The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1888, Page 1

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_ living upon goods bought on credit, for which

- buy the. goods they. needed for the coming year.

Ghe Autheran Pioneer,

A MI

SSIONARY MONTHLY.

PUBLISHED BY THE EVANGELICAL LuTHERAN SyNnopicAL ConrerENCE oF Norto AMERICA.

R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor.

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

Vol. X.

St. Louis, Mo., January, 1888.

No. 1.

A New Year’s Prayer.

O God of Jacob, by whose hand
Thy people still are fed;

Who through this weary pilgrimage
Hast all our fathers led.

To Thee our humble vows we raise,
To Thee address our prayer;

And in Thy kind and faithful breast
Deposit all our care.

Through each perplexing path of life
Our wandering footsteps guide;
Give us by day our daily bread,

And raiment fit provide.

O spread Thy covering wings around,
Till all our wanderings cease;

And at our Father’s loved abode

Our souls arrive in peace.

To Thee, as to our covenant God,
We'll our whole selves resign;
And thankful own that all we are,

And all we have, is Thine.
Doddridge.

— —--o~mo

Old Uncle’s Mistake.

Uncle Brown came to town with an old wagon.
In the wagon there were five bales of cotton,
on which his wife was seated with her knitting.
Old uncle wanted to sell the cotton and with
the money buy clothing and other things fur
the season. During the past year he had been

he had given his note for $200. But uncle had
forgotten that note, and on New Year's day he
told his wife that he would turn over a new

leaf, he would no longer live on credit, but,

just take that cotton into town and sell it and

Well, as I said, old uncle came to town with
his cotton, and seven and a half cents was the
best offer he received for some time. But at
length a young man came up and offered him
eight cents, which offer the old man gladly
accepted. His wife went to a millinery store
to buy her outfit, and the two men went to
have the cotton weighed and figured up. The
account came to $195, and the old man held

out his hand for the money. Instead of the
money he expected, his own note for $200 was

isss.

A. D. 1888 now has begun. Do you know
what A..D. means? It means the year of the
Lord. We count our years from the birth of

shown him, witha request for the $5 to balance.
Old uncle was sadly disappointed and shed
bitter tears. He now saw the mistake he made.
His resolution to turn over a new leaf in the
new year could not wipe away the debts of the
old year. They were still to be paid. It was
the same mistake the school-boy made who,
after spilling the ink on the page of his copy-
book, turned over a new leaf. But “turning
over a new leaf” did not take away the blots,
and the teacher soon saw them and punished
the boy for his carelessness.

The same mistake is made by people who
think to put themselves right with God by out-
wardly reforming their lives. On New Year's
day they form good resolutions which they in-
tend to carry out by their own strength. They
call this ‘‘turning over a new leaf.’’ Now suppose
they were able to carry out their good resolu-
tions, what about those sins of the past? If it
were possible for man to live a sinless life in the
future, this would not take away the sins of the
past. Those sins would rise up against him on
the Day of Judgment and hurl him into eternal
damnation.

Is there then no help for sinners? Yes. The
New Year's Gospel tells us of the Babe of
Bethlehem: ‘‘His name was called Jesus,’’
Luke 2, 21. Why was his name called Jesus?
The nage said, ‘‘Thou shalt call His name
Jesus; for He shall save His people from their
sins’ Our good resolutions and our own good
works were not called Jesus. No. The Son
of God who became man to take away the sin
of the world was called Jesus; for He is the
only Saviour. It is only when we see the sins
of the past blotted out by the blood of Jesus
that we enter into peace and safety. On enter-
ing a new year, do not trust in your sinful self,
but trust in Him whose name was called Jesus.
Thus the new year will bea happy year to you.

world, who came and died for the world, turned
the course of events. Do those who deny Christ's
Godhead, those who scoffat redemption by Him,
those who deny the life after death, ever pause
and consider, that as they date their daily letters
they date them with the birthday of Christ
whom they reject? It is a great thought that
the three hundred and ninety-five millions of
Christians in the world all acknowledge the
year we ‘“‘live in’’ to begin from Jesus Christ—
many, doubtless, from habits too strong now to
break or alter. But to those who glory in the
fact of Christ born at Bethlehem, how un-
speakable the thought of each year, that now
so swiftly rolls by, bringing us ail nearer to
Christ glorified: when all who now believe in
the great event of 1888 years ago will one day
join their Redeemer, and sing the song of the
redeemed where ‘Time shall be no more.”
- <2 oa o

Follow your Leader.

All that the children of Israel had to do in
the wilderness was to follow the cloud. If the
cloud rested, they rested; if the cloud moved
forward, then they moved as it did.

Israel’s Shepherd could lead His people
through the pathless desert. Why? Because
He made it. He knew every grain of sand in it.
They could not have a better leader through
the wilderness than the great Jehovah.

And, Christian reader, can you in all your

leader than Jehovah, the Lord Jesus? As you
enter upon a new year of your pilgrimage
through the wilderness of this world, let this
be your prayer:
*¢Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah,
Pilgrim through this barren land!
Iam weak, but Thou art mighty, -
Hold me with Thy powerful hand;
y Bread of Heaven!
Feed me till I want no more.”
He is able, and still more, He is willing, to lead
us. Follow your Le

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How much money did you give to good ob-
jects during the year gone? Have you begun
to give this year? Measure your contributions
by what you pay for clothing, food, some un-
necessary article of personal adornment, or
what you paid for sensual pleasure, and see
how they will bear the comparison.

Christ, the Lord. The promised Saviour of the —

difficulties, or troubles and fears, have a better :

as