# Lehre und Wehre_St. Louis Missouri_September 1861_S277
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

Old Hartmann's Faithful Counsel, That Preachers, etc. 277

...beautiful face: something that, were we reminded of it, could be corrected without difficulty, especially early on. But such critiques of sermons would be all the more necessary because the manner of prophesying or of interpreting Scripture is now different from what it once was in the apostolic church. For in those days two or three prophets or interpreters prophesied or preached one after another in one and the same church assembly, as is clear from 1 Cor. 14:29. Accordingly, if something was omitted, neglected, or presented less adequately or skillfully by the first speaker, it could be supplemented or made good by the one who followed. But since we do not now have so great an abundance of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, only one person delivers a sermon in a church assembly, in which case, if any rather serious fault or oversight creeps in — whether in the substance, or in the arrangement, or in the wording, or in the delivery, or in several of these at once — the harm and disadvantage that grows out of it for the whole church and for so many souls is all the greater, as is also the disgrace that falls upon the preacher. Yet in these critiques two extremes are to be avoided, like stones lying in the path. The one, that where admonition is needed, one gives no room to covering up or concealment, whether out of fear of giving offense or out of a wish to gain and win favor. The other, that one does not, driven by personal inclinations and begrudging others their reputation, split hairs or strain at gnats. Rather, out of sincere love and with a gentle spirit, one should seek mutual improvement and appreciation, joined with the edification of the church. But on the other side too, the critiques should be received without suspicion, annoyance, quarrelsomeness, or ill will, with a meek, compliant, and thankful heart; one should bear in mind that God does not give everything to one person; that we cannot rightly know ourselves, since we view ourselves with distorted eyes; that the spirits of the prophets, that is, the doctrine and gifts of preachers, are subject to the prophets, and let themselves be judged or assessed, as Paul says, 1 Cor. 14:32; that keeping discipline is the way to life, but he who forsakes correction goes astray, Prov. 10:17, and he who gladly lets himself be corrected will become wise; but he who wants to go uncorrected remains a fool, ibid. 12:1.

A shining example of such a critique of sermons is set before our eyes in Acts 18:26, in Aquila and his wife Priscilla. These, when they heard Apollos speaking in the synagogue at Ephesus, took him after the sermon into their house and expounded to him the way of God still more diligently and precisely — although Apollos was indeed mighty in the Scriptures, instructed in the way of the Lord, of fervent spirit and an eloquent man. In Aquila and Priscilla, then, we are given an example of a truly Christian love, utterly free of envy, in that they judge Apollos's preaching and teaching, and instruct him still more precisely, especially in their own house, so that through him still more souls might be won for the Lord Christ,