The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1893-12-22
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL
International Lesson for December 81
is03-The Birth Of Jesus Matt :;I-ll.
Especially Arranged from Peioubers Notesl


GOLDEN TEXT Thou shalt cali His name
Jesus. for He shall save Hts people from theil
sins Matt lea
TInE.-Jesus Christ was born A. NJ. fAnno
Mundi. year u the world) sDo0 four years be.
fore the date from which we count the years A.
ID. (Anno Domini. ycas OF the Lord. SO that
ne was born the last OF December, IA G. s. or 1877.
not 1907 years ago. Tho mistake was made b.
the monk who. in !. d. $50, published the calcu.
latlons from which we have since counted the
| years. DIR. Schan makes the matter clear in
this way. az should be carefully noted that
the numbers are ordinal. standing for first"
second" etc.). The common era Is four wears
too late. not five. since We reckon from the
close OF the nth year The visit Of the wise
men W AZ six or eight weeks after the birth Of
| Jesus, or February, r. c.
| RULERs.--Augustus Cmsar, emperor OF Rome;
Herod. called the Great (the first OF the seven
Herods named In the New Testamenp king OF
Judea (3sth year,, under Augustus. Herod
was an old man. near the end OF his life.
THE BIRTH OF JESUS.
!. His Pre-existence John l.: 1-3). He
was with His Father in Heaven from
eternity. BY Him were tho worlds
created. He was God
.. His Coming Foretold. From the be-
ginning lie was prophesdedt and typi-
fed. He was the center OF the jew
ish religion and of prophecy.
3. Preparations for His Coming. There
has been no other time in the history
of the world so perfectly adsptext for
the beginning Of the new kingdom
and the spreading of the news OF sal
vation throughout the earth as that in
which Christ was born. az 1t was
after the Jews had received all that
they would learn about Gods king
dom, but before the destruction Of tho
nation and the fall Of their capital
and the temple. (2) There were many
lands, but nearly all the world was
subject to the one government at
Rome. so that the preachers Of the
Gospel could travel in safety and be
protected in their work. (3) The
world was at peace, so that the Gospel
could have free course. (4) The
Greek language was spoken every
where with the native languages, so
that the Gospel could be heard and
read by all. t5) The Jews had been
dispersed through all lands, carrying
ness to one God, and held the prophe-
cies of the Messiah. And they had es-
tablished synagogucs in almost every
town, so that there was a place in
which to preach the Gospel, and a peo-
pie who could easily be reached. (6)
1t was time of great intellectual ac-
tivity. and there was a widespread dis
belief in the existing religions.
4. His Parentage. The mother Of
Jesus was the Virgin Mary, but his
father was God Himself through the
Holy Spirit. His reputcd father was
Joseph, who afterwards became the
husband Of Mary. Both Joseph and
Mary were direct descendants Of
King David, of whose lineage the Mes
siah was prophesied to come. The
gencalogy in Matthew is that of JOS
eph, and that in Luke probably that Of
Mary, so that both really and legally
Jesus was the son Of David.
5. The place OF his birth was Bethle-
hem of Jud@a, five or six miles south
of Jerusalem. 1t has many associa-
tions. Here Ruth CLEANED. Hero
David was born. Here he was anointed
king. Here. four centuries after
Christ, Jerome, fleeing from persecu-
ton, accomplished the great work Of
his life, the translation Of the Scrip
lures into Latin now called the vul-
gate. or common), the version accepted
by the Roman Catholics.
O. The angels welcome and the visit
of the shepherds are described in Luke
2: $40.
Z. The presentation in the temple,
when he was forty days old. according
to Jewish law. is described In Luke
2: 2l-3y.
PRACTICAL sU0GEsTfoNe.
Yer. 1. Nature rightly studied leads
Us to God and to Christ.
We must look up to Heaven TO be
guided rightly on earth, as ships are
guided on the ocean by the stars.
Those arc the only true wise men
who use their learning to find out
Heaven.
Christ is wont to catch every man in
the way of his own craft-magian
with star, fishers with fish.
Those who know about Christ should
make every effort to find Him, 1t is
worth while to sell all we have to OBJ
tain this pearl of great price.
God still sends stars in the east" to
cad us to Christ.
Wicked men are troubled by that
which brings hope to the world--as by
'evivals, temperance reform, preach
ng and whatever intcrfcres with un-
righteous gains and pleasures.
Here Is test Of our character--
we rejoice or are troubled at
he coming Of Christ and His kingdom.
In this lesson we have types of four
lasses of men which exist still; name
y, ~ those who earnestly seek the
ruth; (2) those who rest in the letter
4 the truth; 90 those who are fear
ully alarmed at the truth; and ~
hose who are affectionate guardians
I the truth. The magi represent the
irst, the scribes and Pharisees the sec.
nd, Herod the third and Joseph and
larry the fourth.