The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1903, Page 37

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—— neil

Ghe Autheran Pioneer,

A MISSIONARY MONTHLY.

PusuisHEeD BY THE HvancEtica, Luraeran Synopican Conrerence or Norra America

R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor.

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

Vol. XXY.

Our Church.

Our dear old Reformation Church,
We've heard thy tales of blood,

Of those who loved thee to the deafh—
The true, the wise, the good;

The faith of Augsburg they have kept,
They burned, they bled, they died,

And shall their children’s children now
Be traitors at her side?

Our own dear Reformation Church!
The fire has not grown cold
That burned and coursed like living streams
In martyrs’ veins of old.
The cruel thirty years of war,
’Mid persecution’s flame,
Have warmed the blood in every heart
For those of Lutheran name.

So, then, with Luther bold and true,
And loyal to each vow,

We’ll stand for Christ and for His Church,
As God doth witness now.

In protest strong ’gainst every wrong,
We'll stand for truth alone,

Our Church shall still be dear to us,

Our fathers’ and our own.
Selected.

—_— ~<a o — —

Blessings of the Reformation.

The annual recurrence of the 31st of Octo-
ber, the day on which, 386 years ago, the pope,
the Church, and the world learned of the ex-
istence of a man named Luther, necessarily
directs our thoughts year after year back to
that event. What importance is to be attached
to this event? What was and is the aim of the
Reformation? What do we owe to Luther, the
chosen instrument of God in the work of the
Reformation?

Great was the corruption of the Church be-
fore the days of the Reformation. Darkness
covered the earth and gross darkness the
people, since the bright light of the Gospel
had been hidden under a bushel. The Church
was sick, thoroughly sick in all her limbs, from
the crown of the head to the sole of the feet.
One of the greatest teachers of the Romish
Church was honest enough to confess that be-
fore the Reformation there was no respect for
divine things and scarcely any religion to be
found. :

St. Louis, Mo., October, 1908.

In those days the Bible was a buried treas-
ure. There were many Doctors of Divinity
that had never read it. The decrees of the
church councils, the bulls of the popes, and
the corrupt traditions of the church were the
only spiritual guides of the poor people.
Darkness had expelled the light, and the voice
of God was scarcely ever heard in the church.
The Reformation changed all this. The Bible
is no longer chained, but free. The bright
light of the Gospel is no longer hidden, but
sends its bright beams throughout the length
and breadth of the world. The reading of the
Bible is no longer forbidden, but everybody
is admonished to search the Scriptures, to fol-
low them as the only guide to heaven, and to
build on them as the only sure foundation
stone. :

In those days it was claimed that the pope
was Christ’s vicar on earth, the lord of the
Church and the lord of all the kingdoms of the
earth. But Luther proved from the Bible that
the Church had no visible head and that her
only Lord is Christ. Luther also made it plain
from Scriptures that by these very claims
which the pope put forth he stamped himself
the Antichrist whose coming was foretold in
the Bible, and thus freed thousands upon
thousands of poor souls from the tyranny of
popery.

In those dark days Absolution, or the for-
giveness of sins, was sold for money. For
money the pope’s agents were ready not only
to forgive sins already committed, but even
such as were yet to be done. On the other
hand, confession was made a torture for poor
sinners by the minions of the pope. The
Reformation, however, plainly showed auric-
ular confession and the sale of indulgences to
be an invention of Antichrist.

In those days the people were taught that
they could merit heaven by their good works,
fastings, prayers, pilgrimages, mortifying of
the body, and by gifts to the Church—yes,
they even claimed it to be possible by these
means not only to gain heaven for one’s self,
but also for others. But Luther has taught
us from God’s Word that man is justified by
grace through faith in Christ, and not by the
deeds of the Law.

No. 10.

In those days the poor people were taught
to pray to saints and angels when they were
in trouble, and to trust in the intercession of
the Virgin Mary and the apostles. But we
have learned from the Bible that the adora-
tion of saints is idolatry, that Christ is the
only Mediator between God and man and the
only Rock of Salvation.

In the dark ages before the Reformation
people were told of an imaginary third place
after death and made to believe that in this
third place, called purgatory, souls that were
not fit to go to heaven at once were first cleansed
and purified, so that later heaven could be
opened for them. But we know from the Bible
that there are only two places after death,
heaven and hell, and that those who do not pre-
pare for heaven here cannot do so after death.

While Holy Baptism and the Lord’s Supper
were yet administered, the people were left in
ignorance as to the great blessings of these
holy sacraments. Yes, the Lord’s Supper was
only partly given the laymen, and of the bread
and wine it was said that they were changed
into Christ’s body and blood. From God’s
Word, which was brought to light by the
blessed Reformation, we, however, know that
the holy sacraments offer, give, and seal unto
us forgiveness of sin, life, and salvation, that
in, with, and under the bread and the wine we
receive Christ’s true body and blood, and that
every communicant is entitled to the whole
Supper and not to only half of it.

These are a few of the blessings which we
owe to the Reformation. To be reminded of
these few should, however, already induce us
to lift up our hearts in thanksgiving and praise
to God for all the mercies and kindness He has
poured upon us. F.J.L.

Here is a short, but comprehensive prayer
by an eminent author which, every Christian
will admit, proceeded from a heart that was
sensible of its natural depravity. ‘‘O Lord!”
are the words, ‘‘take Thou my heart, for I
cannot give it; and when Thou hast it, keep
it, for I cannot keep it for Thee; and save me

in spite of myself for Jesus Christ’s sake.
Amen.’”