The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1896, Page 21

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Che Autheran Pioneer.

A MISSIONARY

MONTHLY.

PuBLisHED By THE EvANGELICAL LutHerAN SynopicaL CoNnFERENCE OF NortH AMERICA.

R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor.

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

Vol. XVIII.

Hasten, 0 Sinner.

“Hasten, O sinner, to be wise,
And stay not for the morrow’s sun;
The longer wisdom you despise,
The harder is she to be won.

“Oh, hasten, mercy to implore,
And stay not for the morrow’s sun,
For fear thy season should be o’er
Before this evening’s course be run.

“Hasten, O sinner, to return,
And stay not for the morrow’s sun,
For fear thy lamp should fail to burn
Before the needful work is done.

St. Louis, Mo., June, 1896.

concerned, for their necks were broken by
the fall.

Too late! How sad! Ah! this will be the
experience of many that now hear the Gospel
in unbelief and indifference, delaying their
acceptance of the Saviour from day to day,
until it is too late, and they are suddenly
launched into an eternity of woe. ‘‘Strive
to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say
unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not
be able. When once the master of the house
is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye
begin to stand without, and to knock at the

-| door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and

“Hasten, O sinner, to be blest,
And stay not for the morrow’s sun,
For fear the curse should thee arrest
Before the morrow is begun.’?

—> + oo >

Too Late.

We recently read of two criminals, who were
sentenced to be hanged, and whose friends
made great efforts to get from the Governor
& pardon, and, failing in this, a brief respite.
Their friends worked day and night, but all
seemed in vain. ‘The Governor gave no sign
of yielding.

Hence preparations for carrying out the
Sentence of the law went on, and the fatal
day arrived. The sound of the hammer and
the saw was heard in the cell of the doomed
men.. The officers entered, and the two men
were led forth to the scaffold. The steps
Were mounted; they stood upon the trap-
door, trembling with terror; the ropes were
put around their necks; when suddenly the
bell of the jail was rung violently, and rapid
knocking at the large door was heard. The
sheriff, Supposing that some of the mob in
the street were trying to get in, paid no at-
tention to the noise, and the next moment the
two men were launched into eternity.

But the ringing and the loud knocking went
on, and a policeman was sent to quiet the dis-
turbancer. Almost immediately he came back
with a messenger from the Governor bringing
A reprieve, but it came too late. Only half a
minute late, but it might have been a thou-
sand years late so far ag the two men were

He shall answer and say unto you, I know
you not whence ye are: then shall ye begin
to say, We have eaten and drunk in Thy pres-
ence, and Thou hast taught in our streets.
But He shall say, I tell you, I know not
whence ye are: depart from me all ye workers
of iniquity’? (Luke 13, 24—27). Just as cer-
tainly as Jesus came the first time to die on
the cross, so surely will He come a second
time in glory to judge the world. The many
great disturbances in nature are signs of His
coming. And when once He is risen up, and
hath shut to the door, it will be too late to
seek to enter. Even half a minute late will
be an eternity late.

‘‘Because I have called, and ye refused; I
have stretched out my hand, and no man re-
garded; but ye have set at nought all my
counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also
will laugh at your calamity ; I will mock when
your fear cometh; when your fear cometh as
desolation, and your destruction cometh as a
whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh
unto you. Then shall they call upon me, but
I will not answer; they shall seck me early,
put they shall not find me’’ (Prov. 1, 24—28);
“He that being often reproyed, hardeneth his
neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that
withqut remedy’’ (Proy. 29, 1); ‘‘Because
sentence against an evil work is not executed
speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of
men is fully set in them to do evil. Though
a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his
days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it
shall be well with them that fear God, which
fear before him: but it shall not be well with

o. 6.

‘the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days,

which are as a shadow; because he feareth
not before God’’ (Ecc. 8, 11—13).

The days of life are but a shadow. That
shadow will soon pass away; yea, it may pass
away suddenly. Men have been carried off
into eternity by explosions and storms with-
out the least warning. Blessed are they that
were prepared for the change by faith in their
Saviour. But for some, who imagined that
they had time enough, the shadow of their
days has been turned into ‘‘the blackness of
darkness forever.’’ ‘Therefore, dear reader,
heed the voice of God saying: ‘‘Behold, xow
is the accepted time; behold, Now is the day
of salyation.’’ Do not say ‘‘to-morrow,’’ and
still ‘‘to-morrow,’’ until it is too late, and the
voice is heard no more.

‘‘Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost saith,
To-pay, if ye will hear His voice, harden not
your hearts’’ (Hebr. 3, 7. 8).

“To Jesus come, make no delay,
He waits to welcome you to-day;
His mercy try, no longer doubt;
He will in no wise cast you out!’

————> - oo -

Luther and Satan.

Luther once reported a colloquy he had
with the devil in his characteristic manner, as
follows:

“Once upon a time the devil said to me,’”
says Luther: ;

‘Martin Luther, you are a great sinner and
you will be damned !”’

“Stop! stop!’’ said I, ‘tone thing at the
time. Iam a great sinner, it is true, though
you have no right to tell me of it. I con-
fess it. What next?’’

“Therefore you will be damned.”

“That is not good reasoning. It is true, I
am a great sinner, but it is written, ‘Jesus
came to save sinners,’ therefore I shall be
sayed. Now go your way.

*So I cut the devil off with his own sword,
and he went away mourning because he
could not cast me down by calling me a
sinner.”