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Page 1 1909. {writing in German} Feb 10,9. A traveler from the Holy Land reminds us that the door of the sheepfold is the shepherd himself, thus enabling us to see the beauty of the Master's figure - himself the door of the spiritual life. [John 10:1-19] Page 2 There is no disputing, naturally, the fact of the crucifixion. As bare, historical occurrence, that stands unchangeable by the severest skepticism. To Jew and Greek, from the first, Jesus was the object of reviling and scorn as "the crucified." It is not the fact of the crucifixion, but its significance - the measuring with which it is clothed in the apostolic writings - which is put in question. The crucifixion was, as some think, not a sacrifice, but the natural climax to the collision of good and evil in the life of Jesus. Faith regards it a supreme act of atonement for human transgression. The potential power of the Savior's suffering is immeasurable. The simple story breaks the hard world's heart; savage, cannibal, stolid Esquimaux, and heathen enthusiast alike are moved by it to wonder and tears, then to transformed life. Page 3 "I have acquired the hide of an elephant. The elephant does not know he is getting a beating until twelve months afterwards." Kaiser Wilhelm II Rorftin Luibl Roftun {sp?} To rest is to rust. Is life a race or is it a ramble? Lifters and Leaners. Be a lifter, not a leaner. Faint not. [Isaiah 40:31] Let your soul-longings be for God; for His likeness and image; for the advancement of His kingdom; for life eternal the possession of which we may now have; for a complete life and a glorious eternity. On, on, on, ever advancing, ever climbing life's rugged steeps higher and higher, until we reach the land immortal, and hear the dear Master say: "Well done, good and faithful servant; enter then into the joys of thy Lord!" Then we shall be fully satisfied when we awake with His "likeness." [Matthew 25:21, 25:23] Page 4 Just a little farther ere we reach our home, Just a while to labor till our Lord says: "Come," Just a few more sorrows ere all grief is o'er, Just a final conflict - then rest evermore. Autumn once more begins to teach! Sear leaves their annual sermon preach; And with the southward-slipping sun, Another stage of life is done. Half the world is on the wrong scent in the pursuit of happiness. They think it consists in having and getting, and in being served by others. It consists in giving and serving others. [Galatians 5:13][Acts 20:35] A man may be a splendid specimen of a worldly man without any spiritual life at all. Page 5 Don't Drive but Lead. Matth. 6,20. An old Quaker, when about to pass from this world, said: "That which I spent I had, that which I kept I leave, but that which I gave away I take with me." The winds which drive the ship to destruction on the rocks, are the very winds that would send the ship into the harbor if it were properly handled. We are responsible for the way in which we sail life's sea. Who has early learned to conquer himself will find naught impossible of achievement later. In his disputation with Dr. Eck in Leipsic Luther said: No deeper does Eck go into the Scriptures than the water spider dives into the water, and flees from it as the devil flees from the cross. Page 6 To leave out Christ in preaching is like trying to make a garden and leaving out the sun. A Motto. Every time that we yield to temptation It is easier for us to do wrong. Every time we resist temptation It is easier for us to be strong. We are not filling our brains with idle fancies; we are not building beautiful castles in Spain, or chasing the phantom rainbow of illusive hopes. Men will look to this Western Continent for confessors to hold aloft - the chiefest trophies of the mighty conflict which convulsed Europe 400 years ago. From there streams the light and flows the life that directs and quickens the step of the pilgrim who is reaching out with yearning heart for the greater glory beyond. Page 7 In the twilight hours of this waning world-day, toward eventide, there has been kindled in this country by God's gracious hand the Pharaohs light of the blessed Gospel, which throws its genial rays over the darkling waters of an ocean of sin, fills the land of the saved with the glory of Jehovah and penetrates the gathering shadows of infidelity even in far-off lands. If our eye could sweep from the Eads Jetties1 to Lake Itasca2, and beyond, if in one comprehensive vista we could embrace both the enormous marsh and the tiny source of the great river, would our admiration be lessened because of the tiny source? I take it, the very opposite could occur. A feeble beginning only serves to render more intense and more cordial our appreciation of great results which have spring from it. Additional notes (added by John D. Mueller): 1 Eads Jetties is a channel created to allow ships to sail from the ocean into the Mississippi river. 