Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1893-05-25
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON TX, SECOND QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, MAY %.

Text of tho Lesson, Prov. xxi, 1921.
Memory Verses. 26-29-GoIden Text
Prov. xxi, 3o-Commentary by the Rev.
u. NJ. Stcnrns.
The chapter opens with wise and loving
counsel from mother to her royal son.
/hc would have him to be n true Nazarite
and real friend TO the desolate and on.
pressed, the poor and the needy. Compare
Mum. vi, is; Ps. lxxii IA. And who can
help thinking of Him who is the true
brightness of God, for such, according to
Young, is the meaning Of Lemuel?
Then follow these 90 verses of our lesson
concerning the model woman, each verse
in the Hebrew commencing with letter oil
the alphabet in regular order, thus forming
IN acroStic
In the study of this lesson many will con
fine themselves to the admirable portrait
of the perfect wife and mother, and thus
iud u most profitable study. ] will take
this woman rs at least suggestive of the
true church, the bride of Christ, as to her
personal standing and character, her rela-
tion to her husband. to her household and
TO the poor and needy. She is vrtuouq
woman oversees 10, 29 Young defines virtue
as strength Of mind or body Peter saws
that if we desire an abundant entrance into
the kingdom we must add to our faith
virtue Then she walks in the fear of the
Lord, which IS the beginning of wisdom and
y fountain of life III Pet. i, 5; Prov i, ::
u %
Her clothing is said to he silk and purple,
strength and honor VERSES %, 25), remind
ing us Of Eek xvi l3, II, and the clothing
of fine linen, silk and broidered work, and
the beauty because Of the Lords comeli-
ness. See also lisa. Xxi, 10. Her loins are
also girt with strength Verse ~, and what
strength is there that can compare with
that of truth, righteousness and faithful.
ness CEph. vi. "A; lsa. ri, 81? Her words are
wisdom and Kindness Verse 2G). making us
think of Him who was full of grace and
truth LIohn i, AZ.
There is no slothfuluess nor love of case
in her, for she works early and late, before
the dawn and on into the night oversees 10.
ls) Her works are manifold, she is always
Astounding. md it is all willing work
oversees 1910, Compare ! Cor XIV, IS, II
Cor viii - She bringeth her food from
affair Verse l4l, suggesting to us the mamma
from heaven in contrast to the lecks and
fly; we must have the word Of God The
field which >hc takes in order to work il
and the vineyard which she plants turn
our thought to the field in which Ruth
CLEANED and 20 the vineyard yet to prove
fruitful lisa. W. while the Joy and reward
IN tue time to come oversees l6 %, 80 can.
not but point Us to the time when He shall
say to the faithful "Well done; enter thou
into the JOY OF the Lord "
Let the record stand as IA description of
the model woman, and may the Lord great
ly multiply such among our daughters
But let us also consider the true church
and the individual believer, and may these
things he true Of us in our daily life Let
us only believe, and thus realize what our
perfect standing is in Christ through His
finished work, and so shall our lives be in
creasingly conformed to His image, more
perfect reflections of His life which he de
sires in some measure to repeat in all His
redeemed. even in these mortal bodies
Ill Rom. viii, 90, II Cor iii. Is. w. 10, H.
Her husband is mentioned i'm verses II
% ~, 1t is written Of Israel "'rhv Maker
- thy husband, the Lord of Hosts is His
name" tlsn liz. ~ The Lord Jesus is IRE
quently spoken of as the bridegroom duke
V, "a, 81, John iii, 20; Rev. xxi o. and we
know that Adam and Eve We're type of
Christ and the church H.ph. V, 81, 32l. Her
husband doth safely trust in her, and she is
all His desire Verse lD. Hear Him say OF
her, "Thou art all fair my love- there is no
spot in thee "A garden incloscd is my
sister, my spouse. Il spring shut up, fouu
tain sealed t@oug iv, !, ~. She will do
him good and not evil Verse ~ Her hus
band is known in the gates Verse 23l
When we have the spirit of Paul, who de
termined to know nothing but Christ and
Him crucilied, who said, "Christ shall be
mngnified in my body, whether by life or
by death" who was ready not to be bound
only but to die for Jesus sake q Cor H. .
Phil. i, 20, Acts xxi, 49, then will we ever
do Him good and give Him pleasure, and
lie shall he known and honored through
Us. Her husband praiseth her tyerse 4sJ
Her children and her household claim a
share OF our attention. In verses 2l, -, p
we learn OF their clothing, their food and
their ways, all abundautly provided and
well seen to- Our clothing rs children of
God is Christ Himself for we are com
manded to Put on the Lord Jesus Christ
(Rom. xiii, ID lie became sin for us that
we might be made the righteousness of God
in Him Gl Cor. V, 2lD and in Rev. xix, 8, the
fine linen garments of the bride represent
the righteousness of the saints which must
he His righteousness impaired to US and
then wrought ont through us. The church
may be said to see to this matter of cloth
ing by pointing others to Him who pro
eides it by His great work
As to food the church has an abundant
supply provided tor her to dispense in the
wonderful word which contains milk for
babes and bread and strong meat for older
children Il Pet. ii, .; | Cor iii. ,. Heb v
10, II, John VI, 3D. 30 Then, rs to her
ways, we have already learned from this
book that wisdom 5 ways are ways of pleas
antnesS, and all her paths are paths of
peace (iii ~. II We are only willing to be
guided, we will not fail to see the way
wherein we should walk and the thing that
we should do tJer Xiii, - See also rs
xxi, s
Not only are her own household, the
household Of faith tGal. vi, l0l, well seen to
but she stretcheth ont her hand to the
peor-yea, she reacheth both her hands To
the needy" (verse 2u). If the church has
the spirit Of her Lord, it will he one OF