The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1909-01-15
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL,
Lesson IlI.-FIrst Quarter, For
Jan. II, 1909.
THE INTERNATIONAL SERIES


Aots u, 4e-commsntary Prepared by
Rev. D. N. etearns.
[oOpysisht, 1905 by American Pres AnociAtion.l
l find continual comfort in the assur-
anee that in matters concerning ma
tons and individuals (Job xxxiv, 29)
God IL working all things after the
counsel Of His own will and according
to the eternal purpose which He pur-
posed in Christ Jesus our Lord (Eph,
1, IL; iii, 1D. Whatever wicked men
may plan under the counsel Of their
leader, the devil, and be permitted by
God to carry out, their counsel shall In
due time come to naught, while the
counsel Of the Lord shall stand for
ever and the thoughts Of His heart to
all generations (Ps. xxxiii, 10, 1D. In
the opening chapters of this book we
find 1t repeatedly stated that the cruel
treatment received by our Lord Jesus
at the hands Of wicked men was all
foreseen by God and foretold by Him
through the prophets III, %; iii, 1s; iv,
29. Gods foreknowledge does not,
however, in the least degree excuse or
palliate the guilt Of the wicked. The
DEGREES Of God and the free will Of
man stand as two heaven high pillars,
and puny mortals may not attempt to
reconcile them.
The one thing that all may do who
have heard the good news Of the grace
Of God Is that which 5000 did under
the preaching Of Peter on the day of
which our lesson tells, and that was
to believe on or receive the Lord Jesus
Christ as having suffered for sins the
Just for the unjust and risen from the
dead and ascended to the right hand of
God, there to wait till His body Is
gathered from all nations, that He may
come again to restore all things OF
which the prophets have spoken (iii,
Ply.
All such redeemed ones are expected
to become Spirit filed people and bear
such testimony to the risen Christ
throughout the world that He may
gather to Himself the company whose
song we hear in Rev. v, 8, 10, who shall
reign with Him on the earth when the
kingdom comes. That kingdom will
have redeemed Israel for its earthly
center with Jesus Christ, as Son OF
David, on David's throne at Jerusalem
according to verses 80, 81 and Luke
1, 80, 33. Jerusalem shall then be the
throne Of the Lord and all nations
gathered unto 1t to the name of the
Lord Of Jerusalem Uer. i'll, ~. While
that kingdom is postponed because oi
Israel's rejection Of her Messiah a new
thing in the unfolding Of the eterna
purpose of God is taking place, which
was specially revealed for the frs
time to the Apostle Paul, as may bt
seen by a careful perusal of Eph. Ill
Ill. We will not reach the record Of
the first gathering Of the gentiles into
this one body, the church, till we come
to chapter x, but we have in this ant
the following lesson the Jewish begin
ming of the church, for the 5000 o.
verse Al and the 5000 Of chapter iv, 4
were all Jews.
Our Lords word to the woman o.
Samaria in John iv, %, salvation II
Of the Jews" does not seem to meal
much to the majority of Christians to
day, but 1t is the heart Of the eterna
purpose Of God. Spirit filled people
will use the Spirits own book, the Bi
BILE, which is forever settled in HEAVIER
Cps. cxix, 89), even though they ma!
seem by 80 doing to be drunken
crowd in the eyes Of many (verse 49,
for the wisdom Of GOD is foolishnes
in the eyes of the wisdom Of the world
The prophets were the Lords messen
gers with the Lords message. goinl
where He sent them and saying wha
He told them (Hag. 1, 13; Jer. 1, q
Even our Lord Jesus Christ said onl.
what the Father told Him to say, ant
His words and works were all thos
Of the Father In and through Hin
John xii, 40, 90; xiv, 10). Spirit fille'
Peter, on this occasion, just rehearse
from the Scriptures that which tn
Spirit had written concerning the Lor'
Jesus, whom He is sent to glorify ant
take of His things and show them unit
us John xvi, 13, 14. In last week
study we saw him quoting from tn
prophecy Of Joel; in this lesson we Sc
him in verses 20, %, summarizing Pr
xii and lisa. lii concerning the suffer
ings Of Christ, and he probably had Il
mind such words as Ps. xxxiii, 10, II
concerning the counsel of God. L
verses "A to % he quotes from Ps. ~
concerning the resurrection Of Jesus
In verse 30 he refers to Gods promis
to David to give him an immortal Sor
risen from the dead, to sit on HI
throne forever QI Sam. vii, IL, 18;
Chron. xvii, 11-1N. In verses "a, 8t
he quotes from Ps. cx, the great Me
chisedek psalm, and assures them tha
Jesus, whom they had crucihed, whor
God raised from the dead, is the one
whom all these Scriptures tell an
who, being now gloriaed by the Ft
ther, had sent down the Holy Spirit I
convince them Of their sin that the
might be forgiven and receive the gil
Of the Holy Spirit. He entreated theI
to save themselves from a crooke
generation, assuring them that til
Lord was calling them and ready I
receive them Notwithstanding all ths
thay had done. They received th