The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1911, Page 73

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

The Lutheran Pioneer,

A MISSIONARY MONTHLY.

oo

Pusiisnep BY THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN SyNopicaL CoNFERENCE oF Nort AMERICA.

R. A. BISCHOFF, Eprror.

Entered at the Post Office at St. Lo

Vol. XXXITII.

The Bible.

s Book unfolds Jehovah's mind;

is Voice salutes in accents kind;

is Fountain has its source on high;

is Friend will all your need supply;

is Mine affords us boundless wealth;

This Good Physician gives us health;

This Sun renews and warms the soul;

is Sword both wounds and makes us whole;
is Letter shows our sins forgiven;

is Guide conduets us safe to heaven;

‘his Charter has been sealed with blood;

This Volume is the Word of God. a
el.

i one

Reformation Festival.

October 31 is the anniversary of the Reforma-
tion. This blessed work dates from the time when,
on the 31st of October, 1517, Luther posted up his
95 theses on the church-door at Wittenberg against
corruptions of the Romish Church, which were eat-
ing out the very heart of the Christian religion, the
Gospel of man’s salvation by grace through faith
in Christ Jesus, the only Savior of sinners. That
was the beginning of the great Reformation, by
which God restored to the Church the pure Gospel
through His servant, Dr. Martin Luther.

__ It is true, the Gospel is revealed in the Bible,
and the Bible existed before Luther’s time. In this
Gospel the early Christians found peace and salva-
tion. For this Gospel thousands of them suffered
persecution at the hands of their heathen enemies
and died a martyr’s death. But there came a time
when the pope ruled supreme as the great antichrist,
sitting in the temple of God and exalting him-
self above all that is called God, or that is wor-
shiped. ‘Those were indeed dark days when the

LOUIS, MO., OCTOBER, 1911.

mis, Mo., as second-class matter.

No. 10.

Bible was hidden from the people, who were kept
in ignorance. The Gospel light was buried under
the rubbish of Romish errors, and spiritual dark-
ness covered the earth. Sinners were not told to
trust in Christ’s work for salvation, but they were
told to trust in their own works and in the works
and prayers of the saints. Jesus was pictured as
a terrible judge to whom the sinner dare not come
with a trusting heart. Luther tells us that in those
days, before God opened to him the Gospel, he be-
came pale and -terror-stricken whenever he heard
the name of Christ mentioned; for he was taught
te think of Him, not as the loving Savior, but as
an angry judge. “If this is not darkness,” Luther
says, “I know not what darkness is.”

But at last God’s time.of deliverance came.
Whilst Luther, anxious for his soul’s salvation,
sought in vain for peace in the way pointed out in
the Romish Church, God opened to him the Bible.
From this precious Book of God Luther learned
that salvation is only by grace, through faith in
Christ and His merits. In this Gospel he found
peace. He believed, and therefore he now spoke.
Having experienced the saving power of the Gospel
in his own heart, he made it known «with voice and
pen, and defended it against all its enemies. Thus
Luther became the Reformer of the Church, God’s
own messenger, “having the everlasting Gospel to
preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to
every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.”

By the Gospel, which Luther proclaimed and
which thousands of anxious souls hailed with joy,
God Himself carried out the work of the Reforma-
tion. Luther was His faithful servant, the chosen
instrument in the hands of God. Luther himself
says: “I did nothing but teach and preach the doc-
trine of Christ and translate the Gospels, and then