# The Lutheran Pioneer_St. Louis_1885_S9 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) Che Lutheran Pioneer. A MISSIONARY MONTHLY. PUBLISHED BY THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN SyNoDICAL CONFERENCE OF NortH AMERICA. R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor. Entered at the Post Office at St. Louis, Mo., 28 second-class matter. Vol. VII. St. Louis, Mo., March, 1885. No. 3. “Christ Crucified.’ “7, IF I BE LIFTED UP FROM THE EARTH, WILL DRAW ALL MEN UNTO ME.”’ John 12, 32. Oh teach me what it meaneth, That cross uplifted high, With One, the Man of Sorrows, Condemned to bleed and die. * Teach me awhile to ponder What human guilt hath done To Thee, the King of Glory, And God’s beloved Son. Oh teach me all their meaning— Torn hands and thorn-clad brow; And teach me why, with anguish, Thy heart is breaking now. Oh teach me what it cost Thee To make a sinner whole; And teach me, Saviour, teach me, The value of a soul. Oh teach me what it meaneth— That ‘sacred crimson tide— The blood and water flowing From Thine own wounded side. Oh teach me it availeth To wash the darkest stains, Till on my soul polluted No spot of sin remains. Oh teach me what it meaneth— Thy love beyond compare ; The love that reacheth deeper Than depths of self-despair. Yea, teach me, till there gloweth In this cold heart of mine Some feeble, pale reflection Of that pure love of Thine! Oh Infinite Redeemer, I bring no other plea— Because Thou dost invite me, I cast myself on Thee! Because Thou dost accept me, Love and I adore! Because Thy love constraineth, T’ll praise Thee evermore! —Selected. For Me. In the time of Lent we behold the Son of God on His way of sorrow. We behold Him in Gethsemane, where “‘being in agony He prayed more earnestly; and His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling dcwn to the: ground.’’ One of His disciples betrayed Him; another denied that He had ever known Him; they all forsook Him and fled. He was seized by the multitude and dragged to the bar of the high-priest, where, after a hurried trial, He was condemned to death, and spit upon, and buffeted, and treated most shamefully. He was taken to Pilate, the Roman governor, who, though finding no fault in Him, confirmed the sentence of death, the people crying, ‘‘Cru- cify Him, crucify Him!’’ He had been severely scourged, and a crown of thorns was pressed upon His head. A cross was laid upon His shoulders, and he was led away to be crucified. With faint and weary step He walked beneath His heavy burden, until unable to carry it longer. At length Calvary is reached. He is nailed to the cross. There He hangs on that fatal wood between two thieves. He is mocked, He is scorned, He is laughed at. Vinegar is given Him to quench His thirst. God’s wrath is poured out over Him, and in His deep agony of soul that piercing cry breaks forth from His lips: ‘“My God, my God, why hast thou for- saken me?’’ And again He “‘cried. with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost.” ‘And when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous man.’’ Now, why did this Righteous One, this Sin- less One, in whom there was no fault, endure these great sufferings and agony of soul? Let the Bible tell you. ‘‘He was wounded for our transgressions, He has bruised for our iniqui- ties,’ Isa. 58: ‘‘While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us,”’ Rom. 5, 8. ‘‘Christ died for our sins,’ 1 Cor. 15, 3. ‘‘Christ. has re- deemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us,’ Gal. 3,13. ‘He hath made Him to be a sin for us, who knew no sin,” 2 Cor. 5, 21. He ‘‘bare our sins in His own body on the tree,’’ 1 Pet. 2, 24. The same Bible which tells us that we as sinners are un- der the curse and doom of eternal death, also tells us that Christ suffered in our place, that He as our substitute took all our sins and the curse and wrath of God upon Himself and satisfied the claims of divine justice. Thus He redeemed us from the curse and doom of eternal death. If you, my dear reader, wish to enjoy this finished work of redemption, it is not enough for you to know that Christ died for men in general, but you must believe in your heart that He suffered and died for you. You must see Him by faith hanging upon the cross for your sins, suffering in your stead, taking your place under the curse of God’s broken law, making atonement with His precious blood. for your soul. Thus beholding the suffering and dying Saviour and crying out in true faith, ‘Jesus suffered and died for me, the poor, lost and condemned sinner, and now I am saved,” you will enter into the gladness of knowing that ‘‘there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,’’ Rom. 8, 1. ———<0 @ <0 +e ___ Saving the Lost. Christ came that He might save the lost. When a sinner has come to the end of himself —takes the place of one utterly lost, then God can deal with him in grace, and give him life. Christ came not to call the righteous, but sin- ners to repentance. ‘‘Why did you not rush after your friend, when he fell into the water?”’ was once asked; to which was replied, ‘‘He was trying to save himself; if I had gone to him at first, then we might have both been lost. I waited till he had come to the end of his own strength, and then it was easy to save him.’’ You understand. When a man takes his place as one who is lost, and gives up all his self-righteousness, and finds himself under sentence of death, then he is thankful to be saved by grace—then he will come to the Saviour of sinners. —qsS)+ oo Suffering. Christ suffered for sin that we might not have to suffer for it. He endured the wrath of God that we might not have to endure it. This is the ground of our peace. But as regards suffering from man, we shall always find that the more faithfully we follow in the footsteps of Christ, the more we shall suffer in this respect; but this is a matter of gift, a matter of privilege, a favor, a dignity.