Imperial Valley press., 1912-04-08
GLAD EASTER DAY At
THE LOCAL CHURCHES

Easter in Imperial valley was al
ideal spring day. The sun shone
brightly, with not cloud in the sky;
the breezes were waited softly across
this evergreen valley and the air was
balmy with the inviting odors OF
| spring.
| The churches were all in gala dress
in commemoration of the greatest fea
ture of Christendom--the resurrection
of Jesus Christ-and special services
were held in every. place of worship.
+ At the Protestant churches sermons
on the great Easter theme were given
special musical programs were carried
out and in several places the exercises
of the children of the Sunday schools
were important features.
At ST. Marys Catholic Church the
event was notable one. One of the
largest congregations ever assembled
in the parish filled the church and
used the covered porch as well. The
altar was beautifully adorned with
roses and lilies and was surrounded by
a canopy of pure white.
The choir sang hymns during the
mass at 9oclock and for the offertory
Regina Coeli' was sung by the child.
rem of the parish.
Rev. Edw. Schmitt's sermon was de-
livered with deep impressiveness He
spoke from the great Easter text: 'If
Christ be not risen from the dead, then
our preaching is in vain and your faith
is also vain" He said, in part:
AS all nature was seized with con-
fusion and touched with compassion
on the sorrowful day of our Savior's
bitter passion and death, so in like
manner all nature was replenished
with joy and consolation On the happy
day of His glorious resurrection. The
sun which on good Friday had with
drawn it's glittering beams, lest it
should behold the Creator of it's beau
! ty expiring on an ignominiOus cross,
fastened early in the morning to usher
in the day of His resurrection, with
extraordinary splendOr. Heaven opened
it's lofty gates and sent forth an an
gelic ambassador, whose robes were
as white as the driven snow, to pro-
claim the signal victory and triumph
of the Son of God.
| No other fact has been such a power
in the world as that which we COM
memorate today, the resurrection of
annals of religion and it's progress; in
the records of faith and its victories,
in the histor of morality and it's ad-
vancement, in the story of charity and
it's achievements, there has been no
factor so Influential It is bound up
most intimately and closely with hui
man life and even those who deny it
as a myth are living today under con-
ditiOns which would not exist had not
centuries Of Christian people believed
| in this great fact.
The resurrection Of Christ is the
foundation of the Christian faith. be-
cause it is the proof supreme OF His
divinity Throughout His whole life
Christ indeed was the revelation of
God unto man God who at sundry
times and in divers mariners spoke in
times past by the prophets, last Of
all in these days hath spoken to US
by His Son, whom He hath appoint
ed Heir Of ali things, by whom also
He made the WOrl3.'
The greatness. the beauty, the hoii-
ness, the majesty, the mercy and the
Justice OF Goo We're manifested in the
human life and actions of our divine
Lord on earth When an afflicted WO-
man touched the hem of His garment,
He cured her C. her sickness; when
The blind man cried ont to Him, Lord,
that | may See" He gave him sight;
when q ruler begged that his child
might not die, Jesus infused new yigor
and health; when a sister and again
Q mother were in grief, over the loss
of loved one, He called the dead back
to life: when a thief dying on a cross
sought for pardon, Jesus washed away
the guild of sin: in these and many
other instances He gave proof that He
was divine.
All these. however, are subordinate
to the one grand triumphal fact.
which is the corner stone and founda-
ton of Christianity and upon which
all the rest of the structure depends,
namely, the resurrection of Christ from
death. Well, then could the apostle
of the gentiles say: IF Christ be not
risen from the dead, then our preach
ing is in vain and your faith is also in
vain
Relying upon the gospel narrative,
my dear brethren, and upon the in
numberable references throughout the
New Testament, we must conclude
that no fact in the worlds history is
more incontestably established than
the resurrection of Christ The New
Testament gives us evidence after evil
denee of the truth. God Himself fore
told His resurrection. When some
would ask Him for a sign, He spoke
of the sign of Jonas the prophet: For
as Jonas was in the whales belly
three days and three nights, so shall
the Son of man be in the heart Of
the earth three DAYS and three nights.
Matt. 12:40D When about to go to
Jerusalem for the last time He fore
told what would happen to the Son
of man: "They shall deliver Him to
the gentiles to be Knocked and
scourged and cruciiied and the third
day He shall rise again AT the time
of His glorius TRANSPORTATION, when
His favored apostles would have
rushed through the world proclaiming
the miracle, He charged them not to
tell any man what things they had
seen, till the Son of man be risen
again from the dead. Again, "De-
stroy," said He, This temple and in
three days | will raise it up"
These are but examples of His dec
larations to the effect that His suffer
ing would be followed by Joy, His night
by day, His death by victory, and His
words were so understood and acted
upon by the rulers of the Jews. "Sir,"
thay said tn plate eve rampmhO