The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1919, Page 41

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~The Lutheran Pioneer.

s

A MISSIONARY MONTHLY.

PusiisHep BY THE EvANGELIcAL LurHerRAN Synopicat Conrerence or Norta AMERICA.
Rev. F. J. LANKENAU, Eprror.

Published monthly by Concordia Publishing Mouse, St. Louis, Mo. Subscription price, 25 cts. per annum, payable strictly in adrvanee.
Entered as second-class matter at the Post Office at St. Louis, Mo., under the Aet of Mareh 3, 1879.
Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in section 1108, Act of October 8, 1917, authorized on July 5, 1918,

ST, LOUIS, MO., JUNE, 1919.

No. 6.

The Gift of the Holy Spirit. Christians Are God’s Children Even

Ascended Christ, Thou hast
Redeemed mankind,
Our sorrows now are past
Since grace we find.

Our thankful hearts we lift
To Thee with praise.
Because Thy Spirit’s gift
Sweetens our days.

This Comforter consoles
Our guilty heart,

The view of God unfolds
With heavenly art,

And thus cheers up our breast
When grief’s sharp knife

Has hurt us, and brings rest
Into our life.

He helps us realize

Sin’s misery,

And our own selves despise
Contritiously,

He is the sacred QOil

Which separates

Our souls from doctrines vile,
And faith creates.

He feeds in us alway
This holy flame,

And teaches us to pray
In Jesus’ name,

He fills our minds each day
With wisdom’s light,

Our hearts with love’s warm ray
And hope’s delight.

He helps us to pursue
Our duties still,

And joyfully to do
The Father’s will.

He causes us to tread

The Lutheran way,

In which our sires were led
In Walther’s day.

He. ever guides our feet
Until above

We'll sing that anthem sweet,
“Our God is love.”

H. OSTERHUS,

Here on Earth, Although the World
Knows Them Not.

1 JoHN 3, 1. 2a.

By His bitter sufferings, His deep humiliation
on the cross, and His sacrificial death, Christ has
saved us from sin, death, and the power of the
devil. All that trust in Him are children of God.
Hence John writes: “Behold, what manner of love
the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should
be called children of God; and such we are” (Re-
vised Version). St. Paul also asserts this blessed
fact when he writes: “Ye are all the children of
God by faith in Christ Jesus; for as many of you
as have been baptized into Christ have put on
Christ.” But John continues: “For this cause the
world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not.”
The world does not behold us as children of God
and heirs of heaven. It does not see our inward
spiritual glory, our faith, Christian love, ete.; it
does not know and realize that we are God’s chil-
dren. This cannot be otherwise, because the world
did not behold the hidden glory of Christ, the Son
of God, either. When He came in the flesh, His
own received Him not. The Light shone in the
darkness, but the darkness comprehended it not.
The unbelieving Jews did not make a proper use
of the Messiah’s gracious visitation, but rejected
His Gospel, and despised and crucified the Lord
of Glory.

St. John writes further to the Christians: “Be-
loved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not
yet appear what we shall be.’ We do not yet appear
here on earth as children of God. We are not yet