“Perseverando Vincit!”

by Rev. Carl J. Segerhammer

This is an old motto that has stood the test of centuries. “Perseverance conquers.” Yes, to keep pace with the progress that is now going on along every line of activity, requires not a little energy. Nothing short of a struggle is necessary if we are to master the many problems before us as individuals, as a community, as a nation, and also as a church of God. It has been so in the past. Kingdoms and empires were reared, often out of a state of chaos. The Church, also, was harassed and rent by schisms within and vicious attacks from without. Yet it stands to-day firmly resting on its imperishable foundation, the “Rock of Ages,” Jesus Christ. But to weather all these storms, both in church and state, there was need of much perseverance. Indeed, from the beginning to the present day, it has been a case of “Perseverando vincit.”

Even in our church work here we have need of a great amount of this trait. The fruits of our labors are not so readily forthcoming as we would wish. Some people, in their utter blindness to all that pertians to their moral and spiritual welfare, will, in spite of our best efforts to enlighten them, prefer to spend their time, their money, and –themselves–in, for instance, “nickelodeons” and othre “five-cent” demoralizing institutions, rather than take active part in Christian work. So cheaply do they value their souls!

Hence, we have need of much perseverance. But let us not forget that in this case, as well as all others, with the help of God, “perseverado vincit!”

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Behold, We Go Up to Jerusalem!

by Rev. Carl J. Segerhammer

That is the special tidings our little Messenger in this issue would bring you. By the time it is in your hands, we shall have entered again upon a blessed Lenten season, when the closing events of the life of Jesus will be the subject of our meditations, events which play so infinitely great a part in our eternal salvation. Dear reader, are you interested in such scenes? Would you behold Him who was the “Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief”?

Then let us go up to Jerusalem! Let us in our thoughts be present at the “Feast of the Passover” where, already, the dark shadows begin to crowd in upon Him, as the traitor, Judas, lays his treacherous plots against His life. Let us follow that “Man of sorrows” on His via dolorosa across the dark vale of Kidron on to Gethsemane, where He “treads the winepress alone,” where He bears upon His shoulders the burden of a world of sin. We stand upon His shoulders the burden of a world or sin. We stand beneath the cross on Golgatha as the shadows deepen; we look up at the bruised and bleeding form, and hear Him groaning: “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani!” And the words of the prophet come to us: “Behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto His sorrow.”

The parched lips move, and we hear the words: “It is finished.” The very foundations of the earth tremble; the veil of the temple, and even the rocks, are rent asunder; the tombs are opened, and the dead go forth unto life.–

“It is finished,” indeed! The “Rock of Ages” has been cleft for you and me, and in its bosom we find a safe retreat from sin and death, yea, from the powers of hell. We can say triumphantly with the apostle of old: “Who shall separate us from the love of Chris? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?. . . For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to seperate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord.”

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The Side of The Majority

by Rev. Carl J. Segerhammer

“O, I’m with the majority!” How often do we not hear that expression! Every one wants to be on the side of the majority. To take the other side, with the minority, generally requires more courage and determination. It is certainly so in regard to Christian work. The great majority are not interested in real Christian work. On the other hand, they revile the minority, the “little flock,” who strive to follow their Master and to do His will. Courage is needed, therefore, to stand with the minority and be the object of scorn and ridicule.

But may we never forget that we have on our side Him who is a majority in Himself, the almighty God, and as long as He is with us, there is no fear. “Fear not, thou little flock!” He says. “If God be for us, who can be against us?”

We can therefore say as Abraham Lincoln is reported to have said during the troublesome times of the Civil War: “When I know that God is on our side, then I know that we are on the side of the majority, even if all the world were on the other side.”

So, dear reader, the question in this case is not “Which is the side of the majority, the real majority?” That has been decided long ago, the side of Him to whom is given all power in heaven and on earth, who once for all has “bruised the serpent’s head,” and who shall reign until all His enemies will have been laid at His footstool.

The question for you to settle is this, “On what side shall I take my stand, with Christ and His Church, or with the others?” God grant that you may do the former! You will then be on the “side of the majority,” and the “gates of hell shall not prevail against you.”

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Springtime

by Rev. Carl J. Segerhammer

Springtime has come, and as we go out into nature, we receive on every hand evidences of a new life: the flowers and the trees with their sweet fragrance and fresh, exuberant verdure: the balmy breezes about you; the rippling brooklet at your feet; the music of the feathered concert overhead. All bear testimony, in a language without words, yet none the less forceful, that spring, the happiest season of the year, has come, and with it new life and new hopes.

But there is one thing we must not overlook in these our observations of nature, and that is the thankfulness for this new life that goes up from all these creatures of nature, animate and inanimate, to God, their Maker. We can read it in the sweet, blushing petals of the flower, the merry rippling of the brook, the early morning hymn of praise from the birds in the thicket. Again, when the hungry throat of the little nestling is filled by the mouthful of food the mother-bird brings, and the excited chirping at once ceases, and quite satisfaction takes its place, can we not again see a thanksgiving to Him who clothes the lilies of the field, and without whose will no sparrow falls to the earth?

