The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1897, Page 25

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Che Autheran Pioneer.

A

MISSIONARY MONTHLY.

Pusuisuep By THE EVANGELICAL LutmeraN SynopicaAL CONFERENCE OF Norto AMERICA.

R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor.

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

Vol. XIX.

St. Louis, Mo., July, 1897.

No. 7.

Thy Will Be Done.

Whate’er Thy will,
Lord, keep me still,
Thy will is best,
So let me rest.
Cometh to me,
To-day from Thee,
Sunshine or rain,
Pleasure or pain,
Gladness or grief,
Distress, relief,
Sickness or health,
Poverty, wealth —
May I believe

All I receive

Is sent in love
From Thee above.
So let me rest,
Thou knowest best,
Whate’er Thy will,

Lord, make me still.
Selected.

qc - oe

Salvation.

Neep oF SALvATION.

Man needs some one to save him from his
sins. He may say, ‘‘I do not feel the need
of a Sayiour.’? But whether he feels it to be
true or not, it is nevertheless a fact—man
needs salvation from sin. ‘he Bible thus de-
scribes man’s condition as God sees him:
“The whole head is sick, and the whole heart
faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the
head there is no soundness init; but wounds,
and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have
not been closed, neither bound up, neither
mollified with ointment’’ (Isa. 1, 5. 6).

No man as he is by nature can say, ““That
may be true of other people, but it is not true
of me.”’? The Bible says, ‘‘There is no differ-
ence; for all have sinned and come short of
the glory of God’’ (Rom. 8, 22. 23); ‘‘There
isnot a just man upon earth that doeth good
and sinneth not’’ (Eccl. 7, 20); ‘‘There is
none righteous, no, not one; there is none that
Underatandeth, there is none that seeketh after
God. They are all gone out of the way, they
are together become unprofitable: there is
none that doeth good, no, not one’? (Rom. 3,
10-12), Education, and culture, and what

the world calls morality may gain for man
the praise and honor of the world, but these
things do not recommend him to God. All
men stand before Him as miserable, lost, help-
less sinners. Yes, helpless sinners. So help-
less, that they can find no help whatever in
themselves, or in any other creature in heaven
or onearth. So helpless, that God only can
help them. He did help them. There is sal-
vation for every sinner, but

SALVATION IS ONLY IN Curist.

Jesus says, ‘‘I am the door; by me if any
man enter in, he shall be saved.’’ Again He
says, ‘‘I am the way, and the truth, and the
life; no man cometh unto the Father but by
me (John 14, 6). Notice, our Saviour does
not say a way, as if there were other ways,
but ‘the way, the truth, the life.”’ Therefore
the apostle says of Jesus: ‘‘Neither is there
salvation in any other; for there is none other
name under heaven given among men, whereby
we must be saved” (Acts 4, 12). Salvation
is in Christ alone, because He alone is ‘‘the
Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the
world;’’ He ‘‘who did no sin bare our sins in
His own body on the tree.” Thus He pro-
cured that full salvation offered to every sin-
ner in the Gospel. He that believes the Gos-
pel takes the salvation which is in Christ only,
and he has everlasting life. He that does not
believe the Gospel, no matter who he is and
no matter what else he believes, he that does
not believe the Gospel rejects the salvation
which is in Christ Jesus, and since there is no
other salvation, he is lost forever. Therefore,
‘believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou
shalt be saved.”? Do not say that you are
too great a sinner. You may be a great sin-
ner, but you have a great Saviour. The sal-
yation which is in Christ is greater than all
your sins, yea, greater than all the sins of
the world. ‘‘Come now, and let us reason to-
gether, saith the Lord: though your sins be
as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;
though they be red like crimson; they shall be
ag wool” (Isa. 1, 18); ‘‘This is a faithful say-
ing, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of
whom I am chief”? (1 Tim. 1, 15). Precious

truth! Christ Jesus came to save even the
chief of sinners. Come to Him, that is, be-
lieve in Him, and you have that salvation which
is in Christ alone. ‘tHe that hath the Son
hath life; he that hath not the Son of God,
hath not life’? (1 John 4, 12).

The Christian and Good Works.

Luther says, and says truly, because so
the Scriptures unquestionably teach: ‘tGood
Works do not make a Christian, but one must
be a Christian to do good works. The tree
bringeth forth the fruit, not the fruit the tree.
No one is made a Christian by works, but by
Christ; and being in Christ he brings forth
fruit for Him.’’ It is folly to imagine that
one is a Christian because he does a work
that people are pleased to call good. Heath-
ens can do that too. That which constitutes
a Christian is his embracing the righteousness
of Christ by faith. But one that does this
will by an inward necessity do good works.
If you are a Christian, your fruits will not be
wanting.

—_—s +o or

Insured Forever.

I was traveling lately with a friend, writes
a pastor, from London to the north of Eng-
land, and we had taken our seats and the
train was about to start, when a gentleman
got into the carriage. A friend who accom-
panied him, after bidding him farewell, came
back and said, ‘‘By the way, have you got
an insurance ticket?’’ ‘‘Oh, yes,’’ said the
gentleman. ‘‘I am insured.” My friend
turned to him, and said very quietly, ‘‘Are
you insured forever?”’ The gentleman looked.
up, seemingly surprised, but answered (not.
at all understanding what was really meant),
“No, I only insure for a year at a time.’”
“But I,’’ said my friend, ‘‘am insured for-
ever.’’ Still misunderstanding, the gentleman
replied, ‘‘Oh, yes, I know you can do it by
one payment; but it costs a great deal.’ My
friend answered, ‘‘Yes, mine was done by one
payment, and cost a great deal indeed. It cost
me nothing, but i cost God His Son.’”