The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1910, Page 65

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he Dutheran Pioneer.

A MISSIONARY MONTHLY.

PusBlisHED BY THE EVANGELICAL LuTHERAN SynopicaL CoNnFERENCE oF Nortm AMERICA.
R. A. BISCHOFYF, Eprror:

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

- XXXII.

ST. LOUIS, M0., SEPTEMBER, 1910.

No. 9.

Sowing and Reaping.

On through the dark and weary years
We sow the seed with precious tears,
And stay our hearts in faith sublime
With prospects of the harvest time.

Not long shall we in sorrow go,

Not long endure earth’s toil and woe;
For He who bids us sow and weep
Shall call us then in joy to reap.

Then shall each tearful sower come,

And bear his sheaves triumphant home;
The voice long choked with grief shall sing
Till heav’n with shouts of triumph ring.

Thick on the hills of light shall stand
The gathered sheaves from every land;
While they that sow and they that reap

The Harvest Home in glory keep.
Sel.

Saved by Faith.

In the seventh chapter of St. Luke we read that
@ woman, who was a great sinner, came to Jesus,
washed His feet. with tears, dried them with the

hairs of her head, and kissed His feet, and anointed

them with ointment. Was this sinner who wept at
the feet of Jesus saved by her tears, by the ointment
with which she anointed His feet, by any feelings
of her own, or by any good that she did to Jesus?
No. Jesus said to the woman: “Thy faith hath
saved thee; go in peace,” Luke 7, 50.

True, she loved much, as her sins that were for-
given were many. “To whom little is forgiven, the
same loveth little.’ But her love, great as it was,
did not save her. Her love was the outpouring of

a thankful heart which had already obtained for-
giveness of sins and salvation by faith in the Savior
who came to seek and to save that which is lost, and
who will in no wise cast out whosoever cometh unto
Him. “Thy faith hath saved thee,” said the Savior.
It was not her faith and her love or any good that
she did, but her faith alone. We are saved by grace
and therefore by faith, not by works. “By grace are
ye saved, through faith; and that not of yourselves ;
it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man
should boast,” Eph. 2, 8. “It is of faith, that it
might be by grace,” Rom. 4, 16. “For God so loved
the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but
have everlasting life,’ John 3, 16. When, therefore,
a convicted sinner asked the apostles, “What must
I do to be saved?” their answer was: “Believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved,”
Acts 16, 31.

Such saving faith is surely not a dead thing.
No. It is alive and active in the service of Christ.
The believer’s heart is filled with love to the Re-
deemer, who has done and suffered so much for him,
that he might have forgiveness of sins and ever-
lasting salvation. And the more he realizes how
much has been forgiven him, the more will he love
the Savior, and the greater will be his desire to
serve Him by making known the Gospel of His sal-
vation and by winning souls for His kingdom. His
service is not done for reward. It is a service of
love. And there is no service like the service of
him who serves because he loves. His giving for
missions is also the giving of a thankful, loving
heart. And there is no giving like the giving of him
who gives because he loves. Such a one will not say,
“How little can I give?” but, “How much?”