The Odessa herald. (Odessa, Del.) 1888-1892, 1889-03-02
SABBATH SCHOOL.
INTERNATIONAL LESSON FOR
MARCH 3.
Lesson Text: "Jesus the Messiah, .
Mark viii, 27-3s and tx, Il
Golden Text: Mark viii, b.
Commentary on the Lesson.

ASSooOhA @SAbs ONnh6 thO VAO5bA0hg
Mark viii, 27-3S and tx, Il
Golden Text: Mark viii, b.
Commentary on the Lesson.
Between this lesson and the last one we
have the record of the death of John the
Baptist, the feeding of the multitudes on two
diiferent occasions the walking on the sea,
the great faith OF the Syrophenician women
and the healing of her daughter, the healing
Of a deaf and dumb man. the healing of
blind man, the healing of multitudes in the
cities and villages by simply touching Him,
and His exposition Of the hollowness of the
Pharisees' religion. Thus He kept going about
doing good, clung TO by the poor and tue
distressed, hated by the religious leaders of
the people because their superficial and
hypocrtical religion could not stand before
His sincere and complete manifestation Of
the life which they professed but did not
possess.
81. Whom do men say that 1 aman He
had come into the town Of Cnsarea Philippi,
not Casarea on the Mediterranean where
Peter first preached the gospel to Cornelius,
the GENTLE centurion, and where Philip the
evangelist and his four daughters lived facts
4, ]; xxi.,Sl, but the extreme north OF Canaan
and the most northerly point of Christs
journeys. Luke ix., Is, says that He was alone
with His disciples, and that He was praying.
Matthew xvi, Is, says that His question was:
Whom do men say that l, the Son OF Man,
amN Not that He cared what men said Of
Him, nor did He need to ask them but for
their sakes He asked the question thut He
might awaken and interest them, draw forth
Peters confession, and make known to them
the truths of our lesson.
rs, ~. Peter answereth and said unto
Him, Thou art the Christn After drawing
from them the opinions OF Others He then
pointedly and personally puts the question;
9Sut whom say We that amN You may
know Him as Jesus who saves and keeps you,
as Lord whom you delight to acknowledge
as your possessor and proprietor, hut do you
know HIM as the Christ, the coming King Of
Israel and of the whole earti
30. "tle charged them that they should tell
no man of Him. Matt. xvi, 20, says to tell no
man that He was Jesus the Christ. He never
forbade them 10 say that He was Jesus tl,e
Saviour but now that the rulers Of the peo-
Pile had fully determined to kill Him Matt
Kill, l4l lie forbids them to make Him known
as the Christ.
81. HE began to teach them that the Son
Of Man must suffer- At His first cleansing
Of the temple he had foretold His death and
resurrection John IL, lg-2ll, and later, when
they asked a sign He spoke of Jonah as a
type of his death and resurrection Matt xiii,
49, 40l but this is Ills first particular and full
announcement of this great event which He
again repeats on two other occasions tix., 81;
X, a4l.
32 "Peter took Him and began to rebuke
| Him. saying "Be it far from Thee, Lord;
this shall not be unto Thee Matt. xvi, ~,
sr, as in the margin, "Pity 1'hyself, Lordn
This was the natural man speaking, and the
tendency of the natural man, even in the
Christian, is to pity himself and GEEK Ills own
Ease, and against this self indulgence we
must as Christians earnestly contend, ever
yielding our bodies a living sacrifice.
80 "ils rebuked Peter, saying, tiet thee be-
hind ms, Satan" Peter had just given forth
a sweet saviour OF God in his grand con-
Isasion uf Jesus as the Christ, and now from
Ihe ssn1e mouth Games the thilf 4 al llfal
with Satan urging on; ''out Of the same
mouth proceedeth blessing and cursinpi
JAS. i'll, l0). It was never so with Jesus;
put Of His mouth proceeded only gracious
| words and such as the Father told Him to
iay tJohn xii, 4yl.
| "a. .'Whosoever will come after Me, let him
| ieny himself, and take up his cross, and fol-
| low Me-" 1t is most precious truth that the
/ invitation to come is to .Whosoeyer wiln
| facts X, 43; Rom, X, il-l3; Rev. xxi, IN;
and him that cometh shall in no wise be cast
put tJohn vi, 80; but it is also true that no
one can truly come, unless they are prepared
10 deny self and bear the cross after Jesus,
and this daily luke tx, 23).
80. "for whosoeyer will save his life shall
| lose it, That is, whosoever chooses this
present life with its joys, in preference to the
narrow way of separation from this present
| svl world unto Christ shall find in the end
hat his portion here was his all, and his en-
| ioyment ended when he left this world;
| while he who chooses Christ and fellowship
with Him as his portion here prepared II re-
lounce with the whole heart, the world, the
Hesh and the devil, will find that while he
may not have had great success in this
world and, perhaps, been sorely tried, yet lie
| has had Gods own peace and joy in his Ioul
md shall inherit everlasting life.
81. "For what shall it profit man, If he
| shall gain the whole world and lose his own
| u I at MOI tha ba,
thinks best; let him accumulate millions; let
| him try all the riches of pleasure and fame
and worldly power; let him, il he is able go
INTO 1t as largely as Solomon did (Eccl. IL,
and let him enjoy it all for hundred years.
What thens They may put his body in
rasket of rosewood or mahogany, give it a
gorgeous funeral, and lay it in a marble
tomb, but where is hes His torment has be-
gun and il shall never end.
81, "What shall a man give In exchange
| for his lifel' Ifhe loses it by refusing to let
Jesus save him it is gone forever; the great
gulf is fixed and they cannot pass from one
| place to the other. The life of every in
1ividual has three stages, that por-
tion which is spent here in the mortal body,
/ that between death and resurrection,
| and that after the resurrection. If the first
stage is yielded TO Jesus, then between death
and resurrection the spirit is with Christ I'M
| Paradise, and at the resurrection of the just
the soul and body are wanted to be with and
| uhe CnTlSb IOreVer, DuC IL INC llTSC stage 1S
misspent and withheld from Jesus then is
the future of that soul dark and awful.
3S. "0f him shall the Son of Man be
| ashamed" The Christ will return IN power
and great glory Matt. XVI, 81: Col. lit, ~ j,
| bringing His saints with Him. He shall come
/ in flaming fire, yielding vengeance on them
that know not God and obey not the Gospel
| I'll TIL, l., 7-lW, and not only so, but when He
| comes to the air Tor His people many of them
| shall be ashamed il He finds them mixed up
with the world and worldly things instead of
separate therefrom and watching for Him
| Il. John III, 2S. He wants a separate and
holy people to witness faithfully for Him in
this dark and sinful world, willing to ac-
knowledge Him in business, and at home,
and in all our intercourse with our fellow
men, and nothing short Of whole-heartee
devotion to Him will bring His approval in
that day.
TX, /. "Some of them that stand here shall
not taste of death, till they have seen the
kingdom of God come with power.n And
after SIX days He fulfilled this word to three
Of them when on the mount of trans
figuration they were eye witnesses of
His majesty. III. Peter l., 1877 They saw
Jesus transfigured, Elijah representing
those who shall lie caught up without dying,
Moses representing the dead and risen saints,
and themselves in mortal bodies. Thus shall
it he when He returns to restore all things of
which the prophets have spoken, to establish
His kingdom on this earth and reign with
His saints over it-Lesson Helper.