Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1890-04-12
SUNDAY SCHOOL.
INTERNATIONAL LESSON FOR
APRIL 49,
Lesson Text: "The Widow of Main,
luke vii. 11-1s-Golden Text: Luke
vii 1o-Colnmemlary ON the Lesson.


vii, 1o-Cornmcntaryon the Lesson.
II. "And it came to pass the day after,
that He went into city called Nain.n He
had been at Capernaum, where His soul had
been greatly refreshed by the faith or Gen
tile, Roman centurion leading Him to say,
II have not found so great faith, no, not in
Israel" and to look forward to the time Of
the kingdoni-when many who were far OH
shall be found there, and many who thought
themselves entitled to the kingdom shall be
cast out (see Matt. viii, .10-13).
s.And many Of His disciples went with
Him, and much peoplen Tabor, Little Her
mon and Gilboa are three mountains rising
from the plain Of Esdraelon, south Of Cana
and southwest of the sea of Galilee. Main is
on the northwest of Little Hermon, the
middle hill Of the three, while Endor is on the
north and Shunem on the west Jesus left
Capernaum and journeyed some twenty
miles southwesterly TO Main. He would not
be very far from Cana or Nazareth and
| little farther on He would have come to
Shunem, where Elisha raised q little boy to
| life and restored him to his mother
| QT XII, ivy, but His steps are by the Spirit
| directed to Main.
IL. "Now when He came nigh to the gate
Of the city, behold, there was dead lnan
carried out" Only here, in all Scripture, is
this city mentioned, but it is forever made
memorable by this meeting of the Prince of
Life and Light and the Prince Of Darkness
who has thepower OF death. The Son of God
was manifested that He might destroy the
works of the devil 4 John ILL.,, 81, and when
He has gathered from this present world His
elect company of associate rulers He will
there reign till He hath put oil enemies under
His feet; the last enemy that shall be de-
stroyed is death II Cor. XIV. 25, 26).
'Vrhe only son OF his mother, and she was
widow; and much people Of the city was
with her" The little girl whom Jesus raised
to life was an only daughter Luke viii, AZ,
and Lazarus seems to have been an only
brother Thoughtful readers will stop
moment to remember that Solomon's master
workman in brass, ETC., was widows son;
so also was Jeroboam, son of Nebat; poor
! widow sustained Elijah, anil another was
commended by Christ for her Offering Ri.
! vii, IA; XII, &c; xvii, Q; Luke xxi, 2, 81.
Special words Of comfort for widows are
found in Elk. xii, %; Ps. lxviii.,sSl: cxlvi,
/ 0; Zecf. VIII, 10; and some day we shall SEQ
more clearly into all these things.
10. And when the Lord saw her, He had
compassion on her, and said unto her: Weep
notn In one company the center Of attrac-
lion was the Lord of Life and Glory; in the
! other, this poor, desolatc, broken hearted
widow The two now meet, and from the
Fountain of Life into the heart of the desc
! late flow tho all powerful words: "Weep
/ not" So He also said in the house of Jairus
| luke tx, 52) and to Mary after the resur-
rection He said: "Why weepest thou?" John
XXX, 49, Yet He Himself wept at the grave
of Lazarus and on the mount of olives and in
the garden of Gethsemane John XII, 30;
Luke XIX, Al Heb. v, q. When He wecps
it is because Of sin either i'll its present or
IIo~
is because Of what Hc is rs the Resurrection
J and the Life, and what He is willing and
able to do.
IA. "And He came and touched the bier;
and they that bare him stood still" To hear
the words and see the power of God we must
stop and be still. 1t was when God saw that
Moses turned aside to see that He called unto
him out of the bush. Israel at the Red Sea
had to stand still in order to see the saliva
ton of jehovah. Saul had to stand still that
Samuel might shew him the word OF God.
