The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1919, Page 73

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

wel To

~The Zutheran Pioneer.

A MISSIONARY MONTHLY.

a:

PuBLISHED BY THE HvANGELICAL LuTHERAN SyNopIcaL ConFERENCE or NortH AMERICA.

REV. F. J. LANKENAU, EDITOR.

Published monthly by Concordia Publishing House, St, Louis, Mo.

Subscription price, 25 cts. per annum, payable strictly in advance.

Entered as second-class matter at the Post Office at St. Louis, Mo., under the Act of March 3, 1879. m
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.

No. 10.

ST. LOUIS, MO., OCTOBER, 1919.

O Where May My Soul Find a Home
to Repose.

O where may my soul find a home to repose,

And shed all its lingering fears and its woes?

Oh, is there no haven of shelter on earth,

Where sin is not known nor its comfortless dearth?
No, no, no, no, it is not here;

The home of my longing, alas, is not here!

O fain would I leave this poor earth for the home
With greetings of weleome and joy when I come;
The city of splendor, so fair to behold,

With portals of pearls and with lintels of gold;
Yea, yea, yea, yea, there shall it be;

The home of my longing in heaven shall be.

O blessed, repose which the Lord will confer

On me in that home when at length I appear;

No death and no weeping, no sorrow or pains,

But glad hallelujahs and joyous Amens.

Rest, rest, rest, rest, heavenly rest!

In Jesus’ fair mansions the weary will rest.
Adapted from the German Wo findet die Seele,

by J. T. Murertmr.

> o> _

The Christians’ Happy Life.
1 JoHn 3, 19—24.

The earnest, but also truly delightful command
which should be proclaimed to all men in these
blessed days of the New Testament is: Repent and
believe in Jesus Christ. The glorious promise
which should likewise and in connection with this
command, following it, be given the entire man-
kind and be withheld from no one is: By faith
thou shalt be saved. In other words, the precious
preaching of Christ and Him crucified must remain
the great topic to which the attention of all sinners
(and who is without sin?) should be drawn. This
message should, according to God’s good and gra-
cious will, be continually repeated and emphasized

unto the end of the world. The risen Christ said to
His disciples: “Thus it is written, and thus it be-
hooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the
third day: and that repentance and remission of
sins should be preached in His name among all
nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” Hence we read
1 John 3, 23: “And this is His commandment, That
we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus
Christ.”

The following words of this verse contain the
other divine command, viz., that “we should love
one another.” John dwells on this subject in verses
10—18, and also in the verses. that we are consider-
ing now. Love, not merely in word, neither in
tongue, but in deed and in truth, is a sure indi-
cation to Christians that they have faith. This
is what the Apostle means when he writes: “Hereby
we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure
our hearts before Him,” y. 19.

The Apostle continues: “For if our heart con-
demn us, God is greater than our heart, and
knoweth all things,” v. 20. Doubts and misgivings
as to the reality and sincerity of our faith at times
arise in our hearts because our walk is still very
imperfect. The torturing feeling as if no faith
were left in us sometimes assails us Christians and
robs us of peace. In such times of temptation, when
the consciousness of faith has well-nigh forsaken
us, we should, nevertheless, not despair. But we
should ask ourselves: “Do I love the brethren?
If this is the case, I may be assured that my faith
is not extinct, even though God’s grace in Christ
does not seem to make any impression on me, nor
fill my heart with appreciation.” Thus we pacify
our hearts, silence our conscience, and peace and

|