# The Lutheran Pioneer_St. Louis_1910_S20
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

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Salvation Free.

A missionary among the Indians was visited by
a proud and powerful chief, who had been deeply
convicted of sin by God’s Law. But while trem-
bling under a sense of his guilt, the Indian was
unwilling to accept the free offer of the Gospel as
presented to him by the missionary. He wanted to
make some sacrifice of his own and pay something
for the water of life. He, therefore, offered his
wampum, an ornament of beads and shells, in order
to escape the punishment which he feared for his
sins. ‘The missionary shook his head and said,
“No. Christ cannot accept such a sacrifice.”

The Indian went away; but, unable to find
rest, he came back and offered his rifle and the
skins he had taken in hunting. ‘The missionary
again said, “No. Christ cannot accept such a sac-
rifice.”

-The wretched sinner withdrew, but he found no
peace and came back once more, offering his wig-
wam, his wife, his children, and all that he had,
if he could only buy pardon and eternal life. The
missionary had to say again, “No. Christ cannot
accept such a sacrifice.”

The Indian chief stood for a moment, with his
head bowed, as if in despair.
streaming eyes to heaven, he poured forth his heart
in a cry of full surrender, “Here, Lord Jesus, take
poor Indian!” He gave himself up to Christ just
as he was, and accepted the forgiveness of sins
which has -been secured by Christ being made a
sacrifice for us and which is offered to all sinners
in the Gospel without money and without price.

—————

Back on the Old Rock.

Some years ago, a popular young preacher be-
came entangled in the meshes of infidelity. He
left the pulpit and joined an infidel club, ridicul-
ing the name of Jesus, which he had preached to
others as the only name given among men whereby
we must be saved.

After a while he fell seriously sick — “sick unto
death,” said the doctor. His friends gathered
around him and tried to comfort him with their
cold infidel theories. All in vain. As he lay there
without comfort, his mind wandered back to the
old Bible, and he thought of the doctrines he had
formerly preached. He said to his wife, “My dear,
bring me my Testament!” Upon his bed he opened

Then raising his.

his ‘Testament and turned to the 15th chapter of
First Corinthians, where the apostle speaks so
powerfully of the resurrection of Christ. He read
verse by verse, and by the Holy Spirit’s grace the
truth was carried home to his heart. When he had
finished the chapter, tears of repentant joy rolled
down his cheeks. As he closed. the book, he said
to his wife, “My dear, blessed be God, I am back
again at last upon the old rock to die!”

—_——_ —+ e+ ——_—__

Assurance of Faith.

There was an old Scotch woman whom the folks
called “Old Nanny.” She had been sick for many
years; she was bed-ridden and near the end of her
long and weary pilgrimage. But she was of good
cheer, for she rested as a poor sinner, with full
assurance of faith, upon the finished work of the
crucified and risen Savior, and trusted firmly in
the promises of God given to all that believe in
Jesus.

One day a young minister said to her, “Now,
Nanny, what if, after all your trust in the Savior,
and your watching and waiting, God should suffer
your soul to be lost?”

Raising herself on her elbow, and turning to
him with a look of grief and pain, she laid her hand
on the open Bible before her, and quietly said, “Ah,
dear me, is that all the length you have got yet,
man? God,’ she went on earnestly, “would have
the greatest loss. Poor Nannie would but lose her
soul, and that would be a great loss indeed; but
God would lose Tis honor and His character.
Haven’t I hung my soul on His exceeding great
and precious promises? And if He break His
word, He would make Himself a liar, AND ALL THE
UNIVERSE WOULD RUSH INTO CONFUSION.”

Fleeing from This World.

Christians ought to’ flee from this world. But
how so? Not by putting on a monk’s hood or by
hiding in a corner or in the wilderness; for by this
you do not escape from the devil or from sin. But
you must flee with your heart to keep it unspotted
from the world, James 1, 27. Christians should
live here as pilgrims and sojourners, who scek after
another, eternal kingdom, that is, they should ab-
stain from fleshly lust and lead a godly life in all

manner of good works. — Luther.

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