The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1887, Page 11

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The Lutheran Pioneer.

11

“1 Cannot Get Away From God.” -

Not many years since, a young coachman |
was living in a gentleman’s family, near Lon-
‘don. He had good wages, a kind master, and
a comfortable place, but there was one thing
which troubled and annoyed him. It was that
his old mother lived in a village close by, and
from her he had constant visits. You may
wonder that this was such a trouble to him;
but the reason was, that whenever she came,
she spoke to him about Christ and the salva-
tion of his soul.

“Mother,”’ he said at last, ‘‘I cannot stand
this any Jonger. Unless you drop that subject
altogether, I shall give up my place and go out
of your reach, when I shall hear no more of
such cant.’’

““My son,” said his mother, ‘‘as long as I
have a tongue, I shall never cease to speak to
you about the Lord, and to the Lord about
you.”

The young coachman was as good as his
word. He wrote to a friend in the High-
Jands of Scotland, and asked him to find
him a place in that part of the world. He
knew that his mother could not write, and
could not follow him; and though he was
sorry to lose a good place, he said to him-
self, ‘Anything for a quiet life.’ His
friend soon got him a place in a gentle-
man’s stables, and he did not hide from
his mother that he was glad and thankful
to get out of her way.

You may think it was a pity she thus
drove him to a distance. Would it not
have been wiser to say less, and thus not
lose the opportunity of putting in a word
in season? But she believed, in her sim-
plicity, that she was to keep to the direc-
tions given her in the word of God—that
she was to be instant, not in season only,
but also out of season. And true it is that the
foolishness of God is wiser than men.

The coachman was ordered to drive out the
carriage and pair the first day after his arrival
in Scotland. His master did not get into the
carriage with the rest of the party, but said he
meant to go on the box instead of the footman.
“‘He wishes to see how I drive,” thought the
coachman, who was quite prepared to give sat-
isfaction. Scarcely had they driven from the
door, when the master spoke to the coachman
for the first time. He said, ‘‘Tell me if you

are saved!’’ Had the question come to the
coachman direct from heaven it could scarcely
have struck him with greater consternation.
He felt simply terrified. ‘‘ God has followed me
to Scotland!?’ he said to himself. ‘‘I could get
away from my mother, but I cannot get away from
God!?? He could make no answer to his mas-
ter, and scarcely could he drive the horses, for
he trembled from head to foot. His master
weht on to speak of Christ, and again he heard
the old, old story so often told him by his
mother; but this time it sounded new—it had
become a real thing tohim. It did not seem

'to him then to be glad tidings of great joy, but |
a message of terror and condemnation. He felt |
that it was Christ, the Son of God, whom he|
had rejected and despised.
first time that he was a lost sinner.

Name of the Good Samaritan.

Oberlin, the well-known pastor of Steinthal,

He felt for the| while yet a candidate for the ministry, was
By the! traveling on one occasion from Strasbourg. It

time the drive was over, he was so ill, from the | was in the winter time. The ground was deeply
terrible fear that had come upon him, that he| covered with snow, and the roads were almost
could do nothing more. For some days he could | impassable. He had reached the middle of his
not leave his bed; but they were blessed days| journey, and was among tbe mountains, and

to him. His master came to speak to him, to}
read the word of God, and to pray, and soon
the love and grace of the Saviour he had re-}
jected became a reality to him, as the terror of |
the Lord had been at first. He saw that there
was mercy for the scoffer and despiser: he saw |
that the blood of Christ is the answer before |
God even for such sin as his had been, and he
now felt in his soul the sweetness of those
blessed words, ‘‘ We love Him because He first
loved us.’’ He saw that Christ had borne his

by that time was so exhausted that he could
stand up no longer.

He was rapidly freezing to death. Sleep be-

gan to overcome him; all power to resist it left
him.

| yielded to what he felt to be the sleep of death.

He commended himself to God, and

He knew not how long he slept, but sud-

denly became conscious of some one rousing
him and waking him up. Before him stood a

wagon driver in his blue blouse, and the wagon

not faraway. He gave him a little wine and
punishment, and that he, who had tried to/ food, and the spirit of life returned.

He then

harden his heart against God and against his} helped him on the wagon and brought him to

“}fe hath loved us and hath given Himself for us.”

own mother, was now without spot or stain in
the sight of that God who had so loved him as
to give for him His only Son. The first letter
he wrote to his mother was to tell her the joy-
ful tidings, ‘‘God has followed me to Scotland,
and has saved my soul.”

—_—s -e<— o>

Found Out.

“During the rule of Cromwell, a knight and
his minister had a quarrel. While the dispute
was pending, this knight, a certain Sir John,
fancied that the minister preached at him, as
he called it, every Sunday. So he complained
of him to Cromwell. ‘The preacher denied the
tharge, saying he had but done his duty, and had
only preached in general terms against drunk-
ards, liars and thieves, and defied Sir John to
instance any particular allusion to himself. Af-
ter Cromwell had attentively heard both par-
ties, he said: ‘Sir John, go home and live in
good friendship with your minister; the word
of the Lord is a searching word, and I am
afraid it has now found you out.’””

the next village. The rescued man was
profuse in his thanks, and offered money,
which his benefactor refused.

“‘Tt is only a duty to help one another,’’
said the wagoner. ‘‘And it is the next
thing to an insult to offer a reward for such
a service.”’

“Then,’’ replied Oberlin, ‘‘at least tell
me your name, that I may have you in
thankful remembrance before God.”’

“'T see,” said the wagoner, ‘‘that you are
a minister of the Gospel. Please tell me
the name of the Good Samaritan?”

‘«That,’’ said Oberlin, ‘‘I cannot do; for
it was not put on record.’”

“Then,” replied the wagoner, “until
you can tell me his name, permit me to
withhold mine.’’—From the German.

—_———2- ~<a 2

The Martyr Child.

The parents of William Hunter, the Brent-
wood martyr, deserve to be held in remem-
brance. Condemned to be burned in his native
town, ‘‘his father and mother came to him, de-
siring heartily of God that he might continue
constant to the end in that good way in which he
had begun. His mother added that she thought
herself happy that she had born such a child,
who could find in his heart to lose his life for
Christ’s sake.’’? The noble woman then knelt
down and uttered a prayer which showed how
little present inconveniences weighed in com-
parison with final victory. ‘‘I pray God to
strengthen thee to the end. I think thee as
well bestowed as any child that ever I bore.”’
In the eyes of such people Jesus honored their
family by allowing their dear child to give his
life for His cause. Such parents are not met
with every day. .

< ——+ oor

A holy life has a voice. It speaks when the
tongue is silent, and is either a constant attrac-
tion or a continual reproof.