The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1904, Page 65

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Che Lutheran Pioneer.

A MISSIONARY MONTHLY.

PusiisnED BY THE EVANGELICAL Lutrimeran SynopicaL CONFERENCE oF Nortu AMERICA.

KR. A. BISCHOFF, Editor.

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

Vol. XXVI.

The Soul’s Refuge.

Cross of Christ, my Refuge!
Cross of Christ, my Peace!
As the nights grow longer,
As the days decrease,
Draw me closer, closer,
Till temptations cease.

Be my one Companion,
Be my only Guide,
Be my strength in weakness
When the flesh is tried;
Shield me from the tempter;

Turn the world aside.
Harriet Kimbatt.

a oe

The Greatest of All Sins.

A young man: became very unhappy about his
sins, and could find no peace of mind. In his dis-
tress he went to an aged pastor of much experience
to see if there could be any hope for one so bad
as he. He showed the pastor a written list of his
sins, as many as he could remember, classified ac-
cording to the Ten Commandments.

The pastor glanced his eye over the sad list, and

_ then returned the paper, saying: ‘‘My young friend,
- you have forgotten to put down on this paper one

grent sin which I believe to be worse than all these.’’

‘Pray whatisit?’’ asked the young man eagerly.

“‘Ttis,’? replied the pastor, ‘‘the sin of unbelief—
the sin of not bringing all these sins to the Lord
Jesus and getting forgiveness for them.”

The young man had not thought of that as being
a sin.

Yet the Bible treats that sin, ‘the sin of unbelief,
as tho greatest of all sins. It is the damning sin,
the sin which leads to everlasting punishment.

~~ When the Lord Jesus speaks of the world’s being

St. Louis, Mo., September, 1904.

convicted of sIN, it is BECAUSE THEY BELIEVE NOT ON
Him, John 16,9. And remember, they who believe
not on Him, ‘“‘shall be damned,”’ Mark 16,16. They
are under God’s wrath; for it is written: ‘‘He that
believeth not the Son shall not see life: but the
wrath of God abideth on Him,”’ John 8, 86. In
Christ there is salvation from God’s wrath, but the _
unbeliever rejects this salvation, and so God’s wrath
abides on him. Therefore Luther says: ‘‘No man
shall die in his sins, except he who, through unbe-
lief, thrusts from him the forgiveness of sin which
in the name of Jesus is offered to him.’’

Through the sacrifice of His own.Son God has
made provision for the blotting out of all our guilt
and sinfulness, and in the Gospel He invites all sin-
ners to come and accept of a free pardon on the
ground of what Christ has done for them. The un-
believer commits the greatest of all sins by reject-
ing the Gospel and treating God asa liar. The
Bible says: ‘‘He that believeth not God hath made
Him a liar, because he believeth not the record that
God gave of His Son,’’? 1John5,10. What a great
sin is this ‘unbelief! Not to believe the word of a
holy and faithful God, but to treat Him asaliar! To
think that worms of the dust should thus insult the
great God! That is, indeed, the greatest of all sins
—the sin of not believing ‘‘the record which God
gave of His Son.’’ It is the sin which leads to ever-
lasting damnation.

There is only one way of salvation. The un-
believer will not walk in it. There is only one foun-
tain open for sin and uncleanness. The unbeliever
will not wash in it and beclean. There is only one
righteousness presented to sinners that will justify
them from all guilt. Itis the righteousness of Christ
offered to every sinner in the Gospel without money
and without price. The unbeliever will not accept it.