The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1890, Page 41

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Che Autheran Pioneer.

A MISSIONARY MONTHLY.

PoBLISHED BY THE HVANGELICAL LutHeRaAN SynopicaAL CoNnFERENCE oF NortH AMERICA.

R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor.

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

Vol. XII.

St. Louis, Mo., November, 1890.

No. 11.

Waiting.

I’m waiting for Thee, Lord,
Thy beauty to see, Lord,
I’m waiting for Thee,

For Thy coming again.
Thou ’rt gone over there, Lord,
A place to prepare, Lord,

Thy home I shall share

At Thy coming again.

’Mid danger and fear, Lord,
I’m often weary here, Lord;
The day must be near
Of Thy coming again.
’Tis all sunshine there, Lord,
No sighing nor care, Lord,
But glory so fair
At Thy coming again.

Whilst Thou art away, Lord,
I stumble and stray, Lord;
Oh, hasten the day
Of Thy coming again!
This is not my rest, Lord;
A pilgrim confess’d, Lord,
I wait to be blest
At Thy coming again.

E’en now Iet my ways, Lord,
Be bright with Thy praise, Lord,
For brief are the days
Ere Thy coming again.
I’m waiting for Thee, Lord,
Thy beauty to see, Lord;
No triumph for me
Like Thy coming again!

Our loved ones before, Lord,
Their troubles are o’er, Lord,
V’ll mect them once more’
At Thy coming again.
The blood was the sign, Lord,
That mark’d them-as Thine, Lord,
And brightly they'll shine

At Thy coming again. Selected.

2 ~ oo > 2

Advent.

Do you know what the word Advent means?
It means coming. The Advent season is a time
of joy; for it tells us of the coming of Christ. It
prepares us for the happy Christmas time, in
which we hear that Christ has come into the
world to save sinners. ‘‘When the fulness of
the time was come, God sent forth his Son,
made of a woman, made under the law, that

we might receive the adoption of sons,” (Gal

4, 4.5). A Saviour had been promised to the
saints of old, and they believed in Him who
was to come to bear the sins of the world.
The Advent season, pointing us to the happy
Christmas time, reminds us of the joyous fact
that the Saviour has come. The Sun of God
became man and took the sinner’s place. He
was made under the law and in our stead ful-
filled all the demands of the law. He suffered
and died upon the cross and procured redemp-
tion for all. But this redemption must be
brought to us. The Saviour with all His
blessings must become our own. He comes to
us in the means of grace.

The Advent season tells us that Christ is still
coming. He comes to us in the Gospel and in
the Sacraments. The Gospel is not a mere
sound of words. It is, as St. Paul says, ‘‘a
power of God unto salvation to all that be-
lieve.’ The sacraments are not mere signs
and ceremonies. The Gospel promise is con-
nected with them, and therefore they are means
of grace by which Christ and all His blessings
are offered to us. Whenever we read or hear
the Gospel, and whenever the sacraments are
administered, Christ Himself comes to the
hearts of sinners and says, ‘‘ Behold, I stand at
the door and knock: If any man hear my
voice and open the door, I will come in to him,
and will sup with him, and he with me,’’ (Rev.
3, 20). Not in wrath does He come in the
means of grace, but in mercy, with the fullness
of blessing and salvation. He comes to set up
His kingdom in the hearts of sinners. He
comes to enter their hearts and to rule there as
their merciful King in grace and in peace
Happy are they who-receive Him into their
hearts as their King and their Saviour. He
supplies every want of their souls and leads
them to the beautiful mansions in His Father's
house. He will come again to take them home.

The Advent season tells us that Christ will
come. He will come on the day of judgment
“They shall see the Son of man coming in the
clouds of heaven with power and great glory,”’
(Matth. 24, 80). That coming of Christ will
bring terror to all unbelievers. They will be
sent into eternal woe. But it will bring joy to
all the children of God. They will be taken

to their eternal home to be forever with the
Lord. ‘And now, little children, abide in
Him; that, when He shall appear, we may
have confidence, and not be ashamed before
Him at His coming,” (1 John 2, 28).
‘Jesus is coming; for that joyful day
In patient hope I watch, and wait, and pray;
The day draws nigh, the midnight shadows flee—
Oh, what a sunrise will that advent be!”

i ee

Look to Christ.

When Luther one day saw a man very much
depressed on account of his sins, he said to him:
‘“‘Man, what are you doing? Can you think
of nothing else but your sins, and dying, and
damnation? Turn your eye away, and direct
it to Him who is called Christ. Cease to fear
and lament. You really have no reason for it.
If Christ were not here, and had not done this
for you, you then would have reason to fear;
but He is here, has suffered death for you, and
has secured comfort and protection for you,
and now sits at the right hand of His Heavenly
Father to intercede for you.”

———

Safe in Christ.

In the days of Noah there was but one place
of safety, and that was the ark; so there is but
one place of safety for sinners, and that is
Christ. There was safety in the ark for who-
ever was in it; and there is salvation in Jesus,
that “through His name whosoever believeth in
Him shall receive remission of sins,’’ Acts
10, 43. None could perish who were in the
ark, for the Lord had shut them in;’’ so those
who are in Christ by faith shall not perish.
Being in Jesus, the only place of safety, they
can daily look with joy to the coming oftheir
Lord, which every setting sun brings nearer.

The Empty Flour Barrel.

“(God always hears when we scrape the
bottom of the flour barrel.’’ So said the child / -
of a poor widow to his mother, one morning *
after she had prayed, ‘‘Give us this day our
daily bread.’? God always hears the prayers of
His children, and He knows when to answer.