The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1892, Page 5

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God and the Redeemer of the world.

Che Lutheran Pioneer.

A MI

SSIONARY MONTHLY.

PusiisHep By THE Eyancericat Lurneran Synopican Conrerence or Nortu AMERICA.

R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor.

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

Vol. XIV.

St. Louis, Mo., February, 1892.

No. 2.

God For Us.

“I know it, I believe it, I say it fearlessly,
That God, the Highest, Mightiest, forever loveth
me!
At all times, in all places, He standeth by my side:
He rules the battle fury, the tempest and the tide.

“There is no condemnation, there is no hell for me,
The torment and the fire, my eyes shall never see;
For me there is no sentence; for me death has no

sting,
Because the Lord who loves me shall shield me
with His wing.

“No angel and no heaven, no throne, nor power, nor
might,
No love, no tribulation, no danger, fear nor fright,
No height, no depth, no creature that has been or
can be,
Can drive me from Thy bosom, can sever me from
Thee.

“My heart with joy upleapeth, grief can not linger
there, :
She singeth high in glory, amidst the sunshine fair;
The sun that shines upon me is Jesus and His love;
The fountain of my singing is deep in heaven
above!’ Paul Gerhardt.

—

St. John’s Witness of Christ.

St. John was to go before Christ to prepare
His way. At his birth it was said of him:
‘Thou, child, shall be called the Prophet of
the Highest; for thou shalt go before the face
of the Lord to prepare his ways.’’ Luke 1, 76.
“And the child grew and waxed strong in
spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of
his showing unto Israel,’’ Luke 1, 80. And
when that day came, his voice was ‘‘the voice
of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the
way of the Lord.”’ He showed the people their
sins and called them to repentance. © ‘Repent
ye,”’ cried he, ‘for the kingdom of heaven is
at hand.’? But not only did he show the peo-
ple their sins, but he also pointed them to
Jesus as the only Saviour of sinners. When
Christ entered upon his public ministry, John
bore witness of Him that He is the Son of
When
he saw Jesus coming unto him, he ¢ried out
and said, ‘‘Behold the Lamb of God, which

taketh away the sin of the world,” John 1, 29.

This was St. John’s witness of Christ. It was

precious Gospel news to all that had come to| which taketh away the sin of the world!’’
the knowlege of their sins. It brought com- | Christ is all in all. We shall never find hap-
fort and peace to every sorrowing heart that|piness and peace by looking to anything we
took refuge in the Saviour pointed out by the | find in our own sinful selves. It is what Jesus
words of St. John. is, not what we are, it is what Jesus has done

‘*Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh | for us, not what we do, that gives rest to the
away the sin of the world!’’ These words are|soul. Look away then from everything you
still words of sweetest comfort to every anx- | find in your own sinful self. Look unto Jesus
ious sinner. only as He is brought to you in the Gospel,

Jesus is the Lamb of God. He came into}and be saved. Look unto Him every day of
the world to become a sacrifice for our sin, to} your life, and find in Him forgiveness of all
be consumed on the altar of the cross by the|sin and comfort in all sorrows. Look unto
flames of Gad’s wrath against sin, which He | Him in the hour of death, and your faith shall
had undertaken to bear. then be changed into sight, and you shall see

Jesus taketh away sin. ‘The Lord hath|him face to face in everlasting joy and bliss.
laid upon him the iniquity of us all,’’ says Remember at all times St. John’s witness of
the prophet. And again he says, ‘‘He was}Christ: ‘‘ Behold the Lamb of God, which
wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised | taketh away the sin of the world!’’
for our iniquities; the chastisement of our
peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we
are healed.’’ And the apostle Peter says,
‘‘He Himself bore our sins in His own body
on the tree,’’ 1 Peter 2, 24.

Jesus taketh away the sin of the world.
Mark well, the sin of the world. Not only
the sin of Abraham and David and Peter and
Paul and other holy men. No! The sin of
the world. You surely belong to the world,
and therefore you may rest assured that Jesus
taketh away your sin. No sinner in all the
world, let him be who he will, or what he will,
is shut out. The Gospel, which brings us all
the blessings gained by the sacrifice of the
Lamb of God, points every sinner to Jesus
and says, ‘‘Behold your Saviour!’? We be-
hold Him as he comes to us in the Gospel,
not with our bodily eyes, but with the eye of
faith and thus find in him pardon of sin and
life everlasting.

Perhaps you have been looking to your own
works, your honesty, your church-goings, your;
prayers, your good feelings. “hese are good)
things in their places, but very bad things to
be put in the place of Christ. Are they your)
saviours? Have they been appointed by God
to take away sin? Does St. John say, Be-
hold your works, your honesty, your church-
goings, your prayers, your good feelings,
which taketh away sin? No! He points to
Jesus and says, ‘* Behold the Lamb of God,

The Faithful. -

The Emperor Constantine at one time de-
sired to test his courtiers as to whether they
were sincere in the profession of the Christian
religion. He therefore permitted a proclama-
tion to go forth stating, that whoever would
not, on the following day, sacrifice to the
gods should be dismissed from his service.
Soon a number of loose and characterless fel-
lows reported to him that they felt it their
duty to comply with his demand. But there
were also some honest God-fearing souls who
came to him and said, ‘‘Most gracious Master
and Emperor, next to God there is no one
dearer to us than your majesty. If asked to
to die for the welfare of your majesty, we
will cheerfully do so, only do not demand of
us to do this, for it is against God and our
conscience.’’ Whereupon the Emperor, turn-
ing to the faithless and wavering ones, said,
‘“Ye unfaithful knaves! how would you prove
faithful to me, when you are untrue to your
own souls, your salvation, your God, your con-
science, your religion and your own hearts?
Leave my royal court at once, or I will
severely punish you.’’ But those who were
not ashamed of their religion he raised to
great honor, and declared that they were more
precious to him than large treasures of gold.