2 Lake Itasca is the true source of the Mississippi river. Page 8 When men depart from scriptural doctrines and plans, and substitute their own whims and notions, they open upon themselves the flood-gates of error and confusion. [2 Corinthians 11:3-4] [Galatians 1:8-9] [2 John 1:10] In union we are strong in disunion we go to pieces. [1 Corinthians 1:10] Christlikeness. It is said that soon after a young Jewess became a Christian she began to read church history with great eagerness, "to find out how and when Christians came to be so different from Christ." What a contrast is found in Acts 4,13 when the Jews beholding the boldness etc., of Peter and John, took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus. Let us pray with Charlotte Murray: "To be like Christ in what our hearts are craving,… Page 9 … To be like Him in thought and deed and word, Most holy Spirit, oh! baptize us richly Some men would make better Pagans than Christians. The childhood shows the man as morning shows the day. Everything has to be tried by the sinner before he will come to Christ. He has to feel there is nothing that can save him but Christ, then he will come. The hardest thing for a man to do is give up his will. The most solemn truth in the gospel is that the only thing Christ left down here is His blood. [Hebrews 9:12,22] Page 10 Look at the Roman soldier as he pushed his spear into the very heart of the Godman. [John 19:34] What a hellish deed! But what was the next thing that took place? Blood covered the spear! Oh thank God, the blood covers sin. There was the blood covering that spear - the very point of it. The very crowning act of sin brought out the crowning act of love; the crowning act of wickedness was the crowning act of grace. A Scatchman {sp?} found 31,000 distinct promises in the word of God. What grounds have we for not believing God? Can we point to something in the world and say: this is truth? No but we can point to God and say: He is truth. Page 11 Christ says: I am the truth. [John 14:6] There is not one excuse but it is a lie. Gods service a hard one! How will that sound in the judgement? A strange and dangerous delusion is now gaining currency among the Protestant churches of Christendom. Pastors would be preserved from loss and chagrin to take proper precautions by seduction of false leaders. Though God's judgement appears to tarry, it's coming will not fail. God's effulgent glory. Page 12 The world has changed more in the last one hundred years than in any thousand years that have gone before. He lapsed into sin. Don't magnify the evils and minify the virtues of your enemies. Better put your enemies out of existence by making them your friends. This ought not to be tabled {German Writing} with a shrug of the shoulders. One of the most charming vistas. They painstakingly seek to be right in doctrine. Surcharged with the potential power of the all-encompassing … Page 13 … power of the Holy Spirit. He was quite oblivious of things mundane. Some think they have already a title to a mansion in the skies. Keenly sensitive to this unvoiced cry One who longs to throw himself into the fight. The sadness of one who toils at a hopeless task. Dispel a welcome illusion. Those who know themselves in arrears on their subscriptions to the debt of the church Page 14 In time God executed the plans framed in the council of eternity. Many do not grasp the significance of these words. In our Lord these words were also verified. 1He took decided issue with him when 2he endeavored to fasten the stigma of race suicide on Protestantism as such. 1 A bishop 2 a Luth. Pastor Ridicule is poured upon a talking ass [Numbers 22:28-31], the whale of Jonah [Jonah 1:15-17], an ax-head that swam [2 Kings 6:1-7]. Far from a world of grief and sin. With God eternally shut in. A believer is willing to loose the world for the enjoyment of grace; and he is willing to leave the world for the fruition of glory. Page 15 Linger not. The time is short! If thou wouldst work for God, it must be now; If thou couldst win the garland for thy brow, Redeem the trine{sp??