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LUTHER'S
EPISTLE SERMONS
EPIPHANY, EASTER AND PENTECOST
TRANSLATED WITH THE HELP OF OTHERS
BY
PROF. JOHN NICHOLAS LENKER, D.D.
AUTHOR OF "LUTHERANS IN ALL LANDS," TRANSLATOR OF LUTHER'S WORKS INTO
ENGLISH AND PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL LUTHERAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION
VOL. II.
(_Volume VIII of Luther's Complete Works_.)
THIRD THOUSAND
_The Luther Press_
MINNEAPOLIS, MINN., U.S.A.
1909.
_Dedication_
To All, Pastors and Laymen, who appreciate the true place of Luther's
Writings in the Evangelization of Europe, and are interested in the
Evangelization of the world, this volume of Easter and Pentecost
Epistle Sermons of the English Luther is gratefully and prayerfully
dedicated.
Copyright, 1909, by J. N. LENKER.
_Foreword_
The Evangelization of the World is being accomplished more rapidly
than we think. Three mighty movements are constantly at
work--Reformation, Heathen Missions and Emigration or Colonization. By
the Reformation Europe was evangelized; by Heathen Missions Asia and
Africa are being evangelized and by Emigration or Colonization North
and South America and Australia have been to a large extent
evangelized. In "Lutherans In All Lands," published in 1893, and in
the introduction to the volume on St. Peter's Epistles of the English
Luther, we emphasized the relation of the Evangelical-Lutheran church
and of Luther's writings to the evangelization of the world through
these three movements. In view of the recent marvelous growth in
interest in Heathen Missions and the false ideas about Luther's
relation to this theme, the following may be in place here in this
volume of Easter and Pentecost sermons:
The Christian religion being preëminently missionary the Reformation
of the Christian Church would necessarily be missionary. Protestant
missions began with Protestantism.
Herzog's Encyclopedia says: "Luther himself already seizes every
opportunity offered by a text of the Divine Word in order to remind
believers of the distress of the Heathen and Turks and earnestly urges
them to pray in their behalf, and to send out missionaries to them. In
accord with him all the prominent theologians and preachers of his
day, and of the succeeding period inculcated the missionary duty of
the Church. Many also of the Evangelical princes cherished the work
with Christian love and zeal."
Luther's interest in the work of true evangelization is seen in the
name he designedly chose for the church of his followers. He did not
call it Protestant nor Lutheran, but conscientiously insisted upon it
being called the Evangelical, or in plain Anglo-Saxon, the Gospel
church, the Evangelizing church. Because of Luther's emphasis on the
word evangelical there are properly speaking no Lutheran, but only
Evangelical-Lutheran churches. He is the evangelist of Protestantism
in the true sense.
Of the library of 110 volumes of which Luther is the author, 85 of
them treat of the Bible and expound its pure evangelical teachings in
commentaries, sermons and catechetical writings. He popularized the
word evangelical. With his tongue and pen he labored incessantly for
the evangelization of Europe. That Europe is evangelized is due more
to his labors and writings than to those of any other. What those
writings did for Europe they may do, and we believe, will do, for the
world in a greater or less degree. The greatest evangelist of Europe
has a God-given place in the evangelization of the world. His most
evangelical classics should be translated into all the dialects of
earth as soon as the Bible is given to the people in their native
tongue.
Dr. Warneck says: "By the Reformation the christianizing of a large
part of Europe was first completed, and so far it may be said to have
carried on a mission work at home on an extensive scale." Further he
says: "The Reformation certainly did a great indirect service to the
cause of missions to the heathen, as it not only restored the true
substance of missionary preaching by its earnest proclamation of the
Gospel, but also brought back the whole work of missions on Apostolic
lines. Luther rightly combats, as Plitt insists, 'the secularizing of
missionary work.'"
In explaining the 117th Psalm Luther says: "If all the heathen shall
praise God, he must first be their God. Shall he be their God? Then
they must know him and believe in him, and put away all idolatry,
since God can not be praised with idolatrous lips or with unbelieving
hearts. Shall they believe? Then they must first hear his Word and by
it receive the Holy Spirit, who cleanses and enlightens their heart
through faith. Are they to hear his Word? Then preachers must be sent
who shall declare to them the Word of God." So in his familiar hymn,
"Es wolle Gott uns gnaedig sein."
"And Jesus Christ, His saving strength
To Gentiles to make known,
That thee, O God, may thank and praise
The Gentiles everywhere."
In commenting on the words of the Second Psalm, "Ask of me and I will
give thee the heathen for thine inheritance," Luther says: "Christ,
therefore, being upon earth and appointed king upon Mount Zion,
receives the Gentiles who were then promised unto him. The words 'of
me' are not spoken without a particular meaning. They are to show that
this kingdom and this inheritance of the Gentiles are conferred on
Christ, not by men, nor in any human way, but by God, that is,
spiritually."
All who retain the good old custom of the fathers in reading Luther's
Postil sermons on the Gospel and Epistle texts for each Sunday know
what deep missionary thoughts are found in the sermons for Epiphany,
Ascension Day and Pentecost.
In one sermon for Ascension Day on "Go ye into all the world and
preach the Gospel to the whole creation," we read, "these words of the
Sovereign Ruler commission these poor beggars to go forth and proclaim
this new message, not in one city or country only, but in all the
world."
For the history of the writing of these sermons the reader is referred
to volumes 10, 11, 12 and 13 of the Gospel sermons of Luther's works
in English.
The German text will be readily found in the 12th volume of the Walch
and of the St. Louis Walch editions, and in the 8th volume of the
Erlangen edition of Luther's works.
Due acknowledgment is hereby made of aid received from the translation
of Pastor Ambrose Henkel, and published in 1869, at New Market,
Virginia. Also to Pastor C. B. Gohdes, for comparing the manuscript
from the Third Sunday before Lent with the German text and making
valuable improvements.