A Christian's Duty To Join an Orthodox Local
Church
by C. F. W. Walther

translation by Prof. K. K. Miller
Foreword

In the congregation where the undersigned served as pastor it has been the custom, since its founding in 1839, that it held meetings, not only regular meetings to take care of matters pertaining to its permanence, but also extraordinary meetings as often as the welfare of the congregation required, for discussing important practical or doctrinal questions. The congregation had occasion for such meetings in the unhappy experiences toward the end of 1876, when the number of those who attended her worship and partook of her Lord's Supper, but did not want to join the congregation as members, increased. This moved the congregation to hold meetings in which this abuse might be held up to the light of God's Word and thereby be done away with. In order for the instruction to be able to be of value in the future, the congregation arranged to have the oral presentation stenographically recorded, in the hopes that she might serve other Christians and whole congregations with the gift given to this congregation; then the undersigned was instructed to see to it that the stenographic record be printed. In carrying out this duty, many difficult hindrances have made for delay. May the publication of the proceedings now at last be kindly received and be of some service, so that here, as elsewhere, congregations may from now on be freed from the mischief that so many want to partake of the blessings of a Christian congregation, not as members, but as so-called guests, which is against God's order. May Jesus Christ, the glorious Head of His congregation and the Chief Shepherd of His flock, bring it to pass for the sake of His grace and His faithfulness. Amen

Prayer: Lord Jesus, Thou art come into the world not only to take us into a kingdom of eternal glory, but also to gather us into a kingdom of grace here below in Thy dear, holy Church. We are now no longer guests and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of Thy Father.

O let us recognize what great grace that is! What does all citizenship on earth help us if we do not have the spiritual, heavenly citizenship which Thou hast won for us so dearly with Thy life, suffering, and death? What would all our earthly houses be but places of unrest and hopelessness, if we do not also dwell in the house of Thy Church, which no fire or flood can destroy because it is founded on Thee, the Rock of salvation?

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Help also our children to recognize what grace it is that they are born and reared in the bosom of Thy holy Church, and support them in this communion which is so rich in grace. Let us one day enter with them into the dwelling place of everlasting joy.

Hear us, Lord Jesus, for the sake of Thy gracious coming again.

Amen

My brothers, what has caused us to gather here today is, as you know, the sad experience that many people, especially young people, although they consider themselves good Christians, nevertheless do not want to be seen or treated as members of the congregation. They want to go to church and to the Lord's Supper with us, even (at least a few of them) contribute to the support of the church and school, but not to join our congregation as members. They do not intend not to become members, but they want to remain free and independent for a while yet. Later, they say, perhaps when they get married, or when they have some money, or when they at last find it necessary for some other reason, then they will take up membership in the congregation. They are not malicious about it. Most of them might not at all realize what horrible principles they cherish and express, what dangerous and ruinous ways they thereby follow and how none other than the evil foe seeks after their souls and in this matter seduces them from the simplicity which is in Christ, 2 Cor. 11:3, and, yes, has bewitched them.

So it is necessary that this matter should now be discussed among us and the most fundamental instruction about it be given. It is not only necessary for the sake of those who keep aloof from the congregation, but also for the sake of many members of the congregation, among whom great confusion still obtains about this point, and who do not know how to reach their children or other such people, who, to their regret, do not want to belong to the congregation..

In order that our discussion may proceed in an orderly fashion and the matter it concerns be clear and plain, I have at your request prepared a few theses for this purpose, which can serve us as a guide in our discussion. They are as follows:

1. Christ came into the world not only to redeem mankind, but also to gather a communion of saints, or a holy Christian Church (John 11:51-52; 10:16; Matthew 16:18. Ephesians 2:22-23; Romans 12:5).

2. This holy Christian Church is indeed invisible and scattered abroad over the whole earth, but as to those who have faith in their hearts and belong to the invisible Church, Jesus wants them not only to confess their faith publicly (Matthew 10:32-33; Luke 9:26; John 12:42-43; Romans 10:9-10), but also to join in  visible churches, or local congregations, with

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those who confess the same faith with them in every place where they find them, for

1. He not only established the public ministry or congregational office (1 Corinthians 12:28; Ephesians 4:11-12; Acts 20:28), but also commanded that it be established in every city (Titus 1:5), and commanded all Christians to submit themselves to it (Hebrews 13:17; 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13. Luke 10:16; James 5:14);

2. He established that the holy Sacraments, which presuppose an outward fellowship of Christians with each other, be administered and used together (1 Corinthians 12:13; 11:20-22; 10:17);

3. He not only commanded individuals to exercise Christian discipline upon their fellow believers, but also whole congregations to exercise it upon their members (Matthew 18:15-18; 1 Corinthians 5:9-13; 6:1-6);

4. He expressly commanded Christians to help and care for their fellow Christians in bodily and spiritual need (Romans 12:13; Acts 6:1 ff.; 4:34-35; 11:19-23);

5. Finally, He obliged them to bring others to the Church (Matthew 28:19-20; Galatians 4:26).

3. Everyone who wants to be a Christian is obligated to join a Christian congregation of the right confession whenever and wherever he has the opportunity (Acts 2:41-42,47; Hebrews 10:24-25).

4. A person becomes a member of a local congregation by:
1. Baptism in that congregation (Acts 2:41-47);

2. His parents become or have become members of that congregation, provided that, if he is already baptized, he is still an infant and under the authority of his parents (Acts 2:39 [cf. Genesis 17:7, 12-14] Mark 10:14; Ephesians 6:1-3);

3. Reception into the congregation at his own request (3 John 9-10.).

5. Anyone who does not join a local congregation of his confession, although he has the opportunity, or who leaves it while remaining in its area; also, anyone who does not want to be a member, although he did

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become one by Baptism or by his parents' joining during his infancy - such a person deals in an unchristian manner, behaves disorderly, and therefore, when he rejects all admonition, he should not be considered or treated as a brother (1 John 2:19; 2 Thessalonians 3:6).

6. Subscribing the church's Constitution is but a good human custom. By it the subscriber does not first become a member, but he is counted among the adult members who have been received into the congregation as voting members (1 Corinthians 14:40; Colossians 2:5).

7. Those who receive the benefits of the ministry which is established and supported by the congregation but do not wish to belong to the congregation, who also are able to but do not want to contribute anything by word or deed to support it or anything that belongs to it, - such people act contrary to God's clear Word (Luke 10:5-7; 1 Corinthians 9:13-14; Galatians 6:6; 2 Corinthians 8:13). If they do not listen to admonition, they are not to be accorded the privileges of church membership.

8. Ordinarily, only such non-members of an orthodox congregation are to be treated as guests and accorded the blessings of the congregation who are on a journey, or who come from a distant place where there is no orthodox church to be found at all, or who have been unjustly excommunicated (1 Peter 5:2; Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 4:15; Romans 12:13; 3 John 5-10; John 7:34-39).

Thesis I

Christ came into the world not only to redeem mankind, but also to gather a communion of saints, or a holy Christian Church (John 11:51-52; 10:16; Matthew 16:18; Ephesians 2:22-23; Romans 12:5).

In this first thesis, which is fundamental to our discussion, the reference is indeed not to a visible congregation, but to the so-called Invisible Church. For many, therefore, it would seem unnecessary to treat it, since no one who considers himself a Christian would deny that he must be a member of the Invisible Church if he expects to be saved. But it will appear in the course of our treatment of the subject how important and necessary it is for us vividly to bring to mind, discuss, and establish this doctrine that one should join a local congregation.

The first proof passage from the Bible for our first thesis is found in the Gospel of John, chapter 11, verses 51-52:

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"Jesus should die for that nation, and not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad."

Before I proceed to show that these words of the Holy Ghost prove what we have said in our first thesis, allow me to preface it with a preliminary remark. With us human beings there is a very special situation. While God created all the angels at once, He created just one man in the beginning, from whom all men should descend by and by. God even took the first mother from the first father and from this first couple should spring all the millions and millions of people that have lived so far and shall live to the Last Day. What did God have in mind? Clearly this above all: No man should be able to sat to another, I come from different stock than you do. Each must much rather confess: Where you come from, I come from. As Paul declares to the Athenians, who as Greeks thought themselves better than other people, whom they therefore called Barbarians, "God hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth." (Acts 17:26) So we belong together. It is unnatural for one not to care about another. It is sin. It is the sad consequence of our fall from God, who had so intimately united us. It is that damnable self-love that lives in us all and that says with Cain, "Am I my brother's keeper?" (Genesis 4:9) Therefore it says in the Proverbs of Solomon (18:1): "He that separateth himself seeketh his own desire and setteth himself against all that is good."  (Transl from Luther)

Now, what God has done to heal this horrible injury of the human race is spelled out in our first proof passage, in which it says, "Jesus should die for that nation, and not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad."

Look now: Christ did not come into the world to do what a philosopher would do. A philosopher presents his teachings, and he seeks to publicize it and to convince people of its correctness; but he is satisfied with that. Christ did not merely proclaim His message Himself and have it published in the whole world; He also did not only die "for the people," i.e., to redeem the whole world; but His goal is, as our text says, to "gather in one" those who receive His doctrine in true faith and so become children of God. Christ's mission, after redeeming the whole world, was not to save individual people, one here and one there, but He wants them all to be united in one fellowship of the children of God, and that already here on earth. The words we refer to do not refer to a union in one particular place, but a union in the Spirit, which is not viewed with our physical eyes, a union in the faith. From this we can readily see that anyone who wants to be a completely free and independent Christian and not a member of a communion, opposes Christ and His holy and blessed decree. In-

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deed, it is impossible to be a child of God and still not intend to belong to that invisible communion of the children of God to which Christ wants to bring all the children of God.

A similar proof passage for our first thesis is John 10:16, which says, "And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd."

Here Christ both refutes the notion of the Jews that God will accept them alone and refuse the whole world of Gentiles, and testifies that He is minded to make one single flock consisting of Jews and Gentiles. He will therefore not make individual people His sheep, but He will gather them together in one fold. It is impossible to be a sheep of the one good Shepherd and still be separated from all the other sheep of Christ and not want to belong to Christ's fold. In the preceding context of our proof passage the Lord much rather says of such scattered sheep that the wolf has caught them, verse 12.

To proceed: In our third proof passage, Matthew 16:18, we read: "And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."

Those assembled children of God Jesus called His flock in the first two passages He now calls His Church. From this we can see that He intends not only that individual persons should be built on Him as the Rock of their salvation through faith; but He intends also that all those who are so built on Him should comprise one communion of saints, or one Church; for the Greek word that Luther translated as Communion (Gemeine) means nothing else than what we generally call Church. So it is also impossible to be built on Christ, the Rock of salvation, by true faith, and still not belong to Christ's Church. Anyone who does not want to belong to Christ's Church is one whom the gates of hell have prevailed against, perhaps for a long time already. The saying that has applied at all times in Christendom remains ever true: "Extra ecclesiam nulla salus;" i.e., "Outside the church there is no salvation." Why? Because the Church is nothing else than the Communion of all true believers, and without faith in Christ no one can be saved, for "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." Acts 4:12. Hence Luther writes, "Outside the Christian Church there is no truth, no Christ, no salvation." (Walch XI, 210.) Elsewhere he adds, "It is decreed that outside the Church of Christ there is no God, no grace, and no salvation; as Paul says in Ephesians 4:5, `One Lord, one faith, one Baptism, one God. " (XII, 1195) It is true when men say, "He who does not have the Church for his mother, does not

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have God for his Father." Therefore all Christians of all times and all places on earth confess not only this, "I believe in the holy Christian Church, the Communion of saints," but also add at that very point, "the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting." As Luther points out in the Large Catechism, "outside of Christendom, wherever the Gospel is not found, there is also no forgiveness." It is not possible to reconcile these two things: to have forgiveness of sins and yet to want to hear nothing of the holy, Christian Church.

Our fourth and fifth proof passages on the Church of Christ, the Communion of saints, are from the pen of the apostle Paul:

Ephesians 1:22 "(God) gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body." Romans 12:5 "So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another."

Here the Holy Ghost testifies that Christ has united His Christians into one congregation or church in the same way as organs are combined into one body. As from the head of the body one mind, one life, one feeling streams through all the members, so Christ, the invisible Head of His Church, as His spiritual body, makes His own to be participants in His spiritual life, and makes them share in His Holy Spirit, through which all the members of His body, i.e., all truly believing Christians, are spiritually animated and moved. No father is so intimately bound to his son, nor any son with his brother, as one Christian is with another. One and the same Christ, one and the same Holy Spirit dwells in each one of them. They make one person, so to speak. To be a Christian but not to want to belong to the Church; to be a Christian and still not be concerned about other Christians; indeed, to be separated from them; is the same as being a living member and not wanting to belong to the body; or being a living member and still not caring about the other members of the body; indeed, to want to be separate from them. Real members of a body cannot be separated from the other real members without at the same time being separated from the head; so, too, a true Christian cannot be separated from the other true Christians who are known to him without separating from our common Head, Christ. Anyone who says, Faith in Christ saves by itself, and I believe in Christ; so what do I need with the Church or congregation? - such a person does not know what he is saying. Christ, faith, church, congregation are intertwined so closely that in a Christian none can be separated from the other. Whoever does not want to belong to the Church, still belongs to the children of the world. The world, however, will pass away with its lusts and will on the Last Day turn back to nothing, from which it was once created. The Church, though, will not be

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overcome by the gates of hell; so it will abide to the end of the world. Indeed, it will endure through all eternity, for "he that doeth the will of God abideth forever." 1 John 2:1-7. Woe to him who remains outside the Church and seeks his fortune in the world. Blessed is he who is a member of the Church!

Here many will think within themselves: What? Do we Lutherans believe that there is only one saving Church, as do the so-called Catholics? I answer: Hardly, my brother. First, a Lutheran does not believe that the Church saves anyone. When we teach that there is no salvation outside the Church, we are only saying that outside of Christ there is no salvation, because Christ is preached only in the Church. Besides, the so-called Catholic Church is only a visible, particular church, and at that it is the most perverted and is full of horrible errors and idolatries; it is but a denomination [part of the Church]. When we say that there is no salvation outside the Church we are not talking about a visible denomination, in which there are also hypocrites and ungodly people, not even our own Evangelical Lutheran Church. We are talking about the invisible, holy, universal, Christian Church, in which there are only truly believing Christians, and which is not found only here and there, but it is spread over the whole earth.

