The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1911, Page 41

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The Lutheran Pioneer.

A MISSIONARY MONTHLY.

oa _--=——‘“—

PuBLisHED BY THE EvanGeLicaL Lutmeran Synopicat CoxFERENCE oF NortH AMERICA.
R. A. BISCHOFY, Eprror.

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

Vol. XXXIII.

Prayer to the Holy Spirit.

Holy Spirit, strong and mighty,
Thou who makest all things new,
Make Thy work within me perfect,
Help me by Thy Word most true;
Arm me with that sword of Thine,
And the vietory shall be mine.

In the faith, O make me steadfast;
Let, not Satan, death, or shame
Of my confidence deprive me;
Lord, my refuge is Thy name!
When the flesh inclines to ill,
Let Thy Word prove stronger still.
J. Neander.

ee

The Holy Spirit’s Work.

Salvation has been prepared for all men by the
life, sufferings, and death of Christ, “the Lamb of
God which taketh away the sin of the world.” But
from this it does not follow that every man will be
saved. ‘The Bible plainly teaches that he that be-
lieveth shall be saved, but he that believeth not
shall be damned. ‘The salvation which is in Christ
‘ for every man must be taken by faith if it is to
become man’s. own personal possession.

Man cannot bring himself to faith and to Christ;
for man, as the Bible says, is “dead in trespasses
and sins,” without the least spark of spiritual life.
“The natural man receiveth not the things of the
Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him;
neither can he know them, because they are spirit-
ually discerned,” says the apostle. Therefore we
confess in our Catechism: “I believe that I cannot
by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ
or come to Him.” ‘The Apostle Paul says: “No
man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy
Ghost” He that knows Jesus to be God over all,

ST. LOUIS, MO., JUNE, 1911.

and trusts in Him as his Savior, and obeys Him
as Lord, must, as we do in our Catechism, confess:
“The Holy Ghost has called me by the Gospel, en-
lightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me
in the true faith.” It is all the Holy Spirit’s work.
He who on the day of Pentecost came to the dis-
ciples still comes to us, though not in such extra-
ordinary way. He comes to us by the Gospel. By
this He calls us, through this He exercises His say-
ing power, working faith in our hearts and keeping
us in the true faith until our journey’s end. Who-
soever would be saved must therefore diligently use
the Gospel; whosoever would save others must dili-
gently apply the Gospel. That is the means by
which the Holy Spirit does His work and accom-
plishes His wonders of grace. Therefore St. Paul,
the great missionary apostle, says: “I am not
ashamed of the Gospel of Christ; for it is the power
of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.”

What a great blessing it is to have the Gospel
in which the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, comes to
us with all the consolations that are in Christ
Jesus! Let us be thankful for the blessed gift, and
diligently use it for our own salvation. We shall
then also become more zealous in caring for the
salvation of others by sending them the Gospel, so
that they, too, may enjoy the blessings of the Holy
Spirit’s work.

My God.

To say there is a God is not much. It is like
saying there is a bank. ‘There may be a bank, and
you may be miserably poor. There certainly is a
God. But that God may be, not a‘source of com-
fort, but a source of terror to you. The devils also
know and believe that there is a God, but they