The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1899, Page 29

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Che Antheran Pioneer.

A MISSIONARY

MONTHLY.

PUBLISHED BY THE EXVANGELICAL LuTHERAN SyNnopICcAL CoNFERENCE OF NortH AMERICA.

R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor.

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

Vol. XXI.

“My Lord and 1.”

[Sung in the rocks and caves of France during the fierce
persecution of the Protestants, 300 years ago.)

I have a friend so precious,
So very dear to me,
He loves me with such tender love,
He loves so faithfully.
I could not live apart from Him,
I love to feel Him nigh,
And so we dwell together,
My Lord and I.

Sometimes I’m faint and weary,
-He knows that I am weak, °

And as He bids me lean on Him,
His help I gladly seek;

He leads me in the paths of light
Beneath a sunny sky,

And so we walk together,
My Lord and I.

He knows how much I love Him,
He knows I love Him well;
But with what love He loveth me,
My tongue can never tell;
It is an everlasting love,
In ever rich supply,
And so we love each other,
My Lord and I.

I tell Him all my sorrows,
I tell Him all my joys,
I tell Him all that pleases me,
I tell Him what annoys;
He tells me what I ought to do,
He tells me what to try,
And so we talk together,
My Lord and I.

He knows how I am longing,
Some weary soul to win,

And so He bids me go and speak
A loving word for Him.

He bids me tell His wondrous love,
And why He came to die,

And so we work together,
My Lord and I.

I have His yoke upon me,
And easy ’tis to bear,
In the burden which He carries,
I gladly take a share;
For then it is my happiness
To have Him always nigh—
We bear the yoke together,
My Lord and I.

—>—- eo

St. Louis, Mo., August, 1899.

The Water of Life.

Some years ago a ship in the Atlantic was
driven from her course by a storm that raged
for many days. Heavy clouds darkened the
sky from morning till night, and her reckon-
ing was entirely lost. Provisions began to
fail, and especially did the crew suffer from
want of water.

At last the storm ceased, and they came
within hailing distance of a ship. Instantly
they sent forth an earnest entreaty for water.
The reply was given, ‘‘Dip down, and take it;
the water is all around you.’’ They were in
the mouth of the Amazon River, and did not
know that relief may be gotten without ask-
ing and without effort. The large river was
pouring its great volume of fresh, sweet
water just at their feet, while they were per-
ishing.

What a picture of the awakened sinner and
the salvation that is so near him! He has
turned away dissatisfied and thirsty from the
broken cisterns of human hope and worldly
joy, and his longing cry is for water of which
he may drink, and thirst no more. From
the Word of God comes the gracious reply,
‘Whosoever will, let him take the water of
life freely.”? The water of life and salvation
flows within easy reach of all who hear the
Gospel, and the sinner has nothing to do
but to take it, and take it freely, take it for
nothing. ;

Hence salvation is called a gift in the Bible.
God is the Giver, and we are the receivers.
“By grace are ye saved through faith, and
that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,”
Eph. 2,8. We can not give God anything for
the water of life. No. ‘‘The gift of God is
eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord,”’
Rom. 6,23. See the blessed Saviour talking
so gently and kindly with the fallen woman
at the well of Samaria, and saying, ‘*Who-
soever drinketh of this water shall thirst
again; but whosoever drinketh of the water
that I shall give him shall never thirst; but
the water that I shall give him shall be in
him a well of water springing up into ever-
lasting life,’? John 4, 13. 14. He does not
say, the water that I shall sell him, but the

No. 8.

water that I shall give him; and if any are
anxious to know how they are to get this
water, the Saviour says in another place,
‘He that believeth on me shall never thirst,’’
John 6, 35.

Jesus procured the water of life and salva-
tion for all sinners. He bought it with his
own precious blood and offers it to every sin-
ner in the Gospel. He that believes the Gos-
pel takes the water of life as a free gift. It
cost Christ everything; it costs us nothing.
God loved and gave; we believe and have.
“God so loved the world that He gave His
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth
in Him should not perish, but have everlast-
ing life,’? John 3,16. ‘‘If any man thirst,’’
says Christ, ‘‘let him come unto ME and
drink.”’ -

“T heard the voice of Jesus say,

Behold, I freely give

The living water: thirsty one,
Stoop down, and drink, and live.

I came to Jesus and I drank
Of that life-giving stream;

My thirst was quenched, my soul revived,
And now I live in Him.’’

—_+ + 0-4 6

A Young Christian’s Death.

In one of the coal-mines of England a
Christian father and his son of fifteen years
were working. One day as the father had
stepped out for a tool the arch fell down
behind him, shutting the son in the mine.
The father feared his boy was crushed to
death, and hurried back, calling: ‘William,
are you still alive?” ‘‘Yes, father,’’ was the
reply, ‘“‘but I am fastened beneath a rock.’”
“Where is your lamp? Is it still burning?
What are you doing?”” ‘I am reading my
Bible, father, and the Lord strengthens
me.”

These were the last words of the dear boy;
before help could reach him he was suffo-
cated.

What a blessing that that boy had Christian
parents! What a comfort to those parents
that their son had taken their precepts to
heart! : :