The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1912-07-05
LESSON FOR JULY 7
uN5ELiEF.

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LESSON TENT-Asrk Se6a5,
GOLDEN T~ENT-"This ia the judy
ssnt, that light ID come into the world
and men loved the darkness rather thai
the light for their works were evil
JohR sl9
There are two kinds Of unbelief de
piotod In this lesson, tho malignant
rruel, yindictiye unbelisf OF the Pbart-
aces; and the incredibly, the amaze
mont, the unbelief OF the family and
friends of Jesus. There are three nat
ural divisions OF this lesson, first
v. 40, al the unhelief OF his friends
who, heholding his maryelously busy
NE, so busy as not TO take time to
eat, concluded ho must of necessity
be insane on the subject Of religion.
az no other explanation would suffice,
Secondly ". 22-30y the malignant.
malicious. blind unbelief OF the rep
r]esentatIves OF tho rulers In Jerusa'
lem who had come down to "inyeAti'
gate the popular Galilee prophet,
that they might find w~herewtth to "ac'
cuse him" Third ". 1880 the unbe.
! lltI vi klbNt Hth ubai 'aN VI MA NAV
also sought to restrain and to turn
him aside II possible from his ardn'
ous lahors. We have In this tlrst
section another Of those wonderful gos'
pei pictures, just n touch, but so graph
le, Of tho eagerneBs OF tho multltudes
to see and hear Jesus. simply TO
hear him was enough to draw together
a crowd. Yet notice his response, ha
would not even pause to refresh lin
self but the compassion Of a great
mission compelled him to minister
unto them What cared he for rest
or refreshment?
Miracles Explained.
The multitude had studied Jesus a.
no performed his miracles and nc
counted him to be the Messiah Matt.
1899, but the Pharfsees were not
then willing to acknowledge him, for
that would be to condemn themselves,
However, here are these miracles that
demand an explanation, and We must
remember that these mon came with
n predetermined motive, viz, that
they might find wherewith to accuse
him taeo v. 2 and 81 Not accepting
tho plain common sense explanation
and his ayowed purpose In performing
miracles (Mk. 2.10) they gave ont that
It was by the power Of the Prince OF
Devils, Beelzebub, that Jesus perform
ed his mighty deeds. Tho utter fall
lacy Of such an accusation IL shown
by Jesns' reply. He did not upbraid
! them with anger though their accusa.
ton was the utmost limit Of malig-
nifty. Jesus knew that he must needs
endure Just such contradictions OF
sinners lisa. 63;3, ~, nevertheless he
exposed their folly ". 23-27). Jesus
here gives us a fine example OF logic,
which is simply unanswerable. No
more can a divided kingdom stand, or
Il divided house stand than for Satan
to fight against himself. No more can
the thief capture his booty unless he
first finds or deceives the guard, than
for Jesus to fight Satan and at the
same time be his vassal. Satan 10 q
Strong man ". 22) and he, Jesus.
came to break, to overcome, that pow
or, for he is indod the stronger one.
The subjects Of Satan are his slaves,
but Jesus came TO set men free from
the power OF this Strong man We
have said that Jesus was grieyed, hs
goes on to tell US why. The n and
only sin for which there Is no pardon
Is that blind, malignant unbelIgf that
z..ItA- -. CoIov, tl,z ttt,rlf ~ iba E3pIUF
Ghost. When one reaches that stage
of callousness there remains no fur
Their testimony to move his heart. II,
however, one to Jesus for for
%glveness, 1t Is proof positive that hs
has not such a heart of stony unbelief,
the very fact OF asking forgiveness
proves that one has not committed the
objectionable sin"
In the revised version w find
the correct translation for verse 20.
"Whosoever shall b~laspheme against
the Holy Spirit hath never forgiveness,
but Ii guilty Of an eternal sim" thus
effectualiy setting at rest any thought
Of a future probation after our life
here upon this earth. II when men
love their evil deeds to such an ex-
tent that they refuse to walk In the
light and resolutely set their faces
against the true Light, they commit
the last and irremediabIe sin.
Sons OF God by Faith.
Lastly we see the kinfolk OF Jesus,
including his mother, seeking to with
draw him from his conflict with the
Jerusalem lawyers. or, as has been sug-
gested, II they were among the friends
mentioned at the outset seeking to
protect him after this interruption by
taking him away to a place OF rest
and quiet. Jesus was, however, not
understood by his nearest and dear
est kinfolk; and such has ever been
the bitter grief OF many OF his follow
ers, a grief that Is ever harder to bear
than the denunciation Of his enemies
with all OF their Misrepresentation.
But he who was reviled and reyiled not
again, who was led as a lamb to the
slaughter, nswer not this strange
misunderstanding by any fash OF an
ger, but in gentleness rebukes their
interference with his plans and points
out that his nearest and dearest ara
those who do bis viii. Jesus as our
Great High Priest Is here speaking not
az the Son Of Mary, but az the Son Of
Man.
The golden text throws wonderful
light upon this whole lesson. He.
Jesus. the Light, came into the world
and we must account for him. Like