The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1917, Sheet 68

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66 a The Lutheran Pioneer.

We must not only fight, but gain the victory.
“Tf a man strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned,
except he strive lawfully” (2 Tim. 2,5). Although
sin still cleaves to us, our heart must be ruled by
the Spirit. “If ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not
under the Law” (Gal. 5, 18). On this point read
St. Paul’s plain words Rom. 7, 15, and down to the
end of the chapter.— Those that are found in a
state of sanctification are constrained by gratitude,
for the salvation which they have received gratui-
tously, henceforth to live no longer to self or pelf,
but unto Him who died for them and rose again.
Admiration for God, love to Him, moves them to
walk in Christ’s steps, and to serve their neighbors.
They delight in godliness and shun ungodliness
according to their inward man. They pray and
patiently hope for life eternal, carrying their cross
willingly.

The Holy Ghost lends us power to follow holi-
ness, without which no man shall see the Lord.
Sanctification is necessary as a fruit of faith, but
it is not needful for justification, for we are saved
without works. The Spirit of God works and
furthers our sanctification (Eph. 2, 10), and after
having received spiritual powers from Him, we
should use them and in this sense be “workers to-
gether with Him” (2 Cor. 6,1).

It is God’s will that we should always grow in
holiness (Eph. 4, 15; 1 Thess. 4, 1). That this
might be done, we should live in daily contrition
and repentance and daily renew the sincere resolu-
tion to do God’s will, daily to use the means of
grace and to pray to the God of all grace. The
more regular we are in these things, the more it
will become a habit with us, a sanctified habit to
serve God. Rey. John Todd’s advice given in his
Student's Manual also applies to godliness: “Let
the same thing or the same duty return every day,
and it will soon become pleasant.”

He who does this will certainly be kept busy.
In olden times, as Caspari relates, there lived a
hermit who daily complained of fatigue. Asked
why this was the case, he replied: “My daily tasks
are so hard that I could not perform them, were it
not for divine grace that strengthens me. Tor
TI must tame, two falcons, hold two hares in check,
train two sparrow-hawks, subdue a dragon, vanquish
a lion, and nurse a sick person. ‘The two falcons
are my eyes, which T must guard zealously, lest that
which injures my soul please them; the two hares
are my feet, which I must keep in check, lest they
run. after filthy Iucre and walk in the path of sin;

the two sparrow-hawks are my hands, which I must
train and urge on to work the thing which is good;
the dragon is my tongue, which I must bridle con-
tinually ; the lion is my heart, against which I must
war; the sick person is my body, which is very often
suffering from heat, cold, hunger, thirst, or pain.
and illness, and needs careful attention. All this
makes me very tired each day.”

We should, however, not live in solitude like the
monks; we should live in the world, but not be of
the world. Whatever we do should he devoted to
the honor of God and the welfare of the neighbor
according to the Ten Commandments (1 Cor.
10, 31; 1 Pet. 4, 10).

O Lord, grant that we may fulfil Thy will,
even our sanctification ! _ H. Osrerius.

A Visit to Our Louisiana Mission
Stations.

IE:
Between the city of New Orleans and the Gulf

of Mexico there is a country of lakes, bayous, and

swamps, a land of wild scenery, wild beasts, and

wild birds, a section inhabited by strange people

with strange customs. And when on the day after
Mardi Gras of this year I boarded the train of
the Texas and Pacific Railroad to visit our Colored
mission-stations in the country parishes of Lowi-
siana, this train for a distance, azter leaving the
city, skirted along the fringe of this weird and
gloomy country. It was a warm, balmy day, and
as many of us as found room sat on the rear plat-
form of the fast moving train to observe what we
could of the scenery. Aged live oaks, draped with
sad gray Spanish moss, lined both sides of the
roadbed, hundreds of turtles could be seen basking
in the sun on the logs half protruding from tne
slimy depths of the swamp, and one could not but
think that behind the tall marsh grass which fringed
the banks of the innumerable pools were hicden
a great host of snakes and alligators. As we pro-
ceeded upon our westward journey, the swamps
receded farther to the left, while on our right could
be seen the interminable line of the levee, which
stood as a firm barrier between the waters of 1
Mississippi and the rich sugar and ‘ice plantat
through which we were passing. Without a hr.
the plain stretched from the river-fringed dykes
to the swamp afar off, an endless flat savanna,
covered in the summer and fall with waving cane