Opening of the 21^st Regular Synod Convention

Stoughton, Wisconsin

June 3, 1887

THE COMFORTING TRUTH, THE GRACE OF GOD IS SUFFICIENT FOR US

"My grace is sufficient for you; for my strength is made perfect in weakness," 2 Co. 12:9.

Paul experienced the great sorrow that false teachers had infiltrated the Corinthian congregation and drawn hearts away from the Lord and his truth while they looked down on the apostle and his teaching and exalted themselves as those who alone had the truth and were motivated by the proper love and con-cern for souls. In order to save the Corinthians from these seducers and to bring them back to the divine truth which he had proclaimed to them, the apostle comes, in contrast to the self-praise of the false pro-phets, to speak first about the sublime revelations the Lord had granted him when he was received up into the third heaven. He says expressly that he does not want to glory in himself over them so that no one should think more highly of him than he sees and hears from him, namely, that he was a poor sinner, but one to whom the office of an apostle was entrusted. He knew how inclined human nature is to make gods of men, how that because of special gifts and proofs of grace which a person possesses, people follow such people as their master, rely on and build on their judgment without testing it independently according to the one infallible touchstone, the Word of God. For that reason Paul had not spoken of his demonstration of grace for twelve years.

He goes on to report how the Lord had given him a thorn in the flesh so that he should not pride himself on the sublime revelations. The Lord who knew the frailties of human nature also knew to which tempta-tions those who have received the greatest grace are exposed just because of special gifts and demonstra-tions of grace, and in his wisdom he employed the proper means for preserving his apostle from falling by sending him a very special affliction, a messenger of Satan, which buffeted him. He had prayed to the Lord three times that he might remove it from him. But the Lord, who saw that the affliction was profit-able for him, let it remain, but said to him: "My grace is sufficient for you; for my strength is made perfect in weakness." The Lord thereby assured him of his grace, and that it was sufficient for him.

Also to us, as many as are believers, a revelation has come. Indeed not of the same special nature as Paul's, yet it is a very glorious revelation, a revelation of the love of God, of salvation in Christ.

We took with us as the best inheritance of our paternal home the Word of God and Luther's doctrine. God blessed its proclamation so that the most glorious revelation of God's undeserved grace in Christ became the possession of our synod, while the masses of people around us either wandered without God or learned to know his image only falsified by human doctrines or obscured by deceitful feelings and the will-of-the-wisp of dreams. In spite of various attacks and during long-lasting struggles, the saving mess-age of grace in Christ remained upheld among us unchanged so that the Gospel's stream could flow un-hindered for the edification and the strengthening of poor, troubled sinners. But brothers and sisters, how did we treasure this grace? How were its precious gifts applied among us? It is written of those who drink of the Water of Life that living streams of water shall flow from their hearts, that those who are translated from the power of Satan to God are to proclaim the deeds of him who translates them. We do not want to be ungrateful, as though he who has promised that his Word shall not return void has left himself without testimony among us. We will thank and praise him heartily for every soul which found peace in life and salvation in death through the Gospel of Christ. But alas how little of those living streams of water have we been witnesses to from its proclamation within our congregations! Certainly we have had much reason for thanking God for the purity and unity of doctrine he has granted us for so long and for the unity of the Spirit which reigns among us because of that one faith. But how many were there not with whom this praising, just as faith itself, was on the lips and not in the heart? Alas, how little there was of the burning love and longing for the Word, sincere joy in it and willing sacrifice for it! How much indifference and disobedience toward it! How little of earnest Christian discipline in family and congregation! How much on the other hand, of laxness in discipline, vain and proud action, of not speaking about public vices and offences by which God's name was blasphemed among the heathen! How poorly applied has it not been with Christian education among us, how distressing with brotherly admonition and discipline in the congregations!

All this, brethren, surely testifies sufficiently to how little we have appreciated the pure Word of God, how little concern there was among us for our own salvation and that of other people. What wonder is it if the Lord found that a chastisement is needed here, so that he allowed a bitter sore to develop in our midst - this tragic doctrinal controversy7 with its many grievous consequences - in truth a thorn in the flesh for many of God's children, an eye-opener for many and a testing for the righteous!

Who can describe all the anguish, all the pain it has caused! Who can count all the tears which have been shed, the prayers and sighs which have ascended to the throne of grace that the chastisement might cease, that the controversy might be settled and the Lord again send peace and unity to his church! Oh, it can seem that prayers are not heard! Disunity grows greater, the controversy more sharp, and more and more it becomes apparent that the old unity in faith has departed.

