The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1897, Page 41

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Ghe Autheran Pioneer.

A MISSIONARY MONTHLY.

PusiisueD BY THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN SynopicAL CoNFERENCE OF Nortn AMERICA.

R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor.

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

ol. XIX.

‘St. Louis, Mo., November, 18977.

Hymn of Trust.

I have, in hours of gladness,
Found life all free from sadness
And full of richest joy:
Let me not now in sorrow,
In trouble for the morrow,
With foolish thoughts my soul annoy.

My soul, though wrath deserving,
O Lord, Thou art preserving,
And softly chidest me:
Shall I, for comfort sighing,
Be cowardly, still trying
Thy gentle punishments to flee?

To Thee, Thy Spirit moving,
I give my powers of loving,
To Thee, my Lord and King:
God can deceive me never,
His word stands sure forever—
My trusting heart to Him I bring.

I will, when doubt comes o’er me,
And clouds are thick before me,
Keep closer to Thy side:
And though Thy face be hidden,
I shall not be forbidden
Within my Father’s arms to hide.

When I this carth am leaving
To Christ, my soul receiving,
V’ll yield my latest breath:
I am an heir of heaven,
My sins are all forgiven,
Why fear I either grave or death?
From the German.

“Not of Works.”

“I do the best I can,’’ or, ‘‘I hope to do
better,”” are words which we often hear when
Speaking to persons about their souls’ salva-
tion. Many are so ignoranf that they think
though some of their works are bad others are
good, and that God will put the bad works in
one'scale and the good ones into the other
scale, and if there are more good works, they
will be saved, and if there are more bad works,
they will be lost. Of course, such persons
always flatter themselves that they have more
good works, and are thus deceived.

Others compare themselves with their neigh-
bors, and think they stand as good a chance
8S most, and a better chance than some ; there-
fore they find no cause to fear. ;

Again there are some that trust in their
religious exercises. They go to church, they
go to communion, they pray, they contribute
money to the treasuries of the church. But
they do all this, not out of love to God, but
in order to earn heaven. They think the mere
doing of these things will insure to them ever-
lasting salvation.

All such false trusts and refuges are swept
away by this one sentence of Scripture: ‘‘By
grace are ye saved through faith; and that
not of yourselves ; it is the gift of God; not of
works, lest any man should boast,’’ Eph. 2, 9.

It is clear that if a person could be saved
by his own doings, he might reasonably boast.

“| But the apostle Paul asks, ‘‘ Where is boasting?

It is excluded.’? And then he adds, ‘‘There-
fore we conclude that'a man is justified by
faith, without the deeds of the law.’’

It is a delusion, then, to trust to works of
any kind for salvation; and it is utterly con-
demned by the Word of God. Besides, it is
clear that if man could save himself, Christ
need not have come into the world to save.
Therefore we find the apostle saying that ‘‘if
righteousness come by the Jaw, then Christ is
dead in vain,’’ Gal. 2, 21.

Alas! what a fatal mistake those make that
proudly trust in their own works. They de-
ceive themselves. Whilst they think they are
on the road to heaven, they are on the road
to hell. What a terrible mistake!

The fact is, that ‘‘a corrupt tree can not
pring forth good fruit.’’ Man is corrupt, and
all the fruit he brings forth of himself is but
fruit unto death. The Bible says, ‘‘There is
none that doeth good, no, not one.’’ Again
it says, ‘‘We are all as an unclean thing, and
all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.””
You surely can not expect to buy heaven
with a lot of dirty rags.

Thank God, salvation is God’s free gift to
the sinner. ‘‘God so loved the world that He
gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in Him should not perish, but have
everlasting life,”” John 3, 16. The Son of
God became man to take away the sin of the
world. In His sufferings and death He bore
the punishment which is our due, and pro-
cured salvation for all sinners. This salvation

No. 11.

is brought to every sinner in the Gospel, in
which we hear the loving voice of the Saviour,
‘*Whosoever will, let him take the water of life
freely.’’ Freely! What does that word mean?
It means for nothing. We can not buy salva-
tion with our works. It has been procured
for us by Christ and is given to us in the
Gospel for nothing. We are simply to take
it with the hand of faith. Therefore it is
written, ‘‘He that believeth on the Son hath
everlasting life.’’

Dear reader, you will never find peace and
salvation by trusting in your own works or
by trusting in anything you find in your own
sinful self. It is what Jesus is, not what we
are; it is what Jesus has done for us, not
what we do, that gives peace and rest and sal-
vation to the soul. ‘Trust in Jesus only and
be saved. Trust in Him every day of your
life, and find in Him forgiveness of all sin and
comfort in all sorrows. ‘Trust in Him in the
hour of death, and your faith shall then be
changed into sight. You shall then see Him
face to face in everlasting joy and bliss, and
with all the saints in heaven you shall in all
eternity sing the glories of His grace.

———q@«@ 0-0

“A Little Child Shall Lead Them.”

“YT once experienced a great bereavement,
which tested my trust in God’s providence
beyond any previous trial of my life. One
night I was seated with my little boy on my
knee, mourning over my loss, when my eyes
rested on a favorite text over the mantel-
piece. The eye of the child also turned in
the same direction, and without any request
on my part he read the text aloud: ‘The law
of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.’
As I heard the words from my dear boy’s
lips, they seemed to sink into my heart with
a power they had never done before. To my
surprise the child asked the question, ‘Papa,
what does ‘‘perfect’’ mean?’ My heart was
too full to make any reply for a few moments,
and before I could break the silence, my little
one supplied the answer by saying, ‘Papa,
doesn’t it mean that God makes no mistakes?’ *”

Selected.