The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1888, Page 13

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Che Lutheran Proneer,

A MISSIONARY MONTHLY.

PusuisueED BY THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN SyNopicaAL CoNFERENCE oF Nortu AMERICA.

R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor.

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

Vol. X.

St. Louis, Mo., April, 1888.

No. 4.

“He Liveth.”

“T know that my Redeemer lives!”’
What comfort this sweet sentence gives!
He lives, He lives, who once was dead,
He lives, my ever-living Head.

He lives to bless me with His love,
He lives to plead for me above,
He lives, my hungry soul to feed,
He lives to help in time of need.

He lives to grant me*rich supply,

He lives to guide me with His eye,
He lives to comfort me when faint,
He lives to hear my soul’s complaint.

He lives to silence all my fears,

He lives to wipe away my tears,
He lives to calm my troubled heart,
He lives, all blessings to impart.

He lives, and grants me daily breath,
He lives, and I shall conquer death;
He lives, my mansion to prepare,

He lives to bring me safely there.

He lives, all glory to His name!

He lives, my Jesus, still the same!
O heavenly joy this sentence gives:
“T know that my Redeemer lives!’

S. Medley.
——_—_+>~ emo pe

Glad Easter Tidings.

The Easter tidings are indeed glad tidings.| over the grave. He is our Substitute, and

Christ is risen! What gladder tidings were
ever made known to men? P

That was a blessed message brought by the
angel at the Saviour’s birth, ‘‘ Behold, I bring
you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to
all people, for unto you is born this day, in the
city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the
Lord.” But what would this message that
«Christ is born’’ signify if it could not be said
of the same Christ, ‘‘ He is risen’? If we had
no Easter we could have no Christmas. If
we had no Easter we could have no Gospel.
St. Paul says, ‘“‘If Christ be not raised, your
faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then
they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are
perished.”” But the Easter tidings tell us that
Christ is risen, and the resurrection of Christ
is the seal which God has set to the truth of
the Gospel.

Hear the glad tidings! Christ is risen! His

resurrection proves Him to be the Son of God. | also rise from the grave. For He rose as the

| might take itagain. No man taketh it from

He Himself said, ‘‘I lay down my life, that I} first fruits of our resurrection. He lives, and
He gives the blessed assurance, ‘‘ Because I
live ye shall live also.’? Thus forever has death
been robbed of its sting, and the grave of its
victory.

Blessed Easter tidings! No wonder that they
sent a thrill of joy to the hearts of the dis-
ciples, and that that joy filled the hearts of
millions who heard and believed the Easter tid-
ings in all the ages since. May the glad Easter
tidings fill our hearts also with Easter joy!

-__—- o~<—mo

What is Faith.

me, but I lay it down of myself: I have power
to lay it down, and I have power to take it
again.’’ The grave could not keep the Lord
of life. The Lord is risen! He is risen, in-
deed! Christ conquered death and came forth
triumphantly from the grave, thereby proving
Himself to be the Son of God. St. Paul there-
fore says of Jesus that He was “declared to be
the Son of God with power, according to the
Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the
dead,’’ Rom. 1, 4.

Hear the glad tidings! Christ is risen! There-
fore the atonement for sin is complete. The
work of our redemption is finished. St. Paul
says, ‘‘He was delivered for our offenses, and
raised again for our justification.” As our
Surety He bore the pains and sorrows recorded
in His life—a life saddened with the burden
of our sins; as our Surety He hung upon the
tree and became a curse for us, and as our
Surety He bowed His head before the fell en-
emy of mortals, and died. But when He rose
from the grave the perfection and completeness
of His work is seen. The debt was paid and
justice was seen to be satisfied when our Sub-
stitute broke the bands of death and triumphed

A poor wild Irish boy, taught in a mission-
school in Ireland, was asked what was meant
by saying faith. He replied, ‘‘Grasping Christ
with the heart.’’

A young Portuguese convert, being asked
what she meant by faith, replied: ‘‘Me think
this: God say to me, ‘Maria, I promise you
something very, very good.’ Me not know
what it is; me wait perhaps long, long time;
but me sure God tell not story." Me quite
happy. God say He give, and me quite sure
God will give; that me think faith. God says,
‘Maria, Me do it;’ me quite sure; no want to
see. God says, and that enough for Maria.
That's faith, is it not?”’

“Without faith it is impossible to please’
God.”

therefore His victory is our victory, His triumph
is our triumph. All sinners that accept this
finished work of redemption by true faith may
now cry out triumphantly, ‘‘Who shall lay
anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is
God that justifieth, Who is he that con-
demneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather,
that is risen again.’’ Rom. 8, 33. 34.

Hear the glad tidings! Christ is risen! There-
fore the believer need not fear death and the
grave. In the light of Easter morning the
Christian recognizes that death is no longer a
punishment, . because Christ has paid the pen-
alty, and we stand in Him. To us death comes
as the gentle friend, taking us to better scenes,
to higher joys. To this the dying saints of all
ages have borne testimony. Having found that
to live is Christ, they have proved that to die
is gnin, and have met the king of terrors with-
out fear. Christ is risen! Therefore we shall

——————s- +o o

Precious Saviour.

He is very happy who is able to set his Say-
iour above all. To every Christian He should
be the “‘precious’”’ one, the one “altogether
lovely.”” The trouble often is, that fixing our
minds devotedly on earthly objects, we forget
Jesus and the supreme love with which we
ought to regard Him. And when, in any, case,
we permit ourselves to make Him subordinate
to another interest, we are dishonoring Him
and robbing ourselves.

—_—_2 oe

Tue difficulty in the way of believing the
resurrection of Jesus is not found in the head,
but in the state of the heart as deceitful above
all things, and desperately wicked, as in itself
enmity against God.