The Power of Children in the Last Times

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the church congregations observe / and say / one should not therefore abolish the churches themselves / but rather view the preaching office The "Predig-Ammt," referring to the formal, ordained ministry of the Lutheran church. as a divine ordinance / why then does one not overlook and excuse it in the children / when something childish is undertaken by them / or some mistake is made / since we find more excuse for youth / and childhood / than for the adults in the churches? That people on the opposing side are so busy / secretly trying to overturn / diminish / or even frustrate the undertaking / and work of GOD in the Silesian children The "Kinderbeten" (Children’s Prayer) was a 1707–1708 revival in Silesia where thousands of children gathered in fields to pray and sing, often interpreted as a prophetic sign. / by attributing the beginning of the praying children to the march of the Swedish army through Lower Silesia During the Great Northern War, the presence of the Swedish army under Charles XII provided a sense of protection for Protestants in the region. / such a thing cannot be approved / because a whole year prior, the children at Sagan Now Żagań, Poland; a center of the children’s movement. had already made a similar prelude in the building of a small church / which I have seen myself / and there they gathered / and prayed / although I do not wish to deny / that the children might have been ignited to prayer by the external devotion of the Swedish soldiers /

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one could not recognize it as being entirely Divine / yet the divine matter itself / which is freely confessed by all parties / should rather move us / to pass a good / rather than an evil judgment upon it; especially since it is known to us / how THE LORD GOD is accustomed to condescend condescend (condescendiren): a theological term for God "lowering" Himself to speak or act in a way that humans—with their limited nature—can understand. / and to lower Himself according to the way / in which various people / and their temperament / and nature are constituted / so that He does not take on more divine power / than those can bear / in whom He / and His Spirit work / and for that reason in children / so to speak / He takes on the power of children / in youths the power of youths / in men the power of men / yet in all this / it is and remains Divine insofar as it is from Him. As can be seen from the example of Jacob wrestling with God and men / who overcame the GOD-man / who took on no more power / than He shared with Jacob to overcome Him. Genesis 32:28. If we are otherwise very ready to make excuses / if we [see] some faults both in the listeners / as well as in the preachers in