The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1905-02-28
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL
INTERNATIONAL LESSON COMMENTS
FOR MARCH $.

Subject: Jeans at THO Feast of Tabernaclest
John vii.s s7-z6-Golden Text, JOHN
viii, 46-Me1nory Verse, 3z~-Cominen- 5
tary on the Day'n Lesson.
1. Christ teaching in the temple Tvs. 81
39). During the closing days Of the feasa
great opposition was stirred up against
Jesus, and the Jewish rulers sent of6cefr
to apprehend Him, but notwithstanding
this He taught boldly in the temple 81.
Last day" There Is a difference of opin-
ion as to whether this was the seventh on
eighth day of the feast Edersheim thinks
it was the seventh day, which was really
the last day of the feast. The eighth day Z
was kept as Sabbath, when there was no
ceremony of drawing water from Sloan.
Jesus stood" In the temple court, prob.
ably In Solomon's porch. And cried.
4 Spoke with voice loud enough SO all could
hear. If any man thirst" 1t was burn
ing autumn weather, when the sun had
for months shone in a cloudless sky, and
the early rains were longed for. Water at
all times is a magic word in sultry eli
! mate like Palestine, but at this moment it
| had a double power. The ceremonies of
4 pouring water commemorated that part Of
the wilderness wanderings when the pec-
4 pie were suffering from a terrible thirst,
and Moses at Gods command brought
water for them from the rock mum, 20.
LID. Now Jesus invites all who were
suffering from spiritual thirst, like the
burning thirst of the people IN the desert.
/ Thirst is emblematical of spiritual necessi.
| ties; an intense need and desire for par
don, for help, for righteousness, for love,
for peace, for comfort. for God, for a
worthy life, for immortal life. Let him"
Freely and without hesitancy or reserve.
Come" A very precious invitation. This
| word ought to come with great force to
every soul thirsting after spiritual life. To :
come to Jesus is to believe on Him, to ac-
cept His teachings, to repent of our sins,
~ ;old 10 10 e11hu
Him fully. Unto Me and drink" HenS
we see the absolute sufficiency of Christ
fer all human need. Jesus confronts the
sin and misery and heartache of the world 4
and deliberately declares that He is the
panacea for it all,
So. aHe that believeth." To believe has
the same meaning as to come, as used in
the preceding verse. Scripture hath
said" The reference is not to any one pas
sage, but to many passages and promised
Eek. 7:I-l2, etc, "Out of his belly" The
innermost part Of man, the soul, the heart.
Shall flow" This clearly implies some-
thing received that it may flow from the
recipient unto others Rivers" Denot'
ing abundance, freeness, continued supply
in contrast with the small. golden pitcher
used IN the ceremony OF pouring water4
Living water. Pure, running water,
ever-howing streams; the opposite of stag
nant, .malarious, poisonous water; also life4
giving water (chap. 4:l0). The gospel OF
Christ, which is the truth of God received
into the heart by the Spirit, brings life,
health and JOY.
49, This spake He" This is Johns
explanation Of Christ's words. "Of the
Spirit, etc. The Holy Spirit and His in
auences were the living waters, abundant,
free, purifying, bringing life, health, saliva
ton to the SOUL as water to the thirsty,
as rain to the parched earth, and making
every Christian source of the same inf1u-
ences which he has received from the Holy
Spirit. This is prophecy Of the DISPENSE
tion OF the Spirit which was to commence
with the outpourning of the Spirit on the
day of Pentecost, and continue through
the ages tlll all the world is brought to
Christ. We need to lay more emphasis in
our day upon this wonderful gift, both for
our individual growth and usefulness and
tor the salvation of the. world. mot yet
gwen. The dlspensation of the Spirit
had not been ushered in. and He had not
yet been poured out upon the hearts of bee
hevers in all His fulness. This cann0s
mean that the Spirit did not exist and
was in no sense present with believers IN
the Old Testament dispensation.
ii. Different opinions concerning Christ
Tvs. 4O-4S(. 49, Many said !" Those
who heard the powerful declarations Of
Jesus knew that He was more than an ofi-S
binary man. The prophet" Referring to
the great prophet predicted by Moses
tl(Cub. &C. 4OJs WHOM SOME lQGOLlueU WlEH
the Messiah, and others supposed would
be the forerunner of the Messiah" From
the next verse we see that here He was
distinguished from the Messiah Al
Others said" etc. These believed Jesus
to be the Messiah-the Chriat, the Anoint-
ed One-whom all pious Jews were expect
ing at this period, and to whom their re-
lig1ous rites all pointed; though for the
most part they were expecting only a tenn
poral King or Redeemer. "0ut Of Galilee;;'
Christ seemed to them to come from Cali
lee, because His early home was there and
much Of His ministry had been there
AZ. The Scripture said, etc. The Jews
knew that the Messiah was to be of the
family Of David (Psa. 1921; Isa 9:6, Z;
ll:l-5; Jer. 1850 and was to be born in
Bethlehem (Mic. 5:2; Sam. 1871 S, 49,;
but they did not know that in Christ these
Scriptures were fulfilled. All the trouble
with this argument was that they did not
take care to ascertain the facts. Their quo
tatlons of Scripture were an argument in
favor of Jesus being the Messiah for He
fulfilled the Scriptures. Many another ar
glment against religion is of this same ma
ture. Men set up caricature Of religion,
and arguing against that really presents
arguments in favor Of true religion as it
e IN the gospel Where David was"
David was born in Bethlehem and lived
there until he was called into the service
OF Saul, IsraePs king. 43. "A division
It means serious and possibly violent d.
vision
III. The Jews seek His arrest Tvs. 90.
49,. A. Some of them Some Of the
people, provoked by the controversy would
on their own responsibility have carried
Him before the Sanhedrin. The reference
here is not to the officers But no man.
ETC. Not even those who had been com
manded to do it (see vs.. 80, 45). They.
were fettered on the one hand BY feari on
the adherents Of Jesus and on the other by
the secret power Of God, impressing them
with an Involuntary awe, so that they
dared not proceed
50. "The officers" Not Roman soldiers,
but temple police, answering to the mod
ern constable They had been directed by
the members Of the Sanhedrin to arrest
Jesus ". 32l why etc. The officers
had returned without fulfilling their mis-
sion, and the authorities were chagrined.
40. Never man SO spakes Or. w Christ
spake (I with authority: (2) with direct
ness to mems hearts; 80 with power; (4)
clearly and distinctly
Artificial Rubies.