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lVIISSIONARY MONTH LY.
PUBLISHED BY THE
EvANGELICAL
LUTHERAN SYNODICAL CONFERENCE OF NORTH A1;1ERIOA.. R. A. DISCIIOFF, Editor.
Entered aL the Post Omce at SL. Louis, Mo., llS second-cl:uss matter.
Vol. VII.
St. Louis, Mo., Jan.uary? 1885. A Little While.
little while" of mingled joy nnd sorrow, more years to wande1· here below, To wait the dawning of thnt golden morrow, When morn shall break nbo\·e our night of woe. "A
A few
more thoms about our pnthway growing, Ere yet our hnuds may cull the heavenly flowers, The morn will come; but first the tearful sowing, Ere we mny rest these weary souls of ours. A few
little longer in this vale of weeping, OI yearning for the sinless home above; "A little while" of watching, nud of keeping Our garments, by the power of Him we lo\·c. A
"A little
while" for winning souls to Jesus, Ere yet we sec H i s beauty face to fllcc; ""A little while" for healing soul discuses, Dy telling othct·s of-a Siwiour's grncc. "A little while" to tell the joyful story
Of Him who made our guilt nnd curse His own; "A-little while," ere we behold the glory, To gnin fresh jewels for our heavenly crown. "A little
while," nlld WC shnll dwell IorC\'Cr Within our bright, our c,·crlnsting home, Where time, or spncc, or denth no more cnn sever Our grief-wrung hearts, and pnln cnn never come. T1s·but "a little whllc"-thc wuy is dreary, The night Is dark, but we arc nearing lnncl : Ob for the rest of heaven, for we nrc weary, .Ancl long to mingle wltl1 the dcat41ess baud! 1
-G.S.
Whiter -Than Snow. It was a coltl winter's morning, and the poor in their cabins among the hills felt the pinch of want in many ways. In one of these cabins lived Aunt Susan. She had long known the sorrows that follow in the tnlin of poverty and sicknes:J, and often bad she moistened her scanty meal of bread and water with bitter tears, yet she knew not God's way of peace. She had tried to find peace and rest by her own doings, and on that New Year's morning she again resolved to do this and to do that, yet she was not ii.t rest. A Christian friend that morning stopped in to see her and spoke about the new year and about death and the grave being ne11rer. "Oh," said Aunt Susan, "I've
No. 1.
been 11 sinner all my days, nnd my henrt is Or are you yet in your sins, because of unbeblack uml filthy, and I dread to die." "Yes," lief, and vainly seeking by your own doings to said her friend, "'Tis nll true what you say fit yourself for that day when you musL appear about yourself, for God who knows all thing,1 before that Judge who will make no mistake? has given us a terrible picture in the Bible of 0 look unto Jesus and accept Him as your only whnt is in our hearts. But He has also given Saviour! You can then say with sure con• us anothe1· picture, and that of His heart. It fidence in God: " I will greatly rejoice in the is seen in those words which tell us of the Sav- Lord; my soul shall be joyful in my Goel; for iour horn at Bethlehem, whose name was called He hath ·clothed me with the garments of salJesus, because He saves us from all our sins. vation, He hath covered me with the robe of It is seen in such loving words as these: 'God righteousness.'' (Isa. 61, 10.J so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever belie,•eth in him Daily Prayer. should not perish, but have e,•erlnstiog life.' (John 3, 16.) Now, I do believe in Him who The fishermen of Brittany (so the story goes) bus done nod suffe1·ed nil for me. Aud since I are wont to utter this simple prayer when they thus rest my soul on Jesus, I am not afraid to launch their boats upon the deep: "Keep me, die, for nil my sins are forgiven, as God assures my God; my hoat is so small and Thy ocean me in His word. He is the eternal truth and is so wide." How touchingly beautiful the words cannot lie." and t.he thought I Might not the same petition "0, sir," sighed Aunt Susan, "l wish my be uttered with as much directness e,•ery momheart was as good as your,1." iug and every evening of our daily life-"Keep "My heart," said her friend, "is very bad, me, God ; for my boat is so small and Thy and black by nature nnd by actual sins, but ocean is so wide"? Keep me, my God, keep the Lord has cleansed me, and made me 'whiter me from the perils and temptations tbat throng than snow.' Just look at the beautiful snow around me as I go about my rlaily duties. "My which.is coming down so fast; it_has covered boat is so small"-! am so weak, so helpless, so all that black, dirty earth since I have been prone to wander, so forgetful of thy loving talking with you. Now listen to what God kinclnessl I am toSl!ed to and fro at the mercy says: 'Though your sins be as scarlet, they of the world ; I am buffeted about by sharp shall be ns white· as snow; though they be red adversity, nnd driven before the storms of grief like crimson, they shall beas wool"' (Isa. 1, 18.). and sorrow. E.""tcept thou dost keep me I must And as old Auntie looked out of the window perish. Keep me, my God, for "Thy ocean is and saw the beautiful white robe of snow that so wide"-the journey is long, and the days had covered t.he filthy ground, she cried out, and years are many. "In Thee, 0 Lord, do I "Oh, bow beautiful!" "Yes," said her friend, put my trust. Deliver 1ue in Thy righteousness.'' "and this is bow God sees all who trust in Jesus; they are covered with His beautiful white robe of righteousness, so that nothing is Rest in Christ. seen but Christ." "Oh, I see it now," said old The needle in the compnes never stands still Auntie, "the righteousness of Jesus, nucl not our own, ia the white dress with which we cnn till it comes right to the north pole. The wise come before God. It is spotleBS, and whiter men of the East ne,·er stood still till they were than the beautiful snow." Aud thus looking right against. the star which appeared unto away from her own sinful self unto Jesus, she them ; ru1d the star itself never stood still till lost her burden, and joy took the place of grief. it came right against that other Star which Dear render, the new year tells you that you shone more brightly in the manger than the are nearer the grave and the judgment. Are sun in tbe firmament. So we must not stand you covered with that white robe that has not still till our hearts rest against. the heart of a spot upon it-the righteousness of Christ? Jesus.