The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1883, Page 9

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Che Lutheran Pioneer.

A MISSIONARY MONTHLY.

PusLisHED BY THE HVANGELICAL LurueraN SynopicaL ConFERENCE oF NortH AMERICA.

R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor.

Entered at the Post Office at St. Louis, Mo., as second-class matter.

Vol. Y.

St. Louis, Mo., March, 1883.

No. 3.

(For the ‘Lutheran Pioncer.’’)

Hymn for Lent.

Lord Jesus, Thee we glorify,

Since for us sinners Thou didst die,
And through Thy holy, precious blood
Didst make us righteous before God.

True Man and God, we ask of Thee,
Because of Thy dread agony,

Save us from everlasting death

And our last moments cheer through faith.

Protect us, Lord, from sin and shame,
Help us by Thine almighty name

To bear our crosses patiently,

Take comfort from Thine agony,

And thence the full assurance gain,
That Thou wilt e’er our Friend remain,
And not forsake us in our strife,

Until we enter into life.

(M. C. Vischer, 1568. T'r. by A. Crull, 1883.)

——+> . eo >

Redemption by Blood.

‘Without shedding of blood is no remission,’
Heb. 9, 22. It is quite the fashion now-a-days
for not a few to deny this important truth, and
to make light of redemption through the blood
of Christ, and to speak of it as a “‘bloody re-
ligion.”? But no matter what men may think
or say, it is a truth which is clearly and fully
set forth in the Word of God. Like a scarlet
thread it runs through the whole Bible and is
the very heart of the Gospel. It was seen by
the saints of the Old Testament in the blood
of the many sacrifices which they offered up to
God and which were to remind them of the
promised Messiah, who, as the Lamb of God,
would shed His blood for the remission of their
sins. ‘This truth was deeply impressed upon
them on ‘the great day of atonement when
blood was taken by the high priest into the
most holy place, and sprinkled upon the mercy-
seat, (Lev. 16). They were taught that ‘‘it
is the blood that maketh an atonement for the
soul,’’ Lev. 17, 11.

rning to the New Testament we hear
Christ Himself saying just before He went to
the cross that His blood is shed for the remis-
sion of sins, (Matth. 26, 28). And the in-
spired Apostles speak again and again of our
redemption by the blood of Christ. ‘‘Ye were

not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver | .

and gold... but with the precious blood of

Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and with-
out spot,’ 1 Pet. 1, 18. 19.; ‘in whom we
have redemption through his blood, the for-
giveness of sins,’’ Eph. 1, 7.; ‘‘having made
peace through the blood of his cross,’ Col.
1, 20.; ‘‘neither by the blood of goats and
calves, but by his own blood, he entered in
once into the holy place, having obtained
eternal redemption,’ Heb. 9, 12.; ‘‘the blood
of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all
sin,’ 1 John 1, 7; ‘‘unto him that loved us,
and washed us from our sins in his own blood,”
Rev. 1, 5. And through the opened door of
heaven which John saw there floats down to us
the song of the saints who stand before the
throne of the Lamb: ‘Thou wast slain, and
hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of
every kindred, and tongue, and people, and
nation,’ Rev. 5, 9.

It would be easy to multiply quotations from
the Scriptures. Indeed, if you should dip your
pen into red ink, and then go carefully through
the Bible and underline those passages that re-
fer to our redemption by the blood of Jesus,
you would be surprised to find how red your
Bible would be. Well may we dwell upon
that most important truth in the holy season
of Lent as we go with the Saviour on His way
of sorrows and sufferings from Gethsemane to
Calvary. We see Him in His great agony in
the garden, crushed down by the burden of our
sins and sweating great drops of blood. We
see Him scourged by the cruel whips of Roman
soldiers, while streams of blood are rushing
down His shoulders. We see His brow pierced
by the thorny crown, while drops of blood are
running down His cheeks. , We see Him nailed
to the cross, while the blood flows from His
hands and feet and from His opened side. It
is the blood of the Son of God with which all
sinners were redeemed. How can we escape
the wrath of God if we reject this redemption
by blood? In it alone we can find salvation.
May we then with true faith accept this re-
demption which our Saviour procured for all
sinners more then 1800 years ago, and may
every one be enabled to say—

«OQ! how sweet to view the flowing
*. Of His soul-redeeming blood,
With divine assurance knowing
That He made my peace with God.”

Cancelled and Nailed Up.

There is a beautiful Oriental custom of which
I have read, that tells the story of Christ’s
atonement on the Cross very perfectly. When
a debt had to be settled, either by full payment
or forgiveness, it was the usage for the creditor
to take the cancelled bond and nail it over the
door of him who had owed it, that all passers-
by might see that it was paid. Oh, blessed
story of our remission! There is the Cross,
the door of grace, behind which a bankrupt
world lies in hopeless debt to the law. See
Jesus, our bondsman and brother, coming forth
with the long list of our indebtedness in His
hand. He lifts it up where God and angels
and men may see it, and then, as the nail goes
through His hand, it goes through the bond of
our transgressions to cancel it forever, blotting
out the handwriting of ordinances that was
against us, that was contrary to us. He took
it out of the way, nailing it to His Cross!
Come to that Cross, O sinner! Not in order
that you may wash out your sins by your tears,
or atone for them by your good works, or efface
them by your sophistries or self-deceptions.
But come, rather, that you may read the long,
black list that is against you, and be pierced to
your heart by compunction and sorrow that you
have offended such a being; and then that, lift-
ing up your eyes, you may see God turning
His eyes to the same Cross at which you are
looking, and saying, ‘‘I, even I, am He that
blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own
sake, and will not remember thy sins.’’— Gordon.

od

The Saviour a Child Can Trust.

‘¢Charlie,’’ said I to a little fellow of eight
years who was fast sinking into the grave, ‘‘are
you not afraid to die when you know that death
is at the door?”

«Qh, no!’’ was the reply; ‘‘I am glad to de-
part and be with Christ, which is far better.’

‘But how do-you know that you are going
to be with Christ?”

‘‘Because,”? was the immediate reply, ‘‘He
says, ‘Him that-cometh unto me I will in no
wise cast out.’”” ;