The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1919, Page 58

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The Lutheran Pioneer.

necessity sinless; hence John adds the lovely words:
“And in Him is no sin.” Christ, our Deliverer and
sin’s Foe, is naturally our Example, He being sin-
less. Dear Christians, do you continually make
use of Christ as your Savior and your Haample?
A heart-searching question! Listen to v.6: “Who-
soever abideth in Him [by faith] sinneth not |in-
tentionally|: whosoever sinneth [takes delight in
sin] hath not seen Him, neither known Him,’
he being no ‘child of God. The more a Christian
grows in grace, the tenderer his conscience will be-
come, causing him to distinguish ever more finely
between righteousness and sin, and then to do ac-
cording to its verdict. One reason why this First
Epistle of John is so dear to the Christian’s heart
is this ever-recurring great, striking contrast be-
tween the kingdom of God and that of Satan which
John points out so impressively. and consistently.
Thus this letter is excellently adapted to be used
for self-examination.

“Tittle children, let no man decewe you: he
that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as He
is righteous,’ v.%. No one should imagine that he
is a child of God, if he purposely works unright-
eousness. Then he belongs into Satan’s sphere and
realm, as the next verse shows. If he, however,
makes righteousness his daily pursuit, he himself
is righteous. What does this mean? The meaning
is that such a one is no longer a seryant of sin,
but is governed by the principle of righteousness.
He is then righteous, even as Christ is righteous.
He is a new creature, being even here on earth
similar to Christ to a certain extent. It is under-
stood that perfection in righteousness is not attain-
able by us in this life. After Adam’s fall Jesus
of Nazareth was the only perfect man that ever
lived on earth. — V.8a furnishes the counterpart
of the foregoing: “He that committeth sin is of
the devil; for the devil sinneth from the begin-
ning.” The following words state what we already
considered (v.5): “For this purpose the Son of
God was manifested, that He might destroy the
works of the devil,” v.8b.— John had said, “He
that doeth righteousness is righteous.” He further
elucidates this in v.9: “Whosoever is born of God
[by faith in His Son] doth not commit sin [wil-
fully]; for his seed [the new nature that he has
received by the seed of God’s Word (1 Pet. 1, 23) ]
remaineth in him: and he cannot sin [purposely],
because he is born of God,” hence led by His Spirit.
For Christians are no longer carnal, but spiritual.

H. OstERHUs.

Short Items from New Orleans.

Our Carrollton Mission mourns the loss of its
oldest and most faithful member, Mrs. Alicia
Pynchon. Mrs. Pynchon was a remnant from our
old Carrollton Mission. She became a member
of our Lutheran Church on July 1, 1888, under
Pastor Aug. Burgdorf. Later, when the mission
in Carrollton was abandoned and the few remaining
members scattered, she, together with her daughter
Cleonise Pynchon, now Mrs. Willarcl, remained true
to their Lutheran Church. As often as they could
make it possible, they attended services in Beth-
lehem Chapel, where they also went to Communion.
When our Carrollton Mission was begun anew in
a different locality in the year 1914, Mrs. Pynchon
together with her daughter were the charter mem-
bers. Faithfully they came to services in the old
rented hall in which our mission was at first domi-
ciled. She was among the rejoicing ones when in
the fall of 1916 our small, but neat little chapel
was dedicated. Here she came to service regularly,
though in the last years her hearing was so bad
that she understood very little of the sermon. She
often said: “If only I can understand the text,
then I can read some of the words ‘rom the pastor’s
lips; here and there I understand a word, and that
way I get something out of the sermon.”

Since Haster Mrs. Pynchon ailed. The doctors
advised an operation, but were frank enough to tell
her that at her age they could not guarantee the
outcome. She said, “No, I have lived my time.
An operation might shorten my life, but cannot
much prolong it. I leave it all in the hands of
my good Lord.”

During the weeks and months that followed she
often suffered very intensely, but never complained.
She was ever cheerful, willing to follow as the Lord
directed. It was really a pleasure, more so than
a duty, to visit her during her sickness and to
speak with her about those things which are above.
She was prepared, ready to go when the Lord would
call her. On Sunday, the 8th day of June, she
breathed her last. Mercifully the Lord, her Savior,
took her unto Himself in heaven. On Tuesday,
June 10, we carried her earthly remains to their
final resting-place. Her funeral service was the
first one to be held in our Carrollton Chapel. The
little church was filled to the last seat. For many
this was, no doubt, the first service they witnessed
in a Lutheran Church. So even in her death she
invited others to “come and see,” to come and find