The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1893, Page 41

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— Che Antheran Pioneer.

A MISSIONARY MONTHLY.

PUBLISHED BY THE EVANGELICAL LuTHEeRAN Sywopicat ConFERENCE oF NortH AMERICA.

R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor.

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

ol. XV.

St. Louis, Mo., November, 18938.

No. 11.

Eternity!

Eternity! Lternity!

How long art thou, Zternity !

And yet to thee Time hastes away,

Like as the war-horse to the fray;

Or, swift as couriers homeward go,

Or ship to port, or shaft from bow.
Ponder, O Man, ETERNITY!

Eternity! ZLternity!

How long art thou, Zternity/

A little bird with fretting beak

Might wear to nought the loftiest peak,

Though but each thousand years it came,

Yet thou wert then, as now the same.
Ponder, O Man, ETERNITY!

Eternity! Zternity/

How long art thou, Zternity/

How terrible art thou-in woe!

How fair where joys forever glow,

God’s goodness sheddeth gladness here,

His justice there wakes bitter fear.
Ponder, O Man, ETERNITY!

Eternity! Lternity /

How long art thou, Eternity /

Who ponders oft on thee is wise!

All fleshly lusts he will despise,

The world finds place with him no more;

The love of vain delights is o’er.
Ponder, O Man, ETERNITY!

Eternity! Zternity/

How long art thou, Zternity/

Lo! I, ETERNITY, warn thee,

O Man, that oft thou think on me,

The sinner’s punishment and pain,

To them who trust in Christ, rich gain.
Ponder, O Man, ETERNITY.

Selected.
———» oo oe

Be Ye Ready.

The end of’the church-year reminds us of
the end of all things. On every Sunday of
the church-year we hear of Him who has come

to be the Saviour of all and .who in the Gospel

offers salvation to all. Have we accepted Him
and His salvation? Is He more than all to us?
Or must the past Sundays of the chirch-year
‘bear witness against us? Have we rejected
their sweet message of a living Saviour? Are
we ready to meet that Saviour when He comes
again in the clouds of heaven? Of His com-
ing to judgment the Jast lessons of the church-

year remind us. He that is brought so near

to us in the Gospels of the church-year shall
come again to judge us. Be ye ready to meet
Him! The foolish virgins, of whom we read
in 25th chapter of St. Luke, were not ready
when the Bridegroom came. They had no oil
in their lamps, that is, they were without faith.
The wise virgins, having faith, were ready to
meet the Bridegroom, and they went in with
‘Him to the marriage, and the door was shut.
When the foolish virgins came, it was too late.
The door was not opened. The Bridegroom
said, ‘‘I know you not.”’

How foolish they had been! They had
thought the Bridegroom would not come for
along time. And suddenly there was a cry
made, ‘‘Behold, the Bridegroom cometh!’’
And the foolish virgins were not ready to meet
Him and were shut out from the marriage
supper. :

How many foolish virgins there are in the
church!: Every. Sunday of the church-year
they are called to repentance and to faith, but
they put off their conversion from Sunday to
Sunday. So the church-year passes by, and
time passes by, and suddenly, when they think
it not, the cry might be heard: ‘‘The Bride-
groom cometh!’’ They choose sin and the
world and are not ready when the Lord comes
in‘His glory. It will then be too late to pre-
pare for His coming. The doors will be shut,
and the Bridegroom will say to those that were
not ready to meet Him: ‘‘I know you not.”’

A young lady was once gently but firmly
told by her pastor that she was in great danger,
since the Lord might come at any moment and
she was not ready to meet Him. She knew
that she loved sin and the world and said to
her pastor that she was determined to have
both Christ and the world.. The pastor told
her that she could not serve God and mammon,
and so forcibly ‘did-he speak to her that she
was brought to a decision—but to what a
startling one! She said, ‘‘Then I choose the
world !’”

“Tf that be your choice,’”’ said the pastor,
“take all the pleasure out of it you can, for

you will have no other enjoyment in eternity.

She did so, and plunged into all sorts of
gayety, determined to have her full share of
pleasure.

One evening at a fashionable assembly a
friend said to her, ‘‘ Will you oblige us by sing-
ing?’’ She consented, and her choice fell upon
a poem treating of ‘‘The Wise and Foolish
Virgins.’”? The book contained no other re-
ligious piece. How singular she should choose
this above all others! This is the piece:

~ Late, late, so late! and dark the night and chill,
Late, late, so late! but we can enter still—
“Too late! too late! ye can not enter now.’’

No light had we, for that we do repent,
And hearing this the Bridegroom will relent,
“‘Too late! too late! ye can not enter now.’?

No light! so late! and dark and chill the night,
Oh let us in that we may find the light!
“Too late! too late! ye can not enter now.’’

Have ye not heard the Bridegroom is so sweet?

Oh let us in, though late, to kiss His feet!

*‘Oh no, too late! ye can not enter now.’

‘The young lady sang as far as the last verse,
when in singing the words ‘‘Ye can not enter
now,’’ she seemed to be pronouncing her own
doom. The thought flashed into her mind —
this will be my case at last. She trembled
through the last few notes and hurried from
the room without waiting for the compliment
of the company. The night was spent in tears
and prayer. For many days she was in great
distress of mind. By the power of the Holy
Spirit she found peace and joy in the words
of the Saviour: ‘‘Him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out.”’

Once again she stood by the pastor, but with
what different feelings! Having heard of her
distress, he said: ‘‘And what is now your
choice??? Mark her answer:

“My heart is fixed, Eternal God— ~
Fixed on Thee:

And my immortal choice is made,
Christ for me.’’

Remember, dear reader, ‘‘The fashion of
this world passeth away, but he that doeth
the will of God abideth forever.’ During the
entire church-year Jesus comes to you with
His sweet invitation: ‘‘Come unto me, all ye
that labor and are heavy laden_and I will give
you rest.’? Heed His words ere it is too late.
‘See that ye refuse not Him that speaketh’’
to you in the lessons of the church-year.
the church-year comes to an end, so the time
of grace will also come to anend. The Lord
will come in glory to judge the quick and the
‘dead. Be ye ready to meet Him!

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