I Have Great Hope

A selection of a letter from Martin Luther to Martin Bucer, pastor in Strassburg. They were seeking to come to an understanding of the Lord’s Supper. Luther wanted greater fellowship with Bucer but it depended on their common agreement concerning this doctrine. The letter was written from Wittenberg on January 22, 1531.

I wish you would believe that, as I have told you at the Coburg, I want to settle our discord even though I might have to live three times to accomplish it, because I have seen how necessary your fellowship is for us, and how the gospel was and still is disadvantaged [by our discord]. I have become so much aware of this that I am convinced that all the gates of hell, the whole papacy, all of Turkey, the whole world, all the flesh, and whatever evils there are could not have harmed the gospel at all, if we had only been of one mind. But what am I to do with something which cannot be accomplished? If you wish to be fair, then you will attribute the fact that I shun this unity not to stubbornness, but to the urging of my conscience and to the force of my faith. Since our discussion at the Coburg I have great hope, but this hope is not yet unwavering.

Luther's Works, Letters III, Vol. 50, edited by J. J. Pelikan, H. C. Oswald and H. T. Lehmann, Fortress Press, letter # 238.

Prizing Highly the Privilege of the Lord's Supper

A selection from a letter by Rev. J. H. Thornwell, to one of his daughters. He wrote the letter from Mobile, Alabama, on January 20, 1858. He had received a letter from her and was delighted that she had “prized so highly the privilege of the Lord’s Supper.”

I was particularly delighted that you prized so highly the privilege of the Lord’s Supper. It is indeed a feast to those who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity and truth. He is the food of our souls. To His precious blood we look for pardon; to His righteousness, for favour; and to His Spirit, for holiness. He is as willing, as He is able, to bless us; and it is a glorious thing when we can resign ourselves into His hands, feeling that we are nothing, and that He is everything. Endeavour, my dear child, to live close to Him, and to seek His guidance and His favour in everything. Confide in Him as a friend, and trust Him with all your cares. Lean upon Him, as you would lean upon your father, and He will keep you in all your ways. Never forget to pray, and to study the Holy Scriptures, and ask for light to understand them.

The Life and Letters of James Henley Thornwell, first published in 1875, republished by the Banner of Truth, 1974, p. 433.