We intend to explain why it is the sacred duty of a true Christian to become a member of a visible, orthodox, local church if he has the opportunity; or, what is the same thing, an orthodox local congregation. If God permit, we shall discuss that in our next meeting.

II.

Lord Jesus, with regard to all whom Thou hast not only reconciled by graciously coming into this world, who have also laid hold of Thy salvation by faith; Thy will is that they all should be gathered in the heavenly home of Thy Father as an eternally triumphal congregation, but Thou hast also united them here most intimately. Thou hast bound them fast together with the bond of perfection, which is love, so that they are sheep of one flock, citizens of one kingdom, dwellers in one house, members of one body, branches of one vine, one heart and one soul. There is no difference between Jew and Greek, between servant and freeman, man and woman, rich and poor, high and low, learned and unlearned, yea, between child and aged; they are all one in Thee. Help us, that we may all be held together in this bond off the righteous and living, that we may at last be gathered as ripe sheaves in Thy heavenly garner. Hear us, Lord Jesus, for Thine own sake. Amen

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Thesis II.

As we continue in the discussion of the situation that is occupying us in these evening lectures, we come to the second thesis, whose first part says:

This holy Christian Church is indeed invisible and scattered abroad over the whole earth, but as to those who have faith in their hearts and belong to the invisible Church, Jesus wants them not only to confess their faith publicly (Matthew 10:32-33. Luke 9:26; John 12:42-43; Romans 10:9-10), but also to join in visible churches, or local congregations, with those who confess the same faith with them in every place where they find them.

First of all, we maintain that this holy Church is invisible and spread over the whole world. Granted, that he who believes in Christ, even if he were at the extreme ends of the world, all alone, and thousands of miles from any loving heart that might care about him and with whom he might have fellowship: - if he believes, he is a member of the Church and is so close to all the Christians in the whole world that my soul is not that close to my body as a Christian is to me. Why? Because in him and in me dwells the same Jesus, who is in all Christians at the same time. That is the most mysterious fellowship there can be, and it happens only with Christians. It is the communion of saints. We can well have the same mind, even when we are separated. But when we have one and the same Jesus, we are so intimately connected that we can never think of the Church in any other way than it is revealed to us, namely, as one body. The Lord Jesus is present at the same time in many places. He is not stretched out everywhere, as though here is the left hand and there the right. As Jesus is God and man in one person, so the whole Jesus is present altogether wherever He is, and not part of Him here and part there. So the whole Jesus is in me when I believe, in you when you believe, so that wherever a believer may be he is a member of the Church, even if he has not seen another Christian for fifty years, even until his death; he is a member, however, only of the invisible Church, the kingdom in which Christ rules.

Many people say, "See there, you yourself teach that one does not need publicly to confess himself to a church. So leave me alone with your Church. I belong to the Church, because I believe!" Yes, dear friend, I grant that it suffices, and you are quite right when you say you belong to the Church because you believe; but when you say you belong to the invisible Church and yet intend to keep your so-called faith locked away in your heart, your faith is nothing but hypocrisy, and you are a hypocrite.

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For it is impossible for a man to carry faith in his heart and never let on. No, if faith dwells in your heart, the Lord Jesus wants it to come out. You would be an ungodly person if you did not intend to reveal your faith. When a person receives faith he does not receive it for himself alone, but also for his neighbor, for no man should live unto himself.

Perhaps you say, "As long as my own soul is saved I have what I need." But, dear friend, others do not have it; and if they have faith, they at least need strengthening. Therefore Christ intends that those who have faith in their hearts and so belong to the invisible Church should openly confess their faith. You dare not suppose the Lord Jesus wants us to confess Him for this reason, that He is greedy of glory. No, He does not want it so much for His own sake as for our neighbor's sake. Just think: If everyone who carries faith in his heart says nothing at all about it, but stands mute and dumb - what would happen? No new Christians would be won, and men would be, so to speak, left to perdition.

If you now say, "I believe; therefore I belong to the invisible Church; so what more do I need?" the answer is, No, beloved; the Christian Church, which is begotten by the Word of God, (for that is how we came to faith), should and must by all means confess first of all the preacher. But every Christian must also make confession in his calling wherever he goes. He is a shameful betrayer of Christ if he does not let people know that he is a Christian; indeed, he is a betrayer of souls that were bought at a high price, if he denies his faith where he ought to stand up for it. God will require of him the souls with whom God has brought him into contact, if that man does not want to make known the inner secret of his heart. In short, every Christian, if he is really a Christian, should also be a preacher. That is the confession the Savior speaks of in Matthew 10:32-33, for when we confess the Lord Jesus what is it we do? We make Him known to poor sinners. That is what the Savior wants us to do. When Paul says that faith is active through love, the first work of love is that we confess Christ, not with the lips only but in deeds. The world should say, "This man confesses the Lord Jesus, and he lives a commendable life. When he says something you can take it to the bank, for he lets no useless words issue from his lips; he is helpful to his neighbors, etc." In a word, what a Christian has in his heart must come out, or else Christ will not acknowledge him. For whoever thinks he can walk away and hold on to his faith as a secret, is on a completely false path. If the secret is in your heart, you must betray it; otherwise you betray both Christ and your neighbor. For so says our Lord in Matthew 10:32-33:

"Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven."

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It is noteworthy that our Savior said, "Whosoever shall confess Me." One might think: Why doesn't the Savior say, "Whosoever shall believe on Me?" It appears that salvation is here based on good works. But it is noteworthy to observe that those things that cannot be separated from faith are presented in Holy Writ in such a way that it appears that our salvation is built upon it. Thereby the Lord Jesus testifies to us only this, that it is impossible to carry faith in your heart and not also confess it. For just as a fire must burst into flame or else it goes out; so, like a fire, he must burst into flame or he will be lost; faith must burst into the flame of confession or it goes out. For everyone who thinks, "Oh, I will keep my faith!" errs exceedingly, for fire must spread or it goes out.

The second passage in our thesis is Luke 9:26:

"For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels."

This is a fearsome saying. Whoever is ashamed of the Lord Jesus, of him shall the Savior be ashamed, and that in the great assembly where all the holy angels and the elect are gathered about Him. That poor man will stand there and wait and wait for what the Lord Jesus will do. How that poor man will be shamed then, when the Lord Jesus will say in the presence of all the saints and angels, "I know you not." The man will say, "But I went to church," and Jesus will reply, "That is nothing. You were ashamed of Me; you concealed your faith so that no one would notice it; you came together with the children of this world and did not acknowledge Me. Now I am ashamed of you; you do not belong to Me, and you are too wicked to say that you are one of Mine. My blood was shed for you in vain." What shame will then seize such a poor soul! He will not only sink to the floor, but will be humiliated and embarrassed and will sink to the depths of hell for grief! Our Savior makes confession so extraordinarily important that one must not only have faith in his heart, but must also express it with his lips and with his whole life.

John 12:42 "Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God."

Another awful story! When the rulers were well convinced that Jesus was the Messiah, they thought: When Jesus sets up His kingdom,

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we can slip in with Him. But John says, "They loved the praise of men more than the praise of God." Thus he testifies that they were damned souls. Theirs was a dead faith, not a living one; a faith that did not help them but only increased their damnation. Faith is not a game, nor to tell jokes about. If someone says, "I have faith in my heart, but I keep it to myself; I will not be so foolish as to antagonize people. I will not get into religious controversy; so I can still believe." Whoever thinks that should be answered this way: No, friend; you cannot believe if you do not confess; the two cannot be separated. And anyone who thinks he is too smart to tell all, and meanwhile he looks askance at others and considers himself more clever then they - he who thinks that, miscalculates. He will in the hour of death find that he was shamefully deceived and he must be ashamed. Jesus will say to him, "You have not glorified Me; so you will receive no honor from Me forever."

Our fourth passage is Romans 10:10:

"For with the heart roan believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Luther's German is: "As man believes from the heart, he becomes righteous; and as he confesses with the mouth, so he will be saved."

The explanation of this verse was already given in the exposition of the previous verses. The great question now arises: Is it right that Christians join together with those who confess the faith with them in visible churches, or local congregations? Absolutely! Perhaps someone will then say, "How can you prove that? In all of Scripture there is not a single law that one must belong to a local congregation. Therefore I do not accept it as a commandment." I reply: My dear friend, where does that come from, that there is no-such law given? It comes about because the Lord Christ is not come into the world to legislate. Moses gave enough laws. The apostles Peter and Paul say that also their fathers were not able to bear the yoke. If you do not want to do something until I show you the law and damnation, then I have grave doubts about you. A Christian is not a person who has a law that damns to hell and therefore joins a local congregation only on that account, namely, that he thinks: I must do that, or else I will go to hell. No, Christ does not want Christians who must be compelled by the law. For those who are under the law are under the curse. How is that? you ask. You yourself say there is no such law, is there? No, there isn't. But what follows from that? Not that you do not need to join a congregation, but rather that you should do so willingly. Yes, dear friend, there is a big difference between a willing Christian and one who is forced. The question here is not: What does the law say? It is sufficiently written in the Bible, as you can see, that it is your Savior's

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will, without the addition of an express command. So, no Christian says, "Show me where it says what you require." Only a person who is under the curse of the law speaks like that. A Christian rather asks, "Can you show me that it is the will of my Savior? Then I will do it with a thousand joys. That is something precious. Then I will do it." Anyone who does not believe that is not a Christian. Whoever thinks, "Oh, I would prefer not to know so much about all these things!" – such a person has an unconverted heart. To a Christian it is not a burdensome yoke to do the will of the Savior, but it is much rather an altogether dear, lovely, and blessed yoke; and if it is a burden to him, it is as light for him as a feather he cannot even feel. Therefore Christians would always do everything with joy because they always know that it is the will of their Savior.

It is easy to see that it is the Lord's will that we Christians join a local congregation. Our thesis continues.

Our Lord not only established the public ministry or congregational office (1 Corinthians 12:28; Ephesians 4:11-12; Acts 20:28), but also commanded that it be established in every city (Titus 1:5), and commanded all Christians to submit themselves to it (Hebrews 13:17; 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13; Luke 10:16; James 5:14);

Everyone must grant that the Savior instituted the pastoral or congregational office. Is it possible to have a congregational office but no congregation? Can there be a president if there is no state? When our dear God makes someone a king, that is proof that there must be a kingdom there, or else our God intends that there should be one. But now God has established the congregational office; hence He also proves that He wants to have a congregation and preachers who will administer the Word and Sacraments. So says also

1 Corinthians 12:28 "And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues."

Here the offices are first of all named that obtained at the time of the apostles, which were to disappear again later; and then that office is named that should remain; that is the office of Teacher. God established it in the congregation.

Ephesians 4:11-12 "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the

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edifying of the body of Christ."

Christ has made certain men pastors and teachers, so that the saints may be directed to the work of this office, whereby the body of Christ is edified. What are you doing if you will not belong to a congregation and want nothing to do with the ministry, except perhaps to snoop in the church a bit and see what you can find wrong there. What are you doing then? You trample Christ's institution under foot. You are saying, "What? Did Christ institute the ministry? What do I care about that? He may well have instituted it, but I am not going in there!" That is what you are saying if you will not belong to the congregation. You despise this holy institution of your Savior. Can you then be a Christian? Never!

Acts 20:28 "Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood."

Pastors are not only supposed to shepherd and teach individuals, like home schoolers; no, they are to shepherd the whole congregation. They are not hired under a human contract, but the Holy Ghost made them overseers. Many people say, "Oh, there are so many silly people that build churches and schools. I don't worry about that. I know people who belong to a church and they are much worse than I. I am much better than they. As for their attending services, let them go to all that bother; I do not need to join in, because no one gets to heaven that way. Granted, that no one gets to heaven by attending church. But it is a fallacy to infer that I do not need to go to church. No, my dear friend, you will not get to heaven by going to church; that is true; but if you keep far away from the church, you are no member of the invisible Church, because you do not take heed to the will of your Savior. If you had just a little love for your Savior, you would heed His will.

The Lord Jesus not only established the pastoral office, which would have been sufficient, but He also commanded that it be established from city to city. So He says in

Titus 1:5 "For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as 1 had appointed thee. "

In the Greek the word is used that is literally translated "according to the city," (kata polin) or from city to city. The apostle Paul therefore was saying to Titus: You should go from city to city and supply them with elders. (In Greek the word "elders" is presbuteroi, which is equivalent to

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"pastors.") So the Holy Ghost, the Son of God and God the Father intend that there should be a pastor in every city for the Christians who are there. The Christians are supposed to listen as he proclaims the Word of God to them, and they should receive the Sacrament from him. To do or not to do that is not optional for Christians. They cannot say, "We can wait 15 years yet to establish the ministry, and we will still be Christians." No, when there are Christians in a city, and they can manage to support a pastor; then they act against Christ if they call no one and so constitute a congregation. There are wandering sheep in the cities and in the countryside that do not want to have pastors. They think, "Now that we are here in America we have to look out for our bodily needs. First we must build houses, and later we can call a pastor and form a congregation. After all, membership in a congregation is not what gets you to heaven!" Such people do not realize that they are proving thereby that they are not believing Christians nor members of the invisible Church. If the people have been without church very long, the result is that they must see how their children turn out and grow up like heathen. Then they wake up and think, "Now we want to have a pastor, not for us, since we already know right from wrong, but for the children; the main thing is that the pastor conduct school and provide a little English." Such people call themselves Christians, but every trace of Christianity in their hearts is extinguished. That is the horrible consequence of despising the establishment of the office of Christ.

We pastors are not worthy of any honor by virtue of our persons, and we do not crave honor. Woe, though, to those who despise true preachers. That brings such a person nothing but trouble, curse, and punishment and no blessing. Many cheapskates, who despise public preaching, think, "Preaching cannot take us to heaven; we do not need to say such long prayers, either. I have an old hymnbook; I can just read a hymn and everything will be alright." But what happens? At last they do not pray any more, and when they do, they pray unto their own damnation. That is the consequence when you despise the voice of Christ.

Finally, we should consider also this, that Christ has commanded all Christians to submit to the ministry. That is what it says in

Hebrews 13:17 "Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you."

