The Angels of the Sepulchre
In the most beautiful cemetery at the capital of this Commonwealth stands a marble statue carved by the cunning of Palmer’s chisel. It represents ‘’ The Angel of the Sepulchre.” On every side the dead are sleeping; but beside them sits this silent sentinel, as if to guard the slumbering dust until the resurrection-trump sounds the riveille on the Judgment morn. That angel which Palmer’s chisel fashioned is of solid stone; but the “angels in white” whom Mary of Magdala saw in the deserted tomb of Jesus were pure incorporeal spirits. They assumed a visible form; but angels are never described as material beings of flesh and blood like ourselves. Excelling in Strength, they go forth as God’s messengers to do His will, to watch over children, to bear home the departed spirits of God’s people, and to encamp round about His covenant ones who fear Him.
From those angelic appearances at the tomb of our Redeemer on His resurrection morn we may gather some cheering lessons. When the anxious Marys were on their way to that tomb with their spices, the thought flashed into their minds, “Who will roll away for us that rock at the sepulchre?” But the difficulty is solved in a way that they had not dreamed of. An angel from heaven has already been there, and has opened the gate of rock to let the King of Glory out. So God often sends an angel of Help to roll away our hinderances. Some of them are real obstacles, some of them are created by our fears. The awakened sinner often encounters difficulties in a stubborn will, or in long-formed habits, or in obstinate appetites. As soon as he submits to Christ, he finds these difficulties give way: divine power achieves for him what his own unaided weakness could not accomplish.
Many a child of God has been brought under a sore bereavement, and the first thought has been, Oh, how can I bear this burden of grief? How can I surmount all these new hardships and difficulties? A widow left with a brood of orphans, and with scanty provision to feed and clothe them, is tempted to give up in despair. But when she reaches one difficulty after another, lo! the stone is rolled away. A friend provides for this lad; a home is offered to another; a third begins to help himself and mother too; and she soon finds that she can do a hundred things which she thought impossible. Beside the widow in her weeds walked an angel in white, which strengthened her.
God always has an angel of help for those who are willing to do their duty.
How often have we been afraid to undertake some difficult work for Him, but as soon as we laid hold of it the rock of hinderance was removed. The tempter told us that if we attempted to save some hardened soul we should encounter an immovable adamant. We had faith enough to try, and prayer brought the power which turned the heart of stone to flesh. Evermore the adversary is busy in frightening us from labors of love for our Master. Yet if our single aim is to reach Jesus and to honor Jesus, no hinderance is immovable. The world thought Paul a madman and Luther a fanatic, and Wilberforce and DutT but pious visionaries. When the Omnipotent Help came down, opposing rocks were swept away, and the Devil’s guards were put to flight. The very lions which frighten — “Mistrust” and “Timorous” — are discovered to be “chained” when a persevering Christian comes up to them.
But Help is not the only angel which God sends to His believing ones. There is another bright spirit, whom we never meet more surely than at the sepulchre where our treasures sleep. The name of this angel in white is Hope. She sits to-day by the little mounds that cover the forms we loved. When I go out to the grassy hill in Greenwood where my darling boy has lain for a dozen summers, I meet that angel at the tomb. The words she chanted when the casket was sealed up and hidden beneath the earth are sounding still: “All them who sleep In Jesus will God bring with Him.” As Mary Magdalene saw the angel through her tears, so the believer sees through tears of sorrow the white-robed angel of Hope. A clear-eyed angel is she, and one that excels in strength. She hath other ministering spirits with her to minister to the heirs of salvation. Patience attends her, and Prayer with a casket of promises, and Peace with her serene 10 countenance, and Love, which is stronger than death.
The tomb in Joseph’s garden was filled with light where the two bright spirits sat, “■ the one at the head and the other at the feet where the body of Jesus had lain.” Even so do the angels of Divine help and hope turn the midnight of sorrow into dawn. To the eye of unbelief the grave is a ghostly spot. Faith peoples “God’s acre” with angels, and fills the air with prophetic songs of praise. And what a scene will the Greenwoods and Mount Auburns present when the angelic legions shall roll away every stone, and gather Christ’s chosen ones to meet Him on His throne!
“Lo f the seal of death is breaking I Those who slept its sleep are waking;
Heaven opes its portals fair. Hark! the harps of God are ringing! Hark I the seraphs’ hymns are flinging Music on immortal air I”