The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1898, Page 41

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

utheran Pioneer.

A MISSIONARY MONTHLY.

PusBLISHED BY THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN SynopICAL CONFERENCE OF NortH AMERICA.

R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor.

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

Vol. XX.

St. Louis, Mo., November, 1898.

No. il.

Thanksgiving.

Awake, my soul, to thankfulness,
Thy great Provider’s love express;
His acts of grace to thee extol:
Awake, and sing His praise, my soul!

Redemption, sing, thy Saviour gave
His blood a ransom thee to save;

Thy sweetest songs to Him should rise:
Thine all-atoning sacrifice.

He is thy shield, He keeps thee well
When storms and waves in tumult swell;
The dangers in thy path He clears,

He quells thy foes, He calms thy fears.

Awake, my soul, thy sins confess,

Thy want of humble thankfulness;

The goodness of thy God recall,

Give Him thy heart, thy life, thy all.
Selected.

qs -o—> o-oo

“Come As You Are.”

Early one morning a fire broke out in one
of the houses in a narrow street of a large
city. The alarm was given, and soon the
engines were heard rattling along; but be-
fore they could get to work, the flames be-
gan to break forth and rise high into the air.
Soon a young man was seen at one of the
upper windows of the house in his night-
clothes. A ladder was placed against the
house, and a fireman went up and called the
young man to make all haste and escape for
his life. But to his surprise, the young man
refused to come away just then, saying he
wished to dress first. ‘The fireman repeated
his warning, ‘‘Come as you are! come as
you are!’’ but to no purpose, for the young
man still said he would come when he got
dressed.

After the young man had gone to his bed-
Toom to dress, the flames rose higher and
higher, and suddenly the roof fell in with a
terrible crash, burying the unfortunate young
man beneath the ruins, and rendering escape
no longer possible.

A sad and awful death, surely! Rendered
‘all the sadder when we remember that the

_ young man might have escaped, at least with
~ his life, if he had not so foolishly refused to

make use of the means of rescue which had
been placed within his reach.

May not this sad story picture to us the
still greater foolishness of those who, from
youth to manhood, and from manhood to old
age, refuse to ‘‘flee from the wrath to come’’?
Loud warnings come to them again and again,
but they heed them not. Jesus is set forth
to them as the only way of escape from the
wrath of God, but they will not accept Him.
They will not come to Jesus as they are.
They wish to do this and to do that before
they will come. Many think they must make
themselves better before they may come.
How foolish! Christ is not a Saviour that
saves us after we have saved ourselves. We
are sinners and have no strength whatever to
make ourselves better or to render ourselves
acceptable in the sight of God. For this
very reason Christ became our Saviour and
procured for us a full and perfect salvation,
which He offers to us in the Gospel. He calls
upon all sinners to come to Him for salvation,
to come just asthey are. And He gives them
the sweet assurance, ‘‘Him that cometh to me
I will in no wise cast out,’’ John 6, 37.

How foolish, how dangerous, how wicked it
is, not to heed the Saviour’s call! Remember,
‘tthe time is short;’’? and you know not what
a day may bring forth. Then escape for your
life; flee from the wrath to come; look not
behind you; the Saviour, your Saviour stands
ready to receive you, and His word is, “‘Come
AS YOU ARE!’”

ood

Jesus Will Come.

Jesus will come. ‘‘Surely I come quickly,”
is His promise given to the Church. He will
come in person; for ‘‘the Lord Himself shall
descend from heaven.’’ Not in silence, but
‘with a shout,” 1 Thess. 4, 16. Not in weak-
ness, as at His first coming, but ‘‘with power.””
Not in humiliation, but with ‘‘great glory,”
Matt. 24, 80. Not alone, but attended by
‘all His holy angels,’? Matt. 25,31. Not to
be despised and forsaken, but ‘‘to be glorified
in His saints, and to be admired in all them
that believe,’’ 2 Thess. 1, 6—10. Not to be

judged, but to judge the quick and the dead.
Not when everybody is expecting Him, but
‘suddenly’? —‘‘as a thief in the night’’ toa
careless world, and when the cry of ‘‘peace
and safety’’ is heard, 1 Thess. 5, 1—6.

It is thus the Bible tells us Jesus will come.
Should He come now, how would it be with
you? Are you ready? Remember the parable
of the ten virgins: ‘‘And they that were ready
went in with Him to the marriage, and the
door was shut,’’ Matt. 25, 10. It will make
a great and eternal difference which side of
the door we are on in that day.

—— —) 4 9 <a o pe

The Comfort of Baptism.

“‘O happy hour in which I was baptized,
and put on Christ! O longed-for and glorious
day, on which communion with Jesus was
granted me! My honor, my glory, my riches,
my joy is my Baptism! Three handfuls of
water I prize more highly than all kingly
crowns, all ornament and all honor of vanity.
This water is to me a precious water of life,
a powerful ointment, an antidote, a preserva-
tive against eternal death. Praise be to the
triune, eternal God, in whose name I was
baptized. —I am rich, mighty, honored, and
blessed because of my Baptism; Heaven
stands open unto me day and night. Praise
be to God!’ —Scriver.

——»s ~<a oe oo

Laughing in Death.

An aged father was lying on his death-bed,
while his neighbors and his sons were stand-
ing around him weeping. He opened his eyes
suddenly, and laughed three times. They
asked him why he laughed, while they were
weeping. He replied, ‘‘First I laughed be-
cause you dread death; secondly, because
you know that you must die also, and are not
prepared; thirdly, because, while you weep,
I am going out of trouble and sorrow to eter-
nal rest and joy, and am dying happy.’”

*So,’” adds Luther, ‘‘although we must die,
yet we have a God who will help, and a Saviour
who will deliver from death. Whether we live
or die, let us be ever prepared.” :