Jerusalem—First Day of the week.
My Dear Father:
How shall I make known to you, in words, the marvelous, joyous, happy, happy, and most wonderful news which I have to tell! My heart beats, my hand trembles with rapture, while a sense of profound awe impresses all my soul! Jesus is alive! Jesus has risen from the dead! Jesus has proved himself to be the Son of God!
I can scarcely hold my pen for joy and wonder, or collect my thoughts, for very amazement, at what has transpired.
Upon hearing my name called by Mary, and others, in eager, joy-trembling tones, I hastened to go down. On reaching the staircase I met my cousin ascending, almost flying. Wonder, love, and happiness inexpressible, beamed from her beautiful countenance. Meeting me, she threw her arms about my neck and essayed to utter something! But her heart was too full, and, bursting into sobs, she wept convulsively upon my bosom, in an ecstasy of delirious joy.
Amazed and confounded, not knowing what had happened, I held her to my heart, and tried to soothe her emotion.
"What—oh, what hath happened? Speak, dear Mary!" I asked, unable to wait longer in suspense.
She raised her head, and through her tears and smiles, at length said, brokenly:
"He—he—is—risen—oh, he is risen from the tomb!"
"Who?" I cried, half believing, yet doubting.
"The Lord! Our Mighty Master—Jesus—the very Son of God, the Blessed! He is alive, Adina! Come—delay not! I have flown into the city to tell thee, and Mary has told Peter and John, whom she met at the door, and who, doubting, as thou hast done, have run to see if these things be so. They will find the sepulchre empty! Haste to go with us!"
While, overwhelmed with wonder, and trembling with joy, I was preparing to accompany her, Martha appeared, her face radiant with celestial happiness.
"You have heard the tidings of great joy, O Adina?"
"Can they be true, Martha?" I asked, earnestly.
"Yes, for I have seen him walking, heard his voice, and touched him! You, also, shall see him, for he hath sent us to tell his disciples!"
I wept for joy!
At the gateway we met Mary of Bethany, and we three now hastened together towards the garden of Joseph, I wishing my feet wings, that I might reach the sepulchre sooner, fearing that the vision of Jesus would be vanished ere I arrived. As we were going out of the gate, we were met by four or five Roman soldiers, who, with aspects stamped with fear, were running past us into the city.
"What means this flight and terror, men?" cried the captain of the gate. "You fly as if you were in full retreat from an enemy. Speak, Marius! You seem to have your senses!" he demanded of the youngest of the soldiers, an officer under a centurion.
We paused to hear what he said.
"Per Dian, captain! we have been terrified beyond measure," answered the soldier. "My heart beats yet, as if it were an alarum-drum. You see, we were a part of the guard left in charge of the sepulchre of this Jewish Prophet, crucified three days ago. Before dawn this morning, as I was pacing to and fro before the tomb, there suddenly shone round about us a light, like a descending meteor, accompanied by a rushing as if of a legion of wings. The men started to their feet in amazement! On looking about us I saw a dazzling form, in the mid-heavens, with broad wings of gold, sparkling with myriads of stars, every feather a star, and clad in raiment white and gleaming as the summer's lightning. This terrible presence, like that of one of the Dii Immortales, made us fear exceedingly, beyond any terror we had before experienced. But when we saw this mighty being descend straight towards the tomb, and beheld the resplendent majesty of his celestial visage, which blinded us, our hearts failed within us. The angel, or god, alighted amid a blaze of radiance at the door of the sepulchre; and as his foot touched the earth it trembled, as if with a great earthquake. The soldiers shook with terror, and fell to the ground, before his presence, as dead men. I stood, unable to move, frozen by fear to a statue. He touched the great stone door with one of his fingers, and it rolled outward at his feet, as if a catapult had struck it, and, like Jove taking his throne, he sat upon it!
"But one thing more," continued the soldier, "was wanting to fill my cup of terror to the full. And it followed. I saw the crucified Prophet rise up from the slab on which he was laid, and stand upon his feet, and walk forth alive, with the tread of some mighty conqueror! The celestial being, so terrible in his majestic splendor, veiled his face with his wings before his presence, and prostrated himself at his feet, as if in homage to one greater than himself!
