The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1898-03-16
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL,
LESSON XII. FIRST QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, MARCH 20.


NATIONAL SERIES. MARCH 20.
Text NJ the Lesson. Math. xiv, 1-12-Mem-
DRY Verses. 6-iO--Golden Text. Prov. iv
a3 - Commentary by the Rev. ID. n.
stesrns.
Copyright 1897. by ID. NJ. Stearns.l
1. AT that time Herod the tetrarch
heard of the fame of Jesus In Mark
vi, IA. it is written that His name was
spread abroad, and in Luke TX, z, it Is said
that Herod was perplexed because that it
was said of some that John was risen from
the dead The context i'm Mark and Luke
would indicate that it was about the time of
the sending forth of the twelve 1t seems
To me that the heart thought for us Is that
something of the words and works of Jesus
! by some means reached Herod III we are
redeemed by His blood, IL is that through
, us the fame of Him may be far and wide
made known. He brought Israel out OF
Egypt, dividing the waters of the Red sea,
leading them through the desert and dry
ing up Jordan before them to make His
glorious name known, that the many
might be blessed i'm Him lisa xiii, IL, IA;
Joshua iv, pa.
2 And said unto His servants This is
John the Baptist; he is risen from the
dead, and therefore mighty works do shew
! forth themselves in him." 1t is said in
Mark vi, 20, that Herod heard John glad
! ly and did many things, knowing that he
was just and holy man, but as neither
| hearing nor doing will avail unless Christ
| is actually received into the heart Il John
/ V, 12; John i, 12) Herod's knowledge
did not profit him. His evil doings would
not suffer him to turn unto God Hos. v,
! ~.
g. "For Herod had laid hold on John
and bound him and put him in prison for
Herodias' sake, his brother Philips wife
] These are among the seemingly strange
things. That God who controls all things,
even the devil, for there can be nothing
J beyond His control, should permit Joseph
J to be stolen, sold into slavery, falsely ac-
cused and imprisoned David to be hunted
as partridge upon the mountains; .Jere-
miah to know the horrors of the dungeon
mire, and John the Baptist His own her
| aid, none greater born of woman (Math.
! XII, ID, to suffer imprisonment and death.
4. For John said unto him, 1t is not
| lawful for thee to have her" Therefore,
| for his faithfulness, he is put in prison.
| Would IL have been better for him to have
said nothing about this sin? Might he
have said 1t is no affair of mine? They are
the children of the devil anyway, and to
him they are going whether Herodias lives
with Herod or with Philip? Some would
say So and there are no doubt many things
in which we are to take no part, as they
are not given TO us to NEEDLE with, but in
this case John was brought face to face
with the sin, and either had to be blind to
| it for peace's sake or speak faithfully for
Christ's sake.
3. "And when he would have put him
to death he feared the multitude, because
they counted him as prophet" How full
Of fears this wretched specimen of self in
dulgent humanity was He feared the
woman under whose control he had placed
himself for lust s sake. He feared the peo-
pie over whom he was placed, and he evil
IDENTIFY feared the hereafter for he did
many things, and would doubtless have
done more If such doing would have made
him sure of heaven without requiring him
To give up his darling sin.
8, T. But when Herod's birthday was
kept the daughter of Herodias danced be-
fore them and pleased Herod. Whereupon
he promised with an oath to give her
|
and birthdays must be kept, the entertain
ment business must go on, no matter
what becomes of Christ or His heralds. We
are sure that He was not invited to this
feast, and neither was His faithful John
| This was like Belshazzar' S feast, the devil S
own and he knew what he was up to. He
was running this thing TO accomplish his
purpose. How well he enabled that poor
goddess girl to dance that day! How he
enabled her to captivate the sinful heart of
Herod and to lead him in his excitement
to make her this great promise, and all to
secure the death of John
| s. And she, being before instructed of
her mother, said, Give me here John Bap-
| lists head in charger" We read in ii
Chron. xxi, 3, concerning a certain king
that Ibis mother was his counselor to do
wickedly" We know also that Rebekah
was neither her own friend nor her son s
when she counseled him to lie To his ia
ther. Lying and deceit have the same au-
| thor as lust, and envy, and hatred, and
murder Let us resist the devil lest he use
even us as he did Simon Peter. when he
said, PITY Thyself, Lord" (Math. XVII %,
margin).
.. And the king was sorry neverthe-
less for the oath's sake and them which
sat With MIN at meat, ne commanded III TO
| be given her" His honor before his guests
was at stake and he dared not show him
self man. Perhaps there was no man in
him. 1t may have been all beast, all carnal
of the lowest kind. He could truthfully
have said cannot give what Is not mine
and human life Is not in my power to give
or take. That, however, was too noble for
such creature, and he dared not go
| against Herodias We have ell had other
masters; can we now truly say, lone is
my Master, even Christ, whose l am and
whom / server"
10. And he sent and beheaded John in
the prison" Not long before John had
sent messengers to Jesus inquiring If He
was the Christ, or If there was yet another
to be looked for. Jesus wrought miracles
and sent the messengers to tell John what
they had seen and heard and added,
Blessed is he whatsoever shall not be
offended in Me" Chapter XII, g.. We have
no record that Jesus ever went to see him.
Now is heard the tramp of feet. Some one
is coming to see him. Is 1t the Lord and
MasterS His cell door swings open. He is
wanted, not for earth, but for heaven. In
moment it Is over, for the damsel awaits
her gift and angels and redeemed spirits