The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1900, Page 2

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The Lutheran Pioneer.

(For the LUTHERAN PIONEER.)

The Holy Bible.

‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ This
was the question the trembling jailer of Phi-
lippi addressed to Paul and Silas. And surely,
a most important question it was. This is, in
fact, the most important question a man can
ask; for our one desire in this world should
be to gain eternal salvation. But where can
we find the answer to this question, where are
we taught the way to eternal life? Answer:
In the Bible, the Word of God. St. Paul says
to Timothy: ‘‘From a child thou hast known
the holy Scriptures, which are able to make
thee wise unto salvation.’’ (2 Tim. 3, 15-17.)
Abraham answers the rich man in hell, who
requested that Lazarus rise from the dead and
preach to his brethren: ‘‘They have Moses
and the prophets [that is, the Scriptures]; let
them hear them.’”’ (Luke 16,29.) Jesus him-
self says: ‘Search the Scriptures ; for in them
ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they
which testify of me.”? (John 5, 39.) From
these passages it is very plain that the Scrip-
tures, which are the inspired Word of God,
are a sure and infallible guide unto sal-
vation.

But what is more, the Bible isthe only sure
guide to heaven, the only fountain of Chris-
tian knowledge unto salvation. We can not
rely upon our heart to show us the way, for
it is a wicked and perverse thing, which will
always lead us astray; we can not trust in
our understanding, for it is wholly ignorant
in spiritual things and therefore of no more
service to us in its natural state than a blind
man who would lead others on a road he has
never traveled on before; least of all can we
depend upon the experience and testimony of
others, for not only are they often mistaken,
nay, they even, at times, deceitfully belie us.
God’s Word, and it only, is ever true and
reliable. It is a firm rock on which we may
safely build. It is God’s own handwriting
which He Himself must and will recognize.
To God’s Word Jet us then cling and let us
not permit anything to pluck it out of our
hand. As long as we have it, we have a sure
guide tu heaven, an unfailing compass to
direct our feet, an invincible sword to fight
away all enemies that would prevent us from
reaching our goal.

The Word of God is, furthermore, the only
means powerful enough to lead us to heaven,
for it is only through the Word that the Holy
Ghost works upon and in ourhearts. It alone
can change the natural man, regenerate him,
make him a new creature. Only God’s Word
can enkindle faith in man’s heart and make him
Profitable to good works. ‘Therefore Christ
‘says: ‘Blessed are they that lear the Word
of God and keep it.”” (Luke 11, 28.) To hear
and’ keep God’s Word, that is, to accept and
' believe it, is to be a blessed child of God and
an heir of eternal salvation. On the other
hand, if you give away the Word of God you

give away heaven, you give away salvation,
you give away your soul, you give away God
Himself, for it is only through the Word of
God that God will come to you and that you
can come to God.

This Word of God is the Bible, or the holy
Scriptures, ‘‘written by inspiration of the Holy
Ghost, by the holy Prophets in the Old Testa-
ment, and by the Apostles and Evangelists in
the New Testament.’’ The Bible, the Book of
books, was indeed written by men, but these
“holy men of God spoke as they were moved
by the Holy Ghost,’’ wherefore their writings
are ‘‘holy scriptures.’’ The very words which
the Prophets, Apostles, and Evangelists wrote
were inspired by God, and so every word they
penned is God’s Word.

If you will now take up your Bible, you will
find that it contains two chief parts, called
Testaments. That part of the Bible which we
call the Old Testament, was written before
the coming of Christ, and therefore this part
of the Scriptures speaks of Him as coming.
There are thirty-eight different books in the
Old Testament, whose holy authors are called
Prophets. The other chief part of the Bible
we call the New Testament. It was written
after the coming of Christ into the flesh. The
holy writers of the twenty-seven books of the
New Testament we call the Evangelists and
Apostles.

Examination of our Bible will also show
you that it contains two wholly different doc-
trines, namely, Law and Gospel. Both doc-
trines are God’s Word, both are important,
both are for all men. And strange to say,
despite their difference, Law and Gospel do
not contradict each other at all.

Briefly stated, this is the difference between
the Law and the Gospel:

1. The Law tells us what we must do and
not do to please God; the Gospel tells us what
God has done and still does to make us well-
pleasing unto Him. The Law demands works
of us, but the Gospel proclaims God’s works.

2. The Law brings us to a knowledge of our
sins, but the Gospel covers them up with the
righteousness of Christ; the Law proclaims
to us God’s wrath and displeasure, temporal
death, and eternal damnation, but the Gospel
offers us God’s free grace in Christ Jesus.

3. The Law says: ‘Do this; if you do it
not, you shall be cursed;’’ and if-we do it
not (and that will always be the case), it con-
demns us without all mercy. But the Gospel
contains no demands, no threats, no condem-
nation. It offers comfort to the distressed,
healing balm to the wounded, liberty to the
enslaved, life to those condemned to death.
While the Law condemns the sinner, the Gos-
pel brings the glad tidings: ‘‘Jesus sinners
doth receive.’”

4. The Law kills and casts into despair;
the Gospel, however, gives life and comfort.
The Law drives man away from God, but
the Gospel draws man to God through Christ

Jesus, the Saviour. The demands of the Law
fill man’s heart with terror, but the Gospel
brings peace and joy to the human heart.

5. The Law is to be proclaimed to secure
sinners, while the Gospel is for those who are
alarmed because of their sins. ‘The Law, in
all its severity, is to be preached to the law-
less and disobedient, to the ungodly and sin-
ners, the Gospel, in all its sweetness, is to
be preached to the poor sinners, languishing
under their heavy load of sin, to the broken-
hearted, and heavy-laden. ‘The Law must first
be preached to a man, and by its demands and
threats alarm and terrify the sinner and thus
prepare the way for the Gospel with its offer
of forgiveness of sin, life, and salvation.
F.J.L.

“It’s Better Higher Up.”

Christians are pilgrims and strangers in
this world. Heaven is the home to which
they journey. ‘Their path may be a path
of sorrows and afllictions; still they may
travel on cheerfully. It’s better higher up.

There was a poor old woman, sick and
near unto death. She lived in a garret five
stories up. A christian lady, who often visited
her, always found her cheerful. This visitor
had a lady friend who constantly looked at the
dark side of things and was always cast down,
although she was a professed Christian. The
visitor thought it would do this lady good to
see the bed-ridden saint. So she took her to
the house.

When they got to the first story, the lady
drew up her dress and said, ‘‘How dark and
filthy it is!”’

“It’s better higher up,’’ said her. friend.

They got to the next story, but it was n0
better, and the lady complained again. Her
friend said, ‘‘It’s better higher up.’’

At the third floor it seemed still worse, and
the lady kept on complaining, but her friend
kept on saying, ‘‘It’s better higher up.”’

At last they got to the fifth story. When
they entered the sick-room, they saw flowering
plants in the window and heard little birds
singing. They also saw the bed-ridden saint
—beaming with joy. The lady said to her,
“Jt must be very hard for you to lie here.”
The poor old Christian woman smiled and
said, ‘‘It’s better higher up!’’ ;

Yes, if things go against us, let us remem-
ber ‘It’s better higher up.’’ The soul that is
filled with this hope sees a bright side to every
cloud, and hears a cheerful song above all
storms and all sorrow. We are pilgrims. A
few more days, or months, or years, and then
our wanderings will close, and we shall come
home, and ‘‘God shall wipe away all tears from
our eyes; and there shall be no more death,
neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there
be any more pain; for the former things 8
passed away,’” Rev. 21, 4.

It’s:-better higher up!