The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1885, Page 37

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~The Autheran Pioneer,

A MISSIONARY MONTHLY.

PUBLISHED BY THE EVANGELICAL LuruerRAN SyNoDICAL ConFERENCE oF Nortu AMERICA.
R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor.

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

Vol. VII. St. Louis, Mo., October, 1885. No. 10.

Missionary Hymn. days before Luther’s time the Gospel way of
salvation was hidden under the rubbish of the
false doctrines of the Romish sect. . Jesus, the
Saviour of sinners, was represented to be a
terrible judge to whom the sinners dare not
come with a trusting heart. Luther tells us
that before God opened to him the Gospel, he
trembled and was terrified whenever he heard
the name of Jesus. Sinners were pointed to
the merits of the saints and to their own works
for salvation and peace. But they could find
no comfort for their troubled souls in the merits
of saints, who were not able to save them-
selves, much less to save others. Nor could
they find any comfort in their own works;
for those works, when properly examined,
proved them to be transgressors of the law.
The consciousness of their failure to fulfill the
demands of the law was the very thing which
rendered them restless and made them long
for comfort and peace. Why then did they
not listen to the voice of Him who says to all
troubled sinners, ‘‘Come unto me, all ye that
are weary and heavy laden, and I will give
you rest”? They did not hear that voice.
The Bible, in which Jesus speaks peace to the
troubled soul, was hidden away from them as
a dark and dangerous book. And so the poor
people groped in darkness. Great, therefore,
was the joy of thousands when the bright
light of the Gospel shone into this darkness
and brought comfort to their troubled souls.
Through His servant Dr. Luther God gave to
the people an open Bible and restored to them
the pure Gospel of salvation by faith in Christ's
work of redemption.

We still have this Gospel and in it we have
the means of our salvation. For this great
blessing we give thanks to God on Reformation
Day. And the more we prize this treasure,
the more anxious we will be to make others
partakers of its wealth. The Festival of the
Reformation should stir us up to greater zeal
in our mission work.

culture. They have no more definite idga of
Christ's work of redemption than this, that
Christ did something or other, in some way or
other, which some how or other, helps to save
them if they do the best they can. On the
strength of this they listen to sermons, give
their money for church purposes, and try to
conform to a high standard of morality. But
they know not the true Gospel of peace
through faith in the finished work of the Re-
deemer. ‘They are therefore constantly in-
volved in doubts and fears. They do not
read their Bibles correctly and they are there-
fore strangers to the confidence and the assured
pesce of God’s children.

If anything is distinctly taught in the word
of God, it is that at no time in the history of
the soul can our own piety or good works form
the ground of our confidence, or become the
foundation of our hope of everlasting glory.
On the other hand it is distinctly stated that
“by grace are ye saved through faith; and that
not of yourselves: it is the gift of God; not of
works, lest any man should boast,’’ (Eph. 2,
8. 9); ‘‘and if by grace, then it is no more
of works: otherwise grace is no more grace.
But if it be of works, then it is no more
grace: otherwise work is no more work,’’ (Rom.
11, 6); “not by works of righteousness which
we have done, but according to His mercy He
saved us,” (Tit. 3, 5).

————.> eae oe

Saved by Grace.

FROM THE GERMAN.

O Jesus Christ, Thou blessed light,
Illumine those who know Thee not,
* And rescue them from darkest night,
That safely they to life be brought!
Lord, fill Thou with Thy gracious ray
All those that are in error found—
Those, likewise, who in secret stray,
In whom the fruits of sin abound!

And those who wander far from Thee,
= Do Thou in mercy, Saviour, spare;
The wounded spirit, set Thou free,
May they the heav’nly glory share!

Do Thou to deaf ones hearing give,

The speechless teach Thou, Lord, to speak,
Save such as still in error live,

Nor value yet what they should seck.

Enlighten those who blinded are—
Bring near all those that from Thee stray,
Reclaim Thou those who’ve wandered far,
Confirm those doubting in the way!

Together, thus, with us will they
On earth, and yonder in the skies,
Here for a time, and there for aye,
Praise Thee for all Thy rich supplies.
: —WMessenger.

—— ++ oo

The Festival of the Reformation.

_ With joy and thanksgiving the Lutheran
Church celebrates the festival of the Refor-
mation in the month of October. On the last
day of that month, in the year 1517, Dr. Mar-
tin Luther nailed his 95 Theses against the
church door at Wittenberg. That was the
beginning of the great work of the Reformation,
by which God restored to His Church the pure
Gospel doctrines of the Bible. Yes, that work
was God’s work, and in celebrating the festival
of the Reformation we do not give glory to
man, but to God alone. And well may we on
Reformation Day enter into the’ courts of the
Lord with praise and thanksgiving; for great
and many are the blessings which He bestowed
upon us through His faithful servant Dr. Mar-
tin Luther.
_ The pearl of those blessings is the everlasting
Gospel in its purity, by which the way to
heaven is made plain to sinners, In the dark

A poor, unlettered old colored woman was
once accosted by a skeptic in the following
way: ‘Well, Betty, and so you are one of the
saints, are you? Pray, what sort of folks are
they! and what do you know about religion,
eh?”? ‘Well, well,’? replied the favored old
creature, ‘‘you know, sir, I’m no scholar, 80
can’t say much for the meaning of it; I only
know I am ‘saved by grace,’ and that’s enough
to make me happy here, and expect to go to
heaven by-and-by.” ‘‘Oh! that’s all, is it?
But.surely you can tell us something nearer than
that? What does being saved FEEL like?’
“Why, it feels to me,’’ said the Spirit-taught
one, ‘‘just as if the Lord stood in my shoes,
and I stood in Hisn!’? Happy old woman!

——_»+oapo oa

Salvation by Grace.

There are many who have drifted, largely
through false teaching, from salvation wholly
by grace, to the thought of salvation by self-