The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1904, Page 26

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The Lutheran Pioneer.

.pointment in the sinner’s stead, that the sinner
might be free. Christ, the Son of God, came in the
flesh to put away sin, the cause of all our woe, by
the sacrifice of Himself. He is ‘‘the Lamb of God
that taketh away the sin of the world.” ‘‘The Lord
laid upon Him the iniquity of us all,’’ and He bore
our sins in His own body on the cross.
hating God there met His sin-bearing Son and passed
‘upon Him the judgment which our sins deserved.
‘‘He is guilty of death!’’ This was the sentence of
even God Himself when He saw His Son laden with
the sins of the world. Christ tasted death for us;
and bore the judgment for us. Forsaken by God
He hung upon the cross, suffering in our place the
bitter agony of death and the pains and terrors of
hell. For us He-bowed His head in death and was
laid into the grave.

The work was finished. The appointment was
met. There can beno doubt about this. For Christ
did not remain in the grave. On the third day He
rose triumphantly from the grave. By raising Christ
from the dead, God Himself declared that He is per-
fectly satisfied with the work of His Son, and that
the appointment has been fully met.

The question, dear reader, now is: Are you sat-
isfied? Alas! there are many that are not satis-
fied. They reject Christ and His work. They there-
fore remain in their sins and must themselves meet
that awful appointment: ‘“‘To die, and after this
the judgment!”? Rejecting what the Saviour did
for them, they must themselves suffer the punish-
ment of their sins in hell, where ‘‘the smoke of their
torment ascendeth up for ever and ever.”’

Are you satisfied with what Christ did for all sin-
ners? Believe in Him and you will enjoy all the
fruits of His finished work. By faith in Jesus the
believer knows that his sins are put away, that the
appointment has been met, and that he need not
fear death and the judgment. To the believer death
is not the door to judgment and to everlasting pun-
ishment, but the entrance to everlasting life. The
Saviour Himself says: ‘Verily, verily, I say unto
you, He that heareth my Word and believeth on
Him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall

‘not come into condemnation, but is passed from

death unto life,’® John 5, 24.

Looking back to the cross, the believer sees the
judgment which he by his sins deserved passed
upon the head of Christ, and now he may sing
with joy:

‘Hallelujah!—’tis done!
‘I believe in the Son!
I am sayed by the blood
Of the Crucified One.’?.

The sin- °

Looking back to the empty grave, from which Christ
rose as the Conqueror of sin, death, and hell, the
believer may triumphantly sing:
“Since Christ is free, now I am free)
From all unrighteousness;
Since He is just, now I am just,
He is my righteousness.”’

Being now justified by faith in Him who has
finished the work of redemption, the believer has
peace with God and is free to look with joyful ex-
pectation for the Saviour, who is to return from
heaven to receive His people to Himself in the happy
place where He has gone.

+o

A Compassionate Saviour.

Jesus is a compassionate Saviour. We read
again and again that He had compassion on those
who were in distress and sorrow. He is the good
Samaritan who came where the wounded traveler
was; and ‘‘when He saw him, He had compas-
sion,’’? Luke 10, 33.

He had compassion on the weary and forsaken.
‘When He saw the multitudes, He was moved with
compassion on them, because they fainted, and
were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shep-
herd,”’ Matt. 9,36. -

He had compassion on the lonely and unclean’

outcast. ‘‘There came a leper to Him, beseeching
Him, and kneeling down to Him, and saying unto
Him, If Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean.
And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth His
hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will;
be thou clean,’’? Mark 1, 40, 41. -'

He had compassion on the blind. ‘‘Jesus had
compassion on them, and touched their eyes; and

immediately their eyes received sight,”’ Matt. 20, 34..

He had compassion on the sick. He ‘‘was moved
with compassion towards them, and He healed their
sick,’’ Matt. 14, 14.

He had compassion on those who mourned over!

their dead. ‘‘When He was come nigh to the-gate
of the city,’ behold, there was a dead man carried
out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow ;
and much people was with her. And when the Lord
saw her, He had compassion on her, and said unto
her, Weep not,’’ Luke 7, 12. 13.

_ Blessed Saviour! He wept at the grave of Laza-

rus, and He knows how to sympathize with those’

who weep beside the graves of loved ones. He

knows how to sympathize with all His people who’ ~ cp

have trouble of any kind, and will meet their com-
plaints with infinite tenderness.

In their greatest >