Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1901-04-20
international gessol1,
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON ", SECOND QUARTER, INTER.
NATIONAL SERIES, APRIL 20.

Text of the Lesson. John. x1, 1913.
Memory Verses. 10, 20-Golden Text,
John XIX, 29-Commentary Prepared
by the Rev. ID. NJ. StearRs.
copyright, 1901, by American Press Association
10. Jesus stood in the midst and saith
unto them, Peace be unto you" This
was on the evening of the resurrection
day. while the disciples were gathered TO-
gether, with the doors shut for fear Of
the Jews, listening to the testimony Of
the two with whom He had walked to
Emmaus, when suddenly Jesus Himself
stood iu the midst, with those blessed
words, peace be unto you," which He al
so repeated little later (vcrse 2l). Com
pare His "Be Of good cheer BE not
afraid" in peace" tMath. ix. =. %; xiv,
27;Luke vii, so; viii, 49,, and remember that
He is the Prince Of Peace, He has made
peace for us by the blood Of His cross,
all His thoughts to us arc thoughts OF
peace He is our peace. He will keep III
perfect peace all whose minds are staid
on Him. and it is our privilege to let
the peace of God rule in our hearts lisa.
ix, 6; Col. i, 20; Jer. xxx. IL: Eph. ii. II;
Isa. XVI. 3; Col. iii, 15). This seems to
me to have been His fifth appearance,
counting as follows: To Mary, to the 9TH
er woman, to Peter, to the two who
walked to Emmaus, and now to the dis
ciples gathered together. And as the first
fifth in Scripture is associated with abun-
dance (Gen. i, 20-23). as also in Josephs
kindness to Benjamin, and the FIVE loaves
which so abuadanttly fed the 5000, etc.
20. ."rhen were the disciples glad when
they saw the Lord At first they were
terrified and affrighted. but He showed
them His hands and His feet and invited
them to handle Him and see that He was
not a spirit, as they had supposed. | e1-
pect He says to us many time, why
are We troubled? And why do thoughts
arise in your hearts?" Luke xiv. 31-4O
and if We would only see Him and be-
lieve His love toward us we would lose
our troubled thoughts Il John iv. IL;
John xiv, 1, 20. We learn from the pas
sage in Luke just quoted that our resur-
rection bodies will be tangible aud mate
rial, for ours shall be like His Phil. iii.
21), and His was flesh and bones and
could be handled and could eat uuke
xiv, IL, 42). Those who die have gain,
but they still wait for the resurrection
body.
2i. "Then said Jesus to them again:
Peace be unto you. AS My Father hath
sent Me. even so send | YOU" In His
prayer to His Father He said. LAS Thou
hast sent Me into the world even so have
I also sent them into the world" tJohn XVII.
1S). More than 80 times in this gospel
He speaks of Himself. or is spoken of.
as sent by the Father. He said to Moses.
"Come now. therefore. and | will send
thee unto Pharaoh" and to Gideon. Go
in this thy might: have not | sent thee"
and to Jeremiah, Thou shalt 80 to all
that | shall send thee. and whatsoever
command thee thou shalt speak" lex. iii.
10; Judges vi. ID: Jer i. ..
%, 23 "He breathed on them and saith
unto them, Receive We the Holy Ghost
Some are perpleXed about the disciples
being commissioned to remit or retain
sins, but notice that the power given to
Peter in Math. xvi. 10, is here given to
all who were gathered together. All be-
levers are commissioned to go In His
name proclaiming the remission Of sins
to all who will accept Him (Rev. xii. IL;
Acts xiii. 3S, 39). AS to receiving the
Holy Ghost, one has said, at does not
appear that the Holy Ghost did now
come upon them. This seems to have been
symbolic act representing that which
actually took place Oh the day Of Pente-
cost" All believers are temples Of the
Holy Ghost. and He is in every believer.
1ol mi ia
the privilege Of ALL it is to be feared il
the experience of but few Il Cor. vi. ID,
20; John xiv. II: Eph. v. lS).
"a, 25. "We have seen the Lord
Thus said the others to Thomas. who
was not with them when Jesus appeared
on that first evening, but his reply was,
Except l shall see. | will not believe
There was no simplicity Of faith here.
Not only did he doubt the word Of his fel-
low disciples. but, like them, he did not
believe the word Of our Lord Himself
that He would rise from the decd. We
all need, and need often. the word Of our
Lord. 20 ye Of little faith" How much
Thomas missed by not being with the
others that resurrection evening! a
whole week Of doubt and darkness was
one of the results.
26, q. "Be not faithless. but believ-
Ing" The next first day Of the week.
the disciples being again gathered. and
Thomas with them. Jesus again appears
with His great greeting. peace be unto
you" No one had told Him what Thorn
as had said, yet see how He exactly
meets Thomas difficulty compare verse
26. He knows the things that come into
our mind, every one Of them. and there is
not a word in our tongue but He knows
it altogether (Ezek. ri. 5; Ps. cxxxix. ~.
How careful this should make us con-
cerning even our thoughts, for the
thought Of foolishness is sin prov. xiv.
81.
2S my Lord and my God" The look
Of Christ and the word Of Christ were
enough. We do not read that Thomas
put his finger into the print of the nails
In order to be convinced. as he thought
he would need to do. A word from Christ
Himself did it all. but it was sight that
did 1t. He saw and believed. and his
heart then cried, my Lord and my
God" Does your heart thus cry out as
you see Him by faith wounded for your
transgressions and bruised for your iniq-
uities, or has He still occasion to upbraid
you for your unbelief and hardness Of
heart because you will not believe His
message nor His messengers? Mark xvi.
14.)
90. Jesus saith unto him: Thomas. be-
cause thou hast seen Me thou hast be-
lieved. Blessed are they that have not
seen and yet have believed" The one
thing He asks us to do is to believe just
what He says concerning the past. the
present or the future. 1t may seem as
unlikely as that Noah. living perhaps far
from any water. would ever need yes.
sci to save his household. but it is enough
for faith that God says or commands. 1t
Is ours to believe and obey. Do accept
the Son Of God as my Saviour. putting
eli za.z +.uc+ ;, He nron;n,,S blood shal