"I saw no more, but fell, insensible with terror, to the earth. When, at length, I came to myself, the tomb was filled with dazzling forms of resplendent beauty; the air rang with music, such as mortals never before heard; and I fled, pursued by my fears, the rest of the soldiers rising and following me, each man fearing to look back, but bewildered we lost our way."
The soldiers hurried forward into the city; while, confirmed now in the certainty that Jesus was risen, I hastened, with Martha and Mary, in the direction of the garden.
"How and where did you behold him, Mary?" I interrogated, as we drew near to the steep path leading to the gate of Joseph's garden.
"When we reached the tomb, with our spices and precious ointments, to embalm the body, we found it open, and the soldiers, who had guarded it, lying about upon the ground like dead men. Upon the stone sat the archangel, but the resplendent light of his apparel and countenance was so tempered to our eyes, that, although we believed it was an angel, we were not terrified, for his looks were serene, and the aspect of his face divinely beautiful, combined with a terrible and indescribable majesty. We shook with fear, and stood still, unable to move, gazing on him in silent expectation.
"'Fear not,' said he in a voice that seemed to fill the air about us with undulating music, 'fear not, daughters of Abraham. I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified! He is not here, but is risen, as he foretold. Lo! see the place where the Lord of Life, and Conqueror of Death, hath lain!'
"We then timidly approached, and looked in, and saw the sepulchre empty; but a soft light filled the whole place.
"'Go and tell his disciples that the Lord is risen,' added the angel, 'and that he will go before them into Galilee. There shall they see him not many days hence!'
"When the angel had thus spoken to us," continued Mary, "we departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy, and ran to go into the city, to bring his disciples word, according to the command of the angel. But I had not advanced so far as the gate of the garden, being behind the rest, when I beheld Jesus himself standing in my path. I stopped, between terror and joy.
"'All hail! daughter of Israel,' he said. 'Be not afraid. I am living, that was dead! Go, Mary, and tell my mother and my brethren, and Peter, and John, and Lazarus, that I am risen, and that I have spoken with you. Be not afraid! I am the resurrection and the life!'
"I then cast myself at his feet, and worshiped him with awe; and when I looked up, he was gone.
"The others did not see him. We now continued on to the city, as if we had wings. But see! we are now at the gate of the garden," added Mary of Bethany, in a low tone of awe. "He must be near us."
But we approached the tomb without seeing any man, having arrived before Peter and John, who had been delayed some time at the Jaffa gate. We, therefore, found no one at the sepulchre. It was open, and empty. The stone in front, on which the archangel sat, was vacant. As we drew near, a bright light suddenly shone out from the tomb; and upon going higher I beheld two angels, clothed in white robes, and with countenances of divine radiance, seated, one at the head and the other at the foot of the slab of marble, on which the body of Jesus had lain.
"Be not afraid, daughters of Jerusalem," said one of the angels, speaking to us in the Hebrew tongue; "He whom ye seek, liveth! He is risen from the tomb, which could not hold him but through his consent; for Jesus is Lord of Life, and Victor over Death and Hell, for evermore! Go your way, and tell his disciples that he awaits them by the seaside."
The angels then vanished from our sight; and at the same moment John and Peter came running, and seeing the stone rolled away, John stooped down, and looked in, and said that he saw the linen clothes in which the body of Jesus had been wrapped, lying folded together, and also the napkin which had been bound about his head. Peter, now coming up, breathless with eagerness and haste, no sooner saw the tomb open, than he went boldly in, and carefully examined all for himself. When we made known to them what the angels had said to us, that Jesus would go before and meet them in Galilee, they rejoiced greatly, and shortly afterwards departed, to hasten into Galilee. I also returned with them, to convey the news to Mary, the mother of Jesus, who had scarcely left her couch, in her great sorrow, since the day of the crucifixion. Mary of Bethany, however, remained, lingering near the tomb, hoping that Jesus had not yet left the garden, and that she might once more behold him.
