The Holt County sentinel. (Oregon, Mo.) 1883-1980, 1912-03-29
LESSON FOR APRIL 7.
EASTER LESSON.

EASTER LESSON.
LESSON TEXT Cor. 15:I-ii.
GOLDEN TExT-"This Jesus did God
raise up. whereof We all are witnesses.
Acts tn.
81. 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-lD. but what does II
matter? II 10 not greater miracle to
be born than 70 rise triumphant over
death. That Paul assumes the fact
10 evident from this lesson. Literally
he begins by saying. Now I make
known the gospel which I preached
unto you ut 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 OH 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 I am least OF all the
saints In that prosecuted the church,
yet I am what am. and his grace was
not bestowed upon me In vain Paul
was not such n bad man" from the
accepted moral standards Of his time.
| yet he felt the trith 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 Is the best proven fact Of
history. In the first place the dis.
| ciples themselves did nN expect Jc.
sus to die John 1890, hence, of
course. they never even 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 Il idle talk" I.uke 2t:1D.
when the women reported having &C.
tually seen him. the men. and how
many men like 10 take instruction
from q woman, were unconvinced
and rather doubted those who had
conversed with him on the road to
Emmaus.
Again. when seen by the ten. Thorn.
- would not accept the report I'LL
hs had seen his hands and his feet.
Areumsnts 0assd on Unbsllss.
All arguments TO convince us that
YA.,. AtA unS eSa> ara ho "A uuo0 I'm.
belief and the answer Of countless
millions throughout nearly twenty
centuries has been the words Of Pau!
Verse 20) but NOW IL Christ risen
from the dead" To deny 10 TO be lost
In the fog. our preaching vain, and
We have no ground Of faith. See
verses 1914. To accept 10 to place q
hrm foundation underneath our
whole Christian scheme. 10 set the
seAl Of authority and purity upon the
life Of him whom all men. Jew and
| Gentle alike. say was good. and opens
q vista Of hope FOR all who die In the
Lord.
Paul goes l.. 20 show that the res.
| direction d Jesus 10 the beginning Of
q plan whereby all the human race
who are related to Christ shall like.
wise be resurrected. Even as 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 oil DO made alive.
Paul makes q strong contrast be.
tween the death Of tho believer and
that Of the non.believer. 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
cShOrts the Christians to be awake
to righteousness and to sin not.
Only Friends Saw Him.
For the younger classes this story
of the first Easter IL most fascinat.
ing one, dramatic. tender. inspiring.
For the older pupils We may well dis.
cuss, How Faster would be observ.
ed. Have we fully realized that We
are risen with Christ" Remember
he showed himself only to his friends,
| hot W Tudtt hut w the ohuucuIIIi,
Are you his friend? Have you seen
the risen Lord? A description OF
"Holy Fire" Of the Greek Christians
who gathered each with his taper In
the church at Jerusalem on Easter
Sabbath, and how each passes the Are
on to another or carries 1t sacredly
back to his home church. would be
appropriate In order to illustrate the
fact that each one of us must ap'
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."
1t might be well for us to draw at.
tentiOn to the fact that the commun'
ion service Shows forth his death til
he come again." and baptism Is sym.