The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1894, Page 13

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Che Lutheran Pioneer.

A MISSIONARY MONTHLY.

PusLisHED BY THE EVANGELICAL LuTHeRAN SyNopICAL CoNFERENCE oF Norta AMERICA.

R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor.

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

Vol. XVI.

St.

Louis, Mo., April, 1894. No. 4.

“Other Sheep | Have.”

JOHN 10, 16.

Hark! ’tis the Lord who calls;
Saved one, He speaks to thee:
I shed My precious blood
That thou might’st rescued be;
And now, rejoicing in My love,
Thou’rt journeying to the Home above.

But “other sheep I-have,”’
Who’re wandering from the fold;
And how to enter in
They never have been told:
‘Oh, canst thou leave them still to roam?
Wilt thow not seek to lead them home?

Thousands of precious souls,
In regions far away,
For want of what thou hast
Are dying day by day.
Wilt thou not take the Living Bread,
And let these starving ones be fed?

’Neath Satan’s galling yoke
They struggle all in vain;
Oh!. must they still in sin
And ignorance remain?
Canst thou their silent plea withstand,
And not stretch out thy helping hand?

Think, think what it would be
If thou wert in their place,
With none at hand to care
Or undertake thy case.
What if without one pitying eye
Thy soul had thus been left to die!

What if thou ne’er hadst known
Of My redeeming love,
And so no peace were thine,
Nor hope of joys above!
Oh, think of what thou owest Me;
Then surely thou’‘‘constrained’’ wilt be.

My Saviour and my Lord.
Before Thy feet I fall;
Unworthy is the gift,
But, oh, accept my all.
‘Send me wherever Thou dost choose,

And deign Thyself my life to, use. Aiea
——<— oe ‘

Christ is our Peace.

The apostle Paul, speaking of Christ, says,
‘He is our peace,”” Eph. 2, 14. Christ is our
peace, because He made peace. For this He
came into the world.

God is holy, and therefore hates and must

punish sin. When sin entered the world and’

men became sinners, there was enmity between
God and man. The peace of Paradise was
lost, and since the curse of God rested upon
man on account of his sin, he could only. be
full of fears and unrest. If peace was to be
restored, sin must be put away, the curse and
punishment of sin must be borne.

The Son of God became man to make peace.
At His birth the angels sang of peace on earth,
good-will to men. He took our sins upon
Himself and suffered the wrath, and the curse,
and the punishment which we deserved. * Thus
He put away sin and made peace between God
and man. ‘‘The chastisement of our peace
was upon Him,’’ says the prophet. He ‘made
peace through the blood of His cross,’’ says
the apostle. — . :

Yes, He made peace. ‘'The God of peace
brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus,’’
says the Bible. ~By bringing Him again from
the dead, God declared that He is perfectly
satisfied and that peace has been made. Every
enemy has been conquered, every accuser
silenced. Therefore Christ, after His resur-
rection, came to His disciples and said, ‘Peace | |
be unto you.’? Nao wonder they were glad 2 : 3
when they saw the Lord ; for the words spoken | - A little Swedish girl eleven years old was
by the risen Saviour were not a powerless taken to a hospital, where, after an illness’
wish, but actually gave to the disciples the of several months, she recovered. She was
peace which He had made by His blood. They |* homely child, but, being very kind and
by faith accepted the peace offered to them, thoughtful) she endeared herself to all around
and their hearts were filled with gladness. her. There was brought into the hospital. a

Christ still comes to us as our peace, as little girl of a peevish and disagreeable dis-
surely as He came to His disciples on the day position who was very sick. The Swedish girl
of His resurrection. He comes to us in the|%t once took her place by the cot of the little
Gospel, for in the Gospel He preaches peace stranger and assumed entire charge of her—
to sinners. Christ ‘preached peace to you in fact, acted the part of alittle mother. The
that were afar off, and to them that were little child grew rapidly worse, and at last she
nigh,’’? says the apostle. The peace which died. When the little mother, as she was
the risen Saviour brought to His disciples was | Called, was asked by the matron why she had
secured for all men. ‘Therefore He said unto | ‘teated the sick baby so tenderly, she looked
them:*‘‘As my father:hath sent me, even so bewildered and said: :
send I you.” They too should be preachers}. “‘‘Do not all the people in the world help.
of the Gospel of peace. This Gospel is sti]l|0ne another? You have helped me.” %
brought to sinners as a message of peace. It} ‘‘But why did you choose that baby?”” the
speaks of wrath endured, of sin forever put matron insisted. ‘There are many others here
away, and of everlasting righteousness brought | prettier, better tempered, more lovable.””

in. All our mission work is nothing else than| ‘‘‘Yes,’? replied the little Swede, with tears
“the preaching of peace’’ to poor, restless|in her eyes, “‘but she had eye but me to
sinners. ‘Those who in unbelief reject this take care of her, madam.”’

Gospel thereby reject the peace offered to
them and remain restless; for the wicked have
no peace. And if they die in their unbelief,
they cast themselves into the everlasting rest-
lessness of hell.

Those that believe have peace. The apostle
says that we have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ. Rom. 5, 1. The believer
finds peace, not in works and feelings, not in
prayers and tears, not in any of these things,
but only in Jesus, who comes to him in the
Gospel, saying, ‘‘Peace be unto you.’’ A peace
that has its source in something we find in our
own selves is easily disturbed. ~ How often do
our feelings change! He that rests his peace
on his good feelings builds on sand. When _
his good feelings pass away, his peace is gone.
The believer’s peace rests upon the everlasting
Rock. Christ is his peace, and He is yester-
day, to-day, and forever the same. The be-
liever has peace, because he has Christ. ‘*Hr
IS OUR PEACE.”’

<> —- o-i@ ——

The Little Swedish Girl.