Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1921-03-24

Friend
INTERMEDIATE AND SENIOR TOPIC
Christ Our Living Leader.
YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULT TOPIC
Christ in the Life of Today.
!. The Empty sepulcher NV. 1-D.
l. The earthquake wv. 1-4). This
occurred when the glorious angel de-
scended from heaven to roll the stone
away from the tomb. This work Of
the angel was not to allow Jesus to
escape, but to show that the tomb
was empty Christ needed not even
the help of glorious angel. for He
was raised up by His own power as
the seal upon His atoning work on the
cross. The open tomb and the angel
sitting upon the stone with calm dig
nifty Is a picture of Gods triumph
over the devil. and the terror of the
keepers is a sample Of what all OF
Christ's enemies shall one day expert
ence when He comes in glory to reign
as King.
2. The angels message to the wom-
en- fvv. SD. ~ Fear not" ". 81.
While the enemies had occasion to
fear. these women who loved the Lord
received good news from the empty
tomb. The Lord will not long leave
those who follow Him In love In sus-
pense and dread. The empty tomb
puts an end to all doubts and fears.
It is the evidence that the question Of
sin is dealt with, and that God is sat
isf1ed and eternal victory is secured.
(2) "Come, see" ". 81. The angel
told the women that the Lord had
risen and invited them to come and
see the place where He lay. The rea-
son He invites them to come In is
that He desires them to make sure
about the facts. The Lord made spe-
cial effort to convince the disciples Of
the reality of His resurrection. He
remained with them for 40 days. CIV
ing them many infallible proofs. ~
go quickly" ". y. Having seen for
themselves, their responsibility was
to go tell the message. While it Is
important to be convinced of facts,
one should not stay too long because
there is work to do. Experience is
necessary before testimony They
were to go quickly to the disciples with
the message. assured that the Lord
would go before and meet them.
II. The Risen King Meets the
Women (vv. S-10)
The women quickly obeyed the COM
mand OF the angel and were running
to bring the disciples word Jesus
met them on the way. Those who
have an experimental knowledge of
Christ should go speedily to tell 9th
ers OF it. All who go quickly with His
message, the Lord will meet on the
way. When they saw Jesus, that He
was really the Lord, they worshiped
Him. They knew that He was the
Son of God, therefore entitled to be
worshiped.
III. Paying Money to Circulate
Lie wv, 11-15).
That Jesus arose from the dead
could not even be denied by the San.
hedrin They could see but one way
out of the difficulty, that was to bride
the keepers to tell q lie. They had
paid money for His betrayal; now
they pay much more to circulate lie
about His resurrection. What a Won
derful power money has over the lives
and conscienees of men! 1t will not
only induce people to lie, but, it even
muzzles the mouths of preachers.
w. The Kings Great Commission
wv. 1920.
By virtue of His royal authority He
issued this great command to the dis.
ciples. In order to prepare them to
receive this command. He declared un.
to them that all power in heaven and
earth was given unto Him. This is
most fundamental. Only as the dis
ciples realize the Lords power are
they likely to 90 about with the mes
sage.
l., Go, teach all nations" This Is
the first and primary business of the
disciples, The risen and mighty Lord
issues this command to all ". 19).
2. Baptize them in the name of the
LrluHe IOu lHOse WHO nave become
disciples of the Lord should receive
that rite which signifies that relation
ship to Him ". 19),
8. Teach them to observe all Christ's
commandments ". 20). Those who
become Christ's disciples should be
taught obedience to all His commands.
All who thus obey Him shall enjoy His
abiding presence. Christ'.s abiding
presence guarantees the success Of the
enterprise.
Prayer.