divine authority for its cause by miracles and gifts. All hail! the wondrous gift of the Reformation was Luther's faith, with which he removed mountains, with which he shook to its very depth the mediaeval church, with which he led it out of the Babylonian captivity of the pope into the glorious light and liberty of the Gospel. Luther, indeed, had spiritual gifts as no church father before him. When he preached, people said, it was as if he was sitting in their very hearts, and to this day Luther's wisdom is found on the streets in a thousand wise sayings of our people. No other nation on earth can show a man, in whom Christian and democratic character were interwoven so intimately as was the case in Dr. Martin Luther. But all this ability is forgotten in view of the world-winning power of his faith. He clung to him, whom he saw not, as if he saw him. Whenever his heart threatened to fail him, since he, the one man, was to stand up against all that had the signature of centuries gone by, against the pope and emperor, he seizes the chalk and writes on the wall: "Christus vivit, vivit, vivit," i. e., Christ is living; and when standing at the window after a hard day's work, he saw the stars in the firman:ent without any visible support and yet neither falling nor wavering from their course-the lesson of nature under the providential hand of God, became a parable to his soul, that the Church of the pure Gospel, even if deprived of its earthly support, will not waver or fall, because it is upheld by the invisible and strong hand of the Almighty. This faith places him in the ranks of the heroes of God, whose deeds of faith are enumerated in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, under the caption: "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." And we may say without fear of exaggeration, that since the days of the apostles there has been no one in the Church

who went about more in the power of spirit, who preached the Word of faith more powerfully, who left behind more blessings for the centuries to come, than Dr. Martin Luther.

But faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. And Luther's faith truly did not spring from impressions of reason, nor from the inner light of visionaries or fanatics, but from the Word of God. He had not sought and found Christ in the blue atmosphere, nor in his own feelings, but in the Word, in the Sacraments of Holy Baptism and the Altar. He well knew that Christ had said, "If ye abide in my words, then indeed shall ye be my disciples." Therefore sang Luther: "The Word they still must let remain;" therefore in the Catechism he always asks, "Where is it so written?" Therefore of Zwingli and the reformed brethren he says: "They do not know it, nor do they feel it how difficult it is to stand before God without His Word. Here is the rock-foundation on which he stands. "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." Here is the strength of evangelical faith: Christ alone, Christ in the Word, Christ in the Sacraments, Christ alone by faith.

In this faith also roots the strength of moral life. In Christ Luther had found his God, and in Him he found the whole world. No longer to him is the world but the abode of sin, the dwelling place of unclean spirits, so that the Christian must retreat from it as the scene of his life. To Luther the world now becomes the work-shop of the Holy Ghost, the field in which the Christian may prove his faith in every calling and vocation. How well did Luther comprehend all moral obligation in the table of duties in which he instructs every calling as to its duties, closing every one of those pointed sentences with the words: "Ein jeder lerne

sein Lektion, so wird es wohl im Hause stohn. (Let each one attend well to his own task, so will it go well with the whole house.)

It was Luther who ennobled and consecrated earthly labor and the worldly calling of the Christian, as over against the pope, who would rather have turned the whole world into a convent. Indeed, it is faith in Christ and His forgiveness alone, which makes the heart of man to be glad and rejoice, which prepares man to every good work and word. This is what changes the heart, just as Paul's preaching of justification by faith has changed the old heathen world, and Luther's preaching has changed the mediaeval church. And above the fall of heathenism and the overthrow of the middle ages, we see these words written in glowing lustre: "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever."

Therefore, take your harps and sing your songs. Here lies the strength of our evangelical faith. Gird on the sword and arm yourselves, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong; for here lies also our future.

For to all eternity this Gospel alone is the promise of the Church.

Our haughty enemies had predicted our death; they had prophesied the ruin of the Lutheran Church; false prophets are they found! In the beginning of the last century a Roman bishop wrote these words: "No heresy ever outlived the third century. Soon all will be over with the Lutheran heresy." Nine more years and the restored Church of Christ will look back upon the history of four centuries, and never did our beloved Lutheran Church, especially in its now home land by adoption, America, promise greater things than at this time, marching as she does ahead of all other Christian denominations on the globe. The

sun never sets on British possessions, we hear the proud Englishman declare. Who knows what may result for England from a great war of nations? But one thing requires no prophet to foretell in the histories of the nations: The sun will never set on those of the Lutheran household of faith in all lands, until the day when Christ the Lord and Judge will come and then the new day will dawn, which knows no more setting sun.

Luther Leaguers of America! the homeland of Luther now looks to America for a new era of Lutheran faith and practice. Will we meet that expectation? Let us strive to be and remain worthy representatives of the faith once for all delivered unto the Saints.

The hope of the Church rests on the Gospel, the Gospel alone. Jesus Christ the same forever.

Let us hold fast to this in childlike faith and trust. Let us not be carried about by strange doctrine; let our hearts be established in the faith, that no man take our crown. A Roman priest once said to a Lutheran peasant: With your Church it will soon be "Matthaei am letzten," (i. e., Matth. the last chapter, l. v., a German slang expression denoting: Your Church will soon be on its death-bed). But our wide-awake peasant knew his Bible and had his answer ready. "Why, that's splendid," he exclaimed, "in Matthew the last chapter, last verse, our Saviour says: 'Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.'” Let this be our consolation. On such assurance from our blessed Redeemer, we may confidently exclaim: Thou Church of Christ, what is there like thee! Happy are ye people of the Lord, saved by Him who is the shield of thy help and the sword of thy victory! Blessed be the great Reformation idea, the old, old story, which we have loved so long: Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, to-day and for

ever.

THE LUTHERAN REFORMATION.

By the Rev. John Telleen, D. D., Red Wing, Minn.

"The Morning Star of the Reformation" is the beautiful designation by which Wickliffe is known in history. Wickliffe was born in Hippswell, near Richmond, England, in 1324, and died in Lutterworth, Leicastershire, December 31st, 1384, closing with the New Year's Eve a very eventful life.

"The Prophet of the Reformation" is Huss, born in Bohemia, 1370, and burned at the stake July 6th, 1415. John Huss said before he died, "To-day you roast a goose (Huss), but one hundred years hence there will come a Swan (Luther, whose family insignia was a Swan), which you can neither broil nor roast."

"The Martyr of the Reformation" was Jerome of Prague, a pupil of Huss, following closely the footsteps of his beloved teacher, like him undaunted, he walked into the very flames, where he too gave his life, a free-will offering for the cause of the Reformation, May 30th, 1416.

"The Paver of the Way for the Lutheran Reformation" is the proud designation pointing to Sizka, the blind, who yet saw more clearly than many who have eyes, yet see not. Sizka was the victorious general who won religious liberty for Bohemia.