Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1895-01-19
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON ~, FIRST QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES. JAN. 20.


Text of the Lesson, John Vi, c5-S5-Mem-
DRY Verses, $3.50 Golden Text John
vi. Commentary By tho Rev. d. NJ.
stcarEs.
25. And when they had found Him on
the other side of the sea they said unto
Him, Rabbi, when earnest thou hitherr'
After the feeding of the 8. 600 He sent the
disciples away in a ship toward Capcr-
naum, while He Himself went into
mountain alone The wind blew hard,
and the disciples toiled all the night. Then
III tho morning watch He came walking
ON the sea and stilled their fears with: Ii
is L Be not afraid y They received Him,
and Immediately the ship was at the land,
a picture possibly Of the present condition
of things both in reference to the church
and Israel and the contamination in refer
encc TO both when He shall come in the
morning. The next day many people
crossed by boat to Capernaum, looking for
Jesus, and here begins our lesson.
20. Jesus answered them and said,
Verify, verify say unto you ye seek me
not because ye saw the miracles, but To-
N'iot Y viz Vi tktC Aoaft1 tAA0 WIZ
filed The double verify Is found only
in this gospel and some 25 times Each
enc is surely worthy Of double attention,
for it is literally amen, amen
81. Labor not for the meat which per-
isheth, but for that meat which endureth
unto everlasting life, which the Son of
Man shall give unto you, for Him hath
God the Father sealed. Food and raj
ment which most people think so much
OF, are given n wholly secondary place by
the Lord, who cxhorts all to seek first His
Kingdom and righteousness, giving the as
surance that thus all other things shall
be added tAath. vi, 49, This eternal life
Is tho gift of God Rom. vi, 23) and is
aone other than Jesus Himself, who be-
comes life eternal to all who will receive
Him.
Z %. sThen said they unto Him, What
shall we do that we might work the works
Of GodH' There seems to be a tendency
In the natural mind to want to do some
thing to obtain life Consider the ques-
lions of the lawyer and the rich young
ruler in Luke x, 20; xviii, Is, and how the
Lord led ono to consider his inability to
keep the law, and the other his unwilling
ness to follow Jesus because of the cost.
Nan, because Of his inherent sinfulncss
and selflshncss, Is unable to attain to the
only standard which God has set up, and
when he sees himself as he is he no longer
asks, What shall l do? as Ii he had the
power to do anything.
80. Jesus answered and said unto
them, This is the work of God, that ye
believe On Him whom He hath sent +"
In chapter /, IL, we have believing defined
as receiving Therefore we understand the
Lord to say in this verse of our lesson that
the one thing required by God is that we
receive Him whom God hath sent 1t is
written in John v, L. He that hath the
Son at life, and he that hath not the Son
Of God hath not life" Therefore 1t Is clear
that the one essential is to have life, and
this can be had only by receiving Christ.
so. They said therefore, unto Him,
What sign showest thou, then, that we
may see and believe Theey What dost
thou work." This sounds strange as
coming from those who had seen Him
feed more than 5000 people by miracle
on the day previous, but was simply
proof of the truth of what He had said
that they sought Him simply because they
had been fed, and not because they were
interested in the miracle. There are many
people today who are religious and moral
and interested somewhat in holy things
who still ask, How can l be sure that
Jesus is Godi Where is the convincing
proof? So that it seems hopeless to try to
do anything with or for those who are not
willing simply to believe, and thus receive
Him.
81. "Our fathers did eat mamma In the
desert, as it is written, He gave them
bread from heaven to eat. :" So they trrn
back to Moses and the mamma, as II Moses
had given the mamma in the wilderness,
not knowing perhaps that Jesus had al
ready said, Had ye believed Moses We
would have believed Me, for he wrote OF
Me- (John " 46). Oh, If their eyes had
only been opened to sec that the one who
delivered from Egypt, who divided the sea,
who gave the mamma, who brought the
water from the rock, was actually In their
midst ready to be their Saviour! But
while they searched the Scriptures they
knew not Him Of whom they spake.
SO. "Then Jesus said unto them, Verify,
verify l say unto you Moses gave you not
that bread from heaven, but My Father
giveth you the true bread from heaven"
They were intent upon contrasting man
only the human instrument and talk con
tinually of this preacher or that preacher
and this ones Views or that ones views,
instead of seeing God and considering Him
as the giver of every good and perfect gift.
Moses would have had them see God, and
Jesus would have them see God, and so
with every truo disciple of Jesus now. He
that seeketh honor for himself Is not of
God.
80. For the bread of God is He which
cometh down from heaven and giveth life
unto the world What an expressive
symbol Of Christ is bread he is light md
life; He is the vine, and the door, and the
good shepherd, but as bread we think of
His death and resurrection, and how we
must actually receive Him as truly as we
receive bread for our daily life He must
become part Of our very being, as the
bread becomes part of our very body, and
we must continually feed upon Him, even
as He says in verse 81, ''As the living Fa-
Their hath sent Me, and l live by the Fla
ther, so he that cateth Me, even he shall
live by Me"
81. Then said they unto Him, Lord,
evermorc give us this bread Like tho
woman at the well who said, "Sir, give
Inc this water, not thinking OF anything
beyond the natural bread or water for the
body. Tho natural man cannot discern
spiritual things, for they are foolishness
unto him q Cor ii, ~. There is hun
ger and thirst in peoples souls for some
thing, they know not what, which will
satisfy, but they turn to anything and ev-
erythipg rather than to Him who only can
satisfy the souls which He has made
IS. And jesus said unto them. am
the bread Of life; he that cometh to Me
shall never hunger, and he that bclicveth
Oh Me shall never thirst He is the foun-
tain cf life, the fountain Of living waters
Ps xxxyi, 9; Jer Ii, 1877 and the only
bread which can save and satisfy the soul.
He came from heaven; the Father sent
Him; He loved me and gave Himself for |
ne; He gives Himself to me, and receive
Him, and He is mine He says have cv-
life. and no power can pluck me
tut OF His hand tverse AZ; chapter Z, 2s) |
believe Him and am glad and find In |
lie.