The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1905, Page 45

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The Lutheran Pioneer. 45

not deny our prayer. For all these things concern
the honor of God and our soul’s salvation. If here
one should pray: Lord, if Thou wilt, forgive my
sin and save me, he would not pray aright. But it
is different in temporal matters. You may be poor,
sick, distressed, and despised, and yet be saved.
Our salvation does not depend on those things,
and the very lack of health, ete., may be for our
good. Therefore, if we ask for deliverance in those
things we must, indeed, believe that God is willing
and able to help, but always resigning our own will
into God’s. Wherever it should not be to the honor
of God or hinder our salvation, we must not insist
on being delivered, but willingly continue to bear
our cross.— Luther.

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Uncle Jim’s Lesson.

Miss Susan was the best singer in the congrega-
tion. In fact, the congregation could hardly get
along without her. But on a hot or rainy Sunday
Miss Susan did not come to preaching. And the
folks were sorry to miss her; for, as I said, she was
the best singer they had.

Well, on a cool Sunday evening Miss Susan was
present at the services. The hymn was given out.
Miss Susan threw back her head and sang away
lustily :

“Through mighty floods and burning flames
I’ll pass when Jesus leads.’’

After services old Uncle Jim, passing up the
street with her, said, ‘‘I was glad to see you in
church this evening, Miss Susan; we missed you
badly Sunday before last.’’

“Well,” said she, ‘‘you know it was such a
rainy Sunday; I could not come.”’

‘And last Sunday?’’ said Uncle Jim.

“Last Sunday? Oh, yes. Last Sunday it was
so hot, you know, so very hot.”

“Well, suppose there had been ‘mighty floods’
Sunday before last and ‘burning flames’ last Sun-
day, what then, Miss Susan, what then?” said the
kind old uncle as he slyly looked up at the young
lady.

Miss Susan passed on silently; but next Sun-
day —it was a rainy Sunday—she was in her seat
at church. Uncle Jim-was glad to see her there.
She had learned a lesson from what he had told her.

Perhaps she remembered also Luther’s explana-
tion of the Third Commandment: ‘‘We should fear
and love God, that we may not despise preaching
and His Word; but hold it sacred, and gladly hear
and learn it.”

‘None Other Name.’’

There was a blind man standing on a bridge
and reading from a Bible with raised letters. Sev-
eral persons stood around, and whilst he got a little
money he read from his blind man’s Bible words
more precious than gold.

A gentleman on his way home stopped on the
bridge to see what was going on. Just then the
blind man was reading the fourth chapter of the
Acts, in which the apostle Peter speaks of Jesus
and says, ‘‘There is none other name under heaven
given among men whereby we must be saved.’’
The poor man, however, had lost his place, and
while trying to find it moving his finger over the
page, he kept repeating the last words he had read,
“none other name— none other name—none other
name.’’ Some of the people smiled, but the gentle-
man who had stopped to listen went away in deep
thoughts.

He had lately been convinced of his sins, and
had in many ways tried to find peace for his rest-
less soul. But his religious exercises, his good
resolutions, his changed habits, all were unable to
take away the heavy burden from his conscience
and to bring peace to his troubled heart. The
words he had heard from the blind man now rang
like solemn music in his soul: ‘‘None other name.”’

When he came home and went to bed, these
words were still heard: ‘‘None other name, none
other name, none other name.’’?’ And when he
awoke, the words again came to his mind: ‘‘None
other name, none other name, none other name.”’

The precious words entered his soul, and by the
blessing of God he awoke to a new life and found
peace in the name of Jesus. ‘‘I see it all,’’ said
he, ‘‘I see it all. I have been trying to be saved by
my own works, my prayers, my reformation. I see
my mistake. It is Jesus, He alone can save; for
He alone has finished the work of redemption. To
Him I will look. Neither is there salvation in any
other. For there is none other name, none other
name, none other name under heayen given among
men whereby we must be saved.”’

Believing Prayer.

These things are always joined together: He
who believes well, prays well; he who does not be-
lieve well, cannot pray well. For the very first re-
quirement for our prayer is this, that our heart be
assured of God’s mercy and grace, and His readi-
ness to help us from our distress.— Luther. —