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The Sunday School |
THE DEATH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST.
September 1, 1912. Mark 0:11-29.
Golden Text: "Be thou faithful unto
death, and I will give thee a crown of
life."?Rev. 2:10.
HOME DAILY BIBLE KEADOGS.
<M.?Mark 6:14-29.
T Ton 98-1-fi
W.?Dan. 5:1-9.
Th.?Amos 7:10-17.
P.?Luke 7:18-28.
S.?Heb. 11:32-12:2.
S.?2 Tim. 4:1-8.
TOPICAL OUTLINE.
Herod's Great Crime?
His guilty conscience, vs. 14-16.
Why he had imprisoned John, vs. 1720.
Hvs drunken feast, vs. 21.
How Herodias secured John's
death, vs. 22-29.
SHORTER CATECHISM.
Q. 13. Dud our first parents continue
in the estate wherein they were created?
A. Our first parents, being left to the
freedom of their own .will, fell from the
estate wherein they were created, by
sinning against God.
LESSON COMMENTS.
Sources: Mark's Gospel gives the Incidents
of this lesson fa greater detail
than Matthews, though the latter gives
the salient points. Luke mentions
them very slightly. John does not allude
to them.
Time and Place: In the early spring
of A. D. 29, and the beginning of the
third year of our Lord's ministry. The
Castle of Machaerus, on the east side
of the Dead Sea, a fortress of wonderful
strength, the key to the eastern
country, and having a magnfacent view
towards the west, over the Dead Sea,
Jerusalem, and a large part of Judea.
More Thun a TVniperanee Lesson: it
is decidedly a straining of the incidents
to turn this into a temperance lesson,
because John was a Nazarite and Herod
was giving a birthday supper to his
lords, the one an abstainer from strong
drink and the other supposed too be
drfaking heavily. Such treatment of
Scripture tends to lesson the force of
God's word rather than to make it effectual.
Unnatural, forced interpretations
are never wise.
This Herod: The Herod of this story
was Herod Antipas, sometimes called
"the ietrarch," called hy our Lord "That
Fox;" son of Herod the Great, who
murdered the children; brother of Archelaus,
who had been deposed; halfbrother
of Herod Philip; the Herod of
the crucifixion day; uncle of Herod
Agrippa First, who tolled James, and
who was eaten of worms; great, unole
of Herod Agrippa Second, the "King
Agrippa" of Paul's experience at Caesarea.
Herod's Crimes: One sin has in itself
the seed of other sins. Herod abandoned
his lawful wife, a daughter of King
Aretas, a near-by ruler. He then took
his elder half-brother Philip's wife, who
was also hie own niece. This he did
when he was on a visit to Philip, plotting
against one who was both hie
brother and his host. FV>r all this John
fearlessly and publicly rebuked hhn.
The still greater crime of 'murdering
John naturally came out of the first sin.
"Whom I beheaded:* Herod Antipas
was responsible for John's death. The
' whole story here, following the word
"for." is an explanation of Herod's
words, "It is John, whom I beheaded;
THE PRESB YTERIi
he is risen from the dead." Conscious
guilt is stamped upon every word of the
wicked man. And with the sense of
guilt, and to accentuate his fears, was
a large element of superstition. His
guilty conscience, combined with this
suin?petition, made him think, as some
would express it, that John would
"haunt" hita. He knew that he was a
murderer.
The Dancing Girl: The dancing of
Herod's daughter was not, according to
conditions then prevailing, a decorous
proceeding in any form. Hence the,
words, "The daughter of Herodias herself
came in and danced" are significant.
The usual dancers far entertainment
were hiVed women, disreputable. That
Herodias should allow her daughter to
perform in this way before the king
showed both the lowness of her own
character amd the intensity of her
hatred of John. There was no depth
to which she would not stoop, and no
shame to which she would be unwilling
so subject her daughter if thereby she
could accomplish She ruin of John.
