The Lutheran visitor. (Columbia, S.C.) 1869-1904, February 06, 1902, Image 3
February 6, 1902
Preparation of Bearers of the Truth.
“They shall be all taught of
•God." Whatsoever is uot of God
is sin. The church shall teach of
God. , She is .His jostilutioo, and
isset.as the saving iustitulipn of
God amongst men lost in sin. Sue
‘teaches, heavenly truth by means
1 of.humau agency—earthly vessels.
God's truth must be taught, learned
aDd,obeyed._Through the.church
the work of eaoctiiicauon must pro
eeed. She has the mouthpieces.
They must be trained, qualified and
tested lor use. “They shall be all
taugut of God." Likewise they
must leacu of God ana preacu
Christ Preparation of the best
known and nignesldegree ia neces
sary it is me gianced calling
on earth, ana it is to be used so as
not to be UatupleU under tool a»
an unholy thing, it is the mgu
calling ut Uud in Christ Jesua. No
gilt in the power ut any nation is
in be compared to it; neither presi
dent uf a republic however vast,
nor monarch 01 me greatest world
power ever known or recorded in
history can compare with me hum
ble and sincere minuter ut God—a
plenipotentiary irutu me cuuri of
heaven. Aa me nations nave their
ambteeadora »i the different courts
Wbu ate. tu act.in ineir stead and
who have hack ut them me power
ut me nations they represent, so
(fie ministers ul Cnriet, «iiu are his
•ppjiaied ambassadors, ana speak
hue act lor him, have hack uf them
power from ou high. Christ said
uf them, “Whatsoever ye snail
bind on earth shall be bound in
heaven, and whatsoever ye loose on
•arm shall be loosed in heaven."
' With this divine utterance before
>*, let us see how important it is
lor the gospel minister to be fully
( irniored. it is true that “it is not
ky might or power, but my spirit,
•hun the Lord,” yet remember
that God does not despise knowl-
tMge and thereby place a premium
Ifh ignorance. He sanctifies hn
knowledge and turns posses-
•*ons of such a kind to account.
for example, the man Moses,
*ho was learned in all the wisdom
the Egyptians and the Hebrews,
great learning was sanctified
hy the Lord, who gave him power
ppnt to confusion the magicians
•“d astrologers of his day. Paul,
tke learned and eloquent man,
jjtowe learning was sanctified by
P* Lord, had power out of his vast
P*dom and stores of knowledge to
>ttaljz9 the efforts of false teachers
pretenders in the congested
Iptersof wealth and heathen phil
THE LUTHERAN VISITOR
osophy in Athens, Ephesus, Cor
inth audjin other important cities
of that day. He has given the
church the type of Pauline theology
for all time a model.
The Church Must Fit Men to Stand for
tts Truth
Such are the demands upon the
church today. Error in the guise
of modern learning must be met
now, and with it the spirit that
would destroy the church of God,
his own institution, with its means
of grace, and substitute in its stead
bumau organisations with boasted
leaders of fancied miraculous
#
power. The church must fit meu to
stand in the breach folly equipped
to heal it, not by compromise of
truth with error, but by defense
with the truth. Astrologers, ma
gicians, philosophers and fatalists
must be met and overcome by the
truth of God's word, which is
mighty and mast prevail. All the
reformation that can be expected
both in church and state most be
brought a boat by the power of the
truth It must be constantly held
up, and men must be pointed to it.
Now the truth God baa committed
to bis church, aod through this
divine institution be sends oat am-
baskndorsas tbetxponent of troth.
These smbasssdors are to stand and
»p<*ak for him, and through the
gospel ministry Christian civibxt
lion comes to the state as a blessed
fruit of the troth through the
church and at the hands of God's
ambassadors, because to them the
people both io church and slate
will tarn and seek advice and in
formation.
Viewing tbns the great mission
of the ministry and the blessed
frui's which naturally follow to
cbnrch and state, it is no wonder
tbat oar church is so wideawake to
her duty and privilege along this
line of Per work. Hat, brethren
of this synod, let us bestir our
selves to greater interest and come
to a falter realization of our duty
and responsibility, and let all our
past efforts and achievements be
only the suadows to the real suc
cess yet to be attained. Like Paul
of old, let us press onward and up
ward, ever higher, reaching for the
goal—the best possible equipped
college and seminary for the best
training of our people and especial
ly the ministers of the gospel.
