The free press. (Poplarville, Miss.) 1890-19??, 1901-06-13
THE SABBATH SCHOOL
INTERNATIONAL LESSON COMMENTS
FOR JUNE Is.

LAY LtbsOHs
o. 81 John" John, the author of this
book was st. John. the apostle, the son
of Zebedee, the beloved disciple. and the
author of the four other books of the New
Testament that bear his name. Your
brother" A member of the family of
God a Christian. Companion" Part
ner." (R W 'In tribuiation" A word
derived from the threshng of wheat. 1t
took hard blows of sorrow and persecution
to separate the chaff from the wheat.
John was at this time an exile for Jesus's
sake, and had all the reasons other perse-
cuted Christians had for being discouraged.
'In the kingdom" He was a member of
Christ's kingdom, which was in time to
triumph over every enemy. Patience"
Meelxly bearing all sufferings for the sake
of his Lord and Master. "Patmos." This
island is in the Aegean Sea, about seventy
miles southwest OF Ephesus. "For the
this lonely place because he was faithful
in expounding and obeying the word OF
God, and because he testified about Jesus.
John was the only apostle who died nat
ural death; that is, if he ever did die, for
John Wesley and others believe that he
was translated John survived all of the
other apostles whole generation. At the
time he wrote the Apocalypse. Paul and
the other apostles had been dead thirty
years. hence John was truly the patriarch
of the apostolic age.
TO- "In the Spirit" Under the infu..
ence of the Spirit, and filled and quickened
by the Spirit. "The Lords day. The
day made sacred to all Christians for all
time by the resurrection of Jesus from the
dead. 1t was the day of light and saliva
ton. John arrived in Patmos late Satur-
day evening, spent the night in prayer,
and with the opening Sunday morning the
glorifed Savior opened heaven to his vi.
sion. Why is our Sabbath the first day
of the week? We see here the apostles
sanctity, called it the Lords day. BE
hind me-" etc. This was his first intima-
ton of the presence of Christ.
H. @Alpha and Omega" These are the
first and last letters of the Greek alpha
bet. This is fgurative expression, used
to show that Christ was "the source and
the consummation' of all things. He is
seest." The prophetic vision that was re-
vealed to him on that Lords day. "a
book A ,parchmental roll. Seven
churches" "Seven" denotes perfection.
Doubtless there were hundreds of churches
in Asia Minor at that time. The reason
why seven only are mentioned is because
the church is the bride of Christ, and
seven is the sanctifed number always rep
resenting Christ. Four represents hui
manity, as man is the king of the world,
specified by the cardinal points, north,
south, east and west Three represents di-
vinity-Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Christ
is both man and God; therefore. seven
symbolizes Christ. GIN Asia" This Asia
does not have reference to the continent
of Asia, nor to Asia Minor, but to small
province in Asia Minor called Asia, OF
which Ephesus was the capital. "Ephe-
sus." Mentioned first because the church
here was the largest and most important.
r. "The voice" He turned to see who
Il was that spoke, the word voice" being
used d., to signify the person person. Sg peak
Pill Lampstands would be a better term.
l3. 'In the midst" Showing Christ's
presence among His people: The Son OF
man." Compare Dan. 7: Is. This term
is used here because His glory might hide
from view His oneness of sympathy with
His people. "A garment" This IS de-
high priest: Jesus is our high priest in
heaven. "Girt-golden girdle." He was
grit around the breast (R. W as "a sign
OF kingly repose" 1t represented "the
breastplate of the high priest, on which
the names of His people are engraven."
a. "White like wool" Wool is sup
posed to be an emblem of eternity. The
glory With Christ, His hoary head was
no sign of decay. Compare Dan. 7: @; 10:
g. The whiteness, three times mentioned
(white, white wool, snow), is greatly IN
tensiied, and denotes unlimited age, even
eternity. ellis eyes," etc. This certities
His omniscience. The eye is the great re,
ceptacle of knowledge, and symbolizes all
the senses.
Is. FURNISHED brass" (R. W This de-
notes His stability and strength. His feet
are like brass when in the furnace and sub
jected to very great heat His feet were
''strong and steadfast, supporting His own
interest subduing. His enemies and tread
ing them to powder" His voice. De
scribed the same in Eek. 43: 2. He will
make Himself heard; it is commanding
voice that must be obeyed; it is terrible
in its denunciation of sin.
IS. ''In His right hand" The fright
hand" is an emblem of power. Seven
stars" These stars are the faithful preach,
ers of the gospel. ga sharp two-edged
sword" His word, which both wounds
and heals, and strikes at sin on the right
hand and on the left. This wonderful
sword has two edges, sharp as Gods light
ning-the edge that saves and the edge
that destroys Compare Heb A: II; Eph. 8:
II. The sharpness of the sword represents
the searching power of the word. AS the
sun" We know of nothing brighter than
the sun shining in its strength Christ Is
the true light. John l. 9.
too bright and dazzling for mortal eyes to
behold, and John was completely overpow-
cred with the glory in which Christ APP
peared. Compare Eek l.; %; Dan. 8: IL;
Fright hand upon me-" His hand of
power and protection, in which the
churches were held. Fear not" There
is no occasion to fear when in the presence
" IS. "The living One" (R. W The
source of all hse-the One who possesses
absolute life in Himself. Il was dead" L
became a man and died as man; l am
the same One you saw expire on the cross.
81 am alive" Having broken the bands
of death, | am alive for evermore. :,
"The keys" An emblem of power and
authority. "Of death and of hades" Or.
w Hades is compound Greek word,
meaning the unseen world, and including
both heaven and hell. Gehenna is the
Greek word which always means hell, and
nothing else Christ has power over life,
death and the grave.
10. (Which thou hast seen" The WIS.,
ions he has Just seen. (Which are" The
actual condition of the seven churches.
See chaps 2 and 3. (Which shall be-" In
the future of the church.
N.sE ha TO