The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1879, Page 3

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‘The Lutheran Pioneer. 3

9. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house.

10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife,
nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant,
nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that
is thy neighbor's.

And Matth. 22, 37—40. the Lord Jesus says,
“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy
mind. This is the first and preat command-
ment. And the second is like unto it, Thou
shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these
two commandments hang all the law and the
prophets.”’

Dear reader, have you kept the holy law of
God? Have you always and under all cireum-
stances loved God above all things, and all your
fellow-men as yourself? God knows that you
have not, and you ought to know and feel it
also. You are guilty before God as well as I
and all men on earth. The Word of God
plainly says, ‘There is no difference: for all
have sinned and come short of the glory of
God.”’ Therefore, if you have any true knowl-
edge of yourself, you must acknowledge and |
confess, Iam a sinner. I have offended against
my God and Father in heaven, who has never
done any wrong unto me, who has bestowed
upon me immeasurable love and goodness. By
manifold sins I have served the greatest enemy
of God and men, the devil himself. According
to the Word of God I deserve nothing but the
wrath and the displeasure of God, temporal
death, and everlasting condemnation. The
Lord says, ‘‘Cursed be he that confirmeth not |
every word of this law to do them, and all the |
people shall say, Amen.’’ Woe unto me, what|

Oh,

shall I do? what must I do to be saved?

me. And He went a little further, and fell
on His face, and prayed, saying, O my father,
if it be possible, let this cup pass from me:
nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt.
And He cometh unto the disciples, and findeth
them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could
ye not watch with me one hour?’”’ ,,And being
in an agony He prayed more earnestly; and
His sweat was as it were great drops of blood
falling down to the ground.’’— Judas, one of
His disciples, betrayed Him for thirty pieces of
silver; the other disciples forsook Him and fled,
Left alone in His anguish, He was taken 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
struck upon the face, and treated most shame-
fully. The next morning, early, He was taken
into the presence of Pilate, the Roman gov-
ernor, who confirmed the sentence of death, the
people crying aloud, ‘‘Crucify Him, crucify
Him.’’ He was severely scourged by the cruel
whips of the soldiers, a crown of thorns was
placed upon His head, a cross was laid upon
His shoulders, and He was led away to be cru-
cified. Behold the Sinless One on His way to
calvary! He walks with faint and weary step
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. Vin-
egar is given Him to quench His thirst. The
dark cloud of God’s wrath is poured out over
Him. In His loneliness and deep agony that
piercing cry breaks forth from His lips: —“My
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

my dear reader, is this your firm conviction?) And again He “cried with a loud voice, and

Is this your sincere confession? Do you really
ask with trembling, What must I do to be
saved? Ifyou ask this question with a sincere
heart, let me say unto you in the name of God:
“Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou

shalt be saved.‘
(To be continued.)

so oo

The Suffering Saviour.

“And He took again the twelve, and began
to tell them what things should happen unto
Him, saying, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem;
and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the
chief priests, and unto the scribes; and they
shall condemn Him to death, and shall deliver
Him to the Gentiles; and they shall mock
Him, and shall scourge Him, and shall spit
upon Him, and shall kill Him; and the third
day He shall rise again.” Mark 10, 32—34.—
Reading these words, we see the Saviour enter-
ing upon His way of sorrow to suffer and to die
for the sins of the world. After instituting the
sacrament of the Holy Supper, He went with
His disciples to » place called Gethsamane, and,
taking with Him Peter and James and John,
He ‘‘began to be sorrowful, and very heavy.
Then saith He, My soul is exceeding sorrowful,
even unto death: tarry ye here and watch with

gave up the ghost.’’ And when the centurian
which stood over against Him, saw that He so
cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly,
this man was the Son of God.’’—

Looking upon the suffering and dying Sa-
viour, the Son of God, we may ask, Why all
this? Why was the only Holy Being that ever
lived upon the earth, also the greatest of suffer-
ers? Let the Bible answer this question. ‘He
was wounded for our transgressions, He was

bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of

our peace was upon Him; and with his stripes
we are healed. All we like sheep have gone
astray; we have turned every one to his own
way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the in-
iquity of us all.” Isaiah 58.—<God commendeth
His love towards us, in that, while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us.” Rom. 5, 8.—,, Christ
died for our sins according to the Scriptures.’’
1 Cor. 15, 3.—Christ has redeemed us from the
curse of the law, being made a curse for us.”
Gal. 3, 18. —He hath made Him to be a sin for
us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the
righteousness of God in Him.’’ 2 Cor. 5, 21.
These passages, and many others like them,
plainly teach that Jesus Christ suffered in our
place, and that He as our substitute satisfied

viour in true faith.
and rejects this salvation!
and holy God is upon him!—Dear reader, be-
lieve in that Saviour who suffered and died for
your sins, and thou shalt be saved. Look again
at that bleeding, suffering, and dying Saviour,
and say from the bottom of your heart:

Woe to him who despises
The wrath of a just

“My burden, dearest Saviour,
Hast thus thou borne for me,
My siniul misbehaviour
Hath caused thy agony.

Lo, here is the transgressor
Whom curse and wrath behove,
Grant me, my Intercessor,

A single glance of love!”

“Be Thou my consolation
And shield, when I must die,
And let Thy holy passion
Me see, when death draws nigh.
Then in true faith I'll hold Thee,
On Thee my eyes shall dwell,
And to my heart I'll fold Thee;
Who dieth thus, dies well.”

The Life of Dr. Martin Luther.

I
Marti Luter! At the sound of this name

every true Christian heart must beat with joy.

It is the name of that noble Christian man

whom God had chosen as the powerful instru-
ment to deliver His church from the terrible
tyranny of the pope, by preaching again the
Gospel in all its purity to the masses of the
people. This Gospel had been set aside under
the iron rule of the Roman church. The
people were not pointed to Jesus, the Saviour
of sinners, but were told to pray to the saints
and to the virgin Mary, and to rely upon their
own good works for the remission of sins. At
the same time the most immoral life prevailed
among the clergy, from the pope down to the
monk in his cell. Many pious souls sighed
under the yoke of this Roman bondage. Men
tried to reform the Church, but all in vain.
The voices, that were lifted up against the pre-
vailing corruption, were choked in blood. At
last, however, the Reformer came, and the
prophecies of God were fulfilled. The coming
of this Reformer is foretold in this beautiful
passage of the Bible: ‘(And I saw another an-
gel fly in the midst of heaven, haying the ever-
lasting Gospel to preach unto them that dwell
jon the earth, and to every nation, and kindred,
and tongue, and people, saying with a loud
voice, Fear God and give glory to Him; for
the hour of His judgment is come; and wor-
ship Him that made heaven, and earth, and
the fountains of waters.’’ Rey. 14, 6.7. —— —
And during the time of the terrible oppression,
God raised up men for the comfort of His
people, men who pointed to the coming Refor-
mation. In the year 1350, for instance, aman,
named Mrcuritpis, prophesied: “In Germany
fierce conflicts will arise on account of religion.
Then the Romish church will fall from the

the claims of divine justice. It is for us poor, | faith entirely and publicly, which she had al-
lost, and condemned sinners to accept this Sa-|ready done secretly. But in Germany a pure