The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1893, Page 25

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Che Lutheran Pioneer,

A MI

SSIONARY MONTHLY.

PUBLISHED BY THE EvaNnceLicaL LutaeraN Synopicat ConreRENCE OF NortH AMERICA.

Vol. XV.

Our Commission.

Ye who hear the blessed call
Of the Spirit and the Bride:
Hear the Master’s word to all,
Your commission and your guide,
‘And let him that heareth say,
Come,” to all yet far away.

“Come!”’ alike to age and youth,
* Tell them of our Friend above,
Of His beauty and His truth,
Preciousness and grace and love,
Tell them what you know is true,
Tell them what He is to you.

“‘Come!’’ to those who do not care
For the Saviour’s precious death,
Having not a thought to spare
For the gracious words He saith,
Ere the shadows gather deep,
Rouse them from their fatal sleep.

“Come!’’ to those who, while they hear
Linger, hardly knowing why;
Tell them that the Lord is near,
Tell them Jesus passes by,
Call them now; oh! do not wait,
Lest to-morrow be too late.

Brothers, sisters, do not wait,
Speak for Him who speaks to you!
Wherefore should you hesitate?
This is no great thing to do,
Jesus only bids you say,
“Come!’? and will you not obey?

Lord! to Thy command we bow,
Touch our lips with altar fire;
Let Thy Spirit kindle now
Faith, and zeal, and strong desire ;
So that henceforth we may be
Fellow-workers, Lord, with Thee!
Selected.

——{—>- oe

Trust in God’s Word.

The faith of the believer rests not on his
own feelings or on anything he finds in his
-own sinful self, but on God’s word alone.
The troubled sinner, aroused to the knowl-

_ edge of his sin and of God’s wrath against sin
has heard the precious word, ‘‘The Son of
man is come to seek and to save that which

-was lost’? (Luke 19, 10); ‘‘Him that cometh
to me I will in no wise cast out’’ (John 6, 37);
“He that believeth on me hath everlasting
life’? (John 6, 47). This is enough. He is

St. Louis, Mo., July, 1893.

-| Look unto me and feel that you are saved?’’

R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor.

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

No. 7%.

led by the Holy Ghost to accept as true, and
true for himself, the promises of the Gospel;
and he knows by the testimony of God who
can not lie, that he has passed out of death into
life. He does not say: ‘‘I have felt religion
and will go to heaven because I feel good.’’
No! To every accusation, every doubt, every
fear the believer’s triumphant answer is: ‘I
know that Iam a saved sinner, a child of God
and an heir of heaven, because the Saviour in
whom I believe says so in His word and He
can never tell a lie.’’

There was a young lady very sick and. near
her death, to whom her doctor, he being an
old friend of hers, also spoke about the state
of her soul.

‘Are you quite happy ?’’ he asked.

‘“No, sir,’’ she said.

‘Why! Are you not saved?”

“T am-not sure of it.’’

“But why are you not sure of it? Do you
believe in the Lord Jesus Christ?”

‘Yes, but I do not feel as if I were saved.”’

“Do you feel as if you were lost?”’

‘“tYes, I feel so,’’ she said, and then began
to cry.

‘How do you know that you are lost?”’

‘Because I am a sinner and God’s word
says so.

“Then you believe His word, do you not?”’

“OQ yes, sir, I do.”

‘Well, then, His word'says: ‘Look unto
me, and be saved.’ Do you believe that?”’

*Yes.”’

‘But do you look unto Jesus?”’

‘Yes, sir, but I do not feel as if I were
sayed.”’

“That may be; but does the Bible say:

then replied firmly: ‘I do not feel it, but God
says Iam saved.’’ Joy beamed on her pale
face when this certainty entered her heart.

The doctor then said: ‘‘Well, if some one
would come in now and ask you whether you
were saved, what would you say?”’

“*‘T would say, Yes.’’

‘‘And if you were asked how you knew it
and how you could be sure of it?’’

“TI would say: I believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ, and God says in His word that whoso-
ever believeth in Him shall not perish but have
everlasting life; and although I do not feel it,
still I believe what God says.’’

‘Then you rely on Jesus and on His word ?”’

“Yes, sir, and I could nowdiehappy. Iwould-
like to go to Jesus just now.”’

‘*You have no fear?”’

‘No, none at all.’”

*"No doubt?’’

“No; why should I doubt? I now see it
all quite plainly. I am a poor sinner—and
Jesus died for me—and I believe in Him —
and God says I am saved—and so I know I
am sayed.’’

She lingered yet a few weeks, during which
time the doctor always found her full of joy
and peace. Trusting in God’s word she, in the
full assurance of everlasting life, fell asleep
in Jesus.

Dear reader, if you want to be saved, you
must not put your trust in your own works,
in your own holiness, in your own feelings.
You must put your trust in Jesus and His
word. God can never tellalie. The Lutheran
church therefore tells every poor sinner to
rely on God’s word alone, no matter whether
he feels good or bad. Your good feelings may
easily pass away, but God’s word can never

“No.” pass away. Trust in God's word!

‘What does it say. then?”

‘And be saved.”

‘What does it say?”

‘*And be saved.”” 3

‘When is this to be, to-day or to-morrow ?””
‘©As soon as I look unto Him.” :
“But do you look unto Him?’”

‘tyes, I surely do look unto Jesus.””
‘Well, then, are you saved???

The young lady was quiet for a moment and

—_——=-o—> oo

‘Tp is a welcome thought to the true child
of God, that with every year which passes
that last day comes nearer when time shall be
no longer, that last day when all true children
of God shall go into an eternity of bliss and
happiness. There the light of the Lamb will’
bé in the place of the sun, and that light will
cast no shadow.”