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lVI I S· S I O N A R Y
1\1 0 NTH LY.
PunLISIIED nY TIIE Ev.ANGELICAL L UTHERAN SYNODICAL Co:NFERENOE OF NoRTH AMERIO.A. R. A. IlISCHOFF, Editor. E ntcrctl nt the Post Ofllcc at Et. Louis, lfo., us sccoml -class matter.
Vol. XVIII.
St. Louis, Mo., Jan.uary, 1896.
Sowing and Reaping. On through the clark ancl wenry years We sow the seed with J>recl~us tenrs, · And stay our henrts In faith sublime With prospects of the harvest-time. Not long shnll we in sorrow go, Not long endure earth's toil nnd woe; For He who bids us sow and weep, Shall cnll us then In joy to renp. Then shall each tearful sower come, And bear his sheaves triumphant home; The voice long choked with grief shall sing TIil heaven ,vlth shouts of triumph ring. "
Thick on the hills or light shall stand The gatb.:red sbee.vcs from every -land; 'Y}llle they that sow and they that reap, The Harvest Home In glory keep. Stlteltd.
This Year also. In the thirteenth chapter of Luke we read : "A certain man bacl a fig tree planted in his vineyard ; and be came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? And he answering, said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it; and if it bear fruit, well ; and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down." The dresser of the ' vineyard, who is none other than Christ, pleads that the barren fig tree may be spared "this year also," with the announcement that "if it bear fruit, well ; and it not, then after that thou shalt cut it down." Well may we, at the beginning of another year, ask ourselves in the presence of God, whether Christ is or is not saying for the last ti111e: "Lord, let it alone this year also." To thousands He has come, not only three years, but ten years, twenty years, thirty years, seeking fruit, ancl finding none. How long He Will wait no man eati tell, but this may be the last year for many unfruitful professors of religion, who are not possessors of Christ. In behalf· of each of the111 the pleading of the
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loving Saviour is heard, "Lord, let it alone· strong, as well as with the sick and the man this year also," ancl thus they arc brought to on the border of the grave. Who knows the the beginning of 1896. Jie would again in number of h!s qays? When at r~st on our this year of grace apply His means of grace beds, or amidst the bustle of daily duties, or to make them fruitful trees in the vineyard of in a scene of sinful pleasure, or when engaged His Church. To many this will be the last in the worship of God-in some hour when ye:ir. If they continue to refuse faith ana we think ourselves most secure, time with us obedience to Christ, though for a time they may come to an end. Every day some are are spared, still in the end they shall be cut off without the least warning; they die in destroyed. The day of grace will end. The the bloom of youth, and in the ripeness of Toice of mercy will not always cry; "Let it manhood. And though you may put away 'alone this year also." Christ will not always the thought from your mind, it is still true lift his nailed-pierced liands over the sinner that "there is but a step between you and and intercede in his behalf. The Spirit will ·death." It is. only a question of time when not always strive. For after every means that last step will be taken. 1lave been tried and· siuot•ts reject their only · · ls it not, ttien, the highest wisdo!D to be salvation all through tlieir time of grace, then ready? You have a soul whose worth is bethe pleading anti merc'iful Redeemer will Him- yond all price. You need salvation because self say; "Cut them down." They have held you are guilty, sinful, and lost. Unless you His incarnation of no account; they have dis- accept that salvation- through faith in the regarded His suffering and agonizing death Lord Jesus Christ, you will be unprepared for sinners ; they have abused nnd spurned to die. Every day brings you nearer to the His goodness and mercy, His patience and grave. Then what? "After death, judgforbearance. He will at last becoine angry ment." The lesson of the dying year is, with the wicked, and they will experience Prepare to meet your God. Come to Him "the wrath of the Lamb;" whom they cles- whose name ,vas called Jesus, because He pised and'. rejected. How horrible to hear saves us from our sins. He casts out none from the lips of the Redeemer Himself the that come to Him, however guilty and miserdreadful command: "Cutthem down!" How able they may be. Como now I Remember, horrible to be condemned by the Saviour who you may not live to see the last month of loved us and died for us I Oh, let us then 1896. Before the year is past, you may be take heed to the testimony of John the Bap- gone. Are you ready for the great change? tist, which is as true "this year also," as The question is easily settled. The Bible when it fell from His lips: "Now also the says: "He that believetb on the Son hath axe is laid unto the root of the trees ; every everlasting life: and he that believeth not tree therefore which bringeth not forth good the Son shall not see life ; but the wrath of fruit is hewn down and cast into the firei'' God abideth on him," John 3, 86. Luke 8, 9.
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It is only a Question of Time.
God's Care.
"How do you find you! patient this morning, doctor?" "No better ; the disease baa advanced so far that there is no hope of recovery. He may Jlve a few days, but it ia now only a qi,eation of time." And is it not so with us all? It is only a question of time with the healthy and the
One evening Luther, seeing a little bird perched on a tree, said, "This little bird bu had its supper, and is getting ready to sleep, secure and content, never troubling itself about the morrow. Like DaTid, it '~bides under the shadow of the Almighty,' It sits on Its little twig, content, and lets God take care."
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