The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1885, Page 2

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

2 The Lutheran Pioneer.

An Epiphany Lesson. Something to Hold On By.

In the second chapter of the Gospel accord-| How loudly the flight of time speaks to us!

ing to St. Matthew we read that the wise men | Another year is gone, and eternity is nearer.
from the East, after having found and seen the | The new year might be our Jast year upon earth.
‘Saviour in the manger of Bethlehem, opened | It will be well for us to have something to hold
their treasures unto Him. There is an important | on by in our last hour.

lesson to be learned by all the children of God.| A woman who had been a prominent lecturer
They have found the Saviour in the manger of | on infidelity came to her dying pillow. Being
the Gospel, they behold Him with the eye of | much disturbed in her mind, her friends gath-
faith, and in living gratitude they should open | ered about her and exhorted her to “hold on
their treasures unto Him. They do this by | to the Jast.”’

aiding those who are in need. Dr. Luthersays| ‘‘Yes, I have no objection to holding on,”
to all Christians: ‘Whosoever with his money | said the dying woman, ‘‘but will you tell me
and property assists poor and forsaken persons, | what I am to hold on by?”’

or contributes liberally to the support of schools} These words so deeply impressed an infidel
and institutions in which young persons are|standing by that he was led to renounce the
educated in the word of God and in the sciences | delusion.

to become useful in the Church, gives in reality} False doctrine will not do ‘‘to hold on by”’
his offerings unto Jesus.” in the solemn hour of death.

The Epiphany festival especially reminds us} ‘‘Father,’’ said a young man as he lay dying,
of the duty we have in regard to our mission | ‘‘I find eternal punishment which I have so
work. The glad tidings of the Saviqur born at | long disputed, now to be in awful reality.”’ At
Bethlehem shall be to all people. Not only the |another time he said, ‘‘As soon as I am dead,
shepherds of Bethlehem, but also the gentiles| write to brother E., and to Z. T., andS. T.,
from the far East worshipped at the manger | that the doctrine we have tried to propagate is
of the Christ-Child and foundin Him eternal |an awful delusion— that it forsook me on my
salvation. ‘The Gospel of this Saviour is stil] | deathbed.”’
to be brought to those who know it not, andto| Said another under similar circumstances,
this end our Jabor and our money are needed. | ‘‘For several years past I have followed the
Tf our hearts have been opened unto Jesus, we |‘loctrines of W. and B., Universalist preachers,
will also gladly open our treasures unto Him|and believed as they did; but I find it alla

for the spread of His kingdom. Let me tell you | delusion now. Tell my old friends not to trust
in such a refuge of lies, but to repent and be

converted.”’

How different it was with D. A. Tyng,
called away so suddenly from life. ‘Oh, how
dearly I love you all,’’ he said. ‘‘But I would
rather he with Jesus. Lay me straight in the
bed, father, and cover me up, and Jet me wait
my Father's time.’’” When sight and hearing
were growing dull, he seemed not to recognize
his friends, but on his father’s asking, ‘‘My
darling son, do you know Jesus?”’ he answered
with sudden animation, ‘‘Oh, yes; oh, yes. I
know Jesus! I have a steadfast trust in Jesus
—a calm and steadfast trust.’’ That was some-
thing by which he could hold fast to the end.
And such trust may we all have on our
dying bed.

—_——> ~e< eo +

What is Your Life?

A Srory OF A LITTLE Boys’ Missionary
OFFERING.

