St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1938-04-15

up from the grave He arose
With mighty triumph Ger His foes;
He arose a Victor from the dark
domain.
And He lives forever with His saints
to reign;
He arose! He aroSel
HallelujahI Christ arosel
Let the glad chorus swell the good
tidings that the One who humbled
Himself to become the servant of
all is the Victorious Servant"
the Victorious Lord!
Easter is the great holiday-a real
holy day of the Christian church.
We rejoice in the incarnation, for
only as the Son of God identified
Himself with the human race could
He bear our sins on Calvary's tree.
We keep the cross before us, for
only as He died did He make atone
ment for our sin, but above all we
observe the resurrection, for had
He not risen for our justification we
would indeed have been without any
hope. Ours is a resurrection faith;
let us live it in resurrection power.
Life is so serious in its respon-
sibilities and burdens, so often dis
appointing in its trials and sorrows.
that we need to sound the note Of
victory. But it must be real victory
and it must be assured at the cru
cial point where all the hopes of
man find defeat-at death. Only the
Christian has the assurance of vic
tory there, but, thank God, he does
really have it in our Lord Jesus
Christ.
Turning aside from our studies in
the Gospel of Mark for today we
consider together the sermon of
Peter on the day of Pentecost. He
declares Jesus to be:
1. Approved by Mighty Works
". 90.
Theories may have validity only
to the man who accepts the author
ity of the one who proclaims them,
but facts are stubborn things, the
reality of which no man can deny.
There are those who speak about
the Lord Jesus as though we asked
them to accept Him on the basis Of
our claims for Him as the Son Of
God. They forget that the facts Of
history-from the hundreds of years
before His incarnation when the
prophets spoke Of His coming, down
through the account of His earthly
life, death, and resurrection to
which we may well add the ines
capable argument Of Christianity as
it stands in the world today-all
speak of Him as the Son Of God.
Our Saviour is indeed approved Of
God unto" every one who wants to
believe ''by mighty works and won
ders and signs"
III. Raised Up by God wv. 24-32).
The cross was not an accident.
Jesus did not die as martyr to
noble but hopeless cause. He came
into the world ito give his life
ransom for many" (Matt. 20:28.
He said, II lay down my life . e.
No man taketh it from me, but l
lay it down of myself. have power
to lay it down, and have power to
take it again" John 10:17, 49,.
But the fact that the cross was in
the eternal plan of God in no way
justifieS those who slew Him.
Though they were fulfilling the
divine purpose, they were acting as
free moral agents fully responsible
for their wicked deeds.
III. Raised Up by God wv. 24-32.
ut was not possible that he should
be holden" of death ". 24-what
a beautifully final and positive state
ment. 1t was an impossibility that
Christ should remain in the grave,
and it is the absolute assurance of
Scripture that we who ''be dead with
him shall also live with him" QI
Tim. 2:1D. To the believer, the one
who is in Christ, the resurrection Of
the Saviour is the guarantee that
we shall be raised. Christ is the
frst-fruits of them that sleep in the
grave. Il Cor. 15:20.)
Peter in his sermon turns to the
Scriptures to prove the resurrec-
ton referring to the prophet Joel
as well as to the Psalms Of David.
1t would be well for us to do like
wise on this Easter Sunday Of 1888,
for we have infinitely richer re-
sources, for in our hands is the New
Testament with the story Of the res
direction and all the references Of
the epistles to this glorious truth.
Use your whole Bible as you teach
the lesson.
~. Assembled and Exalted ". 33).
Look, We saintsI The sight is glorious:
See the Man of Sorrows now;
II