The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1885, Page 33

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Che Lutheran Pioneer.

A MISSIONARY MONTHLY.

PuBLISHED BY THE EVANGELICAL LurneraN SyNnopIcAL ConFERENCE or Nortu AMERICA.

R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor.

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

ol. VII.

St. Louis, Mo., September, 1885.

No. 9.

“Thy Will Be Done.”

O blessed solace! Tis a Father’s rod—

No rod of wrath—but of unchanging love.

No stroke inflicted which He could have spared!

Infinite wisdom has with love combined

To make the blow accomplish—and no more—

Its salutary end. A Father’s rod!

The thought suppresses every falling tear—

Checks every murmur—mitigates each pang.

Unerring Parent!—Mourner! can you doubt

His faithfulness? Then look to Calvary!

Behold that bleeding, dying Lamb of God!

’Twas love for thee that sent Him from His throne,

And nailed Him there! And dare we entertain

The thought, that He whose nature and whose name

Is Love,—could send us one superfluous pang,

Impose a needless burden, or permit

The thorn to pierce He knew would pierce in vain!

That cross becomes the blessed guarantee

That all is needed! Mercy infinite

Prevents one drop from mingling in the cup

Which could have been withheld. Thou God of love!

Vouchsafe us grace to bow beneath thy rod;

And breathe—although it be through burning tears,

And half-choked utterance—'Ti1y WILL BE DONE!”
—Selected.

———qzw~- 0 0 a

“Have You Accepted Him?’’

€€God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosocver believeth in Him should not perish, but
haye everlasting life.’’—John 3, 16.

We have all read this verse over and over
again, but how few believe it! Just look with
me at this beautiful verse. ‘‘God so loved.’’
Who was it He ‘‘so loved?’’ His enemies—
you and me, dear reader. What did this love
lead Him to do? ‘‘He gave His only begotten
Son’? (the Son who had been with Him from
all eternity), ‘“‘that whosoever believeth in Him
should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Now every one knows the meaning of the word
‘whosoever.”? Are not you, dear reader, in-
cluded in that statement? If God had men-
tioned you name you could not be sure it was
meant for you after all, because there might
be some one else of the same name, but ‘“‘whoso-
ever’ includes all.

The commandant of a certain prison was to
give pardon to five of the prisoners; they were
all assembled, anxiously waiting to know which
were the pardoned ones. The commandant

rose and said: “I have five pardons for five
prisoners; the first is for Joshua Huxly.’’ He
of course expected that Joshua would immedi-
ately answer, but no one came forward. Again
he called, ‘‘ Joshua Huxly,”’ and again a third
time. At last some one at his side said, point-
ing to the man, ‘That is Joshua Huxley.”
“Why do you not answer to your name?”
asked the commandant. ‘‘Oh, sir,’’ said he,
“I did not think it could mean me. I was
waiting, thinking it meant some one else of the
same name.”

Now God has no limit to His pardon, He
does not promise pardon to a certain number,
but leaves us no excuse for doubt. He says:
“Whosever believeth,’ nothing more. You say
“T don’t feel I am saved.’ Ah, now, you
must not begin to reason, and put your own
thoughts before God’s. God-did not say,
‘‘ Whosoever feels this or that.’”? He simply
says, ‘Believe, and you have everlasting life.”
It is so simple. ‘‘Believe. Hath. Nothing to
do. They that are in the flesh cannot please
God.’’? You must come to God just as you are,
with all your sins, and all your bad deeds,
pleading what Jesus Christ has done for you
by shedding His precious blood, and because of
what Jesus has done, God will accept you. All
that had to be done to meet God’s righteous
requirements was done fully by the Lord Jesus
Christ, and, ‘‘raised from the dead,’ He now
offers to you life, pardon and salvation.

It is no use waiting till you are better to
come to Jesus; it will only be with you as it
was with the poor woman who had an infirmity
twelve years—she got ‘‘nothing better, but
rather grew worse,’’ and as it is in the hymn—

Art thou weary, art thou languid,
Art thou sore distressed ?

‘Come to Me,’ saith one, ‘and coming
Be at rest.’

“If I ask Him to receive me
Will He say me ‘Nay?’

Not till earth and not till heaven
Pass away!”

> ¢<m> 6 = ___

The Two Planks.

Suppose it is needful for you to cross a river,
over which two planks are thrown. One is
perfectly new, and the other completely rotten.
How will you go? If you walk upon the rotten
one, you are sure to fall into the river. If you
put one foot on the rotten plank and the other
on the new plank, it will be the same; you will
certainly fall through and perish. So there is
only one method left. Put both feet on the new
plank.. Friend, the rotten plank is your own
unclean selfrighteousness. He who trusts in
it must perish without remedy. The new
plank is the eternal saving work of Christ,
which came from heaven, and is given to every
one that believeth in him.

Speak Reverently.

When Prince Bismarck, the great German
statesman, was 4 lad, his father once overheard
him speaking of the emperor as “‘Fritz.’’ He
reproved him for the familiarity, and added,
‘Learn to speak reverently of his majesty, and
you will grow accustomed to think of him with
veneration.”

The words made a deep impression on the
boy which was never effaced. Even in his old
age he lowers his voice and assumes a respect-
ful tone whenever he speaks of his sovereign.
If a message is brought to him from the palace,
either verbal or written, he always stands to
receive it.

What a lesson is the custom of this great
statesman to boys who speak so lightly, if not
profanely, the name of the King of Kings!

—s +o oe -

TRUE charity has no memory.

/

“Tf you tarry, till you’re better,
You will never come at all.’”

It is to “Shim that worketh not, but believeth,”
that salvation is given. What could the thief
on the cross do to save himself? He just owned
Jesus as Lord, believed he could save him, and
Jesus said: ‘b-day shalt thow be with me in
Paradise.”

God offers you mercy to-day—you know not
what may take place before to-morrow. b-
day, then, I beseech you, accept God’s offer of
salvation.