The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1912-04-03
LESSON FOR APRIL 7.
EASTER LESSON.

LESSON ] VII ~ I'LL '
EASTER LESSON.
LESSON TEXT Cor. 16:1-11.
GOLDEN TEXT-"Thls Jesus did Goo
gaIse up, whereof we all are witnesses"
Acts 2:32.
ST. Paul may not make direct re
ference to the virgin birth OF vi
Lord, though he certainly knew OF the
prophecy that q Virgin shall con-
ceive," lisa. 7-14}, but what does 1t
matter? 1t ia not greater miracle to
be born than to rise triumphant over
death. That Paul assumes the fact
is evident from this lesson. Literally
he begins by saying, Now 1 make
known the gospel which I preached
onto you at Corinth, whereby you are
saved and what you must always re-
member, that Christ, who came full
filling all that was promised In the
Scripture, died for OUT sins and rose
again" Paul goes on b tell en-
plicitiy of many who had seen jesus
after the resurrection and, most In
portant OF all, how he, himself, a
seer the Christ.
Last of all he wss seen OF me
also. Though I am least OF ala the
saints IN that / prosecuted the church,
get l am what I am, and his grace was
not bestowed upon me in vain" Paul
was not such a '"bad man" from the
accepted moral standards Of bis time,
yet he felt the truth Of what Christ
said, w.t., that the essence OF sin Is
that ''they believe not on ne"
Paul, once he gave his life to Jesus.
'Iabored more abundantfy;" yet he
says, Tor fear someone would misun-
,derstand him, mot that did the
work, but God was with me-"
The fact of the resurrection OF je-
-sus Christ IL the best proven fact OF
history. In the first place the DIS
.ctples themselves did not expect 5e-
sus to die John 12:34), hence, OF
course, they never ever thought OF
the resurrection mark 9:10). IN the
third place when ON that Easter morn
Mary reported the empty tomb and of
having seen the Lord, the APOSTLES
thought It .ffdle talk (Luke 24:1f).
When the women reported having &c
'tually seen him, the men, and how
many men like, to take instruction
from a woman. were unuonvineed
and rather doubted those who had
'conyersed with him on the road to
Emmaus. ,.
Again, when seen by the ten, Thorn
ras would not accept the report till
he 'hud seen his hands and his feet.
1t would have been easy for the Jews
to have 'disproved the story of the
physical resurrection; all that would
have been needed would be to have
shown the body and said: "Here he
is. zee these hands and these feet,
the pierced side and SCARED brow, this
'is the body of the young prophet"
Arguments Based ~on Unbelfef-
All arguments to convince us that
Jesus did not rise are based upon un-
belief and the answer of countless
millions throughout nearly twenty
centuries has been the words OF Pau
| fverse |2O) but Nov is Christ risen
from the dead" To deny is 'to;be lost
I'm the fog, our preaching vain. n
we have no ground Of faith. See
verses 1914. To accept 'is to place a
firm foundation underneath our
whole Christian scheme, to set the
seal Of authority and purity upon the
life OF him whom all men, Jew and
Gentle alike, say was good, and opens
a vista of hope for all who die IN the
Lord.
Paul goes on to show that the res
direction Of Jesus is the beginning OF
a plan whereby all the human race
who are related to Christ shall like
wise he resurrected. Even as through
the ~transgression of one man ain
came upon the whole human race, IN
like manner by the perfect life Of
obedience upon the part OF one mar
we may all be made alive.
Paul makes a strong contrast be
tween the death of the believer and
that of the 'non!believer. "T I fight
with beasts at Ephesus what 'adran-
tage does that have? Let us eat and
drink. for tomorrow we die" Not SO,
however. with the Christian, hence he
exhorts the Christians to be awake
to righteousness and to sin not.
A suggested outliIe for the study
Of this subject would be as Soflows:
/. The Fact.
Unprecedented.
Well established.
According to prophecy.
Christ's browning miracle.
IT.. It's Significance.
Proof of Christ's deity, Rom. Ia
Type OF our resurrection, Phil
1921. :,
A victory over the devil, Heb. 2:
IA, Is.
A fundamental basis of Christian
ity.
III. Its Application.
He is OIL risen, everlasting KING.
We shall recognize our dead.
He left US to establish his king
dom.
Only Friends Saw Him.
For the younger classes this story
Of the first Easter is a most fascinat-
- dramatic tpOdpr inSnfrinP.