The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1918, Page 59

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

The Lutheran Pioneer.

but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall *

be like Him [sinless and glorious as He is]; for
we shall see Him as He is.” 1 John 3,2. ‘Then the
- divine image shall be fully restored to us, as the
Psalmist says, “Lord, I will behold Thy face in
righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake
[from death’s slumber] with Thy likeness.” Having
a sinless existence, the blessed shall also be free
from all of sin’s consequences, such as pain, disease,
death, ete. “God shall wipe away all tears from
their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither
sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more
pain; for the former things are passed away.” Rev.
21,4. “Sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” And
not only shall the days of our mourning be ended,
but we shall also be filled with supreme joy and
rapture. Bliss, rest, and peace will then be ours;
for, “Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord.”
“They rest from their labors.”,
therefore, a rest to the people of God.” ‘The greatest
delight of heaven, which will most deeply and thor-
oughly satisfy our entire beings, will consist in
beholding God’s face (1 John 3,2; Ps.17,15; Ps.
42, 3; Matt. 5, 8), and in dwelling with Him.
Hence David exclaims, praising God: “In ‘Thy pres-
ence is fulness of joy; at Thy right hand there are
pleasures forevermore.” Ps. 16,11. In the Book of
Revelation heaven’s beauty and bliss are depicted as
follows: “I, John, saw the Holy City, new Jeru-
salem, coming down from God out of heaven, pre-

pared as a bride adorned for her husband. And

I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold,
the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will
dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and
God Himself shall be with them and be their
God,” etc. Rey. 21, 2.3. The Old Testament dis-
closes such a glimpse as inspires us with a longing
for paradise, in the following words: “The ransomed
of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs
and eyerlasting joy upon their heads. ‘They shall ob-
tain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall
fly away.” Is. 35,10. Ineffable glory, too, will be
our happy lot in that celestial land flowing with milk
and honey. We shall there see Christ’s glory which
‘the Father gave Him before the foundation of the
‘world. John 17,24. Glory, too great and weighty
‘to be compared with our present light sufferings,
shall then be revealed in us. Rom.8,18. Clothed
‘with white robes and bearing palms in our hands,
‘we shall praise and glorify our God, singing: “Sal-
‘vation to our God which sitteth upon the throne,
tand unto the Lamb.” ‘Thenceforth we shall remain

“There remaineth,*

59

with Him forever. “They which shall be accounted
worthy to obtain that world cannot die any more;
for they are equal unto the angels, and are the chil-
dren of God, being the children of the resurrection.”
Luke 20, 36. ‘The Good Shepherd will give His
sheep eternal life. John 10,28. ‘The blessed will
remain in God’s blissful presence “forevermore.”
Ps. 16,11. ‘The believer shall not perish, but have
everlasting life. John 3,16. Paul writes: “So shall
we ever be with the Lord.” Peter asserts that we
are begotten again “to an inheritance incorruptible,
and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in
heaven” for us.

Of course, only those that will “endure” in faith
“unto the end shall be saved.”

May God preserve us in faith, and “finally, when
our last hour has come, grant us a blessed end, and
graciously take us from this vale of tears to Himself
in heaven”! With this wish and prayer we close the
series of doctrinal articles which have appeared in
the Pioneer during the last few years.

H. Osteruus.

School-Closing Exercises in Bethlehem,
New Orleans.

June 14th was school-closing day in Bethlehem.
As in former years, the children again put up a
splendid program, which, if anything, surpassed all
their efforts of previous years. The largest audience
that Bethlehem perhaps ever has witnessed crowded
our rather spacious hall to the last inch, and sat for
over two hours in sweltering weather applauding
patriotic songs, recitations, and dialogs; and the
enthusiasm seemed to grow with every new piece
rendered. These children surely can sing our na-
tional hymns: I have never heard them sung with
greater force and more enthusiastic cheerfulness.
Listening to these children sing “America” or “The
Star-spangled Banner” or “Columbia, the Gem of
the Ocean,” one, indeed, must be a dead patriot if
his native land, our free America, does not become
dearer and more precious to him with every verse
and every line as it-peals forth from these youthful
lips. I wish that all traducers of the patriotism of
the Colored people could hear these young colored
patriots; perhaps, that would silence their evil
mouths.

But there were other numbers, too, on the pro-

gram which were received with great applause.

, Among them was an essay by one of our former z