Newport weekly independent., 1903-04-03

are not standing with God until you have accepted His Son as Saviour, and been reconciled to God by Him You are standing with Satan if you are not standing with God. What does Easter mean to Satan? The Living Lord is the sign of his utter and final defeat. It was Satan in the human heart which moved hu- man hands to place Christ upon the cross. The darkness which settled around the cross in that dying hour was filled with Satan's hellish glee for he believed he had triumphed at lastfn the death of the Son of God. And if he could, he would have kept the Christ shut up in the tomb, and Ro- man seal and Roman guard would have held, but the Prince of Life Whom wicked hands had slain could not be holden of death, for God raised Him up. Satan's power and work were broken completely. Could he join in the rejoicing which filled the hearts of the disciples of Jesus? Nay, verify, that song struck the death knell of his hopes. Can he unite to- day in the Easter celebration? Not more than can the imps of hell play on the golden harps of the angels, or the lost soul of the rich Dives cross overt the great fixed gulf and share with saved Lazarus the haven of rest in 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 it's 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 it's peril as Gods indictment is heard de- claring: "Ye 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 sub- ject.
 r HE Triumph of God.-Let us look
 at another side of our Easter prism and see the Living Lord as the crowning 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 sxL 4 followed by the glory of the resurrec- ton morning, for Eff Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye 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 foe and opposition which are overcome. Satan set himself to the task of alienating 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 beautiful link ing of the human and the Divine. AhN ouSNSSoHlNC SlSl)S WHICH Icu Ic 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.
 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 a 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.
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