The free press. (Poplarville, Miss.) 1890-19??, 1893-04-13
REV. DIR. TAhMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S sun
DAY SERMON.
Subject. "The Sleepers Awakened ~

On this glorious Easter morning, amid the
music and the flowers, l give you Chris
tian salutation. This morning Russian
meeting Russian on the sire ITS OF st. Peters
bnrg halls him with the salutatiou Christ
is risenn' and is answered by his friend in
sautation, He is risen indeedw In some
parts of England and ireland, to this very
day, there is the superstition that on Easter
morning the sun dances in the heavens, and
well may we forgive such a superstition
which illustrates the fact that the natural
world seems to sympathize with the spirit
ual.
Hail, Easter morning Flowersl Flow
ers All of them a.yoice, all of them
a-tongue, all of them full of speech to-day.
l bend over one of the lilies and hear it say !:
Consider the lilies of the field, how they
grow; they toll not, neither dc they spin,
ye5 Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed
Ike one OF these" bend over rose and
it seems TO whisper; II am the rose of Sha-
ron" And then / stand and listen. From
all sides there comes the chorus OF flowers,
saying: eff God 50 clothed the grass of tue
field, which to-day is and tomorrow is cast
into the oveu, shall He not much more
clothe Won. y We Of little faith"
Flowers! Flowers Braid them into the
brides hair. Flowersl Flowers Strew
them over the graves of the dead, sweet
Flowers Twist them into q 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 "
Oh, how bright and how beautiful the
flowers. and how much they make Inc think
o, Christ and His religiop,that brightens our
character, brightens sociery, brishtens the
church, brightelis everything! You who go
sre better than | am because of your lugu-
Sriousness, yen cannot cheat Inc. Pretty
case you are fo- man that Processes to be
more than a con9ueroT. 1T is not religion
snat makes you gloomy, il is the lack OF it.
There is just as much religion iE a wedding
es in a burial, just as much religion in 8
emile as in a tear.
These gloomy Christians we sometimes
see are the people to whom | like to lend
money, for | never see them again The
women came to the Savior's tomb, and they
dropped spices all around the tomb, and
hose spices were the seed that began to
grow, and from them came all the flowers of
this Easter morn. Tas two angels robed in
white took hold Of the stone al the Savior's
tomb and tn ~ hurried it with such forcs
down the hill that it crushed in the door of
the worlds sepuchre, ard the stark and tine
@ead must come forth.
l care not how lebyrinthine the mauso-
leum or how costly tie sarcophagus or how
ever beautifully psrterred the family
grounds we want them all broken up by the
Lord of the resurrection. They muGt come
out. Father and mother-they must come
out. Husband and wife-they must come
out. Brother and sister-thay must C )me
out. Our darling chldren-they must come
out. Inc eyes that we close with sucn
trembling fingers must open again in the
radiance OF that morn. Inc arms we foldei
i'll dust must join ours in an embrace of re-
union. The voice that was hushed in our
dwelling must be returned. Oh, how long
some of you seem to be waiting -~waiting
for the resurrection. waiting And for
these broken hearts to-day ] make soft,
cool bandage out OF Easter flowers
NY friends. | find in the risen Christ n
prophecy OF our own resurrection, my text
setting forth the idea that as Christ has arisen
SO His people will rise. He-the first sheaf of
the resurrection harvest. He-''the first
fruits OF them that slept" Before | get
through this morning | will walk through
all the cemeteries of the dead, through all
the country graveyards, where your beloved
ones are buried, and ] will pluck off these
flowers, and | will drop a sweet promise of
the gospel rose of hope. lilly of Joy on
every tomb-the child's tomb. the husbands
tomb, the wltes tomb, the fathers grave
the mothers grave, and while we celebrate
the resurrection of Christ we will at the
same time celebrate the resurrection of all
the good. Christ the first fruits of them
that slept
Ii should come TO you this morning and
ask you for the names of the great conquer
ors of the world, you would say Alexander.
Caesar, Philip Napoleon [. All my friends,
you have forgotten to mention the name of
a greater conqueror than all OF these-a
cruel, CHASTITY conqueror. He who rode on
a black horse across Waterloo AID Atlanta
and Chalons, the bloody boots crushing the
hearts of nations. 1t is the conqueror Death.
Again and again has he done this work
with all generations. He is a monarch as
well as conqueror; his palace a sepulcher
his fountains the falling tears of a world
Blessed be God, in the hight of this Easter
morning see the prophecy that his scepter
shall be broken and his palace shall be de
molished. The hour is coming when all who
are IN their graves shall come forth. Christ
risen, we shall rise. Jesus the first fruits
OF them that slept" Now, around this doc
trine of the resurrection there are a great
many mysteries.
You come to ire this morning and say,
III the bodies of the dead are to be raised
how is this and how is thatg' AMI you ask
Inc thousand questions / am incompetent
Things you believe that you are not able to
explain. You would be very foolish man
10 say, Il won't believe anything | can't
understand
find my strength in this passage. Gan
VINO are In their graves shall come forth"
l do not pretend to make the explanation.
You can go on and say Suppose re-
turned missionary dies in Brooklyn. When
ne was In China. his foot was amputated.
de lived years after in England. and there
ne mad an arm amputated. He is buried
to-day IN GREENWOOD. In the resurrection
VIII the foot come from China, will the arm
come from England. and will the different
parts OF che body be reconstructed in the
resurrection? How is that possibleT
You say that the human body changes
every seven years, and by seventy years of
age man has had ten bodies. In the
resurrection which will come up?o You saw.
A man will die and his body crumhle into
dust and that dust be taken up into the life
OF the vegetable. An animal NAV eat the
vegetable; men eat the animal. In the
resurrection that body, distributed in so
many directions how shall it be gathered
upr Rave you any more questions of this
seyie 10 ask! Come on and ask them. ! do
not pretend to answer them. | fall back
upon the announcement of Gods word. "All
VINO are IN their graves shall come forth"
I GU nave noticed, | suppose. in reading
the story OF the resurrection that almost
every account of the Bible gives the idea that
the characteristic of that day will be a great
sound. do not know that it will b, very
loud, but know it will bs very penetrating.
In the Dlousolarr, tyhara