he is God"-which faith of the sainte tallied to a jot with his unholiness the pope at Rome, whom therefore the Bible brands as the Antichrist, and whose mask of piety Luther tore from off his face.

See, this is the faith which was once delivered unto the saints and for which Luther earnestly contended. Lack of time prevents me to speak of other doctrines such as the universal priesthood of all the believers, the complete separation of Church and State, the Gospel doctrine of absolution, confession, good works, etc., for all of which Luther earnestly contended. Let us now, in the second place, briefly consider why Luther contended for this faith.

II.

Luther did not contend for this faith because of earthly glory, honor, wealth, or renown, for such he did not get. On the contrary, he reaped almost nothing but slander, calumny, hatred, and persecution. The pope hurled the ban at him, and declared him to be an outlaw and an outcast, a fugitive and a vagabond, a menace to Church and State, a man not fit to live. Hence Luther could have no carnal motives for contending for the faith.

No; he contended for the faith because it was his sacred duty to do so. Contrary to his wish he had been made a Doctor of Divinity. Then he had been constrained to swear solemnly, faithfully to expound the Bible and purely to preach the same. And this his sacred vow he kept by contending for the faith which was delivered unto him. It was "delivered," or entrusted, to him, not given him for his possession. He was but a steward of the mysteries of God, and as such had to give an account to God; could not do as he pleased, but had to follow his Master's instructions. And his Master's command was: "Contend for the

faith!" This plain command of our text God has given to every Christian, but especially to the ministers of the Word. Had Luther, therefore, not contended for the faith which was delivered unto him, he would have been disobedient and unfaithful to God.

Again, he contended for the faith because it was the faith which had been delivered unto the saints, the only faith that saves. Error and falsehood can never make a man free or happy, but "the truth," says Christ, "shall make you free." Only in so far as the Word is pure can it generate faith and save. Hence the importance of retaining and contending for the pure faith, the pure doctrine. True, Luther well knew that his contending for the truth would be called "uncharitable" and "wrong" by the enemies of the truth, even as it is to-day; but he knew also that if he would not contend for the truth, he would deny Christ and become a traitor to Christ's Church. Where, my friends, would the Christian Church be to-day, if an Athanasius had not contended for the divinity of Christ, or an Augustine for conversion by grace alone, or a Luther for the Bible? In Egyptian darkness and heathenish idolatry. And to prevent this and to perpetuate the pure Gospel of Christ, Luther earnestly contended for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints and unto him.

Yet a few words, and I have done. This precious faith, the pure Gospel, for which Luther so earnestly contended, has been delivered to our dear old Lutheran Church, and handed down to us as our heritage. Let, oh! let us be on our guard, lest we be robbed of this precious heritage; let us avoid all errorists and perverters of God's Word, and follow those only who preach and practice God's whole Word and will not deviate one hair-breadth from its teachings though men mock and sneer and laugh and call these things old

fashioned and antiquated. Truth never changes, it always remains the same, and though our doctrines are as old as Luther, yea, as old as Christ and apostles, they are divine. Hence let us prize them highly and cherish them dearly and rather part with everything else on earth than with them; let us love our dear old Church, the Church of the Reformation, the Church of Christ and the apostles, and remain true to her in life and death saying:

I love my Church, my dear old Church,

My fathers' and my own,

On prophets and apostles built

And Christ, the Corner-stone!

All else besides, by storm or tide,

May yet be overthrown;

But not my Church-my dear old Church-
My fathers' and my own!

I love my Church, my dear old Church,

My glory and my pride!

Firm in the faith Immanuel taught,

She holds no faith beside.

Upon this Rock, 'gainst every shock,

Though gates of hell assail,

She stands secure, with promise sure,
"They never shall prevail."

Hallelujah. Amen.

THE GREAT REFORMATION IDEA.

By the Rev. R. Neumann, Burlington, Iowa.

"Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever."-Hebrews 13:8.

The Great Reformation Idea-What was it? Let me state right here that it was no new idea which caused that greatest spiritual awakening since the days of the apostles. It was no new idea, which, under the providence of God, armed Martin Luther with strength to oppose a whole world. It was an old, old idea, but it had been buried under outward pomp and splendor. It was the eternal idea of God, but hidden under the bushel of human invention the idea of redemption and justification, conceived in the bosom of the Holy Trinity, before the foundation of the world was laid. This idea was declared unto man after his fall in the promise of the coming Deliverer. It was interwoven, like a scarlet thread in a costly handiwork, throughout the history of the Jewish nation in the days of Patriarchs and Prophets. In all the history of the chosen people of God we see it shining out again and again, here and there, until in the fulness of time the idea was realized, the promise fulfilled in Jesus Christ-the same yesterday and forever. "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." This and nothing else is the Great Reformation idea, which I wish to set forth to-day, and in enlarging upon it,

I desire to bring before you the man who under the guidance of the Holy Spirit brought forth out of the debris of religion the old, old story; who from shrines of soulless saints carried forth the light of the Word, to set it, to reestablish it on the altar of the Church of Christ. The man, of the newly conceived reformation idea was Dr. Martin Luther, who in exchange for unavailing merits of sinful saints, declared anew the only availing merit of the sinless Son of God, who redeemed us lost and condemned creatures, secured and delivered us from all sin, from death and the power of the devil, not with silver and gold, but with His holy and precious blood and His innocent sufferings and death. In our days the great idea of the Reformation and the blessed consequences of that great awakening are often lost sight of. The hearts of our Lutheran young people need warming up in these days of indifference towards church individuality. We must realize more what an inexhaustible treasure our Church harbors, how much even in our days we owe to the man, after whom we are proud to call ourselves.

The Roman Catholic Church is ever ready to deride us for making so much of the work of a sinful man, to whom is due no praise, but rather everlasting condemnation for disobeying the Church and leaving it. For centuries the Church of Christ has celebrated the deeds of St. John the Baptist, and has appointed a special day on which to remember the merits of the Forerunner and Herald of the Christ. At his cradle in the mountains of Judea the question was raised: "What manner of child shall this be?" and Zacharias, his father, filled with the Holy Ghost, prophesied, saying: "And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest; for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord, to prepare His way;" and the angel said, "many shall re