. 
 
THE FIRST SERMON, 
 
 By Dr. Justus Jonas, on the death of Dr. Martin Luther, 
 delivered at elsleben, february i9, 1546, and 
 
 REPE.\TED AFTERWARDS AT HaLLE.* 
 
 I. Thess. 4: 13—18. But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concern- 
 ing them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no 
 hope. For if we 'believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also 
 which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For tliis we say unto you by 
 the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of 
 the Lord, shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself 
 shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and 
 with the trump of God ; and the dead in Christ shall rise first : then we which 
 are alive and remain shall be caught up with them in the clouds, to meet the 
 Lord in the air : and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort 
 one another with these words. 
 
 Dearly Beloved: 
 
 We have Christian reasons for delivering this ser- 
 mon on the death of our dear father Dr. Martin Luther, 
 who with so great fidelity and zeal labored for the com- 
 fort and welfare of the whole of Christendom, and par- 
 ticularly of all the churches of the entire German nation. 
 You, here at Halle, were especially beloved by him, and 
 your welfare lay near his heart. Through him a large 
 part of the world has been converted from error to 
 truth. Seven weeks ago, to-day, the dear man of God 
 peacefully fell asleep in Christ, at Eisleben, his native 
 place, shortly before three o'clock in the morning. The 
 
 * Taken down in short hand at the time of delivery. 
 
6 SERMON BY 
 
 next day I preached a sermon in St. Andrew's church 
 at Eisleben, with tears that could not be restrained, the 
 corpse having been placed in the centre of the church 
 before me. It was preached, as is the present discourse, 
 in order to remind devout Christian souls what a treas- 
 ure they possessed for a time, in the life, and have now 
 lost, in the death, of this dear eminent man. I then 
 divided the sermon into three parts, namely: 
 
 First : Of the person of Dr. Martin Luther, his great 
 gifts, and his profound understanding of spiritual things. 
 Particularly how he had, for more than a year past, made 
 preparation for his peaceful death. 
 
 Second : Of the resurrection of the dead, and that we 
 will certainly again see and hear, at the Judgment Day, 
 in eternal joy and felicity, the man. Dr. Martin Luther, 
 who for more than twenty-nine years wrote and con- 
 tended for us against the Kingdom of the devil, the 
 diabolical falsehoods of the pope, and the corruptions 
 of the monks. 
 
 Third : Of the assurance that the death of Dr. Martin 
 Luther, like that of all the holy prophets, will have special 
 power, and be folloTiwd by blessed effects, in the conflict 
 with the godless, hardened, and benighted papists. 
 
 First, the knowledge of the person and splendid gifts 
 of Dr. Martin Luther, of blessed memory, and how 
 gently and well he prepared himself for death, affords 
 great consolation to all God-fearing men. I heartily 
 wish, because it is worth wishing, that you all who are 
 
DR. 70NAS. 7 
 
 present, here in this church, had just come from the fresh 
 perusal of the Book of Genesis, as so ably and well 
 expounded by our dear father. Dr. Martin Luther, and 
 also that you had just read, as many no doubt have, 
 and retained freshly in remembrance, his exposition of 
 the 14th, 15th, 1 6th and 17th chapters of St. John's 
 Gospel. Only then would you rightly comprehend 
 what a great man, and rich treasure, you have lost in 
 the death of Dr. Martin Luther. No Doctors of Paris, 
 Lyons, or other distinguished Universities, are capable 
 of preparing an exposition equal to Luther's German 
 explanation. of the Epistle to the Galatians, the Psalms, 
 the Proverbs of Solomon, or the Book of Ecclesiastes. 
 Indeed, all the papists melted together could not do it. 
 These, and other books of his, show how great a man 
 Dr. Luther was, how richly he was endowed, and how 
 diligently and faithfully he labored with the Word of 
 God. From this, too, we learn how great a man we 
 have lost. 
 
 Of Luther, as an individual, we have much to say, but 
 it is impossible for me to say all that might be said. 
 ,We will therefore pass over the acute genius, and the 
 admirable, quick understanding, which our dear father. 
 Dr. Martin Luther, of blessed. Christian memory, pos- 
 sessed even from his youth; in the i8th and 20th year 
 of his age. I have heard many persons, who have had 
 much intercourse with him from his youth, testify that 
 they never knew a more highly gifted person. Among 
 
8 SERMON BY 
 
 them are Dr. Lang and Dr. Staupitz of Erford. They 
 knew him well, as they had daily intercourse with him 
 for a long time. The same may be said of Dr. Weller- 
 stadt, who was Rector of the University of Wittenberg 
 when it was founded, and who testified of Luther as 
 follows: "Take care of the young monk, M. Martin 
 Luther; he has an excellent acute mind, the like of 
 which I have never before in my life met with ; he will 
 certainly becorne an eminent man." So, too, it has come 
 to pass. 
 
 Dr. Martin Luther also possessed many other eminent 
 gifts. He was an extremely powerful orator. Particu- 
 larly, he was a most able interpreter of the entire Bible. 
 Even the officials of the court have, in part, learned 
 from him to speak and write pure German. For he has 
 restored the German language, so that the people again 
 read and write the German language correctly, as many 
 in the higher ranks of society are compelled to acknowl- 
 edge and testify. How eloquent a man, and eminent a 
 writer. Dr. Martin Luther was, we often learn from little 
 things, as from his letters. However, his numerous 
 books and other writings sufficiently prove it. The 
 master is known by his work. Of his extraordinary 
 natural talents I will say nothing, only I will refer all 
 God-fearing and devout Christians to his books, postils, 
 .and commentaries for proof They will learn from 
 them what an eminent orator, preacher, and bishop 
 they have had in him. Would to God Germany had 
 
DR. JONAS. 9 
 
 many such men and bishops, for she needs them much. 
 
 Dr. Martin Luther also possessed, in large measure, 
 the grace of God, the illumination of the Holy Ghost, 
 and the true knowledge of God and Christ. These 
 gracious gifts were not permitted to decline in him, but 
 he increased them daily, by the diligent use of the holy 
 divine Scriptures, their careful study, and the devout 
 reading of them for forty years. He was well acquaint- 
 ed with the entire Bible, which he read through so many 
 times that the whole was clear to his mind. This habit 
 the good, dear man, pursued steadily from his 24th until 
 his 63 d year, and until he died. 
 
 I must here recall two expressions of his which reveal 
 his inmost heart. Our Lord says : " Out of the abund- 
 ance of the heart the mouth speaketh." The first 
 expression is this: "I heartily wish that I understood 
 something of the first Article of the Christian Creed 
 which says: T believe in God the Father, Almighty 
 Maker of heaven and earth.' But I will willingly re- 
 main an A B C learner in this article, and I hold that 
 few people, even the eminent, except Adam, Noah, 
 Abraham, David, have understood it. But Isaiah, Jer- 
 emiah, and other Patriarchs and Prophets have under- 
 stood something of it, but all these have studied thereat 
 until they have acknowledged themselves to be as yet 
 only learners." 
 
 The other expression is this : " I would that the second 
 Article, which treats of Redemption, (that God sent 
 
lo SERMON BY 
 
 His Son into the world to redeem the whole human 
 race,) was regarded as the highest Theology, the same 
 as St. Paul and all the Apostles regarded it." He saw 
 and understood well what a sublime and excellent article 
 of faith that is, which declares that God sent His Son 
 into the world to redeem it, and that so long as a man 
 lives he will have enough to do, to study and learn about 
 it, and yet not exhaust the subject. Many such famous 
 Theological schools as Paris, Cologne, and others, have, 
 however, given the least attention to it, and have even 
 taught idle human opinions in opposition to it. Of this 
 more hereafter. 
 
 We will now speak about the manner in which Dr. 
 Martin Luther, a whole year before his end, made prep- 
 aration so as to be ready for death. As he attained his 
 sixty-third year, he spoke often such precious words as 
 may well be compared to the preaching of Noah. He 
 also lived in very evil times, and said with pain at heart, 
 "Oh, the world loves lies, as those of the pope, the 
 monks, and other human fables, and is so set against 
 the clear light of the Gospel, that by many persons, not 
 mere common sins are practiced, but such great wick- 
 edness as blasphemy against God, misuse of God's name, 
 scoffing at sacred things, and the known persistence in 
 gross vices. No one, any longer, is willing to be a poor 
 sinner, and none will humble himself before God. 
 Chastisement is sure to follow." 
 
 It is an evidence of special grace and knowledge of 
 
DR. JONAS. II 
 
 God on the part of Luther, that he made ready for his 
 departure an entire year before it took place. He 
 wrote in his Psalter and Pocket Prayer Book, which he 
 always carried with him, more than twenty consolatory 
 passages, as much as to say: "I will, with the help of 
 God, lay hold of one of these passages in my last hour, 
 and be armed against the assaults of the devil, and all 
 the gates of hell." And the passages written in his 
 Pocket Prayer Book show that he was not a novice, but 
 a master in spiritual conflicts. 
 
 The first passage which he wrote down for his spir- 
 itual comfort, is i. Peter 5:7, " Casting all your care upon 
 him, for he careth for you." As if he would say: 
 Gather together all your cares and anxieties into one 
 bundle ; inclose the very greatest of your cares in one 
 grasp, (as the Greek word epirritsantes carries with it 
 the meaning,) and cast them upon him, transfer them to 
 Christ, who cares for you. 
 
