The Coolidge examiner., 1936-04-10

GOLDEN TEXT-Because I live.
We shall live also.-John 14:19.
PRIMARY TOPIC-The Glad Sur
prise.
JUNIOR TOPIC-Jesus the Con-
queror.
INTERMEDIATE AND SENIOR
TOPIC-Jesus Is Alive.
YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULT
TOPIC--Our Living LORD.
The supreme test Of Christianity
is the fact of the resurrection of
Jesus Christ from the dead. 1t
matters little what Jesus said and
did while alive if his body remained
in the grave. If he did not come
forth in triumph from the tomb,
then all his claims are false. On
the other hand, if he did arise, all
his claims are true. Fortunately,
there is no better authenticated fact
in all history than that of the res
direction of the body of Jesus
Christ.
|. The Empty sepuIchre wv. 1-3).
l. The coming of women ". ~.
AS an expression of affectionate
regard for the Master, they came
with spices for his body. This was
beautiful expression of sentiment,
but showed their lack of faith. If
they had believed his words, they
would have known that his body
could not be found in the sepulchre.
3. What they found (vv. 2, 81.
When they came to the sepulchre,
they found the stone had been re-
moved. How the stone was to be
removed greatly perpleXed them on
their way, but on their arrival they
discovered that their difficulty had
already been met. They found the
stone rolled away, but they found
not the body of Jesus. For them
to have found his body in the sep
ulchre would have been the worlds
greatest tragedy. The empty tomb
spoke most eloquently of the deity
and power of the Son of God
(Rom. ~.
II. The Message of the Men in
Shining Garments wv. 4-S).
1. "Why seek We the living among
the dead?" (v. 81. This question
has been reverberated through the
centuries since it was uttered by
the angels.
.. HE is not here, but is risen"
Jesus had made all these matters
quite plain. He had told them that
the Lord must be betrayed and cru
Gifted and that on the third day
he would arise again. If they had
given heed to his words, they would
have been relieved of their perplex-
tiles.
III. The Women Witnessing to
the Eleven wv. 9-1D.
Their thrilling testimony concern
ing the empty tomb and the words
of the angels appeared to the disci-
pies as idle tales and, therefore,
they refused to believe.
w. Peter Investigating ". 12).
While the testimony of the wOm-
en- seemed as idle tales, Peter was
not of the temperament to dismiss
the matter from his mind. There
fore, he ran to the sepulchre. Upon
close investigation he found the
linen clothes lying in such a way
as to prove the reality of the res
direction.
V. The Convinced Disciples wv.
1880.
1. The walk Of two discouraged
disciples wv. 13-15). Emmaus was
seven and a half miles northwest
Of Jerusalem. Just why the dis
ciples were walking this way we
may not surely know. The topic of
conversation as they walked was
the tragedy of the cross and the
resurrection rumors. If they had
believed what Jesus said about his
coming forth from the grave, they
would have been expecting to hear
just such reports as were circulat-
ing.
2. The unrecognized companion
(vv. 1924.
a. Who he was ". 16). While
they reasoned together on the Won
derful events of the past few days,
Jesus joined them on the journey.
b. His question (v. ~. Perceiv-
Ing their sadness and perplexity, he
sought to help them by calling forth
a statement of their grief. This
question surprised them and caused
them to jump at the conclusion that
he was q stranger in Jerusalem,
for the condemnation and cruel
fxion of the great Prophet of Naz-
areth were so recent and notorious
that no one who had lived in Jeru-
salem could be ignorant of them.
3. The Scriptures opened wv. %
81.
a. His rebuke wv. 25-3O). He re-
buked them not for their unbelief
of the strange stories that they
had heard, but for ignorance and
lack of confidence in the Old Testa-
ment.
b. Jesus recognized ". 81. While
sitting at meat with the disciples
+hnir ovoc Uora Onpnpd as thev COW,