The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1900-10-08

| be satisfied. His honor indicated; man $
conscience pacified. his guilt pardoned:
SO the Son died. The cross is an element
Without the burial of Christ the gospel
would not be complete. The prophecy
| must be fulfilled: HE made His grave
| with the wicked and with the rich in Ills
death" BY our Lord the tomb has been
| forever sanctNed The valley OF the
shadow of death becomes the valley OF
| the opening of life. Death. instead OF
! being the TALLER of hell and the grave.
| becomes the porter of paradise. All tnal
He can now do is to cause the Christian
| to sleep in Jesus. to lease the Immortal
spirit from the letters that bind 1t TO
| earth and deposit the weary body in the
tomb. The grave is an element of the
gospel.
Without the resurrection the gospel
would no be perfected. Before this
great contamination the gospel is not
! preached save in promise. The fulnesS
| of the glad tidings is not realized Inc
| kingdom of heaven Is proclaimed as At
hand. Not until the long-tied bands of
the grave are broken. the stone rolled
away from the door of the sepulchre and
the newly risen one walks forth
into the. garden. is the the d
subiimest revelation of God complete;
not until then does the glorious King OF
\ kings appear with all authority in heaven
and ON earth. and say to His representa-
tives: Go We into all the world and
/ preach the gospel to every creature; he
| that believeth and is baptized shall be
|
condemned"
Hence the resurrection is the demon
| stration of the gospel. IF Christ be not
| risen. then is our preaching in vain, and
your faith is also vain: We are yet in
YOUR sins Hence the apostles, in GO
! Ing forth TO convert the world. Were tn
| law this down as the foundation of their
preaching. that Jesus Christ was raised
| from the dead that all men might believe
! on and obey Him. Jesus and the resUr-
| rection' was their paramount theme.
resurrection essential
| confirmation of the faith of Christians
| IN HIS person. seeing lie is declared to
| be the son of God. with power. accord
| ing TO the spirit of holiness. by the res
direction from the dead" demonstrating
| the truth of the testimony: Thou ART
MY son. TINS day have | beSotten thee
and the promise. Il will give thee the
sure mercies of David" Hence the res
urrection is a most pregnant proof of the
all-Suftic:ency OF His satisfaction. He
was delivered for our offenses. and raised
! for our Justification. Hence on the fact
or the resurrection is built our faith in
| His promise To give life and glory for
how could We believe Him to be the
| thor Of life who remained under the
power of death? Would not all hope
nave 1een buried in His grave? And IS
not Ills resurrection the cause, pattern
and proof and argument for ours? And
rising himself TO glory. honor and i'm
mortality. does lie not raise His people
also with Him?
| What u glorious trinity Is here! Tne
Jews had only a vague assurance of
out hope. The myth of the phoenix was
| but myth. y shattered pillar; I ship
sone to pieces; harp lying on the
| ground with snlpt strings. its music gone;
| a flower bud crushed with Gil It's fra
J GRANGE in It-these We're The sad utter
ances Of hopeless grief. The thought
! that death was the gateway of life came
l ct TO cheer the parting or brighten me
| sepulche~.
But look at the grassy mounds in the
| light of this truth. Resurgent! They VIII
| rise. The eye of faith sees them change
into field thick sown with the seeds OF
immortality. Blessed fieldi What flowers
shall spring there! What a harvest gath
cred there! What a wild shout shall go
up 1T fhe harvest-home of the resuricc-
ticn morning! In neishboring iieids.
| Whatsoever "A man soweth that shall ne
| also reap" but here what a difference be
tween that which is sown and that wnich
| shall be reapedt -between that which IS
soWn amid mourners' tears and reapcd
| amid angel jOyS!-betXeen the poor body
we return To the earth and the noble form
! that shall spring from its ashes! Laza-
russ putrid corpse with health glowing
on its check is nothing 10 the change that
th I,e'i twinkIng of am eve At the last trump.
From east and west and north and south
the armies gather. Yesterday, bones. ear
casSes. rottennesS. worms, corruption.
dust. today. multitudes In immortal and
glorified bodies. thronGinG the mansions
| of the Fathers house! -.,...
The death. the burial the resurrection
of Jesus-these are the three facts of the
gospel The mere existence of these facts.
however. does not save men. The mere
admission that they are true does not
secure the end that God designed. In or
der that this may be done they must be
received; every man must actually ana
truly appropriate them to himself. Prac-
tiC2lly il is as important to understand
how the gospel may be received as ii IS
to understand the nature and component
Parts Of the gospel for what is the gospel
to 4 man If II be not received by MIN
What are the Bible. the church. the par
don Of sin, the death of Christ, all the
et111ii fn1PhinuS nr
tan religion. if personally and receptlVely
a man knows them not?
I. This brings us To another trillity-the
reception of the gospel involves obedience
To three distinct precepts. Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ. repent, be baptized
We must truly and heartily believe the
gospel. honestly and sincerely repent or
our sins, and actually and formally ac-
cept the gospel by reverent and ooedl-
cnt baDtis-n. Thus the unders' andlIS
recognizes and accepts the gospel as true;
the affections delight in and e-noiace II
as good; the VIII obeyS 1t and approves
it As right The records OF the Acts OF
the Apostles and the Epistles to the
Churches make clear the essentially q
this triune obedience. After conforming
To these three conditions. and not before,
we arc regarded a having come into fell
lowship with Christ and His church
Writing afterwards. in alluslon u the
doctrine Of the gospel as he had delivered
1t. PAU declares: II thank God that We
have obeyed from the heart the form OF
doctrine which was delivered unto you'
being then made free from sin, We became
~the servants pf righteousness" Nhat
was the doctrine? Why. the death. burial
and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Ard
what the form or type OF this doctrine:
Why, death To sin. burial with Christ
I'm baptism a resurrection in the likeness
of His rising to walk in newncSS OF lie
To the people on PCntecOSt Peter preach-
ed this trinity of f6cts-how Christ Died
for cur sins according to the scriptures.
was buried and rose again; and the three
thousand rendered this trinity of obSdl-
ence, they believed the word preached by
IL, f1f..~ N
repent and be baptized i'm the name OF
Jesus Christ for the remission of sins:
as many as gladly received the Word
were baptized" and the same day there |
were added unto them about $3.50 souls.
As ChriSt'S death, Christs burial, ana !
Christs resurrection must be all as
sured facts SO of human obedience. There !
must be no uncertainty. no contingency,
no doubt whatever that all the elements |
in the trinity of cur acceptance are COM /
plete. The apostles recognized no man as |
fully Obedient to the gospel and worthy /
to be enrolled in the church until obcdi- |
ence to all three of these precepts had /
been rendered. Is not the, gospel tue
acceptance unchanged?
:. Receiving now the trinity of gospel /
facts in a trinity of gospel obedience, We I
have a triune goSncl blessing We are |
saved or receive the remission of |
sins" the gift Of The Holy Spirit" and |
the hope of eternal life. This is the trim I
ity of blessings which heaven bestOws /
here and nov unOn The Obedient believer. I
pur;fins his heart, pacifies his conscience. |
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