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#27 I Will Remember The Works of the Lord, Part 2
I Will Remember The Works of the Lord, Part 2, by Henry Michel
And now we are coming nearer, and we are coming to the Nineteenth Century. There
was a revival in many places, and one of the results of this revival is this
wonderful and dear crowd that we have before us. That is the wonderful story
that I want to tell! Understand me rightly: I don’t want to praise people; I
don’t want to make people higher than they are, but we do have a lot of respect
for these people who were persecuted through their whole life, who were full of
zeal and full of the Spirit of God, leaving the comfort of their homes and going
the way of self denial, bringing the good Gospel and the tidings of peace to the
people.
I now have to mention a name that is perhaps going to be mentioned a few times,
that of Samuel Fröhlich. This was a French family. Their name was DeJoyeux which
is a French word meaning “The joyful”. These people were living in France up to
the persecution of 1648. On this date, the Catholic church decided that everyone
that is not Catholic should either be killed or leave the country right away. In
one night, the terrible Bartholomew night, 40,000 were killed, murdered in a
terrible way. In the name of the “holiness” of the church, of the “universal
church,” the only church through which, as they pretended, people could go to
heaven. Many escaped, and one of the families that escaped was this family of
DeJoyeux. They went to Switzerland and settled there in a part of the country
that speaks the Swiss German. They changed their name from DeJoyeux to Fröhlich
which means “joyful” in German.
This joyful family had a tradition, that one of the family had to be a preacher,
had to do something for the Lord. That was something decided; it was not a
question whether he likes it or not, if he is fit for this mission or not, he
just has to be a preacher, and Samuel Fröhlich was the one who just had to be a
preacher. He did not believe; he did not like it; he was not interested; but he
was rather mocking. Anyway, that did not matter, he had to be a preacher— that
was all. He went to school, he went to college, he went to the theological
school of Zurich and in his diary he says, “When I came to the theological
school, I had just a little bit of faith, but this little bit of faith, I lost
there completely.” When he was graduated from theological school, he was an
atheist. He would rather be blaspheming against God than to be praising Him. He
was in a terrible state of unbelief, but nevertheless, he was graduated a
preacher ready to be ordained.
The Lord was watching this boy and He made him sick. He had a terrible sickness
of the lungs, a sickness that was the reason for his early death; the reason why
later on he was sick practically two months every year and never recovered
completely. He was in such a miserable condition that every doctor had no hopes
whatsoever. And in his terror if death, he was asked, “Now how will you present
yourself before the Lord in the resurrection of the dead? With your graduation
paper, with your diploma and your hatred against God?” He came into a terrible
condition, he was not only very sick, but his soul found neither rest nor peace,
and was full of “yearning, sadness, and anxiety.” He found out that he was the
poorest among the poor, and he came slowly but truly into repentance, crying
days and nights for the wickedness of his soul, and he went through weeks and
weeks of crying to the Lord, that He would help him. Everybody wanted to help
him for the sickness of his body, but there was no one, not a single one who
could be of any help—any comfort—for his soul, and he suffered more than can be
told. In this misery of his repentance, suddenly he looked to the Bible, the
Book he had been studying for years, criticizing it and trying to find what was
right and what was wrong; and when he had finished his study, there was nothing
right in the Bible anymore, but everything was wrong. He took this Book as much
as he could in his weakness, and he found the revelation of Jesus. He found the
reason why Jesus died; that Jesus died for him and for his sins. Joyfully, he
received salvation by grace and stretched his two hands towards his Savior, and
he found a wonderful peace in his heart. As soon as his soul was saved and
rescued, the body started to recover and instead of dying as they thought he
would, he recovered, not completely, but anyway he was in fairly good health.
Then it was just the time when he should be ordained as a preacher. I don’t know
how they do it in this country, but over there when you are to be ordained in
the State church, you first had to deliver a sermon, bring a sample of your
wisdom, of your ability. The people who listen to your first sermon are not the
public who are generally in the church, but just ministers and all the
authorities of the church. A church is filled with preachers, old ones and
critical ones, and they listen to this sermon, and have to decide whether this
man will be ordained or not. He was so joyful about the miracles that he
experienced in his sickness that his sermon was a wonderful message of the power
of Christ. He told them how he had been; how he went to school; how he lost his
faith; how he was sinful as a student, regardless of the fact that he was a
theological student, just as sinful as anyone was; and he gave the glory to
Jesus. He spoke about the conversion he experienced, about the peace he found,
and about the remission of his sins. The more he spoke, the more the people were
concerned and when he finished, they said, “Such a man is no good; we cannot use
such a man.” They thought that he would turn the whole church upside down, and
they did not want such a disturbance. They wanted ministers able to keep the
people quiet and silent, and able to keep them coming to church and faithfully
paying their dues.
