Evening star., 1919-04-19
ises. 1t makes their testimony to the

ises. 1t makes their testimony to the
fact more valuable.
Against the dark background OF de-
spair over the lost cause the angel
painted the glory of His resurrection.
1t thrilled them with His message of
hope and life. They had approached
the sepulcher with fear. The earth
quake recalled the commotion that
marked His death when the earth
trembled with fear as it received His
body. They did not know that the
movement of the earth was caused by
the spirit of rejoicing that filled the
universe when the grave gave up His
body. The angel who rolled back the
stone from the sealed grave had "A
wonderful message for them. Fear
not is the first word of Easter. be
cause the Lords resurrection has re-
moved the distress caused by death.
Christ rose for the guards as mucn
as He did for the women.
The difference in outcome was due to
the difference in attitude toward
Christ. His coming forth triumphant
from the grave filed the, evildoers
with fear. while it removed the terror
OF the faithful women. Fear, as a rule,
results from the belief that God has
deserted us, and that as conse-
quence of the withdrawal of His pres
ence and power our hope is gone. The
first note of the Easter message was 10
reassure His followers that the death
of Jesus did not mean His departure
from men, for the empty tomb tes-
tihed to the reliability of the angels
message. that He was not in the
grave, because He is risen, as He
said" The Masters prophecy. that
they had forgotten. had been full
filled.
The directions to go tell His dis
ciples were hardly needed. because the
women could not refrain from hasten
ing with that message of goodness
The promise for them to assemble in
Galilee. where every hamlet. town and
hill along the lake was filled with
memories of the Lords activities. was
again the Master that they loved.
While they were fastening with the
first gospel message, for the women
were the first divinely appointed
preachers of the resurrection, Jesus
met them on the way and revealed
Himself to them. That vision OF
Christ gave added weight to their mes
sage concerning His triumph over
death. for they had seen and talked
with Him. They had experienced the
Joy of communing with the risen
Christ.
With the proclamation of the first
Easter message the resurrection be-
came a spiritual force in the lives
of men. The Christian movement for
the conquest Of the world commenced
Win the resurrection OF Jesus. ne
spiritual enrichment of humanity that
the Lords day. the church of the
living God (for the resurrection
proved that Jesus was not dead, but
alive for evermore), the New Testa-
ment and the lives of Christs fol-
lowers are all due to the fact that
through fellowship with the risen
Lord men have had given unto them
spiritual power that has filled the
| world with hope. Sir Oliver Lodge
is reported to have said in an address
before a London scientific society:
There is nothing in our present-day
theory of evolution that precludes
such an event as the resurrection of
Jesus Christ; the event must be ac-
credited like other events"
The resurrection of Jesus is
prophecy and a promise of a future
| life for all believers. Men have
| nursed the hope Of Immortality, but
not until the Lords victory was won
upon the first Easter morning was
| there any evidence that there was a
| future life. His resurrection not only
! fulfilled His own prophecies concern
| ing His coming victories. but it certi-
| fies to the assurance that in the fu-
| ture we were to become members OF
the EAther'S home