The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1910-01-27
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL,
Lesson V.-First Quarter, For
ian. 80, 1910.
THE INTERNATIONAL SERIES
Text of the Lesson, Matt. v, 1925, 49,
4s-Memory Verse, 44HGoIden Text,
Matt. v, 4a-Commentary Prepared
by Rev. D. M. Stearns.

There are some prominent facts
which We must keep in mind in all BIZ
bile study-the Bible is the history of
salvation; salvation is of the Lord; ;
salvation is of the Jews; known unto
God are all His works from the begin
ming of the world, He worketh all
things after the counsel of His own
will, and the eternal purpose which He
has purposed in Christ Jesus is that
all the ends of the earth shall see the
salvation of our God and the whole
earth be filed with His glory. To that
end He is steadily working. and in all
the different parts of this book. which
us forever settled in heaven, we have
some phase of the working out of this
eternal purpose. The whole Bible story
points onward to time when "a king
shall reign in Righteousness. and
the work of Righteousness Shall be
peace" lisa. xxi, l. IL. Our blessed
Lord was always talking about this
kingdom and giving samples of the
power that would be manifest even in
the bodies of His redeemed when the
AboNOhA ob'tll ma ' Z NOliIt DtI NtSH
His resurrection and ascension during
those forty days He spake of things
pertaining to the kingdom of God
In this discourse, spoken TO His dis
ciples probably in the hearing of the
multitude, He describes the righteous
ness which will be fully manifest on
earth when the kingdom comes,
righteousness of the Ten Command
ments, which He here teaches us re-
fers not only to outward acts. but to
the thoughts and intents of the heart
He alone of all who have ever lived on
earth manifested the Righteousness of
the law perfectly in His life He could
truly say, 81 delight to do Thy will, o
my God; yea. thy law is within my
heart Dps. Il. 81.
Having no sin of His own. for He
was without sin, He bare our sins in
His own body on the tree and became
the end of the law for righteousness
to every one that believeth (Rom. X.
4; ii Cor V, 2D Anything less than
the righteousness which was manifest
in the Lord Jesus Christ cannot stand
before God, and as no one is able per
fectly to keep Gods holy law it is
written. by the works of the law shall
no flesh be justified" The law shuts
our mouths concerning our own right
eousness and points us to Christ that
we may receive Him as the righteous
ness of God most graciOusy provided
for every sinner (Rom. iii. 1924; Gal.
ii. 16; iii. "a. Yet there are many in
so called Christian lands, members of
churches, who, being ignorant of God S
righteousness, are ever going about to
establish their own righteousness
(Rom. X. 81. None of those can in any
case enter into the kingdom of heaven
Averse 20l. According to James ii. 10,
breaking one command breaks them
all, for the law is one. From Rom. vii
z. we infer that Paul thought he had
kept the Ten Commandments until in
the light of the tenth he saw himself
sinner and guilty. Love is the full
filling of the law QOm. xiii, 10l. and
as we can only manifest our love to
God by our love to our fellows, there
fore with the Lord Jesus Christ as our
only example we must remember His
words in John XIV, II, Love one an
other as l. have loved you" Also in
John iv. II. Beloved. if God so loved
us we ought also to love one another"
When the Lord Jesus lives in us fully
and His spirit has full control of us
we will manifest even here in this age
the love that is kind to those who are
unthankful and evil. who curse and
hate and prosecute and despitefully
use us. Any one can love those who
love them, but to love ones enemies is
not possible to the natural man. AS
poor Indian once said. This Indian
can't do it; God must make new In
dian" When we have seen our guilt
and that all our righteousness are
only filthy rags and have truly reSeiv
ed the Lord Jesus Christ then we are
before God in Christ, and He is made
unto us wisdom. righteousness, sanctiti-
cation and redemption q Cor. i, 30.) We
are justified freely by His grace, justi-
fed by faith, justified by His blood. and
there is no condemnation to them that
are in Christ Jesus, but it is all to the
end that the righteousness of the law
may be fulfilled in us who walk not
after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
The light of the knowledge of the
glory of God in the face of Jesus
Christ having shined in our hearts, we
must let the light shine through us to
His glory that others may receive Him
too. Verses A, 40, do not teach us that
by loving our enemies we become chill
dren of God; but, having become His
children by receiving Jesus Christ
John i, ~, we are manifestly such in
the eyes of others only when we act as
such. We are not only sanctifed, but
perfected forever by the one great sac
rifice of the Lord Jesus Heb. Y, 10, IA
Ind now we are to walk not as others
who are still in the world, but ever
aiming at a more perfect manifesto
ton to others of the love of God to Us.
for If we love one another God dwell
eth in us, and His love is perfected in
us and He is seen in us q John iv, 12).
1t is only as we understand the king
dom, which is righteousness and peace
and joy in the Holy Ghost, that we can
y walk worthy Of 1t Rom. xiv, II;
Thess. ii, ~ and manifest in our lives
the life of Him who when He was here