The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1903, Page 46

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46

The Lutheran Pioneer.

Christ Our Prophet.

We have already heard that the name Christ
means the Anointed,—that our Saviour has
been anointed with the Holy Ghost to a three-
fold office, that of a Prophet, a Priest, and
a King.

Christ is our Prophet, that is, our Teacher;
for the word prophet does not mean, as so
many think, a foreteller of future events, but
simply, teacher. The main work of the prophets
of the Old Testament was to proclaim the will
of God, and the gift to foretell future events
and perform miracles was given them merely
to gain the ear of the people and to assure
their hearers that what they heard was really
spoken by God’s messengers. Likewise,
Christ’s main work as our Prophet is to teach
us the will of God. In fact, all the prophets
of the Old Testament were but shadows of
Christ, the Prophet. Moses had already said
to the people of Israel: ‘‘The Lord thy God
will raise up unto thee a prophet from the
midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me:
unto Him ye shall hearken,’”’ Deut. 18, 15.
And this Prophet of whom Moses speaks is
Christ, for the Father Himself declares of
Jesus, ‘‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I
am well pleased; hear ye Him,’’ Matt. 17, 5.

Christ is, indeed, the Prophet, for what
other prophets could only know on being told

‘by God Christ knows at first hand. ‘‘No man

hath seen God at any time; the only-begotten
Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He
hath declared Him,’’ John 1, 18. Jesus teaches
us that which He has Himself seen and heard
in the bosom of His heavenly Father. And
what is the burden of His preaching? Peter
sums up the contents of the prophets’ preach-
ing thus: ‘To Him [Christ] give all the
prophets witness, that through His name who-
soever believeth in Him shall receive remission
of sins,’”? Acts 10, 43. And as the prophets
of the Old Testament pointed to Christ, so did
Christ likewise reveal Himself. The prophets
of old preached remission of sins through
Christ’s name, so also did Christ reveal Him-
self to men as the Son of God made man to
redeem the world from sin. :

As long as He was here upon earth in visible
form, Christ personally taught the people in
private and public, and by means of His
miracles He proved not only that He was sent
of God, but that He was the very Son of God
and the promised Saviour of the world. To
John’s disciples, who desired a proof that He

ES is indeed the Messiah, Christ said: ‘The blind
* receive their sight, and the lame walk, the
_ lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the

ad are raised up, and the poor haye the
Gospel preached to them.’’ Christ by word
eed revealed Himself as the Son of God
jhe Redeemer of the world, and thus up

6 time of His Ascension personally exer-
sed His prophetic office.
His Ascension Christ no longer per-
ches the Gospel, but He neverthe-

less still is our Prophet. When He ascended
up on high, He commanded His Church to
preach the Gospel through her ministers, and
when the ministers of the Gospel in obedience
to Christ’s command proclaim the good tidings
of salvation they are but the mouthpieces of
the true Prophet. Jesus Himself says to the
preachers of His Word: ‘‘He that heareth you
heareth me; and he that despiseth you de-
spiseth me ; and he that despiseth me despiseth
Him that sent me,’’ Luke 10, 16. Thus the
voice of Christ, our Prophet, is still heard and
will be heard to the end of days. Though we
no longer see Him in the flesh, He still speaks
to us in His Word and through the mouth of
His servants. How thankful I should be to
Him for His grace, and how gladly should I
listen to His Word, which alone is able to
make me wise unto salvation.

Great Prophet of my God,

My tongue would bless Thy name:

By Thee the joyful news

Of our salvation came;

The joyful news of sins forgiven,

Of hell subdued, and peace with heaven.
F. J. L.

oo

Immanuel Conference.

