The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1898, Page 45

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Ghe Autheran

A MISSIONARY

MONTHULUY.

PusLisHep BY THE EvANGELICAL LUTHERAN SynopicaL CoNnFERENCE oF NortH AMERICA.

R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor.

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

Vol. XX.

“Unto us a Son is given.”

“Unto us a Son is given,

Unto us a Child is born!”

Blessed thought which bringeth gladness
Each returning Christmas morn!

Ever since the choir of angels
Thrilled with song the starry sky,

Hath their theme from earth re-echoed:
“Glory be to God on high.”

bruise the head of the.serpent.

was repeated again and again.

Kings and prophets longed and waited
For the dawning of this day;
Types and sacrifices shadowed
Him with whom they passed away.
Israel longed to view His advent,
Who should bruise the serpent’s head;
Longed to greet the true Messiah,
Who should break their bondage dread.

law, to redeem them that were under the law,
that we might receive the adoption of sons,’’
says the apostle.

Saviour was born.

° When the time had fully ripened,

Came the Lord’s Anointed One;

Not in regal state and splendor,
But as Mary’s infant Son.

Cradled in a lowly manger,
Weak, dependent, undefiled,

. Lay the Lord of life and glory,

As a helpless little child.

shall be to all people.

is Christ the Lord.’”’

————— +o or oe

“Fear Not.” grief

tremble. No.

‘Fear not,’? said the angel of the Lord to
the shepherds when he brought the Christmas
tidings. The shepherds were sinners as all

"men are, and in the consciousness of their sin
and unworthiness they were sore afraid when
the angel of the Lord came upon them and
the glory of the Lord shone round about them.
The coming of God’s messenger filled them
with fear, for as sinners they could expect
nothing else than the announcement of the
wrath and punishment of a just and holy God.
Sinners have every reason to fear God, who
hates sin and punishes sin. When Adam had
fallen into sin, he hid himself from God and
said, ‘‘I was afraid.’? Well might he be afraid
to meet Him who is ‘‘not a God that hath
Pleasure in wickedness.” By sin man de-
served God’s wrath and everlasting dam-
nation.

y And yet the angel said to the shepherds,

Fear not!” How is this? God Himself has
taken away the source of all our fear by pro-
Viding a Saviour from sin. ‘This Saviour was

tynto all people.” All sinners are included,
the angel proclaims is the Saviour of every
sinner, and be he the chief of sinners.

tidings which he brings must cast out all fear.
The sinner that believes the tidings and ac-
cepts the Saviour whose birth they proclaim
has no reason whatever to be afraid. His sins
are all forgiven and he is God’s beloved child
py faith in Jesus. Whatever his lot may be,
his soul will be filled with joy at the glad
Christmas tidings: ‘‘Unto you is born a Say-
jour.”’? Be he ever 80 poor in worldly goods,
he is made rich in heavenly treasures. Be he
ever so much despised by men, he enjoys the
greatest honor that can come to sinners; for

St. Louis, Mo., December, 1898.

promised to man when sin had entered the
world. ‘To the trembling sinners God prom-
ised a Redeemer from sin and all its woe when
He told them that the woman’s seed shall
For four
thousand years the saints of old looked for-
ward to the fulfillment of the promise, which
And ‘‘when
the fulness of time was come, God sent forth
His Son, made of a woman, made under the

In the holy Christmas night the promise
was fulfilled, God’s own Son became man, the
Therefore the angel said
to the shepherds, ‘‘Fear not; for, behold, I
bring you good tidings of great joy, which
For unto you is born
this day in the city of David a Saviour, which
The shepherds had no
reason whatever to be afraid; for the tidings
which the angel brought were not evil tidings,
put good tidings, the very best tidings that
sinners can hear. They were not tidings of
or of terror that make sinners fear and
They were tidings of great joy
that make sinners glad. What more joyful
tidings can be brought to sinners than the
sweet Christmas tidings: ‘‘Unto you is born
a Saviour?” And, mark well, these tidings
are not for a certain class of people that are
better and holier than others. No. They are

not one is excepted. The Saviour whose birth

"Well may the angel say: ‘Fear not.” The

No. 12.

he isa child of God and an heir of everlasting
glory.

Rejoice, then, in the blessed Christmas time.
Fear not, but let your heart be filled with joy
and your home with gladness. ‘‘For unto
you is born this day in the city of David a
Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.”’

Christmas in China.

Miss Chapin, of Tung-cho, North China, re-
ports a very pleasant Christmas exercise held
at that station, the object of which was to
show the poor people who came to church
and Sunday school the blessedness of giving.
Many of these people are so poor that they
know not where their food is coming from for
the next day, and life is one constant struggle
for something to eat. But instead of asking
the people to come on Christmas day to re-
ceive gifts, they were asked to bring some-
thing to give to others. And so they came
and crowded the chapel to the utmost, and
when the time for giving came, men and boys
passed up the aisle and left their parcels on
the platform, while large baskets wete passed
on the women’s side to receive their gifts.
These gifts were of all sorts, and some of
them were rather amusing. There were chop-
sticks and matches, bean curd and biscuits,
little packages of flour and rice, cotton cloth,
thread, and even salted turnips. And Mrs.
Chapin says that ‘‘where the people were too
poor to bring anything else they were not
ashamed to bring a handful of salt or of corn
meal done up in their handkerchiefs.”” And
so at the end there was a goodly pile of food
and clothing which the pastor and the Bible
readers could distribute to the destitute. Was
not this a good way of making gifts at Christ-
mas? And do you wonder that Miss Chapin
says that it was very gratifying to see the joy
on the faces of the people, young and old, as
they left the chapel, showing that they had
begun to realize that ‘‘it is more blessed to
give than to receive.””

—__.6- oo a
It is a shame for a rich Christian man to
be like a Christmas-box that receives all and
nothing can be got out till it is broken in
pieces.