The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1912-08-16

covered in the preparation Of
fraud. 1t is word used for judg-
ments regarding moral character and
conduct, and conveys the idea OF dis
covering and detecting forgery and
falsity.
In using this word, the apostle
would say that in proclaiming to the
Corinthians the doctrine of the resur-
rection of Christ, he and the other
apostles had been guilty Of perpetrat-
ing fraud upon them.
If Christ be not risen, then the
apostles are false witnesses; not wit
nesses deluded, mistaken, deceived,
the victims of an hallucination, which
was the result of an overweight
brain and imagination, but false wit
nesses Deluded! say the apostle, we
cannot be; victims of an overweight
imagination, innocent but deceived en-
thusiasts-all this i'm impossible, we
willingly, knowingly perpetrated a
fraud upon the church in claiming
that Christ rose from the dead; we
are downright deceivers. The strange
thing about the apostles statement is
that the idea of delusion or hallucina-
ton is wholly absent from his argu-
ment 1t does not seem to have ocs
Cured to him to mention it. Even the
possibility of 1t is too remote to be
spoken Of.
To the apostle, the resurrection Of
Christ is truth or falsehood, a
reality of fraud, thing of sincerity
or of deceit, fact or mistake. There
is no loophole Of escape-the resur-
rection is either a fact or falsehood,
a reality or sham, and such persons
as the apostles were guilty of perpe-
trating it.
Paul feels that the stigma of false
hood has been put upon him. He feels
that he has been stung by an insult.
Somebody has not believed him-has
made him out to be liar. His testi-
mony in effect is this: I have seen
the risen Christ; I have talked with
him; 1 have received my commission
from him. To challenge my statement
10 " CAdIlcu6o "y Cudl oSIcI, NY
veracity, my understanding, my ,reae
son.
Paul and the other apostles testi-
fed to the fact that Christianity, as
they had received 1t and preached it,
was built not only upon professed
revelation from God, but also upon an
historical basis-on the fact that
Christ really arose from the dead, and
that the risen Lord has l,een seen by
them and had spoken to- them. To
deny this testimony was virtually to
call Paul and the other apostles liars
and false witnesses. Is it credible.
says the apostle, that knowing me and
the other apostles as you do that you
can believe such a charger
v. If Christ be not risen from the
worthy Of our trust.
To attribute to perseu good or
glorious act, which it is well known
that he never performed, is to cause
that person to be suspected of hav-
ing prompted the false assertion. So
the testimony of the apostle would
lead men to think that God had in
spired men to tell lies about him.
Many think that they can still have
faith in God, that they still have left
a God whom they can trust and in
whom they can repose their faith,
even though they do not accept the
resurrection of Jesus Christ. The
apostle says plainly, This is not SO; If
we have no risen Christ, neither have
we God in whom we can trust. Note
the serious point here. Paul preach
ed God, he commended God, and the
justice of God as shown in raising his
holy son from the dead. But if Jesus
Christ Is not risen from the dead,
then we have no such God. If one like
Jesus Christ is still left dead, If one
be so good as Jesus was and still be
deprived of life, what kind of God
have we? We have no God in whom
we can trust; 1t is no use trying to
be good The end is skull and a few
ashes We have testified of God
says Paul, we have justified God, but
we are found false witnesses Of him
If Jesus Christ did not rise from the
dead Have you considered what that
point means? The modern man often
assumes that he is already in posses
sion of a God with a reliable charac-
ter, whatever you make of Jesus
Christ But there is something in the
career and in the issue Of the career
of Jesus Christ that m 'kes good
God in this tragic world Incredible I'M
less Christ be risen from the dead.
Jesus went through the worst suffer
ings that any man ever suffered. He
sounded the depths Of the worlds
tragedy. Now If he has been raised
from the dead We may believe in
God; but if there be no resurrection
of the spotless Christ. then God is
either dead or mad. We have no rea-