Magyar Egyház, 1970 (49. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1970-03-01 / 3. szám
MAGYAR EGYHÁZ 11 Easter assurance The Easter miracle, the resurrection of Christ, gives us an assurance as through a symbolical pledge and sign that as our Lord died and rose from the dead, so shall His followers die and live again in His eternal kingdom. This is why Easter is a true joy for every Christian. The apostles and all the other nameless disciples who lived in the first century, all believed in the resurrection of Christ. No fear of death Do you believe in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, that as He rose from the dead, so shall those who trust Him and love Him rise and live with Him eternally? If you have this faith, then you will have no fear of death. For you know that life is more powerful than death. You know that at Easter life became victorious over death and for this we all are glad through Jesus Christ who brought this Easter joy to us. Christ-searching Christian friend, did you go to the empty tomb? Have you heard the encouraging words? Be not afraid! He is not here, for He is risen!” I greet the leaders and members of the Hungarian Reformed Church in America with this Easter joy in the living Savior, and ask God to fill every believer’s heart with pure and holy rejoicing. Let this centrally important doctrine of the Bible be passed on from father to son and let this faith radiate from mother to daughter, and from generation to generation and bring joy into every heart, home and church — throughout the world! For Christ is risen, indeed! Tibor Toth: THE RISEN CHRIST DRIVES OUT FEAR “We have nothing to fear, hut fear itself," said the late President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Indeed, fear is the chief demon of modern life. Millions of human beings today are literally afraid. We see so many anxious faces, harassed, tense, weary, haunted by worry and dread. Even the apparent care-free existence of many people is often found to he merely a veneer and a sham. Thousands are whistling to keep up their courage. For many the day in which we live is filled with uncertainty and fear. The newspaper and television media brings to us reports that seem to indicate the world is becoming worse than ever. The crime rate has reached such alarming proportions that we dare not walk our city streets after dusk. Poverty is made more common by the increasing population. It is obvious that nations are afraid of each other. Vietnam, Laos, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America are arenas of bloody conflicts. Here in our land riots, protest marches, racial strife are signs of our restlessness, signs of a haunting, debilitating, heartbreaking fear. Someone has said that the human race has, maybe, 35 years left. This writer brings together some very impressive facts showing trends in population, food, natural resources, water pollution, air pollution, hunger, technology and nuclear warfare. He notes the almost uniformly pessimistic outlook of the majority of experts in these matters, and speaks of our possible descent toward chaos. Teenage girls shrieked as the youthful singer in a black jacket and skin-tight pants hugged the microphone and moaned: “Cancel my subscription to the Resurrection . . . We want the world and we wrant it now . . . Deliver me from reason . . . I’d rather fly.. Many young people today have forsaken the Christian religion with its concept of ultimate hope and rational conduct. But many older people also fail to look forward to the Resurrection, or to a final Judgement. Fear of the present and fear of the future has made them panicky, driven them to experiment with pagan ideas and ideals. Can we hope? The disciples had been downcast. All their hopes and expectations had crashed about their heads on the day of the crucifixion and they were sorely afraid. Now Jesus had risen from the grave and the electrifying news spread far and near. Their fear changed to joy. It was so much more than they hoped. When the Easter events becomes real to you, it will turn darkness into the light of day. At sunset might was right, but at sunrise the disciples knew that God’s will overshadowed all. At sunset the grave said that death was the end but sunrise said, "He lives! He lives!” At sunset the cross was the example of tyranny but at sunrise it was the symbol of love divine. At sunset the disciples were fearful and discouraged hut at sunrise they were filled with joy. When the Easter event becomes real, it turns doubts into certainties, it erases the human problem of anxiety and fear. The Living Christ calls upon us to exercise our faith in Him and to trust Him. Is faith and trust your response to the world in which we live? The most potent power on earth is not atomic — it is the power of a risen Lord channeled through those who believe and are committed to Him. As a shield against all evil, as a panacea for fear, worry and care, Martin Luther would repeat over
