The Tupelo journal., 1905-04-07
THE RAISING OF
LAZARUS
Sunday School Lesson Tor April 9. 1905
Specially Prepared for This Paper.
Specially Prepared for This Paper.

LESSON TExT.-John 11:S2:45; Memory
verses, 1896. Read all OF the chapter.
GOLDEN TExT.-"Jesus said unto her,
! am the resurrection and the life. john
LIS.
TIME.-January or February, A. ID. 30
About three months after last Sundays
lesson, and about two months before Jesus
c~rucifixion.
PLACE.-The message of Lazarus sick.
ness came to Jesus while He was at Beth.
abra in Perea. beyond Jordan, where Johr
had baptized Him. Compare John l0:4o
with 1:28.) Lazarus home was in Beth
any, on the Mount of Olives, near Jerusa.
lem.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES.-The res.
direction: John IL; 5:21-29; 6:39, A; 14:19;
Rom. $40. IL; / Cor. Is; 6:14; 2 Cor. Ala;
5:1-5; l Thes. 4:14-17; Phil. 1921; 2 Tim. ITO
It's Moral Application: Rom. 6:4-11, 49,;
Cor. 4:l0. IL; Col. PIP; l Pet. 3:1S-21; 2 Tim.
2:11, IL.
VI. Then said Jesus unto them again.
Interpreting and applying and making
palmer the parable He had spoken and
which they did not understand. 81 am
the door of the sheep" The door sym.
bolizes the means Of entrance, by which
he flock can get into the fold, with its
safety, shelter, food and care. Com
pare the narrow way and strait gate OF
Matt. Z: IA.
V. 8. "All that ever came before
Me-" Claiming to be the Messiah, the
Deliverer and to give to the sheep an
entrance to the fold and all that a true
shepherd gives. Are thieves" Who
gain their booty by craft. And robbers"
Who gain their booty by force, suggest.
ing organized bands. Those two mon
osyllables express the precisely accu.
rate contraries of right character in the
two great offices of the churck-those
of bishop and pastor.
V. g.. by Me-" The true Shepherd
and Messiah. The door symbolizes pro
lection. "If any man enter in" By ac-
cepting me as his Messiah, Teacher.
Saviour and King. HE shall be saved"
One use of a door IS to shut out thieves
and enemies of every kind. "And shall
go in and out" The door s%ymbolized
a means of going out as well as OF
coming in. 1t is a sign and a means OF
liberty. We must go in to learn to trust,
to rest, to think, before we can go out to
do good to others, or to learn best the
outer world, and make outward things
a part OF the kingdom. And the going
in will avail US little unless we go out,
and put into action what we learn
| within, aiHI :. Sisg1rr
V. 10. Il am come that they might
have life a~bundantly." Jesus
does for His disciples what the shep,
life, eternal life to them. He feeds and
inspires this life more and more.
V. IL. "Giveth His life for the sheep"
Jesus, the son of God, came from Heaven
to save men. His whole life was given
for the sheep. Then he died on the
cross to make atonement for them, bear
ing their sins OF the cross,
V. II. But he that is an h%ireling."
'The shepherd in the east is usually the
owner or the son of the owner of the
flock, though sometimes an agent, whose
salary is a fixed proportion of the prod
uce, as Jacob under Laban. The hire
ling is a nan who happens to be hired
for fixed wages, merely for the day, and
has no further interest in the flock"
Canon Tristram.
V. IA. Il know My sheep" An
oriental shepherd has a name for each
of his sheep, as we have for horses
and dogs, "even in a flock of hundreds
or thousands"
ut might be well for the class. il
there are any Christians in it, to pause
here and have a little experience-meet-
ing, each one telling how and when
and where the Shepherd found him.
One of the most interesting ministers
meetings that | ever attended had for
its topic the question, How the Sa-
viour found me-. The Saviour was
the same, and the result was the same;
but what a difference there was in the
process of finding!"-H. C. Trumbull.
v. 16. "And other sheep l have,
which are not of this fold" The Cen
tiles, who were not in the kingdom of
God, but would be brought in as mem
bers of the church He was soon to found.
They shall hear My voice." They will
listen to the gospel, and to the voice of
God in their souls, and accept His invi-
t~ations, and become the sheep of His
flock. "And there shall be one fold:"
Better, 'one flock Or. W; no one exclu-
sive Enclosure of IN outward church
but one flock, all knowing the one shep-
herd and known of him."-Alford.
'.And one flock because one shepherd;
not one in creed, or organization, or
method of worship, but one in Jesus
Christ."-Abbott
v. IT. Therefore doth my Father love
Me-" Because He was in such sympa-
thy with His father that He was willing
to die to carry out His saving purpose.
THAT I might take it again." The TAX
ing His life again was essential to saliva
ton. Otherwise He would have ceased
to be the Good Shepherd.
v. Is. mo man taketh it from Me-"
1.-TWO points are insisted on; Cd that the
Death is entirely voluntary; (2) that
both Death and Resurrection are IL &C.
cordance with a commission received
from the Father."-Camb. Bible