The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1899, Page 10

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

10 The Lutheran Pioneer.

Lip Service.

We should serve God, not only with our
lips, but with our hearts and all that we have.
Mere lip service is the service of the hypo- |
crites. Of such the Saviour says, ‘‘This people |
draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and |
honoreth me with their lips; but their heart
is far from me,’’ Matt. 15, 8. And again He
says, ‘‘Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, |
Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven ; |
but he that doeth the will of my Father which |
is in heaven,’’ Matt. 7,21. Mere lip service |
is not pleasing unto the Lord. |

A converted cowboy once gave his
idea of mere lip service in the follow-
ing words: ‘‘Lots of folks think that
serving the Lord means merely shout-
ing themselves hoarse praising His
name. They easily open their lips,
but will not open their pocket books,
nor will they do anything for Christ
and His kingdom. Now, I’ll tell you
how I look at that. I’m working here
for Jim. Now, if I’d sit around the
house here, telling what a good fel-
low Jim is, and not do anything for
him, I’d be doing just like what some
church people do; but I wouldn’t
suit Jim, and I’d get fired mighty
quick. But when I buckle on my
straps and hustle among the hills and
see that Jim’s herd is all right and
not suffering for water and feed, or
being off the range and branded by
cattle thieves, then I’m serving Jim
not only with my lips, but as he wants
to be served.”’

The language was rough, but there
was a truth struggling for expression
in the cowboy’s mind. Mere lip
service is not pleasing unto the Lord.
When Peter confessed his love for
Christ, the Saviour said unto him,
“Feed my sheep! Feed my lambs.”

2 < oo >

“Honor thy Father and thy Mother.”

An old schoolmaster said one day to a
clergyman, who came to examine his school,
“7 believe the children know the catechism
word for word.’’ ‘‘But do they understand
it? That is the question,”’ suid the clergyman.
The schoolmaster only bowed respectfully,
and the examination began. A little boy had
repeated the fourth commandment, ‘‘Honor
thy father and thy mother,’’ and he was de-
sired to explain it. Instead of trying to do
little boy, with his face covered with
es, said almost in a whisper, ‘*Yesterday
ed some strange gentleman over the
The sharp stones cut my fect, and

uid go barefoot better than she could.”’

On the Cross.

‘‘Jesus dying on the tree,
Means eternal life for thee—
Means that grace o’er sin hath sway—
Means that love hath had its way.

Jesus dying on the tree,
Means Jehovah's just decree,
Words of Him who cannot lie,
‘Whoso sinneth—he shall die.’

Jesus dying on the tree,

Means this sentence passed on me
Has descended on His head,

And that He has died instead.

fi P a eee

: “aps s

Jesus dying on the tree,

Means that mercy now is free,
Free to bless since He has died,
And God’s throne is satisfied.

Jesus dying on the tree,
Means—and oh, how sweet to see!
That my sins are all forgiven,

And that I’m made meet for heaven.

Jesus dying on the tree,

Means that I ere long shall be,
Through His precious blood alone,
Soon in glory, safe at home!?’

———2 +e

Jewish Negroes.

1 A Russian Jew, resident of Meadah, gives
man saw they were bleeding, and gave | information concerning a great number of Is-
to buy shoes. Igave it to my mother, | raclites, inhabiting the oases of Sahara, and

no shoes either, and I thonght I| dwelling also at Bather, Bis Arabi, Taggert,
Bousra Bein, Uzab, Loquaz, etc.

There are

in each of these places as many as a hundred
Jewish families, and in some of them even
more. In one place there are six hundred
families, with numerous synagogues and about
one hundred copies of the Law, written upon
parchment, some of which were more ancient
than any he had before seen. But this is not
all. A Jew who had accompanied a traveler
as far as Timbuctoo, found near the Barbary
a large number of Jewish Negroes. Nearly
every family among them possesses the Law
of Moses, written upon parchment. Although
they speak of the prophets, they have not their
writings. Their prayers differ from those of
other Jews, and are committed to
little leaves of parchment, stitched
together and containing numerous
passages derived from the Psalms.
These Jews have mingled some of
the superstitions of ‘‘oral law,’’ which
they have not committed to writing,
with some of those of their neighbors,
the Mohammedans and the heathen.
They enjoy equal liberty with other
subjects of the African chiefs, and
have their synagogues and their rab-
bis. The explanation which they give
of themselves in connection with
their black skin is this: that after
the destruction of Jerusalem, the
time of the first captivity, some of
their ancestors, having neither goods
.nor land, fled to the desert. The
fatigue which they endured was so
great that nearly all the females died
by the way. The children of Ham
received them with kindness, and by
intermarriage with their daughters,
who were black, they communicated
their color to their children. These
children became, generation by gen-
eration, of a deeper hue, until no
distinction of color now distinguishes
the children of Shem from those of
Ham. The forms of their features,
however, are quite different from
that of the Negroes around them.

——>- oo - =

A man therefore is made a Christian, not
by working, but by hearing; wherefore he
that will exercise himself to righteousness
must first exercise himself in hearing the
gospel. Now, when he had heard and re-
ceived the gospel, let him give thanks to God
with a joyful and a glad heart, and after-
wards let him exercise himself in those good
works which are commanded in the law, so
that the law and works may follow the hear-
ing of faith. So may he quietly walk in the
light which is Christ, and boldly choose and
do works, not hypocritical, but good works
indeed, such as he knoweth to please God,
and to be commanded of him, and condemn
all those hypocritical shadows of free-Wwill

works.
‘Luther.