The Immanuel Conference of North Carolina
held its semi-annual sessions November 6 to 8,
at Concord, N. C., in the congregation of the
Rev. J. Ph. Schmidt. The sessions were well
attended by the members and delegates. Sev-
eral interesting-subjects-were treated-on.—_The-
Rey. Theo. Buch, of Charlotte, read an essay
on the Seventh Commandment; Prof. N. J.
Bakke on the Doctrine of Prayer. The sub-
jects were partly discussed by the delegates
also. Every night divine services were held.
Friday night the Rev. Theo. Buch preached
on Luke 11, 2, his subject being ‘‘Prayer.’’
After the sermon a number of short speeches
were made by some of the brethren on ‘‘The
Right Hearing of the Word of God.’’ Satur-
day night Rev. St. Doswell, of Mount Pleasant,
delivered a sermon on 1 Cor. 6, 20, ‘‘Ye are
bought with a price.’? On Sunday three serv-
ices were held. In the morning the administra-
tion of the Lord’s Supper took place. The
confessional address was made by the Pastor
Loci, the Rey. J. Ph. Schmidt, on Ps. 50, 10.11;
the sermon by the Rey. John C. Schmidt, of
Greensboro, on John 3, 16: ‘The great love
of God to a sinner.’’ In the afternoon the
Rey. Geo. Schutes, of Salisbury, preached on
2 Cor. 5, 10. 11: ‘*The great Day.’”’ At this
service the attendance was very large, as many
guests and visitors from neighboring cities and
towns were present. Chairs had to be placed
in the aisles and about the altar. Sunday
evening one of the Northern brethren delivered
the sermon, who had been a daily visitor at
our meetings and had taken parf in all dis-
cussions, Rey. A. L. Vangsnes, of Iowa, a
member of the Norwegian Synod. His text
was 1 Cor. 15, 1—4. Rey. Vangsnes is tour-
ing the South and inyestigating the different

stations of the Colored Mission in North Caro-
lina and Louisiana. After the sermon by
Rey. Vangsnes several short addresses were
made by some of the brethren, and, finally,
the valedictory address by Prof. N. J. Bakke.
On Monday the missionaries held a pastoral
conference at the parsonage. It was decided
by the Conference to accept the invitation of
the congregation in Charlotte, N. C., to hold
sessions there next spring. H. E.

Letter from Mount Pleasant, N. C.

Dear Editor :—

Will you please find space in the PIONEER
to let our friends hear from Mount Pleasant.
The first Sunday in October was a day of re-
joicing for our congregation and others. On
that day we celebrated our first Harvest Home
and Mission festival. In the morning our first
pastor, Prof. N. J. Bakke, preached a heart-
cheering sermon. In the afternoon Rev. George
Schutes preached another one. Our pastor,
Rey. S. Doswell, is laboring here faithfully in
the harvest field. We love him for the blessed
Word that he teaches us. May God bless him
and the labor of his hands is my prayer.

Oh! where are the reapers that garner in

The sheaves of God from the fleld of sin?

With sickles of truth must the work be done
And no one may rest till the Harvest-home.

Where are the reapers? Oh, who will come
And share in the glory of the Harvest-home?
Oh, who will help.us to garner. in

The sheaves of God from the fleld of sin?

Go out in the by-ways and search them all,

The wheat may be there, though the weeds are tall.
Then search in the highway and pass none by,
But gather them all for the home on high.

The fields all are ripening, and far and wide
The world now is waiting the harvest tide.
But reapers are few, and the work is great,
And much will be lost should the harvest wait.

So come with your sickles, ye sons of men,
And gather together the golden grain;

Toil on till the Lord of the harvest come,
Then share ye His joy in the Harvest-home.

Moire LowDer.
——s +0445 e+ oe -

Give Thanks.

On Christmas morning, while the bells were
ringing for services, a poor boy was lying sick
in one of the hospitals of a large city. A Chris-
tian nurse bent over him and repeated, “God
so loved the world, that He gave His only-be-
gotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him
should not perish, but have everlasting life.””
The boy looked at her intently, and then, with
tears in his eyes, said, ‘‘And I never thanked
Him.”

Haye you thanked Him? At Christmas time
we are specially reminded of God’s ‘‘unspeak-
able gift’? in His Son Jesus, for which we ought
each and all to say, ‘‘I thank Thee.’” Have
you thanked Him?

“Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable
gift,’ 2 Cor. 9, 15.