The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1916-12-21
INTERNATIONAL.
S(JNDNS0lOOL
LESSON
CBy r, o, SELLERS, Acting Director of
the Sunday School Course In the Moody
Bible Institute OF Chicago.)
Copyright. 1919. Western Newspaper Union.)
LESSON FOR DECEMBER "a
UNTO US A SON 10 GIVEN.


GOLDEN TExT-For unto us a child
10 born. unto us son II given: and the
government shall be upon his shoulders.
and his name shall be called Wonderful.
Counsellor. the Mighty God. the Everlast-
ing Father, the Prince of Peace-Isa. sc.
The Christmas lesson naturally and
logically follows the three lessons we
have Just had from the book Of the
VAd been portrayed, and the ultimate
success Of his work In foreseen In the
new heaven and the new earth. Isaiah
saw the vision Of his first coming. John
saw the vision Of his second coming.
when what he began the first time
shall ultimately be accomplished. The
prophecy here spoken was uttered dur
723. The king Of Assyria was attack
Ing Syria. The tribes Of northern Is
raei were carried away as captlves.
Judah was In danger of invasion. (See
ii Kings 10 :29.) Isaiah was preach
Ing In his home city, Jerusalem. His
vision OF the Messiah Savior was not
more than 500 years before John saw
the vision Of the glori6ed Jesus.
I. Darkness Versus Light tvv. 1-5).
We need 10 go back into the eighth
chapter TO get the I" historical situa-
ton OF this part OF the lesson. Ahaz,
trembling IN Jerusalem. had with him
the Prophet Isaiah. 1.-THE wisest and
greatest man In his kingdom. yet Ahaz
listened not to his words Of warning
l.. ....I ll.
own course and sought help In every
other quarter than the right one. This
explains Isalah's words. The people
that walked In darkness" Primarily
he mny have referred TO those Of the
lands OF Zebulon and Naphtali, the
Galllee Of the nations (John I 40;
7:52) and the light which shone In
them, which was the light Of the world.
Jesus OF Nazareth (John s:12). But
there is larger application In this
verse to the whole world which lay
In darkness until Jesus came. and the
whole world has seen or shall see the
great light CLuke 1871. With the
coming OF light comes the increase of
JOY ". 3 II. W. In Israel there Is to
be. through Chri-t. a wonderful In
crease lisa. 40 :20-22; Zech. I0:S). In
Christ there Is to be great Joy. the JOY
of harvest and Of victory. The re-
llgion Of Jesus Christ Is pre-emlnently
the religion OF JOY (Acts SIS; Phil.
4:4; Peter I :S) but the Child that
was to be born was TO be a Deliverer
too, for the "yoke Of burden" was tax
of $1,sO0,O00 that had recently been
levied by the king of Assyria. II was
a night of thick darkness for Israel. |
Then, even as now. we have the moral |
darkness. (Read Rom. :20-32) But !
the prophet saw the Joy of deliverance. |
Jerusalem had been left In peace, |
Hezekiah succeeded his father. Ahaz, |
and entered upon a religious revival In |
the kingdom. The people who had |
walked In darkness had seen a new
light The prophet saw the dawning |
rays through the midst Of this dark |
ness OF ignorance being removed. He |
also saw the coming OF the Light Of /
Men 700 years later, and the multi
plication of the nations, the Increase
Of their JOY.
u. Unto Us Son 10 Born wv. CD. /
The greatest JOY for Israel In lsaiah's
time was In this vision Of the Messiah.
the promised Savior. Isaiah Is look
Ing ahead seven centuries. We are
looking back nineteen. He was to be
king over his people. Name and title
Is here given. Q) Wonderful" be-
cause Of his nature, being both hu-
man and divine. The word made flesh
and dwelt among us. (2) Counselor"
one who has the wisdom to guide him
self and others. No one guided by him
JAS ever failed Of true success. (3)
'"The Mighty God" He was truly God
so that we can trust him TO the utter
most. He can also save 10 the utter
most. (4) Everlasting Father" ex-
pressing his divine loving kindness and
self-ldentihcation with the Father. (5)
He is also "Prlnce of Peace" the one
who rules so that peace and prosper
ity abide In his kingdom. He brings
peace between man and God, and be-
tween man and man. He Is the peace
of the soul as well as bringing
peace TO the soul. The completeness
OF this picture which Isaiah saw is
the one which st. John saw, OF which
we have been recently studying. These
two verses are marvellous ones, not
only because Of the clear prediction Of
Jesus Of Nazareth. made more than
seven centuries before his first advent,
but marvellous also for the fullness
and richness of the revelation they con-
tain concerning the person. character
and work of Christ.
Our Lords earth life began at Beth
iehem. but he was from all eternity
(John 8 :56-5S: John :1-2).
As a man Is not at peace with God
he cannot be at peace with himself or
his fellows; but as Jesus restores
peace between man and God. he also
restores peace TO the heart OF the In
dividual (Phil. 4:7).
Sunday school officers and teachers
should realize the difference between I
the peace with God (Rom. SID and {
the peace of God (Phil. An.