The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1886, Page 33

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The Lutheran Pioneer,

A MISSIONARY MONTHLY.

PUBLISHED BY THE HVANGELICAL LuTHERAN SyNODICAL CONFERENCE oF NortH AMERICA.

R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor.

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

Vol. VIII.

St. Louis, Mo., September, 1886.

No. 9.

A German Trust Song.

% Just as God leads me I would go;
I would not ask to choose my way;
Content with what He will bestow,
Assured He will not let me stray.
So as He leads, my path I make,
And step by step I gladly take,
A child in Him confiding.

Just as God leads me I am content;
T rest me calmly in His hands;
That which He has decreed and sent,
That which His will for me commands,
I would that He should all fulflll,
That I should do His gracious will,
In living or in dying.

Just as God leads, [ all resign;
I trust me to my Father’s will;
When reason’s rays deceptive shine,
His counsel would I yet fulfill;
That which His love ordained as right,
Before He brought me to the light,
My all to Him resigning.

Just as God leads me, I abide;
In faith, in hope, in suffering true;
His strength is ever by my side;
Can aught my hold on Him undo?
LT hold me firm in patience, knowing,
That God my life is still bestowing,
The best in kindness sending.

Just as God leads, I onward go,
Oft amid thorns and briers seen;
God does not yet His guidance show,
But in the end it shall be seen
How by a loving Father’s will,
Faithful and true, He leads me still.

++ oo >

Forgiveness.

The sins of God's people are not only forgiven—
they are also forgotten.

An earthly sovereign once said when grant-
ing a pardon, ‘‘I forgive, but I cannot forget.”
If God acted thus, we could never be happy in
Hispresence; but He says, ‘Their sins and their
iniquities will I remember no more.’”” Heb.
8, 12. Thus the believer can dwell in liberty
in His presence, and rejoice in His grace.

The sins which God forgives, are ALL sins.

God does not say He forgives only this or
that sin, but smys. ‘Through this Man (Jesus)
is preached unto you forgiveness of sins; and
by Him all that believe are justified from all

things,’ Acts 13, 38. 39. The two “‘alls’”’ in
this verse take in every believer, and every-
thing, all who believe are justified from all things.
Whether it be strong faith or weak faith is not
the question; but, do we believe? And, if
we do believe, the question is not great sins
or small sins, but all sins; nay God, in His
grace, has spoken of things—not gross sins
merely, but every kind of thing which we
have done against His commandments, so that
the believer's conscience may be at rest, and
his heart rejoice before Him. ~

The perfect work of Christ embraces all sins.
Could it do less? In the balances of God we
find that our sins, however heavy, zre nothing
at all in view of the preciousness of Christ's
blood. The grievous hindrance to our rejoicing
in God’s forgiveness is unbelief in what Christ
has done, and in God's grace which forgives
all sins. ¥

God knew every one of our sins when He
“Jaid on Him the iniquity of us all,’’ Isa. 53, 6;
and Jesus endured the weight of them all when
‘His own self bare our sins in His own body
on the tree,’’ 1 Pet. 2,°24.

Where then are your sins, believer? They are
not upon you, for God laid them upon Jesus.
They are not upon Jesus, for He has borne
them and is in glory; where then are your sins?
They are gone. Rest in the work of Christ,
believe and rejoice. Your sins are forgiven
you for His Name’s sake: you have the for-
giveness of sins through Christ; you are one
of God’s blessed people. ‘‘Blessed are they
whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins
are covered.”

——_—=—»- + eo <a oe

In God We Trust.

A learned man, who was collecting speci-
mens of all kinds of eggs, one day wished to
obtain a choice specimen from a nest which he
thought was half way down a steep cliff over
the sea. He inquired at the farmhouse and
found a boy willing to make the attempt, but,
when with a long rope they drew near the
place, the boy, peeping over the cliff and see-
ing the waves dashing on the rocks away down
below, was rather afraid. ‘The visitor said, ‘‘I
will give you this new shilling if you go down,

and I will hold the rope;”’ but the boy replied,
“T dare not go down and swing over the rocks
down there unless my father holds the rope.”

The visitor said, “Well, my boy, fetch your

father.’’ Away went the boy, and, after some
time, reappeared with his father. Then, fasten-
ing the rope around his waist, the boy ex-
claimed, ‘‘Now I can go down without any
fear, for I know my father would die before he
would let go the rope.’’ The boy, being gently
lowered over the edge of the cliff, was soon
swinging half way down, while the visitor and
the father heard him whisfling away as if he
enjoyed the dangerous post. When he shouted
to be drawn up, the visitor said, ‘‘ My boy, you
were a little bit afraid when you were swing-
ing over the cruel rocks below, were you not?’’
“Afraid! sir; not a bit; why should I be afraid?
Wasn’t my father holding the rope?”’

Likewise, Christian believer, know that the
Almighty God holds the rope of the circum-
stances which govern your life, and He will
surely care for your soul! Your lot may be
one of poverty, pain, or wordly failure; but
remember that God has undertaken as His por-
tion to guide your steps, direct your paths, and
to number the very hairs of your head. You
may be called upon to walk on the waves, but
your God shall keep your soul from sinking.
You may have to walk on the sand while the
billows roll over you, but even then shall His
right hand uphold your soul. ‘

In our own strength we are weak, but God is
our strength, and Christ is our righteousness.
We have to fight, but the divine strength shall
nerve our arm to give such a powerful blow as
shall utterly rout the devil. Weare called to
run the race set before us, but divine hands
shall be under our arms to hold us up and
keep us going, and with that mighty help we
shall win the race. We must wrestle, but the
divine strength shall give supernatural power
to our limbs, and we shall throw the enemy over
our head and cripple him. We are pilgrims,
but our God shall guide us with His counsel,
and afterwards receive us to glory. Go forth,
then, into life, strong as giants, filled with joy
and peace through believing in the present
help of the God who once Iaid down His life
for you. Amen.—E. M.