Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1922-04-13
IMPROVED UNIFORM INTERNATIONAL
Sil19ldaySchool
' Lesson '
(By REV. r. b. FlTzwArEk, d. De-
Teacher OF English Bible in tho Moody
Bible Institute OF Chicago.)
Copyright 1922. Western Newspaper Union.
LESSON FOR APRIL is
EASTER LESSON


LESSON TExT-John 2o:ls-si.
GOLDEN TEXT-The Lord is risen In.
deed.--Luke A:34.
PRIMARY AND JUNIOR ToPIC-Ths
First Easter.
INTERMEDIATE AND SENIOR TOPIC
Why We Observe Easter Day.
YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULT TOPIC
The Effect of Belief In the Resurrec-
ton.
|. Jesus Manifests Himself to the
Disciples, Thomas Being Absent wv.
1925.
he appeared to several of His dis
ciples at several dinerent times during
that day. This is the inst appearance
to the disciples as a body. The rumors
of Ills several appearances on that day
caused the disciples TO assemble to
talk over the matter. For fear of the
Jews. they alet Ii private room and
barred the door, While they were dis
cussing the strange happenings of the
day, the Lord mysteriousiy appeared
before them with tiie greeting oI good
cheer, peace he unto you lie did
not come With ceasure for their fail
ure and deseftioA. At His birth the
angels announced Peace" just be-
fore he took Ills departure, He said:
Peace ! leave with YOU; my peace /
give unto YOU (John Ia :2T) Let not
your heart be troubled" John ii ~;
and now the first word after His resur-
rection is Peace" Having Gained
their fears, He gave them an unmis-
taxable evidence of His resurrection.
And when He had so SAID, He showed
unto them His hands and His side.
sThen were the disciples glad when
they saw the Lord" Their doubts
needed to be scattered, and His peace
needed to be upon them Consider:
/. The disciples commission ". 2D.
"As my Father hath sent Me, even SO
send you" This commission was not
simply to class, as the eleven, but Is
to all Christians. In Luke "a :33 we
find that there were others there in
that meeting besides the eleven when
jesus showed himself to them and
commissioned them, showing that the
commission is not confined to class
body itself. All Christians. therefore,
are enjoys and representatives OF
Christ. The exercise of this great
functionis not merely optional with
the indisiduf, but is obligatory upon
him. The Lord placed it upon a plane
with His own commission from the
Father-"As my Father hath sent me,
SO send YOU sa21 - F8"
2. The disciples equipment ". 22).
HE breathed on them, and saith unto
them, Receive We the Holy Ghost"
The mission of the disciple is very
great one, but every one who goes
forth In its execution He clothes with
ment of His spirit. No one who has
this equipment shall ever fail. The
Lords representatives have His life In
them. The barrenness Of our efforts
Is due to our failure to take by faith
our equipment.
3. The disciples authority ". 23).
"Whose soever sins we remit, they are
RENTED unto them; and whose soever
sins We retain, they are retained" This
authority was not by virtue of office,
but by virtue of having the Holy
Ghost. This would give the spiritual
discernment to know who had or who
had not repented, and consequently,
to pronounce pardon or not.
II. Jesus Manifests Himself to the
Disciples, Thomas Being Present wv.
1920.
Thomas was absent at the first APP
pearance of Jesus. His absence de-
prived him Of vision of the Lord. ABB
sence from the assembly Of believers
always occasions loss. The other dis
ciples go to Thomas at once with the
glad news Of the resurrection, bul he
will not believe. His stubborn disbe-
lief is such that he doggedly declares
that unless he sees the prints Of the
nails, etc, he will not believe. 1t is
right to demand evidence, but to pre-
scribe terms is rank unbelief Note:
l. The Lords kindness to those who
have difficulties. Thomas deserved re-
buke. but the Lord kindly supplied the
evidence which he demanded.
2. The revelation of the Lord trans
forms a doubter into a possessor.
III. The Conclusion of the Gospel
wv. 30-31).
In these verses Johns arguments are
summarized, and an explanation is
given as to why he wrote this Gospel.
Many other things could have been
written, but these that he wrote he
Judged adequate to prove his point:
To prove that ~ Jesus of Nazareth
was the expected Messiah; (2) that
He was divine-the very Son of God;
(3) that those who believe on Him as
Gods only Son-the Messiah-would
receive eternal life. Eternal life is In