The Globe-republican., 1894-06-29
THE SUNDAY scHlooL.

THE SUNDAY SCHOOL
International Lesson for July I. 1904
The Birth OF Jesus-Luke 2:1-16.
Especially Arranged from Peloubet's Notes
GOLDEN TExE-Unto yeu Is born this day,
in the city Of David. q Saviour. which Is Christ
the Lord-Luke ELL
years before the commencement Of our common
era. A D. (Anno Domini year Of our Lord),
SO that he was born ,s9S not l,soa, years ago
It was the year OF the world 1000
DATE OF THE BIRTH OF CHRIST 1t is very
perplexing TO many to find that Jesus was
actually born four years before the time from
which We count his birth The simple reason
Is that no one calculated dates from the birth
Of Christ till centuries after He was born and
then Dioaysius Ex:guus the monk who pub
lished the calculations in A. d. 523 made mis-
take OF four years He placed the birth Of
Christ A D. In the year Of Rome 20. c. 7oA
But Herod the Great who slew the innocents
Of Bethlehem died in April Of the year Of Rome
49, so that Christ must have been born several
months before, or not later than the last OF .4a
Jesus was probably born at the very close Of
B. C. which would be only four years before
our era for In q week after the 18th Of Decemr
Der. b. c. ). ii was January. b C. L
Since it is impossible to rectify the dates In
all books and records over the world We sim
ply apply the true dates to the life of Christ
| He was five years old at the close Of A D. I.
! PLACE.--Bethlehem of Judea q village five
or six Sailes south of Jerusalem Its name,
Bethlehem ('house Of breadO, was due to
the fertility OF the adjacent cornfieldS 1t was
the town Of Ruth and BOaZ, and was called the
city OF David because IL was his birthplace and
contained the records Of his family. Here Je-
rome made the Latin translation Of the Bible
called the Vul2a:e A D. 370i0O It now CON
tains about five thousand inhabitants The
GAvI I<oReh
the village.
RULERs.-Augustus Cesar was emperor Of
Rome. Herod the Great the first OF the seven
HerOds mentioned in the New Testament).
king Of Judea: but Palestine and most Of the
known world we're subject to Augustus.
THE ROMAN EMPIRE.-In order to ounderstand
the material on which Christianity had TO
work. we give the best statistics available.
Lyman'S tables give the population OF the
Roman empire at the time Of Christ as 10. 0OO,-
OJ0 of which 61.OOlO0O we're slaves. 40,0ol 900
were tributaries and freedmen, and only 100
600 were full citizens, or One-slxth OK the popu-
latiOn- The army numbered 4OOOoO and the
navy $1,000 men Milman gives the population
Of Rome. by the census Of A d., 49, at ). .9Si 900
PALESrINE.-Hon Selah Merrill in his Gal
lice in the Time Of Christ thinks that the pop.
ulation Of Palestine was about 5000, ,OOO and Of
Galiice 100000.
MISUNDERSTANDING to Milman, Jerusa-
lem had at this time population Of $4,000
It was city of great magniflcence, and was
the me tropolis OF the Jewish world
THE COMING OF THE DIVINE SAVIOUR.
Who Jesus Was Before He Came
John 1:1-4: Heb. 1:2, 3. The Word.
who became Jesus ON earth was the
eternal Son of God. BY Him the
worlds were created. He was with
God, and was God. From His glorious
home He came to this world, as the
! highest expression Of Gods love, to
take upon Himself our human nature
for the salvation of the world from sin
to holiness and Heaven.
Prophecies of His sComing.-Oneo of the
strongest assurances that Jesus is the
true Saviour from Heaven is the fact
that He comes as part of a great Divine
plan. He was foretold, promised,
typified from the very beginning.
There was a promise to Adam (Gen.
S:15); to Abraham (Gen. 22:1s); tc
Jacob (Gen. 1910; to David e Sam.
7:12-l6); by Isaiah (9:6, :; 11:1-V; by
Daniel (9:24). The sacrifices typified
Him. More frequently still were fore
told the blessed times He would bring.
The Announcement of His Coming
To Zacharias, the sanity father OF
John the forerunner, to the Virgin
Mary, to Joseph, the coming was
announced in words full of promise
that inspired them to songs which
have been sung with joy and gratitude
all through the ages luke u.
The Preparation of the World for
His Coming.-There has been no other
time in the history of the world oper-
fectly adapted for the beginning of the
kingdom. and the spreading of the
news of salvation throughout the
Garth. as that in which Christ was born.
1t was after the Jews had received all
that they would about Gods kingdom,
but before the breaking up and scat
tering of the nation by the fall of their
| capital and the temple. There were
many lands, but nearly all the world
was subject to the one government 1T
Rome. so that the preachers of the
Gospel could travel in safety. and be
| protected in their work. Roman roads
made for their legions were a highway
for the Gospel, and the Roman soldiers
were a guard for it's preachers. The
world was at peace, for almost the only
time, So that the gospel could have
free course. The Greek language. the
most perfect medium of human speech,
was spoken everywhere with the ma
| tive languages, so that the Gospel
could be heard and read by all. The
conquests of Alexander which diffused
the Greek language. the Greek civiliza-
ton and Greek learning throughout
the east, were a marvellous prOviden-
tial preparation for the Gospel The
Bible of the Jews had been translated
into the Greek language in the third
century before Christ. This version is