Seated upon the steps of the tomb, weeping for joy at his resurrection, and wishing once more to behold him, she heard a footstep behind her, and, turning round, saw a man standing near her. It was Jesus himself, and kneeling, she was about to clasp his feet, when he said to her:
"Touch me not, Mary. I am not yet ascended to my Father. But go and tell Lazarus, and my brethren, and my mother, that I ascend ere many days, unto my Father and your Father, and unto my God and your God."
Jesus then vanished out of her sight; and she came and told all these things to us, and to the disciples.
But what pen can describe, my dear father, the amazement and consternation of Caiaphas, and the chief priests, and the rest of his enemies!
Caiaphas, hearing the uproar of the soldiers, sprang from his couch to inquire the cause, and on being assured by his servants that "Jesus had burst his tomb and risen alive from the dead!" he quaked, and became deadly pale.
When Pilate received the account from the centurion of the guard, he said:
"We have crucified a god, as I believed! Henceforth I am accursed!" and leaving his Hall of Judgment, he went and shut himself up in his own room, which he has not since left.
Caiaphas and the chief priests and scribes, in the meanwhile assembled together in full Sanhedrim, and hearing the testimony of the centurion, were convinced that the fact could not be concealed of Jesus' resurrection.
"Who has seen him alive?" demanded the High Priest.
"I have seen him, my lord," answered the centurion. "I saw his pierced feet and hands as he walked past me; and the morning breeze blew aside his mantle and exposed to my eyes the open wound made by the spear of my soldier, Philippus. He was alive, and in full strength of limb!"
"Thou sawest a vision, Roman!" answered Caiaphas. "Come aside with us, and let us talk with thee."
In a few minutes afterwards the centurion left the court of the High Priest's palace, followed by a Gibeonite slave, bearing after him a vase of Persian gold. He has told every one since, that he must have seen a spirit, for "the disciples of Jesus came by night and stole away the body of their master, while they slept, overcome with watching." His soldiers have also been bribed to tell the same tale!
Such is the false version that now goes about the city, my dear father; but there are few that give it credence, even of our enemies. As Æmilius, who is filled with great joy at the resurrection of Jesus, to-day very justly says:
"If these soldiers slept on guard, they merited death therefor, by the military laws of the empire. If, while sleeping, theircharge—the dead body of Jesus—was taken away, they deserve death for failing to prevent it. Why then are they not placed under arrest by Pilate's orders, if this story be true? Because Pilate well knows that it is not true! He knows, because he has privately examined many of the soldiers, that Jesus did burst his tomb, and that angels rolled away the stone without breaking his seals, which could not have been left unmarred but by a miracle. He knows that Jesus has arisen—for it is believed that he has also beheld him—at least such is the rumor at the Pretorium. It was the form of Jesus visible before him, doubtless, that drove him in such amazement from his Hall to his secret chamber; for it was remarked that he started, turned deadly pale, and essayed to address the invisible space before him, as if he saw a spirit."
Besides the facts which I have stated, is the increasing testimony of the thousands who, to-day, have gone out of the city to see the sepulchre where He was laid. They say, both enemies of Jesus as well as our friends, that it was impossible for the door to have been opened by any human being, not by Pilate himself, without marring the seals. They also assert that, to remove the stone by night, which would require four men, and to bear forth the body, would have been impossible, if the guard had been present; and if they had been asleep, they must have been awakened with the heavy noise made by rolling the massive door along the hollow pavement outside the sepulchre.
"If," say the common people, "the watch slept, why does not the Procurator put them to death?"
This question remains unanswered, and the watch go about the streets unharmed! My dear father, remember no more my unbelief, but with me believe in Jesus, that he is the Son of God, the Savior of Israel, the immortal Christ of the Prophets.
Your affectionate daughter,
Adina.
Bethany, House of Mary and Martha, a Month after the Passover.
