The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1896, Page 43

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The Lutheran Pione

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A MISSIONARY MONTHUY.

PusBLisuep By THE EVANGELICAL LutaerRAN SynopicaL ConFERENCE OF Nort AMERICA.

R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor.

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

Vol. XVIII.

St. Louis, Mo., December, 1896.

No. 12.

Good Tidings.

heaven might pass through to announce ‘the
glory, and the peace, and the good will?”

“Beh ing y idinge of great joy, which s F ;
old, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall | phe angel said, ‘‘Behold, I bring you good

be to all people.”
“Good tidings!’? Wake, O men, and hear

What blessing to the world draws near.

The message of love,

Sent from their home above,
A glimpse of heaven’s glory bring,
While to their golden harps they sing —

“Good tidings!”

“Great joy!’ The sorrowing sons of earth,
Who sat in darkness from their birth,
Shall sec this radiant light
Pierce through their gloomy night,
And shall rejoice that angels bore
The heavenly message to carth’s shore —
“Great joy!”

“To all!”? To all of every land
This message brings the angel band.
Not the loved Jew alone,
But all—yes, every one
Shall hear this news, shall share this Joy,
Shall have this gift without alloy —
“ANLT AlL!?

“A Saviour!? Yea, from all their sin
His people shall He save, and win
Peace for His servants true —
His peace, forever new.
Give us Thy peace, O Christ, our King,
That we for aye with angels sing —

“Our Saviour!”
Selected.

—_—_—> + ooo

The Tidings of the Holy Christmas Night.

That was a wonderful night. Such as never
had been, or ever could be again. All heaven
was thrilling. All the blessed angels were
filled with happy amazement. One of them
came down to this sleeping, darkened earth,
Startling the shepherds who were watching
their flocks by night. ‘To those lowly ones he
Came and made known the glorious event
which made that night such a wonderful night
and filled the hearts of those in heaven with
joy and.amazement. And when he had spoken,
there suddenly was with the angel a multitude
of the heavenly host, praising God and say-
ing, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on
arth peace, good will toward men.’’

What were the wonderful tidings, so im-
Portant that heaven opened her gates, that
the angelic Messengers from the court of

tidings of great joy, which shall be to all
people. For unto you is born this day, in the
city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the
Lord.”’

Wonderful tidings of the holy Christmas
night! How wonderful that ‘Christ the Lord,”
the Lord of heaven and earth became man!
How wonderful that God’s own Son, ‘‘God of
God, Light of Light, very God of very God,
by whom all things were made,’’ came into
this dark, sinful world of ours.as a child of
poverty and of sorrows! Such a birth there

never had been before, and such a birth can

never again occur. Well may the angels be
filled with amazement and sing their song of
glory to God in the highest.

Joyful tidings of the holy Christmas night!
“I bring you good tidings of great joy,”’ said
the angel. And which were these good tid-
ings? ‘Unto you is born a Saviour.” Better
tidings, more joyful tidings could not be
brought to sinners. We need a Saviour. We
are sinners and have deserved God’s wrath
and everlasting punishment; for ‘‘the wages
of sin is death.’? “No creature in heaven or
on earth could rescue us from our awful doom.
But behold, God came to the rescue. His own
Son became man and took our place, to do all
that the law requires from us and to bear the
punishment of all our transgressions. The
birth of this Saviour is made known in the
joyful tidings of the holy Christmas night.
Good tidings of great joy! It is our Saviour
that was born; it is to us that salvation now
has come. These tidings are for us and for
all people. They are for you, whoever you
may be. ‘To the chief of sinners the joyful
tidings of the holy Christmas night bring the
Saviour who ‘‘came into the world to save
sinners’? —even the chief of sinners. To the
poor as well as to the rich the joyful tidings
of the holy Christmas night bring the richest
of all gifts—the Saviour, who for our sakes
became poor that we through His poverty
might be rich. To the sorrowing as well as to
the happy the joyful tidings of the holy Christ-
mas night bring true joy —joy in the Saviour,

who alone gives true happiness and who is the
Comfort of all the sorrowing and the Consola-
tion of all the weeping.

May we all welcome with glad and believing
hearts the holy Christmas with its wonderful
and joyful tidings of our Saviour’s birth.

> o-oo

God’s Love..

At the manger of Bethlehem you may be-
hold God’s love. ‘‘God so loved the world,
that He gave His only begotten Son, that who-
soever believeth in Him should not perish, but
have everlasting life,’’ John 3, 16. Who is it
that loved? The great God. What was it He
did? He loved. Whom did He love? The
world of sinners, the world that hated Him.
How did He show His love? He gave His
only begotten Son. What did He give? His
only begotten Son, the best, the most precious
gift. What moved Him to give His only be-
gotten Son? He so loved the world. For
what did He give Him? That whosoever be-
lieveth in Him. Is there any limit to whoso-
ever? It includes the vilest sinner on earth.
What is such a sinner to do? Only to believe
in Him. If he does believe, can he die for-
ever? He shall not perish. What will he get
through believing? Everlasting life. Is it
life for a day, for a year, for a few years?
It is everlasting life, a life’in bliss and glory,
which shall endure while eternity endures.

May every one, whilst standing at the manger
of Bethlehem, ponder these great words and
argue thus: God loved me also in the dark,
sinful world. He so loved me that He gave
His only begotten Son to bear my sins; I be-
lieve His words to be true; I accept His Son
as my Saviour and my Lord; and I shall not
perish, but have even now, and shall have
while Jehovah exists, everlasting life. The
sinner who thus by faith accepts the Saviour
brought to him in the Christmas gospel, and
who thus relies upon the sure Word of God,
may be as confident of salvation as he must
be that He who sits’ upon the throne can not
lie when He says: ‘‘God so loved the world,
that He gave His only begotten Son, that who-
soeyer believeth in Him should not perish, but
have everlasting life.”’