 Applying this precious and consoling passage to his 
 own case, the dear, devout man. Dr. Martin, cast all 
 his cares upon the Lord Jesus Christ, in the hour of 
 death, and neither asked nor felt concern, as to where 
 he would be. On the contrary, he let God care for his 
 soul, which he committed into his hands, confident that 
 he would take care of it and save it. All men are anx- 
 ious, when they die, as to what will become of them. 
 But here we learn that God will take care of us during 
 all our lives, and especially in our highest need, namely, 
 
12 i SERMON BY 
 
 in the hour of death, and in the last extremity. It is 
 true, I could not have applied this passage of St. Peter, 
 so consolingly, to the last dying hour, but we see here 
 what an extraordinary man. Dr. Martin was, and how 
 diligently he had searched the apostle's words. 
 
 On this passage, our dear father penned these 
 thoughts : Our dear faithful God, who has put me into 
 the high office of the ministry, will surely care for me, 
 and keep my soul safely. I will, therefore, with confi- 
 dence and joy, commend my spirit into His hands. For 
 the. Lord will know well where my soul shall abide, since 
 He has so loved it, and cared for it, that He gave His 
 life, yea his own soul, in order to redeem my soul. He 
 is the noblest and best Shepherd and Bishop of all the 
 souls that believe in Him ; blessed be he forever ! He 
 has not need to begin in me, to learn how He shall care 
 for believing Christian souls. I know I will not be the 
 first, on whom God will learn how he shall protect and 
 keep the souls that believe in Christ. Saint Lorentz 
 commended his soul to Christ on the glowing gridiron, 
 and said : " Christ has cared for my soul ; He will keep 
 it safely." In the same way St. Stephen committed his 
 soul to Christ, as he was being stoned to death, and said : 
 " Lord Jesus, receive my spirit," Acts 7 : 59, and by Him 
 his soul was taken up, and received to eternal life. And 
 many martyrs more, so that I am not the first who coih- 
 mended himself to Christ, and whose soul was safely 
 kept. I would not be willing, (he often said,) that the 
 
DR. JONAS. 13 
 
 salvation of my soul should be in my own hands. For 
 if it depended on me, my soul would long ago, and in a 
 moment, have been torn to destruction by Satan, as a 
 young chicken, or a little bird, by the talons of a hawk. 
 But neither devil nor man can wrest my soul out of the 
 hands of Christ, to whose keeping I have committed it. 
 Christ says, John 10:27-29, "My sheep hear my voice, 
 and they follow me, and no man is able to pluck them 
 out of my, or my Father's, hand." 
 
 So, too, our dear father wrote in his Psalter the sen- 
 tence of St. Ambrose, in which he said to his brethren: 
 " I trust that I have not lived among you so that I would 
 dread to live among you longer, for we have a good and 
 faithful Lord, and I know no friend who has cared for 
 me more constantly than He. Therefore, also, I am not 
 afraid to die." By this sentence from St. Ambrose our 
 dear Dr. Luther would indicate that he too did not 
 dread to live longer in the world, for he had lived so he 
 had no cause to be ashamed of his life and conversa- 
 tion; and that, at the same time, he had no fears of 
 death, when it should be God's will to call him hence, 
 for he knew that he had in heaven a mansion of rest, 
 which Christ had acquired and appointed for him. 
 
 Further, he wrote in his Psalter the words of a very 
 godly bishop, who might well be compared to St. Am- 
 brose, to whom the wickedness of the world caused 
 much pain, and which he could scarcely endure. To 
 him gave Jesus the answer in his last hours, and said : 
 
14 SERMON RY 
 
 " Thou weepest and mournest ; has the world dealt so 
 well with thee that thou art reluctant to leave it ? Thou 
 canst not endure the wickedness of the world, and yet 
 thou art not willing to part from it." This sentence Dr. 
 Luther did not write without reason. O how much sor- 
 row and suffering did his enemies cause him, and how it 
 distressed his heart, that the world continued to be so 
 godless, sunk in avarice, love of usury, contempt of 
 God's Word, and unthankfulness for it, in envy, hatred, 
 and the Satanic venom of popery. Particularly it dis- 
 tressed him, that so many brethren were false, and fell 
 away from the true doctrine ; and on this account, he 
 would willingly die, and lie down in the grave. 
 
 He also loved the sentence : Why fearest thou to be 
 with Jesus, who has evinced for thee the greatest faith- 
 fulness, in that He made His soul an offering for thy re- 
 demption, and died for thee on the cross? Thinkest 
 thou that the Devil, or the world, would have done for 
 thee, what • Christ has done ? Wherewith does the 
 world show such faithfulness ? This the world does not. 
 Why therefore, dost thou desire to remain here ? The 
 world has not given body and soul for thee, but Jesus 
 Christ, the Son of God, has sacrificed himself for thy 
 salvation. Thou canst, therefore, reach, and abide at, 
 no place where it will be better with thee, than with the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who has suffered 
 and died for thee. No more exquisitively beautiful sen- 
 timent, or one more worthy of record, could he have 
 marked for himself 
 
DR. JONAS. 15 
 
 The following passage also stands written in his 
 Pocket Prayer Book: "Matthew 19:17, 'If thou wilt 
 enter into life, keep the commandments,' i. e. die. For 
 it is appointed unto all men once to die. Therefore, if 
 thou wilt act according to this passage, and enter into 
 life, die, and thou hast kept God's commandment, and 
 wilt live. For the present life is a life of sin, and of the 
 penalty laid upon sin, and we do not cease to sin until 
 we die. He, therefore, that has died happily, and in 
 Christ, is free from sin, and need no longer fear the 
 punishment of sin. On the contrary, he is released and 
 free from all the misery, tribulation, and distresses of this 
 mortal life." In this way he ingeniously explained and 
 applied the passage. Who would have thought to ex- 
 pound, in so masterly a way, this expression, Keep God's 
 commandments, as that it means, to die ? 
 
 From these, and many other consolatory passages 
 which he wrote down, we learn how very thoughtful and 
 devout a man our dear father Dr. Martin was, in that, 
 for more than an entire year before his death, he made 
 special preparation for it, as if he would say: I must 
 hence ; I will keep God's commandments ; I must depart 
 this life and leave this evil world ; I will therefore be 
 ready to enter another life, and a world better than this. 
 In the same spirit he said on Wednesday evening, a few 
 hours only before he peacefully fell asleep, "When I 
 shall have reconciled my dear countrymen, the Counts 
 Mansfeld, here in Eisleben, I will return home, and lay 
 
1 6 SERMON BY 
 
 my body in the grave, to be food for the worms." These 
 words indicate that he had thought much of death, and 
 the hour of his own dying, and that he did not dread 
 his departure from this Hfe. All these passages enable 
 us well to understand what a precious, exalted spirit he 
 was of, and so dear, and full of the spirit of God, that 
 the world for ages had not his equal. 
 
 This will suffice, in brief, for the first part of my dis- 
 course on the person of Dr. Martin. I will now pro- 
 ceed to the second part. 
 
 The second part of this sermon will be On the Res- 
 urrection of the Dead, when at the last day we shall 
 again see our dear father, and reverend Dr. Martin 
 Luther, who has been taken from us by death. St. 
 Paul says plainly in the text, that "those that sleep in 
 Jesus will God bring with him." The Christian comforts 
 himself with these words, and he that is not comforted 
 by them may not presume to think himself a Christian. 
 This text is so rich and consoling as to be more precious 
 than gold. A Christian holds fast to this truth, derives 
 great comfort from ,it, and believes firmly that he, with 
 all other Christians, will rise again at the last day. An 
 ungodly, Epicurean swine finds no comfort in the words 
 of St. Paul. He finds pleasure only in his gold and 
 possessions, his avarice and usury. For he neither 
 knows nor believes that he will rise again at the last 
 day, or that he will again see those who now live with 
 him, or who have lived before him. St. Paul, however. 
 
DR. yONAS. 17 
 
 says: "The Lord himself shall descend from heaven 
 with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with 
 the trump of God." The Lord is great, and great, too, 
 must be His triumph and glory. But an Epicurean does 
 not concern himself with these words, and does not take 
 them to himself To a true Christian heart, however, 
 they are pure pearls, and most precious treasures. St. 
 Paul held this doctrine to be a great and special mys- 
 tery, of which the world knew nothing, which he here 
 uttered to Christians concerning the resurrection of the 
 dead. And he concludes his statement with the words : 
 " Comfort one another with these words." As if he 
 would say, Behold, I will reveal to you a heavenly mys- 
 tery, namely, the world, and all men whom ye see in 
 it, old and young, rich and poor, must descend to the 
 dust. That is, they must die and be buried, as well the 
 Christian as he that is not a Christian. But after this, 
 at the last day, flesh and blood, notwithstanding they 
 had been eaten of worms, and had rotted and decayed 
 In the ground, shall again come forth and rise In great 
 glory, as St. Paul in the 1 5th chapter of First Corinthi- 
 ans has clearly made known to us : " It Is sown In cor- 
 ruption, it Is raised In Incorruption : It Is sown In dis- 
 honor. It Is raised In glory." 
 
 When, therefore, a dear friend dies, we may have the 
 consolation to see him again at the last day. In the same 
 way, St. Paul comforted himself in view of the impris- 
 onment and death that awaited him from the cruel and 
 
1 8 SERMON BY 
 
 blood-thirsty tyrant, Nero, at Rome. Even though he 
 should be tortured and put to death, he, with all men, 
 would rise again at the last day. So, too, all the child- 
 ren that are born, or that are yet to be born, (for this 
 life consists of being born, living and dying,) will, with 
 their bodies, rise again. A joyful, happy day will come, 
 the day of redemption, as Jesus calls it in Luke 21 : 28. 
 After the vicissitudes of life and death a joyful day will 
 come. There will then be no more marrying or giving 
 in marriage, no more birth of children, no more becom- 
 ing lame, blind or sick, no more death, for mortality 
 shall cease, and an immortal, everlasting life shall begin 
 to be. 
 
