The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1896-03-19
SABBATH SCHOOL LESSON.
NATIONAL LESSON FOR
MARCH ~.
Text, "Faithfui and Unfaith-
|ervants," Luke Kill, 37-4S-
Golden Text: Eph. Is
Commentary.

" Golden Text; Eph.v,,ls
nv commentary.
3-sGlessed are those servants whom the
Lort/ NSshen He cometh. shall find watch-
iug.t, II Faithful service Is the topic for 20
dayl\\sd there is nothing more purifying, or
mOrS CSnducive to faithfulness than watch
ing ~ kthe coming OF the Lord. I testify
fronLk personal experience Of twenty years.
II tlNTieart is full OF fears or cares, both OF
whi4 are fully dealt with in the preceding
par - ~ this chapter, we shall neither be
wat al nor faithful, but II we live in and
for Fathers good pleasure (verye 32)
oil 3 banished by His perfect loveand all
caro- last upon Him q John iv. IS; Peter
", q IIthen our treasure being In heaven we
wqln r watching for the Son from heaven.
F1pl] the first assurance OF Deliverer
(qd b ill.,. 15) to the end OF the book we are
gHtut eading OF the coming One 20 suffer aud
tol Ign q Poteri., ~. He came once. at
Cpl = appointed time. to suffer. and the
SiItye ons and Annas watched for Him. He Is
cdnfhg again. Blessed are tho watchers.
(3St "Blessed are these servants" Those
IhoIwill not be taken by surprise should He
ctmt nj any moment OF the night or day.
Whilc these lessons are very practical and
uiust bo applied TO the heart OF every be-
lifver glance ut verse 81 will show that the
whtchers here specially referred TO are Israel,
who when Jesus shall ccme In His glory
shall. In the words OF Isa. XIV, Q, acknovi.
edge Him rs their Messiah. | certainly do
not wait and watch for Him to return from
the wedding, tor as part OF Himself. His
| body. the church, | expect TO be Mt the we'd
ding.
80. ''It tho good man of the house had
known what hour the thief would come. he
woulh hnve watched" His coming az q
thief is mentioned in Thess. ", 2; III Peter
I ill.,, 40; Rev. ill.,. 3; xvi, 10, but only In
tp Ia nd tha In y.Nft tb..
Lord. Listen to / Thess. ", 4. 8; "But ye
I brethren are not In darkness. that that day
| should overtakc you as u thief. Ye are all
tlpe children of light and the children OF the
| dhy. We are not OF the night nor of dark
| ness"
| 40 "Bo ye therefore ready also. for the
| Son OF Man cometh mt an hour when yo think
! not" The title "Son OF Man." takes US
back 10 Ps. will, &c, and to Dan. viii, 10. IA.
| "a, and shows the coming ruler OF Israel and
| OF the world, in which official capacity the
! head and body, Christ and His church, shall
be manifest as one Q John ill.,, 2; Col. ILL.,, 4;
i Thess. ill.,, 13). Neither death, which IL an
enemy, nor the Spirit at Pentocost, who
came as another Comforter. nor the destruc.
| ton OF Jerusalem, which IL contrary to Ps.
| ell, l6, can In any Scrlpiur,l sense be said to
be coming OF the Son OF Man. Let us not
omit the lesson that is In this and similar
verses FOR our own souls. Be ready for SER
vice or glory any moment.
Al, A. "And tho Lord said, Who, then, "a
that faithful and wise steward2" This In
answer to Peters question rs 90 whether tho
| Lord had been speaking specially to them or
20 all. he seems to answer, ''Whosoever
will may be u faithful and wise steward" InI
Cor. iv., l-5, PGul speaks OF himself and fell
low laborers ~ stewards Of the mysteries Of
God and says that the one thing required OF
steward Is 10 be found faithful, and that
In view OF the coming of the Lord. 'SIeat
in iue season. f. also referred to In Cor.
ILL.,. 2; Heb. ", 1914. and the difficulty OF
giving moat when one can only take milk.
! -. blessed Is that servant, whom his
Lord when lie comcth, shall find so doing"
II will be sad indeed for the servants who
aIe giving storfes for bread ana the poison OF
ulbelief instea1 OF the milk and meat and
hGAey Of the word Of the Master. The Bible
10 ~jrnplete equipment for every man OF
soe sul.icicfft 80 its hil
every good work QI Tim. ILL.,. 1C, 10. and
the preacher who steps outside OF the Word
of God for tofic for his people IL dishogor.
ing the Word OF God and grieving the
Spirit Of God. The one business OF every
teacher and preacher is TO be. like Haggai,
the Lords messenger with the Lords mes.
sage alag. l., 13l.
A. "of truth say unto you that he will
make him ruler over all that no hath" Ii IL
said OF Abraham's eldest servant that 'He
ruled over all that he had" (Gen. XIV, %,
for "all the goods OF his master were In his
hand" (verse l0). 1t Is said OF Joseph that
Potiphar "made him overseer over all that
he had" and that Pharaoh ''set him over all
the land Of Egypt" (Gen. xxxix., 8. Kill, 4D.
Jesus said Of the Spirit, "Iie shall receive OF
mine and shall show II unto you. All things
that the Father. hath are Mine (John xvi.
IL. 15). Consider well, o child OF God, oui
present privileges and future glorles and be
faithful.
As. 40. ellis portion with the unbeliev.
ers." Therefore this servant was never
true servant; but like Judas. only numbered
| with them. There Is no Scripture that con-
tradicts or really conflicts with the state
ment OF our Lord that His sheep can never
perish (John ", 21-29). The prOfessed ser
yant who lends his tongue 10 the evil one to
lash other servants and at the same time
gives himself up to the intoxicatons OF this
| worlds attractions had better consider ere II
be too late these solemn woIds OF Him who
shall be our judge, "Not every one that
saith Lord, Lord hut he that dOeth the will
OF My Father" (Math. viii, 2D. "Whosoever
will be u friend Of the world Is the enemy OF
God" (Jas. iv.. A. "Ye cannot serve God
and mammon" CLuke xvi. l3). II ono
chooses to be an uubeliever. he cannot ex-
pect other than the unblievers' portion.
AZ, is. IL l understand the teaching OF
these two verses, IL Is that while all unbe-
levers, whether pr)fessedly servants OF God
or not, shall go to the place Of torment, there
shall be degrees OF torment in proportion to
| tnelr Sult. am IN the haolt In my preach-
ing OF putting IL this way; Those who re-
ceive Jesus Christ are saved freely by His
grace, and all are equally saved (Rom. ILL.,,
/ 24), but each saved soul will ba rewarded or
given his wages according 10 his works
! (Rev. XIII, ~; Luke XIV. ii; Cor ill.,, lS-
! 15). so that while there are no degrees in
salvation there are In glory (I Cor. xv., 40
42). Those who reject Christ will be lost be-
cause OF their rejection OF Him, whether
professedly His or not, but their torment
I will be In proportion TO their guilt. The
servants OF these two verses cannot be true
servants OF God, for such are not beaten or
/ punished, because the chastisement of our
peace was upon Him who was made sin for
US lisa. ILL.,, o; III Cor. ", 2D. Wherever
weeping or wailIng and gnashing OF teeth is
mentioned II is always with reference to
those who profess what they ara not (bIath.
viii., ~; Kill, 42, 90; xii, l3; xXlv., 81;
Like xiii, 2S. etc. ).-Lesson Helper.