"Yet for His Oath's Sake:" Herod was
"exceeding sorry" for two things; first,
that he had taken an oath in such a
foolish manner, and seoondly. that the
takmg of that oath compelled him to
do a thing which he had long been
afraid to do, for he "feared John, knowing
that he was a just man and a holy,
and he kept him safe," that is he put
him in prison only as a partial punishment,
fearing to go further. In addition,
like all the Herods, he counted popularity.
and he knew that the masses
would not approve of so dire an act as
that of executing the austere prophet of
the wilderness. A mistaken! notion of
the binding nature of a bod oath, and a
false sense of pride made hdm do, however,
as he had promised. It is wrong
to break an oath; but it is far worse to
keen an oafh that is absolutely sinful
and the keeping of which results in
greater wrong.
John's Career: John's own words as
to himself .were literally fulfilled, when
he said of < hr/st, "He must increase,
but I must decrease." After Christ's
baptism we hear no more of John's
deeds except as given in this lesson and
the account of his sending two of his
disciples to Christ for inquiries as to
his messiahship, and a passing allusion
to his later baptizings. His great work
was to announce the coming of the
Messiah and to point hiim out when he
came.
Not a Kesultifess Life: And yet John's
was not a useless life. He was a mere
finger board, a simple herald, a voice
and nothing more. He was not a reed
shaken of the wind or a man clothed
in soft ra.ment. The Ix>rd gave his
estimate of John. He pronounced him
to be "more than a prophet." He declared
that theTe was none greater horn
of woman. Hives are not measured by
the deeds that mark them, nor by present
results, nor by their immediate accomplishments,
but by the principles
which they implant and by the forces
which they set to work and which live
long after the actor has passed away.
"They Went and Told Jesus:" When
John's disciples had duly performed the
last sad duty to their leader, gently laying
his body In the tomb, It is recorded
that "they went and told Jesus." It was
the most natural thing to do. They knew
the official relation of their leader tJo the
Messiah. They knew the personal relationship
also. They knew that Jesus
loved John. They knew, 1n addition,
that nowhere else oould they ftnd as
tender, loving sympathy as Jesus would
have. Their first Impulse was to go and
tell him their sorrow ar.J have him
share and thus help hear their grief.
A Great Witness: John the Baptist
was the world's greatest witness. It
was for this that Christ pronounced him
(Continued on page 17).
AN OF THE SOUTH
|Young People's Societies!
HOPEFULNESS.
Tlllklit for fiiiiiilnv SAniomkA* 1
- V *v? vcwaavujy >JV|flUIU?rv 1 1 I ur
Christian Virtues. IX: Hopefulness.
Unmans 5:1-5; 8:24-28.
DAILY READINGS.
Monday: -Hope's an-cetfcry. Romans
5:1-5.
Tuesday: Flaith and hope. Romans
4:16-22.
Wednesday: The glorious hope. Titus
2:11-14.
Thursday: Love's hopefulness. 1
Corinthians i3:4-7.
Friday: Hope's comfort. 1 Thesealonians
4:13-18.
Satiirdny: The living hope. 1 Peter
1:1-5:
Hope comes of a good stock. Pts lineage
is strong. It comes from justification
by faith, peace, tribulation, ex,
perlence.
Jesus Christ ?s Its original source.
"By whom also we have access by faith
into this grace wherein we stand, and
rejoice in hope of the glory of God."
So also 1s It progeny. "And hope
rr.aketh not ashtamed, -because the love
of God is shed abroad in our hearts by
the Holy Ghost which is given unto us."
Hope, grasping something that is yet
unseen, is closely related, in both nature
and method, -po faith. "Faith is the
substance of things hoped for, the evidence
of things not seen."
"For we are saved by hope: but hope
that is seen Is not hope: for what a man
Fee-tli. why doth he yet hope for? If we
hope for that we see not, then do we
with patdnce wait for It."
Hope that lays hold upon God's work
is like the anchor of a ship. "Which
hope we have as an anchor of the soul,
both sure and steadfast, and which entereth
into that within the veil."
"That your faith and hope might be
in God." God's word standeth sure,
"having this seal, The lord knoweth
them that are his." He "hath given us
everlasting consolation and good hope
through grace."
Hope is decliared, and is also found,
to be practical and operative. "Every
man that hath this hope in him purePeCh
himself, even as he is pure." Expecting
to be like Christ when he sees
him as he Is, the Christian tries to be
I'ke him here.
