Connecticut western news., 1890-04-09
THE WIDOW OF MAIN.
LESSON II, SECOND QUARTER, INTER.
 NATIONAL SERIES, APRIL is.

Text of the Lesson, Luke vii, 11-1s-Com-
 init Verses 14-16-Golden Text, Luke
 vii, 16-Commentary by the Rev. D. M.
 Stearns.
 [Compiled from Lesson Helper Quarterly by per.
 mission of H. S Hoffman. publisher. Phiadel
 phia.
 H. "And it came to pass the day after, that He went into city called Main" He had been at Capernaum, where His soul had been greatly refreshed by the faith of Gentle, a Roman centurion, leading him to say, "Ihave not found so great faith, no, not in Israel" and to look forward to the time of the king dom when many who were far off shall be found there, and many who thought them selves entitled to the kingdom shall be cast out (see Matt viii, 10-13). It is not without purpose that this reference to the kingdom is found only in the kingdom gospel tMatthew) and omitted by Luke; but Luke does mention the "great faith" tv 9, and whether found in Jew or Gentle it is this that gladdens the heart of Jesus and brings forth the "As thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee." Lord. give us such a faith as this.
 12: "Now when He came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was dead man 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 the power of death tActs iii, 15; Eph. vi, 12; Heb. ii, IA. The Son of God was manifested that He might destroy the works of the devil q John iii, 8, and when He has gathered from this present world His elect company of associate rulers He will then reign till He hath put all enemies under His feet: the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death q Cor. xv, 25, 26.
 "The only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her." The little girl whom Jesus raised to life was an only daughter duke viii, 42,, and Lazarus seems to have been an only brother.
 Is. And when the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her, and said unto her. Weep not" In one company the center of attrac- tion was the Lord of Life and Glory, in the other, this poor desolate, broken hearted widow. The two now meet, and from the Fountain of Life into the heart of the deso- late flow the all powerful words, Weep not. So He also said in the house of Jairus duke ix, 52, and to Mary after the resurrection He said, "Why weepest thous" John K. l5., Yet He Himself wept at the grave of Lazarus and on the mount of olives and in the garden of Gethsemane John Ri, 35, Luke xix, Al :, Heb. v, D. When he weeps it is because of sin either in its present or future results. when He says Weep not' it is because of what He is as the Resurrection and the Life and what He is able and willing to do A Weep not" from helpless fellow being is often vain word, and almost seems ofttimes like mock cry; but a Weep not'' from one who has power to remove the cause of the weeping is a powerful and welcome word We may fancy how quickly the tears were dried and all eyes fixed on Him. Let us keep our eyes on Him while we wait for the time when right here on this earth, made into a new earth, there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying tRev. xxi. 4
 14. "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. It was when God saw that Moses turned aside to see that He called unto him out of the bush. Israel at the Red sea bad to stand still in order to see the saliva tion of Jehovah
 "And He said, Young man, 1 say unto thee, Arise" Now when all is still and all eyes are upon Him He utters just four words in the Greek,, but what power and meaning there is in them, and all because of Him who uttered them They are the words of Him who spake and it was done, who commanded and it stood fast tPs. xxxiii. 6-9) by whose word the Heavens were made and all the host Ol tueu Uy Cuo OTcdGu OI LIS OD serve the "I 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 it's signih canoe. The word "arise" signifies to awake as from sleep tsee Matt. viii, 26 xvii. q, and is used in reference to those who rose from the dead after His resurrection Matt xvii, 52.
 15. "And He that was dead sat up and be | 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 of the Spirit The words which He speaks are | Spirit and Life, and he that hears and believes hath everlasting life, and is passed from death unto life. The hour is coming when all that are in their graves shall hear His 1 voice the same voice. and shall come forth | some to life and some to condemnation l Blessed are those who now hear and live that | they may come forth with the righteous al the beginning of the hour, and not be among those who shall not rise till the end of.the hour, or the thousand years John vi, 63
 v, A-29; Rev. xx, 5 It says that he began to speak; will some one explain why so many
 who profess to have received life in Christ
 have nothing to say for Hima Must we con
 clude that, like Zacharias they are dumb be | cause OI tkuK0 l, SU.D
 And He delivered him to his mother" L
 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 giv
 ing in marriage, are we not by these facts
 and by ThesS. ii, 19, taught to expect il
 some measure a reunion of those who in fam
 lilies or in service have been united on earth
 l6 And there came a fear on all: ant
 they glorifed God, saying, That grea
 prophet is risen up among us; and, That Got
 hath visited his people," They may hav
 thought of the resurrections through Elijal
 and Elisha, and possibly have rememberet
 these words: "I will send you Elijah tn
 prophet before the coming of the great ant
 dreadful day of the Lord" (Mal iv, 5. O
 some of the promises of visitation for deliver
 ance and restoration, as isa- xxiv, 22, 23
 Ezek. xxxviii, &; Zeph. ii. z, etc. The tw'
 companies have now a common center
 the woman and her son and al
 their friends have joined the disci
 ples and much people who followed Jesus
 and together they glorify God as seen in Him
 This was the great object of Jesus in all H
 said and did, and in His last prayer He
 able to say triumphantly, "I have glorifie
 thee on the earth; I have finished the wor
 which Thou gavest me to do" John xvii, 4
 Paul testifies that God chose him to revea
 His Son in him, and he was also able to sa "They glorified God in mel Gal i, l6, 24).
 we would only yield ourselves wholly to Goo
 making these three notices heartily our owr Mot pleasing self, not my own will, not m
 own glory" Rom XIV, 8, John vi, 3s; viii, 30 , then surely God would reveal His Son in u l and people would glorify God.
 : 17. And this rumor of Him went fort t throughout all Judea, and throughout 6 I the region round about" That is abou . equal to saying 'from Dan and Beersheba, or throughout the length and breadth of tn , land. .-...-a e..a ..-.