The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1897-09-02
M sabbath SCHOOL LESSON.
INTERNATIONAL LESSON COMMENTS
FOR SEPTEMBER 5.

|
ian Christians." III Cor. ix.. ILL
Golden Text: III Cor. viii.. s-Com
mentary by the Rev. d. M. stearns
I. "For as touching tho ministering tc
the saints, 1t is suPbrhuous for me to write
to you." The great privilege of minister.
ing TO Others, whether In things temporal
Son OF man came not to be ministered un.
to, but to minister, and to give His life a
ransom for many (Math. Nx., 2s). He Is
our great and only example in all things II
We have first OF all truly received Him and
thus been saved by His blood Eph. l., 9, a.
Until we are saved by Him we cannot serve
Him, but when once we have become chill.
dren OF God by faith In Him then our
great work Is to serve the living and true
God.
| 2. Your zeal hath provoked very many. II
Aswe consider Him Of whom It is written,
The zeal OF thine house hath eaten me up''
Cps. Xix, 8; John H., 1O, and who, though
He was rich, yet for our sakes became poor.
that we through His poverty might be rich
q! Cor. Will, 9, we will be increasingly
nlled with His spirit and manifest His zeal
II Cor. ill.,. 1s). Then as Others see Him
In US they will admire Him and want to be
IKE Him. When once weare saved by Him,
He asks US to hand over to Him our bodies
that He may dwell In us and walk I'm US TO
the glory of God the Father (Rom. xii, l, q;
II Cor. vi, 16; viii, 81.
3. "Yet have I sent the brethren lest our
boasting of you should be in vain In this
pehali that, as l said, ye may be
ready There Is often a seeming readi-
ness that does not always result in per-
lormance, either through lack Of sincerity
or some temptation of the adversary.
Hence Paul sent Titus and brother whose
praise was in all the churches II Cor.
Will, l6-lS) designating them both as "the
messengers OF the churches, the glory of
Christ" To these brethren, and through
them, the believers at Corinth were to
show the proof of their love.
4. Lest haply II they OF Macedonia
. come with me and find you unprepared
we should be ashamed In this same conf.
uent boasting." II we trust in people and
In their promises, we shall be yery apt To
be ashamed, for the best intentions of peo.
pie may come to naught. John. by the
spirit, exhorts us 50 to abide in Christ
that we shall not be ashamed before Him
at HIS coming q John H., 2S). II God Is
working In us, His thoughts and works are
sure to be fulfilled lisa. xiv, "a; Jer. II.
?O. But five are, apart from Him, seek,
ing to accomplish somewhat, 1t will be
very apt to fall through.
D. 'Iherefore l thought It necessary TO
exhort the brethren, that they would 90 be-
tore unto you and make up beforehand
your bounty" There seems to me to be n
little more of looking to men than to God
ia all this exhortation and fearfulness on
the part of Paul. 1t seems n good deal like
tne way things are done TO-DAY, rather than
when, In the days Of Moses. the people gave
so willingly and abundantly that they had
to be restrained from bringing (Ex., xxxvi..
SD. >' -''''''''
8. But this say, He which soweth spar-
lngly Shall reap also sparlngly, and he
which soweth bountifully shall reap also
Dountifully." Or, as 1t is written in Prov.
M., "a, There Is that scattereth and vet
increaseth, and there Is that withholdeth
more than is meet, but 1t tendeth to pow
srty. And again In Prov. kill, Z, "There
Is that maketh himself rich, yet hath moth
ing; there Is that maketh himself poor vet
hath great riches" No farmer expects n
great harvest from small sowing; how can
Christian think otherwise?
Z. Every man according as he purposeth
In his heart. so lot him give; not grudg.
lngly or OF necessity for God loveth a
cheeriui giver." All service to be accept
apie must be heart service unto God, in the
name OF the Lord Jesus and in tho power of
the spirit. Those who worship God must
worship Him In spirit and in truth, No
more outward form counts for anything.
liod so loved that He gave. The Son OF
God loved me and gave Himself for me,
ana aI unless we cheerfully give we have no.
HIS spirit. The Greek word hiaros, here
translated cheerful is not found elsewhere.
You can easily see in 1t our word hilarity,
suggesting Gods pleasure In one who gives
with laughter because he is so glad OF tho
OPPORTUNITY
b. And God Is able to make all grace
abound toward you; that ye always. hay.
Ing all sufllciency in all things may abound
In every good work" However close one
may be naturally, and not inclined to give,
the exceeding, abundant grace Of God is
aDle 70 transform even such one into
hilarious giver, and such q miracle Of grace
brings great glory to God. SO In every 6t6tf
phase OF the Christian life God Is able to
make manifest In the most unlikely person
the very spirit OF Christ. mot that we are
sufficient OF ourselves to think anything as
OF ourselves, but our sufflciency is OF God"
Cll Cor. ILL.,, 81. A very little Christian iiv.
Ing and Christian work seem to satisfy
many who bear his beautiful names-pen-
nies for God, but dollars many for q bicy-
Gle, or spring suit, or cigars, or a ball
dress; few moments for him, but many
hoqrs day for recreation which must be
had. - |
Q, 10. This parenthesis is q quotation |
from psalm (cxii.) which speaks Of the
blessedness OF tho upright man who lives
In the fear OF the Lord; to such God will
give the power Of doing good beyond their |
utmost thought. He will not only provide
that which We are to scatter, but He will
bless 1t as We scatter It and cause 1t to In
crease and multiply like the five loaves of
the lad which fed the 5000. The seed to be
sown is His, whether 1t be seed In the form
OF His word or money or good deeds.
"The seed Is the word Of God" "The sill
yer is mine and the gold Is mine, saith the
Lord OF Hosts" GOOD works are also pre-.
pared for US to walk In" Guke viii, II;
Hag. H.. 8; Eph. H., 100. When God sees
any one who Is willing faithfully to'scatter
seed. He will abundantly supply both the
seed and His blessing, without which there
can be no increase q Cor. ill.,, y.
II. Being enriched in everything to
all bountifulness, which causeth through
US thanksgiving to God" As we pass on
the good things Of God people are blessed
and God Is glorifled, and the unspeakab able
gift, our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, ia
magnlned. In everything we are enriched
by Him In all utterance and knowledge
q Cor. l., 81 and blessed with NIL spiritual
blessings and everything pertaining to life
and godliness (Eph. l., 8; II Pet. l., 81, that
We may be channels through which He can
pass on, or make these things known to
others. II will bless thee, and thou shalt