# The Lutheran Pioneer_St. Louis_1885_S1 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) ~The Lutheran Pioneer, A MI SSIONARY MONTHLY. PUBLISHED BY THE EvaANGELICAL Lurneran SynopicaL ConFERENCE oF NortH AMERICA. R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor. Entered at the Post Oflice at St. Louis, Mo., as second-class matter. Vol. VII. St. Louis, Mo., January, 1885. No. 1. A Little While. “A little while’? of mingled joy and sorrow, A few more years to wander here below, To wait the dawning of that golden morrow, When morn shall break above our night of woe. A few more thorns about our pathway growing, Ere yet our hands may cull the heavenly flowers, The morn will come; but first the tearful sowing, Ere we may rest these weary souls of ours. A little longer in this vale of weeping, Of yearning for the sinless home above; “A little while’’ of watching, and of keeping Our garments, by the power of Him we love. "A little while” for winning souls to Jesus, Ere yet we sce His beauty face to face; “A little while’’ for healing soul diseases, By telling others of-a Saviour’s grace. “4 little while”? to tell the joyful story Of Him who made our guilt and curse His own; “A little while,’’ ere we behold the glory, To gain fresh jewels for our heavenly crown. “A little while,”’ and we shall dwell forever Within our bright, our everlasting home, Where time, or space, or death no more can sever Our grief-wrung hearts, and pain can never come. ‘Tis but “a little while’’—the way is dreary, The night is dark, but we are nearing land: Oh for the rest of heaven, for we are weary, And long to mingle with the deathless band! —G. S. <= 0 - Whiter Than Snow. It was a cold winter's morning, and the poor in-their cabins among the hills felt the pinch of want in many ways. In one of these cabins lived Aunt Susan. She had long known the sorrows that follow in the train of poverty and sickness, and often had she moistened her scanty meal of bread and water with bitter tears, yet she knew not God’s way of peace. She had tried to find peace and rest by her own doings, and on that New Year's morning she again resolved to do this and to do that, yet she was not at rest. A Christian friend that morning stopped in to see her and spoke about the new year and about death and the grave being nearer. ‘‘Oh,’’ said Aunt Susan, “I’ve been a sinner all my days, and my heart is black and filthy, and I dread to die.’’ ‘*Yes,’’ said her friend, ‘‘’Tis all true what you say about yourself, for God who knows all things has given us a terrible picture in the Bible of what is in our hearts. But He has also given us another picture, and that of His heart. It is seen in those words which tell us of the Sav- iour born at Bethlehem, whose name was called Jesus, because He saves us from all our sins. It is seen in such loving words as these: ‘God so loved the world, that he gave his only be- gotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.’ (John 8, 16.) Now, I do believe in Him who has done and’suffered all for me. And since I thus rest my soul on Jesus, Iam not afraid to die, for all my sins are forgiven, as God assures Or are you yet in your sins, because of unbe- lief, and vainly seeking by your own doings to fit yourself for that day when you must appear before that Judge who will make no mistake? O look unto Jesus and accept Him as your only Saviour! .You can then say with sure con- fidence in God: ‘I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He hath clothed me with the garments of sal- vation, He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness.”’ (Isa. 61, 10.) re eee ee ee Daily Prayer. The fishermen of Brittany (so the story goes) are wont to utter this simple prayer when they launch their boats upon the deep: ‘‘Keep me, my God; my hoat is so small and Thy ocean is so wide.’’ How touchingly beautiful the words and the thought! Might not the same petition be uttered with as much directness every morn- ing and every evening of our daily life—‘‘Keep me, God; for my boat is so small and Thy ocean is so wide’? Keep me, my God, keep me from the perils and temptations that throng around me asI go about my daily duties. ‘‘My boat is so small’’?—I am so weak, so helpless, so prone to wander, so forgetful of thy loving kindness! I am tossed to and fro at the mercy of the world; I am buffeted about by sharp adversity, and driven before the storms of grief and sorrow. Except thou dost keep me I must perish. Keep me, my God, for ‘‘Thy ocean is so wide’’—the journey is long, and the days and years are many. ‘In Thee, O Lord, do I put my trust. Deliver mein Thy righteousness.”” me in His word. He is the eternal truth and cannot lie.” “O, sir,” sighed Aunt Susan, “I wish my heart was as good as yours.”’ “My heart,’’ said her friend, ‘is very bad, and black by nature and by actual sins, but the Lord has cleansed me, and made me ‘whiter than snow.’ Just look at the beautiful snow which.is coming down so fast; it has covered all that black, dirty earth since I have been talking with you. Now listen to what God says: ‘Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white'as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool’”’ (Isa. 1, 18.). And as old Auntie looked out of the window and saw the beautiful white robe of snow that had covered the filthy ground, she cried out, “Oh, how beautiful!’’ ‘‘Yes,’’ said her friend, “and this is how God sees all who trust in Jesus; they are covered with His beautiful white robe of righteousness, so that nothing is seen but Christ.’’ ‘Oh, I see it now,’’ said old Auntie, ‘‘the righteousness of Jesus, and not our own, is the white dress with which we can come before God. It is spotless, and whiter than the beautiful snow.’’ And thus looking away from her own sinful self unto Jesus, she lost her burden, and joy took the place of grief. Dear reader, the new year tells you that you are nearer the grave and the judgment. Are you covered with that white robe that has not a spot upon it—the righteousness of Christ? re oe oe Rest in Christ. The needle in the compass never stands still till it comes right to the north pole. The wise men of the East never stood still till they were right against the star which appeared unto them; and the star itself never stood still till it came right against that other Star which shone more brightly in the manger than the sun in the firmament. So we must not stand still till our hearts rest against the heart of Jesus.