The Mississippi enterprise., 1963-04-06

SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
APRIL I, 1868
BY Rev. George A. Harper,
511 Avenue G.,
Greenwood, Miss.
JESUS FULFILLS HIS
MISSION.
Scripture Lesson - Mark
14:1-15:41; Print - Mark 1892;
15:24-31, 37-39.
MEMORY SELECTION -
Therefore doth my Father
love me, because l lay down
my life, that | might take it
again. = John 10.1O.
The highest delight of
Christ was to do the will of
His Father. Jesus Christ is
the eternal object of His
Fathers love. Christ volun-
teered to come, and was sent
by the Father to come into
the world to lay down His
life, and this sacrifice was
voluntary on ChriStS part.
The Father was well pleased
with His Son in relation to
His becoming a man to labor
on earth and die to atone for
the sins of men. His death
had no claim on Him, it was
necessary for Him to give up
His life voluntarily, and really
this was the only manner in
which He could die. Christ
had power to lay his life down
in death and He had power
to take it again in resurrec-
ton.
THE POINT OF NO RE-
TURN:
Gethsemane was for Jesus
an experience that not one of
His disciples could enter into.
1t was His experience alone.
We have these experiences
too, that exclude all of our
closets relationships and we
find ourselves as Jesus did
alarmed at their unconcern.
1t is here in GathSemane that
God is experienced in a most
unusual manner. The expert
ence of GathSemane is lone
ly one but also a necessary
one. But it ought to be noted
here that the request of Jesus
was not granted the cup was
not removed. This need not
alarm us because some of the
traditional concepts of prayer
have bordered on abSurdity.
When something happens to
the prayer then, "the hour is
come" Naturally Jesus could
then say Rise up, let us CO."
Thursday is so intimately re-
lated to Friday, for you see
this is the day of complete
commitment to the mission.
But Thursday, Jesus said Yes
to the will of God and Friday
was just an expression of that
total commitment.
THE CRUCIFIXION:
The crucifixion of Jesus is
tremendous in its significance.
In looking at this scene, let
US begin in the light of one
of the malefactors statements.
You will remember how one
joined in the ridicule of Christ
while the other came to His
defense. The one who came
to His defense makes this
statement, This man has done
no wrong" Here hanging on
cross between two men of
very questionable character is
man who unquestionably
was pure in character. But
this good man is dying along
with the bad men. Plate
found no fault in Him, He
rod only wanted to see Him
perform a miracle but the
masses cried, Cruelty Him,
Cruelty Him. Good living or
right living leaves a man who
is intent on living according
to his own rules, with but two
choices. The first is to bring
his life to the standard ex-
pressed by the good life or to
get rid of the life that tends
to make his look shabby. Gods
dealing with evil is a study
in itself. How many times in
the Bible do we see God us
ing evil practices in the ac-
complishment of His purpose
THE RESULTS:
The veil in the temple was
rent from top to bottom-and
the order is significant. The
results of the crucifixion is
seen in this. God created man
originally to cooperate with
Him. In order for this to be
possible, it was necessary that
God and man maintain their
fellowship. Man moved out
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