The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1887, Page 7

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The Lutheran Pioneer.

“ld Like to be Sure about it.”

Some little time ago, writes a pastor, I was
called to see a poor girl who was dying of con-
sumption. Her home was the miserable garret
of a house inhabited by several different fam-
ilies, where she was often disturbed by the
voices of the swearer and the drunkard, which
could be plainly heard through the thin walls.
As I glanced round the bare room, so plainly
stamped with the marks of poverty and want,
I felt that nothing but the love of Jesus could
brighten such a place, and longed to speak of
Him, who alone can give peace in the midst of
every circumstance.

Her end was evidently very near, and, sit-
ting down by the side of the bed, I asked how
long she had been ill. ‘*‘ About two
years,’’ was her reply, “though I have
only been in bed about ten weeks.”

“‘You must have suffered a great
deal,’ I said, after waiting till a dis-
tressing fit of coughing was over, which
almost exhausted her.

“Ay, that I have,’’ she answered.

‘And have you the comfort of know-
ing that the Lord Jesus is you" Saviour?
Does it give you real joy to know that
your time here is so short?’’ I asked,
anxious to discover if she knew anything
of that “peace which passeth all under-
standing.”’

She looked at me with an expression
of great interest as she said, ‘‘I can only
trust in the Lord, I know I have no
hope but in Him, for I have been such
a sinner; sometimes I feel afraid, for I

_never thought about Him till I took ill,
and sometimes I think he will be merci-
ful, for it'says, He died for sinners, and,
oh, I’m such a sinner. People like you
don’t know what sin is.’’

‘“We may not have the same tempta-
tions that you have, but we all have the
same sinful nature, and God says in his
word that we are alike. I don’t mean to
say that we all do the same things, but we have
a nature in us that cannot love God, and cannot
please Him, the same nature that crucified His
Son. In the Bible we read that ‘There is none
righteous, no, not one;’ ‘All have sinned, and
come short of the glory of God. ‘I might be the
best, the kindest, the most religious person you
ever saw, but unless I see that I have a sinful
nature, and can take my place as one of the
lost, for whom the Savior died, I am just as far
from God as the most hardened sinner on earth.
But the same Word that tells us ‘All have
sinned’ tells us also that ‘This is a faithful say-
ing, and worthy of all.acceptation, that Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners.’
(1 Tim. 1, 15.)

“‘T do believe that He died to save sinners,
and I know I am a sinner,” she said, ‘‘only,
I'd like to be sure about it; it would make me
so happy.”’

I took out my Testament, and, turning to

|
| John 3, said, “We will see what the Lord
Himself says about it; I don’t want you to
|take my word, but to take His.’’ I then read,
wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be
lifted up, that whosoever believeth in Him should
not perish, but have everlasting life.”’

*« But I do believe,’’ she sail.

“Then, have you everlasting life?”’

“«T don’t know,’’ was her answer.

“But how is that?’’? I asked; ‘‘don’t you
believe God’s word? The Lord Himself says,
‘He that heareth my word and believeth on
Him that sent me HATH everlasting life, and
SHALL NOT come into condemnation, but IS
| passed from death unto life.’ Do you think He
could say a thing which is not true?”’

A STREET SCENE IN CHINA.

“Qh, no, and that seems simple enough, but
I don't feel like it,’ she answered.

“But God says nothing’ at all about your
feelings, all He wants is that you should see
yourself a sinner, having no hope but Christ;
then if you really believe that He died to save
sinners, and therefore to save you, God says you
have ‘everlasting life.’ Remember it is not my
word but God’s. He wants nothing from us but
child-like faith in His Son.”

‘“T do believe,”’ she repented, ‘‘can it be true
that I am really saved?”’

‘What makes you think you are saved?”’
I asked.

“ Because it says, ‘whosoever believeth,’ and
I do believe, so it must mean me.”’

“Yes, it does,” I answered, ‘it means every
poor sinner who sees himself lost and ruined by
nature, and believes on the Lord Jesus as his
Saviour.”

“Be not Deceived, God is not Mocked!”’

“‘T hope that God may paralyze me”’ were

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the}the words spoken by William Burklett at

Douglas, Ga. At once his hands dropped to
his side, his legs refused to move, and his eyes
rolled wildly around. His prayer was answered
as he stood, paralyzed on the spot, when but
a few moments before he was a magnificent
type of physical manhood. He tried to speak,
but his tongue would not move. Half a dozen
men who were present were rendered motion-
less by the evident visitation of the hand of
God. When they recovered self-possession
| they moved the afflicted man to his residence,
a half mile distant. The news soon spread
| through the country and scores of people called
to see the victim. The physicians can
ascribe no natural cause for his affliction.
The Lord will not hold him guiltless
that taketh His name in vain. WN. B.

oo

The Sin of Swearing.

A certain nobleman, who had given
himself over to the sin of cursing, was
about to enter the army, when an aged
and a truly pious citizen earnestly re.
minded him of his fault, and exhorted
him to repentance, saying, ‘Consider
well; you are now going to battle where
body and soul are at stake, and you know
not what may befall you.’’ The noble-
man, however, paid no regard to what
had been said to him, save to reply that
cursing and swearing well suited the
soldiers, as he who cursed the most
generally fared the best. But what
happened? In the first engagement God
permitted his chin to be shot off, so that
his blaspheming tongue hung down upon
his breast, 2 most revolting sight. He
had now constantly to lie upon his back,
and when he desired water it had to be
given him through a funnel. . After
several days of suffering, he died a most sad
and miserable death.

.
————»-eP oe a

No Difference.

A little colored girl, eight years old, was
setting the table, when a boy in the room said
to her, ‘‘ Mollie, do you pray?’’ The suddenness
of the question confused her a little, but she
answered, ‘Yes, every night.”

“Do you think God hears you?”’ the boy asked.
And she answered promptly, ‘‘ I know he does.””

“But do you think,’”’ said he, trying to puzzle

|her, ‘‘that he hears your prayers as readily as

those of white children?”

For full three minutes the child kept on with
her work; then she slowly said, ‘‘Master
George, I pray into God’s ear, and not His
eyes. My voice is just like any other little
girl’s; and if I say what I ought to say, God
does not stop to look at my skin.”

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