The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1909, Page 27

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The Lutheran Pioneer.

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27

anew unto spiritual life, that in Baptism the Holy
Ghost is given us who imputes unto us the right-
eousness of Christ and makes us, according to hope,
the heirs of eternal life.

Forgiveness of sin, life, and salvation are pres-
ent in Baptism, because the Word of God is in and
with the water. But this Word of God in Baptism
must be embraced by faith on the part of man, if
Baptism is really to benefit him. It is, indeed,
only the Word that makes Baptism a sacrament,
and these great treasures, forgiveness, life, and sal-
vation, are in Baptism, whether we believe or not.
But if these great treasures are to be ours, we must
believe the Word of God which is in and with the
water. Our faith trusts the Word of God in Bap-
tism, and the visible water is to us a seal and
pledge. Iuther says: “Faith clings to the water,
and believes that in Baptism is pure salvation and
life, not in the water (as we have said plainly
enough), but in the Word and institution of God
incorporated therein, and the name of God which
inheres in it. If I believe this, what else is that
than believing in God as in Him who has given
and set His Word in this ordinance, and proposes
to us this external element wherein we apprehend
such a treasure?” All the merits of Christ are
deposited in Baptism, and as our faith trusts such
Word of God in Baptism, it trusts in Christ who
has merited these treasures for us.

The eye of sense alone is dim,

And nothing sees but water;

Faith sees Christ Jesus, and in Him
The Lamb ordained for slaughter;
She sees the cleansing fountain red
With the dear blood of Jesus,
Which from the sins inherited

From fallen Adam frees us,

And from our own misdoings.

The Burning Bush.

In the third chapter of Exodus we read that
the angel of the Lord appeared unto Moses in a
burning bush. And though the bush burned, yet
it was not consumed. In this Luther sees a type
of Christ. Speaking of the burning bush, he says:.

“But what is this that the bush is not burned
and consumed? It is this: Although Christ suf-
fers and dies, He shall not remain in death, but
rise, and live. And why is this? Because He
is not a mere man, but the very God. If He had
been a mere man like us, He would have been far
too weak for death and hell; but because He is

God, and God is life, it is impossible that, accord-
ing to eternal Godhead, He should die. For even
if He dies according to the flesh, He cannot remain
in death, because life must live. Therefore this
God, manifest in the fiesh, though dead, must
rise again, in order that He may give forgiveness
of sin, life, and salvation to all that believe on Him.
Hell has broken her teeth upon this Christ, and
has thereby lost her power.”

—— —- 2

“He Rose Again from the Dead.’”’

If we desire to be true Christians, it is necessary
for us firmly to establish in our hearts through faith
this article, that Christ, who bore our sins upon the
cross and died in payment for them, rose again
from the dead for our justification. The more
firmly we believe this, the more will our hearts
rejoice and be comforted. For it is impossible not
to be glad when we see Christ alive, a pure and beau-
tiful Being, who before, on account of our sins, was
wretched and pitiable in death and in the grave.
We are now convinced that our transgressions are
removed and forever put away. — Luther.

He Died for Me.

Maggie G. lived in a garret room in a small
court in the city of New York. She worked in a
factory. Near her worked a Lutheran girl, who
invited her on Good Friday to accompany her to
the services, held in her church, a few blocks away.

There Maggie heard, for the first time, the pre-
cious story of Christ’s suffering and death. She
could not forget it. The cross seemed facing her
as she walked through the dark streets, and she kept
repeating, again and again, the words, “He died
for me — He died for me!”

She went home to her garret room in all its.
barrenness, but she did not think of any discomfort.
Her thoughts were centered in this new message:
“He died for me.”

It seemed so strange that He, the Son of God, _
Christ, the King, should have anything to do with
her, that poor, forsaken child.

A few days later she was taken ill and had to
be removed to the hospital.

After days of suffering she died. Her last words,
as she looked up with a wondrous smile and her
eyes ablaze with delight, were still these, “He died
for me.”