The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1888-06-22
CHRIST'S MISSION CLOSED.
LESSON XIII, SECOND QUARTER, IN
TERNATIoNAL SERIES, JUNE "a.

TERNATloNAL SERIES, JUNE 24.
Go1dcn Text, Matt. xviii, 1s-I1is Final
Teachings, Lessons I-v--lIis Final Suffer-
ings, Lessons vI-Ix-His Resurrection
and final Commands. Lessons XXI.
g tcondensed from Lesson Helper Quarterly. by
permission Of b. 8. Hoffman, Philadelphia. pub
lsher.l
The second quarter Of the year is devoted
to the closing scenes, final lessons and COM
mands, death and resurrection Of Jesus
Christ-events and teachings transcending in
Importance all other earthly events what
ever. In the first quarter the calling of his
disciples and the preliminary work were unr
folded; VIC now come to the distinctive doc
trines, the warnings and judgments, and
after them the shameful and painful death
which sealed the divine testimony, followed
by the visible proofs of life and immortality
brought to light and the command to carry
the Gospel into the world.
The first lesson is the parable of the mar
riage feast; how those first hidden rejected
the message; how multitude of all sorts of
people were then called and accepted, and
how even one of them was found without q
wedding garment and rejected. Tho teach
ing is plain. The Jews first received reve-
lation and neglected it; Christ came and sent
his servants, the apostles, to tell them all was
ready, and again they refused, covetousness
being the prevailing cause; then the apostles
went to the GENTLE world, and all sorts and
conditions of people accepted the call. And
Of these some failed on the final test No
great learning is required to understand this
last; we see the formal professor daily,
showing that the true work Of grace is not
in his heart
The second lesson Nesson XIV, April s. pre-
sents an abrupt, a startling break in Christ's
general tone. He is no longer the gentle
friend; he is the great and terrible Judge,
pronouncing WOO upon the blind guides tho
generation Of vipers." 1t is terrific in
aictment; but so far as it was history it was
known to tho indicted themselves to
be true, and SO far as it was proph-
ecy, it was soon to be fulfilled. The
Jews were soon to fill up the measure of their
the lives of many who heard Christ Jerusas
frightful suffering by its people, and tho
Jewish nation was utterly blotted out. The
essential point of the lesson is that God is a
Lesson XVI continues the warning with
an eNhortation to watch, and then comes
the remarkable parable of the ten virgins.
with the same lesson, and to considerable
extent the same figures and similitudes as in
Lesson XIV. The parable of the ten talents
continues tho teaching as to our Lords
second coming, again emphasizing the ter
rible fact that even of the chosen servants
one did and many may prove slothful or
faithless. Indeed, this fact appears in al
most every teaching, and is at tho last most
painfully confirmed by the treachcry OF
Judas. One point in this parable is quite
delicately put: the slothful servant, when
called to account, at once began to find fault
with the conditions Of the trust, and to
exaggerate the exacting disposition of his
lord. even charging him with cruelty and
ayariciousness How very naturall How
closely does it correspond with what we SO
often hear from men who complain of the
rigor of Bible doctrineI And the lords re-
ply is sufficient answer to all those who com
plain of this or that as "hard doctrine.n He
says in effect that the complaint is false, but
even if the servant believed it true, srhou
oughtest SO much the more have given thy
self to the business appointed thee tor
The Judgment set forth In Lesson XIX
Matt XIV, S1-46-has probably been more
thoroughly and heatedly discussed than any
other section of the New Testament It is
estimated that some hundreds of volumes
have been written upon the single Greek
word "aionios"-''eternaln-a that tho one
question as to whether the judgments are
contemporary or successive has called forth
more than ten thousand pamphlets and pub
lished sermons in Great Britain alone. And
it is indeed remarkable that with all this the
doctrine held by the Christian churches has
not greatly varied from Tertullian, in the
Second century, till now On one point
only does there appear marked change.
and that not Of practical Importance 1t
was long held that the Judgment was to be
one great event, when all human beings
would appear before the "Great White
Throne;" but now many learned and pious
men hold that there are separate resurrec-
tions and successive Judgments Belief in
either Is not test Of faith; the reality is
awful enough, be it one event or many. The
Scriptures are open to all believers to study
and decide for themselves; SO the reader Is
referred to l Thess. iv, 1918; II Thess. |,
7-Io; Cor. XIV, 2-26; Rev. u, 8, and xix
entire; II Cor v, le, and parallel passages
With the close of the prophecy on the Judg-
ment, a change appears; that lesson most ap-
propriately ends the comprehensive lessons;
thereafter it would seem that Christ consid-
ers His mission Us a teacher at an end, and
sets the example of making final arrange
ments for death, indulging in last words and
scenes with His companions. In Lesson Xxx
the beautiful and simple ceremony of the
Lords Supper is instituted.
At the regular supper He announces tho
approaching tragedy and thrills the hearts
Of His disciples with the astounding state
mept "One of you shall betray NO." Then
that curious episode occurs in which the sa-
viour quietly intin,stes to the disciple near
Him as to who the traitor is, and s'im1nedi-
ately after the devil entered in Judas"
The time had now come when Jesus must
could not accompany Him. On the Mount
of Olives He still more explicitly declares
His approaching death; but Is plain that tho
disciples did not yet understand His mission.
They still entertained the idea of an
earthly kingdom, Of deliverance from the
rule of the Romans; they thought SIT had
been He which should have redeemed Israeli
Then followed Els agony In Gethsemane, His
arrest and trial, the denial of Peter and the
long night of buffeting and derision, after
which He was led out to execution. It was
on Friday about o'clock in tho morning
when the sad procession reached Calvary,
and we may believe that the cruel act of nail
ing His hands and feet to the cross was soon
completed. The cross was used by tho Ro-
mans to infiict death on slaves who had at
tackled their masters, or criminals or outlaws
who had long resisted tho law; on those who
had murdered near relatives or committed
other peculiarly atrocious crimes; common
murderers or criminals generally received a
quicker and more merciful death. We may
conclude thercfora that the two thiauns