In this distress we have now come together from the congregations of our synod, and every believer's prayer is to the Lord of the church for comfort and help in our distress. And the Lord's answer to us now is as it once was to his apostle in our text, "My grace is sufficient for you; for my strength is made perfect in weakness."

Dear friends! Let us ponder this answer of the Lord more closely with the help of the Holy Spirit so that we may properly acknowledge for our comfort and encouragement in our present distress:

THE COMFORTING TRUTH: THE GRACE OF GOD IS SUFFICIENT FOR US.

We ponder: I. The Truth that The Grace of God Is Sufficient for Us, and

II. How Comforting This Truth Is.

I.

It is a divine TRUTH that "the grace of God is sufficient for us. "

The grace of God, my beloved, is surely the merciful love and goodwill with which God embraces us poor sinners and which he desires for our present and eternal welfare!

By nature no one knows the grace of God, neither can he grasp it. Because, how can any one grasp with his reason that the holy and merciful God who hates sin and must punish it, can love and be merciful to sinners who are deserving of his wrath and can grant them everything which is good?

And yet the truth is that the holy and righteous God is a gracious God, as Paul testifies, "The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men." (Ti. 2:11.) This has its foundation in the fact that Je-sus Christ, the Son of God, became our brother and as the Lamb of God bore the sin of all the world and with his holy obedience and innocent death appeased the wrath of God, because in Christ God reconciled the world unto himself. The natural man can and will as little grasp and believe that this grace of God is also sufficient as that God is gracious. It is foolishness to darkened reason, which of course cannot grasp the spiritual things which pertain to God. Because what is more unreasonable to the intellect than to believe that when a person is in distress, is sick and in want, feels sin and has unrest and tribulation on every side, barely dares to cry out in his distress and to call for help, and if he does it again and again, still finds no help and relief but rather feels that the distress is becoming greater and the tribulation is increasing - what is more unreasonable than to believe that God is gracious to him and that he has enough, absolutely enough, in this grace of God, and that he can and should be satisfied and content with the promise about it? And now, what certainty does he have for the grace of God being sufficient in spite of what he sees and feels? Only the Word proclaimed by weak, feeble men as despised by the world as the Word itself! That is supposed to do it!

And since it is foolishness to reason, so is it also an offense to the proud, arrogant heart to hear that the grace of God is sufficient for us. Because that is certainly saying that we need nothing other than the grace of God and that it is adequate for our being certain that God is friendly and kindly disposed toward us. It of course follows from this that everything depends on this grace of God, that all our success and well-being are dependent on just this. But this does not leave the least glory, praise and merit to man be-cause even everything which man both can and should do, and by the omission of which he forfeits, yes, makes it impossible for him to share in grace, all this, however, does not bring any praise or worthiness before God. Because it is not on all this which we have properly done, even though in weakness, that we rely, but on the grace of God alone that help and blessings as well as our subsequent peace and salvation are based and are dependent. Grace is sufficient for us. But now it is a common sin and disgrace for us all in which the natural heart persists, that it wants to please itself, have praise and honor for itself, be worth something, even ever so little, both in the eyes of God and the world. Thus, if you are deep in distress, then you want your earnestness, your ability, your fear of God and also your prayer to be worth something. God now has to find you more worthy, even have some consideration for all this and therefore help you. But when no help is apparent then the poor heart will either murmur or think that the Lord is extremely unrighteous or it will see in this a sign of God's wrath, and worry that it has not done enough in order to avert his wrath, and so it strives even more zealously to make itself worthy of help in some way. Thus the natural, arrogant heart can hardly be anything other than offended by these words, "The grace of God is sufficient for you," and resist and oppose them with all its ability and strength. However, in spite of all opposition and offence it is and remains, God be praised, unshaken truth!

In the first place, this is the truth taught and testified to in the Holy Scriptures. In our text we hear that it is the answer the Lord gives his apostle to his repeated desire to be freed from his thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan which buffeted him: "You can be completely at ease and confident, Paul", he wants to say, "It is not going to harm you at all, because you have my grace and in it you have everything you need." Just as it is written: "Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound" (Ro. 5:2O). But now surely, sin is our worst enemy, the cause of all our misery, our heaviest burden. Grace, then, is even more abundant than sin. The power of grace is stronger than the power of sin and mighty to blot out, to over-come and to do away with it. The comfort of grace is stronger than the horror of sin, mighty to cast it away. Life-giving grace is more powerful than the wages of sin which is death, and mighty to overcome it. Surely grace then must be sufficient for you. That is why we also hear the apostle testifying in 1 Corinth-ians 15:10: "By the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me," and this is how he extols this grace to the Ephesians: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ," etc. (Ep. 1:3-7.)