I deeply regret, my dearest father, the delays which have detained you so long from arriving at Jerusalem, but trust that, ere many days, the caravan for which you wait will reach Gaza, and that you will be enabled to resume your journey to the Holy City. I am now at Bethany, where I have been some time making my home.
Uncle Amos has retired, for the present, to his farm, near Jericho, but will be here to-morrow to remain with us. Therefore, when you come near to Jerusalem, instead of going directly into the city, turn aside by the road leading past the king's gardens, and go up the brook of Kedron, into the way to Bethany. I pray that God may preserve you in safety, and soon permit me the happiness of once more embracing you, after three long years of separation.
And what events have transpired in these three years! Once more, my dear father, read carefully over the whole narrative, and answer to yourself this inquiry: Is not this man the Son of God? Is not he the very Christ, the long-looked-for Messias?
Isaias prophesied of the Christ whom he saw afar off, that he should be "a man of sorrows;" that he should be "despised and rejected of men;" that he should be "taken from prison and judgment, and cut off from the land of the living;" that he should be "numbered with the wicked in his death, and make his grave with the rich!" How light, how clear, how plain, all these prophecies now are to me, and to us all! How wonderfully in their minuteness they have been fulfilled, you already know.
His resurrection, also, was foretold by himself, but we did not understand his words until now. When he spoke of destroying the temple, and raising it in three days, he spoke of the tabernacle of his body! Oh, how many sayings, which, when spoken by his sacred lips, we understood not, now rush upon us in all their meaning, proving to us that every step of his life was foreknown to him; that he went forward to his death aware of all things whatsoever that were going to befall him!
But his resurrection was also foretold by the holy David, when he said, "Thou wilt not leave his soul in hell, nor suffer thy Holy One to see corruption;" and his arraignment before Pilate, Caiaphas, and Herod, was foretold by David, when he said: "The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his Anointed;" yet the Lord saith, "Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee." Also, my dear father, turn to the Psalms (22) of King David, and compare the following words, which speak of Messias,with what I have described in my previous letters:
"They shoot out the lip at me; they shake the head; they laugh me to scorn. They say, He trusted in the Lord that he would deliver him. Thou hast brought me into the dust of death."
Read the same psalm of the holy king a little farther, and you will see these words, which were put by the royal prophet into the lips of his future Messias:
"The assembly of the wicked have enclosed me. They pierced my hands and my feet. They part my garments among them, and upon my vesture cast lots!"
Read and compare these prophecies of Messias, with the accounts in my letters, dear father, and you will not only be convinced that Jesus is the Messias, but you will perceive that his humiliation and sufferings before Pilate and Caiaphas, his agony on the cross, his death and burial, instead, as we ignorantly conceived, of being evidences that he was not the Christ, are proof that he was the very Son of the Highest—the Shiloh of Jehovah foretold by the prophets—the Anointed King of Israel.
Oh, wonderful is all this! How marvelous these things passing before our eyes! Now all is dazzlingly clear! The Prophets are unveiled to our sight, and we see that these things must have happened to him. Oh, our darkness, our blindness, to have seen in the prophecies of Messias only the passages which speak of his glory and power! Read the Prophets no longer, my dearest father, with a veil before your eyes! See, in all you read, Jesus as the end of the Prophets, the goal of all their far-seeing prophecies, the veritable and sure realization of their prophetic visions.
Thus, my dear father, has Jesus in all particulars proved himself to be the subject of all prophecy—the King of Israel. But you will now ask, "Is he to re-establish the throne of David, and live forever?"
Yes, but not a Jerusalem of earthly splendor. Oh, how clear are all things to my apprehension now! The Jerusalem in which his throne is to be placed, is heavenly, and the true Jerusalem, of which the present one is but the material type—what the body is to the soul of man.
Jesus has talked with me since his resurrection, and explained all this to me, and much more that is wonderful and full of joy.
