The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1910-07-05
PEOPLES PULPIT.
Three Men and Two
Women Whom
Jesus Loved.
Text. Lord. He Whom Thou
Lowest Is Sick"

Lowest Is Sick.
their home was his home whenever
he was near Jerusalem. Lazarus took
seriously Ill. But the two sisters, Mar
tina and Mary, feared nothing, since
they had such great confidence in Je-
sus, even to belief in his ability
to awaken sleepers from death. They
thought it proper to send the Mas
ter word respecting Lazarus, but
not proper to dictate to him what
should be done in the case. Rather
they left to himself to decide wheth-
er he should speak the word and
rebuke the disease or whether he
should come to Bethany and take
the sick by the hand and say, Arise.
The simple message they sent was,
Lord, he whom thou lowest Is sick
The beautiful childlike, simple faith
which they exhibited must have been
very precious In the Masters sight.
Nevertheless Jesus said nothing, and
did nothing In the matter for three
days. Then he said to his disciples,
"Our friend Lazarus sleepeth" They
did not grasp his meaning until he
said to them plainly, Lazarus is dead;
and l ana glad for your sakes that l
was not there. l am glad because 1t
will give me an opportunity to demon
strate to you and through you to all
who shall be my disciples In the fu-
ture the great power of God that Is
vested in me In respect to the resur-
rection of the dead.
All Bible Students surely have no
ticed how frequently in the Scriptures
the word ''sleep" is used as a poetical
synonym for death abraham slept
with his fathers" David slept with
his fathers" Prophets, priests and
kings are said to have slept with their
fathers, whether good or bad Like
wise the New Testament uses the
same figure of speech We read that
st. Stephen the martyr, stoned to
death, "fell asleep" st. Paul speaks
of the Church as falling asleep in
death and refers to all of our friends,
good and bad, who go down into death
as being asleep In Jesus" He tells
us that we need not sorrow for them
as others who know not the resurrec-
ton hope. All who fall asleep in death
because Of Adams transgression and
its death sentence have in Jesus a
Divinely appointed Redeemer who in
Gods due time is to awaken all the
sleeping hosts of Adams race. "All
that are in their graves shall hear the
voice of the Son of man and come
forth" They that have done good
(who have secured Divine approval as
worthy of eternal life) shall come forth
unto the resurrection of life full per-
fectionl; and they that have done evil
THAT have not secured the Divine ap-
proval as being worthy Of eternal life]
shall come forth In the resurrection
for judgment John V. %, 29) or trial,
for discipline, for correction in right
eousness during Messiah's reign of
1000 years.
Coming forth in that judgment time
or trial time. all the willing and ODE
dent will eventually be lifted out of
sin and death. while those disobedient
to the light and opportunity will be
again consigned to death--Second
Death. everlasting extinction John v,
%, %, R. W.
We have read our Bibles too care
lessly In the past and have given too
much heed to those who, with less OPP
portunities than ourselves. grossly mis-
interpreted its teachings. What did
we think respecting this word sleep
anyway? Did we suppose that both
the good and the bad ''sleep" in heay-
en-? We were told that the bad would
go to a place too warm for sleep. Bu'
our own brains and our own Bibles
we never thought of using in connec-
ton with the subject. Now, when we
hearken to the Word of God, how
plain, how simple, how reasonable, are
its teachingsI The dead are dead and
not alive. However, in view of Gods
plan that there shall be a resurrection
Of the dead 'in due time he speaks
of the dead not as extinct like the
brute, but as merely asleep. They
are waiting for the morning-the glo-
rious morning of Messiah's Kingdom
when "the Sun Of Righteousness shall
arise with healing In its beams when
Satan shall be bound for a thousand
years and deceive the peoples no more
Instead of the reign of Sin and Death
the reign of Righteousness and Life
everlasting shall begin. How beauti
fully the Scriptures answer the ques
ton Of where the dead sleep, MANY
of them that sleep In the dust Of tn,
earth shall awake" Daniel xii. q.
lazarus, Come Forth"
Jesus and his disciples turned theiI
steps toward Bethany. Poor Martha
and Mary meantime were sorely dis
appointed. Not for moment did they
suppose that their mighty Friend
would allow this trouble to come upor
them-that he would neglect to come
or to use his power to save Lazaru;
from dying. So grief-stricken and Sc
heart broken were they that Martha
only came to meet the Master, and hel
first words were those Of gentle re
proach reminding him Of their dis
appointment In him: lord, If thot
hadst been here-df thou hadst come
when we sent thee word)-our broth
er had not died"
What message Of comfort did JesU
express? Did he say, Martha, Lazarus
l. r. l. .eP IT, no q VI
the angels! He Is singing and very
happy! Surely you would not bring
him back to earth again! Were these
the words Of Jesus? No. He merely
said, "Thy brother shall rise again.
He thus implied that her brother wa:
not alive but really dead. How could BIZ
rise again If he had not ceased to live
Martha's reply indicates that she I'm
derstood what were the teachings Of
Jesus and of the prophets. She said
81 know that he shall rise again In thu
resurrection at the last day" But Je
sus wished to draw her attention t.
the present and to have her ask hin
even at this time to call Lazarus bacl
from the sleep of death. So he said
81 am the resurrection and the life
You, Martha, recognize me as the Mes
siah, the Son Of God. You believe tina
eventually when the resurrection doe
take place, Gods resurrection powe
will be exercised through me. AnC
now l am here with you. Why do yoI
not ask me to exercise some Of thi
,, power in advanced Where have yo'
laid himf
Martha finally caught the thought
but replied, No. no. Lord, it is too lat
now. BY this time he stinketh, for b.
has been dead four days. If you ha'