The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1900, Page 13

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Che Autheran Pioneer.

A MISSIONARY

MONTHLY.

PuBLISHED BY THE HyaNGELICAL LUTHERAN SyNnopICAL CONFERENCE OF NortH AMERICA.

R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor.

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

Vol. XXII.

St. Louis, Mo. April, 1900.

No. 4.

Easter.

Jesus Christ is risen to-day,

Our triumphant holiday;

Who did once upon the cross

Suffer to redeem our loss.
Hallelujah!

Hymns of praise then let us sing

Unto Christ, our heavenly King;

Who endured the cross and grave

Sinners to redeem and save.
Hallelujah!

But the pains which He endured
Our salvation have procured;
Now above the sky He’s King,
Where the angels ever sing, °

Hallelujah!
Old English.

—__—> + o<a> 0 =

“He Is Not Here.”

To the women that came to Christ’s grave
on Easter morning the angel said: ‘‘Ye seek
Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified; He
is risen; He is not here; behold the place
where they laid Him.’’

“He 1s Not HERE.’’ Not in the grave. If
He were still there, what would that mean?
It would mean that He could not do what He
had promised to do. Again and again He
had said that He would rise from the dead.
Pointing to His body, He said to the Jews:
‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will
raise it up.’? Now, if He were still in the
grave, it would mean that His words did not
come true. But itis not so. ‘‘Heis not here.”
Not in the grave. What does that mean? It
means that He did what He promised. It means
that every word of His mouth is true forever
andever. We can trust all His promises. All
His sayings are sealed and established as the
absolute and immovable truth of God.

Joyful Easter message: ‘‘He is risen; He
is not here!”?

“He 1s Not nere.’’ Not in the grave. If
He were still there, what would that mean?
Tt would mean that He was a mere man.
A man, you know, can not conquer death.
Death is too powerful. All the wisdom and
all the power of man can do nothing against
death. Now, if Christ were still in the grave,
it would mean that His power was no greater

than man’s power. It would mean that He
entered the realm of death and was held cap-
tive, because He was not mightier than death.
But it is not so. ‘tHe is not here.’ Not in
the grave. What does that mean? It means
that He is more than man. It means that He
is ‘‘the true God and eternal life.’’ “Death
could not keep Him, for He is the Son of God.
Therefore the apostle says, ‘‘He is declared to
be the.Son of God with power, by the resur-
rection from the dead.”’ The Christ in whom
we Christians believe is not a mere man; He
is God-and man in one person.

Joyful Easter message: ‘‘He is risen; He
is not here!’’

‘HE 1s NoT HERE.’’ Not in the grave. If
He were still there, what would that mean?
It would mean that we are not redeemed. It
would mean that Christ undertook the work
of our redemption, but failed. He came as
the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the
world. Now, if He were still in the grave, it
would mean that the burden of our sins and
our woe which was laid upon Him had crushed
Him. Butitisnotso. ‘‘Heis not here.’’ Not
inthe grave. What does that mean? It means
that our redemption is finished. It means that
God the Father is perfectly satisfied with the
work of His Son. With the burden of our sin
Christ entered death, free from sin He came
forth from the grave. He was our Substitute ;
He took our place. In Him we were thrown
into the prison house of death; in Him we
were set free. Therefore the apostle says,
‘Christ was delivered for our offenses, and
was raised again for our justification.”” Every
sinner that believes in Him can triumphantly
aot “Since Christ is free, now I am free

From all unrighteousness;

Since He is just, now I am just,

He is my righteousness.”

Joyful Easter message: ‘‘He is risen; He

is not here!”

‘HE 1s Nor HERE.’’ Not in the grave. If
He were still there, what would that mean?
It would mean that we also must remain in the
grave. It would mean that “they also which
are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.” Of

the believer Christ says, ‘‘I will raise him up
at the last day.”’? Now, if Christ were still in
the grave, it would mean that since He had
not the power to raise Himself, He also has
not the power to raise others from the grave.
But it is not so. ‘‘He is not here.’’ Not in
the grave. What does that mean? It means
that we also shall rise from the grave. For
Jesus says, ‘Because I live, ye shall live
also.’”? And again He says, ‘‘Where I am,
there shall also my servant be.’’ He is not
in the grave, and so His servant shall not re-
main in the grave, but shall be where He is
in everlasting life. ‘The old Christian was
right who directed the following inscription
to be placed on his tomb: ‘‘The inn of a
traveler on his way to the New Jerusalem.’’
And well might that Christian mother in China,
whose little daughter had just died, say to the
missionary: ‘“The grave has become quite a
different place; since Jesus came to our vil-
lage.”? To the believer the grave is but a
resting-place, where he sleeps until the dawn
of the resurrection day, when the voice of our
living Saviour shall ring through the silence
of our graves and we shall rise and be forever
with the Lord.

O joyful Easter message: ‘‘Heisrisen; He
is not here!’”

—_>< oo >

Hid With Christ.

In the second century.they brought a martyr
before a king, and the king wanted him to re-
cant and give up Christ and Christianity; but
the man spurned the proposition. ‘The king
said: ‘If you do not do it, I shall banish ~
you.’? The man smiled and answered: ‘‘You
can not banish me from Christ; for He says
He will never leave me nor forsake me.”” The
king became angry, and said: ‘Well, I will
confiscate your property and take it all from
you.”? And the man replied: ‘‘My treasures
are laid up on high; you can not get them.’ —
The king became still more angry, and said:
“J will kill you.”’ ‘‘Why,”’ the man answered,
“J-have been dead forty years; I have been
dead with Christ; dead to the world; my life —
is hid with Christ in God, and you can not
touch it.’’ — Selected. :