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Page 35
Thus the divine _call_ is ascribed in one place to the
Spirit, and in another to the Word. Rev. xxii. 17. _"The Spirit ...
says come."_ In the parables, Christ's ministers, preaching the
Word, say: _"Come, for all things are ready."_
In like manner, _enlightening_, or teaching, is ascribed to
both. John xiv. 26, Jesus says of the Spirit: "_He shall teach you
all things_;" chapter xvi. 13, "_He shall guide you into all
truth_." He is called a "_spirit of wisdom_"--a "_spirit of
light_." On the other hand, the Word is called a "_Word of
wisdom_;" also, Ps. cxix. 130: "_The entrance of thy Words giveth
light_;" 2 Tim. iii. 15: The Scriptures are said to be "_able to
make wise unto salvation_;" 2 Pet. i. 19: It is as "_a light that
shineth in a dark place_."
So, also, regeneration is ascribed to both. John iii. 5: "_Born
of water and of the Spirit_:" verse 6: "_That which is born of
the Spirit is spirit_;" verse 8: "_So is every one that is born
of the Spirit_:" 1 John v. 4: "_For whatsoever is born of God_
(_i.e._, of God's Spirit) _overcometh the world_." But of
the divine Word it is said, 1 Pet. i. 23, "_Born again ... by the
Word of God_;" James i. 18: "_Of his own will begat he us, with
the Word of truth_."
In like manner, _sanctification_ is ascribed to both. John
xvii. 17: "_Sanctify them through thy truth: thy Word is truth_;"
but 1 Cor. vi. 11, "_Ye are sanctified ... by the Spirit of our
God_."
And thus we might go on, and show that what is ascribed in one
place to the Spirit, is ascribed in another place to the Word--proving
conclusively that the two always go together. Where one is, there the
other is also. The Spirit operates through the Word, whether it be the
written, the preached, the sacramental, or the Word in conversation or
reflection. The ordinary operations of the Holy Spirit are through
that Word. Those who are renewed and sanctified by the Holy Spirit are
those who have been influenced by this regenerating and sanctifying
Word.
This blessed Word of God, _quick, powerful, able to save the
soul_, because of the life-giving Spirit connected with it, is not
only to be read, but to be preached and heard. This is God's own
arrangement. From the days of Enoch, Noah, the patriarchs and
prophets, down to Jesus and the apostles, and from them to the end of
the Gospel dispensation, He has had and will have His preachers of
righteousness.
Our Lord preached His own Gospel, the words of spirit and life.
He commissioned His apostles to preach the same Gospel. They "_went
everywhere preaching the Word_." The Church called and sent others,
whose life-work it was to "_preach the Word, to be instant in season
and out of season, reproving, rebuking, exhorting_." And this divine
arrangement is to continue. Rom. x. 13-15: _"For whosoever shall call
on the name of the Lord, shall be saved; how then shall they call on
Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him
of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a
preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sent?"_ 1 Cor. i.
21: "_It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe_;" Rom. x. 17: "_So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing
by the Word of God_." Therefore, according to Rom. x. 6-8, let no one
say, "_Who shall ascend into heaven_ (_i.e._, to bring Christ down
from above), _or who shall descend into the deep_?" (_i.e._, to bring
Christ up again from the dead) for "_the Word is nigh thee ... that is
the Word of faith which we preach_." This then is evidently God's
order of the application of divine Grace.
And yet, notwithstanding these plain declarations, men try all
sorts of measures and methods to bring Christ near, because they
cannot understand that when they have the Word, they have the Spirit,
and when they have the Spirit, they have Christ. In Luke xi. 27, we
read how a woman called down a blessing on the mother of our Lord
because she was privileged to have borne Him. But Jesus answered,
"_Yea, rather blessed are they that hear the Word of God and keep
it_." Because that Word carries the Spirit to the hearer, and
through it converts the sinner and sanctifies the saint. In the Acts
of the Apostles also we read how again and again the Spirit was given
through and in connection with the Word. The Apostles depended on
nothing but Word and Sacrament.
The Lutheran doctrine, then, that the Word of God is the great
effectual means of Grace; that it is the vehicle and instrument of the
Holy Spirit; that through it, the Spirit renews the soul, applies
forgiveness, and sanctifies the hearer or reader more and more--is the
pure truth of Christ. Hence, wherever the Lutheran Church is true to
her name and faith, she preaches the whole counsel of God, and relies
on that for ingathering and upbuilding. A true Lutheran pulpit cannot
be a sensational pulpit, for discoursing wordly wisdom, philosophy,
poetry, or politics. It must expound the Word, and never gets done
preaching repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
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