It is now four weeks since he arose, and in that time he has been not only seen by all the disciples, but by hundreds of his followers. The only change in his usual appearance, dear father, to the eye, is a transparent paleness, which gives a soft radiance to his whole aspect, and a certain majestic reserve, which awes all who draw near to him; so that men speak in his presence in subdued whispers. His mother, happiest of women now, as she was before the most wretched, ever sits at his feet, and silently enjoys his sacred presence, seldom speaking, and looking up to him rather as a worshiper to her God, than a mother upon her son. That he is in the flesh in reality, and not a spirit, he has proven to his disciples, by eating with them; and in a remarkable way to an incredulous disciple, called Thomas, who, not believing that Jesus was risen in his real body from the dead, was told by the divine Lord to place his fingers into his hands, and his hand into his side; which Thomas, convinced, with awe refused to do; but, falling at his feet in amazement and adoration, worshiped him as God.
To-day his disciples are with him in the gardens of David, at Bethlehem, where he is holding daily a solemn council with the eleven, unfolding to them the glory of his kingdom, and opening their understandings to the clear apprehension of all which the prophets have written concerning him. John, who is a member of this divine council, says that the power of Jesus, the extent and majesty of his kingdom, the infinite results of his death and resurrection, are not to be conceived of by those who have not listened to these sublime revelations of his own lips.
"He hath shown us," said John, "how that his true office as Son of God, and Son of Man, is to be a mediator. He showed us that he himself was the High Priest, and how that the cross was the veritable altar of this great world's sacrifice, and its Temple the whole earth and heavens!"
How wonderful, dear father, is all this! He further teaches his disciples that he will shortly ascend from the earth, to enter upon his celestial reign, and that his subjects there are to be all who love him and keep his commandments. It is to be a kingdom of holiness, and none will enter there but the pure in heart. He says, further, that as we do now confess our sins over the blood of the victim we sacrifice for ourselves in the Temple, so henceforth we must look to him (by faith when we shall see him no longer), slaina sacrifice for us, and confess our sins to the Father for his sake. Jesus has moreover taught his disciples that the Gentiles are to share equally with the children of Abraham the benefits of his death and resurrection; that this good news shall be proclaimed to them by his disciples, and that they will gladly hear it and believe.
"The fountain of my everlasting kingdom," saith he, "truly shall be laid upon earth in the hearts of men; but the building is with God, eternal in the heavens. The tomb through which I have passed is its gate, and all who would come after me, and enter in, must follow in my footsteps."
Thomas then asked his Lord whither he would go, and the way; how he would leave the earth, since he could die no more.
"Thou shalt see for thyself ere many days pass," answered Jesus. "In that I have risen, all whom my Father giveth me shall rise also from the dead; and those whom I raise up, I will take with me the way I go; for where I am, they shall evermore be with me also."
Such, dear father, is a brief account of what John has told us, touching the divine teaching of Messias, the Son of God, respecting his kingdom. Yet much is still mysterious; but we know enough to be willing to trust ourselves to him for this life, and for that which is to come. We know that all power is given into his hands, and that he can save all men who believe in and accept him.
What is remarkable, dear father, notwithstanding the Jews have heard that Jesus walks everywhere through Jewry, yet no efforts are made to lay hands on him. At his presence, crowds of his enemies fly like the stricken multitude before the advancing sirocco. His presence in Judea is a present dread, like some great evil, to those who fear him; but like a celestial blessing to more who love him. Pilate, on the eve of making a journey last week to Bethel, before quitting the city dispatched couriers in advance to ascertain "whether Jesus the Crucified was on the line of his route!" Caiaphas, having occasion to go to Jericho, a few days after the Passover, hearing that Jesus had been seen with his disciples on the road, made a circuit round by Luz and Shiloh, in order not to meet him. The gates of the city are kept constantly shut, lest he should enter within the walls; some of the chief priests fearing greatly to behold his face, while others imagine that he is engaged in raising an army, to advance upon and take Jerusalem from the Romans.
I rejoice to see by your last letter, that you may be expected to reach here the week after next. Oh that you were here now, that you might be taken by John to see Jesus! for from what he says he will not long remain visible among us. Whither he goeth or how he goeth away, no man can say.
Faithfully, your loving daughter,
Adina.