Next, the Scriptures teach us so clearly that Christ's work of redemption by which the grace of God was obtained for us is completed. When our dear Lord had completed his suffering, immediately before he gave up the ghost on the cross and commended his spirit into his Father's hands, we hear him cry out: "It is finished" (Jo. 19:30), namely, the work he had come to do in order to atone for sin, reconcile God with us, and obtain his grace for us. And the heavenly Father testifies solemnly to the fact that his work of re-demption was finished by raising him from the dead on the third day. Now if grace should not be suffi-cient, then Christ must not have completed his work, our redemption must not be finished. But to deny this is a denial of Christ. It is blasphemy. No, God be praised, our redemption is finished! Therefore he can and does send his disciples out into the whole world to proclaim the Gospel, the Good News, and say, "Behold, all things are ready." (Lk. 14:17.) But now, if it should be said, "The grace of God is not suffic-ient for you, there is something lacking, there still has to be something besides grace to make you happy and blessed, something which is demanded from you for completing this, something which you have to do," you see then, my beloved, that all things could not be prepared. Then of course it is not a joyous but a terrifying message, a message of death which is proclaimed to us that something remains for us to do in order for God to be able to be gracious. Because we would surely not be able to pay what is demanded or to satisfy the demand, because by nature we are dead in trespasses and sins. But if we do have some abil-ity, then it is of God, and if we are a new creature, capable of good works, yes, if we can say with Paul, "All things are become new," then we must confess from the heart as he does, "By the grace of God I am what I am."

Yes, the grace of God is adequate. It is sufficient for us. It is mighty to awaken the sleeping sinner and to make the dead alive. "God has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace." 2 Ti. 1:9. And just as the grace of God is mighty to create faith in us, so we, as the apostle says, are born again "of incorruptible seed, which is the word of God," (1 Pe. 1:23) and "are justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus," (Ro. 3:24) as the same apostle says, that he is fully persuaded of this, that "he which has begun a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ - inasmuch as you all are partakers with me of grace" (Ph. 1:6.7.) Thus Peter also testifies against the sect of the Pharisees before the assembled apostles and elders in Jerusalem: "But we believe that by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they," namely, the fathers of the faith. (Ac. 15:11.)

But when the Scriptures teach that we are justified and saved by faith, grace suffers no limitation in that way as though it should be an addition to grace in order to complete it, or a condition we are supposed to fulfill so that God will want to show grace. Faith is much more itself a work of grace, God's gracious gift, just as Paul says, "By grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God." (Ep. 2:9.) Yes, faith is a gift of God so that we can grasp and appropriate grace, which is why Paul says, "Therefore the promise is of faith, that it might be by grace." (Ro. 4:16.) In order that grace can be pre-served inviolate and unabridged, so are we saved and blessed by grace alone; therefore we are justified and saved by faith.  

The fact that grace can thus be sufficient for us, yes, that it must be, the Lord himself explains to us in our text when he refers to how grace operates, because he says: "My strength is made perfect in weak-ness."

It is of course so, that precisely at the time that we know ourselves to be so poor, so wretched, and at the same time so completely lacking in power to extricate ourselves from the misery or to render even only the slightest assistance toward that end, and we yield ourselves completely and altogether with everything we are and everything we have of abilities, power and fitness, it is just then that we feel most of all that we need help, that we need grace, but then also are most of all close to despair. But it is precisely in this weakness of ours, the Lord says, that his power is made perfect. We are apt to think that we can be certain of the Lord's grace and expect his power when we think we possess something which is worthy of bring-ing to the Lord, or when we feel a certain power within us, a certain ability to meet and to overcome the difficulties, or when we think that by our own wits we should be able to find a way out. But no! When we stand there empty handed, and our own strength, ability and worthiness are nothing at all, then is the right time for grace to fill the empty vessel, then his strength is made perfect in our weakness. If God merely gave us forgiveness of sins, then it would be unspeakably great grace, but it is a special grace from him which does it so that in all conditions and circumstances, even the most burdensome and most diffi-cult, we have sufficient in his grace, that he uses precisely our affliction and weakness to perfect his strength in us. Faith and confidence become stronger in weakness, prayers more fervent. Through tribu-lations the power of Christ works in us so that we let ourselves be content with the grace of God. Surely the more the outward man in us declines and goes to ruin, the more the spiritual powers increase, the more power the Word of God and the kingdom of God gain, and the grace of God becomes sufficient for us.

