The Sincerity of the Disciples Nobody denies to-day that such men as Matthew, Mark, Toke, John, James, Peter and the other disciples lived, preached, and were perseonted beeause they tungho that Jesus died and rose acmn, 1 these men were conscionsiv ellie Ladselioods, they vast have had same monve tor doing sin What was the motive? Certaunly it was not to eam \ i popu- Laity, [or ! what they told was su- premely displeasing to the rulers of the Jews who had crucified Jesus, and who had every disposition to treat the disciples ina snmlar manner. Tt hHECrEMDIER, 19489 was also displeasing to the Roman rulers, lor to preach another king, one Jesus, was to bring acainst them the whole power of the empire. It could not please the Grecian phitoso- slices, Tor nothing could be more ab sired to td than to preach the resurrection ol the body, To would not please sensual men tor a caliad for the cruethinion of the fleshy lusts and passions, There could he no de stun for make money our of ag, for the new aelivion nuele no provision tor any such thing, The disciples were practically penniless unul the day of their death. The apostles dnved ives ol perse- [EARA cution, sutlering and hardship {or the vuth they tangho The Bist and most convoy estinony which any man can oller for the truth of a statement is to sudler rather than deny it. The disciples did not need wo suffer They meh have escapad persecution by abstaiming from preaching Christ and His resurrection. But they cried, "We cannot bur speak the thimgs which we have seen and heard” They were placed tn bonds, they were whipped, they were stoned, they were killed. And vet to their last Lreath they continued to teach the resurrection of Christ, Men who know they are hime do not so. Men can vive no Incher proof of ther honesty, then sincerity, and ther truthilulness, than lives such as these. They can do no more than seal cher Lestimony with their blood. This the disemdes did Awd omen who do this are not to be charged with doing te uphold a Bie an mtentional beers Tro1s caster, far casier, to believe in the restnrection of Christ than to Delieve the disciples ved such ives aod died such deaths to uphold a lie vivich they knew to be a lie. Noor feast the disciples believed vhat they eho They une given the highest prool of that. And they could not have believed itn they had ~toten His hodv away, Therelore they did not hide His body, They believed Pie was rose, he wospel is not a collection of Jdocmas, but rather aovelation of tacts, J he disciples did noc preach the death and resurrection ol Jesus because they had read them moa creed, but be- cause ther own eves had seen those things. They lived lives ol toil, of purity, ol hardship, of poverty, of sullering, while preaching these truths to the world, They died painful and shinnetul deaths as arts for their cospel. These things are admitted. And I oask, What more could either Gol or man do to convince men ol the truth? Paul was one ol the most reliable witnesses to the fact of the resurrec- tion of Christ trom the dead. His ac- count was anong the earliest written and ahout the most carelully arranged. Itwill be tonnd in the filteenth chap- ter of Fist Covnmmthians, Inoveading his testimony to this historical fact it