A Lutheran pastor, in whose congregation
great zeal had been awakened for mission work
among the Africans, relates the following : Some
months ago a young married couple set out to
pay me a visit. As they left home, their little
boy, of four years, ran out and begged to be
taken with them. When I had ended my
counsel to the parents, I showed the little fellow,
who had been very quiet and attentive, a picture
of the birth of Christ (it was Christmas time),
and as I told him about the Child Jesus, his
face grew bright with smiles. ‘‘Now,” I said,
J] shall sing you a verse about Jesus,” and as
I sang, his face grew brighter still, and he’
asked me to sing it again. We prayed to-
gether, and they went home. A short time
after, the child got very ill; the first time I
visited him, he could speak quite well about
Jesus and heaven and the angels, but they sent
for me a week after, saying, he would not be
comforted unless he heard me sing that Christ-
mas hymn again. They had tried, but only
the pastor would satisfy him. So we sang, and

_ spoke, and prayed, and the next day he fell
asleep in Jesus. A few days after, his parents

_ brought to me a purse in which he had kept
all his gifts and little treasures, and said, ‘That
_ is forthe heathen.’” It was nearly $10. The,
"little boy had told them to give it all for mission
kk. He had learned to love Jesus and opened
sures unto Him.

What is your life? The Bible says, “‘It is
even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time,
and then vanisheth away.”’ It flies away asa
dream, and cannot be found. Our life is wind.
Tt moves swifter than a weaver’s shuttle. It is
asa tale that is told. It is swifter than a post.

Short as life is, we strangely desire ench pe-
riod of it shortened. The child longs to be full
grown. The youth at school wishes for the day
when he will assume the duties of manhood.
The man of business lives in hope of the time
when he shall retire. Itis marvelous how men
waste their present moments.

Short as life is, it is the seed-time of eternity.

Whatsoever a man sows here, he shall be reap-
ing to all eternity. If he sows the wind, he
shall reap the whirlwind. If he sows to the
flesh, he shall reap corruption. If he sows in
righteousness, he shall reap in mercy. If he
sows to the Spirit, he shall reap life everlasting.
This life is the day of grace, the season of
mercy, when enduring riches may he secured.
Many have seized the moments as they passed,
and become immensely rich in faith, in good
works, in bright hopes, and in «a blessed inherit-
ance beyond the skies.

To every man life is the beginning of end-
less, shoreless, fathomless, inconceivable happi-
ness or misery. To the wicked the end of life
is the end of all sinful mirth and pleasure. To
the righteous the end of their earthly existence
is the end of all doubt and pain. There is no
middle course. ‘The man who lives in vain,
lives worse than in vain. He who lives to no
purpose, lives to a bad purpose.’’ Time mis-
spent is not lived, but lost.

In former days public executioners carried
an hour-glass to the place of death, and set it
down before the unhappy criminal, telling him
that when the sands were all run, he must close
his eyes on earth. Sometimes his spiritual
adviser said to him, ‘‘Your sands are almost
run,’ and he saw it wasso. But the sands that
measure our days are hidden from our eyes.
They have been running for some time. They
are running now. They may all be run in
another minute. But we may live some days,
or months, or years. This is our solemn con-
dition. Yet how few are impressed by it.

Some indeed are wise. They live very much
each day as they would if they knew it would
be their last. They are waiting and watching.
Should they at any time hear the cry, Behold,
the Bridegroom cometh, they would respond,
“Even go, come, Lord Jesus, come quickly.”
These are wise. They are wise unto salvation.
They shall shine as the firmament. They shall
be forever with the Lord.— W. P.

—— > oo >

The Reason.

When the first missionaries of Madagascar
had been successful in the conversion of some
of the islanders there, a Christian sea Captain
asked a former chief what it was that first led
him to become a Christian. “Was it any par-
ticular sermon you heard, or book which you
read?”’ asked the captain.

‘No, my friend,” replied the chief, “it was
no book or sermon. One man, he a wicked
thief; another man, he drunk all day long;
big chief, he beat his wife and children. Now
thief, he no steal; drunken Tom, he sober; big
chief, he very kind to his family. Every hea-
then man get something inside him, which
makes him different; so I became a Christian
too, to know how it feel to have something
strong inside of me, to keep me from being bad.”’

——>_ + 6-2 e+

Wuar God gives men as stepping-stones,
they often make into stumbling-blocks.

-