He who wants nothing to do with a congregation and its ministry also wants nothing to do with this passage; he declares his independence, for he says, "That is in the Bible alright, Pastor, but you do not need to watch over my soul. I am a Christian." Yes, you poor, wretched person,

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you call yourself a Christian, but you want nothing to do with a congregation or the ministry, since you must admit that you act so contrary to Christ's express will. What, hasn't the Savior clearly shown that you should have a watchman for your soul? You are no Christian, for otherwise you would say: How could I refuse to do the will of my Savior, which He revealed in His Word for my eternal salvation.

We also read in

1 Thessalonians 5:12 "And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; And to esteems them very highly in love for their work's sake. And be at peace among yourselves."

These passages are not in the Bible to support the separatists, for when we quote them, they say in their hearts: I will not listen to the church; I am an enlightened man; the rabble may do it, but I have a certain higher status; I do not need it. Let us look also at

Luke 10:16 "He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me."

This applies to pastors. People should think of what they are doing when they despise Christ. For they who despise Him will be forever despised by Him. It is something terrible when God despises a human being; it is beyond expressing with words. For the sake of the blood of His only begotten Son, God does not despise anyone in this life; not the least person, even if he is a Judas. But when this time of grace is past God will say to such a one: "Now I despise you;" and He will trample him under foot and cast that person from Him.

James 5:14 "Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord."

We see from this passage that according to the Word of God it is necessary that when I am sick I call for an elder of the congregation, a pastor. Thus God reveals to us that it is His will that there be congregation that have such pastors.

One could, of course, argue, "Yes, I grant that the Savior commanded that the Gospel should be preached to every creature; but perhaps He meant only to say by that, that it should be done only by travelling preachers, as the apostles, for example, were travelling preachers. They went from country to country and filled them all with the Gospel." Now,

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it is true that if the Savior had said no more than "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature," it would not be proven that every believing Christian must join a visible congregation. One could always say that the Savior's intention was only that the joyful message of the Gospel should be made known all over the world. Then each one might either accept the Good News or reject it. On Judgment Day it will be seen who refused and who accepted it.

But one should consider that in the Bible it is stated expressly that Christ not only placed prophets and apostles in the church, but also pastors and teachers. So He did not merely send out preachers to go from country to country and make known the Gospel message, but He also instituted an office in the congregation. He ordained not only apostles who, so to speak, had the whole world as their parish, but also teachers who in a city or somewhere had a little group of believing Christians around them, whom they were to serve as caretaker of souls, shepherd, teacher, and watchman.

We come now to the second point in this second thesis, where we find another reason for joining a local congregation.

2. He established that the holy Sacraments, which presuppose an outward fellowship of Christians with each other, be administered and used together (1 Corinthians 12:13; 11:20-22; 10:17).

This is something very noteworthy. From it we see that the Savior did not come into the world like a philosopher that tried to bring His doctrine to the people without asking what effect it might have, but who was satisfied to tell the people what He had learned. It was not like that with the Savior. He did not say only "preach the Gospel to every creature," but added, "and baptize them in the name of the Father, etc." When you preach the Gospel then look around and see whether there are people who accept this Gospel of yours, and say to them: "You must also prove this, and indeed in this way, that you actually confess that you are baptized before the whole world and thereby say to the whole world, `We believe what these have said to us." It is therefore completely clear that men should not only accept the Gospel when it is proclaimed to them, but they should also be baptized unto the same. They should receive a sign so that men can know that they are such people as believe the Gospel, as intend to be Christians, and want to be recognized as such. If this is not the chief purpose of Baptism, it is at least an important secondary purpose.

We should look even more closely at the Lord's Supper. For the Lord's Supper is according to the Bible a communion. It is supposed to be a communal or fellowship meal of Christians, where they not only receive the body and blood of the Lord, but they also show the Lord's death, as our

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Savior said. When He instituted the Lord's Supper He incontrovertibly gave us to understand that Christians should not, so to speak, slink away into the world; no, they should learn to know one another. One who is already baptized should baptize one who comes up to him. And those who are now baptized should not only come together and hear God's Word, but as children of one Father and confessors of one Savior should appear together at the Lord's Table and there eat and drink together. St. Paul refers to that in clear words when, for example, he says in

1 Corinthians 12:13 "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit."

Let no one misunderstand me as though I were saying Baptism is only a sign. By no means! It is a washing of regeneration and of forgiveness of sins. But beside that, Baptism also has this characteristic, that it should bring Christians together into one great body where each recognizes the other. For when a baptized person sees that the other one wants to be baptized, then he also knows that that person intends to be a Christian. It is true that one does not see that as much as in the days of the apostles, when it was chiefly adults that were baptized. Nowadays we usually see it when a proselyte, perhaps a Jew, comes to be baptized. Then one sees quite clearly: Indeed, this person intends to be a Christian; he wants to enter into the great fellowship of believers of the Lord. In the same epistle of St. Paul these words touch on that point: 1 Corinthians 11:20, "When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's supper." The apostle reproaches the Corinthians because when they gather it is not to celebrate the Lord's Supper. That is a sign of a great deterioration in the congregation. The apostle therefore' gives them to understand that the Lord's Supper is a meal of Christian fellowship. If we attend to our business six days, then many a one who would like to practice fellowship can have nothing to do with the others; he has no time; he has to work. On Sunday, though, all Christians come together before the face of the omnipresent God as His dear children and as the disciples of the Savior; and, more importantly still, now they come together to sit at the table of the Lord and show His death in common - all because the Savior has so commanded.

Sir, you claim to be a Christian but you say, "You go to your church; I will believe in Christ and be saved; but what do I care about a congregation?"" How can you say that? Although the Savior has ordained that His Christians should stand together in a congregation, you still ask, "Where is it written in the Law that I must be a member of the congregation?" Isn't it a thousand times more the case that when a Christian knows that

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the Savior ordained it so, he shows up in such a way as though the voice of God sounded from Mt. Sinai, saying, "Become a member of the church; otherwise you will go to hell"? No, a Christian will not hear such a voice, but he carefully notes the Word of his Savior, and when he recognizes it, he does it with a thousand joys. It is said of good children that they try to anticipate their parents' wishes; while a child who waits until his father makes a fist and says, "If you don't do what I tell you, you will be punished," – is called a brat. We should be minded toward our Savior like dear, obedient children. We should not ask whether it is required for us, under pain of eternal damnation, to hear the Word and use the Sacraments and to belong to a congregation. We should rather ask, "Can that be found in God's Word? Then I do it with great gusto." Such are the true Christians; the Savior wants them. If He wanted slavish obedience He would have said, "Do it, on pain of God's displeasure." That is how Moses speaks, but not Christ.

St. Paul continues,

"For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken. What? Have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I praise you not."

The Corinthian congregation was in a sorry state. The people assembled, but they celebrated the so-called feast of love instead of the Lord's Supper; but it was a meal with a very poor kind of love. The rich brought much with them and let the poor sit there, who were hungry and had nothing, while the others feasted. That was supposed to be divine worship. No! says the apostle; do you not have houses where you can eat? When you come together you should not bring a basketful each, so as to shame the poor. No, the meal you are to eat in the congregation is the Lord's Supper, the Lord's Table.

Chapter 10:17 adds, "For we being many are one bread, and one body; for we are all partakers of that one bread."

The apostle here intends to say: The Savior instituted one bread so that one does not take this bread, another that, but all receive one and the same bread. Why? To signify that they are so intimately connected the way the grains of flour are joined together when they are baked into bread. As the grains are ground together and mixed together, and as the grapes are pressed and turned into wine together, so Christians should be with one another.

Everything we have so far said about using the holy Sacrament

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has been summarized by Luther, for first of all he thus writes in his church postils on the Gospel of Ascension Day, "When Christ mentions the first part in Matthew 28:19, `Whosoever believeth,' he makes certain to explain and include Baptism. He shows first of all that since faith, of which this Gospel preaches, dare not remain secret and hidden, as though it were sufficient to hear the Gospel and believe it for yourself alone while you do not dare to confess your faith to others. He wants it to be public, not only where the Gospel is preached, but also accepted and believed, i.e., wherever the Church and the kingdom of Christ are present in the world He wants to bring us together and keep us by means of this divine sign of Baptism. Where that is absent and we should be scattered and without outward assembly and signs (Sacraments), Christianity could not be spread abroad and sustained unto the end. But now He wants to bind us together by means of that divine assembly, that the Gospel might go ever farther, and through our confession brought to others." (Lenker, Sermons of Martin Luther, III, 188; Erlangen, XII, 211f).

Luther goes on: "In order to urge such doctrine and to practice it among Christians God ordained that they come together and celebrate two ceremonies, which are Baptism and the Sacrament of His body and blood (which are plainly enough set forth in the Gospels and the epistles of St. Paul). Not only do we receive and grow in doctrine, faith, and grace, but there is a public confession in deeds of who is a Christian, and whether you freely and boldly confess that doctrine for the glory of God and to. set a good example for your neighbor. He Himself says, `This do in remembrance of Me.' 1 Corinthians 11:24-25. This is nothing else than thinking of Him, confessing Him, praising and thanking Him, as St. Paul explains, saying, `As often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come."' (Instruction and Proof that the evangelical doctrine is to be confessed in word and deed. From the year 1523. Walch 2720)

So whoever says, "I came to faith without any sermons, but just by reading good books; what do I care for a congregation or a preacher!" - to such a person we can rightly answer, "Dear sir, you are caught in your own deception! Have you not read that Christ said not only "Go ye therefore and preach the gospel to every creature, " but also added "baptizing them;" and that He went on to command, "This do in remembrance of me" and "as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup ye do show the Lord's death till He come"? If you stay at home while the Christians gather to do according to the Lord's will, then know that you are outside the church of Christ. For you disobey the express commandment of the Lord, and you are not His humble subject who enjoys doing what his king commands; you are a rebel, and therefore are no real Christian.

We come now to the third reason that must motivate everyone who has true faith in his heart to join an orthodox local congregation. In

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this second thesis it does on to say:

3. He not only commanded individuals to exercise Christian discipline upon their fellow believers, but also whole congregations to exercise it upon their members (Matthew 18:15-18; 1 Corinthians 5:9-13; 6:1-6);

Consider, first of all, what it says in Matthew 18:15-18.

"Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear then, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican. Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. "

Here we hear that when a Christian has privately scolded a sin in vain, he should bring it to the congregation. How could he go to the congregation if there isn't one? The Lord certainly does not refer here to the invisible Communion of saints, because then there is no congregation to ask, since it scattered all over the world. To the contrary, then, He plainly refers to the visible, local congregation, which should exist according to His will. Let everyone therefore consider that anyone who will not join a congregation tramples this passage under foot. If you do not want to hold to the congregation, then Christ does not want you, because He does not let anyone mock Him. Not only should you belong to the congregation, but you should also respect it and look upon it as the final, highest court in its sphere. Its authority is such as this: When it retains a person's sin according to God's Word, you should believe nothing else than that our dear God deals Himself with him through the congregation. Likewise, when the congregation remits the sins of a sinner according to God's Word, you should be sure that our dear God Himself forgives him his sins from heaven. Here in the time of grace God will not forgive or retain sins directly from heaven; until the Last Day the congregation stands in for Him, and it commits to the pastor the keys of the kingdom of heaven. For when the pastor preaches, it is really the congregation preaching, since

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the congregation has called the pastor.

Here belongs the passage in 1 Corinthians 5:9-13:

"I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world. But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such .an one no not to eat. For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? Do not ye judge them that are within? But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person."

The apostle explains that it is something terrible to be put out of a visible congregation. Whoever is excommunicated (according to God's Word, of course) is also expelled from the kingdom of grace. He is a member of the body of Christ that has been severed, and if he does not repent and seek re-admission he is lost as surely as God's Word is true! So, when you say, "I do not want to belong to the congregation," what are you saying? You are saying, dear fellow, "I want to be excluded from the Church of Christ, from the fellowship of Christ, from the body of Christ; I want no part of the kingdom of heaven." For here the living eternal, and incontrovertible Word of Cod says that anyone who is put out of the congregation is also put out of the kingdom of God!

Or perhaps you may say, "Oh, it is all the same whether I am in this poor congregation or not; I can be godly without it."" – Oh, sure! you hypocrite! You hope to get to heaven with your hypocritical piety; but with that you will never get it; you can be admitted only by the grace of God, and this grace is found only in the means of grace, and God has committed them to the congregation to administer. So hold to the congregation of God and work out your salvation with fear and trembling, so that the time may never come when the Christian congregation must tell you: "Out!"

Let us now hear 1 Corinthians 6:1-6:

"Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints? Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? And if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? How much more things that pertain to this life? If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to

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this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church. I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? No, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren? But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers.

If there were no congregation, how could it be written here: "Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?"' For all who believe in Christ are true, living saints. Let the world mock, laugh and make jokes; they will have to answer for it. We know that by faith in Christ we wear so beautiful a coat that all the angels in heaven admire it, and with this coat we will enter heaven and stand before God, and the world will see then whom they despised.

The apostle continues, "Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? And if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels?" (i.e. the evil angels or devils). Then the devil will be confounded. Now he pursues Christians and toys with them, but then the page will turn.

He goes further: "how much more things that pertain to this life? If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church." We are given the testimony again that according to Christ's will there should be congregations to prepare us for the Last Judgment, if only the Christians turn to one another, and they carry out church discipline.

We come now to the fourth reason, which says,

"4. He expressly commanded Christians to help and care for their fellow Christians in bodily and spiritual need (Romans 12:13; Acts 6:1 ff; 4:34-35; 11:19-23)."

Scarcely was the first apostolic congregation in Jerusalem founded but we find that in it arrangements were made so that no poor people should suffer need, that not a soul should be found in the congregation who was helpless and hopeless, or who should have to feel miserable and forsaken. So it should be in every Christian congregation, or else God's Word will fade away from it. They should know that their godly poor are their greatest treasure, as is illustrated by the holy martyr Lawrence's words. When the tyrant demanded of him that he turn over the treasures of the Church, he brought a large group of the poor and presented them to him as the treasure of the Church; then he gladly suffered martyrdom.

