The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1915-04-17

NAAh a ia AhN
keys Of hell and of death" IF a man
die, shall he live again?"
Some one tells the story of an in
fidel German princess, who command
ed that at her death her grave was to
be covered with a huge granite stone
and around that stone there was to
be placed solid blocks of stones bound
together by iron clasps, and on that
huge granite stone covering the grave
was TO be written these words: This
the burial place purchased to all eter.
nifty is never to be opened" Thus did
that German princess publish to the
world that she did not believe in the
resurrection of the dead; but by
chance, thre was buried with that
German princess, a little tiny seed, a
simple acorn which cred. 1t germi.
mated and it sem upward its shoots
which penetrated between the rock.
Silently, slowly, surely, the oak grew.
1t pushed aside the huge granite slate.
1t burst asunder the iron clasps
shooting upward, a tall, stately and
majestic oak, and that tree grows
there today, a veritable tree of life.
In every grave on earth's green
sward there is buried a seed of the
resurrected life of Jesus Christ, which
cannot be destroyed; for all that are
in their graves shall hear the voice of
the Son of God, and shall come forth
they that have done good unto the
resurrection of eternal life and they
that have done evil unto the resur.
a die, shall he live again?"
Science affirms the fact of immor-
tally by its laws concerning the indie
s~tructability of matter and the con-
servation of force not a particle of
matter has eyer been lost nor has the
original force of the world diminished
A naturalist finds a fossil 500 feet
below the surface of the earth. He
brings it to light, he examines it and
says that animal once lived on the
surface of the earth. How does he
know? Why, there are sockets there
for the eyes and nature never makes
anything in vain. 1t must have lived
where the light was, and the world
calls that logic. Now, in man we find
a yearning, a hope for Immortality;
and can it be true that the God who
made water for the web-foot, and
beauty for the eye is n~eglectful of the
soul of man. Reason says, l will build
an argument on human love. The
logic of love will not allow a man to
conclude that his loved ones go out of
existence forever.
Since last Easter, many here have
lost loved ones. The air is filed with
farewells for the dying and mourning
for the dead. How many here, this
Easter morning are longing for the
touch of the vanished hand and the
sound of a voice that is still? Love
thinks of the loved one somewhere.
Love in the person of David as he
looks into the dear dead face of his
little child, says HE shall not return
to me, but l shall go to him." Love in
the person of Robert Browning, as he
stood by his dead love, Evelyn Hope,
places a flower in her hand and says:
You will wake and remember and
understand" Yes, the doctrine Of i'm,
mortality is the best explanation OF
unfinished lives, of the man, of the
woman who is cut down in the very
midst of their usefulness. How many
lives are broken off like a column in
the midst? Are such lives fragment
airy, are they a failure? No, not in
the light of immortality but in anoth.
err world, in a large sphere and on a
vaster scale the high ideals and plans
conceived of here shall be wrought to
a glorious perfection. The life beyond
the grave is a to those
who are doomed to crosses and letters
and infirmities here. How hard and
unfair the lot of man if there be no
hereafter. God has made these chill
dren of sorrow but for to suffer. Yes,
justice as well as love, demands a
continuance of life beyond the grave.
There fettered minds will be freed.
Broken hearts will be healed and
MANNED bodies will be made perfect.
IF a man die, shall he live again?"
Yes, Christ is the master of the grave.
Christ and death measured lances.
Outside of the village of Main, a
widow is about to bury her only son.
The air is filed with mourning and
~farewells. Christ approaches; he
touches the bier he speaks to the
young man and says, Il say unto thee
arise" and he that was dead comes
back to life again. Yes, Christ is here
this Easter morning to repeat that
same miracle and to those who are
dead dead in trespasses and sins, the
Easter Christ stands ready to meet
you and to release you from your
letters by saying, young man, young
woman, l say unto thee, arise.
Just twenty-five years ago today,
when but a mere youth, on a glad
Easter day, 1 met with the Easter
Christ. He spoke to me and l entered
in on the new life, and the same
Christ, the same Easter Christ, who
met me in my far eastern home is
here this morning to meet some man
some woman, who is dead in trespas.
ses and sins. He says young man
young woman, l say unto thee, arise,
He is here to meet with others who
like the apostles have forsaken him,
and who like Peter, have denied him,
and possibly, like Judas have betray.
ed him, but the Easter Christ meets
yOu In tha mau ha auaaEe a. ira.