The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-01-10
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON,
LESSON ii, FIRST QUARTER. INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, JAN. II.
ieHt OF the Lesson, Gen. fiji, Ills
memory Verses, 13-I5-GoIden Text.
Tor Nv, 22-Commentary by the
Rev. ID. VI. stearns.

S~@ iAiuut ana ne SalQ unto
.ne woman Yea, hath God said, Ye
siisiI not eat Of every tree of the gar
uen In the first two chapters all is
perfect, and God walks with man. and
man communes with God. Now comes
the wicked one in the guise of a serpent
-IuiI or hatred Of God and man. See
ms aliases in Rev. xii. 8: Xxx. .. and his
end in Rev. Ky, 10. He begins his work
oy lnsinuating that God does not love
Ills children or He would not keep any
thing from them.
4 And the woman said unto the
serpent We may eat of the fruit Of the
trees Of the garden" We cannot blame
the woman for talking with him. for she
probably had not heard of him who
spoke to her through the serpent We
know him and deserve to suffer if we
hold any parley with him. See Eph. vi,
IL; Jas. Nv, z: 1 Pet V, 8. g.
D. But Of the fruit OF the tree which
IS in the midst Of the garden, God hath
said. Ye shall not eat of 1t. neither shall
We touch it, lest We die" She both added
to and diminished what God had said
Compare carefully chapters ii, II. and
let US give good heed to Deut iv, 2; XIII
81; Jer. XVI. 2. Our part is to be simply
obedient and trustful and shun every
insinuation and doubt.
4. And the serpent said unto the
woman, We shall not surely die" What
a deliberate lie. When he speaketh a
lie, he speaketh of his own for he is
a liar and the father of it John viii, 44).
All liars shall have their portion with
- G IL Al. a., .
such an attack upon God would have
shown the woman that she was dealing
with an enemy Of God. But what shall
we say of professed friends of God who
really teach that there is no hell and
not even a devil?
.. For God doth know that i'm the day
We eat thereof then your eyes shall be
opened and We shall be as gods. know
ing good and evil" This seems TO have
been his own ambition (see lisa. xiv. 1D,
and he will yet find man willing to be
filled with it III 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 u John iii,
?; l Cor xiii, 12), but this is 20 be
reached by death and obedience to Him,
never in any other way CAcUs iv. 12).
o. And when the woman saw, etc,
she took Of the fruit thereof and did
eat and gave also unto her husband
with her, and he did eat" This Is the
history of every temptation ANA sin the
outward object, the inward commOtiOn,
the increase and triumph OF passionate
desire, the degradation and ruin ui soul.
So with Achan He saw: he coveted he
took Joshua vii, 81. Adam and Eve
had everything and Yet sinned Christ
seemed to have nothing. yet stood firm
NJ q IF hfofI
opened, and they knew that they were
naked, and they sewed fig leaves to-
gether and made themselves aprons"
This was an eye-opening that has left
us blind by nature in tse right direction
ever since, as we need to be anOinted
and have our eyes opened TO behold spir-
itual things (ReV. iii, Is; Ps. cXiX, 49,.
What a contrast between the garments
of light which they lost and these self
made aprons! Fig leaves may well rep
resent profession without reality AIath.
xxi. 49,.
8. And they heard the voice of the
Lord God, and Adam and his wife hid
themselves" What q sight is this!
Gods dear children hiding from their
loving Father and thinking that trees
can cover them. What fools sin makes
Of us. and how blinded must be the
mind that seeks TO hide from the only
true friend. Such has been the sinners
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 d God Of loYe-seeking
lost and straying people and man in his
blindness hiding or running away from
God What does your soul say in re-
sponsa to Where art thou?" Mine re
plies, Lord, Thou knowest am in Thee,
and Thou art to me the Rock of Ages
lisa. XVI, 4 margin). Once and for a
long time / tried TO hide from Thee, but
now Thou hast me taught TO hide in
Thee.
10. And he said, l heard Thy voice
in the garden, and I was afraid, because
1 was naked, and 1 hid myself Here
is the first fear in scripture, and 1t fol-
lows 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 q John iv, 49,; 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,
p. Some are afraid Of the voice Of God
in His word because they prefer their
own thoughts and ways.
IL. And He said, Who told thee thou
vast naked? Hast thou eaten of the
tree whereof 1 commanded thee that
thou shouldest not eat?'' God Of course
knew the whole story, but before We
can be forgiven 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. Is,
and L John i, 81.
Y. And the man said, The woman
whom thou gavest to be with me, she
gave me of the tree, and 1 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 Jesus,
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. Y, 20.
49, And the Lord God said unto the
woman, What is this that thou hast
done? And the woman said, The SER
pent beguiled me, and 1 did eat" She
did not ask, as some do now, why God
allowed the serpent to come 10 her, and
why God did not keep her from falling.
but she makes confession and pleads
guilty And both having now con-
fessed the way is open for the reveal
ton of Gods salvation by grace Rom.
iii, 1929.
IA. And the Lord God said unto the
serpent, Because thou hast done this,
thou art cursed above all cattle" etc.
What kind of a creature the serpent
was before this and of what form we
are not told. But ii is evident he did
not go upon his belly as now. Eve Will
tell us when we see her If il is worth
while to know.
10. and / will put enmity between
thee and the woman, and between thy
seed and her seed. He shall bruise they