U0ht Juthtran MISSIONARY lVI ONT H LY.
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PUBLISHED BY TIIE EVANGELICAL LUTIIERAN SYNODICAL CONFERENCE OF NORTH AMERICA. R. A. IlISCIIOFF, E1lltor. Entered at the Post Office n~ St. J.onis, Mo. , :is Eecond-clru;s mrmer.
Vol. IV.
St. Louis, ~1=o., Febr1..1.ary, 1882. The Gift of God.
"The gift of God I the gift of God! Who will buy the gift of God?"
Sncb is the cry of the water-carrier as he goes about the streets of Egyptian towns, with his wnterskin thrown over his shoulder, during the season of drought, when the water, from its preciousness, mn.y well be called, ns it is, "the gift of God." As the wn.tcr-cnrrier goes along his waynow coming into a wealthy part of the towna rich mnn, thinking of the need of the poor, and wishing'to bestow a kindness on them, steps out of his mnnsion, and pays the mnn for nil the water he hn.s, desiring him to go into the poorest qunrter·nnd-give~itn wny. ·- - The mnu hastens off. and reaches n. Jane . ' where the poorest hnve their clwellings, and ~ow clinngcs his cry, and instead of saying,"Who will buy the gift of God?" he cries out: "The gift of Goll! the gift of God! Who will take the gift of God I"
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1Ve can imagine how eagerly and gladly the poor thirsty ones gather around him, and that there would not be much delay before the empty vessels were brought out of their houses to be filled. "Give me a drop!" "Remember me!" "Fill up my pitcher!" "Let me have a draught!" and such-like eager appeals, in beseeching t~mes, would make the water-carrier think how best l1e could dispose of the precious liquid; and, while gladdening him to be the bearer of so free and prized a gift, it would go to his very heart that he had not enough for nil. W'hat a grand picture we have here of "tbe water of life," which is offered " without money and without pr1ce" to every one that thirsteth ! Jesus has paicl for the water for which our souls were dying for· thirst; and as we have "no money," it would be a hopeless cnse. indeed for us, if He, in His love and in His pity, had not thought of our need, and come forth from His glorious mansion above, not only to P~rcbnse it for us, but acLually to bring it with His own hands to our parched lips. X.
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is a debt which all men owe and which few pny cheerfully. G:aATITUDE
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If not, why du you not Io,•c Him? Has He ever harmed you, or hns He ever harmed the Some years ngo n pnstor in one of our west- world? Oh, no! In infinite love He gave His ern cities held n. series of lectures against the own life for you and for the whole sinful world. infidelity of our time. He spoke on the Evi- He recleemccl you with His own precious blood. deuces of Christianity. .Among his hearers ,vould you grie,,e His heart, so noble, so good, were two persons unlike in every respect. One i;o loving, hy turning away from His ent.re1\ting wns n. highly ecl ucatecl mnu, the president of nn voice in the Gospel: "Come unto me, and I infidel club. He came to tnke notes thnt were will give you rest"? If you continue to negto be laid before the m1?cti11gs of the skeptics. lect Him to the close of your short life and die The other person wns nn old and unlearned without faith in that Sa,..iour, God will surely colorecl woman. She came, not becauee she shut you up in hell; for He will not. permit understood the arguments, but because she was you to count the hloocl of His Son a common glad to be where the t!nmc of her Saviour was thing. 9ther questions may engnge your athonored. On a certain evening cluring sen·ice, tention now, but sooner or Inter that question a sleet fell, covering the stone steps of the of the old colored woman must be answered by c1mrch building, nnd ns the old colored woman you : "Do you Jove Jesus?" May you be one wns ]caving at the close of the sermon, she of those who can say from the bottom of their slipped, nnd might ha,•e been severely injured hearts: "'Ve love Him, because He flrit loved if the infidel, who was coming down the steps 1es," 1 John 4, 19. nt the same time, ]ind not caught her and kindly helped het· to the sidewalk. She thnnked Napoleon and the Soldier. him, nnd then said in a low, tremulous voice, "Young master, do you love Jesus?" They Mnny years ago, after a.day of fierce fightparted, but thnt voice of the colored woman hag at Marengo, Napoleon Bonaparte bad placed followed the infidel to his room, and started a his sentinels at different points of the camp. mighty tide of emotion in his prou·d hearL They were charged, on the pain of death, to He rend the Bible, and was convinced of the keep nwnke, and guard against being surprised utter sinfulness of his nature. From the by the enemy. About midnight Napoleon ro..i=e, Bible he nlso learned to know l1is Saviour, and and, walking r~und , found one of the sentinels with tears in his eyes he saw thn.t for many asleep, his gun lying beside him. The soldier, yeara he hnd rejected and despised his best no doubt, hnd been worn out by the terrible Friend, that Friend who had loved him with fatigue of the preceding day-but theu the an iu finite love. la,v must be obeyed; discipline must be kept The pnstor soon heard that nu infidel, who up; the sentinel's duty must be done; or else hnd been one of his bearers, was converted. be must die. Whut did the Emperor do? He went to see him and wished to know what Softly and sileutly, he took up the gun, put it argument had convinced him of his error. on his own shoulder, and acted as sentinel till "Ob,'' he said, "I listened to all of your argu- the dawn of daly. When the soldier awoke, he ments with unmoved indifference, eave wl1en was filled with alnrm at having left his duty they excited a feeling of intense opposition to undone, concluding that be wns a lost man. the views you advanced; but it was the simple But Nalpoleon (who had done this generous act question of an old colored woman, ' do you love from love to him as a soldier) simply handed Jesus?' that led me to see the cruelty of my back to him his gun, nnd bade him be more conduct towards my best Friend." The pastor awake in future.-In this case, "By the obelearned that, because infidelity has its sent not dience of that one," the la,v was kept to the in tho head but in the heart, the power of letter. And even thus, the Lord Jesus took God is nec~ry to sweep away the barriers up our undone obedience, and by Bia life of spotless holiness in our room, fulfilled all rightwhich unbelief has reared around the soul. X. l\fy dear, dying render, do you love Jesus? eousness for us.
The Colored Woman's Question.
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