The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1881, Page 41

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The Lutheran Pi

ionecr.

A MISSIONARY MONTHILIY.

PusiisHeD BY THE EVANGELICAL LurnHeraN SyNnopicAL CONFERENCE OF NortH AMERICA.

R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor.

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

Vol. Ul.

St. Louis, Mo., November, 1881.

No. 11.

Shelter against the Storm.

It was a fine morning when the boats sailed
out into the sea. But during the day the wind
rose, and when evening cante, the sea that had
sparkled in the bright sunny morning was
tossed up and down in high billows. The thick
clouds made the darkness set in early, and every
thing about and above seemed to tell that there
would be a stormy night. Most of the fishing-
boats had come back and found shelter in the
village harbor.

But there was one fishing-boat that had sailed
out with the rest that fine morning, but which
did not come back with the others. The men
on board knew the wind was rising, they knew
the storm would come, they knew the harbor | |
_was_open_for_them;, but trusting in their own
strength they thought they could brave the
wind, and did not heed its warning voice, and
would not seek shelter in the harbor. And so
the darkness came on, and the deeper tones of
the howling-storm sounded over the sea, and
the boat was seized and driven on, driven on to
the rocks that lined the coast, and was dashed
to pieces by the fury of the angry waves, which,
as if in triumph, leaped and danced to the wild
music of the howling storm. And the next
morning’s sun rose over a miserable and total
wreck.

My dear reader it is because the storm is
brewing, and the black clouds of Judgment are
rising, that God warns men to flee from the
wrath to come. - Let us heed the signs of our
time! ‘The spread of infidelity among the high

:and the low, the spread of false doctrines and
‘of the pope’s antichristian kingdom, the many
disasters on the Jand and on the sea, the vast
idevastations by fire and by water, the many
mmurders which are of almost daily occurrence,
tthe preaching of the Gospel in all the world as
m witness unto all the nations—they all tell us
tthat the day of the Lord is at hand, which
evil come as a thief in the night; in the which
tthe heavens shall pass away with a great noise,
tand the elements shall melt with fervent heat,
tthe earth also; and the works that are therein
sshall be burned up,”’ 2 Peter 3, 10.

_ There isa place of shelter against the coming
sitorm. There is a place of safety opened by

God for all sinners.

There is a harbor of grace
pointed out to us in the Gospel. The loving
arms of Jesus that were stretched upon Cal-
vary’s cross, when He bled and died for our
sins, are opened wide in the sweet Gospel to
receive and to keep all who come to Him. It
is the only place of safety. Let us flee to that
harbor! Having found shelter and rest there,
we need not fear the coming storm. ‘The day
of the Lord’s coming will be a day of joy to us.
Those strong arms of Jesus will carry us away
from the storm, away from the clashing ele-
ments, up to the haven of eternal rest and
heavenly joy.

“© sinner, seek His grace
Whose wrath you cannot bear,
Fly to the shelter of His cross,
and Tltrelvation there.’

“And then?”

A bright youth came with hurried steps to
an aged and pious man and cried out, ‘‘Rejoice
with me, my father! My uncle has at last,
at last, given his consent, I may now go to the
University and become a Jurist.’

“Good, my son,” said the old man, ‘“‘now you
will begin to learn diligently, but—what then?’’

“After three years I will pass my examina-
tiony and, surely, crowned with honor, will
leave the University and enter upon my pro-
fession.’’ =

“And then?’’

“Then I will not lack in diligence and con-
scientiousness; men will speak of me at home
and abroad, the noble and the common people
will seek me and grant me their confidence!”’

“And then?”

“Then I will be saving and become a wealthy
man, secure a good wife and ON my own
family!”

“And. then?”

“Then I will train my children that they may
become useful, each in that for which it has the
necessary talents; they will do well and follow
in the footsteps of their father.”

“And then?”

“Then I will retire and rest, rejoice in the
prosperity of my children, share their love and
enjoy old age full of blessings.””

“And then?”’

“Then? Well—we cannot always remain on
earth, and if we could, it would not even be
good for us—then? Well, it is true, then—
I must die.”

“And then?” said the old man, grasping
both hands of the youth and gazing into his
eyes, ‘‘and then, my son, and then?”

The color of the youth changed, he began
to tremble, and tears flowed from his eyes.
“Thanks to you, my father’’, said he ‘at last,
“T had forgotten the chief matter, that it is
appointed unto men to die, and then the Judg-
ment. But from this day it shall not vecur
again.”’—From the German.

———s + oo

Preparation for Eternity.

There was a certain nobleman who kept a
fool, to whom he one day gave a staff, with a
charge to keep it till he should meet with one
who was a greater fool than himself: Not many
years after, the nobleman. fell sick, even unto
death. The fool came to see him. His sick lord
said to him, ‘I must shortly leave you.’

“And whither are you going?’ said the fool.
‘‘Into another world,’’ replied his lordship,
“(And when will you return? within C month?”?

—‘No.’—“ Within a year?”—“No.”—‘*When
then?’’—“‘ Never!’’—‘“Never?”’ said the fool.
‘“‘And what provision have you made for your
entertainment there, whither you are going?’’.

— ‘None at all.”—‘‘No!”’ said the fool, ‘“‘none
at all! Here, then, take my'staff; for, with all
my folly, Iam not guilty of any such folly as
this.”’—From the German.

a ae

Dr. Taytor, of Norwich, said to me: “‘Sir,
I have collated every, word -in.the Hebrew
Scriptures seventeen ‘times; and it is very
strange if the doctrine of the Atonement, which
you hold, is there, and I have not found it.’’
I am not surprised at this. I once went to
light my candle with the extinguisher on. Now
prejudice from education, learning, etc., often
forms an extinguisher. It is not enough to
bring the candle; you must remove the ex-
tinguisher.—John Newton.