The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1911, Page 53

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The Lutheran Pioneer.

A Youthful Martyr.

In the first ages of the Church of Christ, in the
city of Antioch, a believer was carried forth to die
as a martyr. “Ask any little child,” said he,
“whether it were ‘better to worship one God, the
Maker of heaven and earth, and one Savior, who is
able to save us, or to worship the many false gods
whom the heathen serve.”

A Christian mother came to the spot, holding
in her hand a little son of about nine or ten years
old, named Cyril. The heathen judge no sooner
heard the martyr’s words than his eye rested on
the child, and he desired the question to be put
to him.

The question was asked, and, to the surprise of
those who heard it, the boy replied, “God is one,
and Jesus Christ is one with the Father.”

The judge was filled with rage. “Oh! base
Christian !” he cried, “thou hast taught that child
to answer thus.” ‘Then turning to the boy, he said,
more mildly, “Tell me, child, how did you learn
this faith?”

The boy looked lovingly in his mother’s face
and replied, “It was God’s grace that taught it to
my dear mother, and she taught it to me.”

“Let us now see what the love of Christ can do

‘for you,” cried the cruel judge; and, at a sign from
him, the officers who stood ready with their wooden
rods, after the fashion of the Romans, instantly
seized the boy. Gladly would the mother have saved
her timid dove, even at the cost of her own life, but
she could not do so; however, she whispered to him
to trust in the love of Christ, and to speak the
truth. :

“What can the love of Christ do for him now?”
asked the judge.

“Tt enables him to endure all for his Savior,”
was the reply. And again they smote the child.

“What can the love of Christ do for him?” And
tears fell even from the eyes of the heathen as that
mother, as much tortured as her son, answered,
“It teaches him to forgive his persecutors.”

The boy watched his mother’s eyes as they rose
up to heaven for him; and when his tormentors
asked. whether he would not now acknowledge the
gods they served, and deny Christ, he still cried,
“No; there is no other God but one; and Jesus
Christ is the Redeemer of the world. He loved me,
and I love Him for His love.” ;

The poor boy now fainted between the repeated
strokes, and they cast the bruised body into the

mother’s arms, crying, “See what the love of your
Christ can do for him now.”

The mother, pressing her child gently to her
own crushed heart, answered, “That love will take
him from the wrath of man to the rest of heaven.”

“Mother !’ cried the dying boy, “give me a drop
of water from our cool well upon my tongue.”

The mother said, “Already, dearest, hast thou
tasted of the well that springeth up to everlasting
life—the grace which Christ gives to His little
ones. ‘Thou hast spoken the truth in love; arise
now, for thy Savior calleth for thee. May He grant
thy poor mother grace to follow in thy bright path !”

‘The little martyr faintly raised his eyes, and
said again, “There is but one God, and Jesus Christ
whom He has sent;” and so saying, he gave up
his life.’"? — Golden Sayings for the Young.

-— eo. -

The Christian’s Way of Giving.

The true Christian does not, like the hypocrite,
sound a trumpet before him, to inform the people
of his charitable gifts. He is not like a rushing,
artificial well which pours forth its water with
much noise; but he is like the sweet, natural spring,
which gives forth its water silently. He is not like
the hen, which fills the barnyard with its cackling
noise every time she has laid an egg; but he is
rather like the sheep, which gives up its.wool with-
out opening its mouth. He, in his giving, remem-
bers the words of Christ: “Take heed that ye do
not your alms before men, to be seen of them;
otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which
is in heaven. ‘Therefore, when thou doest thine
alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the
hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets,
that they may have glory of men. Verily, I say
unto you, ‘They have their reward. But when thou’
doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy
right hand doeth, that thine alms be in secret; and
thy Father, which seeth in secret, Himself shall
reward thee openly,” Matt. 6, 1—4.

God the Preserver.

God did not make the world as a builder con-
structs a house, and, being done with His work, de-
parts and leaves it alone. But God abides with
His work and preserves what He has made, other-
wise it could not continue to exist. — Luther.