Bethany, Forty Days after the Resurrection.
My Dearest Father:
With emotions that nearly deprive me of the power to hold my pen, and with trembling fingers that make the words I write almost illegible, I sit down to make known to you the extraordinary event which will mark this day in all future time as the most worthy to be noted among men.
On the fortieth day after the resurrection, my dear father, early in the morning, Jesus left the house of Mary and Lazarus, where he had sat up with us all night speaking to us of the glories of the life above, and the excellency of heart and purity of life required of all who should enter it.
"Lord," said Martha, as he went forth, "whither goest thou?"
"Come and see," he answered. "Whither I go ye shall know, and the way ye shall know: for where I am ye shall also be, and all those who believe in me."
"Lord," said Mary, kneeling at his feet, "return at noon, and remain with us during the heat of the day."
"Mary," said Jesus, laying his hand gently upon her forehead, "I am going to my Father's house! There thou shalt dwell with me in mansions not made with hands."
Thus speaking, he walked slowly onward towards the hill of Bethany, not far from the place where Lazarus was buried. He was followed not only by Mary, Martha, Lazarus, and John, my Cousin Mary, and myself, but by all the disciples. There were at least five hundred persons in all, moving on with him ere he reached the green hillside beyond the village; for all followed him, expecting to hear more glorious revelations from his lips.
"He goes to the hill to pray," said one of his disciples.
"Nay, he goeth to show us some mighty miracle, from the expression of power and majesty in his aspect," said Thomas to me, gazing upon the Lord with awe; for each moment as he ascended the hill, his countenance grew more glorious with a certain God-like majesty, and shone as the face of Moses descending from Mount Sinai. We all hung back with adoring awe, and alone he proceeded onward, a wide space being left by us between ourselves and him. Yet there was no terror in the glory which surrounded and shined out from him, but rather a holy radiance, that seemed to be the very light of holiness and peace.
"So looked he," said John to us, "when we beheld him transfigured in the mount with Elias and Moses."
The hill, which is not lofty, was soon surmounted by his sacred feet. He stood upon its apex alone. We kept back near the brow of the hill, for his raiment shone now like the sun, while his countenance was as lightning. We shaded our eyes to behold him. All was now expectation, and a looking for some mighty event—what, we knew not! John drew nearest to him, and upon his knees, with clasped hands, looked towards him earnestly; for he knew, as he afterwards told us, what would take place. Joy and yet tears were on his face, as he gazed with blinded eyes, as one gazes on the noonday sun, upon his divine Master. It was a scene, dear father, impressive beyond expression. Jesus seemed for a moment to survey the scenes of his sufferings, of his ignominy and death, with the look of a divine conqueror. He then turned to his disciples and said:
"Ye have been with me in my sorrows, and you shall now begin to behold my glory. Remember all things which I have taught you concerning my kingdom. Go forth and teach the glad tidings of salvation to all men, and baptize all nations in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world."
Thus speaking, in a voice that thrilled every bosom with emotions indescribable, he extended his hands above their heads and blessed them, while we all fell upon our faces to the ground also, to receive his blessing.
He then lifted up his eyes to the calm blue depths of heaven, and said in the same words he had spoken on the night of the Passover, as John had told me:
"And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was!"
As he spoke, we raised our faces from the ground, to behold him leaving the earth, rising from the hilltop into the air, with a slow and majestic ascension, his hands outspread over us who were beneath, as if shedding down blessings upon us all. The loud burst of surprise which rose from five hundred voices at seeing him soar away into the atmosphere, was followed by a profound and awful silence, as we watched him rise and still rise, ascending and still ascending, into the upper air, his whole form growing brighter and brighter, as the distance widened between his feet and the earth!
Upon our knees, in speechless wonder, we followed his ascent with our amazed eyes, not a word being spoken by any soul; nay, hearts might have been heard beating in the intense expectation of the moment!
