The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1888, Page 21

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Che Lutheran Pioneer.

A MISSIONARY MONTHLY. :

PuBLISHED BY THE HVANGELICAL LutHeRAN SynopicaL ConrerENcE oF NortH AMERICA.

R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor.

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

Vol. X.

St. Louis, Mo., June, 1888.

No. 6.

“The Dot upon the I.”

In Russia’s far-off frozen clime
There lives a lovely child:

The Lord to deeds and words of love
His tender heart inclined.

He loved to hear his parents read
In God’s most holy Word,

And treasured up within his breast
The blessed truths he heard.

This little boy was very sick,
And when about to die

He called his father to his side,
And said, “‘I want to buy

“Bibles to send to heathen lands,
Where they know not the Lord;
That they may all read for themselves
In His most holy Word.

"T cannot send whole Bibles there,
Perhaps not one short word;
But I would like to give some help
To spread its truths abroad.

“Those three bright pennies in my box
I think a type would buy
To print in Christ’s most holy name
The dot upon the 7.”

That stricken father did not fail
Those little coins to send.

O children, think how many coins
In wanton waste you spend!

Christ will receive the smallest gift.
When follies tempt your eye,
Think of the little Russian boy’s

Small dot upon the 7. Sel...

2 to

New Garments.

Every one likes new clothes; they are

. brighter, cleaner, fresher than the old ones.

The Bible tells us of a new dress that all sin-

ners should put on, a dress that will wear for-

ever. It is the robe of Christ's righteousness,

which He has prepared for us and which is
meant to be a covering for our sins.

By nature we only wear rags— ‘‘filthy rags”’
—and we cannot appear before God in such
clothing. We are sinners, and all we can do
to save ourselves, or make ourselves better, is
just like dressing in dirty rags. Such rags will
never do instead of proper clothing. If you

and I were to try all our lives to make ourselves
fit to stand before God, we could never do it.
We must come to Him as the prodigal son came
to his father— just as he was. He did not stay
to make himself better, or to mend his clothes;
he could not do it, he knew it was hopeless.
He came as he was and told his father he was
not worthy to come. And then the father
called for the best robe to cover him. He gave
him new garments, and made him a son fit to
live with his father.

That is what God does. If you come to Him
as a poor sinner, who has no fit dress to stand
in before him, He will wash away your sins
and clothe you with the garments of salvation—
beautiful, new, shining garments, which will
never grow old or wear out; garments of God’s
making, in which you can stand before Him.
In the Gospel those garments are offered to
you; for the Gospel brings to you Christ and
His righteousness. The following story will
tell you how this garment of Christ’s righteous-
ness covers our sins:

An Indian and a white man were once to-
gether listening to a sermon, and through it
both were brought to a knowledge of their sins.
The Indian received the grace of God in Christ
unto himself by faith, and peace and joy pos-
sessed his heart; but the white man could not
for a long time lay hold on His grace. Great
anxiety and care weighed upon him, until he
was brought to question God’s free and pardon-
ing mercy. Chancing again to meet his copper-
colored friend, he said to him: ‘‘How isit that
I travail so long, whilst you receive comfort so
soon??? ‘Brother,’’ replied the Indian, “I will
tell you. A rich prince comes and offers you a
new garment, but you look at your own and
say, I do not know, my own is right good, I
believe I can wear it for a long time yet. Then
he offers it to me; I look at my own ‘round-
about,’ and say, this will do no longer, and at
once cast it aside and take the new one. And,
brother, you do the same with your own right-
eousness; you unwillingly part with it. But
Thad no righteousness of my own, and I there-
fore found peace when the righteousness of
Christ was given to me.”

How to Keep Saved.

Many hesitate to accept Christ because they
fear they ‘can’t hold out.’’

If your salvation depends upon your holding
out, you surely will be lost; but, blessed be
God, it is not your strength, in which you are
to trust, but HIS.

‘‘Fear thou not, for I axt wirH THEE; be
not dismayed; for I-am tay God, I will
STRENGTHEN thee; yea, I will HELP thee; yea,
I will urHoLpD THEE with the right hand of My
righteousness. For I, the Lord thy God will
HOLD THY RIGHT HAND, saying unto thee, FEAR
not, I witt BELP THEE,” Isaiah 41, 10—18.

As the father takes the hand of the little
child in his, so that in case the little one
stumbles he can keep it from falling, so our
Heavenly Father wants to lead us by His right
hand; and as the child, without a thought of
its own weakness, trusts simply in the father’s
strength, so we are to trust in God’s. If we
are occupied with the thought that Christ has
hold of us, then we will be thinking of one
whose strength will never fail.

‘He which hath BEGUN a good work in you,
will PERFORM IT TILL THE DAY OF JESUS
Cunrist,” Phil. 1, 6.

He who does the work of saving also does
the work of keeping.

«Now unto Him wHo IS ABLE TO KEEP YOU
FROM FALLING,”’ Jude 24.

‘‘ Kept BY THE POWER OF Gop through faith
unto salvation,’’ 1 Peter 1, 5. ;
Do you say your surroundings are peculiar,

and you fear temptation?

“There hath no temptation taken you but —
such as is comMON to man; but God is FarTH-
FUL who will not suffer you to be tempted above
that yéare able, but will with the temptation
also MAKE A WAY TO ESCAPE, that ye may be
ABLE TO BEAR It,”” 1 Cor. 10, 18. :

The Lord KNOWETH HOW TO DELIVER the
godly-out of temptation,”” 2 Peter 2, 9.

You do not know how to deliver yourself,
but the Lord does, and will deliver you if you
will only look to Him and trust Him.

He who speaks, sows; he who listens, reaps.