# The Lutheran Pioneer_St. Louis_1882_S9 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) i 4 } i ‘ | } ) Che Lutheran A MISSIONARY MONTHLY. Pusuisuep By THE EvANGELICAL LurneraN SynopicaL ConFereNce or NortH AMERICA. R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor. Entered at the Post Office at St. Louis, Mo., as second-class matter. Vol. IV. St. Louis, Mo., February, 1882. No. 2. The Gift of God. “The gift of God! the gift of God! Who will buy the gift of God?”’ Snch is the ery of the water-carrier as he goes about the streets of Egyptian towns, with his waterskin thrown over his shoulder, during the season of drought, when the water, from its preciousness, may well be called, as it is, “the gift of God.”’ As the water-carrier goes along his way— now coming into a wealthy part of the town— a rich man, thinking of the need of the poor, and wishing to bestow a kindness on them, steps out of his mansion, and pays the man for all the water he has, desiring him to go into the poorest quarter und-give it away, The man hastens off, and reaches a lane where the poorest have their dwellings, and now changes his cry, and instead of saying,— “Who will buy the gift of God?’’ he cries out: “The gift of God! the gift of God! Who will take the gift of God!” We can imagine how eagerly and gladly the poor thirsty ones gather around him, and that there would not be much delay before the empty vessels were brought out of their houses to be filled. ‘Give me a drop!’’ ‘‘ Remember me!”’ ‘Fill up my pitcher!’’ ‘Let me have a draught!’’ and such-like eager appeals, in beseeching tones, would make the water-carrier think how best he could dispose of the precious liquid; and, while gladdening him to be the bearer of so free and prized a gift, it would go to his very heart that he had not enough for all. What a grand picture we have here of ‘‘ the water of life,” which is offered ‘‘ without money and without price’’ to every one that thirsteth! Jesus has paid for the water for which our souls were dying for: thirst; and as we have “no money,” it would be a hopeless case in- deed for us, if He, in His love and in His pity, had not thought of our need, and come forth from His glorious mansion above, not only to purchase it for us, but actually to bring it with His own hands to our parched lips. X. ————s +o zanrropE is a debt which all men owe and which few pay cheerfully. The Colored Woman's Question. Some years ago a pastor in one of our west- ern cities held a series of lectures against the infidelity of our time. He spoke on the Evi- dences of Christianity. Among his hearers were two persons unlike in every respect. One was a highly educated man, the president of an infidel club. He came to take notes that were If not, why do you not love Him? Has He ever harmed you, or has He ever harmed the world? Oh, no! In infinite love He gave His own life for you and for the whole sinful world. He redeemed you with His own precious blood. Would you grieve His heart, so noble, so good, so loving, by turning away from His entreating voice in the Gospel: ‘‘Come unto me, and I will give you rest’’? If you continue to neg- to be laid before the meetings of the skeptics. | lect Him to the close of your short life and die The other person was an old and unlearned | without faith in that Saviour, God will surely colored woman. She came, not because she understood the arguments, but because she was glad to be where the name of her Saviour was honored. On a certain evening during service, a sleet fell, covering the stone steps of the church building, and as the old colored woman was leaving at the close of the sermon, she slipped, and might have been severely injured if the infidel, who was coming down the steps at the same time, had not caught her and kindly helped her to the sidewalk. She thanked him, and then said in a low, tremulous voice, “Young master, do you love Jesus?’’ They parted, but that voice of the colored woman followed the infidel to his room, and started a mighty tide of emotion in his proud heart. He read the Bible, and was convinced of the utter sinfulness of his nature. From the Bible he also Jearned to know his Saviour, and with tears in his eyes he saw that for many years he had rejected and despised his best Friend, that Friend who had loved him with an infinite love. The pastor soon heard that an infidel, who had been one of his hearers, was converted. He went to see him and wished to know what argument had convinced him of his error. “