e same, to thank God for it and to call upon him while he
may be found. For when the spirit of knowledge is taken away, the
spirit of prayer is also gone. Zechariah says (Zech 12, 10): For the
spirit of prayer is joined to the spirit of grace. It is the spirit of
grace which reproves our sins and gives instruction concerning their
remission, which condemns idolatry and instructs concerning the true
worship of God, which condemns avarice, lust and oppression, and
teaches chastity, patience and charity. This spirit, God here
threatens, shall no longer continue his work of instruction, since men
refuse to hear and are incorrigible. The spirit of grace having been
taken away, the spirit of prayer has also been taken away. For it is
impossible for him to pray who is without the Word.

62. Accordingly, the office of a priest is twofold; first, that he
turns to God and prays for himself and for his people; second, that he
turns from God to men through instruction and the Word. Says Samuel:
"Far be it from me that I should sin against Jehovah in ceasing to
pray for you: but I will instruct you in the good and the right way,"
1 Sam 12, 23. He is aware that this is his proper office.

63. Therefore, the ministry is rightly praised and esteemed as the
highest favor. When this has been lost or has been vitiated, not only
prayer becomes impossible, but men are simply in the power of the
devil, and do nothing but grieve the Holy Spirit with all their deeds,
and thus fall into mortal sin, for which it is not lawful to pray.
Such other lapses as occur among men are trivial, for return is open
and the hope of pardon is left. But when the Holy Spirit is grieved
and men refuse to receive the witness and reproof of the Holy Spirit,
the disease is desperate and incurable.

64. But how common is this sin today among all classes! Princes,
noblemen, inhabitants of city and country, refuse to be reproved; they
rather reprove and sit in judgment upon the Holy Spirit in his
servants. They judge of the office of the ministry by the lowliness of
the person. They reason thus: This minister is poor and despised; why
then should he reprove me, a prince, a nobleman, a magistrate? Rather
than endure this, they trample under foot the ministers, together with
their office and their message. Should we not, then, fear the judgment
of God, such as he here announces to the old world?

65. These, therefore, are the words of a father who disinherits his
son