Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1890-01-10
THE GLAD song OF MARY.
LESSON II, FIRST QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, JAN. ".

mission of II HoffiCaa publisher. Philade
phia
Six months after Gabriel's interview with
Zacharias he appeared to young woman
Of the house of David, living in the town
of Nazareth, whose name was Mary, with
the marvellous intelligence that she was
chosen of God to be the mother of the
long promised Messiah, in fact, that she
was the virgin Of whom Isaiah had prophe
sled, ana that her son whom she should bear
was the one of whom Isaiah said that he
should sit on David's throne and establish his
kingdom lisa. vii, II, tx, 6, q
We must insist that there Is no honest way
to read these much perverted words of Ga
briel concerning Mary's son tvss. 3l-33l but in
the light of all preceding Scripture concern
ing the Messiah, and, thus taking Gabriel to
mean just what he says, we confidently ex
pect that Jesus shall return to rule as king of
the Jews, from David's throne, over the
whole house of Israel and over the whole
world, when He shall come to restore all
things of which the prophets have spoken
facts iii, 1921. Those who tell us that Jesus
is now on David's throne and that the king
dom has come, are simply perverters of the
Word of God and had better read Jer xiii,
5S, 80; Luke xiv, 25-27; Acts xiv, IA, 10;
XVI, 6, Z, ETC., and study Scripture in the
however unreasonable it may appear to our
foolish reasonings Let teachers and scholars
contrast the meekness and faith of Mary and
her consequent approval with the unbelef Of
Zacharias and his consequent Christening.
Compare verses 1915 with verses 1923.
46 And Mary said, My soul doth mag
nifty the Lord" Hannah said in her prayer,
my heart rejoiceth in the Lord; !" and David
calls upon us to magnify the Lord in him"
Il Sam. ii, |, Ps xxxiv, b. The spirit of
Antichrist is to magnify ones self above all
else, but the spirit of Christ will cause one
to desire with Paul that Christ may be
magnfed in our bodies, whether by life or
by death" dan. XII, &c. 81; Phi. /, 20). Mary
Dad submitted herself cheerfully and wholly
to the will of God, and in these ways we,
too, may daily magnify Him. 1t does not
seem difficult, and yet who does it perfectlyl
Since God is truth and love- let us heartily
believe all He says and cheerfully accept His
will in all things.
A. "And my spirit hath rejoiced in God
my Saviour The only way to be full of
joy is to believe God, even as it is written,
THE God of Hope fill you with all joy and
peace in believing" Rom. XIV, -
IS. He hath regarded the low estate of
His handmaiden." Not many mighty, not
many noDle are called, Dut 'bOu main
chosen the poor of this world rich in faith"
Though the Lord be high yet hath He re-
spect unto the lowly but the proud He
knoweth afar Off He loves to dwell with
the poor and contrite spirit that trernbles at
His word Il Cor. i, 26; Jas ii, 5; Ps. cxxxviiD.
behold from henceforth all generations
shall call me blessed" The Spirit through
Elizabeth had just said BLESSED is she that
believed" and so it has come ringing down
all the ages since. Most honored among
wome no doubt Mary was, but lest we
should think too highly Of her, let us renem
Der what Jesus said to one who had spoken
of her blessedness, Yea, rather, blessed are
they that hear the Word of God and keep
it," And again, "Whosoever shall do the
will of God, the same is my brother, and my
sister, and mother" Q.u. xi, IS, Nix iii, 35)
AZ. For He that is mighty hath done me
great things; and holy is His name" In this
song we have the pronouns HE, His, Him, -
applied to God twice seven times: it is all
/ about Him and His doings reminding us that
we are nothing, but He is everything My
meditation of Him shall be sweet, will be
glad in the Lord" Dps. civ, 81 He is the
Almighty before whom we are to walk Gen.
xvii, u looking up to Him for everything.
The Almighty God tEl Shaddai does not
represent HIM as simply having all power,
and therefore able to do anything, but rather,
as the derivation of the word Shaddai i'm
plies, the all sufficient pourer forth of all
blessing. literally, the breasted one from
"Shad," signifying breast. and therefore
representing the power of bountiful, self sac.
rifcing love, giving and pouring itself out
for others. 1t is often In Scripture associated
with fruitfulness, or with emptying in order
B N N :.
goods, and poor in spirit, and now the Mighty
One comes to her to do great things for her
80. His mercy is on them that fear Him
from generation to generation" The mercy
or Kindness or loving Kindness las the word
is often translated Of God, is one of the
glorious topics of Scripture, and especially OF
the Psalms. In every one of the twenty -six
verses of Ps cxxxvi, we find the words, Hi:
mercy endureth foi ever" Mercy and truth
are met together" Mercy and truth shall
60 before thy face" IAN the paths of the
Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keeI
His covenant and His testimonies" (Ps
lxxxv, ~, lxxxix, IA, XIV, l0 Let Thy
loving kindness and Thy truth continually
preserve me" Because thy loving kindnes:
is better than life, my lips shall praise thee
| FPS xl, II, xiii, 81 Then notice in all the
epistles how grace, mercy and peace are
associated, and all this loving kindness is for
all who fear Him, and that forever
81. He hath showed strength with Hi:
arm" Perhaps looking back to the deliver
ance from Egypt, for the Lord had said &c
Moses, 81 will redeem you with a stretched
out arm and with great judgments" And
Moses had sung, by the greatness of Thine
arm they shall be as still as stone" lex
vi, 8; XIV, l6l. David sings of the same deliver
ance that God had accomplished it with a
strong hand and with stretched out arm
Ps, cxxxvi, ~. Let us remember that it is
written, Cursed be the man that trusteth in
man and maketh flesh his arm" and there
fore let us lean only on Jehovah, and let our
prayer be, "Be Thou our arm every morn
ing, our salvation also in the time OF trouble
der. xvii, 5; lsa xxxiii, q
HE hath scattered the proud in the imag-
inatiou of their hearts" The proud, self sat
istied and self sufficient cannot know His
thoughts or His way He cannot reveal Him.
self to them. They are against him, and all
their thoughts and ways shall be overthrow.
Even Nebuchadnezzar learned that "those