National Baptist world., 1894-10-19
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.

1:21-34.
Especially arranged from Peloubet's notes.1
GOLDEN TEXT-He taught them as one that
had authority, and not as the scribes.-Mark
Lee.
PLACE IN THE HIsToRY-The second year Of
Jesus public ministry. The year OF develop
ment spent chiefly in Galilee. New kinds OF
miracles were now wrought, showing q wider
reach of His power and authority. and deeper
comprehension of His desire and ability to help
and save. men.
TIME-April, A. D. g. the Sabbath following
the call of the four in cur last lesson.
PLACE-Capernaum, on the northwest shore
of the sea of Galilce. Here was Jesus home
for the time. the center Of His work in Gallee.
| JESUs-Betwecn 81 and 81 years old. lie had
been preaching about one and one half years of
His three and one half years ministry
JOHN THE BAPTIsT-Thirty-two years old.
Having preached less than two years, he is now
o prisoner in Hcr0d'S castle of MacheruS, be.
yond the Jordan
LESSON NOTES.
The Synagogue at Capernaum. It is
Of no little interest that at Tel Hum
(Caperraum) have lately been discov.
cred the ruins Of synagogue, prob.
ably this very one in which Christ
taught. The walls were scventy-fou1
feet nine inches long by ffty-six feet
nine inches wide, and ten feet thick. It
appears to have been better finished
than any other synagogue in upper
Galilee, and to have been ornamented
more profusely. The interior was di
yided into five aisles by four rows OF
columns. If Tel Hum be Capernaum
this is, without doubt, the synagogue
built by the Roman centurion Nuke
7: 4, 81, and one Of the most sacred
places on earth. It was in this build.
ing that our Lord gave the well-knowr
discourse in John G.-''And taught" II
was common to call upon any suitab
person to speak in the synagogue ser
vices Jesus used the best means al
hand, even though they were often
misused by others.
LAS one that had authority" O Not
as an eXpounder of others opinions
but with the original authority of the
source of truth. His teaching was
fresh, independent, and original. (2)
He spoke with the authority of one
who knows. He knew the way to
Heaven, for He had been there; He
knew the principles of the kingdom of
God, for He was God; and He spoke,
therefore, with the authority of an ex-
pert. 1t is just this speaking with au-
thority, and not by irfcrcnces, and
gucsses, and hopes, that the soul needs,
and that distinguishes Christ's religion
from all others. (3) What He said was
pure, unalloyed truth, and therefore
came with the authority of truth tc
| the souls Of men; the one made for the
other by the Creator of both. (D His
| conduct, His character, His unselfish.
ness, His holy life, His Divine deeds
gave Jesus great personal power in His
teaching. The teacher will speak with
authority just in so far as the truth is
part Of his own being and has been
made real to him in the workshop OF
his own experience. What men know
by observation or by experience, that
they can teach with authority. We
need to be experts in the Christian life.
"A man with an unclean spirit" De.
mons are called unclean because they
are impure, unholy, defling, and pro-
duce such effects both in the body and
the spirit of those whom they possess.
The outward filth was a type of the
moral defilement.
DemOniacs. CD A demoniac was one
''whose being was strangely :nterpene.
tratcd by one or more fallen spirits,
called in the Greek demons or lesser
evil spirits. ('Devil" in the original
is used only of the arch-fcnd) De-
mOniac possession is ''the caricature Of
inspiration" We know who inspires
by the effects produced. (2) This pos,
session was real, not a mere imagina-
ton Or superstition. (3) 1t is distin-
guishcd from mere disease, yet it seems
always to have been connected with a
diseased state. 4) ''DemOniaca1 posses
sion of the body is distinguished from
Satanic influence on the soul. The !
possessed were not necessarily the |
worst of men, like Judas, when !
Satan entered into him. or An
MAS, when Satan filled his heart"
Stock. o. Yet 'lavish sin, and
especially Indulgence in sensual lusts,
uperinducing, as it would often, a
weakness in the nervous system, which |
is the especial bond between body and
soul, may have laid open these un-
happy ones to the fearful incursiOns OF
the powers of darkness. ."-AlfOrd It
is almost certain that this possession
never occurs but in a morally dis
ordered person, and by the yielding of
the will to evil. The soul is a castle
which Satan cannot enter without per-
mission from within. Gods obedient
children are absolutely safe. (6) The
object of these demons seems to have
been to ruin their victims, body and
soul. "Violent contortiOns and spasms
of the body, accompanied with excruci-
ating pains, were occasional features
of the horrid state. Bliss They were
sometimes made wild and fierce, like
the demOniac of Gadara-cruel to them
selves and violent toward others.
and they were all amazed
questioned" Each turned to his neigh
Dor, in astonishment, to ask his opin-
ion, Saying, What is this? New
teaching with authority! And He
the unclean spirits, and
they obey Him Such is, apparently,
the correct reading and rendering Of
the abrupt remarks which the aston
ished people made to one another.
''With authority commandeth He."
With the authority and power which
the unclcan spirits to obey.
Thus Jesus was shown to be the most
powerful friend of man, and opposed
L