Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1891-09-04
THE CHILDREN OF GOD.
LESSON X, THIRD QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, SEPT. 6.

John /, 1a-Commentary by the Rev.
d. NJ. stearns.
compiled from Lesson Helper Quarterly by
permission of H. S. Hoffman, publisher, Phil
adelphia
81. "Then said Jesus to those Jews which
believed on Him, If We continue in my
word, then are We my disciples indeed"
He is still at Jerusalem, teaching in the
temple (verse p, and it is just after the feast
Of tabernacles.
49, And We shall know the truth, and
the truth shall make you free"
To know the truth is to know Himself,
for He is the Truth CHAP xiv, g., and to
know God and Jesus Christ is life eternal
(chap. xvii, g. There is n vital connection
between Jesus, the Living Word, and the
written word which tells of Him and is full
of Him. Acquaint now myself with Him
and be at peace dob xii, 21)
93. "They answered Him. We be Abra
hams seed, and were never in bondage to
any man. How sayest thou, We shall be
made free?"
! Being only natural men, they understood
not His spiritual sayings, for it seemed
foolishness to them q Cor. ii, 14).
"a. Jesus answered them, Verify verify,
| say unto you, whosoever committeth sin
Is the servant OF SIN.
AS the Spirit through Paul has said, ITO
whom We yield yourselves servants to obey,
his servants ye are whom We obey; whether
of sin unto death, or of obedience unto
righteousness. And the servants of sin
are free from righteousness (Rom. vi, 16
22).
IS. And the servant abideth not in the
house forever, but the Son abideth ever"
In these words He seems to carry us back
to the story of Ishmael and Isaac, of which
Paul makes so much in Gal. " 21-31,
bringing out the difference between that
which is born of the flesh and that which
is born of the Spirit; to which also Jesus
made much reference in His conversation
with Nicodemus
SO. IF the Son therefore shall make you
free, ye shall be free indeed"
BY an outward conformity to the law
they thought to obtain righteousness, not
understanding that the law, SO holy and
just and good, could not possibly give life
to sinner, but could only condemn him
(Rom. iii, 10, 20, Gal. iii, 81, %
81. II know that we are Abrahams seed;
but ye seek to kill me, because my Word
hath no place in you"
They were children of Abraham by nat
ural descent, but they were not like Abra-
udln lot Abraham reJOlCeQ IN
the Christ Verse 56), but they wanted to
kill Him.
3S. 81 speak that which have seen with
my Father and ye do that which ye have
seen with your Father"
AS to His Father, He was continually
speaking of Him. proclaiming that the
Father sent Him. and that He said and did
only what the Father taught Him; that
the Father was with Him, and that He al
ways pleased the Father; that to know
Him was to know the Father.
80. "They answered and said unto Him,
Abraham is our Father. Jesus saith unto
them, If we were Abraham's children We
would do the works of Abraham"
They still cling to the idea of natural
descent being sufficient, but John the Bap-
fist had taught them the folly of saying,
1--WE have Abraham to our father" (Math.
Iii, 81; and on a previous occasion Jesus
had taught at Capernaum that many
would come from east and west and sit
down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in
the Kingdom, while many who thought
themselves entitled to do SO would be cast
into outer darkness (Math. viii, IL, 12).
Only they which are of faith are true chill
dren of Abraham Gal ill., 6, Z; Rom. tx, Z;
Ii, %, 29); and wherever there is faith like
correspond (Jas. ii, 21-23)
40. But now We seek to kill me, a man
that hath told you the truth, which have
heard of God. This did not Abraham"
Al. "Ye do the deeds of your father.
Then said they to Him, We be not born of
fornication; we have one Father, even
God"
In lisa. xiii, l6; Xiv, s, we find these
words, DOUBTLESS Thou art our Father
though Abraham be ignorant of us, and
Israel acknowledge us not: Thou, o Lord
art our Father, our Redeemer Thy name is
from everlasting" 20 Lord, Thou art our
Father; we are the clay, and Thou our pot
ter; and we all are the work of Thy hand. /"
AZ. Jesus said unto them, If God were
your father We would love me, for | pro-
ceeded forth and came from God; neither
came / of myself, but He sent me-"
The Lord had said through Malachi, "a
son honoreth his father and servant his
master; if then l be a father, where is
mine honor (Mal. i, 6)2 And in John v, 49,
Jesus had said, HE that honoreth not the
son, honoreth not the father which hath
sent Him"
43. why do ye not understand my
speechs even because We cannot hear my
word"
derstand Heb. XII, 81, and if the disciples
understood not many things till after
Pentecost, even though they believed in
Him Chapter xii, 49, xiv, 81, how could
these people understand anything when
they had no faith in Him whatever.
A. "Ye are of your father, the devil, and
the lusts of your father we will do"
He had twice told them that they acted
like their father oversees 8S, Az, and now He
says plainly who their father is.
He was a murderer from the beginning,
and abode not in the truth, because there
is no truth In him When he speaketh a
lie, he speaketh of his own, for ne is liar
and the father of it,"
Here is the character of their father, a
murderer from the beginning and the
father of all lies and liars. and Jesus, who
utters these words, is not judging by ap-
pearances but by the hearts of those whom
He addressed. for He read the heart John
II. 25; vii, "A; lisa XII, -.
IS. "And because tell you the truth ye
believe me not"
Paul asks, Am therefore become your
enemy because tell you the TRUTH" (Gal
~, l6). Truth is to heart that loves lies
lilo aalt m nnhaala1 10 N