Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1898-10-19
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON w, FOURTH QUARTER, IN
TERNATlONAL SERIES, OCT. 20.
Text of the Lesson, lisa. vi, 1-13-Memory
Verses, 5-S-Golden Text, lisa. vi, 8.
Commentary Prepared by the Rev. ID.

Verses, 5-S-Golden Text, lisa. vi, 8.
Commentary Prepared by the Rev. ID.
NJ Stearns.
copyright, 1898, by D. NJ. Stearns.l
l. SIN the year that King Uzziah died
saw also the Lord sitting upon throne,
high and lifted up, and His train filled the
temple" Although King Uzziah died a
lepor, yet his life as a whole was fright in
the sight of the Lord"QI Chron. XVI, A..
There is IYng who never dies, and He is
on the throne of the universe. We are not
qualified to serve Him as we should until
we continually realize His position and
our relationship to Him. The word Lord"
is Adonai, not Jehovah, and signifies my
master or possessor. 1t was mono other
than tho Son of God whom Isaiah saw
John xii. 4D. Ezekiel was qualified for
service by a vision Of the Lord as man
upon the throne GEEK. !, 26).
2. "Above it stood the seraphim."
These holy beings are mentioned only in
this chapter in the Bible, while cherubim
are mentioned many times from Genesis
to Revelation. am persuaded that the
cherubim represent the church, the body
of Christ, as part of Himself, one with
Qlul Ill Ills BAOTy anu DOWcT WuCl UuO
kingdom shall have come. The seraphim
burning ones) may possibly be identical
with cherubim. Compare Rev. iv with
this chapter.
8. "And one cried unto another and
said, Holy, holy. holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of His glory"
Compare the only other thrice holy in
Scripture In Rev. iv, s. On the last clause
of this verse see the marginal reading and
compare chapters XII, 8; Mum. xiv, 81;
Hab. II, IA. There Is no self praise In
heaven, but all unite in clarifying Him
who alone Is worthy to be praised. No
flesh shall glory in His presence. The
Lord alone shall be exalted in that day Il
Cor. /, go, 81; lisa. ii, II, ~.
4. "And the posts Of the door moved at
the voice Of him that cried and the house
was filled with smoke In Elk. xix, IS;
lisa. ", 8, smoke and cloud are associated
with the presence of the Lord. We think
also of the pillar of cloud that led Israel
and of the tabernacle and temple filed
with His glory at their dedication (Ex. Il,
! "a; Kings viii, 10, ~.
g. "Then said /, Woe is mel for I am
| undone." As the prophet saw the King
in His glory he was filed with sense of
his own unworthiness. Compare Job Kill,
| 8, 6; Dan. x, 8; Rev. /, n. To serve the
Lord as we should we must not only be
| filled with sense of His worthiness, but
also with deep sense of our own I'M
wcrthiness. Not wisdom of words, but
the power of God is to do the work. Not
any might or power Of ours, but His Spirit.
| This is His way Il Cor. ii, 4, 5; Zech. Nv, g..
6. "a live coal from off the altar" The
| brazen altar in tabernacle and temple Is
| suggestive of the work of Christ on Cal
vary for u.s. when He shed His own blood
| for our sins, gave Himself sacrifice for
sin once for all The golden altar speaks
| of His present work of intercession for us.
BY the one we are saved and by the other
we are kept day by day.
| z. "Lo, this hath touched thy lips, and
thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin
! purged." The mouth suggests the heart,
! for out of the abundance of the heart the
mouth speaketh (Math. xii, "a; XIV, 1S).
Nothing but the sacrifice of Christ can
! take away our sins or give us clean
heart. No works Of ours can help. 1t Is
| His work alone that does it, and we must
accept it as His gift, as Adam and Eve ac-
cepted the coats of skins which the Lord
Himself provided by the shedding of blood
| (Gen. iii, 81; Rom. vi, 23).
S. "Also I heard the voice Of the Lord
saying, Whom shall send, and who will
| go for us? Then said !, Here am I; send
me-" To bring the time when the earth
shall be filled with the glory Of the Lord
messengers must 60 forth in His name
and proclaim His name and declare His
doings, that He may be exalted Elsa. xii,
| Al. These messengers must be redeemed
people, knowing their sins forgiven, recog-
nizing as their Lord the one living and
true God, who says "Whom shall sendP"
and also the Trinity, who say, "Who will
20 for us?' When we remember that al
though in ourselves utterly unworthy, we
are yet commissioned by King, even the
King of kings, having all power In hoav-
en- and on earth, and that He is In heaven
| for us, ordering and arranging all the de-
tails of the work which He would have US
do, or rather do through us, it gives great
quickness and confidence in His service.
0, 10. "And He said, Go and tell this
people, Then follows a commission
which sounds anything but encouraging,
for he Is told that the people will not per-
ceiye what he is setting before them nor
understand his message. The commission
to jeremiah and Ezekiel was in somewhat
| similar terms (Jer. i, 1919; Eek. iii, 10;
xxxiii, 80 -32). The words Of these verses
| in Isaiah are quoted three times in the
| New Testament (Math. xiii, IA, Is; John
xii, 40; Acts xviii, 80, 27), and also re-
ferred to in Rom. XII, g. When our Lord
sent forth the twelve, Ho said, "Behold /
send you forth as sheep in the midst Of
wolves (Math. X, 16). He afterward taught
| them that not all the seed sown would
bear fruit that tares would grow with the
wheat, that birds would get in the branches
and that the food would become leavened,
| but He also told them for their encourage
ment of the treasure and tho pearl and
| that He had given up all to buy the field
and the pearl. He Is not discouraged, He
shall be satisfied, the kingdom shall be
the Lords and every purpose of the Lord
shall be performed lisa. xiii, 4; lii, IL;
| Obadiah 81: Jer. II, 29).
lib. "Then said I, Lord, how long9"
The Lords purposes seem slow of fulfill
ment, and it oft seems to our eyes like
prolonged and unnecessary delay, but the
time will come when there shall be delay
no longer (Rev. X, 9, r. ", margin), and
we shall see that for all seeming delay
there has been a cause Geek. xiv, 23).
Isaiah was messenger to judah lisa. ],
| d. and our Lord Himself and His apostles
were sent first to Israel, but 1t has como to
pass as Ho said, and Israel has been re-
moved far away and her land is desolate.
| Yet tho Lords portion, faithful rem