# The Lutheran Pioneer_St. Louis_1879_S14 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) 14 The Lutheran Pioneer. _ am sure you Will be glad to read what that} do not simply hear the Word, as did also the true Christian and great master in theology has] stubborn Jews, but understand it, and through written on this subject. In one of his sermons] it become different persons, with new hearts. he answers the question: How can we get the} Besides this, it is necessary that we do not Holy Spirit? Dr. Luther says: ‘‘It is very) hinder the work of the Holy Ghost in us, or important for us to learn how we can get’ the| drive Him entirely away from us, by a lawless, Holy Spirit, so that He may also be active in} wicked, sinful life; for the Holy Spirit cannot us and sanctify and save us. Christ, our dear} dwell where the devil dwells. If therefore the Lord and Saviour, speaks of this in Luke 11,|devil tries to lead you into avarice, anger, 13., when He says: ‘If ye then, being evil,|adultery and other sins, you must instantly know how to give good gifts unto your children: | pray God for His help, that you may overcome how much more shall your heavenly Father | these terrible temptations and remain faithful give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?’/unto Him. If you wish the Holy Spirit to Now, mark well this saying and Jearn that God} come to you and to stay with you, you must alone gives the Holy Spirit and that He gives| avoid all gross sins; or if through your natural Him only to them who ask for Him, who] weakness you fall into them, you must arouse earnestly pray and earnestly wish to have this| yourself speedily and not go on in sin. The heavenly gift. If therefore this is your heart-| Holy Ghost is then ready to help us, according felt prayer: O God, give me Thy Holy Spirit!| to our prayer, in our fight against the devil, then do not doubt, but continue in such prayer. | our own flesh, and sin. On the other hand, Christ Himself tells you to pray thus to your| they who willingly give themselves up to sin, heavenly Father. will be possessed of the devil more and more, But this prayer, like every other prayer,|nor can they, without repentance, get the Holy must be in the name of Jesus. We must pray | Spirit, whose office it is to lead us through faith to God that He would give us the Holy Spirit | to the forgiveness of sins, und to help us to re- for the sake of Jesus Christ, His dear Son. | sist evil and to grow in grace.’’ And this we can do boldly, because Christ went| This is Dr. Luther’s Bible-answer to our on high, unto the Father, to obtain for us this question. Remember it well! gift and to send it unto us. Hence we can pray for it with full assurance. We have not Dedication of St. Paul’s Colored Lutheran only the command to pray for the Holy Spirit and the promise that we shall receive Him, but| Chapel at Little Rock, Ark., Aug. 18., 1878. we also know, that Christ cannot do otherwise but answer our prayer, for He sitteth on the right hand of God that He might give us these gifts which He has obtained from the Father, not indeed for Himself, but ror MEN, as we read in the 68. Psalm in the 19. verse. But prayer alone will not do. If you sit down in a corner and pray for the Holy Ghost, neglecting the Word and Sacraments, your prayer will be of little value. Why? Because it is God’s order that the Holy Ghost shall work only through the Word ‘and the Holy Sacraments. If we therefore do not use these means of grace, we shall never get the Holy Spirit. Hence we are baptized,’ and come to the Lord’s Supper, and hear God’s Word preached; for we know that all these are means by which the Holy Ghost does His work in us. We have many examples to prove this. The three thousand souls, for instance, who were converted through the preaching of Peter on the day of Pentecost, would have remained in their sins all the days of their life, if they had not heard the Gospel; but they did hear the Word, and were moved by it, and were bap- tized. That is Christ’s order. If therefore you wish to get the Holy Spirit, you must first of all pray earnestly unto the Father in the name of Jesus; then you must diligently use the Word, you must remember the promise God made to you in Baptism, and you must frequently go to the Lord’s Supper. Through the Word and Sacraments the Holy, Spirit is active in our hearts, and enkindles in them a new light, the light of faith, so that we they that do not by wilful sinning drive away that Heavenly Dove! They enjoy all the sweets and all the beauties of the Gospel-Church of the New Testament: they have forgiveness of sins, comfort in all troubles, salvation and life everlasting. We know there are still mockers, as there were such on that first day of Pentecost; men to whom the Gospel is but a foolishness. Un- happy men! The Gospel-day of the New Test- ament has come with all the brightness of its heavenly light, but they still sit in darkness; the sweet Spring-time has come with all its beauties, but the coldness of winter still reigns . in their hearts. Unhappy men! In the Song of Solomon we read of the glo- rious time of the New Testament: ‘‘Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is ‘over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; the fig-tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.’’ . This, dear reader, is the sweet voice of the loving Jesus speaking to your soul, which He loved with an infinite love, and which He re- deemed with His precious blood. Whenever you hear or read the Gospel, the Holy Spirit, the great Winner of souls, comes to you and tries to win your soul for Jesus, the heavenly bridegroom. Now, let Him win you. Will you not? Oh, do not resist, do not resist the Holy Spirit. ———2>+0-