The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1914-02-06
sunday SCHOOL.
Lesson W.-First Quarter, Fer
Feb. 8, 1914.
THE INTERNATIONAL SERIES.

Text Of the Lesson, Luke xi, 1926; 49,
36-Memory Verse, 23-Golden Text
Luke XII, 35-commentary Prepared
by Rev. .. M. Stearns.
The topic of this lesson is Light and
Darkness and if fully studied will
take us through the Bible from Gen
esis to Revelation. We are brought
face to face with Christ and Satan
and their kingdoms and are plainly
told that we belong to and are living
in the interest of the one or the other
(yerse 23). We can know the truth
concerning these things not by the
opinions Of men, but only by the word
of God, and in verses q, IS, u Lord
said to one who thought that His
mother was a blessed woman, "Yea,
rather, blessed are they that hear the
word Of God and keep it,"
Ever since Eve listened to the devil
in the garden of Eden and yielded to
the tempter, believing his lie rather
than the word of God, the conflict has
been on and will be until the stronger
than thu devil shall bind him and
shut him up in the abyss for q thou
sand yearN (verse %; Rev. ky.
The Son of God was manifested that
He might destroy the works Of the
devil Il John 3-S), and every instance
Of His delivering any n from his
power, such as the one in our lesson,
was a foreshadoWing Of the kingdom
Of God when there shall be neither
adversary nor evil occurrent q Kings
v, Il. Amounted with the Holy Ghost
and with power, He went about doing
good and healing AL that were OPP
pressed Of the devil, Ser God was with
Him (Acts K, 39).
When He shall come with His saints
in resurrection power and glory then
He shall be manifested as a greater
than Solomon, and Israel all righteous
shall see nations penitsnt as truly as
Jonah, back from the dead in a figure,
saw a whole city penitent.
To accuse our Lord Of being in league
with the devil was about the worst
thing they could say of Him, but they
were making it manifest that they
| were, as He said, Of theic father, the
| devil, a murderer, a liar and the ia
, Their of lies Gohn viii, AZ. They were
| fully of darkness and yet supposed
they were in the light; they were
blind and yet thought they saw. The
devil, Of whom they spakS, the god
Of this world, had blinded their minds
lest the light Of the glorious gospel OF
Christ, who is the image of God,
| should shine unto them Oh Cor. iV, ~.
Refusing the truth, they were more
filled with the lie; ven as it is still
and will be more and more until the
end of the age, receiving not the love
of the truth. God sends strong delu-
sion that they should believe a lie Oh
Thess. ii, 10, III. The Lord Jesus Is
the light and the truth; the truth Is
in Jesus and nowhere else; apart from
Him there is neither light nor truth
John viii, ~; xiv, 6; Eph- iv, 21).
Without Him all is without form and
void and dark, chaos and confusion,
as it was in Gen. l, 2, and only Of
those who receive Him is 1t true that
"God, who commanded the light to
shine out of darkness, hath shined In
our hearts to give the light Of the
knowledge Of the glory of God in the
face Of Jesus Christ CI Cox. ~, g..
Darkness is suggestive Of the devil
and his demons and those on earth
who serve him and their awful future
(Eph. vi, IL; II Pet. ii, 4, II; Prov. iv
10; Matt. viii, IL; xxi, LIB; XIV, 3O
God is light, and those who become
children Of God by receiving the Lore
Jesus are called children Of light, fol-
the entrance Of His word giveth ligh'
Il John i, s: Eph. v, 8; Ps. cxix. 13O
AS in Gen. /, 3, 4, God divided the iigh
from the darkness, so it ID always, ant
in II Cor. vi, Il, the question is asked
"What communion hath light will
darkness?' should lead us to conside
we'll whether our fellowships in ordi
nary daily life are with hight Or dark
ness.
In all the wilderness wanderings o
Israel they always had light. for tn
pillar Of cloud by day became a pilla
Of fire by night, and He too
it from them. On n occasion tn
pillar was darkness to the Egyptians
but it was light to Israel. just as dul
ing the plague Of darkness in Egyp
Israel had light in their dwellings.
Great darkness is even now in Chris
tendon because many DELICIOUS teaot
ers are turning away from the wor
of God, the only true light. Becaus
they are wise in their w eyes, a
was Israel in the time Of u lessor
: when our Lord was on earth. they pu
i darkness for light and light for darl
i ness, calling evil good and good ev
u Qsa. ", 20, 21). This darkness Of unbt
I lief shall increase until 1t shall b
gross darkness; then the Redeeme
shall come to Zion. His glory shall b
. seen upon Israel, and the nations sha
come to her light and kings to th
IL brightness Of her rising; then, as it
also written. '"The Lord shall be thir
everlasting light and thy God til
glory" Isa. lix, 10, 20; TX. '1-3, 10, q
{, At that time saved nations sha
walk in the light of the New Jerus
!. lem, which shall come down from &C
z out OF heaven. for the glory of &c
shall tighten it, and the Lamb shall |
the light thereof (Rev. xxi, 2, 10, !
%, "a. While we may now be callt
upon sometimes to walk in darkne