The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1885-12-17
The Sunday Schools.
LESSON FOB NEXT SUNDAY.
.rter. er.....................Dec. go, 1885.
LESSON XII. :. The Gracious Invitation.
lisa. 55, Ill,

|
l Ho, every one that thirsteth, comesye to the
waters, and he that hath money; come ye,
| buy and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk
| without money, and without price.
| Wherefore do ye spend money for that
| which is not bread and your labor for that
which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto
| me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your
| soul delight itself in fatness
| Incline your ear, and come unto me hear,
| and your soul shall live; and 1 will make an
| everlasting covenant with you, even the sure
mercies of David.
| Behold, have given him for witness to
| the people, leader and commander to the peo-
pie.
| Behold, thou shalt call nation that thou
| knowest not, and nations that knew not thee
| because of the Lord thy God, and for the Holy
| One of Israel; for he hath glorifed thee.
| Seek ye the Lord while he may be found,
call ye upon him while he is near:
Let thel wicked forsake his way, and the
unrighteous man his thoughts and let him re-
turn unto the Lord, and he will have mercy
upon him; and to our God, for he will abund-
antly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.
For the heavens are higher than the
earth, so are my ways higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts
10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow
from heaven, and returneth not thither, but
watereth the earth. and maketh it bring forth
and bud, that it may give seed to the sower,
and bread to the eater:
IL So shall my word be that goeth forth out of |
my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, |
but it shall accomplish that which please, and |
it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it, |
GOLDEN TExT.-Ho, every one that thirsteth, |
come We to the waters.-Isa 55. I.
TIME.-B.C. 700.
PLACE-Jerusalem.
RULERS.-Hezekiah, King of Judah; Sen
nacherib, King of Assyria.
AT the time when the words of this
Lesson were written, the Kingdom of
Israel had passed away, and Judah was
threatened with downfall at the ap-
proach of Assyrian power. 1t was a
gloomy season, but in bright vision the
Prophet saw newer and grander King
dom rising in the distance. The Son of
David was upon the Throne, aud the
Prophet saw and read the laws by which
the glory and protection of the new King
dom were to be secured and maintained.
He appeals to the people to cease spend
ing money for that which is not bread
The nations of to-day are guilty of this
wrong-doing to an alarming extent. The
worldly evils for which men waste their
money, and more especially the drink
curse, may be classed as that which is not
bread, and which satisfeth. not. And
those who are guilty of this, lose sight of
the living God, and His glory.
The Prophet addresses himself to the
Redeemer with the prophecy that He
shall call nation that he knows not. The
nation was to be composed of those who
had not hitherto been regarded as the
Prophe cts own people, but who had been
won, by the teachings of the Gospel from
the Gentiles.
He compares, and truthfully, too, the
grace of God coming down upon the peo-
pile, even as the rain and the snow come
from Heaven-to melt among them, and
moisten and refresh the soul with the
true spirit. He attempts to impress upon
a people threatened by dreadful earthly
dangers, the idea that the only salvation
and safety must come from an earnest
service of the Heavenly Father.