The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1896, Page 45

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The Lutheran Pioneer. 47

Fear Not.

What was the first angelic word
That the startled shepherds heard?
“Fear not!’? Beloved, it comes to you

As a Christmas message most sweet and true;

As true for you as it was for them

In the lonely fields of Bethlehem,

And as swect to-day as it was that night,

When the glory dazzled their mortal sight.

Havergal.

——? +o oe

Faithful unto Death.

A German missionary in Japan relates the
following touching story of one of the pupils
of the mission school, who proved faithful
unto. death:

She was the only, dearly loved child of her
parents. Her father was a jurist of great
distinction in the city of Osaka, Japan. ‘The
daughter was educated in the mission school ;
she was intelligent and industrious, and al-
ways stood at the.head of her class. Being
very amiable, she was beloved by all. She
attended the services of our church and, at
the age of fourteen, became a member of the
congregation, having publicly confessed her
faith in Christ.

Unfortunately her father determined to
marry her to a man who was no Christian.
She had no inclination to marry so young,
least of all to marry 2 man who did not share
her faith. However, not knowing how to op-
pose her father’s wish, she at last consented.
Thus her school life and her attendance at
* church came to a sudden end.

Her mother-in-law, who lived with her in
her new home, was an ardent Buddhist, very
superstitious and a declared enemy of the
Christian religion. Her father commanded
his daughter never to attend the church serv-
ices; never to read Christian books, and never
to let any one know that she had joined the
Christians. For more than a year the poor
girl was forced to stay away from church and
from all intercourse with Christians. But,
thank God, her faith in the Saviour could not
be taken from her. Her heart clung to her
Redeemer, whom she had learned to know in
the mission school.

On Sunday before Christmas I was sur-
prised by a knocking at my door at an un-
usual hour—it was near day break. I arose
and found a man at the door who told me that
this young woman was hopelessly sick and
who requested me to visit her immediately at
the Osaka hospital. I was told that the young
Woman, on learning that she could not live
any longer, smiled with heavenly peace and
Summoned. all her loved ones and friends
around her to bid them farewell. She kindly
greeted her mother-in-law and her husband,
and then pleaded with her father to become a
Christian and to serve the Saviour. Then she
comforted them all and begged them not to
Weep, since she was going to a better world.
Her fearlessness and her quiet peace in the

from attending the services.

face of death made a deep impression on all
that were present. Her father recognized the
power of the Christian religion and regretted
of having so foolishly prevented his daughter
He now sent a
servant to fetch me. I hurried to the hospital.
When I entered the room, she greeted me
with a smile, although suffering great pains.

She said: ‘‘Last Sunday I took sick; to-day

it is Sunday again.
be happy.

If I die to-day, I shall
I am only seventeen years old.

All my loved ones weep, but I have not shed

any tears. My heavenly father is with me.
I trust in Christ my Saviour.”’

I comforted her, read several passages from
the Bible to her, and prayed with her. She
thanked me for my visit and soon slumbered
quietly. I left, promising soon to return; but

I was not to see her again here on earth. Be-
fore Christmas came, she had departed to be

with the Saviour whom she so dearly loved.
It was a joyful Christmas to her.
Her father, deeply impressed, began to

study the Bible and wishes to become a
Christian.
her father’s oflice now attend the services of
our church.
the dying Christian at the hospital, now con-
fesses the power and the value of the religion
of Jesus Christ.
great work for the spread of the Gospel.

The young men who study law at

The infidel doctor, who treated

On her dying bed she did a

——— + o-amo

The Old and the New Faith.

The sainted Pastor Harms of Hermanns-
burg, while traveling in 2 railway coach, once
met a rich man who had made a fortune in
the manufacture of matches. The man, who
did not know Harms, was telling, in a vain
glorious manner, about the millions which he
had made at his business. ‘‘Why, only look
at me,’’ he exclaimed, ‘‘I am now a rich man;
I have become such through my untiring in-
dustry, merely by developing those powers
that liein me. Do you understand anything
about the manufacture of matches, my dear
sir??? ‘‘Not very much, sir. I am a minister
of the Gospel,” replied Harms in an indifferent
manner. ‘‘Ah so! very good, a pastor, how
fortunate! For a long time I have desired to
speak to a pastor, that I might present to him
an important theological query. Permit me.
A great deal is being said nowadays about
the old and about the new faith. I beg of
you to tell me, what is to be understood by
the old faith, and what by the new?”’

Harms signified his willingness to answer
this question, but he begged permission to do
so by drawing a comparison. Permission was
granted him, and Harms began: “See, my
dear sir, here is a man whom God has blessed
in his earthly calling. He gives hima good
surplus each year, but, in spite of this fact,
he remains modest and humble, and thinks
to himself: ‘I have not deserved this. How
does it come that my God showers such bless-

ings upon me?’
this humble man, and at last makes him well-
to-do and rich. And yet the man only grows

But God continues to bless

smaller in hisown estimation and more humble.
He cries out: ‘I am not worthy of the least

of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which

God has showed unto me.’ See, my good sir,
that is the old faith.

‘‘But as regards the new faith, it is this.
Here is another man, whom God has blessed
with riches. But he fails to see that this is
intended to try his humility and the thankful
love towards his-Lord. Instead of growing
smaller and more thankful day by day, he
grows larger in his own estimation, and so far
forgets his heavenly Benefactor, that at last
he calls to all of his companions on every
railroad journey: ‘Look at me: This is I.’
See, my dear sir, that is the new faith.”’

e From the German.

The Wonderful Story.

Dr. Chamberlain of India says: ‘The
people had arisen in a mob to drive us out
because we tried to speak of another God
than those they worshiped. They told me if
I tried to utter another word I should be
killed. I had seen them tear up the paving
stones to throw at me. I got permission to
tell them a story before they stoned me. I
told them of the Love of God, of the birth in
the stable, of the wonderful childhood of
Jesus, of His miracles and His words, and of
His being nailed to the cross for them, for
me, for the world. I saw the men throw the
stones away, and come back with tears in
their eyes. I then said that they might stone
me. But they did not want to stone me now.
They wanted to know more about this wonder-
ful Saviour. The Prince of Peace had touched
their hearts.’’

ee

How to Read the Bible.

‘‘The-way to find the hidden treasures that
are in the Bible,”’ says Luther, is ‘‘First, to
read through one book carefully, then study
chapter by chapter, and then verse by verse,
and lastly word by word.”’ He says, ‘‘It is
like a person shaking a fruit tree. First,
shaking the tree and gathering up the fruit
which falls to the ground, and then shaking
each branch, and afterwards each twig of the
branch, and last of all looking carefully under
each leaf to see that no fruit remains.”

<2 + oe 0

Little Lord Jesus.

When our Saviour was born, He wept like
any other babe. Mary had to wait on Him,
and feed Him, (as the Church sings, ‘*A little
milk was once His food,’’) to cherish, clothe,
lift, and carry Him, lay Him to rest, as any
other mother did her babe. Luther.