The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1895-04-06

lament narratives is that Jesus was made
absolutely manifest in his own personality
Whether he literally terminated the ma
terial body which was cruci6ed, or whether
his spiritual body was made to appear to
his friends like his material body, is matter
for conjecture.
The record certainly impli S that Jesus,
after his rising, possessed powers which
he did not previously exercise. He be-
came visible and vanished at will he APP
peared suddenly in the midst of his disci-
pies in a room with closed doors. In this
he demonstrated to them that he was an
immortal.
The personal witnesses to the. fact of
Christ's resurrection, marshalled by Paul
within twenty-five years after the great oc-
currence, testified Enthusiastically to the fact
that Jesus rose from the dead.
This is in all the narratives the one all
important fact that ought not to be OBJ
secured.
3. Christ's Appearance to his
Enemy Saul,-vs. 8r4.
And last of all, as unto one 6orw out of
due season, he ab1eayed to me also. Paul
thus gives to the Corinthians his personal
testimony. The Risen Christ's appearance
to him, when on the road to Damascus,
was the crisis of his life. Paul had previ-
Gus to that time, as Saul the Pharisee,
hated Jesus and all who believed in him.
Jesus, knowing the capabilities of his bet
ter nature, had made himself manifest to
him in the MONDAY sky, and had spoken
to him in words of entreaty and command,
SO that his enmity was at once transformed
to friendship. (Acts o:5; IS; 2o:I59
1t was undoubtedly, in this case, a spir
itual appearance of Jesus. But Paul never
for one moment doubted that it was the
personal Jesus who had appeared to him.
1t was to this revelation of Jesus Christ"
that he owed his conversion and his Cos
pei. twas this appearance of the Risen
Christ that TRANSPORTED Saul the Pharisee
into Paul the Christian.
Paul, when writing to the Corinthian
Christians, assumed his accustomed hui
mility at the remembrance of the persecu-
ton of Christ of which he had been guilty;
yet he does not forget to remind his read
ers that by his subsequent labors in testi-
mony of his repentance and the reality OF
his faith, he had demonstrated his right to
be received as sincere and honest wit
ness.
Such is the evidence of Christ's resur-
rection which Paul summarizes. ''If this
testimony" says S. S. Mitchell, "is insult
fcient to prove the resurrection of Jesus,
then it could not be proved by any evil
dence addressed to the human senses.
Take parallel case in our day. Suppose
that one of his late Cabinet had seen him
that our late martyr President had been
raised from the dead add now to this the
testimony of all the members of the Cabi-
net; strengthen this evidence by the con-
frmation of all the heads of Departments
at Washington; add to this the eyewitness
of half thousand men and then upon all
this place the testimony of cautious,
educated and most eminent man altogether
outside tee circles of the preceding wit
nesses, and you have evidence of weight
corresponding to that which Paul adduces.
Such an accumulation of personal testi-
mony would be sufficient to prove any
event, to convince any mind"
With this testimony Paul established
the fact of Christ's resurrection. So zVx
preach, and SO ye 6elieved.
Noav If Christ is Pyeached among you,
that he hath been raised from the dead,
A0zO say same among y0n that there is no
resurrection Of the dead? The inconsist-
ency of denying general resurrection,
while accepting the fact of Christ's resur-
rection, is manifest.
1T there is no resurrection Of The dead,
neither hath Christ been raised The uni.
versal negative rules out the social afirma-
tive. What follows7 If Christ hath not
been raised, then is our Preaching vain;
that is, void. Your faith also is yafn,-
empty, without substance, deception.
Is Christian faith, if false, more than
mistake? Yea, aOe are found false init
aesses or God; because NE witnessed of
God that he raised H1 Christ, aOhom he
raised not MP, it so be that the dsadays not
raised. Denial of the resurrection of
Christ, by denying all resurrection of the
dead, was virtually charge of deliberate
Justification against all the apostles; a
charge that they had committed the crime
forbidden by the Decalogue, in bearing
false witness.
Paul is insistent on these things: that
the integrity of Christian faith is dependent
on the truth of Christ's resurrection; and
that the resurrection of Christ demon
strates that there is resurrection of the
dead.
TEACHING POINTS.