Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1894-01-13
IVuIo VtIy UIuIy,
J. II. MILLER & SONS.
& O
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON Il, FIRST QUARTER, INTER
NATIONAL SERIES, JAN. a.

Text of the Lesson, Gen. iii. Lis Memory
Verses. I3-I5-GoIden Text. / Cor. XIV,
2a-Commen;ary by the Rev. ID. NJ.
Stenrns.
l. Now, the serpent was more subtle
than any beast of the field which the Lord
God had made. And he said unto the
woman, Yea, hath God said, Yc shall not
eat of every tree of the garden?" In the
first two chapters all is perfect, and God
walks with man, and man eommunes with
God. Now comes the wicked one in the
guise of u serPent-fulf Of hatred of God
and man. See his aliases in Rev. xii, 0; Xxx
. and his end in Rev. NIX, 10. He he. gins
his work by insinuating that God ,ina. Hnt
love his children or He would not Keep ~
thing from them.
.. And the woman said unto theserr~
We may eat of the flait of the trees of Ia,
garden" We cannot blame the woman foi
talking with him, for she probably had not
heard of him who spoke to her through the
serpent. We know him and deserve tosuf
fer if we hold any parley with him. See
Eph. vi, IL; jas. ~, :; | Pet. Y, s, g.
3. "But of the fruit of the tree which is in
the midst of the gurien, God hath said,
lie shall not eat of it, neither shall We
touch it, lest ye die" She both added to
and diminished what God had said Com
pare carefully chapters ii, Il, and let us
give good heed to Deut. iv, 9; xii, 80; Jer
XVI, ,. Our part is to be simply obedient
and trustful and shun every insinuation
and doubt.
4. And the serpent said unto the WON.
an, Ye shall not surely die" What de.
liberate liel When he speaketh lie, he
speaketh Of his own, for he is a liar and
the father of it John viii, AZ. All liars
shall have their portion with him (Rev.
xxi, s.. One would think that such an at
tack upon God would have shown the
woman that she was dealing with an enemy
of God. But what shall we say of pro
fessed friends of God who today teach that
there is no hell and not even devil?
5. For God doth know that in the day
ye eat thereof then your eyes shall he
opened, and We shall be as gods, knowing
good and evil" This seems to have been
his own ambition (see lisa. xiv, ~, and he
will yet find II man willing to be filled with
it Oh Thess. ii, 3, A. We know that when
He shall appear we shall be like Him, and
then shall we know even as we are known
q John iii, 2; Cor. xiii, ~, but this is to
be reached by death to self, trust in the sac
rifice of Christ and obedience to Him, never
in any other way (Acts iv, 49,
6. And when the woman saw. etc, sht
took of the fruit thereof and did eat and
gave also unto her husband with her, and
he did cat" This is the history of every
temptation and sin, the outward object,
the inward commotion, the increase and
triumph of passionate desire the degrade
ton and ruin of soul. So with Achan. He
saw; he coveted; he took (Joshua vii, 21)
Adam and Eve had everything and yet
sinned. Christ seemed to have nothing,
yet stood firm.
I. And the eyes CT them both were open
ed, and they knew that they were naked,
and they sewed fig leaves together and made
themselves aprons" This was an eye open
ing that has left US blind by nature in the
right direction ever since, as we need to be
anointed and have our eyes opened to be-
hold spiritual things (Rev. iii, IS; Ps cxix,
lS). What a contrast between the gar
ments of light which they lost and these
self made aprons! Fig leaves may well
represent profession without reality (Math
xxi, l9).
g. And they heard the voice Of the Lord
God, and Adam and his wife hid them.
selves" What a sight is thisi Gods dear
children hiding from their loving Father
and thinking that trees can cover them
What fools sin makes of US, and how blind
ed must be the mind that seeks to hide
from the only true friend Such has been
the sinners conduct ever since, vainly seek
ing to hide from God.
9. And the Lord God called unto Adam
and said unto him, Where art thou?" From
the fall to the end of the Bible story it is
God of love seeking lost and straying peo-
pie and man in his blindness hiding or run
ming away from God. What does your
soul say in response to Where art thou:"
Mine replies, Lord, thou knowest | am in
Thee, and Thou art to me the Rock Of Ages
lisa. XVI, 4 margin). Once and for long
time tried 10 hide from Thee, but now
Thou hast taught me to hide in Thee
10. And he said, heard Thy voice in the
garden, and | was afraid, because was
naked, and hid myself" Here is the first
fear in Scripture, and it follows hard on
unbelief and distrust of God. There will
be no fear where there is confidence in God,
for His perfect love casteth out fear Il John
iv, 1S); so that if our hearts can say, Behold,
God is my salvation" we should also add,
Il will trust and not be afraid" lisa. xii,
q. Some are afraid of the voice of God in
His word because they prefer their own
thoughts and ways.
II. And He said, Who told thee thou
vast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree
whereof | commanded thee that thou
shouldest not eat?" God of course knew
the whole story, but before we can be for
given there must be on our part conviction
of sin and confession of the same. This
God would give TO Adam and draw from
him that He might forgive him (see Prov.
xviii, 10, and | John i, 81.
IL. And the man said, The woman whom
thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of
the tree, and did eat" This sounds very
badly. Adam, thou hast fallen very far
and brought us down with thee, for some
of us have talked that way. But see the
sin. He finds fault with the gift of God
and lays the blame on her. Now see Je-
sus, who has taken upon Himself all the
guilt of His body. the church, and borne
it, that He might present her to Himself
without spot (Eph. V, 81.
ID. And the Lord God said unto the
woman, What is this that thou hast done,
And the woman said, The serpent beguiled
me, and | did eat' She did not ask, as
some do now, why God allowed the serpent
TO come to her, and why God did not keep
her from falling, but she makes confession
and pleads guilty. And both having ROW
confessed the way is open for the reyela-
ton of Gods salvation By grace Rom. iii,
1920
"A. And the Lord God said unto the
serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou
art cursed above all cattle" etc What
kind of creature the serpent was before
this and Of what form we are not told But
it is evident he did not go upon MS belly as
now. Eve will tell us when we see her If
1t is worth while to know.
10 And will put enmity between thee
and the woman, and between thy seed and
her seed. He shall braise thy head. ard
thou shalt brlise his heel" The Lord God
speaks to the enemy in the serpent and in
the first clause declares tina woman's resto-
ration to God and her hatred of the devil,
all brought about by God Himself. who
saTs. II will out,