The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1916, Page 49

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The Lutheran Pioneer.

A MISSIONARY MONTHLY.

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Pus.isuep BY THE EvANGELIcAL Lurueran SyNnopican CoNFERENCE oF NortH AMERICA.

REV. F. J. LANKENAU, EDITOR.

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

Vol. XXXVIII.

ST. LOUIS, MO., JULY, 1916. ; No. 7.

The Time Is Drawing Nigh.

The time is drawing nigh
When we shall see our Lord,

: bd .
Descending to us from on high,
According to His Word.

Before His awful throne
All men of every land,
Of every clime and every zone
Will congregated stand.

The Savior will divide

The godless from His sheep,
Who in His grace alone confide,
And His commandments keep.

And then He will invite

His flock to dwell with Him

In heav’n, the home of pure delight,
And join the angels’ ‘hymn.

But woe unto the band
Of sinners on His left!
They'll go to the accursed land,
Of joy and hope bereft.

Beloved Savior, hear!
Preserve us in Thy grace,
That, when Thou shalt as Judge appear,
We may not dread Thy face.
H. OSTERUUS.

—_—~-e.

Christ’s Judgment of the World.

In both the Old and New Testament the judg-
ment of the world is foretold. Concerning the
signs of the last day God says through the mouth
of Joel: “I will show wonders in the heavens and
in the earth, blood and fire, and pillars of smoke.
The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon
into blood before the great and terrible day of the
Lord come.’ (Joel 2, 30. 31.) In the Book of
Daniel (7, 9. 10. 13) and in Revelation (20, 11—15)

grand judgment-scenes are unfolded before our eyes.
The Psalmist writes: “The Lord hath prepared His
throne for judgment, and He shall judge the world
in righteousness; He shall minister judgment to
the people in uprightness.” (Ps. 9,8.) In the
24th and 25th chapters of Matthew the Savior
shows us a panorama of the last times and Judg-
ment Day. His prophetic account of the final judg-
ment is not a parable, as it has been falsely called,
but it foretells an actual event. When, at the
ascension of Christ, His disciples were gazing up
to heaven where a cloud had received Him out of
their sight, angels appeared to them, saying: “Chis
same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven,
shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him
go into heaven.” (Acts 1, 11.) He will come in
like manner as they saw Him depart, that is, visibly
and in great majesty. “When the Son of Man shall
come in His glory,” accompanied by a retinue of
mighty angels, “then shall He sit upon the throne
of His glory.” (Matt. 25, 31.)

For what purpose will Christ appear on the last
day? Our Creed answers: “From thence He shall
come to judge the quick and the dead.” . He will
also come to bring us Christians the final deliverance
“From every evil work,” and, having preserved us in
faith to the end, to receive us into “His heavenly
kingdom.” The ungodly, however, “whose names
are not found in the book of life,’ He will cast
“into the lake of fire burning with brimstone.”

“Christ is ordained of God to be Judge of quick .

and dead.” (Acts 10, 42.) :
God, however, has not only ordained a Man by

‘whom the world shall be judged, but also “hath

appointed a day in the which He will judge the
world in righteousness by that Man.” (Acts 17, 31.)
This day will come suddenly, unexpectedly. The