The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1891-07-08
SABBATH SCHOOL
INTERNATIONAL. LESSON FOFs
JULY f&
Lesson Text "Christ's First Dfsei-
pies" John L., 20-42AGolden
Text: John: H., 90
Commentary.

90. "The next day John seeth Jesus COM
ing unto him" The following verses indl>
cate that the events of the two days in.
cluded in this lesson took place after the bap.
tism Of Jesus, the record Of which Is found
in Matt. iii. 1917 Mark, t., oil. Luke liz,
81, o. The next day may; refer to- the first
day after His baptism.
aBehold tho Lamb. of Gcd, which taketh
away tho sins of the. world" The Father
had tesSfed by anr audible, voice from
heaven. and by the. descent Of the Holy
Spirit in the form of adoVe that this was
His beloved Son, and;now' John points dim
out as the one to whom,he came to- bear WIT
ness. The Lamb OF God would remind them
of tho daily burnt offerings and OF ths pass
over lambs whica lad been offered day ny
day and year by year in all the past history
Of the nation .CNups. xviii. 3S E& xii, y.
&c. sThis is of whom I said. after me
coraeth a man who. is preferred before me,
fos,He was beforsme. 'Thishe bad said when
thsy sent to. ask HIM If He was toe Christ or
Elijah OF the prophet tverss5 1e-2O. When
little later word was, brought to Iohn tnat
all men were following Jesus, be- only reiter,
sted his testimony exalting Jesus, and SAID
that he was, filled with Joy Chapter ILL.,, "
himself; hedid not point people 10 himself;
he could say with Paul. 1--WE preach not
ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and
ourselves your servants for Jesuss sake I'll
Cor iv., 81.
81. and knew Him not.' 1t seems most
strange that these two, whose births were
foretold by Gabriel, and who were so lden-
titled in public work, should not have met as
boys or men until they met at Jordan. inns,
however, may not be here implied. ltwoulo
seem from Matt. ill.,, IA, that in some sense
Joha knew Him even before the spirit de-
scended upon Him. Inasmuch as this Cos
pel was written to prove that He Is the Son
Of God Xxx, 3I, it may be that it was as Son
Of God he knew Him not till after the pap
tism.
32 eAnd John bare record, saying. saw
the Spirit descending from heaven Ike g
dove, and it abode upon Him." MOI as
tongue of fire does He come to Jesus, ior
there is no purifying or consuming necessary
here as there was in the disciples at fehGe-
COST but as pure and gentle dove does ne
come to Him who was holy, harmless unde-
filed and separate from sinners. u,
49, land knew Him not; bus he tnaC
sent me to baptize with water, tho same sala
unto me-" AS witnesses unto Christ we muS'
be much away from the world and SO forth
in the power of God, and as sent by Him to
make ready people for His Second Coming,
now so near at hand.
80. And saw and bare record that this
is the Son of God" The word son" III
Scripture does not necessarily signify in
feriorty or difference of nature, ana some
times not that at all, but rather likeness or
samenass Of nature or quality, tho Closest
nossibIe resemblance. The Son of God be-
came the Son OF Man that sons OF men
might become sons Of God IT we have re-
ceived Him we are now the children OF God,
but not until we shall see Him shall We DO
fully like Him, and not until we appear with
Him shall it bs manifest what it is to be
son Of God John l., y; John ILL, = kom.
viii, 23).
Is. "Again the next day after John stood
and two of his disciples John contlnue5
his work quietly and faithfully. ne aosS
not stop because Jesus has now been pap
tized and entered upon His public work. he
received commandment from the Father to
preach and baptize, and had not yet receive
word to stop. When we are wholly subject
to God He will clearly show us when to go
and when to stay, when to speak AMI when
to stop. r.
SO. And looking upon Jesus as He
walked" The eyes Of the three are dlrecteo
to Him. John looking upon Him for him.
self directs the others to look upon Him. IL
Is only as we see Him for ourselves that we
can point others to Him, and We can only
81. And the two disciples heard Him
speak, and they followed Jesus" See the
benest Of personal work; the statement in
verse 90 was probably general declaration
to the multitude, but here is private and
personal statement to two individuals, ana
the result is that both follow Jesus. Observe
how it came about, and do thou hkeWlse.
joan knew Jesus for Himself; he spoke OF
Him to these men; he was witness unto
Jesus, and the men became occupied with
Jesus and followed Him. John did not tell
them what they ought to CO. nor did ne talk
of himself or his own work, but he spake OF
Jesus and pointed Him out, and That was
enough
80. "Then Jesus turned and saw them fol-
lowing, and saith unto them, What seek YER
How quietly and orderly it all comes about.
the calling of these first two disciples? What
a small and unlikely beginning Think OF
these two hesitatingly and wondering!iy
walking after Jesus, and think of the mil
lions who now run after Him. Despise not
tie day Of small things
80. He saith unto them, Come and see.
They came and saw where He dwelt. and
abode with Him that day, for it was about
the tenth hour" Him that cometh to Me
will in no wise cast out" John vi, 81.
However unworthy or however feebly they
come, IL any Ouo VIII Ouif COine thcJ VIA 10
welcomed. II John reckons time the same
as in chapter xix, IA, then tue tenth hour
would be ten in the forenoon so they would
have good part Of the day with Jesus.
49, Zone of the two which heard John
speak, and followed him, was Andrew, ST.
mon Peters brother" The other, we sup
pose, was John himself, inasmuca as he, be-
ing the writer OF this Gospel would not be
likely to mention his own name; and it is
only in the latter part Of the Gospel that hs
speaks of himself as That disciple whom
Jesus loved' xiii, %; xix, 26; Xxx, 2; XXI,
2OJ As to Andrew, although he was one OF
the first to come to Jesus, and he hrst to
bring another, yet we do not know much
about him as an apostle. His name signifies
manly" and hs shows himself an outspok-
en-, fearless, manly man.
IL. HE first fiudeth his own brother ST.
mon." 1t may be that he thought OF Gods
question to Cain, Where is thy brother
but whether or not, he did we'll to seek flrst
his own brother. The first question for the
sinner is, "Whero art though| and when
found and saved the next should be, "Where
is thy brother" Gen. ill.,, Q; iv., 81
We have founl the Messiah, which is.
being interpreted, the Christ" The word
Messiah is only found four times in out
English Bible; here and i'll Chapter iv., 25,
in the New Testament, and il Dan, tx, 25,
20, in the Old Testament, but the Hebrew
word is often used in the original, and is
generally translated 'Anontei;' sometimes
with reference to Christ directly, and soma
times with reference to Israel or some priest
or king rs types Of Christ
AZ. "And he brought him to Jesus" Tho
very thing for him to do, and the only thing
to do, with our friends and our euomies, our
Joys aud our sorrows, and all that concerns
us.
Thou art Simon. the son Of Jonai thou
shalt be called Cephas w ich is, by inter
pretatibn, a stone" Thus said Jesus as He
iaol-od .,ror hin, aahnldinr him hA then