 St. Paul further says : " And the dead in Christ shall 
 rise first. Then we which are alive and remain, shall be 
 caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the 
 Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." 
 
 This is a beautiful, golden text, and great comfort is in 
 it for Christians, which we may cherish all our life long, 
 and with which we may console ourselves amid all 
 earth's sorrows. The Lord shall descend from heaven 
 with a shout, says St. Paul, we shall arise from the 
 dead, and ever be with the Lord. Of this the world 
 knows nothing, neither rejoices in it, nor comforts itself 
 with it, but finds its pleasure only in its money and goods. 
 St. Paul intends by these words to say : My dear Christ- 
 ians, although you should lose me, who am your bishop, 
 minister and shepherd in Christ, who cares for your 
 
DR. yONAS. 19 
 
 souls, nevertheless, I will rise again, and will certainly 
 see you again as my spiritual children in yonder world, 
 and you will see me, likewise, forever. 
 
 He says: Christ will come with a shout. This shout 
 will be loud, and will be made by the voice of the arch- 
 angel, and the trump of God. It will awake the dead. 
 Then they that have gone to sleep in Jesus, in the true, 
 pure faith, will rise first. Afterwards, they that are alive 
 will be caught up together with them in the clouds. So also 
 Jesus says, John 5 :28-29 : "Verily, verily I say unto you, 
 the hour is coming, when all that are in their 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 to the resurrection of damnation." Together 
 with the first will our dear father, Dr. Martin Luther, 
 of blessed memory, also rise with the same body, face, 
 hands, feet, which he had and as we saw him here, and 
 with the blessed lips, which for twenty-nine whole years 
 preached God's word purely to the people of Germany. 
 But he will come forth with a glorified body, that will 
 shine as the sun, as Christ has said, Matthew 13:43: 
 " Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the 
 Kingdom of their Father ; " and, as Daniel has foretold, 
 12:3: "They that be wise shall shine as the brightness 
 of the firmament, and they that have turned many to 
 righteousness as the stars for ever and ever." As now Dr. 
 Martin was a wise and great teacher who turned many, 
 very many to righteousness, he will also shine as the stars 
 before others, and, so God will, we too will see him. 
 
20 .SERMON BY . 
 
 Job says, Chap. 19 : 25-26: "I know that my Redeem- 
 er liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon 
 the earth, and though after my skin worms destroy this 
 body, yet in my flesh shall I see God." It is a great 
 comfort for Christians to know that they will rise with 
 their bodies from the dead, and in their flesh shall see 
 God. In this passage. Job says in all respects the same 
 things that St. Paul says concerning the resurrection. 
 In this resurrection, at the last day, we will see the great 
 and dear man whom we have now lost. Dr. Luther, and 
 not see him alone, but he will also again kindly converse 
 with us, whom he knew on earth, to whom he preached, 
 whom through God's Word he converted, and not with 
 us alone, but also with the whole heavenly host, with 
 the holy Patriarchs and Prophets, concerning the se- 
 vere conflict and strife which he maintained with the King- 
 dom of Satan, and from which he suffered so much in the 
 world, during the twenty-nine years of violent assaults 
 arrayed against him. Dr. Martin Luther had many 
 fierce contests with the Devil, particularly in the great 
 affair of Carlstadt, in the weighty matters debated in the 
 £)iet of Augsburg, in the great concerns of the Sacra- 
 rjients, of the Anabaptists, of the Antinomians, and 
 others. Dr. Martin himself often said : " What I had to 
 Uear and suffer on account of the doctrine of the dear 
 Gospel of Christ, which God has now revealed anew to 
 the world, there shall no human being learn from me 
 here in this world, but at the great day it will be made 
 
DR. JONAS. 21 
 
 known." At the last day, then, will he tell us, and we 
 will learn what he would not here reveal to any one, 
 of the great victories of the Son of God against sin, the 
 Devil, the papists and false brethren, accomplished by 
 him. All this will he then tell us, as we shall be together, 
 and make known to us the glorious revelations he re- 
 ceived when he began to preach the Gospel, as will fill 
 us with wonder, and lead us to praise God for the victo- 
 ries which he gained, as is said in Psalm 84:7: "They 
 go from strength to strength." (German, "They gain 
 one victory after another.") But of this no Satanic 
 monk or stiff-necked papist knows one word. And 
 even if they read it in the Scriptures, they nevertheless 
 believe it not. 
 
 The resurrection of the dead, will quickly come. 
 They who are asleep in Christ first, and then they who 
 are alive shall be caught up together with them in the 
 clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall they 
 ever be with the Lord. Would to God such day of the 
 Lord would come soon, and that it would happen that 
 we would be caught up to meet the Lord before we sat 
 down to table, and be released from the suffering and 
 distress which we must endure here in this evil world, 
 and an end be made to the faithlessness of the world, 
 the insatiable usury, avarice, envy, slander, pomp, pride, 
 and other vices, together with the dreadful blasphemy 
 and contempt of sacred things, the persecutions, mur- 
 der and blood-shedding, the idolatry of the desperate. 
 
2 2 SERMON BY 
 
 ungodly papists, monks and nuns. These things they 
 practice everywhere, and in the grossest forms. 
 
 For the coming of such a blessed day, we should con- 
 tinually pray. Ah, the last day would be a blessed, joy- 
 ful day, since then each would know the other better 
 than in this wretched life, the wife her husband, the hus- 
 band the wife, the children their parents, the minister his 
 hearers, and would without ceasing speak with each 
 other, be together, adore and praise God together, in the 
 great general assembly and Church in heaven, with the 
 holy angels, for ever and ever. 
 
 This, says St. Paul to the Thessalonians, ye will scarce- 
 ly believe, or only with a feeble faith, for it is a sublime 
 Article of the Christian Creed, that the putrefied bodies, 
 or the bodies consumed by fire, shall rise again, know 
 each other, speak with each other, and forever praise 
 God. At this Article reason stumbles and takes offense, 
 for it cannot understand how the body that the worms 
 devour, or that is reduced by fire to powder and ashes, 
 can again come forth, a living being. When the Article 
 of the Resurrection of the dead is preached, the world 
 laughs at it, and holds it to be the babbling of fools, as 
 we see in Acts 17:18. When St. Paul at Athens 
 preached the doctrine of the Resurrection of the dead, 
 some began to mock, and say : " What will this babbler 
 say?" So, too, when St. Paul spake before King 
 Agrippa of the Resurrection of the dead, Festus ex- 
 claimed with a loud voice, " Paul, thou art beside thyself, 
 much learning doth make thee mad." Acts 26: 24. 
 
DR. JONAS. 23 
 
 We see from this how lightly the world esteems this 
 Article, and calls those who preach it, babblers, beside 
 themselves, and mad people, just as the Pope of Rome, 
 the Bishops and Cardinals call us Germans fools and silly 
 people, because we preach, believe, and surely hold, that 
 we, with our dear ones, will rise again at the last day, 
 and see God. 
 
 The mystery of the resurrection of the dead, our dear 
 Lord has revealed by His holy Word and Gospel, which 
 mystery the world ridicules ; but the true Church and our 
 suffering Christianity have in it its eternal living conso- 
 lation. A Christian should recall every morning, when 
 he arises from slumber, this precious, revealed mystery, 
 and say to himself: " I know that a day will come, in 
 which God will awaken all who are asleep in Christ, and 
 that all our bodies will arise, those that have believed in 
 Christ, and have done good, to eternal life. Thus should 
 a Christian always keep in mind, and meditate upon that 
 blessed day, and the coming again of Christ. It will 
 make him more patient amid the various sufferings, 
 crosses and persecutions he meets with in life. 
 
 The hardened, blind and wretched papists have not 
 one single thought of this. Indeed, they slander and 
 persecute the Holy Gospel, which reveals and makes 
 known to us the great mystery of the Resurrection of 
 the dead, which is material to the salvation of our souls, 
 for whoever does not believe the doctrine concerning 
 the Resurrection of the dead, hears the preaching of 
 
24 SERMON BY 
 
 the Gospel in vain, believes in vain, remains in his sins, 
 and will perish, as St. Paul teaches in I. Corinthians 1 5 : 
 14-18. With such people, who slander the Gospel, who 
 will not accept it, nor hear it, nor believe it, we should 
 have nothing to do, but flee from and avoid them, as 
 the Devil himself. For a hardened, obdurate papist has 
 the very spirit of the devil. They have no faith ; what 
 they do believe comes in at the window and goes out 
 at the door. 
 
 With these words St. Paul wishes to say to the Thes- 
 salonians : I have taught you the mystery of the Resur- 
 rection of the dead, as it will take place at the last day. 
 But I, Paul, who have faithfully made known to you these 
 things from God's Word and by His spirit, will not re- 
 main always here, and continue to be your minister. 
 Nero will know how to prevent it. He will kill me, and 
 I must cease to preach. Well, even if the ^yorld with 
 great wrath shall put me to death, nevertheless at the 
 last day I will rise agajn with you all, and you with me. 
 With this assurance, the Thessalonians, with St. Paul, 
 comforted themselves and rejoiced. This, too, com- 
 forted and gladdened the heart of our dear father. Dr. 
 Martin Luther, the Prophet and Preacher of Germany. 
 The thought was as precious to him, as it was to St. Paul, 
 that although he would die and be buried, and be taken 
 from us, his beloved hearers and spiritual children, into 
 another and better life, nevertheless he would rise again 
 at the last day, and see us forever in heavenly joy. 
 
