# The Lutheran Pioneer_St. Louis_1918_S91 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) 1 * The Lutheran Pioneer. 91 We asked God for His help, and He has now heard our prayer; let us not forget to praise Him for His merciful answer. ‘To God be all the glory! The roar and thunder of the great guns, the rattle of the musketry, and the whir of the rushing air-plane are all hushed; the murderous thrust of the bayonet and the death-bringing flight of the hand-grenade are things of the past; the sun sets in blood no more. Under the magic touch of human industry and man’s care the torn landscape will in a few years regain its former appearance, and by God’s grace the wounds inflicted during the past dark years in the hearts of men will also heal and be no more. But as peace and its blessings once more come to us, let us not forget Him from whom all bless- ings flow. F. J. L. Warning and Consolation. 1 Joun 2,1. 2. It was John’s earnest hope, wish, and prayer that the glorious and important lessons taught the Christians in verses 5 to 10 of the first chapter of his First Epistle should not be written in vain. The truths contained in those verses are: God is “= good and perfect, and if we have fellowship with Him by faith and thus also with one another, we walk as His followers. We have then a new spiritual nature which leads us to do good. True, during this earthly life we daily stand in need of being cleansed from sin by Christ’s blood; for the old Adam still cleaves to us. Christians will not de- ceive themselves, deeming themselves sinless, “pure from sin”; but a Christian’s life is a life of con- tinual repentance. _ Now, all this John writes to the Christians whom he addresses in his First Epistle that they may not sin. He would exhort them to abstain from sin, to fight against it. He would dissuade them from sinning, warn them against it. At this point the Apostle draws our attention to one of the great purposes for which Christians live here on earth. Hach believer must manfully struggle against sin in general, and against his own in- dividual pet sins in particular. ‘Thus it is found that wherever Christ’s grace is believed, for in- stance, on the mission-fields out in heathendom, people begin to fight against sin valiantly as soon as they are converted. ‘They at once relinquish their former sins, which formed their dearest en- joyments and were the objects of their greatest pride. Incessant prayer should be the Christian’s “trade,” as Luther expresses himself, i. ¢., his daily occupation. So we must likewise be constantly engaged in earnest warfare against sin, as our evil nature always is inclined to do wrong. Paul writes to believers: “Henceforth we should not serve sin.” Although our entire lives are still contaminated with the filth of sin, we should by no means serve sin, but bravely struggle against it. Tenderly ad- dressing the Christians with the words, “My little children,” John exhorts them to sin no more. The warning, “Sin no more purposely, knowingly, and coarsely,” is heard wherever Gospel-preaching is heard. Let us see to it that these repeated warn- ings leave an indelible impression upon our hearts. The more seriously, however, the Christian is engaged in warring against the sin that is in his members, the more will he be saddened by his daily experience of ever renewed sinning. Hence sincere Christians that daily work out their salvation with fear and trembling are urgently in need of com- fort. The Father of mercies and the God of all comfort gladly provides them therewith. Accord- ingly, St. John adds these words of precious con- solation to his hearty admonition: “And if any man sin, we have an Advocale with the Father.” Even sins of infirmity, which are not committed on purpose, but owing to the weakness of our flesh, are real and damnable transgressions in the sight of the holy God. He punishes all guilt. Neverthe- less, we should not despair if our conscience would rob us of peace because of such daily errors, or on account of other sins which we may have com- mitted. For if any man sin, be it in a fine or coarse manner, we have an Advocate with the Fa- ther. We have an efficient and trustworthy Attor- ney who pleads our ‘cause before God’s tribunal. Without our Intercessor’s aid our cause would be absolutely lost. But in Him we have a Friend who will help us out of our hopeless plight. We may safely rely on Him. Christ intercedes for us at His Father’s throne. Jesus Christ is the Righteous and also the Pro- pitiation for our sins. Propitidtion means recon- ciliation. We cannot stand before God, but must fear His just wrath and punishment on account of our sins. Christ, the Righteous, however, by means of His active and His passive obedience, His holy life in our stead, and His atoning death, has appeased God’s justice and won His favor for us.