The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1879, Page 5

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The Lutheran Pioneer,

A MISSIONARY MONTHLY.

PusLisHeD BY THE HvANGELICAL LutaEeran SynopicaL Conrerence or Norra America.

Edited by Prof. R. A. BISCHOFF.

Vol. I.

St. Louis, Mo., April, 1879.

Christ is risen!

Christ the Lord is risen again !
Christ has broken Death’s strong chain!
Hark, the angels shout for joy,
: . Singing evermore on high,
Hallelujah.

He who gave for us His life,

Who for us endured the strife,

Is our Paschal Lamb to-day!

We too sing for joy, and say:
Hallelujah.

He who bore all pain and loss

Comfortless upon the cross,

Lives in glory now on high,

Pleads for us and hears our cry:
Hallelujah.

He whose path no records tell,

Who descended into hell,

Who the “‘strong man armed”’* hath bound,

Now in highest heaven is crowned:
Hallelujah.

He who slumbered in the grave,

Is exalted now to save;

Now through Christendom it rings

That the Lamb is King of Kings!
Hallelujah.

Now His servants in His name

Mercy free for all proclaim

That according to His word

Have true faith in Christ the Lord:
Hallelujah.

| Thou our Paschal Lamb indeed,
4 Christ, to-day Thy people feed;
| Take our sins and guilt away,
{ That we all may sing for aye,
Hallelujah.

(Bohemian Brethren. 1531.)
| * Luke 11, 21,
} —2 +o +

The Risen Saviour.

| When Christ had died upon the cross, he was
‘taken down, and laid into a grave, hewn out of
‘a rock. A large stone was rolled to the door
_ of the sepulchre, or grave, and that stone was
' gealed with the public seal, which none might
break upon pain of death. A strong guard of
*) Roman soldiers was placed there to.defend the
| whole.—On the third day, early in the morn-
|} ing, three women went out with sweet spices
| that they might anoint the body of their dear

Lord. Their hearts were very sad; for He in
whom they had put all their trust and hopes,
had been taken away out of their sight. They
had witnessed His crucifixion and His death.
When they came to the sepulchre, at the rising
of the sun, they said among themselves, Who
shall roll us away the stone from the door of
the sepulchre? And when they looked, they
saw that the stone was rolled away. And going
into the sepulchre, they saw an angel sitting
there, clothed in a long white garment; and
they were afraid. And the angel said unto
them, ‘‘Be not affrighted. Ye seek Jesus of
Nazareth, which was crucified. Hz 1s RISEN.
He is not here, behold the place where they
laid him. But go your way, tell His disciples
and Peter that He goeth before you in Galilee;
there shall ye see Him, as He said unto you.”
Soon the glad news spread: ‘‘The Lord is risen;
He is risen indeed.’”’ And for over 1800 years
sinners have rejoiced at the glad Easter-tidings
ofa risen Saviour. And well may sinners re-
joice! For St. Paul says, “If Christ be not
raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your
sins.” 1 Cor. 15,17. How can this be? Has
not Christ redeemed us from sin by His suffer-
ings and by His death? How can it be that, if
Christ be not risen from the grave, we are yet
in our sins? Let us try to sce into this.

We must remember that Christ suffered and
died in our stead; He was our substitute and
representative. He did not suffer and die for
Himself, but in the room, place, and stead of
all sinners. Our sins caused His agony, our
sins nailed Him to the cross, our sins brought
Him to death, our sins laid Him into the grave.

‘| Now, had He remained there, then we would

know that Christ, our substitute, had under-
taken to work out our redemption, had tried to
save us, but we would not know whether that
work was really finished, whether the justice of
God was really satisfied: we would yet be in
our sins. But glory be to God! On the third
day Christ rose again from the dead. And
now, mark well, who is this Christ that is risen
from the dead? He is our substitute, our
representative. Our substitute, He who had
taken our place, is released, is set free from the
prison-house of the grave, into’ which he had
been thrown on account of our debt; and if our

substitute is released, then we are released,
then we are set free in Him. Now we know
that our debt is paid, we know that God is
satisfied, we know that our redemption is fin-
ished, entirely finished. In Christ we suffered
and died, in Christ we are justified. Therefore
the apostle says of Christ in the fourth chapter
of his epistle to the Romans: ‘‘Who was deliy-
ered for our offences, and WAS RAISED AGAIN
FOR OUR JUSTIFICATION.’’—Did you ever hear
the story about David and Goliath, as it is told
us in the Old Testament? It can make the
matter plain to you. Here it is. The armies:
of the Philistines and the people of Israel were
arrayed in battle against each other. And the
Philistines stood on a mountain on the one
side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the
other side, a valley being between them. And
there was a champion in the army of the Phil-
istines, named Goliath. He was large like a
giant, and very strong. He went out of the
camp every day, and challenged the people of
Israel saying: ‘‘Choose you a man for you, and
let him come down to me. If he be able to
fight me, and to kill me, then will we be your
servants; but if I prevail against him, and kill
him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve
us.’”’ Now, no one in the army of Israel dared
to fight with that man Goliath. But David, a
young and rather small lad, who had just come
to the army to visit his brothers, one day heard
that big man brag and challenge any one in
Israel to fight with him. And he got five
smooth stones out of a brook, and took a sling
into his hand, and in the name of God went
out to fight with Goliath, who scornfully
laughed, when he saw the little fellow. But
David slang a stone, and that stone struck the
Philistine on his forehead that he fell to the
earth on his face. Then David ran up, and
took the Philistine’s sword, and slew him, and
cut off his head. Thus David had won the
victory, and the men of Israel arose, and
shouted, and rejoiced. Now, why were they so
glad? What did they have to do with that
victory? Why, do you not see, David was
their representative in that fight, he stood in
their place, and, therefore, David’s victory was
the victory of the whole people of Israel.
Now, Christ is our David, our representative in