Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1910-03-28
WHY EASTER S
FULL Of MEANING
TO CHRISTIANS
Pastor of Park Presbyterian
Church breaches Sermon
on the Resurrection.

''The Resurrection in Which We Be
lieye' was the subject of the Rev. John
McDowell's sermon in the Park Pres
byterian Church yesterday morning
Taking for his text First Cor, Ky, A.
so also is the resurrection of the
dead" Mr.. Mcdowell spoke in part as
follows: -
Definite statement OF truth is one
OF the needs Of modern life. In no
realm is his now more apparent than
in that of religion. You can tell today
the content of a mans creed by the
Technology he uses. There are many
people today using Christian terms but
not giving them the Christian mean
ing. Thus we find a certain school
constantly using such teams as Christ
the cross and salvation, without re-
gard to their Christian significance. No
word is more frequently used in our
times than resurrection Today the
word will be on the lips Of a mighty
multitude; it will find its way into SER
mon and into song. To some it means
only the return of the new life in ma
ture. To others it is a relic of a pagan
and to still others ii is little
more than the occasion for a change Of
garments.
ITO every real Christian the resur-
~rection ought to have a definite and
most delightful significance. The resur-
~rection in which the Christian church
believes is we'll stated n logically
stated in the Apostles Greed, as fol-
lows: The third day He rose from the
dead, and the resurrection of the body.
First, as Christians, we believe III
the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The
evidence for this belief is unanswer-
able. Skeptics as well as believers
agree in its vital importance to Chris
tianity, Believers find proof for the
resurrection of Jesus Christ in three
facts which no man can dispute. First,
in the Lords day. The sanctity of the
first day in the week can be traced
back to nothing but the resurrection
of Christ. His rising made the day,
just as the Declaration of l~ndeEend-
ence made the Fourth of July for the
American nation.
"~Second-In the New Testament. The
New Testament was written from the
first word to the last by men who be-
lieved in the resurrection. 1t is very
doubtful if we would ever have had a
New Testament were it not for the
resurrection. The resurrection made
the book.
''Third-In the Lords people, or The
Christian church, The church was
founded by men who believed that
Christ had risen, and has been sus-
tanned throughout the ages by this
same belief.
THE demand today by ~so-called
Christian teachers for the Easter mes
sage and Easter joy, without the Eas-
ter feast and the Easter faith is like
a demand for the sunshine without the
sun. or the demand for the fruit OF
trees without the roots.
LAS Christians, we believe in a gem
eral resurrection of the dead. Accord
to the teaching of Jesus Christ, our
supreme authority, yea, our only au-
thority on the resurrection. Some Will
lise in this general resurrection unto
life, and some unto ~'damnation' (John
", 2S-29). Those who rise unto life will
find:
"First-Enlargement md liberation
for their physical frame. Their body
will be transformed to h body Of
Christ's glory. Phil. III, 90. 1t will be
eternal, like the deathless vesture OF
the Lord Jesus Christ.
"Second-Enrichment and illumina-
tion for the mind.
:'Third-Expansion and publication
for the soul. sanctity, love and in the
indwelling God win reach this fulness
in the spiritual state in the upper
world.
When once we come into vital re-
lations with Him who has conquered
death and the man we too become more
thar %conquerors.'