The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1911-05-12
SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Lesson vlI.-SeCond Quarter, For
May Ia, 1911.
THE INTERNATIONAL SERIES.

Isa. vi, S-Cornmentary Prepared by
Rev. D. NJ. Stearns.
We saw In last weeks lesson that
Uzziah, king of Judah, was evidently
much helped by a prophet named
Zecharfah, who had visions of God.
And now we see in this lesson that
Isaiah received his commission in con-
nection with vision Of God. 1t was
30 with Ezekiel and Zechariah, who
wrote the prophecy called by his name;
also with Moses and Joshua and Gid
con. Daniel also had a vision of God,
and it was not until Job could say
NOW mine eye seeth thee" that he re.
ceived fullness of blessing. There is
no vision Of God or knowledge Of God
except through the Son of God, whom
we know as Jesus Christ our Lord. Ne
man knoweth the Father save the Son,
and he to whomsoever the Son will re.
veal Him. No man cometh unto the
Father but by Me. he that hath seen
Me hath seen the Father (Matt. XII,
%; John xiv, 6, 81. We are not fully
qualified for service until we have so
seen God In Christ that no mortal man
is big enough to come between Him
and our souls vision. The Lord alone
must be seen and exalted, and we
must cease from man Qsa. ii, IL, II,
22).
In the year that King Uzziah died
Isaiah saw a throne and a king who
liveth forever, who said to John in
PatnaOs, II was dead, and behold / am
alive forevermore" (Rev. /, 49,. This
same John, quoting from our lesson
chapter and referring to this vision,
said. These things said Isaiah when
he saw His glory and spoke of Him
John XII, AZ. Notice that the one
whom Isaiah saw on the throne is
called Lord Capital L, small ord, not
the same as LORD in verses 3, 5, II,
where the name Is all capitals. The
former is "Adonai," my master, my
proprietor, the one who owns me,
whereas the latter is Jehovah" the
great II am" who was and is and is
to be the Creator as my Redeemer. II
any mortal man owns us and he dies
we may be in sore distress, but IL the
one whose we are and whom we serve
is the ever living man on the throne
then we win have peace always.
1t Is a very great lesson to learn to
see no man any more save Jesus only
with ourselves Mark tx, s. Isaiah
saw the seraphim close to the throne.
whereas Ezekiel and John saw cher
ublm (Ezek. and Rev. iv. with Eek.
K, 20). We know from Rev. V, 8, 10,
and the association of the cherubim
with the mercy seat and the vail that
they represent the glorifed redeemed
from among the nations The sera-
phim may represent the same as they
only, seraphim and cherubim, cry
holy, holy, holy. They look forward
to and speak Of the time when the
earth shall be full of His glory. Gov.
ering face and feet with their wings
suggests that 1t is not what we are OF
what we do that counts for anything
but with the wings that fly we must
soar higher, even as on eagles wings
and behold only Himself. The face
Indicates character, what we are, and
the feet our walk, what we do, but
our only comfort is In what He is and
what He does.
The effect Of this vision of the glory
of the Lord upon the prophet was that
he saw himself as wholly undone and
unclean. This is what we need-suct
a vision of the beauty of the Lord that
we shall forever hate and abhor our
selves and see ourselves as sinners ii
His sight, according to lisa. Xiv, @
Dan. K, 8; Rom. vii, 1S; $40. Thus
seeing ourselves we shall have no con
domination for other sinners, nothing
but the compassion of Jesus Christ
When there is this deep and thorough
conviction Of sin, then 1t is a shor
road to forgiveness and cleansing, fol
He came to save sinners, and His blood
cleanseth from all sin. Note tina
heavenly agency does it all, iniquity
is taken away, sin purged, the sinner
is perfectly helpless, as were Adam
and Eve when the Lord God made
coats of skins and clothed them.
1t is our privilege to know that HI
has by Himself purged our sins ant
Is now on the right hand Of the Maj
esty on high (Heb. 1, 81. Then W.
are ready to hear the voice from TIT
throne saying. Whom shall / send
and who viii go for u.s.? Notice thu
'P' and ''us," the one living and tru'
God In the three persons Of Father
Son and Holy Spirit. Was ever sucI
a wonderful commission offered tt
Anortals as to represent the Trinity be
fore men? See in John xiv, II, %
how they are said to dwell in the be
lever and in II Cor iv, 10. IL, tina
the life of Jesus is to be made mani
fest in these mortal bodies.
We have only to yield and obey. Tn,
power is His, and the life Is His, and
the message IL His, and He VIII take
care OF the results, and we are assur
ed that He win not fail nor be dis
ccuraged Elsa. XII, A.. It is ours tt
receive the message from Himself, re
ceive His words in our hearts ant
then In His name go tell" (verse o
Eek. iii, 10, II, IN. In the closing
verses Of the chapter the prophet wal
told that the message would not be re
ceived. So it was with Jeremiah and
Ezekiel They were warned that theil
messages would provoke great opposi
ton, but they were to speak whethel
men would hear or not. See also Matt
5. 1913; John Nv, 16, 49, @s4s