The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1905, Page 65

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The Zutheran Pioneer,

A MISSIONARY MONTHLY.

PuBLIsHED BY THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN SyNODICAL CONFERENCE OF NorTH AMERICA.

R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor.

Entered at the Post Office at St. Louls, Mo., as second-class matter.

I.

Vol. XXVI

St. Louis, Mo., September, 1905.

No. 9.

Prayer.

Are you weary and discouraged,
Does the cross seem hard to bear?
Take it to the loving Saviour

In a word of earnest prayer.

When the clouds hang low and heavy
And you see no sunshine there;
Through the dreary mists and shadows
God will surely hear your prayer.

Go to God with all your troubles,
He knows every fret and care.
Brother, do not be discouraged,
You will find relief in prayer.

God is full of sweet compassion,

He will all your sorrows share.

Just kneel down in meek submission —
Lift your heart to God in prayer.

There’s no need to fret and worry
Though the cross seems hard to bear.
You will find sweet peace and comfort
If you go to God in prayer.

Do not let your heart be burdened
When there’s trouble anywhere.
God will answer your petition
Wafted on the wings of prayer.
Esther Peterson.

Oe

The Saviour’s Joy.

In the parable of the lost sheep (Luke 15) we are
told that the shepherd went after the sheep which
was lost until he found it. And when he found it,
he did not strike it and punish it in anger. No; in
loving kindness he laid it on his shoulders ‘‘rejoic-
ing.’? The shepherd was glad he got back his lost
one. Tenderly he bore it home on his shoulders,
and then called together his friends and neighbors
to share his overflowing joy. He said to them, “Re-

joice with me; for I have found my sheep which
was lost.’? He does not merely say, ‘‘Rejoice,’’ but
he says, ‘‘Rejoice with me.’’ He himself rejoices.

This is a picture of the Saviour’s joy over the
lost one that is found, over the sinner that re-
pents. Jesus is the good Shepherd, He came into
the world to seek and to save that which is lost, He
laid down His life for the sheep and bought them
with His own precious blood. The sheep are His.
In the Gospel He goes after His sheep which is lost, .
and when He finds it He rejoices. The sinner that
repents fills the Saviour’s heart with joy. Such a
one that was lost and is found is the fruit of His
hard labors and bitter sufferings, the reward of His
pains, and agony, and anguish, a jewel in the crown
of His redeeming love. Therefore the Saviour re-
joices over the lost one that is found, over the sin-
ner that comes to repentance.

What an encouragement this is for sinners to
trust in Jesus! This man receiveth sinners, yea,
He has His own especial joy in receiving to His
bosom of love the poor lost wanderer—a joy so
peculiar that He can say, ‘‘Rejoice with me.”

Many fear that Jesus may not be gracious to
such as they are. But fear not! The faithful Shep-
herd seeks the lost, no matter how far they have
strayed and how much they are bruised and wounded
by the briars of sin. To find such a lost one is His
highest pleasure, His chief delight, His greatest joy.

“Hallelujah! what a Saviour!’

Faith.

There are many who want to feel that they are

believers before they have believed the truth, and

to feel that they are safe before they trust in Jesus.
But we are saved by faith, not by feeling. And