The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1883, Page 17

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The Lutheran Pioneer,

A MISSIONARY MONTHLY.

PUBLISHED BY THE EvANGELIcAL Lutueran SynopicaL ConrerENcE oF NortH AMERICA.

R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor.

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

Vol. V.

St. Louis, Mo., May, 1883.

(For the ‘‘Lutheran Pioneer,’’)

Prayer to the Holy Spirit.

O Holy Ghost, eternal God,

Best Comfort for life’s rugged road,
With all my heart I pray to Thee;
Hear my entreaty graciously.

Be Thou my Trust and Comfort e’er,
When Sin would drive me to despair;
Protect me from the snares of Hell;
Grant that in Jesus Christ I dwell.

That I may always ready be

To serve this Master faithfully,
And own Him in true, living faith
My Lord and Saviour unto death.

O lead me in the narrow way,

That from Thy paths I may not stray

And, when this mortal frame I leave,

The heavenly kingdom may receive.
(Barthold Helder, ¢ 1635. Tr. by A. Crull, 1883.)

———+> +0 <> o>

“It Is Already Made Out.’

Aunt Dinah was asked by an old Christian:
“Are you saved?” ‘‘No,’’ said Aunt Dinah,
“‘T have tried so hard to be, but I can’t make
it out.’? She received the beautiful answer:
‘OF course you can’t make it out, because it

\is already made out for you and for every sin-
‘ner. Since Christ made out salvation the poor
sinner is not asked to make out anything, but
only to receive the finished salvation which is
offered to him in the Gospel.’’

And so itis. The work of our salvation is
made out already. The Lord Jesus cried upon
the cross, ‘‘It is finished.’’ The glad news of
Easter Day told us that our redemption is fin-
ished. And on Ascension Day we again learn
the same precious truth. The ascending Say-
jour is the same that came into this world to
redeem us from sin and eternal damnation.
Having finished that work for which His vis-
ible presence on earth was necessary, He with-
drew that visible presence and entered upon
the full use of His eternal power and majesty.
He ascended into heaven as the Conqueror
over all our enemies, leading our captivity cap-
tive. He-did not come only part of the way,
but all of the way, to our place of guilt and
ruin; He did not make out only a part of our
salvation, but the whole of it; and His blood

cleanseth us from all sin.

The disciples there-
fore, on the Day of Penrecosr, were filled with
the Holy Ghost and thus made Christ’s mes-

sengers of a finished redemption. This was
the Gospel which they so boldly proclaimed to
a sinful world. This Gospel is still preached,

}and in it God offers salvation to every sinner.

It is for him, not to make out anything by any
doings of his own, but to receive with the hand
of faith that redemption which is already made
out. If some one hands you a watch and asks
you to accept it, you would not have to make
it out: you would only take it. And so the
poor sinner does not make out his redemption,
but only takes the finished redemption which
is brought to him in the Gospel. Thank God
for this Gospel. The worst need nothing more;
the best can do with nothing less.

————> ~- oe a

Where is Your Treasure?

“Where your treasure is, there will your
heart be also,’’ Matthew 6, 21. The Chris-
tian’s treasure is in heaven. He seeks those
things which are above, where Christ sitteth
on the right hand of God. He, therefore, is
heavenly-minded. His heart is in heaven.
His affections are set on things above, not on
things on the earth. The ascended Saviour,
the Christian’s treasure and joy, draws his
thoughts heavenward. He passes through this
world as a pilgrim and a stranger who can
tarry but a while. He longs for that happy
time when he shall appear with Christ in glory
and enjoy the eternal treasures which are in
store for him. In the light of that glory the
things of this world dwindle into nothing.

It is not so with the worldly-minded. His
treasures are in this world, and therefore his
heart is set on the things of this present life.
He does not concern himself about the things
which are above. He despises the heavenly
treasures which the Gospel offers to him. He
is like that rich nobleman with whom John
Frederick, the Elector of Saxony, once spoke
about the Gospel. The nobleman, whose only

concern was how to get more money, said:
‘What dv I care about the Gospel! Most
gracious lord, what does the Gospel concern us?”’

Some one told Dr. Luther this, and the

Doctor said: ‘‘‘The good man is right. Was
there some bran there?’’ And then he told
the fable of a lion who, once upon a time, pre-
pared a great and costly feast, and invited all
the beasts to be present. The hog was also in-
vited. Now when the excellent food was
placed before the guests, and they were in-
vited to eat freely, the hog threw up his snout
and asked, ‘‘Is there some bran here also?’”
Thus, Luther said, it is with our worldly-
minded men.- We ministers place before them
in our churches the best and most precious of
food, as, forgiveness of sins, the grace of God,
and eternal life, but they throw up their snouts,
scratch around, and ask after dollars or some
other worldly treasure. Well may it be said:
Does the cow relish nutmegs? She readily
eats oats straw !

Dear reader, where is your treasure? ‘‘Where
your treasure is, there will your heart be also.’’

Grace and Peace.

By Dr. MARTIN LUTHER.

“These two words, grace and peace, compre-
hend in them whatsoever belongeth to Chris-
tinnity. Grace releaseth sin, and peace mak-
eth the conscience quiet. The two fiends that
torment us are sin and conscience. But Christ
hath vanquished these two monsters, and trod-
den them under foot, hoth in this world and in
the world to come. This the world doth not
know, and therefore it can teach no certainty
of the overcoming of sin, conscience, and death.
Only Christians have this kind of doctrine, and
are exercised and armed with it, to get victory
against sin, despair and everlasting death. And
it is a kind of doctrine, neither proceeding of
free will, nor invented by the reason or rasdons
of man, but given from above.

——s oa or oe

The Comforter.

The Holy Ghost is called the Comforter, not
one who makes sad; for where melancholy and
depression are, there the Holy Ghosf, the Com-
forter, is not at home. ‘The devil is a spirit of
terror and sadness. But the Holy Ghost is the
Comforter.— Luther. ;

Selves at