The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1889-03-29
SABBATH SCHOOL.
INTERNATIONAL GBssoN No,
MARCH 81.
lesson Text' The Quarterly Re-
Wow. Golden Text: Acts
IL, 22-Commentary

Lesson Text: The Quarterly r..
Wow. Golden Text: Act.
H., 22-Commentary.
=. Inc lessons that we have studied bavs -,
sat forth oosn tt 1ne authority Of Christ and hav
5ave shown both what He is and what III
9lsciples must be- Let the review ba -,
Quoted along these two lines. Gun
THE AUTHORITY OF CHRIST.
~, =. hls royal authority. Jesus came No q
Ning. AS such He was preceded by 4 hsrald
Hi@ Wsysn + oSn WAS to prepare tie way fOr
self to be the voice Of one CRYING In thu vii,
S SSerness Make ye ready tho way OF the LORI.
ne spoke of himself rs a herald and NJ
, Slalmea 20 the jews that their expected King
RsSt,ss RsS nigG. ,.y They thought that John the he
sled, SO wonderfully endowed was he. but be
the supsrfyyi.y Of his Rins.sstsy wv saya, 81
down and uhioose the i6tcdsts 81 m.s Sandals:
He told them that whereas he baptized with
With the Holy. Spirit and with fire. Compare
lively he was but as the humble messenger
who runs before the great King. What was
meant by this superiority Of Christ was
shown at His baptism. Then the heavens
opened, the Spirit descended like dove upon
the Saviour, and o voice from out the heav-
ens was heard saying: "This is my beloved
Son, in whom am well p.eased." Then was
made manifest the fact that Jesus was the
Son Of the King of Kings.
one Of the first things which struck the
multitude with amazement Ho did not In.
struct after the usual manner. Ho did not
teach like the scribes, who cited decisions and
precedents, and piled high their authorities,
to bolster their own statements. Jesus did
nothing of the kind. He spoke as if Ho Him.
self were the source and the fountain of truth.
He did not seek confirmation even by Moses,
but laid down principles beyond those which
Verify, verify, say unto you'' had the force
OF 'Thus saith the Lord" ue so taught
that even His own townsmen wcre compelled
to ask, Whence then hath this man ali these
thingsa" They could not reconcile the wis.
mtesd il a s speech With the
Nazareth. They discreditcd it because they
could not account for it. The very reason
which caused them to reject Him is the ono
as Lord. His extraordinary. power as a
teacher is manifest in the parallels which Ho
put forth.
5. His authority over demons. And that,
one before had boen able to exercise the evil
spirits which had taken possession Of men.
Sometimes, as in the case of tho domoniac at
Gadara, il was dangerous 10 have anything
to do with such unfortunates. But never ono
camo into the presence Of Jesus whom He dill
not rescue He came that He might de-
stroy the works of the devil. A word of
command, and the evil spirits departed,
leaving their victims again in their right
minds minds u9o In TtnssSg S His IS ySs them sn
Immediately answered their own question by
saying: "a new teaching! with authority He
commandeth even tho unclean spirits, and
they Obey Him." And His ability to help those
~.-sN -.
l.. His authority rs healer In what
striking wayL.ss L-.,dt dthss, made manifest He
hsr ec' and She arose and iilS f,ltff lf
and His disciples. Ho laid His hand upon
a Ieper, who was "full of leprosy," and
Instantly he was cleansed. timid woman
touched the hem Of His garment, and forth
with she felt within herself that she was
made whole OF he: plague. He told a heip'
less paralytic to arise, and without delay ne
arose and took up his bed, and went out
glorifying God. A blind man called to Him
from the wayside, and in turn he was called
went seeing. Mark, it would seem, selected
those cases which would especially exhibit
the authority of Christ, for the instances
mentioned are not those of common ailments
They indeed are so extreme that they allow
of no suggestion of worse cases which might
have baiiied Him. And then He had author
ity over his own authority. He could de
pHte it to others 1t was not something
which He alone could use. He gave power
to the twelve to go forth and cast usd out dom0hs
s. His authority to forgive. When Jesus
saw the poor paralyt tic and noted tho need
of the soul, so much deeper than that OF th'
body, he impulsively said: "Son, thy sins ar
h swarSy sg f0rsss qasstoasa
but He demonstrated that He had tn
right by commanding the helpless man t.
rise up and walk. In this He indicated wha
is the true value Of miracles. They weren
merely to remove Affections, but to shoS
that He has the power to forgive sins
Miracles are not now wrought because ina
power is established. His authority TO for
give is now being abundantly proven by tn
higher miracles Of changed lives.
THE PRINCIPLES OF CHRIsT's KINGDOM.
1t was not until long list Of miracles ha
been performed, such rs have been EN-
merated, that Jesus turned to His disciple
asking them, first for the opinions OF me
concerning Himself, and then for their owl
| When they had declared their faith III Ill
rs the Christ, the Son OF the living 90
then He began to reveal to them that
should die and rise again. An increasi
tenderness marks His teaching from Il
time. He tells them not only what lie Is
suffer, but what they must do and be.
]. Cross bearing. In making known to
Twelve that He should bo offered up ut Jer
salem, the Saviour taught them that His o'
sacrifice was not tne exception III Ills XII
dom, but that in laying down His life He "
but acting according to principle which
piled to all who would follow Him.
9. Child-likeness. The spirit of ambiti
has no place in the kingdom of Christ
defeats itself. Those who would be great
it, in order that they may receive homa
from their fellows, fall to the lower plac
Not tho grasping, masterful man is the id
which Jesus holds up for attainment, but
receptive trustful, humble minded chi
These who are childlilic will iinl ther hea
turning toward the childron, aud in tn
love for the children they still discover
love for Christ
8. Conservation The incident Of the CO
ing of tue young ruler to Jesus shows h
thorough should be the conservation OF tll
who desire to enter into tho Kingdom or u
The spirit of that which was demanded
him is the same us that which is required
all. No ono can consecrato himself TO I
and keep back his property. To that as
rs 10 time, strength. mind, and oLher pos
sions must be applied tho principle that
is not scliishy to think of himself hut
others Like the Saviour Himself one Sho
/ be hero not to bc ministered unto, but
. minister. Pilgrim Teacher