# The Lutheran Pioneer_St. Louis_1901_S45 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) A MI utheran Pioneer. SSIONARY MONTHLY. PusuisHep BY THE EvaNceLicAL LurHeran SynopicaAL CONFERENCE OF Norra AMERICA. ol. XXIII. R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor. Entered at the Post Oflice at St. Louis, Mo., as second-class matter. St. Louis, Mo., December, 1901. No. 12. The Angel’s Story. Angelic voices fill the air With golden notes of music rare, And gracious news proclaim: There lieth lowly in a manger A Guest divine, a wondrous Stranger, And Jesus is His name. What means this gladsome tale of old, The news by angel voices told? What means this lowly birth? It tells of might and mercy blending, It tells of grace and love unending, To all the sons of earth. Behold, He comes in manner mild, For unto us is born a Child, Yet Son of God is He: For unto us a Son is given, Who comes with all the might of heaven, The Saviour Christ to be. yay — lana A Christmas Gift from our Heavenly Father. All Christmas gifts should remind us of the Christmas gift given by our heavenly Father to a sinful world. It is the most wonderful gift. ‘God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son.”? When this greatest, most wonderful of all gifts appeared in the world, in the manger of Bethlehem, and in the form of a babe, wrapped in swaddling clothes, the angel of the Lord made known its coming to the shepherds in the field, telling them that there was born ‘in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.’? What a wonder- ful gift! The'Babe born in Bethlehem in the holy Christmas night is God and Man in one person. ‘‘The only-begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father,’ is given to us in the manger at Bethlehem. The Child at whose rough couch we worship in the holy Christmas season is Christ the Lord, the great Jehovah, God over all, blessed forever. By Him the worlds were made, ‘‘and without Him was not anything made that was made.” He it is that is given to the world as the Christmas gift of our heavenly Father. ‘‘God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son.”” What a wonderful gift! Well might the prophet ex- claim: ‘“‘Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulders; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace,’’ Is. 9, 6. The Christmas gift of our heavenly Father is also the most precious gift. ‘‘Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour,” said the angel. In the Babe born at Beth- lehem we have the Saviour of sinners. Can there be a more precious gift than this? It is the gift of all gifts, the unspeakable gift of God’s love. ‘‘God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” What a precious gift! With- out this gift all other gifts would have no value. For we are sinners, and what we need is a Saviour from sin. Through sin we have become the slaves of Satan, and what we need is a Deliverer from this terrible slavery. We have deserved eternal punishment in hell, and what we need is a Redeemer from hell’s eter- nal woe. This Saviour, Deliverer, and Re- deemer is given to us in that Christmas gift of our heavenly Father, in the Babe born at Bethlehem. In that Child God’s own Son has become Man, in order to take man’s place and to suffer all the punishment of sin in man’s stead. The Babe of Bethlehem is the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. In Him there is redemption for sinners, sal- vation for the lost, heaven for the condemned. Whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. What a precious gift is that Christmas gift of our heavenly Father! Dear reader, did you ever stop to think of this great gift of the Son of God, given unto you for the salvation of your soul? When you at the Christmas season are presented with gifts from friends or relatives, how thankfully you accept the same, although they may not be very lasting. But here is the most precious gift, the Saviour from all sin, freely offered unto you, without money and without price, to last for time and eternity. Do not pass by this gift. Take it with the hand of faith as your own. You will then give thanks unto God for His unspeakable gift and enjoy a blessed Christmas. Good, Tidings. The Christmas tidings are good tidings, for they tell us of the Saviour’s birth. They-are good tidings, for the Saviour whose birth they make known is the Saviour of all sinners. If there were one exception, then each sinner might think himself that one, and the tidings would not be good tidings for him. But there is not one excepted. No one has any ground for thinking that the Christmas blessing, and Christmas joy, and Christmas peace are only for better and holier people than he. They are for sinners, for all sinners. There is none excepted. Jesus, whose birth the Christmas tidings proclaim, ‘came to seek and to save that which is lost.” All are lost. ‘‘There is none righteous, no, not one.” There is none excepted. So Jesus came to seek and to saye all. There is none excepted. ‘‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.”’ All are sinners. ‘‘For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.’”’ ‘There is none excepted. So Christ Jesus came to save all. There is none excepted. There- fore the angel who made known the Saviour’s birth plainly said, ‘‘I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.” There is none shut out. To all people—to the learned and the unlearned, to the high and the low, to the rich and the poor, to the old and the young, to the colored and the white, to the greatest sinner — to every sinner the good Christmas tidings bring the Saviour from sin and woe. ‘‘1Whosoever’” —no matter who he is and what he is— ‘‘whosoever be- lieveth in Him shall not perish, but have ever- lasting life.” ’ The good tidings are for you. Believe them, and your heart will be filled with true Christ- mas joy. The Saviour born at Bethlehem came to save you. Receive Him as your Saviour, and you will find in Him all that your soul needs for time: and eternity. ——-o aor “Cnrist is come to be thy Light Shining through the darkest night; He will make thy pilgrim way Shine unto the perfect day. _ Take the message! Let it be Full of Christmas joy to thee.”