The Union times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1894-1918, 1899-08-25
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LEssoN,ix, THIRD QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, AUG. 27.
Text Of the Lesion, Ez. .i.-1-11-Me.n- I.
ory Verses, 2-4-GoIden Text. Ps.
cxxvi, 3--Commentary Prepared by
the Rev. ID. NJ. Stcnrns.

of Persia, that tho word of the Lord by
tho mouth of jeremiah might bo fulfilled,
the Lord stirred up tho spirit of Cyrus"
AL Is done that the Scripture may be fpl-
filled, and the Lord does 1t all. The orcn-
Ing verses of this book arc just tho closing
verses of tho previous book repeated and
therefore confirmed (Gcn. xii, 32) or cs-
tablishcd, that wo may give special nttcn-
tion to them. God had said by Jeremiah
that after 30 years Ho would punish tho
king of Babylon and restore Israel to their
own land (Jcr. XIV, l2; xxx, 10). Hc
had also called Cyrus by na,no moro than
100 years before hc was born md hG:l said
that Cyrus would perform all His pleasure
(Isa. Xiv, 2S; xiv, u.
g. "The Lord God of Heaven hath given
me all the kingdoms Of tho earth, and He
hath charged mo to build Him an house at
Jerusalem" The Most High rulcth in the
kingdom OF men and givcth it towhomso
ever Ho will DAN. iv, 3a). When any
ono, be hc king or peasant, accepts tho po
sition he occupies rs given him by God
and seeks therein TO do the will of God,
he cannot but be blessed, for God Himself
will SEQ to it III Chron. xvi, 0). There ia
a house now being buildCd, even the
church of Cod (Sph. Il, 1929, and every
pastor and teacher and evangelist ard mis-
sionary Is authorized to help build up tho
church, tho body Of Christ.
g. "Who Is thoro among you of oil His
people? His God be with him and let him
20 up TO .Iorlsalcni and build tho house of
tho Lord God of Israel" Here every in
diyiducl who Is willing is commissioned
to go up to Jerusalem and help to build
tho house; go each Individual believer is
commissioned to take part in saying to all
whahavc not yet received Christ that He
loves them, died for their sins and rose
ngain and will receive them ii they will
como to Him (Rev. xii, II; John /, 12;
vi, 3T).
4 ard wIlcsooycr rcmuincth in any
riaco whcro he sojourno.h let the men CT
his place help him" This help was to Ec
with silver, geld, goods, beasts, besides
tic FREQ will Offering for tho house at .Jc-
rusalcm. No enc was compelled to go to
Jerusalem, b those who did net go were
to help those who did go. Sonow no one IS
compelled to 20 as u missionary to foreign
lands; IL must be willing service; but
those who do net go must be ready to Eclp
these who do go with ali that they need.
5. "Thcn rose UP the chief OF the fathers
of Judah and Benjamin, and tho priests,
and tho Levites, with all them whose spirit
God had raised, to go up to build the
house OF the Lord which is in Jcrusulcm.''
Five times in our lesson is the house Of
IL IL tHc tiOtlShl.
Not Jerusalem. nor tho priests, nor Cyrus,
but God and His house. So now the great
Thought III the mind Of every preacher and
worker and every believer should be tho
house OF God-thut is, tho church of Cod
which He hath purchased with His own
blood (Acts SX, 2S}
6. "And all they that wcro about them
strengthened their hands with vessels of
silver, with gold, with goods and with
beasts and with precious things besides,
all willingly offered" 1t must have been
a very great privilege to minister to the
Lord Jesus when He was hero on earth,
but VIC can still minister unto Him Ivy
ministering to His people, specially to
those who go forth in His name to help
complete His body, and Ho will count it
all as donc to Himself (Math. XIV, 40).
z. "Also Cyrus, tho king brought forth
tho vessels of the house Of tho Lord which
Ncbuchadnczzar had brought forth out of
Jerusalem and had put them in the house
of his gods" Because of Isracl's sin God
had suffered the holy vessels of His house
to be carried to Babylon, but Ho had His
eye upon thcm oven when BelshaZzar used
them ut his drunken feast. He suffered
such holy men as Daniel and Ezekiel and
others to be carried into captivity for their
good (Jer. xiv, 81. When speaking of
Israel, He said, ~ have given tho dearly
beloved of my soul into tho hand Of her
enolnies' (Jcr. xii, y. Many redeemed ones
are in greater or less measure in tho hands
of the enemy, and it may bo your privilege
to restore some of these vessels to their
right place in tho house Of tho Lord
s. "Even those did Cyrus, king of Per
sia, bring forth by the hand of Mithredath,
tho treasurer, and numbered them unto
SheshbazZar, the prince Of Judah" All
Israel was numbered by God. All tho
saints are known by name. The Lord
knoweth them that are His, and He says
to each one: "Fcar not, for have re-
deemed thee; I have called thee by thy
namo: thou art mine" Qsa xiii, -. Let
1t comfort you, dear child of God, that you
aro u numbered vessel and that if IIe al
lows you for time to be in the cnemy's
hands He still Carcth for you and will In
duo time show you His dclivcrance (Rcv.
Ii, 10; III Cor. i, 10; III Tim. iv, II, 1s).
g. "And this is the number of them:
Thirty chargers Of gold, a thousand char
gers of silver, nine and twenty knives"
The small number of vessels of gold
compared with those Of silver suggest that
tho most precious vessels arc comparative
ly few, not that ono redeemed soul is of
more value than another, for tho value OF
the precious blood of Christ is the value of
every redeemed soul, but those who aro
willing to DO utterly abandoned to Him,
separate from everything He does not de-
light in, arc comparatively few.
10. "Thirty basons of gold silver basons
Of n second sort four hundred and ten, and
other vessels n thousand There is an.
other helpful lesson of different kind to
be learned from these vessels. If tho
golden vessels be taken to represent tho
most talented or the most used vessels
before people, then to be perfectly happy
to DO n vessel of q second sort or ono Of
tho other thousand not described might