Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1898-04-14

hungered ana tniFsted and suffered
WEAKNESS and in that brief life en-
dured the bitterest yicissitutes. the
most intense sufferings.
We may sometimes have wondered
as 10 what would have been the result
upon the growth Of Hi kingdom had
He lived on through the ages, never
yielding to the infirmities that limit
our common humanity. Bat we be-
lieve that however joyfully His follow
ers would have Welcomed such per-
,petual incarnation or living presence,
it would have Observation-Disclosures in
the material as well as in the moral
universe, and would have failed in its
effect upon the minds and e0nsciences
of men Thus living He gould not
have been model and Inspiring ex-
ample. Such life would have been
a divine life only and. not human
life, blending with the divine, and so.
could not have touched US .rMith. the
full sense of His redeeming. power.
He took upon Himself our nature that
he might thereby reach and save US
by becoming one of ourselves. !. He be-
came man and so redeemed and glori-
fed humanity. 1t is this Christ in US,
the hope of glory, of-which the Apes
tie speaks, and He taught to His own
disciples this doctrine OF His indwell-
ing presence. This thought is domi-
nant in His teachings Behold, he
said, II stand at the door and knock;
and if any man hear My voice and
open the door, will come in unto
Him and will sup with him and he
with Me"
Thus at the incarnation He knocked
at the door of our common humanity
to partake of all the infirmities of our
nature, to share in our sorrows and
sympathies and impart to our human
ity all the divine qualities of His own
nature.
But He entered not completely into
that life till He had knocked at the
portals of the tomb and entered for a
while to dwell amongst the dead. We
are apt to mistake in limiting His
presence on earth to The time during
which he was incarnated and dwelt
bodily amongst men. His disciples
thought, after the last sad scene on
Calvary, that he had gone forever.
SO all human dead had seemed to
pass away and they returned not
again. Voices that whispered love
and affection and trust had died away
into unending silence; bloom had ia
ded from lip and cheek toappear never
again; light had fled from the eye not
to be rekindled, and the beloved forms
were gwen to the dust to be resolved
again into their own elements, and it
seemed as if the Lord of life had been
subjected to the common fate. Never
again would he teach men the way of
life; never again would he go up into
the mountain to pray, or wander along
the shores of the bright Galilee, never
again enter their humble homes. or
rest by the wayside well, or lift His
hands in blessing over the sick and
sorrowing. He was in His grave and
the sepulchre was sealed and watched
by Roman guard. Words cannot
describe the sorrow, the consterna-
ton, the anguish that fell upon His
followers, for He Twas cut off in the
midst Of His days His enemies had
triumphed; the torturing scourge, the
cruel cross and the spear of the sol
diers had done their work-Jesus, the
King of Glory, had been slain in Zion.
The Shepherd was smitten, the flock
was scattered, the sad drama seemed
to have come to an end. They were
vet to add to their creed the words,
..And on the third day he arose again
from the dead, nand this His followers
with firm faith in the fact OF that
resurrection have been repeating ever
since. He had indeed risen, and
in spirit would never again forsake
them. for he said unto them, .Lo. l
am with you always even TO the end
of the world
1t is TO His presence in His church
that we call your attention on this
glad Easter morning. The full inn
port Of that presence words must fail
TO describe, but it is the imprisoned
theme of Christian poet,now almost
forgotten, though his words incor-
porated in an old Easter anthem, the
music of which has been ringing in
my ears since childhood, fifty voice
the triumph of the Christian through
Him 1.-The Conqueror OF Death:
And did He rise:
Hear, O We nations hear il. . We dead
He rose he rose He burst the bars of cath.
Lift upyour heads, We everlasting gates,
And give the King of Glory 10 come in.
This sum OF good 10 man, whose nature then
Took wing and mounted with Kim from the
tomb
Then. then. rose, then first humanity;
Triumphant passed the crystal ports of light
And seized eternal youth
Man. all-immortal, hail
Hail Heaven lavish of sNange gifts TO man
o. what scale of miracles Is here,
The lowest round high planted on the skies
The towering summit lost beyond the
heights
OF men and angels '-
nnNnr \ IL Oct 81 1SQ6