The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1918-04-11
SUNDAY SCHOOL
Lesson 3.-Second Quarter, April
q, 1918.
the INTERNATIONAL. SERIES
Text OF the Lesson, Mark 9:2; TO-
Memory Verse, Rom. s:te-colden
Text. Mark e:7-commentary Pre-
pared by Rev. D. M. stearns.


Lord himself or to his followers, suf-
fering always leads 20 Glory, and the
Glory Is set before US as an incentive
TO patient suffering. The prophets tes-
titled OF the suffcrings Of Christ and
the Glory that should follow q Pet.
10, III. lie said 20 the two on the
way to Emmaus. sought not Christ to
have suffered these things and 10 en-
ter into his gloryT" Uuke 2I:2G).
The JOY set before him helped him to
endure his own cross C1eb. IL 10.
20; Rom. S:iS). Now as he spoke OF
his own and his disciples sufferings,
he also spoke OF his coming In Glory,
and said that some OF those listening
10 him should not taste of death till
they had seen the Kingdom Of God
come with power MARK S:3S; OIL;
compare Matt. 1927. % and Luke
9:26. "a. The account Of his trans
iiguration following Immediately after
that statement In each Of the Cos
pels, and Peters testimony In 2 Pet.
:16-1S, make II Enthusiastically clear
to me that the events OF the transfig-
uration were what ne referred TO In
Mark OIL; and the three disciples,
Peter. James and John, actually saw
\ that Kingdom In miniature. They
\ went up into a high mountain. and as
he prayed his appearance changed as
described. His face did shine as the
sun, aud his raimcnt became white as
snow. Compare the account In each
Gospel and also Rev. 1915. Then
Moses and Elijah appeared. and talked
with him Of his approaching death in
Jerusalem. The three disciples were
heavy with sleep. but when they were
awake they saw his Glory and the two
men who stood with him. Peter not
knowing what he said, talked Of max
ing three tabernnclcs. one for the Lord
Jesus. one for Moses and one for Eli
iah. for he felt that IL was 50 good
90 be there. While Peter spake. n
cloud ovcrshadowed them, and voice
out Of the cloud said: This is my
beloved Son. In whom | am well
plensed. hear ye him" When the
cloud was passed they saw no man
any more save Jesus only with them
selves. Now consider this. and see
the glory which was ever In that pre-
pared body, shining forth as IL will
when he shall come again. See Moses
representing the risen saints, for no
doubt he had his resurrection body
dude %, and Elijah representing the
translated saints. and the three dlsci-
pies representing Israel in the flesh,
and all together they represent the
center OF the Kingdom OF God or of
heaven yet 10 be set upon this earth,
when Christ shall reign with his
saints, and a redeemed Israel shall be
the earthly center n blessing TO all ma
lions. This Is the resurrection con
summation for which we wait and To
which we are ever moving onward,
and ms we consider this we shall be
changed or TRANSPORTED (fcr the word
il the same In 2 Cor. rs; Rom. 10 ~
by the renewing ~ our minds as we
nv faith behold his Glory. Being a
resurrection event. may be the reason
why he told them not 20 speak Of II
until he should be risen (John 20 ;9).
How his patience should teach us 10
he patient with those who are slow 10
believe the truths set before them.
The appearing OF Elijah led them 20
inquire about his coming again accord
ing 20 NAL AS. @, and he gave a
two-fold reply, 20 the effect that he
had already come In the person OF
John the Baptist. who came In the
Spirit and power OF Elijah, but being
rejected. the real Elijah would truly
come In due time (vss. lib; Matt.
II :10-l3). What John the Baptist was
20 the first coming Of Christ, The real
Elijah will be 10 his second coming,
after the church has been caught up,
and will no doubt be one of the wit
nesses Of Revelation, IL.
Az they came down from the noun
tain the next day they found the rest
OF the disciples unable 10 deal with
young man who was possessed by n
demon, and had been so from child
hood. The father Of the boy said TO
Jesus, "If thou canst do anything,
have compassion on us, and help u.s."
The Lord Jesus replied: "If thou
canst believe; all things are possible
10 him that believeth." In answer TO
the fnther's confession OF faith the
Lord rebulSed the evil spirit and
healed the boy. There is here n fore
shadowlng OF the Lord delivering Is
rael from their demon possession at
his coming I'm Glory when he shall
cast out Satan from the air and the
earth. and bind him in the bottomless
pit for a thousand years. There is
also an illustration Of what we so
often meet In daily life. when we
would fala stay on some mount of
privilege and blessing, but we must re-
turn 10 the ordinary routine OF daily
life, and often there is an evil spirit
In some form awaiting us.
The prayer and fasting OF which he
spoke means at least a greater desire
for victory than any mere earthly en-
joyment; a seeking him with the
whole heart (Jer. 29;13). Let me
earnestly commend for victory over ir-
ritability or fretfulness or temper. a
believing use OF the words. thine is
the power" which implies a whole