Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1897-06-18
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON 81, SECOND QUARTER, IN
TERNArlONAL SERIES, JUNE 20.

DRY Verses. 1921 Golden Text, Rom.
xiv, 21-Commentary by the Rev. ID. NJ.
stearns.
10. "But why dost thou judge thy broth
er, or why dost thou set at naught thy
brotherf For we shall all stand before the
judgment seat of Christ" Having made
plain in the first part of this epistle the
sinfulness of all men, and that while by
good works no one can be saved God saves
freely for Christ's sake all who receive
Him, He in these closing chapters sets
forth the life that should be lived by those
who are saved. The tendency to look
around us and criticisc and judge others
is very great. 1t is the same spirit that
led Simon Peter to ask, "And what shall
this man doY' (JQhn xxi, 21) Towhich
our Lord replied: "What is that to thee?
Follow thou Me" In Cor. iv, 3, we are
plainly instructed to Judge nothing be-
fore the time until the Lord come.
IL. For it is written, As L live, saith
the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and
every tongue shall confess to God. This
is from lisa. XIV 23, and is also quoted in
! Phil ii, 10. Inasmuch as there is but one
to be our Judge, for the Father hath com
mitted all judgment unto the Son (JOhn
" 22) and hath appointed day in which
| He will judge the world in righteousness
! by the Man whom He hath ordained, whom
He hath raised from the dead (Acts xvii,
81, it surely becomes us to bow to Him
in every thought, word and act and let His
requests and decisions settle everything.
II. 80, then. every one of us shall give
account of himself to God. Every mans
work shall be made manifest and every
man shall receive his own reward accord
ing to his own lalor Il Cor iii, 5, 81
The cpisilc is written to all the beloved of
| God in Rome called saints. and the apos-
tie is calling their attention in this part of
the tpiStlc 10 the hanting in OF their ac-
counts NJ the Lord stewards at the iudg-
ment seat of Christ, where, if l understand
it, none but the saints shah appear Com
pare l hess. iv. rs, II, and l Cor. XIV, %,
with Rev. Xxx ,, g.
ID. Let us not therefore, judge one an
other any more, but Judge this rather, that
no man put stumbling block OF an occa-
sion to fall in his brother way Only
the Lord, who can read the thoughts of our
hearts is capable of judging our conduct
| correctly. He shall not Judge after the
sight of His eyes, neither reprove after the
hearing of His ears, but with righteous
ness shall He judge lisa. Xi, 3, y. But
while we are in some things to reserve
/ Judgment we are TO try the spirits as to
/ what we hear taught. for if we bid god
| speed to false teacher we are partaker
with Him q John w. Il II John Y, ~.
H. Il know and am persuaded by the
| Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of
itself but to him that estcemeth anything
to be unclean to him it is unclean - The
| topic especially before the apostles mind
was that of eating or not eating certain
kinds of food OVERSEES 2. b. In another
epistle it was that of keeping certain davs
as well as that of eating and drinking
| (Col H. 16, ~.
10 But if thy brother be grieved with
thy meat. now walkest thou not charitablv,
according to love Destroy not him with
| thy meat for whom Christ died. =" Love
does not say: Il can do as l please If 9th
ers do not like it. that is not my affair.
will not deny myself an innocent enjoy
ment because they do not like it" That is
the self in us which talks that way. Love
seeketh not her own and endurcth all
things. Even Christ pleased not Him
self ~ (Rom. Ky, -, but ever sought the
glory of God and could say Il do always
those things that please Him.
16. Let not then your good he evil spo-
ken Of. One might say that this or that
is good for my health and | need it, and
the doctor prcscribcs it. and there is moth
ing against it. Well, be it so. Happy is
he that condemneth not himself in that
thing which he alloweth, but have it to
thyself before God (verse 81, and do not
cause Others to stumble
Il For the kingdom of God is not
meat and drink, lut righteousness and
peace and JOY in the Holy Ghost. AS one
has said the chief business OF the company
for whom Christ died is not eating and
drinking, tut right relation to God. our
neighbors and ourselves Peace and Joy
come by believing (chapter XIV, 13)-that
is, by receiving Him (John i. l2), who is
our righteousness and peace Il Cor i, 30;
Eph ii, Ia. All food and raiment neccs-
sary for us are made sure to us in Him
(Math. vi 1889.
Is. For he that in these things serveth
Christ is acceptable to God and approved
of men, Acc ptahle OF well pleasing to
God is the main thing, whether men APP
prove or not When we please God, the
n.o,,ln Of (,o1 who oro +b.rrs.I,-oa ,i,rb =