Apostolic faith youths-umuahia, Along Isicourt umuobia Road, Umuahia (2026)

04/05/2023

JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH EXEMPLIFIED IN ABRAHAM
Romans 4:1-25; Genesis 12:1-3; 15:4-6
Memory Verse
“With the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:10).

The Voice of God
Abraham came from a land of heathen darkness. Possibly the people were like those Paul describes in (Romans 1:21-32 21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them..) They did not like to retain God in their thoughts so God gave them over to all uncleanness. But amidst the sin and darkness of the world there was one man to whom God could reveal Himself and find a response in his heart; and that man was Abraham.
It is surprising how in a world of sin and darkness, God can speak and you will know it is the voice of God. It is not always in the thundering tones of Mount Sinai nor in the still, small voice of Horeb; but when He speaks you know it.
In that land of pagan darkness Abraham recognised the voice of God and believed in God. That faith brought righteousness into his soul. How easy it should be to believe when one is reared in a Gospel land and has not been taught to bow down to idols of wood and stone! But the devil brought his doctrine of infidelity and unbelief to Eve in the Garden of Eden. He will try to present it to you even in the house of God; but remember, Abraham believed God when there was unbelief and idolatry all around him.

Father of All Who Believe
Abraham had been a heathen, but God pardoned him and took him and his posterity into a special covenant whereby his seed was to possess the earth. Abraham was justified in the only way in which a sinner can be justified: by the mercy of God and by faith and obedience. Through faith he became the great head or father of all them that believe. In patriarchal times it was great to be a father, greater still to be the father of a tribe; and it was the greatest of greatness to be the father of many nations.
That the just were justified by faith is clearly shown in the life of Abraham. He believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness. Long before the Lord sealed the Covenant with Abraham and his posterity by the seal of circumcision, Abraham was justified by faith. We are not told just how or when Abraham first believed God; but God called, and he obeyed the call. It was not only obedience to the call that justified Abraham but also faith that brought him into favour with God. Good works follow the uniting of our hearts with God by faith. James says, “Shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.” There were Jews in Rome saying one must be circumcised to be right with God. They wee trying to bring Christianity back under the Law. Paul states that one cannot be under the Law of Moses and under grace through Jesus Christ at the same time. Just so, you cannot unite works with justification. If works unite us to God, then it is of debt and not of mercy that we are saved. But it is God’s mercy that saves us, and not works. (Galatians 2:16 16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
Galatians 3:11 11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith..) How many poor sinners who did not have one good deed to recommend them to God have knelt and cried for mercy and have found pardoning grace. They believed the promise and were accepted by the Son.
David says: “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, those sin is covered.”

Real Christianity
We have those who profess to believe in Jesus Christ but expect their church membership, their good deeds of mercy, their external works to gain them an entrance into Heaven. But Jesus said, “Ye must be born again” (John 3:7). They skip over that experience and merely assent with their mind to the story of Jesus.
The Bible says: “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:10). They are blind and are led by blind leaders and will “fall into the ditch” together.
Sinners who acknowledge their helplessness and plead to God for mercy find forgiveness. Through faith they are pardoned and find cleansing from all their sins. “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6).
As Jesus’ death is atonement for our sins, so His resurrection is the proof and pledge of our eternal life.

The Seed of Abraham
Years went by. The Lord led Abraham out under the canopy of Heaven one night and said, as it were, “Abraham look up! Count the stars! So shall thy seed be. Do you see all these tiny grains of sand? Can you count them? Then you will be able to number your seed.”
Abraham had no child and he and Sara had grown old. From a natural standpoint, all hope had fled for them to have a child. But Abraham staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief. Where is the materialist who sees only nature’s law? Abraham did not belong to that class. He staggered not, but hoped against hope. Through that firm, unwavering faith he became the father of faith. We who believe are the children of Abraham. The Jews would like to hold that they alone are the children of Abraham. Paul says that he is not a Jew who is one outwardly but he is a Jew who is one inwardly. He declares that the promise was given to Abraham while he was still a Gentile, and that the promise was to his Seed, which was one, even Christ. If we have been born into the family of God through the new birth, we are Christ’s seed and are the progenies of Abraham.
Isaac’s birth was a miracle. Christ’s birth was a miracle. The “new birth” is a miracle. Abraham did not know how God was going to make his seed as numberless as the sand of the seas, but he knew there was nothing impossible with God. Christians are those who believe after the example of Abraham. They are the spiritual seed. The promise of salvation is to them who believe in Christ, for He is the promised Seed.

