River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1912-06-13

of Christ to Chris
tianity that if Christ be not risen from
the dead the gospel of Christ is want
ing in reality, and barren in results;
it is false and groundless, barren and
fruitless; it is nothing, it does moth
ing.
/. our Preaching is Vain.-Paul
makes Christianity answer with It's
life for the literal truth of the resur
rection of Jesus Christ from the dead
That the body of the founder of Chris
tianity did not remain in the grave
after the third day is fundamental to
the gospel as Paul preached 1t. This
great fact was a fundamental plank
in the platform of the apostles Cos
pei; it was the very keystone of the
arch of Christianity, the very core
of the gospel as he had received and
proclaimed it, and as the Corinthial
Christians had received it. Take away
from PauIs gospel the fact that Christ
arose from the dead and you have
taken the very heart and core out OF
his message-then it Is nothing but a
painted story, concOcted tale; for
the resurrection Of Christ was not
mere appendage to, but constitu'
tive part of Paurs gospel message. II
1t be true that no living Christ issued
forth from the tomb of Joseph, then
that tomb became not only the grave
of man, but of a religion, too, with
all the spiritual hopes built upon It,
and all the splendid enthusiasms it
has inspired; then the whole gospel
story is sham, and unhealthy, an Inn
posture at it's very heart; then the
platform of the gospel falls to pieces,
and the arch of Christianity crumbles
into dust
If you have no Christ risen from
the dead, says the apostle, then on
what does the religion of Christ rest,
and what reason have we for preach
ing it? Then our words are empty
sounds, the hopes we have aroused are
idle dreams, our pleas are vain boasts,
our proposals are vain things, our in
tentions are futile plans; indeed, our
whose message and preaching is a
sham, q delusion, tissue of false
hoods, an empty phantom, worth
less fiction. Instead of our message
being the proclamation Of a truth, it
is the dissemination of lie, for IL
Christ be not risen then in reality
! we have no gospel that is worthy of
| the name-our message is but a vain,
| worthless, empty sham. Is this cred
| ible?
II. Your Faith Is Vain.-If Christ be
not risen, If he remained in the grave,
| then you have put faith in the wrong
person and in the wrong thing, for II
Christ did not rise, as he said, then
he was nothing less than false prcph.
ct, a betrayer, blasphemer, who had
suffered death Justly. 1t is utterly
worthless and useless to put your
trust in one whose word has so utter
ly failed. To build your hopes on one
whose most solemn assertions have
fallen to the ground would be moth
ing less than sheer madness; such an
act would not be faith but credulity;
then such a person as the Lord Jesus
Christ disappears, and you have moth
ing left but a man like ourselves in
whom to believe.
III. Yet in Your Sins.-It is here
acknowledged that Christ alone can
save from sins, but il he could not
save himself from sins power how can
he save the sons of men from its guilt
and dominion7 Christ himself dis
tinctly taught that his death had re
demption value, and that his resur
rection from the dead would be proof
positive of this fact. The apostle
Paul, also, says that Christ died for
our sins, and was raised again for ou1
justification" (Rom. 4:25.) But ii
Christ himself Is still under the power
of death, which is the wages Of sin,
how, then, can he release others from
the payment of that debt? Then
his death has no redemptive value
If Christ remained in the grave then
humanity has no redeemer, man has
no Saviour; the guilt and power Of sin
has not been removed, men are moi
pardoned, sinners are not justified, the
SHINING and sinful race is still under
the guilt and condemnation of sin and
GApOSGu W lie J0SL WI dbu VI q AA6hV
eous God against sin and sinners. Then
freedom from condemnation is unreal
the sense of forgiveness is a sham, the
consciousness of pardon for sin is the
greatest delusion. Then Christ's death
has wrought only imaginary changes
and deluded its most faithful adher
ents. Then we have put faith in tht
wrong person-he was not what hs
claimed to be, he did not, could not dc
what he claimed 10 do; there Is
therefore, no forgiveness through Hill
blood. no life and blessedness through
his name, and no justification and
pardon on the ground of his work
The denial of the resurrection oil
Christ carries with it the removal Of
all hope and ground Of forgiveness
and pardon. If Christ be not risen, we