The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1918, Page 74

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_ all.”

74. The Lutheran Pioneer.

good and holy. Sianding before Him, even the
highest angels, cherubim and seraphim, cover their
faces and ery with a loud voice, “Holy, Holy, Holy!”
and Daniel makes the confession: “O Lord, right-
eousness belongeth unto Thee, but unto us confusion
of faces.” All of God’s great attributes, His om-
nipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, ctc., harmo-
nize perfectly. He is entirely good, faithful, long-
suffering, gracious, and He is Love itself. —“Light”
also designates glory and bliss (1 Tim. 6, 15. 16).
God is glorious. “O Lord, our Lord, how excellent
is Thy name in all the earth! Who hast set Thy
glory above the heavens.” ‘The heavens are His
throne, the earth His footstool, thunder and light-
ning His servants, angels and archangels His mes-
sengers. All that has breath and life should bow
down before Him, who dwelleth in heaven, where
bliss and eternal pleasures are found at His right
hand forevermore. :

“God is Light, and in Him is no darkness at
Darkness is the opposite of light. It con-
sists in ignorance and blindness in spiritual things;
wickedness, enmity against God, unchastity, dis-
honesty, -and all other sins and vices; all shame,
disgrace, and unhappiness resulting therefrom. Light
has nothing in common with night and darkness.
Hence it is impossible that those who walk in dark-
ness, 4. ¢., lead a life of darkness, an ungodly life,
yield their members to perform the works of the
flesh, should have fellowship with God. On the con-
trary, their ungodly works bear witness to the sad
fact that such persons are still dead in trespasses

- and sins, bound with Satan’s chains, are sheep with-

out a shepherd, wretched hearts without the hope of
eternal life, without God in‘the world. — “If we say
that we have fellowship with God, and walk in dark-
ness, we lie, and do not the truth,” y.6. There are
those who claim to be Christians, and yet perform
the works of night and darkness. ‘There are those
who say, “Lord, Lord,” with their mouths, but are
not willing to do the will of the heavenly Father.
They have the form of godliness, but deny the power
thereof. Their works give their words the lie. We
should speak and “do the truth,” v. 6.. Our words

‘and works should be in harmony with cach other.

Our walk should prove the sincerity of our words.

- We should walk in the truth, doing truly good works,

following our faithful God.

* Hence the -closing words: “But if we walk in
_ the light, as’He is in the light, we have fellowship

one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His

Son, cleanseth us from all sin,” v. 7.

True Christians walk in the light, bring forth
fruits of the ‘light, good works, virtues. .Believers
walk in the light as He is in the light: they imitate
God. By performing works of light, they show that
they have indeed fellowship with the Father and His
Son. In this way they prove themselves to be chil-
dren of God, sheep of Christ's fold. And thus they
likewise have fellowship one with another, helping,
praying, speaking, and acting for one another, and
with one mouth glorifying God, the Father of Christ.
They take for grace from His fulness, and
daily experience the cleansing power of His precious
blood. Blessed are those who walk in the light; for
they are true children of God, who is Light.

H. Ostertus.

grace

News from
St. Mark’s, Wilmington, N. C.

Sunday, July 28th, was
a day of special rejoicing
for St. Mark’s Mission.
On that day two souls were
added to the church by con-
firmation. The converts were
boys who have attended our
school here, and, having been
taught the saving wisdom of
the Gospel, were eager to
join our humble band. May
God bless these young Chris-
tians, and keep them ever
faithful to their vow!

A still greater joy, per-
haps, was ours when on Sunday, August 11th, Rev.
W. H. Lash, who for fourteen years had served the
congregation at Salisbury, was installed as pastor
of this station.

The little “shack” in which we worship was
crowded to its fullest capacity, while many stood
without, eager to see and hear what was going on.

Our “shack” (for such it is, kind reader) was
decorated with;many flowers, and the fragrance
thereof was truly pleasing. The kind ladies of the

Rev. W. H. Lash.

congregation left nothing undone to make its ap- ;

pearance churchly and neat. Believing that the
Lord dwelleth not only in magnificent temples, de-
yout Christians take pride even in such a lowly
house of worship.

But to go back to the installation.” Long before

the hour of service every seat was taken by hungry 4
souls, anxious to be fed with the Bread of Life.