The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1889-04-05

init Verses 8-10-Golden Text, Zecl.. tx,
o. Commentary by the Rev. ID. NJ.
Stearns.
Compiled from Lesson Helper Quarterly by per
mission Of H. s. Hoffman, publisher, Philadel.
phia.
l. "And when they came nigh to Jerusa-
lem, unto Bethpage and Bethany, at the
Mount of Olives" After healing the blind
men as He passed through Jericho, lie tarried
at the house of Zaccheus, and spoke tho par
able of the nobleman and his servants, in
which He taught them that the kingdom Of
turn from the far country. Arriving ut
Bethany we find Him at supper in the house
of Simon the Leper, Martha, Mary and La
zarus all being present, and Mary anoints
Him beforehand for His burial. tLuke xix,
John xii.) Then follows this lesson, in which
we see Him fulfilling the prophecy written
in Zech. tx, 0, for He came to fulfill the law
pnd the prophets, to fulfill all righteousness
Matt. v, II; iii, 15.) He is now in the last
scek of His earthly ministry, generally
rallied Passion Week, and is about to
present Himself to His people, the Jews,
as their king, for the last time. As
we see Him, anointed with the Holy Spirit,
going about doing good we are apt to think
OF Him only as Jesus our Saviour, on His
way to the cross, showing forth in His life
the love and power of God; but if we would
understand the Scriptures we must not lose
sight of this great fact that He is Israel's
Messiah and as such is ever fulfilling before
their eyes the Scriptures of their prophets,
that they may be without excuse for reject
ing Him; and that since their rejection of
Him es their king, and His consequent setting
them aside as His people for a time, He is
now in the interim between Daniels sixty
ninth and scventieth week gathering out
from Jew and Gentle that now company,
tho ono body, His church-a mystery kept
secret from tho foundation Of the world, but
revealed unto the apostles. Eph. iii.)
2. "Go your way into tho village over
against you" Very often our work is just
at our hand in our own house or town or vii
lagc, or among those nearest to US, and if we
are unwilling to do the next thing, or reject
tho opportunity nearest to US, because per-
haps it is a small one, He may see fit to give
us nothing else to do, and we stand idle or
vainly seeking work agreeable to us, because
we will not do that which He has appointed.
When the work1nen under Nehemiah rebuilt
tho walls Of Jerusalem it is written again and
again that certain ones repaired "by his
bcr." (Neh. iii, TO- 2.3 2S-30) Gas soon as We be
entered into it." How often it is that as
soon as we start forth in His Narno ready to
do whatever our hands find to do, we find
the work all ready for us and nearer to hand
than we thought.
| ''Yc shall find q colt tied, whereon never.
man sat; loose him and bring him" While
Mark and Luke mention only the colt, Nat
thew mentions the two animals "an ass and
colt with her," just rs Samuel could, by
! the Spirit Of God, tell Saul whom he would
meet that day, and what each one would
have, and say, and do q Sam. x, 10, so
tho sanlo Spirit in Jesus Christ knew lust
where these animals would be found tied; for
the Spirit of God is perfect in knowledge
COB xx4vi, ~ and He is in every true be-
licver to teach lis all things John xiv, II, 26).
8. Say ye that the Lord hath need of him. u
In one sense lie needs not anything, seeing
! that He giveth to oil life, and breath, and all
things lActs xvii, 25), but he is pleased to use
weak and foolish things i'll accomplishing His
purposes if He only finds them willing and
ready to Ills hand. Docs rot tho readiness of
| tho owner of these animals in sllrrendering
them to the Lord SO cheerfully, and the readi-
ness of Simon to let Jesus have the use of his
boat and to wait upon Him duke v, 1-1O)
rather rebuke us for our oft unwillingness to
place ourselves and all that we arc and have
at His disposal?
4. ''They went their way, and found the
colt tied by tho door without, in q place
whcrc two ways met" Luke says s'They
found even Us He had said unto Them
(Luke 1ix.) We will always find it, both in
this world and in tho world to come, just as
He says; and there is no way we can honor
Him like believing and obeying His word
without questioning. 81 believe God, that il
shall be even US it was told me" (Acts xvii
80, is a grand life motto for every Christian
remembering also the blessings upon those
WHO believe Q4ukei, 45; John Xxx, 29).
5, 6. "'fhcy said unto them even as Jesus
had commanded" Whcre the word Of g
king is thero is power Eccl. viii, ~, and
when wo go in His name bearing His mes
sage, we have only to speak His word faith
fully, and it will not return to Him void
! Gen. xiii, 2s; Isa. lv, 11) Tho result:
which He intends to accomplish are sure tx
como; the responsibility of the messenger i:
to get tho message correctly and deliver il
plainly end faithfully in His name. Al
these two men sought something for jesus
and for His use, SO we arc to seek souls anc
results, not for ourselves, but for Him whom
VIC serve
Z. "They brought tho colt to Jesus, ane
cast their garments on him; and lie sat upo1
him." There wero two animals and t,y,
men; why did the men not bring tho asse
riding upon thems That would have beer
appropriatirg to their own use that which
they had obtained for their Lord.
s. "Garments-and branches-strewed i,
tho way" These tokens of submission ant
alteration on the part Of tho people, whicl
was so short lived, point us to tho time whel
all things shall be subdued unto Him q Cor
XIV, 2s, and they also seem to ask us, Wha
does your submission and alteration amour
to2 Is It sincere, permanent and incrcosing2
o. "Hosanna; Blessed is He that cometh Il
the namo Of tho Lord" These words or
found in Ps. cxviii, 25, &c, the first word be
ing made up of two Hebrew words signifyin
"Suve now l beseech thee" In the sam
psalm we find it written, 1.-THE stone whic
the builders refused is become tho headstor
of tho corner" and when the headstone sha
bo brought forth with shoutings, crying
Grace, grace unto it Czech. iv, n, then sha
this song of praise be sung, not as it was tha
day, but sincerely. His own words to the1
little later in tho week wero Behold, you
house is left unto you desolate, for l say unit
you. Yo shall not sec me henceforth, till J
sull4A oaay, DleSSe0 ID 1l0 ludI COllctu LII u
name OF the Lord" lMutt xxi, 80, 39).
~. blessed be tho kingdom Of our fathc
David, that comcth in the name of the Lore
hosanna in the highest" An everlasti1l
kingdom had been promised to David 4
Sam. vii, Chron. 1vii(, and tho promise
messiah was to set upon his throne
ii. And Jesus. entered into Jerusalem
0 and into the temple" Matt. xxi, l4-1G, tel
US that the blind and lame came to Him al
were healed, that tho children sang II
praise, and TINT the scribes and Pharise