}! Shake off earth's slosh! Go forth with staff in hand while yet it is day; Set out with girdled loins upon the way. Up! Linger not! Fold not thine hands! What has the pilgrim of the cross and crown To do with luxury or couch of down? On, pilgrim, on! With his reward He comes; He tarries not; His day is near. When men least look for Him, He will be here. Prepare for Him! Page 16 Let not the flood Sweep thy firm feet from the eternal Rock; Face calmly, solemnly, the billows shock Fear not the storm! Withstand the foe! Die daily that forever then mayst live; Be faithful unto death! The Lord will give The crown of life. Bonar. The unassisted eye. The unaided eye. Clinging to the old faith, we today, despise the wild onsets of false doctrines stand where we stood 20 years ago, where a Luther stood, where the apostles stood, where Christ himself stood. Page 17 These words come forcefully to our mind. This engrosses our mind . In America and Europe, friends and foes prophesied that the funeral dirge would soon be sung to this foreign church-body. Knowing the devil's deceit and craftiness. Our fathers carried out their God-imposed duty toward us. We see the same spirit in the children that animated the fathers. The generations to come are to be reared in the faith of their fathers. They proclaim in eloquent language. Christ is the light to lighten the Gentiles. Page 18 The Germanic Gentiles . Germanic races. It fell below our expectation. We are on the point of establishing another mission. Prepare His way, and as you set in order your houses and put on holiday attire see to it that He find not the house and clothing cleaner than your hearts. Father and mother must be devout Christians, living examples, after which the child naturally will pattern. [Proverbs 22:6-15] [Proverbs 29:15-17] [Ephesians 6:4] You are setting a dammable example. Satan has duped and blinded you. Page 19 You must acquaint the child with the work of the church. start - finish origin - termination commencement - conclusion beginning - end inception - consummation, completion outset - - goal commencement - close world-denying spirit God holds all men to account not only for the ways in which they make their money but also for the ways in which they dispose of it. [Matthew 19:16-24] [Mark 10:17-25] [Luke 18:18-25] There was a time when a fallacy held wider sway, that man could atone both to society and to God for the bad way… Page 20 … in which his wealth was accumulated by contributing lavishly to worthy causes. This is falling into disrepute more and more, as it should. God evaluates our support of missions by the motives which gives it being. It's spectral shadow is cast upon. It is most needful to have the heart established. Though you had drunk with avidity all the streams of human science. Man's pitiable self-complacency. All this God in grace sets before us. Page 21 Herein we have an excellent touchstone by which to try all sorts of teaching and preaching. To form a correct judgement about something. It stands in striking contrast with. See how nature will carry itself in such a case. He enjoyed very little worldly felicity. The painful circumstances consequent upon our failure. Rome felt secure that its day of reckoning would never come. But it came. And Luther was the one who, by the grace of God, overthrew the mighty church of Rome. Page 22 Empires have flourished and have fallen to decay. Nothing shall make this word of God void. [1 Peter 1:22-23] The Lord had taken such pains to deliver them. Every self-devised path must prove a path of doubt and hesitation. Make us calmer in patience, more willing and constant in obedience. possessed of-alesessed wish From the crown of man's head to the sole of his foot, there is not so much as a speck of moral soundness. A public servant of unsullied honesty and of the highest civic ideals. Page 23 The amazing depth of redeeming love. [Psalm 44:26] An exhaustless mine it brings to light untold wealth. Our blessed Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to whom be glory, now, henceforth, and forevermore. It is impossible that ought can be laid to the charge of Him with whom we are united. The conscience is tranquilized. An old Indian defined conscience as follows: "Conscience is a little three cornered thing in my heart that turns around when I do wrong and hurts me but if it turns often, the corners wear off, and it … Page 24 … does not hurt me much anymore." He was not far from the mark. The voice of conscience is at first loud and insistent but it becomes familiar and fainter if we fail to heed its call. The only way to keep a tender conscience is to follow its behests. It is as certain as the sun will rise tomorrow. I used to think I knew, I knew, but now I must confess, the more I know I know I know, I know I know the less. Maybe you never gave your allotted share to God. What are you to do now? You have to step forward into line with the ushers and give to God what you owe Him. Page 25 A single incident in the life of Jesus will furnish the example, and point the moral. It failed of its mission. A thankless task. It arms us against temptation. They were accorded a rising vote of thanks. In a rayless night. This only genders division. A land which flowed with milk and honey. [Exodus 3:8] They had been working under a decided handicap. Back | Forward |