12 
NORTH SHORE BREEZE 
Jy SS a ae Se al a 
THE EASTER SALUTATION 
Matthew 28:9 
TEXT: All Hail! 
Extract of sermon by Rev. A. G. Warner, Manchester Baptist Church 
On the first Easter morning, the 
risen Christ spoke to His loved ones; 
and this was His salvation. There 
can be no better Easter motto than 
that which Christ Himself used; it 
is more than an exclamation; it is 
a command to do something and 
that something is to rejoice. It is 
the greeting of one who is glad to 
others who ought to be glad. ‘‘ All 
hail, rejoice!’’ and this is what 
Christ said to His disciples on the 
first Easter morning. 
We must not forget that the 
minds of the disciples were already 
in a state of wonder. The air was 
full of angels. The angel of the 
Lord descended from heaven, and 
came and rolled back the stone 
from the door of the Sepulchre and 
sat upon it. His countnance was 
like lightning, and His raiment 
white as snow. The women saw an 
angel within the sepulchre. Then 
again two men stood by them in 
shining garments. And John tells 
us that Mary saw two angels sitting, 
one at the head and the other at the 
foot, where the body of Jesus had 
lain. It was not one angel coming 
in the vision of the night, but it 
seemed as if the air was full of 
them, saying, ‘‘Fear not ye’’ and 
‘Why weepest thou?’’ 
There are some things that are 
mysteries unrevealed. They are 
mysteries of God beyond human 
reason; and though we may think 
about them and speculate to some 
extent, yet there should be no pro- 
fane attempt to force our way into 
the Holy of Holes. In regard to 
some things we must wait rever- 
ently, until we no longer see through 
a glass darkly, but face to face and 
know as we are known. But these 
angels were a revelation from God, 
a part of that great revelation in 
Jesus Christ. It is no profanity to 
inquire why they were sent, and 
just what was the significance of 
their coming. 
It teaches us the nearness of 
angels. As they are sent by God, it 
is not one, once in a thousand years. 
But what Jacob saw in the vision, 
when God had so few faithful serv- 
ants on earth, is more emphatically 
true today. The angels of God are 
continually ascending and descend- 
ing, between earth and heaven. 
‘It hes around us like a cloud, 
The world we cannot see; 
Yet the sweet closing of an eye, 
May bring us there to be.’’ 
But these angels became visible 
to men on that occasion. It teaches 
us that the resurrection of Christ 
was something of great importance 
since angels came to greet men on 
that occasion—important in heaven, 
as well as on the earth, as there was 
silence in heaven at the crucifixion, 
so at the birth and resurrection, 
there was rejoicing in heaven, such 
rejoicing that the echoes of it 
reached the earth. Angels appeared 
to men erying,—‘‘ Behold I bring 
you glad tidings of great joy’’ and 
then again asking a bereaved wo- 
man .‘‘ Why Weepest thou.’’ 
But it was Christ who said, ‘‘ All 
hail!’’? These words, the first so far 
as the account goes, spoken by Him 
after the crucifixion, we should 
especially notice. 
Note first the contrast. A short 
time before, beside the tomb of 
Bethany, Jesus wept. Three days 
before, as He went out in the even- 
ing to the dark shades of the olive 
trees, He said to His nearest friends: 
—‘My soul is exceedingly sorrow- 
ful, even unto death,’’ and being in 
agony, He prayed the more earn- 
estly, and Elis sweat was as it were 
ereat drops of blood, falling down 
to the ground. And on the cross 
He had eried ‘‘I thirst.’’ The pains 
of this mortal body which He bore 
were felt even then. And worse 
than that, there were pains of mind 
and heart, a mysterious spiritual 
darkness resting upon Him, which 
found expression in the words ‘‘ My 
God, My God, why hast thou for- 
saken me?’’ But now He no longer 
feels human pain; He has fought 
and conquered; He came from the 
grave, with glory and majesty, and 
in joy and gladness, erying ‘‘ All 
hail.’’ 
These words indicate His own 
triumph, the great triumph of the 
Inearnation. When Christ was laid 
in the grave, the whole world might 
well call His life a failure. He hum- 
bled himself; He was despised and 
rejected of men; the powers of this 
world opposed Him; when His time 
was come, He faced them bravely, 
but they bound Him, | slandered 
Him, condemned and crucified Him ; 
they seattered His followers, and 
put a guard over His grave. Was 
ever defeat more complete? The 
boldest of His disciples had denied 
Him; His body was confined in a 
tomb of solid rock; a huge stone 
was rolled at the door; and back 
and forth, before it, paced the Ro- 
man soldier, regular as the sun, 
fearless as the storm, inflinching as 
the rock. Did it not seem that the 
ease of sinful humanity was hope- 
less? Then came the triumph. The 
soldiers became as dead men; the 
rock was no longer hard; death, it- 
self, had lost its power; for Jesus 
triumphed. He rose from the dead 
erying ‘‘All hail! Rejoice! Rejoice! 
This means triumph to humanity 
as well as to Christ. There was 
good reason why those disciples 
should rejoice, else Christ had not 
commanded them to do so. Because 
He lives, we shall live also. — Be- 
cause the trials and limitations of 
earth no longer crush Him into the 
grave, so in His resurrection and 
life there comes to us a deliverance 
from the fatal sorrow of earthly sin. 
This word of cheer comes to us still, 
because it tells us of a world be- 
yond, of a spiritual existence, of a 
life like that of Him who rose from 
the grave. This resurrection and 
the angels around the tomb are the 
reflection of heaven’s splendor upon 
the earth. It is heaven and salva- 
tion and eternity, for you and for 
me. This is the true meaning of the 
promise because He _ lives, we 
shall live also. Today, on _ this 
Easter morning, we behold an in- 
teresting sight. A few buds are 
swelling, there are traces of green 
grass about us, but back in the 
woodlands there is snow, to the 
north there is much more, the 
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