# The Lutheran Pioneer_St. Louis_1891_S37 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) The Lutheran Pioneer, A MISSIONARY MONTHLY. PUBLISHED BY THE EVANGELICAL LuTHERAN SYNODICAL CoNnFERENCE oF NortH AMERICA. R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor. Entered at the Post Office at St. Louis, Mo., as second-class matter. Vol. XIII. St. Louis, Mo., October, 1891. No. 10. Just A Little While. God himself algo led Luther into the work of - the Reformation. When Tetzel, the pope's agent, travelled through Germany, selling for- giveness of sins for money, and thus cheating the people out of their souls’ salvation, Luther, on the 31st of October, 1517, nailed his 95 Theses against the church-door at Wittenberg. This was the beginning of the Reformation. But the thought of beginning the Reformation did not at that time enter Luther’s mind. He himself says, ‘‘Who was I, a miserable and despised brother, looking then more like a corpse than a man, that I should set myself against the majesty of the pope, who was a ter- ror not only to the kings of the earth and to the whole world, but also to heaven and hell, if I may so speak, and whose nod all must obey.” Luther simply felt it his duty as Doctor of the Holy Scriptures and pastor of the church at Wittenberg, to lift up his voice against the scandalous doings of Tetzel. He even hoped that the pope would side with him and put a stop to the doings of his agent in Germany. But the pope and his men opposed the true Bible teachings, and,Luther was forced step by step to defend the old Bible doctrines and to proclaim louder and louder the glad Gospel tidings of free grace in Jesus. Luther says, “JT, Doctor Martin Luther, was called and forced to become a Doctor from mere obedi- ence, without any choice of mine. I was forced to swear loyalty to my beloved Holy Scriptures, and to vow that I would preach them faithfully and purely. While doing this, popery ob- structed my path and desired to stop me; but you see what has happened to it, and worse still will befall it; it shall not hinder me.”’ God also protected Luther against all his ene- mies. In the year 1520 Luther was expelled from the pope's sect. The emperor and the princes were commanded by the pope to deliver Luther up at Rome, or to put him to death themselves. A year later, after the Diet of Worms, the ban of the empire was pronounced against him. No one was allowed to give him food or protection; every man was ordered to ar reat him and to deliver him up to the emperor. the father has put all things, wills my death, His will be done. But if this is not His will, who then can murder me?’’ Again he writes: “T, poor brother as I am, have now started a new fire; I have made a large hole in the pope’s pocket, and what is to become of me? Where will they get brimstone, and pitch, and fire, and wood enough, to burn the ‘ heretic’ to ashes ? Kill him, kill him, kill him! is their cry. But my time is not yet, my hour is not yet come. I have to stir. up the generation of vipers yet more deeply.’’ Luther did not fear his ene- mies; for he knew that his cause was God’s cause, and that God could and would protect him against all dangers. And God did protect him. Witnesses of the truth had in former times been put to death by the pope, but Lu- ther could not be harmed. God’s time for the reformation of His Church had come. And- Luther was God’s chosen servant to carry out this reformation. When a sudden sorrow Ne Comes like cloud at night, Wait for God’s to-morrow; All then will be bright. Only wait and trust Him Just a little while; After evening teardrops Shall come the morning smile. F. R. H. ~- A OEE 9 ee Luther, the Reformer of the Church. There is but one Reformer of the Church— Dr. Martin Luther. God himself chose him and prepared him for the great work of the Reformation. In early youth Luther learned the wisdom of the wise men of this world, but he found nothing in it, that could satisfy the yearnings of his soul. Anxious for his salvation, he entered the cloister. He got acquainted with the rot- tenness of the Romish system, which he in after . years was to assail. He became a monk and a priest, and tried hard to find peace and rest by praying to the saints, by fasting, and by his own good works. But allin vain! There was no peace to be found in the way which was pointed out by the Romish church. And when Luther was near despair, God opened to him the Bible, which had been hidden from the people for centuries during the long reign of i; popery. From the Bible Luther learned the great difference between the true doctrine of God’s Word and the false doctrines of the Ro- mish church. He learned that the sinner is justified and saved, not by the deeds of the law, but by faith in Jesus, the Saviour of sin- ners. Henceforth he took his stand on the Bible . lone. And having himself found peace and : - salvation in the Gospel of Jesus, this Gospel be- | come dear to his heart, and he loudly pro- | claimed it for the salvation of others, and de- fended it against all its enemies. He himself =H ae my heart reigns, and shall eres ign, this one article alone—faith in my dear : + Lord Jesus Christ, which is the eeianig Luther writes: ‘According to human laws, i i i kill middle and : ‘tous thoughts, by | my enemies around me are authorized to day and by a iz ay eer aati me at sight. If Jesus Christ, under whose feet | The Weary. How many there are who are wearied in body, wearied in mind, wearied in head and in hand, simply because they are weary at heart. They have sought in vain for peace and rest; they are weary and worn, and the outward weariness is but an index of that inward unrest, which makes them “‘like the troubled sea,’’ which casteth up mire and dirt: Oh, if they but knew the meaning of those words, ‘‘ Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest,’” how soon they might change this anxious restlessness—for the deep- abiding, abounding ‘‘peace of God which passeth all understanding.”’ _—_—— oP oo One evening when Luther saw a little bird perched on a tree, to roost there for the night, he said: ‘This little bird has had its supper, and now it is getting ready to go to sleep here, quite secure and content, never troubling itself what its food will be or where its lodging on the morrow. Like David it ‘abides under the shadow of the Almighty.’ It sits on its little twig content, and lets God take care.”