From the passage we cite here it is evident that God earnestly wants the congregation to care for its poor. Everyone should read it at

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home. Even Luther writes in his church postils,

"In this history (of the almoners) you see how a Christian congregation should be set up; then you see a proper picture of church government that the apostles here carried out. They provide for the souls, go about preaching and praying, see to it that the body is also provided for, and put certain men in charge of distributing the goods, as you have heard. So the Christian polity looked after the people both in body and soul, so that no one had any need, as Luke says, and everyone ate well and each was taken care of both in body and soul. That is a truly fine Christian description and example. It would be well if we would also begin here, if there are enough people, that one city, like this one, should be divided into four or five sectors and each sector were turned over to a few preachers and deacons to take care of each sector by preaching and distributing needed goods, visiting the sick, and seeing that no one suffer want. But we do not have the personnel for that, so I regret that we can not undertake that until our Lord God makes more Christians." (Walch XI, 1754 f.)

It is shameful hypocrisy if we found and support hospitals and orphanages and such and at the same time let the poor and wretched starve in our midst. We cannot in God's name look down on the Freemasons and Oddfellows and other such secret societies as long as we do not take care of our own poor. Those people take care of the poor for their own purposes, and only for their own purposes. They will not donate a penny unless they can expect to make a dollar from it. But it would be a disgrace for us if they bring enough to support their people well for such motives, while we are not motivated by our faith to take good care of our poor, our widows and orphans, and our sick and suffering members. The members of those secret societies will rightly say, then: First do as we do before you condemn us! Indeed, if we are Christians we must earnestly think about this, that we glorify our Savior also in this matter and not bring shame upon Him, so that the name of Christ is not blasphemed by our negligence and lack of love and care.

I ask you now, if there were no congregation, would the believers be taken care of by other believers? Would our Savior's will be done? Therefore the Savior ordained that congregations of believers should arise, so that we can take care of one another. A Christian should be able to say, "I am provided for. First, my God and Savior provides for me, and then I have many dear brothers and sisters." One does not take advantage of his brother; that is the rule even in the world. And we, who are brothers in a far higher sense, should we not help each other with a thousand joys? We deny the Lord Jesus when we do not do so. He has provided an avenue for

26        The Faithful Word works of love by establishing congregations.

Lecture III

Lord Jesus, Thou hast said, "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." What a great and precious promise hast Thou thereby given to Thine own if they do not grow cold and strange to one another, but gather together, confess Thee, call upon Thee and serve Thee in fellowship! How couldest Thou have invited, charmed, and coaxed Thy Christians in a more friendly, lovely, and persuasive way, not to stand alone in this world, but to stand together as members of one holy family, born by Thy Word! Thus we pray and we flee with Thy Church, which confesses Thine uncorrupted Gospel:

Thou sweet love, send us Thy favor;

Let us experience the ardor of love,

That we love one another from our hearts

And abide in peace in one mind.

Kyrieleison. Amen (TLH, 313:3)

We are still on the second Thesis, where it is certified why we must know that it is the will of God Himself that every Christian join a local congregation. We have already heard four reason: 1. Because God not only instituted the ministry, but also commanded that it be established from place to place; 2. Because God established the holy Sacraments, which can only be used in communion, so that by this institution of the Sacraments Christ Himself testifies that He intends that there should be Christian congregations. 3. Because Christ intends that discipline should be practiced among His Christians in doctrine and life; and then not only by individuals, but by the entire congregation, to such an extent that the congregation excommunicates one who shows himself to be an unbeliever, since God in His Word simultaneously makes the point that the most horrible thing that can happen to a person in this world is that he be excluded from the Christian congregation. If he is excommunicated according to God's Word, he is excluded from the kingdom of grace as a heathen man and a publican on the strength of a divine decree, for heathen and publicans cannot enter there. So it is very horrible if a person by his own choice takes this on himself. One who leaves the congregation says thereby: I prefer to be a heathen and a publican; I do not intend to belong to God's kingdom of grace; for it says that if one does not hear the congregation he should be regarded as a heathen and a publican. 4. A Christian should join a local congregation because the Savior wills that Christians should help one another in this world in every bodily and spiritual need, so that not one of the dear Christians should lack for the things that are needed for body and soul. That can only be done when the

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Christians do not keep off to themselves but organize into congregations

and so look after the needs of all the members.

Now we come to the last reason. Christians should join orthodox local congregations because, lastly, as we have in the II Thesis, the Lord

5. "has laid upon them the responsibility to bring others in." (Matthew 28:19-20; Galatians 4:26) Think what the world would be like if there were no Christian congregations! Who would receive the poor or the ignorant or the little children? Think what would happen if every congregation were dissolved today; everyone would go where he will, and the ministry were eliminated. Would it be possible then that the great Commission could be carried out? It says, "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; and he that believeth not shall be damned. Teach them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you." Would that Commission really be fulfilled? Impossible! Then God would have to send an angel from heaven to bring the Gospel to the world. But He is not about to do that, for He wants men to call men into His kingdom of grace. Consider also this, that before the Lord departed this world He added, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." No one should dare say, then, "That is what the Savior commanded the apostles, but what does that have to do with us?" Did the apostles live to the end of days? No. Within a century they were all dead. Was Jesus joking when He said, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world"? No. He was clearly indicating that this commandment applied not to the apostles alone, but to the whole church to the very last Day. If there are no local congregations, then there are no particular churches, no synods, and no ordained ministry. All the prerequisites are missing for the church of the present to blossom into the church of the future to the end of time. So, as certain as it is that God does not want the Church to die off but to remain to the end of time, so certain is it also that the will of Christ is that there should be Christian congregations. Here in St. Louis all the Christian churches see to it that God's Word sounds in public. Even among the sects. God's Word is read, and important articles of the saving doctrine are taught there along with precious truths, even if they are mixed with errors; thereby children are (re)born to the dear Lord and are made disciples of the Savior.

All this is the fruit and blessing of the commanded gathering into Christian congregations. Therefore Luther says on that passage we just referred to, "When Christ adds to the first phrase, `he that believeth ' and speaks of Baptism, that refers to the commissioning of the outward office in Christendom, as he combines both thoughts together, saying, `Teach

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all nations, baptizing them, etc.' It shows first of all that the faith, therefore, of which this Gospel preaches, must not remain secret and hidden, as though it were sufficient that each one should go off when he hears the Gospel, believe for himself, and not need to confess his faith before others; rather, it should be made known not only where the Gospel is preached but also where it is accepted and believed; that is, He wants to bring us together where the Church and the kingdom of Christ are and to sustain us through this divine sign which is Baptism. Where it is absent and we are scattered without outward assembly or sign, Christianity could not be spread abroad nor sustained to the end of the world. But now He wants to bind us together through such a divine assembly, so that the Gospel might go ever farther and farther; through our confession it should be brought to others." (Church Postil on Ascension Day. Erlangen ed., XII, 211ff)

The oldest members of this congregation still remember how things were for the Germans here in America 30 years ago and more. It was terrible! The dead Lutheran Church, i.e., the church that was called Lutheran, did not care about the poor German Lutherans of America. Then the Methodists came and sought to bring among the people the spirit and practice of Enthusiasm. Still, God was gracious, and a truly Lutheran synod arose in which the light shone brightly; God alone knows how many souls were called thereby into the kingdom of grace. What was the reason? Individual people could not accomplish that. The reason was that there were congregations, which were joined in such a fellowship, and there were seminaries and teacher-training schools established, as well as Latin preparatory schools. That all would have been left undone if there had been no congregations.

Think, you who have no use for Christian congregations, do you still have a Christian heart? Is it not your desire that other people also come to the knowledge of salvation? If everything were done your way, all of them would have to be counted worthy of eternal damnation. As surely as we Christians desire the salvation of others, so surely is it also the case that we have the most holy duty of assembling to perform this greatest, most holy, most godly work a person can do in this world; namely, to save souls through mission work, not only among the heathen but also among the poor, baptized souls that we have to do with.

We ourselves received the Gospel in no other way than this; we, too, came to the knowledge of salvation because there was a congregation there, in which we heard the Gospel. Therefore we ourselves are living examples and proofs of this truth: If the Gospel is to get to others, it can only be in the same way it came to us. So, gratitude should drive us to hold fast to this doctrine.

It is therefore our duty to come together not only for worship, but also for such purposes as occupy us in these evening hours. For how should a congregation stand well together if they only go to church and

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leave it to chance whether the congregation shall remain together or not? Anyone who comes here to these meetings in which the congregation assembles to govern itself, helps to build the kingdom of God, and anyone who does not come, although he knows it is his duty is saying, "The spread of the kingdom of God is no concern of mine. If I understand my own business well, that is enough. I would rather remain at home and sit in front of the stove. The others can go if they insist on being such fools." Oh! Such people do not realize how horrible those thoughts are! On that great Judgment Day for many people this or that item will be missing from his account. In his posting this is also included, that he did not go into the assembly of the congregation and lend his aid to secure, strengthen, and promote it for the salvation of the world. We all know as much as we need to be saved, but it is a poor Christian that says, "I am finished; I know as much as I need to." No, you are not finished. As long as you live you should care for your neighbor in faith and love. And that is done also by participation in our assemblies.

Thesis III

Our third thesis says,

Every one who calls himself a Christian is obligated to join a Christian congregation of the right confession whenever and wherever he has the opportunity (Acts 2:41-42,47; Hebrews 10:24-25).

This is an instinctive conclusion. If a Christian is convinced that joining a congregation is the Lord's will, it follows that anyone who intends to be a Christian must do that. The Savior says, John 15:14, "Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you" – even if there is no strict commandment. Last Christmas it caught my eye that the holy angel who announced the birth of Christ did not say to the shepherds, "Now go to Bethlehem!" He said only that when they would go they would find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. Why didn't the angel say, "But woe unto you if you do not go to Bethlehem"? Clearly, the reason was that he preached the Gospel to children of God, which the dear shepherds were. They needed only to know that they had permission to go to Bethlehem; then they hurried with quick steps and found the child. So we should not wait to hear the Law amid thunder and lightning saying, "Thus shall you do, or you will go to hell!" Rather, we should listen for the Lord's will and then do it with all joy.

Here belong the following passages. Acts 2:41-42 speaks of those who were already baptized after the apostle Peter preached the first Pen-

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tecost sermon:

"Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers."

And in "fellowship." Why did the Holy Ghost choose to mention that they continued not only in prayer, which was joint prayer, and in breaking of bread, or Communion, but also in fellowship? He intended to show that only he is a true Christian who, once he is baptized, also wants to belong to a Christian fellowship. Therefore it says a little further on that they were

"Praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved."

This is a noteworthy passage! It says of all who were baptized, first, that they were joined to the Church, and then that those were the people who would be saved. Hence the Holy Ghost points out that it is not the right way when you are baptized and then want to be free and your own master, and you want to go wherever you please. No, you must be added to the Church; then you belong among those who are saved.

With this belongs also another passage, Hebrews 10:24-25:

"And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching."

From the statement, "And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works," everyone can see that the apostle means not only the worship assemblies, where only the preacher proclaims the Word, but also the congregational meetings, where the members admonish one another. The Hebrews that had become Christians are here earnestly admonished not to neglect such congregational assemblies, as some did, since the holy writer of this letter at the same time reminds them of the near approach of the day of Christ. Thereby he explains that it is not a game to deal with those things, since the day of Christ draws near, when everyone will have to give account as to whether he not only calls himself a Christian, but as to whether he also walks as one.

Here I want to add nothing more than this beautiful passage from a book of the old Lutheran theologian of Wittenberg, Abraham Calov, who raises the question, "Whether one must seek out the true Church so as to

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join it?" His answer:

"Socinus, in his tract on the Church and the sending of ministers, holds in the first chapter that the question, "Whether and with whom is the Church?" is not necessary and is in fact useless. He "proves" that from the fact that the Church need not necessarily be known by its marks, because it is not necessary in itself that the true Church be sought out and recognized; and that in turn he "proves" by this, that it is sufficient for salvation to keep the commandments of Christ; but Christ has not commanded us to seek out the Church."

Socinus is the founder of the Socinian sect. He lived in Switzerland at Luther's time, but had to leave there. His sect then spread in Siebenbuergen, Poland, and Hungary. It was a rationalistic sect, so it was not tolerated in many countries. Its followers were not allowed to build separate churches in many places nor to found separate congregations. They had no alternative but to attend no churches whatever. When they were told, "You are not Christians; you do not go to church," they answered: "Churches! Whoever holds to Christ's commandments is a Christian; you don't need to belong to a church!" That stimulated Calov to answer the question above. (In Socinismus Profligatus). He went on to add:

"When one contends against him that everyone must be in the true Church of Christ, and that it necessarily follows therefrom that all must seek out and acknowledge it, he denies the conclusion. He holds as his reason that as soon as a person has the true doctrine of Christ lie is in fact in the true Church; or, what is the same thing, he does not need to ask which is the true Church of Christ, since he already knows; for he knows who the others are who have the same saving doctrine of Christ."

That is how a real Enthusiast speaks! One needs only belong to the so-called invisible Church, says Socinus, and according to the Socinians everyone belongs to it who leads an honorable life; for their doctrine was that Christ came into the world only to establish a certain honor among men. Then Calov continues:

"Although we certainly confess that it is not completely and absolutely necessary to know which and with whom the true Church is (in the sense-that man cannot be saved except by knowing and belonging to the visible church), as long as he belongs to the invisible Church; which is proved elsewhere against the papists."

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So Calov grants that it is not absolutely necessary to know which is the true Church, for then all those people must be lost who cannot join an orthodox congregation. No, a person who cannot do so can still be a true, genuine Christian, standing in God's grace, even if he must wander alone in this world. For the Savior has provided for him that in spite of all such serious misfortunes that confront a Christian in this world, he can still be saved. No misfortune can rob him of salvation. But he can rob himself; and that is what he does when he could join together with other Christians but does not. Hence Calov goes on:

"We cannot simply agree with the Socinians, who judge too coldly and indifferently of the necessity and the value of searching and making a judgment about the true Church, as though it were in no way necessary to recognize it in order to join it, on the grounds that it not only is not commanded, but is also completely useless to ask the question in the first place. That opinion was no doubt offered by Socinus for the purpose of having an out for himself and others of that sect who have no intention of forming any church whatsoever, or it does not suit their convenience, and their opinion is that it matters little. And no wonder, since as a rule they never administer the Sacraments except in church, consider them mere trifles, and at least do not consider them means of salvation. We continue therefore with a few words against Socinus:

"1. The names of the Church. She is called the body of Christ, Ephesians 1:23; 4:12; the kingdom of heaven, Matthew 3:2; the city of God, Revelation 3:12; 11:2; the house of God, 1 Tim. 3:15. The members must not be separated from the body; the sons of the kingdom should be in the kingdom insofar as is possible; the spiritual citizens should be in the city of God; and the members of the household should be in God's house. They should not be far from the body, the kingdom, the city, and the house of God, so that they be prevented from assembling, as far as is possible, also in outward fellowship."

