The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1905, Page 81

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Che Lutheran Pioneer. |

A MISSIONARY MONTHLY.

PusBLisHeD BY THE EVANGELICAL Lurnmeran SyNopicat CONFERENCE OF Nort AMERICA.

R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor.

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

Vol. XXVII.

St. Louis, Mo., November, 1905. _

No. 11.

After Life— Rest.

“There remaineth a rest to the people of God,” Hebr. 4, 9.

Rest for Christ’s weary pilgrim,
After life’s toil is o’er;

No more of pain or weeping,
Rest on the golden shore.

Joy in the home of glory,
After the day is done.

Safe with the loving Master,
Peace for the ransomed one.

Sweet is the rest that cometh,
After this life is past.
Of in the golden city —

Rest to the soul at last.
ESTHER PETERSON.

A Little While.

The end of the church year reminds us of the
end of all things at the coming of Christ with power
and great glory. We know not the day or the hour
of His coming, but we do know from the Bible that
He may come at any moment, and that His coming
is near at hand. ‘‘A little while, and He that shall
come will come, and will not tarry,’’ Hebr. 10, 37.

‘CA little while.”” What an earnest warning to
those who put off their repentance and heed not the
Gospel invitation! Every church year is a year of
grace, during which Christ comes to us in the Gos-
pel as the Saviour with pardon and salvation. But
as the church year comes to an end, s0 the time of
grace will also come to an end when Christ will
come to judge the quick and the dead. His com-
ing will be a terror to all that rejected Him in the
time of grace. To them He will come only as the
stern Judge from whose lips they must hear the
awful sentence: ‘‘Depart from me, ye cursed, into

everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his an-
gels,’’ Matt.25,41; for ‘‘he that believeth not shall
be damned,’’ Mark 16, 16. And this coming of
Christ as the Judge of the world is near at hand.
“Behold, the Judge standeth before the door,”’
James 5,9. ‘‘A little while, and He that shall
come will come.’’ He may come at any moment.
Are you by faith in Him as your Saviour ready for
His coming? The words of warning come to you:
‘‘Therefore be ye also ready; for in such an hour
as ye think not the Son of man cometh,’’ Matt.
24, 44.
“Delay not, delay not, the hour is at hand;
The earth shall dissolve, and the heavens shall fade;

The dead, small and great, in the judgment shall stand;
What power then, O sinner, shall lend thee its aid?”’

‘fA little while.’”? What sweet comfort for the
children of God who pass through much tribulation
on their pilgrim journey! Their sufferings will soon
end, and all their sorrow shall soon be turned into
everlasting joy. ‘‘A little while, and He that shall
come willcome.” They will then see the fulfillment
of His promise: ‘‘I go to prepare a place for you.
And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come
again, and receive you unto myself, that where I am
ye may be also,”’ John 14, 2.3. Then the struggle
with sin, the hardships of poverty, the infirmities
of old age, the lingering sickness of the body, the
shadows upon darkened homes, the tears of sorrow
—they shall all be no more; for it is written: ‘‘God
shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there
shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying,

neither shall there be any more pain; for the former ~

things are passed away,”’ Rev: 21, 4.

Cheer up, then, tried children of God, oppressed
by sadness, weakened by sickness, wounded by un-
kindness and neglect, burdened with sorrow, worn