The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1906, Page 17

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he Lutheran Pioneer,

A

MISSIONARY

os

MONTHLY.

PusBiisHeD BY THE EVANGELICAL LutTieraNn SyNoDICAL CONFERENCE OF NortH AMERICA.

KR. A. BISCHOFF, Editor.

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

Vol. XXVIII.

Repentance at the Cross.

Hearts of stone! relent, relent;
Break, by Jesus’ cross subdued;

See His body, mangled, rent,
Stained and covered with His blood!
Sinful soul! what hast thou done?
Crucified th’ eternal Son!

Yes, thy sins have done the deed; *
Driven the nails that fixed Him there;
Crowned with thorns His sacred head;
Plunged into His side the spear;
Made His soul a sacrifice, —

While for sinful man He dies.

Wilt thou let Him bleed in vain, —
Still to death thy Lord pursue,
Open all His wounds again,
And the shameful cross renew?
No, — with all my sins lll part,
Savior, take my broken heart.
J. Kruger.
—_——  ——

Christ’s Sufferings and Death a Call to
Repentance.

The sufferings and death of Christ, upon which
we meditate especially in the season of Lent, are
an earnest call to repentance. They point to our
sin as their cause, and thus call upon us to see in
ourselves the iniquity which brought such great
woe upon the Son of God, and to repent of our sin.
They teach us the greatness of our sin and of God’s
wrath against sin. Our Lutheran Confession says:
“The preaching of the suffering and death of
Christ, the Son of God, is an earnest and terrible
proclamation and declaration of God’s wrath.” So
horrible is the guilt of sin that God could not spare

“St. Louis, Mo., March, 1906.

No. 3.

even His own dear Son, when this Son, in His
infinite merey, took our sins upon Himself and
became sin for us. In the garden of Gethsemane,
on the way to Golgotha, on the cross of Calvary,
the sin-hating God saw His sin-bearing Son and
poured out upon Him His wrath against sin. What
a horrible thing sin must be! What a great offense
against God! How great must be God’s wrath
against sin! God’s only-begotten, well-beloved Son
endured the deepest agony, the most bitter suffer-
ings, the most shameful death on account of our
sins. His sufferings and death show us the enor-
mity of our sin, and call upon us to repent. —
The sufferings and death of Christ show us also
the great love of Christ for sinners, and this also
calls upon us to repent, to turn from sin to Him
in whom is our help and our salvation. It was
love that moved Him to bear the punishment of
our sins. He loved us, and therefore gave Him-
self for us, and redeemed us with His own precious
blood from all sins, from death, and from the
power of the devil. Through the deep darkness of
His sufferings and death we behold the bright sun
of His unspeakable love. Such love must melt
the sinner’s heart and draw him to that loving
Savior who suffered and died that he, the sinner,
might escape the punishment of sin and live in
everlasting joy and glory. “However great his sins
may be, the love of this suffering and dying Savior
is far greater. His loving arms, once extended
on the cross, are still open to receive the chief of
sinners. The unspeakable love, manifested in His
sufferings and death, gives us the assurance that
He will in no wise cast out them that come unto
Him for pardon and salvation. Do not despise His
love. Do not continue on the road of sin, which