# The Lutheran Pioneer_St. Louis_1881_S11 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) The Lutheran Pioneer. 11 LL ——_—L————— “Thine, Jesus, Thine.” “Tam Thine.’?—Psalm 119, 91. For Conrmmation Day. Thine, Jesus, Thine, No more this heart of mine Shall seek its joy apart from Thee; The world is crucified to me, And I am Thine. Thine, Thine alone, My joy, my hope, my crown; Now earthly things may fade and die, They charm my soul no more, for I Am Thine alone. Thine, ever Thine, For ever to recline On love cternal, fixed, and sure,— Yes, I am Thine for evermore, Lord Jesus, Thine. Then let me live, Continual praise to give To.Thy dear name, my precious Lord, ~ Henceforth alone, beloved, adored, So let me live— Till Thou shalt come, And bear me to Thy home, For ever freed from earthly care, Eternally Thy love to share,— Lord Jesus, come. (Selected.) +70 oe oe Old Aunt Judy. That was her name, the folks never heard it. “Aunt Judy.” woman. put together. Old Aunt Judy was poor, yes, she was very poor in this world’s goods. But As a poor lost and con- demned sinner she clung firmly to the Gospel of Jesus which at all times filled her heart with joy and happiness. In that Gospel she found all her riches, and never wished to be anything else but ‘‘a poor sinner saved by grace.’’ Her strong faith and unclouded joy reminded one of she was rich in faith. that verse in the Bible which says, “Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he had promised to them that love him?”’ (James 2, 5.) Aunt Judy was taken sick—very sick. There was no hope of her getting well again. A young student of theology, who often visited the colored folks in their cabins, came to see her on her dying-bed. He found her quite happy at the thought that she would soon be with her “bressed Lord,’ and bright “in full assurance of faith.” So he thought he would try her thoroughly, and said to her, ‘‘Aunt Judy, you will not think it unkind in me.to say that you are a poor, ignorant, old creature, and nobody If she had any other, They all called her She was a poor old colored She lived in a small and low cabin of rough boards, scarcely high enough for a tall man to stand in it erect, and the only floor was the ground, worn bare and smooth. And there was some furniture in the cabin, yes. There was a box, a cheap pine table, two or three broken chairs, a cooking stove, and a rude bed. That was'the furniture, worth less than five dollars body in an unpainted coffin, and bury it in the pauper’s corner of the grave yard, and there will not be even a plank to mark were you lie. But God isa very great God: He made the world, and the sun, and the moon, and the stars, and all that is in the world; and He has mil- lions of people to look after; some of them rich and mighty. You tell me you are sure He has saved your soul; but what good could it do this great God to save a worthless old sinner like you?’’ Aunt Judy understood the meaning of the question in a moment, and looking up with a smile that made her black and wrinkled features almost beautiful, she raised her hand, and answered eagerly, “‘Ah, my boy, God is goin’ to pint de angels to me, and tell ’em to see what His grace can do.’ The student learned a good deal of theology that day, and sat with bowed head beside the dear old saint, as her soul passed away to her heavenly home to bask forever in the smiles of her dear Saviour. How well she had learned the purpose of God in our salvation as given by the apostle Paul: “that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace, in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.’’ (Eph. 2, 7.) May all Christians look away from their own miserable, doubting self, and rejoice in remem- bering that ‘‘God is going to point the angels to them, and tell them to see what His grace can do.’’ For the end of our salvation is God’s glory. It is not that man may be exalted, but that in the ages to come God may show the exceeding riches of His grace. He who is the whole way, the whole truth, and the whole life, has said, ‘Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.”’ (Matth. 18, 3.) Many a great and learned man who has failed to learn the lesson of becoming a little child, the lesson of simply trusting in the exceeding riches of God's grace in Jesus, will not be such an object of delight to the angels as dear old Aunt Judy. + go Luther’s Snow Song. On a cold dark night, when the wind was blowing hard and the snow was falling fast, Conrad, a worthy citizen of a little town in Ger- many, sat playing his flute, while Ursula, his wife, was preparing supper. They heard a sweet voice singing outside— “Foxes to their holes have gone, Every bird into its nest; But I wander here alone, And for me there is no rest.” Tears filled the good man’s eyes, as he said, “What a fine, sweet voice! What a pity it should be spoiled by being tried in such weather!’ “T think it is the voice ofa child. Let us open the door and see,” said his wife, who had lost a little boy not long before, and whose heart : was opened to take pity on the little wanderer. | shall come to the bottom of your poisoned bowl. cares whether you live or die. When you are| Conrad opened the door, and saw a ragged gone, the overseer of the poor will place your| child, who said: “Charity, good sir, for Christ’s sake!’? “Come in, my little one.’’ said he. shall rest with me for the night.’’ The boy said ‘‘Thank God” and entered. The heat of the room made him faint, but Ursula’s kind care soon revived him. They gave him some supper, and then he told them that he was the son of 'a poor miner, and wanted to be a priest. He wandered about and sang and lived on the money people gave him. His kind friends would not let him talk much, but sent him to bed. When he was asleep, they looked in upon him, and were so well pleased with his pleasant countenance that they deter- mined to keep him, if he was willing. In the morning they found that he was only too glad to remain with them. They sent him to school, and afterward he entered the University. There he found a Bible, which he read, and from which he learned the way of life. The sweet voice of the little singer became the strong echo of the good news —‘‘Justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.’’ Conrad and Ursula, when they took that little street-singer into their house, little thought that they were nourishing the great champion of the Reforma- tion. The poor child was Martin Luther! Be not forgetful to entertain strangers. The following is said to be the song which Luther sang on that memorable night: “You Lord of heaven! lone and sad, I would lift my heart to Thee; Pilgrim in a foreign land, Gracious Father, look on me. I shall neither faint nor die, While I walk beneath Thine eye. I will stay my faith on Thee, And will never fear to tread Where the Saviour-Master leads; He will give me daily bread. Christ was hungry, Christ was poor— He will feed me from his store. Foxes to their holes have gone, -Every bird unto its nest; But I wander here alone, And for me there is no rest. Yet I neither faint nor fear, For the Saviour Christ is here. If I live, He'll be with me; If I die, to Him I go. He'll not leave me, I will trust Him, And my heart no fear shall know. Sin and sorrow I defy, For on Jesus I rely. ——s oa oo You may think to live very well without Christ, but you cannot afford to die without Him. You can stand very securely at present, but death will shake your confidence. Your tree may be fair now, but when the wind comes, if it has not its roots in the Rock of Ages, down it must come. You may think your worldly pleasures good, but they will then turn bitter as worm wood in your taste: worse than gall shall be the daintiest of your drinks, when you