Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1917-01-03
SUNDAY SCHOOL,
lesson First Quarter, For
Jan. 7, 1917.
THE INTERNATIONAL SERIES.

I'LL IN LINN S@t"sSs
Text Of the Lesson, John !, 1-19-Mem-
DRY Verses, II, 12-GoIden Text, John
i, +commentary Prepared by Rev.
D. M. Stearns.
In these four gospel portraits of
Christ we see Him as the King (Mat-
thew. the Servant Mark, the Son of
Man luke and the Son of God John
the same Jesus in each, revealed to
us a little differently. that we may
know Him more fully and more init
mately This gospel is certainly the
eagle gospel. as the others are sugges-
tive of the other faces of the cherubim,
the lion. the OK and the man. Here we
are lifted far above the others and car
ried back to the beginning, before the
creation, to Him by whom all things
were created. His name, 1.-The Word
of God" takes US back to the ten times
repeated And God said" of Gen. /,
along with Ps. xxxiii. 6, BY the Word
of the Lord were the heavens made.
Then on to Rev. xix. Is. when He shall
come in glory as the Word Of God"
How grand the statement in verse 8.
Without Him was not anything made
that was made" reminding US also of
Col. l. l6 and leading us to exclaim
Jer. xxi. II.
81 Nf hos
lines: THE Scriptures and the Lord
bear one most holy name; the written
and the Living Word are In all things
the same Then the word of any one.
If sincere, is the utterance of the heart,
and in Him we see and know the heart
Of God the Father As Creator He Is
too far above us to be known by us.
but when we see Him in human form,
the Word made flesh verse IA, then
he comes near to US In such a way
that We may know Him. Though no
man hath seen God at any time. any
believer can see Him In the only be-
gotten Son verse 49,. Those Of whom
1t is written in Elk. xiv. II, They saw
God and did eat and drink" saw not
the Father, but the Son. whose goings
forth have been from the days Of eter
nifty (Micah. v. 2. margin,. So was 1t
Moses, and Joshua. and Gideon. and
Manoah. and Job, and Isaiah. and Dan
lei. Let us be content with the words
OF our Lord to Philip. He that hath
seen me hath seen the Father" John
xiv, 81.
Not only is He God the Creator. but
He Is the Life and the Light of men
His first recorded utterance in Scrip
ture Is, Let there lie light and then
we remember that God. who com
manded the light to shine out of dark
ness. hath shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory
of God in the face OF Jesus hrist'
Gen. /, 3; II Cor. iv. O.. So peculiarly
is He the Life that there is no life
apart from Him. for He that hath
the Son hath life. and he that hath
not the Son of God hath not life Il
John V. l2i. Life and light and love
are three of the great words of this
gospel, and in Him alone are found the
three. He is called the True Light
Verse 81, as He is also 1.-THE True
Bread from heaven" 1.-The True Vine,
'the True Taberna ale" (John vi So;
XIV, ]; Heb. viii. q. John the Baptist
bore witness of the light that men
through him might believe, and one of
the last words of our Lord before He
assembled was, "Ye shall receive the
power Of the Holy Ghost coming upon
you. and We shall be witnesses unto
me" (Acts /, s. marginl. Could any
thing be more pitiful and pathetic than
the statement of lesson verses 10, II.
that He was in the world that He had
made, and ii knew Him not. and His
own people received Him not. Yet so
1t has ever been since Adam and Eve
He placed them to enjoy Him and IT.
Israel would none Of me. would, but
We would not, Ye viii not come unto
me. Such are some of His words con
corning our treatment of Him. Yet He
loves us and pleads with us. Although
1t huoNS dii NIt dDOul he
is full of grace toward US; full OF
grace and truth
Praise God for the comfort and the
assurance of verse u. for, knowing
that l did truly receive Him as my
Saviour and put all my trust in His
precious blood. this. with the follow
ing verse. made me certain that had
become child of God. born Of God.
and. with John V. "a: | John ii, ~; lisa.
xiii, %. and other words of life, gave
me assurance of the forgiveness of
sins that they would never be remem-
bered against me and that had pass
ed from death into life. | have had
this comfort row Uune. 1851 for for
ty-two years. ever since 1873, but had
been a church member in good stand
ing without such assurance for some
years before that.
1t is not a feeling but simply a rest.
ing on the infallible word Of God that
it is as He says. While Matthew.