The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1910, Page 42

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4y The Lutheran Pioneer.

Of the Lord’s Supper.

THE BENEFIT OF THE Lorp’s Suprer.

Luther, in his Small Catechism, asks: “What
is the benefit of such eating and drinking?” And
then he answers: “That is shown us by these words,
‘Given and shed for you for the remission of sins;
namely, that in the Sacrament forgiveness of sins,
life, and salvation are given us through these words.
For where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also
life and salvation.”

In the Holy Supper we receive, as we have
already heard, the body and blood of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the body that was given for us, and
the blood that was shed for us. And we also know
why Christ gave His body and shed His blood. He
did it for-the remission of our sins. By His suf-
fering and death Christ atoned for our sins, ap-
peased: God’s righteous wrath, paid the penalty of
our guilt, merited for us God’s grace, and made us
acceptable again in the eyes of our heavenly Father
whose good will we had lost by our sins. And to
make us sure and certain that His body was given
and His blood was shed for us, for the remission of
our sins, Christ gives us this same body ang blood
in the Holy Supper. Thus every communicant is
individually assured of the forgiveness of his sins.
Of course, the Gospel assures us of this same fact;
but while the Gospel is general, the Lord’s Supper
comes to the individual and assures him of his par-
don. At every celebration of the Holy Supper
Christ comes to the individual communicant and,
as it were, says to him: “I have died for your sins
and gained perfect pardon for you; and in order
that you may be certain of this, behold, I give you
the ransom which I have paid to gain forgiveness
‘for you; here in this blessed Sacrament, under the
bread and wine, I give you my body and blood as
a seal of your forgiveness. It is true, such a seal
of your pardon I gave you already in your Baptism,
but lest you, because of your many transgressions

since Baptism, might doubt your forgiveness, I give -
_ you this additional token and seal of the remission

of your sins.” :

But this is not all. Luther correctly states that
“where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life
and salvation.” Jf the Lord’s Supper makes us cer-
tain of forgiveness, it also assures us of life and

salvation; for these are indissolubly united and can

never be separated. The Lord’s Supper gives and

__ nourishes 7sfe, spiritual life, in us. It is bread for

the hungry and a staff for the weak. It gives cour-
age to the timid and comforts the alllicted. It is
sweeter than honey and the honeycomb, supplying us
with strength, courage, and comfort, according to
our spiritual needs.
strengthening the spiritual life in us, it assures us

And by thus nourishing and

of eternal salvation; for the spiritual life of this
earth flows out and passes over into life eternal in
heaven, so that salvation is but the continuation,
the blissful perfection of our spiritual life here
below.

Such, then, is the benefit which the Lord’s Sup-
per confers upon us, actually confers upon us: for-
giveness of sins, life, and salvation.

Come, humble soul, receive the food
Your Savior offers here;

Believe and taste that He is good

And fain each soul would cheer.

Here we commune with Him who died,
Us power o’er death to give,

The life of Him now glorified

We here receive, and live.

Take, then, and eat, that you may live

In Him who cannot die;

Take, then, and drink; the draught will give
You immortality.

FF. J. 1.

Ome ——

Confessing Christ.

St. Augustine, in his “Confessions,” relates. the

following story of a man named Victorinus, who
was a very celebrated man of his time in Rome, and
who had many friends among the heathen.
brought to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as the
Savior from sin. Afterwards he went to see a friend,
and told him secretly, as if in the strictest confidence,
that he-was a Christian, at the same time warning
him not to tell anybody. But his friend had a
clearer idea of what it meant to be a Christian,
and so he said, “I will not believe you to be a
Christian till I see you openly profess it in the
church.” At first Victorinus laughed and said,
“What! -Do the church walls make a Christian?”
But a little later, on reading the words of Jesus
about those who are ashamed of Him, he went back
to his friend and openly confessed himself to be a
Christian. ‘

Jesus says: “Whosoever shall be ashamed of me
and of my words in this adulterous and sinful gen-
eration, of him also shall the Son of Man be
ashamed when He cometh in the glory of His Father
with the holy angels,” Mark 8, 38.

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