/cation. We have visited the empty tomb, and now we may inquire why he lay there
and rose thence. It was in the first place for our justification. ‘ He was delivered for our offences, and raised again for our justification.” “ By his death,” says one, “he paid our debt, in his resurrection he received our acquittance.” Another says, “ Had no man been a sinner Jesus had not died, had he been a sinner he had never risen azain.” In other words, his death shows his sufferings for sin, his resurrection proves full satisfaction made by those sufferings. The meaning of his death is summed up in the words, “God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, con- demned sin in the flesh;” the meaning of his resurrection runs thus: “ Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” His resurrection was thus his acquittal from the obligations he had come under, and our absolution through him from the debt we owed, so that, once united to him by faith, our persons are justified, our sins remitted, and our services accepted. Thus we see the meaning of that empty tomb. It is as though the voice of the Eternal proclaimed in thunder- tones through all the universe, “This is my beloved Son,” in whose person and work, in whose life and death, “I am well pleased.” His resurrection is the full recognition of the Redeemer’s work. It is the protest of Heaven against the accusations with which he was loaded. It is the vindication of him whom Jew and Gentile condemned as deserving of death. It is the authoritative announcement that the work was finished, the debt paid, justice satisfied, the Law fulfilled, obedience rendered, punish- ment endured, wrath exhausted, sin put away, righteousness brought in, Satan vanquished, and God glorified. It is the consent of Heaven to the cancelling of the handwriting that testified against us. Therefore “all power is given unto him in heaven and in earth.” And had he not all power, as Jehovah’s Fellow, from everlasting ? Yes, but now he has it as our Mediator; he holds it on our behalf, and exercises it for our benefit. Therefore “he received gifts.” And why needed he gifts in whom all fulness dwelt, and who shared the Father’s glory? As Head over all things he received them for his people’s use, ‘‘even for the rebellious, that the Lord God might dwell among them.” “Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.” And did not God love him when he was in his bosom, before all worlds? Yes, but now he loves him as our Representative, and us in him; and consequently the apostle prays so earnestly to “be found in Christ.” He is “crowned with glory aad honour.” And why? That he might communicate to us that glory which, as God, he had laid aside, and es Mediator resumed, and thus make his own peculiar
ca. xvi. 1—20.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MARK, , . 867
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privilege the common property of all believers. 2. I¢ was necessary also for our sanctifi- cation. “ Planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection ;” “ As Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, © even 20 should we also walk in newness of life.” To live habitually in any known sin is to deny practically that sin is death; to indulge presumptuously in sin is to ignore the fact that Christ has risen from the dead; to persevere in sin is to resist the influence of Christ’s resurrection, and shut our ears to the loud call that comes from the empty tomb, saying, “ Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.” We turn to some practical illustrations of the subject of sanctification. What is a saint? He is one that is risen with Christ, and acts accordingly, seeking the things that are above. Though in this world, he is not of it; he is above it. His conversation, treasure, heart, hope, home,—all are in heaven, whence he looks for the Saviour. Among the currents in the Atlantic Ocean is the great Gulf Stream; it has been called a river in the ocean. The water of this stream is on the average twenty degrees higher than the surrounding ocean; it preserves its waters dis- tinct from those of the sea on either side, so that the eye can trace the line of contact. It retains its physical identity for thousands of miles, casting branches and fruits of tropical trees on the coast of the Hebrides and Norway. It greatly influences the Atlantic, keeping one-fourth of its waters in constant motion. The sanctified person— that is, the saint—is like that Gulf Stream; he is in the ocean of this world, but he has no affinity with it; he is not conformed to it; he has a higher temperature, for “the love of God is shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Ghost which is given unto him.” Nevertheless, his influence is great and always for good; he keeps the dead waters from stagnation and in healthy movement.
“With Christ the Lord we died to ain, With him to life we rise; To life which, now begun on earth, Is perfect in the skies.”
8. The resurrection of Christ ts necessary for our resurrection. “ Now is Ohrist risen \ from the dead, and become the Firstfruits of them that slept;” ‘He has destroyed the : last enemy, and that is death.” During the reign of Augustus Ossar a reverse befell onl the Roman army in the densely wooded valley of the Lippe. It was led by Varus to ~ quell an insurrection of the Germans. The legions got embarrassed amid the entangle- ments of the forest; they fell into disorder; a violent tempest coming on at the same
time aggravated their difficulties; four and twenty thousand of them were cut to pieces, and the general fell upon his sword. Six years after succeeding legions reached