The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1885, Page 1

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~The Lutheran Pioneer,

A MI

SSIONARY MONTHLY.

PUBLISHED BY THE EvaANGELICAL Lurneran SynopicaL ConFERENCE oF NortH AMERICA.

R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor.

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

Vol. VII.

St. Louis, Mo., January, 1885.

No. 1.

A Little While.

“A little while’? of mingled joy and sorrow,
A few more years to wander here below,

To wait the dawning of that golden morrow,
When morn shall break above our night of woe.

A few more thorns about our pathway growing,
Ere yet our hands may cull the heavenly flowers,

The morn will come; but first the tearful sowing,
Ere we may rest these weary souls of ours.

A little longer in this vale of weeping,
Of yearning for the sinless home above;

“A little while’’ of watching, and of keeping
Our garments, by the power of Him we love.

"A little while” for winning souls to Jesus,
Ere yet we sce His beauty face to face;

“A little while’’ for healing soul diseases,
By telling others of-a Saviour’s grace.

“4 little while”? to tell the joyful story

Of Him who made our guilt and curse His own;
“A little while,’’ ere we behold the glory,

To gain fresh jewels for our heavenly crown.

“A little while,”’ and we shall dwell forever
Within our bright, our everlasting home,
Where time, or space, or death no more can sever
Our grief-wrung hearts, and pain can never
come.

‘Tis but “a little while’’—the way is dreary,
The night is dark, but we are nearing land:

Oh for the rest of heaven, for we are weary,
And long to mingle with the deathless band!

—G. S.

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Whiter Than Snow.

It was a cold winter's morning, and the poor
in-their cabins among the hills felt the pinch
of want in many ways. In one of these cabins
lived Aunt Susan. She had long known the
sorrows that follow in the train of poverty and
sickness, and often had she moistened her
scanty meal of bread and water with bitter
tears, yet she knew not God’s way of peace.
She had tried to find peace and rest by her own
doings, and on that New Year's morning she
again resolved to do this and to do that, yet
she was not at rest. A Christian friend that
morning stopped in to see her and spoke about
the new year and about death and the grave
being nearer. ‘‘Oh,’’ said Aunt Susan, “I’ve

been a sinner all my days, and my heart is
black and filthy, and I dread to die.’’ ‘*Yes,’’
said her friend, ‘‘’Tis all true what you say
about yourself, for God who knows all things
has given us a terrible picture in the Bible of
what is in our hearts. But He has also given
us another picture, and that of His heart. It
is seen in those words which tell us of the Sav-
iour born at Bethlehem, whose name was called
Jesus, because He saves us from all our sins.
It is seen in such loving words as these: ‘God
so loved the world, that he gave his only be-
gotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life.’
(John 8, 16.) Now, I do believe in Him who
has done and’suffered all for me. And since I
thus rest my soul on Jesus, Iam not afraid to
die, for all my sins are forgiven, as God assures

Or are you yet in your sins, because of unbe-
lief, and vainly seeking by your own doings to
fit yourself for that day when you must appear
before that Judge who will make no mistake?
O look unto Jesus and accept Him as your only
Saviour! .You can then say with sure con-
fidence in God: ‘I will greatly rejoice in the
Lord; my soul shall be joyful in my God; for
He hath clothed me with the garments of sal-
vation, He hath covered me with the robe of
righteousness.”’ (Isa. 61, 10.)

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Daily Prayer.

The fishermen of Brittany (so the story goes)
are wont to utter this simple prayer when they
launch their boats upon the deep: ‘‘Keep me,

my God; my hoat is so small and Thy ocean
is so wide.’’ How touchingly beautiful the words
and the thought! Might not the same petition
be uttered with as much directness every morn-
ing and every evening of our daily life—‘‘Keep
me, God; for my boat is so small and Thy
ocean is so wide’? Keep me, my God, keep
me from the perils and temptations that throng
around me asI go about my daily duties. ‘‘My
boat is so small’’?—I am so weak, so helpless, so
prone to wander, so forgetful of thy loving
kindness! I am tossed to and fro at the mercy
of the world; I am buffeted about by sharp
adversity, and driven before the storms of grief
and sorrow. Except thou dost keep me I must
perish. Keep me, my God, for ‘‘Thy ocean is
so wide’’—the journey is long, and the days
and years are many. ‘In Thee, O Lord, do I
put my trust. Deliver mein Thy righteousness.””

me in His word. He is the eternal truth and
cannot lie.”

“O, sir,” sighed Aunt Susan, “I wish my
heart was as good as yours.”’

“My heart,’’ said her friend, ‘is very bad,
and black by nature and by actual sins, but
the Lord has cleansed me, and made me ‘whiter
than snow.’ Just look at the beautiful snow
which.is coming down so fast; it has covered
all that black, dirty earth since I have been
talking with you. Now listen to what God
says: ‘Though your sins be as scarlet, they
shall be as white'as snow; though they be red
like crimson, they shall be as wool’”’ (Isa. 1, 18.).

And as old Auntie looked out of the window
and saw the beautiful white robe of snow that
had covered the filthy ground, she cried out,
“Oh, how beautiful!’’ ‘‘Yes,’’ said her friend,
“and this is how God sees all who trust in
Jesus; they are covered with His beautiful
white robe of righteousness, so that nothing is
seen but Christ.’’ ‘Oh, I see it now,’’ said old
Auntie, ‘‘the righteousness of Jesus, and not
our own, is the white dress with which we can
come before God. It is spotless, and whiter
than the beautiful snow.’’ And thus looking
away from her own sinful self unto Jesus, she
lost her burden, and joy took the place of grief.

Dear reader, the new year tells you that you
are nearer the grave and the judgment. Are
you covered with that white robe that has not
a spot upon it—the righteousness of Christ?

re oe oe

Rest in Christ.

The needle in the compass never stands still
till it comes right to the north pole. The wise
men of the East never stood still till they were
right against the star which appeared unto
them; and the star itself never stood still till
it came right against that other Star which
shone more brightly in the manger than the
sun in the firmament. So we must not stand
still till our hearts rest against the heart of
Jesus.