The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1890, Page 2

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2 The Lutheran Pioneer.

Paul in Prison.

In our picture we see the apostle Paul in a
Roman prison cell. Old in years and worn
with toils in the service of Jesus, with no fears
for the future, he now calmly awaits the crown
of martyrdom.

From this prison cell the apostle wrote the
words of triumph: ‘‘I am now ready to be
offered.’’ It isa great thing, in the presence
of death, for a poor, sinful, mortal man to say,

as Paul—TI am ready! And no man can say it}
honestly, who is not standing on the Rock of | the Lutheran people will gladly support our en- | dealing —it is stealing.

Ages, and who has not Christ
in him, the hope of glory. It
was because Paul could say—
**To me to live is Christ,” that
he could add, ‘‘and ‘to die is
gain;’’ it was because he was
in Christ and had kept the
faith, that he could exclaim
with such an air of triumph,
“Tam nowready to be offered.”
Every passing year brings
us nearer to ourend. Let us
seek to follow Paul, as he fol-
Jowed Christ, and then our
end will be like his. We must
fight the good fight of faith.
We must run the race set be-
fore us and finish our course;
it may not run through the
wild desert, over the stormy
seas, and through gloomy pris-
ons. No, our course may lie
along the places of business
and hard labor, through the
noisy city streets or quiet
country homes, through weari-
some days and sleepless nights
of affliction; but whatever in
the Divine Providence it may
be, it is the race set before
us and we must run it, ever
looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith. Then,
like Paul, we shall meet our
departing hour with his calm
words, ‘‘I am now ready!”

———>— 0-0

Letter from New Orleans.

_ In the blessed Christmas time we rejoice and
adore with grateful hearts at the manger of
Bethlehem.

Bethlehem ! — how Dipreativell Does it not
forcibly remind the reader of the Luru. PionEER
of our dear little Bethlehem in New Orleans,
and does it not also revive our memory in regard
to appeals made time and again by our mission-
aries in behalf of our Bethlehem? Indeed, God
has highly bleesed our work. There are 113
children in our care, and innumerable applica-|i
tions have been made, which of course could
not be considered owing to the impossibility of
seating any more children, as also to the inad-|

visability of taxing the instructor to astill higher| be found out, he is just as bad as the thief

degree. During Divine Services the necessity | himself. He who holds the ladder is as guilty
for better accommodations is felt still more se-|as the thief who climbs it.

verely, as the adult people are confined to eight | 2. The person who is dishonest in his dealings
small church benches, standing in closest prox-|is a thief. The farmer who sells poor butter
imity to the altar. And is there no response to| for very good butter is both a liar and a thief.
our urgent petitions? Can we not assist? I take | The clerk who tells his customer that the goods
it for granted that we will not receive a nega-| he is buying is the very best when he knows it

tive answer. Or have we no obligation? In-|
| deed, we have, and one of the sublimest at that, |
—perhaps the term ‘‘privilege’’ sounds more |
pleasing to the Lutheran ear. We trust that|

deavors in the direction indicated; the amount
involved is trifling: a few hundred dollars se-
cure us a grand little mansion. — And now in
conclusion we beg leave to call the readers at-
tention to Matth. 25, 40.

Ep. Riscow.
New Orleans, December 15, 1889.

s+ 0-2 ¢

Thieves.

Luther rays; “The world is a large stable full
of thieves.’” I will mention some.

1. The person who assists another in stealing
isa thief. He may not touch the stolen goods;
but if he opens a door or a window through
which the thief may get in, or if he tries to

shield or protect a thief, so that he may not}

is untrue is as bad as the farmer. Some people
give poor measure when they sell—they are
thieves likewise. That kind of dealing where
the one laughs and the other weeps is fraudulent
Whatever you sell,
weigh first in the balance of
your conscience so as to be
sure that no curse or tears are
mingled with it. An unjust
penny will eat up ten others.
Why? Because God’s curse
goes with it. :

8. The person who’ will not
pay his debts is a thief. There
are many poor people who can
not pay their debts, because
some great misfortune like
sickness has befallen them.
But there are many others
who live beyond their means,
or who are idle and careless,
and hence do not strive to
pay what they owe. Such
careless people are thieves,
because they are using and en-
joying what belongs to others.
A coat that is paid for will
keep warmer than a robe that
is borrowed.

In the times of Caesar Au-
gustus a certain man’s house-
hold goods were sold in order
to pay for the many debts he
owed. When the Emperor
heard this, he said: ‘‘I must
havesomething from this man,
too. I want the pillow on which
he has been sleeping.’”” He
at once sent some one to the
auction and asked that he
might by all means have that
man’s pillow—it must be a wonderful good
thing to sleep on since that man could rest on
it in spite of his many debts.

4, The gambler isathief. He who has learned
to play games in order that he may ‘rob his
neighbor of his money might just as well break
open his chest and steal his gold—for he has
what belongs to another. Betting, joining lot-
teries, chancing and the like are all but another

_|name for stealing.

5. The idler is a thief. He steals the golden
moments as they come. He who idles away his
time robs God of his dues and pays it over to
the devil.— Olive Leaf.

a eo a

Some people are dissatisfied because thorns
are put on roses, they ought to be glad that
roses are put on thorns. :