March, 1936
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
108
Day. The second evidence is the New Tes tament; and the third evidence is the Lord’s people. These three things are the irrefragable, indestructible evidences o f His resurrection.— J a m e s D e n n e y . II. A P lace N ear B y About a . d . 125 a Greek by the name of Aristeides was writing to one of his friends about the new religion, Christi anity. He was trying to explain the reasons for its extraordinary success. Here is a sentence from one of his letters: “ If any righteous man among the Christians passes from this world, they rejoice and offer thanks to God, and they escort his body with songs and thanksgiving as if he were setting out from one place to another near by.” What a description of Christian faith in immortality—that a man sets out from one place to another near b y ! Is it any wonder that Christianity prospered? — S elected . III. C h r ist , t h e R esurrection a n d t h e L ife When Sir James Simpson, the great physician and the discoverer o f chloro form as an anaesthetic, lost his eldest child, he erected on the grave an obelisk pointing like a spire toward the heavens. On it he carved the words, “ Nevertheless I live,” and above the words a butterfly to suggest his invincible faith that in Christ Jesus death was only a transition, an evolution from the limitations of the chrysalis to the freedom o f a life with wings. Sir James was a believer in Christ, and when he came to his own passing, he thought only of the wonderful awakening, and he fell asleep in the Lord. But “if Christ be not raised,” that sentence on the obelisk is cruel irony, and the butterfly should be changed to a clod. Thank God that He is risen!— A q u il l a W ebb . IV. S o w in g L ivin g G r a in “I like to think,” said D. J. Moody, “of the time when the dead shall rise from their graves. W e read, at those last rites for the dead, what we call ‘the burial service.’ It is an unfortunate expression. Paul never talked o f ‘burial.’ He said the body was ‘sown’ — ‘sown in corruption/ ‘sown in weakness,’ ‘sown a natural body.’ If I bury a bushel of wheat, I never ex pect to see it again; but if I sow it, I expect results. Thank God, our friends are not buried; they are only sown 1 ” Record, o f Christian Work. APR IL 19, 1936 METHODS OF GROWTH IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE 2 P eter 1 :l-9 Meditation on the Lesson Peter, the great apostle o f hope, is also the practical teacher. His epistles were written after his character had undergone much chastening and polishing. We see a different Peter from the one we met in the Gospels, but a much more lovable one. He is still the same buoyant, determined, hopeful Peter, but we find him softened, humble, tender—made so . by the Master’s touch through the Holy Spirit. Peter is himself a demonstration of growth in the Christian life. He begins by speaking o f the divine provision, “ exceeding great and precious promises.” Salvation begins and ends with. God. The promises are given and fulfilled.
APR IL 12, 1936 IMMORTALITY 2 T imothy 1 :8-ll Meditation on the Lesson
EN RO L L NOW
As we study the writings of the great Apostle Paul, we are increasingly im pressed with his unswerving loyalty to the truth, and with his clear presentation of it. He never compromises nor soft- pedals. The Lord Jesus Christ had said: “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Paul had experi enced much; of sorrow and tribulation himself, and he never held out hopes of flowery beds of ease to the young ministers or workers to whom he wrote. Hear him in this last letter to his “son in the faith,” Timothy: “Be thou partaker of the afflic tions of the gospel according to the power of God.” Paul is thus preparing Timothy to meet the future, revealing the trials, it is true, but declaring also the glorious provision through God’s “purpose and grace.” We find in this passage an excellent summary of gospel-facts, climaxing in the assurance of the Christian’s unending life. Great teachings of God’s Word as outlined here include: Salvation—“Who hath saved us.” Election-^Called us.” Grace—“Not according to our works.” Predestination and divine sovereignty—9 “But according to his own purpose and grace.” God’s wonderful love “Given us in Christ Jesus.” Eternal design -B “ Before the world began.” The incarnation — “Made manifest by the appearing o f our Saviour Jesus Christ.” “The Word was made flesh” (John 1 :14). The atonement — “Who hath abolished death.” “He . . . took part of the same 1 that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Heb. 2:14). Eternal life for believers—“Brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” Though every human soul is to have a part in the resurrection o f the dead and the events which immediately follow, the lost must be judged and punished in the “ second death” (Rev. 20:6, 14, IS; 21:8, the “unbelieving” ), the terrible moment when all who have not trusted Christ must pass forever from the presence of God. But “death is swallowed up in victory” for those who, being “in Christ” (1 Cor. IS: 22), shall, at His coming again, “put on immortality” (1 Cor. 15:51-54). Immor tality is available only “ through the gospel’’ (2 Tim. 1 : 10 ), and the gospel, summarized in the passage for our lesson, is defined also in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4: “The gospel . . . that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day ac cording to the Scriptures.” May this Easter season find us rejoicing in the assurance of eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
IN THE CORRESPONDENCE COURSE
G C S P E L c r mm Just what every teacher of the International Lessons needs in pre paring to teach lessons which are in this Gospel for the first six months of 1936. Each verse treated in the ques tion method involving comparisons with other Scriptures. Space pro vided opposite each question for the student to record his answer. DEFINITE! THOROUGH! INSTRUCTIVE! No examinations — lesson work and neatness determining grade— certificate upon completion.
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If anybody asked you to cut the proofs of the resurrection into three words, I think you might put them thus: The first evidence of the resurrection is the Lord’s
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