The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1900, Page 43

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'The Lutheran Pioneer.

43

Se eee

Just as | am. |

A faithful pastor of a small flock once met}
a young lady, an acquaintance of his, on the |
street, as she was on her way to have a dress
made for a ball. He frankly asked her her}
mission, and she frankly told him.

“JT wish,’’ he said, ‘‘you were a Christian, |

‘that you would forsake all these frivolities
and learn to live as a child of God.’’

With a scornful turn of the head, the reply
came: ‘‘I wish you would attend to your own
business, sir. Good-day.”’’

The young lady went to the ball and danced
all night. She went home, and when her head
was at rest upon her pillow, conscience
began to do its work. She thought of
how she had insulted the worthy pastor,
who had spoken such kind words of
warning to her, and who was perhaps
the best friend she had on earth. This
torment of conscience was kept up for
three days, until at last she could endure
it no longer. Going to the pastor’s
study she told him how sorry she was
that she had said words that caused his
heart to ache. ‘‘I have been the most
miserable girl in the world,”’ she said,
‘for the past three days, and now I
want to bea Christian; what must I do
to be saved?’ The old pastor, his heart
full of sympathy and love for the poor
sinner, pointed her to the Lamb of God
and told her that she must come to Je-
sus just as she was. ‘‘What!’’ said the
girl, ‘‘just as I am; and I one of the
most wicked and sinful creatures in all
the world? You surely do not mean to
say that Jesus will accept me just as I
am?’ ‘I mean just that,’’ was the pas-
tor’s reply. ‘‘Jesus wants you to come
to Him just as you are. He Himself
says, ‘Him that cometh to me I will in
no wise cast out.’’’

The young lady was Charlotte Eliot.
She went'home and retired to the soli-
tude of her room. Kneeling beside her

» bed she prayed to Jesus to take her, just as
she was. Reaching to a chair that stood by
the bed she took a piece of paper and a pen-
cil, which happened to be there, and wrote the
verses of that hymn so dear to the heart of
every true Christian:

Just as I am, without one plea,

But that Thy blood was shed for me,

And that Thou bidst me come to Thee,
O! Lamb of God, I come, I come.

———— Po oe

His Missionary Branch.

Thad occasion to call upon a young business
man in his office, not long since, and found
him as usual ‘‘up to his ears’’ in work.

“Sit down a moment,’’ he said, ‘‘and I will
be at liberty.’’

“You are always working,” I said. ‘‘How
many hours do you put in each day?’

‘‘Twenty-four,’’ he replied, with a smile.

I presume my face expressed my astonish-
ment.

‘*Yes,’’ he said, ‘‘I work ten or twelve hours
here; the rest of the time I am working in the
antipodes— by proxy, of course.”’

“T don’t understand,’’ I said.

“Let me explain,’”’ he returned, more seri-
ously. ‘‘When I was at school I became
deeply interested in the mission cause. I de-
termined to go out to China and work in the
field. But my father died before my plans
were fully matured. His business here was
in such a state that no outsider — no man with-
out a personal interest—could successfully

‘sBehold, I stand at the door, and knock: If any man hear
my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and
will sup with him, and he with me,” Rev. 3, 20.

carry iton. There werea mother, sisters, and
younger brothers dependent upon the profits
of the house. I was obliged to remain here.
“But I determined, nevertheless, to have a
representative in the field, and I took up the
support of a native preacher in China.’’ Here
my friend took down a much-thumbed map of
Southern China and pointed out a certain town.
‘That is where my man is at work,”’ he said.
“He has formed a church and gathered a
school. We have representatives of our busi-
ness in several of the principal cities of the
world. I call this our missionary branch.
‘(My man there is working while I sleep.
He is my substitute. In that way I work
twenty-four hours a day —for the Master. I
work here for the money to keep my repre-
sentative working over there.”” —Selected.

oP oe

How St. John Saved a Young Man.

A touching story is told by Eusebius, the
earliest writer of Christian church history,
about a promising and very intelligent young
man whom the holy Apostle St. John had in-
duced to come to Christ. The young man was
instructed and baptized by a bishop in whose
care St. John had placed him. For a while
the young man led atruly Christian life. Then
he dropped off again to the world and became
worse than he had been before his conversion.
He got into bad company and led a life of dis-
sipation. Finally he joined the robbers that
infested that region, and made such progress
in the nefarious occupation that he be-
came their chief. When St. John in
his travels again visited the place, he in-
quired about that promising youth and
the bishop sadly told him, ‘‘He is dead.’’
St. John was startled with surprise and
asked, ‘‘Did he die?’’ ‘tHe is dead to
God,’’ said the bishop, ‘‘though he is
living not far away in the wilderness on
the mountains and is the chief of a band
ofrobbers.’’ Straightway St. John went
into the mountains, found some of the
robbers, offered himself as a prisoner
and asked to be taken to their captain.
They complied, and from a distance the
chief recognized the old venerable apostle
and fled for shame. But St. John fol-
lowed and cried after him, ‘‘My son, why
dost thou flee from thy father, who is
weaponless, old and feeble? Fear not!
There is hope for thee. Believe me,
Christ has sent me to thee.’? The young
man stood and wept. He went with the
apostle into town, was again received
into the society of Christians, and hence-
forth persevered in the faith and aided
in the conversion of others.

a 09

Getting Ready.

‘Mamma,’ said a little child, ‘‘my
Sunday-school teacher tells me that this
world is only a place in which God lets us live
awhile, that we may prepare fora better world.
But, mother, I do not see anybody preparing.
I see you preparing to go into the country,
and Aunt Eliza is preparing to come here;
but I do not see any one preparing to go
there; why don’t they try to get ready?”
When Ben’s master died, they told Ben he
had gone to heaven. Ben shook his head,
“JT *fraid massa no go there.”” ‘But why,
Ben?’ ‘Cos, when massa go North, or go
a journey to the Springs, he talk about it a
long time, and get ready. I never hear him
talk about going to heaven; never, see him
get ready to go there.”

—_-—<—- oe .

Tne Word of God does every good thing;
it alone makes a man truly wise, intelligent,
prudent, cautious, pious, kind, patient, faith-
ful, orderly, chaste. — Luther.