The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1905, Page 27

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The Lutheran Pioneer.

27

To do this, cost our Saviour great labor, and great
was the battle He fought to rescue us out of the
hands of our enemies.

And unspeakably great and precious are the gifts
which Christ has gained for us and which He offers
for time and eternity. He has gained rightcousness
for us. We were not as we should be according to
the demands of God’s Law. Instead of being right-
eous, we were all unrighteous. Christ, however,
fulfilled the whole Law for us. He is righteous
and makes us partakers of His righteousness. For
Christ’s sake God looks upon us as being righteous
and credits us with what Christ did as our, Sub-
stitute. Through Christ we are righteous, and if
we continue in Christ we shall be in possession of
everlasting righteousness.

Christ has likewise gained innocence for us sin-
ners. Christ being made sin for us, we are now
sinless in God’s eyes. God no longer imputes our
iniquities unto us. All our sins are pardoned, and
all our debts are canceled. Not a penny stands
against us on God’s book, and we need no longer
fear the accusations of Satan or the Law. .There is
no more condemnation in such of us as are in Christ
Jesus, and if we remain in Christ this innocence
will be everlasting.

Christ has also gained for us blessedness. He
that has kept God’s Law and is free from the guilt
of sin, he that is righteous and innocent, is in
communion with God. But whoever lives in com-
munion with God, the Source of all true bliss, must
partake of God’s blessedness, must be blessed. In
Christ we have righteousness and innocence, hence
we are also blessed in Him. And though this bliss
is often clouded here upon earth, it is, nevertheless,
the harbinger of perfect and everlasting bliss, which
will be ours in heaven. Serving our Saviour here
upon earth in the kingdom of grace, He will at His
appointed hour transplant us to His kingdom of
glory where we will then serve Him in everlasting
righteousness, innocence, and blessedness.

Christ having delivered us out of the hands of
our enemies and gained such great blessings for us,
it follows that He has the greatest claim upon us.
He has the right to demand ‘‘that we, being de-
livered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve
Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness
before Him, all the days of our life.”’ ° He is our
true Master, having bought us with such a great
price. We are Christ’s own, wherefore we must
not be the slaves‘of men, no matter who they be.
With Thomas every Christian shall confess Christ
to be his Lord and his God.

Let us, then, follow the admonition of the holy

apostle: ‘‘He died for all, that they which live
should not henceforth live unto themselves, but
unto Him which died for them, and rose again,”
2 Cor.5,15. Let us put off the old man and serve
Christ in the newness of life. Let us be faithful to
our Lord and place our thoughts, words, and deeds
in His service. .

We late were Satan’s captives-led

And hell had been our end,

Hadst Thou not for our pardon bled—

The sinners’ only Friend.

For this we will employ our tongue

Nor shall our praises cease;

We evermore will sing that song,.

“The Lord, our Righteousness.”

We daily prove Thee still the same

Whene’er our need we see;

Thou bearest still a Saviour’s name,

Thy servants we will be.

= F. J. L.

———————~.22——____—_

Two Pictures from Life.

A missionary in China gives two pictures to
illustrate the difference between the heathen and
the Christian mother in the face of death:

A black-eyed baby lay moaning its young life
away on the brick bed of a dreary mud house in
Peking. The feeble voice, growing-weaker and
weaker, was now and then drowned in the sobs
and groans of the young mother, who gazed in de-
spair upon her dying child. She longed to press it
to her aching heart, but she had always heard that
demons are all around the dying, waiting to snatch
the soul away, and so because it was dying she was
afraid of her own baby.

“Tt is almost time,’’ said the mother-in-law,
glancing at the slanting sunbeam that had stolen
into the dismal room through a hole in the paper
window; and she snatched up the helpless baby,
whilst the mother shrieked, ‘‘My. baby is not dead
yet!”’

“‘But it has only one mouthful of breath left,’’
said the old woman; ‘‘the cart will soon pass, and
then we shall have to keep it in the house all night.
There is no help for it; the gods are angry with you.” _

The mother dared not resist, and her baby was
carried from her sight.

An old black cart drawn by a black cow passed
slowly down the street; the little body was laid
among the others already gathered there, and the
driver drove on through the city gate.

Outside the wall he laid them all in a common
pit, buried them in lime, and drove on.

No stone marks the spot; no flower will ever
blossom on that grave.