The true northerner., 1896-01-24
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON w. FIRST QUARTER. INTER
NATIONAL SERIES, JAN. 20.

Text of tho Lesson, Luke iv, I4-aa-Mem-
Try Verses, 1s, I9-Colden Text. Luke
iv, 3s-Commentsry by the Rev. ID. nj.
stearns.
IA "And Jesus returned in the power of
IRE Spirit into Galiee, and there went out
n fame of Him through all the region
round about" After His baptism He, be-
ing full of the Holy spirit, was led by the
Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted OF
the devil (verse -. He was tempted on
the same three points on which Eve was
temptcd-the lust of the flesh, the lust of
the eyes and the pride Of life. She and
Adam, with every comfort of life about
them, sinned and fell. He, with no earth
ly comfort, stood and conquered by the
sword of the Spirit. So may we stand and
conquer. See Eph VII 1918. In the power
of the same Spirit, who is also given unto
u.s. He now goes back home to begin His
public work. Perhaps it would be well to
read here the whole story of John l, 10, TO
iv, 54, and then we will understand better
how His fame spread abroad everywhere.
Let us ever remember two things-it was
by the Spirit that He spake and wrought,
and il was the Father whom He always
glorified.
l5. "And He taught in their syna-
gogues being glori6ed of all. I" In verse
30 we read that they were astonished at
His doctrine, for His word was with'pow
or. We would see more of the power of the
word if we used more of the word, in which
alone there is power, and If our aim WAS
like His, that God in all things might be
glorificd Q Pet. iv, IL. He spoke with au-
thority, because He said only what the
Father told Him (.Iohn xii, 49). He never
discounted in the least degree any portion
of the Scriptures, but indOrsed the story
of creation, Adam and Eve, the deluge,
Abraham, Lot, Sodom, Jonah Daniel and
all the rest. Those who make light of any
portion Of Scripture are not walking in
His steps. Pray for them, but heed them
not.
16. "And He came to Nazareth, where
He had been brought up, and, as His Gus
tom was He went into the synagogue on
the Sabbath day and stood up for TO read y
At the age Of IL He returned to Nazareth
with His mother and Joseph from the pass
over at Jerusalem, and until the age of 30
He was subject to them. A part of His
subjection is seen In His being In the syna-
gogue every Sabbath. Many of us would
think that it was a poor place to be for
spiritual profit, and that we had better
stay at home and read our Bibles, but our
Lord never lived unto Himself, and the
main question with us should be, not how
can get the most for myself, but how can
/ bring the greatest glory to God and man
ifest Him to Others. See III Cor V, Is.
II. "And there was delivered unto Him.
the book of the prophet ESaias. And
when He had opened the book He found
the place where it was written" III you
have ever watched people looking for a
text in the Bible, you might conclude that
not all are skillful in finding places. 1t is
n good thing to have people, young and
old, commit to memory the books of the
Bible in order SO that they may quickly
turn TO any particular book, and then it is
we'll to have an idea of the contents OF
each book, so that we may know where to
look for what we want Compare 1sa.
xxx, II, II, and see If you are like those
or like Jesus Christ. If you would read
the Scriptures aloud for the benefit of 9th
ers see Neh. viii 8.
Is. 1.-The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
because He hath anointed me to preach
the gospel TO the poor He hath sent Me
to heal the broken hearted, to preach de-
liverance to the captives and recovering of
sight TO the blind, to set at liberty them
that are bruised" Not many preachers
would seek for their congregation the poor,
the broken hearted, the captive, the blind,
the bruised but unto such Christ specially
came, being thereto anointed by the Spirit
10. Ito preach the acceptable year of
the Lord" The whole time of this present
dispcnsation until Jesus shall come again
is here called year as in John V, 25, IL Is
called an hour, the hour or year or period
of time when the gospel Of the grace OF
God is being preached and all who will
may accept this grace, or, in other words,
accept Jesus Himself and be saved. In III
Cor vi, 2 we read, Behold now is the ac-
cepted time; behold now is the day of sal
walton. 1t is therefore our high privilege
in this time of grace to proclaim ii to the
ends Of the earth, not for the conversion
of all, but TO gather out the people for His
name who will be the rulers with Him in
the next age (Acts XIV, IA; Rev. v, 8, 10).
The great motto for our age is not, "All
the world for Christ but "Christ for all
the world, - that whosoever will may come
and thus complete His body, the church.
90 "And He closed the book and gave
il again to the minister and sat down.
And the eyes of all them that were in the
synagogue were fastened on Him." BY
turning to Isa Xxi, I, 2, you will see that
the middle of sentence The words He did
not read are, And the day Of vengeance
of our God That day had not come and
has not yet come. In lisa. xxxiv, g.; xxxv,
4; xiii, 4, ETC.. the day of vengeance and
the year of Israel's redemption are associ-
ated. 1t will be at the second coming Of
Christ, when He shall come back in power
and glory to take the kingdom and to
reign. He knew that the nation would re-
ject Him even as His own townsmen were
about to do (verses 80, 29) and that the
kingdom then at hand would be postponed
till His return. He knew how to divide
the word of truth QI Tim. ii, 15).
81. And He began TO say unto them,
This day Is this Scripture fulfilled in your
ears" Had He read the next sentence He
could not have said, "This day is this
Scripture fulfilled" He actually did say,
If not in so many words, / am He of
whom Isaiah by the Spirit wrote, and am
come TO do the things which 1 have read
to YOU Now, when we consider that those