He is saying, As surely as the dear Lord has in His Word given these names to His Church, so surely should every Christian belong to it: to the body as a member, to the kingdom as a citizen, and to the house as a member of the family.

"2. The Type of Noah's Ark, which beyond doubt signifies the true Church. Just as those only who were in Noah's

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Ark were saved, while the rest of the people died in the Flood, being outside the Ark, so also there is no salvation outside the Church and only in it are we kept from the Flood of God's wrath. 1 Peter 3:18. Similarly, the Church is typified by the Israelite dwellings in Egypt that the angel of death did not touch, while He slew the firstborn who were outside them, Exodus 12:13; likewise the Church is comparable to the house of Rahab, in which those were saved who were accepted there, while those who were outside were annihilated, Joshua 2:9; 6:21. Compare Cyprian's letters.

"3. The Parables. The Church is compared to a sheepfold in John 10; and just as the sheep that are outside the fold wander about and become prey for the wolf or for a robber, so our downfall awaits if we do not join with the Church. It is also compared to Jerusalem in Galatians 4:26 and Hebrews 12:22. As it was required to go to Jerusalem, where public worship and sacrifices were to be offered to God, Psalm 87:2, where God had His fire and His dwelling place, Isaiah 31:9, so we must join the Church to worship God. The Church is also called our mother, Galatians 4:26; therefore all her children must come together to her, that they may be nourished unto life at her breast. Compare Irenaeus.

"4. The command of Christ in Matthew 18:17, "Tell it unto the Church!" If you are supposed to tell something to the Church, you must necessarily know where and which is the true Church, and you must therefore investigate which is the Church. In no way may this be considered useless.

"5. The apostolic command in Hebrews 10:25, "Not forsaking the assembling of yourselves together." If you are not supposed to forsake the assembly, you must join the holy assembly and church; therefore it is also necessary to investigate where it is.

"6. The generally accepted postulate: "Outside the Church there is no salvation," which can be demonstrated from Ephesians 2:12 ff; 4:16; 5:8; 1 Peter 2:9-10; and Revelation 22:15. If there is as a rule no salvation outside the Church, then anyone who wants to partake of salvation must seek out the Church. If not in fact, he can at least be gathered to it in the desire of his soul. If it is at all possible, he should

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also find his delight in outward fellowship with her. But he must not neglect to seek her out.

"7. The blessings promised to the Church. To whom God has promised His spiritual and heavenly blessings so that as a rule they are there distributed, no one may consider useless or less necessary to seek out. And God has promised them to the Church, namely, His Word and Sacraments, the keys of the kingdom, and the power to bind and loose, so the Church can distribute them. Other blessings that uniquely belong to the Church are regeneration, renewal, enlightenment, forgiveness of sins, sanctification, and the gift of the Holy Ghost. Since these are found in the Church, you must certainly look for the Church, so that you can come to profit from the same.

"8. The promise given to the communion of saints, where Christ especially promised to be present. Matthew 18:20, "Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them." It is therefore necessary that we be found among them that are gathered in Christ's name, go to them and hold to them, that we may partake of this special promise."

When the Savior says He will especially be among the Christians as they assemble themselves, I do not understand how one can stay at home apart from necessity as often as the dear congregation meets. I would rather crawl there on my knees if I were not restrained by another commandment. For the Savior is not a liar or a deceiver who makes promises and does not keep them! What are those people doing who stay home when the dear congregation meets? They are saying, "The Lord Christ is a liar; for He is not among them who gather in His name! For if I knew that He is among them, I would surely not stay at home, so I might also enjoy His gracious presence!" You should not think, then, if you leave the congregational meeting and go home without being moved by something special, that you have had no edification and no blessing. The blessing is not always felt. You could leave the congregational meeting with a broken heart, because your flesh says to you, "It would have been better if you had stayed home." But if you go home, perhaps grieving over our plight; that is a real blessing. Your tears are a very precious prayer. Only in eternity it will be seen what great things those tears and prayers have accomplished. Therefore one must not be such a fool as to judge the blessing you receive from church and from the congregational assembly according to your feelings and experiences. One can often have

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sweet feelings and think, "Today you have received a great blessing," and it is purely a delusion. That feeling can be stimulated by other things than God's Word and make the poor person more self-righteous than Christian, so that he thinks, "Oh, I am a really good man, for I have such beautiful and exalted feelings." It is too bad that man is brought to thinking that way. The manner of a genuine Christian, however, is that he does not ask how he feels, but what is written. If he feels nothing, he still thinks: I do not remain without blessing; there are eternal, divine truths that were preached into my heart, and they were not given to me in vain.

Calov continues:

"9. The heartfelt longing of the godly, who are far from the notion that fellowship with the Church of God is hardly necessary and even useless, and who heartily and ardently long for that fellowship, Psalms 26:8; 27:4; 42:3; 84. "Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee."

"10. The agreement of the early church fathers. Irenaeus, for example, writes, `Not all those who stay home from church enjoy the working of the Holy Ghost, for where the Church is, there is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there are the Church and all grace.' See also Cyprian on the unity of the Church. Augustine writes, `No one has God for his Father who does not have the Church for his mother.' `Whoever separates himself from the Church,' he goes on, `however praiseworthy his life might be, yet on account of this one offense, that he has torn himself away from the fellowship of Christ, will not have eternal life, but the wrath of God remains upon him."'

Quenstedt says, "No invisible Church is to be found outside the visible Church, but the former is included in the latter."

There are not two churches, a visible and an invisible. There is only one, and that is the invisible Church, which is found precisely in the visible. So just as it is not possible that the shell and the kernel are two nuts, but the kernel is within the shell; so there is also but one Church, the invisible Church, but the visible forms the shell, as it were, within which the kernel, the invisible, is found. If anyone should suppose that "I will not belong to the visible Church, but I will belong to the invisible only," that person is as foolish as the one who says, "Oh, go away with all these nuts; they are just shells; I want to have only the kernel." He goes to the tree and looks for the kernels, and he leaves the nuts with shells lying there. So it is with those who do not want to belong to the visible Church, but only to the invisible. Indeed, if you want to belong to the invisible Church, betake yourself to the visible Church; for that is where

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she is, just like the kernel in the shell, like the jewel in the vase, like the pearl on the golden ring.

Those who do not want to belong to a Christian congregation, or at least hesitate to belong, do not consider that it is an in expressible gift of God's grace when a Christian may or can do a good work. It is certainly a good work when a person holds to a Christian congregation, lends his aid, builds, works, supports the ministry, supports the school and by his whole demeanor shows himself to be a Christian. We are not so valuable that we should be privileged to do these blessed works; it is pure grace, and yet it will be seen mostly as a burden.

Ask the true, living Christians who have been wealthy and have given generously, who then fell into the most abject poverty, what a fearsome cross it is when instead of being able to give, they must receive; instead of being able to give to their neighbors, they must receive charity. That is something so bitter, that it is one of the bitterest crosses a Christian can experience. We are speaking, of course, only of true Christians. They remember the blessed times when they dried the tears, stilled the sighs, entered the dwellings of the suffering like angels of God, and were there able to be comforters. Now they no longer can. Now they probably can scarcely contribute to the church treasury the very smallest amount, what one has to give that the whole may be supported. Bitter tears flow there, for then they experience what the Savior said, "It is better to give than to receive." With the same joy a Christian has in doing some good work, it is with the same joy that he should join a congregation, for that is a good work.

One reads that many martyrs, when they were led out to the place of judgment, received a gag in their mouths because their atrocious enemies were afraid that the martyr would still confess his Savior on his funeral pyre and so make an impression on the people. The Jesuits did that. They often prepared for the dear martyrs a greater pain than the flames, in that they had to be dumb, unable to confess their Savior, and to die without being able to tell the poor, deluded people, "Oh, dear brothers, we die innocent, because of faith in Christ Jesus. We forgive our enemies. Believe in the Lord, and He will help you." They could not say that; they had to be silent, as was their Savior, like a sheep before its shearers. You can see from this what a Christian is. It is for him the greatest joy and privilege to that he is able to confess his faith before the world – even if people hear it with gnashing of teeth – firstly, because he advances the glory of Christ thereby, and also because he catches many souls as with heavenly bait, and pulls them out of the ocean of this world.

But we must proceed further. We come now to the fourth thesis and touch on the subject itself that is now being aired among us.

Thesis IV

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A person becomes a member of a local congregation by: 1. Baptism in that congregation (Acts 2:41-47); 2. His parents become or have become members of that congregation, provided that, if he is already baptized, he is still an infant and under the authority of his parents (Acts 2:39 [cf. Genesis 17:7, 12-14] Mark 10:14. Ephesians 6:13); 3. Reception into the congregation at his own request (3 John 9-10.).

Three ways are mentioned here whereby a person becomes a member of a congregation. The usual way is that he is baptized in some congregation; thereby he becomes a member. We see that from the already cited passage in Acts, where the founding of the Christian congregation at Jerusalem is reported. It says in chapter 2:41-47:

"Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. "

"Were added." – To what were they added? To the congregation – an exegesis anyone can and must get from the last verse of this section.

"And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles."

"Fear" – in all Jerusalem. The people were anxious, for they now saw amazing things with their eyes and heard them with their ears, such as had never before perceived. They had thought that now Jesus of Nazareth was finished; history has passed this troublesome prophet by, who could spell nothing but trouble. And behold! All at once they saw that thousands upon thousands in Jerusalem stood up and confessed that the Crucified is our Savior, the Son of God! For they proved that this faith is divine by the greatest miracles. For the sick became well, the lame walked, the blind saw; one spoke Syrian, another Arabian, a third Persian, and a fourth Coptic. Astonished, they saw that the simplest of people can accomplish what exceeded all creaturely power. Hence the fear that fell upon the souls.

"And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house. "

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Daily they were together. Now, when one person manages to come into the assembly of the dear congregation just once a week, that is often felt to be too much. The early Christians, however, came together daily and joyfully in the fervor of their love for God. – We read on:

"Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. ... They did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart."

Note well! The whole people, including those who had not been baptized, looked upon these people with favor. The poor, misguided souls, who had been duped by the Pharisees, admitted that these Christians cannot be bad people! What love, what kindness prevailed among them! How ready they are to help others! – Finally it says,

"And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved."

That is the way one ordinarily becomes a member of a congregation; he is baptized, whether as a child or as an adult. With adults it can be observed most plainly, while with the little child it is not so perceptible. When among us the children of others, who do not belong to our congregation, are baptized, that is the result of the great and dreadful confusion that prevails here in America, that the people wander off to places where they have no Christian fellowship, and where they cannot join a Christian congregation, much less an orthodox one. Then they ask of a congregation to have their children baptized by its preacher for the Lord's sake. In all other cases the pastor should say to the visiting parents, "You do not live in my parish; go to the pastor of the congregation where you belong. Otherwise I would be interfering in another man's office." But to those who live here the pastor should say, "Let your children be baptized here; then the child will belong to my congregation; you should know that already."

Now, though, it happens that a baptized person comes into a congregation in which he was not baptized. So there is a second way to join the congregation other than the way of Baptism. Hence we say, "His parents become or have become members of that congregation, provided that, if he is already baptized, he is still an infant and under the authority of his parents (Acts 2:39 [cf. Genesis 17:7, 12-14]; Mark 10:14;  Ephesians 6:1-3)." For when the dear Lord gives His promise to him who was baptized, He gives him that promise not for his own self alone, but also for all his children. Hence the apostle Peter declared on the first Pentecost, Acts 2:38-39:

"Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one

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of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call."

In that vein we also read in Genesis 17:12-14, when the dear Lord instituted Circumcision, which was a Type of Baptism:

"And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every roan child tit your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of arty stranger, which is not of thy seed. He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant."

That is God's ordinance. When a baptized Christian receives children from God, he is responsible for those children not only in bodily matters, but also in spiritual and eternal things. Those little newborn children cannot care for themselves; they cannot say, "Please baptize me!" The parents must do that and ought to do it, because the promises apply also to their descendants. Baptized parents who do not baptize their children are robbers and thieves; they steal from their children. They steal from them the promise that God intended for them. So, then, Abraham had to have all his children circumcised after God made a covenant with him and Himself instituted circumcision as the seal of that covenant. That was not in any way an unjust compulsion, but God's holy ordinance. It is a dreadful thing when here in America many consider it coercion to have their children baptized. They say, No, do not have the children baptized, but wait until they are grown, and then they may check out the various communions and decide by their own free choice on one or the other. That is to turn God's ordinance on its head; i.e., making parents of the children, and children of the parents. No! You, O father, will one day be asked, "Where is my child that I placed in your care?" You are supposed to care for him, you are supposed to bring him to the Lord Jesus, and that is done through Holy Baptism. You are in the Church, so this, your dear child, should also be brought into the Church. You do that when you have him baptized, or, if the child is already baptized and even grown some, but is still too young to speak, then you as his father must say, "Son, or Daughter, you need to go to church; I belong to this congregation, and therefore you belong, too. I am commanded by God to give you this order. You are my own flesh and blood, my `property;' and I have to

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answer for you." A father cannot say some day, "My son did not want to," or, "My daughter did not want to." You must see to it that your son and daughter do it; for where you are, that is where your children belong.

