The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1894, Page 25

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Che Lutheran Pioneer.

A MISSIONARY MONTHILUY.

PuBLISHED BY THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN SYNODICAL CONFERENCE OF NorTH AMERICA.

Vol. XVI.

The Lament of a Missionary Box in
Hard Times.

Forgotten and forlorn I live,
Upon a dusty shelf,

And feel so downcast and so sad,
I hardly know myself;

A missionary box am I
And better days have scen, |

For copper, silver, yes, and gold
Within my walls have been.

Now I am empty, no, not quite,
For something you may hear—
A mournful jingle from my depths

By pennies made, I fear;
I scorn not pennies, no, indeed,
Their worth too well I know,
But twopence only in a box
Does make one’s spirits low.

The missionaries say indeed
That pence to pounds soon grow,
But older people ought to give—
We want our money so.
And thus, in emptiness I wait
And dustier grow each day,
While heedless of my silent plea
You round me work and play.

My words are poor and weak at best,
I know not how to plead,

But look upon the distant flelds,
“To harvests white’? indeed;

The heathen be in thickest gloom,
Do you need a stronger pléa?

Then listen to His voice who said—
‘Ye did it unto Me.”

The smallest offerings for His sake

. Into the treasury given,

He with an eye of love will note
And own one day in heaven;

And even here you’ll have His smile
While you the words believe

That far ‘‘more blessed” ’tis to give
Than only ‘‘to receive.’’

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The Juvenile.
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How Christians Know.

The apostle Paul says: ‘‘We know, that, if
our earthly house of this tabernacle were dis-
solved, we have a building of God, a house
not made with hands, eternal in the heavens,”’

2 Cor. 5,1. Itis a great thing when a man
says he knows what awaits him. He can say
so only upon reliable testimony.

R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor.

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

St. Louis, Mo., July, 1894.

We know very little of the past except on
testimony. What occurred in history in for-
mer years we know from the writings and say-
ings of others. A man would be a great fool
who should say, “I don’t know whether George
Washington ever lived or not. I don’t know
whether the battle of Bunker Hill was ever
fought. I didn’t see the person or the field.’’
But he knows it, because he has testimony
that can not be questioned.

And how is it with things of the future?
Well, nobody knows anything at all of the
future except he believes and knows it exactly
as he knows the past, with this difference:
that whatever awaits us, we know by the sure
testimony of God. Men’s testimony might
deceive us and fail: God’s can not. We know,
because God tells us. Therefore the humblest
Christian can say without conceit, ‘‘I KNow
that if this poor tabernacle of my body were
taken down, I have a building of God, a house
not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.’’
It is not a sign of humility to say, ‘‘It may be
so.’? No! If God says so, it isso. He says
it, and therefore we know it.

A mother, on her return home from the
World’s Fair last year, said to her little Annie,
“T was at the World’s Fair, and there are
beautiful buildings there and lovely grounds.”
Now, suppose little Annie had said, ‘‘It may
be so, mamma, but I haven’t seen—I can’t
besure.’? The mother would have said, ‘What
business have you thinking it may be so when
I say itis so? If you were a respectful child
you would say, ‘I know it, because mamma
says s0.’”’
‘You have an eternal house.’”? And the Chris-
tian is sure that God tells the truth, and he
says, ‘‘I know it, because God says it.’’

Pardon for Nothing.

A pastor, when visiting an old man who
seemed anxious about salvation, found great
difficulty in making him understand that for-
giveness of sins is the free gift of God, through
the precious blood of Christ.

At last the pastor said to him: ‘‘Now, sup-
pose I were to go to a shop, and buy some-

Now, God says to the Christian: |

No. 7%.

thing 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?’’ the pastor then asked.

‘“No,’’ the man replied, ‘‘I should have it
for nothing.’ ;

‘*So,’’ the pastor continued, ‘‘it is with for-
giveness of sins—the Lord Jesus has paid the
full price for it. He has had the groans, the
sighs, the tears, the wrath, the pain, the pun-
ishment; yea, all that sin deserved. He bore
it all. He paid the whole. Yes, He bought
forgiveness with His precious blood, and now
in the Gospel and in the Sacraments He offers
it as a free gift to all. Those that take it have:
it and enjoy it. They have nothing to pay for
it; nothing to do for it; it is a free pardon.’’

‘*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.’’

Dear reader, remember that Christ alone?
saves. Your tears, and groans, and prayers,
and works can not secure forgiveness for you.
Christ alone has secured that by the shedding;
of His blood. He offers it to you as a free
gift in the means of grace, and you must sim-.
ply take it in faith. ‘‘Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved,’” says.
the Bible.

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The Believer’s Prayer. ‘

I know, as often as I have earnestly prayed,,
when it has been real earnest with me, I have,
indeed been richly heard, and have obtained
more than I have prayed for. God has for.
a time delayed, but nevertheless the help has.
come. Ah, how truly grand a thing is the,
honest prayer of a true Christian! How mighty
is it with God; that a poor human creature
can so speak with the High Majesty in heaven,
and not dread Him, but know that God is
kindly smiling on him for Jesus Christ’s sake,
His dear Son, our Lord and Saviour! To this,
end the heart and conscience must not look,
back, must not doubt or fear on account of Pie te
unworthiness.— Luther. 3 a >

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