The Friends Evangel
Superintendent ~ Jonathan Edwards
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
I Corinthians 15:55-57
The Lord Is Risen Indeed
by Charles Haddon Spurgeon
The first day of the week commemorates the resurrection of Christ, and, following apostolical example, we have made the first day of the week to be our Sabbath. Does not this intimate to us that the rest of our souls is to be found in the resurrection of our Saviour? Is it not true that a clear understanding of the rising again of our Lord is, through the power of the Holy Spirit, the very surest means of bringing our minds into peace? To have a part in the resurrection of Christ is to enjoy that Sabbath which remaineth for the people of God. We who have believed in the risen Lord do enter into rest, even as he also himself is resting at the right hand of the Father. In him we rest because his work is finished, his resurrection being the pledge that he has perfected all that is needful for the salvation of his people, and we are complete in him. I trust this morning that some restful thoughts may, by the power of the Holy Spirit, be sown in the minds of believers while we make a pilgrimage to the new tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, and see the place where the Lord lay.
I will speak to you upon certain instructive memories which gather around the place where Jesus slept “with the rich in his death.” Though he is not there, he assuredly once was there: for “He was crucified, dead, and buried.” He was as dead as the dead now are, and though he could see no corruption, nor could be holden by the bands of death beyond the predestined time, yet he was in very deed most assuredly dead. No light remained in his eye, no life in his heart; thought had fled from his thorn crowned brow, and speech from his golden mouth; he was not in mere appearance, but in reality dead— the spear-thrust decided that question once for all; therefore in the sepulchre they laid him, a dead man, fit occupant of the silent tomb. Yet as he is not there now, but is risen, it is for us to search for memorials of his having been there. Not for the “holy sepulchre” will we contend with superstitious sectaries, but in spirit we will gather up the precious relics of the risen Redeemer.
First, he has left in the grave the spices. When he rose he did not bring away the costly aromatics in which his body had been wrapped, but he left them there. Joseph brought about one hundred pounds weight of myrrh and aloes, and the odour remaineth still. In the sweetest spiritual sense, our Lord Jesus has filled the grave with fragrance. It no longer smells of corruption and foul decay, but we can sing with the poet of the sanctuary—
“Why should we tremble to convey
These bodies to the tomb?
There the dear flesh of Jesus lay,
And left a long perfume.”
Yonder lowly bed in the earth is now perfumed with costly spices and decked with sweet flowers, for on its pillow the truest Friend we have once laid his holy head. We will not start back with horror from the chambers of the dead, for the Lord himself has traversed them, and where he goes no terror abides.
The Master also left his graveclothes behind him. He did not come from the tomb wrapped about with a winding-sheet; he did not wear the cerements of the tomb as the habiliments of life, but when Peter went into the sepulchre he saw the grave-clothes lying carefully folded by themselves. What if I say he left them to be the hangings of the royal bed-chamber, wherein his saints fall asleep? See how he has curtained our last bed! Our dormitory is no longer bare and drear, like a prison cell, but hung around with fair white linen and comely arras— a chamber fit for the repose of princes of the blood! We will go to our last bed-chamber in peace, because Christ has furnished it for us. Or if we change the metaphor, I may say that our Lord has left those graveclothes for us to look upon as pledges of his fellowship with us in our low estate, and reminders that as he has cast aside the death garments, even so shall we. He has risen from his couch and left his sleeping robes behind him, in token that at our waking there are other vestures ready for us also. What if I again change the figure, and say that as we have seen old tattered flags hung up in cathedrals and other national buildings, as the memorials of defeated enemies and victories won, so in the crypt where Jesus vanquished death his grave clothes are hung up as the trophies of his victory over death, and as assurances to us that all his people shall be more than conquerors through him that hath loved them. “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?”
Then, carefully folded up and laid by itself, our Lord left the napkin that was about his head. Yonder lies that napkin now. The Lord wanted it not when he came forth to life. Ye who mourn may use it as a handkerchief with which to dry your eyes. Ye widows and ye fatherless children— ye mourning brothers and ye weeping sisters— and you, ye Rachels, who will not be comforted because your children are not; here, take you this which wrapped your Saviour’s face, and wipe your tears away for ever. The Lord is risen indeed, and therefore thus saith the Lord, “Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears, for they shall come again from the land of the enemy,” “Thy dead men shall live,” O mourner— together, with the Lord’s dead body, shall they arise; wherefore, sorrow not as they that are without hope, for if ye believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also, which sleep in Jesus, will the Lord bring with him.
What else has the risen Saviour left behind him? Our faith has learned to gather up memorials sweet from the couch of our Lord’s tranquil slumber. Well, beloved, he left angels behind him, and thus made the grave
“A cell where angels use
To come and go with heavenly news.”
