The Ohio Independent Baptist, February 1965

' ' Rev. E. G. Riley, Berlin Heights, Ohio It is astounding that we as Chri - an hould continue tto make out of aster a Chri tian Holy Day. We 1ould learn that this day j , not 1entioned in the Bible as pertaining ) Chri tians. The word Ea ter is only )und once in the King James Ver– on, and that in re pect to the im– risonment of Peter, in Acts, 12 :4. he word here should be transla1ed, assover, the Jewi h Fea t day. The ord Ea ter here i ,the ame a a ter the Godess of Spring. Herod had just completed the lay- 1g of Jame , in ,pri on and quietly. ~o doubt he desired ito make a show f the killing of Peter, to atisfy :'le Jewish leaders. Since it wa prob– bly the period, just preceeding the ay of the Passover Feast he would 1 ait until they were free to witness 1is ungodly injustice. If you have wondered why the .ord was resurre~ted on the first day ,f the week, and why he met disc.i– les on that day, and why we till o, it is the beginning of a new reation. The Lord had finished the Id and re~ted on the old Sabbath. l e arose to begin the new, and a ew Sabbath is promised. Our work ) not to come to an end, or a dead top on any one day, until that day. I am assuming that you, as Chris– ians, believe the Bible, its account •f the literal resurrection of our Lord nd Saviour, in His Glorified body nd that He is alive at the Throne ,f His Father making intercession for 1s. Hence I will not deal with hi , o great an evenrt, in detail , but rather vith its consequence. Shall we use for a text for our houghts I Cor. 15: 22. " or as in Adam all die, even so n hrist shall all be made alive", tr1d the following a upporting icri pture, fro111 both ,the ne,v and he Old estaments. Da1liel 12: 2 And many of then1 hat sleep in the du t of ,the ear,tl1 ,hall a\\'ake, sorne lo everJasting life tnd on1e to han1e and cverla. ting :.onten1pt. Joh11 5: 28, 29 - Marvel 11 t a·t l1li 1or tl1e l1our ;i con1ing, in tl1e ~,]11cl1 all tl1at are in the g1 a,,es hall ~ ar Hi v ic , ar1d l1all c r11e f rtl1; ~ y t11at l1a , don g nto tl1e rH OHIO INDEPENDENT BAPTIST ,, resurr ection of 11fe; and ,they tihat have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnaition. Acts 24: 15 And have hope toward God which they them elve al o al low, that •there 1 hal l be a resurrecti on of .the dead, both of the jus,t and unjustt. That ithe entire prod 1 uat of Adam' race, with perhap itwo exception , have died we are aware. That all hall die, i to ,be anticipaited except the aint that are menrt:ioned in I The . 4: 17 . That all hall be made alive we mu t believe by our text and ,the at– tending Scripture. This is a part of the gospel, .and it i ithe va tly in1portant part, for without ithe resurrec·tion , we would all remain in the grave. To the believer i.t i good new , but to the unbeliever it i the bad news of judgement. For the edification of the believer, and for our ~trengthening and a ~ur– ance, we will con ider for ottr tc t - Rev. 20: 6 - Ble ·etl and Holy i He tha!l ha,th pant in the f 1r~t r ' ttr– rcction, on "iUCh the ~cco11d tlcatl1 hath no power. his will he t·hc conditio11 of tl10\c, who ha,,e a par1 i11 ,the fir t r t11- rection, a11d altl1ot1gl1 all the faitl1ft1l Vt' ill l1ave a part, r1ot all ~ 1 ill l)n rai. cd at tl1e sa 111e ti n1e, for the 'cri ptt11 ' teac l1es tl1at tl1ere will be thrt: pl1a~cs to tl1i. rcsttrre tio,1, or 111orv rigl1tl)' , (l1rt! l i111~s. (1) Old Testament Saints The following Seri pture gives u reas,on 10 believe that, at leas,t in part, the Old Testament aints have been resurrected. Tihese might well be those spoken of in Hebrews 12: 23. Matt. 27: 52, 53 - And the graves were o,pened; and ·many of rthe saints which slept aro e, and came out of the graves after His resurrection and and went into the holy city and appeared unto many. ~he above, wuvh ,the If ollowiing Scripture, Eph. 4:8-10, wherefore he ainh when he a cended upon high he led captivity captive, .and gave gifts unto men (no·w that he a cended what i itt but that ·he al o descended first in.to the lower parts of the earth? He that de cended is ,the same al o that ascended up far above all h~avens th.at ,he mig,ht fill all thing .) , grve us rea on ,to believe thait at lea t in part, the Old Testament ~ aint have been raised. (2) New Testament Saints {Church) I t i incredible, that many of those who profe s the Chri tian faith are \'ery confused, when faced wiith ,the teaohing of the glorious a,ppearing of our Lord and Saviour. Thi should thrill our very being . How wonderful to be in line for thi , the greate t of all experience . To be rai ed with Him. This is what we hould be look– ing for each day, con tantly expect– ing Him to appear in the cloud of the ky. Our eyes hould be fixed upward, anticipating ,the imminent break tihrough of the eternal on of God. We find many thing , in the Scrip– tL1re, in regard to thi part of the fir t re urrection . The pron1i e, the hope. the participant . our ta,te or condi– tion, our future ;po ition and con– dition, and the de cription of the re urrection. (A) The Promise John 14:2, 3 - In n1y father,s hot1 c arc 111 t1ny n1an ·i n : If it :\\. ere not o. 1 ,vot1ld ha\Je told , ti 1 .. go to prepare a pla c for 1 011. nd if l go a11c.l prepare a place 1 r \ u, l "ill conic again. and rcce1\ c Ott ttnto tll)')Cli; h·1t ~here l a111, there ) c 111 ..1} l1c al o. (B) The Hope 1~itt1s .., · L1 - l ool111g f r that blc --ed l1opcl a11d 1tl1 glo11 ti" appcar– i11g of tl1e great 1 ll a11li ottr a\r1 t1r J e\Lts l1rist. (C) The Participants l ( l r. 1...- 1,1 or as ,c 11 bod FEBRUARY, 1965 PAGE 3