Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1898-12-24
Snternatiuma1 gessat1s.
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON u, FIRST QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, JAN. 8.
Text Of the Lesson, John !, 35-46-Mem-
ory Verses, 35-37-Golden Text, John 1,
s8-Commentary Prepared by the Rev.
ID. M. Stearns.

ID,
stood, and two Of his disciples, and look
ing upon Jesus as He walked, he saith,
Behold tho Lamb of God" John was
preaching and baptizing in Bethabara, be-
yond Jordan, and spoke Of Jesus as one
standing among them whom they knew
not. The next day he seeth Jesus coming
unto him and saith, Behold the Lamb OF
God, which taketh away the sin Of tho
world" (vcrse 29). The next day Of this
verse therefore was a third day in tho
story. He does not now speak Of taking
away sin, but only of Him who takes 1t
away. He Himself must occupy our at.
tcntion, not as mortal man, but US Ho
who, having purgcd our sins, Is at God 8
right hand, o risen immortal man, who
was and Is and is to come. The phrase
"as He walked makes US think of Him
as He walked In the garden Of Eden In tho
cool Of the day, for Ho is the same Lord
God who said to Adam, Where art thou9'
and who has ever been seeking the fellow.
ship of man since first He created him in
His own image.
81. And the two disciples heard him
speak and they followed Jesus" When
we, as His witnesses, so speak that those
who hear will follow Him, it Is we'll, but
II they follow us it is not well, for there Is
no man worth following except in so far
as he follows Christ. When He is by us
lifted up, He will draw unto Himself, and
He was lifted up on the cross that all who
look unto Him might be saved.
49, Rabbi, where dwellest thou?" AS
Jesus turned and said, What seek yer"
this was their reply. / think He Is al
ways saying that to us every day that we
live. What seek ye in the house OF God
on His holy dayp What seek ye In His
book when ye read it, or when We read any
other book2 What seek ye in your daily oc-
cupation in home or store or office on land
or sea, ut home or abroadY Is your an
swcr like that of the Greeks, we would
see JcsusY" II SO. He is always rendy to
reveal Himself to such, but it Is In the old
way of Sam. iii, 2l-"The Lord revealed
Himself to Samuel by the word Of tho
Lord" Where dwcllest thoup might be
answered by Isa Xvi, 3 and lvii, l5, HE
dwells In the lowly heart where there is a
broken and contrite spirit.
49, HE saith unto them, Come and sec
They came and saw where He dwelt and
abode with Him that day, for 1t was about
the tenth hour" 1t was about the sixth
hour when before tho crucifixion on that
same morning Pilate said, Behold your
King" (John xix, -.l4), and as He was
crucified at 9 a. m., as we reckon time 1t
must have been q q. III. when PLATE said
those words At the same hour of the day He
talked with the woman at the well John
iv, 81. Supposing that John uses tho same
reckoning in all his gospel, it must have
been 10 q. H., when the two disciples went
with Jesus.
40. lone of the two which heard John
speak and followed Him was Andrew,
Simon Peters brother" 1t Is probable
that the other of the two was John, tho
author OF this gospel There is an incident
in each of the other gospels in which the
writer probably refers to himself as the
unnamed party. Woare sure that it was 30
in the case of Matthew. See Math. TX, 10,
and compare Luke V, go The Others are
Mark xiv, 81; Luke xiv, IS. But 1t is
Jesus whom we must see, not John or
Andrew or Matthew, Mark or Luke.
Al. He first 1lndcth his own brother
Simon and saith unto him, We have found
the Messias which is, being interpreted,
the Christ BY the testimony Of John
and the teaching Of Jesus Andrew was
convinced that Jesus was indeed Israel 8
long promised Messiah, and he hastens to
tell the glad tidings to his own brother.
42 And he brought him to Jesus, and
when Jesus behold him He said, Thou are
Simon, the son of iona" He Herewith
gave him a new name, Cephas, which
means stone. He did not need to be In
troduced to him to be told who he was,
for He knew all men, and He knew what
was in man (John Ii, "a, 25). There Is
much pretty talk about Jesus which does
not bring Him to the heart as the one al
together lovely, nor does 1t bring people to
Him rs tho only one who can meet the
souls need by taking away our sins.
43. THE day following Jesus would 90
forth into Galilee, and tinduth Philip, and
saith unto him, Follow Me" We seem to
have set before us the events Of consecu-
tive days, and if so this would be the
fourth day of this series. Why He should
90 and seek Philip we do not know, but
He knew, for He always knows just what
He is doing and why He Is doing 1t, and
some day we shall SEQ that He has never
done without cause anything that He has
done (John vi, 6; Ezck. xiv, 23).
A. Now Philip was Of Bethsaida, the
city of Andrew and Peter" Perhaps the
three, with James and Iohn were ALL
like Simeon and Anna, looking for the
promised Messiah The eyes Of the Lord
run to and fro throughout the whole earth
to show Himself strong on behalf OF those
whose hearts arc perfect toward Him (11
Chron. xvi, 81.
IS. philip flndeth Nathaniel and saith
unto him, We have found Him OF whom
Moses in the law and the prophets did
write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son Of Jo-
seph." These men were students Of
prophecy They had probably talked many
a time OF Him of whom we read in Gen.
iii and xix, in the prophecies of Balaam,
in Deut xviii and xxxii, in Ps. IL and
lxxii, in Isa. TX and xl, in Jer. xiii and
Ezek. xxxvii and, in fact, everywhere.
As. And Nathaniel said unto him,
Can there any good thing como out Of
Nazarethp Philip saith unto him, Come
and see." When he came and saw and
heard Him for himself, then he cried,
rabbi, Thou art the Son of God, Thou art
the King Of Israeli (verse 49). Micah had
said that the Messiah would be born at
Bethlehem. Hosea said He would come
out Of Egypt. jeremiah said He would
reign ut Jerusalem, but where was 1t ever
said that Ho would come from Nazarethf
Nathaniel was impressed with the thought
that no was speaking to ono who saw him
when he evidently thought that no mortal
eve bcheld him. Perhaps under that fig
tree ho was colnmuning with God. Jesus
surprises him still further by telling him
hereafter he would SEQ still greater things,
even an opened heaven, and the angels OF
God ascending and descending upon the