The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1882, Page 25

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Che Autheran Pioneer.

A MISSIONARY MONTHLY.

PusBLISHED BY THE EVANGELICAL LuruEerRan SynopicaL ConFERENCE OF Nort AMERICA.

R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor.

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

Vol. IV.

True Freedom.

Men rejoice that there is no slavery in our
“land of the free.’ But there is a slavery
more terrible than the slavery from which men
are free in our country. It is the slavery of

‘sin. It is a terrible slavery; for Sin isa ‘hard
master,” a cruel tyrant. It forces its slaves to
do hard and ruinous work. The drunkard who
serves the sin of drunkenness ruins his own
body and soul, and brings misery and shame
upon his family. And so it is with every slave
of sin. And what wages does Sin pay its
slaves? ‘‘The wages of sin is death,” says the
apostle (Rom. 6, 23.). When man has served
sin all his life time, he gets eternal death, that
is, eternal damnation as his wages.

Sin has its slaves in the mansions of the rich
and in the cabins of the poor. Not only beg-
gars but also kings and emperors are slaves of
sin. Yea, by nature all men are in this slavery.
In this respect all men are born equal. The
apostle Paul says, ‘‘There is no difference; for
all have sinned.”” And again the apostle tells
us that we are ‘“‘sold under sin,” sold as slaves
to do the will of sin. We know that there are
many who, while they are the slaves of sin,
still prate about liberty and delude themselves
with the idea that they have dominion over
their passions and lusts. Foolish men! They
are bound by the chains of sin and they think
themselves free! They are like the Irish sol-
dier who thought he had taken a prisoner while
he himself was the prisoner. He called out to
his comrade, ‘‘Hollo! Pat, I’ve taken a pris-
oner.’”’ ‘‘Bring him along, then; bring him
along!’’ said the comrade. ‘‘ He won’t come.”
«Then come yourself.’’ ‘‘ He won’t let me.”

There is but one way of deliverance from
the slavery of sin. It is by faith in Jesus. He,
the Son of God, came into this world and, in
our stead, conquered sin and led our captivity
captive. He redeemed us from the slavery of
sin not with silver and gold, but with His own
precious blood and with his innocent sufferings
and death. He redeemed us in order that we
might be His own, live under Him in His
kingdom, and serve Him in everlasting right-
eousness, innocence, and holiness. ‘‘He died
for all, that they which live should not hence-

St.

forth live unto themselves, but unto Him who} wait for you.
died for them and rose again,’’ 2 Cor. 5, 15.
This true freedom, which Christ procured for| you by the hand, and lead you to Jesus, and
us, is brought to all sinners in the Gospel. The
Gospel does not tell sinners what they must do
in order to free themselves.
what God has done for them, that He has pro-
cured freedom for them through the mission of
His own Son.
with true faith enjoy this freedom.
sin is still in them as long as they live in this

Louis, Mo., July, 1882. No. 7.

When you come, oh, what a
happy day that will be! Afterwards I'll take

say to him: ‘Jesus, Jesus, this is the man I
told you about’.”’ That happy day!

No. It tells them

Shining Lights Wanted.

Those who accept this Gospel

. LT once heard a conversation between a church
It is true,

member and an infidel. After arguments were
urged at some length on both sides the infidel
observed to his friend that they might as well
drop the subject for conversation; ‘‘for,’’ said
he, ‘‘I do not believe a single word you say,
and more than this, I am satisfied that you do
not really believe it yourself; for, to my cer-
tain knowledge, you have not given for the
last twenty years as much for the spread of
Christianity—such as the building of churches,
foreign and domestic missions—as your last
Durham cow cost. Why, sir, if you believe
one-half of what you say you believe, I would
make the church my rule for giving and my
farm the exception.’’—Presbyterian.

world. But sin no longer has the mastery over
them. The new man which is in them fights
against their old sinful nature. Sin has no
claim upon them. They have been made the
children and servants of God. And to them
the apostle Paul says, ‘‘ Being made free from
sin, and become servants to God, ye have your
fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
For the wages of sin is death; but the gifts of
God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our
Lord,’’ Rom. 6, 22. 23.

a

That Happy Day.

— > 4 oa oe

The Gospel.

There are days of sorrow and care in the life
of the missionary and in the life of every faith-
ful laborer in the Lord’s vineyard. But there
are also happy days, days which fill the heart
with joy and gladness. It is a happy day when
the Iaborer sees his work crowned with bless-
ing, when he sees souls won for Christ and
eternal life by his preaching of the Gospel.
And one happy day will come—the happiest of
all—when the weary laborer, whose work was
a work of faith and a labor of love, will enter
the reward of his Master and in the golden
streets of the celestial city will find many a
saint whom God through his preaching has
brought to the eternal joys of heaven. That
happy day!

Not long ago, a South-Sea Islander was dy-
ing. As he was talking about heaven, he said
to the missionary who was standing near:|
“When I get to heaven, I shall, first of all,|
praise and thank Jesus for having saved a poor
creature like me. Then Y’ll tell him about you;
for it was you who first told me the way to
heaven. Then T'll look about and see where
the saints come in; and then I will sit and

I have tried the Gospel, I have put it to the
proof. I know what it is and what it can do.
Tell me that food does not strengthen the weak; |
tell me that water does not refresh the weary; * ~
tell me that light does not cheer the disconso-
late, and then you may tell me that the Gospel
does not help when all other help fails; and
then you may tell me that the Gospel is not
the thing above all other things with which
men cannot afford to part. Men might better
give up the sun than quench that light which
was brought from Heaven, that light which
cheers the home and dispels the darkness of
the tomb.—Stanley.

———s + <a oo

Be Content.—A king walking out one day
met a lad at the stable-door, and asked him,
‘Well, boy, what do youdo? What do they
pay you?”’—“‘T help in the stable,” replied the
lad, ‘but I have nothing except food and
clothes.’”? ‘‘Be content,” replied the king, “I
haye no more.”