The bee., 1897-06-17
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON XII, SECOND QUARTER, IN
TERNATloNAL SERIES, JUNE 20.

Ahss -NohhAheht"i9 ~ INV A.efs -. W.
Stearns.
TO- "But why dost thou judge thy broth
sr, or why dost thou set at naught thy
brothcrp For VIC shall all stand before thI
Judgment seat of Christ" Having made
plain In the first part of this cpistlo thu
sinfulness Of all men, and that while by
good works no one can be saved God saves
freely for Christ's sake all who rcceiv,
Him, He in these closing chapters sets
forth the life that should be lived by thosC
who arc saved. Tho tendency to lool
around us and criticisc and judge Others
is very great IL is tho same spirit that
led Simon Peter 10 ask, "And what shall
this man dor" John xxi, 2l.) Towhicf
our Lord replied; "Whnt is that to thee
Follow thou Me-" In / Cor. Nv, 8, we art
plainly Instructed TO Judge nothing be
fore the time until the Lord come"
IL. "For It is written, As live, saith
the Lord, overy knee shall bow to Me, and
every tongue shall confess to God" This
Is from Isa. xiv, 20, and Is also quoted in
Phil Il, 10 Inasmuch as there is but one
to be our Judge, for the Father hath com
mitted all Judgment unto the Son John
v, 2e) and hath appointed a day in which
l1t Will luUkt lnO MOTAu III llRhANOhnAAN0n
by the Man whom He hath ordained, whom
He hath raised from the dead Acts xvii,
81, 1t surely becomes us TO bow to Him
in every thought, word and act and let His
requests and decisions settle everything.
12. $50, then, every one of us shall give
account of himself Co God" Every man s
work shall be made manifest, and every
man shall receive his own reward nccord-
L.. -, oil, fH IM
The epistle 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 epistle TO tho handing in of their nc
counts as the Lords stewards mt the judg-
ment scat of Christ, where, If understand
It, none but the saints shall appear. Com
pare Thess. iv, 10, H. and Cor. XIV, %,
with Rev. Xxx, 8, @.
N8. Let us not, therefore, judge one an
other any more, but judge this rather, that
no man put a stumbling block or an occa-
sion TO fall In his brothers. 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 cars, but with righteous
ness shall He Judge lisa. xi, 8, A. But
Judgment We are TO try the spirits as to
what we hear taught, for II we bid god
speed to false teacher we arc partaker
with Him Il John Nv, /; ii John X, ~.
IA. 81 know and am persuaded by the
Lord Jesus that there Is nothing unclean Of
itself, but to him that esteemeth anything
to DO 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, 81. In another
epistle 1t was that of keeping certain days
as well as that Of eating and drinking
-(Col a, 10, III.
10. "But, If thy brother be grieved with
thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably,
according to love. Destroy not him with
thy meat for whom Christ died" Love
does not say: 81 can do as please II 9th.
ers do not like &c, that Is not my affair.
will OF deny myself an innocent enjoy
ment because they do not like II. =" That Il
the self in us which talks that way Low
seeketh not her own and cndurcth al
things. Even Christ pleased not Him
self" from. XIV, 81, but ever sought tn,
glory Of God and could say, II do always
those things that please Him."
TO- LET not then your good be evil spo-
ken Of" One might say that this or that
Is good for my health, and need 1t, and
the doctor prescribcs it, and there Is moth
ing against 1t. Well, be 1t so. Happy Il
he that condemneth not himself in that
thing which he alloweth, but have 1t L
thysef before God (verse e2), and do moi
cause others to stumble
II. "For tho kingdom of God is moi
meat and drink, but righteousness and
peace and joy In the Holy Ghost. AS ono
has said, the chief business of the company
for whom Christ died is not eating and
drinking, but right relation 20 God, our
neighbors and ourselves. Peace and Jog
come by believing (chapter XIV, l8)-that
is, by receiving Him (John 1, 12), who Is
our righteousness and peace q Cor. 1, 90;
Eph. II, 14). All food ana raiment peccs.
sary for US arc made sure TO us in Him
(Math. vi, 81-39).
10. "For he that in these things serveth
Christ il acceptable 10 God and approved
Of men," Acceptable or well pleasing to
God Is the main thing, whether men ap.
prove or not. When we please God, the
people Of God who are themselves right
with God viii surely approve Others may
condemn. But consider Him who endured
contradiction of sinners against Himself
lest ye be weary and faint Heb xii, 81.
No one can lie as we'll pleasing 10 God as
His Beloved Son, and His treatment from
men must be good enough for us John XIV,
18-20). Let us continually "servo the liv-
ing and true God and wait for His Son
from heaven, and all will be well Il Thess.
1, 0, 10).
10 "Let us therefore follow after the
things which make for peace and things
wherewith one may edify another" not
peace at any price, regardless Of the right
OF wrong Of 1t, but the peace Which is OF
God and in fellowship with tho Prince OF
Peace Even He said, II came not TO send
peace, but a sword" (Math. x, 84). And
He spoke of trouble even in households foI
His sake. We are TO preach peace, to live
pence andto seek tho peace even Of ouI
enemies, but 1t must be in fellowship with
Christ and never apart from Him.
90 "For meat destroy not the work OF
God. All things indeed are pure. But II
is evil for him who eateth with offense. y
In verse 10 we had, Destroy not him, y
and hero 1t is, destroy not the work Of
God" In Eph. II, 10, we read that "wC
are His workmanship. In what sensC
can this be destroyed 1t cannot refer tC
the loss Of the soul, for no truly saved SOU
can eyer. perish John x, "a, 2S; iii, 10)
But as the Judgment scat of Christ is the
place of judging here referred to, where
only the saints shall appear TO be judged
for their works as believers, have no doub
that ] Cor. fiji, IA, 10, helps us to un
derstand the destruction here referred to
81. 1T is good neither 10 eat flesh, MOI
TO drink wineI nor anything whereby tn.
brother stumbleth, or is offended, or 4
mado weak" See also / Cor. viii, 10
This is certainly very self denying lint
Of life and looks unnecessarily strict bu
the whole question of our life as Christian
is focused In self or Christ, unto myself
or unto Him. "Unto the Lord" is thu
only correct motto ard covers even oui
eating and drinking (Serse and Cor
Z, sly =.