Stand by the college and the semi
nary, the great intellectual and
spiritual power houses of our syn
od aod church. These institutions
have been watered by the tears and
supported by the prayers and the
means of our people in the year*
gone by—institutions which today
hold the first p Jllce ju th „
warm heart of our chine Eadow
•hem most thoroughU M.jnat we
can have our institutions on a
Arm basis, and being more fully
equipped we can and will see greater
results.
The great endowment movement,
"'■’ieitbas met with marked en-
cuuregstnent, has not received the
fulleu.tn.aement of all oor people
which it deservea Brethren, let
not ibe trust of the care of these
institutions handed down to us
from our forefathers pass to the
baud* of those who follow aa with
out all the marks of improvement
possible at hands
Higher Standard of the Mlsistry De
ounded
Rfise the standards, and espe
cially that ot the ministry, so that
ineir edncation—which is above all
because of the.pos.iion ofjtne min
ister ip the world—should be most
thorough All -uort cuts to the
ministry should b« discouraged as
not best for the individnsl or the
•korab. After one has passed
through iwe foil cour* 0^
embed siady he feels little like
undertaking the task. Pawl, wbo
waa a very learned man, after his
-iprnence on the way to Damascu
studied for three years especially
for bis life work as the preache, to
the Gentiles. Moses' prrparatan
a« the great lea ler aod lawgiver of
Israel extended over a period of
more (ban forty years. The die-
oplee, who were lowly fishermen,
and of whom ,t t u not. sail that
they were ignorant, were for three
year, directly under the in.troct.ou
of the great Teacher himself. The
greatest possible amount ot train
ing in intellect and heart is now
especially necessary tor the exi
gences of.the times. if I ahouid
appeal to the ministry or ihm synod
as a matter of experience, I dare
say that notions could couacieu-
tiously declare that he felt mlly
prepared lor Lit work when he had
learned to know | ail that was
required of him. Our experience
can only be compared to that one
of old who in tue mida of the great
req .irements of bis office earnestly
inquired,. “Who is sufficient lor
these things?
Our Duty to Our Own Institutions.
It is plainly the duty of the min
istry, as we have seen, to develop
mind aud heart to the fullest ex
tent possible under the guidance of
God’s spirit, and it is the duty of
3
the synod to provide all the neces
sary means to this end. The work
of the college and the seminary in
the past is;now bearing rich fruit.
The larger per cent of the minis
ters now in our synod are men who
have been trained in our own col
lege and the theological seminary of
onr Southern Lutheran Church;
and without casting any reflection
on onr brethren wbo have been
educated elsewhere,', aud who are
successfully laboring among us—
and whom we gladly welcome with
baud aud heart—we say tbat our
synod must look mainly to its own
college and our seminary for uieu
to fill its rauki from time to time.
Finally,* since the ministry has
such an important mission to per
form it behooves those wbo are
called to this high sod holy office,
even after all the training of onr
thoroughly equipped college and
seminary has been obtained, to
take the principles already learned
and daily to develop them. Paul
was thoughtful to ask for his parch
mrnt to be brought, for U was an
evidence which showed his con
finued and persistent study. 80
we mast keep the dost from oar
libraries by cootioned handling
and atody of the books by way ef
gaming knowledge. The reservoir,
however fall, will ran dry if it be
ooutiioslly drawn from and not
replenished.
Brethren, car position in the
church aod io the world ia one of
grave responsibility. Let ns meet
it folly prepared to leave the world
better after we have panted off the
stage of action. May {the God of
all grace anstain ns in oor work.
A Christian mao's life is laid in
the loom of time to a patt»rn which
be does not see, but God does;sod
his heart ia he shuttle. On one
side of the loom is sorrow, on the
other is j iy; and theahnltle, struck
alternately by each, flies back and
forth, carrying the thread, which
is white or black as the pattern
needs. And in the end when God
shall lift up tbe.finished garment,
and all its changing hues shall
glance oat, it will then appear that
the deep and dark colors were as
needful to beauty as the bright and
high colors—Heury Ward Beech
er.
What you are in the sight of
God and not what you are in the
sight of man, determines your
true place and destiny in the
universe.