The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1907, Page 19

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The Lutheran Pioneer.

one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh
findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be
opened,” Matt. 7, 7. 8. “The Lord is nigh unto
all them that call upon Him, to all that call upon
Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of them
that fear Him: He also will hear their ery, and
will save them,” Ps. 145, 18. 19. Blessed promise
this, is it not? What better inducement could He
give us to pray?

Then, finally, we need but to look at our own
and our neighbor’s need and the many blessings
we have received at God’s hands to see a further
inducement to pray. When is the day that we need
not God’s help, or the day that we have not ex-
perienced His blessings? There are troubles of
body and soul without number from which God
only can relieve us; there are the countless tem-
poral and spiritual blessings which deserve our
praise and thanksgiving. Yes, surely, there is much
to induce us to pray.

——-_ > +--+ —

The Sufferings of Christ a Mystery.

Our human reason, flesh and blood cannot un-
derstand nor comprehend what the Scriptures say
concerning the crucifixion of the Son of Man. Much
less can we understand that this is His own will,
and that He submits to it cheerfully. For we do
not believe that we need it. We mean to deal with
God by our own works. God therefore must reveal
it through His Spirit in our hearts, over and above
its being outwardly preached to our ears. Yea, even
those to whom the Spirit reveals it inwardly, find
it hard enough to believe it, and have to struggle
over it. Such a great and wonderful thing it is
that the Son of Man is crucified willingly, to fulfill
the Scriptures, that is, for our benefit. It is a mys-
tery, and remains a mystery: — Luther.

Two Victories.

Writing on what the Apostle Paul tells us of
the victory of death and of life, Luther says: —

Paul distinguishes between two victories. The
first victory, indeed, belongs to death, which rules
over all the children of men, ever since Adam to
the end of the world. Of this victory he treats
Rom. 5, 12. It is the triumph of death which rules
through sin, and has a just claim over all men, so
that none shall escape, whether it be emperor, king,
prince, or lord; whether he be rich, strong,. and
powerful — death will gain the mastery over him.

19

The other victory is that of life, which rules and
triumphs against death, in and through Christ. For
a long time death has been sounding forth its song
of triumph: “I, Death, am king and lord over all
men. Mine is the victory! I am the conqueror.”
But this song shall at last be stopped. On Easter-
day another song went forth:

“Christ is now risen again

From all suffering and pain;

Let us all rejoice in this,

Christ for e’er our comfort is.”

~~ ee

The Judge.

Paul saw in the cross a vindication of divine
justice. Where else can the justice of God be seen
so clearly as in the death of God Himself, in the
person of His dear Son? If the Lord Himself
suffers on account of broken law, then is the majesty
of the law honored to the full.

Some time ago a judge was called upon to try
a prisoner who had been his companion in his early
youth. It was a crime for which the penalty was
a fine, more or less heavy. The judge did not
diminish the fine; the case was clearly a bad one,
and he fined the prisoner to the full. Some who
knew his former relation to the offender thought
him somewhat unkind thus to carry out the law,
while others admired his impartiality. All were
surprised when the judge quitted the bench and
himself paid every farthing of the penalty. He had
both shown his respect for the law and his good
will to the man who had broken it; he exacted the
penalty, but he paid it himself.

So God hath done in the person of His dear Son.
He has not remitted the punishment, but He has
Himself endured it. His own Son, who is none
other than God Himself, has paid the debt which
was incurred by human sin. —C. 8.

Good News.

In one of Tennyson’s letters, written from a
little village on the Lincolnshire coast, he says that
he was housed with an old honest Christian couple.
When he arrived he asked his hostess what news
she had to tell, and she replied: “Why, Mr. Tenny-
son, there is only one piece of news that I know,
that Christ died for all men.” ‘Well, answered
the famous poet, “and that is old news, and good
news, and new news.” ‘The old, old story is ever
new, and ever good, and ever true.