The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1907, Page 59

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The Lutheran Pioneer. 59

sionaries with the everlasting Gospel which alone
can save.

O may God speed the day when the blessed story
of Jesus, which was our delight in childhood, which
soothed us in our youth, which affords us strength
and comfort in the troubles of manhood, and is the
only sure stay in tottering old age, will be carried
out farther and farther and be preached to every
creature! May the glorious banner of the Gospel
of Christ be carried far and near, and may day
after day more and more poor sinners be induced
to gather around it, and in its wake march on to
victory over sin, death, and hell,— march on to
glory and heaven, where they will then serve Him,
their triumphant King, in everlasting righteous-
ness, innocence, and blessedness.

Thy kingdom come! Thine let it be
In time and through eternity!
O let Thy Holy Spirit dwell
With us, to rule and guide us well;
From Satan’s mighty power and rage
Preserve Thy Church from age to age!
F. J. L.

- a ee

The King at a Death-Bed.

George III, King of England, was one day out
hunting. Much excited, he followed a deer and
was separated from his attendants. At last he
noticed that his horse was being tired out. So he
gave up the chase, dismounted, and led the horse
by the bridle. As he thus passed through the woods,
he suddenly heard the pitiful ery: “O my mother!
my mother! God have mercy on my mother! God
bless my mother !”

The King tied his horse to a tree and went in
the direction from which the voice came. He found
in the shade of. a large old oak tree a litter of
grass, half covered over with a kind of tent. On
the grass lay a middle-aged gipsy woman struggling
with death. Before the woman knelt her eight
year old little daughter praying pitifully for her
mother. As the king looked at this sad scene,
another daughter came running from the woods,
bringing medicine which she had fetched from the
city. She very politely greeted the stranger, has-
tened to her mother, knelt at her side, kissed her
pale lips, and broke out into tears.

The king then asked this older daughter: “What
can be done for you, dear child?” She replied:
“OQ sir, my dying mother wished to see a clergyman
who would talk with her and pray with her. I ran
this morning before break of day into the city,

but found no clergyman who could come with me
to pray with my mother.”

The king then sat down on a bundle of clothes
near by, took the hand of the dying gipsy woman
into his own, and talked to her about her sin, but
also about Jesus, who came into the world to be
the Savior of all men, and who died on the cross
for all, even for the most wretched sinner. With
a short, fervent prayer he commended her to His
merey. The woman understood it all, and took
comfort and hope from his words. Her eyes beamed
with joy, and with a peaceful smile she fell asleep
in Jesus.

At this moment the king’s attendants arrived,
who had been looking for him. He rose, gave the
children some money, promised to take care of
them, and pointed them to their God and Savior.
Te then wiped the tears from his eyes and mounted
his horse.

Thus the king spent a half hour in the service
of Him who came to seek and to save that which
was lost.

ooo

The Importance of Christian Schools.

Speaking of Christian schools, Luther says:
“Whenever schools increase, the Church will flour-
ish and will remain good and true if the doctrine
be pure. Young scholars are the seed of the Church
and students its irrigating streams. For the sake
of the Chureh Christian schools must be kept and
maintained.”

Such schools, Luther points out, are important:
also for the welfare of the state. ‘The absence of
schools,” he says, “will result in a wild, desolate,
and devilish condition of things; again, a good
school is the foundation of order and prosperity in
the state.”

God Knows Best.

In asking for temporal blessings, true wisdom
lies in putting the matter into the Lord’s hand,
and leaving it there. He knows our sorrows, and
if He sees it is good for us that the water should
be turned into wine, He will do it. It is not for
us to dictate: He sees what is best for us. When
we ask for prosperity, perhaps the thing we want
is trial. When we want to be relieved of a “thorn
in the flesh,” He knows what we want is an appre-
hension of the fact that His grace is sufficient for
us. So we are put into His school and have to
learn the lessons He has to teach us. — Hay Aitken.