The Ohio Independent Baptist, April 1963

• • er o ,s resurrec ,on B R v. Robert L. Sumner Pa "tor T mpl B:1pti~t Church, Port mouth " "l1<1t I 111<1,· k11<J1i /1i111. ,111<! tl1e I () \\ 1 (',. I J1is It ,\l11'1'C(' li<) ll • • :· ( r>htl . -~: I () \.' k.rtf..)\\ tl1c (.)ne 1s t<.1 k.n )\\ tl1c l tl1cr ,, l1c11 , l)tl get t kn \\ Hil11. \l)ll ,,111 k.11(,\\ H is p \\Cr . c tt1nll y. cl1rrt' 1" .1 , 111p,1nion gr \\, tl1 bet\\- cen che t,, l) he n1orc intin1ate ) u be- r11e in , t1r rclati n --hip. under.. tand- 111g and fell \\ .. hlp \\ i th J e u hri t, th; great r e,perience f Hi .. power , L)tl , ill e,,iden in our dail hri - t1an life and ervice. Ren1 n1bering Hi r e urrection i n t a de\ elopment in entin1entali m , it i bedi nee t a divine command. In II Tim thy 2: we are in tructed ..Remember tha t J e u hri t of the eed of D avid wa rai ed from the dead according to my go pel." The g d ne\\' P aul preached wa ba ed up n thi victory over death and the grave and apar t f rom hri t ' re ur– rection there would be no go pel . H e made thi truth cry tal clear in hi fir t letter to the church at Corinth ( I Cor. 15: 1-22). Wha t at fir t eemed like defeat at Calvary in the bitter death of Chri t was di pelled by the brightne and po itivene of the empty tomb three days and thr nigh later. I am reminded in thi matter o the final defeat of apoleon Bona– parte. After having been in exile for nearly a year on the i land of Elba a,poleon e caped and made hi way to P ari . There he gathered hi men about him and oon the war, which had ended with hi abdication and exile in 1814 had re urned in earnest. Then on June 18 1815 12 mile south of Bru sel and two miles from the Belgian village of W aterloo , largel}· through a serie of mi take and mi under tanding among hi own leaders, apoleon was soundly defeat– ed b}· Arthur Welle ley more familiar- 1} known as the Duke of Wellington. At the time of this victory, one of the strange t thing in the annal of England' history took place. Without our modern mean of communication, the people in tho e day were limited to emaphore ignal . The news of Wellington' decisive victory wa~ pa sed along until finally, on the la t relay - from a ship out in the Channel - the message was pas ed on to receivers stationed high in the tO\\.'ers of We~tminster Abbey. Page 6, APRIL 1963 he Ct) 111111t111 ica t1 ()tl "i larlctl : ' ' ~J'el– li11i:t<>11- /)('/e<1tetl . ... When tl1 "iC l \\ () \Vt1rtl ', \\: ere rccc I cc.I. a heavy f g rol lctl In acr ~" 1 ontf 011 a nd the 111cs– "agc. jL1st a~ rcceive(i. wa pa~sed on to the \\ ai ling pc pie. 11 f IJon(lon \\ as f iI led \Vi th gr ief a nd de pair a ' tr ng n1cn obbcd openly and won1en agonized in the trec t . However, a few hours later. another wind blew the fog away and the me age from the hip began again thi time adding a third word: "Welli11gton- Defeatecl - apoleon." It wa omething like that at Cal- vary. On the day of the crucifixion it eemed that the fog of Hell rolled in with it me age 'CHRIST - DEFEATED. .." The cene of that day ended with a broken, bloodied dead Me iah and cattered defeated weeping di ciple . But three day and three night later the fog was di pelled by the brightne s of Glory a pecial archangel from Heaven de cended to earth and rolled back the tone from the empty tomb so that a waiting world could read it me sage: 'CHRIST - DEFEATED - SATAN!" So Paul pleaded with young Timo– thy to remember that J e us Chri t of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my good new .,, He spoke of this "remembrance" after in tr ucting Timothy, in ver e three to endure hardne s, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." Ju t as the logan in the Spani h– American War, "Remember the Maine," in pired our forces on to vic tory o ' R emember the R esur- rcc ti n·· i\ a ~c ri11tL1ral hatllc cry in– lc ntlctJ to c ncour agc t l1c sol<.I icr o J c5tt, ( ' hr1,t to t1n<.Jcrgo any harcf - ,l1i p. \tJ ff cr1 ng. pri vat1on o r pcrsect1 . lion t or the 5akc of the gospel. Rc- 1ncn1bcring the rcsLtrrcction will make a better hri tjall of any chil(I o od. BL1t what about the power of H i r e L1rrection? Wh a t kind of pow i it? How will it help you ? con ider with me fir t of all, the power of Hi re urrection is I. Power for Service! Paul wa talking about thi when h e wrote in Gala tian 2: 20, "I am cruci– fied with Chri t: neverthele s I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the fle h I l ive by the faith of the Son of God who loved me, and gave him elf for me." What a truth i this one: the li ving Christ lives in me! Realization of this fact i sufficient encouragement for any task. Assu red of this truth we can go with Daniel to the den of lions, with Paul and Silas to a Philippian dungeon, with Gideon again t count– less Midiani te , or with Shadrach, Me hach and Abednego into a fiery furnace! Our service, to be ucce sful, i "yet not I, but Chri t liveth in me. ' ' We mu t never forget what Jesus aid in John 15: 5 'I am the vine, ye are the branches : H e that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." Somewhere I read an old fable about a br iar growing in a ditch. One day a gardener came by, examined the lowly briar, then wi th his sho, 1 el care– ful ly dug around it lifted it out then took it to hi garden and replanted it. The briar thought to it elf, "Doesn't he know I am ju t a briar? There is nothing lovely or beautiful about me. I will only poil hi garden. " However, ome time later the briar felt the harp knife of the gardener litting it trunk and it wa "budded' ' with a ro e. Still later, when the bush was in full bloom - profu e with beautiful ro ebud and blos oms - the gardener aid, "Your beauty i not from your nature, but from what I put into you. It i not your own.' Thus it i in the Chri tian life. Whatever beauty we are able to mani- The OHIO INDEPENDENT BAPTIST