The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1879, Page 17

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Che Lutheran Pioneer.

A MISSIONARY

MONTHLY.

PusBLisHED BY THE EVANGELICAL LurnErRAN SynopicaL ConFERENCE OF NortH AMERICA.

Vol. I.

Christ is All.

Jxsus, my Saviour, look on me!

For I am weary and opprest;

I come to cast my soul on Thee;
Thou art my rest.

Look down on me, for I am weak;
T feel the toilsome journey’s length ;
Thine aid omnipotent I seek;

Thou art my strength.

I am bewildered on my way;

Dark and tempestuous is the night;

O shed Thou forth some cheering ray;
Thou art my light.

Why feel I desolate and lone?

Thy praises should my thoughts employ ;

Thy presence can pour gladness down;
Thou art my joy.

Thou hast on me so much bestowed,

Surely I may relinquish health ;

Thou’st made me rich, yea, rich towards God,
Thou art my wealth.

I hear the storms around me rise,
But when I dread th’ impending shock,
My spirit to her refuge flies;

Thou art my rock.

When the accuser flings his darts,

I look to Thee—my terrors cease;

Thy cross a hiding-place imparts ;
Thou art my peace.

Vain is all human help for me,

I dart not trust an earthly prop;

My sole reliance is on Thee;
Thou art my hope.

Full many a conflict must be fought;

But shall I perish? shall I yield?

Is that bright motto given for nought,
Thou art my shield?

Standing alone on Jordan’s brink,

In that tremendous, latest strife,

Thou wilt not suffer me to sink;
Thou art my life.

Thou wilt my every want supply
F’en to the end, whate’er befall;
Through life, in death, eternally,
Thou art my all.
(Macduff)

—_—s oo oe _

St. Louis, Mo., July, 1879.

Edited by Prof. R. A. BISCHOFF.

No. 5.

Liberty. Deliverer, the loving Saviour, the kind Friend
of sinners! That will bring peace, and comfort,
and joy to the troubled soul. There is often
much sham in“the political freedom of this
world, but there is no sham in the freedom
which the Gospel proclaims. Jesus, the Son of
God, says, “If the Son shall make you free, ye
shall be free indeed’’ (John 8, 36.).—We lately
read about two young men who were teaching

We live in a free country, and on the ‘‘glo-
rious Fourth of July” there is joy in all the
states of our “sweet land of liberty’. Now, we
do not intend to write a Fourth of July oration.
No! we only wish to call your attention to a
liberty which is far better than all political
freedom. A man may live in this free country

and celebrate the Fourth with a thousand hur-
rahs, and still be a slave, a slave of sin and of
Satan. Every man, no matter in what country
he lives, is a slave of sin by nature. We are
‘sold under sin,” says the Apostle. Sold as
slaves and held captive in the prison-house of
sin! No human Declaration of Independence
and no human Constitution can give liberty to
sinners held in this bondage of sin. We live
in a free country, yes; and we are glad of it.
But are there no slaves of sin in our country?
Why, thousands of them! AJl men that have
not been set free by faith in Jesus are the slaves
of Satan, who has bound them with the chains
of sin and is dragging them on to eternal damna-
tion. Is there no deliverance out of this terrible
slavery? Yes, there is a Declaration of Freedom
which you can read in the Bible. It is the Gospel.
This Gospel tells us that Jesus, the Son of God,
came into this world as the great Deliverer and
Saviour. He suffered the punishment of our
sin, in our stead, and by His sufferings and
death He procured liberty for all the slaves of
sin. He Himself says that He was sent into
this world ‘‘to proclaim liberty to the captive”
(Luke 4, 18.). This liberty is brought to every
sinner in the Gospel. Blessed is he whose eyes
are opened to see that he is a condemned slave
of'sin, and who then in true faith accepts this
liberty and freedom which the Gospel proclaims.
This freedom is far better than all political free-
dom; for this freedom by faith in Jesus gives
peace and comfort in life and in the hour of
death. Read the Declaration of Independence
or the Constitution, excellent as they are, to
the troubled sinner, read it to the orphan and
the widow, read it to the weeping ones at the
coffin and the graye, read it to the dying man
on his death-bed; will it bring peace and com-
fort to the troubled heart? Oh, no! Tell them
the Gospel, tell them about Jesus, the great

school down in Natchez before the war.
went out riding one Saturday. It was a beauti-
ful day, and they saw an old colored man com-
ing up, and they thought they would have a
little fun. They had just come to a place where

They

there was a fork in the roads, and there was a
sign-post which read, ‘‘40 miles to Liberty’.
One of the young men said to the old colored
driver, ‘Uncle, how old are you?” “TI don’t
know, massa. I guess I’se about eighty.” “Can
you read?”’ ‘‘No, sah; I don’t read.”? ‘Can
you tell what is on that sign-post?’’ ‘Yes, sah;
it says ‘40 miles to Liberty.’” ‘‘Well, now,’’
said the young man, ‘‘why don’t you follow
that road and get your liberty? It says there,
‘Only 40 miles to Liberty’. Now, why don’t
you follow that road and get there?”’ The old
man’s countenance changed, and he said, ‘‘Oh!
young massa, that is alla sham. If that post
pointed out the road to the liberty that God
gives, we might try it. There could be no
sham in that.”” The young man says he had
never heard anything more eloquent from the
lips of any preacher, and we hope he took it to
heart and profited by it. That old uncle was
right, dear reader, he was perfectly right. There
is no sham in the liberty that God gives. Be-
lieve in Jesus, and you shall enjoy that liberty.
sea o> oe
(For the ‘Lutheran Pioneer’? .)

Why do we call ourselves Lutherans ?

A single glance will reveal to you, dear
reader, what this paper is and intends to be,
namely Lutheran throughout. Being published
by Lutherans and having a Lutheran editor,
you may rest assured, that this paper will be
strictly Lutheran in Janguage, contents and
tone, always in perfect accord with the doctrines
and usages of the Lutheran Church. And,
while serving the cause of Christ in general,