The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1887, Page 38

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_ tacy, shut up in the musty tomb of the dark
_ ages. What the Reformation did was to un-
clench that*dry and terrible hand, and bring
* out the wasting truth of God to daylight and
“sunshine and free moist air, where it might
sprout into life and bloom into the glory for

38 . The Lutheran Pioneer.

which it was designed. And by the grace of | canst not die! Thou hidest Thyself only! Thou ‘
the Almighty it has taken root in many lands, | hast chosen me for this work. I know it welll -
and spread out its branches with living blos-|—Act, then, O God!—stand at my side, for the
soms and precious fruit to rejoice the world. | sake of Thy well-beloved Jesus Christ, who is
Where was the Protestant religion before the | my defense, my shield, and my strong tower.
Reformation? Just where God Himself put it} (After a moment of silent struggle he thus
—in that Bible which Luther took from the | continues :)
library of Erfurt—in which it still has its life] Lord! where stayest Thou? O my God!
and strength, and in which it will live and| Where art Thou?—Come! come! I am ready!
—I am ready to lay down my life for Thy truth
—patient as a lamb. For it is the cause of

The Life of Dr. Luther
presents us with a bright and shining example
of activity in the cause of our Lord Jesus Christ
and his Church. Before Luther grasped the
meaning of the precious words: “The just shall
live by faith,’’ he had labored incessantly, but
the real main-spring of Christian effort had been
wanting. When his soul was filled with faith
in that dear Redeemer, whose lifeblood was
freely poured out for the children of men, the
labors of Luther became more abundant and
effective. Grace was the theme which he mag-
nified at every opportunity. The love of God
in Christ enabled him to bear witness before
the mighty ones of this world and robbed the
prospect of death of its terrors. The secret of
his courage lies here. His life he accounted
but as a small thing compared with the debt of
gratitude he owed to his Saviour. Urged on
by the love of Christ, he became a worker in
the Lord’s vineyard to such an extent _and to
such a degree that his works still praise him in
the gates. The writings of Luther are the
product of grace, which moved him to write
for the cause of the gospel as well as to speak
of the unsearchable riches of Christ. He was
a mighty man of God. The arm of flesh could
not allure him away from his childlike reliance
on the arm of his God. No earthly alliance
was able to charm him into its embrace. The

sword of knight and monarch was held out in
vain. The cause of the Lord needed no fleshly
defense to preserve it from the adversaries who
were bent on its destruction. The Word of
God was the agency on which Luther relied
for the salvation of souls, and the casting down
of principalities and powers. With this two-
edged sword he went forth unto defense and
conquest. He was persuaded of its might and
felt no fear that it would not prevail.

‘ : Church Messenger.

~~ oa +

“‘Where was Your Church Before Luther?”

triumph forever. Where? If no where else, in
little babes who had received upon them the
holy waters of Baptism—in witnesses for the |justice—it is Thine! I will never separate my-
truth of God whom Rome persecuted, burned | self from Thee, neither now nor through eter-
at the stake, stifled in the prison, or drove out nity !—And though the world should be filled
from the common habitation of men—and in| With devils—though my body, which is the
plain and simple Christians who had learned | Work of Thy hands, should be slain, be stretched
the apostles’ Creed, and sincerely believed it in| Upon the pavement, should be cut to pieces—
their hearts, and knew the Lord's Prayer and | reduced to ashes—my soul is Thine—Yes! Thy
prayed it night and morning in devout love to| Word is my assurance of it. My soul belongs
God and trust in His mercy through Jesus|to Thee! It shall abide forever with Thee—
Christ, and departed this life in these simplic-] Amen! OGod! help me!—Amen!”’

