The citizen., 1918-01-03
SUNDAY SCHOOL
Lesson First Quarter, January
6, 1918.
THE INTERNATIONAL SERIES
Text Of the Lesson, Mark tiff
Memory Verses, Luke 1851, 2-ooId-
en- Text, John t:2e-commentsry
Prepared by Rev. D. NJ. stearns

tnTlSt, WHICH we now Dtglh 10 STUDY,
sets Him before rs ms the perfect ser.
want, rather than as the King Of Mat.
thew's gospel. or the Son Of Man of
Luke, or the Son of God ~ John. We
do well TO keep In mind the words,
Behold my servant whom ] uphold.
mine elect In whom my soul delight
eth" and also. Behold | will bring
forth my servant the Branch" Elsa.
42:1; zech., 3:S). II we would say
truly "Whose | am and whom I serve"
aud faithfully serve the living and
true God. bearing In daily life the
fruit he desires, we must consider
him who was the only perfect servant.
and abide as branches In him who Is
the True Vine. But this we cannot do
till we have truly received the good
news Of Jesus Christ, the Son Of God I;
or as II Is written In Rom. :i-3, the
good news OF God concerning his Son
Jesus Christ our Lord. We cannot
serve the Lord till we have been re-
deemed by receiving Jesus Christ as
\our own personal Savior. according to
IIohn / ~; 3-16. ls; John 5:l2. That
being settled. then our whole life
should be one OF loyal service. with
the perfect servant as our only pat
tern, according to Heb. 12:1-3: I Pet.
2:2i.
As John the Baptist was his mes
senger, preparing the way before him
st his coming la humiliation. so the
In IA mill hn a. hAf
him nj his coming In glory Matt.
i7:l1; Nal. 4 %. %. Meantime all he
iievers should he preparing the way
for his coming again by preaching re-
pentance aud remission of sins in his
Eame In all the world, according To
Luke "a :46-4s; Acts | :S. Johns cloth
ing was peculiar. and his food pecu-
liar. and he pointed all people to the
coming One whose shoes latchet he
was not worthy to stoop down and un-
loose. He claimed nothing for himself
except that he was voice, something
20 be heard but not seen. pointing to
the one he came To honor. concerning
whom he cried: behold the Lamb Of
God !" When told that Jesus had more
followers than he had. he said that he
was glad and added. "IIe must in-
crease, ! must decrease" iJohn 3 I'D.
SO). As to more full account OF
Johns preaching see Matt. 3:7-lO |;
Luke 3:7-14: lie told them Of some
thing greater thnn baptism with wa
ter. even baptism of the Holy Spirit
which Jesus would give them. and he
pointed them onward To the end OF the
age when the wheat would be gath
cred into the garner. but the chaff
burned up with unquenchable fire
(sigtt. 3:'i, 12). The future for nll
will be the Kingdom or the lake Of fire.
and even between death and resurrec-
tion II II conscious happiness or tor
ment (Rev. 20:15; Luke 10 :25). IL
this was really believed by all the
preachers and teachers. they would
surely be more earnest In proclaiming
the Gospel Of God concerning his Son,
the only Savior OF sinners (Acts 4:l2).
The remaining verses of our lesson
tell Of the baptism " Jesus by John
at the Jordan. and the event Is more
fully recorded by Matthew and Luke.
In Luke :23 II Is written that he was
about thirty years Of age, and We must
remember those thirty years at Naz-
areth, the humble home, the carpen-
ter's shop, the submission and obedi-
ence and patient waiting Of all those
years In that lowly life In which he no
doubt glorified the Father as much as
In his public life. This is greatly
needed lesson for all OF us: not doing
some great thing but just filling the
place he assigns us. however lowly II
may be.
We do not wonder that at first John
refused TO baptize him. saying that he
had greater need TO be baptized by
Jesus, but Jesus himself baptized not
John 4:2). Note our Lords reply.
his second recorded utterance as the
Son OF Mary "Suffer Il TO be so now.
for thus IL becometh us TO fulfll all
righteousness Matt. 3 :15). He alone
OF all men was always righteous, and
did righteously. lie had no sins TO
confess. but submitted 10 all things for
our sakes. that he might be made unto
Its wisdom. righteousness, sanctifica-
ton. redemption Il Cor. / 80; ii Cor.
4:21). II we are ever about his busi-
ness, as he was about his Fathers,
we will gladly suffer many things for
his sake which may seem TO us wholly
unnecessary. Luke :21 says that as
he was baptized he was praying. Al
ways In conscious communion with
his Father and always pleasing his
Father (John 3 :29). This Is the sec
ond time that we find In Scripture the
words "the heavens opened" and the
seven events In connection with which
we find these words form truly glo-
rious study, each event concerning
him and his people on earth. In
Ezek. IL, 20. he Is seen as man on
the throne controlling his own re-
deemed and all their affairs; here he
Is the Word made flesh, submitting TO
all things for our sakes that we may In
due time share with him his kingdom
and glory. Mark well the Fathers
testimony and the Spirits resting
place. for he Is the true and only ark
Of safety. on whom alone the Spirit
k..ll ha INatl lA.sia