The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1889, Page 22

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22 The Lutheran Pioneer.

eS a ee OE

Who is the Holy Spirit? (For the ‘Lutheran Ploneer-’’) | ig your Redeemer’s cause! He is knocking at
; Never Say. Die. your door! He is knocking at your heart!
- Dare you, can you, will you send him away
empty-handed?

In conclusion we may add, that a number
of intelligent and earnest members have again
been added to our church, and that before an-
other month is over we hope to make another
valuable accession of several persons, who are
already with hearts and hands assisting us in
the upbuilding of our Lutheran Zion. <A. B.

It is important to know the correct answer
to this question. The Holy Spirit, who de-
scended on the disciples on the day.of Pen-
tecost, is still active in the Church and does
His work of regenerating and sanctifying men
through the means of grace. Now, some people
have false notions about the Holy Spirit. Let
me therefore tell you who the Holy Spirit is.

He Is A Person.

Some people say the Holy Spirit is but a
mere power, a mere influence, a mere attribute
of God. They deny that He isa Person. But
no attentive reader of the Bible, no one that
believes what God says in His word, will deny
that the Holy Spirit is a Person. There are
many passages in the Bible that go to prove
this. We shall quote only a few. Jesus says
to His disciples in the 14th chapter of John:
“J will pray the Father, and He shall give
you another Comforter, that He may abide with
you forever. Even the Spirit of Truth, whom
the world cannot receive because it seeth Him
not, neither knoweth Him; but ye know Him,
for He dwelleth with you and shall be in you.”
Christ here calls the Holy Spirit another Com-
forter and uses the words ‘‘He,’’ and ‘“‘Him,’’
and ‘‘whom.’’ From this it is plain that the
Holy Spirit isa Person. Again, Christ says to
His disciples in the 28th chapter of Matthew:
*Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptiz-
ing them in the name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Ghost,” From this passage
we learn that the Holy Spirit isa Person as truly
as the Father and the Son, and we learn, too,
that He is a Person distinct from the Father and
the Son. As such the Holy Spirit revealed Him-
self also in the baptism of Christ. There the
Father's voice was heard from heaven: ‘This is
my beloved Son;”” the Son was baptized in the
Jordan; the Holy Spirit descended upon Him.
Again, in many passages of the Bible men are
said to vex, to blaspheme, to grieve the Spirit,
which could not be said, if He were not a Person.

. Hels A Divine Penson.

He is called God. In the fifth chapter of
the Acts of the Apostles we read: ‘‘ Peter said,
Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to
lie to the Holy Ghost? ... Thou hast not lied
unto men, but unto God.’”’ From this it is quite
plain that the Holy Spirit is a Divine Person,
that He is God; for Peter tells Ananias that,
in lying to the Holy Ghost, he had lied ‘‘unto
God.’ Again, in the Bible the attributes,
works, and honors of God are ascribed to the
Holy Spirit, the same as to God the Father,
and to God the Son. This could not be done
if the Holy Spirit were not a Divine Person.
Our Lutheran Catechism therefore gives us the
true Bible-answer to the question, Who is God

When the necessity of better accommoda-
tions for ‘“‘Bethlehem” were urged some months
ago, hopes were entertained that a new build-
ing for this station of our Colored Mission in
New Orleans would soon be under way of con-
struction. Nor was ita little gratifying to note,
how quick some were to show their apprecia-
tion of the blessings showered down on our la-
bors in this field and respond to the appeal made
in its behalf by at once depositing their con-
tributions with the treasurer. But of late the
deposits have greatly decreased and our hopes
of possessing the necessary accomodations in the
near future are almost blasted. Will some one
say: Be itso? We cannot suppose such a thing.
While the possibility remains of having a new
building ready before the school is reopened we
will not abandon our hope. We rather trust,
that our earnest petitions will yet be granted.
There remain three months until the beginning
of the next session. If immediate action be
taken in the matter the thing may be accom-
plished. Though our Hon. Board has made no
public and official statement concerning this
movement, it heartily approves of the same.
Were the necessary funds on hand to put the
plan into operation, its members would not hesi-
tate to do so.

Here, fellow-Christians, is your opportunity
to make a good investment. Does any one
think ours a degrading work? We defy such
sentiments! In spite of the slurs flung at your
laborers by prejudiced men, they are deter-
mined to stand by the people, among whom
the Lord has called them to labor. And while
acts of lawlessness and oppression are reported
being perpetrated not only upon men, but on
defenseless women and children as well, so that
even the secular press urges a vindication of.
the law and a speedy administration of justice
to the guilty parties, we desire every Lutheran
to come to our assistance and let this down-
trodden race see, not by his words, but by his
actions, that there are men who atill have an
interest in both its temporal and spiritual wel-
fare.

Let us, then, not plead our cause in vain.
Let those who have bank-accounts come to the
front. Let those who have none follow. And
lest any one forget about the matter, let him|and hotter. At last the heat became so great
make his contribution at once. Should he not| that the visitor said:
be able to forward the money himeelf, his pas-|. ‘Dear me, it is terribly hot! I wonder how
tor or teacher will, no doubt, take pleasure in| far it is to hell???
doing it for him. If the amount he be able to]’ «T don’t know the exact distance,” replied
give be but small, no matter. Hundred cents} the Christian miner, gravely, ‘‘but if one link
make a dollar, and the dollars put together will] of the chain gives way,-you'll be there in a
soon swell the treasury to such an extent as to| minute!”?
enable us to successfully carry out our work.| This plain answer was the means of arousing
t V If everybody put his shoulder to the wheel, it| the profane man to a sense of the wickedness

the Holy Spirit? The answer is this: ‘Hr 1s|can, indeed, not be difficult to raise the neces-| of his habit.
" THE THIRD PERSON OF THE GODHEAD, who from |sary amount. Remember the words of your ——— .
__ eternity proceeds from the Father and the Son, | Saviour: ‘Verily, I say unto you, Inasmuch| Avauermxe kept on his table this inscrip-
: erates and sanctifies us through the | as ye have done it unto one of the least of these| tion: ‘Let him who loves to speak evil of the
my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”? This absent, know that this table is unfit for him.’’

——s 4 oo he

Morning Bible Reading.

The best time for Bible reading is in the
morning. The mind and body are fresh after
the repose of the night, and the highest powers
of thought may be brought to bear upon the
chapter selected. But, with most people, each
recurring morning brings its own pressing tasks.
‘Business cares, the daily toil and the duties of
the house are the first and most engrossing con-
cerns. Some hours must pass, with many, be-
fore they can find time to sit down to any quiet
reading. Let the plan be honestly tried by
taking some words from God’s book for the
meditation of the morning. Make for the month
a fair, steadfast trial of the plan of studying the
Bible when your faculties are at mental high-
water mark. You wonder at the familiarity
of this or that friend with the Psalms, the
Epistles, the Gospels. It has been gained, a
little at a time, by patient, daily reading—
thoughtful, prayerful reading, too, which was
hived by the soul, as something worth treasur-
ing. We shall all gain immeasurably in our in-
fluence as well as our comfort by giving more
of our unwearied thought to the holy Book.
A few tired, sleepy, wornout moments at night,
and those only, are almost an insult to the
Master whom we profess to serve.—Selected.

—s +e o> oe
The Distance to Hell.

A person, who by birth, wealth, and educa-
tion should have been a gentleman, but was
not, went to see a coal-mine. The miner who
took him down was a Christian, and was much
pained by the profane language used by the
visitor.

As they descended they felt it getting hotter