DR. JONAS. 25 
 
 That we shall again see and hear our dear father and 
 minister in a future, everlasting life, should also give us 
 comfort and awaken joy. Thereto may God help us, 
 through Jesus Christ. Amen. This may suffice, for 
 this time, for the second part. 
 
 Third. We are to consider in this sermon : That 
 the death of the great prophet. Dr. Martin, will cer- 
 tainly be followed by great results. For before two 
 years are past we will find out, and, before others, will 
 the papists, canons, priests, monks and nuns find out, 
 although they rejoice on account of the death and re- 
 moval of Dr. Martin Luther, that he will have left a 
 great power behind him. In a few years they will wish 
 that Dr. Luther yet lived, for then they would willingly 
 obey him, and if they could, they would dig his body out 
 ■ of the earth. But they have delayed too long. Well 
 would it have been for them, in body and soul, if in his 
 lifetime they had heeded his warnings and followed his 
 counsels. 
 
 We read in the Book of Chronicles that, always, when 
 the times were evil, fast, perilous, and at the worst, 
 then the greatest and most eminent prophets and men 
 of God lived. For example, before the Deluge, Noah ; 
 before the burning and destruction of Sodom and Go- 
 morrah, Lot ; afterwards, Elijah, Elisha, &c. But always 
 a great and fearful calamity followed soon after the death 
 of each eminent prophet and holy man of God. So, 
 too, we read in the Book of Judges. When Gideon died 
 
2 6 SERMON BY 
 
 the Jews became godless, as recorded in the eighth chap- 
 ter, V. 33: "The children of Israel turned again, and 
 went a whoring after Baalim, and made Baal-berith their 
 God." They set up idolatrous altars for the worship 
 of Baal. Then quickly followed God's rod and chastise- 
 ment. So, too, will God's terrible punishment assuredly 
 fall upon Germany, after the death of the man of God, 
 Dr. Martin, if it does not amend its ways. ' And particu- 
 larly will His chastisements fall, without doubt, and be- 
 fore others, upon the godless, hardened, desperate pa- 
 pists, monks, priests and nuns. 
 
 The Biography of St. Augustine shows that he lived 
 seventy years, nearly ten years longer than Dr. Martin 
 Luther, and that he was forty years in the ministry, hav- 
 ing preached ten years longer than Dr. Luther. As he 
 was near his end, and about to die, he foresaw that 
 Africa, his fatherland, would suffer great misfortune, and 
 that things would go ill with the Church. He was 
 greatly distressed thereat, as we are that evil should be- 
 fall our German Country, after having enjoyed such clear 
 light of the Gospel. But notwithstanding Augustine so 
 greatly feared that after his death his fatherland would 
 lose the Gospel, God so ordered that, for yet two hun- 
 dred years afterwards, the pure word of God was 
 preached in Africa. This took place in answer to prayer. 
 As we too are, at this time, so greatly concerned, lest 
 we should lose the Word of God; let us also begin 
 to live penitently, and earnestly pray that God would 
 
DR. JONAS. 27 
 
 preserve His Word yet longer among us, after Dr. 
 Martin Luther's death, as He did in the time of St. Au- 
 gustine. May the all-merciful God grant this, through 
 Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 
 
 Oh how often and earnestly did the dear father. Dr. 
 Martin Luther, admonish Germany to repent, and warn 
 them of God's judgments, if they refused; as in his 
 Houspostil on the Gospel of the Destruction of Jerusa- 
 lem: Luke 19. He did the same in his Exposition of 
 the I loth Psalm, also in his Book addressed to the 
 ecclesiastics at Augsburg ; and likewise in his Address 
 to his beloved German Countrymen. He warned them 
 that unless they amended their ways, abandoned their 
 idolatry, shunned idolatrous people, and particularly re- 
 nounced the ways of the ungodly papistical monks and 
 nuns, and others like them, God would visit them with 
 His sore judgments, take His word entirely from them, 
 and suffer them to fall back into their former frightful 
 errors. So he preached here at Halle, and most earn- 
 estly and faithfully uttered his warning voice. These 
 warnings of this dear man and prophet should be laid 
 well to heart; idolatry should be renounced; the old 
 leaven cleaned out ; the papistic idol worship and sin no 
 longer participated in, so that we may not again lose the 
 Word of God, which has been restored to us. Before 
 all should the papists take especial heed, as those to 
 whom these threatenings will come home, unless they 
 amend their ways. 
 
28 SERMON BY 
 
 John Huss predicted, before they burned him, that 
 one hundred years after him a swan would appear, 
 whom they would be compelled to have, and whom 
 they could not roast. This swan was no other than 
 our dear father. Dr. Martin Luther, who has preached 
 and told the Truth, plainly and unvarnished, to pope, 
 bishops, cardinals, priests, monks, and to all the world, 
 being afraid of no one. Him they were unable to roast 
 or to destroy, however often they wished it, and would 
 heartily have done it, but they failed of their purpose. 
 He peacefully went to sleep in God, in his loved native 
 city, Eisleben. As John Huss predicted, before his death, 
 so it came to pass. Dr. Martin Luther often said, when 
 they spoke to him about the papists and the monks : 
 Well, be content ; ask, after my death, where the monks 
 and papists are. They will all be scattered and perished 
 as the chaff is blown away by the wind, because they 
 will not permit themselves to be instructed from God's 
 word, and will not turn from their errors, but remain 
 hardened in their falsehoods, idolatries and ungodly 
 ways. No castigation, instruction, admonition nor en- 
 treaty will avail with them, as David complains in the 
 36th Psalm, and says, v. 4: "He setteth himself in a 
 way that is not good." So truly do the papists "set 
 themselves" in their evil ways. Therefore, it will also 
 happen to them as is recorded in the 37th Psalm, vs. 35, 
 36: "I have seen the wicked in great power, and 
 spreading himself like a green bay tree, yet he passed 
 
DR. JONAS. 29 
 
 away, and lo, he was not : yea, I sought him, but he 
 could not be found." So the papists are defiant, blown 
 up with pride, and threaten to devour us, and particular- 
 ly are they now greatly elated since our dear Luther is 
 dead. Better would it be for them if they would let 
 themselves be advised, and would repent. Then would 
 they be helped and prospered in body and soul. But 
 if they will not, God's eternal judgment and wrath will 
 come upon them, namely, the darrination and fire of hell. 
 For, says our Lord Jesus Christ, in His Gospel : " Except 
 ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." When they 
 think themselves most secure are they suddenly, like the 
 ungodly, swept away. 
 
 Our dear father. Dr. Martin Luther, has himself pre- 
 pared an Epitaph, as well as prophecy, concerning 
 popery, which reads thus : Pestis eram vivens, moriens ero 
 mors tua, Papa. [Living I was thy plague, dying I will 
 be thy death, O ! pope.] 
 
 The papists may well see to it that they repent of 
 having for twenty-nine entire years past, slandered, re- 
 viled, persecuted, condemned as heresy and doctrine of 
 devils, the Gospel of Christ, and on account of it chased 
 away, murdered, drowned and hanged Christians who 
 believed and practiced it. It will be well if they hence- 
 forth begin to believe and accept, and help to further 
 the Gospel ; otherwise, as Luther was to them in life a 
 plague, and, by his writing -and preaching pressed them 
 hard, and alarmed them greatly, so after his death he 
 
30 SERMON BY DR. JONAS. 
 
 will surely be the (death and final extinguishment of their 
 entire mockery, idolatry, and other abominations. God 
 grant that they may follow God's Word, be converted 
 and, with us, believe and accept it and be saved at 
 last. Amen. 
 
THE SECOND SERMON, 
 
 Preached in presence of the Corpse of Dr. Martin Luther 
 
 AT EiSLEBEN, on the 20TH DAY OF FEBRUARY, 1 5 46, 
 
 BY M. Michael Celius. 
 
 We are here assembled to-day, at the call of God, and 
 in accordance with a wholesome ancient usage of the 
 Holy Christian Church, in the presence of the corpse of 
 that reverend man, and learned doctor, Martin Luther, 
 who died in the Lord, and is blessed. We have 
 cause heartily to lament his departure from us, and to 
 seek consolation for our sorrow. We will take as the 
 preface to this sermon, the passage from Isaiah, ch. 57: 
 I, 2: 
 
 "The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to 
 heart, and merciful men are taken away, none consider- 
 ing that the righteous is taken away from the evil to 
 come. He shall enter into peace. They shall rest in 
 their beds, each one walking in his uprightness." 
 
 I have chosen these words as a fit introduction to my 
 sermon, not that I propose to present everything includ- 
 ed in the sense and meaning of the prophet in these 
 verses. He here, and in the context, describes the true 
 and false teachers in the Church, who they are, what is 
 their character, and what their end. He speaks of false 
 
32 SERMON BY 
 
 and unrighteous teachers ; they are watchmen, it is true, 
 because they sit in the regular offices in the Church, as 
 do now the pope and his cardinals, bishops, monks and 
 priests. But they are " blind watchmen." " They are 
 all ignorant," "that cannot understand" the scriptures, 
 nor the mysteries of the holy Gospel. In addition to 
 this " they are all dumb dogs that cannot bark,, sleeping, 
 lying down, loving to slumber." At the same time, 
 " they are greedy dogs which can never have enough ; 
 they all look to their own way, every one for his gain." 
 They live in all manner of voluptuousness, and for a re- 
 ward they will suffer the fires of hell. 
 
