Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1904-04-11


the events which had so puzzled and
distressed them were. precisely those
which had been predicted centuries be-
fore. 1t came as a right visual per-
spective to those whose eyes were 70.
cused too far off to properly appreciate
the eternal significance of the momen.
tous events which had just happened
What had the death and the horrible
crucihXion of their dear friend and
leader. Jesus, to do with the Messianic
prophecy of Isaiah, written hundreds
OF years before? Did the words He
is brought as lamb to the slaughter
imply the occurrence of such a nation
al tragedy as that just ended? Per
haps these men did not stop to con-
slider or think. Did the words of their
Saviour, Destroy this temple, and /
will raise it up" allude to the resur.
rection Of Christs own body? Perhaps
these disciples did not know or con.
slider or think. But when on the EN-.
maus road the stranger appeared and
said unto them, 20 fools and slow of
heart to believe all that the prophets
have spoken and then, beginning "at
Moses and all the prophets, he ex.
pounded unto them IN all the Scrip
lures the things concerning himself"
then they saw, then they. knew. that if
had been fOreseen that Jesus sbouId
rise from the dead
FuIfIIment of Prophecies
Have there not been in our own lives
and in the lives of our dear ones nronb-
ecies which on this Easter afternoon
find their fulfllment in the risen
Christ! How about that fulfilled
prophecy in your mothers life? Years
ago she marked the favorite psalm Of
Martin Luther as her special comfort
| In the quiet of her own room she used
| to read over and over again these
words: God is our refuge and strength
very present help in trouble. There.
fore will not we fear, though the earth
be removed and though the mountains
be carried into the midst of the sea
When your father was taken sick and
financial trouble came, and from an
earthly standpoint your mother had
nowhere to turn, did not that Forty
sixth Psalm come true? Was not the
gospel prophecy fulfilled in God beina |
her refuge and strength? When your
invalid sister died, what was tbe |
strange peace that remained with her
on her way to the grave? Did she |
want to leave her young husband and |
baby boy? Did she turn deaf ear to
the sObS that were being sounded
about her dying bed? Oh, no! She
was as a Christian at peace because
dc Of CoI
ised, THE mountains shall depart and
the hills be removed, but my loving
kindness shall not depart from thee.
neither shall the covenants of nv
peace be removed, saith the Lord that
hath mercy on thee" How have Gods
promises been fulfilled in your own
life? Have cot all your past troubles
been the means, through the influence
Of the Holy Spirit, of working together
for your good? Christ was the fulfill
ment of prophecy in the Emmaus reve-
lation. Christ is also the fuIfument of
prophecy in our own lives.
Despair Changed to Hope.
But again | learn from these Easter
afternoon lessons that Christ only ap,
peared unto his disciples when they
felt their own heIpIessness without his
divine presence and susten2nce. If
these men, walking along that EN-
mauS road, had said to themselves,
well, Jesus is dead; perhaps it is Just
as well that he is gone; we were fol.
lowing him too much anyhow; we
can get along now perhaps better with
out him than with him." Jesus would
never have revealed himself unto
them. But what did these two men
practically say? They said: "Oh, what !
snail we Go, what shall we Go? The |
Christ upon whom we have leaned, |
the ChrIst whom we have followed.
the Christ whose words have been orr
meat and strength by day and by
night, is gone. What shall we do? What
shall we do?" Let me read to YOU their
very words. When this stranger. ac-
costed the two disciples they told to
nm their story. Then in a despairing /
tone they said, I'VE trusted that it
had been he who should have re-
deemed Israel" Yes; 1--WE trusted - s
but now all their hope was gone. They i
were hopeless without Christ. But 6
when Christ revealed himself then
their despair was changed into trium-
plant hope.
My friend, on this hillside overlook
ing the little Emmaus village do Won I
feel helpless unless you have Christ? Z
DO you pin to him all your faith both t
Tor this world and the next? If you do c
Christ will reveal himself to you. If c
you do not he will never reveal him '
self In your Easter hopes l want Won /
to feel the absolute dependence upon [
the divine power which my pious an i,
cestor did many years ago Rev. Ma il
than Birdseye was among the most IA t
nous New England divines of his dav. b
he lived In Connecticut and was not e
only very wealthy, but lived also in f
the time when the people of New Eng e
and owned slaves, and he also owned f
them. There came during his lifetime @