The Morris County chronicle., 1904-05-17
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
.AEssoNvIIi, SECOND QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, MAY ~.


by Rev. d. MI stearnn.
acopyight; 1904, by Amesiean Press Association.l
Since last lesson we have passed over
the record Of Luke xvi, 4, to xviii, "a,
the last portion from Luke xviii, Is.
being found also IN Matthew and Mark,
the story Of the empty, helpless. de
pendent little children whom He bless
sed and the rich. young ruler who went
away as be came, full of himself, his
righteousness and his possessions. Tile
Saying stands, ':He hath filed the hum
CRY with good things, and the. rich He
hath sent empty away Luke !, 53) The
disciples einptied themselves of such as
they had for His sake. AS Peter said,
1--WE have left all and have followed
Thee, Mark x, 2S), and our Lord said
that in the regeneration, when He shall
sit in the throne of His glory, they shall
sit upon twelve thrones judging the
stwelve tribes of Israel Matt xix. 2S)
sand that those who forsalze all for His
ssake and the gospels now shall not only
lbaye great reward hereafter, but
shall receive hundredfold Chat is,
10000 per cent? in this present time,
with prosecutions. Yet people think
that good investment which brings
10 per cent. or less and virtually despise
the Lords 10000 per cent.
AS to the prosecutions we may be
called upon to endure, Paul says that
they are not worthy to be compared
with the glory tRom. viii, 18) and that
they all work out for us far more ex-
aceeding and eternal weight Of glory
III. Cor. iy, 10. Our Lord is now on
His way to Jerusalem to offer Himself
"a sacrifice for the sins Of the world.
and for at least the third time He plain
~ foretells what He is about to snf-
fer, but this time little more fully.
He said that He would be Knocked and
spitefully entreated and spitted on and
scourged and crucified, but that the
third day He would. rise again and that
all this was written by the prophets
concerning Him. How strange to reed
that, although this seems to us so plain.
.sThey understand none of these
sthingsr' Compare Matt Xxx, 1919, and
Luke xviii, 3l-34.
we see how little interest they took
in His predicted sufferings. or. rather
that they did not receive d word Of it,
by the fact with which our lesson,
"Opens, that James and John, or, accord
ing to Matthew. their mother for them.
asks that he will do for them whatso-
ever they desire and that is that fhcyi
may sit, one on His right Eand and the
other on His left, in His kingdom
How utterly OUT of sympathy they
were, how lonely He was. NO one un-
derstood Him, not even the disciple
whom He loved. who leaned upon His
bosom. They did not understand be-
cause they did not believe. and only
thus were His sayings hid from them.
Through faith we understand" (IIeb
XII, 81.
Something .seenIingly worse than'even
this request of james and John is re
corded as haNAug occurred on the very
might before His ciueif fxion. He had
eaten the, passover with them and was
speaking of one Of them who should
betray Him when there was strife
among them which of them should be
accounted the greatest (Luke xii, q
24). It seems, an utmost impossible
thing for believers TO get wholly rid of
some self seeking even in Christian
work and to live to exalt the Lord
alone. but ig filed with the Spirit He
will see to It. for He always gloriles
Christ.
Our Lord said, .'Ye know not what ye
ask" (vesse 3Sl We are. apt to be SO
out Of fellowship with Him that even
when we pliaq Iohn xiv. 13. liz we
may be askin1 aniiss. because. He may
see in our hearts some desire for the
honor ofseff or church or REORGANIZATION
or our particular society rather than
His glory olly. His searching question.
'.Can We drink CT the cup that drink
of and be baptized with the baptism
that 4 am baptized witll?" we might
think would have opened their eyes, but
they are Blinded by their ambition and
: thoughtlessly answer, eve can, They
did not receive what He had said about
His suGerings and therefore did not
understand what lie meant by His cup
and baptism. We do well to note how
He looked upon His suffei;ings. speak
ing of them all IN this wise. "Thc cup
which Ay Father hath given Me
lJohn xviii, Ill and we are leaning Il
good lesson when we learn to see Gods|
In everything, seeing people and cir
cumstaAces tiii.ohghi.Goda seeing Jesus
only Aiark tx. s..
find il necessary to emphasize that.
while the precious blood of Christ