The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1899-08-18
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON WI, THIRD QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, AUG. 20.
Text of the Lesson, Eek. XVII, 1-l2.
Memory Verse, p Golden Text,
Rev. xii, IL - Commentary Pre-
pared by the Rev. ID. Nj. stearns.

Memory Verse, 12- Golden Text,
Rev. xii, IL - Commentary Pre-
pared by the Rev. ID. NJ. stearns.
copyright, 1899, by D. NJ. Stearns.1
l.. "Afterward he brought me again
unto the door of the house, and, behold,
waters issued out from undaf the threshold
of the house eastward. / do not know
how to take the last eight chapters Of
Ezekial otherwise than just as they read,
and therefore expect that there will yet be
temple at Jerusalem answering to this
description and that from this temple lit
eral waters shall flow eastward to the Dead
sea and westward to the Mediterranean,
according to Zech. xiv, 8; that at Jerusa-
lem the Lord will have throne in the
midst of His people, and that the name of
the city will thereafter be The Lord is
There, or Jehovah Shammah (chapters
xiii, y; Xviii, 35) One may say that
there are too many difficulties in the story
to take it SO literally, but can only an
swer that in trying to spiritualize the story
you will make great many more difficult
ties. Now let us receive the spiritual les
sons for our own hearts.
2. "And, behold, there ran out waters
on the right side. - While we expect that
from the temple mountain real waters
shall flow forth the great spiritual lesson
may be found set forth in such passages as
Jer. ii, 10, and John iv, 10, IA. God
Himself is the fountain of living water,
and he who seeks rest of soul elsewhere
will fail to find it.
g. HE measured thousand cubits,
and he brought me through the waters.
The waters were to the ankles" Our first
experience of the enjoyment Of the saliva
ton that is In Christ for us is apt to be
very slight and superficial when compared
with the fullness of that salvation as after
ward revealed to us. / do not mean that
there may not be at the first very great
joy, but it is apt to be joy because of our
own personal salvation because we have
passed from death to life and are sure that
our sins are forgiven.
A. "The waters were to the knees. The
waters were to the loins." Thus the next
two stages found the waters greatly deep
ening and strengthening, suggesting that
as we go on in our spiritual life there is
much for us to learn and enjoy. Perhaps
the analogy that is found In the third,
fourth and seventh chapters of John may
help us to understand it. In the third
SAdPbCL uAOLS 10 VIC llISO bDOD3 VI bAO h0W
birth by water and the Spirit; in the fourth
chapter an advance upon this when the
believer becomes we'll of water, and in
the seventh chapter still further advance
when the believer may become as q river
of water.
6. GA river that could not pass over. I"
Thus our appreciation of the great saliva
ton ever deepens, until, while at first we
H., IL Ill 49,
that we know little about it, or rather
about Him who is our salvation, for it is
all in Him, and nothing apart from Him.
Not until we are gathered with the whole
church, the body of Christ, shall we be
able to comprehend with all saints what are
the breadth and length and ,Aepth and
height of the love of Christ which passeth
knowledge (Eph. ill, Is, 1917.
6. "And he said unto me, Son Of man,
hast thou seen this?" In chapter xl, 4, he
was commanded to behold with his eyes,
hear with his ears and set his heart upon
all that God would show him, to the in
tent that he might declare it. What we
truly see for our own souls benefit we
cannot keep to ourselves. Like Peter and
John, we will say, "That which we have
seen and heard declare we unto you, 1--WE
cannot but speak the things which we
have seen and heard" Il John /, 8; Acts,
iv, 20).
z. "Now, when had returned, behold,
at the bank of the river were very many
trees on the one side and on the other. !"
In Gen. ii, 8, we read that the Lord God
made to grow in Eden every tree that was
pleasant to the eyes and good for food, the
tree Of life also in the midst of the garden.
In Rev. xxi, Q, we read of the tree of life
in the midst of the street and on either
side of the river.
s. "Being brought forth into the sea,
the waters shall be healed" Health is
another rendering of salvation, OF, as in
Ps. Xvii, 2, "Thy saving health" The
Dead sea, whose waters are to be healed,
is suggestive of all who are dead in tres
passes and sins, whether Jew or gentle, a
nation or an individual. "The whole head
is sick and the whole heart faint" Qsa j.,
81, but Jehovah has said, Behold, will
bring 1t health and cure, and will cure
them and will reveal unto them the album
dance of peace and truth" (Jer. xxxiii, 81.
8. every thing shall live whittier the
river cometh." He is the Fountain and
the River, the Tree Of Life and the Fruit
thereof; He is Health, and He is Life
Life eternal is now brought within reach
of all who hear the gospel of the grace of
God and to as many as receive Him is
given the privilege of becoming the chill
dren of God. He that hath the Son hath
life, and he that hath not the Son of God
hath not life (John /, 10; John v, 12).
10. "Their fish shall be according to
their kinds, as the fish of the great sea,
exceeding many" The sea suggests peo-
pies and multitudes and nations and
tongues, as in Rev. xvii, 10, and the fishes
of the sea are suggestive of individuals, as
when the Lord said to the fishermen of
Galilee, "Follow Me, and will make you
fishers of men" (Math iv, 10; Luke v,
10) l expect that we shall some day see
a connection between the 1853 great fishes
of the resurrection draft (John xxi, III
and the 1853, 900 strangers in Israel whom
Solomon used to help him build the tenn
pie (II Chron. ii, II, 1S).
II. "But the miry places thereof and
the marshes thereof shall not be healed.
They shall be given to salt" Not even
in the millennial reign of Christ shall all
be holy. There shall be portions Of earth
not fully blessed and people on earth who
will follow the devil when he comes out Of
the pit at the end Of the thousand years
(Rev. Xxx, 2, 81. Not until the new heay-
ems and earth Of Rev. xxi and xii will
all the earth be free from the curse and
filed with the glory of God.
IL. "The fruit thereof shall be for meat
and the leaf thereof for medicine" There