Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1896-02-06
NUMBER 26
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON VI, FIRST QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, FEB. g.

4e--comnientaTy by the Rev. d. Nj.
stearns.
Al. And why bch0dest thou the mote
that is in thy brothers eye, but perceivest
not the beam that is in thine own eyes''
We have in this chapter the all night
prayer, the choosing Of the twelve apostles
and the sermon on the plain, Of which our
lesson IS the closing portion. II Is some
times called The Sermon on the Mount. 4"
but, while it is somewhat the same In
substance as that discourse of our Lord.
found in Matb. V, to VII, a glance at verse
IL Of our chapter viii show that this dis
course must have been delivered at an
other time and certainly on q plain to
which He had come down after choosing
the twelve. he closes this discourse bT
telling them that the main thing for each
one l. to be right with God himself before
be attempts to set his brother right, lest
what seems like beam In our brothers
eye may be due to a beam in our own eye
while there IL but a mote Ia our brothers
eye
AZ. "Cast out first the beam Out W
thine own eye, and then shalt thou see
clearly to pull out the mote that IL in thy
brothers eye" 1t Is too often the case
that In judging another we condemn our
selves, being guilty OF the same things
(ROm- III -. In this very sermon, as well
as In the sermon on the mount (verse 81
and Math. vii, j. He commands US TO
Judge not, - and in Cor. ", s. by the
same Spirit through Paul He commands
us to Judge nothing before the time. IN
til the Lord come who Will make manifest
the counsels Of the hearts" While we are
not to judge others until we ourselves are
more like Christ, we are always at liberty
to judge ourselves (I Cor. xi, 81 By the
light Of His life and His law, and this we
should do continually, but the best way
to do this il to set the Lord always before
Us, and let His presence and approval be
the constant test.
43. For a good tree bringeth not forth
corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree
bring forth good fruit. Ii seems to me
that it L. not another, but ourselves, that
we are to contemplate "a the tree Ill uues-
ton Am plant or tree of The Lords
paintings For if not II shall some day be
surely rooted up (Math. XIV, 13l-in other
words, unless I am born from above I
shall surely perish, but If I have become A
child Of God by faith in Christ Jesus then
/ am tree OF plant Of the Lords plant
ing, rooted and grounded in love (Eph.
ILL., I'D, and am here to bear much fruit to
His glory (John xv, 1-S).
A. "For every tree is known by his own
fruit, for Of thOrns men do not gather figs,
nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. -
When God created plants and trees. He
caused that each should yield fruit after
his kind (Gen. i, II, 12) When He created
man, He made him in His image. after
His likeness, and commanded him to be
fruitful, but before man began to be fruit
full he sinned and fell and lost the image
Of God and begat children in his own like
ness, after his image (Gen. j, 27, 28; Y, 81;
hence every child Of Adam has been born
in sin, IL a corrupt tree from. viii, z, 81,
and cannot bear fruit unto God until
made q good tree by being born again
~. For Of the abundance Of the heart
his mouth speaketh.r r good man from
the good treasures therein and an evil
man from the evil treasures therein There
IL no patchwork with God. He does not
put new cloth upon an old garment nor
new wine into old bottles (chapter v, 36-
8S). Not reformation, but regeneration. Il
the Lord ) way Of saving men. III any man
be in Christ, he l. q new creation born OF
God. Christ has come to dwell IN him,
his body has become temple Of the Holy
Spirit, and the old nature which once lived
in us and controlled all things Is now to
be reckoned dead, wholly subdued.
46. "And why call ye me Lord, Lord,
and do not the things which / sayS'' He
tells us in chapter Kill, 25-27, that when
the door has been shut many will say,
"Lord Lord, open unto US, to whom He
will have to say, 81 tell you know you
not whence ye are. In the sermon on
the mount He said, "Not every one that
saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter in
to the kingdom Of heaven, but be that do
eth the will Of my Father which Il il
heaven (Math- vii, 2l). James tells Us
in chapter /, 22, that we are I'd Be doers Of
the word, and not hearers only, decaiving
our own selves. Lit L. the plain and uni
versal teaching Of Scripture that We are
not saved by any works of ours, but Who'll
ly and only by the work of another, but it
l. equally plain that being saved by His
work it i in order that He may then ac-
complish through US Els pleasure.
Az. tWhosoeyer cometh To Me and hear
eth Ny sayings and doeth them, will
shew you to whom be il like y Salvation
is seen here in the coming to Him.
Compare John Vi, 81, for If we are not
cast out We are surely accepted. Then
comes the service included in "hearing
and doing. See Eph. il, 5, 9, and Titus
iii, s. on salvation apart from any works
of ours, then see Eph. ii, 10, and Titus iii,
8, on works as the result Of that salvation.
James is as clear as Paul on the fact that
Abraham was saved by faith (see Rom.
iv, 8 Jas. ii, 23). but James emphasizes
the fact that the faith which saved Abra-
ham was afterward manifest in his con
duct (Jas. ii, p, 22). The faith which
does not prove its reality BY works Is like
a light which does not shine, painted
light
As. "He Is like man which built an
house, and digged deep, and laid the foun-
dation Oh rock Such u house will stand
because of it, foundation. "Other founda-
tion can no man lay than that IL laid,
which IL Jesus Christ VII Cor. iii, I1l. He
il the Rock, the only one Old whom to
build or III whom to hide-in other words,
the only salvation L. 10 receive Him in
whom alone l. salvation, but As truly as
He l. received He will work id and through
that individual to the glory Of God. See
Phil ii, 13; Heb. xiii, ~. The soul that
has thus become a part Of Christ can only
be overthrown when Christ is overthrown.
49, "But be that heareth and doeth not
Is Ike man that without a foundation
built an house upon the earth. There is
no word about coming to Christ here,
and therefore there is no foundation. II
is simply hearing, and tho hearing does no
good because it is net mixed with faith
(Heb. iv, p. There may be a beautiful
moral character, fair exterior, but with
out foundation ali will be swept away
The hail shall sweep away the refuge OF
lies and the waters shall overflow the hid
Ing place" elsa. xviii, I'D In Luke viii,
2I, Jesus says, MY mother and MY breth-
rem are these which hear the word 0f God
and ID it'll by hearing and receiving we
are saved tJohn n, a. Rom. x, l7D. Then
by keeping the word W. bring forth fruit
with patience Luke viii, l5l.
Millions on Petrihed Fish,
For a score Of years the geolnEists
have known Of the existence Oh immense
beds Of shale in Wyoming which occa-