The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1886, Page 1

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Che Lutheran Pioneer.

A MISSIONARY MONTHLY.

PuslisHeD BY THE EvaNGELICAL LuraeraN SyNnopicAL ConFERENCE oF NortH AMERICA.

R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor.

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

Vol. VIII.

St. Louis, Mo., January, 1886.

No. 1.

How Are We Saved?

. In the first month of another year and at
the beginning of another volume of our testi-
mony for Christ it is well to consider this im-
portant question, How are we saved? The
answer to the question is clearly and fully
given in the word of God. ‘‘By grace are ye
saved through faith; and that not of your-
selves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest
any man should boast,’? (Eph. 2, 8.9). From
this and from many other passages of the Bible
we learn that we are saved by grace, and by
grace only. Whatsoever we can do as form-
ing the ground upon which we try to stand be-
fore God, or seek to commend ourselves to His
favor, is swept out of the way by God’s Word,
that He alone whose name was called Jesus
may have the glory of our salvation, as He
alone can meet our desperate need.

“We are all us an unclean thing,’ it is
written, ‘‘and all our righteousnesses are as
filthy rags,’ (Isa. 64,6). Mark well! All our
righteousnesses are as filthy rags. Surely we
can not expect to buy heaven with a lot of
dirty rags. Just here in our helplessness Jesus
comes to us, and He comes in grace all the
way to our place of guilt and ruin. He points
to the work which He accomplished in our
stead. For He ‘‘appeared to put away sin by
the sacrifice of Himself,’’ (Heb. 9, 26); He
came as the ‘‘Lamb of God that taketh away
the sins of the world.’’ By Him every claim
against the sinner has been answered, every
demand has been met. And God is perfectly
satisfied with that work of HisSon. The kind
invitation therefore goes forth to all sinners:
“©Whosoever will, let him take the water of
life freely,” (Rev. 22,17). Yes, let him take
salvation freely, without money and without
price. “It is salvation by grace, and by grace
only.

To every sinner the Gospel brings this free
salvation and it is said to him, ‘‘ Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved,’’
(Acts 16, 81). And what is believing? It is
not doing. No! It is resting upon that which
is already done; it is accepting what God says
in the Gospel as true; it is calmly trusting in
that faithful, and unchangeable, and almighty

Saviour whose name was called Jesus, because
He alone could save His people from their sins
Your good resolutions, and your feelings and
your doings, and your works, and the works
of all the saints were not called Jesus. No!
The Saviour of Bethlehem was called Jesus, for
in Him alone there is salvation.

“There is a great difference between your
religion and mine,” said an old Christian lady
to a friend, who for a long time had been
groping in darkness, trying to be saved. ‘Your
religion consists of two letters, D-0, and mine
consits of four, D-Q-N-E.’’ Happy old Chris-
tian! This happiness we wish you, dear reader,
in the new year upon which you have entered.
In all the troubles that may befall you, in the
hour of death that may come to you before the
close of another year, you can find true happi-
ness and consolation only in that free salvation
which is brought to you in the Gospel of Jesus.
May the Lord give you to see that all the do-
ing is done, and that ‘“‘whosoever believeth —
Harts everlasting life, and shall not come
into condemnation; but 1s passed from death
unto life,’’ (John 5, 24).

——s +o oo

Every-day Work.

Those who wish to bestow the years of their
life upon God most also give Him the days,
the hours, and the moments. :

Look around, then, you who are yearning
to be employed in the service of your God,
and try to realize what He has given you to
do to-day, and do not look beyond it. Strength
is promised according to your day. Every-
day work requires every-day grace, and every-
day grace requires every-day asking. Just
try the experiment, then, for once—no matter
what your occupation may be, no matter how
distasteful to your natural disposition—so long
asitis your duty. It may be the arithmetic
lesson taught to the little child, or the weari-
some watch with the complaining invalid, or
the petty and fatiguing duties attendant upon
your household concerns, or the routine of the
school-room, or the shop, or the counting-
house, or the writing-office; whatever it is,
take it first to God. Before you begin, kneel

and implore His blessing. Ask Him for a
spirit of patience and meekness in contending
with all the little wearisome difficulties and
annoyances connected with it; ask Him to en-
able you not only to bear the daily cross, but
to ‘‘take it up,’’ denying yourself, and follow-
ing the footsteps of the Lord Jesus. Then put
your whole might into it—the might that you
have borrowed from a Mightier than yourself,
for that is the secret of real work. Do it as if
your Master were standing before you; do it
as you would have cast a net into the sea, as
you would have fastened together the tent, as
you would have labored in the carpenter's
shop, had you lived in the early days with
Christ and His Apostles.

We think it was John Newton who went
one day to visit a Christian brother, and found
him busily engaged in his occupation of tan-
ning. The man attempted to apologize. ‘‘ Just
so, my friend,’”’ said his pastor, “‘may your
Lord find you when He comes; it is the work
He has given you to do, and He expects you
to do it diligently.”

———pS+> - Oa oo

Count Them.

Count what? Why count the mercies which
have been quietly falling in your path through
every period of your history. Down they
come every morning and evening, angel mes-
sengers from the Father of lights to tell you
of your best friend in heaven. Have you lived
these years wasting mercies, treading them be-
neath your feet, and consuming them every
day, and never yet realized from whence they
came? If you have, God pity you! You
have murmured under your affliction; but who
has heard your rejoicing over your blessings?
Do you ask what are these mercies? Ask the
sunbeam, the rain-drop, the star or queen of
night. What is life but a mercy? Did not
God’s mercy keep you during the past year?
Is it not His mercy that sends to you, for your
soul’s salvation, the Word of the Gospel in this
time of grace? Yes, count the mercies of God
bestowed upon you, and you will have reason
for daily thanksgiving even in the midst of
troubles and afflictions.