QUESTIONS
1. How did Abraham obtain justification? How do we obtain it?
2. Why was Abraham called the father of the faithful?
3. Tell how the Gentiles are included in the promise to Abraham.
4. Was the promise made to Abraham through the giving of the Law?
5. The Scripture says Abraham was strong in faith. Give incidents.

25/04/2023

THE SOURCE OF TRUE RIGHTEOUSNESS
Text: Romans 2:17-29; 3:1-31; 9:30-33

Memory Verse
“Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20).

Outward Observation
The Jews who instructed others in the Law, were condemned by the very Law that they taught. Their observation was of the letter of the Law and not of the spirit. Jesus said. “Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness” (Luke 11:39). They were careful of little outward details, but “omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith” (Matthew 23:23). “Woe unto you, Pharisees! For ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God” (Luke 11:42).
Many a person today calls himself a Christian and is active in good works, but is as void of true salvation as were these Jews. They pride themselves in the Scriptures and live moral lives, but trust in a mental acceptance of Jesus. They fall short of true repentance. They are ignorant of the transforming grace of God, which enables them to live a sinless life. Claiming to be under the protection of the Blood of Christ, they are guilty of the same sins as those who make no profession of godliness. “Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking of the law dishonourest thou God?” (Romans 2:23).
The Jews were marked by the rite of circumcision and other outward observances which were given in the Law, much as if a Christian of today wore a cross or some other emblem to designate him as a Christian. The Jews had begun to look on these outward signs as an assurance of their righteousness. In other words, if they wore a tag it was evidence of their righteousness. Let us look at it this way: suppose one were asked, “Are you a Christian?” He, in turn, would point to a pin he was wearing and reply, “Of course, don’t you see my badge?”

Inward Righteousness In the Epistle to the Romans, God is pointing out to the Jews that it is not the outward observances of the Law that make one a righteous person, as circumcision means nothing unless the life is holy. If someone claims to be a Jew, boasting himself in his being circumcised, it means nothing unless he lives a godly life.
A Gentile comes along whose life is godly, but has no circumcision about which to boast. How is it that he is able to live godly? It is because of his faith in Jesus. Righteousness, it is pointed out, is a matter of faith and not of the works of the Law. This is true regardless of whether we are Jews or Gentiles. A Gentile need not have the rites of the Law in order to be a Christian. Neither shall a Jew claim Christianity by the rites of the Law but by the faith he has in Christ.

Dishonouring God
“The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you” (Romans 2:24). The failure of the Jews to live up to the high standard they professed gave occasion for the Gentiles to blaspheme the name of God. When David sinned, the Prophet Nathan said, “By this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme” (II Samuel 12:14). The world looks for the fruits of Christianity in the lives of those who own His name. “Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity” (II Timothy 2:19). The conduct of a Christian on the job must be such as will honour God. “Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honour, that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed” (I Timothy 6:1). Young women are instructed “to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed” (Titus 2:4, 5).

The Advantage of the Jew
The Jews did have an advantage over the Gentiles in that God chose them to be the medium through which His Law would be made known unto the world. “Unto them were committed the oracles of God.” God gave Israel a righteous law by which to be governed. “What nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?” (Deuteronomy 4:8). They knew what was required of them and that the transgression of the Law was sin. This knowledge of the Law, however, brought salvation only to those whose belief came by faith in Jesus Christ. “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way” (Isaiah 53:6). “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

Faith and Failure
“What if some did not believe? Shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?” (Romans 3:3). The hypocrisy and failure of some to live up to the standard of the Gospel do not in any way prove the impossibility to attain to that standard. Shall we look at those who have failed in business and say that it is impossible to succeed? Shall we point to a counterfeit paper money (an exchange note) and say that there is no genuine currency?
The white of the lily contrasts most against the blackest of soils, and the light of the fire glows the brightest in the darkness of the night. Just so the clearness of the Gospel of Christ was manifest during the fog of Israel’s unbelief. “Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord:” (Romans 5:20, 21). The Law came to reveal sin; Jesus came to remove sin. “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins” (Romans 3:24, 25).
The spirit or essence of the Law cannot be kept by doing the works of the Law, but only through faith in Christ. “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified” (Romans 3:20). Those who lived godly lives under the period of the Law did so by faith. The Jews were justified by faith, even under the Law, as all true righteousness is by faith. God is God also of the Gentiles who are justified by faith.
No one is able by his own morality or good deeds to please God. “Without faith it is impossible to please him” (Hebrews 11:6). Whether Jew or Gentile there is only one way to please God and that is through faith in the redemption that Jesus provided for us in His death on the Cross. It is impossible to live a Christian life in our own strength. It can be done only after faith has brought salvation to our soul and God has imparted power to go and sin no more.