"The grace of God that brings reve-Mon
hath appeared to all men, teaching
us that, denying ungodliness and
worldly lusts, we should live Soberly,
righteously and godly, In the present
world, looking for that blessed hope and
the glorious appearing of the great God
and our Saviour Jesus Christ."
Thus hope is seen to be constructive
'n its methods. The dlstrucftlve feature
of fafth is thlat it lefts go here and simply
trusts. The distinctive feature of hope
i"s that it grasps something beyond us.
Then the two. the one bom of the
other, hope born of trust, go hand In
hand and show themselves in love and
good works. "And now abidetfh faith,
hope, love, these three."
Thanks should 'be given for tMs
grace. "Blessed be the God and Father
of our lord Jesus Christ, whdch, according
to his abundant mercy hath 'begotten
us again unto a lively hope by
trie resurrection or jesus vm-im. innu
the dead, to an Inheritance 'incorruptible,
and undeiflled, and that fadeth wot
away, reserved in heaven for you who
are kept by the power of God through
faith."
An element of imperishability belongs
to all friendships that elicit in
1 any form an expression of the love of
Christ in believing souls.
1
[ August 21, 1912
The Prayer Meeting ~) |
FELLOWSHIP.
1 John 1:3. Week of August 2.">.
The word fellowship 1s sometimes I
used in the sense of association or com- I
munion, someti'ines of partnership or
joint possession implying mutual interest
or participation. 'In this particular
passage these several ideas are combined.
The first statement is that the
apostle had seen Christ, "the Word of
l?fe," and had heard him and was making
known to his fellow Christians what
he had seen and heard, that they might
possess the same precious truth that he
had learned and treasured as a possession.
He would have them enjoy the
truth with himself that they might have
mutual refreshment in meditating upon
end cherishing that truth. Then he emphasizes
the idea of communion or association
'by saying "our fellowship is
with the 'Father and with his Son, Jesus
Christ."
One of the most striking instances o:
fellowship mentioned Ai "the Scriptures
was that of the converts at Pentecost.
After the conversion of the three
thousand soule "they continued steadfasly
in the apostflee doctrine and fellowship
and Ln breaking of bread and
prayers." They were gathered from
many nations, without sectional or commercial
bonds of interest, yet the new
faith wftteh they had em/braced and the
new life received was to them the source
and medium, or mutual interest and rejoicing.
They delighted to associate one
with another because Christ had now
become the supreme interest of each
life. The theme of their thought and
conversation was thex new-found Messiah
who was to be evermore their
Master. Fellowship was to -them, not a
mere religious sentiment, but was supremely
rational, based upon facts of
paramount value. 1
There is then the fellowship of be
"W'VIO, V11C nuu tXiiVfUlVI , UUL B1I11JJ1J
professional and formal, but vital. Paul
tells the G&latian Christian, "When
James, Cephas and John, who seemed
to be pillars, perceived the grace that
was given unto me they gave to me and
Bara'bas the right hand of fellowship.
They had common interests and a great
cause to which they were mutually
pledged and in token of this they joined
hands, signifying that Ithey wen*
joined in heart and were to strive for
one conv.Ton end and be stimulated and
lUTed by one common hope. The principles
of faith and love which ruled in
their hearts were the same, derived
from the same source and centering
upon the same supreme object. So in
writing to the Bphesians the apostle
says grace was. given t? him to "preach
among the Gentiles the unsearchable
riches of Christ and to make all men
see what is the fellowship of the
mystery which from the beginning of
the world bath been hid In God." That
, VJ_ . .. ? , i.Ua
is, ms wotk was 10 maxo Known w??=
goepel (to all men that they mught have
a common inheritance and mutual Jo>
In possessing it.
The highest form of fellowship 1b that
of the redeemed soul with its Redeemer
and Sanctifler. In Firs.; Corinthians
Paul tells believers that 'they shall be
confirmed ah their spiritual life, because
"God Is faithful by whom ye were
called unto the fellowship of his Son.
Jesus Christ our Lord." In PhdMppians
he exhorts believers to "be of the same
mind, having the sam$ love, being of one
accord, of one mind; ^nd among several
reasons for this he Specifies the "fellowship
of the Sp'rft." The regenerate
soul holds vital communion with the
Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.