The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1914, Page 65

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Dhe Lutheran Pioneer.

A MISSIONARY MONTHLY.

oo... -—_

PuBLiIsHED BY THE EvANGELICAL LurHerRAN SynopicaL CoNFERENCE oF NortTH AMERICA.
REV. F. J. LANKENAU, EDITOR.

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

Vol. XXXVI.

ST. LOUIS, MO., SEPTEMBER, 1914.

No. 9.

The Fruit of Faith.

To serve our Savior is so sweet;
This world He entered from above,
And saved us. Therefore it is mect
To prove our faith by love.

Oh, let us preach the tidings glad,
Point sinners to the home above,
Whose hearts are weary, troubled, sad,
And prove our faith by love.

Before we shall be filled with bliss
In yonder glorious world above,
We should proclaim His grace in this,
And prove our faith by love. -
H. Osteruus.

—____ +e.

Our God.

(Continued.)

Our God is also holy and perfect, that is, with-
out sin. The seraphim cover their faces and fect
with their wings and cry:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts:
The whole earth is full of His glory”;
and we, His children here on earth, join them by
singing:
Holy, holy, holy! Though the darkness hide Thee,
Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see,
Only Thou art holy; there is none beside Thee
Perfect in power, in love, and purity.

Let us who have been cleansed from all sins
by the blood of the Lamb that was slain for us
follow our Heavenly Father’s example, and live in
holiness and righteousness, here in time and there
in eternity.

God ‘is also just and righteous in all His de-
cisions and judgments. Although we, whose knowl-

edge is so limited, often cannot understand His
ways, and must humbly confess with Paul, “How
unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past
finding out!” we must nevertheless own that “right-
eousness belongeth to Him, but unto us confusion
of faces,” Dan. 9, 7.

The next virtue of God is His truthfulness,
Ps. 33, 4, which shines so brightly, in general, in
the work of redemption as performed by Christ,
and in the work of sanctification as wrought by
the Holy Ghost; for these wonderful works were
promised in the Old, and are being fulfilled in
the New Testament. In particular, God’s truth-
fulness is seen in the lives of all His children.
We all, dear Christian readers, have experienced
this precious divine faithfulness whereby our
prayers haye been so often .heard, and our trust
in Him, our best Friend and Helper, has been con-
firmed.

Closely connected with God’s faithfulness are
His kindness to all, His mercy toward those that
suffer, and His grace to sinners whereby He saves,
leads, and finally glorifies their immortal souls.
These attributes are mentioned in the words of
Moses: “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful’ and
gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness
and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving
iniquity and transgression and sin,” Ex. 34, 6. 7.
—JIn the New Testament, St. John writes, “God
is Love,’ 1 John 4, 8; and in the 16th verse he
repeats, “God is Love,” and adds the words: “He
that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and God in
him.” This aposéle, whom Jesus loved, and who
leaned on His breast, was deeply convinced by the
Holy Ghost of God’s loving-kindness. He is un-
tiring in proclaiming it in his gospel and letters.