The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1902, Page 9

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

The Lutheran Pioneer.

A MISSIONARY MONTHLY.

PUBLISHED BY THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN SynopIcAL ConFERENCE oF Nortn AMERICA.

The Sacrifice.

O Christ, what burdens bowed Thy head!
Our load was laid on Thee;

Thou stoodest in the sinner’s stead —
To bear all ill for me.

A Victim led, Thy blood was shed:
Now there’s no load for me.

Death and the curse were in our cup—
O Christ, twas full for Thee!

But Thou hast drained the last dark drop!
‘Tis empty now for me.

That bitter cup—love drank it up;
Left but the love for me.

— - oo

Our Suffering Saviour.

The season embracing the forty days before
Easter is known as Lent. Ever since the early
days of the Christian Church, this portion of
the year has been set apart for special medi-
tations on the sufferings and death of Jesus.
And « Christian never grows weary of this
story. The account of Christ's Passion ever
stirs his soul to its deepest depths.

But why do we take such an interest in a
man who suffered a criminal’s death? Why?
He was innocent of the charges brought against
Him. The Jewish council failed to make out
eyen the semblance of a case against Him.
Pontius Pilate, that vacillating wretch, sen-
tenced Jesus to death in spite of the repeated
declaration: ‘‘I find no fault in Him,’”’ John
19,4.6. The penitent thief and the centurion
under the cross also testified to Christ’s inno-

R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor.

‘St. Louis, Mo. March, 1902.

cence. Nor was Jesus innocent only of the
crimes with which the Jews charged Him.
He was entirely without sin, perfectly pure in
heart, thoughts, words, and deeds. The Bible
says: ‘‘He did no sin, neither was guile found
in His mouth,”? 1 Pet. 2,22. ‘He was holy,
harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners,’’
Hebr. 7,26. ‘‘A Lamb without blemish and
without spot,” 1 Pet.1,19. More thana sin-
less man, Christ is the eternal Son of God.
At the Baptism as well as at the Transfigura-
tion of Jesus, the Father declared: ‘‘This is
my beloved Son,’’ Matt. 3,17; 17,1. Scrip-
ture testifies: ‘‘God spared not His own Son,”’
Rom. 8,32. ‘‘He gave His only begotten Son,”

John 3, 16. And what makes the suffering of

Jesus, the innocent and divine person, of still
greater concern to us is the fact that He is our
Saviour.

Out of boundless love and mercy Christ of-
fered to atone for our guilt. He assumed our
debt as if it were Hisown. He suffered as our
Substitute. Taking all our sins upon Himself,
He was burdened with the curse which we had
deserved. The apostle says: ‘‘He was made
a curse for us,”’ Gal. 8, 18. ‘‘He bore our
sins,”’ 1Pet.2,24. ‘‘He gave Himself for our
sins,’? Gal. 1, 4.

And did Christ accomplish the work He
had undertaken to perform for us? Without
adoubt! His own dying testimony was: ‘‘It
is finished,’’ John 19, 30. In body and soul
He suffered the agonies of a multi-millionfold
curse. ‘hus the fire of God’s wrath was
quenched. The claims ‘of God’s eternal jus-
tice were satisfied. All sins of every sinner
have been fully atoned for. All sins! We
read: ‘‘The blood of Jesus Christ His Son
cleanseth us from all sin,”’ 1 John1,7. ‘‘By
Him all that believe are justified from all
things,?’ Acts 13, 39. Even so Jesus re-
deemed every sinner. It is written: ‘‘Christ
died for all,’’ 2 Cor. 5,15. ‘He gave Him-
self a ransom for all,’? 1 Tim. 2, 6.

Now note well how the Saviour and His par-
don became ours. He offers Himself and His
grace freely to all men by the Gospel. All that
is necessary to enjoy the gift is to accept it.
That is done by faith, by trusting the Gospel
promises. Let no one tell you that it is meces-

\

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

sary to wander hither and thither in search of
Christ’s pardoning mercy, or that it is neces-
sary to soar either upward or downward in the
spirit to obtain it. God’s infallible Word says:
“Through this man is preached unto you the
forgiveness of sins: and by Him all that believe
in Him sre justified,’’ Acts 13, 38. 39.

But what, if one who is troubled on ac-
count of his sins, do not feel that the burden
is lifted off his soul? Trust the Word, never-
theless. Think of the grief-oppressed disci-
ples on their way to Emmaus who, supposing
Christ was still dead, felt as if they had no
Saviour. Do you remember what Christ said
to them? ‘O fools and slow of heart to be-
lieve all that the prophets have spoken,’’ Luke
24,25. Thus He refers us to the Scripture,
and wants us to cling to that. Relying on the
Scripture word, our assurance of salvation
rests on a rock which will stand unshaken in
the fiercest storms of affliction, and with
thankful hearts we will praise Christ and Him
crucified in word and deed all the days of our
life. A. B.

—»—-e<aP oe

Ye are Bought with a Price.

When the negroes of the South were eman-
cipated, they were bought with a price, a tre-
mendous price. Leaving the money spent in
that conflict out of consideration, think of the
blood that saturated the battlefields, the lives
sacrificed, the tears shed by broken-hearted
wives, and mothers, and orphaned children,
and you will to some extent realize that the
bodily freedom of the colored people was
bought with a price.

But what is that compared to the price with
which Jesus bought us from spiritual thrall-
dom! He. redeemed us not with corruptible
things, such as gold and silver. We were not
bought with the blood of sacrificed animals,
nor with the blood of a man or millions of
men. We were bought with the blood of the
Son of God. :

Amazing pity, grace unknown,
And love beyond degree!

You say: This isa precious truth! T, too, a
lost and condemned sinner, have been bought
with that price! ‘This fills my heart with joy.