The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1886, Page 31

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The Lutheran Pioneer.

A Nobleman and a Minister.

“If riches increase, set not your heart |

upon them.’’—Ps. 62, 16

A Mouse in the Pantry.

An old man used to say to his grand-daughter,

A nobleman, who resided in the vicinity of | when she used to be out of temper or naughty
a minister, once invited the latter as a guest |in any way, ‘Mary, Mary, take care; there’s
to his house. Before the meal both took a walk}a mouse in the pantry.’’ She often used to
into the garden, and after they had viewed its|cease crying at this and stand wondering to

manifold beauties and rarities, the wealthy,
noble lord remarked: ‘Well, Rev. Sir, you

see I am in need of nothing; I have every-

thing my heart desires!’’? But when the min-
ister not only made no reply, but also assumed
a very serious, thoughtful look, the nobleman
asked him the reason of his strange demeanor.
To this inquiry the minister replied: ‘Well,
my lord, I was studying over the fact that a
man may possess all this splendor, and yet be
on the way to hell.’? These words pierced the
rich man’s heart, and by the grace of God
had the desired effect of his conversion.

Are you blessed with temporal
possessions — watch over your
heart, thatit becomes not haughty,
like Hezekiah’s (2 Kings 20, 13),
and enamored of transitory treas-
ures. If you think, however,
like that nobleman, then remem-
ber the earnest and true answer
of the above mentioned minister!
Ps, 49, 16—21. ‘‘One thing is
needful.’’ Luke 10, 42.

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A Bible Reading Irishman.

An Irishman had taken to read-
ing the Bible. The priest came
and told him he had heard that he
was reading the Bible. ‘And in-
deed it is true, and a blessed book
it is,’ said Pat. ‘‘But,’’ said the priest, ‘‘you
are an ignorant man, and ought not to read the
Bible.’’ ‘‘Well,’’ said Pat, ‘‘but your riverence
must prove that, before I will give up reading
the Bible.’’ And so the priest turned to the
place where it reads, ‘‘As new born babes desire
the sincere milk of the word.’’ ‘There,’ said
the priest, ‘‘you are a babe, and you ought to
go to somebody who can tell you what the sin-
cere milk of the word is.’ Pat was a milkman,
and he replied, ‘‘Your riverence, I was ill,
and employed a man to carry my milk, and he
cheated me—he put water in it; and how do
I know, (saving your riverence,) but the priest
may do thesame?”’ The priest was discomfited,
and said, ‘‘Well, Pat, I see you are not quite
so much of a babe as I thought you were.
You may read your Bible, but don’t show it to
your neighbors.” ‘Indeed, your riverence,”’
says Pat, “I’ve one cow that I know gives good
milk, and while my neighbor has none, sure
Tl give him part of it, whether your riverence
likes it or not.”

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A Caristran minister said: “I was never

of any use until I found out that God did not
make me for a great man.” .

herself what he meant. She often ran to the
|pantry to see if there really was a mouse in
| the trap, but she never found one. One day
she said, ‘Grandfather, I don’t know what you
mean; I haven’t a pantry, and there are no
mice in mother’s, because I have looked so
| often.”? He smiled and said, ‘‘Come, and I'll
jtell you what I mean. Your heart, Mary, is
|the pantry, the little sins are the mice that
jnibble away and that make you sometimes
|cross, and peevish, and fretful. To keep the
| mice out you must set a trap for them—the
| trap of watchfulness.’’

Jesus at the Well.

Joun 4, 5—26.

There’s a beautiful story the Scriptures tell,
Of Jesus, our Lord, as He sat on the well,
In the City of Sychar, and taught His sweet law,
To a woman who came there the water to draw;
She knew not the stranger, nor even could think
’Twas Jesus who said to her, ‘‘Give Me to drink,’’
But quickly she learned it was Christ—it was He,
Who gives of the water of life so free.

The water of life, so sweet, so free,

Is flowing for all, for you, for me,

And Christ is the giver, the Scriptures tell,

Our Lord who sat on Jacob’s well.

Oh, sweet were the waters which came from the well,
Where the Saviour sat down, as the Scriptures tell,
But sweeter, and dearer, and purer are they
Which flow from the wells of salvation to-day;

For Jesus declared, as He sat on the brink

Of the well of Samaria, “whoever shall drink

Of the water that I for the world have in store,

A well shall have in him and thirst never more.”

Oh, Jesus, our Master, who sat on the well

And taught this poor woman, Thy story we'll tell
To all who will listen, how free Thou dost give
Salvation’s bright waters to all who will live.
And grant, that like hers, our petition may be—
“Lord, give us this water, so sweet and so free,’
That wells of Salvation may in us be found,

To spring up to life and ever abound.

Societies.

The London Religious Tract Society was or-
ganized in 1799. The British and Foreign
Bible Society came into existence in 1804; the
American Bible Society began in 1816; the
American Tract Society commenced in 1825.
These four great societies, two in England and
two in America, and respectively 87, 82, 70
and 61 years old, make together 300 years;
divided by four we have 75 years, three quar-
ters of a century, as the average age of each
society; and these four societies have each, by
an average, received over $1,000 a day during
their entire existence. Together their money
receipts are over $112,000,000 in this the nine-
teenth century. The two Tract Societies, esti-
mating their entire issues, have reached an
average equal to about one two-page tract for
every inhabitant now living on the globe. The
two Bible Societies, since the mid-
dle of this century, 1850, have
averaged for thirty-six years, an
issue of over 10,000 copies for
each business day, while their
issues for 1885 were more than
17,000 copies aday. Over 150,-
000,000 copies of all sizes have
gone forth from these two sources
during the nineteenth century.
There are seventy other Bible
societies among the. different na-
tionalities of earth.

No Continuing City.

A courtier, riding with his soy-
ereign amidst the acclamations
and splendor of a triumphal pro-
cession, asked him, ‘‘What is wanting here?’’
And very emphatic was the reply, ‘Contin-
uance.”’ >

Yes, that was wanting. The music, the
huzzas, the parade, would soon be over. And
so with all those things on which, aside from
God, we depend for happiness. Our health, our
wealth, our pleasant connections, our sources
of gratification, all want continuance. ‘‘Here.
have we no continuing city, but we seek one
to come.’”’ Heb. 13, 14.

+ oe oe

Tuov hast cast all our sins into the depths
of the sea—this was understood when the cable
was laid. The ocean is miles deep, the bottom
covered with thick red sand, where the cable
lies softly and secure. The water at the bottom
is almost solid from the great pressure of the
body of the ocean. This portion of the com-

pressed water is called the cushion of the sea, and
it is in repose, where is no such agitation as we.
see on the surface, where the wind acts and
where tempests rage. The density of the water
renders it impossible for anything ever to rise
again that may have sunk there by its own
weight. Into such depths God has cast our sins.

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