The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1908, Page 25

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The Lutheran Pioneer,

A MISSIONARY MONTHLY.

PuBLISHED BY THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN SYNODICAL CONFERENCE OF NorrH AMERICA.

R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor.

Enfered at the Post Office at St. Louls, Mo., as second-class matter.

Vol. XXX.

“St. Louis, Mo., April, 1908.

No. 4.

Easter Victory.

The happy morn is come!

The Savior leaves the grave!

Me triumphs o’er the tomb,
Omnipotent to save!

Captivity is captive led,

Since Jesus liveth that was dead.

Who to our .charge shall lay
Iniquity and guilt?

The curse is done away

By Him whose blood was spilt;
Captivity is captive led,

Since Jesus liveth that was dead.

Conquered is Death and Hell!

Believers now are free;

The glorious tidings tell,

Bear them o’er Jand and sea:

Captivity is captive led,

Since Jesus liveth that was dead.

All hail, blest Savior, hail!

The Resurrection, Thou!

Thy kingdom ne’er shall fail;

To Thee shall nations bow.

Captivity is captive led,

Since Jesus liveth that was dead.
Thomas HMaweis.

Jesus Has the Keys.

When the risen and ascended Savior appeared
to St. John on the island of Patmos, He said to
the frightened apostle: “Fear not; I am the First
and the Last. I am He that liveth, and was dead;

‘and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and

have the keys of hell and of death,” Rey. 1, 17. 18.

Jesus has the keys of hell and of death. What
does that mean? It means that He has conquered
hell and death and has become their Master. As a

.

victorious warrior who has stormed and captured
a fortress receives the keys in token of surrender
and as a sign that he is the master, so Jesus is the
Conqueror of death and hell. These two strong-
holds of Satan, whose~ subjects we had become
through sin, have been taken by the Captain of our
salvation. He has the keys.

“For this purpose the Son of God was mani-
fested that He might destroy the works of the
devil,” 1 John 3, 8. He became man, “that through
death He might destroy him that had the power of
death, that is, the devil, and deliver them who
through fear of death were all their lifetime sub-
ject to bondage,’ Hebr. 2, 14. 15. To redeem us
from this bondage, into which we had come through
sin, Jesus took upon Himself our sin and bore the
punishment in our stead. He who is the First and
the Last, ‘the Source of all creation, the Lord of
glory, the Prince of life, was dead. And when He
was dead and was laid im the grave, it seemed as

if He had lost the battle which He fought for us; it

seemed as if Satan had gained the victory, and as if
we had to remain in his power forever; it seemed as
if there were no redemption for us from death and
hell. But it only seemed so. It was not possible that
death should hold the Prince of life. On the third
day He came forth from the grave in great triumph
as the mighty Conqueror who had overcome the
enemy, and who now has the keys of hell and of
death. He that was dead -lives and is alive for
evermore; for “Christ, being raised from the dead,
dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over
Him.” He has “abolished death, and has brought

life and immortality to light.” “Death is swallowed

up in victory. © death, where is thy sting?
O grave, where is thy victory?” oe