Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1897-04-19

without running the race. We want to
/ wear the crown when we have never
really borne the cross.
| And so when Easter comes with us
| iov and brightness, after the discipline
/ and training of Lent, whether We nave
| improved them or not, we are at once
| Glad AT heart. and welcome the lnsplr-
| inc message it brings. and claim as our
/ own the comfort and the power that
form the thought OF risen ana III
umphant Christ.
Yet we must always remember that
the fellowship or union with Christ that
brings peace and power into the life, IS
nor such as can be taken up at one tlme
I and laid down at another; 1t is not such
as can be held in allegiance during times
of darkness. of self-contlict, OF selt-in-
diligence. and then assumed at some
noint of manifest ease and advantage to
ourselves. OF course we want 10 be
partakers of His life, and there Is IN
such desires no evidence of spiritual
mind. but are we equally willing TO
have fellowship with His sufferings, and
to be made comfortable unto His death :
That is the question we ought TO con-
slider"
The Ri. Rev. Bishop said the resur-
rectiOn must not be considered as an
isolated fact. Il is indissolubly con-
nected with all that goes before, and all
that Genes after Scripture teaches
that Christ died for our sins, ana lie
arose victor over sin and death, to prove
the efficacy and acceptance OF His work
and death. He arose for our Justlnca-
ton. These two facts contain COM
prehensive statement of the whole Cos
pei scheme of salvation. Christ's death
and resurrection is at once ID the
ground of salvation; (2) the pattern Tor
life: go the prophecy Of glory.
Cd 1t Is idle TO speculate as 10 what
God in His wisdom and power might
have done otherwise for the salvation
of sinful men. when we know that lie
chose TO do a certain thing. He sent
His Son 10 be the Saviour of the world.
Through His blood there is redemp-
ton. forgiveness of sins-iis death ana
resurrection are the ground OF saliva
ton. Il does not follow that because
Christ is raised we are also raised. 1t Is
not difficult 10 trace the bond between
ourselves and that first Adam IN whom
all die-we are His children in our
, physical and moral natures; but now
about any bond between ourselves and
that second Adam in whom We may be
made alive? To share the benefits or
Christ's death and resurrection, we must
be identified with Him. We cannot pass
Him by and then seek to share the glory
I of His resurrection life.
)2O Christ's death and resurrection IS
the pattern for life. In what has been
already said, we have tried TO show that
when a man puts his faith in Jesus
Christ. he is joined TO Him in such
way that he is separated from his for
mer self. and dead TO the world This
great change may be considered either
with reference to what IT, man has
ceased 20 be. or with reference to what
he becomes. The thought that Christ
died fer Us ought 10 draw Us away from
our love of the world-Ought TO be the
, pattern of our lives. and lift us up into
q new region where we find new inter-
ests. and loves. and aims. I'VE are
Christ's. and for this-tO love others as
lie haIl loved us, 10 IdOOI 10 w lutlh
good and to bring them TO Him; so TO
follow the example of His meek and
/ pure and unselfsh life, that growing in
likeness to Him. We shall he the relig-
/ ion we profess. and by His grace becom-
ing each day more meet to be partakers
of the inheritance of the saints in life.
go Christ's death and resurrection is
/ the prophecy Of glory. The resurrec-
ton of Christ was a manifestation OF
His power. a proclamation Of His vic
/ tory. and as such a prophecy OF glory
| Being risen from the dead. He dieth no
more. Death hath no more dominion
over Him. In that He died, He died
unto sin once. but in that He liveth, He
liveth unto God Il am the first and
the last. I am He that liveth and was
dead. and behold I am alive for ever
more. and have the keys of hell and OF
death" Reason may suggest arguments
for a life beyond the grave, but there is
but one proof Of it, and that is the resur-
rection of Christ