 But the genuine and true teachers, of whom our dear 
 master and father in Christ, Dr. Martin Luther, was one, 
 are the righteous; that is, they truly know God in His 
 Word, teach and preach the righteousness of faith, to- 
 gether with good works, as He has commanded. These 
 do not see many good days in the world, which does 
 not rest until they are taken away and destroyed. But 
 the prophet concludes, "they shall enter into peace, and 
 they shall rest in their beds." But not dwelling on this 
 now, we must accept the sad leave-taking of this corpse, 
 and as St. Paul allowed the Thessalonians to sorrow, 
 but not without Christian hope and consolation, I pro^ 
 pose to confine my remarks to the consideration of what 
 a great man and teacher Dr. Martin Luther was, how he 
 died, why he fell asleep in the Lord just at this time, 
 and what, until the day of the Lord, his state and condi- 
 tion will be. 
 
PASTOR CELIUS. 33 
 
 When any are about to describe a man of the world, 
 they usually inquire, Was he of an honorable family? 
 Who were his ancestors? What were their standing? 
 their dignities? their condition ? What virtues and good 
 qualities did he possess ? How did he employ them ? 
 and what did he accomplish in life ? To have, in these 
 respects, a good reputation is a divinely great gift, and 
 for its pri|»er employment and right use we may well 
 thank God. 
 
 Much, in all these respects, can be said of this dear 
 man. Dr. Martin Luther. He, perhaps, derived his lin- 
 eage, name and descent from the Emperor Luther. Or, 
 it may be that, as in the case of so many families in the 
 world, who rise and fall in respectability, just as David's 
 race had fallen in the time of Christ, so that Isaiah com- 
 pared it to an old, dry tree, the family of our dear master 
 and father may also no longer be in high considera- 
 tion. But this city of Eisleben, and the entire county of 
 Mansfeld, know that he was descended from honorable 
 and godly parents, that he was legitimately born here in 
 Eisleben, that he was baptized as a Christian, that when 
 he was six months old his parents removed with him to 
 Mansfeld, where they passed the greater part of their 
 lives, with honor. There both father and mother peace- 
 fully fell asleep in Christ, confessing their faith, and call- 
 ing on the name of the Lord; the evidence of which 
 this dear man of God put into my own hands. To 
 God's grace be all the glory. 
 
34 SERMON BY 
 
 So we could say much in his praise, on account of his 
 many noble virtues. That he loved and practiced the 
 strictest temperance and good morals, no one can say 
 aught in contradiction. But I will leave to others of 
 greater ability to speak and write of these, and other 
 virtues, and for this time I will confine myself to the 
 spiritual office to which God called him, which he filled 
 in the Church, and to the blessing which th^-holy Christ- 
 ian Church enjoyed in him. It will admonish you to 
 love him. 
 
 No one who knows and loves God's Word and truth, 
 will doubt that this man, whose corpse we yet see here 
 before us, filled the office in the Church, which, in their 
 time, Elijah and Jeremiah, John the Baptist, or one of 
 the Apostles, filled. For if these were endowed of 
 God with peculiar divine gifts before him, yet, so far as 
 belonged to the office, he was, in our time, truly a real 
 Elijah or Jeremiah, and before the coming of the great 
 day of the Lord, he was a John the Forerunner, or an 
 Apostle. 
 
 Whosoever will acknowledge the truth, must admit 
 that the Church was in the same state when God awak- 
 ened and called this man, as it was in the time of the 
 prophets Elijah and Jeremiah, and when God sent out 
 John and the Apostles to preach. The Scriptures say, I. 
 Kings, 1 8th chapter, that in the time of the prophet Elijah 
 the entire nation of Israel had fallen from God, and had 
 attached themselves to the idolatrous worship of Baal — 
 
PASTOR CELIUS. 35 
 
 that Elijah lamented that he alone remained a prophet 
 of the Lord in Israel, and that all the rest had fallen 
 away, and served, the one this, and the other another, 
 god. The true God had not more than one prophet ; 
 Baal had four hundred and fifty. And the prophets of 
 the groves that ate at Jezebel's table numbered four 
 hundred. 
 
 So, too, in the time of Jeremiah, God complained of 
 His people, chapter 2, and said, " Ye have made my heri- 
 tage an abomination. The priests said not. Where is the 
 Lord ? and they that handle the law knew me not ; the 
 pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets 
 prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not 
 profit. Wherefore, I will yet plead with you, saith the 
 Lord, and with your children's children will I plead." 
 
 In what condition the Church was in the time of John 
 the Baptist, appears very clearly from the New Testa- 
 ment. Whilst, after the Babylonish captivity idol wor- 
 ship was not set up as before, yet .the people were split 
 up into sects, and there were Essenes, Pharisees and 
 Sadducees, and each considered itself better than the 
 others, each relied upon its own good works, and as the 
 Prophet described them, " worshipped the work of their 
 own hands." On this account, the Prophet Jeremiah la- 
 mented exceedingly, and cried out against them. Elijah, 
 however, put to death in one day all the priests of Baal. 
 John called them serpents and a " generation of vipers." 
 They all attack, with a zealous spirit, all their idolatrous 
 
36 SERMON BY 
 
 ways, overturn their idols, and establish again the true 
 doctrine of repentance and forgiveness of sin, and teach 
 the true way of serving God. 
 
 In the same sad state, my dear friends, has been the 
 Holy Christian Church in the last days, under the papal 
 Antichrist. There the dregs of all the abominable 
 errors, heresies, sects, and idolatries had flowed together 
 in one mass. There was no true knowledge of the Holy 
 Scriptures; no true doctrine to comfort the conscience 
 was preached ; human dogmas were esteemed higher 
 than God's Word ; no one knew how to call upon God, 
 of whom, in our need, we are to expect deliverance ; what 
 we should do or how we should serve Him. Darkness 
 covered the whole earth ; no light shone in the Church 
 in short, as the Prophet Ezekial says, chapter 34: 5-6 
 " My sheep are scattered because there is no shepherd 
 they wandered through all the mountains, and none did 
 search and ask after them." And, also as Isaiah says, 
 chapter 53:6: "Every one turned to his own way." 
 But God's way, which the Scriptures teach, and which is 
 Christ himself, the Son of God, no one goes. And the 
 evil is the greater, since every one, with a word, might 
 be directed to find it. 
 
 As in the time of Elijah, not God, but Baal is wor- 
 shipped. And, as in the time of John the Baptist, when 
 the world was full of sects, and each one wanted to 
 have the preference over the other, so it is now. And 
 even dead saints, and actually wood and stone, and, as 
 
PASTOR CELIUS. 37 
 
 was seen here in Mansfeld, a willow stock which they 
 called Gedut, and the holy wolf, which is said to have 
 been a dead dog, are worshipped, and from them comfort 
 .and help are invoked, as has also taken place in other 
 lands. And the strong pillars of the Antichristian 
 Church, the miserable theologians of Lyons, in their 
 articles, endeavor to establish and maintain these things. 
 
 When we consider the strange and wonderful sects 
 that existed in the time of John, we find them to have 
 been child's play in contrast with the wretched abomina- 
 tions of the monks, nuns, cardinals, bishops, and crowds 
 of ecclesiastics, no one of whom holds with the other ; 
 each sect sets up its own god, its own works, rules and 
 orders by which they desire to be saved. Faith in Jesus 
 Christ is, with them, entirely too mean, and men must 
 have a greater and far superior method of salvation, 
 than that which the dear Son of God has taught us. 
 
 The state of the Church, where the Pope reigns in 
 person, was still more sad, as facts prove, before God 
 raised up for us the dear man, who, in our times, was a 
 true Elijah and John the Forerunnet". For, as Elijah in 
 his time attacked idolatry and overthrew it, so also Dr. 
 Martin Luther attacked the powerful idol, papal indul- 
 gences, and struck it to the ground. And as Elijah de- 
 stroyed the priests of Baal, so this man of God, with the 
 sword of the Divine Word, beat down the mass-saying 
 priests and their darling idol. 
 
 But further, like John the holy Baptist, he taught and 
 
38 SERMON BY 
 
 preached genuine Christian repentance, how, and by 
 what means men can come to the true knowledge of 
 sin, how forgiveness of sins may be obtained, what are 
 the genuine fruits of repentance, how we should worship 
 God and serve Him, what states God ordained in His 
 Church, what duties each in his particular office must 
 perform. In short, by him God opened the Holy Scrip- 
 tures, which were before a shut and sealed book, so that 
 never since the time of the Apostles have they been 
 read with such understanding as now. 
 
 We have now the knowledge of the real difference 
 between the law and the Gospel, what each is, what 
 they work, how we may use them for our salvation, 
 what are good works, how they please God, why we 
 should exercise ourselves in them, what follows them 
 according to God's promise. This knowledge was very 
 precious to the venerable fathers, such as Jerome, Cy- 
 prian, TertuUian and others. But, during the several 
 hundred years of popery, it had so entirely declined 
 that men could have no certain consolation for the con- 
 science in times of temptation or in the hour of death. 
 The monks directed dying persons to the Virgin Mary 
 for consolation. They sang to the people: ""Maria 
 mater gracicE, mater m,iserlcordicB, tu nos ab hoste protege, 
 in hora mortis suscipe." That Is, " O ! Mary, who art the 
 mother of grace and mercy, deliver us from our enemies, 
 and receive us in the hour of death." Or they referred 
 them to other saints, to their orders, and to their good 
 
PASTOR CELIUS. 39 
 
 works. This the true saints never desired. As the 
 troubled conscience had no certain ground of consola- 
 tion, they finally died in despair on account of their sins. 
 
 Now, however, we have a true and certain ground of 
 hope, for we live and die in Jesus Christ, the Son of 
 God, our Lord and Saviour. We sing with Simeon: 
 '^Nunc dimittis servum tuum. Domine in pace!' [In peace 
 and joy I go hence, at the will of God.] With holy 
 Stephen we say: "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." And 
 we know, with St. Paul, that "whether living or dying, 
 we are the Lord's." 
 
