The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1905-12-20
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL
LEsSONxIIl, FOURTH QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, DEC. "a.

Rev. D. II. Stearns.
copyright, 1906 by American Press Association.l
Our last lesson was entitled Prep
aration For the Messiah" and this is
THE Character Of the Messiah but
1t might be more appropriate to call it
the nature or manner Of His kingdom.
The great topic Of the Scriptures is
the kingdom Of God, which will have
Israel for its center, Jerusalem for its
capital, the Lord Jesus Christ for its
king and the whole earth as its terri
tory. When He came in His humiliation
as the Son Of Mary he fulfilled many
prophecies and brought the kingdom
nigh, so that BE said, "The kingdom Of
heaven is at hand" as said also John
the Baptist and the twelve and the
seventy. But because they rejected
and crucifed Him the kingdom was
postponed till he shall come again, and
then He Will fulfill all the prophecies
which are as yet unfulflled, or, accord
ing to Acts lii, u, the heaven must
receive Hin until the times Of restora-
ton Of I'll things whereof God spake
by the mouth Of His holy prophets
c,hIch have been since the world be-
gan. During the present interval Of
His rejection as Israel's Messiah He
is at the Fathers right hand as our
great High Priest, the great head OF
the church, His body, which IS now,
by the preaching Of the gospel. being
gathered out Of all nations and being
trained to reign with Him when His
kingdom comes. In such lesson as
this we must note its primary refer
ence to Israel and her Messiah and
then gather the heart lessons for our
selves. The first Of the command
ments spoken out Of the fire and after
ward written twice upon tables OF
stone forbade the worship Of any other
god but the one only living and true
God who brought Israel out Of Egypt.
Israers great sin was the persistent
turning away from their God to wor-
ship idols like the other nations about
them. And the wonderful thing about
it all Is that God should continue to
love such q people, bear with them,
plead with them and continually set
before them a glorious future when
they shall have truly repented Of their
sins.
The last four verses OF chapter Will
with the first verse Of our lesson, II
read from the Revised Version, warn
the people of coming judgment and yet
Of future glory when they should truly
turn to the Lord, but how .aWfully
solemn the word in verse 20 that there
IS no morning for those who turn away
from the word Of God. Apart from
Him who IS the end Of the law for
Righteousness to every one that be-
lieveth (Rom. Z, 4) there is naught but
darkness, both here and hereafter; but
He is the light Of the world, the only
true light, and in Him is no darkness
at all The ungodly, who are abiding
In darkness and In the shadow OF
death, should easily see in all believers
something Of the light, for he has said
tous: "Ye are the light Of the world. I" =
LET your light shine before men" =
Matt. V, IA, 16) Where the Lord Jesus
IS truly received sorrow and signing
and unrest give place to rest and JOY
and gladness Qsa. 1xxv, 10; Matt. Il,
2S, 2e), foretastes Of the kingdom when
there shall be neither adversary NOR
evil occurrent, and the nations shall
learn war no more 4 Kings Y, 4; 1sa.
ii, q.
The expression "as in the day OF
Midian' suggests the supernatural
way in which God wrought by Gideon
and bis 800 (Judg. viD, and among
the enemy set every mans sword
against his fellow. The birth Of soul,
the gathering Of the church, the con-
version Of Israel, the coming Of the
kingdom, are each and all the work of
God alone. and SO also Is the life that
the redeemed are expected to I've hero
on the earth in this time Of our hunih-
alton. The zeal Of the Lord must do It
ell or else It will not count (Terse ..
The whole Bible story centers around
Him who Is called the seed Of the
woman, the seed Of Abraham, the Son
OF David (Gen. Iii, Is; xzii. 18; Matt.
I, l; Gal. Iii, I6). Concerning Him as
''the child born" Of verse 9 Of our les
son, it was foretold that He should be
born in Bethlehem and also that BE
should come out Of Egypt (Mlc. Y,
2; Hos. xi, y, and so 1t came to pass
(Luke II, GA; Matt. II, 15). BE said
to Manoah in Judg. xiii, IS, margin,
that His name was "Wonderful.' See
also Jer. xxi, II, q, where the word
"hard' is just the same word trans
lated wonderful" IN Jer. xx1ii, 10,
and Isa. xviii, 20. He is said to be
great and wonderful In counsel. Com
pare Ps. xxxii, s, margin, and zzxili,
IL. In John l, /, we read that the
word was God' and in John xiv, 8. we
hear Him say, "He that hath seen me
hath seen the Father" When His
kingdom comes it shall be seen that
the work Of Righteousness IS peace and
the service Of righteousness quietness
and assurance forever Qsa. xx1li, ID.
Then 1t shall be seen that "the throne
Of David" means just what the prophet
said and what Gabriel said to Mary,
the literal throne Of the literal David
at the literal Jerusalem, for the Scrip
ture cannot be broken. and as truly
as BE was born at Bethlehem and came
out Of Egypt and all the Scriptures
concerning His humiliation were lit
orally fulfilled. so shall all prophecy
be fulfilled in the same literal manner.
Take heed lest He say to you, 20 fool,
and slow to believe all that the
prophets have spoken" duke XIV, 23.
The same person who will rule the
world In righteousness and peace,
Jesus Christ our Lord, will accept the
- -a1., OF