The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1882, Page 41

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Vol. IV.

Che Lutheran Pioneer.

A MISSIONARY MONTHLY.

PusBLIsHED BY THE HvANGELICAL LurHERAN SyNnopicaL CoNFERENCE oF NortH AMERICA.

R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor.

(For the ‘‘Lutheran Pioneer.’’)

Advent.

Come, Thou precious Ransom! come,
/ Dear Desire of sinful mortals!

Come, O Saviour of the world!
Opened are to Thee all portals;
Come in wonted suavity,
Longingly we wait for Thee.

* Enter also in my heart,

O Thou mighty King of glory,
And with me make Thine abode,
Though I am but poor and sorry;
All my riches then shall be

That Thou reignest, Lord, in me.

My Hosannas do receive

And victorious palms, dear Saviour!
Thanks and honor I will pay

Thee, as best I can, forever,

And by faith I will embrace,

Lord, Thy merit through Thy grace.

Hail! Hosanna! David’s Son,
Help, Lord, hear our supplication!
Let Thy sceptre, realm, and crown
Bring us blessing and salvation,
That forever we may sing:

Hail! Hosanna! Lord, our King!

(M. J. G, Olearius, 1644.)
(Tr. by A. C., 1881.)

Thy King Cometh.

‘‘Behold, thy King cometh unto thee.’’
These are glad tidings of comfort and joy, and
well may that little word ‘‘Behold”’ call upon
us to give heed to these tidings. For who is
He that cometh? It is Christ the Lord and
Saviour. He is thy King. He came into the
world to become thy King and thy Saviour.
With His own precious blood He redeemed
you from the kingdom of sin and Satan and
hell, so that you may be His own, and live
under Him in His kingdom.

And in order to set up His kingdom in our
hearts He still comes tous. ‘“‘Thy King cometh
unto thee.”? He comes in His blessed Word
and Sacrament. He comes when His holy
Gospel is read or preached and His holy Sacra-
ments are administered. Not in wrath does
He come in these means of grace, but in mercy,
with the fullness of blessing and salvation. He
comes to enter our hearts and to rule there as
our merciful King in grace and in peace.
Happy are they who receive Him into their
hearts as their King and their Saviour. He
supplies every want of their souls and leads
them to the beautiful mansions in His Father's
house. He

And you may enjoy this happiness, my dear
reader, even if you are the chief of sinners.
“Thy King cometh unto thee.’ He comes to

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

St. Louis, Mo., November, 1882. ; No. U1.

you in every Gospel message as your King and
Saviour, and brings you forgiveness of sin and
life everlasting. Suppose He should appear to
you visibly, while you are reading these lines,
and say in gentle tones, ‘‘I am thy King and
thy Saviour; thy sins are forgiven thee’’;
would this satisfy you? Would you believe
Him and accept Him without waiting a single
moment? But He is saying it in the Gospel as
truly as if you could hear His voice; and why
not believe Him? He is saying it as directly,
as sincerely, to you as though you were the
only sinner on the earth, or as though He
stood visibly in your presence; and why not
trust Him? Oh, accept that glorious Gospel in
which the Saviour addresses you personally.
In that Gospel ‘‘rHy KixG coMETH UNTO
you.”’

—_—_—_- ~<a ¢.

The Blessing of Trials.

Very many of the sweetest joys of Christian

hearts are songs which have been learned in |

the bitterness of trial. It is said of a little
bird that he will never learn to sing the song
his master will have him sing while it is light
in his cage. He learns a snatch of every song
he hears, but will not learn a full, separate
melody of his own. And the master covers the
cage and makes it dark all about the bird, and
then he listens and learns the one song that is
taught to him, until his heart is full of it. Then
ever after he sings that song in the light.

With many of us it is as with the bird. The
Master has a song he wants to teach us, but
we learn only a strain of it, a note here and
there, while we catch up snatches of the world’s
songs and sing them jwith it. Then he comes
and makes it dark about us till we learn the
sweet melody he would teach us. Many of the
loveliest songs of peace and trust sung by
God’s children in this world, they have been
taught in the darkened chambers of sorrow.

Selected.
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Some one once went through the Bible to
find the promises therein, and counting them,
assured himself that there were thirty-one thou-
sand of them. ‘Surely,’ he said, ‘“‘here are
enough to meet all the possible wants of man.”

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