The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1912-10-25

fllment, even Ii
the very letter, OF all these claims
Christ bases his right to divine recoy
milton. He claimed that 1t was hi,
prerogative to forgive sin; that he wa,
the only way to God; that outside ii
him there was no peace and no w.,
OF access to the Father; that unles.
he was trusted and believed in with !
whole heart there was absolutely Nc
hope of seeing heaven; that he was
the divinely appointed Redeemer Of
the world, and that the worlds re
demption and salvation depended ab
solutely upon him alone; that the
power OF life and death was In bis
hands; and that all the Old Testament
predictions received their fulfillment
In him. So strong were these claims
that on n occasion the Jews were
cxasperated with him and said, What
sign showest thou US II thou be all
that thou claimest 10 be?" In answer
to this challenge, Christ referred to
his resurrection and said, IF | do not
rise again from the dead, do not be-
lieve my claim" On his resurrection,
therefore, Jesus Christ based the vim
dication Of all his claims-as Paul
says, He was declared to be the Son
of God by his resurrection from the
dead" SO long as Christ's resurrec.
ton remains an accredited fact OF his
tory, then that Galilean peasant
Jesus of Nazareth, is indeed and IN
truth the Son of the Most High God,
and the Saviour of the world.
Christ's enemies realized the In
portance Of Jesus resurrection, and
because Of this, bribed the soldiers to
say that the disciples came and stole
away his body.
What a comfort the resurrection b
to the believer, who has placed bis
hope and confidence In the life to
come in Jesus Christ the Savior Of tbs
world! The world may deride, and
mock, and sheer, and ridicule, but ths
believer exclaims, Il know that M
Redeemer liveth," and this is ample
evidence that the believers faith has
not been misplaced.
II. The resurrection of Christ Is a
guarantee OF our own resurrection
Paurs thoughtful and inspired infer
ence from Christ's resurrection 70
this: Because he lives, we shall live
also" In the words OF DR.. Parker
the apostle is continually simplifying
Place an acorn in his hand and irnae
diately he feels the weight Of
mighty oak. Give him one little bulA'
and Immediately you have touched ne
fountains of his eloquence and be de
scribes gardens and paradises ana
heavens. Paul saw the whole In ts
part-he saw our resurrection II
Christ. II Christ rose from the deaa'
then the graveyard is not a permanent
thing. The apostle will have even
little child brought back. The resur
rection shall be accompanied Wa
shout-does this shout Intimate or sig
nifty the spiriss leaving heaven and 80
ing to the graveyard claiming lneu
bodies? Who knows?
Without the resurrection Of Christ
there is no certainty Of u W resul.
rection and that of our loved ones
Christ be not risen then all who NAYS
died have persisted eternally. lnsn
we have no hope of seeing those VIM
have gone before. But we have !
better hope than that. Because
live, ye shall live also" AS In Aoan
all die, so in Christ shall all be nlapo
alive. For II the dead rise not WI
is not Christ raised" We shall re
again. We shall meet those VINO ns's
gone before us and who have ia,sl
asleep In Christ. We shall meet
yond the river.
Firm and fast as the grave ~
seems to held the bodies Of ouf y.
loved ones, ii is now doomed W
fruit Of Christ's resurrection, ana n
be compelled one day to reiai
grasp. and yield them up to us asaI
Empty as was Joseph's sepuiSl.
when the angel stood before
shall n day be every grave On eAs
when another angel shall souna "
trumpet and II shall ring thfousl
the regions OF the dead, and Sun ~
life again.
III. The resurrection of Christ ~
ifests his victory over death snd
grave.
up to this time, deaths claims Y.
been undisputed. All opposition
that dead enemy had been wl'nys
effect. Sin reigned in the reaim -
sovereignty Of death, and deatn 'ss
ed In sin. The purpose Of en'r
coming into the world and assume n
human form was that he might 7,
own death abolish death as the IN
OF sin. 1t was when he rose anu Vii
the dead that Satan's emplfs "A
Christ's victory over death W. XII
complete on the day ssss
resurrection. We are told w. Il
when they sting leave their ~, nd
the wound which they have CAUSE. NJ
go away to die. You can holu srnb
that has stung you between VOW J az
and finger and let it buzz, pul asstba
not any longer harm you. p .rof
left its sting in Christ On W. IN fr
and II 70 longer has any " ssss
the believer. Death has no. ,,tust
yanduished; the grave has grdsl
ed. and he that believes
nhall never die.