It is true, of course, that if the children are of the age of reason they come to the age when they unfortunately decide for the devil and the world, and a poor, pious father can do what he will, but he cannot change the hearts of his children. So, when a child says, "Yes, father, you had me baptized, but I do not want to belong to the congregation any more," - it is true that you cannot drag him into church by the hair. But you must commit him to the mercy of God, but you must also say to such a son or daughter, "Look, before God you do not have the freedom to leave your church, but only before the world. We do not intend to coerce you if you still do not want to belong; but you need to know that you can not say, `I do not belong to it,' but only, `I do not want to belong there,' for from the moment you were baptized, you have certainly belonged there. If you really do not want to belong there any more, alright; but you should know that you are an apostate, you are no Christian, you are not our brother or sister, you are a heathen and a publican, and you are a condemned person." For, as already mentioned, parents have the duty of ordering the children to remain faithful to the congregation, and the children have the duty to be obedient to their parents in this divinely commanded matter. If you do not do so, you are apostate. Let this be held up before the young people who are so blind, that they say, "I am not yet 21 years old; I will leave it until later to decide whether I want to join or not." No, dear friend, you are quite wrong. You have belonged to the congregation for a long, long time, from the very moment you were baptized, since your father and your mother became members of the congregation. If you want to leave, - alright! God does not hold anyone back, and He does not compel any one; but you should know this, too, that God will not compel you into heaven, and then there is no more escape. God does not take His Word back. Hence it says here of those who once refused to be circumcised when their parents wanted them to: "that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant." "Cut off," here means nothing else than it should be announced that they are excluded, that none of the divine promises belong to them. They are outside, and God does not recognize them as His own. Here the discussion is not about the little children who because of the indifference of their parents were not circumcised, for that was not the child's. neglect, but the parents', and even more it was the neglect of those children who would not let circumcision be done to them after they were grown. We do not condemn the children who were not circumcised because of the neglect of their parents in the Old Testament. Nor do we condemn the children who are not baptized because of parental neglect. But when the children grow up and then do not want to be baptized, it must be said to them, "Since you put away from you the

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promises of grace, there now belong to you only the divine threats."

Before the passage we are looking at in Genesis, there stands also verse 7:

"And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee."

The covenant was made at the same time with the grandchildren, with the grandsons and great-grandsons; therefore God desired that the children should be circumcised; then when the parents had the same desire, it was done. So, when those are afterwards mentioned who should be cut off because they would not be circumcised, that must refer only to the more grownup children, as Luther also expounds the passage.

This is where Mark 10:14 also belongs. Mothers brought their children to Christ. The beloved disciples, who were not yet fully enlightened, tried to drive them away, thinking, "Oh, why should the Messiah be distracted with little children; He has more important things to do." The Savior became exasperated and said, "Suffer the little children to come unto m e, and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of heaven."

Then the dear mothers must have formed a line, and the Savior laid His hands upon the children and blessed them. That was the same thing as when we now baptize our children. When the Lord laid His hands upon them, there were bestowed upon them God's grace, forgiveness of sins, righteousness, life, and salvation in His laying on of hands, just as our dear children have everything bestowed upon them in Holy Baptism. Then the dear mothers had every right to come and had to come if they were not shamefully to neglect their maternal duty. So also now parents must bring their children to Christ, whether it be by Baptism or, if that had already been done, by bringing them into the congregation. The father who does not admonish his children with all earnestness and, where necessary, even with tears, to hold to the congregation, is a father who steals from his own children. He acts more shamefully to his son or daughter than a father that gives them nothing to eat, drink, or wear. For he gives them nothing that they need for their immortal souls. He is answerable for his children's not belonging to the congregation. He is supposed to bring them in. And, as we have already said, the children have the solemn duty of obedience to their parents.

But what happens? We human beings look at everything with our natural eyes, and we see that in the congregation there are so many poor sinners, so that even the best have all kinds of failings. Therefore we are so foolish and blind that on that account we despise the congregation and-consider it an insignificant thing whether our children belong or do not belong to the congregation. What blindness! We see from the holy

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Scriptures that the apostolic churches had many failings; yet the apostle speaks so highly of those churches! So, for example, the apostle Paul writes to bishop Timothy that he has written the epistle to him so that he might know how he should act in the "church of the living God." Notice that in the congregation there were poor sinners just like us. But the apostle did not view the congregation with fleshly eyes, but in the light of God's Word, in the light of the Gospel. We see there that all believers, though they be miserable sinners, are nevertheless great and glorious. Indeed, they are pure children of the living God, brothers of Jesus Christ, heirs of eternal life, citizens of heaven; yea, they will become reigning kings and princes in heaven. If the world is so very angry, it will one day see it with its own eyes and will gnash its teeth because the poor Christians, who are now despised, will be crowned like princes before the face of God, while those who belong to the world will be cast down into the deepest abyss of hell, because they despised the grace that was enjoined upon them every day, thousands of times.

Here, of course, belong all the passages where it is explained that parents should care for their children, and that the children should obey their parents. Especially powerful is the beautiful passage in Ephesians 6:1-4:

"Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring there up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. "

This is a chief passage for the idea that parents should bring their children to Baptism and to the congregation, and the children should let their parents bring them to Baptism and the congregation. The children who are not yet of the age of reason will be directly incorporated into the congregation; those who are of the age of reason should not be coerced, as with bodily discipline. For no one should be compelled to Christianity; it is impossible, for Christianity is essentially a voluntary thing. When I do something involuntarily, it is no more Christian. If I coerce my children who are of the age of discretion, that cannot be Christian. But I can well maintain outward dignity. I can compel my son who is not yet talking, to go to church. A Christian can well tolerate an ungodly son or daughter in his home, as long as he is outwardly obedient. When they do not want to be obedient any more, then it is a disgrace to tolerate such children in a Christian family. They will not be lost because of being put out of the house; indeed, that is perhaps another means for saving them. A child must obey under all circumstances; that is God's will. In the Old Testa-

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ment such children were to be brought before the congregation if they no longer listened to their parents but were drunkards, blasphemers, or whores. The congregation had t6 judge them and stone them to death. That was the way of the Old Covenant, the covenant of Law. Now we live in the age of the Gospel, so that can no longer occur. But we, too, must still compel outward obedience or send disobedient children out of the house. For we parents are responsible for our children. We should bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and they should let themselves be so brought up.

Let us go a step further. The third way a person can enter the congregation is that which our thesis expresses as, "Reception into the congregation at his own request (3 John 9-10)." That was also done at the time of the apostles, as we see in the third epistle of John, verses 9-10:

"I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not. Wherefore, if I cone, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church."

When the apostle sent true Christians into this congregation with letters of reference, Diotrephes, the arrogant, tyrannical bishop, refused to accept them. He well knew that the Christians who came from an apostolic congregation had a clear understanding and would soon have told him, "You are no evangelical pastor; you are a tyrant, a wolf and not a shepherd." So Diotrephes thought it was certainly preferable not to let such learned people into the congregation at all. If any other members of the congregation would say he was being tyrannical indeed, he would throw them out of the church. He recognized that those were people whom he could not use.

This is a proof for the fact that in apostolic times members came from other congregations, requesting membership, and wherever there was true evangelical order, they were received, as is also the case with us today.

According to the Bible, those are the three ways one can become a member of a Christian congregation.

IV.

Lord Jesus! Thou dost call out to Thine own: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God. No blessings are as valuable and precious for Thine own as the blessings of Thy kingdom. No glory may be as great to Thee as the

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glory of Thy kingdom. No joy can be as dear and as sweet as the joy of Thy kingdom. No work, no labor, no service is as important and pleasing as that which is for and in Thy kingdom.

Oh, how many are they who call themselves Thine but. who, if they examine themselves, must be ashamed! The pursuit of the kingdom of God in this world is not the first, but the last thing they do. It is not the chief thing, but a non-essential; not a pleasure they enjoy, but a burden they bear unhappily. They want to serve two masters, Thee and the world, God and the devil, the Spirit and the flesh.

Oh, open the eyes of all those in our congregation who limp along on both sides, that they may perceive that such double-mindedness, or a divided heart, is not Christianity but only miserable hypocrisy, not the way to heaven but the boulevard to hell; and help them, so that whatever has been only appearance and hypocrisy in them may in true repentance become truth and righteousness.

All those among us who already seek first Thy kingdom, strengthen, fortify, and establish, lest they sleep with silly girls after all and let the lamp of their faith go out, but grant that they may remain alert, busy, praying, and striving until Thou shalt come and shalt as the Bridegroom of their souls open heaven's door to them.

Yea, so do for the sake of Thy saving name. Amen

NOTE: We have finished with the main point. In the preceding theses we have demonstrated why a Christian must join a local congregation, how important and necessary that is, and how one joins a church. We come now to the application of this doctrine.

Thesis V.

Anyone who does not join a local congregation of his confession, although he has the opportunity, or who leaves it while remaining in its area; also, anyone who does not want to be a member, although he did become one by Baptism or by his parents' joining during his infancy - such a person deals in an unchristian manner, behaves disorderly, and therefore, when he rejects all admonition, he should not be considered or treated as a brother (1 John 2:19; 2 Thessalonians 3:6).

We will not offer any proof here for the proposition that people who refuse to join any local congregation are not to be acknowledged as brethren, because we did that in the last thesis. But that such a person as separates himself from the congregation again should not be acknowl-

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edged as a brother, is proved from 1 John 2:19:

"They went out front us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us."

The apostle plainly says that if anyone leaves the Christian congregation he testifies that he really does not belong to it, and he is no brother. If he does not want to remain he is saying, "I belong to another fellowship of brotherhood and faith." As the apostle here denies brotherhood to such a one, so we must also do so after he does not pay attention to any admonition.

There is also 2 Thessalonians 3:6:

"Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us."

It does not say simply, "who walketh ungodly and wickedly," but "who walketh disorderly." That means not according to the order which a Christian is to observe in the fellowship of the Church. To this divinely established order this above all belongs: as soon as a man comes to faith, he also holds to those who confess his faith. Whoever does not is walking disorderly and not according to the commandment. You should withdraw from such a person. The apostle commands it "in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ," hence with great and holy affirmation.

I would not know what else to add if I did not intend to begin again at the beginning. Let no one doubt any more that it is a clearly expressed doctrine of God's Word that everyone who claims to be a Christian has the solemn duty not to separate himself and go astray all by himself. To the contrary, he much more has the duty of joining a congregation, confessing Christ, and helping spread the kingdom of God. Since that is a clear duty, required in God's Word, then without doubt he is acting in an unchristian manner when he does not carry out this duty, but intentionally seeks to play as a free man in this world, even in spite of God's Word. Hence it comes to pass, as already mentioned, that the apostle John says we should not recognize those as belonging to us who once did belong to us, but who went away from us. St. Paul also writes in 2 Thessalonians 3:6 that one should withdraw from one who walks disorderly, and not according to the tradition he received from the apostle. In the original text the word for "tradition" means the doctrine passed down, napaöoaia. The apostle is therefore

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saying, "That person is not living according to the doctrine I gave you when I was with you. If you are certain he is guilty of that, then withdraw from him, deal with him no longer as a brother, greet him no more, but behave toward him as toward a stranger, as toward an unbeliever, as toward a heathen man and a publican."

There are many among us who do not say they do not want to belong to the congregation, but they keep postponing it from one time to another. They go to church, they want to participate in all the means of grace, but they delay joining from year to year. Their excuse is that they do not know how long they will be here, that they might soon move away, etc. That, though, is a trick; a date certain should be fixed; before which the guests must decide whether they want to go on enjoying the blessings of the congregation by joining it. One might specify a period of one year. During this time one may ponder whether he can join or not. After that period passes the congregation can say, "The time is up, dear friend; either – or! Either you will be a regular member, or else you may no longer enjoy the means of grace as they are publicly distributed among us; for we cannot introduce an order that is contrary to God's order and will finally ruin everything." For if it were permitted to Christians to enjoy the blessings of the congregation without joining it, the whole life of the congregation would cease by and by, and the church would be in ruins. Who would call the pastors? Who would support them? who would call and support the schoolteachers? who would exercise church discipline? maintain order? or say what should be done? All that would cease at once. Can that be Christian to behave that way? I believe that one who says, "I still cannot understand that," can not be helped. It is not a lack of understanding but of good will.

Let that suffice to expound the fifth thesis. We go on to the sixth.

Thesis VI

Subscribing the church's Constitution is but a good human custom. By it the subscriber does not first become a member, but he is counted among the adult members who have been received into the congregation as voting members (1 Corinthians 14:40; Colossians 2:5).

No one should suppose the subscription to the constitution of a congregation rests on a command of God's Word. Nowhere in the Bible is there anything to the effect that when a congregation is founded it have a constitution, and that everyone who belongs to it must sign his name to it. No, it is a human custom that this is done. But what follows from that fact? Is it this, that one can refrain from subscribing and so remain outside the congregation, since he can still be a good Christian? Hardly!

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It much rather publicly implies only that subscription to the constitution is not necessarily required for membership. There is no requirement for that. Still, it is very good if a congregation establishes such a practice, because one can only know precisely who belongs to the congregation and whether a person has already declared himself to undertake all the duties of a member. But we cannot tell anyone, "If you do not sign the constitution you cannot be a member," for we dare not issue human regulations which, if ignored, will prevent a person's enjoyment of the means of grace.

Our dear congregation often used to experience that some people refused to sign the constitution, but they declared at the same time that they wanted to be members of the congregation. "Fine! Let it be!" they were answered. If you just do what the others do who have already signed it, we will be patient with you. It is odd that you do not want to sign, because you can see what is it in the constitution. Partly, it flows from God's Word, and partly, it makes for good order, and it doesn't take any great learning to perceive its usefulness. Hence, whatever you might have as grounds for your refusal, you cannot have a sound reason." "Yes," they reply, as a rule, "it is against my conscience." Answer: "We can not see into your heart; we must let that be, but you can never prove it. For if one person does not subscribe because something could be wrong in the congregation's constitution, such a fear is groundless, since it says in the constitution: If anything is resolved contrary to God's Word, it must be rescinded. For we could certainly in our human weakness have written something into it that does not agree with God's Word. But for that very reason everyone can sign with a clear conscience, because it also says there that God's Word alone counts with us, and everything that might be contrary to it in the Constitution is already pronounced null and void for the whole congregation." So there is no danger in signing it. One will quickly see that in the constitution everything is either clearly taken from God's Word, or it is so simple that no scruples are possible. Yet there are such amazing eccentrics who make everything a matter of conscience, but not often over such matters as they ought to. What should be done with them? One just has to let them go. Such people are knotty branches, with whom Christians must also be patient. It is not always easy to find flawless wood.

The objection might be raised that such a practice did not prevail in the Lutheran Church before. That is true. In Germany they did not operate that way, because provincial or state churches were there. Church members did not have the right to draw up constitutions, but only the king, and he exercised ecclesiastical authority through the consistory and the superintendents, the deacons and the general superintendents, and whatever the nobility are called. That was not an advantage, but great distress. Therefore the church in Germany sank so far, because those who were Christians had nothing to say in their own church government.

