The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1890, Page 5

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The Autheran Pioneer,

A MISSIONARY MONTHILUY.

PosiisHeD BY THE EvancenicaL Luraeran SynopicaL ConFERENCE oF NortH AMERICA.

R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor.

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

Vol. XII.

St. Louis, Mo., February, 1890.

No. 2.

Encouragement for Missionaries.

“My word shall not return unto me void,’? Isaiah 55, 11.

When saddened by the little fruit thy labors seem
to yield,

Or when no springing blade appears in all thy bar-
ren fleld;

When those whom thou dost seek to win seem hard,
and cold, and dead—

Then, weary worker, stay thine heart on what the
Lord hath said;

" And let it give new life to hopes which seem well

nigh destroyed—
This promise, that His word shall not return unto
Him void.
For if it be indeed His truth thy feeble lips proclaim,
Then He is pledged to shadow forth the glory of
His name.
True, this may be at present veiled; still trustingly
5 abide,
And ‘‘cast thy bread,’’ with growing faith, upon
life’s rolling tide.
It shall, it will, it musT be found, this precious liv-
ing seed,
Though thou may’st grieve that thoughtless hearts
take no apparent heed. f
’Tis thine to sow with earnest prayer, in faith and
patient love, .
And thou shalt reap the tear-sown seed in glorious
sheaves above.
Then with what joy ecstatic thou wilt stand before
* the throne,
And bless the Lord who used thee thus to gather in
His own!
Adoring love will fill thine heart and swell thy
greatful lays,
That thou hast brought some souls to Christ, to His
eternal praise;
That thou hast helped to deck His crown with blood-
bought jewels bright,
The trophies of His wondrous love and His all-sav-
ing might.
Oh, grandest privilege to be thus used to bring
them in!
Oh, grandest joy to sce them safe beyond the reach
of sin!
Then mourn not, worker, tho’ thy work shall cause
thee many a fear, .
The glorious aim thou hast in view thy saddened
heart will cheer.
Remember, it is all for Him who loveth thee so well;
And let not downcast weary thoughts one moment
in thee dwell.
It is for Him/ this is enough to cheer thee all
thy way,
Until He says the glad ‘* Well done,’ and night is

turned to day. 2
L. W.P.

“| words were never meant for me.

God’s Terms of Peace.

After the fierce and terrible battle of Abu-
Klea, in the Soudan, two young soldiers were
conversing together in one of the tents. The
youngest of the two, little more than a boy,
had received a fatal wound, and lay all com-
fortless and weary in his blood-stained uniform.
His comrade, who was a Christian, and acting
as a nurse, sat by his side, trying to cheer and
soothe his suffering companion, by reading por-
tions of the Nesy Testament. ‘‘Shall I read a
little more to you, Davie, my lad, it’s a com-
fort in the dying hour you know?” said the
Christian soldier. Davie nodded assent, and
he went on reading from the eleventh chapter
of Matthew's Gospel. Presently he came to the
twenty-eighth verse, and read over slowly and
pathetically the words, ‘‘Come unto Me, all ye
that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest.”’

“Stop, Jamie,’’ said the dying youth, ‘‘ these
You know
I bave been God’s enemy all my life, and I’ve
fought hard and sore against Him; these words
can never be meant for me. No, no, I’ve been
His enemy—they can not be for me.”

“Enemy or not, assure you, Davie, my lad,
God speaks these to you. His enemy you, no
doubt, have been, as I once was, but here God
offers you His terms of peace.,’ ‘Terms of
peace, Jamie, did you say?” muttered the dy-
ing lad, ‘‘terms of peace; Jet me hear them
over again.’’ ‘That I will, Davie, just listen
to them, man,” and Jamie read aloud, ‘‘ Now
then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though
God did beseech you by us, we pray you, in
Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For

| He hath made Him to be sin. for us who knew

no sin, that we might be made the righteous-
ness of God in Him.” ‘‘Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.”

The dying Jad’s face changed, and raising
himself partly on his couch, he clasped his
hands and looking up to heaven,’said, ‘‘TI ac-
cept the terms! Iaccept the terms! Oh! Christ
of God, I surrender to Thee;’’ and then he
sank back exhausted.

All through that day he lingered in life: at
times, in a whisper, enying, “Thank God, at

peace, at peace.’’ As the setting sun threw its
parting rays on the marble brow of the dying
youth, a sweet smile played on his countenance,
and ere the morning dawned on the busy camp,
he was absent from the body, and present with
the Lord. There, amid the horrors of the
blood-stained battlefield, within a few hours of
eternity, he accepted God’s terms of peace and
surrendered himself to Christ.

How much easier for you who are in health,
and amid the comforts of home to do the same!
God’s terms of peace are just the same to you.
to-day, and now, as they were to that young
soldier on the far off deserts in the Soudan.
Will you accept them now, or pass on to the
judgment bar, unpardoned and unprepared ?—

——>+ oo >

Storing up Merit.

At the recent Missionary Conference one
of the speakers read a paper on Buddhism. In
it he says, that Buddhism recognizes the ter-
rible consequences of sin, but presents no re-
medy except the storing up of merit as a coun-
terpoise. ~

He illustrates by the following incident:

The other day I met a Hindoo, and asked
him about his religion. He replied, ‘‘I believe
in one God, and I repeat my prayers every
morning and evening. I can get through them
in a little more than ten minutes.’”

I said, ‘‘ What else does your religion require
of you?”’

He replied, ‘‘I have made a pilgrimage to
a holy well near Amritsar. Eighty-five steps
lead down to it. I descended and bathed in
the sacred pool. Then I ascended one step and
repeated my prayers. Then I descended again
to the pool and bathed, and ascended to the
second step, and repeated my prayers a second
time. Then I descended a third time in the
same way; and so on for the whole eighty-five
steps, eighty-five bathings, and eighty-five re-
petitions of the same prayers. It took me ex-
actly fourteen hours.””

I asked, ‘‘ What good did you expect to get
by going through this task?”

He replied, ‘‘I hope I have laid up a great
store of merit which will last me for a long
time.”’ :