So he waited for one year and then made application again. They thought, “Now
let us see if this man has lost his extravagance.” I do not know exactly if his
second sermon was so joyful as the first one. He, at least, had a year’s
experience behind him, and it certainly had been joyful, but perhaps in a
moderate way, and he was ordained “on trial.” It was said to him what is
generally said when you receive your license only on trial, “We have a right to
withdraw this license on a moment’s notice.” So he was joyful anyway; “Now I can
live for my Lord.”
There was a certain Lutheran church near the Lake of Constance, between
Switzerland and Germany where there was a very old preacher. He was sick in bed
and could not preach anymore. So he always had to have somebody from outside
come, and so Samuel Fröhlich was sent as a vicar. He started to give a testimony
of Christ, and the result was so marvelous that after the first or second
preaching, the whole church was deeply moved and in tears. And not only was the
church deeply moved and in tears, but the old preacher in his bed, likewise, was
under conviction. He had a whole life of preaching behind him, and yet he did
not know about Jesus. He was in his sins, and now he was dying and did not know
anything about salvation. Samuel, who was a very zealous man, not only preached
in the church, but he preached to the preacher. The Word wrought such a
wonderful miracle that the preacher found peace before he died. He died in peace
in the arms of Samuel thanking him for what he brought to him, and gave him
permission to have the funeral service. So this young man who just had a license
on trial had to give the funeral sermon before a big congregation, most of whom
were ministers and authorities of the church. They watched this young man, and
the more he spoke, he wrote in his diary, the longer the faces became.
Afterwards they took him aside and said, “You are discharged.” He had the
courage to say at the funeral service that the old preacher had found peace and
remission of his sins on his death bed. That was terrible in the eyes of the
authorities, but he could not do otherwise. The old man had wanted him to tell,
but that was an offense to the church. So he was discharged and had to leave
immediately.
View all episodes
By Timeless FaithI Will Remember The Works of the Lord, Part 2, by Henry Michel
And now we are coming nearer, and we are coming to the Nineteenth Century. There
was a revival in many places, and one of the results of this revival is this
wonderful and dear crowd that we have before us. That is the wonderful story
that I want to tell! Understand me rightly: I don’t want to praise people; I
don’t want to make people higher than they are, but we do have a lot of respect
for these people who were persecuted through their whole life, who were full of
zeal and full of the Spirit of God, leaving the comfort of their homes and going
the way of self denial, bringing the good Gospel and the tidings of peace to the
people.
I now have to mention a name that is perhaps going to be mentioned a few times,
that of Samuel Fröhlich. This was a French family. Their name was DeJoyeux which
is a French word meaning “The joyful”. These people were living in France up to
the persecution of 1648. On this date, the Catholic church decided that everyone
that is not Catholic should either be killed or leave the country right away. In
one night, the terrible Bartholomew night, 40,000 were killed, murdered in a
terrible way. In the name of the “holiness” of the church, of the “universal
church,” the only church through which, as they pretended, people could go to
heaven. Many escaped, and one of the families that escaped was this family of
DeJoyeux. They went to Switzerland and settled there in a part of the country
that speaks the Swiss German. They changed their name from DeJoyeux to Fröhlich
which means “joyful” in German.
This joyful family had a tradition, that one of the family had to be a preacher,
had to do something for the Lord. That was something decided; it was not a
question whether he likes it or not, if he is fit for this mission or not, he
just has to be a preacher, and Samuel Fröhlich was the one who just had to be a
preacher. He did not believe; he did not like it; he was not interested; but he
was rather mocking. Anyway, that did not matter, he had to be a preacher— that
was all. He went to school, he went to college, he went to the theological
school of Zurich and in his diary he says, “When I came to the theological
school, I had just a little bit of faith, but this little bit of faith, I lost
there completely.” When he was graduated from theological school, he was an
atheist. He would rather be blaspheming against God than to be praising Him. He
was in a terrible state of unbelief, but nevertheless, he was graduated a
preacher ready to be ordained.
