Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1901-04-11
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
RESURRECTION OF THE RE-
pEEMER SUNDAYS SUBJECT
Now Ii Christ Risen from the Dead
and Become tho First Fruits OF Them
That sIept"-First Book Corinthians.
Chapter Twenty-Five, Twentieth Verse

Copyright, 1901, by Louis Klopsch, n. Y)
Washington, April THE great
Christian festival celebrated in all the
churches is the theme OF DIR. Talmage's
discourse; | Corinthians Ky, 90. Now
is Christ risen from the dead and be-
come the first fruits of them that
slept"
On this glorious Easter morning,
amid the music and the flowers, ]
give you Christian salutation. This
morning Russian meeting Russian on
the streets OF st. Petersburg halls him
with the salutation. Christ is risen,"
and is answered by his friend in salu-
tation, He is risen indeed" 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 we'll may we forgive
such a superstition, which illustrates
the fact that the natural world seems
to sympathize with the spiritual.
Hail Easter morning! Flowers!
Flowers! All of them a-voice, all of
them a-tongue, all Of them full of
speech to-day. bend over one of the
lilies OF the field how they grow; they
toll not, neither do they spin, yet Sol
ONION in all his glory was not arrayed
like one of these" l bend over a rose
and 1t 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 the grass of the field which
to-day is and tomorrow is cast into
the oven, shall he not much more
clothe you. o We of little faith?"
Flowers! Flowers Braid them in
to the brides hair. Flowers! Flow
ers! Strew them over the graves of the
dead, sweet prophecy of the resurrec-
ton. Flowers Flowers! Twist them
into garland for my Lord Jesus on
Easter morning, and GLORY be to the
Father and to the Son, and to the
Holy Ghost as ii was in the begin
ming, is now and ever shall be-" The
women came to the Saviour's tomb,
the tomb, and those spices were the
seed that began to grow, and from
them came all the flowers OF this East
er morn The two angels robed 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
sepulchre and the stark and the dead
must come forth.
The Worlds Great Conauerors.
If ! should come to you and ask you
for the names of the great conquerors
of the world you would say Alexander,
Caesar. Philip, Napoleon l. All, you
have forgotten to mention the name
of greater conqueror than all these
"a cruel, a CHASTITY conqueror He
rode on black horse across Waterloo
and Chalons and Atlanta, the bloody
hoofs crushing the hearts Of nations
1t is the conqueror Death. He carries
black flag and he takes no prisoners.
He digs a trench across the hemis-
pheres and fills il 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
immensely. Again and again has he
done this work with all generations
He is a monarch as well as a conquer
or; his palace a sepulcher; his foun.
tains the falling tears Of a world
Blessed be Cod In the light of this
Easter morning | see the prophecy
that his scepter shall be broken, and
his palace shall be demolished. The
hour is coming when all who are in
their graves shall come forth. Christ
risen. we shall rise. Jesus, 1.-The frs
fruits of them that slept"
Now, around this doctrine of the res
direction there are great many mys
teres You come to me and say, I.
the bodies Of the dead are to be raised
how is this and how is that? AND
! you ask me a thousand questions an
/ incompetent to answer But there are
a great many things you believe tina
you are not able to explain. Yol
would be a very foolish man to say
81 don't believe anything | can't I'M
! derstand." Why, putting down one
kind OF flower seed, comes there III
this flower of this color? Why, put
ting down another flower seed, comes
there up a flower OF this color? ON
flower white, another flower yellow, an
other flower crimson. Why the differ
ence when the seeds look to be very
much alike-are very much alike? Ex
plain these things. Explain that wart OF
the finger. Explain the difference VIII!
the oak leaf is different from the lea
OF the hickory. Tell me how the Lore
Almighty can turn the chariot of hi
omnipotence on a rose leaf You asl
me questions about the resurrection
cannot answer. will ask you thou
sand questions about everyday life yo,
cannot answer.
Significance of n Great sound.
You have noticed, | suppose, in read
ing the story OF the resurrection tina
almost every account of the Bible give
the idea that the characteristic OF tina
| dav will ha a great sound do no