# The Lutheran Pioneer_St. Louis_1895_S33 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) ~— Che Autheran Pioneer. A MISSIONARY MONTHLY. PusiisHep BY THE KvANGELICAL LuTHERAN SynopicaAL CONFERENCE OF NortH AMERICA. ft. A. BISCHOFF, Editor. Entered at the Post Office at St. Louis, Mo., as second-class matter. Vol. XVII. St. Louis, Mo., September, 1895. No. 9. The Faithful Friend. Art thou weary? Come to Jesus; He will give thee rest, Take thee in His arms so gently, Fold thee in His breast. If in sorrow, then tell Jesus, Tell Him all thy grief, He will soothe thee in thy sorrow, He will give relief. Heavy burden dost thou carry? Then to Jesus flee; He will ease thee of thy burden, Bear both it and thee. Art thou lonely? He is with thee, Will be all the way; Sweet, communion with the Saviour May be thine each day. Dost thou dread the unknown future? All with Jesus leave; Just the grace that thou requirest He will surely give. Even in the last dark valley There is naught to fear; “TY am with thee,’’? He will whisper, “J, thy Lord, am here.” Selected.~ >< oa > Salvation Prepared. Many try to prepare their salvation by their own works. They think if they do the best they can, they will surely be saved. They know not that they are corrupt, and that ‘‘a corrupt tree can not bring forth good fruit.” Besides, if man himself could prepare sal- vation, Christ need not have come into the ‘world to procure salvation for sinners. Man could be his own saviour, and the sufferings and death of Christ would not be needed. If man himself can prepare his salvation, then there is nothing in that mysterious incarnation of the Son of God; nothing in that life of Poverty and want; nothing in that great agony in the garden of Gethsemane; nothing in that Precious blood which flowed from the cross On Calvary. : But, thanks be to God! our salvation is already prepared. It is prepared in Christ Jesus, the Saviour of sinners. By sending His Son into the world, and by laying our sins Upon Him, and by punishing Him in our stead, ~ 2) God Himself prepared our salvation. There- fore Simeon, taking the Saviour up in his arms, blessed God and said: ‘‘Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word; for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people; a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel.’’ In Christ: God has prepared salvation. The sinner is not to prepare it. Hecould never do it. Neither is the sinner to add anything to that salvation in order to make it perfect or suited to his need. It is a salvation which God has pre- pared, and hence it must be perfect and exactly suited to the need of every sinner. The outcast worlan; weeping at the feet of Jesus; the publican, welcoming the Saviour to his home and to his heart; the dying thief, looking to the Crucified One—they all found salvation prepared in Him, and rejoiced. Reader, how can you escape if you neglect this great salvation? God is satisfied only with the salvation prepared in His beloved Son. If you reject this salvation, you are lost. If you accept this salvation, you are saved. And when this salvation has become yours by faith, then remember that it has been pre- pared for all people. The more you rejoice over this full and free salvation, the greater will be your zeal in telling others of that which makes you so happy. Most men are trying to prepare their salvation, whilst they are on the road to eternal damnation. Many of them, especially in heathen lands, have never heard that salvation is already prepared and is freely offered to all sinners in the Gospel. See to it that this Gospel be preached to those that know it not, so that they also may be brought to faith in this great salvation, which God Himself has prepared for all sinners in Christ Jesus our Lord. Saving the Lost. Christ came that He might save the lost. When a sinner has come to the end of himself —takes the place of one utterly lost, then God can deal with him in grace and give him life. Christ came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. ‘*Why did you not rush after your friend, when he fell into the water?’’ was once asked; to which was re- plied, ‘‘He was trying to save himself; if Ihad gone to him at first, then we might have both been lost. I waited till he had come to the end of his own strength, and then I rescued him.’’ You understand. When a man takes his place as one who is lost, and gives up all his self-righteousness, and finds himself under sentence of death, then he is thankful to be saved by grace. Having no other refuge, he will be glad to find refuge in the Saviour of sinners. + OEE Oe ’ Come to Jesus. How can a man trust in his own righteous- ness? It is like seeking shelter under one’s own shadow. A man may stoop to the very ground, and the lower he bends he still finds that his shadow is beneath him. But if aman flee to the shadow of a great rock or of a wide- spreading tree, he will find shelter from the rays of the noon-day sun. So human merits can not give salvation, and Christ alone is able to save to the uttermost those who come unto God by Him. : ——_> ~~ oo Children. ‘There are my jewels’’, said a poor heathen woman, pointing to her two boys, when she was asked by a rich lady to show her treasures. Her children were not baptized. How much more may the Christians look upon their chil- dren as treasures after they have been bap- tized and made heirs of heaven. ——~