Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1893-10-19
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON ", FOURTH QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, OCT. 20.
Text of tho lesson, Rom. xiii 1-I5--Mem-
ory Verses !, 2-Golden Text, Rom. xii,
21-Commentary by the Rev. u, NJ.
Stearns.

| Stearns.
I. ~ beseech you therefore by the mer-
ces of God that ye present your bodies
| living sacrifice holy, acceptable unto God,
| which is your reasonable service" BY the
mercy which provides redemption freely
Tor the sinner, which justities and sancti-
iies and puts the justly condemned in the
place of no condemnation, with the assui-
ance of no separation-becausc of this great
! love and grace of God it is surely reasona-
Bile service OR. V. margin, spiritual wor-
thip') to do what is acceptable or we'll
pleasing unto Him in yielding our bodies a
4 living sacrifice. The sacrifices on the altar
were dead sacrifices, soon consumed, We
are to 90 on living n daily death unto self
that this life of Christ may be made mani
fest in our bodies Gl Cor iv. I'D.
! ,. "And be not conformed to this world,
but be We transformed by the renewing Of
your mind, that We may prove what is that
good and acceptable and perfect will of
God" Not of the world is the repeated
statement of our Lord concerning his dis
ciples in John xvii That we may be con-
formed to the image of Christ is the way
it is stated in Rom. viii. 20; II Cor. iii, IS
3. For | say. through the grace given
unto me, to every man that is among you not
to think of himself more highly than he
ought to think, but to think soberly ac-
cording as God hath dealt to every man the
measure of faith " In the matter of saliva
ton there is no room for boasting. for all is
of grace from. iii. 81: Eph. ii. 5. O; it is the
undeserved favor of God to every one with
out execution. In the matter of Christian
life there is no room for boasting either, for
whether it be much labor or much holiness
we can only say, Not |, but Christ" Not
/, but the grace of God" Gal ii, 20; | Cor.
XIV, 1O). There is no room for self, but
| Christ must be ALL
f. For as we have many members in one
body, and all members have not the same
officc"-all believers are members of His
BODY Tph. V. 3O). many members vet but
| one body q Cor. xii. POI. all controlled by
the one Head and guided by the same Spirit.
s. $50 we, being many, are one BODY in
Christ. and every one members ont of an
other" The church is His body. the full
ness of Him that filleth all in all (Epb /.
23). No member of our bodies can say to
another, Il do not need YOU" but in n
healthy body each member waits upon the
other, and feet and hands cheerfullv ac-
complisb the pleasure of the eyes and of
the mind. So should it be in the church,
6. "Uavinp then gifts differing according
to the grace that is given to us. whether
prophecy. let us prophesy according to the
proportion of faith" The manifestation of
the Spirit is given to every man to profit
withai, the same Spirit dividing to every
man severally as He will q Cor. xii. III,
and the perfection of the Christian life is 10
be completely filed and continually CON
trolled by this Blessed Spirit whom God
is more willing to give to those who truly
seek than parents are to give good things
| hi, Ia II
:. "Or ministry, let us wait on our min
istering: or he that teacheth on teaching. ="
Young defines prophecy to be the public
exposition Of the word Ministry is service
acting rs a deacon. Teaching is instruc-
ton or making to know
s. "Or he that eXhorteth. on eXhortation:
he that giveth, let him do it with SIMPLE
ity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that
shewtth mercy, with cheerfulness" To ey
hort is to call near TO- to cheer, or encour.
age. Imparting is to be liberal, and so with
zeal and Joy God is in all things to be rlor-
fed Il Cor. X, 81. Instead of living under
any bondage in any sense whatever. the
whole matter is simplified by putting Gal.
ii, 20 with the first two verses of our lesson
and letting the Lord Jesus be the sole rule.
in our bodies
8. Let love be without discrimination
AbhOr that which is evil. CIeaVe to that
which is good" In IL Cor. vi, G, | Pet. i.
-, the Holy Spirit is associated with I'm
teigned love. for where He controls Their.
can be no hypocrisy. Therefore he filled
with the Spirit k,ph. v. 1s-9O. Thus also
the evil will become distasteful and the
good attractive.
10. BE kindly affection ate one ( o auoth-
or with brotherly love. in honor preferriuo
one another Or. as in Eph. il. 70 RE
We kind one to another, tender hearted. for
giving one another. even AS God for Chris, :
sake hath forgiven YOU" and walk in love
In lowliness of mind let each esteem ot her
better than themselves phil. ii. a. seeking
the welfare of Others rather than youro,vn
II. "Not slothful in business. fervent in
spirit. serving the Lord" In the r. Y the
first clause reads an diligence NOT slotb.
full" The last clause will cover the other
two, for if we do all things heartily astotbn
Lord and not. INTO men. knowing that nf
the Lord we shall receive the reward Of the
inheritance. for we serve the Lord Christ