The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-05-12
DR.. PALHAGE'S SERMON.
EASTERTIDE.

On this glorious Easter morning, amid tn
music and the flowers, give you Christia'
salutation This morning Russian meetn-
Russian on the streets of St. Petersburg halls
him with the salutation: "Christ has risen,
and is answered by his friend in salutaSion:
land and Ireland to this very day there is the
superstition that on Easter morning the sun
dances in the heavens, and well may we for
give such superstition which illustrates the
fact that the natural world seems to sympa-
thize with the spiritual
Hail! Easter morning. Flowers! Flowers!
AL of them a voice. all of them tongue,
over one of the lilies and I hear it say:
aConsider the lilies of the field, how they
grow: they toll not, neither do they spin;
vet Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed
like one of these" 1 bend over rose and it
seems to whisper: II am the rose of Sharon" !"
And then I stand and listen. From all sides
there comes the chorus OF flowers saying:
which to-day is. and tomorrow is cast into
the oven, shall He not much more clothe you,
Dye OF little faiths"
Flowers! Flowers! Braid them into the
brides hair. Flowers Flowers! Strew them
over the graves OF the dead, sweet prophecy
of the resurrection. Flowers! Flowers! Iwlst
them into garland for my Lord Jesus on
Easter morning. Glory be to the Father and
to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was
in the beginning, is now and ever shall be.
Why, if a rainbow this.morning had fallen
and struck the galleries and strut the plat
form the scene could not have been more
radiant. Oh, how bright and how beautiful
the flowers; how much they make me think
of Christ and His religion that
brightens Shtens our '' 'iS life. brightens our
character brightens society, brightens the
church, brightens everything. You who go
with gloomy countenance, pretending you
are better than am, because of your lugub.
riousness, you cannot cheat me- You old
hypocrite, know you. Pretty case you are
for man who processes to be more than
conqueror. 1t is not religion that makes you
gloomy, it is the lack of it. There is just as
much religion in wedding as in a burial, just
as much religion in smile as in tear.
Those gloomy Christians we sometimes see
are the people to whom like to lend money,
for I never see them again! The women
came to the Savior's tomb and they dropped
spices all around the tomb, and those spices
were the seed that began to grow, and from
them came all the flowers of this Easter
morn. The two angels robed in white took
hold of the stone at the Savlor's TOMB, and
they hurled it with such force down the hill
that it crushed in the door OF the worlds
sepulchre, and the stark and the dead must
come forth.
I care not how labyrinthine the mauso-
leum or how costly the sarcophagus, or how
ever beautifully parterred the family
grounds we want them all broken up by the
Lord of the Resurrection. They must come
out Fathers and mothers, they must come
out; husbands and wives, they must come
out; brother and sister, they must come
out; our darling children, they must come out.
The eyes that we close with such trembling
fingers must open again in the radiance OF
that morn. The arms we folded in dust
must join ours in an embrace OF reunion.
The voice that was hushed in our dwelling
must be returned. Oh, how long some of you
seem to be waiting-waiting for the resur-
rection n-waiting And for these broken
hearts to-day make soft, cool bandage out
Of Easter flowers.
Six years ago, the night before Easter, I
received an Easter card on which there was
representation of that exquisite flower, the
trumpet creeper, and under it the words:
"The trumpet shall sound and the dead shall
RISE" There was especial reason why at that
time should have that card sent me, and
present the same consolation to-day to all IN
this house-and who has escaped.
My friends, this morning find in the sen
Christ prophecy of our own resurrection,
my text setting forth the idea that as Christ
has risen so His people will rise. He the first
first fruits Of them that slept" Before l
get through this morning, I will walk
through all the cemeteries Of the
dead, through all the country
graveyards where your loved ones are buried.
and will pluck off these flowers, and l v III
drop sweet promise of the Gospel-a rose OF
hope, lily of joy on every tomb-the child 5
tomb, the husbands tomb, the wife's tomb,
the fathers grave the mothers grave; and
ri; To 70 tl,a n
we will at the same time celebrate the resur-
rection of all the good. ''Christ, the first
fruits of them that slept"
IF I should come to you this morning and
ask you for the names Of the great conquerors
of the world, you would say Alexander,
Caesar, Philip, Napoleon l.. All, my friend.
you have forgotten to mention the name OF
a greater conquerer than all these-a cruei,
ghastly conquerer: He rode on a black
horse across Waterloo and Atlanta and
Cba,ons. the bloody hoofs crushing the
hearts of nations. 1t is the coh4 4ueror
Death. He carries black flag and he takes
no prisoners. He digs a trench across
the hemispheres and fills it with the
carcasses Of nations. Fifty times would the
world have been depopulated had not God
Kept making new generations. Fifty times the
world would have swung lifeless through the
air-no man n the mountain, no man on the
sea, an abandoned ship plowing through i'm
mensity.
Again and again has he done this work
with ali generations. He is a monarch as
well as a conqueror; his palace sepulchre;
his fountains the falling tears of a world.
Blessed be God, in the light Of this Easter
morning. see the prophecy that his scaptre
shall be broken and his palace shall be de-
molished. The hour is coming when all who
are in their graves shall come forth. Chris
risen, We shall rise. Jesus, the first fruits o..
them that slept.
Now, around this doctrine of the resurrec-
tion there are great many mysteries. You
come to me this morning and say: IF the
bodies of the dead are to be raised how IS thi
and how is that" and you ask ME Thousand
questions am incompetent to answer; but
there are grta5 many things you believe
that you are not able to explain. You woult.
be q very foolish man to say: II won't believe
ANYTHING can't understand" Why putting
down one kind of flower seed, comes there up
this flower of this color! Why putting dow.
another flower seed, comes there up flower
of this color? One flower white, another
flower yellow, another flower crimson. Why
the difference when the seeds look to be very
much aIike-are very much alike? Explain
these things Explain that wart on the fin
ger. Explain the ditference-why the oai
leaf is different from the leaf of the hickory
Tell me how the Lord Almighty can turn the
chariot of His omnipotence on rose leaf
You ask me questions about the resurrection
I cannot answer. Twill ask you thousand
questions about every day life you cannot
answer.
find my strength in this passage: Cali
who are in their graves shall come forth"
I do not pretend to make the eX-
PLANTATION. You go on and say:
tSuppose a returned missionary dies in
Brooklyn; when he was in China his