The Lord was watching this boy and He made him sick. He had a terrible sickness
of the lungs, a sickness that was the reason for his early death; the reason why
later on he was sick practically two months every year and never recovered
completely. He was in such a miserable condition that every doctor had no hopes
whatsoever. And in his terror if death, he was asked, “Now how will you present
yourself before the Lord in the resurrection of the dead? With your graduation
paper, with your diploma and your hatred against God?” He came into a terrible
condition, he was not only very sick, but his soul found neither rest nor peace,
and was full of “yearning, sadness, and anxiety.” He found out that he was the
poorest among the poor, and he came slowly but truly into repentance, crying
days and nights for the wickedness of his soul, and he went through weeks and
weeks of crying to the Lord, that He would help him. Everybody wanted to help
him for the sickness of his body, but there was no one, not a single one who
could be of any help—any comfort—for his soul, and he suffered more than can be
told. In this misery of his repentance, suddenly he looked to the Bible, the
Book he had been studying for years, criticizing it and trying to find what was
right and what was wrong; and when he had finished his study, there was nothing
right in the Bible anymore, but everything was wrong. He took this Book as much
as he could in his weakness, and he found the revelation of Jesus. He found the
reason why Jesus died; that Jesus died for him and for his sins. Joyfully, he
received salvation by grace and stretched his two hands towards his Savior, and
he found a wonderful peace in his heart. As soon as his soul was saved and
rescued, the body started to recover and instead of dying as they thought he
would, he recovered, not completely, but anyway he was in fairly good health.
Then it was just the time when he should be ordained as a preacher. I don’t know
how they do it in this country, but over there when you are to be ordained in
the State church, you first had to deliver a sermon, bring a sample of your
wisdom, of your ability. The people who listen to your first sermon are not the
public who are generally in the church, but just ministers and all the
authorities of the church. A church is filled with preachers, old ones and
critical ones, and they listen to this sermon, and have to decide whether this
man will be ordained or not. He was so joyful about the miracles that he
experienced in his sickness that his sermon was a wonderful message of the power
of Christ. He told them how he had been; how he went to school; how he lost his
faith; how he was sinful as a student, regardless of the fact that he was a
theological student, just as sinful as anyone was; and he gave the glory to
Jesus. He spoke about the conversion he experienced, about the peace he found,
and about the remission of his sins. The more he spoke, the more the people were
concerned and when he finished, they said, “Such a man is no good; we cannot use
such a man.” They thought that he would turn the whole church upside down, and
they did not want such a disturbance. They wanted ministers able to keep the
people quiet and silent, and able to keep them coming to church and faithfully
paying their dues.
So he waited for one year and then made application again. They thought, “Now
let us see if this man has lost his extravagance.” I do not know exactly if his
second sermon was so joyful as the first one. He, at least, had a year’s
experience behind him, and it certainly had been joyful, but perhaps in a
moderate way, and he was ordained “on trial.” It was said to him what is
generally said when you receive your license only on trial, “We have a right to
withdraw this license on a moment’s notice.” So he was joyful anyway; “Now I can
live for my Lord.”
There was a certain Lutheran church near the Lake of Constance, between
Switzerland and Germany where there was a very old preacher. He was sick in bed
and could not preach anymore. So he always had to have somebody from outside
come, and so Samuel Fröhlich was sent as a vicar. He started to give a testimony
of Christ, and the result was so marvelous that after the first or second
preaching, the whole church was deeply moved and in tears. And not only was the
church deeply moved and in tears, but the old preacher in his bed, likewise, was
under conviction. He had a whole life of preaching behind him, and yet he did
not know about Jesus. He was in his sins, and now he was dying and did not know
anything about salvation. Samuel, who was a very zealous man, not only preached
in the church, but he preached to the preacher. The Word wrought such a
wonderful miracle that the preacher found peace before he died. He died in peace
in the arms of Samuel thanking him for what he brought to him, and gave him
permission to have the funeral service. So this young man who just had a license
on trial had to give the funeral sermon before a big congregation, most of whom
were ministers and authorities of the church. They watched this young man, and
the more he spoke, he wrote in his diary, the longer the faces became.
Afterwards they took him aside and said, “You are discharged.” He had the
courage to say at the funeral service that the old preacher had found peace and
remission of his sins on his death bed. That was terrible in the eyes of the
authorities, but he could not do otherwise. The old man had wanted him to tell,
but that was an offense to the church. So he was discharged and had to leave
immediately.