Sunday at Home.

Southern Cross, Volume 8, Issue 30, 10 November 1900, Page 10

Sunday at Home.

MEMORIAL SERMON. MRS T. JEFCOATE. (Notes of a Sermon recently delivered in the Esk street Baptist Church, Invercargill, by the Rev. J. Farquharson Jones.) “ But now hath Christ been raised from the dead , the first fruits 'of them that are asleep. 1 Cor., 15 — 20. « Some of the members of the Church at Cornith had been teaching that there was no resurrection of the dead. Paul, therefore, carefully draws the inevitable conclusions from these premises—Christ has not been raised ; the preaching of the Apostles is vain (i.e., void or empty) ; the faith of the Church is vain; and, awful thought, Paul and his fellowapostles are found false witnesses of God ; the believers are utterly selfdeceived, they are not saved, but are yet in their sins ; and those dear ones also whom they have regarded as asleep in Christ, as with Christ, which is very far better, have perished ; and as the Apostle concludes, “ we are of all men most pitiable.” These Apostles and early Christians had staked their all on the truth of the Resurrection, and if that were not a fact, all was lost. They had given up social position, possessions, the advantages which birth and education give, their nearest and dearest friends, aye, and many had laid down their lives in the firm conviction that their dear Lord who had died for their sins had risen again for their justification. Truly, if the Resurrection were only a figment, or the vision of a disordered imagination, their position was £ most pitiable.’ From this nightmare of darkness and falsehood the apostle turns with a shout of relief and triumph : “ But now hath Christ been raised from the dead, the first fruits of them that are asleep.” I wish to note first the condition of those to whom these triumphant words were penned. They were Christians, and they were utterly despised because they were Christians. If they had ever had high social position, education, or wealth they, had forfeited all because they were Christians. One day they might be led to the stake, any day they might have to meet death by the sword, any day they might hear the cry, “ Christian! ad leones,” the Christians to the lions ! No resurrection ! Why this meant the blackness of darkness, this meant utter and unutterable loss to them. And these grand words of the apostle would come to them as a trumpet blast, rousing them to a renewed sense of the certainty of the coming glorious manifestation of their risen Lord, to a renewed sense of theit own position and responsibility as candidates for the crown of life which fadeth not away. So they would be nerved to suffer in the light of the resurrection.

And, my brothers, if we would feel the power in these words of Paul it must result from our renouncing some dear thing because we are Christians and believe in the resurrection. The resurrection is big with compensation for all who have such faith that they can deny themselves for Christ’s sake—for all who can forfeit present material advantage for future spiritual gaiu.

To the man of the world whose hopes are fixed on the seen and tempoial, whose vision is bounded by the little horizon of this time life, the resurrection may seem to be of little or no importance, but to the Christian the resurrection is everything. Let ns now note, first, the fact of the resurrection, and, second, some inferences to be drawn from this fact.

First —the fact of the resurrection : “ But now hath Obrist been raised 1 from tbe dead.” What a glorious message is this! In a world full of partings; in a world whose erery

breeze brings the sob of the mourner ; whose every sod speaks of the dust of the dear ones gone, what could bring greater hope and comfort than the words of our text ? And this fact —the fact of the resurrection —forms the very key-stone of Christianity. If the resurrection be r.ot a fact our faith is utterly misplaced— all is lost —we are hopelessly deceived. Better never to have been born than to have made su ;h a shipwreck of our hopes as this. But as it happens “no event in the history of the remote past,” says an able writer, “ possesses an historical attestation which is equally strong.” The resurrection is a, fact which is proved, not by one or two, but by many lines of evidence. Some of the more obvious, which are all we have time to note this morning, are: — (а) The existence of the Church. The Church was born at the resurrection. “Jesus and the resurrection” was the theme of the apostolic preaching, and the preaching —the only preaching—potent to move the world and the Church to-day is still Jesus and the resurrection. The Church exists because the resurrection is a fact, and the Lord of the Church is a living Lord. (б) The power in the Church, too, is an evidence for the truth of the resurrection. Anyone who looked upon the small band of disciples who composed the church of apostolic times would have regarded it as uttely impossible for them to make a stand at all, much less to overcome the great world forces opposed to them. Think of the men, and think of the difficulties in their way. They were all poor men with one or two exceptions, they were mostly illiterate men, they had no social standing (most were slaves), they had no political influence. The array against them was nothing less than the whole world. The Roman was againsl them, for they, contrary to law, proclaimed Jesus king ; and they further aggravated the Roman by naming all religions false except their own ; the Greek was against them, he could see no wisdom in the Cross; the Jew .hated them, all society opposed them because they could not conform to the heathen rites and idolatrous social customs of the day. But in the face of all this opposition this little band of poor fishermen and slaves waded on through fire and blood, breaking down the strongholds of sin and Satan, preaching Jesus and the resurrection, making such a quick and poweiful impression that in three centuries the world had been forced to own the beauty and the power of Christianity; and, however we may regard the action of Constantine, that action was significant, and .reveals the power that bad accompanied the life and teaching of the Christians. How can we account for this victory of moral and spiritual force over a world arrayed against it save by the fact of the resurrection, and the presence and power of the risen Lord in His Church ?

