The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1919, Page 49

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~The Lutheran Pioneer.

A MISSIONARY MONTHLY.

PuBLisHED BY THE Byancerican Luraeran SynopicaL ConrerENce or NortH AmErtca.

REV. F. J. LANKENAUD, EDITOR.

Published monthly by Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, Mo. Subscription price, 25 cts. per annum, payable strictly in advance.
Mntered as second-class matter at the Post Office at St. Louis, Mo., under the Act of March 3, 1879.
Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorized on July 5, 1918.

Vol. XLI.

ST. LOUIS, MO., JULY, 1919.

No. 7.

Thy Kingdom Come.

When our Redeemer, saw the multitudes,

His heart was filled with pity; for their souls
Were fainting, having neither food nor care,
And scattered, too, like sheep without a guide.
“The harvest,’ He then said, “is truly rich

And ample, but the laborers are few.

So many wounded hearts are to be healed;

So many consciences to be bound up;

So many precious souls are to be taught

The wisdom from on high; so many feet
Directed in the way of righteousness;

So many members added to My flock;

And yet, alas! the laborers are scarce.” —
These words of Christ apply to our times, too:
Hen now the fields are white, but reapers few.

Oh, let us, then, be actively engaged,

As best we can, in leading men to Christ;

Let. us supply our colleges with boys

That many may go out as ministers;

Let us provide the necessary funds

With ready, willing hands, and generous.

The Lord hath need of us! Who would not help?

Who would not pray to God: “Thy kingdom come;

Increase Thy Church, enlarge Thy Christendom’?
H. OstTernus.

—> >

Our Glorious Future.

John writes: “Beloved, now are we the sons of
God; and it doth not yet appear what we shall be;
but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall
be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is,’
1 John 3,2. Let us now consider the second part
of this precious verse. We Christians, who are even
now God’s children, shall finally appear as such
publicly and in glory, on the last day, when Christ
will return to judge the quick and the dead. We
do not know when that blessed hour will make its
appearance; for it is not for us “to know the times

or the seasons which the ‘Father hath put in His
own power.” Then we shall be manifested as God’s
dear children in Christ’s own presence, who will
then say to us, “Come, ye blessed of My Father.”
Holy angels, too, will be there, looking at us with
rejoicing. Our fellow-Christians, who will stand
with us on the same side, will also behold us with
gladness of heart, while the unbelievers on the other
side will likewise see us.

Then we shall see Christ as He is. He will
then no longer appear in the cloak of humilation,
but as He really is, viz., as the blissful, sinless,
glorious King of our souls, the victorious and exalted
Savior who bled for us. His words of prayer will
then be fulfilled: “Father, I will that they also
whom Thou hast given Me be with Me where I am,
that they may behold My glory which Thou hast
given Me; for Thou lovedst Me before the founda-
tion of the world.” Then we shall see Him and
rejoice, and our joy no man shall take from us.
Then we shall join the angels’ songs.

We shall then be like unto Him. Our bodies
will be like the glorified body with which He arose
from the grave. From that time forth we shall
be sinless and blissful and full of the knowledge
of God, whom we shall then see face to face. The
divine image which was lost in Eden, but is re-
newed in all believers, will then be fully restored
in us. Even here on earth Christians are sinless
in God’s sight, being clothed with Christ’s right-
eousness, which is ours by faith. But sin still
cleaves to us. Then sin will be altogether elim-
imated, exterminated from our nature.
shall be like Him, similar to Him. Our text reads:
“We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as
He is.’ The sight of our Savior, our God, and

Thus we’