# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1959_S1
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS Isaiah 54:1, 2

By Present Jonn W. BEHNKEN, D. D.

Dear FRIENDS AND CO-WORKERS:

Christ’s great commission has ever moved God’s people to
venture great things for Him. It is the reason why we have gath-
ered from many parts of the world for this convention. Under the
gracious guidance of the Holy Spirit permit me to set forth briefly:

Two Lessons of Tremendous Importance for
Our Convention Business

1. Lengthen Thy Cords

The Holy Spirit granted unto Isaiah a beautiful prophetic view
of the church’s marvelous growth. He calls upon the barren
woman to break forth into singing because the children of the
desolate are more than the children of the married wife. He ex-
plains this exceptional growth in the words: “For thou shalt break
forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit
the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.” God
revealed to His prophet that the approaching phenomenal outreach
of the Gospel would bring astounding numbers of Gentiles into
God’s family.

The prophet speaks of the church as a tent. When he realizes
what phenomenal growth lies ahead, he urges: “Enlarge the place
of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habita-
tions.’ He was very insistent, saying: “Spare not.” They should
not hesitate in the least, but should build larger. For that reason
he added: “Lengthen thy cords.”

“Lengthen thy cords” is precisely the exhortation which God
addresses to every one of us. In His boundless grace God brought
us to faith in Christ, our only Hope of salvation. He has made us
members of the body of Christ. As such we must function. We are
not withered limbs, nor are we paralyzed members of Christ’s
body. Through us pulsates the life-giving energy which Christ,
the Head, supplies to every member. This constrains us to take
an active interest in the advancement of our Savior’s cause.
Eagerly we must bear witness unto Christ both at home and
abroad, even unto the uttermost parts of the earth. The ever-in-
creasing, overwhelming numbers of heathen people should startle
us and arouse us to more intensive efforts to bring more of them