Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1895-12-11
for the Aome Circle.
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON XII, FOURTH QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, DEC. 22.
Text of the Lesson, Luke II, $40 "a Christ
mas Lesson) - Memory Verses, Oil.
Golden Text. Luke II. 1o-Commentary
by the Rev, ID. Nj. Stearns.

lexC Oh inc Lessou, LUKE III, o-~o S<> S''A 'oe-
mas Lesson) - Memory Verses, Oil.
Golden Text, Luke ii. 1o-Commentary
by the Rev. D. NJ. stearns.
s. "And there were in tho same country
shepherds abiding in the field keeping
watch over their focks by night. The
love of David and Jonathan seen In our
last lesson was but faint type of the love
of Him who in this lesson is seen as babe
in Bethlehem. These shepherds, and all
the good shepherds of the Biblo, such as
Abel, Moses, David and Amos, arc sug-
gestive of Him who was born to be the
good and great and chief Shepherd.
8. "And, 10, the angel of tho Lord came
upon them, and the glory of the Lord
shone round about them, and they were
sore afraid" These ministering spirits
arc ever with us (Heb. i, 14), having con-
slant access to heaven, listening to the
voice of God and doing His bidding (Math.
xviii. 10; Ps Gill; 2o). There are several
causes of fear, such Us sin, ignorance and
superstition. but sin is back Of all. With
our sins forgiven and assured Of the same
q John ii, 12; Isa. xiii, 25), and of the
perfect love Of God to us Il John iv, ls),
we should always sing, II will trust and
not bc afraid" lisa. xii, p.
10. "And the angel said unto them,
Fear not, for behold bring you good It'd
ings of great joy, which shall be to all
people" would heartily urge upon every
believer prayerful study of all the fear
nots" of the Bible, that thus great JOY
may come to you personally and then
through you to all whom you may reach.
The first one is found in Gen. xv, where
we read for the first time of righteousness
and of sacrifice as the ground Of all assur-
ance. Until we know Him as our right
eousness we have not received the good
tidings (Rom. K, 4).
II. "For unto you Is born this day In
the city of David Saviour, which Is
Christ the Lord" Isaiah had written,
"Unto us q child is born, unto us son is
given" Elsa. TX, g.. and now after 7OO
years the prophecy is literally fulfilled. So
surely and literally shall the rest of lisa.
ix, 6, Z, be fulfilled in due time, bringing
salvation to all Israel and to all the world.
This is He who was foreordained before
the foundation of the world, but in duo
time made manifest Il Pet. /, 2O).
12. "And this shall be sign unto you,
Ye shall find the babe wrapped In swad-
ding clothes, lying in manger." In
manger because there was no room for
them in the inn (verso y See how poor
He became for us that we through His
poverty might be rich (II Cor. viii, 81. We
may well therefore 'lct our turn Of mind
be free from the love of money; constant
,,,;@
hath said, l will in no wise fail thee,
neither will in any wise forsake thee. so
that'with good courage we may say, The
Lord is my helper; will not fear' (Heb.
xiii, 5, 6, r. V. and margin).
13. "And suddenly there was with tho
angel multitude of the heavenly host. "
John describes the multitude which he
saw as ten Thousand times ten thousand
and thousands of thousands (Rov. V, 1D.
Think also of tho host that cared for Elijah
(II Kings vi, ~, and Of tho legions which
Jesus might have had for the asking.
"God for us, includes oil the powers at
His command. How can we fearp
II. "Praising God and saying, Glory to
God in the highest, and on earth peace,
good will toward men," Sec the song OF
seraphim and chcrubim in lisa. vi, 8; Rev.
iv, 8, there is no self praise, but Holy,
holy, holy is the Lord" Worthy Is the
Lamb, is the song Of angels and redeemed
REV iv, II; W, 0, 12). Let US be ever sing
ing it, while we abide here in these mortal
bodies and hold ourselves wholly for His
pleasure, that through us He may proclaim
to others that there is peace for them, too,
in Jesus Christ (ActS Y, 36).
Is. "Let us now 60 even unto Bethle-
hem. and see this thing which Is come to
pass, which the Lord hath made known
unto u.s." Simply and delightfully."- they
believed God. They could say, "We have
known and believed" Il John iy, 16). The
Lord by the angels made them know, and
they simply received the message. 1t is
our privilege to believe all that God says
and thus make glad the heart of our Lord,
for He was surely glad when He said to
His Father, ~ have given unto them the
words which thou gavest Inc. and they
have received them" John xvii, 81.
16. "And they came with haste and
found Mary and Joseph, and tho babe ly-
ing in o manger." They did we'll to go
quickly, for it is we'll to make haste to be-
lievo God; then there will be no occasion to
make haste from fear lisa. xviii, 16), but
quietly and restfully hasten on His busl-
ness. They found as they had been told
(Luke xix, 32; xxi, 13), and so shall we
always find; therefore we do well to soy,
~ believe God that it shall be even as 1t
was told me" (Acts xvii, 25).
II. "And when they had seen 1t they
made known abroad the saying which was
told them concerning this child" We
must first SEQ for ourselves and then live
to make others know and see. Here is
the great mistake of the vast majority OF
Christians; they seem content to see Him
for themselves, but have little ambition to
make Him known abroad, notwithstand-
ing His word that in the power of His
Spirit we are to be His witnesses into the
ends of the earth (Acts l, 81.
18. "And all they that heard 1t Won
dercd at those things which were told them
by the shepherds" Wondering Is not be-
lieving. There is great deal Of hearing
the good news which leads to nothing
moro than wondering (sce Luke iv, 3d.
ix, 43; xi, 14), but the word preached does
not profit those who hear unless they be-
lieye it (Heb. iv, q. "Without faith 1t Is
impossible to please God' (Heb. xi, 81,
which certainly implies that by faith we
can please Him. Let us then "Have faith
in God" "Be not afraid, only believe.
10. "But Mary kept all these things and
pondered them in her heart" That Is the
thing to do, receive the word, keep it and
bring forth fruit with patience duke will,
15). 1t is written of her, blessed Is she
that believed; for there shall be perform
ance of those things which were told her
from the Lord" Uukei, 45). Daniel heard
many things which he could not under
stand, but he kept them in his heart dan.
vii, 2S).
90. "And the shepherds returned, glori-
flying and pr;iising God for all the things
that they had heard and seen, as it was
told unto them." When we believe, we