But now, my friends, let us turn our attention to the effects of grace. They also testify that the grace of God is sufficient for us. We hear Paul thanking God for the fact that the Corinthians "are enriched in everything, in all utterance, and in all knowledge" and that they "are not lacking in any gift of grace" (1 Co. 1:5-7.) Not only does the understanding become enlightened, grace also works a new light and power in the will and frees it from bondage, just as the prophet says, "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh." (Ez. 36:26.) Therefore the psalmist can exclaim, "Your testimonies also are my delight, and my counselors," (Ps. 119:24) and again, "I will run the way of your commandments, when you shall enlarge my heart" (vs. 32).

By grace we become not only "equipped unto all good works" (2 Ti. 3:17) but also as we heard above, "blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." (Ep. 1:3.) We possess "the peace which passes all understanding" (Ph. 4:7) and an unspeakable joy - joy in the Lord. Thus the prophet says, "And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." (Is. 35:10.) And the apostle says that they who believe in Christ shall "rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory," (1 Pe. 1:8) receiving the end of their faith, the salvation of the soul. Then joy shall become a perfect joy, an inexpressible blessedness. "And there shall be no more curse:" it says in the Revelation, "but the throne of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God gives them light; and they shall reign for ever and ever." (22:3-5.) Now, my friends, do we not have sufficient in the grace of God? Certainly, his word is truth: "My grace is sufficient for you."

II.

But we also want to consider next that this Truth: "The Grace of God Is Sufficient for Us," Is A Very Comforting Truth.

As long as we are dwelling here in this earthly tabernacle we need daily bread for the sustenance of this life. In the First Article of our creed we confess that God, who has created all things, is also the One who provides us with daily bread. In the Lord's Prayer our Lord teaches us to ask our heavenly Father for our daily bread believing that he gives it to us, and to be thankful to him for this blessing. The Word of God also teaches us that we are to eat our bread in the sweat of our face, that the Lord wants us to be diligent workers although work neither produces bread nor do we make ourselves deserving of it by our work. God wants us to work, and he who will not work, neither shall he eat, he says.

But the fact that he should eat his bread in the sweat of his face is burdensome for flesh and blood. It would rather enjoy it without effort and labor. This comes about from the heart of man not being satisfied with the necessary sustenance, but driven partially by his own evil desire he aspires to and pursues more, and partially from really thinking that something completely different belongs to daily bread than the necessary bare subsistence, and therefore he also expects and prays that God will give more.

Next, it also often happens that in spite of all his hard work and capability the worker does not see the fruit of his labor. He is cheated out of his wages by evil men. Drought, hail or other disasters destroy his seed. In this way then we often are placed partially in an imaginary, partially in a real need. We cry to God in this misery of ours. The need remains, increases, and God answers us, "My grace is sufficient." But when a person does not see the need remedied immediately or in the way or to the degree which he asks or thinks necessary, then he does not believe that God has heard his prayers. He much rather believes than God is angry with us and therefore does not want to hear our prayers. From this now follows a rest-less, dissatisfied mind. People complain and murmur both against God and their fellowmen and seek by their own hand, often by illicit means, to get out of their distress and to help themselves to a better state in life. The violent unrest of laborers which is now so common toward those who hold power and against fellow laborers, as well as suppression and injury from the employers' side essentially has its chief cause in the heart's unbelief - God's grace is not sufficient for them. That's the trouble.

It's different with the person who in such distress firmly believes the divine promise, "My grace is suffi-cient for you." He has rich comfort from it because in it the Lord surely says to him, "Be content, dear soul! If you are poor and despised in your own eyes, so that your heart condemns you, yet, I am greater than your heart and I do not condemn you. Let it be sufficient for you that I think a lot of you and love you! Should I not mean more to you than all people? Or my unspeakable blessedness, should it be too cheap for you? Behold, my strength shall be made perfect in your weakness! He, who now confidently takes the Lord at his Word is comforted. Let it be that the need is imminent, the breadwinner lies sick, winter stands at the door, the purse is empty, there are many hungry mouths to feed, and no human help to be expected, no way out to be seen. Yet he believes the divine promise that God is gracious to him and loves him. He believes that his suffering is not a sign that God is angry with him but of the loving Fath-er's care which disciplines his child because he loves it. If the suffering continues in spite of repeated prayer he is certain that it is for his good that he is suffering and that his dear God both knows his distress and is also with him in the day of trouble and will deliver him from it when his time comes. Comforted, he therefore casts his care upon the Lord, persuaded that he will remember him. Resigned to the will of God he waits patiently and is satisfied that in the Lord's time he will change it.