Lo! in the far-off height of heaven, we beheld suddenly appear a bright cloud, no larger than a man's hand, but each instant it expanded and grew broader and brighter, and, swift as the winged lightning, descended through the firmament downward, until we beheld it evolve itself into a glittering host of angels, which no man could number, countless as the stars of heaven. As these shining legions descended, they parted into two bands, and sweeping along the air, met the ascending Son of God in mid-sky! The rushing of their ten thousand times ten thousand wings, was heard as the sound of many waters. Surrounding Jesus, like a shining cloud, they received him into their midst, and hid him from our eyes amid the glories of their celestial splendor!
Now came to our ears the sounds of heavenly song, a sublimer chorus than earth ever heard before. From the squadrons of Seraphim and Cherubim encircling with their linked wings the Son of God, came, like the unearthly music one hears in the dreams of night, these words, receding, as they mounted upward with the Conqueror of Death and Hell:
"Lift up your heads, O ye gates!And be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors;And the King of Glory shall come in!"
"Lift up your heads, O ye gates!And be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors;And the King of Glory shall come in!"
This chorus seemed to be answered from the inmost heavens, as if an archangel were standing at its portals, keeping watchful guard over the entrance facing the earth.
"Who is the King of Glory?""The Lord strong and mighty, even the Lord mighty in battle against principalities and powers,"
"Who is the King of Glory?"
"The Lord strong and mighty, even the Lord mighty in battle against principalities and powers,"
was chanted back from the ascending escort of Jesus, in the sublimest strains of triumphant joy.
"Lift up your heads, O ye gates! and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in!"
"Lift up your heads, O ye gates! and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in!"
Upon this we heard a mighty voice, as it were in heaven, accompanied by the sound of a trumpet, and ten thousand voices about the throne of Jehovah seemed to say:
"God is coming up with a shout. He rideth upon the heavens! He ascendeth on high! He hath led captivity captive, and received gifts for men. O clap your hands, all ye people of earth! Shout his triumph, ye hosts of heaven!"Fling wide your gates, O City of God! Be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors, for the King of Glory enters in!"
"God is coming up with a shout. He rideth upon the heavens! He ascendeth on high! He hath led captivity captive, and received gifts for men. O clap your hands, all ye people of earth! Shout his triumph, ye hosts of heaven!
"Fling wide your gates, O City of God! Be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors, for the King of Glory enters in!"
Ascending and still ascending, receding and still receding, fainter and fainter, came down to earth the angelic choruses, when at length the brightest cloud of angels faded away into the upper heaven, the Son of God shining in their midst, like a central sun, surrounded by a luminous halo; till finally, like a star, they remained a few moments longer, and then the heavens received him out of our sight.
While we stood gazing up into the far skies, hoping, expecting, yet doubting if we should ever behold him again, two bright stars seemed to be descending from the height of heaven above us. In a few seconds we saw that they were angels. Alighting on the place where Jesus had left, they said to the eleven, "Why gaze ye up into heaven, ye men of Galilee? This same Jesus, whom ye have seen go into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have now seen him ascend!" Thus speaking, they vanished out of our sight!
Such, my dear father, is the appropriate crowning event of the extraordinary life of Jesus, both Lord and Christ!
His kingdom is, therefore, my dear father, clearly not of this world, as he said to Pilate, the Procurator; but it is Above.
Doubt, then, no longer, dearest father! Jesus, the Son of Mary in his human nature, was the Son of God in his divine nature; an incomprehensible and mysterious union, whereby he had brought together in harmony the two natures, separated far apart by sin, by giving his own body as an offering, to reconcile both in one immaculate body upon the cross. There is now no more condemnation to them who believe in him and accept him.
But I cannot write all I would say to you, dearest father. When we meet—which you rejoice me in saying, will be on the first day of the week, at Jerusalem—I will unfold to you all that the divine and glorified Jesus has taught me. Doubt not that he is Messias. Hesitate not to accept him; for he is the end of Moses, and of the Law, and of the Prophets, the very Shiloh who should come and restore all things; to whom be glory, power, dominion, majesty, and excellency, evermore.
Your loving daughter,
Adina.
The End.
