Connecticut western news., 1904-04-07
TalrlAage Sermon
By Rec. Frank De SOiff > Taim a8e, D. D.

peals equally to the simple and the learned. The text is Luke xxiv, 31, And their eyes were opened, and they knew him, and he vanished out of their sight"
 Familiar truths become impressive 1t is therefore necessary for the preacher to find a new setting for the gospel camera. "Whenever l wish some lesson to be clearly remembered, would wing it," once said Thomas Guthrie, the great Edinburgh pulpiteer. By gratifying the legitimate play of the imagination salient truth finds it's w0y more readily to the heart and makes a deeper impression on the memory. The suggestive illustration, like float. keeps it from sinking; like a nail, fastens it in the mind; like the feathers of an arrow, makes it strike, and, like the bark, makes it stick" "Windows For Sermons" is the pointed caption of book of sermonic illustra- ton. Yes we all need new windows as well as clear windows through wEich we can learn the great lessons of gospel truth.
 This is Easter day. The lessons with which the anniversary is fraught are at the very foundation of our faith. They are so momentous that the i'm agination is overwhelmed by their i'm port. The facts are few, but how vital, how significant they are! Let us try to look at them from different stand- point from that to which we are accus- toned. Transporting ourselves in thought to the city of Jerusalem on that eveatftl day we hear rumors about the sitting of the sanhedrin, at which the humble Nazarene was con- demned, but we pay no attention to them. 1 listen not to the excited re- ports flying everywhere that the high priest and his Lirelings and the off cers of the law, led by the Apostate Judas, had captured Christ in the gar den of Gethsemane. l ningle not with the multitudes that are crowding the courtroom, in which Pilate is the judge and Jesus the prisoner. l gaze not at the awful scene when Christ hung upon tie cross and his dying lips part ed in their last agony. l go not with Mary down among the lilies to the tomb on the first Easter morn. But when the sunglow of Easter afternoon has bathed tie JudHan hills in great | waves of light I would point you to a | couple of pedestrians vending their way from the Jerusalem capital to- | ward the little village of Emmaus. As | these two ordinarily dressed men walk on see them accosted by a third trav- eler, who appeared over the hills. And now, as these three come nigh to the l village, 1 would see them enter hum- ble home Then, while they are at supper, I would show you why the stranger revealed himself 10 these two disciples as the risen Christ.
 Easter's Revelation.
 Easter afternoons revelation, in the first place, comes as a welcome en- couragement to all those who are ear nestly and prayerfully trying to increase their faith by reaching out for more light. It comes as a divine demonstfa- ton that the prayer of broken heart | ed father once made to Christ, Lord l believe; help thou mine unbelief," is 1 one of the most beautiful and yet hum | ble prayers of earnest heseechment It is a holy inspiration that though we sometimes in spiritual life have to walk as blind man feels his way along, step by step, yet if we go on trustfully and prayerfully and hope fully Christ, after awhile, will reveal himself to us ill all his glory.
 Why do I entertain this hope? I find ground for it in the fact that one of the earliest appearances of Christ on this first Easter day was to the two men who had doubted the fact of his resurrection Christ, when upon earth, dealt with men as we deal in our loves with our kith and kin. Supposing that 1 was young man and had gone off to four years war. Supposing after a long series of adventures I should come back to my native town. Who would be the first person I should want to sec? Would I wish to go and
 call first upon my school friends or upon merchant in whose store I used to work as a clerk? Would I care first to see my old society friends and the boys with whom I used to play base ball tn the village lots? Oh, no! If 1 was a young man the person whom I
 would honor first with a visit would be my mother and then my father and my sisters. If I was a married man the first person I would honor after my return home would be my wife nd ol, ha al
 gram was handed to Abraham Lincoln
 notifying him of his nomination for
 the presidency by the Republican na- ton convention assembled in Chicago the first move Abraham Lincoln made was to put on his tall hat and say: Well, boys, there is little woman up the street who would like to hear this news. I guess I will go and tell her what has happened"
 Seek tue Divine Light.
 After important absence we always seek first those whom we would honor the most. Whom did Christ first seek after his resurrection? Was it the gen. tie John, or the brave Luke, or Mary, the widowed mother, or Matthew, who sat at the seat of custom, or James, or the eadfast Lazarus? Oh, no. The
 first person whom Christ honored after the resurrection was the sinful but the
 repentant Mary. The next persons
 whom he honored with his divine pres ence on the first Easter day were the two disciples on the Emmaus road, who were honest doubters. These two men had seen the crucifxion. They
 had heard the wonderful report of Mary from the tomb. They knew the tomb had been eInptied of Christ's body, but they could not understand how the miracle, could have taken place. Christ appeared straightway unto them. Oh, ye honest doubters, do not despair. Hold fast to your belief, though it be small. Plead. Pray. Keep on seeking for more divine light, and Christ will some day reveal himself to