Walther and Gerhard

However, since God is rich in mercy, He thus did not only want to show His gentle goodness through manifold blessings, but He wanted to show His gentle goodness also by rich promises so that He might all the more also awaken us, cheer us, and motivate us to be obedient to Him and to true godliness. He actually has shown many blessings to His dear children. However, He has promised even greater and more that we might thereby be admonished to love and serve Him.—Johann Gerhard, Schola Pietatis I:138, 139.

Therefore, if a person seeks the true Church, he must look for a place where God’s Word alone is preached, where the Church is built on the foundation of the prophets and the apostles, where Christ Jesus is the cornerstone, and nothing is added to or taken away from the divine Word. Such a person cannot be deceived by the good appearance of the heterodox churches, and he cannot take offense at the weakness of the true Church.—C. F. W. Walther, God Grant It!, p. 184.