Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1958, Page 11

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

Lutheran Synodical Conference, 1958 11

you, ready to report to you of our labors and our deliberations for
the 18 months that are just behind us.

What is the main purpose and goal of the Synodical Confer-
ence? The 4th article of-our constitution says very plainly: “The
purpose of the Synodical Conference of North America shall be
to give outward expression to the unity of spirit existing among
the constituent synods; to encourage and strengthen one another
in faith and confession; to further unity in doctrine and practice
and to remove whatever might threaten to disturb this unity; to
co-operate in matters of mutual interest; to strive for true unity
in doctrine and practice among the Lutheran church bodies.”

Yes, my dear brethren and co-workers in God’s kingdom, that
should always be and remain our purpose and goal in the Synodical
Conference, namely, to attain and to preserve for our posterity and
the Lutheran Church in general a more firm and lasting unity of
faith and confession. Indifference in matters of doctrine is a mark
of our times. The principle of tolerance and the principle of least
resistance are twin brothers. We quite often hear the people, and
even some theologians say nowadays: “It doesn’t matter what you
believe as long as you are sincere in what you believe; it does not
make much difference to what church or denomination you belong
as long as you belong to one of them.” But, my dear brethren,
it does make a difference what we believe and confess. Did not
our Savior say: “If ye continue in My Word, then are ye My
disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall
make. you free’? Loyalty to God’s inspired and inerrant Word is
and ever shall be our most cherished possession and heritage. We
who are watchmen upon the walls of Zion, to us says that Lord
in Isaiah 62:6,7: “I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jeru-
salem, which shall never hold peace day nor night; ye that make
mention of the Lord, keep not silence, and give Him no rest till
He establish and till He make J erusalem a praise in the earth.”

The church here on earth and all her members, and especially
the leaders and teachers of the church, should prove themselves
to be loyal watchmen over the heritage of God’s saints and should
guard day and night the purity of doctrine as it is revealed in the
Holy Scriptures of God’s only and final revelation. You and
I should walk and talk more carefully, not as unwise but as wise,
redeeming the time because the days are evil, always remembering
what the Lord says in Luke 12:47,48: “And that servant which
knew his lord’s will and prepared not himself, neither did according
to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.... For unto whom-
soever much is given, of him shall be much required; and to whom
men have committed much, of him will they ask the more.”

Our hearts must belong to Christ our Lord so completely that
we hear and obey His voice in all things, in all doctrines as they
are revealed to us in the Sacred Scriptures. We must be ready to
join hands and hearts with all those who are of the same household
of faith with us, always remembering that our worst enemies are
not those on the outside but those who are inwardly disloyal to the
Lord and His Gospel, whose doubts and pronouncements under-
mine the faith of their very brethren. Against these we must stand
firm and fight the good fight of faith under the banner of the Lord.
No greater honor can come to a Christian, and especially to a Chris-