The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1894, Page 9

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Che Lutheran Pioneer.

A MISSIONARY MONTHLY.

PuBLISHED BY THE HvANGELICAL LutHeRAN SyNnopicaAL CoNnFERENCE oF NortH AMERICA.

R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor.

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

Vol. XVI.

St. Louis, Mo., March, 1894.

No. 3.

“It Is Finished.”

Were Jesus on the cross,

The ‘work were not completed;
But He to glory’s gone,

Above the heavens now seated.

Were Jesus in the grave,

Death had not been defeated;
But God has raised Him up,

And now the work’s completed!

Were Jesus not on high,

We had been doubting, fearing;
But every doubt is stilled

By Christ,in heaven appearing.

Oh! ’tis a finished work,

And God delights to view it;
Oh! ’tis a wondrous work,

And none but Christ could do it!

On it I rest my all,

Without one doubt or quiver;
For by the precious blood

I’m perfected forever!

And God is glorified,
O wondrous, blessed story!
And rebel man is saved
And rendered meet for glory!
Selected.

2. oo -

It Is Finished.

The redemption of sinners is finished. It
was finished more than eighteen hundred years
ago. Christ came into the world to redeem
sinners, and He has finished the work of re-
demption. He was made under the law and,
in our stead, perfectly fulfilled all its demands.
He took upon Himself also the curse of the
law which we deserved by our transgressions.
Our sins were laid on Him, and He bore the
wrath‘and the punishment of a just and holy
God which were our due. Our sins brought
upon Him the deep agony, the bitter suffer.
ings, the shameful death upon the cross. “‘He
was wounded for our transgressions. He was
_bruised for our iniquities,’’ says the Bible.
_And when He had borne all the punishment,
when nothing more was to be done or to be
suffered, He cried out upon the cross: ‘‘It is
finished!’? ‘Then‘our redemption was finished.
Our enemies were conquered and sinners were
redeemed. .

Our enemies thought they had won the vic-
tory. Christ had died upon the cross. His
body was laid into the grave, a large stone
was placed over the mouth of the tomb, the
Roman seal was put upon the stone, and the
soldiers watched the sepulchre. But, behold!
in the early dawn of Easter morning Christ
rose triumphantly from the grave as the con-
queror over sin, death, devil, and hell. Glad
Easter tidings! Our redemption is finished.
Christ has won the victory, and His victory is
our victory, since He is our substitute. He
suffered in our place, He conquered in our
stead. He was ‘‘raised again for our justifi-
cation,’’ says the apostle.

Now we know that God the Father is per-
fectly satisfied with the work of His Son. By
raising Christ from the dead He has declared
before heaven and earth that our redemption
is finished.

The sinner has now nothing to do but to
accept by faith the finished redemption offered
to him in the Gospel. Every attempt to add
something of his own to that finished work of
Christ is an insult to God, a dishonor to the
Saviour. He must trust for salvation in the
finished work of Christ. Not half in Christ’s
work and half in some other work, but in
Christ's work alone. Not in Christ’s work
and in some work of hisown. No. Not in
Christ’s work and in his feelings or in any-
thing that he finds in his own sinful self. No.
Not in Christ’s work and in the work of some
saint. No. Butin Christ’s work alone. That
work is a finished work, and God will have
nothing whatever added to it. He will hurl
away in His wrath all that try to add their own
dirty rags to that beautiful finished work of
His Son. God is perfectly satisfied with the
work of His Son, why will not you be satis-
fied? Accept that redemption finished long
ago and offered to you in the Gospel.

“rt is finished! yes, indeed—
Finished every jot,

Sinner, this is all you need;
Tell me, is it not?”

—— oo ee
Tue Hindoos extend their hospitality to

their enemies, saying: ‘“The tree does not with-

draw its shade even from the wood cutter.”’

every time.’’

i

The Glorious Saviour.

Luther says: It is impossible for a man to
be a Christian without having Christ, and if
he has Christ, he has at the same time all that
is in Christ. What gives peace to the con-
science is, that by faith our sins are no more
ours, but Christ’s, upon whom God hath laid
them all, and that on the other hand all Christ’s
righteousness is ours, to whom God hath given
it. Christ lays His hand upon us, and we are
healed. He casts His mantle upon us, and we
are clothed; for He is the glorious Saviour
blessed forever.

———. - <> +

Faith.

Faith is the eye by which we look to Jesus. :
A weeping eye is still an eye; a dim- “sighted
eye is still an eye.

Faith is the hand by which we lay hold on
Jesus. A trembling hand is still a hand; and
he is a believer whose heart within him trembles
when he touches the hem of his Savi jour’s gar-
ment that he may be healed.

Faith is the tongue by which we taste how
good the Lord is. A feverish tongue is never-
theless a tongue. And even then we may be-
lieve when we are without the smallest portion
of comfort, for our faith is founded not upon
feeling, but upon the promise of God.

Faith is the foot by which we go to Jesus.
A lame foot is still a foot. He who comes
slowly nevertheless comes. —H. Miller.

———~> + oo

Resist the Devil.

‘* Resist the devil qnd he will flee from you,’”
James 4, 7. An honest Christian farmer had
sold a large quantity of wheat to be delivered.
The purchaser, relying on his well known in-
tegrity, left-him to measure up and forward
the grain. While measuring it, as he filled
the half-bushel and strnck it off evenly, this
suggestion each time was thrust into his mind,
“Strike a littleunder, and you will save a bushel
before you are done.’’ Heresisted it, of course,
and stillit kept coming. At length, the honest
old man turned his head, and said, ‘‘Satan;
if you don’t let me alone, TF will Wee the bushel