The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1905, Page 66

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66

The Lutheran Pioneer.

faith never refers to self, but always to the Word of
God. Faith rests not on what our heart says, but
on what God says in His true and everlasting Word.
Faith looks not on that which is within us, but on
that which is without us, on the finished work of
Christ done for us and offered to us in the Gospel.

Christ’s Witnesses.

‘Ye shall be witnesses unto me,’’ said the risen
Jesus to His disciples, who were to be His witnesses
in an eminent sense, they having been with Him,
seeing His works and hearing His words. When
promising them the Spirit of truth who should tes-
tify of Him, Christ said to them: ‘‘Ye also shall
bear witness because ye have been with me from
the beginning.”’

But the Saviour’s words apply to all Christians,
though not in the same eminent sense. All Chris-
tians are Christ’s witnesses, witnesses of the salva-
tion which is in Jesus, and which they enjoy by
faith in Him. They know that they were blind,
and that they now see. They know that they were
without God and without hope in this world, and
that they now are the children of God, and rejoice
in the hope of everlasting glory. They have been
with Jesus, and are still with Jesus, and can bear
witness to His saving grace and redeeming love.
By word and action they testify of Him whose own
they are. By spreading the Gospel they bring to
others the peace which they have found by beliey-
ing in Him who made peace for us by the blood of
the cross.

This, surely, is the great business of the Chris-
tian’s life. He is to be a witness of Jesus. If Chris-
tians be dumb, there is no other voice on earth to
take up the cause of the crucified Son of God. If
Christians will not do mission work and tell others
of the salvation which is in Jesus, there is none
other to do it, and souls must perish in their sins.
The blue vault of heaven above us, the glorious sun
shining forth in daily brightness, the gentle moon,
and the glittering stars spreading their soft beauty
over mountains and valleys—all the works of na-
ture speak aloud of the wonder-working power of
the great Creator. ‘‘The heavens declare the glory
of God, and the firmament showeth His handi-
work,’’ says the psalmist. But the glory of God’s

redeeming love is not declared by the heavens; and
the Saviour’s work of redemption through His own
precious blood is not shown by the firmament. It
is revealed in the Gospel, and is to be made known
by those who by faith in that Gospel have tasted in

their own souls that the Lord is gracious. They,
the Christians, are Christ’s witnesses, Christ’s mis-
sionaries. :

Christ’s witnesses! What a great honor this is!
Men consider it no small honor to be an ambassa-
dor of an earthly prince. How much more should
God’s children feel the incomparable dignity and
honor of being witnesses to the majesty and glory
of the King of kings and Lord of lords, the Son of
God and the Saviour of men!

0 --—_____—

“My Sheep Hear My Voice.’’

A traveler in Syria relates that he came to a well
where three shepherds were watering their sheep.
The sheep were clustering around the well and
seemed to form one flock, and it was impossible to
tell which of them belonged to each of the three
shepherds. He says that after a time one of the ,
shepherds rose and called, ‘‘Menah!’’ that is, ‘‘Fol-
low me!’’ About thirty sheep separated themselves
from the rest and went after him.

In a short time one of the remaining two shep-
herds rose and called out sharply, ‘‘Menah, menah!”’
A large number of the sheep separated themselves
from the others and followed him.

The traveler says he asked the third shepherd
how the sheep were able thus, at once, to separate
themselves, and he replied, ‘‘They know the voice of
their own shepherd.”’

“‘But,’”’ said the traveler, ‘‘could I not induce
the sheep to follow me? Lend me your cloak and
crook and I will try.’”’

The shepherd not only gave him his crook and
cloak, but also bound on his head his turban.

Then the traveler called.out as the other shep-
herds had done, ‘‘Menah, menah!”’ but not a sheep’
stirred, all remained as they were. ‘‘Do they never
follow anyone but you?’’ he asked.

“Oh, yes,’’ replied the shepherd, ‘‘when they
are weak and sickly, they will follow anyone; when
they are well, they will follow no one but their own
shepherd.”

This may well illustrate our Saviour’s words:
‘*My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and
they follow me,’’ John 10, 27. Jesus is the Shep-
herd, the believers are His sheep. He knows them
as His sheep, and they know Him as their Shep-
herd. In the Gospel He speaks to them, and
they know His voice, they follow Him. ‘‘And a
stranger will they not follow, but will flee from
him; for they know not the voice of strangers,’’
John 10, 5.