The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1910-06-30

ton with the subject Now. when swe
hearken TO the Word Of God. bow
plain. how simple. bow reasonable. are
It's teachings. The dead are dead and
not alive However. In view Of Go~i-s
plan that there shall be q resurrection
( Of the dead I'm due time" be speaks
OF the dead not - extinct like the
brute. hut 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 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 the
earth shall awake" Daniel xii. %
Lazarus, Come Forth"
Jesus and his disciples turned their
steps toward Bethany. Poor Martha
and Mary meantime were sorely dis
appointed Not for a moment did they
suppose that their mighty Friend
would allow this trouble TO come upon
them-that he would neglect 10 come
or to use his power TO save Lazarus
from dying So grief-stricken and so
heart-broken were they that Martha
only came TO meet the Master, and her
first words were those OF gentle re-
proach reminding him of their dis
appointment In him: Lord, IL thou
hadst been here-df thou hadst come
when we sent thee wordl-our broth
er had not died"
What message Of comfort did Jesus
express? Did he say, Martha. Lazarus
is far better off In heaven. He is with
the angels. He Is singinss,nd 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 was
not alive but really dead. How could he
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 the
resurrection at the last day" But Je- /
sus wished to draw her attention to
the present and to have her ask him
even at this time to call Lazarus back .
from the sleep Of death. So he said. /
Il am the resurrection and the life"
You, Martha. recognize me as the Mes
siah, the Son Of God. You believe that
eventually when the resurrection does
take place, Gods resurrection power
will be exercised through me- And
now I am here with you Why do you
not ask me to exercise some of this
power in advance? Where have you
laid him?
Martha finally caught the thought
but replied, No, no, Lord, it is too late
now. By this time he stinketh, for he
has been dead four days. If you had
come when sent you word, or even
had gotten here within a day or so,
there would have been some hope, but
now 1t has gone too far for that; for
decomposition has set in. No miracle
could possibly reorganize broken-down
tissues. But Jesus insisted that they /
should show him the place. When he {
came to the tomb, what did the Master ,
do? Did he command Lazarus to lay
aside his crown and harp in heaven
and bid the angels goodby and come !
back to earth life? No! Did he call >
for him to come up from Purgatory. :
he location Of which nobody knows? -.
No! What did he say? Addressing
he tomb, he said, Lazarus, come l..
sorth!' And what occurred? The !,
lead one came forth. He was not i,
alive at all! He was dead.
The Beloved Family.
We read again. Now Jesus loved
Martha and her sister, and Lazarus" ,
some have thought that they discerned
lazarus amongst later disciples of
Barnabas. But any
way he was one whom Jesus loved,
wen though he was not one of the
postles who followed with the Lord. S
And Martha has come down to US as q
synonym OF bustling, energetic hos
Vitality, busted about many things" a
let surely she was loving and loyal
o the Master. Jesus loved Martha l.
owes all of similar character. But he r
owed Mary also. And we do not for
ct that when she gave up some of
er house~ork that she might sit at a
be feet Of Jesus and learn Of him the G.
Iaster declared that she had chosen
1f better part" This was the same
iary who anointed the Master with
be precious spikenard ointment five
avs before his burial Martha and
larry both loved and were loved of the :
ord, yet, evidently, Mary's love and
ne form it took was specially approx =
q Of the Master. =
Finally we come to John the loving =
isc1ple of whom it is said that he was
that disciple whom Jesus loved"
THAT a glorious testimony was Johns.
Re remember that he and his brother
we'd the Lord SO dearly that they de- =
red that in his Kingdom in the future
ley might be next to him, one on his