The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1912-03-22
SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Lesson XlI.-First Quarter, FOl
March "a, 1912. u.
THE INTERNATIONAL SERIES

Memory Verse;, 70, 17--GoIden Text
Mark u, T--comassrsary Prseared
by Rev. .. M. stearns.
The cali OF Matthew, she first mart
Of today's lesson, is found in Matthew
and Luke, as well as in Mark. But
the rest Of the lesson, including
Matthew's entertainment, and the par
ables OF the new and old cloth and
the new and old wine are found only
In Mark and Luke. In all the acts
and words of Jesus we must see God
the Father, remembering such words
as these: II can Of mine ownself do
nothing" '"The Father who sent NE
gave me a commandment, what /
should say and what I should speak"
1.-THE Father who dwelIeth In me. He
doeth the works John v, 30: xii,
40; xiv, 10). His compassion upon the
multitude and His readiness to teach
them, no matter how weary He was,
is our example that we may follow
His steps in this as well as in His
meekness and patience q Pet. il, 21).
Matthew the publican Matt. K, 81,
or Levi, as he is called by Mark and
Luke, may have been turning to
Christ in his heart, as probably Fac.
cheus did, while continuing with
doubt in his unpopular calling and
longing to be done with It. We might
infer this from the readiness with
which he left all and rose up and fol.
lowed Jesus. Many are still being
called, but few are ready to follow SO
promptly. Something OF Matthew's
gratitude because Jesus called him IL
een In the great feast which he made
for Jesus In his own house, inviting q
great company of publfcans and SIN
ners thereto. TO see Him eat with
publicans and sinners was to the self
righteous Pharisees a great stumbling
block, for 1t was their way to have no
fellowship with such nor any love for
their souls, rather to pass by on the
other side OF the street and to say,
God, l thank Thee that I am not as
other men . = > or even as this
publican" luke xviii, III. They never
said anything more beautiful or true
concerning Him than when they said
This man receiveth sinners and eat.
eth with them" duke XIV, q. The
words OF Jesus to them at this time
are both a parable and its explanation,
the parable being, ""They that are
whole have no need Of the physician,
but they that are SICK" and His ex.
PLANTATION Of ii, II come not to call the
righteous, but sinners, to repentance"
These words and those concerning the
old and new cloth and wine are found
also In Matt. tx, 1917, and seeming
~ In the same connection as here,
but according to the gospel harmony
the record in Matthew referred to a
later incident. Be that as 1t may, His
words are more than time or place,
and we know that He did repeat some
Of His words-as, for example, the
Sermon on the Mount and the Sermon
on the Plain CMatt. v to vii and Luke
vi, 17-49).
The righteous whom He did not
come to call are spoken OF In Luke
xviii, 8, as certain nj which trusted
in themselves that they were righteous
and despised Others" We know that
In the matter of true righteousness,
al God sees 1t and desires 1t, "there is
none righteous-no, not one" But
there are those who, "being ignorant
of Gods righteousness and going
about TO establish their own righteous
ness, do not submit themselves to the
righteousness Of God" Csom. III, 10;
x, 81.
To associate the disciples OF John
and of the Pharisees seems like q very
bad combine, but some Of Johns dis
ciples were no doubt from the phari-
sees and, like too many church folks
OF today, had not dropped their mere
formalittes. In Zech. vii we read
that when the people inquired Of the
Lord as to whether they should con-
tinue certain fasts or not rs asked
them, ibid ye fast sc all to Me, even
to Mel" Then He told them what
true fasting In His sight was Czech.
yti, 40; Ise. lyiii, 6-ios. Nots how
he speaks Of himself as the Bride
groom and His disciples as the chill
drsa OF the bride chamber, CO doubt
looking onward TO the marriage Of
the Lamb Of Rev. xix. W. might
well assr: Where is now tbs fasting be-
cause CT the B~ridegroom's absence7
Where are those who long for His re-
turn, who rejoice greatly because OF
Hts voice, glad to decrease If only He
may increase? John iii, %, 8O1
There is much patchwork in the
teaching of our day which is directly
contrary to the teaching Of our Lord
concerning the necessity OF a new
birth. The old garment of cur un-
righteousness cannot be mended. It
must be a new garment throughout,
even the garment OF Christ's right
eousness which He has provided at
such infinite cost QI Cor. v, FL: Rom.
x, ~. However unpopular the doc
trine may be, it is most plainly writ
ten that "the carnal mind is enmity
against God, for it is not subject to
the law OF God, neither indeed can
be" (Rom. viii, y. Not a shred OF
Adam and Ewes zig leaf aprons could
be tolerated. The coats of skins were
all sufficient. We must sing from the
heart the words OF lisa. Xxi, 10. The
SO called new thought or new theolo-
gy VIII not do, for 1t is not OF God
and must therefore be from the adj
yersary, who fatters man by telling
him that he is all right and only needs
some Improvement, which he himself