Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1895-05-04
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON v, SECOND QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, MAY 8.


LESSON v, SECOND QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES. MAY 8.
Text OF the Lesson, Mark xiv, 32-J. Mem
ory Verses. 1896 Golden Te=t. John
xviii. Ii Commentary by the Re-. u. NJ.
stesrns.
32 And they came to n place which
was named Gcthscmane, and lie saith to
His disciples, Sit yo here while ! shall
pray" On their way TO the mount Of
! Olives flo told them that, according 10 the
Scriptures, He would be smittcn and
they would forsahc Him IIo said also
that Peter would deny Him, upon which
| Peter and all the others said that they
would never do such thing (vcrscs -
/ TO 3i). They then come to Gcthscmanc
which signifies an oil press, suggestive OF
the bruising which He was hero to under
! go that Hc might give to us the amounting
OF the Holy Spirit For the trials Of Geth-
scmanc special strength was needed, con
ccrning which He must talk with His Fa-
ther, but into this and many other com
munions His disciples cannot enter. 50
He goes alone TO pray.
80 And He takcth with Him Peter
and James and John and began to be sore
amazed and to be very heavy" Matthew
says ''sorrowful and very heavy" 1t
could not be anything lie did rot know
about beforehand, for He knew all things,
but the powers OF darkness were about To
do their worst. the great crisis To which
He had looked forward from eternity was
at hand, and IL might be said that satan
was about to engage Him in hand TO
hand conflict
"a. And saith unto them, My soul Is
exceeding sorrowful unto death. Tarry
ye hero and watch" In Math. XVI, 2s,
IL Is, Watch with Me" His humanity
crayed their sympathy, but how little lie
found Ho was truly tho lonely man rs
well ms the man Of SORROWS, and even the
favored three, OF whom the beloved John
was nearest to Him. could not enter into
His experiences. Ii ever n sense of hcavi-
ness and darkness comes over you in your
Christian life. when you know in your
heart that you desire above all things to
servo tho Lord and do only His will, think
upon Isa. ]. 10, and praise God for fellow
ship with His Son Jesus Christ.
%. And lie went forward little and
fell ON the ground and prayed that II 1t
were possible the hour might pass from
Him." Hc seems 10 have left eight of the
disciples just inside the garden, to have
taken the three n little farther, and then
to have gone alone about u stones cast
| (Luke xii, AZ, and TO have knccled
down, then fallen upon His face. lie
certainly did not shrink from the cross and
the atoncmcnt which He camo To- make
but n careful study Of Heb Y, :, will show
that the agony was 50 great that He fear
ed lest He might die under IL and not
| reach tho cross to finish the great atone
mcnt
SO. And He said Abba, Father. all
things are possible unto Thee Take away
this cup from me Nevertheless not what
will, but what Thou wilt. We read
elsewhere that He prayed earnestly, with
strong crying and tears, and sweat rs it
were drops of blood, and that an angel
strengthened Him. He was willing to
die in the garden and leave His great
work unfinished II It should please the
Father to have IL so, but the passage in
Hebrews says that Ho was heard, and
therefore delivered from this premature
death. This Is the best light have upon
Il, and present IL ms such, but let each
search for himself In reliance upon the
Holy Spirit. There are mysteries In the
atonement which we cannot comprehend.
81. And He cometh and indcth them
sleeping and saith unto Peter Simon,
slccpcst thou5 Couldst not thou watch
one hourt' The great glory OF the Trans
! nguration as well rs tho great sorrow Of
Gcthsemanc was too much for the flesh,
for they seem to have slept In the former
Uukc TX. 32) as well rs In the latter
IS. Watch yo and pray lest yc enter
into temptation. The spirit truly is ready,
but tho flesh is weak. Like as father
piticth his children, so the Lord piticth
them that fear Him, for He knowcth our
frame (Ps. Gill. l3l. What comfort It
| Isl But let us not pity ourselves rs satan
through Peter advised Jesus to do (Math.
xvi, 22, margin) Though our Lord RE
ognizcs and pitics our weakness, He Him
self has provided that lie will be our
strength so that we may sing, "Thc Lord
Jehovah is my strength and my song
| lisa. xii, 81. We are to realize our weak
ness and never to rely upon ourselves, for
His strength is made perfect in weakness,
and to- them that have no might lie in
crcascth strength III Cor. XII. .; Isa xl,
29)
80. And again He went away and
prayed and spakc the same words We
need not fear the repetition of the same
words in our prayers provided they are
| from the heart, nor need we fear to ask
many times for the same thing, for Paul
also hcsought the Lord thrice % remove
his thorn in the flesh, and Jesus Himself
has taught us TO be importunatc In pray
or tlI Cor. xii $; Luke ri, 81. At the
same time lie has put us on our guard
against vain rcpetitions for the sake of
much spcakir. (Math. vi, y.
40. And ,V,n lie returned lie found
them asleep again (for their eyes We're
heavy. Neither wist they what To answer
Him" We think of the ten virgins going
out 10 meet the bridegroom, yet all sum
bcrcd and slept. We think of Jonah
asleep In the storm, while the sailors cill-
cd upon their gods and put forth every
effort. We think of the multitudcs Of
| Christians who now seem To be- asleep
through one or other of satan's many so
poriflc doses, and of the preachers who
seem to be asleep, too, and cry peace 10
the people when they ought to sound an
alarm because Of the great apustasy and
| the manifest ncarncss of the end Of this
age.
Al. And He comcth the third time
and saith unto them: Sleep on now and
take your rcst. III Is enough ne HuuE
Is come. Behold the son Of Man is be-
trayed into the hands of sinners. He had
gone away the third time and prayed. say
ing the same words tMath. XVI, 40, and
returning finds them still asleep. Then
He says these words. Contrast thu rest
which He here calls your rest, = as lIo
thus addresses them. and the rest which He
has provided by these very suffcrinss OF
His (Math xi, 2S). but To which the ma
iority Of believers are So indifferent, for
they seem to know nothing of IT, They
will not cease from their own works either
as TO salvation or service (IIch. IS, /, X,
IL; Rom iv, .: Eph II. l0) and therefore
cannot know His rest.
~ Rise up. Let us 60. 10, he that
bctraycth Me Is Mt hand. -" And So being
strengthened. lic goes forth To meet His
enemies and to give Himself into their
hands, for His hour 10 die had come, aud
He was rcndy for the sacrifice No man
took His life from Him. He laid 1t down
Il Himself (John X, is)