T h e f o l l o w in g l in e s are excerpts taken from a letter written by Napoleon Bonaparte to one of his gen erals who considered Christ only a great moralist and genius. Napoleon was at this time in exile on the Isle of St. Helena, his last earthly home. “Now that I am at St. Helena, now that I am fas tened down alone upon this rock, who fights my battles and conquers empires for me? Do men think of me? Who exerts himself for me in Europe? Who has remained faithful to my name? . . . Such is the fate of great men! Such is the fate of Caesar and Alexander; and then we are forgotten. How many and various judgments are passed on the great Louis XIV. Scarcely was he dead when the great king himself was left alone in the soli tude of his bedroom in Versailles . . . He was no longer their master, but a corpse, the tenant of a coffin and a grave. Such is the approaching fate of the great Napol eon! What an abyss is there between the depth of my misery and the eternal reign of Christ who is preached, praised, loved, adored, and living throughout the uni verse! Can that be called death? Is it not rather life?” The great “ abyss” that Napoleon referred to between his person and kingdom and that of Christ’s needs little explanation. There is no comparison between the person, life, accomplishments, and kingdom of the majestic Christ
and the miserable, erring leaders and kingdoms of this world. Where is the leadership? Where are the thrones of the world conquerors of the past? Come see the place where their bodies were laid, and there rests the answer. The worms have eaten their flesh and dust has returned to dust. Their kingdoms have decayed and vanished with their leaders! Now, “ come see the place where the Lord lay.” “He is not here, for He is risen” (Matt. 28:6). “ Neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see cor ruption” (Acts 2:27). “ God raised Him from the dead” (Acts 13:30). “Him hath God exalted with His right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour” (Acts 5:31). Napoleon died in despair. Christ died a victorious death, a death in which He paid the full wages of sin for a fallen race. He now lives at God’s right hand and invites all to share His eternal kingdom with Him, a kingdom built on love and truth. “ And of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end” (Isa. 9:7). Easter time is a fitting time to accept His gracious invitation. The way is sample: “ Except a man be bom again he cannot see the Kingdom of God” (John 3:3). “ I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live” (John 11:25). You can have this eternal life now. “ He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life” (John 3:36).
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APRIL, 1963
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