Mansfield mirror. (Mansfield, Wright County, Mo.) 1908-1957, 1916-04-20

AAo NAS IA VI tLAo iSpSsAsASA
Of the Easter story will lot be in vain.
For the pupils to take notes Of the
points Of the argument and to recite
upon those notes at the end of the
class hour would greatly help to fix
the facts in their minds. This account
considered today is perhaps the old
est written record we have of this
great fact, written about Sc A. D..
hence the significance of verse six.
/. The Triumphant Fact Tvs. 1-4). II
Christian workers would be more IA
miliar with this passage they would
more intelligently understand what
the term Gospel" means. The fact Of
the resurrection doomed larger in
Paul's mind than the virgin birth; the
former was and is the greater miracle.
This, one Of the supreme chapters Of
the Bible, tells us what the Gospel Is,
and what its results are to be. a
What 1t Is. Not a new cure for tuber-
culosis, nor q new social environment,
but the good news of one who was God
incarnate Paul does not use his earth
ly name Jesus), Christ the Amounted
One, who died for our sins just as the
Scriptures had feretold, and was bur-
led. On the third day, according to
the Scriptures" He rose again and is
now and vel shall be alive. Any Cos
pei that ignores the incarnation. pas
sion and resurrection of Jesus is false
to the Scriptures and a lie. (2) The
result Of preaching or testifying to
this great program is twofold: first.
salvation. saved, restored to right
relations with Cod" and second, per-
severance. wherein We stand" The
"God-story," good news, evangel or
gospel-they are all the same-is "the
power of God unto salvation" and the
strong doctrine of the resurrection
will cause men to walk straight, to
stand upright. Christ died for my
sins according to the Scriptures" Qso.
53:5-1O).
II. Witnesses to the Fact Tvs. 5-12).
Paul ". 81 received the resurrection
truth from many witnesses, whom he
proceeds to enumerate, for it was not
a matter of his own invention. The in.
credulity Of the disciples at the first
Is frankly recorded Luke 24:12). Je-
u did not appear first to John, PLATE
or the Sanhedrin, but to a woman, and
the change of the apostles from a
spirit of despair to that Of confident,
joyous certainty was most astonishing.
There are eleven recorded appear
ances of Jesus after his resurrection,
and not n of them was made to his
enemies. Paul does not mention all
Of the appearances. He is probably
naming only those persons. witnesses
of his appearances, with whom he had
%conversed, or at least a few from each
group. Q) Peter, referred to indirect.
ly in Luke 24:34; (2) the apostles. to
be exact, the first ten. Judas being
dead and Thomas absent; (3) the apos.
ties with Thomas present; "a five
hundred, the only record of this great
company, though perhaps implied in
the brethren" of Matt. 2S:10. Halt
a thousand witnesses are enough to
establish any case" OF these the
greater number we're alive twenty-five
years after the event; (5) James. prob.
ably u Lords brother, the honored
head Of the Jerusalem church; (6)
Then all the apostles" a larger cir
Gle than the twelve (see Luke 2S:48,
Acts 1853. This may have been the
appearance in the morn at the Sea Of
Galilee; 90 me ALSO" The winning
Of the prosecutor who had looked
upon this wild tale of a crucified and
risen teacher a. a sacrilege and a dis
grace to his nation, is the most signal
and significant triumph Of the Chris
tian faith. The Damascus road vic
tory was far mor %portentious than
any other battle of history. That vi
sion converted Paul and supported
him amidst the most astounding trials
and testings. out Of due season."
like an abortive child, like a child Of
untimely birth, Paul was unworthy Of
the name Of a child. He had seer the
martyr Stephen die, he had prosecuted
those who believed, and although for.
given by God. yet he was filled with
a lifelong regret for his misused in.
fluence and misspent years. There
fore he terms himself, least of the
apostles" But he Is saved and
through the grace Of God can ex.
claim, II am what l am" The evil
dence Of the resurrection is more pre-
ponderant and definite than the his.
toric evidence we have that Caesar
Augustus or Abraham Lincoln ever
lived. 1t is a greater strain upon hui.
man intelligence not to believe this
fact than 1t is to deny the evidence Of
wireless telegraphy.
III. The Fact Applied. Tvs. 1920.
The Corinthians, to whom Paul was
writing, did not deny Christ's immor-
tally. but seemed to deny that the
same power which had raised him
could be applied to us who are only
human. Paul answers this by present.
ing four arguments:
(1) The resurrection Of Christ
proves the possibility Of the resurrec-
ton from the dead, II only of Jesus.
The %Sadducees taught the contrary.
The Stolcs taught that the dead were
r]e.absorbed in God. To say Christ is
not risen is to claim death as annihila.
ton, to destroy faith in Jesus ". 14)
and to impugn the testimony Of those
who had seen him ". 15). A dead
Christ means dead Christians ". ~
and our heaviest sorrow will be to face
the grave ". 1sl.