The New Sabbath Library—(Continued fromsecond page cover.)
No. 5. August, 1898.
The Days of Mohammed
By ANNA MAY WILSON.
Selected as being the best manuscript offered during the contest of 1897, and awarded the prize of $1,000.
Yusuf, a Persian of the fire-worshiping sect, has, at his first sacrifice of a human life, revolted against the horror of his religion, and he decides to leave Persia in search of Truth. In his travels he meets that strangest character of ancient or medieval times, Mohammed. The scene is confined almost entirely to Arabia.
No. 8. November, 1898.
A Star in a Prison
A TALE OF CANADA.
By ANNA MAY WILSON.
The central figure of the story is a young man who, being placed in the penitentiary on circumstantial evidence, there learns to understand the spirit of Christ's self-giving, and is finally set free through the instrumentality of a Christian doctor.
No. 6. September, 1898.
CHONITA
By ANNIE MARIA BARNES.
The gifted author of this book has here produced a vivid and intensely interesting story of the Mexican Mines. It first appeared in theYoung People's Weekly, and its publication in book form is in response to numerous requests from its many thousands of delighted readers. A number of short but interesting stories are added at the end of the book.
No. 9. December, 1898.
Ten Nights in a Bar-Room
By T. S. ARTHUR.
New and complete edition of this famous work, which has acquired a world-wide reputation as the most thrilling and powerfully written temperance story ever produced. The book comprises 96 large pages, with illustrations. Printed from new type on good paper. It is the cheapest edition ever published, and is here produced in handsome and attractive form.
No. 7. October, 1898.
The Prince of the House of David
By REV. J. H. INGRAHAM.
The fame of this book has been long since established, and its fascination has already held sway over multitudes of delighted readers. The scene is laid in Jerusalem, during the most stirring period of earth's history. This edition has been thoroughly revised and in parts rewritten, all unnecessary repetition appearing in the original edition of the book being omitted.
No. 10. January, 1899.
Intra Muros; or, Within the Walls.
A DREAM OF HEAVEN.
By MRS. REBECCA R. SPRINGER.
Author of "Beechwood," "Self," "Songs by the Sea," "Leon," etc. An entertaining book, calculated to make heaven seem nearer and more real to us, and death far less gloomy. This remarkable work will bring comfort and consolation to the heart of every reader.
In addition to those mentioned above, a new book will be issued every month. It is our intention to make this the best, cheapest and most complete Sunday-school Library in the world. Nothing so comprehensive has ever been attempted. The exceedingly low price at which the pamphlet (5-cent) edition of this Library is offered is regarded as a remarkable achievement, and one that no publishing house, unless fully and thoroughly equipped with modern machinery and ample facilities, would attempt. Each book comprises a complete story in one volume. The five-cent editions are as large and handsome as most books usually sold for twenty-five cents. The cloth (twenty-five-cent) editions are worthy a place in any library, and are as good value as books usually sold for fifty cents to one dollar.
In literary merit they have no superiors and few equals. These books are carefully written by the best authors, and are especially adapted for home reading. Young and old alike enjoy and appreciate them. Nothing of an objectionable nature is admitted, and they all inculcate teachings that will strengthen noble impulses and improve character. Although of great interest to the general reader, they are in no way sensational or demoralizing. We have aimed in these books to furnish to the young the purest books that the best authors are capable of writing. Some of them are prize-winners and have attained a wide reputation.
The five-cent edition of these books is admirably adapted for Sunday-school use, either for the library or as presents to classes or the whole school. Every Sunday-school in the land should subscribe regularly for several copies of the New Sabbath Library, and thus be certain of getting promptly the new numbers as they are published each month. Subscriptions received for an entire year or any number of months. Single copies, or any quantity of any special book, promptly sent on receipt of price.
Send 5 cents for any one of these books, examine and read it for yourself, and you will agree that we have inaugurated a new era in publishing, and one that will be of incalculable benefit to the young as well as a help to parents and teachers. Those who may not wish to subscribe by the year may procure one or more copies of any book on the following terms:
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