Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1903-04-16


dying william Hunter amazed when
he cried: "All is well. All is wellw
Was not dying John Pawson amazed
when he snid, II know am dying but
my deathbed Is bed Of rosesv' Was
not dying John Fletcher amazed when
he said, ooh, how this soul of mine
longs to be gone, like n bird out of its
cage, to the realms Of blissw Was not
the dying Christian, A. NJ. French,
amazed, when he turned to the watch
ers and said: "Oh, my wife and dear
daughter. how sweet to die! How
sweet to die! Oh, that could tell you
how sweet!' Yes, like the disciples Mt
the tomb most Christians will be
amazed to find how easy It is to die,
though Christ has again and again told
us that death is not humiliation, but n
sleep.
Then. like the disciples Of old, we
shall also be amazed after our own res
direction. Though we have read again
and again description of heaven, yet
when we come to that beautiful city
we shall cry, like the queen Of Sheba
in the presence Of Solomon, 1.-THE half
was not told me-" We shall be amazed
at the beautiful river of life, in which
no redeemed immortal can ever be
drowned. We shall be amazed at the
arching rainbow which st. John saw
round about the white throne. and yet
no showers of raindrops or teardrops
through which its varicgated colors
can be reflected. We shall be amazed
at our ears attuned to heavenly min
strelsy and yet not hearing one dis
cord. Everywhere in heaven our eyes
and ears and our sensibilities will be
startled and stimulated, but never
stunned, with amazement upon amaze
mcnt.
Then, above all. like the disciples of
old, after our resurrection we shall be
amazed at the infinity of Christ's sacri-
flee. A mother was one day talking TO
her little child and asked her. "Daugh-
ter, are you not often amazed at the
fact that Jesus died for you?" "Why,
no, mother" she answered. "You
would be willing to die for me, and
like Christ" But neither that little
child nor any one else this side of the
grave has ever had grace enough to
fathom or scale or comprehend the i'm
mensitics of a Saviour's sacrifice. 1t
shall be only after we ourselves have
been joined to the heavenly choristers
that we shall fully realize what the
redeemed future, as with the disciples
of old, will have amazemcnt upon
amazcmcnt, amaZemcnt upon amaze
ment.
what Mary Believed.
Tho risen Lord appeared unto Mary
with the same personality that he had
before the crucifixion. How do know
Mary thought he was the gardener. BY
that do not believe Christ's garments
were despatched with mud or that his
fingers were soiled from contact with
the flower stems, but do believe that
the risen Lord stood by the side of Ma
ry as he had often done before the aw.
full crucifixiOn. l do believe that the
risen Christ had the same voice, the
same look, the same touch Of the hand
and the same heart sympathy for earth
" troubles that he had when he him
self was compelled to go hungry and
knew not where to lay his head.
1t is easy, even on Easter day, &c
have n distorted idea of the risen Lord
l well remember when little boy how
I used to study the hidcous idols which
my uncle. John Talmage, the mission
airy, sent us from faroff China.
would take a malformed and repulsive
image of stone or wood to my room
Then l would say to myself: "How
could any man worship such thing
as that as god? How could any
worshper suppose that his god coult
have two stumpy, withered legs, buried
tailor fashion under n bloated aldo
men; two hateful eyes, squirting will
strabismus. and n mouth horrible will
the demoniac grin of destroying mon
stcr?" But the heather bowling before
such shrine is perhaps not more II
error than some Christians are in ref
ercnce to their risen Lord. They sup
I y
in looks and actions. After having sui
fercd for our redemption they believe
he is no longer human being, that 1T
lives billions and billions of mile;
away from earth and has no part II
our everyday life All. no. The Jesu!
who sympathized with Mary's tear!
when she came to seek his body at thu
tomb Is the same Christ who sympa
thized with her troubles before thu
crucifiXion.
Thus the Christ who talked to Mari
in the Easter dawn breaches prac
teal gospel for a practical everyda!
life. The boy Jesus who was in thu
carpenter shop Is the resurrected Chris
who is today ready to bend over thu
shop bench and help the mechanic il
his toll. The fatherless Christ wh'
once saw Mary, the mother. strugglin;
for her daily bread-for Joseph is sup
posed to have died when the divin
child was very young-is the sympa
thizing Saviour who today is ready t.
help the widow and care for the or
phans. We preach not an Easter Je
sus in the elegant robes of a king s.
much as in the plain garb of a work
ingman going forth to help those VIII
are in the awful struggle for phys
ical existence.
The risen Lord appeared first unit
Mary because her great love would no