Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1895-05-11
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON VI. SECOND QUARTER. IN
TERNATloNAL SERIES. MAY 70.

I'LL. s-commentary by the Rev. d. NJ.
Stcarns.
50. And they led Jesus away to the high
priest. and with him were assembled all
the chief priests, and the elders. and the
scribcs.' After the darkness and agony Of
the garden, being strengthened BY an an
gel, He went forth to lay down His life OF
Ills own accord John x, Isl. The boastful
disciples all forsook Him and fed oversees
81, Sd The young man OF verses 81, 81
was probably Mark himself, as in other
eases the unnamed one WAS doubtless the
writer of the gospel d.nke xiv, Is: John /.
40). Jesus, being bound tJoln xviii, ~, is
led as a lamb to the slaughter lisa lii, n,
for those before whom He was brought had
long before determined to kill Him tMath.
xii. ~; John xi, 5s).
81 And Peter followed Him afar off,
even into the palace OF the high priest, and
he sat with the servants and warmed him
self at the fire" The result of Peters fol-
lowing efar OFF and being in bad company
is seen in verses 66 TO - following the les
son. Self confident boasting IS very apt to
lead to rash conduct, bad company and
many worse things, as in the case of Peter.
We must have no confidence in ourselves,
but be strong in the Lord and let Him per-
feet His strength in our weakness Phil. iii,
3; Eph. vi, 10; II Cor xii, o.
55 And the chief priests and all the
council sought for witness against Jesus to
put Him to death, and found none" Their
minds were fully made up, and God was
going to let them have their way and ac-
complish what He foresaw would surely
come to pass Acts iv, ~. ss). They were
now seeking some reason for their conduct,
but could find none except in the wicked
ness of their own hearts. Testimony in His
favor they could have readily obtained in
abundance, but against Him, none See
John xviii, 20; Heb. vii, %; Math. iii, II;
xvii, D.
Sc. For many bare false witness against
Him, but their witness agreed not togeth-
err" 1t had been written that il should be
so. False witnesses are risen up against
me, and such as breathe out cruelty"
False witnesses did rise up. They laid to
my charge things that | knew not" FPS.
xvii, I2; xxxv, ID So every true follower
of Jesus may expect to suffer wrongfully
for conscience toward God, may expect to
suffer for well doing, and if under such cir
cunlstances we can take it patiently God
is we'll pleased Il Pet. ii, 10, 20). As His
followers we must walk as He walked Il
John ii, 81.
81, IS. And there arose certain and bare
false witness against Him. saying, We
heard Him say, | will destroy this temple
that is made with hands, and within three
days / will build another made without
hands" Just what He did say, out OF
which they made this accusation, is found
in John ii, 10. and if you compare His
words with what they made Him say you
may not feel so bad about some sayings of
yours which have come back to you some
what perverted. The fact is that we have
no time to waste on feeling bad about SLAM
ders and false accusations. Such things
will continue till the Lord comes and when
He permits them TO come our way we must
at once thank Him for the privilege of such
fellowship Il Thess. V, IS; Phil. i, 800, and
referring the whole matter to Him Just
leave it with Him to be adjusted lisa liv,
10.
80. but neither so did their witness
agree together" Consequently there was
no case against Him, and He should have
been set free, for their law said plainly that
one witness could not condemn; there must
be two or three (Deut. xvii, 6; xix, 15). How
can we expect righteousness in a world
which through its most religious leaders
thus treated the Lord HIMSELF His meek
submission is or example and makes ua
think of the edmonton, Take wrong, be
defrauded' Il Cor. vi, y.
GO. And the high priest stood up in the
midst and asked Jesus, saying: Answerest
thou nothing? What is it which these wit
ness against theeg' Ileknew there was no
case against the prisoner, perhaps felt the
ridiculous position in which they were
placed, and allowed his feelings to over
come him. According to the law, the wit
nesses had testified nothing against Him,
for no two agreed
81. But he held His peace and answered
nothing. Again the high priest asked Him
and said unto Him, Art Thou the Christ,
the Son of the BlessedY There was moth
ing to answer, and in the calmness Of con-
scious innocence He was quiet. When peo-
pie seek our hurt, speaking mischievous
things and imagining deceits all the day
long, let us have grace to be as the deaf
who hear not and as the dumb who open
not the mouth, but just hope In the Lord
Ops. xxxviii, 12-15).
&c. And Jesus said | AM, and We shall
see the Son Of Man sitting on the right hand
of power and coming in the clouds Of heay-
en-" This reply takes us back to the name
He used when He sent Moses to deliver L.
rael eek. iii, IA. He often used IL In the
days Of His humiliation, for ia many cases
where we read, II am He" the "Hen is in
italics. so that He really said Il am as in
John ", &c; viii, -, PSI xiii, 10; xviii, 3, G,
s, etc. When He shall come in power aud
glory, as He said, it will be bringing His
saints with Him according to Zeeh. xiv, g.;
Judg. xiv; Ihess. iii. IS, and il will be for
the redemption of Israel and for vengeance
upon her enemies Deut. xxi, 80; lisa
xxxiy, s; XIV, 4; xiii, -.
G3. Then tie high priest rent his clothes
and saith, WAx need we any further Wit
pessW This apparently holy wrath was all
Of the devil in the name Of religion. To
this day 1t may be seen. We should not bo
moved by IL. IL Is often seen, even In re-
ligious people, in connection with this very
truth Of the second coming OF Christ in
power and glory Let one insist that Jesus
is coming with all His saints tCol. iii, A. for
the conversion Of the nation of Israel, and
to set up the kingdom promised to David
with a throna at Jerusalem, according to
Jer. iii, II: Luke i, 81. 80. etc, and he viii,
probably be accused Of perverting the truth
To the destruction Of his soul,
81. "fe haya heard the blasphemy. What
shink YET Aud they ali condemned Him
20 be guilty OF death" And began at once,
like so many barbarians to illsreat their
prisoner. They spit on Him, aud Knocked
Him, and struck Him, aud III, neekiy bore
It all. O Jesus, SayiOuri what have we
ever borne for theef May we deeply pom
der it and have grace to bear for His sake
with meekness whatever lie may let us en-
dure for Him Because we are here in His
stead we should always act a. lie would
III Cor. Y, 20l.
The English poet, Robert bridges, Is
doctor who retired from practice long ago,
lie Is now 81 Years nl moo a knenfd edI.