Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1894-10-06
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON I. FOURTH QUARTER. INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES. OCT. ?.


Text OF the Lesson. LIKE Nv. 1880 Menu
DRY Verses, 1919 Golden Text Heb.
xii. Commentary by the Rev. d. N.
: .stearns.
16 After His meeting with the woman
of Samaria and His tarrying there for two
days He went on to Cana, where Hc had
wrought His first miracle and from thence
healed the nobleInan' S son at Capernaum
without going near him After that He
went to Nazareth, whore He had been
brought up, and there We find Him In to-
days lesson. We notice that is was His
custom 10 attend the synagogue on the
Sabbath day, and it could not be because
Of the spirituality Of the service or OF the
worshipers, us is evident from verse IS;
but, whatever they were, He could worship
In spirit and In truth.
IL In the synagogue worship OF today
there are always several who take part in
connection with the reading OF the Scrip
turcs, and He on that occasion was asked
TO take part in the reading He either
selected what VIC cali the sixty first chap
ter Of Isaiah or else that was the portion
for the day.
49, Apart from the Spirit who wrote
the book. there is no possibility OF under
standing it or OF proclaiming it with pow
or Consider John xvi, 10; Acts !, s;
Luke xiv, 40, and lay is to heart. II we
are filed with the Spirit aud the word, we
will have good tidings for the poor, health
for the broken hearted, dcliyerancc and
liberty for the oppressed, and the wounded
by satan, and sight for tho blind.
10. We will when controlled by the
Spirit show forth or be telling Gods sal
walton from day to day FPS. xcvi, y and
make manifest that il is still the accepta-
bio year of the Lord, the day OF salvation,
the hour when the dead hear the voice Of
the Son Of God and they that hear live Gil
Cor vi, 2; John V, s5l.
90 Having closed tho book, He gave ID
to the minister and sat down, and all In
the synagogue fastened their eyes upon
Him. This may have been tho first tinc
they had ever heard Him read the Scrip
lures. Think OF God, manifest In the flesh,
reading TO men His own word. He would
surely read distinctly and give the sense
and causo them To understand the reading
tNch. viii, s.. II you turn TO Isa. Xxi, yen
Will see that He stopped in tho middle OF
a sentence. He did not read 'and tho day
Of vengeance Of our God, - for that day
has nos yet come. There IS already an
interval Of over ], 500 years between the
two clauses of that sentence. He knew
how to divide the word OF truth,
FL. He began TO talk TO them by saying
"Jhis day Is this Scripture fulfilled nyour
ears . or in other words He meantl "lwho
speak to you am the person TO whom the
Spirit through Isaiah had reference. l am
the friend of the poor, the healer Of bro
ken hearts, the opener of blind eyes. ! am
life for all who will. =
60, They wondered as they heard His
gracious words and for moment seemed
TO doubt their eyes as they listened to
Him, but recovering themselves they said,
lis not this Joseph 8 SOM" The inference
would be, How can the carpenters son
whom we all know dare to appropriate
such words to HIMSELF Is He beside Him
/ self
49, They had probably heard Of the mir
acle of the wine at Cana and Of the heal-
4 ing of the nobleman's son at Capcrnaum
and thought, Why does He not heal some
/ of the sick ones here in His own town and
make some of our blind TO sec, then we
might believe Him. When Moses was sent
( 20 deliver Israel, be WAS commissioned and
empowered TO work miracles as evidences
that he was sent Of God, and they might
on that ground ask for sign, but the
Lord knows all men and docs not cast
pearls before swine.
"a Tho words OF this verse may not
seem TO some as a very important state
ment, but surely every word Of God Is i'm
portant, and special attention is demand.
cd by The sayings which are prcfxed by His
/ "Nerily say unto you, +" which Is equiv
alent TO the THUS saith the Lord" Of the
Old Testament. He came unto His own,
and His own received Him not, even His
own brethren did not for a time believe In
| Him.
30, Sec bow tho Lord Endorses tho story
ef the famine In the days Of elijah, and
the no rain for three years and six months
He never discounted II word of Scripture
nor spoke slightingly Of a single incident
He believed and referred TO the record Of
! the deluge, the destruction Of Seldom, Jonah
IN the belly Of the fish, Lots wife bccom
ing pillar Of salt, etc. How unlike Him
are many today who bear His Name and
profess to be His friends. How dreadful
II He shall say to them: Depart from me-
never knew yen, I"
20. He states the fact that Elijah was
sent to widow of Sidon and not to any
widow in Israel, leaving us to infer that it
was for the same reason that be did no
great works in Nazareth How full Of I'M
belief che land must have been, for that is
the great hindranco to the manifesting of
His power. His words in dark days arc
BE not afraid; only believe. = II thou
wouldst believe, thou shouldst see the
| glory Of God. - Consider tho dark set
ting of these gems,
~. The story of Naaman and his heal
ing Is here Endorsed, which includes all IT'S
connections with the little maid, the proph-
ct, the Jordan, etc. But why no lepers In
Israel healcds Sec II the answer may be
found in Math. viii, 10, in connection
with lisa. j. g. 4. Oh, wretched unbelief
2S. They evidently applied the sermon
correctly; they took it to heart. but not
with meekncss nor profit. There was no
brokcnness Of spirit; no welcome for the
| light 1t only offended and angerctl them
The wrath Of man worketh not the right
eousness Of God, and these men knowing
not the only righteousness that ayailcth
anything were seeking to establish their
own righteousnesst JAS. I, 20; Rom. x, 8, Al.
20. Surely they knew not what they did
as they not only turned their backs upon
out Of their city and sought to kill Him. Ere
He left His disciples lie told them that
they must expect the same treatment, say,
ing They shall put you out Of the syna,
gogues, yea, the time coIneth that whose
ever killeth you viii think that he docth
God service John xvi, % How can the
| church expect the conversion Of the world
in this age when the Lord Himself has so
plainly foretold its main features till the
harvest
30 The time had not como for Him {
lay down His life, so BY mere shadow oi
His power He passed from their hands.
We do well to remember that when the mp
pointed time did come He laid down His
life voluntarily. No human power took 1t
from Him tJohn x, II, 49, The Spirit
draws those who hear Of Him, but wu
must be willing to be drawn and yoiuntA-
rily come to Him and then yield our whole
being for His service
I