# The Lutheran Pioneer_St. Louis_1919_S49 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) é ~The Lutheran Pioneer. A MISSIONARY MONTHLY. PuBLisHED BY THE Byancerican Luraeran SynopicaL ConrerENce or NortH AmErtca. REV. F. J. LANKENAUD, EDITOR. Published monthly by Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, Mo. Subscription price, 25 cts. per annum, payable strictly in advance. Mntered as second-class matter at the Post Office at St. Louis, Mo., under the Act of March 3, 1879. Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorized on July 5, 1918. Vol. XLI. ST. LOUIS, MO., JULY, 1919. No. 7. Thy Kingdom Come. When our Redeemer, saw the multitudes, His heart was filled with pity; for their souls Were fainting, having neither food nor care, And scattered, too, like sheep without a guide. “The harvest,’ He then said, “is truly rich And ample, but the laborers are few. So many wounded hearts are to be healed; So many consciences to be bound up; So many precious souls are to be taught The wisdom from on high; so many feet Directed in the way of righteousness; So many members added to My flock; And yet, alas! the laborers are scarce.” — These words of Christ apply to our times, too: Hen now the fields are white, but reapers few. Oh, let us, then, be actively engaged, As best we can, in leading men to Christ; Let. us supply our colleges with boys That many may go out as ministers; Let us provide the necessary funds With ready, willing hands, and generous. The Lord hath need of us! Who would not help? Who would not pray to God: “Thy kingdom come; Increase Thy Church, enlarge Thy Christendom’? H. OstTernus. —> > Our Glorious Future. John writes: “Beloved, now are we the sons of God; and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is,’ 1 John 3,2. Let us now consider the second part of this precious verse. We Christians, who are even now God’s children, shall finally appear as such publicly and in glory, on the last day, when Christ will return to judge the quick and the dead. We do not know when that blessed hour will make its appearance; for it is not for us “to know the times or the seasons which the ‘Father hath put in His own power.” Then we shall be manifested as God’s dear children in Christ’s own presence, who will then say to us, “Come, ye blessed of My Father.” Holy angels, too, will be there, looking at us with rejoicing. Our fellow-Christians, who will stand with us on the same side, will also behold us with gladness of heart, while the unbelievers on the other side will likewise see us. Then we shall see Christ as He is. He will then no longer appear in the cloak of humilation, but as He really is, viz., as the blissful, sinless, glorious King of our souls, the victorious and exalted Savior who bled for us. His words of prayer will then be fulfilled: “Father, I will that they also whom Thou hast given Me be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which Thou hast given Me; for Thou lovedst Me before the founda- tion of the world.” Then we shall see Him and rejoice, and our joy no man shall take from us. Then we shall join the angels’ songs. We shall then be like unto Him. Our bodies will be like the glorified body with which He arose from the grave. From that time forth we shall be sinless and blissful and full of the knowledge of God, whom we shall then see face to face. The divine image which was lost in Eden, but is re- newed in all believers, will then be fully restored in us. Even here on earth Christians are sinless in God’s sight, being clothed with Christ’s right- eousness, which is ours by faith. But sin still cleaves to us. Then sin will be altogether elim- imated, exterminated from our nature. shall be like Him, similar to Him. Our text reads: “We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.’ The sight of our Savior, our God, and Thus we’