The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1902, Page 21

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Che Lutheran Pioneer,

A MISSIONARY MONTHLY.

Pususnep By THE EvanceicaAL Lutueran SynopicaL CONFERENCE OF NortH AMERICA.

R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor.

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

Vol. XXIV. St. Louis, Mo., June, 1902. | No. 6.

that cometh to this Supper shall never hunger
and never thirst. ‘This, then, is the meat and
drink prepared in this Great Supper for our
souls, Verily, a feast unto life eternal, liv-
ing bread to cheer and strengthen, living wine
to gladden the heart, heavenly oil to make the
face to shine. ‘

This Great Supper offers love to all and
.| pardon for all our crimes; it promises to blot
out all our guilt, forgive all our sins, to take
away our evil hearts, to plant in us a new
life, to make us God’s children and partakers
of His joy, His love, His life, and His fellow-
ship. It offers to transform, to purify, to glo-
rify us, to make us kings and priests, to make
us, day after day, more ‘and more like unto the
image of Him that created us. It offers to
make us sinners saints, us slaves it promises to
make conquerors over sin, death, and hell.

Will you come? You are invited. Invita-
tion to this Great Supper was extended to
Adam, to Seth, to Enoch, to Noah, to all the
people before the flood, and after the deluge
to every tribe that dwelt upon the earth. The
invitation to this feast brought joy to the fami-
lies of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to David
and the people that called him king. Jonah
carried the invitation to distant Niniveh, and
Daniel proclaimed it in Babylon. John the
Baptist preached it to the multitudes that
came to hear him, and Jesus and His disciples
went up and down throughout Judea, Sama-
ria, and Galilee, inviting all to come. The
Apostle Paul and the other apostles brought
the joyful invitation to the Gentiles, carrying
the tidings to the uttermost parts of the earth.
And at this day all the countries of the earth
and the islands of the sea have the messen-
gers of the Great King, inviting all to come
and share in this feast, prepared for them by
divine grace. Millions and millions have been
called and are still being called to this Great
Supper, and you, too, are being called. Will
you come ?

Yes, come, God’s banquet is spread, and
there is yet room for you. _ God’s house is
not yet filled, there is a seat at the table of
grace for you. Ye guests, come in! Cast be-
hind your yanities, and come to the table of
salvation. There is yet room, do not remain

Sinners Invited. outdoors, but come in. - Oh, come and find
nourishment for your hungering soul. There
is yet room. Oh, then, come, come; for all

things are now ready.

Ye wretched, hungry, starving poor,
Behold a royal feast!

Where mercy spreads her bounteous store
For every hungry guest. The gates of Gospel grace

Stand open night and day:

Here you may quench your raging thirst

And drive your wants away.

See, Jesus stands with open arms;
He calls, He bids you come;

Guilt holds you back, and fear alarms;
But see, there yet is room.

F. J. L.

—__. - ome

Room in the Saviour’s bleeding heart,
There love and pity mect;

Nor will He bid the soul depart
That trembles at His feet.

The Divine Ransom.

“Christ gave Himself a ransom for all,”
says the Scripture. A ransom is the price
paid for the release of a captive. Accord-
ingly, we must have been languishing in cap-
tivity. So we were.

Who, then, was the cruel robber that kept
us in bondage? Man had transgressed God’s
Law and sinned, and by his sin had fallen
into the hands of Satan with body and soul;
“for he that committeth sin is of the devil.”’
So fast-bound in Satan’s chains was he that
he could not, and, what was worse, would
not extricate himself. Nor could man, nor
angel, nor any other creature give to God a
ransom for our sins. If the sinner was to be
released from his captivity, he must be re-
deemed by the Lord Himself.

But could not God overlook ‘‘transgres-
sions past, it matters not how black their
cast??? Could not God justify the ungodly’
without a price? With Him is, indeed, plen-
teous compassion, but His justice demanded
a ransom, a price, which must be equivalent
to man’s sin and guilt, and be paid in full,
before He could embrace all with His mercy.
‘And justice must stand though heaven fall.

Now look at the wonderful wisdom of God.
When other helpers failed He found a plan
of salvation according to which He could be
just, and yet the justifier of the ungodly.
‘As He looked upon the fallen, helpless, per-
ishing human race He declared, ‘‘Sinner, thy
salvation is of me. In me alone is thy help,
I must redeem thee, and I myself must be
the ransom.”

So Jesus Christ, the Son of God, moved by
love toward His Father and toward us, gave
Himself a ransom for all of us. His entire

In Him the Father reconciled
Invites your souls to come;
The rebel shall be called a child

And kindly welcomed home.
Selected.
+o or oe

Will You Come?

Will you come, dear reader? You ask,
where? ‘Io a supper—to a supper which
God has prepared for you, for the whole
world of sinners. Long ere the world was
made, God decided to prepare this Great
Supper for us. And this Supper is to be al-
together at His expense. God alone bears
the expense, He takes upon Himself the
whole cost. :

But, you say, what Great Supper is it that
God has prepared for us? It is the king-
dom of God, the kingdom of grace. Now,
of course, the kingdom of God does not con-
sist in natural eating and drinking, as Christ
Himself tells us, but what meat and drink is
for the body the kingdom of God is for the
soul. The hungry soul needs nourishment,
just as does the body; but its food is spir-
itual. This food is furnished in the kingdom
of God. The soul is tlere led beside the
still waters of the glorious promises of God
‘and ‘fed upon the green pastures of Christ’s
Gospel. The Gospel is the true soul feast,
where our souls are quickened, strengthened,
and made joyous and strong in the Lord. It
gives us the true Bread of Life, even Christ
Jesus with all His merits, forgiveness of sin,
life, and salvation. Jesus is the true Bread
of Life that cometh down from heaven, and
he that eateth thereof shall never die. He