The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1892, Page 33

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' still lingered outside, till one of them shyly

Che Autheran Pioneer.

A MISSIONARY

MONTHLY.

PUBLISHED BY THE HVANGELICAL LUTHERAN SyYNODICAL CONFERENCE OF NortH AMERICA.

Ex

R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor.

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

Vol. XIV.

St. Louis, Mo., September, 1892.

No. 9.

Consider the Lilies of the Field!

Sweet lily of the fleld, declare
Whose hand it was that made,

And in such beauty placed thee there,
Before mine eyes displayed ?

How white the robe which thou hast on,
With golden dust o’erlaid!

In all his glory, Salomon
Like thee was not arrayed.

Thy robes God washes in the dew,
And dries them in the air,

And bleaches them in™sunshine too,
To make them bright and fair.

Sweet lily of the field, although
Thou hast no voice, nor speech,

Thou dost a bright example show,
A useful lesson teach.

Sweet lily of the fleld, by thee
This lesson I am taught:
God cares for little flowers like me,
Take then no anxious thought.
From the German.

<> ¢

All are Welcome.

On a stormy afternoon in November there
was a children’s service held in one of our large
cities. As the pastor came to the church, he
was surprised to find a group of little ones
standing outside of the door in the heavy rain,

apparently waiting for something. They were]

strangers to him, but, as he came up, three
of them ran to him, asking eagerly, ‘‘Is there
anything to pay to get in?”’
‘Nothing, dear children’’, he said; and in
the three ran at once.
But two little ragged ones, with bare feet,

asked the pastor, ‘‘Can the like of us get in?’’

Glad was he to be able to say, ‘‘Oh, yes;
all are welcome,’’ and they went in together.

There is a lesson to be learned from these
children. ‘They had all been invited to come.
They were cold and weary outside. The door
was open and a kind welcome waited them in-
side. They kept themselves out by thinking
the invitation could not be meant for them—
that they were not fit to come in. Here, then,
is the lesson: God has, in His infinite love,
provided a rich feast, to which He freely and

fully invites all. Before God could give guilty
sinners this full and free invitation, His only-
begotten Son had to suffer and die in the
sinner’s stead, ‘‘the just for the unjust.’’ He
fully redeemed us from the curse of the law
and the punishment of sin. And now the Gos-
pel'invitation goes out to all sinners, offering
them forgiveness of sin and life everlasting.
Don’t think the invitation is not meant for
‘*the like of you.’’ Don’t let any such thought
as that you are not fit to come in keep you out.
The like of you'may come in. All are wel-
come. ‘*God so loved the world, that He
gave His only-begotten Son, that wHosorver
believeth in Him should not perish, but have
everlasting life,’’ John 3, 16; ‘‘Wnosorver
believeth in Him shall receive remission of
sins,’’ Acts 10,43; ‘‘WHosoEvER believeth in
Him shall not be ashamed,’’ Romans 10, 11;
‘“WhosoEver will, let him take the water of
life freely,’? Rev. 22,17. Does not that word,
‘twhosoever,’’? take in your case? Can you
accept the word ‘‘whosoever’’ and shut your-
self out? You can not, my friend. Your name
is wrapt up in that word ‘‘whosoever,’”’ and
by trusting in that Gospel-word you can be
surer of your salvation than if your name were
written plainly in flashing letters across the
sky, as one whom Jesus -will receive.

for it. He has had the groans, the sighs, the
tears, the wrath, the pain, the punishment;
yea, all that sin deserved. He bore it all.
He paid the whole. Yes, He bought forgive-
ness with His precious blood, and now He
gives it as a gift to all that will accept it.’’

‘*Yes,’’ said the old man, as his eyes filled
with tears, ‘‘I see it now; it is pardon for
nothing! pardon for nothing! Christ has
bought it, and gives it to me.’’

Our tears, and prayers, and groans, and
works can not procure forgiveness of sins.
Christ alone has secured pardon of sin, by
the shedding of His blood, and we must accept
itin faith. ‘‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved.’’

———»> + oe ae

The Blessing of Mission Work.

Think of the blessing attending mission
work. If a soul is saved, a blessing comes

blessing comes to his family, a blessing comes

a blessing comes even to heaven, for ‘‘joy
shall be in heaven over one sinner that re-
penteth, more than over ninety and nine just
persons, which need no repentance’? (Luke
15,-7). All the boasted achievements of men
on battlefields, and in the councils of nations,
and in the pursuits of science, are paltry be-
side the benefits flowing from the conversion
of souls.

——s +o or oe

Pardon for Nothing.

Some time since, says a missionary, when
visiting an old man who seemed anxious about
salvation, I found great difficulty in making
him understand that pardon is the free gift of
God, through the precious blood of Christ.
At last I said to him: ‘‘Now suppose I were
to,go0 to a shop, and buy something for you,
and pay for it, and send it to you, need you
pay any money for it?”’
' No,’? said the old man, brightening up;
‘tit would be paid for.’’

‘‘Need you make any promise to pay at
some future time?’’ I then asked.
_ ‘No,’? he replied; ‘‘I should have it for
nothing.’”

**So,”’ I continued, ‘‘it is with forgiveness
of sin—the Lord Jesus has paid the full prioy

———»><-oaor eo

Blind, Deaf and Dumb.

In a Jate report of one of the Metropolitan
Asylums a striking circumstance is mentioned
of one of the inmates. She was suffering un-
der a triple affliction, being blind, deaf and
dumb. The only way of communicating with
her was by the touch through her fingers. One
day a gentleman asked her to express the hope
that she had under her sad affliction, when she
at once spelt on her fingers the following texts
of Scripture: ‘‘I have learned in whatever
state I am therewith to be content.’’ ‘I can
do all things through Christ who strength-
eneth me.”’ riz

to the saved one both here and hereafter; a .

to his circle of acquaintances, a blessing comes |
to the church, a blessing comes to the world, |

_