Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1911-04-22

the Divine provldcnccs He drank 1.-The
cup" which the Father poured for Him.
Divine Power brought From the Dead
the Great Shepherd"
This Easter Sunday celebrates the
momentous event OF our Lords resus
rection from the dead. His resurrec-
ton il either truth or falschood
In our text st. Paul assures us that IL
II Is untrue, our faith. our hopes our
preaching and teachings are of no avail
useless. IL the resurrection nf The
dead Is impossible. then the rcsarrec-
ton Of Jesus was impossible " the
resurrection OF Jesus did not take
place, then we have no proof. aud no
ground for believing, that Divine pow
er could resurrcct the Church. II Di-
vine Power drought again from the
dead the great Shepherd Of the sheep"
It is Jehovah also who will bring us
from the dead by Jesus. in Gods due
time.
Let none avoid the question. Let all
decide ut once Either we believe in n
resurrection from the dead, or we do
not believe In ii. II the resurrection
he n myth then. says the Apostle. all
those who fell asleep with faith In
Christ are pcrishcd-they are not In
heaven. Purgatory nor eternal torment.
If we believe in the resurrection of the
dead, both of the just and the unjust,
then. logically, we must believe that
In
promise. purpose. arrangement. The
decision of this resurrection question
Is n most momentous one. as 1t affects
practically every doctrine Of the Chris
tian Church. II we get straight the
doctrine of the Ransom effected through
Resurrection of the dead. all of our doc
trincs will fall into line. and all of our
absurdities. which have troubled us so
long will fall out of the way. and all
OF the Scriptures will be found har-
monious in teaching Divine Justice,
Wisdom. Love and Power.
Christ the First Fruits.
"But now is Christ risen from the
dead and become the first-fruits of
them that slept verse 20). All. thank
God, the Apostle did not mean to in
sinuate the possibility of our Lords
not having risen. Merely, he would
put the question that we might see
how weighty Is the subject-how much
depends on the answer. He cxultantly
answers, Christ Is risenv' We re-
joice IN this for several reasons. First.
how sad IL would be II He who laid
aside His glory and was made flesh
and tasted death on our behalf should
have lost by His loyal endeavor to
serve us and TO do the Fathers will!
How glad we are that He is risen. and
that He was not raised again In the
flesh. with the loss of His heavenly
glory, but raised as the King of all. far
above all others. and partaker Of the
divine nature.
Secondly. we are glad on our own
account, and on account Of all man.
kind: for II our Lord Jesus had not
been raised from the dead II would
have proven one OF two things-either
that He had not been faithful-up to
the Divine standard. and therefore
that His life could not be n satisfaction
for the human life lost in Adam. or else
1t would have proved that God, who
had promised to raise Him from the
dead II He would be obedient unto
death. had been unable to do so: and.
II unable 10 raise Him from the dead.
we, likewise. would be without hope.
even II our sins were cancelled by vir-
tue Of His sacrifice.
The Apostles words give n further
suggestion Our Lord In His resurrec-
ton became the firstfrHits of them
that slept" This signifies that none
was ever raised from the dead before
Him. As another Scripture declares.
"He was the first that should arise
from the dead" There were indeed
others awGkened from the tomb. by
Jesus Himself and also previous to
His Advent But they were merely
awakened, not lifted fully up out Of
death conditions TO perfect life. The
Redeemer was the first TO have such
an experience. But the Apostles
words mean more. III Jesus was the
firsi-fruifs OF them that slept. there
must of necessity be aftcr-fruits. And
this the Apostle proceeds to prove. de-
claring that "as all In Adam die. even
so all in Christ shall be made alive"
Il Corinthians XIV. 22l. Glorious resur-
rection hope! Precious Bible. The one
Book alone which teaches resurrec-
ton Of the dead. or that the dead are
| dead.
The Apostle proceeds to tell MS that
the dead will not MI be resurrected
together-at once-''but every man in
his own order" q Corinthians XIV. 23).
The first order or rank will be the
Church. Blessed and holy are all they
that have part in the First Resurrec-
ton: they shall be priests OF
God and of Christ and shall reign with
Him thousand years ORevelation Xxx.
81.
This work of raising the dead viii he