The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-03-08
SERVICES OF THE SABBATH.
The Sermon by Rev. A. A. Willis on
the Resurrection of the Savior.
II. Thane Miller's Address at the First Bap-
list Church on the Necessity of Per-
severance in Christian Duties.
THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST

A Logical Sermon by Rev. A. A. Willis, at
the Second Presbyterian Church.
Clear, forceful and logical were the two SER
mons. delivered to large audiences, at the Sec
ond Presby Church yesterday morning and
evening. by DR.. A. A. Willis, the eminent d.
vine and lecturer. of Louisville. The text of the
morning discourse was from Acts j, g. ITO whom
also He showed himself alive after His passion by
many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty
days and speaking of the things pertaining to
the kingdom Of Godn
1t was gospel sermon, and embodied the ar
gument that the resurrection of Christ from the
dead was established upon irrefutable evidence
He declared that the resurrection of the Savior
is at once the key stone of the whole arch of the
Christian system and the foundation of all Chris
tian hope. If Christ be not risen from the dead
then is our preaching vain, and our faith in Him
is also vain. Christianity is not a system built
upon opinions or speculations, but upon facts
facts sustained by immoyable evidence; facts
that challenge the scrutiny of the universe; facts
that will bear the rays Of the meridian sum- facts
that have stood the test of nearly two thousand
years.
It 10 a noteworthy fact, to begin with, that our
Lord himself, time and again, publicly predicted
his own resurrection-declared that was to be
the supreme proof Of His mission. and staked
the divinity of His claims upon it. When chal-
lenged by the Jews to give some supreme sign in
support of His most amazing pretensions He al
ways referred to His near approaching resur
recton as the event that should be the
grand seal Of His mission, the browning
testimony of His divine nature and power.
He said to them that an evil and adulterous gen.
Grafton seeketh after sign, and there shall be
no sign given it but the sign of the prophet
Jonas. For as Jonas was three days and three
nights in the whales belly, so shall the Son of
Man be three days and three nights in the heart
of the earth" The care taken by them in guard
ing His sepulchre showed that they understood
this, and remembered it. What became of that
bodyl One of three things. it is sure, must have
occurred: ~ That body must have been kept
in the safe possession Of the guards. or t2) it
must must have been stolen from the sepulchre,
or 81 it must have risen from the dead.
Was the body kept safely by the guards? They
had it very secure. They guarded it faithfully;
but somehow it escaped them. If they had pos
sessed it after the third day, they would gladly
have produced it and given the lie to this story
Is
could have stolen the body? Look at the diff
culties to be overcome, if they could be vile
enough to conceive such scheme Look at the
excitement and aertness of the whole commu
nifty about this body. It would have been
utterly impossible to have achieved such fraud
even if they desired it. Look at the stupidity
of the evidence presented by the Jews; the
testimony of men who testify to what occurred
while they were asleep. There is probably not
a petty magistrate in the civilized world who
Tfe too IF os, :.
cerity is transparent If they had really any
such suspicion. why were not these disciples
arresteda Why was not search instituted for
this lost body, the possessian of which was such
vital factor in SURPRISING this pestilent
heresy of the resurrectionl The penalty
for a Roman soldier sleeping at his post was
death. Why were these soldiers not arrested
and punished No such arrests were made; no
such search was Instituted. They did not carry
their pretense far enough to make even q decent
STOW of sincerity.
DR.. Willis presented in an admirable manner
the evidence Of the neutrality-suspicious. which
he characterized as overwhelming and continu
ally accommodating. There were thirteen different
appearances to his disciples during the forty
days between His resurrection and ascension
into heaven. First, to Mary Magdalen at the
sepulchre; second, to the other women; third,
to Peter alone; fourth. to two disciples on the
road to Emmaus; fifth, the same evening &c the
apostles at Jerusalem, Thomas being absent;
included; seventh, in Galilee at the Sea of
Tiberias, to seven-to Peter. Nathaniel, Thomas
James and John, and two others; eighth, to the
disciples on mountain in Gailee; ninth TO more
than five hundred brethren at once sen.h, to James
alone; eleventh, TO all the apostles assembled to-
getr.er; twelfth, to the apostles at his ascension;
thirteenth. to Paul at the gate of Damascus.
Here are more than Ave hundred witnesses to
this one fact-certainly respectable number,
and the moral character of these witnesses is
everything that could be desired They had no
earthly motive to deceive, and only heavenly
motives to bear witness to this unpopular truth.
Yet they never hesitated to bear witness to it in
the face Of death Itself.
The death and resurrection Of Christ enlarged
the disciples narrow Jewish carnal views of the
Messiah's kingdom. changing them into broad,
spiritual and Christian views. A new concep-
ton of the grandeur and glory of His kingdom
was obtained. A kingdom of truth and love,
and righteousness was set up in the hearts and
lives of men, and sweeping over the realms and
down through the ages to culminate in the ever
lasting kingdom of Christ amid the eternal
spiendors of heaven. Behold to-day the grand
result in that magnificent Christian civilization
that is spreading kingdom of truth, righteous
ness and peace throughout the world. Think of
the millions of souls in glory and the millions
now on earth that have been filled with faith.
hope, love and peace by the story of the apostles
and martyrs of Christianity.
One of the most remarkable testimonies to the
truth of Christ's resurrection was the last one
named-the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, the
man who said, Last of all He was seen of me
Also as one born out of due time" The most
able, jealous, learned, eloquent and in
fuential of all the opposers of Christ
and his cause, arrested in his high
career as prosecutor of Christians, arrested at
Damascus in the midst of his companion perse-
cutors, arrested with the commission of the jew
ish Sanhedrim in his pocket. arrested by the
personal appearance of the risen Christ And
not only arrested and convinced, but converted
from the chief of prosecutors into the chief of
apostles, to become the founder of the principal
churches of Cnrstendom, and the ablest preacher
and expounder of the Christian faith the world
has known, and man whose matchless life and
letters have exerted and are exerting mightier
and more benefcient influence In the world than
any one man that has ever lived on this globe
Let infidelity account for this conversion this
noble development of character, this heroic lfe
this frinmnhant death. this deathlass moral in