The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1906, Page 26

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26

The Lutheran Pioneer.

myself: I have power to lay it down, and I have
power to take it again.” The grave could not keep
the Lord of Life. He came forth triumphantly
as the mighty Conqueror. The Savior in whom
we believe is not a mere man. Such a savior could
do us no good. Our Savior is a divine Savior.
He is the almighty Son of the living God.
* * *

Christ is risen! Then we are redeemed.
“Christ died for our sins,” says the Bible. He
took our place, and laden with our sins He was
thrown into the prisonhouse of death. If He had
been kept there, what then? . The apostle says,
“Tf Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye
are yet in your sins.” But Christ is raised, and
the faith of those who trust in Him for forgive-
ness is not vain, they are not in their sins. In
Christ’s resurrection God the Father declared Him-
self perfectly satisfied with the work of His Son
and accepted His Son’s sacrifice as a full atonement
for sin. Christ’s resurrection is the proof that
the work of our redemption is finished. God is
reconciled, and sinners are redeemed. “Christ was
delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for
our justification,” says the apostle.

* * *

Christ is risen! Then we also shall rise. The
apostle says, “Now is Christ risen from the dead
and become the first-fruits of them that sleep.”
The first-fruits are part of the harvest, the begin-
ning of the harvest. When the first-fruits have
been gathered in, the whole harvest will surely
follow. ° By the same divine power with which
Christ raised His own body He will raise our bodies
from the grave. Of the believer He says, “I will
raise him up at the last day.” Again He says,
“Because I live, ye shall live also.” His own resur-
rection gives us the assurance that He can and will
fulfill His promise. ‘To the believer, therefore, the
grave has lost its terror, since Christ is risen from
the dead. ‘To him the grave has become a quiet
resting-place, where he and his loved ones that die
in the Lord sleep until the blessed morning of a
glorious resurrection. “O death, where is thy
sting? O grave, where is thy victory? Thanks
be to God, who giveth us the victory through our
Lord Jesus Christ !”

* * *

Christ is risen! Then our mission work is not
in vain. The apostle says, “If Christ is not risen,
then is our preaching vain.” But Christ is risen,
. and our preaching is not vain. The Gospel which

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we bring to sinners is not the Gospel of a dead
Savior, but of a living Savior. We preach, not a
dead Christ, but a living Christ, who is with us in
the mission field, and who through His Word and
Spirit works in the hearts of men and brings them
to faith. He that is with us says to everyone of
His servants: “Fear not; I am the first and the
last; I am He that liveth and was dead; and, be-
hold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have
the keys of hell and of death.”
Christ is risen! Hallelujah!

Properties of the Church.

We say: “TI believe in the holy Christian Church,
the communion of saints.” The Church is invisible
—we cannot sce it. The people comprising the
Church are indeed visible, but the faith in Christ,
which makes them members of the Church, is in-
visible. Christ says: “The kingdom of God cometh
not with observation: neither shall they say, Lo,
here! or, Lo, there! for, behold, the kingdom
of God is within you,” Luke 17, 20. 21. By faith
we become members of the Church; faith makes
us citizens of the kingdom of God; and this faith
is within us, invisible to all eyes but God’s. God
knows who are members of the Church, He can
look into every man’s heart and see if he believes,
as St. Paul writes: “The foundation of God stand-
eth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them
that are His,” 2 Tim. 2, 19; but to all others the
Church is invisible.

Nevertheless, we need never. doubt that the
Church is. Though we cannot see the Church, yet
the Scriptures assure us “that the Holy Ghost at
all times gathers and preserves a congregation of
believers.” The Church is built upon the same
Rock on which .Peter was built, namely, Christ;
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it,
Matt. 16, 18. There have, indeed, been times when
the Church seemed about at an end, as, for instance,
in the days of Elijah, who thought himself the only
child of God left on earth, but as at that time there
were yet seven thousand in Israel who had not
bowed to Baal, 1 Kings 19, 8—18, so God has ever
protected and preserved His Church, and will con-
tinue to do so till the end of days.

We further confess the Church to be one.
Though outwardly Christians may differ, yet in-
wardly all Christians, if they be true Christians,
are one body, whose only head is Christ. Since
all believers are members of. the Church, it neces-