Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1894-08-03
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON VI. THIRD QUARTER, INTER.
M ON. SEk.-., A. ..
Verses, 0-11-Golden Text, Mark I, IL.
Commentary by the Rev. ID. NJ. stearns.

Verses, 0-11-Golden Text, Mark 1, IL.
Commentary by the Rev. ID. NJ. stearns.
l. "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus
Christ, the Son of God. This is the gos-
pei specially of service. In it we are re-
minded of the words, behold, | will bring
forth my Servant, the Branchl' while Be
hold the Man whose name is the BranchV'
is seen more clearly in Luke's gospel
Czech. Iii, s; vi, 12). Here Jesus is the
patient servant and sacrifice for others,
spending and being spent to serve the
sons of men This gospel is written that
the same life of unwearicd service may be
in some measure reproduced in us III Cor.
", III, but as we are in this first verse in
troduccd to the son Of God so we must be
sons of God before we can serve God. LET
my son go that he may serve me, said
the Lord of Israel (Ex. iv, 23).
2. LAS it is written in the prophets, Be-
hold. l send my messenger before Thy face
which shall prepare Thy way before thcel'
The whole story of His sufferings and
glory is written in the prophets Il Pet l,
II; Luke xiv, 25-2O They also spake of
the heralds who should prccedc Him, John
the Baptist III the spirit and power of Eli
jah before his first coming, and Elijah
himself before his second coming. Com
pare Nal. iv, 81 Luke i, II; Math. xvii, 10
/ 13. AS to preparing His way, every be-
/ licvcr can, in a measure, be His messenger
to do that. What an honor to be sent of
Him in His namc
3. Tho voice of one crying in the will
dcrncss, Prepare yo the way of the Lord;
mako His paths straight" When John
was asked if he was the Christ or Elijah or
the prophet, he said that lac was neither,
but only dice proclaiming the Christ
| (John i, 23I He sought no honors for
/ himself, but rcjoiccd to decrease that Christ
might increase (John iii, 20, 800.
4. John did baptizc in the Wilderness
and preach the baptism of repentance for
the remission OF sins" n sample of his
preaching may be found in Math iii, 7-12,
and Luke iii, 7-1S He made it plain that
unless their lives afterward manifested
that they had become now creatures their
baptism would amount to nothing. One
of the last commands of Christ was that
repentance and remission of sins should be
preached in His name among ali nations,
beginning at Jerusalem Lukc xiv, ~
b. And there went out unto him all the
land of Jud;pa, and they of Jerusalem, and
were all baptized of him in the river of
Jordan, confessing their sins" There
must be sense of siIS a true conviction
of sin, and the deeper the better, before any
one will come to Christ, for lie came not
to call tho righteous but sinners to repent
nnce. This is the work of the Holy Spirit
(John xvi S, margin), and He uses the
word and the lives of believers. In Acts
y, 81; xi, Is, Christ is said to give or grant
repentance.
g. And John was clothed with cancels
hair, and with girdlc of a skin about his
loins and he did eat lOcusts and wild
honey" Thus was Elijah clothed Oh
Kings i, 81, and, as to llcusts, they were
among the creatures which God had per-
mittcd Israel to eat (Lev XII 22). John
was certainly not cXtravagant in the mat
ter Of food and raiment. What u contrast
was Isaac, who loved Esau because of his
venison and would bless him only in con-
nection Herewith (Gen. XIV, rs; xvii,
3, ~. Jesus has taught US not to think too
much about either food or raiment (Math
iv, /; vi, 25), but has assured us that if we
make His kingdom and His righteousness
our first concern He will see to all our need
in that direction (Math. vi 33).
Z. And preached, saying, There cOmeth
one mighticr than l after me, the latchct of
whose shoes l am not worthy to stoop
down and unloose " John sought not to
attract people to himself, but to the Lamb
of God, whom he came to herald. He had
no ambition to make himself "a name, but
only to honor Him of whom he said, He
must increase, but must decrease" (John
iii, 30). He sought not great things for
himself (Jer. xiv, 81 but his watchword
was "NOt T. (Gal. ii, 20; Cor. XIV 100.
s. Il indeed have baptized you with wa
ter but He shall baptize you with the
Holy Ghost" Both Matthew and Luke
add and with fire. (Niath. iii, IL; Luke
,r-1i ,.I,f b,o
to refer to the judgments of His second
coming as King and son of Man. As the
Servant which He is peculiarly in Mark,
He does not speak Of fire. But how much
we do need to be filled with the Spirit-in
fact it is "A command laid upon us, and as
much command as not to be drunken
(Eph. V, 49,. Then what a comfort to
know that He, who is our Saviour, Brother,
Friend, is the one who baptizeth with the
Holy Ghost (John i, 33). We need not
think we must beg and entrcat Him, but
simply ask Him (Lukc XII, 49,
9. And it came to pass in those days
that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee
and was baptized Of John in Jordan" In
Luke iii, 23, it is written that He was
about 30 years Of age. In Math. iii, Ii,
10, it is said that at first John forbade Him
because of Johns greater need to be bap
be SO now for thus it becometh US to full
fill all righteousness. He humbled Him
self from heaven down to the manager of
Bethlehem, and the home in Nazareth,
and the life Of rejection, even to Gethsom-
ane and Golgotha all for US, and surely
it is becoming in us to humble ourselevs
for Him, yet IL seems strange to say So
for, whereas He actually came down from
great glory, we, being nothing have moth
ing to come down from but sinful pride.
10. And straightway coming up out of
the water He saw the heavens opened, and
the Spirit like a dove descending upon
him." Here in this gospel we meet the first
Immediately, used about so times in the
New Testament, and 40 times in this gos-
pei and IL times in this chapter, some
times translated "anon" or forthwith. Z"
1t is the word for good servant. The
opened heavens make us think of Eek. i,
Math iii, John i, Acts vii and X, Rev. iv
and xix, i'm each of which chapters heaven
is opened and always concerning Christ
or His church. The Spirit coming as a
dove makes us think of the dove that found