The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-04-20

This is the greatest day of all the
year. We prize that of the New Year
| and thank God for its coming. The
time in which we may glance back
ward at our failures and resolve that,
by Gods help, we viii make the COM
| ing year the best of our life.
On the anniversary birthday of
Washington and Lincoln we review the
valiant deeds of those illustrious men
of war and state, and in the light Of
the lasting benefits, accrued and yet ac-
cruing, from their unselfsh service and
loyalty to country and to flag, we bless
their days and do homage to their
names.
We celebrate the Fourth of July as
day in which our forefathers deelar-
ed, "That all men are equal before the
law and then went forth with pledg-
ed honor and consecrated lives to exc
cute the doctrines of which they spoke.
On Thanksgivln~ day we praise the
God of heaven Ior His bounteous gifts
of the seasons, and with our friends we
eat, drink and make merry the hours.
At Christmas time, our hearts re-
ioice because of the incarnation of God,
coming himself in the flesh to recon-
Gle the world and bring it back,
through love, to it's Creator. And in
joyous remembrance of the gift of the
Christ we also bring tokens of our es-
TEEN and present them to our loved
ones at home.
Z. I,,+ "a Il ID xLa 70
joice because it marks the time in the
which our Savior conquered death,
overcame the grave and in His resur-
rection became our first fruits.
This is the day, of all others, in
which angels, men, and nature speak
their sentiments of appreciation to-
tation of His love for the world which
He made.
We read in Revelations concerning
the multiplied thousands of angels
gathered about the throne singing the
chorus declares, "Worthy is the Lamb
that was slain, to receive power, and
riches, and wisdom, and strength, and
honor, and glory, and blessing And
it seems to me that, on Easter day, the
than at any other time, occurring and
recurring in the world beyond. And
men of earth join in the glad rejoicing.
On Easter day in Russia, one peasant
meeting another will greet him
with the exclamation, "Christ is
risen.'' The other will reply, "He is
risen indeed.''
In Lapland, neighbors meeting, will
Al. -.
in token of remembrance that Christ is
risen, this day. In Ireland, the super
stitious believe, that since on the day
of the erucffxion the sun was darken-
ed because of sorrow, so, on glad
Easter, he dances with joy because of
the resurrection of his Master, the
Christ.
Here, in Honolulu, our hearts are
somehow made gladder today than at
any other time. We who are Christians
are assisted in our worship by those
of our friends who, perhaps, have
never acknowledged the personal Saw
ior, but desire, with us, to show their
gladness because He is alive. And all
nature joins with us together in hearty
response, and comes forth this day in
glad bird song and in the springing of |
the flowers
We have great cause for rejoicing
because Christ came into the world to
seek and to save that which was lost. |
We should praise Him because He paid |
the price of our redemption on the /
cross, and we should unite with nature, |
and angels, and men in thanking God |
for this, the springtime of our immor-
tally, marked by the glad Easter day,
when Christ himself overcame death /
and the grave
l am glad He went through the
grave. In doing it He fulfilled all
prophecy in the Old Scriptures concern
ing himself. He earned out the Law
and the Prophets to the fullest extent,
and burying, with himself, the Law of
Moses, in honor, He brought forth from
the grave the consummated gospel of
for our comfort and use
today.
And what gospel it isl 1t tells us
that though we are sinners in the sight I
Of God-and this we are all willing to
though we deserve only
death from His presence, i'll which we
also coincide, that it is possible for us
to be forgiven and fully reconciled, if
we but believe in Christ and take Him
as our advocate and saving friend.
In coming from the tomb alive, Jesus
proved his divinity. In his teachings
He told the people that He was the Son
of God, come in the flesh from heaven
to show forth signs and wonders and
to bring the world back to God. While
He hung on the cross His enemies
Him to show himself the
Son of God by coming down from the
place of His ignominious torture, eff
He be the Son of God let Him come
down, and we will believe Him. " But
that would have frustrated the plan of
redemption and ruined all. So, for the
time, Christ waived the victory. But
on that glad day, the memory of which
we now celebrate, Christ did a greater
miracle by coming to life again, and,
in emerging from the tomb. He per-
formed a greater task than though He
had accepted the challenge of the Phar-
sees at Golgotha
In His resurrection. Christ demon
strated a future life. We have in this
fact the strongest argument for i'm