Lexington gazette. [volume] (Lexington, Va.) 1871-1962, 1911-04-26
SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Lesson V.-Second Quarter, Fo.
April 30, 1911.
THE INTERNATIONAL SERIES.
Text of the Lesson, Jonah iii. S. to ;v.
n-Memory Verses, Chapter iv, 10,
n-Golden Text, Matt. xviii, 49,.
Commentary Prepared by Rev. D. M.
Stearns.


Stearns.
The committee calls this foreign
missionary lesson, and IL IL cert,inl,
Il grand missionary story. reaching on
even to the kingdom when il shall be-
fully seen that salvation Is of the
Lord iii. %. With this sayin.. of
Jonah l have In my mind the word.
of the Lord Jesus to the woman of
Samaria, Salvation is OF the Jews
Uohn vi, ~, Putting the two togeth-
er we have the great truth that saliva
ton is of the Lord through the Jews.
This Is and Will be seen TO be true of
all individuals and also of nations.
All the redeemed in heaven and on
earth owe their redemption to the
blood or Jew. and the nations as
such will not be saved till the glory OF
the Lord is risen upon Israel. Then
they shall come to her light and kings
to the brightness of her rising dsa.
TX. l-3; xii, 1-3; xvii, q; Jer. iii. IL:
Zech. ii, 1O-l2,
We have in our lesson the only i'm.
stance as far as l know, of whole
city penitent. But when Israel shall
have had her resurrection from the
dead and n nation of Pauls shall 90
forth into all the world witnessing as
He did in the power of the Spirit.
knowing all languages and having all
wealth at their command, whole M.
tons shall turn to the Lord In true
penitence and "All kings shall fall
down before Him, all nations shall
serve Him" FPS. lxxii, III.
The Lord Jesus spoke of the expert
ence of Jonah in the belly Of the fish.
his preaching and the repentance of
NineVeh, and those who question the
truth or the story of Jonah question
the veracity Of Jesus Christ 1t is the
work of the devil to question the word
Of God or the love of God Matt. xii,
SELL: xvi, 4; Gen. iii, 1-0
Could there by a more vivid picture
Of the churches Indifference to the
command of Christ In our Golden Text
than that OF Jonah on this ship? The
only man who knew the true God is
fast asleep, while the heather sailors
are diligently calling upon their gods
They only found out who he was and
why he was there by questioning him.
In certain place we read that
Jesus could not be hid Mark vii, "a,
but some who bear the name of Chris
tan seem to hide Him quite success
fully. Contrast III Cor. iv, 10. IL: ii.
I'D Think of Samson and his fatal
sleep, Peter. James and John asleep I'm
the presence OF great privilege and
also of great suffering and consider If
you need the question OF chapter 4. @.
and II so what VIII your answer be?
AS TO the great fish prepared by the
LORD TO take care of Jonah l often
wonder why people have been so long
looking for fishes OF the same kind
for the record does not say that the
Lord made two great fishes to propa-
gate the species, but that He prepared
a great fish.
For aught we know the fish may have
died when it finished its ministry TO
Jonah, as probably did the little fish
that brought the coin to Simon Peter.
The winds Of 1. 4; iv, 8, were special
winds for the occasion, as were also
the gourd and the worm Of iv, G. Z,
special preparations for special minis
try. 1 have long reJoiced In the truth
of Eph. ii, 10, and firmly believe THAI
all the good works of all the Lords
people are prepared beforehand for
them to walk in. 1t Is helpful to say
all things, pleasant or I'M
pleasant, prepared for me by in
finite love-"
With all Jonahs peculiaritie he
seems to have been a man full of the I
word of God, for his prayer in chapter 1
ii Is almost wholly Scripture In the /
margin of my Bible note in his pray /
er nine quotations from or references |
to the Psalms. besides some from 9th |
er parts of Scripture. When he did |
finally start for Nineveh the word OF !
the Lord to him was, Preach unto 1t |
the preaching that l bid thee Oil, p. |
Compare Jer. 1. Z; Eek. ii, Z; lii, IL; /
III Tim. fv, =; Acts viii, 4, %, and note
that our Lord Himself said only what
the Father told Him to say (John xii,
40; xiv. 10; viii, 2S).
1t would be great thing and great
ly to the glory Of God and the good of
both speakers and hearers If all preach,
ers and teachers would prove them
selves to be 1.-The Lords messengers
In the Lords message unto the peo-
pie" alag /. 49,. All such might rest
assured that His word would always
accomplish His pleasure and never re-
turn to Him void lisa. lv).
Jonah was like man alive from
The dead, and His message was the
Lords and not his own, and the peo-
pie of Nineveh believed Cod Oil, - and
turned from their evil ways unto God
and God saw it and did not bring the
threatened evil upon them. 1t would
have pleased Jonah better If God had
destroyed Nineveh. And because he
knew that God was gracious and might
have mercy upon them If they repent
ed he refused at first to obey God dv.