Mansfield mirror. (Mansfield, Wright County, Mo.) 1908-1957, 1916-12-21
LESSON FOR DECEMBER ~
UNTO US a SON is GIVEN


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LESSON TExT-Isaiah S:1-7.
d. GOLDEN TExT-For unto us q chiA
government shall be upon his shoulders;
and his name shall be called Wonderful
Counsellor. the Mighty God. the Everlase-
ing Father, the Prince of Peace.-lsa- ~.
Tho Christmas lesson naturally ana
logically follows the three lessons w
have just had from the book Of tho
Revelation where Jesus in his glory
had been portrayed, and the ultimate
success Of his work is 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,
ing the reign of Ahaz. B. G. 73S to
T23. The king of Assyria was attack
ing Syria. The tribes of northern Is
rael were carried away as captives.
Judah was in danger of invasion. (See
II Kings IS :29.) Isaiah was preach
ing in his home city, Jerusalem. His
vision Of the Messiah Savior was no
more than 800 years before John saw
the vision of the glorifed Jesus.
.. Darkness Versus Light wv: 1-5).
We need to 60 back into the eighth
chapter to get the full historical situa-
ton Of this part of the lesson. Ahaz,
trembling in Jerusalem, had with him
the Prophet Isaiah, the wisest and
greatest man in his kingdom, yet Aha1
listened not to his words of warning
and rebuke. He doggedly pursued his
own course and sought help in every
other quarter than the right one. This
explains Isaiah's words, "The people
that walked in darkness" Primarily.
he may have referred to those OF the
lands of Zebulon and Naphtali, the
Galilee Of the nations (John 1:46;
1852 and the light which shone In
them, which was the light of the world,
Jesus of Nazareth John 8:12). But
there is a 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 duke 1:7S-79). With the
coming Of light comes the increase of
joy w. r. w. In Israel there is to
be, through Christ, a wonderful in
crease lisa. 40 :20-22; Zech. 1O:S). In
Christ there is to be great Joy, the Joy
of harvest and of victory. The re-
ligion Of Jesus Christ is p~re-eminently
the religion of joy (Acts S:S; Phil.
IA; I Peter 1:S) but the Child that
was to be born was to be a Deliverer
too, for the "yoke Of burden" was a tax
Of 81, 800 900 that had recently been
levied by the kipg Of Assyria. 1t was
a night of thick darkness for Israel.
Then, even as now, we have the moral
darkness. (Read Rom. 1:20-32.) But
the prophet saw the Joy Of d~eliverance.
Jerusalem had been left In peace,
Hexekiah 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 TOO years later, and the multi
plication of the nations, the increase
Of their Joy. When Jesus comes again
he will deliver Israel from her present
oppressors that have ground her down
these many centuries, and will then e1-
alt Israel above the nations Czech. II:
1-21; 9:12-1T; S:2O-23). But Jesus is
delivering men today, removing every
sort Of yoke of burden, and breaking
the rod of oppressors (John $3.50;
Math. II :2s). He also is bringing
peace to men, and with the consum-
nation of his work, wars will cease.
Shall we not all pray for the speedy
consummatlon Of that day? "Even SO.
come Lord Jesus"
n, Unto us a Son 10 Born wv. 6-D.
The greatest Joy for Israel in Isaiah's
time was in this vision Of the Messiah,
the promised Savior. Isaiah is look
ing ahead seven centuries. We are
looking buck nineteen. He was to be
king over his people. Name and title
Is here given. ny 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 n guided by him
has ever failed Of true success. (S)
eThe Mighty God" He was truly God
80 that we can trust him to the utter
most. He can also saw to the utter
most. (4) Everlasting Father" ex-
pressing his divine loving kindness and
Standardization with the Father. t5)
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-
thin concerning the person, character
and work of Christ. This King is to
| be the king Of a growing kingdom. OF
the Increase Of his government there
is to be no end. He Is also to be q
king upon the throne Of David. Jesus
was David's descendant and lineal heir,
and his kingdom Is the development Of
that kingdom.