The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1910, Page 10

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10

all temptations and trials, as that old Christian
woman did who had to suffer much from the temp-
tations of the devil. The pastor, finding her one
day looking rather downcast, said to her: “Well,
Betty, what is wrong with you to-day?”

a Ah! replied the dear old woman,
at me.”

“And what has he been saying to you?”
the pastor.

“He's been saying to me,” replied Betty, “that
it is all a delusion; that the Bible is a lie; that
there is no heaven, no hell, no Savior; that I am
not saved; that it is all a delusion.”

“And what did you say to him?” asked the
pastor. .

“Say to him!” said Betty; “I knew better than
that; I knew there was no arguing with him; I just
referred him to the Lord, bringing a Bible text
against him; he can’t stand that.”

“he’s been

asked

—— ee

Of the Lord’s Supper.

Irs AuTHOR AND FouNDER.

The holy evangelists tell us that the Holy Supper
was instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, we
know that Jesus Christ is the God-man, the second
Person in the Holy Trinity. From this we may
conclude that the Sacrament of the Altar, instituted

‘by so great an Author and confirmed by His death,

must indeed be a great and sacred ordinance, and
that it is wholly out of place for mere man, who is
this great Founder's creature, to judge this holy
ordinance by ordinary laws of reason.

Let us also remember that the Author of this
Sacrament is our Mediator, Intercessor, Shepherd,
Redeemer, our Priest and King, who, as He gave
His body and blood for our redemption, now in this
Sacrament, which is His Testament, gives us the
means which procured for us redemption. Not only
did He give His hody and blood as an atonement for
our sins, but He in this Sacrament bequeaths to us
this treasure which has redeemed us.

The Founder of this Sacrament is He who out
of great love gave His life for us and died the most
ignominious death on the cross in our stead. And
in His Jast will and*testament He would now give
us the surest pledge and token of His love. But

what better token could He give us to assure us of
' His love than that body which He gave for us, and
that blood which He shed for us aon the remission
of our sins?

The Lutheran Pioneer.

————

The Author of this sacred ordinance is He who
can say. of Himself, “I am the Truth, the Way, and
the Life,” and who says of His words: “Heaven and
earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass
away.” Such being the case, we may rest assured
that when He tells us that He in the Holy Supper
gives us His body and blood, it is as He says. Yes,
we may be certain that His words: “This is my
body; this is my blood,” are absolutely positive,
infallible, and indisputable; and it is the height of
presumption on the part of any man to doubt these
words.

Again, let us not forget that He who instituted
‘this Sacrament is the almighty God, the Conqueror
of sin, death, and hell, the Creator and Preserver,
who upholds all things by the word of THis power.
Why should it, then, be impossible for Him to grant
us what He promises, and actually to give us the
legacy of His body and blood which He has be-
queathed us in His testament? It would certainly
be a strange inconsistency to adinit the omnipotence
of Christ, and yet to deny the possibility of His
making good the bequest He makes us in His
testament.

But not only is the Founder of this holy Sacra-
ment almighty, He is also all-wise. Would it not
be strange that He should not be able to find ways
and means to keep His promise and cause the real
presence of His body and blood, inexplicable as we
may find such presence? Can we doubt for a mo-
ment that the all-wise God, who planned the works
of Creation and Redemption, and who also won-
drously carried out His plans, should not be able to
cause His body and blood to be present in the Holy

Supper? Surely, we could have but a poor opinion

of Christ’s wisdom were we to doubt His ability to
do this! :

Finally, let us remember that the Founder of
the Holy Supper is He who was ordained by God
to be the Judge of the quick and the dead, and that
He has declared: “The word that I haye spoken,
the same shall judge him in the last day,” John
12, 48. From this we may conclude that they who
refuse this word of Christ’s testament will find that
even this word will judge and condemn them at the
last day. FE. J. L.

————>r-2—__

The Believer is a Lord and Also a Servant.

Faith makes thee a lord over all things, but
love makes thee every. person’s servant. — Luther,