The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1903, Page 35

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The Lutheran Pioneer.

35

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Dedication of Chapel at Monroe, N. C.

The 7th of June was a day of rejoicing for
our colored Lutheran congregation at Monroe,
N.C. On that day their beautiful little chapel
was dedicated to the service of the Triune God,
appropriate sermons being preached by the
Revs. N. J. Bakke and Theo. Buch, whilst the
young ladies’ choir beautified the services
by the singing of several hymns.

May all that assemble in this house of
God realize the presence of Him who in
His Word and Sacraments comes to bless
them with an everlasting blessing accord-
ing to His promise: ‘‘In all places where I
record my name I will come unto thee, and
I will bless thee,’’ Ex. 20, 24.

—_—> + oo >

The Child Martyr.

In Antioch, where the disciples of Christ
were first called Christians, a deacon from
the church at Caesarea was called to bear
cruel torture to force him to deny the Lord
who bought him with His precious blood. While
he was being tortured he still declared his faith,
saying: ‘There is but one God and one Media-
tor between God and man, Christ Jesus.’’ His
body was almost torn in pieces by the enraged
heathen. The cruel heathen emperor seemed
to enjoy looking upon him in his suffering.

At length this martyr begged his tormentors
to-ask any Christian child whether it was bet-

ter to worship one God, the maker of heaven |

and earth, and one Saviour, who had died for
us and was able to bring us to God, or to wor-
ship the gods many and the lords many whom
the Romans served.

There stood near by a Roman mother
who had brought with her a little boy, nine
years of age, that he might witness the
sufferings of this martyr from Caesarea.
The question was asked the child. He
quickly replied, ‘‘God is one, and Christ
is one with the Father.”’

The persecutor was filled with fresh rage
and cried out to the mother, ‘‘O base and
wicked Christian, that thou hast taught
this child to answer thus!’’ Then turning
to the boy, he said more mildly, “Child,
tell me who taught thee thus to speak ?
Where did you learn this faith?”

The boy looked lovingly into his mother’s
face, and said, ‘‘It was God that taught it
to my mother, and she taught me that Jesus
Chriat loved little children, and so I learned
to love Him for His first love tome.”

‘(Let us see what the love of Christ can do
for you,’’ cried the cruel heathen judge, and
at a sign from him the officers that stood by
with their rods, after the fashion of the Ro-
mans, quickly seized the boy and made ready
to torture him.

‘““What can the love of Christ do for him
now?” asked the judge, as the blood streamed
trom the tender flesh of the child. ‘‘It, helps

him,’’ answered the mother, ‘‘to bear these |
tortures for Christ’s sake.’’

Again they smote the child, and every blow |
seemed to torture the agonized mother as
much as the child.

As the blows, faster and
heavier, were laid upon the bleeding boy, his
heathen tormentors asked, ‘‘What can the
love of Christ do for him now?’’

Lutheran Chapel at Monroe, N. C.

Tears fell from many eyes as that Christian
mother replied, ‘‘It teaches him to forgive his
tormentors.”’

The boy watched his mother’s eye, and no
doubt thought of the sufferings of his Lord
and Saviour, and when his tormentors asked
if he would now serve the gods they served,
he still answered, ‘‘I will not deny Christ.
There is no God but one, and Jesus Christ is
the Redeemer of the world. He loved me and
died for me, and I love Him with all my heart.””

The poor child at last fainted between the
repeated strokes, and they cast the torn and
bleeding body into the mother’s arms, and

Congregation Assembled at the New Chapel in Monroe on the
Day of Dedication.

supposing that he was dead, they said, ‘‘See
what the love of Christ has done for your
Christian boy now.”

As the mother pressed her boy to her heart,
she answered, ‘‘That love takes him from the
wrath of man to.the peace of heaven, where
God shall wipe away all tears.”

But the boy had not yet passed over the
river. Opening his eyes, he said, “*Mother,
may I have some water from our cool well?”

As he closed his eyes in death, the mother

said, ‘‘Already, dearest, thou hast tasted of
the well that springeth up unto everlasting
life. Farewell! thy Saviour calls for thee.

| Happy, happy martyr! for His sake may He

grant thy mother grace to follow in thy bright
path.”’
To the surprise of all, after they thought he

| had breathed his last, he raised his eyes and

looked to where the elder martyr was, and
said in almost a whisper, ‘*‘There is but
one God, and Jesus Christ whom He has
sent.”’

With these words upon his parched lips,
he passed into God’s presence, ‘‘where is
fullness of joy, and to His right hand,
where are pleasures forevermore.’’

Who Was to Blame?

A baker living in a village not far from
Quebec bought his butter from a neighbor-
ing farmer. One day he became suspicious
that the butter was not the right weight,
and, therefore, decided to satisfy himself
as to whether the farmer was honest or not.
For several days he weighed the butter, and
then found that the rolls of butter the farmer
brought were gradually diminishing in weight.
This angered him so that he had the farmer
arrested on a charge of fraudulent desling.

“I presume you have scales?’’ the judge
said, inquiringly.

‘Yes, of course, your honor.’’

‘And weights, too, I presume?”’

‘No, sir.’’

“How, then, do you manage to weigh the
butter which you sell ?”’

“That's easily explained, your honor,’’ re-
plied the farmer. ‘*When the baker com-
menced buying his butter of me, I thought
I'd get my bread from him, and it’s the
one-pound loaf I’ve been getting there that
I’ve been using as a weight for the butter
I sell to him. If the weight of the butter
has been wrong he has himself to blame,
not me.’ — Christian Youth.

—s—-aP oo

Jesus Only.

Dr. Duff’s last visit to Carey, the mission-
ary, on his deathbed, was spent in speaking
about Carey’s life, till at length the dying
missionary whispered, ‘‘Pray.’’ Duff knelt
down and prayed, and then said good-bye.
‘As he passed from the room, he thought
he heard a feeble voice pronouncing his name,
and, turning, found that he was recalled. He
stepped back, and this is what he heard,
spoken with great earnestness: ‘Mr. Doff,
you have been speaking of Dr. Carey. When
I am gone, say nothing about Dr. Carey—
speak about Dr. Carey’s Saviour!”

Duff went away rebuked, with a lesson in
his heart that he never forgot. He was re-
minded of the Bible words: ‘‘They saw no
man save Jesus only,”” Matt. 17, 8.