The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1904-04-10

iore II came ms q right visual per
spectiye 10 those whose eyes were 70
cused too far or to properly appreciate
the eternal Significance of the momen-
tous events which had just happened
What hal the death ana the horrible
cruciiiSion of their dear friend and
leadcr Jesus, to do with the Messianic
prophecy Of Isaiah, written hundreds
Of years before? DID the words "He
IS brought as a lamb to the slaughter
imply the occurrence of such a nation
al tragedy as that just ended? Per
haps these men dld not stop to con
slider or think. Did the words of their
Saviour, Destroy this temple, ana |
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, 80 fools and slow Of
heart to believe all that the prophets
have spoken" and then, beginning "at
Moses ANA all the prophets, he ex-
pounded unto them in all the Scrip
lures the things concerning himself, .
then they saw, then they knew, that it
had been foreseen that Jesus should
rise from the dead.
Fulhllment of Prophecies.
Have there not been in our own lives
and in the lives OF our dear ones proph-
ecies which on this Easter afternoon
find their fulillment in the risen
/ Christ? How about that fulfilled
/ prophecy in your mothers lifeI Years
\ ago she marked the favoritc psalm of
Martin Luther rs her special comfort
/ In the quiet Of her own room she used
TO read over and over again these
4 words: God is our refuge and strength.
Il very present help in trouble. There
| fore win 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 ana
financial trouble came ana from an
earthly standpoint your mother had
nowhere TO turn, did not that Forty
sixth Psalm come true: Was not Che
gospel prophecy fulfilled in God being
her refuge and strength? When your
invalid sister died, what was the
strange peace that remained with her
on her way 10 the grave? Did she
want to leave her young husband and
baby boy? Did she turn n deaf ear 10
the sobs that were being sounded
about her dying bed2 Oh, no! She
was MS q Christian at peace because
thousands of years ago God had prom
Used, The mountains shall depart and
the hills be removed, but my loving
kindness SHAH not depart from thee
peace be removed, saith the Lord that
hath mercy on thee" How have Gods
promises been fulfilled in your own
lifef Have not all your past troubles
been the means, through the influence
of the Holy Spirit, Of working together
for your goodE Christ was the fulfill
ment of prophecy in the Emmaus reve-
lation. Christ Is also the futillment 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 helplessness without his
divine presence and sustenance If
these men. walking along that EN-
maus road, had said TO themselves
well Jesus is dead; perhaps it is just
rs 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. ooh, what
shall we do, what shall we do? The
Christ upon whom we have leaned
the Christ whom we have followed,
the Christ whose words have been our
meat and strength by day and by
night, is gone What shah We dor What
shall we dog Let me read to you their
very words. When this stranger ac-
costed the two disciples they told TO
him their story Then in a despairlng
tone they said. I'VE trusted that it
had been he who should have re-
deemed Israel" Yes. we trusted"
but now all their hope was gone. They
were hopeless without Christ But
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 YOU
feel helpless unless you haye Christ?
DO you pin to him all your faith both
for this world and the next? If you do
Christ will reveal himself to you. If
You do not he will never reveal him
self, In your Easter hopes ! want you
to feel the absolute dependence upon
the divine power which my pious an
ccstor did many years ago. Rev. Ma
than Birdseye was among the most IA
nous New England diyincs of bis day.
lie lived In Connecticut and was not
only very wealthy. but lived also in
the time when the people Of New Eug-
land owned slaves. and hc also owned
them. There came during his lifetime
a prolonged drought in that country
which threatened not only 70 destroy