The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1902, Page 14

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14

The Lutheran Pioneer.

(For the LUTHERAN PIONEER.)

Of God.

THERE 1s A Gop. It is only the fool that
can say, ‘‘There is no God,’’ Ps. 14,1. ‘‘The
heavens declare the glory of God; and the
firmament showeth His handiwork,’’ Ps. 19, 1.
The sun in his glory, the myriads of twinkling
stars, the mighty pealing of the thunder, the
roaring of the storm, the blooming rose, the
ripening grain, the refreshing rain, the pearly
dewdrops— all these say to us, ‘‘There is a
God.”’

Yes, God has unmistakably revesled Him-
self to us in nature, in the works of creation.
And had we no other revelation of God than
that of the book of nature, no sane man could
deny His existence.

But because of sin our knowledge of God
derived from nature is very imperfect and
wholly insufficient.. Blinded as we are by sin,
we never could learn from nature who God is,
how He is disposed toward us, and how we
prodigal sons and daughters may again become
reconciled to our heavenly Father. Therefore
God in His boundless mercy has given us yet
another revelation, that of His Word, of the
Holy Scriptures. Would we, then, come to
a true knowledge of God, we must turn to the
Bible. This let us now do, and first ask,

Wuat 1s Gop?

“God is a Spirit,’’ says Jesus to the Samari-
tan woman at the well of Sychar, John 4, 24.
But what is a spirit? Though our own soul is
a spirit, yet what a spirit really is surpasses
our understanding; and so also the spirituality
of God is altogether beyond our comprehen-
sion. It is easier for us to say what a spirit
is not, than to define what it is. A spirit has
no body, no flesh and bones as we have, Luke
24,39. So, then, God has no body, and yet
He is a real, true Being, existing for Himself,
haying an independent personality of His own.
He has the power to will and to act for Him-
self. Now as I have said, it is beyond our finite
understanding how a being can think and will
and act and yet have no body, but yet soit is.
To help us somewhat in our weakness, the
Bible sometimes speaks of God’s hands and
feet, eyes and ears, arm, finger, and heart;
not as though God really had such, for God,
having no body, has no members of a body,
but only by such figurative speech to bring
nearer to our comprehension some of the won-
derful works and dealings of God, who as a
Spirit is far beyond our weak understanding.
From the fact that God is a Spirit it is self-
evident that He is invisible tous. Not until
we are in heaven shall we see Him as He is, —

The Holy Scriptures also tell us of

Gop’s ArrriBures.
He is eternal and unchangeable. Ps. 90,
1, 2 Moses says: ‘“‘Lord, Thou hast been our
dwelling Place in all generations. Before the
‘mountains were brought forth, or ever Thou
ha formed the earth and the world, even

Papert

from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God.’’
God has been from Adam up to the present
generation. But not only since Adam has He
been; nay, even before the creation He was,
for He brought forth the mountains and formed
the earth and the world. Yes, says Moses, He
has been from everlasting, even as He will be
to everlasting. In short, God has no begin-
ning and no end; He is the everlasting God,
the eternal Jam. And that also means that
He is ever the same, Ps. 102,27. In Him there
is no changing nor variableness. With Him
there is no increase of days, no getting older
or weaker. What He was in eternity, that He
is now, that will He be in eternity. For us the
seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months,
and years come and go, but with God one day
is as a thousand years, and a thousand years
as one day. With Him there is no past nor
future, but one eternal present ; no yesterday,
no to-morrow, but one everlasting to-day.
(To be continued.) F. J. L.

4 + ome +

God Seen in His Works.

In that beautiful part of Germany which
borders on the Rhine there is a noble castle,
which, as you travel on the western bank of
the river, you may see lifting its ancient towers
on the opposite side above the grove of trees
about as old as itself.

About ninety years ago there lived in that
castle a noble gentleman, who had an only
son, the comfort of his father and a blessing
to all who lived on his father’s estate.

It so happened once that while this young
man was away from home a French gentle-
man came to the castle on a visit. The talk
of this Frenchman concerning God was such
that it chilled the old man’s blood. The old
baron reproved his guest, saying, ‘‘Are you
not afraid of offending God, who rules above,
by speaking in sucha manner?’’ The French-
man said that he knew nothing about God,
for he had never seen Him. The baron took
no further notice of this answer at the time,
but the next morning took him about his castle
and profited by the occasion to show him a
very beautiful picture that hung on the wall.
The man admired the painting very much, and
said, ‘‘Whoever painted that picture knows
how to use the brush.’”

‘*My son painted that picture,” quietly re-
turned the baron. +

‘Then your son is a clever artist, indeed,’’
replied the gentleman.

The baron then took his guest into the gar-
den, and showed him many beautiful flowers
and rare plants.

‘*Who has the ordering of this Garden iz
asked the visitor.

“My son,’ said the baron; ‘‘he eeee every
plant, I may. say, from the cedar of Lebanon
to the hyssop that grows on the wall.’’

‘t¥ndeed,’” replied the Frenchman, ‘‘I shall
think very highly of him soon.’”

The baron then went with his visitor into
the village and showed him a neat little cot-
tage, where his son had established a school,
in which all young children that had lost their
parents were received and brought up at his
own expense. The children in the home all
looked so happy that the man was very much
pleased, and when he returned to the castle
he said to the baron, ‘‘What a happy man you
are to have such a son.’’

‘How do you know that I have such a good
son?’’

‘tBecause I have seen his works, and I know
that he must be good and clever from all that
you have shown me.’’
~ ‘But you have never seen him.’’

“No; but I know him very well, because I
judge him by his works.’’

“True,” replied the old nobleman, ‘‘and
thus you should judge of the character of our
heavenly Father. From His works you must
see that He is a Being of infinite wisdom,
power, and goodness.’’

The Frenchman felt the force of the re-
proof, and was careful not to offend the good
old baron any more by his remarks.

From the German,
<> 0

Any Others like Her?

Dinah could sing with the best of the church
members. It was common at the missionary
meeting to sing the hymn, ‘‘Fly abroad, thou
mighty Gospel,’’ while the collection was be-
ing taken, and Dinah always threw her head
back, shut her eyes, and sang away lustily
till the plate had passed. The sable collector
observed her habit, and one evening stopped
when he came to her, and said bluntly: ‘‘Look
here, Dinah, you needn’t be a singing ‘Fly
abroad, thou mighty Gospel!’ if you give noth-
ing to make her fly!’’ N. J.B.

—>— 0 amo -

ty Rev. F. Lochner. 7

In the death of the Rey. F. Lochner, who
departed this life in Milwaukee, Wis., Febru-
ary 14, 1902, our Lurueran Pioneer has lost
a warm friend and our mission among the
colored people a devoted and earnest advo-
cate. For several years he was the editor of
our German mission paper, published in the
interest of our mission, and at all times he
proved himself a friend of our work. In his
last letter to the writer he expressed the hope
that the rich blessing of God resting on the
mission in the South might fill the hearts of
all our people with greater love for this im-
portant work, so that it might be carried on
with greater zeal ‘‘before the night cometh.””
The night has come, nay, rather, the morning,
for to him the shadows have fled and the day
has broken —the day of everlasting joy and

bliss,
Servant of God, well done!
Rest from thy loved employ.
The battle fought, the victory won,
Enter thy Master's joy. R. A. B.