The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1912-06-13

Y
st. Paul was discussing the resurrec.
tiOn OF the dead. He realized that on
that great fact rested the weight of the
Gospel Message. 1t was easy enough
to prove that Jesus had died, but to an
incredulous world it was difficult to
prove that He had risen from the dead {;
and whoever could not believe that
great fact could not believe the other
great facts which stand or fall with 1t.
Last Of All He Was Seen by Me-"
Prosecuting his argument. the Apos-
tie marshaled the whole chain of wit
ncsses EXCEPT the women who first saw
the Lord on the morning of His resur-
rection. He says. He was seen OF
Cephas Peter,: then by the remainder
Of the twelve: then OF above five hun
dred brethren at once: later. He was
seen of James. then of all the Apos-
ties" when He ascended. Then comes
the text: Last of all. He was seen of
me. also"
There is something pathetic in this
l'lSlSlNC W ulS oNAA Va JCouS.
1t called up the period of his bisot
cd persecution of the Church 1t
reminded him of his Responsibility
in connection with the death of St.
Stephen. and Of the madness which he
had manifested in pursuing Christians
even to Damascus, haling them to
prison. Again. he saw the great, blind
ing light from heaven, above the
brightness of the MONDAY Sun, his fall
to the earth. and heard the voice speak
ing to him. saying. saul. Saul. why
persecutcst thou Me"'-Acts tx. 10:
XVI, 1919.
Why Jews Objected TO Jesus.
The objection which all Jews had TO
Jesus, and what they considered alb
solute proof that He was rot the Mos
siah, was His apparent inability to ac-
complish the things foretold by the
Prophets. They said. 1t is foolish to
think of a man without an army and
without wealth claiming to be king.
1t is still ruorc foolish for Him to claim
that He is the Messanic King, who is
to be above all kings. and before whom
every knee shall bow and every tongue
confess.
To them it seemed that when He was
crucitcd demonstration had been
given that He was not the Messiah.
Was not the Messiah to live forever? ?
Must it not. therefore, be true that any
man whom the Jews or the Romans
could cruelty must have been an i'm
postor! They considered the matter
proven to demonstration.
St. Paul's Honesty Strengthening.
The honesty of Saul of Tarsus led
him to he just as honest after he got
his eyes of understanding open as he
had been previously with them closed
The situation changed Immediately in
his mind; instead of human Savior
and Messiah and an earthly King, God
had prepared Heavenly One. partaker
Of the divine nature. glorious. @fa.
above angels, principalities and pow
crs." ,
| like to think of st. Paul as ex
employing possibly n large class of
the opposcrs of the Truth. like to
hope that all they will need to bring
them into line with Gods arrange
mcnts and to make them loyal scr
| wants of Righteousness will be the
great light which will shine forth re!
splendently very soon, when the due
time shall come for Messiah to take
to Himself His great power and reign
when His elect Bride shall have been
completed and glorifed with Him.
like to remember the words of the
Lord through the Prophet respecting
that glorious Epoch: Then shall the
eyes of the blind be opened and the
ears Of the deaf be unstopped; then
shall the lame man leap as an hart
and the tongue of the dumb sing"
One Born Before the Time.
Many have remarked at the peculi
arfty of st. Pauls statement that he
saw the Lord as one prematurely born
But. If mt first the statement was dark
and puzzlins. now it is luminous and
enligh:ening. His thought is this: Th'
time for giving ocular demonstrations
of the Lords resurrection had gone
by: the next manifestation Of Him
was to be to His saints. and after tha
to the world. Thus we read: I'VE shall
be like Him, for We shall see Him a:
He is"
Strictly speaking. then. the expert
ences Of Saul of Tarsus were out q
the ordinary. No one else than he
not even the sanity. were to see tht
Lord before their resurrection change
in the end of this Age. When. there
fore. he saw Jesus. he saw Him befor'
the time-more than eighteen centurie
before the time. Moreover. he saw
Him as one born before the time-as on