QUESTIONS
1. In what were the Jews placing their confidence?
2. With whom today can we compare the attitude of the Jew?
3. What advantage did the Jews have?
4. What is meant by our unrighteousness commending the righteousness of God? (Romans 3:5).
5. By what are the Gentiles justified? The Jews?
6. Why did not Israel attain righteousness?
7. Who was referred to as the stumbling stone that was laid in Zion?
8. Of whom was it stated that “there is none that doeth good, no, not one”?
9. What does the Law bring?
10. What did Jesus do that the Law could not do?

17/04/2023

DIVINE JUSTICE
Romans 1:18-25, 28-32; 2:1-16
Memory Verse
“The invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:20).

“To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin” (James 4:17). God has placed a silent monitor, a conscience, into the heart of every person to inform him of what is right and wrong. It might be said that this conscience is an inherent knowledge of God, and God places great value upon this knowledge in every man’s heart. He points out that the people who honestly follow the dictates of their conscience, even though they have no formal law of God by which to govern themselves, will stand and pass in God’s judgment. Those who do not walk in the light of their conscience will be judged accordingly. The Bible, of course, is God’s law, and all who have access to the Bible must measure their lives by that precious Word in order to gain God’s approval and enter Heaven as their eternal home.

God’s Revelation
Some men feel that the inherent knowledge of God in the heart of man and the inborn conviction that man should worship God are the greatest marks of difference between men and beasts. Some boast that they have no fear of God, that they do not believe in immortality, or eternity; but bring them face to face with the issue, and their actions belie their words. The saying during World War II, “There are no atheists in fox holes,” was not an idle saying. When men faced death they prayed, in many instances in spite of former boasting. Why? Because God reveals Himself to every heart. “That which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.”
Inherent knowledge of God is not the only witness that God has given men of Himself. God can be seen in the things of creation – in the structure, plan, precise timing, variety, the magnitude of some things, and the minuteness of other things. Surely the handiwork of the Great Architect is plainly seen. God said that these things contained evidence enough to lead men to God, so that men are without excuse. The trouble lies in the fact that men have changed the “truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator.”
Men would not use correctly the knowledge that God gave of Himself. When they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful for the gifts and goodness that He gave. Trying to be wise and going beyond the revealed truths, the imaginations of men became vain and their foolish heart was darkened. “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.” Is not that the true picture of worldly-minded men, today?

The Downward Course
People of former years forsook the revelation that God gave of Himself and turned to all sorts of idols. This course away from God led them into all manner of sin and debauchery, until no sin seemed too vile to practise. God did not pass over this wickedness, but justice was meted to the evildoer.
The people of this enlightened generation do not worship idols and images, perhaps; but a great proportion of humanity, refusing to serve God acceptably, have turned to gods of their own imagination. Many science-minded men have dethroned the God of Creation, and they have substituted the god of “just happened so” or “spontaneous generation” as the means by which the world and men came into existence. Immortality and the never-dying soul, some say, are out-dated ideas; but beware! Any man who disbelieves God’s Word and believes such foolishness closes the door of Heaven upon himself.
Other people have replaced the God of love in their heart with the god of love for money. They have forsaken the true riches of Heaven and have tried to heap to themselves the vanishing treasures of earth. “Money will buy anything,” is an expression often heard, but money will not buy peace of soul or mind, nor will it buy an eternal home with God. Still other people worship the gods of pleasure, position, power, opinions of friends, and a thousand other gods. The end result is just the same: those who forsake God become liable to all manner of sin. Read the catalogue of sins enumerated in Romans 1:28-32. These words were addressed to the people of the First Century, but they fit the people of the many other successive centuries just as fully as today. Many people think that their sins will not be judged, but the day is coming surely when divine justice will be meted to every sinner for every sin and act of disobedience committed.
“Justice” is an important word. “Justice” to the guilty means punishment, while to the guiltless “justice” means freedom. Divine justice to the sinner means eternal destruction. The sinner needs God’s mercy, not justice.

