The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1904, Page 17

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Che Lutheran Pioneer.

A MISSIONARY MONTHLY.

PUBLISHED BY THE EVANGELICAL LurieraN SyNopICAL CONFERENCE OF NortH AMERICA.

R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor.

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

Vol. XXYI.

St. Louis,

Mo.,

March, 1904.

No. 3.

The Precious Blood.

Lord Jesus Christ! Thy precious blood
Is to my soul the highest good:

Of all my sins a perfect cure,

It quickens me and makes me pure.

Thy blood, my spotless, glorious dress—
Thy innocence my righteousness:

Before my God I pardoned stand

And enter, crowned, the heavenly land.

Lord Jesus Christ, Thou Son of God!

My Throne of Grace, my Staff and Rod!
Thy precious blood, Thy quick’ning power
My spirit.strengthen every hour.

And should I draw my dying breath

In fear of Satan, hell, and death—

O Christ! let this my comfort be:

Thy blood from sin hath made me free!
Selected.

ooo

The Precious Blood of Christ.

The season of Lent, in which we meditate upon
the sufferings and death of our Saviour, reminds us
of the precious blood of Christ as the price of our
redemption. The apostle says, ‘‘Ye were not re-
deemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold,
but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb
without blemish and without spot,’’ 1 Pet. 1, 18.19.

To redeem means to buy back. By the fall of
man the whole human race was sold into the slav-
ery and bondage of sin and Satan. Christ came to
redeem us, to buy us back out of that slavery and
bondage. The price He paid for our redemption
was not silver ‘and gold. Such corruptible things
could not redeem the immortal souls of men. The
price which Christ paid for our redemption was His

’ own blood. Nothing less would do. ‘“‘Without

shedding of blood is no remission.’? Nothing more

‘ was required. For Christ’s blood is precious and

fully sufficient for our redemption.

It is precious because it is the blood of an inno-
cent Person, the blood ‘‘of a Lamb without blemish
and without spot.’? We are sinners and every drop
of our blood is poisoned with sin; but Christ is holy
and His blood is holy, not stained by sin. He was
‘holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners.’’
The blood which Judas betrayed was ‘‘innocent
blood.’’ Pilate, before whom Christ was accused
by His enemies, said again and again, “‘I find no
fault in Him.” He was the Holy One in whom
the Father was well pleased. He, the Holy One, _
took the place of guilty sinners, and in His inno- _
cent sufferings and death gave His holy blood for
their redemption.

Precious blood of Christ! Precious, not only
because it is the blood of an innocent Person; but,
above all, because it is the blood of an infinite
Person. ° It is the blood of God’s Son. Therefore
it is called God's blood in Acts 20, 28, where we
are told that God purchased His Church ‘‘with His
own blood.’’ And St. John tells us that the blood
which cleanses us from all sin is the blood of God’s
Son, 1 John 1, 8. !

Precious blood of Christ! Nothing can be more
precious. It is the blood of God’s own Son, the
blood of the everlasting God. There can be no
doubt whatever that this precious blood is an all-
sufficient price for our redemption. In Christ “‘we
HAVE redemption through His blood, the forgiveness
of sins,”’ says the apostle. The redemption of sin-
ners is not a doubtful hope. No. Itis a fact, and
it remains a fact in spite of the unbelief of many.
By their unbelief they reject their redemption and
count the blood of Christ an unholy thing. ‘‘They