Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1894-11-17
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LEssohvi, FOURTH QUARTER. INTER
NATIONAL SERIES. NOV. 10.

NAftONAL SERitos NON. 10.
Text Of the Lesson, Luke vi, 2O-3f-Mem-
ory Verses, 2.-SI--Golden Text, Luke vi,
81 Commentary by the Rev. ID. NJ.
stearns.
90. And He lifted up His eyes ON His
4 disciples and said, Blessed be yc poor, for
I yours is the kingdom of God Whi.a
I this discourse IS in substance the same as
q portion of the sermon on the mount, it
I is evident from comparison of Math. v
/ |, and Luke vi IL, that it was spoken at
1 another time and under different eircum-
stances. This had better be called "a SER
\ mon on the plain.. 1t follows in the
order of events the choosing Of the twelve
His first word is blessed, reminding us
of the .thlesseds" Of Ps. j, /; xxi, l;
cxix, l. In Math. V, 8, He speaks of the
poor in spirit in Jas. ii, s. it is the
poor of this world, rich in faith;n in lisa.
1 Xvi, 2, it is the poor and contrite spirit
that trembleth at His word" In every
case it is the humble penitent pleading no
4 good in self and looking only and wholly
to Jesus.
81. Blessed are We that hunger now,
4 for ye shall be filed. Blessed are We that
4 weep now, for We shall laugh" If we
I suffer, we shall reign with Him (II Tim
( Ii, 12l, and the sufferings of this present
( time are not worthy to be compared with
/ the glory which shall be revealed in us
| (Rom. viii, 49,. So we are to rejoice in
being partakers of His sufferings because
/ Of the exceeding JOY at the revelation of
| His glory I Peter iv, 13). Nothing will
/ SO fully enable us to do this as proper
understanding and appreciation of the
( kingdom of which He speaks-the king
1 dom of God, the kingdom of heaven. 1t
I is net the church, not Christ in us. not
heaven, where God dwells, but this earth
| filed with the glory Of God and His will
| done on earth as in heaven in the DAYS
/ when He and His glorified church shall
return to reign over tho earth (Dan. ii, A.
\ vii, %; Zech. xiv, 8; Rev. V, 8, 100.
%. Blessed are ye when men shall hate
you and when they shall separate you
/ from their company and shall reproach
4 you and cast out. your name as evil for the
| Son of mans sake Some have thought
4 that if the perfection of goodness could be
seen on earth in human form all would
love it, but Jesus has proved otherwise,
for He was absolute perfection of love
and meeknoss, Of grace and truth, and yet
was hated and put to death by religious
people. His word to his followers is that
4 they shall be hated of all for His names
sake (Math. X, 22) The blessedness of it
IS our fellowship with Him.
%. Rejoice yc in that day and leap for
joy, for behold your reward is great in
heaven, for in the like manner did their
fathers unto the prophets" Take my
/ brethren, the prophets, who have spoken
in bn Of ha I .,,s
Of suffering afliiction and of patience
/ (Ias ', l0). Abraham looked for a city
which hath foundations; Moses looked for
1 the reconpense of the reward Jesus Him
self did not disregard the joy set before
Him. Everywhera we arc taught that it
is suffering now with glory to follow The
whole Bible story is the humiliation and
exaltation of Christ Il Pet. j, ID forctold,
foreshadowed, manifest in Himself and
/ His people and finally consummated.
"a. But woe unto you that are rich,
I for ye have received your consolation p"
Riches used for the glory Of God are in
( decd a Blessing but riches kept for the
owners thereof to their hurt are curse.
Heaping up treasure for selfish gratifica-
tion is only heaping up wrath for eternity.
Neither silver nor gold can deliver in the
day of the Lords wrath (Zcph. i, 49,, and
they that trCst in their wealth can By no
means redeem brother nor give to God
ransom for him FPS. xix, &, q. Those
who live merely for present enjoyment
may have a large amount, but there is al
ways the possibility of sudden going out
into awful torment Quko xvi, 23).
20. Woo unto you that arc full, for yc
shall hunger. Wee unto you that laugh
now for We shall mourn and weep,
1t is the pleasure Of The Lord that His
people should be full Of JOY and peace,
full Of the Spirit filed with all the full
ness Of God, satisfied with favor and full
with the blessing Ct the Lord (Rom. Ky,
10; Eph. V, IS; iii, 10; Deut. xxziii, 23).
&C. Woe unto you when all men shall
speak well of you, for so did their fathers
to the false prophets. " They did NOS all
speak well Of Isaiah, jeremiah Ezekiel,
! Daniel or the others who were true to
God, us is evident from such passages as
Jer. ri, 10; xviii, 4; Dan. vi, i, etc
81. But | say unto you which hear,
Love your enemies; do good to thom which
hate you" In verses 30 10 81 He goes
on to say that if We love and do good only
to those who love and do good to us we
are no better than the unsavcd, for any
sinner can do that, but if we can by His
grace love ard do good to our enemies
that is Godlike and an evidence that we
are His children, and We shall have IA great
reward (verse 35 and Math V, A, 45).
rs. Bless them that curse you and pray
for them which despitefully use you. "
These arc graccs of the now nature, not Of
the old. The natural man is not given to
this sort of thing, but Christ in us can do
1t. The Indian understood something Of
it who, when he heard this command, ex-
citedly walked up and down, saying: This
Indian can't do it. If God would make
new Indian, he might perhaps do it" II
any man be in Christ, he is a new crea-
ture or creation III Cor, V, 10.
20 And unto him that smiteth thee on
the one cheek offer also the other, and
him that takcth away thy cloke forbid
not to take thy coat also" 1t is surely
more than human to act thus, and yet we
read of those who took joyfully the spoil
ing of their wealth, knowing that they
had in heaven n better and an enduring
substance (Ifeb. X, 80. Jesus suffered his
enemies to slnite Him, to spit on his face,
to take away His olothes-yes. even His
life-and we are told to consider Him who
endureth such contradiction against Him
self lest we be woaried and faint in our
minds, and to remember that we have not
yet resisted unto blood (Ieh. xii, 3, y.
90. "Give to every man that asl.eth of
thee and of him that talSeth away thy
goods ask shem not again The princi
pies of this sermon and the sermon on the |
mount shall be fully lived out when the |
kingdom comes, for they are the laws Of
the kingdom, but if we are the children !
of the Kingdom they ought to be in some |
measure lived out in as now when fully |
considered in the light Of all Scripture
81. And rs We would that men should |
do to you do 70 also to them likewise" Not /
simply the negative form, do not to 9TH /
ers what you would not have them do to |
you but positively love your ncighbor |
us yourself Then see verses AZ 10 40 con l
corning hearing and not doing; also Jas. /
i, 1921, along with Math.' VII 81 The |
thought ''unto Him that luycd me" and |
'for Jesus sake" will greatly help US.
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