The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1897, Page 18

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18

The Lutheran Pioneer.

On Preaching the Gospel.

Missouri Synod, which,

j
found six pages of cap paper covered with
close writing.

Glancing at the bottom, he| writer in substance says:
On the ninth day of May the Lutheran| saw a German name, and he threw the letter | sincere ;
together with the| into his trunk with a sigh, saying, ‘‘Oh, here} claim the gospel without any ‘ifs’ or ‘ands’ or
other Lutheran Synods of the Synodical Con- | is a German who perhaps wants money to| ‘buts.’

The letter is still in existence and in it the
‘‘No doubt you are
but you are evidently afraid to pro-

You tell people, it is true, to believe

ference, carries on mission work among the| build a church; and I have no money to give |on the Lord Jesus Christ, and they shall be
colored people, celebrated its golden jubilee. | him. There will pe time enough to read his | saved; but you add some conditions, or con-
In the year 1847 this Synod was organized at/ letter on the sea.’
But constant and terrible sea-sickness all/in Christ, and partly in themselves for salva-

Chicago, Ill,

Lutheran Synod in America.
Lord’s doing; it it marvelous
in our eyes.’”’ The Lord did
it all through the preaching of
the pure Gospel truth. This
Gospel united the hearts of the
fathers and founders of the
Synod; this Gospel enabled
them to suffer and to labor for
the salvation of souls. For the
purity of the Gospel as con-
fessed by the Lutheran church
they bravely fought and cheer-
fully took upon themselves the
reproach of Christ. The pure
Gospel doctrines were made
known by the Synod in its pub-
lications, in its churches, in its
schools, and on the mission
field.

The Lord has mercifully
blessed the labors of the Synod
during the past fifty years.
Thousands have been won for
the truth as it in Jesus. Even
such as were not of the Lu-
theran household of faith and
did not come to the full knowl-
edge of the truth in all doc-
trines, were influenced by the
testimony borne by the Lu-
theran Missouri Synod. In the
following we present an exam-
ple. The Rev. Dr. James H.
Brookes, who, on the 19th of
April, departed this life as pas-
tor of one of the largest Pres-
byterian congregations in Saint
Louis, and who by his eloquent
voice and powerful pen influ-
enced a large circle of hearers
and readers, told the writer at different times
that he had learned of the Missouri Synod how
to preach the Gospel. ‘Ten years ago he him-
self related the story in a paper edited by him,
and from his article we adapt the following.
The young pastor of whom the article speaks
is the Doctor himself, and the writer of the
letter is a ‘‘Missourian,’’ who had heard the
Doctor preach in St. Louis. The Doctor says:

More than twenty-five years ago, a young
Pastor was entirely disabled by a throat
disease. He started for Europe. While wait-
ing in New York for the sailing of his vessel,
a number of letters came to him, forwarded
from St. Louis. Opening one of them, he

by a small number of congre-|
gations and has by the grace of God during | the way across the Atlantic banished the let-} tion.
the past fifty years grown to be the largest | ter from the thoughts.

Rey. C. F. W. Walther, D. D.,
First President of the Ev. Luth. Synod of Missouri, Ohio and other States.

mind. But one day in Switzerland when the
weather did not permit outdoor exercise, and
while emptying the trunk for some purpose,
the neglected letter was soon discovered.
The writer began with an apology for his in-
trusion, and then launched out into the bold
statement that the Pastor to whom he wrote
did not preach the Gospel. At this the reader
paused a moment, and said to his wife with a
laugh, ‘‘Here is a Dutchman who says I do
not preach the gospel; I wonder if he can
teach me.’’ Thank God, he did teach him,
and before the reading was finished, the Min-
ister was on his face before the Lord in con-
fession and humiliation.

sequences, that must lead them to trust partly

You speak as if you’ would shrink from

A long stay in Paris our Lord’s own words, ‘Verily, verily, I say
“This is the! under medical treatment did not bring it to! unto you, He that believeth on me marTu ever-

lasting life.’ You evidently dare
not leave a soul hanging on that
alone in the confidence of a calm
and unfaltering assurance that
all is well.’’

The writer rebuked the Pas-
tor for directing sinners ‘‘to
keep on praying until God is
merciful.’’ He challenged him
to point out one place in the
Bible that gives any such direc-
tion; and he asked how the
Minister could know that these
sinners would not be in hell be-
fore they could reach home to
pray. He cited Scripture after
Scripture to show that the Lord
Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost
by the apostles, teach an im-
mediate, certain, and everlast-
ing salvation to every one that
believeth ; and he so swept the
scene of all feelings, all efforts,
that Christ was left alone on
the field of His conflict and
victory, the only object that
fixed the astonished and admir-
ing gaze of the young Minister,
in the infinite sufficiency of His
atoning death, a present, al-
mighty, and unchangeable Sav-
iour. Christ had been trusted
before, but not apart from every
other ground of confidence.

The letter closed with the
words, ‘‘Please to preach the
gospel without any human ad-
ditions to it.’”’ Very often has
that voice sounded in the ear
and heart of the instructed serv-
ant of Christ, ‘‘Preach the gospel without
any human additions to it.’’ It has helped
him to preach, not about Christ, but Christ
as a personal Saviour; not Christ and some-
thing else to deliver us from the curse and
dominion of sin, but a living Christ who is
able and willing to save, upon the instant of
believing, the very chief of sinners.

So much we adapt from the Doctor’s article.
From a member of his congregation we learned
that after his return from Europe he burned
allhis manuscripts, and that the congregation
soon noticed a great change in his preaching.
He pointed his hearers to the Word of God
as the means of grace in which Christ with a