Danskeren. [volume] (Neenah, Wis.) 1892-1920, 1915-09-15

gioh and will be harder to reach than ever.
I gave my observation Of reyivalism for near
" fifty years for a purpose It shows that
the system has been constantly changing.
One clstnn after the other has failed til
now the tabernaele-show is ON once. and sell
dom more than once. with Billy Sunday as
the star-aetor, receiving over $346.000 for
twenty-oue short engagements. Others are
trying to initiate him. but it is the death
struggle Of a dying system. The good viii
live. and That is the very earnest preaching,
the fearless denuneiat.on of sin, and the pres
sing invitation but so much IS left out that
we #Lutherans cannot join in the movement
without sacrificing the very things for which
We stand, and the time IS not far of when
some churches must change to the practice
which | shall next mention, or die.
III. l refer to the fact that the Lutheran
Church has the best soul-winning method n
the world. if she viii only use it. In the
first place, we have the most perfect Gospel
the world has ever heard. Can there be a
difference between Gospel and Gospel7 Ger
tainly there canl The final command Of
Jesus was so plain that any child ought to
understand what it meant. When Jesus
said eco ye into all the world, He certain
" did not mean for Us TO sit down and let
s00.00O.000 heather perish without even tell
ing them who Jesus is. When He said:"And
make disciples Of all nations. . He certainly
did not mean only the adults, but humanity.
When He said, "baptizing them into the
name Of the Father, and the Son, and the
Holy Ghost He did not mean that a man
shonld preach in twenty-one cities for two
years for $4,000 and never mention bap-
tism. If | told a little child to fatten a hen,
feeding her corn, | certainly should not eX-
peet the hen to be fattened first and then
fed. or not fed at all. When Jesus said that
we should make disciples, baptizing them,
He meant it, and it is a poor Gospel which
ignores baptism, or the baptism Of little IN
fants and children. When Jesus said, teach
ing them to observe all things whatsoever l
have commanded you, - He certainly wanted
the teaching to continue after baptism. The
Lutheran Church has the fullest, most com
plete. most perfect Gospel, the world has ever
heard from the lips of the ministry since the
DAYS of the apostles. We have just what the
world needs. We have the sonl-satlsfylng
bread of life. What the world needs and
does not know. We have. | am not saying II
boastfully, but thankfully, that it is easier to
preach in the Lutheran church than in any
other denomination in the world. Our theo-
logy has a 'Thus saith the Lord" back OF
il that makes the Lutheran pulpit and school
a power and feeds the souls which come to
hear. Then why let down the bars to the
level of the dying system of the churches
which have neglected the plain m OF
the Lord Jesus Christ to make disciples, bap-
thing them and teaching them all things
which He commanded
We have not only the most perfect Cos
pei to preach to the people, but the most
persuasive invitation to extend to them. The
strong invitation Of the evangelist to a sinner
TO accept Christ seems very simple and PLAN,
hut the fact is that the sinner does not know
what he means. Who has not looked with
pity on an earnest sinner kneellng on one
of a mourner's bench seeking Christ and
some ignorant p%rofessed Christian on the
other side of the bench not knowing what to
do or saw How much better it would have
heen# for that sinner, if he had been invited
INTO a good cdtecneIlcdl CLASS Wh'Ic oteP -
step ne could have learned God plan OF sal
walton and then he would have had no trou-
bic to accept Christ inteIligently. There IS
no comparison between the hay invitation
Of am eyangelistic campaign and the reason
able appeal to a man to join a cateehetlcal
class to investigate the plain doctrines OF sal
walton. We are living in an age when men
want to know what they are doing. Ihey
want to investigate. Every Lutheran pastor
should have three catechetical classes at least
ten months Of the year during his whole MN
istry: one for the little children above SIX
years of age and one for the regular catechu-
mems from twelve to fifteen years old, and
one for adults of any age. Every member OF
the church should have a card IN his pocket
all the time reading something like this;
am now ready to learn more fully the
way Of salvation and to join the next cate
chetical class of the - Lutheran