# The Lutheran Pioneer_St. Louis_1903_S17 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) a ee ee a... Che Autheran Pioneer. A MISSIONARY MONTHLY. PusuisHep BY THE EvaANGELIcAL Lutmeran SynopicaL ConFERENCE or NortH AMERICA. R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor. Entered at the Post Office at St. Louis, Mo., as second-class matter. Vol. XXYV. St. Louis, Mo., May, 19038. No. 5. “It Is Finished.” hast led captivity captive; Thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also,” “When He had by [Himself purged our sins, He sat down| pg. 68 1S . 68, 18. on the right hand of the Majesty on high,” Hebr. 1, 3. In the work of redemption He labored alone; The judgment was His, be the glory His own. The work of salvation is finished —complete — And Christ in the glory has taken His seat; And that’s where a sinner, believing, gets rest, Where sin cannot hinder, nor Satan molest. As trophies of grace, we are left on the earth To show forth His grace and infinite worth, And all through the journeyare kept by His power, Yea, kept by our God to that marvelous hour When the Lord, our Redeemer, descends in the air, And we, His redeemed ones, shall meet Him up there. Z Be this, then, our glory, wheresoever we £0, To tell of His goodness to sinners below, To bear on our banner, wherever we run: “The work of redemption by Jesus is done” — Done, once and forever, by Jesus alone. In proof ‘‘it is finished,’’ He is now on the throne, And sinners, believing, though by sin once en- slaved, God declareth are free—everlastingly saved. «inon, ———+ +o or oe _ Captivity is Led Captive. ‘ After His resurrection from the dead our Lord, for forty days, showed Himself alive to His disciples at different times and in differ- ent places, and spoke to them of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. But when the fortieth day came He ascended visibly into heaven and seated Himself at the right hand of God as the Conqueror over all our enemies. He had come into this world to re- deem us from the power of sin, death, devil, and hell. This work of redemption was fin- ished, perfectly finished. It was completed, fully completed; and so He returned to the Father in glory and majesty. When Christ had done and suffered all that was necessary for our salvation, He cried out upon the cross, ‘‘It is finished !’? His vic- torious resurrection from the dead clearly _ Proved that all is finished, and His trium- phant ascension into heaven also assures us that the work of our redemption is finished, Therefore the psalmist says of th Saviour: ‘Thou hast ascended on It was our captivity which Christ, in His ascension, led captive. This captivity was the captivity in which we were held as pris- oners and slaves by sin, death, devil, and hell. By conquering these our enemies Christ redeemed us from their power and made them prisoners and captives. Christ destroyed the works of the devil, He imprisoned our prison, He put to death our death, He buried our grave, He closed the gates of hell, and opened the gates of heaven for us: He finished the work of our redemption. This is the Gospel, the glad news, which is to be preached to all men throughout this world of sin and sorrow. They that by true faith accept this Gospel en- joy all the blessed fruits of Christ’s redemp- tion, and shall live with Him in everlasting glory in that place of joy and bliss which He has gone to prepare for them in the mansions of His Father’s house. But they that will not believe this Gospel thereby reject their only salvation, and shall be lost in everlasting dam- nation. For Christ, just before His ascension, said to His disciples: ‘‘Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every crea- ture. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he tbat believeth not shall be damned,”’ Mark 16, 15. 16. Oh, trust in Christ, your Lord and God, Who hath redeemed you by His blood; He captive led captivity, From bitter death to set you free. —_ o-oo Pentecost. The day of Pentecost was a day of joy to the disciples. After beholding their Lord’s ascension, ‘‘they returned to Jerusalem with great joy.’ What cheered their hearts was the Saviour’s promise of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit. Confidently awaiting the fulfill- ment of this promise, they tarried at Jeru- salem. On the day of Pentecost—fitty days after e ascended | the resurrection of Jesus— the promise was high, Thou fulfilled; the Holy Ghost was poured out upon the disciples, and they were made the infallible witnesses of Jesus, and were filled with courage to make His salvation known unto the uttermost parts of the earth. The day of Pentecost was indeed a day of com- fort and joy to the disciples. It is still so to the Church. We need the Spirit’s work, and the assur- ance that He still comes in the means of grace should give us comfort and joy. Without the Holy Spirit no one is brought to Christ and the salvation prepared by Him. “No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost,’’ 1 Cor. 12,3. In these words St. Paul declares that no man can know Jesus to be God over all, trust in Him as his Saviour, and obey Him as His Lord, unless the Holy Spirit give him power. It is only by the grace of the Holy Spirit that the sav- ing truth can be rightly known and taken by faith unto salvation; as we confess in our Catechism: ‘‘I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Ghost has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith, even as He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith.”” : The Holy Spirit must not only bring us to Christ, but must also keep us with Christ; He must not only work faith in our hearts, but must also preserve us in the faith unto ever- lasting life. ‘‘He that endureth to the end shall be saved.”? But we cannot endure by our own strength. Only by the power of the Spirit can we be preserved blameless unto the great day of the Lord. The Apostle says, ‘tYe are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation,” 1 Pet. 1, 5. All this work the Holy Spirit does through the means of grace—the Word and Sacra- ments of God. In these means of grace He still comes and works in the hearts of sinners. This should make us diligent in the use of these means for the salvation of our own souls and also zealous in bringing these means of grace to others, that they also might be saved by the work of the Holy Spirit.