Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-04-21
EASTER FACTOR
IN WORLD'SLFE
Full Significance Is Given in
Paul'S MatchleSS Summary
of the Resurrection
The International Sunday School Les
son for April - il "rhe Risen
Christi. Cor. 15:1-2S.
CBy William I. EIlis.)

/ What an eXcitment the worlds
keeping of Easter makes! New
clothes, new gardens, new house
cleaning, new decorations, new mu-
sic; streets and churches and holi-
day resorts thronged; a high tide of
| business; a new spirit in the very
air - verify, Easter is no lnconsider-
able factor in the worlds modern
| life.
Anybody who pauses long enough
in the hustle of Easter activity for
any serious thought is likely to ask
himself what is the real meaning of
Easter, the Christian meaning. Sup
pose we decide that we shall not go
through the great festival without
definitely getting hold of the serious
purport and significance of 1t all.
Let us seek out the fullest and most
authoritative statement of the Easter
message that is accessible any
where.
That brings us straight to the
present Sunday School Lesson, the
noble fifteenth chapter of First
Corinthians, Pauls matchless sum
mary of the facts and meaning of the
Resurrection. Let me quote il, us
/ ing one of the modern translations
for its touch of freshness:
\ Famous Argument
But let me recall to you, breth-
ren, the Good News which 1 brought
you, which you accepted, and on
which are standing, through
which also you are obtaining saliva
ton, if you bear in mind the
words in which 1 proclaim it
unless, indeed, your faith has
been unreal from the very tirst.
Tor fsl Ia,
portant fact which also l had been
taught, that Christ died for our sins
in accordance with the Scriptures;
that He was buried; that He rose to
life again on the third day in ac-
cordance with the Scriptures, and
was seen by Peter, and then by the
Twelve. Afterwards He was seen by
more than five hundred brethren at
once, most of whom are still alive,
although some of them have now fall
len asleep. Afterwards He was seen
by James, and then by all the Apos-
ties. And last of all, as to one of
untimely birth, lie appeared TO me
also.
For am the least OF the Apos-
ties. and am not fit TO be called an
Apostle - because l prosecuted the
Church of God. But what l am l am by
the grace of God, and His grace
bestowed upon me did not prove in
.
stronuously than all the rest-yet it
was not l, but Gods grace working
with me. But whether II is l or
they, this is the way we preach and
the way that you came TO believe.
But if Christ is preached as hav-
ing risen from the dead how is it
that some of you say that there is no
such thing as a resurrection of the
dead? If there is no such thing as
a resurrection of the dead, then
Christ Himself has not risen to life
And if Christ has not risen. it fol-
lows that what we preach is a delu-
sion, and that your faith also is a
delusion. Nay more, we are actually
being discovered to be bearing false
witness against God, because we have
testified that God raises Christ to
life. whom He did not raise, if I'm
reality none of the dead are raised.
For if none of the dead are raised to
life, then Christ has not risen; and
If Christ has not risen, your faith. is
a vain thing - you are still in your
sins. il follows also that those who
have fallen asleep in Christ have
perished. If in this present life we
have a hope resting on Christ, and
pitied than all the rest of the world.
But in reality Christ has risen
from among the dead, being the first
TO do so of those who are asleep.
For seeing that death came through
man, through man also comes the
resurrection Of the dead. For just as
through Adam all die, so also
alive again. But this will happen
to each in the right order - Christ
having been the first to rise. and
afterwards Christ's people rising at
His return. Later on, comes the
End. when He is to surrender the
l. inc - 1fv. AI I4 :.
He shall have overthrown all other
government and all other authority
and power. For He must continue
to be King until God has put all his
enemies under His feet Cps. viii. 6;
cX. -.
The last enemy that is to be over
thrown is Death; for He will have
put all things in subsection under
His feet. And when He shall have
declared that "All things are in sub
lection" it will be the manifest ex-
ception of Him who has reduced them
all TO subjection to Him But when
the whole universe has been made
subject to Him, then the Son Him
self will also become subject TO Him,
who has made the universe subject
10 Him, in order that God may be
all in all"
Words and Their Meaning
Instead of making an extended
''lltAtAt4AA LbbiA the DdSSdBe, suggest
that the reader carefully peruse
again these great words, seeking to
comprehend their obvious meaning.
Let Us be fair about it, regarding
language only in its ordinary and
accepted sense. This passage means
what It says and not something that
subtle and speculative mind may
read into it. The letter of which il
is part was not written for hair
splitting theologians or fantastic
metaphysiciaAs but for a group of
plain people freshly out of heathen-
dom, who had no doubt whatever of
the resurrection of Christ Himself,
but who had been troubled by doubts
concerning the immortality of men.
So Paul wrote to set these doubts at
rest.
OF the Resurrection itself it has
been often said that 1T is the best
attested fact in history" 1t can
scarcely be rejected without repudi-
ating the entire Christian Scripture
and the unbroken belief of the his
n s.h II.