The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1901, Page 17

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he Autheran Pioneer.

A MISSIONARY MONTHLY.

PuBLISHED BY THE EvancEticaL LuraeraN SynopicaL ConFErEeNce or Norra AMERICA.

Vol. XXIII.

St. Louis, Mo.

R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor.

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

, May, 1901.

No. 5.

Moment by Moment.

Dying with Jesus, His death reckoned mine;
Living with Jesus, a new life divine;
Looking to Jesus till glory doth shine,
Moment by moment, O Lord, I am Thine.

Never a trial that He is not there,
Never a burden that He doth not bear,
Never a sorrow that He doth not share,
Moment by moment I’m under His care.

Never a heartache, and never a groan,
Never a teardrop and never a moan;
Never a danger, but there, on the throne,
Moment by moment He thinks of His own.

Never a weakness that He doth not feel,
Never a sickness that He cannot heal;
Moment by moment, in woe or in weal,

Jesus, my Saviour, abides with me still.
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The Holy Spirit's Mission.

Before His ascension Christ promised to
Send the Comforter, even the Spirit of truth.
And what was to be the Spirit’s mission?
Christ said, ‘‘He shall testify of me.’’ So
the mission of the Holy Spirit is to bear tes-
timony of Christ and His work. By this tes-
timony sinners are to be brought to a saving
knowledge of the great treasure of salvation
secured for all by the sufferings and death
of the Saviour.

This mission of the Holy Spirit is of the
greatest importance. In Christ salvation is
prepared for all, but it must be revealed to
us and must be made our own if we are to
enjoy it. The natural man is blind in all
Spiritual things, and the Gospel of salvation
is foolishness unto him. He cannot by his
Own reason or strength get a saving knowl-
edge of Jesus as his Saviour and his Lord.
The Holy Spirit must work this knowledge
inhim. The apostle says, ‘‘No man can say
that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy
Ghost.’” We therefore confess in our Cate-

chism: ‘I believe that I cannot by my own
reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my
Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Ghost
has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me
with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the
true faith.” Tt is all the Holy Spirit’s work,
trom beginning to end. It is He that brings

us to a true knowledge of our sin; it is He

that reveals Christ to us as our Saviour and

Redeemer; it is He that works in our hearts
a living faith with which we lay hold of Christ
and take Him as our own; it is He that sanc-
tifies us and keeps us in this faith until the
end. How important the Holy Spirit’s mis-

sion is!

But it is also important to know by what

means the Holy Spirit performs His mission.

Some people think the Spirit works without
They think He comes down like a

means.
bird from the skies at some unexpected mo-
ment to alight at this or that place.

Word of God and the sacraments. The Holy

Spirit works through certain means, so that
we know with certainty in what way He per-
The means by

forms His important mission.
which He works are the Word of God and the
sacraments, with which the Word is connected.
In and through these means the Spirit testifies
of Christ and brings sinners to a saving faith
in Jesus. ‘‘Faith cometh by hearing, and hear-
ing by the Word of God,’’ says the apostle.
Therefore, when Christ sent out His disciples
to win the world for Him, He ordered them
to preach the Gospel to every creature. This
Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to
every one that believeth. Wherever the Gos-
pel is heard or read the Holy Ghost performs
His mission. Apart from the means of grace
we look in vain for His saving power.

This knowledge is of great importance. To
slight the means of grace means to slight the
power of the Holy Ghost, the only power that
is able to save us. To use the Word and the
sacraments means to use the means by which
the Holy Spirit exerts His saving power.
When these means are used, then the power
of the Spirit works upon us; where these
means are employed, there the Spirit with
His salvation is present. For this reason we
should cling to the means of grace and be
diligent in using them. All spiritual light,
all true comfort, all salvation comes through
the Word of God and the sacraments. There-
fore, do not neglect or despise these means
of grace, in which the Holy Spirit comes to
perform His mission in your heart.

This
notion prevails among those who slight the

Missionary Potatoes.

A little boy named Harry was looking very
thoughtful one day, when he suddenly said to
his mother:

“Ought I not to be up and doing some-
thing, mother, for the poor heathen? Am I
not old enough to preach? I do not mean
pulpit preaching.”

“T should think not,’’ said the mother,
smiling; ‘‘but what kind of preaching, then,
do you mean, my boy?”

‘Mine must be spade-preaching, mother.”

‘*Spade-preaching!’’ echoed sister Lottie
from the other side of the room.

“*Yes,’’ said Harry. ‘‘Did not some of the
schoolboys dig, plant, and sell? and cannot I
dig my missionary money out of the ground ?”’

‘*Well, suppose you ask father if he will let
you have a bit of garden ground,’ said the
mother.

When father came home his little boy urged
his plea for a piece of ‘‘missionary ground ;’’
and very cheerfully was it granted, and some
potatoes for ‘‘seed’’ were added.

Harry was very diligent in digging, setting,
watering, and weeding; and by the summer a
fine crop of potatoes rewarded his toil. Lottie
had the pleasure of helping to gather up the
potatoes, and send them off to market.

In the missionary report for the next year
the interesting item might be seen of ‘‘Mis-
sionary Potatoes,’’ with a few shillings at-
tached. May not other little boys and girls
‘feo and do likewise?’’

In some parishes of Yorkshire and Lincoln-
shire, where the people are deeply interested
in the cause of missions, it is not unusual for
parents to encourage their children to raise
funds, not only by spade-work, but by means
of fruit-trees, cows, sheep, and poultry. The
best cherry-tree in some orchards is the ‘‘mis-
sionary tree;”’ and the blossoms and fruitage
of that tree are watched with special interest
by both parents and children. Even in some
of the poor parts of Ireland contributions have
been raised by means of “‘missionary hens.’?

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