Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1898-10-12
9nternational gessal1s.
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON ", FOURTH QUARTER, IN
TeRNATlONAL SERIES, OCT. 20.

-~'--p
Verses, 5-S- Golden Text, lisa. vi, 8.
Commentary Prepared by the Rev. d.
NJ stearns.
Copyright 1898, by D. NJ. Stearns.l
l. "In the year that King Uzziah died I
saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne,
high and lifted up, and His train filled tho
temple" Although King Uzziah died a
lepcr, yet his life as d whole was fright In
the sight of tho Lord''GI Chron. XVI, 4).
There is King 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 none other
than the Son of God whom Isaiah saw
John xii, 41). Ezekiel was qualified for
service by vision of tho Lord as man
upon tho throne (Ezek. !, 26).
3. 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. l am persuaded that the
cherubim represent the church, the body
of Christ, as part of Himself, one with
Him in His glory and power when the
kingdom shall have come. The seraphim
burning ones) may possibly be Identical
with cherubim. Compare Rev. iv with
this chapter.
3. 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 xi, 9; Mum. xiv, 21;
Hab. II, II. There Is no self praise In
heaven, but all unto in glorifying 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. !, 20, 81; lisa. ii. II, ~.
4. "And the posts Of tho door moved at
the voice of him that cried and the house
was filled with smoke" In Ex. xix, 1S;
lisa. iv, 5, 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 filled
with His glory at their dedication (Ex. Il,
81; Kings viii, 10, 1D.
5. "Then said /, Woe is mel for / am
undone." AS the prophet saw the King
in His glory he was filled with sense OF
his own unworthiness. Compare Job Kill,
5, 6; Dan. <, 8; Rev. /, II. To serve the
Lord as we should we must not only be
filled with sense of His worthiness, but
also with a deep sense of our own un-
,e,l~ ~
tho power of God is to do the work. Not
any might or powerof ours, but His Spirit.
This is His way Il Cor. II, 4, 8; Zech. iv, g..
8. "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 us, when He shed His own blood
for our SINS gave Himself a sacrifice for
sin once for all The golden altar speaks
of His present work of interoession 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
purgcd." The mouth suggests the heart,
for out of tho abundance of the heart the
mouth speaketh (Math. xii, "a; XIV, lS).
Nothing but the sacrifice Of Christ can
take away our sins or give us clean
heart. No works Of ours can help. 1t ls
His work alone that does 1t, and we must
accept it as His gift, as Adam and Eve ac-
copied 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 l send, and who will
20 for us? Then said I, Here am /; send
mo-" To bring the time when the earth
shall be flllod with the glory Of the Lord
messengers must go forth in His name
and proclaim His name and declare His
doings, that He may be exalted lisa. xii,
~. 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
70 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 heaV-
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
auickness and confidence in His service.
o, 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-
ceive what he is setting before them nor
understand his message. The commission
to jeremiah and Ezekiel was in somewhat
similar terms (Jer. j, l7-19; Eek. Ill, 7-9;
xxxiii, 30.32). The words of these verses
in Isaiah arc quoted three times in the
New Testament (Math. xiii, IA, Is; John
xii, 40; Acts xviii, 26, 27), and also re-
ferred to in Rom. ii, s. When our Lord
sent forth the twelve, He said, behold I
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 thom for their encourage
ment of the treasure and the 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 Elsa. xiii, 4; I'LL, II;
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, 6, R. w., margin), and
we shall see that for all seeming delay
there has been cause (Ezek. xiv, 23).
Isaiah was messenger to Judah lisa. J.,
y, and our Lord Himself and His apostles
were sent first to Israel, but it has come to
pass as He said, and Israel has been re-
moved far away and her land is desolate.
Yet the Lords portion, faithful rem
nant, has always been in Israel, even In
her worst days, and shall yet burst forth
into much life to tho glory of God. When
tho trees cast their leaves, they seem to be