The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1888, Page 9

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

The Lutheran Pioneer.

A MISSIONARY MONTHILY.

PuBLISHED BY THE EVANGELICAL LuTHERAN SynopicaAL CoNnFERENCE oF NortH AMERICA.

R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor.

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

Vol. X.

St. Louis, Mo., March, 1888.

The Sin- Bearer.

Thy works, not mine, O Christ,
Speak gladness to this heart;
They tell me all is done,
They bid my fear depart.

Thy wounds, not mine, O Christ,
Can heal my bruised soul;

Thy stripes, not mine, contain
The balm that makes me whole.

Thy cross, not mine, O Christ,
Has borne the awful load

Of sins that none in heaven
Or earth could bear but God.

Thy righteousness, O Christ,
Alone can cover me;

No righteousness avails
Save that which is of Thee.

Thy righteousness alone
Can clothe and beautify;
I wrap it round my soul;
In this [Pll live and die. Bonar.

—_—_——- <b e

It Is Finished.

These were the dying words of Jesus. Hang-
ing on the cross, bleeding, dying, Jesus said,
“Tr Is FrinisHepD!’’

What was finished? Tar pruNISHMENT OF
YOUR SIN WAS FINISHED. :

Jesus bare ow sins in His own body on the
tree. 1 Peter 2, 24.

The Lord hath laid on Him—on Jesus—the
iniquity of us all;’ and by His stripes we are
healed. Isa. 53, 5.

What was finished? THE ROBE OF RIGHTEOUS-
NESS WAS FINISHED.

Jesus had obeyed God’s holy law perfectly
in your place and had borne the curse of that
law in your stead. He had thus’made a wed-
ding garment for you, pure and spotless. You
have only to put it on—only to wear it. You
have just to look to Jesus—just to trust in Hin
As your own precious Saviour.

All your righteousnesses are in God’s sight
like filthy rags; you cannot enter heaven in
these. But the moment you trust in Jesus,
God will cover your sinful soul with the spot.

less robe of ‘His righteousness, which is unto

all and upon all them that believe,’’ Rom. 3, 22.
And you can say with a happy heart, “He
hath clothed me with the garments of salvation,
He hath covered me with the robe of righteous-
ness,”’ Isa. 61, 10.

I want you to see very plainly how God
saves you, not for anything that you can do,
but for what Jesus has already done for you,
and JESUS HAS DONE EVERYTHING. He said on
the cross, ‘‘Ir 18 FrnisHep.’’ Let me make
this very plain.

Suppose you have to do a piece of needle-
work. You put in one stitch, and another
stitch—a great many stitches; and then you
put in the last stitch. Can you do anything
more to it? No; it is finished. And you can-
not do anything to redeem your soul, because
Jesus has done everything. His dying words
were, ‘It is finished.”

You have to doa long sum. You put down
a great many figures—you put down the last
figure. Would it be right to put down any
more? No; it 1s finished.

You have to write a copy. You write one
line, and another line, and another line, and
presently you write the last line. Can you
write more? No. Why not? Because the copy
is finished.

When a thing is finished, you cannot do any-
thing more to it; and yet, there are many try-
ing to do something more to redeem their souls,
though Jesus says, ‘‘ Jt is finished.”

Won't you believe the Saviour’s dying words?
FrnisHep! Does not that mean that Jesus has
done everything and that you have only got to
trust in what He has done, and God will save
you at once for Jesus’ sake?

Suppose you owed some one a great deal of
money—more than you could ever pay, and I
came and paid it for you, would there be any-
thing for you to pay?

You do owe God a great debt. You have
broken all His commandments many times.
There’s a debt! Try hard as you will, you can
neyer pay God this great debt. But Jesus has
paid it for you, for He has in your place obeyed
perfectly all God’s commandments and has
borne the punishment which you deserved.

Your debt is paid. Ir 1s FINISHED.

No. 3.

Meditation on the Sufferings of Christ. .

Once more, O my soul! let thy meditations
turn for 2 moment on the complicated cruelties
and indignities to which the holy and spotless
Lamb of God was exposed. He was wounded
and scourged that thou mightest be healed.
He was arrayed with scorn in the purple robe,
that He might procure for thee the robe of
righteousness and salvation. He was crowned
with thorns, that thou mightest be crowned
with honor and immortality. He stood speech-
less, that thou mightest have an all-prevailing
plea. He endured torture, that thou mightest
have a Strong consolation. He thirsted, that
thou mightest drink of the waters of life: —
He bore the wrath of the Father, that thou
mightest enjoy His favor. He was numbered
with transgressors, that thou mightest be made
equal with the angels. He died, that thou
mightest live forever! Oh! then, let me often
retire and meditate on this scene, and admire
His immeasurable love, that I may learn to
mourn for sin, and hate it, and rejoice in my
obligations to such a Redeemer, until I am
constrained to live no longer unto myself, but
to Him who died for me, and rose again.

: Selected.

—__—_—<_ - ome -

His Atonement.

The death of Christ was the opening of the
allcleansing fountain for sin and uncleanness.
The Just died for the unjust; the Lord of glory
was crucified for-sinners; the Beloved Son was
forsaken, and His offering accepted, that the
returning prodigal might be welcomed to the
Father's house, and abide eternally there.
Thus justice is satisfied, holiness vindicated,
divine wrath appeased, truth fulfilled, the law
of God magnified, peace proclaimed, mercy
flows out, the guilty are pardoned, and the lost
saved; for ‘‘He was wounded for our. trans-
gressions, He was bruised for our iniquities;
the chastisement of our peace was upon Him;
and with His stripes we are healed.”

—_+ +o oe -

‘Te Son of God was made human that we
might be made divine.”’