The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1892-03-23
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
The blessings OF the Gospel-Isa. 40; lilo
The Quarterly Missionary Lesson.

LESSON For MARCH q, 1892
GOLDEN TENT-The glory OF the Lord shall |
be revealed. and all flesh shall see 1t together.
lisa 40:
CENTRAL TRuTn.-The duty and privilege of
proclaiming the Gospel to all the world.
TIME,-lsaiah prophesed b. c. ,G)-G97. But the
prophecy is to the people in the closing years
Of the exile, which ended b. c. 536
PLACE-lsaiah prophesed in Jerusalem The
exiles were in Babyonia
HELPS OVER HARD PLACES Il. Comfort
ye;" spoken to the prophets. The time of COM
fort had come. p Her warfare" a time of
hard service enforced for definite time Her
iniquity is pardoned:" the iniquity on account
Of which she was suffering "Receved doube:"
amply sufficient 1t was the common law that
for all manner OF trespass man should pay
double as the penalty (Ex. 300, so that receiv
ing double means that She had received the full
penalty of her sins. g. 1.-THE voice of HIM" of
one. in the wilderness" the wild, sparsely
inhabited tracts lying between Babylon and
Jerusalem. Connect this phrase with what fol-
lows prepare We the way Of the Lord" the
roads are so bad in the east that when king
takes q journey he sends men before him TO
prepare the roads. So God caused men to pre-
pare the way for the return of the exiles, for the
coming Of Christ, for the redemption of the
world 5. 1.-THE glory of the Lord" shown in
his lHuTNGlOuS NOThS Ol TcuCnpIlOu. o. luc
voice." from God. "And he said" the prophet
"An flesh is grass" passes away quickly is
weak before the power of God. The strongest
nations are but as fading flower compared
with God s. "The word of our Cod" his word
Of promise and prophecy. o. 20 Zion" the re-
turned people of God. Good tidings:" of re-
turn, of salvation. "The high mountain" pro-
claim from the mountain tops so that all can see
and know Behold your Cod" come TO save.
10. "His work." rather, his recompense, his re-
ward to his people
LESSON COMMENTS.
Israel had gone into captivity, and
the prophet foresaw the coming captiv-
ity of Judah as we'll. Yet beyond this,
| far in the future, he also saw the res
toration of Gods people, and it is of
this that he tells in our lesson for to-
day. This prophecy received its first
and partial fulfillment in the return
from captivity years after this. But it
was again partially fulfilled at the time
of Christ, when John the Baptist was
the voice of one crying in the wilder
ness, telling the people to prepare for
the coming of the Messiah. But tie
full completion of the prophecy is yet
in the future; for the day is yet coming
when Israel shall be more fully restored
! to her ancient place than she has ever
been. When the veil shall be lifted
from the eyes of Israel, and she shall
see clearly, and shall accept the Mes
siah, then shall come the complete full
fillment of these precious promises of
Isaiah. Then they shall again lift up
their heads; for they shall be com
forted, and shall once more rejoice in
the Lord their Saviour. For the swift
coming of this time, every believer
ought to pray and long most earnestly.
THE blessings Of the Gospel" Name
ly ~ The blessings that the Gospel
has already brought, and (2) the bless
ings that it has yet to bring.
~ The blessings that the Gospel has
already brought These are very nu.
merous. If we compare the world as il
is to-day with the world as it was il
the time of Isaiah, we shall soon be
convinced of this. For where there
was one true child of God in the world
that time there are thousands to-day
Outside of the Jewish world there were
very few at that time who had any idea
of the true God. And even in judah
there was more idolatry than true
worship This was one of the reasons
why God allowed them to go into cap
tivity at all. There were, of course
in Judah some who loved the truth
but they were very, very few. To-day
we see millions Of those who love the
Saviour, and if of those who profess to
love Him many are mistaken there are
multitudes who are not.
Go to any city where Christianity has
gained many victories and count ur
the institutions that are working fol
the amelioration of the welfare of the
poor and unfortunate. They number
} hundreds In New York city alone we
have over three hundred such institu
tions. They are for the sick, for the
crippled, for the convict, the homeless
the drunkard, the fallen, the orphan
J the widow, the aged, the blind, the inn
migrant, the hayward Of every de-
J scription-in fact, for all classes anG
conditions of men. II is hard to fine
J any trouble Of mankind that has moi
called forth tho establishment of some
kind Of relief, This is surely the work
Of the Gospel, turning mems hearts to
that which is like the Master. There
are no such institutions where the
Gospel has not come, at least, very few
(2) The blessings that the Gospel has
yet to bring. But some scholar may
here say: Yes, but there are many and
great evils still in this world, and much
injustice" To this we answer: Yes
But the Gospel has not done all it,
work. The evils that now exist are the
result Of mems refusing to obey the
Gospel For example, there is the 81
gantic drink-evil, which is the cause Of
most Of the poverty OF our land, and Of
most Of it's crime and misery. Why
does that still exist? Simply because
men will not obey the commands of the
] Word. If they would do this all drunk
J enness would at once disappear, ant
: with it an awful amount Of sorrow ant
suffering. Wars too would at once
cease, and all the standing armies O.
: Europe would be disbanded. Strikes
, which are kind Of war, would not oc
! cur; for masters and men would com,
to see in the same light those Difficult
. ties over which now they fight. Dis
Z honesty would come to an end; for mel
, would provide things honest in tn,
= sight Of al men," Crime would com,
. to an end also; for men would no longe
: steal and commit various kinds o
Z crime, since the rule Of life would b,
. that of the blessed Master.