The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1895-02-07
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Internstisnal Lesson for February 10, leos
-Chriat and the Children-Afatt. 1Ssl.1A.

GOLDEN TnxE 1t IL not the will Of your
Father which is IN Heaven that one Of those
little ones should perish.-Mstt 1914
TINE EARLY autumn, A. D. p A few weelS
after the last lesson. The disciples had re-
turned from their northern journey with Jesus.
PLACE -CApernaum, town near the north.
west shore Of the SEQ Of Galilee. Probably In
the house Of Peter.
TIE INTERVENING HlsroRY. - Matthew
H:l4-S7; Mark o:i4-S2; Luke o;s7-<5. On de-
scending from the Mount Of Transfguration
Jesus healed demoniao boy. He, with His
disciples, moved southward toward Caper-
nsum, and on the way again foretold His death
and resurrection. Arriving at Copernaum, He
paid the tribute money. The lesson to-day be-
gins soon after.
THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.
Wrong Ideas About the Kingdom Of
Heaven.-V. 1. Mark 9:33, "a. In
judging any persons character we must
always take into consideration the
place of any sayings or doings In his
life and training. For, instance, Il Is
said that Luther called the Epistle of
James IAN epistle of straw" and worse,
and this is quoted even by Farrar as
Luther's opinion, but I read also that
Luther wrote thus in his earlier writ
ings, and revised his opinion in his
maturcr writings It was not Luther
as whole, but Luther's youth that
said those things. So we must ever dis
tinguish between what the apostles
said and did in their early life under
the discipline of Jesus, and what they
did when they had learned their les
sons. 1t is unfair to charge upon the
apostles what they did in their school
days. Here they disputed as to which
should be greatest, but DR.. Monroe
Gibson says: "If there Is one thing
more Characteristic Of the apostles in
their after life than any other, it is
their self-forgetfulness- self-ef-
facement, we may say. Where does
Matthew ever say G. word about the
sayings or doings Of Matthew? Even
John, who was nearest Of all to the
heart of the Saviour, and with Him in
all His most trying hours, can write a
whole gospel without ever mentioning
his own name; and when he has occa-
sion to speak of John the Baptist does
it as if there were no other John in ex-
istence. So was it with them all. And
thus did they at last attain true great
ness in the kingdom Of Heaven" On
the way home from the Mount of
TRANSPORTATION the disciples had a
sharp discussion among themselves as
to who should be the greatest.
The Origin of the Discussion.-Itm may
have arisen ~ from the fact that three
of their number had been selected by
Jesus for His companions on the mount;
(2) the keys had been given to Peter,
and he was to be foundation stone Of
the kingdom Q6.1s, 1V; (3) Judas, as
the treasurer, may have had special
ambitions, as he thought Of being chief
of the treasury of the Messiah king;
(D we know that some time after this
the mother of James and John came to
Jesus, asking for her sons the place
nearest the king Matt. 20:2O, 2I); (5)
those who had received special favors
may, possibly, have usurped some au-
thority, assumed a dictatorial spirit,
which would naturally be resented by
the others; (O all this would be in.
tensified by their expectation that the
kingdom would soon be set up. At
Capernaum Jesus asked them about
their dispute by the way, but the
guilty ones held their peace from
shame. After Peter had returned from
paying the tribute, ''at the same time,"
either these having thought it over, or
the others, ''came unto Jesus. saying:
Who is the greatest in the kingdom of
Heaven?" Will you settle the question
for us?
The Childlike Spirit the Way Into the
Kingdom.-Vs. 2, 8. Mark 0:35, SO. In
answer to their question Jesus gath
cred the twelve around Him, and taught
them that they had wholly mistaken
the way to greatness, for ''if any man
desires to be first, the same shall be
last of all, and servant of all;"' simply
because the desire to be first is the ex-
act opposite to the spirit which is the
law of Christ's kingdom-the spirit Of
love, of self-denial, of helpfulness of
others, of humility. Therefore, the
more anyone has of the desire to be
first, the less he belongs to Christ's king
dom. So that the very desire to be first
makes him last by the very nature Of
things.
The Self.Seeking Spirit leads to Sa-
tan's kingdom, not to Christ's. 1t is the
spirit of hell, not of Heaven. 1t begets
evils innumcrable and sorrows un.
speakable. Filing away ambition; by
that sin fell the angels" "Aut Caesar
aut mullus," ito be first or nothing"
leads to crimes. and wars. 1t was Mil
toms Satan who said: Better to reign
in hell than serve in Heaven" How
like mounting devil in the heart rules
the unreined ambition"
But distinguish between the strong
desire to improve, to have large use
fulness, to grow in holiness and love;
and the desire to have more honor and
power, or even to be better than others.
To do the very best we can in every
thing is our duty. The song: ''Oh! to
be nothing" is right if it means that
we seek nothing for ourselves, but
wrong if it means that we are willing
to be ciphers in Gods work.
An Object Lesson.~2. "And Jesus
called little child unto Him." His
calling shows that he was old enough
to walk. ''Set him in the midst" As
an illustration as a living parable Uo