Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1893-04-06

fed Body.
BRooHLYx, April 9--Ihe Tabernacle was
elaborotely decorated with flowers today
and an unusually large audience assembled
10 hear Rev DR.. Talmages Easter morning
sermon. The subject was, The Sleepers
Awakened" the text chosen being from
| Corinthians XIV, 90, Now is Christ risen
from the dead and become the first fruits
Of them that slept"
On this glorious Easter morning, amid
the music and the flowers give you Chris
tian salutaton. This morning Russian
meeting Russian on the streets of st. Peters
burg halls him with the salutaton, Christ
is risenr' and is answered by his friend in
salutation, HE Is risen indeedl'' In some
parts of England and Ireland to this very
day there Is the superstition that on Easter
morning the san dances in the heavens, and
well may we forgive such superstition,
which illustrates the fact that the natural
world seems to syrnpathize with the spirit
ual
Hail, Easter rnorningl Flowersl Flow
ers All of them a-voice, all of them
a-tongue. all of them full of speech today
| bend over one of the lilies and l hear it
say, Consider the lilies of the field, how
they grow; they toll not, neither do they
spin, yet Solomon in all his glory was not
srrayed like one of these" | bend over a
rose, and it seems to whisper, Il am the
rose Of Sharon" And then / stand and
listen. From all sides there comes the
chorus of flowers, saying, IF God so clothed
She grass of the field, which today is and
tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he
not much more clothe you, o ye of little
faith?'
Flowersl Flowersl Braid them into the
brides hair. Flowers Flowers! Strew
them over the graves Of the dead-sweet
prophecy of the resurrection. Flowersl
Flowersl Twist them into a 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 begin
ming, is now and ever shall be-"
THE BLOOM OF EASTER.
Oh how bright and how beautiful the
flowers, and how much they make me
think of Christ and his religion, that
brightens our life, brightens our character,
brightens society, brightens the church,
hrightens everything You who go with
gloomy countenance pretending you are
better than am because Of your lugubri-
BUSINESS you cannot cheat me. Pretty case
you are for man that processes to be more
than a conqueror. 1t is not religion that
makes you gloomy; it is the lack Of it.
There is just as much religion in a wedding
as in a burial, Just as much religion in
smile as In a tear.
Those gloomy Christians we sometimes
zee are the people to whom l like to lend
money, for / never See them againl The
women came to the Saviour'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 flow
,oftl NJ a1%z -,
rohed in white took hold of the stone at the
Saviour's tomb. and they hurled it with
such force down the hill that it crushed in
the door of the worlds sepulcher, and the
stark and the dead must come forth
| care not how labyrinthine the mauso-
leum or how costly the sarcophagus or
however beautifully parterred the family
grounds, we want them all broken up by
the Lord of the resurrection. They must
come out Father and mother-they must
come out Husband and wife-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 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, waitingl And for these
broken hearts today / make a soft, cool
bandage out of Easter flowers.
My friends, find In the risen Christ a
prophecy OF our own resurrection my text
setting forth the idea that as Christ has
risen so his people will rise. He the first
sheaf Of the resurrection harvest. He 1.-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 loved ones are buried and l will pluck
off these flowers, and / will drop a sweet
promise Of the gospel-a rose of hope a lily
of Joy on every tomb-the chiid's tomb, the
husbands tomb, the wifeis tomb, the fa-
theirs grave the mothers grave, and while
we celebrate the resurrection of Christ we
will at the same time celebrate the resur-
rection of all the good. Christ the first
fruits of them that slept"
THE GREAT CoNQUERoR
II should come to yea this morning and
ask you for the names OF the great conquer
ors OF che world, yon would say Alexander,
Cesar, Philip, Napoleon /. All, my friends,
you have forgotten to mention the name of
greater oonqueros than all these-a cruel.
CHASTITY oopqueror. He rode on black
horse across Waterloo and Atlanta and
Chalons, the bloody hoofs crushing the
hearts of nations, 1t is the conqueror
Death.
He carries black flag, and he takes no
prisoners. He digs trench across the
heniispheres and Oils 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 on the mountain, no man
on the sea, an abandoned ship blowing
through indmsnsity.
Again apd again has he done this work
with AN generations He is monarch as
well as conqueror; his palace sepul-
cher; his fountains the falling tears of a
world. Blessed be God in the light of this
Easter morning see the prophecy that his
scepter shall be broken and his palace shall
be demolished. 1hs hour is coming when
all who are in their graves shall come forth.
Christ risen, we shall rise. Jesus 1.-The first
fruits Of them that slept" Now, around
this doctrine Of the resurrection there are
great mauy faysterieg