Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1879-04-12

from the Lutheran Yisitor.l
The General Resurrection.
BY REV. J. p. sMLLTZER, d. D.

Inere SIl1ll DC IL VI
dead Acts XXiv. 10.
knowing that he who raised up the
Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus,
and shall present Us with you.-Acts ".
If.
bar my being?
Where is the rude hand to rend this tissue
of existence?
Not thine, shadowy Death, what art thou
but fear?
Go. gentle reader, in Imagination be-
voni the walls OF Jerusalem, 10 the hill
of Golgotha. Near by the place OF cru
ciiixion is the beautiful garden of Jo-
seph, of Aramalhea. Enter ii and look
into the sppulchrc. "There les your
security under arrest for your debts, so
ina: if he be released his discharge will
be yours. There lies the Sun of Right
eonsness. set for 4 while, 10 rise again
in greater glory and set no more. There
lies seeming captive to death, bnt a
real eonqueror over death. If Christ
be not raised, your faith is vain. Bnt
Christ is risen from the dead, and be-
come the first fruits of them that slept.
o how sublimely grand must have
been the resurrection scene! The an
gels clad in shining light, the morning
twilight Frightening into day, the death
like silence around the old Roman
guard, the grict-sllicken visit of the
Marys TO the tomb, the victorious Sa-
viour coming from the sepulchre, death
Conquerer, hells destroyer, and His
peoples King-make it scene unsur-
passed in the history of the human race.
Ii ever the angels rejoiced, it was when
the Son of God rose triumphant over
The grave. If ever the saved in glory
sang an anthem of praise, it was when
he obtained victory over the grave. II
ever the Christian is inspired with love
to his Saviour, it is when he sings: so
death, is where is thy sting; 0 grave,
where is thy victory !"
Christ is the first fruits Of them that
sleep in the grave Death, the last en-.
erly of the human race, has been met,
despoiIed, conquered. The terror which
death has produced, from the liteless
corpse of Abel to The present hour, has
indeed a consolation. Death has met
his death. Christ's resurrection is a
pledge OF the resurrection of the whole
human family. Their bodies may moul
der into dust; they may sleep in their
mothers bosom; the world that nov
knows them will know them no more
Some may have found a watery grave
been swallowed by the inhabitants OF
the deep, or transformed into part OF
their flesh Others may have been de
vourcI by wild beasts, eaten by raven
Gus birds of prey, or become food toi
his own fellow savage Cannibal. The
dust of some may be blown by tho
winds. washed by the waters, or petri
li6ed into stone. The bodies Of Others
may be buried in the earth, not upor
its surface, or be carried piece.meal t.
the four winds OF heaven. Through al
the changes, transformations, situations
the lirtlcss body may have undergone
not Il particle, essential 10 the rcsurrec
ton body, will be lost. God will watcl
over that dust. He knows how 10 col
lect, distinguish and compound these
scattered seeds of mortality, which arr
absolutely necessary for the resurrection
body.
Christ's resurrection assures us tha
DEATu is conquered. That body, onc'
! the home Of the soul, now lost to morta
sight, will again be claimed as The
abode Of the living spirit. No philoso
ply, no sovereign balm, no elixir 0
health, no human power can keep th,
body oUt of the grave. No dark and al
lent tomb, no insignificant dust, washed
by waters or waited by winds, no cor
rnption or decay can keep hat body il
the grave, when the voice Of the Judge
shall summon all the human family L
sppear at His bar. Death has beer
shorn of his power by The irhereGt pow
er of Him who first rose from the grave
The doctrine Of a general rcsnrrec
iion is purely revealed truth. Natur
may not deny its impossibility, but dos
not reveal it. Science, with its deep
searching, investigation, has no: declar
ed it. Reason, examining the phenom
ena of mind and matter, the God-lik
powers of the former and the yarion
changes OF the latter, is unable to assur
humanity that soul and body, once sep
arated, will ever again be united. Whc'
the Bible is admitted aud proved TO b
the word of God, and the resurrection
Of Christ established beyond successful
contradiction, the truth of general res
direction is established and confirmed.
When the resurrection morn vii
dawn, and the nations under grouu'
begin TO stir, and the discmbodied spiri
claims its risen body, is hid in the couu
ellis of the Eternal One 1t is evidentl
in the future. Like the day Of death
the day Of judgment, and prospectiv
knowledge in general, it has been wise
ly concealed from mortal sight /
would, no doubt, be all incomparabl
injury to mankind, could they sea-
futurity with the eye of prophet am
determine every possible position il
which the human race could be placed
That day, however, will surely com.
AS certainly as the sainted. prophet
foretold il, and the Saviour revealed il
and the apostles declared it, and bu
mauity expects if. so certainly will th
resurrection morn find the human rae
arising from The sleep of death. In
moment, in the tsinkling OF the eye, a
! the Last framn for fha frnn,nnf .hnl