The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1892, Page 21

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The Lutheran Ee

yonerr.

A MISSIONARY MONTHLY.

PousuisHep sy THE EyANcELicaL LurHERaN SynopicaL ConrerEnce or Norra AMERICA.

R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor.

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

Vol. XIV.

ye ILS, Mian ibe, Se.

No. 6.

Trust and Distrust.

Distrust thyself, but trust His grace;
It is enough for thee!

In every trial thou shalt trace
Its all-sufficiency.

Distrust thyself, but trust His strength;
In Him thou shalt be strong:

His weakest ones may learn at length
A daily triumph-song.

Distrust thyself, but trust His love
Rest in its changeless glow:

And life or death shall only prove
Its everlasting flow.

Distrust thyself, but trust alone
In Him, for all—for ever!

And joyously thy heart shall own
That Jesus faileth never.

—— ao

Pentecost.

Do you know what that word Pentecost
means? It means the fiftieth day. On the
fiftieth day after the Jews had eaten the pass-
over and left the land of Egypt, they received
the Jaw at Mount Sinai. In memory of this
event-the Pentecost festival was celebrated
during the time of the Old Testament.

Our Pentecost, the Pentecost of the Church
of the New Testament, is a far more joyful
festival than the Pentecost of the Old Testa-
ment. Our Pentecost is a Gospel-festival.
We on this day commemorate the great event
of the outpouring of the Holy Ghost on the
apostles, the messengers of the Gospel, fifty
days after the resurrection of Christ. They
were on that day assembled together in a cer-
tain house, waiting for the promised Com-
forter; when ttsuddenly there came a sound
from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind,
and it filled all the house where they were
sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven
tongues, like as of fire, and it sat upon each
of them. And they were all filled with the
Holy Ghost, and began to speak with pines
tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

As this happened at the time of the great
Jewish festival, there were then in Jerusalem
many people from all panes of the known
world, having come to visit the temple. “And

the multitude hurried to the place where the
apostles were, and how astonished were they
when they heard these apostles speaking to
the large assembly in different tongues. Men
of Europe, men of Asia, men of Africa were
there, and every one of them heard the apos-
tles speak. to him in his own language the
wonderful works of God. Some, indeed,
mockingly said: ‘These men are full of new
wine.’’ Those fools must have thought that
a man could learn to speak different languages
by getting drunk. But Peter lifted up his
voice and told them that this miracle was the
fulfillment of that which was spoken by the
prophet Joel: And it shall come to pass in
the last days, saith God, I will pour out my
spirit upon all flesh. And Peter then spoke
to the multitude about Jesus, the Son of God,
whom the Jews had crucified and put to death,
but whom God had raised up, and who now
sitteth on the right hand of God and had on
this day sent down the Holy Spirit and had
shed forth what they saw and heard. Many
accepted the truth and were baptized for the
remission of sins.

Thus the foundation of the Church of the
New Testament was laid by the power of the
Holy Spirit in the Gospel and in the Sacrament
of Baptism. This Gospel was then spread by
the apostles from Jerusalem to the uttermost
part of the earth, and the Church of Christ
was built up among many nations. Having
been called to lay the foundation of this
Church, the apostles, on the day of Pente-
cost, received miraculous gifts by the out-
pouring of the Holy Ghost. They before
knew no language but their own, now, how-
ever, they had suddenly been enabled to speak
the languages of various nations. They before
were timid and easily frightened, but now they
had courage to speak the truth in face of all
enemies.- They before did often not under-
stand the sayings of Christ, but now they
understood all perfectly; they received wis-
dom from heaven; they were inspired and
enlightened, so that they could not err when-
ever they spoke and wrote as the apostles of
Christ. We therefore know with certainty
that all their writings are the infallible Word
of God.

The church having been established, such
extraordinary gifts of the Spirit as the apos-
tles received on the day of Pentecost are no
longer needed. But is not the Spirit still act-
ive in the Church? Yes, through the Word of
God and through the Holy Sacraments the
Holy Spirit still works in the Church, bring-
ing sinners to repentance and to faith, and
giving strength and comfort to all believers.
Happy are they that are brought to faith in
the Gospel of Jesus by the working of the
Holy Spirit. They enjoy all the blessings of
the Gospel Church of the New Testament.
They have forgiveness of sins, comfort in all
troubles and life everlasting. Such happy
people will surely love mission work. They
will gladly see'to it that the Gospel is brought
to those that still sit in the darkness of sin,
for they know that in the Gospel the Holy
Spirit, the great Winner of souls, comes to
sinners in order to win their souls for Jesus.

— oo =

The Unused Umbrella.

A youth was lately leaving his aunt’s house
after a visit, when, finding it was beginning to
rain, he caught up an umbrella that was snugly
placed in a corner, and was proceeding to open
it, when the old lady, who for the first time
observed his movements, sprang toward him
exclaiming, ‘‘No, no; that you never shall!
I’ve had that umbrella twenty-three years,
and it has never been wet yet; and I’m sure
it shan’t be wetted now.” :

Some folk’s religion is of the same quality.
It is none the worse for wear. It is a re-
spectable article to be looked at, but it must
not be damped in the showers of daily life.
It stands in a corner, to be used in case of
serious illness or death, but it is not meant
for common occasions.

We are suspicious that the twenty-three
years old gingham was gone af the seams,
and if it had been unfurled it would have
leaked like a sieve. At any rate, we are sure
that this is the case with the hoarded-up re-
ligion which has answered no useful turn in a
man’s life.