 What has taught us the blessed art of peaceful dying, 
 and made known to us the ground of safety, against 
 which all the gates of hell cannot prevail, out of crosses 
 and sufferings to draw consolation and joy, and that 
 changes death into a gentle, peaceful, wholesome sleep ? 
 Under the Gospel, blessed be God, multitudes of peo- 
 ple, old and young, and especially this man of God, as 
 we shall hear, have experienced no fear of death ; many 
 with songs on their lips, many with earnest desire, call- 
 ing on the name of the Lord, have joyfully yielded 
 themselves to death. 
 
 Of course, this blessed art of peaceful dying we have 
 not learned from the Pope, who would rather that we 
 should trust in his indulgences, and die in his favor, and 
 thus be forever lost. He cares most of all that he may 
 lead an easy Epicurean life in earthly riches and dignity. 
 But even this we do not learn from the bishops, for they 
 
40 SERMON BY 
 
 neither preach nor visit the sick. The monks would 
 rather bury us in their orders, and in their friar's cowl, 
 than that we should die in Christ. By their aid we 
 would never find the true way to eternal life. 
 
 Thanks be to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, that, out of His infinite grace and mercy. He has 
 by His Holy Spirit enlightened and awakened this, His 
 faithful servant,' who, with all diligence and faithfulness, 
 preached, by means of the Gospel, the Son of God, who 
 bruised the head of the old Serpent, that is, delivered 
 us from the power of the Devil, and said to death : " O ! 
 death, where is thy sting ? O ! grave, where is thy vic- 
 tory? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin 
 is the law, but thanks be to God, which giveth us the 
 victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ." This it is 
 which this man taught, and those who believed derived 
 courage therefrom against sin, death, hell and the Devil. 
 
 Well, the man who, in our times, acted in the spirit 
 and power of Elijah, and who was also a true John the 
 Forerunner, before the coming of the last day, is now 
 gone from us, and we will see him no more until the 
 end of the world. Therefore, we too, like Elijah the 
 prophet, may cry: "My father, my father, the chariot of 
 Israel, and the horsemen thereof" With the disciples of 
 John we may also " take up the body and bury it, and 
 come and tell Jesus." But we should not omit to pray, 
 with Elisha, that a double portion of his spirit may be 
 upon us, and to take up the mantle of our Elijah, as it 
 
PASTOR CELIUS. ■ 41 
 
 fell from him when he ascended. This mantle is com- 
 posed of his books which he wrote by the aid of the Holy 
 Spirit, and has left behind him, and out of them we can 
 draw the inspiration of his spirit. If he is dead according to 
 the body, he still lives in the spirit, and in his books. By 
 his writings, too, he is doing God's will, even when dead. 
 He is the death of the Pope, as during his life he was 
 his plague. May we now hold fast to the doctrines of 
 his books, and love and honor them, since they lead us 
 to the Holy Scriptures, and thank God for them. 
 
 Let this suffice for the first part of my sermon, in 
 which we have considered what a great man Dr. Mar- 
 tin Luther was, and why we should respect and honor him, 
 namely: Because he was, for our time, an Elijah and 
 John the Forerunner, not a common preacher like my- 
 self, and those like me, but a great and renowned man, 
 by whom God has again purified His Church, and gra- 
 ciously endowed it with the pure doctrine, and the true 
 way to worship God. 
 
 Second. We will now describe the manner of his 
 death. He is not yet buried, and has been only one day 
 dead. There are already persons, as I am informed, who, 
 driven by the evil spirit, have published the report that 
 we found him dead in his bed. I have no doubt that he 
 who was aliar from the beginning will invent many other 
 and more atrocious calumnies. For he has now no more 
 to do with Dr. Luther, whom God has snatched away 
 from his teeth, and he is beyond his reach. But he is 
 
42 • SERMON BY 
 
 now busy with his doctrine, which he would fain injure, 
 and if possible, destroy. In order to meet him, and to 
 guard believers against his lies, I, as one who was pres- 
 ent at the moment of his death, and for three weeks be- 
 fore was with him day and night, will relate the truth con- 
 cerning his death, here in God's house, and before God 
 himself. 
 
 Dr. Martin, my dear friends, did not begin the night 
 past to die, but he was dying for more than a year past. 
 That is, he thought of death, preached about death, con- 
 versed about death, wrote about death. Just the day 
 before his departure I read to him, at his request, many 
 consoling passages from his Psalter, which he had marked 
 and written in it, in order to comfort himself with them. 
 He had often prayed to God, and plead that He would, 
 the sooner the better, take him out of this evil world, as 
 he was disgusted and weary of this life. He had often 
 prayed, also, that if it pleased God he might not suffer 
 long on his sick bed. He felt as an old, overworked, 
 feeble man; therefore, he often said, " I will not live much 
 longer," and particularly, just before his death, he said, 
 " If the Pope or my adversaries could get me in their 
 power and inflict upon me much suffering, I am so weak 
 that I would soon die in their hands." 
 
 As he was, in all respects, well prepared for death, 
 God graciously heard his sighs and prayers. After he 
 had partaken of his supper, here, at Eisleben, and went 
 from the large room into his small room, on the i yth of 
 
PASTOR CELIUS. 43 
 
 February, about 8 o'clock in the evening, and as his cus- 
 tom was, laid himself down in the window and offered 
 his prayers, he began in a short time to complain of 
 great pain in the breast. He was rubbed with warm 
 cloths, and grated unicorn root administered internally, 
 with wine. He became better and laid down on the sofa 
 and went to sleep. He slept until the clock struck ten. 
 He then awoke and asked Dr. Jonas and myself, who 
 watched with him, why we did not lie down? We answered 
 that it was proper that we should wait upon him. 
 
 He then arose and did not complain particularly any 
 more, and went into his chamber to his bed. As he 
 crossed the threshold of the room, he said : " In manus 
 tuas commendo tibi spiritum meu7n, redemisti me D amine 
 Deus veritaiis." That is, " Into Thy hands I commend my 
 spirit, Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of Truth." 
 He then laid down in his bed, gave us good night and said : 
 " Dr. Jonas and Mr. Michel, pray to our Lord God that 
 
 it may go well with His cause and the Holy Gospel, for 
 those who are assembled in the Council of Trent do not 
 mean it well therewith." 
 
 He again fell asleep and rested naturally; no change 
 could be noticed until the clock struck one, past mid- 
 night. He then awoke and called his family servant and 
 directed that the small room should be made warm for 
 him. As it had been kept warm, he raised himself up, 
 got out of bed, and said : " O, Dr. Jonas, I am in great 
 pain, I fear I will remain at Eisleben." With this he re- 
 
44 SERMON BY 
 
 entered the small room. As he recrossed the threshold 
 he repeated the words he uttered before : " In maims 
 tuas commendo tibi spirituin vieum, redemisii inc, Domine 
 Deus veritatis." After he walked back and forth once 
 or twice, in this small room, he lay down again on the 
 sofa. His sickness increased and became more and 
 more severe. We immediately rubbed him with warm 
 cloths, and sent for the host of the house, the two city 
 physicians, and at the same time a message was dispatched 
 to his Highness, Count Albrecht, Count and Lord of 
 Mansfeld. Dr. Jonas, and I Michael Celius, and John Auri- 
 faber, together with his family servant, were with him from 
 the beginning. Very soon came the host and his wife, 
 then one of the physicians, and immediately thereafter 
 the other physician, and following them came Count Al- 
 brecht and his wife, the Countess. 
 
 As we were rubbing him with warm cloths, I asked 
 him if he felt any relief He answered, " Yes, the warmth 
 does me good ; warm also pillows and lay them on me, 
 the pressure on my breast is very great ; however, the 
 pain has not yet reached my heart." As I felt with my 
 hand that his linen was quite wet, I said to him : " Rev- 
 erend father, you are now perspiring; God will be favor- 
 able to us, and you will be better." " Yes," he answered, 
 " it is the cold sweat of death ; I will die ; I will go hence." 
 As, at his request, a sip of wine was given him, and one 
 of the physicians administered a spoonful of medicine, he 
 began to speak and to say: 
 
PASTOR CELIUS. 45 
 
 " I thank Thee, O God, the Father of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, that Thou hast revealed Thy Son to me, on 
 whom I have believed, whom I have loved, whom I have 
 preached, confessed and worshipped, whom the Pope 
 and all the ungodly abuse and slander. O, my Lord 
 Jesus Christ, I commend my poor soul to Thee." 
 
 " O heavenly Father, I know, that although I shall be 
 taken away from this life, I will live forever with Thee." 
 
 " Sic Deiis dilexit mundum, lU unigenitus jilium smuu 
 daret, tit ouinis qui credit in euin noiipereat, sedhabeat vitam 
 cetemamr 
 
 That is : " God so loved the world that he gave his 
 only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should 
 not perish, but have everlasting life." 
 
 He spake further: " Deus, noster Deus salvos faciei idi, 
 tu es Deus qui educis ex niorter 
 
 That is : " God, our God, saveth us ; Thou art God, 
 who delivereth us from death." 
 
