The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1902, Page 11

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The Lutheran Pioneer.

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The works of the Law —so much is certain
—can never, never bring us to heaven. If we
are to be saved, another way must be shown us.
‘And such a way God has shown us in the Gos-
pel, of which Paul says, “T am not ashamed |
of the Gospel of Christ; for it is the power
of God unto salvation to every one that be-|
lieveth,’? Rom. 1, 16. The word, Gospel, is
an old English word, meaning, good news, or, |
to use the words of the angel, ‘‘glad tidings |
of great joy.’’ The Gospel brings us poor, lost, |
and condemned creatures the glad tidings that |
“God so loved the world, that He gave His}
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in|
Him, should not perish, but have
everlasting life,’’ John 3,16. God
would not have the world to perish
in sin, and so in His boundless love
for us He gave His Son, His only
Son, to keep the Law for us, and
as our Substitute to suffer and to
die and thus to atone for our trans-
gression, so that we, believing in
Him as our Saviour, may not perish,
but have life everlasting.

O wondrous Love!
done!

The Father offers up His Son,

The Son, content, descendeth!

OLove! O Love! howstrong art Thou!

In shroud and grave Thou lay’st Him
low .

Whose word the mountains rendeth.

Blessed Gospel! Well may
St. Paul say, ‘‘I am not ashamed
of the Gospel of Christ.”” It brings
us sinners the glad tidings of the
grace of God in Christ Jesus. It
tells us, the transgressors of the
Law, of Christ who has fulfilled it
for us; it comforts us sinners with
the good news of Christ who has
borne the punishment of our sins
for us, and thus has saved us from
the wrath of God and the curse of
the Law. And not only does it
bring us this news, it does still
more; for it is the power of God
unto salvation. It also works in
our hearts faith in this good news, so that we
rely upon and trust init, as being glad tidings
for us.

A brief and concise statement of the whole
Gospel is given us in the Second Chief Part of
our Small Catechism ; for in the three Articles
of the Creed is comprehended the whole doc-
trine of our Christian faith. Therein we have a
statement and confession of our faith as Chris-
tians, disciples of Christ. For this reason we
call this Part of our Catechism the Creed, since
the word, Creed, means ‘‘that which is believed
and confessed.””

In the three Articles of the Creed we con-
fess our faith in God the Father, who created
us and gave His only Son for the redemption
of the world; in God the Son, who kept the
Law for us and made atonement for our sins;
and in God the Holy Ghost, who leads us to

what hast Thou

Christ and keeps us with Him in true faith
unto life everlasting.

Since this Holy Christian Creed agrees so
precisely with the words and teachings of
the Apostles, it is often called the Apostles’
Creed.

As we now proceed to consider the Creed,
and in connection with it Luther's masterly
explanation of it, we shall see how it is indeed
a complete summary of the Gospel of Christ,
the power of God unto salvation to every one
that believeth. F. J. L.

He loved me, and gave Himself for me.

“The Blood of Jesus Christ.”

A PERSONAL EXPERIENCE.

Such is the title of a little book written by
a former Romish priest in Spain. The story
of his own conversion which he narrates in it
is worthy of notice. In his ‘Reports from
Spain,” Pastor Fliedner gives the story in
German as it was recorded by the conyerted
priest. Following is an English version:

It was in 1869 that I was passing through
Preciado street, in Madrid, when a gentleman
drew near, accosting me in a friendly manner
and offering me 2 little book. I asked him
the subject of the tract, and he briefly replied:
«yt is about the blood of Jesus.’? I looked at
of the little book:and read the title,

the cover J e,
«Indeed, there is a Saviog ven for you.
But before I had timetore; _irther, another

4

| gentleman, who had observed us, stepped up
| and said sharply, ‘‘Those are Protestant books,
|and if you read them you will at once be ex-
communicated.”’

Since I did not wish to be deprived of
spiritual advantages in the Church, I quickly
| tore the book to pieces and cast away the
| fragments of its leaves as I entered Alcala
street. Walking on I rejoiced that I had es-
caped the impending curse and had not read
the book. But though I felt no desire to know

its contents, yet the words with which that
gentleman had given me the book constantly
sounded in my ears, —‘‘The Blood of Jesus
Christ.”” For by uttering this he
had, without knowing it, called to
mind former impressions which
now with fresh force filled my
heart. These were recollections
of the whole history of a crime,
a conviction, and an execution.
These I will briefly relate.

It was in the year 1865. A year
earlier a trunk had been sent from
the station at Valladolid to Alar
del Rey and delivered to the civil
court of Old Castile, because it
contained the corpse of a man who
had lived in Gapico street in Val- -
ladolid. ‘The following year two
women were convicted of that
murder, confessed it, and were
condemned to death. Of several
clergymen appointed to give these
women spiritual advice I myself
was one. I spent two nights and
the day on which they were led to
the gallows with them in the chapel.
(Persons condemned to death are
kept the last few days ina chapel;
hence the Spanish phrase, ‘tHe has
been taken to the chapel,’’ which
means as much as, ‘‘His fate is
sealed.’’)

These two women were publicly.
executed, and the event was well
known in the city of Valladolid
and for many miles around. But
what took place in the chapel and on the way
to the gallows is not generally known, so I
will relate it as it occurred.

In the second night, which I was spending
with one of these culprits, who was called
“the Navarrese woman,” she was filled with
terror for her fearful crime in view of the fact
that a few hours later she must stand at the
par of justice of the living God with no time
to atone for her guilt with good works.

I must here mention that she had a short
time before confessed and received absolution.
I therefore tried to comfort her spiritually by
speaking of her confession, and saying that
she was now indeed offering her life in expia-
tion for her guilt. I also referred her to the
complete absolution, which I was authorized
to grant her in the moment of herdeath. For
a short while her conscience seemed content