Gerhard and Walther

If an earnest disapproval and hatred against sin is to arise in the heart of a person, God the Holy Spirit has to work that in him.—Johann Gerhard, Schola Pietatis II:189.

Wherever God’s Word is still valued and reverenced, Christ has His believers, even if false teachers pervert and falsify it. Christ is not a poor king who reigns only in one city, province, or country. Wherever in all the world the Word of His grace sounds, there He makes subjects for Himself and establishes the holy kingdom of His Church in defiance of the gates of hell.—C. F. W. Walther, God Grant It!, p. 379.