The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1890, Page 21

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Che Lutheran Pioneer, |

A MISSIONARY

MONTHLY.

PUBLISHED BY THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN SyNODICAL CONFERENCE oF NortH AMERICA.

.

R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor.

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

Vol. XII.

St. Louis, Mo., June, 1890. No. 6.

The last Hymn.

The dear Lord's day was ending
In a village by the sea,
The uttered benediction
‘Touched the people tenderly.
And they rose to face the sunset
In the glowing lighted west,
And then hastened to their dwellings
For God's blessed boon of rest.

But they looked across the waters,
And a storm was raging there;

A flerce spirit moved above them,
The wild spirit of the air,

And it lashed and shook and tore them,

Till they thundered, groaned and boomed,

And alas! for any vessel
In their yawning gulfs entombed!

Very anxious were the people
On that rocky coast of Wales,
Lest the dawn of coming morrows
Should be telling awful tales,
When the sea had spent its passion
And should cast upon the shore
Bits of wreck and swollen victims,
As it had done heretofore.

With the rough winds blowing round her,
A brave woman strained her eyes,
And she saw along the billows
A large vessel fall and rise;
Oh, it did not need a prophet
To tell what the end must be,
For no ship could ride in safety
Near the shore on such a sea.

Then pitying people hurried :

From their homes, and thronged the beach,

Oh, for power to cross the water,

And the perishing to reach!
Helpless hands were wrung for sorrow,

Tender hands grew cold with dread,
And the ship, urged by the tempest,

To the fatal rock-shore sped.

‘She has parted in the middle!
Oh, the half of her goes down!
God have mercy! Oh! is heaven
Far to seek for those who drown?”
Lo! when next the white shocked faces
Looked with terror on the sea, .
Only one last clinging figure
On the spars was seen to be.

And near the trembling watchers
Came the wreck tossed by the wave,
And the man still clung and floated,
Though no power on earth could save.

“Could we send him a short message?"’
“Here’s a trumpet—Shout away !’’
'Twas the preacher’s hand that took it,
And he wondered what to say.

Any memory of his sermon,
Firstly—secondly—ah, no!
There was but one thing to utter
In the awful hour of woe;
So he shouted through the trumpet,
“ook to Jesus! Can you hear?’’
And “Ay, ay, sir!’’ rang the answer
O’er the waters, loud and clear.

Then they listened; He is singing,
“Jesus, lover of my soul!”’

And the winds brought back the echo,
“While the nearer waters roll,”

Strange, indeed, it was to hear him,
“Till the storm of life was passed,”’

Singing bravely from the waters,
“Oh, receive my soul at last!’’

He could havo no other refuge,
“Hangs my helpless soul on Thee,”’
“Leave, ah, leave me not’’—The singer
Dropped at last into the sea;
And the watchers, looking homeward
Through their eyes, with tears made dim,
Said, ‘‘He passed to be with Jesus,
In the singing of that hymn.’’

—» oa oe

Cleansed from Sin.

A Hindoo, being anxious about his salvation,
asked his priest, how he might be cleansed from
sin. The priest said, ‘‘ You must drive a num-
ber of iron spikes through your sandals, and on
these sandals you must place your naked feet,
and walk to the holy station, about four hun-
dred miles. If, through loss of blood or weak-
ness of body, you are unable to go on, you
must halt and wait for healing and strength.
When you have thus reached the station, you
may hope, that your soul will be cleansed.”

The poor Hindoo was in earnest to save his
soul, and set out on his painful journey. At
length he could go no further and sat down
beneath the inviting shade of a wide-spreading
tree. It happened that a Christian missionary
lived near the spot; and at this very tree he
was wont to take his stand, and to preach the

| words of life to all that would gather to hear.

The poor foot-sore Hindoo had not been here

AES OE Oe ee

long before the missionary came to his usual
labor. He cried aloud: ‘‘ The blood of Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, cleanseth us from all sin’?
(1 John 1, 7). He began to show what sin
was in the sight of God. He pressed guilt
home upon his hearers and showed the utter
hopelessness of man saving himself by his own
doings or sufferings. He went on to show
God’s way of salvation through the blood-
shedding of His own well-beloved Son.

These glad sounds fell upon the ears of the
poor Hindoo like rain on the thirsty soil. He
drank in every word, and, at length, plucking
off his torturing sandals, he sprang up and
cried out with joy: ‘‘Zhis is what I want! This
is the thing for me!’’ He followed the missionary
home; gladly received the word and believed
it; and became a lively witness that the blood
of Jesus Christ does indeed cleanse from sin.
It had cleansed him.

The same Gospel is still preached to sinners
in order to cleanse them from their sin. To
you, as to the poor heathen, comes the blessed
message—‘' The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son,
cleanseth us from all sin,’’ from all sin, from
ALL! That blood which made atonement for
sin, bas been shed once for all, and now, by
its cleansing power, it cleanses and saves all
who trust in it. It does not need anything of
yours to be added to it. Christ alone is the
Saviour, and He will not share the glory of
His finished work with you. You must be
saved like the poor Hindoo. He threw away
his sandals when he found Jesus as his Saviour;
in like manner do you throw away whatever
you find in your own sinful self, and cling only
to Jesus.

Yea, His dear blood and righteousness
My jewels are, my glorious dress,

Wherein before my God Ill stand,
When I shall reach the heavenly land.

Once in beautiful weather in May, Luther
said, ‘What a picture of the Resurrection! See
how the trees are dressed for their bridal! How
delightfully all is growing green! What a pre-
cious May! Ah, that we would only trust
God! What will it be in the life beyond, if
God can show us such great delights in this
pilgrimage and this troubled life!”