 As he now felt that the end was not far off, he spoke 
 three times the words : " Pater, in manus tuas commendo 
 tibi spiritum meum." That is : " Father, into Thy hands 
 I commend my spirit." Thereupon, he suddenly became 
 silent. We shook him and Dr. Jonas and I. called loudly 
 to him : " Reverend father, do you die in the faith of your 
 Lord Jesus Christ, and in the doctrine which you preached 
 in His name?" He answered, "Yes." He then turned 
 upon his right side and fell into a few minutes sleep. As 
 we did not trust this sleep, we wetted his face with aqua 
 
46 SERMON BY 
 
 vitcB and vinegar of roses, and rubbed his wrists at the 
 pulse. When the clock stood at a quarter before 3 
 o clock in the morning, as we were standing looking at 
 him, he heaved a deep breath, and then yielded up his 
 spirit, softly, peacefully, and in much patience, into the 
 hands of his God. 
 
 This statement God knows to be true, as we have 
 conscientiously related it. And we are ready to testify 
 in the great day of the Lord, that thus and not otherwise 
 occurred his departure from us. The same is embodied 
 in a history of the occasion, and will appear more fully 
 in print. 
 
 I have thus related these facts at length for several 
 reasons. First, to silence the malicious falsehoods of 
 the Devil and his agents. If any other account than 
 that which you have now heard should come to your 
 ears, give- it neither faith nor attention. I and the others 
 who were present are living witnesses of the facts. If 
 any will believe us, well and good ; but if any will not be- 
 lieve, us, he must be permitted to go his way, to lie and 
 deceive on his own venture. He will finally find his 
 Judge. I know, praised be God, that I have borne 
 true witness, in what I have here said. 
 
 Second. I have related this history that we also may 
 learn to prepare for the last hour, and be as ready for it 
 as was this, our faithful teacher and shepherd. For not- 
 withstanding we all know that we must die, yet very 
 few prepare themselves so well for it, that they can in 
 
PASTOR CELIUS. 47 
 
 faith, and with willingness, yield themselves to it. We 
 have, however, seen in this man, who was a learned 
 Doctor of the Holy Scriptures, endowed with many gifts, 
 which he devoted to the benefit of others, that he em- 
 ployed himself for a long time with thoughts of death, 
 summed together many passages of the Holy Scriptures 
 for his own consolation, meditated upon it, spoke often 
 with others about it, and yet all the while he faithfully dis- 
 charged the arduous duties of his office. Then, when he 
 came to the hour in which he as yet knew not how 
 he should die, he was as one who falls asleep, not know- 
 ing when or how, but happily and sweetly he sunk to 
 rest. This blessed art of dying we too may learn from 
 this history. 
 
 As we have now heard, briefly and simply, who Dr. 
 Martin Luther was, how he died, and what we should 
 learn therefrom, that it may become serviceable, and be 
 made profitable to our salvation and Christian life, we 
 will now, in the third place, consider: Why he was just 
 now, at this critical time, called from us, when his pres- 
 ence in the Christian Church seems so very indispensable, 
 since the Pope and his Council of Trent, and all the 
 gates of Hell are arrayed against the Word and truth of 
 God, which He has revealed by this, His servant and 
 Apostle, in order to suppress and destroy it. 
 
 Many reasons might here be assigned to you for his 
 death. Some say that an old man should not have un- 
 dertaken such an overland journey in such a cold season. 
 
48 SERMON BY 
 
 He ought to have been spared the necessity of mediating 
 in the affairs of the Counts. Had he remained at Wit- 
 tenberg, and kept himself unexposed there, he might be 
 alive now. It is true, that in reason these thoughts and 
 this language must remain unanswered. But if we give 
 way to such ideas, they will lead us into the wild waves 
 of the sea, and like the same, driven about by the wind, 
 there will be no rest for the mind. We must, therefore, 
 abandon these thoughts, for they conduct to no tranquillity 
 or peace, in this case, or in any other cases. 
 
 It is best for us, in this case, to confess the faith of our 
 childhood and say: "I believe in God the Father, Al- 
 mighty Maker of heaven and earth," which is to be 
 understood, not only that God created the heaven and 
 the earth, but that He at the same time preserves and 
 governs them, and that without His will not a hair 
 of our heads can fall to the ground, as Christ has taught, 
 Luke 21:15. So David also, in the 39th Psalm, v. 4., 
 " Lord make me to know mine end, and the measure of my 
 days what it is ; that I may know how frail I am." Job 
 also says the same. Chapter 14:5: "Seeing his days are 
 determined ; the number of his months are with Thee, 
 Thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass." 
 By these words the Holy Ghost leads us away from the 
 thoughts which our worldly reason had suggested, and 
 helps us out of the wild waves of the sea into a sure haven 
 of rest and peace. We must therefore say: "It is the 
 will of God. He has so ordered it, that in this town of 
 
PASTOR CELIUS. 49 
 
 Eisleben, where he was born and baptized, he should 
 close his life." 
 
 But why did God call him at this present time ? is an- 
 other question. The Holy Scriptures assign more than 
 one reason why each one dies at his appointed time. 
 Sometimes God takes to himself the little children soon 
 after their baptism, besides young persons, also. The 
 reason is indicated in the Book of Wisdom: God calls 
 them that wickedness may not pervert their understand- 
 ing, nor false doctrine deceive their souls. Evil exam- 
 ples mislead and corrupt the good in them, and enticing 
 lusts of the flesh lead guileless hearts astray. God loves 
 them ; therefore, he hastens with them out of this evil 
 life. 
 
 This gives blessed comfort to parents, who mourn the 
 early death of their children. It is beyond measure painful 
 to reason and nature, when children and young persons 
 are seen to fall into death, around whom so many hopes 
 had clustered. The father had intended to rear his son 
 to an honorable manhood ; the mother to bring up her 
 daughter to be a virtuous woman ; but dear Lord, we 
 everywhere see how the world tempts to evil with bad 
 examples. Satan is tireless in corrupting principles and 
 life. We have a poor, frail human nature, that is so sadly 
 corrupted by original sin, that, notwithstanding indeed 
 Baptism has covered it, yet, like a fire covered with ashes, 
 so sin still remains in our nature. As when in the 
 morning the housemaid stirs the ashes the fire is kindled 
 
50 SERMON BY 
 
 afresh, so when a person arrives at years of reason the 
 concealed fires of orignal sin a!re kindled into a blaze by 
 the Devil, the World, and our own evil lusts blowing 
 upon them. God often comes beforehand, and through 
 death snatches the dear children, in their innocence, from 
 the evil to come. Therein mourning parents may greatly 
 comfort themselves. 
 
 So, too, God often removes tyrants. Thus Pharaoh 
 was drowned in the Red Sea; Sennacherib was mur- 
 dered in the house of his idol god by his own sons ; 
 Nero stabbed himself; Julian was shot in the Persian 
 war. Thereby God preserves His Church, that His 
 Word and Kingdom may not be utterly exterminated, 
 as His enemies had designed. These examples are also 
 written for our encouragement, since we, too, see in our 
 times men in high places who persecute the Gospel 
 and its adherents. We may know that God still lives, 
 will protect His Church and overthrow the Pharaoh's 
 and other tyrants that oppressed it. His hand is not 
 short nor His power weak. He knows well how to pro- 
 tect His own and to overthrow tyrants. 
 
 But when the Prophets die and are called away by 
 the Lord, His purpose usually is that a chastisement 
 shall follow. He often promises in the Scriptures to 
 protect His people in life, but to avenge them after their 
 death. So when Samuel the Prophet died, the Philistines 
 fell upon the country, captured many cities in which the 
 Israelites dwelt, killed Saul and his three sons, and 
 
PASTOR CELIUS. 51 
 
 slaughtered a large number of the people. So, too, 
 after the death of the other Prophets, the Babylonish 
 captivity followed. And after all the Apostles were 
 called away, except John, who alone remained alive, then 
 took place the destruction of Jerusalem, together with 
 the entire Jewish nation, which continues to this day, and 
 until the last day the Jews will not be restored to their 
 land, to their national polity, nor to their divine service. 
 
 The cause of all these calamities was their refusal to 
 hear the warning voice of the Prophets, of Christ, and of 
 His Apostles. On the contrary, they reviled and per- 
 secuted them, and the more so because His rod was 
 long withheld, and the deserved reward of their iniquities 
 did not speedily follow. We read in 2 Chron. 36:15, 
 16: "The Lord God of their fathers, sent to them by 
 His messengers, rising up betimes and sending, because 
 He had compassion on His people, and on His dwelling 
 place ; but they mocked the messengers of God, and de- 
 spised His words, and misused His Prophets, until the 
 wrath of the Lord arose against His people, until there 
 was no remedy." 
 
 It is greatly to be feared that God has called home 
 this His servant on account of our sins. For he faith- 
 fully preached true repentance and forgiveness of sins, 
 according to the command of Christ and the teachings 
 of the Holy Scriptures. He exposed the abuses in the 
 Church. He warned against idolatry. He taught how 
 God should be worshipped and what Christian liberty is. 
 
52 ^ SERMON BY 
 
 For all this the World should have knelt down and 
 thanked God. But the Papists, on the contrary, hated 
 him most bitterly, sought to destroy him, reviled his 
 doctrines as heresy, and treated him as if the earth did 
 not bear on its surface so vile a man. This, is the way 
 they thanked God for His benefits. 
 
 We, on the other hand, who adhere to his doctrine, 
 and are taunted as being Evangelical, entertain for him 
 more fitting sentiments. We know the way of the Lord, 
 for He has revealed it to us by His Word ; but we walk 
 according to our own pleasure. In the youth we see 
 neither sense of shame nor propriety of conduct, nor 
 obedience to superiors. In the old, there appear only 
 avarice, love of usury and want of integrity. No one 
 lives any more honestly and uprightly, neither do any 
 take pleasure in their regular calling. Everywhere is 
 fulfilled the lament of the Prophet Hosea, in which he 
 describes the way the people lived in his time, before 
 the Babylonish captivity. He says: chapter 4:1-3, 
 " Hear the Word of the Lord, ye children of Israel : for 
 the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the 
 land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowl- 
 edge of God in the land. By swearing, and lying, and 
 killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break 
 out, and blood toucheth blood. Therefore, shall the land 
 mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish 
 with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven : 
 yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away." 
 
