The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1910-06-28

tion with the subject. Now, when we
hearben to the Word of God. how
plain. how simple. bow reasonable. are
its teachings The dead are dead and
not alive However in view of Gods
plan that there shall be Il resurrection
of the dead lin due time he speaks
of the dead not as extinct like the
brute, but as rerely asleep They
are waiting for the morning-the GIo-
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.
Instend of the reign of Sin and Death
the reign of Righteousness and Life
everlasting shall begin. How beauH-
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, p.
Lazarus, Come Forth"
Jesus and his disciples turned their
steps toward Bethany. Poor Martha
and Mary meantime were sorely dis
appointed. Not for n moment did they
suppose that their mighty Friend
would allow this trouble to come upon
them-that he would neglect to 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. If 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 singing and very
happy! Surely you would not bring
3 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 un-
derstood what were the teachings of
Jesus and Of the prophets. She said,
IL 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
ott t. non hQplF
from the sleep of death. So he said,
II 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 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, 1t is too late
now. BY this time he stinketh. for he
has been dead four days. If you had
come when l 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 sot 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,
the location of which nobody knows?
No! What did he say? Addressing
the tomb, he said, Lazarus. come
forth" And what occurred? The
dead one came forth. He was not
alive ut ALL He was dead!
Tho 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
Christ-possibly Barnabas. But any
way he was one whom Jesus loved
even though he was not one OF the
apostles who followed with the Lord
And Martha has come down to us us
II synonym of bustllng, energetic hos
pitullty. "busied about many things
Yet surely she was loving and loya
TO tho Master Jesus loved Martha
and we may be sure therefore that ht
loves all of similar character. But ht
loved Mary also. And we do not for
get that when she gave up some OF
her hOusework that she might sit a
the feet of Jesus and learn of him the
Master declared that she had "choser
the better part" This was the sam,
Mary who anointed the Master will
the precious spikenard ointment live
days before his burial. Martha anC
Mary both loved and were loved Of tn,
Lord yet, evidently, Mary's love anC
the form II took was specially approx
ed of the Master.
Finally we come TO John the loving
disciple OF whom 1t is said that he wal
that disciple whom Jesus loved