Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1895-06-22


sionary Le>son)- Memory Verses. 45-4s.
Golden Text. Math. xviii. 10 Common
tary by the Rev. u. VI. Stearns.
a. "And He said unto them, These are
the words which | spake unto you while
was yet with you. that all things must be
fulfilled which were written in the law Of
Moses and in the prophets aud in the
Psalms concerning me-" This was on the
evening of the resurrection day. after the
two returned from Emmaus and were tell
ing the gathered disciples what they had
seen. Jesus Himself was suddenly in their
midst, showed them His hands and feet
and ate fish and honcycomb before them,
then spoke aS in this verse. After the res
surrection. rs before when He was with
them in His mortal body lie insisted that
the Scriptures must be fulfilled. He in.
cluded all Scripture. the law, the prophets,
and the Psalms, aud never even limited at
! the possibility of any portion being fallible
or unreliable He also added that all Scrip
ture concerned Himself. He is the Alpha
and the Omega. the beginning and end of
all the book and of every part Of il.
-. Then opened He their understand
ing, that they might understand the Scrip
lures" Without knowledge Of the Scrip
lures which lie expounded (thc Old Tes-
tamenD we cannot understand the New
Testament, for the story of each is the
kingdom yet 10 he set up, with Israel, all
holy, rs its center. Jerusalem their capital
and Jesus OF Nazareth their King, but the
beginning of the story is in the law, the
prophets and the Psalms. The Spirit who
wrote the book is dwelling in every true
believer. ready To guide the humble and
teachable into all truth and to open all eyes
that are willing to be opened but mere
human wisdom can never help any one to
know or understand book which came
from heaven, and which is forever settled
in heaven q Cor ii, 40.
Ii. And said unto them, Thus it is writ
ten, and thus it bchoovcd Christ to suffer
and to rise from the dead the third day"
See how lie continues to call attention TO
what is written, and to the necessity of His
fulfilling all that was written. for lie came
TO fulfill all righteousness. Whatever Of
Scripture has not yet been fulfilled will
surely bc fulfilled. for the mouth of the
Lord has spoken IL. They did not believe
that He would die and rise again, although
the Book plainly foretold it, AS in Ps. xvi
10; lisa. lii. .. 10 With a similar harden
ing of heart many OF His professed follow.
crs will not how believe that He is COMING.
again for lsraels conversion and To cStab.
lish His Kingdom But He will come lisa
XIV, S, 8; 81, 10: Xvi, -. 10: Zach xiv, 3,
40.
IL. And that repentance and remission
OF sins should be preached in His nam"
among all nations. beginning at .IerlIsa-
lem" IL is not for us to know the times
and the ons when this Kingdom shall
be restored to Israel Acts i, q, -, but it :,
the privilege Of every believer To do some
what To proclaim through all the world the
forgiveness Of sins, through Jesus Christ
and by virtue of His finished work Acts
xiii, -, 39l. The glad tidings are 10 made
known to every creature Mark xvi, ~. 81
that the elect church. the future rulers If
this world, may be gathered ont Of all n;
lions facts Nv. IA.
As And We are witnesses of these things .
And 50 also is the Holy Spirit whom God
hath given To them that obey Him acts v,
S2l Angels would gladly bear the tiding.
as they did at His birth U.uke ii. 9. 10, Il +,
aud as an angel will do again (Rev. xiv, o..
but the high honor is given To weak and
unworthy moriais who have been redeemed
by precious blood to tell it ont to others tn
earih's utmost bound. The cry from
Father, Son and Holy Spirit still is, Whom
shall send and who will 20 for U.S. lie;
many willing heart say, Here am ]; send
me" lisa. vi, -, and His command will
quickly come to every one who is willing
and ready 10 he "A faithful witness Go
and tell lisa. vi, Q; Math. xviii, :, TO-
-. And behold | send the promise Of
my Father upon you, but tarry We in the
city OF Jerusalem until yc be endued with
power from on high" Or as in Acts i. 8,
"le shall receive power after that the Holy
Ghost is come upon you. and We shall be
witness unto me-" They had been with
the best teacher that ever lived for two or
three years. and Yet We're not thus qualified
for service. for i'll addition to knowledge
there must be power Fuel is not sufiicier I
TO warm one; there must he fire. There 3
power in gunpowdcr and in dynamite, but
something must make il manifest. These
men We're truly saved, but the Spirit must
take control Of them specially for service
80. And lie led them out as far rs 10
Bethany, and lie lifted up His hands and
blessed them" The r. V SAYS until
over agans; Bethany" 1t is always blessed
To follow where He lcadeth. When He put
teth forth His sheep lie goeth before them.
But we mast not forget that at one time
lie was led 10y the Spirit into the wilder
ness TO he tempted OF the devil duke iv !,
p, and at the end of His ministry He was
led as a lamb to the slaughter lisa lii. -
i ne ulSClpic - not 6bpNc MS MASTER, anu n
faithful witness must fear nothing, noteven
death (Maih y, Isl.
81 And i; came l o pass, while he blessed
them, he was parted from them and carried
up into heaven" In Acts /, o. it is written
that "a cloud received Him out of their
sight" SO the last they saw Of Him was
with hands outstretched in blessing What
words He used we are not told. but il may
have been the benediction of Mum vi, "a
~. Anyway IL was the blessing of the
Lord which makcth rich. and To which toll
addeth nothing prov. X, -, Il. v, margin).
He had given them His peace, and His joy,
and all the glcry which the Father lad
given unto Him John xiv, p; XIV, IL; xvii,
ga) and now lie adds that lie will he with
them all the days until the end Of the age
tMa;h. xviii, -, r. V, marginl. II cir
only business WAS to abide on earth wholly
for His pleasure.
81 And they worshiped Him aud re-
turned to Jerusalem with great JOY"
When they we're so saddencd ~ His death,
how could tfey be 50 happy now that they
actually saw Him ascend up to heaven and
the kingdom had not come and lie had not
told them when it would come The an
swer TO this must DC found in the testimony
of the two angels whom He sent back to
comfort them. See Acts i. II, and believe
every word of it for yourself just as it is
written.
50. And were continually in the temple
praising and blessing God Amen" May
our days begin and end with pr;iising and
blessing God aud our hearts keep singing,
Il will bless the Lord at all times" .Ps.
xxxiv, y He shall no; fail nor bc disc )ur-
aged lie shall see of the travail of His
soul and sha! he satisfied lisa. Xiii. 1; lii,
IL. We haze only 10 dwell with Han for
His work and 1T Him work in H. butl to
will and To do icthlu.~ whic!i are pleasing:
in His sight Il Chror. il. -. Pail H. 10: |
Heb xiii. alh