Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1894-01-11
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON II, FIRST QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, JAN. n.

Text of the Lesson, Gen. iii, 1-15-Memory
Verses, 13-15--GoIden Text, / Cor. Ky, |
2a-Commentary by the Rev. ID. NJ.
Stcarns.
l. "Now, the serpent was more subtle !
than any beast of the field which the Lord
God had made. And he said unto the
woman, Yea, hath God said, Ie shall not
eat of every tree of the gardenW 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
guse of serpent-full of hatred of God
and man. See his aliases In Rev. xii, 9; Xxx,
?, and his end in Rev Xxx, 10. lie begins
his work by insinuating that God docs not
love his children or He would not keep any
thing from them.
.. 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 osuf-
fer il we hold any porley with him. see
Eph. Vi, II; Jas. il. I; / Pet V, =, 9.
= but of the fruit of the tree which is in
the midst of the garden, God hath said,
Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall We
touch it, lest We die She both added to
and diminished what God had said. Com
pare carefully chapters ii, II, and let us
give good heed 20 Deut. iv, .: xii, %; Jcr
Xvi, . Our part is to be simply obedient
and trustful and shun every insinuation
and doubt.
/. And the serpent said unto the wom-
an, We shall not surely die" What II de-
hbcrate licl When he speaketh Il lie, he
1ft,,,s 4
the father of it John viii, Az. All liars
shall have their portion with him (Rcv.
xxi. 81. One would think that such an at
tack upon God would have shown the
woman that she was dealing with an enemy
of God. But what shall we say of pro
fcssed friends Of God who today teach that
there is no hell and not even n devil,
). For God doth know that in the day
70 cat thereof then your eyes shall lie
opened, and We shall be as gods, moving
good and evil" This seems to have been
his own ambition (sec ,Isa. xiv, IA. and he
will yet find II 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
Il John iii, q / Cor. xiii, 70, but this is to
be reached hy death to self, trust in the sac
rifcc Of Christ and obedience to Him, never
in any uthec way acts ", ~
6. 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 and sin, the outward object
the inward commotion, the increase and
triumph of passionate desire, the degrade
ton and rain of soul. So with Achan. He
saw: he coveted; he took (Joshua vii, III.
Adam ard Eve had everything and yet
| sinncd. Christ seemed to have nothing,
| yet stood firm.
| l. And the eyes Of thcm both We're open
ed, and they knew that they were naked,
and hey sewed fix leaves together aud made
themselves aprons" This was an eye open
ing that has left us blind By nature in the
right direction ever since, as we need to he
! anointed and have our eyes opened to he
hold spiritual things (Rev iii, IS; Ps cXiX,
49, What IL contrast between tue gar
ments Of light which they lost and these
self made aprons Fig leaves may well
represent profession without reality (Math
xxi, 19.
S. And they heard the voice Of the Lord
God, and Adam and his wife hid them
selves What sight is this, Gods dcal
children hiding from their loving tathe'
and thinking that trees can cover them
w
ed must be the mind that seeks to hide
from the only true friend! such has beef
the sinners conduct ever since, vainly seek
ing to hide from God.
.. 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
God Of love seeking LOST and straying PEG
pie aud man in his blindness hiding or run
ming away from God. What does you
SOU say in response to Where art thou;
Mine replies, Lord, thou knowest am il
Thee, and Thou art to me the Rock Of Age
usa. XAvi, margin) Once and for Ion.
time | tried to hide from Thee, but nov
Thou hast taught me to hide i'll Thee.
TO- And he said, heard Thy voice in tn
] garden, and | was afraid because / wa
naked and hid myself" Here is the frs
fear in Scripture, and it follows hard %
d unbelief and distrust of God. There vii
! be no fear where there is confidence in God
for His perfect love casteth out fear q job
iv, Isl: so that if our hearts can say, Behold
/ God is my salv alton" We should also ado
Il will trust and not be afraid" lisa. xi
u p. Some are afraid of the voice of God i
i His word because they prefer their ow
{ thoughts and ways.
L II. And He said, Who told thee tho
L vast naked? Hast thou eaten of the TIRE
i [, whereof / commanded thee that tho
II shouldest not eat;' God of course kne
i the whole story, but before we can be 70
u given there must be on our part convictio
Il of sin and confession of the same. III
l. God would give to Adam and draw froI
r him that lie might forgive him (see Pro
e xviii, ID, and | John j, 81.
II. And the man said, The woman whol
thou 9ayest to be with me, she gave me
the tree and did eat" This sounds Vel
Is badly. Adam, thou hast fallen very fl
It gnd brought us down with thee, for son
le of us have talked that way But see IL
, sin. He finds fault with the gift of &c
~ and lays the blame on her Now see j
u" sus, who has taken upon Himself all IL
l., guilt of His body, the church, and borr
ID it, that He might present her TO Ilimse
r. without spot (Eph. V, 20.
a IL. And the Lord God said unto II
lie woman, What is this that thou hast don
C And the woman said, The serpent beguil,
I