Israel had to stand still that Samuel might
reason with them Of the righteous acts OF the
Lord And again did they stand still to see
1 the salvation of jehovah i'll the the days OF
Jehoshaphat Qsx. iii, 4; xiv, ID. l Sam. tx,
~; xii, Z; II Chron Xxx, ~. IL the busy,
! everyday life, following tile dead things OF
this world, we are not apt to hear or see the
words or works Of the Lord; although even
there He is ready TO meet us, and it is there
we do need Him so much; but how thankful
we should be for the day which kindly conf
pels us to stand still, and for the week night
evenings when we may stand still and turn
inside to the prayer meeting OF the Bible study
to hear what He will say unto us.
"And He said: Young man. say unto
thee Arise Now when all is still and all
eyes are upon Him He utrers just four words
lin the Creek, but what powtr and meaning
there is in them: and all because OF Him who
uttered them. They are the words OF Linn
who spake and it was done, who commanded
and it stood fast ('s xxxiii., C-Y, by whose
word the Heavens were made and all the most 70;
of them by the breath OF Els mouth. Ob-
serve the II say unto thee which He uses SO
often and in the sermon on the mount just
fourteen times. Compare it with the many
hundred times repeated "Thus saith the
Lord" Of the prophets and note its slgnltl-
canoe. The word ''arise' signifies 10 awake
as from sleep sec Matt viii, 2G; xvii, q, and
is used i'll reference to those who rose from
the dead after His resurrection (hlatt, xvii,
52.
gan to speak," Life and health and speech
| from the Prince of Life, all unmerited, all OF
grace, and all by His word in the power oil
the Spirit. The words which He speaks are
Spirit and Life, and he that hears and be.
lieves hath everlasting life, and is passed
! from death unto life.
"And he delivered him to his mother" Is
there not here hint, as in the resurrection
of the little girl and Lazarus, OF the reunion
Of families in the resurrection? And while
> there shall then be neither marrying nor CIV
inc in marriage, are we not by these facts,
and by Thess. H., 10 taught to expect in some
measure a reunion Of those who i'll families or
in service have been united on earth! Ii
seems so to me.
16. "And there came fear Oh all; and
they glorifed God, SAYING That great
prophet is risen up among us; and, That GOD
hath visited His people," They may have
thought of the resurrections through Elijah
and Elisha, and possibly have remembered
these words: II will send You Elijah the
prophet before the coming Of the great and
dreadful day Of the Lordn (Alal iv., %, or
some of the promises Of visitation for deliv'
erance and restoration, as Isa xiv, 22, %;
Eek. xxxviii., s.; Zeph. H., 2, etc. The two
companies have now common centre;
the woman and her son and all their friends
have Joined the disciples and much people
| WHO followed Jesus, aud together they glori
fy God as seen in Him. This was the great
object of Jesus in all He said and did, and III
His last prayer He isable to say triumphant
! ly, 'Ihave glorifed Thee en- the earth; have
finished the WOrk WHICH 1Hou Slfeoo 1iS ~
do" John xvii, ~. .,
IL. sAnd this rumor of Him went forth
throughout all Jud@a, and t,s a15, al
! the region round about" That Is aDou,
equal TO saving ':from Dan and Beersheba,
or throughout the length and breadth OF the
land What joy in Main! What hal excitement cit m IG
iah and Elisha. How the people did talk
How they spread it abroad througi. u tue e
whole land One who can not only cure the
sick but actually raise the dead has vlSted
Israel The men talked, the women talked
the children talked, and it was all about
Jesus and His wondrous works.
IS. s'And the disciples of John Showed hin
of all these things" And John wasn't a bil
jealous, but only desired that all might 10! 10!
low Jesus, for he had before said HE must
increase, but must decrease; the friend 9
the Bridegroom which standeth and hearetl
Him reioiceth greatly because OF the Bride
groom's voice; this my joy, therefore, is tul
filledn John Ill, 29.-Lesson Helper.
e (u,;,,o t,I-as