Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1894-01-12
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON II, FIRST QUARTER, INTER-
NATlOkhL SERIES, JAN. -.

1. 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, We shall not
eat of every tree of the gardenY" 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 serpcnt-full of hatred of God
and man. See his aliases in Rev. xii, Q: Xxx,
2, and his end in Rev Xxx, 10. He begins
his work by insinuating that God does not
love his children or He would not keep any
thing from them.
q 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 suf-
fer if we bold any parley with him. See
Eph. vi, IL; JAS iv, Z; Pet. V, s., 8.
g. But of the fruit of the tree which is in
the midst of the garden, God hath said
We shall not eat of it, neither shall ye
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 to Deut iv, q xii 30; Jer.
XVI, 2. Our part is to be simply obedient
and trustful and shun every insinuation
and do lbt.
4. And the serpent said unto the wom-
an, Ye shall not surely die" What de
liberate lie! When he speaketh lie, he
speaketh of his own, for he is liar and
the father of it John viii, Az. All liars
shall have their portion with him (Rev.
xxi, s.. One would think that such an at
tack upon God would have shown the
al,o Il
of God. But what STALL we say of pro
fessed friends of God who today teach that
there is no hell and not even a devil?
5. For God doth know that in the day
ye eat thereof then your eyes shall he
opened, and We shall be as gods, knowing
good and evil" This seems to have been
his own ambition (see Isa. xiv, 14), and he
will yet find man willing to be filled with
it Oh Thess. H. B. A. We know that when
He shall appear we shall be like Him, ar. j
then shall we know even as we are known
Il John iii, 9; | Cor. xiii, l2), but this is to
be reached by death to self, trust in the sac
rifice of Christ and obedience to Him. never
in any other way Acts iv, l2).
g. And when the woman saw. ETC., sh,
took of the fruit thereof and did eat and
gave also unto her husband with her, and
be 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 ruin of soul. So with Achan. He
saw; he coveted; he took (Joshua vii, 21)
Adam and Eve had everything and ye!
sinned. Christ seemed to have nothing
yet stood firm.
Z. And the eyes of them both were open
ed, and they knew that they were naked
and they sewed fig leaves together and 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 be
anointed and have our eyes opened to be
hold spiritual things (Rev. iii, Is; Ps cxix
49,. What a contrast between the gar
ments of light which they lost and these
self made apronsl Fig leaves may wei
represent profession without reality (Math
xxi, 49,
{. And they heard the voice of the Lore
God, and Adam and his wife hid them
selves" What IL sight is this! Gods dea
children hiding from their loving Fathe
and thinking that trees can cover them
What fools sin makes of us, and how blind
ed must be the mind that seeks to hid,
from the only true friend! Such has beer
the sinners conduct ever since, vainly seek
ing to hide from God.
8. And the Lord God called unto Adam
and said unto him, Where art thouY" From
the fall to the end Of the Bible story it is
God of love seeking lost and straying PEG
pie and man in his blindness hiding or run
ming away from God. What does you
SOU say in response to where art thouy'
Mine replies, Lord, thou knowest am il
Thee, and Thou art to me the Rock of Age
lisa. XVI, 4 margin) Once and for Ion.
time tried to hide from Thee, but nov
Thou hast taught me to hide in Thee
10. And he said, heard Thy voice in tn
garden, and ] was afraid, because | wa
naked, and l hid myself" Here is the frs
fear in Scripture, and it follows hard Of
unbelef and distrust of God There will
be no fear where there is confidence in God
for His perfect love casteth out fear Il Joh
iv, 49,; so that if our hearts can ay,"Behold
God ismy salvation" we should also ado
II will trust and not be afraid" lisa. XII
p. Some are afraid of the voice of God i
His word because they prefer their ow
thoughts and ways.
IL. And He said, Who told thee tho
vast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tire
whereof | commanded thee that tho
shouldest not eat?' God of course kneN
the whole story, but before we can be fol-
given Inere must DE on our part cOnNlcJlO
of sin and confession of the same Thi
: God would give to Adam and draw fror
him that He might forgive him (see Prov
xviii, Is, and | John i, 81.
II. And the man said, The woman whor
thou gavest to be with me, she gave me c
The tree, and did eat" This sounds yer
badly. Adam, thou hast fallen very ia
and brought us down with thee, for som
of us have talked that way. But see tn
: sin. He finds fault with the gift of Go
and lays tire blame on her. Now see j,
sus, who has taken upon Himself all tn
guilt of His body, the church, and born
it, that He might present her to Himse
without spot (Eph. V, ~.
10. And the Lord God said unto tn
woman, What is this that thou hast done
And the woman said, The serpent beguile
me, and | did eat" She did not ask a
some do now, why God allowed the serpe1
to come to her and why God did not kee
her from falling, but she makes confessio
md pleads guilty. And both having no
confessed the way is open for the reveli
tion of Gods salvation by grace (Rom. ii
1920.
IA. And the Lord God said unto tn
serpent, Because thou hast done this, tho
art cursed above all cattle" etc. Whf