THE LUTHERAN PIONEER culties for the servants of God. If we do not sow the seed of the Gospel on the wide and open fields of the world, t he devil surely will sow his tares. We dare not rest, for the devil never does.
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Only a very little thought on our part can convince us of this fact; it really should not have been necessary for Christ to have given the command ,vhich imposes this duty upon us. Christ no more than gave voice to what the heart of a true Christian bids him do when He told His disciples to preach the Gospel to every creature. The Christian believer answers the question, "Does my fellow-man need Christ?" by asking in return, "Do I need Him?" .And the believer's desire to bring others the glad tidings of sal vation in Christ will be in proportion to bis own conviction that he needs the Savior.
New Dangers. It is true that in many parts of the heathen wol'ld not a few of those who belong to the bettereducated classes have grown tired of their idols and cast them away in the pride of their new-found knowledge. Dissatisfied with the old, they are seeking for something that will satisfy their wants. Such souls Satan is watching with the intention of bringing them even more into his possession than "I Have Compassion on the Multitude." they have been; and while the Church is neglecting This love of Christ also constrains the followers i ts opportunities, the Prince of Darkness is bringing Our own certainty of God's grace in of the Savior. additional evil spirits to possess the souls of such seekers, with sevenfold disaster as the result. While Christ and love for our Redeemer must make us the Chmch is sending forth only one out of five desirous to seek the happiness of others. To this thousand Christians to carry the Gospel to the must be added compassion for our poor fellow-men, heathen wol'ld, Satan's agents a1·c especially con- who are much like the man that fell among thieves centrating their activities upon t he more advanced and by them was left half dead. The more we read non-Christian countries, for example, India, China, of their distress, the louder their sad condition cries and Japan, poisoning the minds of the young men out to us, "Come over and help us!" And besides this we have God's gracious assurespecially with Western skepticism and unbelief that our work shall not be in vain. We know ance before our missionaries have come to them with the message of the Gospel. Other regions, on a cul- that the Gospel of Christ is the power of God among turally lower level than China, India, and J npan, whites and Negroes, among Chinese and Hindus. the slaves of Satan, have been flooded with the Were we to doubt this, we should cease to be drink that only too often drowns 1·cason and dulls Christians. Let us look upon the world, not as a cemetery, conscience. but as a harvest-field; let the unconverted world Our Solemn Obligation. We have the Gospel that can bring happiness to be to us not dogs, but lost sheep whom we should our fellow-men, and this blessed possession puts us seek and bring into Christ's fold. God give us under a solemn obligation to bring this Gospel to love, courage, and zeal to do what we can to have them. We have no right to exclude any one because our prayer answered, "Thy kingdom come !" F. J. L. he lives at such and such a place, because he does not feel his need, or because the trouble and ex"The Forgotten House." pense it may mean for us to bring him the lifegiving message are too great. The fact that we One of the most-visited sections in New Orleans have the remedy that can help any one is sufficient reason for us to bring him that remedy. We have is that part of the city which is known as the French the means by which our fellow-men may be brought Quarter. People from all parts of the world visit into the right relationship with Christ, the only this section to view those things which remain from Savior of men. We know that there is salvation the· time when New Orleans was in its making. in none other than Christ. Therefore we must With eager eyes they look at the French Market, bring him this Gospel of salvation through Christ. where more than a century ago merchants from We are to be concerned about the salvation of the ·far and near plied their trade; they cast curious man near us, and the man living far away from us looks upon the old auction block before which many must also be the object of our concern; for the a poor Negro slave was sold; they view the historic needs of both are alike, and both can be saved only buildings with their hand-wrought balconies and through the same Christ. We have that which the their courtyards. Surrounded by these and other world needs, and this makes us the world's debtors. objects that attract their attention, the interested
