Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1895-04-13
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON n, SECOND QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, APRIL -.
Text OF the Lesson. i Cor. Nv, S-14 Gan
Easter LessonD--Memory Verses. 1914.
Golden Text, i Cor. Nv, eO-commen-
tary by the Rev. ID. NJ. Stearns-

8. For delivered unto You, first OF all,
that which also received-how that Christ
died for our sins, according to the Scrip
lures" Various sections of this epistle are
easily recognized by the words "now con-
corning" or now as touching" Chapters
vii, /; viii, ]; xii, /; xvi, H. The section
In which we find our lesson begins with
xii, ], and concerns the diverslties OF gifts
which exist in the one body OF Christ, the
church. showing the supremacy OF love
and exhorting TO be always Astounding in
the work of the Lord (xv, bs).
4. "And that He was buried, and that
He rose again the third day, according to
the Scriptures" The death and burial
and resurrection of Christ, which consti-
tute the contamination of His finished
work and may be summarized by the
phrase His blood. 4" were plainly foretold
and may be readily seen by anointed eyes
in Ps. xvi and xiii, lisa. lviii and else
where.
g. And that He was seen of Cephas,
then Of the twelve" On resurrection day
He was seen on five different occasions
first by Mary Magdalene, then by the other
women, after that by the two who walked
to Emmaus, also by Peter, and in the even
ing by the twelve, as they were called, but
that evening Thomas was not present, and
Judas Iscariot had gone to his own place.
See Luke xiv, 33, "a; John XIX, "a. That
He should honor Peter with a special APP
pearance, and also with a special message
MARK xvi, y, should be matter of special
interest to any one who may have, through
temptation, wandered away.
6. After that He was seen Of above 500
brethren at once, of whom the greater
part remain unto this present, but some
are fallen asleep" This must have been
the largest number to which Ho appeared
at one time and may have been in Galilee
or on the mount of the ascension, proba-
bly, the former. If two or three witnesses
could establish a matter, such a company
ought to make it very sure. We have no
record of His ever appearing after the res
direction and before the ascension to any
but brethren-that is, believers-and
when He comes again, as believers only
saw Him ascend, SO only believers will
meet Him on His way Il Thess. iv, 10, I'D.
T. after that He was seen of James,
then of all the apostles" We would not
have known of this special appearance to
James If Paul had not told us, and 1t may
be that both Peter and James talked with
Paul Of these special appearings when he
saw them during his visit to Jerusalem
(Gal /, Is, 19) There were at least 10 or
IL appearances, including tho one at the
ascension; then after the ascension He
was seen by Stephen and Paul and John.
That He rose from the dead and is now at
the right hand of the Father is fact well
established.
8. And, last of all, He was seen of me
also, as of one born out of due time"
This was the last appearance up to Pauls
time, for the appearance TO John In Pat
mos was full 80 years later. wonder why
Paul did not mention the appearance to
Stephen. Perhaps 1t was too sore recol-
lection. Paul speaks of his conversion
when the Lord appeared to him as birth
before the time, and also a pattern of
those who should hereafter believe q Tim.
/, 16), for the conversion of the nation OF
Israel will be when they look upon Him at
His coming in glory. We are now saved
by looking to Him, not upon Him. Com
pare lisa. xiv, 90, and Zech xii, 10.
8. For / am the least of the apostles
that am not meet to be called an apostle,
because prosecuted the church of God.
Paul's growth in his own estimation was
true growth In grace. 1t was very lowly
to call himself ''least of the apostles" 1t
was more lowly, at a later period, to speak
of himself as less than the least of all
saints (Eph. iii, 81 but it was lowest of
all, at still later period, to call himself
1.-THE chief of sinners" q Tim. i, 15).
This is the work of the Spirit to magnify
the Lord in all His loveliness and to in
creasingly expose the hideousness of tho
natural man. May we all grow thus.
10. but by the grace of God am what
/ am, and His srace which was bestowed
upon me- was not in vain, but i labored
more abundantly than they all, yet not l,
but the grace of God, which was with me- :"
Paul was forever magnifying the grace of
God, by which we are saved, In which we
stand, which is yet to be more fully re-
vealed, and which Paul felt was In his
case exceeding abundant (Eph. ii, 8;
Rom. v, 2; l Pet. /, IS; / Tim. /, l4).
This abundant grace constrained him to
abundant labors, but he wholly renounces
all thought of his doing anything, and, as
in Gal. H. 90, emphasizes his mot /, but
Christ, mot 1, but the grace of God"
IL. Therefore, whether 1t were i or
they, SO we preach, and SO ye believed"
Whether it was Paul or Apollos or Ce-
phas, they were only ministers by whom
the Lord wrought Il Cor. iii, 5-7), so that
the members cannot and must not glory,
only In the Lord, for no flesh shall glory
in His presence. Let us glory only in the
Lord
IL "Now, If Christ be preached that He
rOSC run tIlc dcdO, now say eOiue among
you that there is no resurrection of the
dead?'' The Sadducees did not believe in
any resurrection duke xx, 27). Some
gentiles Knocked at the idea (Acts xvii,
32); but, worse still, some protesting
Christians of our time say that at death
we get our resurrection body, and they
have no further use for the body that is
laid in the grave. Yet 1t is plainly writ
ten that all that are in their graves shall
come forth. They that sleep in the dust
of the earth shall awake, and when Jesus
rose from the dead many bodies of the
saints which slept arose and came out of
the graves and went into the holy city and
appeared unto many (John V, 2S, 90; Dan.
Xii, Q; Math. xvii, 90, 53(
13 But if there be no resurrection of
the dead then is Christ not risen.' This
verse, i think, gives the key to verse 20,
which perplexes many. The question
which Paul is arguing is, Has Christ
riseni Now, All believers were baptized In
the name of The Lord Jesus, but If He is a
dead Christ, and not risen, why baptize
for the dead! Why baptize any one in the
name of a dead Christ.
a. And IL Christ be not risen then Is
our preaching vain, and yonr faith is also
vain" He gees IN 70 ndd that if Christ
be not risen all preachers are false wit
nesses and oil living believers are still in
their sins, and all dead believers have per-
ishcd The great fact Of the res urrection of