# Der Lutheraner_St. Louis Missouri_1850 04 16_S135
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

135

horse and killed, and Julianus was slain on the flight by highwaymen. Joh. Gerhard. loc. th. tom. VI. pag. 869.

(Submitted.)

Dedication of a Church.

After the cornerstone of a German Evangelical Lutheran church in St. Charles, Mo., had been solemnly laid on the 3d of June of last year, we had the joy, on the 3d of February of this year, of being able to deliver the completed building to the service of the LORD and to dedicate it. This day was the coldest of the past winter in our region, a touchstone of sincere participation; yet there were participants present from a distance of more than six miles. Of the pastors invited to heighten the celebration, two dear friends had managed to overcome all difficulties: Professor Pastor Walther and Pastor Fick; but the latter, held up on the way by a sudden and deadly illness, was able to arrive among us only after the chief service. The text of the dedication sermon was Ps. 84, 4., from which the pastor of the place sought to lay on the heart of the assembly, 1. the restless wandering in a strange land of those who do not know the altar of the LORD as their home, and 2. the true blessed home at the true altars of God. On the following day we heard from the mouth of Pastor Walther the exposition of the Gospel for Sexagesima, on the basis of which he spoke: "Of the great saving power of the Word of God, namely, 1. how great this power is, 2. why, nevertheless, so many do not experience this power to their salvation, and finally 3. in whom alone it can prove itself a saving power."

The building is of quarry stone, 38 feet in width, 45 feet in length, and 21 feet inside height, with Gothic-arched windows 15 feet high. In its cornerstone it bears the confession of the unadulterated, saving Word of God, the confession of the true Church. May the old churchly spirit, to which the style of the windows and of the altar points, which is borne in Word, Sacrament, liturgy and hymn, penetrate ever more with living power the living stones belonging to this house, that they may become a rock on which every storm of the profane spirit of fanaticism is broken, which here also rages wildly about, "unstable as water". Gen. 49, 4. Rud. Lange.

A Pupil as Comforter of the Sick.

During an illness Bengel, when he was still a teacher in the cloister school, wished for the spiritual comfort of a preacher, but no one was to be had except a cloister pupil (alumnus); he therefore asked that this one be called. When he came, Bengel bade him comfort him. But the youth replied: "How could an alumnus offer comfort to the Herr Praeceptor?" — "Why," said Bengel, "it would indeed be a shame to be a student and not be able to give comfort." In his perplexity the student at last began: "The blood of JEsus Christ cleanseth us from all sin." — "Now that is right, I have enough," said Bengel, and dismissed the student kindly.

Faith and love belong together, and where the one is not, there surely the other is not either, however we may pretend.

Georg Spatolin.

Scripture and Spirit.

1 Cor. 15, 3. 4.

Here you hear, do you not, that Paul also adduces Scripture as his strongest testimony, and shows that there is no standing to maintain our doctrine and faith, except the bodily or written Word, composed in letters, and preached orally by him or by others. For it stands here clearly: Scripture, Scripture. But Scripture is not mere Spirit; whereof they rave, that the Spirit must do it alone, that Scripture is a dead letter and cannot give life. But boast not much of the Spirit, if thou hast not the outward, manifest Word, for it will certainly not be a good spirit, but the wretched devil out of hell. For the Holy Ghost has indeed comprised his wisdom and counsel and all mysteries in the Word and revealed them in the Scripture, so that no one has any excuse, nor need seek or inquire after anything else. Luther.

(Submitted.)

Hymn to JEsus.

O JEsus, blessed light of heaven,
Illumine to me Thy countenance,
That in the brightness of Thy truth
I may know Thy love entire.

Before Thou madest the world,
Thou didst already think of me;
Ere yet the sun stood in the heavens,
Thou didst already know me.

Thou hast loved me ever and ever,
Although my sin has grieved Thee;
And when Thou sawest me condemned,
Thy heart was kindled in love.

Thou didst descend from Thy kingly throne,
And becamest a virgin's Son,
Thou camest down into my distress,
And sufferedst for me even to Thy grave.

Thou tookest my guilt upon Thee,
And didst endure on the cross for me;
"Forgive him, Father," Thou didst plead
For me also to Thy Father.

Thou didst enclose me in Thy faithful heart,
And didst wrestle with my death-pang,
Hast cleansed me from sin by Thy blood,
Stilled the Judge's glow of wrath.

In Thee I find my true being,
In Thee I am righteous and pure,
And shall one day after Thy image
Be fair, holy, blessed, gentle and mild.

My life hastens swiftly on,
My comfort is that I am in Thee;
I shall, if I but abide in Thee,
Be partaker of the divine nature.

Without Thee I am a poor nothing,
Corrupt and dead, bare of all light:
Cast me not away, LORD JEsus Christ,
Who art my one and my all.

Let Thy sweet mouth speak, O LORD,
Thy Word into the ground of my heart,
That my soul may thereby be kindled,
And in faith call Thee its Savior.

Come to me, fair ray of grace,
And hold with me the Supper;
Unite me wholly with Thyself,
And dwell and live alone in me.

With Thee I am now crucified;
Let me rest upon Thy heart:
Thy suffering, dying, rising again
Let me ever keep before my eyes.

I know not what I should pray,
My heart is full of deep sighs:
Intercede, O JEsus, for me with God,
And plead to the Father my distress.

Take form, O LORD, in me,
And make me strong by Thy might,
That I may joyfully thank and sing to Thee,
And blessedly finish my course.

And when I die, reach me Thy hand
And bear me to my fatherland,
That in Thy love and faithfulness
I may rejoice with all the saints.

H. Fick.

"For the Lutheraner, as a Reply to Pastor Kunz's Communication."

Under this heading the article following below has been sent to us by Mr. C. J. F. Isensee, president of the Indianapolis Synod. We first hesitated to accept the communication; partly out of love and regard for several members of the said synod, partly out of concern that many of our dear readers might take harmful offense at the mockery which Mr. Isensee, at the close of his rejoinder, makes of what is holy. Finally, however, we have come to the conviction, not only that it is necessary not to give the appearance of injustice and partiality by rejecting a would-be defense, but also that it may be of benefit both to members of the Indianapolis Synod and to other readers to become acquainted with the sentiments of a man whom an entire synod calling itself Lutheran has placed at its head. The communication reads as follows, after the removal of several gross orthographical blunders, in an otherwise diplomatically exact reprint:

"In No. 15 of the 'Lutheraner' of the 19th of March 1850 there is an article: 'the Indianapolis Synod.' Mr. Kunz exerts himself to spread light, to the effect that the president of the Indianapolis Synod, in refusing the honorable dismissal of Mr. Kunz, gave only one reason, etc. — Mr. Kunz! have I said nothing further than what you cite in the article? I ask