The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1900-03-16
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON XII, FIRST QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, MARCH fs.


Memory Verses. I5-17--GoIden Text,
Luke v, 27-Commentary Prepared
by the Rev. ID. Nj. Stearna.
Copyright 1900, by d. NJ stearna.l
Is. "And He went forth again by the
seaside, and all the multitude resorted
unto Him. and He taught them" As to
that which He taught them let any one
read all that is written of His teaching
in the four gospels and they cannot fail
to get fair knowledge of the style and
matter of His teaching, and as we read
remember that He is still teaching, the
same Jesus speaks to US in His word by
His Spirit as spoke to the people that
day by the seaside, and if we are only
teachable the Spirit will teach us all
things as Jesus said John xiv, 26; XIV,
20; xvi, 49,. Whenever we see our Lord
by the seashore teaching the people one
can hardly help thinking of IT, work Of
the present age in which His body, the
church, is being gathered from all ma
tions, for waters are suggestive Of ma.
tons (Rev. xvii, 10; Isa viii, q.
IA. Follow Me-" Thus He spoke to
Matthew or Levi, as passing by He saw
him sitting at the receipt of custom. The
account Of this is given in almost the
same words by Matthew and Luke tx, O.;
v, "a. Why He should pass by SO many
others and give distinct call to Mat
thew, the publican, we may not know.
1t is enough for us to know that, CAS- for
God, His way is perfect" FPS. xviii, 30).
He chose Cyrus and Josiah and jeremiah
and John the Baptist and others before
they were born that they might do the
work for which He had appointed them
Known unto God are all His works from
the beginning of the world and also the
people through whom He will accomplish
them (Acts XIV. 1S}. We may infer from
the fact that Levi so promptly arose and
followed Him that he was one of those
who looked for redemption in Israel.
10. Jesus sat at meat in his house."
Luke V, 20, says that Levi made him
great feast in his own house. This indi-
Gates his gratitude for the gracious call
from his Lord and also his desire to hon
or his Lord before his friends and &C.
quaintances. There was doubtless
strange company of saved and unsaved,
of disciples and invited guests and sim
ply curious people, and Jesus had living
bread and water for all who were willing
to receive Him.
16. How is 1t that He eateth and
drinketh with publicans and sinners 2"
These proud, self righteous, blind, fault
finding scribes and Pharisees seem to be
everywhere and ever the same. None
are good or worth knowing or associating
with but themselves. They are very high
caste and deem it a disgrace to fellow
ship with any but their own set. Here
they ask how He can, and in Luke XIV, 2,
they murmur because He does receive
sinners and eat with them. There are
people today who call themselves Chris
tians and who think it a great mistake,
to say the least, to waste so much time
on SO called heather, whether about us or
in distant lands, not knowing that they
themselves may perhaps be in Gods
sight the greater heather.
II. "They that are whole have no need
of the physician, but they that are sick.
| came not to call the righteous, but sin
ners, to repentance" There are none
whole. there are none righteous apart
from Him, but there are many VINO think
themselves righteous and despise others,
and to such He spoke the parable of
Luke xviii, Ola There are those who
themselves DeIOfG men, Out Zoo
knoweth their hearts, and He tells us
that which is highly esteemed among
men is abomination in the sight of God
luke xvi. 15). There are those who
think they are rich and increased with
goods and have need of nothing and do
not know that they are wretched and
miserable and poor and blind and naked
(Rey i'll, III.
40, he .irNIkA nfT oh nd
of the Pharisees fast, but Thy disciples
fast not?' Luke v. 33, says. EAST often
and make prayers" What our Lord
thought of some of their fasting He tells
us in Math. vi, 16. when We fast. be not
as the hypocrites of a sad countenance.
for they dis6gure their faces that they
may appear unto men to fast" If you
would know more of His thoughts con
corning them and their formal worship.
see Math. xiii, and lisa. lviii, 80.
mere form of worship. however correct
and seemingly Jealous it may be outward
ly, if not from the heart unto God through
Jesus Christ and His sacrifice is not ac
cepted.
10. AS long as they have the Bride
groom with them they cannot fast" He
speaks of Himself as the Bridegroom in
the parable of the virgins in Math. XIV
John the Baptist spoke of Him as the
Bridegroom in John ill., 20, and of him
self as the Bridegroom's friend. The name
takes us back to Ps. xix, 5; lisa. Xxi, 10:
xii. 5. and several places in Jeremiah; and
onward to Rev. xix. z; xxi, 8. and TO all the
events associated with His coming again
in glory. Where His own thoughts ran
as He thus spake we might like to know
Did they go back TO the first bridegroom
and bride who were typical of Himself
and His church tEph. V. ii, 32l?
30 The days will come when the
Bridegroom shall be- taken away from
them. and then shall they fast In those
days" A sample of this is seen in the
sorrow that filed their hearts when il
began very feebly to dawn upon them
that He was really going away tJohn
xvi ., 81 and in the sadness of heart
that filed the two who walked to EN-
maus that resurrection day luke xiv,
10. One of the very strange things of
today is that 50 many Christians seem
well content TO have Him away and TO
have Him stay away and care nothing
for His return and His marriage and His
kingdom, not knowing that His Kingdom
cannot come till the church is completed
aud gone and returns with Him.
81. -. This parable of the new and
the old, the new cloth on the old gar
ment and the new wine in the old bot
ties. teaches al least this much-that the
old natural man cannot receive the things
of God and that our Lord does not take
natural man and try to patch him up
into new man, but makes a new man
f,rl f,tt iln oh aa N