The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1906-07-11
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL
INTERNATIONAL LESSEN COMMENTS
Fer JULY Is.

| Fellow Men-Colnmeniary.
l. How to gain eternal life Tvs. %
| 2S. %. "a certain lawyer"
scribe; professional interpreter of the
! law Of Moses. Usually noted scribe
was a teacher and had a company Of
disciples about Linn. Stood up" Jesus
must have been in some building, dis
| coursing OIL some subject that sug-
gested the question asked by the law
yer. Tempted Him" Or tested Him.
The question was not asked from any
desire to know his own duty, but for
the purpose OF testing the knowledge
! of Jesus. Master" Or teacher, the
same as rabbi. ITO inherit eternal
life" Eternal life is the true spiritual
life of the soul-that which is natural
! to it in its highest state, and of all
things in this world is most worthy the
seeking His question was, How can
I become child of God and possessor
of that true spiritual life that will en-
dure forever?
&c. What is written" AS teacher
of the law he should be able to tell,
and he was able, as his answer shows.
How readest thou" What we gain
from the Bible depends upon how we
read it.
q. He answering said" He replied
by quoting the great summary of mans
duty toward God in Deut. 6:5, and a
statement of the law Of love from
Lev 1918. The lawyer proceeds to
give correct answer, one which Jesus
approved "ThCu shalt love" The re-
| ligion Of the Bible does not consist
in good external acts, in prayers, in
our zeal for Christ, in performing the
deeds Of the law. or in being made
happy, but in love to God and man.
"All thy heart" This is supreme affec-
ticn to God. The heart is the seat Of
the affections, desires, motives and
will. with all thy soul" He loves
God with all his soul, or rather. with
all his life, who is ready to give up life
for His sake. "All thy strength" TO
the extent of giving all Of our physical
| powers in His service "All thy mind"
The intellect belongs to God. This en-
braces the whole man. "Thy neighbor
as tEyself." This love is the principle
in the heart from which flows the
golden rule" (Matt. 7:12) in practice.
and tie perfect keeping of all the
commandments which refer to our
duties to our fellowmen.
28 This do, and thou shalt live"
Shalt have already eternal life, the life
of Heaven; for this heart Of love is
eternal life.
II. Our duty 10 mankind illustrated
Tvs. 1920. %. Desiring to justify
himself" r. V. The conscience of
| this learned lawyer was touched and
he saw that he was destitute of the
love he had just declared to be neces-
sary in order to inherit eternal life.
"Who is my neighbor" The degree
in which he had kept the law Of love
would depend on tile answer to this
question. How wide circle does
"neighbor'' embrace? Unwind that
word neighbor and it measures off the
| whole of our earthly life, it covers all
our practical, everyday duties. 80,
Jesus answering said" Here it was
that Christ could, in parable. show
how far Judaism was from even q true
understanding. much more from such
| perfect observance of the law, as
would gain Heaven. From jerusalem
| to Jericho" 1t was very dangerous
road, lying much Of the way in deep
ravine through soft rocks in which
caves abounded, affording shelter to
miscreants who sailed forth to prey
upon travellers. 1t is still necessary to
have an escort in passing over that
road. 81. Certain. priest" Jericho
was one of the residences OF the
| priests who came up to the temple Of
Jerusalem in turn to offer the daily
sacrifices, burn incense, and perform
hn nara,pnnio1e
| him" And knew that fellow man
was suffering and in need. ION the
other side" He no doubt could frame
| many excuses for not stopping. 32.
, Likewise q Levite." A Levite was
one of the tribe Of Levi; priest was
| of the family OF Aaron in that tribe.
| The Levites performed the humble SER
vices of the temple, as cleaning, carry.
| ing fuel, and acting as choristers. The
scribes and lawyers were frequently
of this tribe. which, in fact, was set
apart by Moses as the intellectual
body in the nation. Passed by" His
conduct was the same rs tie priests
had been These two men would nat
urally be expected to befriend the man.
33. "A certain Samaritan" The
Samaritans were a haif-heathen people.
greatly despised and hated by the
Jews. Had compassion" Although
they bad nc right tc expect any help
from Samaritan, yet he fastened to
assist the suffering man.
81. "Bound' up his wounds" He
did the very best he could for the man
with the remedies he had at hand. "Ch
his own beast" This all took time and
effort, but he did not hesitate nor
make excuses. "To an inn" This
was public house where all corners
were received. 35. "On the morrow
He evidently remained with him that
night. Two pence" 4 penny or
Roman denarius is worth about sixteen
cents, but it would be equivalent to
eight or ten times as much in our day.
SO. "Which-thinkest thou" This
question almost compelled the lawyer
to speak highly OF the Samaritan
WAS neighbor unto him*" The para.
bic implies not 4 mere enlargement Of
Jewish ideas but complete change OF
them. It is truly Gospe!-parable, for
the whole old relationship Of mere
duty is changed into one Of love. 81.
do thou likewise" He to whom You
ought thus to show mercy in order TO
become his neighbor is your neiGhhor
We should be ready 10 help every per-
y. ,.,,@.,,