The Holt County sentinel. (Oregon, Mo.) 1883-1980, 1912-03-22

/ LESSON TEXT--I Cor. lb.Isu.
| GOLDEN TExT-"This Jesus did God
raise up. whereof We all are witnesses.
| Acts 2;32.
st. Paul may not make direct re-
| ference to the virgin birth Of our
Lord. though he certainly knew OF the
prophecy that . Virgin shall con-
ceive." lisa. 7-14). but what does It
matter? II is not greater miracle to
be born than to rise triumphant over
death. That Paul assumes the fact
| IL evident from this lesson. Literally
he begins by saying, Nov I make
known the gospel which I preached
unto 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 our sins and rose
again" Paul goes on to tell ex.
plicitly of many who had seen Jesus
after the resurrection and. most i'm.
portant OF all. how he, himself, had
seen the Christ.
Last Of all he was seen Of me
also Though | am least Of all the
saints in that prosecuted the church.
yet am what am. and his grace was
not bestowed upon me In vain" Paul
was not such bad man" from the
accepted moral standards Of his time.
yet he felt the truth Of what Christ
said. viz, that the essence oi sin Is
that they believe not on me-
The fact of the resurrection Of Je-
sus Christ IL the best proven fact OF
history. In the first place the dis.
ciples themselves did no expect .Ie.
sus 10 die tJohn 1880. hence. OF
course. they never even thought OF
the resurrection Mark 9:I0). In the
third place wheE on that Easter morn
Mary reported the empty tomb and Of
having seen the Lord. the apostles
thought II idle talk" U.uke cam.
when the women reported having ac-
tually seen him. the men. and how
many men like to take instruction
from woman. were unconvinced
and rather doubted those who had
convprscd with him on the road to
Emmnus.
Again. when seen by the ten. Thorn.
as would not accept the report I'll
he had seen his hands and his feet.
Arguments 0ased on Unbslisf.
All arguments TO convince M that
Jesus did not rise are based upon I'M
belief and the answer Of countless
millions throughout nearly twenty
centuries has been the words Of Paul
(verse 20) but NOW 10 Christ risen
from the dead" To deny Ia TO be lost
in the fog. our preaching vain, md
We have no ground Of faith. See
verses 1914. To accept 10 to place a
Arm foundation underneath our
seal Of authority and purity upon tho
life Of him whom all men. Jew and
Gentle alike. say was good. and opens
a vista Of hope for all who die In tho
Lord.
Paul goes on to show that the res.
direction Of Jesus 10 the beginning OF
n plan whereby all the human race
wise be resurrected. Even az through
the transgression Of one man sin
came upon the whole human race. In
like manner by the perfect life OF
obedience upon the part OF one man
We may all be made alive.
Paul makes a strong contrast he.
tween the death Of the believer and
that Of the non.beiiever. III ! fight
with beasts at Ephesus what advan-
tage does that have? Let us eat and
drink. for tomorrow we die" Not 80.
however. with the Christian. hence he
exhorts the Christians tn be awake
to righteousness and to sin not.
Only Friends Saw Him.
For the younger classes this story
of the first Easter is most fascinat.
ing one. dramatic, tender inspiring.
For the older pupils We may well dis
cuss, How Enster would he observ-
ed. Have we fully realized that we
are risen with Christi" Remember
he showed himself only to his friends,
not to plate nor TO the Sanhedrim.
Are you his friend? Have you seen
the risen Lord? A description OF
"Iioly Fire" Of the Greek Christians
who gathered each with his taper In
the church at Jerusalem on Easter
Sabbath, and how each passes the fire
on to another or carries 1t sacredly
back to his home church. would BIO
appropriate In order to illustrate the
fact that each one OF us must an.
propriate Christ In his resurrection
power, and having appropriated his
life We are In duty bound to pass on
this knowledge to others. Paul show
ed his gratitude by "laboring more
abundantly."
II might be we'll for US to draw at.
tention to the fact that the commun-
ion service Shows forth his death TIL
he come again." and baptism ia sym.
bolic OF his death and resurrection
(Rom. $50. wherein we are to walk
In newness OF life, and that at his
coming again all enemies shall DO
AL AM a. L.