The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1913, Page 11

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The Lutheran Pioneer.

11

spirits; we part in a world of sin and sorrow, we
shall meet where all is purity and love divine, where
no ill passions are, but Christ is, and His saints
around Him clad in white. ‘There, in the turning
of an hourglass, in the breaking of a bubble, in the
passing of a cloud, she and thou and I shall meet
again, and sit at the feet of angels and archangels,
apostles and saints, and beam like them with joy
unspeakable, in the light of God upon Eis throne,
forever, and ever, and ever.” — Christian Ierald.

a

The Samphire.

Have you heard the story of the samphire, a
sort of sea-plant that sometimes grows on rocks
rising out of the sea? A ship was dashed upon the
rocks. Only three sailors escaped, and they climbed
up to the narrow ledge of a projecting rock. Still
the waves dashed upon them, and to their horror
they discovered that the tide was rising, for the
waters grew higher and higher, and their fear was
that they would reach them and drown them. They
climbed still higher, crouching on the slippery ledge,
but the hungry waves seemed to follow them, and,
with fearful forebodings of a watery grave, they
simply clung to the rock in mute despair. Suddenly
one man loosened his hold and cried out, “Hurrah !
hurrah! we’re saved! ‘The samphire! the sam-
phire!” Every man of them knew the peculiarity
of the little plant which grew on the rock they
clung to; it grows only on the rock above the tide
line, and before the waters reached it, the tide would
turn, so that all the shipwrecked men’ had to do
was to cling to the rock, and they would be safe.
One of them in his great joy actually reached down
and kissed the little plant at his feet.

Jesus is the Rock of Ages, and upon that Rock
tlie everlasting samphire of the grace of God for-
ever grows. Cling to it and you are safe against
the hungry waves sin, death, and the devil which
threaten to draw you down to everlasting death and

" perdition. — Adapted.

He Gave Money and Then Himself.

Cyrus Hamlin, the founder of Robert College
in Turkey, says that his becoming a missionary was
due to a contribution-box. When yet a small boy,
he one.day went off to see the annual village muster,
which in those days was a great event in every New

Iingland village. His mother gave him seven pen-
nies with which to buy his lunch. As she handed
him the money, she said, “Perhaps, Cyrus, you will
put a cent or two into the mission-box at Mrs. Far-
rar’s.” As he drew near the house, he wished that
his mother had not said one or two, but he finally
decided to put in two pennies for missions anyway.
Then his conscience began to work. ‘Two pennies
for missions and five for himself? That did not
look right, so he decided on three for missions. But
he was still not satisfied, and when he got to
Mrs. Farrar’s door, he said to himself, “Oh, pshaw !
Vil dump them all in and have no more bother
about it,” and so he put all seven pennies in the
box. It meant that he himself went hungry that
day at the muster, but a victory for the missionary
cause had been won; and it was not strange that
in later years this boy should give his life to mis-
sions. It was through missionary giving that his
interest was so deeply stimulated that, in due time,
he gave the greatest gift possible for any one to
give — himself. ic

Reader, try this method of the boy Hamlin. It
is an excellent means of working up an interest in
the missionary cause. Once you have your money
invested in the cause, you will find your interest
increasing to a wonderful extent. We all know that
if we are interested in anything, we are also willing
to help it along with our money and means. But
it is just as true that if you once have your money
invested in an undertaking, you will soon find your
interest in the undertaking becoming quite lively. -
Try this with missions, and try it with your home
church, and see how surely it will work out.

The Man Was Right.

A heathen in South Africa, who was known as
the greatest drunkard among his people and as a
slave of his passions, attended the services of the
missionary. By the power of the Holy Spirit he
came to the knowledge of his sin and of God’s grace
in Christ Jesus. . Having found salvation, he re-
solved to lead a godly life as a thankful child of
God, and in order to avoid temptation, he smashed .
the last whisky bottle he had on a rock. His neigh-
bors tried to argue with him, telling him tha’ his
giving up drinking so suddenly might injure his
health. But the man replied, “I would rather my
body be dead than lose both body and soul.”