Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1896-05-15
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON VII, SECOND QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, MAY II.

xvi, 1O-Commentary by the Rev. ID. NJ
Stearns.
IL. The topic is still "The Kingdom, >"
for it may be said to be the topic of the
whole Bible He has passed through Jer-
icho, healing three blind men and saving
Zaccheus aud is now on His way to .Jeru-
salem to die. They think, however, that
the kingdom is now about to come. and
they had some grounds for thinking so.
for John the Baptist, and the twelve, and
the seventy and Jesus Himself had all
preached that the Kingdom was at hand.
! Why, then, should it not Immediately APP
! pearY Why should He not, as son of David,
do what the prophets and Gabriel had said
! He would do sit on the throne of David
and reign over the house of Jacob forever?
! lisa. tx, q, Z; Jer. iii, II, 1S; Luke /, 80,
33.)
IL. He speaks of nobleman going into
far country to receive kingdom and to
return. Well, the sons of Herod may have
gone away to Rome to receive the king
dom, which then included Jerusalem, but
what had that to do with Jesus Christ,
the Son of David? He was then present He
had to the satisfaction of His followers
proved Himself to be the Son of David.
Was He speaking of His going away and
that He came to be King over was bout
to kill Him, and this would involve a post
ponement of the kingdom till His return
in power and glory. Now was His time
to suffer and die, and the heavens must
receive Him until the times of restoration
of all things spoken by the prophets (Acts
iii, 10, 2D.
13. Occupy till 1 come" This is his
me ssage to his servants, whom he called
and to whom he gave each pound This
parable differs somewhat from that of the
talents in Math. XIV, for there the talents
are bestowed according to the ability of
each, but the ground covered is virtually
the same. We know that every true servant
of Christ, every true believer, has received
the Holy Spirit, has received salvation,
and this not for Himself alone. but that
He may herewith bless others and glorify
His Lord. The boundaries of this age in
which we live, the time of the postpone
ment of the kingdom, the time of the for
nation of His body, the church, are His 60
ing away and His return.
IA. This describes the attitude of the
nation-that is, the rulers representing
the natiOn-toward Him. 1t became fully
manifest when they cried to plate, I'VE
have no king but Caesar" 1t was fore
Swallowed in the hatred of Josephs breth-
rem, but as truly as they afterward saw
Joseph on the throne and bowed down to
him, 50 shall those who crucifled Christ
yet see Him exalted as King of the Jews,
oven King of Kings and Lord of Lords
The attitude of the Jews here spoken of
as His citizens is also the attitude of the
vast majority of those who have heard OF
Him. But, sadder still, it seems to be the
attitude of many who profess to be saved
by Him. They are willing to let Him be
to them Jesus, their Saviour, but not will
ing to let Him be their Lord and Master.
10 He will return in due time and He
will first reckon with His servants as to
their fnthfulness in His absence The
judgment seat of Christ, mentioned only
in Rom. xiv, 10, ii Cor V, 10, seems to be
only for believers, those whose Judgment
for sin was forever settled in the sufferings
of their substitute on Calvary. They will
appear before Him to receive their rewards
for service and their places in His king
dom. See Cor. iii, Ills; Rev. xxi. IL;
Luke xiv, IA; ii John viii. The first of
these passages indicates the possibility of
being saved and yet being unrewarCed;
the Others incite to such service as shall be
rewarded. That the saints shall share the
kingdom with Him is seen in Dan. vii,
81; Ps. cxlix; John xvii, 22; Cor. vi, 2
16, II. Here is a faithful servant and
his place in the kingdom will be to rule
over ten cities. Although he had not a
large sphere, he had been good servant.
He had walked uprightly before God and
had lived unto Him. He had been
faithful servant and had sought to please
His master, and not people.
Is, 49, Here Is another good servant who
Is to rule over five cities, for the pound in
his hands had gained five pounds. Per
haps he had not such opportunities as the
first but he had been faithful, and the
Lord finds no fault with him, but rewards
him according to his labors. Observe that
neither of these servants takes any credit
to himself They do not say | gained
ten pounds, or | gained five pounds, but
they say To their Lord, Thy pound hath
gained ten pounds, or five pounds" Paul
says, II labored more abundantly than
they ALL yet not l, but the grace Of God
which was with me- Il Cor. XIV, 100, and
again, 1t is God who worketh in you both
to VIII and to do of His good pleasure"
(Phil, ii, l3, and Heb. xiii, 2D.
90, p. Here is "A wicked servant who
does not know his lord, for he calls him
an au'terc man, IA hard and unjust mas
ter. lie had made no use of the pound in
trusted to him. He had not lived for his
master ana for his masters benefit, but
for himself lie had never enjoyed his
Masters service, but rather felt it ii bond
age to belong to him. How many there
ara who talk just sol If not in words. their
lives talk that wayY Are they saveds God
only knows Tho New Testament says
that Lot was "a righteous man, but the Old
Testament story would never lead us to
think so. We are not to judge before the
time until the Lord come.
~, 23. He should have had his Lords
return ever before him, and the great fact
of time Of reckoning, and that would
have made him a better servant. There is
no more quickening, sanctifying, inspir-
ing truth than that of the Lord 5 return
and its possibility at any time. There is
no more deadening thing than to say, My
Lord dolayeth His coming. He will not
come in my day anyway. -
24-36 Tins This uufuitbful scrvaut