Thus also, when he is thrown upon a sickbed for a long time, is the object of the hatred of the children of the world, or is misjudged and slandered by his own people. Although he calls upon God again and again that the cross may be taken away and he only receives the answer, "My grace is sufficient for you!" thus, however, this word comforts his heart. Although his conscience acquits him over toward men that with his life or particular offenses he has not deserved suffering, yet he acknowledges that over toward God however he is guilty, and that even if by grace God acquits him of guilt and punishment, he has how-ever seen that his chastisement was useful to him so that he could be preserved and furthered in humility and be prompted so much more constantly and sincerely to continuing in prayer and supplication to the Lord and his Word.

Grace is sufficient for him. It teaches him to see light in the Lord's light, to kiss the rod and to say with the psalmist, "Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept your word," (119:67) and with Job, "The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord!" (1:21.)

But if this word: "My grace is sufficient for you," proves itself rightly as a word of comfort when we are placed in physical distress, how much more when we sit in spiritual misery and the heat of temptation! A sinner is awakened from his sleep of sin. He sees sin in its hatefulness, his own distress of sin and his lost condition. He is terrified and bewails his spiritual depravity, God's wrath which is over him, the damna-tion which awaits him, and he cries in his distress for help and deliverance. The Lord in his grace lets the blessed Gospel be preached to him which proclaims to him salvation in Christ, that his iniquity is put away, that he shall not die, God is no longer angry but forgives him all his sin. It is a comforting word, medicine for his wounds! But how can he believe it is truth? How can such love be possible? Not to men-tion that he surely has not brought the holy and righteous God anything other than his sins and iniquities. Were he pardoned, were sin blotted out, then he ought not see only sin in himself and only feel the sting of sin. He ought to know the power of the new life flowing through him, see its fruits in the putting away of sin, in holy desire and longing, in purity and holiness in thoughts, words and deeds. But wherever he turns, within, as without, he sees nothing except sin and the filth of sin. If God were no longer angry and had really forgiven him his sin then he ought to feel happy and blessed, know peace and joy in his spirit, feel the Lord's nearness and the power and good will which issues from him. But now! Now he feels only anxiety and uneasiness, distress unto death, pain over his sin, pain that he feels no peace. In his heart's distress he cries to his God and prays that also this anguish and uneasiness may be taken from him, that he yet may feel the Lord's nearness, taste how good God is, be sensible of his power and see its revelation in his entire life.

But instead of getting to see and feel this he receives the answer, "My grace is sufficient for you; for my strength is made perfect in weakness." Now, he thinks, the Lord assures me that he is gracious to me in spite of everything which I see and feel, and he tells me that his grace is sufficient for me. That is what I need and want. On the other hand, it does not depend at all on what I see and feel. Yes, he says that "blessed are they who do not see and yet believe. I'm not going to regard my trial as a sign of God's wrath" but as proof of his fatherly love. Thus these words, "My grace is sufficient for you," strike down all the un-certainties of doubt, all the tempting thoughts with which the enemy wants to hurl him into unbelief and keep him away from salvation in Christ. By grace he receives power to believe that he has found grace before the Lord and that this grace is sufficient for him. Thus grace testifies to him that it is sufficient. Al-though he still sees sin adhere to him, feels the accusation of his conscience, the Law's judgment and the devil's threat, God's grace is sufficient for him. It comforts him against sin, death, Law, judgment, and the devil. He does not lose heart but waits patiently until the Lord changes it.

