Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1895-04-13
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON n. SECOND QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, APRIL -.

LESSON u. SECOND QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, APRIL -.
Text of the Lesson. 1 Cor. Nv. STA Gan
Easter Lesson) Memory Verses. I:-I5.
Golden Text. 1 Cor. Nv. Common
tary by the Rev. u. NJ. stcarns.
3. For delivered unto You, first Of all,
that which also rcceivcd-how that Christ
died for our sins, according to the Scrip
lures" Various sections of this cpistie are
easily recognized by the words now con
corning" or now ms touching" (chaptcrs
vii, /; viii, l; xii, |; xvi, u. The section
in which we find our lesson begins with
xii, I, and concerns the dvcrsltics Of gifts
which exist in the one body Of Christ, tho
church, showing the supremacy of lovo
and exhorting To DO always Astounding In
the work of the Lord (xv, 5S)
4. And that lie was buried. and that
He rose again the third day, according To
the Scriptures. Tho death and burial
and resurrection Of Christ, which consti-
tutc the contamination of His finished
work and may be summarized by the
phrase His blood. were plainly forctold
and may bc readily seen by anointcd eyes
in Ps xvi and xiii, lisa. Twill and else
where.
o. And that He was seen Of Ccphas,
then of the twelve" On resurrection day
He wns seen ON five different occasions
first by Mary Magdalonc, then by the other
wcmcn, 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, 81, "a; John xx, "a. That
He should honor Peter with special ap-
pcarancc, and also with n special message
(Mark xvi, -, should be n matter of special
interest to any one who may have, through
temptation, wandered away.
q. After that He was seen of above 500
brethren ut once, of whom the greater
part remain unto this present. but some
are fallen asleep" This must have been
the largest number TO which He appeared
ut one time and may have been In Galilcc
or on the mount of the ascension, proba-
bly, tho former. II two or three witnesses
could establish a matter, such company
ought to make IL very sure. We have no
record of His ever appearing after the res
direction and before the ascension TO any
but brcthrcn-that Is, bclicvcrs-and
when He comes again, rs believers only
saw Him ascend, so only believers will
meet Him on His way Il Thcss ", 10, III.
:. After that He was seen OF James,
then Of all the apostles" We would not
have known OF this special appearance TO
James II Paul had not told u.s. and IL may
be that both Peter and James talked with
Paul Of these special appcarings when he
saw them during his visit to Jerusalem
(Gal. !, Is, i9). There were ut least 10 OF
IL appearances, including the ono ut tho
ASCENSION then after the ascension lie
was seen by Stephen and Paul and John.
That lie rose from the dead and is now at
the right hand of tho Father Is fact well
established
s. And, last of all, He was secu Of me
also, rs of one born out of due time 3"
This was the last appearance up TO Paul's
time, for tho appearance TO John in Pat
mos was full 30 years later. wonder why
Paul did not mention the appearance to
Stephen. Perhaps IL was too scrc rccol-
lection. Paul speaks OF his conversion
when the Lord appeared 10 him rs n birth
before the time. and also pattern OF
those who should hereafter believe Il Tim.
|, lG), for the conversion Of the nation Of
Israel will he 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, -, and Zcch xii, 10.
.. For l am the least OF the apostles
that am not meet 10 bc called an apostle,
because prosecuted the church Of God :"
Paul's growth In his own estimation was
true growth In grace. IL was very lowly
To call himself least of the apostles = 1t
was more lowly, at n later period, to speak
Of himself as less than the least of all
saints" (Eph Ill, 81 but IL was lowest Of
all, mt n still later period, to call himself
tho chief OF sinners II Tim. |. 49,.
This is the work of the Spirit to magnify
the Lord In all His loyelincss and to in
crcnsingly expose the hideousncss of tho
natural man. May we all grow thus.
10 But by the grace Of God am what
am, and His grace, which was bestowed
upon me, was not In vain, but ! laborcd
moro abundantly than they all, yet not /,
but the grace Of God, which was with me "
Paul was forever magnifying the grace of
God, by which we are saved, I'm which we
stand, which Is yet TO he more fully re-
yealcd, and which Paul felt was In his
case exceeding abundant" (Eph. ii, s;
Rom. V, .; l Pet. /. 10; Tim. /, 40.
This abundant grace constrained him 10
abundant labors, but he wholly rcnounccs
NIL thought Of his doing anything, and, ms
in Gal. II, 20, emphasizes his mot /, but
Christ, " mot /, but the grace Of God
II. Therefore, whether IL were l or
they, so we preach, and so ye believed"
Whether IL was Paul or Arollos or Ce-
phas, they were only ministers by whom
the Lord wrought q Cor. iii, 90, SO that
the members cannot and must not glory,
only In the Lord for no flesh shall glory
In 10 lot G.t1s,N L.. a..
Lord.
i2. Now, II Christ be preached that He
rose from the dead, how say some among
you that there is no resurrection of tho
dead!" The Sadducces did not believe in
any resurrection (Luke Xxx, 27). Some
gentiles Knocked at the idea (Acts xvii
32); but, worse still, some protesting
Christians of our time say that ut 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, IS. 20; Dan
xii. 2; Math. xvii, 90, 53)
10. But II there be no resurrection OF
the dead then Is Christ not risen" This
verse, think, gives the key TO verse go
which pcrplexes many The question
which Paul is arguing is, Has Christ
riscnt Now, all believers were baptized In
the name OF the Lord Jesus, but IL lie is IA
dead Christ, and not risen, why baptize
for the dcads Why baptizc any one In tho
name OF dead Christ!
II. And II Christ be not risen then Is
our preaching vain, and your faith Is also
vain" lie goes on to add that IL Christ
be not risen ali preachers are false wit
hcsses, and all living believers are still in
iheir sins, and all dead believers have per
.shed. The great fact of the resurrection Of
Christ is not truth merely for Easter,
but for every Lords day. His life and
Heath would b. Of no avail to us had He
GOT risen again. but He Is risen tvcrSo
20) and thus with power declared To- be