St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1903-05-16
the lost soul of the rich Dives cross
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Abraham's bosom. But the world has
learned how to sing the songs of Chris
tian faith, it has made bold to share
in Christmas joy and Easter rejoicing,
and Satan cares naught for this out
ward acceptance of Christian truth
and share in its observance, while he
holds sway in the heart. He does not
fear the Easter message which is
freighted with the perfume of flowers,
the swelling anthems, the plaudits of
men and thoughtless rejoicing in the
risen Lord. But let the soul be awak-
ened to sense of it's position and its
peril as Gods Indictment is heard de-
claring: eye have killed the Prince of
Life, Whom God hath raised from the
dead" and Satan begins to tremble
and fear the loss of an obedient SUBJ
ject.
r HE Triumph of Goblet us look
at another side of our Easter
prism and see the Living Lord as the
browning triumph and glory of God.
Satan's power was manifested in the
death of Christ. The power of God
was revealed as He burst the bars of
death and brought forth His Son tri-
umphantly. The submission on the
cross which atoned for sin must be
followed by the glory of the resurrec-
ton morning, for IF Christ be not
raised, your faith is vain; We are yet
in your sins. But now is Christ risen
! from the dead and become the first
fruits of them that slept" A triumph
means a foe and opposition which are
overcome. Satan set himself to the
task of alternating the human race
from God, and as God throughout the
ages moved steadily to work out His
| plan of redemption He came to the
moment of final triumph when Christ
rose from the dead.
The triumph of God in the resur-
rection of Christ is a beautiful link
ing of the human and the Divine.
The successive steps which led to
the final triumph through Christ
were taken upon the faith of the
human heart as it reached out to-
wards God and was obedient to His
will. And God has never been with
out witnesses in the world. There
have always been Noah, an Abraham,
Moses, a Joshua, a David to carry
out the purposes of God and prepare
the way for the coming of the Christ.
The triumph of God involves three
great facts: The final and utter de-
feat of Satan, the punishment of sin
and the salvation of the sinner, and
these were wrought out through the
Son. Satan met with successive defeats
in the wilderness temptation, in
Gethsemane and on Calvary, but the
overwhelming defeat was accom-
plished at the tomb where the dead
Christ was laid when He had offered
final sacrifice for sin, and where the
Living Christ came forth the Prince
of Life, indeed, able to give eternal
life to all who believed on Him. The
perfect righteousness of God demand
ed that sin should be punished. Gods
Word must be kept. 'The soul that
sinneth,' He declared, cit shall die"
And God punished sin with death, ac-
cepting the sinless man, Christ Jesus,
and putting on Him the penalty which
would rightfully have been borne by
sinful man. And not only was sin pun
ished but the sinner was stripped of
his rags and clothed with the righteous
ness of Christ so as to be able to enter
into Heaven. Surely here was triumph
indeed.
iii ITNESSES.-No wonder Peter, aft
III ertelling of the wonderful triumph
of God in the resurrection of Christ,
adds, whereof we are witnesses"
Did you ever notice that the apostles
and disciples never testified of any
thing of which they did not have per-
sonal and practical knowledge? They
were true witness bearers for Christ.
They had a positive message. They
knew Christ was risen from the dead
because they had seen Him, had
handled Him, and tracing out the
prophecy of Gods Word found that it
was all fulfilled in the Christ. The
third side of our Easter prism is the
go tell,' which falls upon the ear of
every disciple after he has met and
talked with the Lord That Easter
morning commission did not involve
theological training. They were
not to saturate themselves with
lot of theories, and doctrines, and
ologies and isms. They were simply
to go tell what they knew of the
Christ. We need trained teachers and
preachers. Those who are intellectual
ly as well as spiritually equipped for
service. But preachers and teachers
realize better than do others, perhaps,
that their efforts are well-nigh power
less unless the individual Christians
take up the message and go tell"
And their message is simple. They
must know man is lost sinner, and
that there is Living Lord to save.
The awfulness of sin must be felt as
personal condition of guilt, and un-
der the burden of sin the Living
Saviour must be met with in the way
as you journey to the tomb of dead
hope. 1t is the privilege Of every soul
to meet the Saviour thus. Then Peters
message becomes our message: eye
killed the Prince of Life, Whom God
hath raised from the dead, whereof
we are witnesses"
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