"Let Preachers Take Note!"

I've been re-reading Walther's "Law and Gospel" again, and thought I'd share some interesting passages:

(From the 13th Evening Lecture):

Our first model is our dear Lord Jesus Christ. Observe Him in the gospels and you will discover: Whenever He confronted secure sinners, such as the self-righteous Pharisees surely were, He did not have a spark of comfort for them, but called them serpents and a brood of vipers and hurled a tenfold woe at them. He uncovered their abominable hypocrisy and assigned them to hell and eternal damnation, from which they could not escape. Even though Jesus knew that they would be the ones who would nail Him to the cross, He fearlessly told them the truth. Let preachers take note!

You must proclaim the Law in its full severity to secure and impious sinners, to enemies and hypocrites, even though you know in advance that you will get teh same treatment the Lord received. This is not to suggest that we can bear what He bore, for we cannot drink the cup He drank. But we must experience the people's enmity. They will oppose us openly or agitate against us secretly. But no matter; if the preacher faces such people, he can preach nothing but the Law to them...