The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1889, Page 17

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The Autheran Pioneer,

A MISSIONARY MONTHLY.

PuBLISHED BY THE EVANGELICAL LuTHERAN SyNopicaAL CoNnFERENCE oF Nortn AMERICA._

R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor.

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

Vol. XI.

St. Louis, Mo., May, 1889.

No. 5.

Satisfied.

O Jesus, Friend unfailing,
How dear art Thou to me!
And cares or fears assailing,
I find my strength in Thee!
Why should my feet grow weary
Of this my pilgrim way;
Rough though the day and dreary,
It ends in perfect day.

Naught, naught I count as treasure,
Compared, O Christ, with Thee;
Thy sorrow without measure
Earned peace and joy for me.
I love to own, Lord Jesus,
Thy claims o’er me and mine;
Bought with Thy blood most precious,
Whose can I be but Thine?

What fills my soul with gladness?
Tis Thy abounding grace;
Where can I look in sadness,
But, Jesus, on Thy face?
My all is Thy providing;
Thy love can ne’er grow cold;
In Thee, my refuge, hiding,
No good wilt Thou withhold.

Why should I droop in sorrow?
Thou’rt ever by my side;

Why trembling, dread the morrow?
What ill can e’er betide!

If I my cross have taken,
*Tis but to follow Thee:

If scorned, despised, forsaken,
Naught severs Thee from me.

Oh, worldly pomp and glory!
Your charms are spread in vain;
I’ve heard a sweeter story,
I’ve found a truer gain.
Where Christ a place prepareth,
There is my loved abode;
There shall I gaze on Jesus,
There shall I dwell with God.

For every tribulation,
For every sore distress,
In Christ I’ve full salvation,
Sure help and quiet rest.
No fear of foes prevailing;
I triumph, Lord, in Theo;
O Jesus, Friend unfailing! _
How dear art Thou to me!
From the German.
——2 + 00 >

_ Wuar is resignation? Placing God between
ourselves and our trouble.

God Is With Us.

The fools that say in their hearts, There is no
God, are to be pitied. In their blindness and
helplessness they have no guide, and in their
sin and sorrow they have no comfort. Being
without God, they are without hope in the
world, and that is wretchedness. All that in-
fidelity can do is to make men miserable and
bring woe to him.

Happy are they who know and believe the
love which God has for us and who know that
He is always with us. Though they walk
through the valley of the shadow of death,
they fear no evil. They know that their times
are in God’s hand, and that He is directing all
things for the best. If afflictions come, they
are not without comfort. These too must work
together for good. Difficulties and disappoint-
ments in their labor do not madden them, for
they work for God and know that He directs
all to His praise. No crosses bring despair,
for God is with them and supports them, so
that they can bear them. Living for God,
they let God rule and are satisfied. God is
with them at every step, and they look to Him
and are happy.

It is not an angry judge that goes with them
on all their journey, visiting their sins upon
them at each step. God is in Christ, in whom
we have redemption through His blood. It is
a God reconciled that is with us, who does not
impute to us our sins but who saves and blesses
us. We have His precious Word, and so He is
not far off, but very near, even here where we
labor and suffer and enjoy. Weary pilgrim,
look to Him! Tired laborer in the mission
field, lean on Him! He is a very present help.
And He will not leave us nor forsake us. God
is with us! Let us daily try to realize the truth
more fully, and find in it comfort and courage
in all our work, and also in our mission work.

so ee

Redeeming Love.

‘God so loved the world, that He gave His
only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in
Him should not perish, but have everlasting
life,” John 3, 16. ~ mA

God so loved the world; but that so may be
lengthened out to eternity before the import
of it can be told. God so loved the world; a
wonderful so indeed! God so loved the world,
that He gave His only-begotten Son for it.

Had He given mountains of gold and silver
for us sinners; had He told down for our ran-
som all the treasures that lie hid in the bowels of.
the earth, or scattered through the whole world,
all had been as nothing for His giving His
only-begotten Son to die for us.

Oh, the wonders of love that are wrapped
up in this! Why, if the Scriptures had not so
plainly revealed it we could not have believed
it; and even after it is revealed our faith must
be well fixed else it will stagger under it; for
this is a deep mystery that God so loved the
world of sinners, that He gave His only-begot-
ten Son for it.

Reader, have you embraced this wondrous
gift of infinite love—Jesus the Saviour of sin-
ners? Have you ‘‘eternal life,’’ which is “the
gift of God in Jesus Christ”? Oh, the love of
God! Let your soul rejoice in that love, and
in the expression of it, ‘Jesus Christ,’” your
Saviour and your Lord.

t+ oe pe

The Blessed Dead.

Now they have got to heaven, they have got
home. They have got to their Father's house.
They find more comfort a thousand times, now
they are got home, than they did in their jour-
ney. It was a wilderness that they passed
through—a difficult road. There was abun-
dance of difficulties in the way; mountains and
rough places. They were forced to lay out
themselves to get along, and had many weari-
some days and nights; but now they have got
through—they have got to the place they
sought; got to their everlasting rest. They
need travel no more, nor labor any more, but
enjoy rest and peace, and will enjoy them for-
ever. — j

For that man, O God of truth, is unhappy,
who knows all things, but is ignorant of Thee;
whilst happy is he, who is ignorant of all things.
else, but knows Thee.—Augustine.

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