The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1896, Page 1

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Che Lutheran Pioneer.

A MISSIONARY

MONTHLY.

Pusuisuep By THE EvancEeLicAL LutHEeran SynopicaL ConFERENCE oF NortH AMERICA.

R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor.

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

Vol. XVIII.

Sowing and Reaping.

On through the dark and weary years _
We sow the seed with precious tears,
And stay our hearts in faith sublime
With prospects of the harvest-time.

Not long shall we in sorrow go,

Not long endure earth’s toil and woe;
For He who bids us sow and weep,
Shall call us then in joy to reap.

Then shall each tearful sower come,

And bear his sheaves triumphant home;
The voice long choked with grief shall sing
Till heaven with shouts of triumph ring.

. Thick on the hills of light shall stand
The-gathsred sheaves. from every land;
While they that sow and they that reap,

The Harvest Home in glory keep.
Selected.

6A Oe

This Year also.

In the thirteenth chapter of Luke we read:
“A certain man had a fig tree planted in his
vineyard; and he came and sought fruit
thereon, and found none. Then said he unto
the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these
three years I come seeking fruit on this fig
tree, and find none: cut it down; why cum-
bereth it the ground? And he answering, said
unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till
I shall dig about it, and dung it; and if it
bear fruit, well; and if not, then after that
thou shalt cut it down.”

The dresser of the vineyard, who is none
other than Christ, pleads that the barren fig
tree may be spared ‘‘this year also,’’ with the
announcement that ‘‘if it bear fruit, well; and
if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.’’
Well may we, at the beginning of another
year, ask ourselves in the presence of God,
whether Christ is or is not saying for the last
time: ‘‘Lord, let it alone this year also.”’ To
thousands He has come, not only three years,
but ten years, twenty years, thirty years,
Seeking fruit, and finding none. How long He
will wait no man can tell, but this may be the
last year for many unfruitful professors of
religion, who are not possessors of Christ. In
behalf of each of them the pleading of the

St. Louis, Mo., January, 1896.

loving Saviour is heard, ‘‘Lord, let it alone
this year also,’’ and thus they are brought to
the beginning of 1896. He would again in
this year of grace apply His means of grace
to make them fruitful trees in the vineyard of
His Church. To many this will be the last
year. If they continue to refuse faith and
obedience to Christ, though for a time they
are spared, still in the end they shall be
destroyed. The day of grace willend. The
voice of mercy will not always cry, ‘‘Let it
alone this year also.’’ Christ will not always
lift his nailed-pierced liands over the sinner
and intercede in his behalf. The Spirit will
not always strive. For after every means
have been tried and-sinners reject their only
salvation all through their time of grace, then
the pleading and merciful Redeemer will Him-
self say, “Cut them down.”? They have held
His incarnation of no account; they have dis-
regarded His suffering and agonizing death
for sinners; they have abused and spurned
His goodness and mercy, His patience and
forbearance. He will at last become angry
with the wicked, and they will experience
“the wrath of the Lamb,’’ whom they des-
pised and. rejected. How horrible to hear
from the lips of the Redeemer Himself the
dreadful command: ‘‘Cut them down!’’ How
horrible to be condemned by the Saviour who
loved us and died for us! Oh, let us then
take heed to the testimony of John the Bap-
tist, which is as true ‘‘this year also,’”’ as
when it fell from His lips: ‘‘Now also the
axe is laid unto the root of the trees; every
tree therefore which bringeth not forth good
fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire,”’
Luke 8, 9.

—_——> +o or oe

It is only a Question of Time.

“How do you find your patient this morn-
ing, doctor?’’

“No better; the disease has advanced so
far that there is no hope of recovery. He
may live a few days, but it is now only a
question of time.”’

‘And is it not so with us all? It is only a
question of time with the healthy and the

No. 1.

strong, as well as with the sick and the man
on the border of the grave. Who knows the
number of his days? When at rest on our
beds, or amidst the bustle of daily duties, or
in a scene of sinful pleasure, or when engaged
in the worship of God—in some hour when
we think ourselves most secure, time with us
may come to an end. Every day some are
cut off without the least warning; they die in
the bloom of youth, and in the ripeness of
manhood. And though you may put away
the thought from your mind, it is still true
that ‘‘there is but a step between you and
death.’’ It is.only a question of time when
that last step will be taken. :

Is it not, then, the highest wisdom to be

ready? You have a soul whose worth is be- —

yond all price. You need salvation because
you are guilty, sinful, and lost. Unless you
accept that salvation through faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ, you will be unprepared

to die. Every day brings you nearer to the
grave. Then what? ‘‘After death, judg-
ment.’? The lesson of the dying year is,

Prepare to meet your God. Come to Him
whose name was ealled Jesus, because He
saves us from our sins. He casts out none
that come to Him, however guilty and miser-
able they may be. Come now! Remember,
you may not live to see the last month of
1896. Before the year is past, you may be
gone. Are you ready for the great change?
The question is easily settled. The Bible
says: ‘‘He that believeth on the Son hath
everlasting life: and he that believeth not
the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of
God abideth on him,’’ John 3, 36.

_—_— oP oo oe

God’s Care.

One evening Luther, seeing a little bird
perched on a tree, said, ‘‘This little bird has
had its supper, and is getting ready to sleep,
secure and content, never troubling itself
about the morrow. Like David, it ‘abides
under the shadow of the Almighty.’ It sits
on its little twig, content, and lets God take
care.”