Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1918-05-08


my steau, as IN the stead Of BaraD-
bias, and as the ram In the stead OF
Isaac. He was my substitute, ana
made sin for me, and i am made
righteous in him. ii Cor. 8 :21. The
cost TO him, and the value and efficacy
to US of his great atonement, Is a mat
ter we cannot mediate upon too much
or too constantly, or ever praise him
enough for. or rejoice too much In
The request of james AMI John. In
which also, according TO Matthew,
their mother took part, Is another EVIL
dence of how little they understood
him, and how they utterly failed to
grasp In any measure what he had
said about his approaching sufferings.
He and they lived in a wholly differ
ent atmosphere. On, how lonely he
must have been, and what a depth OF
meaning there is In his word, THE
living father hath sent me, and live
by the father. He had been speaking
Of suffering and a cruel death. they
were thinking only of earthly glory.
He knew that the way for him, and
for all his true followers, was the way
of the cross, and so he said. "Ye know
not what ye ask. Can We drink of the
cup that drink Of? And be baptized
with the baptism that am baptized
within" And they said we can. 1t was
as foolish as Peters Boosting that he
was ready to lay down his life for him
(John 13 :37). When we speak about
ourselves. or what we can do, or are
ready to do, or seek anything for our
selves, we are so unlike him who said,
/ can do nothing Of myself. / seek not
mine own will. / seek not mine own
glory. 1t must surely be Of the great
adversary, the devil, that there Is even
among Christians, SO much selfish am
bition and self seeking. Now we see
the ten displeased with the two am
bilious ones, and our Lord has to give
them all another lesson on humility,
reminding them that even he, their
Lord and Master. came not to be min
istered unto. but to minister (vss. So
45). We do well to sing, my highest
place Is lying low at my redeemer's
feet; and to pray Lord keep me down
where cannot fall. Humility Is Christ
like, but pride and selfish ambition Is
Of the devil. II is the purpose Of the
Lord to humble all lofty works, to
stain the pride of all glory, and to
bring into contempt all the honorable
OF the earth. to show that all the glory
of man is AS fading flower, that the
Lord alone may be exalted Elsa. 2 IL.
IT; % 20; 40 :6-8; Pet. / "a, 25). We
may anticipate that time of his king
dom by letting him now have absolute
control In our hearts and lives, and all
things subdued unto him (Phil. 8 :21).
The remainder of our lesson chapter
tells OF the healing of blind Bartimeaus
as he was leaving Jericho; In Matthew
the record Is that of two blind men
healed as he left Jericho; there is no
contradiction for IL there were two
there was certainly one. In Luke the
account tells of blind man healed as
he entered Jericho, and then say that
he entered and passed through Jericho
duke 1875; 19:D. Still there Is no
discrepancy or contradiction. Let the
records stand as written and see one
blind man healed as he entered the
city and two as he left ii, for there
was no lack Of blind men to be healed.
In every case of healing. fevers. or
demons, or blind, or lame, or dumb, or
deaf, we may see a suggestion of the
various maladies of the soul, for we
are all by nature consumed by some
fever or controlled by some demon. or
blind to the truth, but the same Jesus
is ready TO heal If we are willing TO be
healed. He is saying to us, what wilt
thou that / should do unto thee? and
he Is ready to say, go thy way, thy
faith hath made thee whole; or re-
ceive thy sight, thy faith hath saved
thee; or be it unto thee even as thou
wilt. But there must be on our part
the heart cry that will not cease. the
seeking with the whole heart that will
not be discouraged nor take any denial,
the importantly OF the widow, the per-
sistence of the blind men.