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Count Zinzendorf
Nikolaus Ludwig, Count von Zinzendorf (1700–1760). Born on May 26, 1700, in Dresden, Saxony, to an aristocratic Austrian family, Nikolaus Zinzendorf was a German Pietist, bishop, and founder of the renewed Moravian Church (Unitas Fratrum). His father died weeks after his birth, leaving him to be raised by his Pietist grandmother, Henriette von Gersdorf, whose influence, along with godfather Philipp Spener’s, shaped his early faith. Educated at Francke’s Paedagogium in Halle (1710–1716) and law at Wittenberg (1716–1719), he served briefly as a Dresden councilor before buying the Berthelsdorf estate in 1722, where he welcomed Moravian refugees, founding Herrnhut (“Lord’s Watch”). His preaching emphasized a “religion of the heart,” focusing on personal devotion to Christ over doctrine, and sparked the 1727 Moravian revival, marked by a 100-year prayer chain. Ordained a Lutheran pastor in 1734 and Moravian bishop in 1737, Zinzendorf faced exile from Saxony (1736–1748) for his nonconformity, traveling to London, the West Indies, and America, where he met Native American leaders and Benjamin Franklin, planting missions from Greenland to South Africa. He authored over 2,000 hymns, including “Jesus, Thy Blood and Righteousness,” and works like The Socrates of Dresden (1725), though some criticized his emotionalism during the 1740s “Sifting Time.” Married to Erdmuth Dorothea von Reuss in 1722, with 12 children (four surviving), and later Anna Nitschmann in 1757, he died on May 9, 1760, in Herrnhut, saying, “I only asked for first fruits among the heathen, and thousands have been granted me.”
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Count Zinzendorf preaches about the deep longing for the cleansing blood of Jesus, the desire to be sealed in His love, and the blessedness of abiding in His presence. He emphasizes the transformative power of God's grace and the wondrous love that brings sinners to glory. The sermon reflects on the overwhelming gratitude and awe for the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, leading to a surrender of hearts and lives to Him.
I Thirst, Thou Wounded Lamb of God
I thirst, Thou wounded Lamb of God, To wash me in Thy cleansing blood, To dwell within Thy wounds; then pain Is sweet, and life or death is gain. Take this poor heart, and let it be For ever closed to all but Thee! Seal Thou my breast, and let me wear That pledge of love for ever there. How blest are they who still abide, Close sheltered in Thy bleeding side; Who life and strength from thence derive, And by Thee move, and in Thee live. What are our works, but sin and death, Till Thou Thy quickening Spirit breathe? Thou giv’st the power Thy grace to move; O wondrous grace! O boundless love! How can it be, Thou heavenly King, That Thou shouldst us to glory bring; Make slaves the partners of Thy throne, Decked with a never-failing crown? Hence our hearts melt, our eyes o’erflow, Our words are lost; nor will we know, Nor will we think of aught beside, My Lord, my Love, is crucified! Ah! Lord, enlarge our scanty thought, To know the wonders Thou hast wrought; Unloose our stammering tongues to tell Thy love immense, unsearchable. First-born of many brethren, Thou! To Thee, lo! all our souls we bow, To Thee our hearts and hands we give, Thine may we die, Thine may we live!
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Nikolaus Ludwig, Count von Zinzendorf (1700–1760). Born on May 26, 1700, in Dresden, Saxony, to an aristocratic Austrian family, Nikolaus Zinzendorf was a German Pietist, bishop, and founder of the renewed Moravian Church (Unitas Fratrum). His father died weeks after his birth, leaving him to be raised by his Pietist grandmother, Henriette von Gersdorf, whose influence, along with godfather Philipp Spener’s, shaped his early faith. Educated at Francke’s Paedagogium in Halle (1710–1716) and law at Wittenberg (1716–1719), he served briefly as a Dresden councilor before buying the Berthelsdorf estate in 1722, where he welcomed Moravian refugees, founding Herrnhut (“Lord’s Watch”). His preaching emphasized a “religion of the heart,” focusing on personal devotion to Christ over doctrine, and sparked the 1727 Moravian revival, marked by a 100-year prayer chain. Ordained a Lutheran pastor in 1734 and Moravian bishop in 1737, Zinzendorf faced exile from Saxony (1736–1748) for his nonconformity, traveling to London, the West Indies, and America, where he met Native American leaders and Benjamin Franklin, planting missions from Greenland to South Africa. He authored over 2,000 hymns, including “Jesus, Thy Blood and Righteousness,” and works like The Socrates of Dresden (1725), though some criticized his emotionalism during the 1740s “Sifting Time.” Married to Erdmuth Dorothea von Reuss in 1722, with 12 children (four surviving), and later Anna Nitschmann in 1757, he died on May 9, 1760, in Herrnhut, saying, “I only asked for first fruits among the heathen, and thousands have been granted me.”