Inexcusable
It is easy for one person to judge another’s actions; whereas the one who judges, if placed in similar circumstances, might do even worse than the one judged. The more righteously a life is lived, the more quickly people want to judge him and find fault. It is easier to see a speck of dirt on a white garment than to see soiled spots on a dark garment. How many tried to find fault with the spotless, sinless life of the Son of God!
What does all this judging mean? Simply, that people have more light than they are willing to walk in. The person, who has enough knowledge to judge another has enough light to walk above such judgment, has enough light to repent of his own misdeeds. Some point out the other man’s faults in order that their own faults might not be noticed. No amount of camouflage, smoke screen, or bluff that a man uses to hide his life will avail in God’s judgment. None will escape that appointment, and a true record of all lives will be brought into the open. Divine justice will be given, and each individual will know better than anyone else that he received according to his deeds and light. Seeing these things are true, how careful should be the walk and talk of all who live upon earth!

Riches
In these days all sorts of wickedness, seemingly, can be committed without visible penalty; however, no one should be deceived by this. The Lord observes minutely every happening and every action of man. The riches of God’s goodness, forbearance, and long-suffering are bountifully given to the children of men, though sinners, for one purpose: to lead them to repentance. If justice were received every time a man committed sin, all would die in their sins, for “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). The true Christian is enabled to live above sin only because God has given him a new heart and nature: “He is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (II Corinthians 5:17). The riches of God’s mercy sent Jesus Christ into this world, not to condemn the world, “but that the world through him might be saved” (John 3:17). May the Holy Spirit cause everyone to examine his heart and make sure that God’s riches are being received and used in the right way!

Wrath
Jesus said: “For he [the Father] maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45). The Apostle states that God’s goodness and forbearance and long-suffering are given to all men, but some men despise these riches. There is one inevitable end reserved for the person who goes through this life, beholding, partaking, and enjoying the innumerable mercies of God’s love and yet will not repent of sin to serve God. That hard and impenitent heart treasures up unto himself “wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; who will render to every man according to his deeds.”
All who are contentious and do not obey the truth, but walk in unrighteousness, in the day of divine justice will receive indignation and wrath. Tribulation and eternal hell will be the punishment for every soul of man who does evil. It is easy to see that the winner in this matter of divine justice is the man who renounces sin and turns his heart and life to God in love and service.
“Treasurest up unto thyself wrath.” What an awful surprise package will be handed out to sinners in that day! All men are working for a treasure, either God’s riches and love, or God’s wrath. Each individual must choose between the two. May God help us to choose the treasure of God’s love!

Eternal Life
Divine justice holds no terror to those who have been born again – born of the Spirit and made new creatures through the Blood of Jesus – and who are walking in the light of the Gospel. In that day God will render to them, “who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality,” eternal life. Glory, honour, and peace will be given to every man who worketh good, “to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: for there is no respect of persons with God.”

QUESTIONS
1. For what class of people is the wrath of God reserved?
2. In what ways has God revealed Himself to the children of men?
3. What happens when people will not serve God?
4. Why are men without excuse before God?
5. How will those people fare in the day of divine justice who pass judgment upon their fellow men?
6. Why are the riches of God’s mercy granted to all men, even sinners?
7. What record will be granted to those who are faithful to God?
8. What will be given to the unfaithful?
9. How will God determine His faithful ones in the day of divine justice?

13/04/2023

THE GOSPEL OF THE SON OF GOD

Romans 1:1-17; Isaiah 52:7; 61:1-3; Matthew 4:23-25; Acts 20:24; Ephesians 6:18-20; I Thessalonians 1:5.
Memory Verse
“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!” (Isaiah 52:7).

Christ’s Gospel
The Gospel of the Son of God is The Gospel. It is the only Gospel that has life in it, and the only Gospel that can produce life. It came from Heaven and was sent from God to destroy sin in the lives of sinful men. In Jesus was life and the “life was the light of men.” Paul, in writing to the Galatians, said, “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you . . . let him be accursed.” There are many religions in the world but only one true Gospel.
Paul was divinely called and commissioned to carry the Gospel to the Gentiles. He had preached in Asia and in some part of Europe but up to this time had not been privileged to carry the Gospel to Rome. He expresses a desire to have some fruit among them as well as among other Gentile nations. He says, “I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise. So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.”

The Whosoever Will
Paul makes it very plain in this Epistle to the Romans that God puts no difference between the Jew and the Gentile. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God, but in Christ Jesus all can come to Jesus, repent and forsake their sins, be born again and partake of His holiness. The “whosoever will” may come from every race, creed, and colour.
It was a day of glad tidings to a lost world when God sealed the covenant between Himself and mankind by the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. The whole world could go free. It was not a covenant with the Jews only, but with all nations.

