# The Lutheran Pioneer_St. Louis_1901_S29 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) Che Lutheran Pioneer, A MISSIONARY MONTHLY. PusLISHED BY THE EVANGELICAL LutaeRaN SynopicaL Co#FERENCE or NortH AMERICA. R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor. Entered at the Post Office at St. Louis, Mo., as second-cle®*® Matter, Vol. XXIII. : ‘St. Louis, Mo., August, 1901. No. 8. Have Faith in God. If you ever feel downhearted and discouraged, If you ever think your work is all in vain, If the burdens thrust upon you make you tremble, And you fear that you shall ne’er the victory gain: Have faith in God, the sun will shine, Tho’ dark the clouds may be to-day, His heart has planned your path and mine, Have faith in God, have faith alway. Darkest night will always come before the dawning, Silver linings shine on God’s side of the cloud; All your journey He has promised to be with you, Naught has come to you but what His love allowed. Have faith in God, the sun will shine, Tho’ dark the clouds may be to-day, His heart has planned your path and mine, Have faith in God, have faith alway. God is mighty! He is able to deliver; Faith can victor be in every trying hour; Fear and care, sin and sorrow, be defeated By our faith in God’s almighty, conquering power. Have faith in God, the sun will shine, Tho’ dark the clouds may be to-day, His heart has planned your path and mine, Have faith in God, have faith alway. May Agnew. —_—.>_ + oo + A Rotten Rope. The papers report that at a hotel fire in one of our large cities one of the guests, & trained nurse, when trying to escape by means of a rope, fell to the ground from the sixth story and was immediately killed. The ders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false Wit- ness, blasphemies.’’? What a rotten thingg the human heart is! Others trust in their own works and Hope to escape the wrath of God by their own ggood deeds. It is a rotten rope, it will not bold. The works of sinful man are sinful. Christ says, ‘‘A corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.’’ Whatever grows upon the rotten tree of human nature is rotten. ‘‘Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not ome,”’ says the Bible. Whatever man trusts in outside of Christ is a rotten rope. For so-called goodness of his heart, his own works or the works of the saints, his own religious exercises, whatever it may be—it is a rotten rope, it will nothold. And no matter how earnest and how sincere a man is in trusting in such a rotten rope, his earmest- ness and sincerity will not change the nature of the rope. The rope is rotten, and he that trusts in such a rotten rope—no matter how earnest and how sincere his trust is—he that trusts in such a rotten rope as a means O* es- cape from the fire of hell will find out tha t the rope is rotten, he will fall into everlasting death. The Bible plainly says, ‘‘He that whath not the Son of God hath not life.” He may have many other things, if he hath not the Son of God he hath not life. There is only One on whom our helpless soul can hang with the full assurance that the rope will not break. It is Jesus, the Son of God, who came into the world to seek and to rope had never been used, it looked strong] save that which is lost. He Himself says, ‘‘I and good; but it was rotten, and gave way am theway.’? And the apostle says, ‘‘Nei ther so soon as the strain of her weight came| jg there salvation in any other; for there #820 upon it. The poor woman was sincere in her belief| whereby we must be saved.”’ that the rope was sound and that it would hold her weight, but her sincerity did not make itso. The rope was rotten; it broke and she fell to her death. other name under heaven given among m™€0, Jesus is the Lamb of God that bore our sins and end=1red all the punishment that we deserved. W®h0- soever Clings to Him and trusts in Him for sal- vation will not be deceived. He is not c¥'98- How many there are who are trusting in a| ing to a rotten rope. No. He is clingin Z Totten rope as a means of escape from the wrath to come. They trust in the so-called goodness of their hearts. It is a rotten rope, itwillnot hold. The heart of man is corrupted by sin; it is rotten to the core. Christ says, “Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, mur- the Son of God, in whom there is pardon, life, and everlasting salvation. Thereto%” is written, ‘‘He that believeth on the Son everlasting life.”’ “Other refuge have I none; Hangs my helpless soul on Thee.” it The Blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin. 1 John 1,7. There was once a caravan crossing to the north of India, and numbering in its company a godly and devout missionary. As it passed slong, 2 poor old man was overcome by the heat and labors of the journey, and, sinking down, was left to perish on the road. The missionary saw him, and kneeling down at his side, when the rest had passed along whis- pered into his ear, ‘‘What is your hope?’’ The dying man raised himself a little to reply, and with a great effort succeeded in answer- ing, ‘‘The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin,’’ and immediately expired with the effort. The missionary was greatly aston- ished at the answer, and at the calm and peace- ful appearance of the man; he felt assured he had died in Christ. How or when, he thought, could this man, seemingly a heathen, have gotten the knowledge of this salvation? And, as he thought of it, he observed a piece of paper grasped tightly in the hand of the dead man, which he succeeded in getting from his grasp. What do you think was his surprise and delight when he found it was a single leaf of the Bible, containing the first chapter of the First Epistle of John, in which the above text occurs. On that page the man had found the Word of Life. ——~4 + a0 She Burned the Bushel. ‘*Be ye doers of the Word, and not hearers only.’? A woman went to hear a sermon, in which, among other evil practices, the use of dishonest weights and measures was exposed. With this discourse she was much affected. The next day, when the pastor, according to his custom, went among his hearers, and called upon the woman, he took occasion to ask her what she remembered of his sermon. She complained much of her bad memory and said she had forgotten almost all that he had said. “But one thing,”” said she, ‘I remembered; ¥ remembered'to burn my bushel.’? A doer of the Word cannot really be a forgetful hearer. ee ee ee ee ee