Now, dear reader, there is a lesson to draw from this. You may be a young man or a young woman, and consequently in the springtime of your life. And as you have enjoyed to the fullest extent, during these balmy days, the beauties of nature, you have found your own being throbbing with new life, and you have been thrilled at the thought of that life’s possibilities.But have you stopped to ask yourself whether or not you, like all these creatures of nature, have returned thanks to your Maker for the new life, hopes and possibilities that are yours? says David. May that be the lesson that springtime brings us!

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Jesus Only

by Rev. Carl J. Segerhammer

        “And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man save Jesus only.” Jesus had taken His three disciple, Peter, James, and John, with Him up on the Mount of Transfiguration, and there He had been glorified in their sight. “His face did shine as the sun, and His raiment was white as the light. And there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with Him.” Everything was so inspiring, so glorious. The disciples would gladly have remained there indefinitely, as we can draw from the words of the impulsive Peter; “Lord let us make here three tabernacles,” etc. But in a moment all the splendor had vanished. Moses and Elias were gone; the conditions of everyday life had returned, “and when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man save Jesus only.” But was not that enough? Surely.

This incident from the life of Jesus and the disciples comes to our mind not because we have lately celebrated that day, the “Day of Transfiguration,” — that is still many weeks hence, — but because we have had lately in our church a season of more than ordinary significance — the Iowa Conference Convention. May we not say that those days were to us as a season of transfiguration? Who among us did not feel as though he were looking upon life, not as usual, form the vale of toilsome everyday experiences, but from the lofty summit of the Mount of Transfiguration? Did we not see our dear Savior glorified? For in the many beautiful sermons and addresses to which we listened, He was presented to us in all His glory and power, in all His love and mercy. There were also the “servants of God” “talking with Him” and of Him. How beautiful! How inspiring! But, alas, soon was the splendor vanished; the servants of God, whose fellowship we had enjoyed for a time, had gone, “and when we had lifted up our eyes, we saw no man save Jesus only.” That, dear reader, is at least our earnest hope and prayer. God grant that it may be said of each and every one of us, now that the convention, that season of refreshing, is over, as it was said of the disciples when the hour of transfiguration was past: “They was no man save Jesus only.” They saw Him. He was still with them, their Comforter, their all. May it be so with us! May His image have been implanted in our hearts, His Spirit in our soul! Then we have need of nothing more, for as Asaph says: “Whom have I in heaven but Thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire beside Thee. My flesh and my heart faileth, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

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The Poverty Which Maketh Many Rich

by Rev. Carl J. Segerhammer

We sometimes come across passages in the Bible with statements that are anti-thetical and which seem really to contradict one another. One of these is found in 2 Cor. 6, 10: “As poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.” “How shall we explain this?” How can such a thing be possible?” you ask. Well, let us look into the matter a little. Let us take our dear Savior as an illustration. Surely, He could be said to be poor during His state of humiliation here on earth! His first days on earth were spent in a manger, for there was not room for Him — as it seemed, on account of His poverty — in the inn. Even after having taken up His Messianic calling, this poverty pursued Him. When, for instance, the representatives of the government asked of Him the tribute-money, the common treasury of Jesus and the little group of disciples was found to be empty, so that Peter must needs be sent to procure the necessary coin through a miracle that Jesus wrought. At another instance, Jesus Himself said: “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no where to lay His head.”

Yes, He was poor, and yet, did He not make many rich? Could we have asked the hungering multitude in the wilderness after they had filled, and the twelve basketfuls had been gathered of pieces left over from five loaves and two fishes; or the frightened disciples on the Sea of Galilee, whose lives had been saved by the stilling of the tempest; the widow of Nain, whose only son, having been dead, was returned to her living; Lazarus and his sisters after the former had been called forth out of the tomb, — their answer would surely have been in the affirmative. Again, the woman taken in sin to whom Jesus said: “Neither do I condemn thee; go and sin no more;” the malefactor on the cross receiving the forgiveness of his sins and the assurance of a place with Christ and Paradise– in short, the multitude of weary and with sin heavy-laden souls, to each of whom Jesus spoke words of hope, of peace, of joy, saying: “Be of good cheer, thy sins are forgiven thee,” — could we have asked all these, they would surely have answered that Jesus had, in truth, made them “rich;” that there are no riches to be compared with those that we receive from Him, “who, though immeasurably rich, was made poor for our sakes.”

But how shall we, who are poor, make many rich? By becoming truly “poor in spirit,” by realizing that we have, indeed, nothing in ourselves. When we have come to that point, realizing that we are poor and helpless, yea, destitute in ourselves, then the Lord can fill our hearts with “riches” that know no measure, with treasures that fade not away, “that neither moth nor rust can corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.” From such a storehouse of real treasures we are then enabled, through the grace of God, to “make many rich.”

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