Lexington gazette. [volume] (Lexington, Va.) 1871-1962, 1909-12-22
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL,
Lesson XllI.-Fourth Quarter, For
Dec. 26, 1909.
THE INTERNATIONAL SERIES.

There IL one great truth emphasized
In this gospel and In the New Tesla.
ment which IN not made much of by
preachers and teachers. az II rule. and
that is that Jesus IL the son OF David.
the promised heir to David's throne.
See In Matt. l. |: Rev. xii. Ii. how
the New Testament begins and ends
with this and note how Paul uses II In
Rom. 1. 3; II Tim. II. s. See Gabriel's
use Of 1t in his message to Mary In
Luke 1, 80. 80. and Peters reference
to 1t In HIS great Pentecostal discourse
In Acts II. 80. Then take the question
Of the wise men in our lesson. where
is He that Is born King Of the Jews"
Remember that that title In the lam
guages Of Jews and gcntiles was placed
over His cross and that when He shall
come again In His glory and Israel
shall say. This Is our God: we have
waited for Him. and He will save u.s."
Il will be to make Jerusalem the
throne Of the Lord. that all the nations
may be gathered unto II. to the name
Of the Lord. to Jerusalem. Then. the
Lord being King Of Israel in the midst
Of them. they shall not see evil any
more, and He will make them n name
and praise among all the people OF
the earth. Then shall ell the nations
bring their wealth 10 Israel. even as
these wise men did. and Israel shall
blossom and bud and ill the face OF
the earth with fruit lisa. XIV. 81: Jer.
III. II; Zeph. Ill. 10. 10. 20: lisa. TX. 3;
margin xvii. o.. ! sincerely trust that
every teacher may verify what have
said by these and other texts and thus
have the best possible kind OF Christ
mas lesson concerning Him OF whom
the prophet said. "Out OF thee (Bethle-
hem Ephratah) shall He come forth
unto me to be ruler In Israel. whose
goings forth have been from Of old,
from the days Of eternity" (Mic. V. y.
or, as IL Is In crr lesson. Out OF thee
shall come q governor that shall rule
my people Israel" verse O.. Such
king as Herod might well be troubled
by the mention of King Of the Jews.
for the time will come when the kings
of the earth and the great and rich
and mighty men shall call on noun
tains and rocks to fall on them and
hide them from His face and His
wrath Rev. vi. 1910. The chief
priests and scribes knew prophecy we'll
enough to be able to tell where the
Messiah should be born. but their
knowledge did them no good. for when
He came publicly and In every way
proved Himself the Messiah about thir-
ty years later they rejected Him and
killed Him. II Is not knowledge OF
Him nor Of what the Scriptures say
about Him that saves any one. but
only the heart reception OF Him. nc-
cording to John !, ~. Some day we
shall know more than we can now
about these wise men-whO they were.
how many there were. Just where they
came from. what they knew about Him
or His star aud how they came to
know what they did. II the star led
them all the way TO His land we won
der why they turned from 1t to call
upon Herod and inquire OF HIN. We
note that when they left Herod the
star seemed to be- waiting for them.
for It went before them till 1t came
and stood over where the young child
was, leading them to the very house.
This was therefore no ordinary star.
but a supernatural light. heavenly
messenger, and II makes US more than
ever interested In these men whom
God so honorcd. When they saw the
star again after leaving Hcrod they
reJoiced with exceeding great JOY
(verse l0). and We do not wonder. for
II must have been like passing from
hell to heaven to come from such q
presence into the presence OF Gods
own messenger. When the angel
brought the shepherds word the glory
Of the Lord shoue round about them.
and the message was. "Behold, bring
you good tidings Of great JOY. which
shall he to all people" Peter says OF
Him. whom. having not seen. ye
love; In whom. though now re see
Him not. yet believing. ye rejoice with
10y unspeakable and full Of glory"
Il let. l. 81.
In the presence Of this child and His
mother these men fell down and wor-
SHIPPED Him. opened their treasures
and presented unto Him gifts. gold
and frankincense and myrrh verse
III. This Is no loose change or pocket.
book story, but record Of treasures
brought 10 Him. II makes us think OF
the woman who gave all her living
and received from Him such CON-
mendation and by contrast OF another
woman who spent all her living Oh
physicians In a vain search for health
and then received II one day In mo-
ment from Him freely. Mary Of Beth
any brought Him treasure when she
anointcd Him with very costly ONT
nent duke xxi. $40: John XII. 81.
Are We bringing Him anything that
can he compared TO treasure. \ really
sweet SAVIOR to Him. a Willingness to
suffer with Him? When there Is no
plain guidance given us IN Ills word
He will not fail 10 guide us In some
way By His providence or by dream
or voice II II Is necessary. Ps. XXI.
$; lisa. XXX. u. are sure words. have
often been helped by the fact that be-
fore they were ordered down TO Egypt
the gold was on haul TO 60 with. and
II was with His goiI they journeyed
It had been given to Him. Notice the,
unexpected source Il ave from. Re-
member Uag II. 8: Ps. xii 3.