# The Lutheran Pioneer_St. Louis_1898_S25 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) Che Lutheran Pioneer. A MISSIONARY MONTHLY. PusBLISHED BY THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN SYNODICAL CONFERENCE oF NortH AMERICA. R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor. Entered at the Post Office at St. Louis, Mo., as second-class matter. Vol. -XX. t. Louis, Mo., July, 1898. No. 7. Nearer, 0 Christ, to Thee. ‘Nearer, O Christ, to Thee, Nearer to Thee, ’Tis Thine atoning blood That raiscth me; Setting me free from sin, Making me pure within, Bringing me nearer to Thee, Nearer to Thee. ‘Nearer, O Christ, to Thee! Nearer to Thee, Drawn by redeeming love, I long to be! e Rough tho’ the path may be By which Thou leadest me, This is my humble plea— Nearer to Thee! ‘“‘When flesh and heart shall fail, And death draws nigh, Rending these bars of clay, Upward I fly— Rising on joyful wing, My ransomed soul shall sing Nearer, O Christ, to Thee, Nearer to Thee!”’ ——2. ~ oe Liberty. Men love liberty. To gain liberty, wars have been waged and much blood has been shed on the battle field. But the liberty that men seek is civil and political liberty. A man may enjoy this great blessing and yet there may be something wrong about him. There was old Uncle Brown. He was the best speaker in the village, and on every festival occasion he was chosen the orator of the day. Well, on a certain Fourth of July he stepped upon the platform to deliver his speech. There were the men and the women with their chil- dren—all listening’ to the eloquence of their neighbor Brown. And Brown was an eloquent speaker. He spoke of. ‘‘the free sun rising over a free people.’’ He spoke of ‘‘the free flag waving over a free nation.’’ At last, raising his voice to the highest pitch, he cried ‘out, ““Yes; ladies and gentlemen, I’m standing here before you on the soil of liberty!” ‘‘Oh, no!” cried out Smith, the shoemaker, ‘‘you are standing in a pair of boots you never paid me for.’? The folks laughed and there was an end to Brown’s speech. He found out that although he lived in a free country, there was something wrong about him. A man may live in a free country and enjoy all political liberty, and still he may be a slave —a slave of sin and of Satan. By nature all men are in this slavery, being bound in the chains of sin and dragged by Satan into ever- lasting damnation. The apostle says that we are ‘‘sold under sin.’’ Sold as slaves and held captive in the prison-house of sin. Is there no deliverer from this bondage? Yes. Jesus came into the world to set sinners free. This he did by taking the sinners’ place. In their stead He perfectly fulfilled all the demands of the law and bore the punishment of sin. Thus He won liberty for all that are held in the bondage of sin. This liberty is made known to sinners in the Gospel. There Christ comes ‘tto proclaim liberty to the captive.”? The Gospel is the grand proclamation of liberty to allsinners. It tells them that ‘‘God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” He that believes this Gospel and takes Christ “as his Saviour and Deliverer enjoys the sweet liberty with which Christ doth make us free. He is a free child of God—free from the slavery and punishment of sin, free from the curse of the law, free from the wrath of God, free from everlasting damnation. As a child of God he is an heir of heaven, that sweet land of liberty, where God’s children enjoy everlast- ing freedom and heavenly bliss in the beauti- ful mansions of their Father’s house. Dear reader, we thank God for all the civil and political liberty we enjoy. But there is a far better liberty than all this. Speak of political liberty to the troubled sinner, to the poor orphan and the sorrowing widow, to the weeping ones at the coffin and the grave, to the dying man on his death-bed, will it bring pesce and comfort to the troubled heart? No. Tell them the Gospel, speak to them about the liberty gained by Jesus, the great De- liverer, the loving Saviour, the kind Friend of sinners! That will bring peace, and comfort, and joy to the troubled soul. Accept the Gospel which brings you the liberty that Jesus bought for you more than 1800 years ago by His own precious blood. Then you will be free indeed. There is often much sham in the civil and political liberty of this world, but there is no sham in the liberty which the Gospel proclaims. Jesus, the Son of God, says, ‘‘If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed,’’ John 8, 36. ——s o-oo Preach the Gospel. A lady who visited in the South shortly after the war was asked by an old colored woman: ‘¢Please, is I free or is I not?’’ “Why, what makes you ask that question?” said the lady. ‘Oh,’” said the old auntie, ‘‘my old massa says I is not free at all; and when I go out and see the colored people they say they are free, and now is I free or is I not?”’ There the poor colored woman had been free for some time and did not know it. How many there are who know not the freedom from sin and everlasting damnation. They know not Christ, who bore the sins of © the world more than eighteen hundred years ago and thus procured freedom for all sinners. Therefore we are told to preach the Gospel to all creatures. They are to know of the free- dom with which Christ sets sinners free. The Gospel is the proclamation of that freedom. Preach the Gospel! —_—2- <0 A Higher Hand. A little boy sat in front of his father and held the reins which controlled a restive horse. Unknown to the boy the reins passed around him, and were also in his father’s hands. He saw occasion'to pull them. With artless simplic- ity the child looked around, saying, ‘‘Father, I thought I was driving; but Iam not, am 1?” Thus it is often with men, who think that they are shaping a destiny which a higher Hand than theirs is really fashioning. A stronger Hand guides them, a mightier power holds the helm of their vessel, and saves from rock and wreck. Happy are they who quietly yield to the guidance of an almighty hand. © :