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Otherwise, how stimulated they would have been! In fact, they were stimulated. They did not want to accept the new hymnals, the new catechisms, and the new, untruthful books. But when they refused them they were threatened as rebels; indeed, at times soldiers were sent into

their homes. And because the people were not such strong Christians as preferred to suffer force rather than offend their consciences, they eventually gave in and accepted the untruthful books. But that way was not according to Luther's idea. As proof for that I will introduce a passage from his writings.

Already in the year 1526 Luther wrote a piece entitled, "German Mass and Order of Worship." No one needs to be alarmed about the word "mass." The word has various meanings. The worst one is the one the papists give it. But in the ancient church, long before the papacy arose, the Lord's Supper or the whole Sunday service was called a Mass. The "Order of the Mass," means the same thing as "order of service," and that means nothing but the whole church order in a local congregation, and Luther used the word in that sense. What he wrote was as follows:

"There is a threefold difference between the Service and the Mass. First, one is in Latin; ... Second, it is the German Mass and worship we are now dealing with, which needs to be set in order for the sake of the unlearned lay folk."

The first mentioned one was in common use in the papacy. Luther still had to distinguish for those who came out of the papacy why everything was no longer sung and prayed in Latin in his church. Before Luther, in the time of the dominance of the papacy, it was not easy for a German hymn to be sung. The congregation as a rule did not sing at all, but only the preacher and the celebrant and the choir boys. The congregation had nothing to do. Everything that was sung (including the Gospel, Epistle, and all prayers) was sung in Latin. The poor people, with missal in hand, did not know what the preacher and the choir were singing. They were so accustomed to that, that it was thought that the important thing was to go to church and watch and listen. When the choirboys rang the bell, they thought the Lord Jesus was coming, and they fell on their knees and worshipped. In short, things then were much the same as they still are in the Roman Church. Luther, however, established a German Mass, a service held only in the German language. Not only in the preaching, but also in the hymns, in the prayers, and at the administration of the holy Sacraments the German language was now used. Luther continues:

"But we must let these two ways (the Latin and the German services) go on and take place, so that they may be publicly observed

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in the churches before all the people;" –

He means to say, "Now I must still have patience. It is like this: Whoever was born in Wittenberg belongs also to the congregation, to the church, wherever he might be. He is almost born into it." Luther continues:

"There are many people among them who do not believe and are not Christians, but the greater part stand there and gawk at seeing something new; just as if we were holding services amid Turks or heathen in a public square or in a field. For here there is still no well ordered and organized congregation in which one could govern the Christians according to the Gospel" (That was Luther's complaint in 1526, that no one had introduced any order, by which the Christians could be governed); "but it is a public inducement to faith and to Christianity" (as is now the case in Germany in the best circumstances). "The third kind of service should be a truly evangelical order and should not be held in a public place for all sorts of people, but those who want to be Christians in earnest and who profess the gospel with hand and mouth should sign their names and meet alone in a house somewhere to pray, to read, to baptize, to receive the sacrament, and to do other Christian works." (LW, LIII, 64)

That is how it should be done, he says, when the congregation of Christians is properly ordered, so that only those are counted in the congregation who sign their names, subscribe to the constitution, support it with their signatures, and meet alone in a house from time to time. Also at Luther's time one could not recognize the churchgoers as members of the congregation, for one knew only that they were citizens of the state or journeymen or apprentices who stay there. Then it was said, as Luther lamented, "As long as you stay here, you are Lutheran." He goes on:

"According to this order, those who do not lead Christian lives could be known, reproved, corrected, cast out, or excommunicated, according to the rule of Christ, Matthew 18:15-17. Here one could also solicit benevolent gifts to be willingly given and distributed to the poor, according to St. Paul's example, 2 Corinthians 9:1-2, 12. Here would be no need of much and elaborate singing. Here one could set up a brief and neat order for baptism and the sacrament and center everything on the Word, prayer, and love. Here one would need a good, short catechism on the Creed, the Ten Commandments, and the Our Father. In short, if one had the kind of people and persons who wanted to be Christians in earnest, the

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rules and regulations would soon be ready. But as yet I neither can nor desire to begin such a congregation or assembly or to make rules for it. For I have not yet the people or persons for it." (Ibid.)

That was then the reason why Luther did not introduce at his time the church order such as we have here. He did not have enough people for it. He continues:

"Nor do I see many who want it. But if I should be requested to do it, and could not refuse with a good conscience, I should gladly do my part and help as best I can. In the meanwhile the two above-mentioned orders of service must suffice. And to train the young and to call and attract others to faith, I shall – besides preaching – help to further such public services for the people, until Christians who earnestly love the Word find each other and join together. For if I should try to make it up out of my own head, it might turn into a sect." (Ibid.)

Luther is saying, "I have no authority to say in Wittenberg that we will do things so. If I should say that and should move the people to accept it, then I could easily cause nothing else but a sect. I will therefore wait until the Christians come and say, “Oh, Luther, it is no longer true that everything in the city belongs to the Christian congregation! No, a separation must take place! Those who want to belong to our Wittenberg congregation must first be sincere Christians, and then we will also explain what is required among us according to God's Word." Has anyone so spoken and wanted to establish it so, then Luther would have undertaken it with a thousand joys. But now he appends a remark that is not very flattering to us Germans:

"For we Germans are a rough, rude and reckless people, with whom it is hard to do anything, except in cases of dire need."

Moreover, St. Paul teaches in 1 Corinthians 14:40 that the Order, or constitution should be signed and not despised by any Christian: "Let all things be done decently and in order." ("Decently – means the same as honorably and respectably); and when he also cites Colossians 2:5, "For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ."

When the people have a strong faith they enter with a thousand joys into a fine order where the administration of the Means of grace prevails. Whoever says, "There is nothing in the Bible about signing the constitution. You can't compel me to do it", should be answered by the

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other Christians this way: "Dear brother, that is not a burden being laid upon you, but we ask you only this: Do you not realize that this is a fine constitution? We need to have some order. One cannot say, `I will go to church tomorrow at 5:00 A.M.,' a second at 8:00, a third at 11:00; a fourth, `I prefer a little earlier."' Should we give everyone the right to go at five, at eight, at eleven; what would come of that? If we are Christians we soon become one. We begin worship about 9:30. Why? We have all kinds of reasons for breaking off a half hour, and no one will be so foolish as to say, "No, I will not do that. If church does not begin at 9:00 I will not come." It would also be foolish for someone to say, "It is not in the Bible that church should begin at half past nine." For precisely that reason, that there is no time specified there for the service to begin, the appointment of this order belongs to the things that the congregation must designate. As long as it is not a matter of conscience or of faith, but concerns a voluntary arrangement, then we go with the majority; and that is nothing else but to go by love. With God's help it has worked well for us in that way.

So if someone says, Yes, I want to be a member of the congregation, but I will not sign," we must try to convince him that he is being whimsical. If we cannot convince him, we must say: "Leave it alone." as Thy will, and especially kindle a burning zeal in all those sluggish souls, that they may do what pleases Thee; so that our dear congregation might again become a city set on a hill, whose knowledge, faith, and love shine like a light before the people, that they may see their good works and glorify the Father who is in heaven. Be gracious unto us and bless us, Lord Jesus! Amen

On the doctrine of the duty of a Christian to join a congregation, we come to another point, which is treated in the following:

Thesis VII.

Those who receive the benefits of the ministry which is established and supported by the congregation but do not wish to belong to the congregation, who also are able to but do not want to contribute anything by word or deed to support it or anything that belongs to it, – such people act contrary to God's clear Word (Luke 10:5-7; 1 Corinthians 9:13-14; Galatians 6:6; 2 Corinthians 8:13). If they do not listen to admonition, they are not to be accorded the privileges of church membership.

This is about those who enjoy the blessings of church membership but do not become members, nor do they intend to help the congregation to endure; therefore they do not want to contribute to the maintenance of the ministry, nor to the maintenance of the school, nor for build-

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ing the church or school, nor to defray the costs of the many things needed when a congregation is established and must be maintained. They do not give moral or financial support. As to moral support, they do not intend to go to the congregational meetings and take the trouble to see how the kingdom of God in this place may be maintained and advanced. As for financial support, they do not want to give donations, do not want to participate when collections need to be made, and do not want to contribute when a church or school needs to be built and supported once it is built.

It is incredible that certain people claim to be Christians and yet draw back from the congregation. They want to go to church, go to the Lord's Supper, have their children baptized, have their dead buried by the church, have a pastor by whom they can be comforted when trouble comes, and be communed and absolved! All those things would not be possible if there were no congregation there, which must be maintained with outward means and must be sustained when all kinds of labor, trouble, and grief are about. What do you call a person who lives on the property of others? He is called a sluggard, and all those who are knowledgeable enough to know that they are using the Church, the Word of God and the Sacraments – are therefore spiritual sluggards; yet not only spiritual, but also bodily, because the other members must pay what for what they enjoy. Such wretched people actually think that when they put in a nickel, the least one has in his pocket, they have richly contributed all they need to.

It is true, of course, that things in the Church are not like they are in the state, for the state levies a certain tax on everybody through the bank. Be you rich or poor, that makes no difference; you must pay or you go to jail. In the Church, though, everything should be given voluntarily; but that does not mean that you do not need to do anything as long as you have love. Quite the contrary: Love requires more of a Christian than is required of a citizen through political coercion. We cannot call a person a Christian in whose heart love has no greater effect than a policeman or a jailer. For it is clearly taught in the Bible that the pastors should not do something else besides their pastoral office to earn their daily bread. The dear Lord could have ordained things so. He could have commanded some Christians to preach and to carry on some other occupation besides. He could have said, If you are a shoemaker, make shoes; if you are a tailor, cut cloth, if a mason, build walls, and thereby earn your bread; but in addition you must look after the congregation with God's Word. God, however, has declared quite otherwise, as in Luke 10:5-7:

"And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house. And if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it: if not, it shall turn to you again. And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give: for the

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labourer is worthy of his hire. Go not from house to house.

The Savior does not say, Eat and drink what you have packed and taken alone, but what they give. For it clearly says at the same time, "the laborer is worthy of his hire." Hence the Lord Jesus wants His servants, who proclaim His Word, to be viewed as His laborers. Since every laborer deserves his wages, the pastor should also receive his wages. He should not receive them by virtue of his doing some hand labor. On the contrary, the apostle Paul scolds the bishops who undertook an occupation without necessity, and he calls it filthy lucre. We cannot object that the apostle Paul worked by night and preached by day! The apostle did that out of special love for the Gentiles, and in fervent love he took nothing of them, so that the Gentiles might not think that he came to them to make money. Beside that the apostle also makes it clear that he did it only out of love for their souls, but they properly had the duty to support them. He does not want his reputation taken away, that he did not preach for money. Indeed, once he decreed after giving admonition that the congregation should support the pastor: "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." Galatians 6:7-8. Let us look at one more passage, 1 Corinthians 9:13-14.

"Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar? Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel."

Here the Lord commanded that they should not eat something else, not for the reason that the pastors should have everything lovely and beautiful and fine in the world, be supplied with money by other people, and live well at the expense of the congregation. Instead, the Lord wants them to be supported so that they not have to worry about bodily things instead of the souls entrusted to their care. The congregation should support them so that the pastor can live solely for the congregation. True, enthusiastic skinflints say, That is not the right thing at all; it would be good if every pastor would work with his hands and then preach on Sunday. But the congregation would soon see then what sort of preacher they have, and it would soon discover what the Savior had in mind when He said, "They which preach the gospel should live of the gospel."  If a pastor is a true-servant of Christ, his congregation cannot pay him for a single week. True, the common people do not appreciate what it means to be a faithful pastor; they have no appreciation of what hell he must often go through, such that he often would prefer a thousand times over to split rocks or clean latrines than to be a pastor or professor. They do not have

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any appreciation of such things at all. They lie on their side and sleep soundly, while the poor preacher agonizes over the poor souls and the kingdom of God and cannot go to sleep, and then in the morning he awakens full of cares once more. No one can pay him enough for that. So let no one think that he has done more than enough if he takes care of the support of the pastor. He is only doing what every Christian is supposed to do. A laborer is worthy of his hire, and one who preaches the Gospel should live of the Gospel, says the Lord. The contributions are not therefore free gifts or alms, but wages that are owed and well deserved. Therefore I say that one who enjoys the blessings of the ministry but does not want to support it, but thinks, "Let the others take care of it," is a worthless thief.

Another passage on the subject is found in Galatians 6:6:

"Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things."

A hypocrite reading this might well think, "Oh, well! That is a good theme for pastors." But dear brother, the apostle Paul was not ashamed to recommend this duty to the Christians, too, and the dear Lord well knew that the apostle wasn't asking for their gifts. We pastors agree with him and tell our congregations, "It is your duty to support us." Anyone who supposes that we say that for the sake of the money is very mistaken, for insofar as we serve the Lord from our hearts, we are not interested in filthy lucre. That is not what drives us; we want to save souls, and since that is what we desire, we also need to charge the congregations with their duty and concerning sin, or else God will punish us.

In 2 Corinthians 8:13-14 the apostle writes,

"For I mean not that other men be eased, and ye burdened: but that there may be equality."

That is an important phrase: "that there may be equality." One part should not have tranquility and the other distress. Otherwise the tranquil ones would be the aristocrats of the Church, who, while the others bear the burdens, experience no urgency or expenses. They act like a bad horse that is harnessed with another horse; while the one has to pull all the time, the bad one pulls back. Some principle! One has to dig into his pocket and pay whenever great need arises, while the other sits serenely back and does nothing. Yet they want to go to church; but they go as thieves if they do not belong to the congregation and do not help bear the cost of its support, although they are able to.

Consequently, we cannot acknowledge anyone who acts that way as a brother after all our admonition has been in vain. And he should not

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say, "What are you doing? Am I not also a Christian? I go to church and otherwise live decently!" To that we should answer: "But why do you go to church? It would be better for you not to go at all if you will not do what you hear and boast that you at least listen. Wouldn't it be silly if a child would make the excuse to his father: "Haven't I heard every day what you want of me?" That child would have to be taught with a stick what a good child is. It makes no difference if you hear with ears; you need to hear with your heart. That is how it is here with Christians. It is not that going to church that makes you a Christian, but whether you practice what you hear.

