Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1894-03-23
THE SUNDAT SCHOOL
LESSON XII, FIRST QUARTER, INTER.
NATIONAL SERIES, MARCH 25.

AS last week the missionary lesson took
precedence of the temperance lesson, it
seems very fitting that this week the Easter
lesson should be chosen instead of the re
view. The resurrection Is set before us
nearly 30 times in the Acts of the Apostles
lat least four times seven times) as the
great topic which the apostles preached
and is in the epistles constantly kept be
bore us as our hope His return and oui
resurrection and inspiration to patience
and faith, holiness and zeal in His service
(Rom. viii, IS, %; Cor. XIV, 81, So So; Phil.
iii, 90, 81; Col. iii, -; Thess. Iii, 13).
BLESSED and holy is he that hath part in
the first resurrection" Rev. Xxx, 6).
l. And when the Sabbath was past,
Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother OF
james, and Salome had bought sweet
spices, that they might come and anoint
Him" In Luke xiii, Sc, we read that hav-
ing seen where His body was laid they re
turned from the sepulcher, bought the
spices and rested the Sabbath day accord
ing to the commandment. We cannot but
admire their love and devotion to Him
to whom they had so faithfully minis
tered in His life among them, and He will
give them full credit for it all But if they
had believed His words they would not
have looked for His dead body in the tomb
on the third day (Math xvi, II; xvii, %;
XXX, 19) So love without faith may do UNI
necessary work and msspend time and
money. Mary of Bethany, because she be-
lieved His word, had anointed His body be
for, hand for His burial Mark xiv, 81.
9. And very early in the morning, the
first day of the week, they came unto
the sepulcher at the rising of the sun"
1t had been dark Sabbath to them, with
out any bright hopes for the morrow,
because of their lack of faith, but they
kept the day by holy resting. See one Of
the best precepts for keeping the holy day
in lisa. lviii, ID, H. We rejoice to keep the
first day instead of the seventh, because of
his rising on that day and appearing to the
disciples, and because of all o. L. eighth
day types ara n. T. plain teaching acts
XIX, a. Those who still keep seventh day
are seeking to live in the days before His
resurrection.
3. And they said among themselves,
Who shall roll us away the stone from the
door of the sepulcher?" Satan is always sug
costing hindrances in the way of those who
love the Lord, hindrances and discourage
ments to keep us from going forward-they
seem sometimes very real, and sometimes
they are only imaginary. The risen Christ
at Gods right hand, having all power in
heaven and on EARTH is the one cure for all
such, aud His promise, $40, am with you
Away our constant strength. He shall
not fail or be discouraged lisa. xiii, ~.
4. And when they looked, they saw that
the stone was rolled away, for it was very
great" Difficulties vanish as we go for
ward. Sometimes we are to stand still and
see the salvation of the Lord lex. xiv, l3),
but sometimes ourfeet must actually touch
the waters before they divide (Joshua iii, ID,
l5). When He putteth forth His sheep, He
goeth before them The Lord, He it is that
doth go before thee; He will be with thee,
He will not fail thee, neither forsake thee:
fear not, neither be dismayed John X, 4;
Deut. XXI, s.. He did not need the stone
rolled away that He might rise, but it was
probably rolled away that they and Others
might see for themselves that His body was
no longer in the tomb.
/ s. A id entering into the sepulcher, they
saw a young man sitting on the right side,
clothed in Il long white garment, and they
were aflrighted." Matthew says that an
! angel sat on the stone and greeted the won.
en- Luke says that two angels stood by
| them in the tomb, while John says that
Mary saw two angels sitting, the one at the
head and the other at the feet where the
| body of Jesus had lain. There is no con
tradiction, but Il description of the differ
! ent attitudes of the two angels as seen by
different persons at different times See in
! the angel as a young man the suggestion
| of immortal youth.
6. And he saith unto them, Be not af-
frighted; We seek Jesus of Nazareth, which
was crucifed; He is risen; He is not here,
| behold the place where they laid Him. -
From Gen. XIV, l, to Rev. i, H. one of the
greatest words of God and angels to the
children of men is Fear mott or BE not
afraid" Find all you can of them and hold
| them fast. Remember that His perfect love
| to us will dispel all our fears if we only be
lieve it Il John iv, 1918. If we have
fears, it is because we are not abiding in
His love- therefore He says, LAS the Father
hath loved Me, so have | loved you. Con.
tinue ye in My love" And again it is writ
ten, Keep yourselves in the love of God
John XIV, 9; Jude %. The angels doubt
less rejoced to tell that Christ had risen.
According to Math. xvii, 6, one of them
reminded the women that He had said He
would rise, as if gently reproving them for
looking for dead Christ How our unbe-
lief must grieve Him as well as hinder
Him from using us as He would like to-
Think of His words, 20 ye of little
faithH' 20 fools, and slow of heart to be
level" Have faith in God"
Z. But 20 your way, tell His disciples
and Peter that He goeth before you into
Galilee. There shall ye see Him as He said
unto you" Compare Math. xviii, Z, and
John Xxx, II, with this verse and hear
Christ and angels say to you, Go, tellr'
Father, Son and Spirit are ever saying,
Whom shall | send, and who will 90 for
us?" But how few are saying, Here am
|; send mel'' How little benefit even be
levers seem to derive from Christ, cruel
lied, risen, assembled! So little that it does
hot seem to them to be worth mentioning
s. And they went out quickly, and fled
from the sepulcher, for they trembled and
were amazed; neither said they anything
to any man, for they were afraid" In Math.
| xviii, 8, il is written that they did run to
bring the disciples word so it must have
been on their way to the disciples that they
sand nothing to any man. They would now
think of his words about rising again,
which they had Lot believed before; they
would think how their unbelief led them
into many mistakes; they would wonder,