The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1902, Page 41

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he Lutheran Pioneer.

A MISSIONARY MONTHLY.

PuBLISHED BY THE EVANGELICAL Lutneran Synopic4! CONFERENCE or Norti AMERICA.

R. A. BISCHOFF, EditoT+

Entered at the Post Office at St. Louis, Mo., a5 5°°°NqQ_Glass matter.

Vol. XXIV.

St. Louis, Mo., NoveMber, 1902.

No. 11.

A Song of Trust.

Soul, why art thou lonely?
Jesus is thy Friend;

He will walk beside thee
To thy journey’s end.

Do not be dismayed when
Obstacles arise!

God can overthrow them;
He is great and wise.

Why art thou so fearful?
Jesus cares for thee;
He will shape thy future

As ’tis best to be.

Soul, why art thou doubtful?
Jesus’ word is sure;

Rest thee, calm and trustful—
God and heaven endure.

Be not so despondent!
All is going well;
Jesus truly loves thee
More than thou canst tell.

Yield not to thy sorrow!
Make not sunshine sad!
Jesus’ loyal children
Trust Him and are glad.
Emma C. Dowd.

—_—o +o 6

Have You Faith?

Salvation is in Christ, not in man, nor in
anything that man can do. It is the free gift
of God’s grace in Christ Jesus offered to us in
the Gospel. ‘Therefore salvation is by faith;
for faith is the only means by which we can
take as our own the salvation prepared for all
sinners in Christ Jesus. Faith, simply faith,
is the only thing required in order that you
may obtain forgiveness of sin and everlasting
salvation. The Gospel invites us to come to
Jesus as sinners with our sins, to trust in Him,
rest on Him, confide in Him, and, forsaking
all other hope, cleave only to Him, have faith
in Him. Let a man only do this and he shall
be saved: ‘‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou. shalt be saved,’? says the Bible.
Every one that has faith in Christ is at once
wholly forgiven and reckoned perfectly right-

eous; for he possesses the righteousness of
Christ. His sins are gone, and he is justified
in God’s sight, however bad and guilty he may

have been. In himself he deserves nothing but

shell; but he believes on Jesus and is saved.

By faith we are in Christ, and, ‘‘There is p ocon-| presence go with us into the smallest concerns

demnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.”

Salvation is by faith, not by Culture or
learning. A man may be the most ign orant,
the most unlearned sinner, and know nothing
of books; but if he knows Jesus as his Saviour
and trusts in Him for pardon and salwation,
he shall not miss heaven. To know Jesus by
faith is the most blessed knowledge. It is the
knowledge that gives salvation.

Salvation is by faith, not by our own holi-
ness. A man may feel all full of sin, amd un-
worthy to be saved; but let him not stay
away from Christ till he is better and holier.
Let him come to Jesus without waiting, just
as he is. Let him have faith in Jesus without
delay. The moment he believes in Jesus he
is saved; for salvation is by faith.

Reader, have you faith? All that hhad to
be done for your salvation has been done by
Jesus, the Saviour of sinners; and now remem-
ber that by faith in this Saviour you shall ob-
tain the salvation procured by Him and offered
to you and every sinner in the Gospel. ‘“‘Be-
lieve in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thow shalt
be saved.”

Things Worldly and Things Spiritual.

There was a man in a church who could pray
well and talk well in the meeting, but whose
dealings in his store were dishonest. Every
one who traded with him looked out sharply
that he was not cheated. Yet he seemed most
fervently in earnest when he was Praying. He
regarded himself as a very pious Man,

Once, when detected in a dishonoraple act,
a faithful brother asked him how be cq,z1d rec-
oncile such things with his pr#yeTS and ex-
hortations in the conference meeting.

“Oh, Mr. R.,’?. he said, with S°me impa-
tience, ‘you are always confoumding things
worldly and things spiritual.’””

This man was not alone in bis Attempt to
serve ‘two masters,’’ though f6% Vo,s1d own
itas explicitly; but their action °P&a}, louder
than their words. Do we not Degg to ex-
amine our lives carefully in thi® ead? Is
religion the great motive powe® Q ante days
as well as Sundays?. Does a 9° of God's

of every-day life?

It was a noble answer of a poor crippled
cobbler, when asked about his spiritual state:
‘‘Ah! master, I am nothing, as I told you, but
& poor cobbler. I can’t even make a decent
shoe; but I feel, when I sit here on my bench,
that the good Master is looking at me. When
I take a stitch, it is a stitch; and when I put on
a heel-tap, it is not paper, but good leather.’’
What he did he did ‘‘heartily, as unto the
Lord.’’

Counting the Cost.

LUKE 14, 28.

Two young soldiers were talking about the
service of Christ. One of them said,

“T can’t tell you all the Lord Jesus is to
me, or what He has done for me. I do wish
you would enlist in His army.’’

“YT am thinking about it,’’ answered his
comrade, ‘‘but if means giving up several
things—in fact, I am ‘counting the cost.’’’

An officer passing at that moment over-
heard the last remark, and, laying his hand
on the shoulder of the speaker, he said,

‘Young friend, you talk of ‘counting the
cost’ of following Christ, but haye you ever
counted the cost of not following Him?”

For days that question rang in the ears of
the young man, and he found no rest till he
sought and found it at the feet of the Saviour
of sinners, whose faithful soldier and servant
he has now been for twenty-seven years.
N.J. B.

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2 ot

Grace and Peace.

These two words, grace and peace, do con-
tain in them the whole sum of Christianity.
Grace containeth the remission of sins; peace,
a quiet and joyfulconscience. When the grace
and peace of God are in the heart, then is the
man strong, so that he can neither be'cast
down by adversity, nor puffed up by pros-
perity; but walketh on evenly, and keepeth
the highway, and is able to bear and over-
come all troubles, yea, even death itself, for
in spirit he’ walketh in the paradise of grace
and peace. — Luther. : ee