        The fanatics, such as the Methodists, often try to throw suspicion on a Lutheran pastor by saying, "Yes, the Lutheran pastors only preach about money, but we preach for nothing." That is atrocious hypocrisy! For when they send a preacher out they tell the people he will be supported by the whole congregation; but as soon as the people are hooked and the bird is in the cage, they have to pay even more than others. Besides, we too send out circuit riders, but we support them; only, we cannot send out very many of them because we have so many already established congregations calling pastors, so that we cannot take care of everyone. – But, as already said, even if a pastor is enormously rich, a congregation that can support him should never allow him to live from his own resources. If I went to a rich carpenter and said, "You are rich, give me a fine chest of drawers; I will not pay you, though." He will without doubt say, "What difference does it make that I am rich? If you want a chest, pay for it." That is how it is here, too. The Lord says to His apostles that they should take nothing with them, no money in their purses, and no extra coat. Why? Because a laborer is worthy of his hire. The Lord Christ has intentionally ordained that the pastors are to be supported by their congregations. Christ wants there to be such a relationship between pastor and congregation that the pastor devotes all his energy and time to the congregation without being burdened with temporal cares, and that the congregation supply him what he needs to keep body and soul together. For if a pastor wants more, then he is a belly server (Bauchpfaffe). A true pastor wants nothing more than enough food and clothing so that he can preach. Oh, let every one believe this: a true pastor would prefer everything else if the Lord Jesus would let go of him; but once He has taken him, He does not let go, and He holds him fast, so he cannot break loose unless he were to resist the grace of God and be lost himself.

Thesis VIII.

Now we come to a very important question for our situation, which, I think, requires no lengthy analysis after we have heard what preceded in the first seven theses. The eighth and last one is as follows.

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Ordinarily, only such non-members of an orthodox congregation are to be treated as guests and accorded the blessings of the congregation who are on a journey, or who come from a distant place where there is no orthodox church to be found at all, or who have been unjustly excommunicated (1 Peter 5:2; Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 4:15; Romans 12:13; 3 John 5-10; John 7:34-39).

        These are the circumstances under which someone may be admitted to the Lord's Supper, absolved, and generally allowed everything that a church member has for his own self, speaking and voting of course excepted, even though he does not belong to the congregation. It is worthwhile to note here that our thesis contains the words, "ordinarily," "as guests." That says that there are circumstances where the rule often cannot be strictly adhered to. Here we live in circumstances such as did not obtain in our old fatherland of Germany. When you were in a congregation there, you were as a rule born in it and from youth up you saw how things were done. Here, though, we live in a land of sojourn. The immigrants come here to a city and hear how this one and that one calls to them, "Come to us! We are the real Lutherans," or "We are the real Christians." So then it is no wonder if every one does not go the same way. Indeed, the more earnestly a person takes his faith, the more cautiously he will examine everything when he comes to this country. But if there is no doubt with respect to such a person that he is a genuine Christian, he will likely bring a good testimony with him from known Christian, Lutheran pastors. What should a Lutheran congregation do with him when he wants to announce for communion, unless of course he has been previously excommunicated? Should the pastor say, "You may not observe the Lord's Supper with us; you must first become a member?" We think in such a case we should give him a certain grace period, in which everything can be done rightly and we can be convinced that everything is right in the congregation, and then he can join with a clear conscience.

        Such is an exceptional case, though, outside the normal order of things. The Lord Jesus did not so ordain, but if I one time become an participant in the faith of one fellowship, then I should also hold to that fellowship. I should, as it says in Acts 2, be "added" to the congregation as one who will be saved. And that leaves us with our question: "How should things be done? It is not: "How can you tolerate something here and there in case of necessity?" And there our thesis answers, "Ordinarily, only such non-members of an orthodox congregation are to be treated as guests and accorded the blessings of the congregation who are on a journey." Then it is right. If someone is traveling, he cannot be absolved and communed in his own congregation; and probably when the whole family is en route their child cannot be baptized at home. They

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should be told, "Good enough; go to the congregation which is connected with yours as a sister church and ask there what you need as a brother in the faith. Then we should give it to him. So says, for example, the Leipzig Lutheran theologian Deyling in his writing on pastoral discretion:

"Exceptions to the rule are those who come from another parish where there are orthodox ministers, but who are on the road and away from home by necessity, either because of military service or business or some other reason, and they have testimony of a Christian life. Absolution cannot be denied them if they request it and are penitent, because they are not seeking another pastor out of hatred or malice toward their pastor, but they seek another confessor out of necessity." (Institut. Prud. Pastoral, p. 442)

Everyone should then by all means receive from his own pastor, if he has one, everything that is due him as a member of a congregation. Christians should not jump from one person to another, for Christians should not depend on a person at all. When the Corinthians did that, when one depended on Paul, another on Peter, a third on Apollos, and a fourth wanted nothing to do with any of them but wanted to know only of Christ, the apostle sharply scolded them and called them carnal, because, while one claimed to be of Paul, another of Peter, another of Apollo, and a fourth of Christ, while all three apostles had the same doctrine, and Christ did not teach any other doctrine, either, than the three apostles preached. Therefore they were not supposed to depend on these various persons, but solely on the Word. One who is a member of a congregation should also stay with his own pastor, whom he called (whether directly by voting, or indirectly, by joining the congregation), and from him should receive all his spiritual food. We see that also when, for example, Peter, among others, says in 1 Peter 5:2, "Feed the flock of God which is among you."

What do these words imply? They imply that that pastor acts wrongly who feeds sheep that are not committed to him. No Lutheran pastor may chase after a Methodist, a United, a Reformed, or a papist, because they are sheep that were not committed to him. If he chases after them to take them into his care, he is a busybody in other men's matters. He is not allowed to pursue an orthodox Christian who belongs to another

orthodox congregation. If such an one comes and wants his child baptized, I should tell him, "No, dear friend, I cannot baptize your child; your pastor must do that." If he wants to be married by me, I must say; "No, dear friend, I may not do that; it must be done by your pastor." If he wants to be absolved or communed by me, or to have one of his people buried, etc., I must refuse. Why? On the basis of this Word, "Feed the flock of God which is among you." In the same vein the apostle Paul spoke to the bishops of Ephesus in Acts 20:28, where it says,

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"Take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the flock of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood."

So, if I cannot prove that the Holy Ghost ordained me to tend a flock, then it is a work without a calling if I do it anyway, and even if I preach God's Word there ever so purely it is still not a God-pleasing work. No work is pleasing to God because it looks so beautiful, but only because it is commanded and I do it in obedience to God, in faith and in love. The first requirement is that God must have commanded it. For example, if a pastor from one of our Districts exercises an official act for one member of another District without the permission of that pastor, that is completely against God's order; it is being a busybody in other men's matters. God does not want that. Even if someone from nearby Collinsville (Illinois) were to come here and say, "Because it is Sunday and there is communion here, I will be pleased to attend holy communion, too," then he should be told, "That is not so, dear friend. You are not on a journey, so that you are compelled by necessity to leave your own pastor and must receive communion here." To allow such a neighbor to commune is to be a busybody in other men's matters and to mix the congregations. On this point we confront the very important passage in 1 Peter 4:15, which says, "But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters."

Here we can see into which kind of company those have entered who are busybodies in other men's matters: namely, evildoers, thieves, and murderers. The fanatics have no appreciation for this truth. The Methodists, for example, admittedly reach into our jurisdiction wherever they can without it bothering their conscience in the least. We should not wonder at that, because the founder of the Methodist communion, Wesley, uttered this at his ordination: "The world is my parish!" In this the Methodist preachers follow their master faithfully. I have heard in these days that a Methodist man and woman are going from house to house in one of our Lutheran parishes and inviting the people to come to their church and their penitents' bench. Those poor fanatics think they are doing something great and wonderful, and do not understand that they are doing as good a work as any thief, who steals, or a robber, who breaks in to steal, or a murderer, who kills people. Even if they always preach God's pure Word and therefore also convert people, it is still, as far as that work is concerned, a work that is rejected of God. God does not want anyone to break into the office of another; each one should remain in his own calling, which God has assigned to him. Anyone who does not do that should know in what kind of company he belongs according to 1 Peter 4:15. Let everyone keep that in mind when such fanatics come and want

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to convert someone; bring up that passage to him and if need be show him the door.

Compare with that the 3rd letter of John, verses 5-10, where John writes of a certain Gaius in Corinth in the following manner:

"Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren, and to strangers; Which have borne witness of thy charity before the church: whom if thou bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, thou shalt do well."

There were then many guests, because so many were persecuted and driven about, on which account the apostle so often admonishes them, "Entertain strangers cheerfully!" [German version; KJV translates, "given to hospitality."] For, what should the poor Christians do? Like a hunted deer they went from country to country to avoid the most gruesome deaths. Therefore the Christians who lived in peace should have received them with open arms, and the congregation should have been ready to take in such poor wayfarers with a thousand joys, and let them hear God's Word in their midst and make use of the Sacraments. John continues,

"Because that for his name's sake they went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles."

He speaks here of such wayfarers who could not carry with them any of their earthly goods. Many at that time were attacked by night and they had to be glad to save their lives and nothing more. Such people came into the big cities where the larger congregations were. There such men as Gaius gladly took them in and welcomed them, and the congregation allowed them to enjoy what the members of the congregation enjoyed, namely, the Word and Sacrament. The apostle goes on,

"We therefore ought to receive such, that we might be fellow helpers to the truth. I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among then, receiveth us not. Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church."

Diotrephes, of whom John here speaks, was then bishop of Corinth. Far from being an example of humility, he wanted to be held in papal renown in the congregation. When refugees came from other congregations, who were knowledgeable and knew how a proper bishop is supposed to exercise his office, then this conceited man did not receive such Chris-

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tians through whom his tyranny was made evident; indeed, he excommunicated those who wanted to receive them. So the apostle scolds him here. Thereby it is proved, then, that it is right and is a duty to furnish the blessings of the congregation to people who are traveling on account of professional necessity or as refugees, although they are not members of the congregation. Also in this category belong those who come from distant places where there is either no church, or at least no orthodox church such as we find abundantly here. One comes from Colorado, one from Oregon, one from Dakota. Perhaps they have not heard the Word of God for many years and have a child in arm that is two years old, and they could not have him baptized at home, because there was no Lutheran pastor far and wide. No one will be so cruel as to say, "You are not a member, and therefore our pastor cannot baptize your baby nor admit you to absolution or to holy Communion." We should rather say, "Oh, yes; we can do that." Indeed, that is not done within the rules but outside the rules. But there we are not being busybodies in other men's matters when there is no Christian congregation where that person comes from, or at least there is no orthodox church which he can join in good conscience. Tilemann Heshusius, once professor at Helmstaedt in Brunswick, writes, among other things, as follows.

"When it happens that other people who do not belong to our congregation must sit at the feet of the antichristian papacy or of false teachers such as Calvinists, synergists (Those are a kind of Lutherans who teach that man cannot convert himself, but he can co-operate.), Majorists (Lutherans who teach that works are necessary for salvation), adiaphorists (who teach that in adiaphora, or indifferent matters, one can yield before the enemies of the pure doctrine in the face of danger, if those enemies pressure us to introduce or discontinue certain adiaphora). Likewise, Schwenkfeldians (arch fanatics) of whom a Christian must beware, (Matthew 7:15), or if they are burdened with tyrannical pastors contrary to their consciences, or if they are otherwise on a journey, get sick, or otherwise need consolation and want to strengthen their faith, and they desire our services and ask us for the Sacrament; in such and similar cases it is up to the pastor to give the sacrament to each one, whether he come from east or west, provided he rightly repents and believes the Gospel." (Dedeken, Thesaurus II, 438)

If someone comes from a city where there are many congregations, but the pastors are all heterodox, I cannot say, "Go back home; that is where you belong." If he is a true Lutheran he will answer, "Oh, if only I could find an orthodox pastor in my neighborhood I would not come to

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you. I cannot abide a false Lutheran, a United, a Reformed, a Methodist, a Baptist, a Schwenkfelder, or a Swedenborgian. Therefore you must receive me as a guest!"

Finally, let me cite a passage from Luther on this subject. Luther spoke and contended like no other against busybodies in other men's matter, even against going behind the back of a papist behind the back of his priest to give him the sacred doctrine; for that is not commanded. Many people then said, "So, when someone such as a papist has come to acknowledge the truth and comes to a Lutheran pastor and asks for the Sacrament, you may not admit him to the Sacrament according to Luther's doctrine. You in must rather send him back to the Roman priest, because he is the caretaker of his soul. No one may reach into his office." Luther heard that and he wrote:

"I taught that one must not mix pastoral prerogatives nor entice the people from one pastor to another, where everything is otherwise the same. What is more reasonable? But I never approve of this, that when in one church someone is denied the Sacrament (improperly), he is not allowed to ask it elsewhere, nor to give it to him." (Letters, assembled by Schuetz, German translation, I, 336).

Likewise those who have been unjustly excommunicated in other congregations, Luther says, should be received when they come to us.

An unjust excommunication is not in force; it is null and void. If it were in force it would condemn those who put the false excommunication into effect. Anyone who excommunicates a person out of vindictiveness, or if a pastor carries out the excommunication of certain members because they oppose him in the congregation with respect to his bad undertakings, he should know that when he puts a Christian under the ban, he is putting himself under the ban. An unjust excommunication does not hurt the Christian; it can only increase his glory in life eternal. So, when people come to us who have been falsely, unjustly excommunicated, who are not allowed where they should go to church, despite the fact that they are good Christians who confess the right doctrine and gladly listen to God's Word and the congregation, we can receive them with a good conscience. Indeed, as shameful as it would be to accept a person properly excommunicated, it is an equally right and holy duty to receive them that are unjustly excommunicated. We see that from John 7:34-39. There we learn that a blind man was wonderfully healed by Christ, and then bore witness to the Lord Jesus, and now he was excommunicated by the Pharisees. Shortly thereafter he met Jesus again, and what did Jesus do? He received him in a friendly way and so testified to us that if anyone is falsely, unjustly excommunicated, then we may, yes, we must receive

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him, and so release ourselves from this false and unjust ban.

That was the eighth and last of the theses whose contents furnish the proof that a Christian has the holy duty and obligation to join a Christian church if he can, and to work for that Christian congregation with word and deed. May our Lord by His grace bestow His rich blessing upon this simple presentation for Christ's sake. Amen!