Jutlttran tlinntt~. A
MISSIONARY
lVI ONT H LY.
PUBLISHED BY THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN · SYNODICAL CONFERENCE OF NoRTII AMERICA. ll. A. IlISClfOFF, E1ll1or. Entered at tho Poet omcc at SL Louie, llo., :is •econd-elass matter.
Vol. :X:XJTI.
St. Louis, Mo., Jan.uary, 1901.
No. I.
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In God's Hand. OU:r Limes arc In Thy hnnd, Father, we wish them there; Our life, our soul, our all, we lellve Entirely to Thy cllrc. Our times arc In Thy hnnd, Whlltevcr they may be, Pleasing or painful, dark or bright, As best mlly seem to Thee. Our times arc In Tby hand, Why should we doubt or fear? A Father's hllnd will never ca.use His child ll needless tear. Our times arc In Thy ha.nd, Jesus, the cruciOcd! The hllnd our mllny sins .ba.d pierced Is now our gua.rd a.nd guide. Our times arc In Thy hand, Jesus, the Advocntcl Nor cnn tha.t ha.nd be strctche<l In vain For us to supplicate. Our times nrc In Thy ha.nd, ,vc'd nlwa.ys trust In Thee, Tlll we hnvc left this weary land, An<l nll Thy glory .see. e
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Jesus. The name Jesus greets us nt the beginning of a new year and at the opening of n new century. It is n precious name, that name Jesus. It. was given to the Child born at Bethlehem, not by men, but by God Himself through an angel who was sent to Joseph with the command, "Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins." No one may here so.y, What is there in a name ? In this name, given by God Himself, there is everything we need. Jesus means Saviour, and He to whom this name was given. really is what the name means. "Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins." He wna called Jesus, because He is Jesus, the Saviour. We read in history of men who were called saviours, because they saved their people from some enemy. Washington is called the 1&viour of his country, and we once heard a colored speaker call Lincoln the aa,·iour of the colored raoe. Such saviours are only
tempora.l deliverers from some temporal e\'il, but in nil the centuries there has never been such n Snviour ns He thnt was cnllecl Jesus by God's own command. He saves from sin, the root of nil ill, the source of nil our woe. Sin is the evil of all evils. It. drove Adam nod Eve out of Paradise and made this earth a lnnd of toil, and sorrow, and tears, and graves. There is no enemy like sin. It destroys both body and soul and ruins for time and eternity. It mnkes men slaves and drags them down into everlasting dnmuation. Throughout the centuries we behold everywhere the ruin and devastation wrought by sin. Thanks be to God, we have a Saviour from sin. Christ came to overcome that monster. He was called Jesus, becnuse He was to snve His people from their sins. In whnt wny He did this; through what grent sufferings and agony He had to pnss, we know. He wns made under the law nud perfectly fulfilled in our stead every commandment which we had broken. He took all our sins upon Himself and suffered the punishment which we deserved. This He did for sinners and thus redeemed every sinner from the curse of the Jaw and from the punishment of sin. In Him we now ho.Ye forgiveness of sins and life e,•erlastiug. What a blessed message this is: "His name wns called Jesus." In that name we have nil we need. How sweet it sounds! Through nil the changing scenes of our pilgrimage it comforts when no other will; even in death Jesus is often the last name lisped by the dying one, and causes a smile of joy even as life ebbs away. "I nm going to be ,vith Jesus," have been the Inst joyful words of many a child of Go~.:.. Believe in Jesus, and in that name you will hnYe the waters of salvation which wash away all your sins. Believe in Jesus, ancl' that name will be to you full of comfort and peace in all trials and sorrows of life. Believe in Jesus, and that name will be to you a safe guide throughout your pilgrimage. Believe in Jesus, and when death comes, that name will give you the victory oYer death and the grave and will bring you the joys of eYerlaatlng lite:
Abide in Jesus. "Aud now, little children, abide in Him; that, when He shall appenr, we may have confidence, nod not be ashamed before Him nt His coming," 1 John 2, 28. How solemn nod touching is this nppeal at the beginning of n new year! Christ is coming, and it may be, this year, this µionth, this week ; for nothing remains to be fulfilled, before His shout may be heard, calling us to Himself. Should that shout be henrd no10, • would it find the state of our henrt such townrd bur Lord, townrd our brethren, and townrd the world, that we would have confidence at His nppcnriug, or would we be ashamed before Him at His coming? Well might an aged Christian write, "Let us then· be al ways abiding in Him ; every day, every hour, every instant ; even as we would wish to be found abiding in Him, were He to appear this very day, this Yery hour, this very instant. He is about to appear; to appear suddenly; to come quickly. Ob! let us see to it, that as we would not wish Him to come when we were in such a state ns to cause shrinking from Him in shame ; as we would rather that when He appears ""e were in n position to spring forward with keen eye and outstretched arm - to welcome in all confidence Him whom we love; let us see to it that \Ve 'abide in Him.•" a
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New Every Morning. "The Lord's mercies arc new e\'ery morning." What an assurance this ls to carry with us In all our wayfaring through the world I The future Is always dark to us. The shadows brood over it. A veil hides it from our sight. What is under the shadows, what is behind the veil, none of us can know. We have no anxious questions to ask. Thia is enough for all that is coming: "The Lord's mercies are new every morning." Tako up each day a, it comes, certain of this, that, whatever It lays upon you to do or bear, it will bring new mercies for new deeds. L. S.