The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1906, Page 9

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Che Lutheran Pioneer,

A MISSIONARY

MOONTHLY.

PuBLIsHED BY THE EVANGELICAL LuTHERAN SyNODICAL CONFERENCE OF Nortit AMERICA.

R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor.

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

Vol. XXVIIT.

St. Tease Mo., H'ebruary, 1906. No. 2.

Salvation in Christ.

“What had I been if Thou wert not?
What were I now if Thou wert gone?
Anguish and fear were then my lot,
In this wide world I stood alone;
Whate’er I loved were safe no more,
The future were a dark abyss.

To whom could I my sorrows pour,
If Thee my laden heart should miss?

“Thou loving Savior strong and kind,
Redeemer from the bonds of sin,

In Thee I may salvation find

That sets my heart at peace within.

Thou openest heaven once more to men,
The soul’s true home, Thy kingdom, Lord;
And I ean trust and hope again,

And know myself a child of God.

“Brethren, go forth beside all ways,

The wanderer greet with outstretched hand,
And call him back who darkly strays,

And bid him join our gladsome band.
Heaven now hath stooped to earth below!
Proclaim the glad news everywhere!

That all may learn our faith and know
They, too, may find an entrance there.”

ee

Salvation Prepared.

Man is dead in trespasses and sin and cannot
himself prepare salvation. . If God had not prepared
salvation for him, man would be lost forever. But,
blessed be God, salvation has been prepared. It has
been prepared by God Himself, who sent His only-
begotten Son into the world for the salvation of
sinners. In Him salvation has been prepared, for
He is “the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin
of the world.” Therefore His birth in Bethlehem
was thus made known by the angel: “Unto you is
born a Savior.” Hight days later, when the Child

was circumcised, His name was called Jesus accord-
ing to God’s direction: “Thou shalt call His name
Jesus; for He shall save His people from their
sins.” And when six weeks after His birth the
Child Jesus was brought to the temple to be pre-
sented to the Lord according to the Law, the aged
Simeon, who had been waiting for the promised sal-
vation, took the Child Jesus in his arms and joyfully
said, “Lord, now lettest-Thou Thy servant depart
in peace; for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation,
which Thou hast prepared before the face of all
people.” With the eye of faith he saw in Jesus
salvation prepared by God Himself, salvation from
sin, death, and hell. ‘This drove away all fear, and
filled his heart with joy, and gave him the firm
assurance of peace and life everlasting.

Simeon was “a just and devout man;” but he
did not seek salvation in his own pious life and
good works. He trusted only in the salvation pre-
pared by God in Jesus. In Him salvation is pre-
pared, and in Him alone. “Neither is there salva-
tion in any other,” says the Bible. Those who seck
salvation in their own works or in the works of
saints deceive themselves, as well as do those who
try to add something of their own to the salvation
which is in Jesus. Salvation in Jesus has been pre-
pared by God Himself. God does not do anything
by halves. The salvation which He has prepared
is a perfect and free salvation, exactly suited to the
need of every sinner. The aged Simeon taking the
Christ-child up in his arms in true faith; and the ~
outcast woman, weeping at the feet of Jesus; and
the chief of publicans, welcoming the Savior to his
heart and home; and the dying thief looking in
faith to the Crucified One, found salvation prepared
in Him, and rejoiced.