ities, caring nought for popes and priests, ae
purgatories or masses. Through such as these, Evidences of God’s Love.
and hidden ones of God in every age, the
Church of the Reformation traces back its suc-
cession and historic life to the apostles and to
Christ. In such as these, more numerous now, i
and not afraid to.avow their faith, it at present | fered no harm by the accident. When he next
lives and flourishes in all portions of the earth. | ™¢t Luther, he related to him the circumstance
And in the perpetual multiplication of such as how God had shielded him, and boasted, that it:
these it shall continue to live on until the great | #8 evident from this, that the Lord loved him

clock of heaven shall strike the hour of doom. |8te#tly, but Luther replied: “ My dear friend,
C. K, |you have other and greater evidence than this

that God loves you. Hold before your eyes the
sufferings of Jesus, and reasons enough will be
given you not to doubt the love of God.’’

: ——_—2+ ome >

A Witness for Luther’s Doctrine.

About the time Luther began his work in
Germany, a young prince started upon a pil-
grimage to Spain. While in that country, he
visited and confessed to an old monk, and also
informed him of the object of his journey to
Spain, ‘‘ But, my son,’’ said the priest, ‘‘ why
do you journey so far for that which you have
so much nearer home. I have recently seen a
book from an Augustinian monk, Luther, in
which he plainly shows from the Word of God,
that there is no other way of securing forgive-
ness of sin than through faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Only do this, and you shall be
pardoned.’”

A certain gentleman, in the time of Luther,
built for himself an elegant house, but chanced
to fall from the scaffolding. However, he suf-

——s +o o> oe
Luther’s Great Prayer.

The Diet at Worms, where the monk Luther
stood before emperor and empire in the cause
of truth and in defence of the Gospel, was a
time when the world’s history hung upon a
thread. The prayer of God’s messenger before
he took his noble stand is one for which the
history of Christianity probably shows no par-
allel. Not in polished sentences, but broken
up into short ejaculations his appeals ascend on
high. His ever memorable words are these:

“Q Almighty and Everlasting God! How
terrible is this world! Behold! it openeth its

This question is sometimes asked us with an
air of triumph. As wisely might it be asked
where the wheat was before it was separated
from the chaff? or where the flour was when
the sack went to mill? When Lord Lindsay} mouth to swallow me up, and I have zo little
was in Egypt, wandering amid the pyramids, | trust in Thee! How weak is the flesh, and
and creeping among the tombs of that Jand of | Satan how strong! Ifit is only in the strength
mystery and wonder, hestumbled on a mummy, | of this world that I must put my trust, all is
afterward ascertained to be 2000 years of age.| over! My Jast hour is come, my condemnation
Unwrapping it, he found in its closed hand a| has been pronounced! O God! O God! O God!

bulbous root, which he carried home, and|do Thou help me against all the wisdom of the
‘planted where it might have the warm sun-| world! Do this; Thou shouldst do this—Thou| At one time, when the daughter of Melanch-

shine, rains and dews. ‘To his astonishment it| alone—for this is not my work but Thine. Ij|thon had died, Luther, Cruciger and Justus
sprouted, and finally bloomed into a beautiful | have nothing to do here, nothing to contend | Jonas came to visit and to comfort him. But
flower. Let that be a parable of where Prot-| for with these great ones of the world! Ishould | he could not forget his sorrow, and walked up
estantism was before the Reformation. It was| desire to see my days flow on peaceful andjand down through the rnom. At Jast he came
closed up in the iron grasp of the papal apos-| happy. But the cause is Thine, and it is a|toa table, saw a Psalter iying upon it, picked
righteous and eternal cause. O Lord! help|it up, and opened it, when his eyes fell upon
me! Faithful and unchangeable God! In no| the words of the one hundredth psalm: ‘‘It is
man doI place my trust. It would be in vain! | He that hath made us, and not we ourselves. ”
All that is of man is uncertain; all that cometh | Having read them he turned unto his friends —
of man fails—O God! my God! hearest Thou | and said: ‘If God has made us, why shall not ~

me not? My God! art Thou dead? ‘No! Thou| we be content.’

+ O~ re -
Comfort from a Psalm.