The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-11-21

ID. VI. Stearns.
%. "And the scribes which came down
from Jerusalem said. He hath Beelzebub
and by the prince Of devils casteth He
out devils" 1t is probable that the Incl
dents of Luke vii Ghe healing of the
centurion's servant, the raising of the
widows son and the amounting Of Jesus's
feeO came in between last lesson and this.
He IS so forgetful OF Himself and wholly
given to ministering to others that his
friends said He was beside Himself (verse
2), and the scrlbes said He had a devil.
See the privilege of being misunderstood
and misrepresented.
%. And He called them unto Him and
said unto them in parallels, How can
satan cast out satan?" Parallels were for
those who by their unbellef preferred to
remain without, and He taught thus that
they might not see nor understand nor
be converted Mark iv, II, 12). If we will
fully shut our eyes to the light we can
not blame God for our not seeing. If we
refuse to give heed to His loving words,
we can only thank ourselves for the hard
ening Of our hearts. He would have it
otherwise.
"a And If a kingdom be divided
against itself that kingdom cannot stand"
1t would seem almost unnecessary to say
this 1t is so self-evident, but for them
it was necessary. They were 50 desper-
ately blind and foolish through their un-
belief and hardness Of heart. Not one of
them would willingly work against his
own interests, yet by their remark they
think satan foolish enough to do so.
%. And If house be divided against
itself that house cannot stand" There
are in the world those who belong to the
kingdom and house Of God and those who
belong to the kingdom and house Of Satan,
but the one Is by its nature as opposed
to the other as light to darkness, as
heaven TO hell That light should contend
with light or darkness with darkness IS
not in the nature Of things. See how
Simply Jesus spake; how very plain He
made it even as He had long before told
His servants, Moses and Habakkuk, to
do Deut. xvii, s; Hab. II, p.
26. And if satan rise up against him
self and be divided he cannot stand, but
hath an end" This would certainly be a
fine thing for the world that satan should
have an end, and some day it shall come
(ReY. Xxx, 2, 3, 10), but not by any rebel
lion in his camp-rather by the mighty
power Of the light that shall finally pre-
vail over all darkness. The seed of the
woman shall bruise the head of the ser
pent. The God of peace shall bruise satan
under our feet shortly Gen. iii, Is; Rom.
xvi, 2O.
q. mo man can enter into a strong
mans house and spoil his goods except he
will first bind the strong man, and then
he will spoil his house" All unbelievers
are satan's house, whether religious or
irreligiOuS unbelevers John viii, 44, just
as all true believers are the house Of
Christ and Of God (Heb. iii, 6; Eph. ii, 19).
When Jesus shall have bound satan in the
nd Oft nd aac him In tho lalrn
of fire. then all he has ever had control
over, air and earth and people who have
not willingly submitted to him, shall be
forever delivered from his worse than
Egyptian bondage.
2S Verify I say unto you, All sins shall
be forgiven unto the sons of men and bias
phemies wherewith soever they shall BIAS
pheme. What a Redeemer and a re-
demption God has made known to u.s.
What precious blood it is that can cleanse
from all sin and blot out so as never to
be found, even the precious blood of
Christ, the lamb without blemish and
without spot q John j, Z; lisa. Kill, 25;
1 Pet. i, 19). Then to know that under
no circumstances shall any one who comes
ever be cast out John vi 30. Halleluiah!
What a Savior.
%. But he that shall blaspheme
against the Holy Ghost hath never for
giveness, but is in danger Of eternal dam
nation" 1t vas by the Spirit Of God that
He cast OUT demons CMath. xii, 2S). 1t is
the work Of the Spirit to convince Of sin
and righteousness and Judgment John
xvi, 81. He 1t was who broOded over the
deep in the time Of the darkness Of Gen i,
2. 8. He wrought in and through the
prophets. He spake and wrought through
Jesus himself. He makes known to US
the love Of God and the redemption that
80. Because they said, He hath an I'M
clean spirit" AS the Spirit is the one
who alone can open our eyes, to go against
Him is 10 cut ourselves off from all hope
of forgiveness. He has well been called
the executive Of the Godhead, and we can
thus see that, while Father and Son have
made az provisions for our salvation. to
resist the Spirit is to continue in eternal
sin.
81. Then came His brethren and His
mother and standing without sent unto
Him, calling Him." In Mark vi. 3, we
have His brothers and His sisters men
toned and Himself referred to as the car
penter. That they were His own brothers
and sisters, Mary's children, it seems TO
me is very clear from Ps. Xix, 8.
81 And the multitude sat about Him,
and they said unto Him, Behold, Thy
mother and Thy brethren without seek
for Thee" 1t is just possible that they
spoke sneeringly of His brethren as being
from Nazareth, of which Nathanael sald'
'tCan any good thing come out or NaZa-
reth?" John /. 49, We may be sure that
Jesus was not ashamed of His mother or
Of His brethren any more than Joseph
was ashamed of his father and his breth-
rem when he presented them to Pharaoh.
SO. And he answered them, saying,
Who is Ny mother or My brethren|'
That which He said to Mary at Jerusalem
at the age of twelve must have been al
ways a reality to Him, About My
Fathers business" for He loved to speak
of the Father who sent Him and was
ulr mill plEO
thinking Of the many children of God
who, through Him, would be brought TO
the kindOm Heb. il, 10, 49,.
"a And He looked roundabout on
them which sat about Him and said, Be
hold Ny mother and My brethren"
Many of His disciples must have been
present once sinners, dead IN trespasses
and in sins, but now through Him chill
dren of God and taught to say, Our Father
who art in heaven" redeemed by His
precious blood soon to be shed for them,
and therefore as precious as the blood
that bought them because of its precious
ness.
35. "For whatsoever shall do the will Of
God the same is My brother, and My sis
ter, and mother" Or, as He said in Luke
viii. q, my mother and Ny brethren are
these which hear the word of God and do
it," All who truly receive Jesus are chill
dren of God John i, 10 and have the for
giveness of sins q John il, 12) and may
continually sing BE my feelings what
they WILL Jesus is my Savior STILL
The TrOubadOur.