The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1882, Page 26

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

The Lutheran Pioneer.

Baptism.

Our picture shows us the baptism of our
Lord in the river Jordan. There was great
glory in this baptism. The heavens were
opened, the Spirit of God descended like a
dove and lighted upon Christ, and the Father’s
voice was heard from heaven, saying, ‘‘ This is
my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,’’
Matthew 3, 16. 17.

There are many who say that such glory
cannot be seen in our baptism. Our eyes see
nothing but water; the eye of faith, however,
sees the glory of God. This eye of faith is
singly fixed upon God’s word, and from it we
know that baptism is not simple water only,
but is the water comprehended in God’s com-
mand and connected with God’s word. Dr. Lu-
ther well says, ‘When you touch
a piece of red-hot iron as it lies
upon the anvil, you do not touch
the iron alone, but also the fire
which burns, and although you
do not see any flame, but the iron
alone, nevertheless it is not iron
only, but both iron and fire; yea,
this fire has so entirely penetrated
the iron that you feel nothing but
fire. So also we should look upon
baptism embodied in God’s word
and name, and entirely filled with
the same, so that they are but
one thing, and have now become
quite another thing than simple
water.” Thus faith looks upon
baptism and sees the glory of
God.

Faith sees heaven opened in
baptism. For God’s word says:
“He that believeth, and is bap-
tized shall be saved,’ Mark 16, 16.; ‘‘Iven
baptism doth now save us,” 1 Peter 3, 21.;
‘¢Peter said, Repent and be baptized every one
of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the re-
mission of sins,’ Acts 2, 38.; ‘‘Ananias said
unto Saul, why tarriest thou? Arise, and wash
away thy sins, calling upon the name of the
Lord,”’ Acts 22, 16.; ‘‘He saved us by the
washing of regeneration,” Titus 3,5. These
and other passages of the Bible plainly tell us
that in baptism salvation and remission of sins
are given to us. Then surely heaven is opened
tous. Dr. Luther therefore says, ‘‘I am bap-
tized, that is, heaven is given to me freely and

is a gift to me for which I have deed and seal.”
Faith sees the Holy Spirit descending in bap-
tism. For God’s word tells us that baptism is
‘the washing of regeneration and renewing of
the Holy Ghost,’ Titus 3, 5. And Jesus says,
‘Except a man be born of water and the Spirit,
he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven,”
John 3, 5. The Holy Ghost must work faith
in our hearts; for ‘‘no man can say that Jesus
_ is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost,” 1 Cor.
12, 8. The Holy Ghost, however, does His
work through the means of grace, the Gospel
and the holy sacraments.

Faith hears the Father's voice in baptism, say-
ing, ‘‘ This is my beloved child in whom I am
well pleased.’’ For St. Paul plainly says, ‘‘As
many of you as have been baptized into Christ,
have put on Christ,’ Gal. 3, 27. From this we
see that in baptism we put on Christ, that is,
we put on the garment of Christ’s perfect right-
eousness. And on whom God sees this right-
eousness of His Son, in him He is well pleased.

Such is the glory seen by faith in baptism.
And if you now ask, how can such glory be in
baptism and how can water do such great
things? we can give no better answer than the
one given by Dr. Luther in his Small Cate-
chism. Here it is:

It is not the water indeed that does them,
but the word of God which is in and with the
water, and faith which trusts such word of God

af THIS iS MY BELOVep
iN WHOM

TAM WELL py

in the water.
the water is simple water, and no baptism. But
with the word of God it is a baptism, that is,
a gracious water of life and a washing of re-
generation in the Holy Ghost, as St. Paul says,
Titus, chapter third: By the washing of regen-
eration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which
He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ
our Saviour; that being justified by His grace,
we should be made heirs according to the hope
of eternal life. This is a faithful saying.

0+ 0 ao + =
(For the ‘‘Lutheran Pioneer.’’)
An Honest Answer
to the question, “‘Were Emerson and Long-

fellow unbelievers in the Christian religion ?’’

The WN. Y. Weekly Sun gives the following

answer to this question: ‘‘We answer that Mr.
Emerson and Mr. Longfellow were unbelievers
in ‘the Christian religion.—The essence of be-
lief in the Christian religion is belief in the
Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Godhead of the Christ, there is no real Chris-
tianity.—It is true there is a sort of doctrine
which many people fancy to be Christian, and
according to this doctrine Jesus Christ was not

Without the

For without the word of God |

God, but a creature, 2 man, or a created being
somewhat superior toman. But this is not the
doctrine of the Christian religion. It is a foe
of Christianity. It is a station on the broad
road to total unbelief, to infidelity.—This sort
of doctrine we understand to have been the
doctrine of Emerson and Longfellow. They were
Unitarians. They were not believers in the
Christian religion.”’

Would to God some of our religious papers
were as honest in answering such questions as
this secular one. H. D.

—> + 0=m eo - =

She Saw The Doxology.

3g

A little girl, ten years old, went up Mount
Washington on horseback. She was ten then;
if she lives till next summer she will be twenty.
The ladies and gentlemen of our
party dismounted upon the rug-
ged summit, where the only veg-
etation that dared make an at-
tempt to grow was a little stunted,
pale green moss, and gazed, as
those lifted up from the world, in-
to limitless space. Below, stretch-
ing outward in all directions, lay
a deep silver sea of clouds, amid -
which lightnings were seen to part
and writhe like gilded serpents,
and from which the thunder came
up to the ear, peal after peal.
We knew that down there rain
was descending in a torrent, while
on us who were above the clouds
shone the sun in unobstructed and
awful splendor. The eye wand-
ered away like the dove from
Noah’s ark, that found no place
to rest her foot.
“Well, Lucy,” said her father, breaking the
silence, ‘there is nothing to be seen, is there?”’ j
The child caught her breath, lifted her © 4
clasped hands, and responded reverently : ‘
‘Oh, papa, I see the doxology!’’ it
Yes, everywhere nature speaks to us, and i|
says: ‘‘Praise God, from whom all blessings if
}
|
}

flow.’’ :
A Telling Speech.

An English workingman recently spoke to
a large crowd of his fellow-laborers, who were
given up to the horrible vice of drunkenness
and spent most of their wages in the dram-
shop. While speaking he held in his hands a i}
loaf of bread and a knife. ‘The loaf of bread i
represented the ways of the working men.
After a few remarks, he cut off a moderate
slice. ‘‘This,’’ he said, ‘‘is what you give to
the city government.”’ He then cut off a more
generous slice, ‘‘and this is what you give to
the general government,”’ then with a vigorous
flourish of his carving knife, he cut off three- 4
quarters of the whole loaf. ‘‘This you give to i
the dram-shop.’’? Then holding up the few re- i
maining crumbs in his left hand, he said with
a pitiful voice: ‘‘And this is what you keep to sat
support yourself and family.’ is fellow- i
laborers could not but acknowledge the force
of his illustration.