Mansfield mirror. (Mansfield, Wright County, Mo.) 1908-1957, 1914-05-28
TEXT--Acts 1:3.

bility Of the au
1865 thority, facts, or
witnesses; it is a
believing too readily, and with no rea'
son for the faith or hope. The resur'
rection of Christ Is a fact proved by
competent evidence, and deserving OF
intelligent acceptance and belief. 1t
is a doctrine buttressed by many In
fallible proofs"
The line Of proof here suggested is
that from the argument Of cause and
effect. Certain things. conditions, In
situations exist in our midst today;
they are the effects of causes, or a
cause; what is that cause. We may
mention:
I. The Empty Tomb.
The fact that the TOMB was empty
Is testified to by competent witnesses
both friends and enemies: by the
women. the disciples, the angels. and
the Roman guards. How shall we &C
count for the absence of the body of
Jesus from the tomb? That 1t had
not been stolen by outside parties Is
evident from the testimony of the sol,
diers who were bribed to tell that
story Matt. %2s:11-15). Such a guard
never would have allowed such a
thing to take place. Their lives would
have been thereby jeopardized. And
II they were asleep ". 1877, how could
they know what took place? Their
testimony under such circumstances
would be useless.
The condition in which the linen
cloths were found lying by those who
entered the tomb precludes the pos
sibility of the body being stolen. Had
such been the case the cloths would
have been taken with the body, and
not left in perfect order. thereby
showing that the body had gone out
of them. Burglars do not leave things
in such perfect order. There is no
order in haste. Then again, we have
the testimony of angels to the fact
that Jesus had really risen as fore
told Matt. 1856: Mark 1850. The
testimony of angels is surely trust.
worthy (Heb. 2:2).
2. The Lords Day.
The Lords Day is not the original
Sabbath. Who dared change 1t? For
what reason, and on what ground was
1t changed? Ponder the tenacity with
which the Jews held on to their Sab
bath given in Eden, and buttressed
amid the thunders Of Sinai. Recall
how Jews would sooner die than fight
on the Sabbath day (cf. Titus invasion
of Jerusalem on the Sabbath). The
Jews never celebrated the birthdays
of great men; they celebrated events,
like the Passover. Yet, In the New
Testament times we find Jews
changing their time-honored seventh
day to the first day of the week. and,
contrary to all precedent, calling that
day after a mantle Lords Day.
Here is an effect, a tremendous effect;
what was its cause? We cannot have
an effect without a cause. The resur-
rection of our Lord was the cause for
this great change In the day Of wor-
ship.
8. The Christian Church.
We know what a grand and noble
institution the Christian church is.
What would this world be without It?
Its hymns, worship, philanthropy, min
istrations Of mercy are all known to
US. Where did this institution come
from? It is an effect. a glorious ef-
feet; what is its cause? When the
risen Christ appeared unto the dis
couraged disciples and revived their
faith and hope, they went forth, un-
der the all-conquering faith in a risen
and assembled Lord, and preached the
story of his life. death. resurrection.
ascension, and coming again. Men be-
lieved these teachings; gathered them.
selves together to study the Scrip
lures, to pray. to worship Christ, and
to extend his kingdom among men.
This Is how the church came into
existence. It's cause was the resur-
rection Of Christ.
=. inc NEW testament
II Jesus Christ had remained buried
in the grave, the story Of his life and
death would have remained buried
with him. The New Testament Is an
effect of Christ's resurrection. 1t vas
the resurrection that put heart into
the disciples to go forth and tell its
story. Skeptics would have US be-
lieve that the resurrection Of Christ
was an afterthought of the disciples
to give the story Of Christ's life a
thrilling climax; a decorative incident
which satisfies the dramatic feeling
in man; a brilliant picture at the end
of an heroic life. We reply: There
would have been no beautiful story to
put a climax to II there had been nc
resurrection Of the Christ Of the story.
The resurrection does not grow out
of the beautiful story of his life. but
the beautiful story Of Christ's life
grew out Of the fact Of the resurrec-