Angels were not in the tomb before, but, at his resurrection, they descended; one rolled away the stone, and others sat where the body of Jesus had lain. They were the personal attendants and bodyguard of the Great Prince, and therefore they attended him at his rising, keeping the doorway, and answering the enquiries of his friends. Angels are full of life and vigour, but they did not hesitate to assemble at the grave, gracing the resurrection even as flowers adorn the spring. I read not that our Master has ever recalled the angels from the sepulchres of his saints; and now, if believers die as poor as Lazarus, and as sick and as despised as he, angels shall convey their souls into the bosom of their Lord, and their bodies, too, shall be watched by guardian spirits, as surely as Michael kept the body of Moses and contended for it with the foe. Angels are both the servitors of living saints and the custodians of their dust.
What else did our Well-beloved leave behind him? He left an open passage from the tomb, for the stone was rolled away; doorless is that house of death. We shall, in our turn, if the Master come not speedily, descend into the prison-house of the grave. What did I say?— I called it a “prison-house,” but how a prison-house, that hath no bolts or bars?— how a prison-house, that hath not even a door to close upon its occupants? Our Samson has pulled up the posts and carried away the gates of the grave with all their bars. The key is taken from the girdle of death and is held in the hand of the Prince of Life. The broken signal and the fainting watchmen are tokens that the dungeons of death can no more confine their captives. As Peter, when he was visited by the angel, found his chains fall from off him, while iron gates opened to him of their own accord, so shall the saints find ready escape at the resurrection morning. They shall sleep awhile, each one in his resting-place, but they shall rise readily, for the stone is rolled away. A mighty angel rolled away the stone, for it was very great, and when he had done the deed he sat down upon the stone. His garment was white as snow, and his face like lightning, and as he sat on the stone he seemed to say to death and hell, “Roll it back again if you can.”
“Who shall rebuild for the tyrant his prison!
The sceptre lies broken that fell from his hands;
His dominion is ended, the Lord is arisen;
The helpless shall soon be released from their bands.”
One thing else I venture to mention as left by my Lord in his forsaken tomb. I visited some few months ago several of the large columbaria which are to be found outside the gates of Rome. You enter a large square building, sunk in the earth, and descend by many steps, and as you descend you observe on the four sides of the great chamber, innumerable little pigeon-holes, in which are the ashes of tens of thousands of departed persons. Usually in front of each compartment prepared for the reception of the ashes stands a lamp. I have seen hundreds, if not thousands, of these lamps, but they are all unlit, and indeed do not appear ever to have carried light: they shed no ray upon the darkness of death. But now our Lord has gone into the tomb and illuminated it with his presence, “the lamp of his love is our guide through the gloom.” Jesus has brought life and immortality to light by the gospel; and now in the dove-cotes where Christians nestle, there is light; yea, in every cemetery there is a light which shall bum through the watches of earth’s night till the day break and the shadows flee away, and the resurrection morn shall dawn.
So then the empty tomb of the Saviour leaves us many sweet reflections, which we will treasure up for our instruction.
[excerpt]
“Hang It on the Cross”
Lisa O. Engehardt
If you have a secret sorrow,
A burden or a loss,
An aching need for healing
Hang it on the cross.
If worry steals your sleep
And makes you turn and toss,
If your heart is feeling heavy,
Hang it on the cross.
Every obstacle to faith
Or doubt you come across,
Every prayer unanswered,
Hang it on the cross.
For Christ has borne our brokenness
And dearly paid the cost
To turn our trials to triumph…
Hanging on the cross.
Teen View
Minute Message - #35
Larry Grile
I like the words of the angels to the women at the tomb (Matt. 28:6). They said (expanded), “I know you seek Jesus. Yes, He was crucified. Yes, He was placed in this tomb. But why would you look for him here? He has risen from the dead, ‘just as he said’.” Jesus had repeatedly told His disciples that He would be killed, but that He would rise from the dead on the third day. All the legal and military force of the Roman Empire was enlisted to prevent His resurrection, but it happened anyway. Jesus said in Matt. 24:35, “My words shall not pass away.” It is not possible for Jesus’ words to fail to be fulfilled. This is because He is God. Now, add to this that Jesus said in John 14:3, “I will come again.” When Jesus ascended to the Father, angels announced His second coming and said, “As you have seen him go, so shall he come again” (Acts 1:11). The resurrection of Christ guarantees His return. There is nothing that anyone—including all the legal and military might of the governments of this world—can do to stop it. Jesus Christ will come again, “just as he said.”
MIDYEAR CONFERENCE
Saturday, March 9, 2024, 10:30 AM
Special Speaker: Kenny Stetler
Host Church: Randolph Meeting,
Ridgeville, IN
Come and plan to enjoy a time of worship and fellowship together with the churches of CYM. In the morning, we will be favored with a special song from Sparrow Creek Congregation, and in the afternoon, a youth group from both Randolph and Sparrow Creek will share a musical selection. Kenny Stetler will be sharing from his heart in both services.
We will break for a time of fellowship at the STEPS building enjoying a lunch together.
From the editor:
Several unforeseen circumstances have contributed to the delayed publishing of the Friends Evangel. We apologize for the inconvenience for this interruption. Please pray for us as we attempt to pick up where we left off and bring a new, full-version Evangel to our subscribers next month. Thank you!