Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1909-06-18

out of this real sep
ulcher. He was
pronounced dead by the disinterested
officials who were sent to examine
MIN. His friends believed him dead
for some of them came with spices
to embalm him. The fact of his res
direction is as well attested as the
fact of his death and burial. Peter
and John find the tomb empty with
out any evidence of robbery, for every
thing is in order. He showed him
seslf to Mary, who at first takes him
for the gardener. Then he appears to
the two disciples on the way to En-
maus. Again, while the doors are shut
he appears in the midst of his disci-
pies. Then more than 500 brethren
see him at once. To one who &C
cepts the Biblical record as authori-
tative the fact of the resurrection is
proved beyond the shadow of
doubt
The open sepulcher, in the second
place, confirms the fact of the deity
of Christ. If he did ont rise from
the dead, he was, of course, a mere
man and his death was that of
victim and not king, and the world
is benefited no more by his death
than by the death of any other martyr
to a noble mission. But the open
sepulcher proves that all he claimed
of Deity for himself and all his
friends claimed tor him was true.
He was declared to be the Son of
God, with power, BY the resurrection
from the dead.
The open sepulcher, in the third
place, is the fulfllment of prophecy.
He rose from the dead according to
the Scriptures. We read in Psalms
2:7: THE Lord hath said unto me
thou art my Son; this day have 1
brought thee forth" And we learn
in Acts 1888 that these words pre-
dict the resurrection of Jesus The
words of Hosea: "In the third day he
will rise up and we shall rise in his
sight" point forward to the resurrec-
ton of Jesus and of all his people with
him. In Psalm 1879, 10 Peter tells
US in his Pentecostal sermon David re-
fers to Christ: MY flesh also shall
rest in hope, for thou will not leave
my soul in hades, neither wilt thou
suffer thine Holy One to see corrup-
ton" Thus, as Peter tells us, the
spirit of Christ did signify in
prophecy when it testified before
hand the sufferings of Christ and the
glory that should follow"
The open sepulcher, in the fourth
place, is itself prophecy. 1t predicts
the resurrection of all the dead. Now
is Christ risen from the dead and be-
come the first fruits of them that
slept Cor. 1920. Every man in
his own order, Christ the first fruits;
afterward, they that are Christ's at his
coming Cor. 1928.
The body of Christ came out of the
sepulcher and our bodies will come
out of their graves THE hour is
coming in the which all that are in
the graves shall hear his voice and
shall come forth; they that have done
good, unto the resurrection of life;
and they that have done evil, unto
the resurrection of judgment. John
5:2S. The Christian will come forth
in his glorified body. "Sown a natural
body; raised a spiritual body" "Sown
in corruption" it will be raised in
interruption. "Sown in weakness, it
will be raised in power" 'Sown in
dishonor," it will be raised in glory"
The open sepulcher Of Jesus is
prophecy that the bodies of my loved
ones whom | buried beneath the sod
will come forth, leaving behind them
all carnality, corruption, weakness
and dishonor There has been res
titution of all things they have lost
through sin.
The open sepulcher, in the fifth
place, comforts us in apparent fail
ures. Every appearance indicated that
Jesus was a failure and that his life
work would count for nothing He
had been crucified as a malefactor.
His disciples were discouraged and
scattered. His body, pronounced dead,
was guarded by the Roman seal and
a band of Roman soldiers. The sun
of Christianity, to be sure, had gone
down in gloom, and there is no star
in the sky of its night. But sudden
ly the angel appears, suddenly the
earthquake breaks the Roman seal,
suddenly the stone is rolled away and
suddenly Jesus walks out of the sep
ulcher. 1t is a sunrise at midnight
Jesus is in the midst of his disciples
filling them with faith and hope.
The open sepulcher, in the sixth
place, gives us story to tell. The
angel said: go quickly and tell his
disciples that he is risen. from the
dead" The disciples all believed that
Christ had died, but the fact of the
resurrection was needed to give them
assurance that his death was more
than ordinary, that he died as a king
and not as victim of circumstances.
The resurrection confirms the merit
of the death of Jesus. If he rose from
the dead his blood atones for all my
sins. but if he rose not we are yet in
our sins.