The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1902, Page 1

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

7

Che Lutheran Pioneer.

A MISSIONARY

MONTHLY.

PusiisneD By THE EvanceLicAL Luraeran SynopicaL Conrerence or Norra AMERICA

R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor.

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

Vol. XXIV.

St. Louis, Mo., January, 1902,

No. 1.

God Bless You!

“God bless you!’’ from the heart we sing,
God give to everyone His grace;
Till He on high His ransomed bring
To dwell with Him in endless peace.

“God bless you,” on your pilgrim way,
Through storm and sunshine guiding still;
His presence guard you day by day,
And keep you safe from every ill.

“(God bless you,”’ in this world of strife,
When oft the soul would homeward fly,
And give the sweetness to your life,
Of waiting for the rest on high.

“God bless you,’’ and the patience give

To walk through life by Jesus’ side;
For Him to bear, for Him to live,
And then with Him be glorified.

“God bless us all,’’ and give us rest
When Christ shall come and glory dawn;
Our sun is swinging toward the West,

Life’s little day will soon be gone.
Selected.

<2 - 0 <> 0 —e-—___

The Prayer of Moses.

“So teach us to number our days, that we
may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”’

This is the prayer of Moses, the man of God.
Well may we make that prayer our own at the
beginning of a new year. Our years are spent
like a tale that is told, and our days pass by
like a shadow. Life is short. It is ‘‘like a
flower. of the field that flourishes, and the wind
passes over it, and it is gone, and the place
thereof shall know it no more.’”’ “‘It is even
a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and
then vanisheth away.’’ Well may we number
our days; for they pass by swiftly, and th’
end soon comes.

‘That is so,’? says the worldling, ‘‘there-
fore let us eat, and drink, and be merry, for
to-morrow we die.’’ Foolish man! That is
not the wisdom to be learned. Death does not
endall. The Bible says, ‘‘It is appointed unto
men once to die, but after this the judgment.”’
This world is only a passageway to the next.
Man in this world is on the road to eternity,
and that eternity will be to him an eternity
either of woe and misery or of bliss and joy.

The prayer of Moses, therefore, is, ‘‘So teach
us to number our days, that we may apply our
hearts unto wisdom.’’ Itis not wisdom to go
on in sin and despise our only salvation. He
that lives on in sin and dies in sin, rejecting
the only Saviour of sinners, passes through
death to the judgment seat of God with all his
sins upon him, and the wrath of a just and
holy God will hurl him into everlasting dam-
nation. The Bible plainly says, ‘‘He that be-
lieveth not shall be damned.’’ What a fool he
is that does not see to it that he is prepared
to meet his God! Life is short and uncertain.
Every day may be his last day on earth, every
minute his last minute. Death may come sud-
denly and take him out of time into eternity.
He that is without faith in Jesus is not pre-
pared for that great change. ‘‘He that be-
lieveth not the Son shall not see life; but the
wrath of God abideth on him,’’ says the
Bible.

‘So teach us to number our days, that we
may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” It is
wisdom to look upon the passing days as a
time in which we are to prepare to meet our
God. Man is a sinner, and so long as he has
not forgiveness of sin, his sins will separate him
from God, the only source of all true happi-
ness. Forgiveness of sin is found in Jesus.
Of Him it was said, ‘‘Thou shalt call His name
Jesus; for He shall save His people from their
sins.’’ In Him there is salvation from sin, be-
cause He took the sinners’ place and bore all
sin and all punishment of sin in the sinners’
stead. He that believes in Him has become
wise unto salvation; he has applied his heart
unto wisdom ; he is prepared to meet his God ;
he has forgiveness of sins and everlasting life.
‘He that believeth on the Son hath everlast-
ing life,’’ says the Bible. For him there is no
terror in the rapid flight of time and in the
coming of death. It is true, every passing day
brings him nearer the grave, but also nearer
his heavenly home.

May the Lord teach us all so to number
our days, that we may apply our hearts unto

wisdom..

As tone as the Word of God is held in honor
in the Church, itis still well with her—Zuther.

The Christian’s Path.

The Christian’s path is not always a flowery
path. Itis often thorny. He is a pilgrim in
a strange country, and in his journey through
life he must pass through many tribulations.
He is on his way to the crown; that way, how-
ever, is the way of the cross. But no matter
how thorny the path the Christian may be of
good’cheer. It is the path which God has
chosen for him, and on which God Himself
leads him. The path ‘which our Heavenly
Father marks out for each of His children is
surely the right one and the best one.

“He chose this path for thee,
No feeble chance, nor hard, relentless fate,
But love, His love, has placed thy footsteps here;
He knew the way was rough and desolate,
He knew the heart would often sink with fear;
Yet tenderly He whispers, ‘Child, I see
This path is best for thee!’”’

2 + oo - 2

God’s Presence.

‘*My presence shall go with thee.’’ This is
God’s promise given to His children. What
a promise for the New Year! Suppose you
had a long and dangerous journey — you
would like company. How pleasant if some
kind friend acted as guide and led you by
the hand and protected you. No fear, then.
God, the almighty and merciful Father, goes
with His children on their journey. He says,
‘My presence shall go with thee.” Life isa
going forward from day to day, and God goes
with His children, watching over them and di-
recting their steps: No fear, then.

—s oo oe

At Peace with God through Jesus.

Dr. Culils tells of an aged Christian lying in
the Consumptives’ Home, very near his end.
He was asked the cause of his perfect peace,
and replied:

‘When I am able to think, I am thinking of
Jesus; and when I am not able He is thinking
of me.’’

Why should he not have peace?