Thus also in the severe trials to which God sees it useful that his children be subjected. If it were not so that God's grace is sufficient for us we would never survive them. When everything is so dark; our heart's uncleanness, the evil lusts and desires, the daily weaknesses, omissions and transgressions without num-ber - all this will hide the sun of grace like a cloud so that not even a ray of it penetrates the poor heart. The Lord's threats and judgments upon the unrepentant, it applies to itself. Comforting promises, encou-raging expressions pass it by as though they are not spoken to it. The tempter often seems to present even the experience of grace which it has had as a blindness and self-deception of the heart which has imagined itself to be favored. Prayers die out, the poor heart is not even able to utter a sigh. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, carries them to the throne of grace, and the answer: "My grace is sufficient for you; for my strength is made perfect in weakness," is explained by the Spirit. "Dear soul," he says then, "I know well that your sin is as great and varied as you say, yes, even greater, so that you can hardly measure it or com-prehend it; yet my grace is more than abundant. Let it be that you have deceived yourself with respect to your former situation and that your belief that you were converted and favored has been a vain deception and your spiritual experiences likewise, I am grace to you nonetheless, this grace of mine is not a delu-sion. It has cost altogether too much for that - my only-begotten Son's precious blood. Therefore, in spite of all your sin, in spite of death and the devil, you have my grace. I love you as the apple of my own eye. 'For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from you, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed,' said the Lord your Comisserator (Is. 54:1O); and this my grace is sufficient for you."

That's how the Spirit explains grace in Christ, its greatness and sufficiency, and comforts the anxious soul with unspeakable grounds of comfort. The weak faith which has smoldered under the ashes like a spark blazes again and the fiery darts of the wicked one are quenched with this shield of faith: "My grace is sufficient for you."

Dear brothers and sisters! We are placed in need, in great need. We ought well already have had the experience that we ourselves can accomplish nothing here with our wisdom, strength and ability, that help must come from above if we are going to be helped. If we cry now out of the depths, "Lord, help us, we are perishing!" (Mt. 8:25) then the answer comes, "My grace is sufficient for you, my strength is made perfect in weakness." Yes, the grace of God alone can comfort us in distress. It alone can help us out of the dis-tress. It alone can give the proper eye salve, convince hearts of their own faults and errors, reveal the di-vine truth to them and bend them to obedience under the Word. It alone can remove the dust from the eye as a stone from the heart and loose the chains which bind the will, and on the other hand give the heart the divine certainty of faith which makes it believe that it does have sufficient in the grace of God. As precious as we hold unity and brotherhood, the Spirit teaches us to place the grace of God even higher. Because it can also comfort the heart, yes, even make it glad and cheerful because it has sufficient in the grace of God. But, my beloved, God sends us this grace in his Word, the Gospel. How important for us, brothers, that by our discussions during these days we watch over this Gospel as the costliest treasure which is entrusted to us, that we either suffer and sacrifice everything rather than sacrifice something of the Gospel or permit it to be perverted in some way, but seek to preserve it unadulterated as it was deliv-ered to us by the fathers! Let it be more than an empty word when we sing with the father of the Reformation:

Still must they leave God's Word its might,

For which no thanks they merit;

Still is He with us in the fight,

With His good gifts and Spirit.

And should they, in the strife,

Take kindred, goods, and life,

We freely let them go,

They profit not the foe;

With us remains the kingdom.

In the next place, let us do what we are able, by confession and gifts, so that this Gospel is richly pro-claimed pure and unadulterated while we are concerned for the training and sending out of orthodox pas-tors, for an increased mission activity, and not least for Christian schools through which children can be preserved in their Baptismal grace! But above all, let us see to it that we do not only bear this Gospel on our lips, and, if it comes to it, sacrifice some dollars for it, but that it must dwell, live and rule in our hearts! Then the streams of grace shall also flow over us unchecked and we shall learn more and more to be content when we have the grace of God. This shall then certainly show its power by teaching us that it is sufficient for us and that we need nothing more, but are well provided for for time and eternity with it in whatever suffering and affliction the Lord in his wisdom may have ordered for each of us. Then our be-loved synod shall also blossom as the rose of Sharon, even in whatever troubles and trials the Lord may have in store for it in the future. Let us therefore not despise or neglect his divine Word but hold it in high esteem and honor and gladly both hear and learn it!

Yes, dear God, teach us to regard your Word and your grace above everything else! Destroy in our hearts all idols, not only of gold and silver but also of the flesh which will deprive you of your honor and us of our salvation! If it is necessary, then inject a thorn in our flesh all the way to the heart, but comfort us by grace! Yes, teach us in spite of all our unworthiness, weakness and misery so much more boldly to comfort ourselves with it, because it is sufficient for us.

Thus by Thine own hand do lead us,

However Thou best can find,

And let Thy Holy Spirit kind

At all times do us remind,

That however Thou wilt lead us,

Thy way and manner is thus

To counsel us,

Though hard the way we trace,

It is still but grace, pure grace. Amen.

Synodal Beretning  1887; pages 12-24