The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1892-03-12
PROMISE OF RENEWAL
LESSON xI, FIRST QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, MARCH t3.

Eek. xxxvi, a6-Commentary by the
Rev. D.. NJ. stoArns.
rs. "Then will I sprinkle clean water
upon you, and ye shall be clean; from all
your flthiness, and from all your idols,
will I cleanse you." Six lessons in Isaiah,
four in jeremiah and one in Ezekiel give
us but the merest glance at the 1873 chap
ters Of those three books, and yet the
teaching OF these lessons is In perfect ae-
cord with all prophecy. The words of this
verse refer primarily to the yet future
cleansing Of the nation of Israel lverses
1924; Jer. xxxiii, Z, 81, and yet may apply
in a sense to every true believer.
%. "A new heart also will l give you,
and a new spirit will I put within you"
The seat Of all our difficulties being within
us, there must be a change there before
anything can be right.
81. And I will put my Spirit within you,
and cause you to walk in my statutes"
The same spirit who spake and wrought
In Christ. and In prophets and apostles,
God will give to Israel, and gives now to
every believer. Our part is to welcome
Him, and surrender to Him u whole
being and He will do the rest. John xiv,
16, IL, %; XIV, 26; xvi, 1877
%. And ye shall dwell in the land that
l gave to your fathers; and ye shall he my
people n will be your God" There is
. no way Of applying the first part of, this
verse to the church or to believers now; it
is peculiarly and only for Israel in the
future. The church has no special land,
her inheritance is heavenly, the New Jeru-
salem, from which she shall reign with
Christ over the whole earth. The last part
OF the verse may be spiritually applied to
the church. See II Cor. vi, 1918.
~. II will also save you from all your
~uncleannesses; and lay no famine upon
YOU" No good thing will He withhold
from them that walk uprightly FPS. lxxxiv,
11), and while Jesus, by His great work of
atonement, saves from the wrath to come,
He also saves by His present power and by
His word and Spirit in us, from daily sins
(Math. |, 81; Rom. v, 10; Jude xiv, r. W.
30. And l will multiply the fruit Of the
tree, that We shall receive no more re-
proach among the heathen." Peculiarly
for Israel, and yet when a believer is seen
longing for and enjoying the things of this
world that are not of God Il John ii, 15-17),
then it is as il he said, Jesus cannot sat
isfy me; I must nave the world too" and
thus the manifest famine in such u soul is
a reproach to God.
81. "Then shall re remember, and shall
loathe yourselves in u own sight for
your iniquities." The Lord will pour upon
them the spirit of grace and of supplica.
lions, and there shall be true repentance
when they see their long rejected King
Czech, xii, 1O. The sight of the King in
Ills glory always causes loathing of self
lisa. vi, s; Job xiii, S, 6; Dan. K, 81. Pride
or Salf natpQn ia q pronf that ~re ,,o ~~k
seen Jesus.
81. mot for your sakes do / this, saith
the Lord God, be it known unto you."
Israel was not in the first place chosen for
any good that was in them, but all was
done for them because of Gods promises
to Abram and to David (Deut. il, s, 6, "a:
l King XII, 80, 81; Mic. vii, 20). Jesus Of
Nazareth Is son of David, son of Abram.
the promised seed (Math. i, l; Gal. Iii, 16),
and all who are in Him nave all things
made sure to them for His sake (Gal. iii, 29),
80. "Thus saith the Lord God, | will also
cause you to dwell in the cities and the
wastes shall be bui!ded." Compare Zech.
viii, T. s. Cleansing first and then restora-
tion-this is always the order. If you have
lost fellowship with God through sin, the
sin must be confessed and forgiven before
the communion can he restored.
81. "And the desolate land shall be titled.
whereas It lay d~esolate in the sight of ali
that passed by" Its desolateness was a
reproach to God, and a constant advertise
ment Of ~Israel's sin. We, as believers,
glorify God only when we bear much
fruit John ", 81. If our lives are selfish
and self indulgent we are then like Israel
In her rebellion and sinfulness. (Hos. x, l,
3; ri, ~
IS. And they shall say, This land that
was desolate is become like the garden of
Eden" That will cause people to praise
the God of Israel, and thus other nations
will be drawn to God, even as the queen of
Sheba was drawn 10 Jerusalem by the
fame of Solomon.
36. '"Then the heather that are left
round about you shall know that I, the
Lord, build the ruined places. !, tho Lord.
have spoken it, and I will do it." Multi.
tudes out IF the nations shall perish in The
judgments preceding Israel's national con-
version, or in connection Herewith, but
some shall be left, and these shall 20 up to
Jerusalem from year to year to worship
the King, the Lord Of Hosts Czech. xiv, 1e).
The hand of the Lord shall be so manifest
that all shall see it.
81. THUS saith the Lord God, I will yet
for this be inquired of by the house of
Israel to do it for them" He will prepare
their hearts to pray for the blessing He is
about to give. This is His way. While He
ID ever ready to give every good thing, He
will have us feel our need and ask Him.
When we are specially led therefore to pray
for any thing or for anyone, we may safely
conclude that the spirit is leading us to ask
for that which He is ready to give us.
50. "As the flock Of Jerusalem In her
solemn feasts, SO shall the waste cities be
filled with fiocks Of men, and they shall
know that I am the Lord" Or, according
to Zech. !, II, "My.cities through prosperity
shall yet be spread abroad; and the Lord,
shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose
Jerusalem" And Zech. ii, Jerusalem
shall be inhabited as towns without walls.
for the multitude Of men and cattle there
in." These days are already dawning, and
the full accomplishment must be near.
Oh. believer, make full surrender to and
have perfect trust in the Lord, that
He may make the most of you this
little while, and make Himself known
through you. One of the ~clearest evil
dences that Israel will soon be restored to
her own land is that the restoration has
already begun, and even now the popula-
ton Of Jerusalem has %overflown the walls
Of the city. and numerous buildings are
being erected on the very lines mentioned
in Jer. XXI, 3S40. Jesus said that '.Jeru-
salem shall be trodden down of the Gen.
tiles until the times of the Gentiles be full
filled" (Luke xxi, az. When a city is visi-
bly, being built up and about to become a
railroad center, 1t cannot well be said to
be trodden down any longer. We there
fore know without a doubt that the times
OF theG entiles are about fulfilled, Israel's
redemption is near (though the tribulation
mus first Gomez, and the elect church
must be well nigh completed. Let us be