The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1880, Page 33

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The Lutheran Pioneer,

A MISSIONARY MONTHLY.

PusiisHeD BY THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN SyNOpICAL CONFERENCE OF NortH AMERICA.

Edited by Prof. R. A. BISCHOFF.

Entered at the Post Office at St. Louis, Mo., as second-class matter.

Vol. II.

St. Louis, Mo., October 20, 1880.

No. 9.

An Open Bible—a Blessing of the Re-
formation.

On the 31st of October the Lutheran Church
celebrates the anniversary of the Reformation;
for on that day, in the year 1517, Luther
nailed his 95 Theses against the large door of
the Castle church at Wittenberg. Blessed,
forever blessed be that day! On that day God,
through Dr. Martin Luther, began the Refor-
mation of His church; the blessings of which
we still enjoy in our homes, in Church, and in
State. One of those great blessings is an open
Bible.

Before Luther’s time the Bible was shut,
buried away in dusty libraries and in dead lan-
guages. The common. people could not read
the Bible, and even the priests, who were called
to be the teachers of the people, knew very
little ofit. Many of them could neither read nor
write. The darkness of superstition and ignor-
ance reigned supreme, and it was the interest
of the Romish church to keep away the Bible,
the light of God, so that people might not see
the false human doctrine by which they were
cheated out of their souls’ salvation. The Ro-
mish church loved that darkness in which
popes, and bishops, and priests, and monks, and
nuns could carry on their sinful, scandalous
living. ‘The Bible was therefore not only shut,
but it was said to be a book which could bring
no good to the people, a dark book which the
people could not understand. Luther says:
“Observe what the devil has done through the
papists. It was not enough for them to throw
this book under the table, and to make it so
rare that few doctors of the Holy Scripture

" possess it, much less read it; but, lest some one
should bring it to notice, they have branded it
with infamy, blaspheming God, and saying
that it is dark and that we must follow the
glosses of men and not the pure Scripture. The
calamity is so great that it cannot be reached
by words or thoughts. The evil spirit has done
his will and suppressed this book and has brought
in its stead so many books of human doctrine,
that it may well be said that there is a deluge
of books; and yet they contain nothing but
errors, falsehoods, darkness, poison, death, de-
struction, hell, and the deyil.’’

The time of deliverance came. Through the
blessing of God in the glorious Reformation of
Dr. Martin Luther the Bible was again given
to the people. It became an open book. When
Luther was already in his twentieth year he for
the first time saw a Bible in the library of the
University at Erfurt. From that time on he
read and studied the Bible. From the Bible
he learned the way of salvation and found peace
for his troubled soul. The Bible, the Word of
God, became in his hand the mighty weapon
for the overthrow of papacy. He translated
the Bible for the people into German in a most
masterly manner. By his translation the de-
sire of other nations was awakened to have the
Bible in their own languages. With great joy
the people read and studied that precious Book.
They were convinced of the errors of Rome and
learned the true way of salvation. ‘The Bible,
like sunshine bursting through clouds, poured
its light upon the nations, and the prophecy
was again fulfilled: ‘They shall all be taught or
Gop.”’ Yes, through the Reformation of Dr.
Luther God gave to the people an open Bible,
and from that open Bible flowed all the other
blessings of the Reformation.

We still have an open Bible. Every one
can read it in his own language. What a great
blessing this is! The Bible is the Rule of Faith
by which we can judge all doctrines and guard
our soul against error. It is God’s word which
tells us the true way of salvation and works in
our hearts faith in our dearSaviour. Itstrength-
ens our faith and brings us consolation in all
the cares and troubles of this world. It is
God’s rod and staff which comfort us when we
walk through the valley of the shadow of death.
Let us love that Bible! And when we on
Reformation day thank God for the blessings
of the glorious Reformation, let us also thank
Him for that great blessing of an open Bible.
And let us show our thankfulness at all times
by reading and studying that Bible, and by
accepting its blessed truths, and by laboring
for the spread of those Bible-truths as they are
still held by the Lutheran Church. God grant
that in our homes, in our schools, and in our
churches we may at all times have an open
Bible.

Trust in Christ.

Man is a sinner by nature. He is ‘a child
of wrath’? and “dead in sins.’’ (Eph. 2, 1—3.)
His so-called good works are of no more use to
save him than his sins. He must trust solely
and only to Christ. ‘‘He bare our sins in His
own body on the tree;”’ ‘‘ By His stripes we are
healed’’ (1 Pet. 2, 24.); ‘*The gift of God is
eternal life’? (Rom. 6, 23.); ‘He that be-
lieveth on the Son hath everlasting life’? (John
3, 36.).

Reader, have you received the forgiveness of
your sins? I ask not, have you done your best
to live a good life? but, have you received life
as God’s gift to him that believeth? Oh! if you
trust in your so-called good works for salvation,
then your ‘‘ good works’’ are the devil’s blind
to hoodwink you into hell. You must be saved
entirely by Christ—not partly by His death and
partly by your good life. ‘‘Therefore we con-
clude,”’ says Paul, and his conclusions are tell
founded, ‘‘that a man is justified by faith with-
out the deeds of the law.’’ (Rom. 3, 28.)

Away then with them! Away with them!
my reader, as any ground of confidence. Men
have been damned in awful numbers while
trusting in them; and therefore I beseech you,
if you care for your soul’s eternal welfare, trust
solely and only to Christ; and never doubt that
He will be true to His word, and save ever-
lastingly both you and every one that trusts
himself to His safe keeping.

When you thus trust and believe in your
dear Saviour, you have salvation, you have
eternal life; for ‘‘He that believeth on the
Son hath everlasting life,’’ says the Word of
God (John 3, 36). And good works will then
flow from your love and gratitude to God who
hath made you ‘“‘accepted in the Beloved.”
(Eph. 1, 6.)

———+»> +o oo

As in the days of the flood there was but
one object to be seen floating over the wild wa-
tery waste, and that object was the ark, the
only place of safety; so now the only place of
safety is in Christ. It was not the ark ‘and
something else, but the ark alone. It is not

SS Christ and something else, but Christ alone.