Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1898-12-21
THE. SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON XIII, FOURTH QUARTER, IN
TERNATiONAL SERIES, DEC. 25.

Text of the Lesson. Heb. 1, 1-9-Memory
Commentary Prepared by the Rev. d. NJ.
Stearns.
copyright. 1898. by D. M. stearns.l
Instead of quarterly review we are
given the choice of Christmas lesson
which probably many will prefer
l. "God who at sundry times and in di-
vers manners spake in times past unto the
fathers by tho prophets. We have in pre-
vious lessons been considering how God
by the prophets entreated the people to turn
again to Him that He might bless them,
and since the time when In the garden of
Eden He sought Adam with the question
"Where art thou?" He has been ever seek
ing to win man back to Himself. He does
this in different ways, as it is written in
Hos. xii, 10, II have also spoken by the
prophets, and l have multiplied visions
and used similitudes by the ministry of the
prophets" Job xxxiii, 80, 80, in the light
Of tho previous part of the chapter, tells
how in many ways He does this. The
great thing to be remembered Is that what
ever or whoever may be the instrumental
Ivy IL Is 0OQ I1lIllbcll UiidU 10 uOluS
Q. Hath in these last days spoken unto
us by His Son, whom He hath appointed
heir of all things, by whom also He made
the WORLDS The Son Himself referred
to this when In Math xxi, 81, in the para
BILE of the vineyard, He speaks of the Fa-
ther as last of all sending to them His son,
saying, "They will reverence my Son."
But instead of reverencing Him they took
I<lA H. tn III DC
own, and His own received Him not. His
own people would not have Him and His
own possessions found no room for Him,
Just as at His birth there was no room for
Him in the inn, and when they crucified
Him He was numbered with transgressors,
and they made His grave with the wicked.
3. "Who being tho brightness Of His
glory and the express image of His person,
and upholding all things by the word of
His power, when He had by Himself
purged our sins, sat down on the right
hand of the Majesty on high" God was
In Christ. He was God manifest in the
flesh Oh Cor. v, 10; Tim. iii, 16), but
the glory that was in Him was generally
concealed. 1t was yelled by His mortal
body Heb. X, 20), yet on the Mount Of
TRANSPORTATION it shone forth and was
WltucSSeu w buc ldNOrtu luTC6 III GU. 4,
II; John j. 14). The phrase express
image" is just the word character" in
the Greek and is, think, used nowhere
else. In Jesus Christ we see the character
Of God, and there is no character in us
that amounts to anything apart from
Christ in us. He, by the sacrifice of Him.
self, put away forever the sins Of all who
receive Him. He has made provision for
90 oil but hoe <v.lx yI,<,
come receive the benefit. How can they
come unless they hear?
4. "Being made so much better than
the angels, as He hath by inheritance OBJ
tanned more excellent name than they. /"
The angels are ministering spirits sent
forth to minister unto the heirs of saliva
ton, but to any of them God never said,
"Sit on my right hand until make thine
enemies thy footstool" oversees Is, 14).
He made Himself for little while inferior
to the angels, taking upon Him our ma
ture that He might in due time lift us up
to His position Chapter ii, 5-1S).
s. "For unto which of the angels said
He at any time, Thou art my Son, this
day have begotten thee?" And, again, ~
will be to Him Father and He shall be
to me a Son. The first quotation here
IClcIo W 1liS ICouIICCbiou lAOli thC aCoo
FPS. ii, z; Acts xiii, 33); the second to His
being heir to the throne of David 1I Sam.
vii, 14). No angel can ever sit on David's
throne, nor can an angel ever possess q
mortal body made immortal The word
better is one of the key words of this
epistle, and in chapters and Ii the central
thought seems to be .'better than angels"
while in the following chapters it is bet
farf bay A ba I'm harr, ocla
and we are to run with patience the race
that is set before us, Cooking unto Jesus"
and waiting for Him to come back from
heaven. He was with power declared to
be the Son of God by the resurrection from
the dead, and we shall be fully manifest
as sons of God in the resurrection.
6. "And again when He bringeth in the
first begotten into the world He saith, And
let all the angels Of God worship Him."
The margin says, when He bringeth
again, - and evidently refers to His second
coming in power and glory, and this is the
sense of Ps. Xvii, from which the quota
ton is made, for it speaks of His reign and
His Judgment of His enemies and His
kingdom. 1t is written in Dan. vii, 10,
in connection with the judgment, that
thousand thousands ministered unto Him
anu 0Cu tAOttodiiu tiiiiSo oSh ehOuSiio otocN
before Him.
z. "And of the angels He saith, Who
maketh His angels spirits and His minis
tiers flame of fire." This is from Ps. civ,
4, which is full of Gods care of His crea-
lures and ends with the first halleluiah in
Scripture. In Ps. Gill, 90, we read, BLESS
the Lord, ye His angels, that excel in
strength, that do His commandments,
hearkening unto the voice Of His word,
and in the last verse of orr lesson chapter
we learn that they all minister unto tho
heirs of salvation. They ministered unto
our Lord, who for little time made Him
self lower than they. They minister unto
us, who are for the present inferior to
them, but when He shall appear we shall
be like Him, in immortal resurrection
bodies
8. but unto the Son He saith, Thy
throne, o God, is forever and ever; a scep-
ter of righteousness is the scepter of Thy
kingdom" This verse and the next are
from the forty fifth psalm, which tells of
the King and His marriage, and is also
told in Math. XIV and Rev. xix as proceed.
ing the kingdom. Notice that the Son is
called God, confirming what w. have al
ready said in this lesson. He is now on
the Fathers throne at His right hand, but
He will come to His own throne in duo
time, and then 1t shall be seen that God
has given Him name above every name
al h.SI