Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1894-12-22
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON XII. FOURTH QUARTER, IN
TERNATIoNAL SERIES. DEG. 20.

IIoo0N All rOOntH QOHnt En- IN
TERNATIoNAL SERIES. DEC. 20.
mas Lesson Memory Verses, 6. 7-Gold-
en- Text, Isa. tx. documentary by the
Rev. d. Il. stearns.
o Tho people that walked in darkness
have seen q great light. They that dwell
In the land of the shadow of death. upon
them hath the light shined . The Spiris,
through Matthew, says shat there was a
fulfillment Of this when Jesus left Naza-
| (Math. ", 1876. Wherever Jesus is not
known it is certainly darkness and ofttimes
deep darkness as the expression,
shadow of death, is translated in the
margin of the Il. V. both here and in
Ps. xiii, 4, and elsewhere. This dark
ness can only be driven away from an in
dividual, or a nation or land as Jesus,
the Light OF the world, is revealed. Those
who have heard of and have received Jesus
can say, God, who commanded the light
to shine out Of darkness, hath shined in
our hearts TO give the light of tho knowl-
edge of the glory of God in the face Of
Jesus Christ Gil Cor. iv, %. That makes
US think of the darkness that was over
the deep in the beginning of the Bible
story, when the Spirit moved upon the
face of the waters, and God said Let
there be light, and there was light. God
is light. Jesus said Il am the Light Of
the world" 1t is written that the en-
trance of His word giyeth light, and we
know that His words are spirit and life (I
John i, 5; John viii, II; Ps. cxix, $50;
John vi, 63) Jesus said TOLLS disciples,
''Ye are the light of tho world (Math.
v, l4). We know that we have no light
in ourselves any more than thc moon,
which appears to be a ruin of nature, as
man is. But if the sun shining upon the
moon can give us such light then we may
imagine how the Lord Jesus might make
us shine for Him if we were only willing
to reflect His light and give Him all the
glory. After we have shone for II i'm littlo
longer, and He has gathered out His body,
the church, then in the midst of gross
darkness covering the people the Lord
shall arise upon Israel, and His glory shall
be seen upon them, and the nations shall
come to their light, and kings to the
brightness of their rising lisa. IL, 1-3)
not increased the joy. They joy before
Thee according to the joy in harvest and
us men rejoice when they divide the spoil y
The r. V. gives for the second clause,
Thou hast increased their joy" This is
certainly more in accord with the rest Of
the verse and with the context The light
would give them joy. Compare lisa TX,
20, THE Lord shall be thine everlasting
light, and the days of thy mourning shall
be ended" Even in the days of Mordecai
1.-THE Jews had light and gladness and
JOY and honor" est. viii, l6). As tho
entrance of Gods word givcth light, so
also we become filled with joy AMI peace
by believing, and VIC arc commanded to
Rejoice in the Lord Away (iom. XIV,
10; Phil. iv, ~. Our verse says, ''They
JOY before Thee, y and in Ps xvi, II, we
read: In Thy presence is fullness Of joy
At Thy right hand are pleasures forever
more +"
T. Fer Thou hast broken the yoke Of
His burden, and the staff of His shoulder,
the rod of His oppressor, as in the days
of INDIAN" All past deliverances of Is
rael, whether in the days of the judges
under Gideon, Samson, Jephtha and 9TH
ers and even the deliverance from Egypt
under Moses, were but foreshadowings Of
greater and final deliverance from anti
christ ere the kingdom shall come. The
deliverance from INDIAN under Gideon, as
recorded in Judg. vi and vii, is ono of the
most interesting and instructive of Bible
stories, showing how God uses the weak
things and things that arc not to show
forth His glory. But the greater deliver
ancc that shall Guido all others is plainly
referred to in Jcr. xvi, IA, Is, and xiii
5-S, Then shall the Lord go forth and
fight against those nations, as when He
fought in the day of battle.
8. For every battle OF the warrior Is
with confused noise and garments rolled
in blood, but this shall be with burning
and fuel of fire. Tho X. V. is more
clear and reads, For all the armor of the
armed man in the tumult and the gar
ments rolled in blood shall even be for
burning for fuel of fire. Tho Spirits
own comment and light upon this Is found
in Eek. xxx, 8, -, where we read that
the weapons of the slain shall provide fuel
for Israel for seven years, and they shall
be seven months burying the dead. The
church. the body of Christ, the history Of
which is not fully revealed In the Old
Testament, having been completed and
caught up to meet Him in the air, shall
afterward return with Him when He
comes to the earth in His glory for the
conversion Of Israel and the overthrow Of
her enemies. These will be the days OF
recompense for Israel and vengeance upon
her enemies, so often referred to lisa.
xxxiv, s; xxxv, 4; xiii, -.
6. "For unto us a child is born, unto us
a son is given, and the government shall
be upon His shoulder, and His name shall
be called Wonderful, Counselor tho
Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the
Prince of Peace" This verse with the
following, Is one of those many passages
in which we have summary OF the suf-
ferings of Christ and the glory that shall
follow Il Pet. j, IL, or, in other words,
His first coming in humiliation to suffer
and His second coming in glory to reign
The Christmas lesson which only looks
back to His coming as babe in Bethlehem
teaches only half the story. There was
no government on earth given to Him at
His first coming. They gave Him a sta
bic for His birthplace, a manager for His
cradle, not where TO lay His head during
His life, cross and n grave with the
wicked for His reward But God raised
Him from the dead and gave Him glory,
and when He shall come again in that
glory then shall He be seen to be the
Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the
Prince Of Peace. He was indeed wonder
full in His humiliation, in His love and
patience and faithfulness unto death. br.
it shall yet be seen more fully that His
name is Wonderful tJndg. xiii, IS, mar
gin).
q "Of the increase of His government
and peace there shall be no end upon the
throne Of David and upon His kingdom,
to order 1t and to establish it with judg.
ment and with Justice from henceforth
even forever. The zeal of the Lord of
Hosts will perform this" 1t is fearful
pcrversion OF Scripture to speak of Jesus
being now on David's throne, as If David
ever had throne in heaven. David reigned
seven years at Hebron and 50 years in Jeru-
salem, and Jesus is to sit on David's throne
at Jerusalem and reign eyer the house
of Jacob. according to the simplest mean
ing of plain words. Is in Jer. iii, II; Luke
/, ;i2, 33, etc.