The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1892-12-21
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
The Birth of Christ-Lesson for December
60. iS02-LulSe 2:S-2o.
[Specially Arranged from s. S. Quartcrly.l
CHRISTMAS LESSON,

CHRISTMAS LESSON
GOLDEN TEXT -Ichold, I bring you 5000
idngs OF great ioy.-Lulc 2:l0
CENTRAL TRUTH The coming OF Jesus Chrisi
the proof Rnl promise of Gods love to men
TIME. The .aJt Of December b c. 3 Four
years before III, era from which we date our
'ears By mistake tho wrolg date was first
promulgated Trio 18th OF December IS the be
INNING of losCCr days and more light after the
shortest ana darkest days Of the year
PLACE. -Bclhiclcn Of Judea i've or six
miles south Of Jerusalem, David's early home
1t now contains about i've thousand iphabi
.an;s. The place where Jesus was born was
probably cave in tho southeast part Of the
town Hepworth Dixon thinks that the inn, in
the stable o. which Jesus was born, may have
been the very house where Boaz and Ruth and
David lived
RULERs-Augustus Cesar was emperor OF
Rome. Hcrod the Great king OF Judea, but sub
.ect to Rome.
| CONTEMPORARY ulsToRY-God's providence
rad prepared the world for the coming Of
Christ, and this was the lttcst time in AL its
| history Ql All the world was subject to one
| government, so that the apostles could travel
| everywhCrc;the door Of every land was open for
| the gospel (2) The world was at peace, so
that tho gospel could have free course. (9
| The Greek language was spoken everywhere
Win tltlT OlUtE lALEudbtS. til Inc jews
| were scattered everywhere with synagogues
and Bibles
| HELPS OVER HARD PLACES S. I'm the same
| country" In the fields near Bethlehem. "Abd-
| ing in the field" which could easily be done in
December, as often very pleasant weather and
good pasturage are found all through that
month.
Note that the angels came tothe shepherds
while they were performing their regular du-
| ties AS David's Psalms, that have been MAX
| ing music down the ages, came TO him in and
through the daily cares and experiences Of life,
so to these shepherds feeding their sheep came
the most glorious revelation and heavenly
| music. Had they been anywhere else except
| attending to their humble duties they would
not have heard that song of the angels, or seen
the glory Of the Lord round about them. The
best place in all the world TO be is at the pos,
Of duty. Nowhere else can such blessings TEN
poral or spiritual be fairly looked for
8 Sore exceedingly. II. t'City Of David
Bethlehem, so called because David was born
and spent his early life there. So foretold in
Micah 81, Mary and Joseph were descendants
Of David, and in the royal line. Jesus was the
king who fulfilled the promises made TO David
Christ" the Messiah, the Anointcd; i. G., one
set apart by God for a special work
Note that Jesus lived in heaven, the eternal
Son of tho Father before this (See John l.
rs IA Heb. /: l-3)
II. "A sign" by which to know when they
had found the right bate Manager" u stone
trough in which the cattle were fed The inns
were UNFINISHED lodging Places not like oul
hotels A. I'm the highest" in the highest
places, in the highest strains, in the highest dc
gree Good will toward men" Christ the
Son Of God, coming to earth to die for mon, is
the highest proof OF Gods love, good WILL to
ward men. 90 Returned" to their work with
their hocks.
LESSON NOTES.
We call this Christmas lesson, but
the shepherds knew nothing about
Christmas. To them that day was like
any other day, till certain events tool
place which forever made it unlike any
day they had ever lived through. Let
US look at'the events which befell them
which set this day apart in their mem
cries for all time The first of thes,
events we will call:
The angelic message. Can you i'm
agine their surprise when suddenly
they saw before them an angel of tn,
Lord? They knew about angels. bu
they had never themselves seen one, bu
| uOW IllCIC W tlS llO NlJADU III lllClI l4illti
as to the nature of their visitor. II
came in great glory, for we read tina
the glory of the Lord shone roun,
about them" Not unnaturally the
were alarmed at this visit; but 500
their fears was dispelled, for the angc
, began his message with the reassurin
, words: Pear not, for behold brin
, to you good tidings Of great joy" The
he told them that that which ever
, pious Israelite longed for had at las
taken place, and that Saviour wa
q born to them. This alone must hav
, been enough to fill their hearts wit
. joy, for these were godly men, and the
!. knew well that some day God woul
visit his people and give them grea
, blessings.
Now came another wonderful eXper
ence. This consisted in their visit (
! the infant Saviour. So far as we kno
/. these men were the very first, outsid
of Mary and Joseph, who l<nc
who this babe really was.
the privilege granted to them was yer
great, and if any of them lived whe
Jesus began to work his miracles
doubt not that they remembered tn;
night with great gratitude, and to-
their friends what befell them on tn;
memorable evening. Then they wei
off to their work, with hearts so full {
gratitude that they could not hel
praising God on their own account.
any of them were musical, should NJ
be surprised at all if they caught tt
melody that they had heard the ange
sing, and repeated it through the who
# that night.
That was n glad night for the she,
herds, but they did not know how gla
a night it was for this poor sinf,
world. How could they? Nearly min
teen hundred years have passed sin,
then, and we are in much better p
; sition to know how great were tho
tidings of Joy that the angel announce
, If you want at all to realize this, Il
to count up how many of the BLESSING
that we now enjoy come from Il
s work of that infant babe. You w
find that the list is so long that "
: cannot complete it in this session of Il
i school. In fact, the very best thin,
u that this world to-day enjoys con
y from Him, and most of the sorroy