(c) The observance of the first day of the week as the Christian Sabbath. The early disciples observed the first day of the week for meeting and for the breaking of bread in commemoration of their dear Lord’s resurrection from the dead. And all down the centuries the Church has observed the first day of the week.

These are some of the facts which are quite patent to us all. Other evidence which might be brought forward is such as Paul’s testimony that he had seen the risen Lord ; Paul’s conduct fully bearing out his testimony ; the testimony of the other disciples, and their conduct bearing out their testimony. Again, there is the important evidence afforded by the empty grave. When the rumour arose that Christ had risen, if it were not true, why did his enemies not produce His body F Such action would quickly have silenced His disciples and proved them to be deceivers. But no body was to be found, because Christ had risen.

Second. —How let us note some of the inferences to be draw r n from this fact.

(a). Christ is what Me claimed to be—the Eternal Son of God. He is ‘ declared to be the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead.’ He prophesied His resurrection and He has risen. Then the salvation He brings is a perfect salvation, an eternal salvation. ‘ For he ever liveth to make intercession for us.’

(h). We can expect the living and risen Saviour to care for His Church which He hath purchased with His own blood. As in past ages He has watched over His Church, so in future days all will be well for His people. (c). Christ is the pledge and sample of the coming harvest : ‘ The first fruits of them that are asleep.’ The pledge.—Christ has risen as our Representative, As surely as He has risen so surely shall we rise. ‘ Father, I will that they also whom Thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold My glory which Thou hast given me.’ ‘ Christ is the first fruits ; then they that are Christ’s, at His coming.’ Christ is the first golden sheaf that tells of the coming harvest. Wordsworth has beautifully expressed this truth : “ Christ is risen, Christ the First-fruits Of the holy harvesti„field. Which will all its full abundance At His second coming yield ; Then the golden ears of harrest Will their heads before Him wave, Eipened by His glorious sunshine From the furrows of the grave.” Christ is also the sample. As He rose so shall we. We shall have a body like unto His glorious body. ‘ When our earthly house of this tabernacle hath been dissolved we have a building from God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the Heavens.’ Brethren, if these things are so, what manner of men ought we to be F Our example is the risen Lord. We must be separated from the world and entirely consecrated to God. We must live as those who are alive from the dead. Ah, my brothers, the glory that’s coming will chase away all earth’s darkest shadows. All loss and all pain, all sorrow and disappointment will find more than ample compensation in the honour with which they are honoured who wear the crown of life which fadeth not away. Let us, as said an old Puritan, give God the margin of eternity to justify Himself. This mornmg our thoughts are specially directed to the loss our church has so recently sustained in the death of our sister, Mrs T. Jefcoate. She shared our faith in the reality of the resurrection, and, as many of ns can testify, her life revealed the genuineness of her faith. Hers was a simple faith, but a faith potent to produce good works. Her last word was ‘ Jesus,’ and this is just what she endeavoured to make her life say. For her to live was Christ, to die was gain. So while we sorrow with her loved ones in their loss, we rejoice - with her in her triumph. ‘ Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His Saints.’

The early Christians used to say, ‘ Good - night' to their departing friends. So to our loved friend and sister in the Lord we would say, ‘ Crood-oight, until the day break and earth’s dark shadows flee ! ’ — Amen.