The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1897, Page 27

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The Lutheran Pioneer. 27

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The Drunkard Saved. deep conviction that you are lost not only as
a drunkard, but lost as a sinner by nature,
taking Him as your Saviour, not only from
the sin of drunkenness, but from every sin,
taking Him as your all in all and believing in
Him as your complete Saviour. I tell you,
many an ardent temperance man has been
as much a child of the devil as the worst
drunkard.’”’

The gospel was preached to him in its ful-
ness and simplicity, and at the close of the in-
terview he rejoiced in the salvation which is
in Christ Jesus. Messages from him received
later on gave evidence that he was clinging to
the Saviour, in whom he found forgiveness of
sin and strength to battle against sin.

Blessed be God, there is hope for the poor
drunkard, but that hope is not found in tell-
ing him to join Christ, as he would join a
Temperance Society. He must be taught
from the law of God that drunkenness is but
a symptom of a heart deceitful above all
things, and desperately wicked, and rotten
to the core. He must learn that nothing will
do him any good until he is born again. He
must be pointed to Jesus, who comes to him
in the Gospel with a full salvation from all sin.
He must be pressed to receive that Saviour
‘twho of God is made unto wisdom, and right-
eousness, and sanctification, and redemption.”’

which you know; I only know my catechism ;
but since you are so learned, and say there
is no God, you can easily tell me whence the
egg comes?’

‘*A funny question, truly. The egg comes
from the hen.’’

‘‘Which of them existed first, the egg or
the hen?”’

‘‘T really do not know what you intend
with this question and your hen; but yet
that which existed first was the hen.”

‘There is a hen, then, which did not come
from the egg?’’

‘Beg your pardon, miss, I did not take
notice that the egg existed first.”’

“There is, then, an egg that did not come
from a hen?’’ :

“Oh, if you—beg pardon—that is—you
see—’’

“I see, sir, that you do not know whether
the egg existed before the hen, or the hen
before the egg.”’

“Well, then, I say the hen.’’

‘‘Very well, there is a hen which did not
come from an egg. ‘Tell me now who made
this first hen, from which all other hens and
eggs come?”’

‘With your hens and your eggs, it seems
to me you take me for a poultry dealer.”

‘<By no means, sir; I only ask you to tell
me whence the mother of all hens and eggs
came?”’

“But for what object?’’

“Well, since you do not know, you will
permit me to tell you. He who created the
first hen, or as you would rather have it, the
first egg, is the same who created the world;
and this being we call God. You, who can
not explain the existence of a hen or an egg
without God, still maintain the existence of
this world without God.’’

The young philosopher was silent; he
quietly took his hat, and full of shame, de-
parted, if not convinced of his folly, at least
confounded by the simple questioning of a
child. How many there are who, like him,
professing to be wise, are very foolish, speak-
ing evil of things they know not of, and deny-
ing things they have never investigated.

One day, says the Rey. Dr. Brookes, two
gentlemen entered the study, one of whom
was the president of a Temperance Society,
and the other a stranger who had recently
arrived in the city. The former said, ‘“This
morning the gentleman whom I have just
introduced came into my oflice to sign the
pledge; and as there are some peculiar cir-
cumstances in the case, I have taken the
liberty of advising him to consult with you.”
So saying he withdrew, leaving the stranger
who was soon seen to be a man of education.

He had lived in magnificent style with his
wife and two children, to whom he seemed
greatly attached, and had enjoyed the re-
spect and admiration of the social circle that
gathered about him. But he was led into the
daily habit of drinking brandy and whiskey,
until the habit held him as with’the grasp of
a giant.

When intoxicated he was a fool, and by
bad speculations soon lost his property. He
had to send his wife to her father’s house for
shelter, while he drifted to a distant city in
the hope of starting life anew. His craving
for strong drink was terrible, and he had re-
solved that if he fell again under its power,
he would end his wretched life. He had that
morning fled to a Temperance Society and
had signed the pledge.

When he had told his story, it was said to
him, ‘‘Your pledge that you seem to lean
upon for strength is not worth a broken straw.
Have you not promised your wife that you
would -abstain from the use of intoxicating
liquors?”

“Yes,’’? he answered with a sob, ‘‘God
knows how often I have pressed her to my
heart, and assured her with tears that she
should be grieved no more by my conduct.”’

“And do you think that there will be a
stronger power in the mere fact of writing
your name on a piece of paper than you
found in your love for wife and children?”’

The miserable man only groaned, ‘‘I fear

I am as helpless as before.’’

_ You are indeed altogether helpless, for
let me say to you kindly but plainly, that if
you were to fall upon your knees and, placing
your hand upon my Bible, take the most
awful vow the human mind can frame never
again to touch strong drink, I would not trust
you out of my sight. From frequent obser-
vation in such cases, and from the teachings
of God’s word as to the depravity of human
nature, I fully believe that you would be
drunk again, perhaps in a day.”’

“Tt is too true, too true,’’ he said, as his
frame shook, ‘‘and I am lost.’’

“Yes, my friend, you are lost, and so
utterly lost, there is but One who can save
you, or do you any good.’’

_ “Who is that?’? he eagerly asked.

“The Lord Jesus Christ,’? was the reply;

“and mark, you must go to Him with the

——~+ +o o>

The Hen and the Egg.

A little questioning often reveals a vast
amount of ignorance in those who think them-
selves very wise. A French writer tells the
following story:

A young man from the Provinces, who was
sent to Paris to finish his education, had the
misfortune of getting into bad company. He
went so far as to wish, and finally to say,
“There is no God; God is only a word.”
After staying several years at the capital, the
young man returned to his family. One day
he was invited to a respectable house where
there was a numerous company. While all were
entertaining themselves with news, pleasure,
and business, two girls, aged respectively
twelve and thirteen, were seated in a bay
window, reading together. The young man
approached them and asked,

“What beautiful romance are you reading
so attentively, young ladies?”’

‘‘We are reading no romance, sir; we are
reading the history of God’s chosen people.’”

‘You believe, then, that there isa God?”

Astonished at such a question, the girls
looked at each other, the blood mounting to
their cheeks.

‘And you, sir, do you not believe it?””

“Once I believed it; but after living in
Paris, and studying philosophy, mathematics,
and politics, I am convinced that God is an
empty word.”’ :

“J, sir, was never in Paris; I have never
studied philosophy, nor any of those things

— —- oe

Poor Girls!

In China the girls are treated with con-
tempt by the family, the clan, and in fact by
the whole nation. A Chinese proverb says:
‘tA foolish son is much better than a wise
daughter,’? and another one asserts: ‘‘A
beautiful daughter is of much less account
than a bowlegged son.’” Popular opinion con-
cerning girls is so powerful that it deadens
the natural feelings of mothers. What the
law thinks of girls, is shown by sign-boards,
put up at the banks of rivers and ponds, bear-
ing the following inscription: ‘‘Girls dare not
-be-drowned here!”’ Female infants are killed
in such numbers, that the authorities deemed
it proper to have those sign-boards put up. —