The Nicene Creed
The Gospel comprises the whole doctrine as taught and practised by Jesus, as well as the history of His incarnation, birth, preaching, miracles, sufferings, death, resurrection, ascension, and the mission of the Holy Spirit.
The doctrine of the Incarnation as adopted by the Ancient Church is so concisely and impressively expressed by the Nicene Creed of A.D. 325, that we feel like repeating part of it here. “We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of His Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made, who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from Heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the virgin Mary, and was made man.” Much truth is expressed in those few words.

The Divine Son of God
That Jesus was the divine Son of God was attested to by both believers and unbelievers. As Jesus hung on the cross the centurion and those watching with him said, “Truly this was the Son of God” (Matthew 27:54). When the chief priests and Pharisees sent officers to take Jesus, they came back without Him but had this testimony, “Never man spake like this man” (John 7:46). John, the beloved disciple, wrote these words: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1).
Angels declared Jesus to be the Son of God. In Luke 1:30, 31, the angel Gabriel said: “Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David.” When John the Baptist baptised Jesus in the river Jordan, God Himself spoke right out of Heaven and said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17).
Paul speaks about the Gospel of God, “which he had promised afore by his prophets in the Holy Scriptures.” These prophecies were folded up in the Old Testament and unfurled in the New, bringing into the world a more perfect and glorious state of things.

Repentance
The first sermons recorded in the New Testament were on repentance. John the Baptist preached repentance, and so did Jesus. That has been the theme of evangelistic preaching from that day unto this.
We speak of God’s message of salvation as the “Old-Time Gospel.” It has been many centuries since Jesus proclaimed it along the shore of Galilee and from the hilltops of Judea. Though old, it is ever new and as fresh as when it was first brought down from Heaven to men. Saints and sages have sung its praises, and its refrain will re-echo throughout eternity.

“’Tis the grandest theme through the ages rung;
‘Tis the grandest theme for a mortal tongue;
‘Tis the grandest theme that the world e’er sung,
‘Our God is able to deliver thee.’”

The Resurrection
The devil has sponsored many religions, but nothing that could in any way touch the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the first, last, and only Gospel that has power in it.
His resurrection has never been duplicated. Men have denied it, scoffed at it, and tried to prove it was a farce; but it remains an established fact that Jesus arose from the grave.
Paul wanted to impress upon the Corinthian church the fact of the Gospel and the resurrection, and he wrote these words: “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; . . . For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: and that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: after that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time” (I Corinthians 15:1, 3-8).
It was preaching the resurrection that brought Paul most of his persecutions for the Gospel, but he stood fearless and firm in his conviction that he had seen the Lord. How do we know that Jesus is alive? Because He lives in our heart.

A Mutilated Gospel
Never has the Gospel been so much mutilated as it is in these days. The very heart of it is being attacked by those who should be proclaiming its truths.
The divinity of Jesus Christ, the virgin birth, His atoning death, His resurrection and ascension, and His coming back again are all being denied by “atheists” in the pulpit. To them Jesus was a mere man and not the divine Son of God. The Revised Standard Version of the Bible deviates from the fundamental translations in many vital passages. The King James Translation of God’s Holy Word is still the Bible for those who love the truth.

The Gospel in Action
Matthew tells how Jesus demonstrated the power of the Gospel as He went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and disease among the people. He heard the cry of poor, blind Bartimæus. He listened to the call of the l***r, and put forth His hand and touched him and made him clean. There were none too poor, too low, or too diseased but that He had compassion upon them.

The Gospel of Peace
The world is weary and sick of war. The people want peace. But their eyes are blinded to the real source of peace. They are looking for an earthly leader to appear to restore a chaotic world to normalcy. One day peace will reign. But it will be when Jesus comes back and takes the government upon His own shoulders. “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 11:9).
There seemed to be two kinds of messengers among the Jews. One bore good tidings and the other evil. They were known among the people so that when they saw the messenger coming they knew what kind of tidings he was bringing. Isaiah got a glimpse of the messenger of peace, and exclaimed: “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that published salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reingeth!” (Isaiah 52:7). May we be messengers of peace to a sinful world.

QUESTIONS
1. How many Gospels are there?
2. Who are included in this great plan of salvation?
3. Why did Paul long to go to Rome?
4. Tell what the Gospel will do for people.
5. Describe the different kings of messengers.
6. What kind of tidings do you bear?
7. What about the Revised Standard Version of the Bible?
8. What brought Paul’s heaviest persecutions?

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