The Caucasian., 1907-03-26

Sermon
By Rev.
Frank De Witt TalInage, D. d.

propriate to the Easrel season is this
sermon, In which from the empty
crosses and from the empty tomb the
preacher hears voices of warning, joy
and triumph. The text is Mark XIV.
81, "And with him they cruelty two
thieves, the enc on his right hand and
the other ON his left"
In my lifetime | have seen many
pictures symbolic of the first Faster
morn. Some of them have depicted
Jesus in the garden walking among the
lilies talking with Mary Some of
them have pictured Christ stepping out
of the tomb amid the PROSTATE forms
Of the Roman soldiers. Some of them
have pictured Peter and John looking
into the empty crypt, where was moth
ing but the shr0ud of the risen Lord.
But of all Easter pictures the one
which impressed me the most was that
which used to hang upon the walls Of
my boyhood home. In the foreground
of the picture was broad winged an
gel flying. He was divine messenger
bringing to earth the glad tidings of
the resurrected Christ. TO the right of
the picture was the rising sun rim
ming the eastern hills. And as this
sun was crawling over the eastern
hills it cast it's light upon six pieces Of
wood which had been formed into
three crosses. There stood these three
crosses emptied of their human bur
dens. The horrors OF the crucifKiOn
were over. The corpses of the two
thieves and of the dead Christ had
been quietly laid away in their graves
The DEGREES of the Roman law had
been carried out. No Jesus was there
No repentant dying thief was there
No disappearing murderer was there.
Only the three silent crosses were
there They were mute signs that the
horrors of the blackest of all Fridays
had forever passed away. There stood
the three empty crosses bathed in the
glory of the rising sun of the first E1&
ter morn.
AS little boy standing before that
Easter picture | used sometimes to
wonder if God really did focus the light
of the rising sun upon those three
empty crosses as he focused the Eight
of the star which guided the three wise
men from the east upon the Bethlehem
manger when Jesus was born. Does
Gods sun truly reflect the joy of tie
TIT tn W
rey in one of his Melbourne addresse'
gave a vivid description of the death
and funeral of his great leader. d. l.
Moody. He said in part: when | stood
up to speak, there lay the body in front
Of me, and there sat his wife and chill
dren with heads erect, not bowed, their
eyes looking right into mine with
peaceful, triumphant light. When we
sang those wonderful hymns about En-
manuefs land and the second coming of
Christ, the inourners, as you call them,
joined in the singing with shining
faces. Then, when all had spoken and
that service was over, VIII Moody, the
son, rose calmly in his place and, turn
ing round to face the audience, gave
triumphant testimony to the power of
the risen Christ and the Holy Ghost
Just then, as If shutter above had
swung open. the sun burst through the
clouds. and every ray of sunlight that
came into the church fell on the face
lying still in the casket."
Was It Chance?
h1r aho7 arI
chance that the light of Gods sun fell
upon the face of Gods redeemed dead
at the funeral of D. L. Moody. / troW
not. / wonder If it was a mere irides-
cent dream of an imaginative artist
that made the flood light of the rising
sun hover about the three empty
crosses on the first Easter morn. l be
lieve If the midnoon sun was able to
hide It's faca behind the black clouds
on the day that Jesus was crucified
that the same sun could change the
beams of Christ's cross into bars of
gold on the day that Jesus was resur-
rected. Let us think Of that Easter
morn and those significant crosses.
Let U.S. in the first place, turn our at
tention to the central cross, upon which
Jesus died Why was this cross left
standing amid the glories and the tri-
umphs of Easter day? Why was it al
lowed to stand there to cast its dark
shadow over the beautiful form of
risen Christ? l think God left it stand
ing there for a purpose. He is coming
to you and me today to say: "Oh. child,
amid the songs of rejoicing which you
are singing at this Easter season.
amid the beautiful flowers with which
You are decorating your churches,
amid sermons of triumph with which
you are celebrating your sacred festal
day, you must not forget the price
Jesus Christ paid for your redemption!
Let the smile be on the lip, let joy
come wellIng up out of the heart as
the bubbling brook bursts out of the
green moss upon the mountain side.
bat let the empty cross upon which
Jesus died always stand near to re-
mind you of the agony and the suffer-
ings and the crown of thorns with
which Jesus purchased your saliva
ton" The cross-oh, the empty cross
Of the first Easter morn! Who would
want to null IL down from Golgotha on