The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1889, Page 9

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A MISSIONARY

MONTHLY.

=.

PuBLisHED BY THE HvaNGeLicAL LuruerRAN SynopicaL Conrerence or Norra AMERICA.

Vol. XI.

Procrastination.

BY REV. F. W. HERZBERGER.

“To-morrow,” he suid,
“When IL cease to runs

For the prize I seek
And the goal is won,

When my soul has quatfed
The depths of mirth

And all her desires
Have died in dearth,

When life’s bright stars
No longing awake —

To-morrow my peace
With my God T[’ll make.”

To-morrow came—
The bright sun shone
On earth and her children
And their fates unknown.
It shown on their pleasures
And toil’s deaf’ning din,
It shone on their sorrow,
It shone on their sin;
- It shone on a grave
Just newly made, |
Where he so sudden
By others was laid.
To-morrow had come
With its terrible fate: _
For his peace with God

He was too late.
~ From Pilgrim Songs.

The Steamboat Captain.

There was a Captain of a boat that carried
travelers and freight between St. Louis and
New Orleans. He was a large and strong man.
:Once as he was about to start on his regular
trip, a friend talked to him about death. The
Captain Jaughed, and, tapping his brawny
breast, asked if he looked like a dying man?
He was soon on his boat moving along the
bosom of the river without a thought of dan-
ger. -Several days passed, when-late one even-
ing there was a terrific explosion of a boiler,
tearing the forward part of the boat to pieces,
and sending the scalding steam through the
cabin. The pilot pushed the wreck to the
shore, and all on board who had escaped death
hurried to land, thinking only of their own
safety.

R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor.

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

St. Louis, Mo., March, 1889.

No. 3.

Looking back they were greatly surpriged to
see by the light of the burning boat the Cap-
tain standing on the lower deck, surrounded by
shattered timbers. He was on the hurricane
deck at the time of the explosion, and had
fallen below with the beams that were heaped
together in confusion. ‘‘Help!’’ he shouted,
‘my foot is caught.’’ A number of brave men
dashed forward, and struggled to drag him
away, but they could not, and they were driven
back by the fierce heat. _

“Oh, help, help, help!”’ shrieked the terri-|
fied man; ‘‘bring an axe and cut off my foot.”
But those on shore were as helpless as himself.
They had not thought of axe or hatchet, for
they were glad to escape with their lives. For-
ward leaped the pitiless flames, like wild beasts
eager for their prey; and he who a little while
before was boasting of his strength perished in
the presence of the horror-stricken crowd, be-
cause his foot was held fast by the large pieces
of wood that had fallen about him.

How many there are who are held fast in the
grasp of some sinful appetite, passion, or habit,
from which they cannot break away! With
one it is drunkenness, with another sinful lust,
with another love of money; but whatever it
may be, it keeps the soul chained, while the
fires of hell are rolling onward, and drawing
nearer and nearer every moment. They may
have struggled, and wept, and signed pledges,
but in vain

Is there, then, no hope for them? They can-
not help themselves, nor can man help them,
but is there no help for them? Yes, thank
God, thereis! ‘‘ For the son of man is come to
seek and to save that which is lost’? (Luke
19, 10). ‘This is o faithful saying and worthy
of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came in-
to the world to save sinners’’ (1. Tim. 1, 15).
“The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth
us from all sin’’ (1. John 1, 7).

In the light of such assurances as these, which
are true as God is true, need any captive sinner
despair? Is not Jesus ‘‘able also to save them
to the uttermost that come unto God by Him,’’
and has He not said, ‘‘ Him that cometh to me
I will in no wise cast out?’’ ‘‘As I live, saith
the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death
of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from

his way and live: turn ye, turn ye, from your
evil ways; for why willyedie?” (Ezek. 23, 11.)
Christ is both able and willing to save the chief
of sinners, and God entreats him to be saved,
why should he perish? And there is no great
work to be done by the sinner. No! All the
work was done long ago when Christ suffered
and died for sinners. And this Saviour is
brought to the sinner in the Gospel. ‘‘ Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be
saved.” .
2 + ome +

Settled Peace.

The moment we begin to rest our peace on
anything in ourselves, we lose it. And this is
why so many have not seltled peace. Nothing
can be lasting that is not built on God alone.
How cau you have settled peace? Only by
having it in God’s own way. By not resting
on anything, even the Spirit’s work within
yourselves, but on what Christ has done entirely
without you. Then you will know peace. In
Christ alone peace is found. The more you
see the extent and nature of the evil which is
within, as well as that which is without and
around, the more you will find that what Jesus
is, and what Jesus did, is the only ground at
all on which you can rest. i

no 0 <0 2

The Worth of the Soul.

Do you ask the worth ofa soul that will never
die? Could you carry this question into heaven,
you might receive an answer that would reach
its right import. God would tell you that He
preserves the world for the sake of souls; Christ
would tell you that He laid down His life and
poured out His blood for the salvation of souls;
and the redeemed saint would tell you to read
the worth of his soul in that ‘‘far more exceed-
ing and eternal weight of glory”’ which he here
enjoys. f

Could you carry this question into the place
of woe, and ask, in that dark world, what a soul
is worth, you would be answered in hopeless
tears and killing groans. Oh, eternity! etern-
ity! itis this which gives to the soul its incon-
ceivable value. And what is eternity?