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MISSIONARY MONTH LY.
PUBLISHED BY THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN SYNODICAL CONFERENCE OF NORTH A.MERICA.
U• .A. BISCHOFF, Editor. IV
Entered nt the Post omce nt St. Lonie, Mo., :is second-cl:les m:ittcr.
Vol. XVII.
St. Louis, Mo., J a nuary, 1895.
A New Year's· Prayer. Thy wny, not mine, 0 Lord, However dark it be I Leo.d me by Thine own hnud, .Choose out the path for me. Smooth let it be or rough. It w ill be s'un the best, Wlucliug or straight, it matters not, It lends me to Thy rest. I dnre not choose my lot: I would not If I might; Choose Thou for me, my God, So shnll I wnlk aright. The kingdom tbnt I seek Is Thine : so let the ,vn.y That· !eads •to ·it •be Thine, - • Else I must surely stro.y. To.kc Thou my cup, and It With joy or sorrow fill, As best to Thee mily seem ; Choose Thou my goocl o.ud ill.
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Choose Thou for me my· friends, lly sickness or my hen.Ith, Choose Thou my co.res for me, l\Iy poverty or wcnlth. Not mine, not mlue the choice, In things or greo.t or smnll; Be Thou my ·guide, my strength, My wisdom, n.nd my o.11.
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"His Name was called Jesus."
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This is tha message of the N~w Yenr's Gospel, and a sweet nnd comforting message it is. It shows ~s the source of all true happiness. .In Jesus alone we have n happy new year. Without H im there is no true happiness ; for witho\lt Him there is nothing but sin, nncl "the .wages of sin is death." Man can not enjoy true happiness as long as he is on the road to ev~rlasting damnation. The joys and the wealth and the pleasures of this. world can give him no true happiness: they can not take away his sips; they, can not take away God's wrath; they can not save him from hell; they can not give him the sure hope everlasting life in the hour of death. True happiness is found in Jesus only, because in Him alone we have forgiveness of sin and life everlasting.
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No. 1.
His nnme was called Jesus, because He snves as an bnnd-brendth ; nnd mine age is as nothus from our sine. Jesus means Saviour, nncl ing before thee : verily eYery map at his best that name wns given Him, because He is the state is altogether vanity," Ps. 39, 5. Saviour. H e took our sins and curse upon · In the "prayer of l\foses , the man of Goel," H imself noel bore them in our stead. Thus it is saicl that we are carried "away as with n H e secured forgiveness of sin and salvation flood ; " we "are as n sl~ep ; " we nre in the for us. All that flee for refuge to Him, all morning "like gr:iss which groweth up," nn·d ' tliat believe in H im as He with all His trens- "in t he evening it is cut down , nnd withereth ;.!' ures is brought to them in the Gospel are safe "we spend our yenrs like 11 tale that is told ; " nod happy, whatever m:iy befall them in the for " we lly nw:iy," Ps. 90, 3-10. So our new y enr. Troubles nod sorrows and denth life is like "a shepherd's tent," Is:i. 38,'12; may come to them, but all this cnn not take "we nil do facle ns n leaf," Isa. 64, 6; '!for away the happiness they have · through f:i.ith what is your life? It is even a v:ipor, that npin Him whose onme wns called Jesus. He who pe:i.reth for a little time, nod then v:misheth has forgiven them nll their sins nnd hns mnde awny," Jns. -1, 14. "All flesh is ns .grnss, them God's children and heirs of heaven, also :incl nil the glory of man as the ll<Swer of grass," caresforthemduriiig the1r -pilgri mnge here , 1 Pet. 1;2"4: • .. on ·enrth. He guides the1il ,vith His own eye How blessed it is to turn to "the word o1 and be:irs them in His stroo·g nncl everlnst- Goel, which liveth noel abideth fore,,er," 1 Pet. iog arms. 1, 23. The days fly s wiftly by, tlie years come 11Everlnsting arms of 10,•c nnd go, "ancl the world pnsseth away, and the Arc bencntb, nround, o.bo"e, lust thereof: but he that doeth the ";n of Goel Christ lt Is who bcnrs us on, nbidethfore,•er," I John 2, 17. Happy, thereHis tbe love we Jenn upon. fore, Js the believer. He has lo.id hold of that "lie our ever prc, ent gulclc, which outlasts the fleeting charges of this shor~ Fnlth(ul is, whnt'er betide; and swiftly passing life. "'fhe word of the Glnclly then we journey on, Lord enclureth fore,·er," 1 Pet. 1, 25. With His nrm tq lean upon." "Our years are like the shndows o•,·er sunny hills that ffy, Or grnsses lo the meadows Life is Short. That blossom but to die; A sleep, a dream, a story, That life is short and time flies, is often forDy strangers quickly told, gotten. Mnny spend their years without thJokAu lntermlttlog glory ing of the swiftness of·the passing days. It is Of things that soon are olcl. mark of wisdom to remember the shortness 11 11 0 Thou, ,vho canst not slumber, of life and to prepare for the life to come. Whose light grows never pll.lp, "So tench us to number our days thnt we may Tcncl1 us aright to nnmber Our years before they fall; apply our hearts unto wisdom.,·, On. us Thy mercy lighten, The Bible reminds us ·again and again of On ns Thy goodness rest, the shortness of life and of the swiftness of And let Thy Spirit brighten time. "l\Iy dnys are swifter than n weaver's The hearts Thyself hath blossea.n shuttle," Job 7, 6. "My days are swifter than n post; they llee 11way, they see 110 good. '.Fhey are passed a~ ay as the swift ships; as Clouds. the eagle that hasteth to the prey," Job 9, An 'old Christian couple were asked : ".And 25. 26. 111\'Ian that is born of a woman, is of 11 Cloucla?" few days, and full of trouble. He cometh have you never any clouds?" said the old woman, "clouds? Why, yea, air. forth like a flow.er, and is out down; be fleeth Else where would all the blessed showers come also aa a shadow ; and continueth not," Job 14, 1. 2. "Behold, thou bast made my daya from?"
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