PASTOR CELIUS. 53 
 
 It is now high time that we should repent and weep, 
 not on account of the death of this blessed man, who is 
 taken away from all this evil, and who rests peacefully 
 in the Lord ; but because, by our sins, we have offended 
 God, and are hastening by rapid strides to their punish- 
 ment. But I am afraid that, in the case of many, the 
 prediction of the Prophet will be verified, and they will 
 not take anything to themselves. For he says, "the 
 righteous perisheth and no man layeth it to heart; and 
 merciful men are taken away, none considering that the 
 righteous is taken away from the evil to come." God's 
 judgments will fall upon the heads of many of the de- 
 spisers and impenitent, as he is now taken away, and is 
 not permitted to see their misery. 
 
 Therefore be admonished, my dear Christian hearers, 
 and whoever has not hitherto laid it to heart, let him now 
 set about it earnestly, hear and give attention to God's 
 Word, repent and be converted, each one turn away from 
 his evil ways, so will the Lord repent of the evil which 
 He had thought to do unto them. But if the ungodly will 
 not have it otherwise, the righteous will be delivered, if 
 not here in time, yet there in eternity. Whilst the un- 
 godly suffer temporal and eternal torments, to us who 
 live a penitent life, the temporal calamities which we en- 
 dure will even prove a furtherance unto eternal blessed- 
 ness. In the midst of such calamities the Son of God 
 will preserve His Church, believers will still remain in it, 
 and they will be delivered. But our sinful lives, which 
 God purposed to punish, is the reason of this death. 
 
54 SERMON BY 
 
 Let us now, in the fourth and last place, hear what is 
 now the state and condition of this man. Concerning 
 the body, as we yet see it on the bier before us, he sleeps 
 well. He sleeps now a softer sleep than he slept at any- 
 time in his life before. He will sleep this sleep until he 
 shall awake at the last day. He is now free from all 
 care, labor, fatigue and danger. He now fears not Pope, 
 nor Cardinal, the World, nor the Devil. Oh, how did 
 the Pope, and those belonging to him, grieve and put to 
 the rack his pious, faithful. God-fearing heart, with their 
 ungodly ways, in that he was compelled to see the 
 Church and all true worship of God oppressed, and every- 
 thing filled with vain idolatry and hellish sodomy. In 
 addition to this he was outlawed and banned ; his image 
 was burned at Rome, and they would much rather have 
 burned his body. But God mercifully snatched him out 
 of their bloody hands, and laid him in his peaceful rest. 
 They will now, perhaps, leave him undevoured, for he is 
 now '' entered into peace, he shall rest in his bed." 
 
 It is very consoling to all believers, that the Holy 
 Ghost calls the death of the righteous, that is, believers, 
 " entering into peace," and " resting in their beds." God 
 utters the same truth by the same Prophet, Isaiah 26: 20: 
 " Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers and 
 shut thy doors about thee ; hide thyself as it were for a 
 little moment, until the indignation be overpast." Hu- 
 man reason shudders at death, since it sees in it nothing 
 but horror and gloom. But the Scriptures call it a 
 
PASTOR CELIUS. 55 
 
 sleep, the believers' peaceful rest in their beds. They 
 sometimes rest indeed before death, as when God im- 
 parts to them such great comfort that they are able to 
 disregard the malice of Satan and the World, but whilst 
 in life they rest in a strange chamber, in a strange inn, where 
 one awakes and suffers still the afflictions and persecu- 
 tions of the World, so this dear man often experienced, 
 and even here at Eisleben, shortly before his happy death, 
 he had joy; but it was in a strange lodging place. 
 Therefore, too, his sufferings were of a short duration. 
 One evening he lamented with tears, that, although he 
 had lifted his heart with joy to God, and prayed, as was 
 his wont, looking out of the window, and up to heaven, 
 he could still perceive that Satan was waiting with open 
 mouth to hinder all his proceedings ; but he knew full 
 well that God would be stronger than Satan. . 
 
 Whilst God granted him rest, that is, comfort in his 
 heart, still he was not yet at rest in his bed. His rest 
 was distured by Satan, and he was wakened up. But 
 now he has peace and rest in his bed and his rest will 
 henceforth no more be disturbed. Like all the faithful 
 from Adam to the present time, who have gone to sleep 
 in Jesus, he rests softly and still. In the words of the 
 Psalmist: "The sun shall not smite him by day, nor the 
 moon by night." And although he, and we all, shall 
 be consumed of worms, and having been created of the 
 dust, shall return to dust again ; still it takes place with- 
 out any feeling, without pain, without suffering. As St. 
 
56 SERMON BY 
 
 Paul teaches us : " It is sown in corruption, it is raised in 
 incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. 
 It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown 
 in a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body." 
 
 Concerning the state of the body of our dear master 
 and father, after his happy death, it is sufficient to say, 
 that we with our bodies and the bodies of all believers 
 will, at the last day, be seen rising again with bodies like 
 unto that which Christ brought with him, as on the first 
 Easter morning he arose from the tomb. They will 
 be more brilliant than the sun, in the clear light of 
 heaven ; more swift and active than the wind, and more 
 powerful than all creatures. None shall be able any 
 more to attack, or grieve, or put to death the body. 
 On the contrary, as all things are put under the feet of 
 the Son, so will also Death, the Devil, and Hell, and all 
 creatures be subject to him, and to us. With these 
 words we may comfort ourselves, at this peaceful corpse, 
 and at our own death. 
 
 As to what relates to the spirit or soul, we are not of the 
 opinion, as some fanatical spirits put forth, that the spirits 
 or souls of men are in a state of sleep until the last day. 
 The soul was not in a state of sleep whilst in the body, 
 as in a prison and clogged with chains. Shall the soul 
 now be in a state of sleep, when released from 
 out its prison? God did not create the soul with 
 such a nature and with such properties that it should 
 sleep. On the contrary, it always lives and wakes, and 
 
PASTOR CELIUS. 57 
 
 works. Even when the body sleeps the soul is awake, 
 as we experience in dreams, and in many other ways. It 
 is therefore an error, as some assert, that the soul, like 
 the body, will sleep until the last day. On the contrary, 
 this is certain, that the soul is awake and lives. As the 
 soul lived before it came to the body, and made the body 
 living, so it lives after its dissolution from the body, and 
 by the powerful hand of God will make the same body 
 living when at the great day it will again come to the 
 body. 
 
 With this the Holy Scriptures accord. Abraham, 
 Luke 16, conversed with the rich man in Hell, who saw 
 Lazarus in his bosom. This a sleeper or a dead person 
 cannot do. In Rev. 6:9, 10, the souls that were slain for 
 the Word of God cried with a loud voice, which shows 
 that they were living and awake. Christ says, " God is 
 not the God of the dead, but of the living." God is the 
 God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, therefore they must 
 be living. As to the body they were then already a long 
 time dead ; it was therefore their souls that lived. They 
 certainly live with God and our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 It is written, Eccles. 12:7, "The dust shall return to 
 the dust as it was, and the spirit shall return unto God who 
 gave it." To the malefactor Jesus said, "To-day thou 
 shalt be with me in Paradise." St. Paul says, " We are 
 willing to be absent from the body, and present with the 
 Lord." Again, "Whether we live or die we are the 
 Lord's." In Rev. 6: 10, 11, we learn that the souls un- 
 
58 SERMON BY 
 
 der the altar who were slain for the Word of God cried 
 with a loud voice and said : " How long, O Lord, holy 
 and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on 
 them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were 
 given unto every one of them, and it was said unto them, 
 that they should rest for a little season until their fellow- 
 servants also, and their brethren, that should be killed 
 as they were, should be fulfilled." 
 
 From these and other passages, it is clear that the 
 souls of the dead live and are awake. Otherwise they 
 could not cry with a loud and intelligent voice, nor be 
 with God, or with our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the 
 altar. From which it follows, that as this servant of 
 God died, calling on God and confessing the name of 
 Christ, his spirit is with God and His Son, and exists, 
 being among the holy angels and the elect of God. As 
 during his life he was especially in communion with 
 Moses, Elijah, the Prophets, the Apostles, and par- 
 ticularly St. Paul, whose books had been obscured and 
 lay in darkness until he, in the spirit of Elijah, with 
 preaching and writing, again brought them into the light, 
 and to the right use by the Church, so he.is now with them 
 and with the Lamb, who is in the midst of them, whom 
 they follow wheresoever he goeth, and whom in life they 
 knew and confessed. This, too, will we see and ex- 
 perience, when our merciful God, the Father of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, shall also call us happily to follow him there. 
 
PASTOR CELIUS. 59 
 
 Having now heard who Dr. Martin Luther was, a 
 true Elijah and John the Baptist for our times, how hke 
 a Christian he fell asleep in the Lord, and why God at 
 this time called him out of the World, and also what his 
 present state and condition is, we will commend him to 
 the Lord, and pray that God will send to his Church in 
 his stead another Prophet, and after this Elijah give us 
 an Elisha, who may have a double portion of his spirit, 
 and requite Romish Babylon two fold more than before. 
 And at the same time we pray that the Holy Ghost may 
 enlighten us by means of his books, lead us into the true 
 knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, and into the true faith 
 and holy living, so that we may peacefully close the last 
 hour of earth. Amen. 
 
:..=i pT^S