The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1894, Page 37

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Che Lutheran Pioneer.

A MISSIONARY MONTHLY.

PouBLISHED BY THE EVANGELICAL LuTHERAN SyNopIcCAL CoNFERENCE oF NortTH AMERICA.

R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor.

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

Vol. XVI.

St. Louis, Mo., October, 1894.

No. 10.

Battle-Song of the Church. to find peace for his troubled soul in the way
pointed out in the pope’s church. He became
a monk, and if ever there was a monk that
was in earnest in his pursuit of peace and sal-
vation by doing all that the Romish church
required, that monk was Martin Luther. Day
after day and night after night he tortured
and tormented himself with prayer and study,
with fasting and all kinds of punishment, with
cold and sleeplessness. ‘‘If these things had
continued,’’ he writes, ‘‘I would have tortured
myself to death with watching, praying, read-
ing, and other works.’’ But all this brought
him no peace, gave him no rest. He himself
says: ‘*The more I sought to support my
doubting, weak, and troubled conscience by
human ordinances, the more its doubts and
weakness and trouble increased from day to
day. When Luther thus groped in the dark-
ness of the Roman church, God led him to the
glorious light of the Gospel in which he found
peace for his troubled soul. Thus God pre-
pared him for the great work of the Reforma-
tion. God opened to him the Bible, and from
this Book of God Luther learned that the sin-
ner is saved, not by his own works, but by
grace through faith in the righteousness of
Christ. ‘This Gospel, which the apostles had
proclaimed, and which had lain hidden for
centuries under the rubbish of Romish super-
stitions, Luther now made known to the world.
With voice and pen he proclaimed the glad
tidings of salvation to the nations of the earth
and boldly. defended this precious Bible doc-
trine against all its enemies. God’s time for
the Reformation of His Church had come, and
in Luther the prophecy of St. John was ful-
filled: ‘‘I saw another angel fly in the midst
of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to
preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and
to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and
people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God,
and give glory to Him, for the hour of His
judgment is come; and worship Him that made
heayen and earth, and the-sea, and the foun-
tains of waters,’’ Rev. 14, 6. 7.

Well may we celebrate Reformation Day
with joy and thanksgiving. Through the Re-
formation of Dr. Martin Luther God restored
to His Church the pure Gospel with all its

Fear not the foe, thou Flock of God,

Fear not the sword, the spear, the rod,
Fear not the foe!

He fights in vain, who fights with Thee;

Soon shalt thou see his armies flee,
Himself laid low.

Come, cheer thee to the toil and fight;

’Tis God, thy God, defends the right;
He leads thee on.

His sword shall scatter every foe,

His shield shall ward off every blow;
The crown is won.

His is the battle, His the power,
His is the triumph in that hour;
In Him be strong.
So round thy brow the wreath shall twine,
So shall the victory be thine,

And thine the song.
Selected.
+ 1omemmeor em

Reformation Day.

The 31st of October is Reformation Day.
On that day, in the year 1517, Dr. Martin
Luther nailed his 95 theses on the church
door at Wittenberg. . This was the beginning
of the Reformation, by which God restored to
His Church the pure Gospel of salvation.

Before Luther’s time this Gospel had for
centuries been hidden under the rubbish of
human doctrines, in which the sinner can never
find peace and comfort. During the long and
dark reign of papacy the people were pointed,
not to Jesus as the only Saviour, but to the
virgin Mary and to other saints; they were
not told to trust in the work of Christ for sal-
vation, but in their own works and in the
works of the saints; they were not told to
take by faith the forgiveness of sins as it is
offered in the Gospel without money and with-
out price, but they were told to buy release
from the punishment of sin from the pope’s
agents, just as they would buy bread and but-
ter in the market. ‘The troubled soul can never,
find peace and rest in the way. pointed out in
the Roman church. Luther went that way,
and it Jed him almost to despair. He knew
his sin and earnestly desired to be free from
its curse, but he knew not the Saviour and His
righteousness, and therefore struggled in vain

blessings. This Gospel we still have in our
churches and in our schools. Let us hold fast
what we have. And let us earnestly labor and

pray and contribute for the spread of this

Gospel among all men. The celebration of

Reformation Day must make us more zealous
and more earnest in our mission work.

Only Two Words.

“Oh! if I were lucky enough to call this
estate mine, I should be a happy fellow,”’ said
a young man. ‘‘And then?’’ said a friend.
‘Why, then I’d pull down the old house, and
build a palace, have lots of prime fellows
around me, keep the best wines, and the finest
horses and dogs in the country.’” ‘‘And
then?’ ‘*Then I’d hunt, and ride, and smoke,
and drink, and dance, and keep open house,
and enjoy life gloriously.”” ‘‘And then???
“Why, then, I suppose, like other people,
I should grow old and not care so much for
these things.’’ ‘‘And then?’’ ‘Why, then,
I suppose, in the course of nature I should
leave all the pleasant things — and —well, yes

—die!’’ -‘‘Oh, brother, your ‘thens!’ I must

be off.’” Many years after, the friend was ac-
costed with, ‘‘God bless you! I owe my hap-
piness to you!’”’ ‘‘How?’’ ‘By two words
spoken in season long ago—‘And then!’ ’’ —
Selected.

— oe ee

The Singing Prisoners.

In the year 1884, three young disciples in
Spain were thrown into prison for not wor-
shiping the host as it was borne past. ike
Paul and Silas they prayed and sang praises
even in jail, and one passing by in the street
sent them five francs for their sweet singing.
When the ten days of their sentence had ex-
pired, the judge demanded the fine of fifty
francs. They had not money to pay it, and
he sent them back to prison for another ten
days. Two days later he set them free; for
the priest had complained that his parishioners
stood morning and evening before the prison,
listening to the hymns they sang, and they
were exciting so much interest that he was
afraid many more would become Protestants.