The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1912, Page 34

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34. The Lutheran Pioneer.

Father. But it was not so. Death and the grave
could not hold Him. On the third day He rose
triumphant. His resurrection was the clear cvi-
dence that the Father is perfectly satisfied with the
work of His Son, and that the sinners’ redemption
is finished. And as the work which He came to do,
and for which His visible presence on earth was
necessary, was finished, He, forty days after His
resurrection, withdrew His visible presence and en-
tered upon the full use of His eternal power and
majesty. _He ascended into heaven. THis return to
the Father in glory is also a clear proof that the
work for which the Father sent Him is finished. In
His ascension we see the captivity of sin, death,
devil, and hell led captive. Our enemies are made
captive by the mighty Conqueror who ascends into
heaven in triumphant glory.

"Tt is finished!” — that is the cry of victory
from the cross. “It is finished !” — that is the ery
of triumph from the empty grave on Easter morn-

_ing. “It is finished !”—that is the shout of the

Conqueror as from Mount Olivet He is returning
to the Father on Ascension Day. “God is gone up
with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.
Sing praises to God, sing praises!” Ps. 47, 5. 6.

Yes, redemption is finished. The sacrifice has
been accepted. Nothing can be added to the com-
pleteness of that finished work. ‘Therefore Christ,
before His ascension, told His disciples to go into
all the world and preach the Gospel to every crea-
ture. And ten days after His ascension, on the
day of Pentecost, the disciples, according to His
promise, received power by the outpouring of the
Holy Ghost, and were made Christ’s witnesses “unto
the uttermost part of the earth,” messengers of the
Gospel which is the glad tidings of a finished re-
demption. ;

That Gospel is still preached for the salvation
of sinners. In that Gospel the finished work of
Christ is brought to sinners. In that Gospel the
Holy Spirit still comes and works faith in the hearts
of sinners by which they lay hold of the Savior in
whom they have redemption, a full, complete re-
demption, through His blood, even the forgiveness

: of sins.

Happy believers! They enjoy all the fruits and
blessings of a finished redemption. As God’s recon-
ciled children they wander through this world,
“looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious
appearing of the great God and our. Savior Jesus
Christ,” Tit. 2, 18. For the same Jesus who was
taken up into heaven will come again to take His

people home, where He has gone to prepare a place
for them. Then will be fulfilled our Savior’s sweet
promise which comforts us in all the troubles and
sorrows of our earthly pilgrimage: “Let not your
heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also
in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions;
if it were not so, I would have told you, I go to
prepare a place for you; I will come again and re-
eeive you unto myself, that, where I am, there ye
may be also,” John 14, 1—3.
Dear reader, will you be there?

Those who do trust in Christ alone

And in the work that He has done,

So that His love they share,

Who, gazing at the Crucified,

By faith can say, “For me He died,”

These, these shall all be there!

Preach the Gospel!

It is clearly the duty and privilege of Chris-
tians to make known the glad tidings of Jesus, for
such is the plain and positive command of the
Lord. Before His ascension into heaven He said:
“Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to
every creature. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be
damned,” Mark 16, 15. 16. ‘To preach the Gospel
is our duty. Results belong to God. Even if we
see no results, we are still bound to make known the
glad tidings among the nations of the carth. As
Wellington is reported to have said to a young
clergyman who consulted him about the importance
of educating the Hindus as preparatory to the at-
tempt of trying to Christianize them, “Look to your
marching orders, young man,” said the old general.
Go preach the Gospel!

The Difference.

A European traveler witnessed the death of the
four-year-old son of a heathen Indian family.
Father and mother grieved sorely over the loss of
their child. The father was so overcome with grief
that he soon followed the child in death. Then the
mother quit weeping; and when asked for the
reason of such a sudden change, she replied that
the child could not have gotten anything to live on

in the land of the spirits, as he could not yet go -

hunting; but now she need no longer worry, for
the father was a great hunter and could easily pro-
vide for himself and the boy.