Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1901-04-26
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Lesson In the international Series
for AprEI IS, 1sO1-Jesus APP
pears to the Apostles.
Prepared by H. c. Lenington.1
THE LESSON TEXT.
IIoIln a0-1q-29l

SJOnn Z9:lS-29.)
L. Then the same day at evening, being
| the first day of the week. when the doors
were shut where the disciples were assem-
bled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and
stood in the midst, and saith unto them,
| Peace be unto you.
| 20 And when He had so said, He showed
unto them His hands and His side. Then
were the disciples glad, when they saw the
Lord. =
2 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace
be unto you; as my Father hath sent Ne.
even so send you.
q And when He had said this, He
| breathed on them, and saith unto them,
Receive ye the Holy Ghost.
o. Whose soever sins We remit, they are
RENTED unto them; and whose soever sins
ye retain, they are retained.
| "a. But Thomas, one of the twelve, called
Didymus, was not with them when Jesus
came.
q. The other disciples therefore said
unto Him, We have seen the Lord. But
He said unto them, Except I shall see In
His hands the print OF the nails, and put
my ringer into the print of the nails, and
| LieVe.
&C. And after eight days again His dis
clples were within, and Thomas with
| them; then came Jesus, the doors being
| shut and stood in the midst, and said,
| Peace be unto you.
q Then saith He to Thomas, Reach
hlther thy finger, and behold my hands;
and reach hither thy hand and thrust it
into my side; and be not faithless but be-
lieving
2S And Thomas answered and said unto
Him, My Lord and my God.
| 20. Jesus saith unto Him, Thomas, be-
| cause thou hast seen me, thou hast be-
heVed; blessed are they that have not seen,
ard yet have believed.
! GOLDEN TEXT:-BIessed are they
that have not seen, and yet have be-
1ieVed.-JOhn 2O:20.
The text treats of two appearances
of Jesus to His disciples. The one
was upon the evening of the day upon
which He arose from the dead. Upon
that occasion all the apostles were
| together, except Thomas. On the fol-
lowing Sunday evening they were to-
| gether again, Thomas being present
this time. The lesson text may be
outlined as follows:
The Risen Christ and His ApostIes..v ". 1928
Doubling Thomas .....................V.A -25
Another Appearance; Thomas Con-
E w 49,. ...'.'...-.....-....N 26-29
The Risen Christ and His Apostles.
The picture we have is that of ten
OF the twelve apostles gathered to-
gether in a room in Jerusalem. Other
disciples were probably present, in
Guiding certain women. It was more
or less of a secret meeting, the dis
ciples being afraid of the Jews, who
were likely to modest them on account
of the disappearance of the body of
the crucified Jesus. It is into this room
and at this time that Jesus comes.
None of the apostles had as vet seen
Jesus, except Peter; they had only
heard of the resurrection, and the
news seemed too good to be true. In
other words, they hardly dared to be-
Heve it, and were far from being ut
terly convinced. To the frightened
disciples the first message of Jesus
was one of peace: peace be unto
you" His second message was one of
assurance. He was the risen Saviour;
they need not longer doubt, for there
were the wounds which they might
see. His third message was a call
to service: ''As My Father hath sent
Me, even so send you" His fourth
message was concerning the gift of
the Holy Spirit which should be as
the breath of life to them, and en-
anate from Himself.
The power to forgive sins ". 2s)
has been one of the moot questions
of the age. Did Christ confer upon
disciples the power to forgive sins?
We would say that He did not. None
can forgive sins save God only. But
Christ did use a very impressive
means of teaching the disciples how
very much depended upon their eff
forts. They were to preach the Cos
pei and proclaim the forgiveness of
sins. It is the privilege of any and
every follower of Jesus Christ to say
TO those who earnestly seek entrance
into the kingdom: "Thy sins be for
given thee"
Doubling ThOmas.-T Thomas was not |
with the other apostles on the occa-
sion just described. The other dis |
ciples, therefore, told him that they |
had actually seen the Lord. Thomas |
declared he would not believe until |
he could see and feel the very print of |
the nails in the hands of Jesus.
Another Appearance; Thomas Con- |
vinced.-A week later, or "after eight |
days." including the two Sundays, as |
was the Jewish mode of counting time, |
the apostles again met, this time |
Thomas with them. Jesus again en-
tered in the same manner as He did |
the week previous. Seeking out |
Thomas, Jesus gave him the literal |
proof of His identity Thomas had |
asked for, and added: "Be not faith |
less, but believing" This incident is
one of the best proofs of the resur-
rection we have, that even doubling,
skeptical Thomas should be convinced |
More than that, he was profoundly |
moved, and exclaimed: "My Lord and
my God" with the emphasis in the
first case upon my and later on the
God" But Jesus added for those
who should come after He had ascend
ed to the Father: BLESSED are they
that have not seen, and yet have be-
heved." After all, God is not to be |
aPprehended with the physical sense, |
DuL by the spiritual being in man,
called the soul, and the sixth sense,
which is faith.