# The Lutheran Pioneer_St. Louis_1898_S41 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) utheran Pioneer. A MISSIONARY MONTHLY. PusBLISHED BY THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN SynopICAL CONFERENCE OF NortH AMERICA. R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor. Entered at the Post Oflice at St. Louis, Mo., as second-class matter. Vol. XX. St. Louis, Mo., November, 1898. No. il. Thanksgiving. Awake, my soul, to thankfulness, Thy great Provider’s love express; His acts of grace to thee extol: Awake, and sing His praise, my soul! Redemption, sing, thy Saviour gave His blood a ransom thee to save; Thy sweetest songs to Him should rise: Thine all-atoning sacrifice. He is thy shield, He keeps thee well When storms and waves in tumult swell; The dangers in thy path He clears, He quells thy foes, He calms thy fears. Awake, my soul, thy sins confess, Thy want of humble thankfulness; The goodness of thy God recall, Give Him thy heart, thy life, thy all. Selected. qs -o—> o-oo “Come As You Are.” Early one morning a fire broke out in one of the houses in a narrow street of a large city. The alarm was given, and soon the engines were heard rattling along; but be- fore they could get to work, the flames be- gan to break forth and rise high into the air. Soon a young man was seen at one of the upper windows of the house in his night- clothes. A ladder was placed against the house, and a fireman went up and called the young man to make all haste and escape for his life. But to his surprise, the young man refused to come away just then, saying he wished to dress first. ‘The fireman repeated his warning, ‘‘Come as you are! come as you are!’’ but to no purpose, for the young man still said he would come when he got dressed. After the young man had gone to his bed- Toom to dress, the flames rose higher and higher, and suddenly the roof fell in with a terrible crash, burying the unfortunate young man beneath the ruins, and rendering escape no longer possible. A sad and awful death, surely! Rendered ‘all the sadder when we remember that the _ young man might have escaped, at least with ~ his life, if he had not so foolishly refused to make use of the means of rescue which had been placed within his reach. May not this sad story picture to us the still greater foolishness of those who, from youth to manhood, and from manhood to old age, refuse to ‘‘flee from the wrath to come’’? Loud warnings come to them again and again, but they heed them not. Jesus is set forth to them as the only way of escape from the wrath of God, but they will not accept Him. They will not come to Jesus as they are. They wish to do this and to do that before they will come. Many think they must make themselves better before they may come. How foolish! Christ is not a Saviour that saves us after we have saved ourselves. We are sinners and have no strength whatever to make ourselves better or to render ourselves acceptable in the sight of God. For this very reason Christ became our Saviour and procured for us a full and perfect salvation, which He offers to us in the Gospel. He calls upon all sinners to come to Him for salvation, to come just asthey are. And He gives them the sweet assurance, ‘‘Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out,’’ John 6, 37. How foolish, how dangerous, how wicked it is, not to heed the Saviour’s call! Remember, ‘tthe time is short;’’? and you know not what a day may bring forth. Then escape for your life; flee from the wrath to come; look not behind you; the Saviour, your Saviour stands ready to receive you, and His word is, “‘Come AS YOU ARE!’” ood Jesus Will Come. Jesus will come. ‘‘Surely I come quickly,” is His promise given to the Church. He will come in person; for ‘‘the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven.’’ Not in silence, but ‘with a shout,” 1 Thess. 4, 16. Not in weak- ness, as at His first coming, but ‘‘with power.”” Not in humiliation, but with ‘‘great glory,” Matt. 24, 80. Not alone, but attended by ‘all His holy angels,’? Matt. 25,31. Not to be despised and forsaken, but ‘‘to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe,’’ 2 Thess. 1, 6—10. Not to be judged, but to judge the quick and the dead. Not when everybody is expecting Him, but ‘suddenly’? —‘‘as a thief in the night’’ toa careless world, and when the cry of ‘‘peace and safety’’ is heard, 1 Thess. 5, 1—6. It is thus the Bible tells us Jesus will come. Should He come now, how would it be with you? Are you ready? Remember the parable of the ten virgins: ‘‘And they that were ready went in with Him to the marriage, and the door was shut,’’ Matt. 25, 10. It will make a great and eternal difference which side of the door we are on in that day. —— —) 4 9