The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1896, Page 13

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The Autheran Pioneer,

A MISSTONARY MONTHLY.

Pusuisnep BY THE EvanGcenicaL Luraeran SynopicaL Conrerence or Norta AMERICA.

R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor.

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

Vol. XVIII.

Christ Risen from the Dead.

Rey. 1, 18.

Proclaim the lofty praise
Of Him who once was slain,
But now is risen, through endless days,
To live and reign;
He:lives and reigns on high,
Who bought us with His blood,
Enthroned above the farthest sky,
Our Saviour God.

All honor, power and praise,
To Jesus’ name belong;
With hosts seraphic, glad, we raise
The sacred song:
“Worthy the Lamb,” they cry,
“That on the cross was slain,
But-now ascended up on high,

He lives to reign.”’
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Christ is Risen.

Christ is risen. He has been declared to
be the Son of God. Our Saviour is not a
mere man. No. We have a divine Saviour.
Our Saviour is the Son of God. This comfort-
ing truth we learn.at the empty grave on
Easter morning. St. Paul says of Christ that
‘He was declared to be the Son of God with
power, by the resurrection from the dead.’’
Christ Himself had said that He is the Son of
God and that He would rise again from the
dead on the third day. Pointing to His body,
He said: ‘‘Destroy this temple, and in three
days I will raise it up,’’ John 2,19. Again
He said, ‘‘I lay down my life, that I might
take it again. No man taketh it from me, but
T lay it down of myself: I have power to lay
it down, and I have power to take it again,’
John 10, 17. 18. On Easter morning we see
His words fulfilled. The grave could not keep
the Lord of life. He is risen! He is risen
indeed! All the wise men and all the mighty
men of the earth can not conquer death; but
Christ conquered this powerful enemy and
thus proved Himself to be the eternal Son
of God. Blessed are those that accept this
Saviour. They haye a divine Saviour. . Woe
to those that reject this Saviour. ‘hey re-
Ject God Himself.

Christ is risen, He has finished the work
of our redemption. He did not only under-

St. Louis, Mo., April, 1896.

take that work. No. He finished it. We are
redeemed. This comforting truth we learn at
the empty grave on Easter morning. St. Paul
says, ‘‘If Christ be not raised, your faith is
vain: ye are yet in your sins,’’ 1 Cor. 15, 17.
Christ took our place under-the law, in order
to redeem us from the curse of the law. Our
sins were laid on Him, He bore the punish-
ment of our sins, in order to redeem us from
everlasting woe. He ‘‘was delivered for our
offenses’’ into sufferings, death, and the grave.
Now suppose death had kept Him! Suppose
that after all the bitter sufferings He had not
come forth from the grave! How could we
then know that His sacrifice is accepted, that
the work of our redemption is finished? Would
not the last hope of a ruined world be buried
in the tomb of Joseph? But let sinners re-
joice! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!
The sacrifice for sin has been accepted. The
justice of God is satisfied. The work of our
redemption is finished. ‘‘Christ was raised
again for our justification,’”’ says the Bible.
He was our Substitute in His sufferings and
death, He is our Substitute in His resurrection.
In Him we suffered and died, in Him we are
justified. In Him we were imprisoned in the
grave, in Him we are set free. Our sins He
bore to the grave, our sins He left in the tomb.
Woe to those that reject this redemption. They
reject their only salvation. Blessed are those
that by true faith accept this finished redemp-
tion. They can cry out triumphantly: ‘‘Who
shall lay anything to the charge of God’s
elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he
that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea
rather, that is risen again,’’ Rom. 8, 33. 34.

Christ is risen. He will raise us also from
the grave. This comforting truth we learn at
the empty grave on Easter morning. St. Paul
says, ‘If Christ be preached that He rose
from the dead, how say some among you that
there is no resurrection from the dead?’
Again he says, ‘‘Now is Christ risen from
the dead and become the first fruits of them
that sleep.” When the first fruits have been
gathered in, the whole harvest will surely
follow. He who by His divine power raised
His own body from the tomb will by that
same power raise our bodies from the grave.

.

No. 4.

For He has said: ‘‘Because I live, ye shall
live also,’’ John 14, 19. Blessed are those
that believe in the risen Saviour. To them
their own resurrection will be a resurrection
to everlasting joy and bliss.

No wonder that the news of Christ’s re-
surrection gladdened the hearts of the dis-
ciples and that this news has gladdened the
hearts of millions that have heard and be-
lieved it in all the years since the first Easter
morning. May the glad Easter tidings fill our
hearts also with true Easter joy.

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He Lives.

He lives! He lives! With these words
Dr. Luther, in his sore trials and conflicts,
often cheered himself... He would write them
in large letters with chalk upon his table;
yea, upon all the doors and sides of his room
he would write: He lives! He lives! He lives!
When asked what he meant thereby, he re-
plied: ‘‘Jesus lives! and if He did not live,
I would not wish to live a single hour.’” The
fact that Jesus lives assured him of the suc-
cess of his work in spite of all difficulties,
and comforted him in all his sore trials.

Jesus lives! This is every missionary’s
consolation in the midst of trials and dis-
couragements. Jesus lives! We preach, not
a dead Saviour, but a living Saviour to sinners
who by nature are walking in darkness and
death. He, the hving Saviour, is Himself
present in the Gospel that we preach. He
will see to it that our labor is not in vain.
“My Word shall not return unto me yoid,
but shall accomplish that whereunto I have
sent it.”? This is the promise of a living
Saviour, and we may well leave the results of ~

our labor to Him who lives and reigns forever.
0

No Fear or Deatn. —‘‘Knowest thou not,’”
said Luther to the King of Terrors, ‘‘that thou
didst devour the Lord Christ, but wast obliged
to give Him back, and wast then thyself de-
youred of Him? So thou must leave me un-
devoured, because I abide in Him, and live
and suffer for His name’s sake. Men may
send me out of the world— for that I care not
—pbut I shall not on that account abide in
death; I shall live with my Lord Christ, for
I know and believe that He liveth.”